Customer Reviews

JLA (Book 2): American Dreams

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These were originally published as JLA #5-#9.

Unlike the first JLA collection, there are two good story lines in here: the angels, with Zauriel vs. Asmodel with the JLA joining Zauriel; and the Key, using the virtual mind probes on the JLA. Both excellent enemies for the combined might of the JLA.

As I'm reading these, I realize the perils of "collection" stories...there are events that happen to the individuals in their own books that are represented but not explained. For instance, in this one Superman is a being of pure energy, wearing a flouresant blue suit that contains the energy and allows him to use it. Gotta ask my son what's going on to keep up.

Favorite panel: my son and I agree this time: page 7, GL and Flash are playing a GL manufactured Rock'M'Sock'M robots, talking about how scary Batman is and the changes in Superman. These two always provide the humor. But in a different tone, on page 30 and 31, Flash ends up giving advice and counsel to Superman, on being who he is...then he jets back to being Flash.

Also like the entrance of the young Green Arrow.

On to #3!

I have to disagree w/ a lot of the negative reviews that have been given to this book. Someone said, Morrison's getting better...better from what, did he stink before? I mean the other JLA story he'd written before was the New World order which was recently picked by Wizard as one of the top JLA must-reads. So, I really don't get the negative reviews. The first story has an amusind audition of potential JLA members, such as Hit Man, Damage etc. but the final pick is Tomorrow Woman who is an android. The next story features the arrival of Zauriel, a fallen angel who is hunted by Asmodel. The dialogue is a bit confusing but the story is good. The final story features the Key and how he is foiled by the new Green Arrow. The Key puts all the JLA in a trance and brings them into an elseworlds scenerio which was very entertaining. The stories are good and the trade is recommended.

Grant Morrison can pen some cool tales, and while these aren't his best, their are quite good and clever? The three stories (from JLA #5-9) include a new JLA member, a plague of angels and the JLA saving the day... which will give one villain ultimate power.
In the first tale Professor Ivo and T. O. Morrow create the Tomorrow Woman: a superhero to infiltrate the JLA and destroy it. But T. O. Morrow's plan might not be what anyone expects and may save the day. A great tale about personal [word not in vocabulary].
Then the Zauriel, the Angel of love is found on the run from other angels? What do they want and why are they trying to level a city to get it? Only the JLA can stop these evil cherubs but with the arrival of Asmodel all hope seems lost. If that wasn't enough Flash is trapped in a teleport and Superman is stuck on the moon, trying to stop it from crashing into the Earth courtesy of Neuron? How can all of these problems be solved? Within two issues no less?

Finally the JLA gets home and prepares for the arrival of Green Arrow when they are all knocked out by the Key. The enlightened madman puts the JLA through mental interpretations of alternate realities. Appearently, when they all figure out it ain't real, the Key will be able to conquer the universe. Only Conner Hawke and his dad's goofy trick arrows can save they day! The story is as strange as it sounds and it's great!
Grant Morrison is obviously having a lot of fun with these stories and finally giving the JLA worthy foes. Check it out!

After beginning the relaunch of DC's greatest team with a bang, Grant Morrison just keeps on rolling as The Magnificent Seven take on no less than the forces of heaven itself! Morrison has captured the fantastic heroes' personalities to a tee. And penciller Howard Porter is nothing short of amazing. Simple lines when needed and detail when appropriate, Porter has a cinematic eye towards page design and panel layout. The action is dynamic and fluid, there is no confusion as to what exactly is happening. Back to Morrison, his strentgh is apparent in the little things he has his superheroes do; such as Flash's instantaneous redesign of the JLA trophy room or the insight into Superman's anxitey. The latter leads to the greatest moment of the book as Flash remarks on Supes' worries about living up to his image: "This is a man worried about living up to the name? He's wrestling an ANGEL!" Spectacular work by all!

I tend to be a traditionalist when it comes to changes in long running cartoon characters, finding it difficult to accept any significant changes in their appearance. Yet, I also enjoy how the characters have evolved over the years, in retrospect the dialog and behavior of the DC superhero characters at the height of the comics code authority was stiff and artificial.
With this backdrop, I found this set of stories about the new Justice League entertaining, despite the major changes in the old-line characters. Superman is now silver and blue with additional powers, the Flash and Green Lantern have different alter egos and Aquaman has a completely different appearance. In keeping with the consistency of most female characters in the comics, Wonder Woman now has large and partially uncovered breasts. The lecherous male cannot help but wonder how they stay contained when she is engaged in a physical altercation.
In general, it is a positive trend that the characters with super powers now act more as humans rather than as stiff and predictable semi-robots. It allows for a much greater range of plots and makes them more unpredictable. My favorite change is in the Batman character, he is now much more cerebral, very much the brains of the JLA.

One of the worst graphic novels I have ever read. The first story, about Tomorrow Woman, is the tired old cliche of robot becoming human. Poor Asimov is rolling over. The middle story about angels is well nigh unintelligble. There are entire frames that seem to be from some other story. The last piece about The Key is okay but half the story is the villain posing about and telling you what his plan is as opposed to allowing it to be expressed through the story. Sad writing really makes this book bomb.

The stories in this volume are about as good as you could get with this era's DC heroes. DC had some goofy stuff going on then. Superman no longer had a mullet, now he was electric blue and looked ridiculous. Green Lantern was a manga fan who made goofy rock-em sock-em robots with his ring. Speedy was Green Arrow, and so much more. That I don't blame on JLA, that's what DC was up to with these previously iconic characters.

So, take a bunch of characters that were being seriously screwed up and put them in a pretty decent couple of story lines and that is what you have here. If you're a JLA fan and need this to complete your set, then buy it. If you are wanting to dabble into some good DC stories... well... there are a lot better ones than this to do it with.

So I can basically separate this volume into three different stories. The first starts off with the recruitment of a new member to the JLA and centers on new member Tomorrow Woman. It's an OK self contained story, but doesn't have any huge impact on the series or characters.

The next story is 2 parter, Heaven on Earth, which introduces us to a new character Zauriel, an angel made mortal who is being pursued by Asmodel a king angel and his army of heaven. It's a pretty epic story and Zauuriel is a cool character but that's about it.

The final 2 part story features the return of The Key. This is by far the best story, mostly because its the only one that features Batman and it gives us a cool elseworld look at Batman in the future. We also get to see the new Green Arrow in action.

It is better than Vol. 1, but I still feel this series could be better. Hopefully Morrison is just warming up and leading to something much bigger. The artwork by Porter is fine, but by the time Jimenez takes over on the final story, I much prefer it.

This isn't my favorite Grant Morrison JLA collection, (check out World War III, Earth-2, and JLA One Million for the best) but there's a lot in here a I enjoyed. There's an excellent stand-alone story at the beginning, and I love what Morrison does with Zaurial and the young Green Arrow. Entertaining read, as usual. And yeah, Superman is blue, but you don't have to know anything about that story to enjoy this collection.

I've been collecting the TPB series for JLA for a while now. This is just one more notch to add to that belt. Thanks for a great addition to my collection.