This is my final post of images showcasing the "little moments" in Grant Morrison's second JLA collection - American Dreams - that really elevated the stories found within and have made me excited to read subsequent trades. These last two images deal with the primary theme of Grant Morrison's JLA - the need for heroes to be heroes.
The first is actually more concerned with the art than Morrison's story (though that is cool, too). Superman is in the dream-state the Key placed he and his fellow League members, and is living in an hallucination where Krypton did not explode and he actually becomes that sector's Green Lantern. Just look at the way Oscar Jimenez drew Superman. You can see the sympathy and compassion in his face for the dying Tomar-Re. It is his heart, and his desire to help all people, that makes Superman who he is. And Jimenez captures that beautifully in this single image.
And finally - this image captures what Morrison was trying to say in JLA, and specifically what he wanted to convey in the final two-part story that comprises issues 8 and 9 of his run. Connor Hawke, the new Green Arrow who took over for his deceased father, Ollie Queen, is the lone hero who is awake when the Key puts his plan into action, as he was to be inducted into the League as a new member.
While battling the Key and his robotic minions, Connor has his arrows destroyed and found it necessary to utilize his father's trick arrows, which were housed in the trophy room of the Watchtower. He doesn't know how to use the trick arrows and we read, in voice-over, how helpless he feels. Without superpowers like the other League members, and lacking traditional arrows, Connor Hawke sees no way he can take out the Key. But, in this page, he makes a choice to be the hero he claims to be, and he does what heroes do - perseveres against ridiculous odds in order to stop evil from claiming its victory. It's a great moment and captures perfectly Morrison's objective in his run on JLA.
-chris
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