All Star Squadron, by Roy Thomas, Jerry Ordway, et al.

 So, since early in the COVID quarantine, my buddies and I have been doing weekly video calls to talk some classic comics. We've read Geoff Johns's initial FLASH run, THE NEW TEEN TITANS by Wolfman & Perez, and the QUESTION by Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan. Now, we're reading Roy Thomas's paean to DC's golden age, ALL STAR SQUADRON. This week, we're reading issues 14-20, plus JLA 207-209, and I wanted to share some panels from these comics that brought a smile to my face. 

From All Star Squadron #17, by Thomas, with art from Adrian Gonzalez & Rick Hoberg.

This issue was a trial to determine if Robotman was human or merely a mechanical facsimile that should be melted down for slag. The turning point comes when the courthouse begins to collapse and Robotman must break from his chains and use his super strength to save those within, most especially the lawyer who brought suit against him. Revealing his humanity, he is deemed human and free to go. But how can he speak to the judge at his bench when the building collapsed????

From All Star Squadron #15, by Thomas, art by: Gonzalez & Jerry Ordway

Per Degaton, the villain of this 5-part crossover with the JLA, is going to "conquer an earth!" Melodrama aside, I love the reactions of the henchmen in the background -- genuinely funny stuff. I wish there was more of this in these comics.

From All Star Squadron #16, by Thomas, Gonzalez & Hoberg. 

  

I gotta give points to Nuclear, the Magnetic Man (no, I'd never heard of him before either) using Robotman's arm as a weapon against the other All-Stars. Well played!

Another from All Star Squadron #15: 

Luckily, Superman and Dr. Fate have super voices and are able to utilize the very, very few oxygen molecules in space to speak with one another. 
I . . . don't know if that's how that would work. But, it's comics!

And, from JLA #209 by Gerry Conway & Don Heck, more fun with oxygen

    

If Per Degaton is without oxygen (read Zatanna's spell backward, to see what she did to him), then how is he still speaking?!!? 

Another from JLA 209

This should have been the opening page, rather than a couple of pages of backstory exposition. (I know, I know! It was a different time, when exposition was the way things were done in comics . . . except that Larry Hama was doing it with far more aplomb in G.I. Joe, the same year this was published, and Alan Moore was beginning his legendary run on Swamp Thing that same year as well. So, there were other ways of doing it.)

Again, from All Star Squadron #16

Wonder Woman claims she's never needed the help of other heroes. But, she worked with the JSA and All Stars in issues 1-3 of this series. AND THERE'S AN EDITOR'S NOTE TO THAT EFFECT. Why doesn't she remember?!!? And why does Roy Thomas, who wrote all these comics, make her not remember?!!? What the hell is going on?

NEW TO ME: JLA Strength in Numbers

This fourth volume of the (then)-revitalized JLA was a near-complete blast. My journey back to the late 90s that I missed – at least as far as big, superhero comics of the time – has been interesting thus far. These collected volumes of JLA feel a bit like the Star Trek movie franchise (the best ones are the even numbered ones). But of all the collections to date, this one, by far, is my favorite of the bunch. With the end of each chapter, I eagerly wanted to read the next one, and often did – devouring a fair chunk of stories straight through on a Sunday morning, from the end of the Prometheus Unbound arc up through the four issues penned by Mark Waid. JLA: Strength in Numbers showcases the best about this iteration of everyone’s favorite DC team.

The first thing I discovered, when I opened the book, was that Yanick Paquette used to be a Mike Mignola clone (which puts him in good stead, as Ryan Sook is another Mignola clone who has gone on to become an amazing comic artist, in his own right). This first tale, written by Christopher Priest for the second JLA Secret Files, brings together a new league (consisting of many who were part of the league disbanded at the end of the previous collection). There’s a nice call-back to the Bwa-ha-ha league with Guy Gardner, in his Guy Gardner Warrior We don’t get a one punch moment like the one provided by DeMatteis, Giffen, & Maguire, back in 1987, but we do get Batman silently putting Guy in his place. guise, assuming the pose he did then, as he prepared to tell everyone he was going to lead.

