It's Chloracle!

Wow. So much for the Chlois theory — after last week's Smallville, you have to revise that to Chloracle.

I've been looking forward to this “Justice” storyline, in which we get to see the JLA in its infancy. The writing has been good — a clever balance of faithful reverence and inventive departures from the source material. For instance: Green Arrow, the JLA's longtime black sheep/problem child, now becomes the League's founder and principled leader. Highly improbable, although it's perfectly in character for Ollie to assign Clark the codename “Boy Scout.”

The rest of the team looks more like the Teen Titans than the JLA. No Batman, no Wonder Woman, no Green Lantern — even their “Flash” character is actually just Impulse (Bart Allen, still a long way from filling the asbestos-coated shoes of protospeedsters Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West). It's just Ollie, Cyborg, Aquaman, Impulse, and a reluctant, capeless Clark Kent.

And, of course, Chloe! In another move I didn't see coming, they got her into a clock tower with a headset and a bank of computers, and had her coordinate all the League's moves. I'm just surprised they didn't find a way to get her into a wheelchair to complete the allusion. I suppose I should have anticipated this when they set up Ollie's penthouse to look just like Oracle's clock tower. But I'm dumb that way.

My only question: Where was Martian Manhunter? We know he's around — we have the Oreos to prove it. But not a sign of him since his 2-second appearance back in November. Not so much as a crumb.