This issue is a jive bunch of turkeys, not the JLA
To be honest when reading this I didn't know that Black Lightning used to talk like Shaft in order to hide his mild mannered occupation as a teacher. Which left me shaking my head for the first few panels until I figured that out (but of course that in turn made the cover make a lot less sense.) The concept behind the issue is kind of weird. The JLA is debating whether they should take on Black Lightning as a member and so they decide to test him, and so they set up a series of challenges for him, all of which he has to pass to win their approval. For those that know me, I am sometimes complaining about how if superheroes acted in a certain way it would probably mean in real life that bona fide villains got away (like the time Batman tries to stop a dognapper.) Usually I don't give it much thought because its fiction and if the story is entertaining then its all worth it. In this case though, because the JLA is wasting time with Black Lightning a villain is enacting his plan unchecked, and not like in Antarctica or the bottom of the ocean, but in the same city. And why are they testing him anyway? I can't really figure that out because for instance they have Green Arrow on the team who cant do much that other can't whereas Black Lightning can deflect bullets and use his electricity as a pretty decent ranged attack. So after passing the tests the JLA offers him membership but he turns them down because he likes to work alone. So the JLA has now not just wasted his time, but also theirs because he never wanted to join in the first place. The supervillain at this point already has his plan almost completely in action. I guess its because its Silver Age that the story is so poor and because the JLA is acting completely uselessly. If it was in modern comics, probably Batman would show up and say 'What are you guys doing testing Black Lightning? I already have his powers ranked scientifically and I have analyzed every one of his weaknesses. Now if you all just turn your heads 90 degrees to the left there is actually a supervillain committing a crime within a a direct line of sight. Why don't we go deal with that instead of tormenting our colleague?' There is also a kind of halted attempt by two of the heroes to debate affirmative action. Green Arrow says they need more black heroes on the team, and Barry Allen starts arguing with him. I am not opposed to affirmative action but I would have to agree with the Flash. I am not trusting my life in another person's hands just because he or she fit our quota for skin colour (unlike what affirmative action is designed to do - chiefly giving some disadvantaged people an opportunity they might not otherwise have.) Its sort of seems like the writers wanted to make a statement and then just backed off. So I have to give this issue a thumbs down, between emulating a black culture which mostly didn't exist, almost debating affirmative action, and wasting everyone's time including the reader's.