But this story, though well done, is disappointing. Why did Morrison bother to have the league disband in the prior issue, if there was only going to be a relatively unchanged roster in the next one? Sure, there are some new recruits like Huntress and Zauriel and Steel, but these are all in addition to the Big Seven. The quick reversal on Superman’s part just rings hollow and makes the ending of the “Rock of Ages” story arc feel forced and contrived. But that’s a minor nitpick because the stories with this newer, bigger, stronger JLA are a whole lot of fun.

First, we get Grant Morrison writing a three-issue arc titled “Prometheus Unbound.” In this narrative, readers get to see a new villain who appears to have thought his take-down of the JLA through completely. Stealing himself aboard the satellite by taking the place of someone who’d won a contest to be a superhero for a day with the JLA (thanks to Morrison being way ahead of the curve with regards to reality television), Prometheus takes down the members of the JLA with impressive efficiency, dispatching Steel, J’onn J’onnz, and Batman with relative ease.

Prometheus puts the rest of the league on their heels, utilizing the fact that a hundred journalists had also been invited to see the JLA Watchtower as leverage against the heroes, but is defeated through the ingenuity of the newer members like Steel and Huntress, as well as the surprise appearance of Catwoman (who stole onto the Watchtower disguised as Cat Grant). The arrival of Catwoman comes out of left field and doesn’t feel fully earned on Morrison’s part, but the way the rest of the team members managed to come together to overcome Prometheus, along with his meltdown due to an overload of information, saves it for me.

This story arc is followed by two two-issue tales from guest writer Mark Waid. Despite this being known as Morrison’s JLA, these are the best stories of the bunch and some of the best from this entire run, to date. Waid offers a story of probability gone wrong followed by an adventure with Adam Strange on an enslaved Rann. Waid employs big ideas as well as Morrison does, but there’s a definite tonal shift. Waid’s stories feel more lively and fantastic with a less serious undercurrent than is found in Morrison’s JLA work. Waid, like Morrison, understands these characters intimately and, though I might question his portrayal of Orion, his offerings in this collection are reminiscent of silver age comics, with the wonder and fun often found in those old stories. And, with the climax of the Adam Strange two-parter, Waid injects some very real emotion through Adam Strange’s sacrifice that really elevates this tale.

After those four issues written by Waid, which also included Superman’s re-integration into his traditional form, Morrison returns to write the final two-part story of this collection, wherein Starro the Conqueror returns to plague the JLA. It’s another typically well-written tale, with big ideas and the heroes’ ability to think overriding their brawn in order to send Starro away. And, despite the tonal shift to a darker, more serious narrative style, the climax is rather humorous, as it basically involves the heroes playing a prank on Starro and its invading force.

I wish there were more superhero comics like this. And I don’t just mean the high level of writing on display, but I also wish there were more two-part stories rather than the often laborious six-part “epics” that fit snugly into a trade paperback. JLA Strength in Numbers includes a single-issue story, a three-part story, and three two-part tales. They race along at a nice clip and both Morrison and Waid, along with Christopher Priest, pack a lot of story – relative to what we’ve become accustomed to in this current comic market – into the pages provided. For my money, I felt like I got far more value from this book, which has five different adventures in it, than I did in the previous volume “Rock of Ages,” which was a single six-issue storyline.

Now, I can’t wait for the next trade.

chris

NEW TO ME: JLA Rock of Ages

JLA: Rock of Ages (collecting issues 10-15 of JLA) by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, et al.

JLA: Rock of Ages feels like a true Grant Morrison comic – the first time in his tenure on the book that he appears to have let loose with his narrative creativity (though his wild ideas have been evident from a very early stage). “Rock of Ages” is a time-hopping story in which members of the League fall into a dystopian future that “could occur” if they don’t return and stop their colleagues from defeating Lex Luthor and his Injustice League, who are attempting a corporate takeover of the Justice League. The narrative wraps in on itself, twisting and turning until it’s difficult to discern which way is up, with the Worlogog (or Philosophers’ Stone) at the heart of the narrative – its design a visual metaphor for the mind-warping narrative Morrison creates with these six issues.

