Customer Reviews

JLA:The Ultimate Guide to the Justice League of America

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

 

 

When I first received the book, I was stunned to see how thin it was compared to the X-Men version (almost twice the size). That was already a bad sign. This book is devoted to the current incarnation of the Justice League. There is a two page spread that mention the several past incarnations, but nothing more. It is a shame that the Justice League history was treated with such unimportance. No in-depth coverage of the beginnings of the league, the tragic era (with Steel, Vibe, Vixen, and Gypsy), and Justice International (with my faves Blue Beetle and Booster Gold). They could have easily taken the time and effort to present a more comprehensive history. At least feature a few more characters prominently like the Red Tornado and Black Canary instead of giving them corner blurbs. In scanning the book, there is even text missing from one of the pages.

Despite the huge disappointment on my part, I still give the book 3 stars. It still has the brilliant presentation and younger readers will be less affected by the lack of history and acknowledgement of the previous leagues. I just don't understand why this book got only half the attention in comparison to the X-Men when it could have easily been filled out more. I would be interested in seeing a revision some day that gives the Justice League the attention they deserve.

The latest in DK's series in looking at DC's superheroes and by Mr. Beatty. The first two being last year's Batman and this year's Superman.

The work that goes into these books is phenomenol, and the effort really shows. It'a a fun read, and full of facts from the forty some years of Justice League history. The maps on the JLA watchtower and various sites are incredible, and the imagination of those who work those sites out are astonishing.

One thing that is a challenge to Mr. Beatty is DC's "revisionism" of its own history. So the good author has to try to keep current with the what's going on now, and sort of put the discontinued history on the back burner. Which is sort of a shame, because the pre-Crisis Universe had some good stories and characters that we haven't got the time to focus one.

The last six pages which gives the run down on ALL the Justice League history is the best part for me, because it goes despite the revisionism. For me the ORIGINAl Justice League will always be Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. Not the revised Black Canary filling in for Wonder Woman.

It's little things like this which makes it harder for authors such as Mr. Beatty to work on doing "histories" as opposed to the Marvel Group which hasn't done such rewritings.

I still would have like some photos from the Justice League Incarnations from the various television shows and such. This is knitpicking on my part.

It's a good read, and a good run down on the group.

Hopefully Mr. Beatty can continue on in the series, and do a few more.

This guide follows the rest of the Ultimate Guide/Visual Dictionary series of books by DK, with the emphasis on the current JLA envisioned by Grant Morrison.

Full of pictures, and "popup video" style tidbits about the characters, it is a quick, easy to absorb gallery of characters used in the JLA comic book series by DC.

What it lacks is the comprehensive info for the Justice League of America and its other incarnations, but then again, it was listed as JLA: the Ultimate Guide. Because of that it's great for what it's worth. The timeline does make a nice attempt to mention all of its past incarnations.

One thing... it keeps mentioning Triumph, but it didn't really show who this traitorous character is or looks like.

I do agree with the person who said that this book should have had more on previous Justice Leagues, but if you just recently got in to comics and want to know more this book is a must have.

One of the better superhero guides put out recently, this presents a highly entertaining overview of the League. Wisely, it opts to forgo a mind-numbing encyclopediac recitation of every hero who somehow stumbled into the JLA, and instead focuses on the most recent series. For purists, there is a fairly complete (if brief) history of the JLA's previous incarnations, and a detailed timeline that acknowledges both the actual comics and the multiple revisions that DC has made to the JLA's history over the years. Even longtime fans of the JLA should find new information, or at least a convenient (and attractively designed) handbook giving a helpful history of the JLA. Though there are one or two characters that get short shrift (Zatanna and Captain Atom, for example), this book remains one of the more informative and entertaining "ultimate guides". Recommended.

I really enjoyed this book, but the author shouldn't have lied saying that this is the ultimate guide to the JLA. There is so much left out, its all about the league now and has nothing to do with the history of the league, Steel gets a whole page and Hal Jordan is hardly mentioned. The green Lantern page is all Kyle. Which I understand that the author was giving an up to date guide to the JLA but...priorities are way off. The book is extremely thin and could have easily been a larger book with ample information in it. A better title would be -A pretty good guide to today's justice league and Characters-

This is a quick and informative guide to the leagues members,enemies and back issues.For the price it is a steal.

If you want the ultimate authority on all things Justice League, then this is the book for you. It starts with the Golden Age of the Justice League (including origins of the Justice Society) and brings us forward to the modern Justice League now see on the cartoon channel.

Great colors and glossy pages, but it focuses way too much on the Grant Morrison "Big 7" days and not enough about the history and many incarnations of the League.

I was somewhat worried about getting my nephew a book versus a toy for Christmas, but he loved this book. I flipped through it and the content was fine for a nine years old versus some other comic books that I had looked at.