Customer Reviews

Exterminators (Justice League of America)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Christpoher Golden really knows how to write. Either that, or his editors are geniuses, for this book was truly a page turner.

A huge crop of new metahumans has appeared suddenly, and nearly all are linked to England. As one might expect, some try to use their power for good, some for evil, and some are simply whack-jobs. The situation grows much worse, though, when all the new metahumans begin to mutate into monsters.

This mutation, however, is the clue that the Justice League needs to solve the mystery. There is a definite tie between the new mutations and a mysterious foe that the League fought in their earliest days.

This book highlights the main JLA members: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, and Green Lantern; but there is also a large number of cameos by other heroes, including the Justice Society and many reserve JLA members. I was glad to see Firestorm again, even if only briefly. Some others who appear are Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Atom, Captain Atom, Steel, Nightwing (and mention of the rest of the Titans), and Captain Marvel. But these characters are not mere window-dressing, at least not universally, as we are given insights to their thoughts and views as well. This was a very nice addition, and one that could easily have been skipped, but these inclusions really made the supporting cast (despite a limited role and scope) a contributing element to the story.

Golden does a great job of taking the characters from the visual comic environment into the novel. The POV focuses on a single character at a time, but we are given insight into that character's views of the others in the JLA (and the current crisis) and how they feel about the past. Rather than a simple book of fights, there is a good undercurrent to the book, and effort was made to show some character evolution. I was very much impressed with the quality of the book, what I consider a faithful adherence to the fundamentals of the characters as they appear in the comics, along with a solid story in which to place them. Golden has, as with his Marvel novels, really set a high bar for others to follow. This is the best JLA book yet.

Flash, Green Lantern, Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, and Batman, while apprending criminals, find themselves assisted by previously unknown super powered individuals. But Batman is suspicous. Why are these new meta-humans appearing? And was their a villian for each new hero?

Good action-adventure for those of us who grew up reading these characters.

Maybe it's just my Silver Age sensabilities, but this book loses a star for a couple of mild profanities (the "d-word") that I felt were out of genera.

Generally, it's a good novel, and perhaps the first "real" JLA novel. Aquaman and the Atom get significant screen time (although the Atom seems a bit ineffectual at times). There are flashbacks to the original League, and we get POV stuff from Blue Bettle, Booster Gold, Nightwing, Hawkman, Mr. Terrific, and Firestorm. Captain Atom and Steel show up and do some significant stuff.

Certainly the book conveys the epic scale of a "save the world" Justice League adventure. I'd like to see an existing League villain appear in these books one of these days in a significant role. The "villains" here (both groups) are pretty personality-less by necessity.

The one really new character we get, Ian, is fairly interesting and is nicely developed. There's a general sense of cannon-fodder about many of the other new "metas" - the nameless teleporting girl and Bryan Francis seem kinda interesting, but get ushered off-stage pretty quickly.

Overall I'd recommend it for folks looking for a "comic book" kind of novel representing the Justice League, which to some degree the other three books in the series have lacked, whatever their own individual merits are.

I really liked this book. Some books about comic heroes are done very badly, whether it be bad writing, inaccurate portrayal of the characters, a lack of knowledge of the universe the characters are based in, etc. This book had none of that. It was also the first book in the JLA series (I think as of now, Batman, Flash & Wonder Woman are the only ones to get their own book) that had numerous characters. You could really tell the author had a lot of knowledge on the DC universe and he injects the book with many reservists JLA members at the end and even gives a few some POV scenes like Booster Gold. I also liked the hard ass portrayal of Captian Atom and Aquaman. I never even really thought of Aquaman as a tough guy until I read this book. I also loved how the Teen Titans and other teams made an appearance at the end.

The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is because I am such a comic fan and I didn't get a glimpse or even a reference to any villians in the DC universe. I understand that the threat was extra-terrestrial in orgin in the instance but it was such a large threat and the battleground so vast (Hong Kong, almost all of the UK, USA, etc.) that I felt at least a couple of villians should have showed up.

Bottom line, if you like comics and even if you really don't, this is a really good book.

The 4th book in the JLA series is the first that focuses on the core members as a group rather than highlighting one member. As well we see the extended JLA family and other DC heroes called in when things get to be too much for the core five members to handle on their own.

The effective use of the ensemble cast alone makes it a good work. Enhancing it further is the maturity of the themes. We get some looks differing philosophies of the JLA members in regards to acceptable treatment of villains. We get to see the JLA work under duress, not finding an optimal solution, not liking that the solution is not optimal but doing what needs to be done at the time.

At the end of the day the world is saved, but it is not joyous. The League wonders about their methods and second guesses themselves seriously. This fact and the character interactions of the heroes and the newly blossoming meta-humans make this work more mature and better than the previous novels in the series.

Not necessarily a fun read, but it is a good one with things to think about.

The story was very engaging. An intergallactic threat to the earth that the JLA were somewhat responsible for due to the haphazard way their founders handled themselves in an early Crisis at the beginning of the original Justice League of America.

The cover of the book is deceiving with Alex Ross' version of the league with Hal Jordan as Green Lantern. It is also evident that the book was written prior to the events at least the last six months or more in the DC Universe, as it references support from the Titans and Young Justice during the global crisis rather than the 'Outsiders' or 'Teen Titans' and other little things someone familiar with the ongoing series may notice. However the dated references do not take away from the story at all.

All in all it is a well written story and not only a book I would recommend, but the rest of the series as well. I think a new reader of comics would enjoy it as well as the seasoned veteran. If the new reader were to like the book, it may lead to him or her picking up a comic for the first time!

Ever wondered what the JLA would be like without the art? This book gives you the chance to experience it. Mr. Golden does a very laudable job of rendering these icons in prose and conveying their actions blow by blow to the reader.

The work touches upon many different characters throughout the DCU and gives you some truly interesting and enjoyable insights into the minds of many of the JLA's core members. I can honestly say that it enriched my concept and understanding of the JLA and it's members.

A well written book that uses great flashbacks and ties everything in nicely with all different characters and past vs. present. Like most of the books in this series, it has a terribly abrupt ending that is just left to say..ok..this happened and thats why. There is no action in the last chapter, just mention of it..sorry I doubt I ruined the book for you. Aside from the ending, I enjoyed the book and it was a pretty fast/easy read.

Being a great fan of JLA comic books,I couldn't wait to read this book. But after reading the book I felt disappointed. Like one of the other reviews mentioned, the characters was basically you typical comic book cliches.

Another problem I had was the stupid subplot involving Ian Partington, one of the new developed metahumans, who befriends Wally and Kyle. What made me hate this subplot even more was how Wally and Kyle only cared about Ian's safety over the safety of millions of innocent lives. It got annoying how they kept harping over a guy they just met twice for drinks. It just left a bad taste in my mouth

Also the third act of the book dragged on, by showing random battles involving other characters from the dc universe. I think the author was trying to portray the global scale of the crisis. But it became tedious because these random battles don't progress the story at all.

Also I didn't really care about the ending or the new twist that showed up in the third act of the book. Overall I don't understand why everyone praises this book. Nothing about it makes stand out or special. It just your typical comic book fluff

The culmination of the Justice League of America series finally brings us to the mega-teamup novel.
For some reason, ordinary people around the globe are being given super powers.

Finally, the JLA realise that there is an alien influence, and what is happening may be because of a very bad mistake they made in the past.

It takes a friendship made by The Flash and Green Lantern over a beer or two with one of the new metahumans to help resolve this crisis.