It is also fitting that, although a retread of the theme utilized in the two-issue story involving the Key, the heroes who fall into the future – Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Flash – must make their way back to stop their friends from defeating Luthor so that the dystopian future in which Darkseid has created a new Apokolips on Earth does not come to pass. This inversion of the typical superhero story mirrors the narrative framework Morrison uses for “Rock of Ages.”

Not to belabor the point, but the story does suffer – again – from the cluttered and sometimes confusing artwork of Howard Porter and John Dell. It really is a travesty, in my opinion, that Morrison’s inventive stories are hampered by such muddled, hackneyed art. There are panels and pages where it is difficult to tell what is going on, but thankfully, the words and the ideas peppered throughout the narrative kept me involved and enthusiastic.

And, once again, Morrison shines with the inventiveness of his ideas, which he always injects into the narrative in an understated fashion, adding to the wonder I take away from it. They are found in bits of dialogue or off-handed scenes that always come across as obvious once stated, but are ideas that feel brand new. These moments, more than anything else for me, are the moments that elevate this book and make it so enjoyable. Some of those moments of brilliance are:

• J’onn J’onnz shrinking “the rational, analytical left hemisphere of [his] brain and enlarg[ing] the irrational right hemisphere” in order to “see the world as the joker sees it…” when he and Superman are stuck in a holographic maze created by the Joker’s consciousness.
• Batman realizing Luthor is attempting a hostile takeover of the JLA and noting that Lex doesn’t understand he’s going up against someone with as much experience in the boardroom as he who plays the game of “corporate takeovers” better than Luthor – Bruce Wayne.
• The Atom realizing (because Ray Palmer is a scientist) that, if Darkseid can see through his forceshield, that means light is getting through, and then shrinking himself down small enough to follow the light inside. Simple, elegant, and it makes one think.
• Orion, in this alternate future, affirming his heritage as a warrior born of Darkseid and destroying the universe with the Genesis box in order to save it – thus, exhibiting the heritage of his upbringing by Highfather. Only Orion, a product of these two diametrically opposed fathers, could achieve such a feat.
• Luthor using Jemm, Son of Saturn to try and block the telepathic abilities of J’onn J’onnz. (Man, I loved the lush artwork of Gene Colan on that series)

And of course, there are many more hidden gems within this volume of JLA. Very few writers are able to achieve this level of intelligence in “mainstream” comics, particularly within the superhero medium. I look forward to what Morrison does next.

chris

THE LITTLE MOMENTS - Morrison's JLA - part 6

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

THE LITTLE MOMENTS - Morrison's JLA - part 5

These two images are examples I cited in my pieces about this collection, and are examples of the intelligence Grant Morrison adds to his comic writing. Both of these instances are scenarios in which the heroes have to think their ways out of the predicaments in which they have found themselves.

First - the mother#$&*ing Superman, creating a giant magnet on the moon that is polarized opposite to the magnetic field of the Earth, in order to repel the two astral bodies and save his adopted planet. It's brilliant.



Second - my favorite hero, the Flash, using his knowledge of his speed powers to extricate himself from the transporter, where he was imprisoned at the outset of this two-issue story. It may be comic book physics, but I appreciate heroes that can think rather than those only able to beat villains into submissions. It's far more satisfying.



-chris

THE LITTLE MOMENTS - Morrison's JLA - part 4

The first image today is one that made me smile, but was also a moment that allowed Morrison to explain away the "monologuing" of his main villain for these two issues - the Key. The Key had boosted his intellect in order to take over the world, and he states:

"... make a note of an interesting side effect of my expanding consciousness. I can't stop talking to myself ..."

Funny, simple, and yet, a brilliant in-story explanation for why these villains, some of them, might do all this talking to themselves.



The second image showcases Morrison's penchant for grand and crazy ideas that he will include in a story for only a panel or a page and then leave them to move on with the narrative. Most writers would conceive a six-part epic with undead Nazis, Buddhist swastikas, and maggots that eat necrotic tissue. But Morrison is content to share these tidbits and move on. This adds to the density of his storytelling and leaves one's mind racing with the possibilities long after finishing the book.



