JLA (Book 7): Tower of Babel [Paperback]

Mark Waid (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156389727X
• ISBN-13: 978-1563897276
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > DC Comics
  • #47 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Superheroes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Business Is Business, or Is It?, September 18, 2003

By 

Savant11 "Savant11" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JLA (Book 7): Tower of Babel (Paperback)

When people ask me, why I like Batman. I tell them because he's a business man. He thinks and acts like a business man. He is ruthless, single minded and cunning. And nowhere is this more apparent than in this title.

Normally when we think of Batman we think of a vigilante who haunts the night trying to bring down the bad guys. I believe that he is much more complex than this. Batman is a man who, having suffered tragedy at a very young age, Has vowed never to be life's victim again. And thus, he does everything in his power to strategize and manipulate in order to make sure that he comes out on top. Like any successful man of power he plans all the way to end. Considering every possibility...everything that could and can go wrong in a given scenario. Batman is the sort of hero Machiavelli would admire because he is willing to do ugly things (short of murder) to accomplish his objectives.

Law #2 in the 48 Laws of Power (by Robert Greene), says "never put too much trust in friends". And this is essentially what is behind Batman's actions in this book. Batman is well aware of what lies behind men's hearts. He knows how fickle they can be. They can be loyal to you one minute and betray you the next. This is what has driven Batman to accumulate information on each JLA member. He has studied each member their character, their powers and has devised a stratagem to bring each one down. Should one of them turn to evil in the future.

Unfortunately Ra's Al Ghul (translated as The Deamons Head) Batman's foe. Has discovered the information that Batman has been keeping in his lair. And has used it to disable each member of the JLA so that he can carry out his plan to "purify" the earth.

When the members of the JLA find out that the heart of their misfortune originated with Batman. They vote to expel him. Not only because of what Ra's has done. But also because they all feel that he has betrayed their friendship. By keeping information on each one of them, Batman has essentially shown that he did not think very highly of his teammates in the JLA...when they trusted and admired him. When Batman is cast out I think it registers on him how badly he has been mistaken about friendship. And sometimes there is far more to getting a job done than the "business is business" philosophy.

I am not a JLA fan but this really is a very good story. And I liked it because it provided a very good study to Batman. For all of Batman's strategising. He never considered what would happen if the information got into the wrong hands. He never stopped to consider how hurt his friends would be. When Batman is expelled he doesn't simply walk away and shrug his shoulders. He actually looks hurt that his teamates have cast him aside for what he has done. It shows a different aspect to Batman than him simply being an arrogant loner. It shows that he actually cares about what other people think of him. And the loss of friendship.

Mark Waid has done a good job on this story.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly why Batman rules!!!, January 31, 2006

By 

XKAL (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JLA (Book 7): Tower of Babel (Paperback)

Batman is the weakest of all the members of the Justice League, because he is simply a human being with no powers. Yet, he is the best and most dangerous superhero out of all of them. That is awesome!!!

Tower of Babel show exactly why Batman is not a man to be looked over, but feared. He compulsively fight crime to the nth degree no matter the cost or who he alienates. Probably the most amazing attribute about Batman is his amazing brain. Forever strategizing how to maintain the upper hand over his enemies... and his friends.

Batman keeps a cool distance over his friends because deep down he believes that one day there is a strong chance he will have to take them out. Does it make him a bad, untrustworthy person? That is the issue the members of the Justice League have to come to terms with.

Batman's ingenious ways to defeat all of the JLA have fallen into the hands of one of his worst enemies, Ras Al Ghul. Every JLA member is incapacitated, and Batman is to blame.

A great read with dire consequences in the end. The question ultimately is... is Batman wrong for doing it? It is for you to decide. Enjoy.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!, October 8, 2005

By 

Rana BHATTACHARJEE "Rana Bhattacharjee" (Mannheim, Deutschland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: JLA (Book 7): Tower of Babel (Paperback)

This is among the best of JLA!
Classic tale of batman's contingency plans falling in the hands of Ra's Al Ghul and how he neutralises all the gun guns of JLA (Superman, Wonderwoman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Plasticman and Martian Manhunter.
Talia, the daugher of Ra's is potrayed as an efficient slealth soldier who focuses on one JLA-er at a time, taking him/her down based on the batman files. Talia's character is also fleshed out depicting her as the uneasy assasin torn between her father's totalistic measures and her relationship with the dark detective.

This story holds significance with the recent OMAC Project where another of batman's plans backfire.