-chris

THE LITTLE MOMENTS - Morrison's JLA - part 3

I am a huge Flash fan. Ever since I saw him racing across my television screen as part of the Super Friend, Barry Allen - and then Wally West - has been my guy. So when I read a story in which he is written well and his heroic nature is accentuated, it hits me deep in my gut.

The two pages I'm highlighting today did just that. As the League battles IF, a flying car comes hurtling toward J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter. Fire is the Manhunter's major achilles heel and can kill J'onn. But Flash, seeing the car, races into action and saves J'onn as only he can do - catching all the various pieces and putting the car back together so that Superman can carry it off.

Beautiful stuff, and don't forget to look at how Flash's dialogue blurs together, forming a single word from a lengthy sentence. Just brilliant.







-chris

THE LITTLE MOMENTS - Morrison's JLA - part 2

Here are two more images from the JLA: American Dreams collection by Grant Morrison, et al. These moments highlight, even more than the first of yesterday's images, Morrison's ability to infuse his comics with humor.

The first image is a classic Flash scenario - though the details aren't as classic as one might expect. We have two images that are basically the same (Superman doesn't even get a chance to take a step) but in the moments between the seconds, Wally West does some rearranging of the trophies in the League's trophy room of their Watchtower headquarters. And check out the remark from Superman: deadpan, sarcastic, and yet, full of affection - pitch perfect and wryly funny.



And this second image hearkens back to the JLI, for me, as Martian Manhunter (whose schtick under Giffen, DeMatteis, et al. was always to be yearning for Oreos) tells Wonder Woman that her perfect grammar must have stunned the angel behind her, which she just landed on with a hard Amazonian kick. Again, the humor isn't over the top, it isn't calculated, it's just sly, understated, and terribly funny.



-chris

THE LITTLE MOMENTS - Morrison's JLA - part 1

I have finally gotten around to reading Grant Morrison's much-lauded JLA run, and though the first collection left me disappointed, the second one - American Dreams - was absolutely fantastic. Morrison provided interesting villains, great action, high drama, and everything required in a superhero comic, and that was great.

But Morrison also provided something more, which - for me, a comic reader for almost thirty years - is important. He offered us, the audience, those "little moments" that elevates a comic (or story) from being just good to being great. In this second collection, there are a lot of really great little moments, and over the course of the next six days, I will be highlighting some of those.

The first two moments are ones that showcase Grant Morrison's ability to laugh at superheroes, while also accentuating that which makes them heroes. And both of the images I am sharing today involve the original superhero - Superman.

First, we have a moment I commented upon in one of the pieces I wrote about this collection. It opens the book and is the part where Superman is standing above Metamorpho's grave discussing with the minister why so few came for this funeral when so many came to his own (when he died at the hands of Doomsday). it's a touching moment, but also a humorous one, and it's a moment that made me realize I was going to enjoy "American Dreams."



The second image is of Superman coming to the Martian Manhunter's aid. It's a scene we have all read many times over before, but the way Morrison set it up and the simple, quiet dialogue just nails this moment. Morrison conveyed true emotion in this scene, and I really appreciated that.



-chris

NEW TO ME: JLA American Dreams – part 3

JLA: American Dreams by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, Oscar Jimenez, et al.

Forgotten JLA nemesis, the Key, uses his enhanced intelligence to break into the Watchtower and capture the League members, minus J’onn J’onnz. Having paralyzed them with a neural shock, the Key injects them with a programmable psycho-virus that produces structured hallucinations for the heroes, causing them to experience an alternate reality.

The “key” to the Key’s plan is that he realizes the JLA will figure a way out of their predicament and defeat him. Ultimately, the Key wants to use the surge of power that will result from the JLA breaking from their dream states to boost his own powers and allow him to project himself into negative space so that he can completely control our universe. Luckily for the League, Green Arrow shows up and the Flash burns through the virus faster than expected in order to defeat the Key.

These final two issues in the second of Grant Morrison’s JLA collections were fabulous. As I stated in the previous post, the bad taste left in my mouth by the mangled “New World Order” collection (mangled by horrid art from Porter and some marketing intern’s stupid idea to include the plot twist on the back cover copy) is long gone. The stories in this collection are fun and smart and – unlike most superhero comics – excite my imagination.

One of the main things I appreciate about these stories from Morrison is the fact that he’s building on the past to enlighten the present. That is, Morrison is using a lot of old-school storytelling techniques to enliven the narrative. This second collection includes five chapters (issues 5-9) and in those five chapters, Morrison gives us three complete stories. Three! For most trade collections today (and I have to keep reminding myself these comics were originally published in 1997, nearly 15 years ago), this would fall one issue short of the single 6-issue arc passing for comic stories these days.

Too many creators are writing for the trade and give us, the audience, pre-packaged (and overstuffed) six-issue arcs that say little and excite even less. This is one of the things that has turned me off to many current comics and probably why I have been enjoying the “Wait, What?” podcast with Jeff Lester and Graeme McMillan – two comic fans and bloggers who have a great affinity for classic comics.

Decompression – ugh!!

But I digress.

With this iteration of the League, Morrison was trying to tell superhero tales in the grand tradition of comics from the silver age and before, and it is incredibly exciting. Like Chris Claremont and Steve Englehart and Roy Thomas and many writers before him, Morrison lays the groundwork for later stories with subplots in previous ones. With this two-parter involving the Key, the villain is introduced in issue #6, lying in a coma, only to come out of it in the subsequent issue (#7) so that he can trap the JLA in this storyline (#8-9). And the wrench in the works, the new Green Arrow (Connor Hawke), does not feel like some deus ex machina thanks to the recruitment story three issues earlier. Morrison’s deft handling of the storytelling in JLA makes things flow naturally rather than feeling forced. It’s a simple thing to ask, but something that often gets lost in most of today’s comic stories.

Morrison also eschews decompression for a fully packed storytelling style. He understands comics and allows readers to fill in the blanks for things that lie within the gutters of the panels. He isn’t afraid to have us readers jump into the middle of a conversation between characters, especially when the first part of the dialogue would have been nothing but exposition. In his mind, the readership is smart enough to connect the dots, and I applaud Morrison for that. And the density of ideas found in his stories is astounding.

• Intelligence-enhancing perfume
• Manta Raiders
• The use of a clockwise Buddhist swastika and maggots (that devour necrotic tissue) to defeat undead Nazi zombies
• The Speed Source leaking into the world once every day, causing all the inhabitants to fun as fast as the Flash (in his dream state)
• The use of the JLA’s power to boost the Key’s own power

It’s all fantastic stuff that many writers would return to again and again until they’d bled the idea dry, but Morrison drops these and other similarly inventive ideas into a single page or even a single panel and then doesn’t return to them because he doesn’t need to. It’s brilliant.

The dream sequences in these two issues were reminiscent of Alan Moore’s & Dave Gibbons’s Superman story, “For the Man Who Has Everything,” in Superman Annual #11. But Morrison takes our heroes into far different places and makes this trope – which, if we’re honest, is the same premise utilized in DC’s Elseworlds stories – his own. These new versions of classic characters are extremely interesting, and a part of me wishes that DC had looked to this story for their impending relaunch.

• Superman as the Green Lantern of his sector
• Bruce Wayne, with wife Selina Kyle, now standing in for Alfred as Tim Drake and Bruce Jr. fight crime as Batman and Robin
• the quicksilver-coated Flash

It’s all great stuff.

Morrison also subtly presents the overall theme of his run on JLA (as pointed out to me by Peter Rios) with the characterization of Connor Hawke (the new Green Arrow) in these two issues. Connor is arriving to be inducted into the League and finds the Key already deep into his plan – the members of the League all unconscious and hooked up to the Key’s device. Connor tries to intervene but is driven back and loses his arrows in an explosion.

This leaves him with no recourse other than to utilize his father’s trick arrows, which are stored in the trophy room. But, Connor has no idea how to use the boxing glove or handcuff arrows. He comments that his father was either a madman or a genius. And when the Flash comes out of his stasis, Connor remarks that his father’s arrows are “impossible” to shoot. But Connor doesn’t give up, though we can see in his voice-over that he is pondering it. And, in the end, Connor Hawke does what a superhero is meant to do, he perseveres through the impossible in order to do what is possible and save the day.

It’s a subtle bit of storytelling hidden among the bombast of the Key and the excitement of the heroes’ “other” adventures, but it is at the heart of this two-part story as well as at the heart of Morrison’s approach to the JLA.

And, finally, the art from Oscar Jimenez is a beauty to behold after the horror that is Howard Porter’s JLA (with apologies to Porter, with whom I have no personal grudge; I just have a hard time appreciating his art). Jimenez’s clean, polished style and clear storytelling provide a much-needed injection to the visuals of this series. If only he could stay on, but I’m pretty sure Porter will return with the next collection.

Anyway. I loved this entire collection and am anxiously looking forward to reading more. Can’t wait!

-chris

NEW TO ME: JLA American Dreams – part 2

The next two issues in the “American Dreams” trade paperback by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, John Dell, et al. comprise a quick story dealing with the fallen angel Zauriel – a member of Heaven’s angels who attune their frequencies accordingly, in order to exist on a given plane of existence – and his unwillingness to return to the fold.

Zauriel is surprised to find, once he regains consciousness, that he has become mortal – as, we discover later, he wished. J’onn J’onnz finds him in San Francisco Bay just before the first ranks of Asmodel’s army show up to try and take Zauriel back. Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) alerts Superman and Flash (Wally West), who are in the JLA watchtower on the moon, and Flash zips into the transporter for San Francisco. (At this point, the league members aren’t sure what the alert might be). But when Wally hops into the tube, he becomes stuck in time, unable to jump to Earth or retreat back into the watchtower.

Shortly thereafter – once the heroes (GL, Wonder Woman, J’onn, and Aquaman, along with the angel Zauriel) have dispatched the preliminary group of angels – the league finds out that, not only is Wally stuck in the transporter, but the moon is falling to Earth, which means Superman cannot come to their aid as Asmodel approaches.

We also learn that there is another entity, Neron, behind this entire catastrophe. And the first of these two issues ends with the arrival of Asmodel’s ship in the skies of San Francisco, an event of cataclysmic import.

In the concluding issue, the League members come together in order to take down Asmodel and his ranks. Flash calms down and thinks through his predicament, changing his rate of molecular motion to pull free of the wave of ambient matter utilized by the transporter to teleport members between Earth and the moon. In San Francisco, J’onn J’onnz faces off against Asmodel while Wonder Woman and the angel Zauriel attack the ship causing much of the destruction in the Bay Area. And Arthur Curry (Aquaman) stands ready to take over for J’onn if he should fall, while Green Lantern works to keep the other angels at bay with his ring.

And, on the moon, Superman takes enormous chains, wraps them around some smaller towers at their base, hooks them up to the gigantic power cords they have for the Watchtower, and utilizes his electrical powers (since he’s Superman blue, at this point) to channel the electricity into the chains, producing an enormous magnet. He creates magnetic poles on the moon that are charged oppositely to those of the Earth and, in turn, causes these two astral bodies to repel one another, averting the devastation that would have occurred had the moon fallen to Earth.

He is the mother$%#*ing Superman!

Having averted this catastrophe, Kal-El flies to Earth where his friends are turning the tide of battle, but are still not assured of winning. J’onn is tired, but still standing, when Superman arrives and tells his friend to take a breather. This was an incredibly touching moment for me. The dialogue by Morrison is spot on and really gets across the depth of feeling Superman has for the Martian Manhunter through a minimum of words. Just brilliantly handled.

Meanwhile, Flash and GL join forces to find a way of defeating the angels. Kyle creates a device that will translate Flash’s speed into sound waves, sound waves that will negate the supersonic frequencies of the angels and cancel them from our plane.

And all is right with the world again.

The epilogue has the members of the JLA teleporting to the watchtower – with Batman taking the place of J’onn so that the Martian Manhunter can recuperate from his battle – and before Batman can say anything, the six members find themselves unconscious on the floor, an old enemy standing over them.

With this second collection, I can see Morrison really coming into his own with the JLA. I love how he writes the characters, and the fact that he has them utilizing their brains (Superman creating the magnetic poles on the moon, GL and Flash conceiving of the sonic disruptor to defeat the angels) in order to defeat their enemies is a refreshing change from the boring battle scenes that pass for drama in modern comics. It shows a lot of thought and care, and it excites my brain – something that made me a science fiction fan long before I discovered comic books.

Morrison has some great little bits in these two issues as well, including Aquaman believing Zauriel (who, being an angel, has feathered wings) might be the return of his lost friend Katar Hol (Hawkman, whom, I believe, was dead at the time), and Flash re-arranging trophies in the watchtower in less time than it takes for Superman to take a step.

And although the art is still not anything approaching stellar, the inclusion of Ken Branch as inker for much of the second issue of this two-issue arc does improve the quality quite a bit. I apparently need to re-assess Porter’s artwork. It’s bad, but can be made worse by an inker who is, as John Dell appears to be, beholden to Rob Liefeld and the “Awesome Studios” style.

The bad taste of the first trade is long gone now, and I am anxious to read more. And, flipping ahead, the arrival of Oscar Jimenez for the next two issues will be very welcome indeed.

-chris

NEW TO ME: JLA American Dreams - part 1

JLA American Dreams - "Woman of Tomorrow"

By Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, John Dell, et al.

This second volume of Morrison’s JLA run, New World Order, starts out with far more promise than was left for me after finishing the first volume. It begins – after a quick introduction of the “Woman of Tomorrow” created by Professors Ivo and T.O. Morrow – at the funeral for Rex Mason, Metamorpho. I did feel a bit confused about this (did Metamorpho die in the first collection?) since I wasn’t sure when Rex died. But I went with it because the commentary between Superman (now Superman Blue):

“…it just seems a little sad. There were so many people at my funeral,”

and the minister:

“… normal people aren’t very interested in metahuman funerals anymore, Superman. Everyone knows you people come back all the time. Heaven knows how many times I’ve buried the Immortal Man! I’m sure Metamorpho won’t stay down for long …”

was so engaging. It’s only a quick scene, but Morrison gets to have fun at the expense of this superhero trope. And it whet my appetite for more.

In the next few pages, Morrison offers up some nice bits of characterization for the members of this incarnation of the Justice League. We have Batman putting Gotham first (“I promised the league I’d be prepared to function in an advisory capacity…”), which would not have come off as such a parody if Porter hadn’t chosen to give us the “gritted teeth” Batman saying this to Superman. It’s a simple freakin’ statement, Batman doesn’t need to look as if he’s constipated when he says it. But, being Batman, he is still able to take on another case to help the League:

Wonder Woman: I realize you have another case, but …

Batman: I’ll work on both.

We see Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) and Flash (Wally West), the youngest members of the league, playing a boxing game as created by Kyle’s ring, while Kyle makes an off-handed remark about preferring “him with the short hair.” We can assume he means Superman, who was in his mullet stage as Morrison began his run on JLA. And this is confirmed when Superman comes through the transporter and tells Kyle “So, you thought I needed a haircut, Kyle?” which is a brilliant reminder of Superman’s powers, in this case, his super hearing.

We then get to the reason the League has assembled in their watchtower atop the moon. They are having a recruitment drive. We get a nice scene of J’onn sitting patiently, listening to the likes of Damage and Hitman – his only response: “Next.”

Once they finish interviewing, the five members present – minus Batman and Aquaman – are discussing the candidates’ merits, when the ceiling explodes and falls in on them, only to be suspended in midair before any more damage can be done. The cause of this incident is Tomorrow Woman, the construct created by Ivo and Morrow, as seen on page 2 of this collection’s initial chapter (and this is only page 10).

From here, we watch as Tomorrow Woman integrates herself into the league, taking center stage in their pursuit of an entity known as “IF.” IF pops from one city to the next, leaving destruction in its wake and the Justice League as little more than a clean-up crew working to keep the carnage to a minimum as IF blinks out of existence again.

Meanwhile, Ivo and Morrow watch as their automaton gets closer to the League in preparation for her ultimate assignment – to destroy the League with an electromagnetic pulse weapon in her artificial heart that will trigger a telekinetic wave front, causing all electrical activity in the brains of the JLA to cease. And, as they watch on, these two evil scientists debate which of them is the genius- Professor Ivo claiming he is the more ingenious inventor since he created such a perfect simulation of a physical being with Tomorrow Woman, while T.O. Morrow claims it is he by dint of his creation of her artificial brain with all its false memories and dreams.

As the League unlocks the secret to the creature IF – standing for Implicate Field, a weapon derived of 32^nd century advanced quantum technology confiscated by the U.S. military from the Lord of Time’s arsenal. They discover the only way to stop IF is to detonate an electromagnetic pulse.

We, the readers, can see the culmination of Ivo’s and Morrow’s plan driving toward us as Tomorrow Woman volunteers that she can create such an EMP. But, she also realizes what such an act would cause – the decimation of the Justice League, the heroes who took her in and gave her a purpose – and she tells them, “…but I can’t.”

Though an automaton, Tomorrow Woman has spontaneously generated a rudimentary ethical code. Tomorrow Woman overrides her programming, shuts down her telepathic broadcast facilities, and destroys IF without harming her new friends, the Justice League. And in the end, Morrow stands triumphant, because he created an artificial brain that was able to think for itself.

Seconds later, J’onn shows up to take these villains away.

This was a great story from Grant Morrison, and done all in one issue. I enjoyed the interaction of the members here, the recruitment drive and the understated humor of J’onn stoically asking for the “next” interviewee, and the twist ending with Ivo and Morrow, along with the little bits he included within the narrative. This single issue felt very condensed, with a lot going on in twenty-two pages, and it helped wipe away the disappointment of the first trade. Porter’s art is still subpar and keeps this issue from, overall, being great. But the story was so superior that I was able to overlook the artistic shortcomings and am looking forward to the next chapter of this collection.

-chris

NEW TO ME: JLA New World Order (part 2)

So, I finally made it through that initial trade of Grant Morrison's run on JLA, and I have to say - it was pretty damn forgettable. The only reason I know the heroes that came down to spur humanity to hate the JLA were SPOILERS martians, is because I read it on the back cover. Other than that, there was little to like here.

Morrison did some nice things - more compression than decompression, I appreciated that - but overall my expectations are way low for the next trade. I know this run is well-regarded, but was it due to the fact that Morrison was writing it or because the Big 7 were back together? I don't know. Porter's art kills it for me. I would much rather have had them just publish the scripts from Morrison and let me fill in the art.

Here's hoping the second volume offers more than this first.

-chris

NEW TO ME: Grant Morrison's JLA

I am a huge Grant Morrison fan. The Invisibles is one of the best things I've ever read. His work on All-Star Superman, New X-Men, Animal Man, and others have all been entertaining and thought-provoking. He's one of those writers whose work I will check out regardless of the subject or the character. He's that good.

But I haven't read everything, something I hope to rectify through the UMaine library, where I now work. To that end, I requested volume 1 of Morrison's well-regarded JLA run - New World Order.

With this book, I understand more clearly than with any other comic, the need for the story and the art to complement one another. Opening it up the other night, I only made it to page 4 before I dropped back on the pile and chose something else to read.

The art in this book is horrendous. What was DC thinking when they paired Morrison - one of the premiere writers of the medium - with Howard Porter? Hackneyed, cluttered, preposterous anatomy (reminiscent of the Liefeld clones), and a total lack of storytelling. It's dreck and it colors my feelings of the story, which feels pretty mundane and uninspired thus far.

I've only managed to get through the first two issues, and I don't know how much more I can take. I appreciate some of the things Morrison is trying to do in this story, but so far I'm not impressed. And it doesn't help that the surprise - that the villains, who are posing as superhero analogues of the JLA, are actually white martians - was included as part of the back cover copy. Who the hell thought that was a good idea? It's like the corporate idiots who included Gandalf in the trailer for The Two Towers. People who hadn't read The Lord of the Rings (95% of the movie-going audience, maybe??) thought he was dead. In the book, you're led to believe the wizard in white in Fangorn forest is Saruman. And when it's revealed to be Gandalf, that is one of the best reveals in literary history (in my opinion).

But I digress.

I'll finish this first book and try out the second. But if Morrison doesn't really elevate the writing and the ideas, I will probably bail, because the art is just that bad.

-chris