Customer Reviews

JLA Vol. 6: World War III

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

 

 

Morrison's trademark apocalypse comes right on schedule in his version of the JLA, which looks for all the world like a big-budget, mid-summer blockbuster movie. All the loose ends that you thought were forgotten about, all the characters that you thought just showed up for one issue, every superhero you can name and few that you can't come to the rescue in Morrison's admirably surreal take on the end of the world at the hands of a giant, planet devouring menace. It's a great read, and Howard Porter has finally gotten a handle on anatomy, as well as the classic Superman. The best of the series.

Ladies and Gentlemen who have been following the "Watchtower Era" JLA; let it be said here first: Maggedon Has Arrived! This book is truly incredible. A masterpiece of grand comic proportions. However, before you all take my word for it and order this book, let me tell you that first you should read or have read the following JLA titles: Midsummers Nightmare, JLA: American Dreams,JLA: Rock Of Ages, JLA: Strength in Numbers, and JLA: Justice for All. It helps to have read most other JLA books, for character backgrounds, but these four contain some important forboding elements that really make World War 3 the powerhouse it is. Aside from the extensive need for background info, this is really an increible book. It's no Kingdom Come, but still a masterpiece all in itself. The major fault I would find with this book is that it's not really worth it all by itself. You really need to have read the whole story arc to truely appriciate how long this has been building. Additional!ly, the story does flow rather fast for such an epic experience. Bottem Line: A very good JLA book.

I really enjoyed most of Grant Morrison's run on JLA. Unfortunately, his work grew rather weak towards the tail end of his run, and you'll certainly find evidence of that in this collection.

My overall gripe with this run is that it reads like a big super hero story done exactly by the numbers. It feels as if Morrison ran down a checklist of necessary story elements, checking each of in order as he included them in the plot.

The main threat in the story is a 15 billion year old doomsday weapon which has thrown Earth into peril. Global threat of cosmic origin - check. The bummer is, you never get the impression that this is anything more than a plot device. It's there because it needs to be there.

As if that weren't enough, we have the formation of a new Injustice Gang. With impeccable timing, they come together to give the Justice League a sound thrashing at the worst possible moment. Thread of destruction from super villains - check.

The real downer is that Morrision brings Prometheus, a character who I really enjoyed in his previous runs, back into the book. He then uses the characters in several sequences that fail to impress. First, there is a confrontation with Oracle which resolves itself between pages. This really doesn't fly; Prometheus is capable of taking down the entire league, yet we are to believe that Oracle is saved from impending doom that cleanly? Later, Prometheus comes to blows with Batman - and it's obvious that the confrontation was only a means for Morrison to work in what he thought was a cool idea regarding Prometheus' helmet. Both fights (Oracle and Batman) seem to have been put in place so that Morrision could use this plot device, and it comes across as lazy story telling.

I know that super hero stories are built on clichés. The good guys always win; there is often some new cosmic threat which we've never seen before - whatever. A good super hero story can have all of these clichés, but can still feel fresh. Nothing here feels new or particularly special.

In addition to Morrision's less than exciting JLA story, there is also a Spectre story by J.M. Dematteis. I love J.M. Dematteis. However, I wasn't especially impressed by this issue. It could be that I'm biased, as I never warmed to the idea of Hal Joran becoming The Spectre. Either way, it didn't do anything to raise my opinion of this trade paperback.

Don't get me wrong, Morrision did some great work on JLA. This just isn't it.

I remember years ago hearing people say how Grant Morrison saved and revitalized the JLA. As a matter of fact I still hear people say this. Some consider his JLA stories to be groundbreaking epics of altered consciousness painted on a grand scale. His work on JLA was a very popular in terms of sales and fan reaction. But I have to ask am I the only one who finds this more than a little puzzling? I have now read all six JLA trades comprising Morrison's run on the title and I don't see what all the praise is about. I will grant that his use of the White Martians at the start of his run was an interesting idea but it didn't amount to much in the end. And that I see as a consistent trait with his JLA work. He seems to insist on working on a huge canvas when from what I can tell he is not much beyond paint by numbers. His stories are choppy and inconsistent leaving the reader wondering what's going on from moment to moment. In his stories he plays with our perceptions of dimension, time and consciousness with often little regard to characterization. I think he is more concerned with creating some grand catastrophe for his characters to battle than he is in making the story actually work for the reader.

This trade which reprints JLA 34-41 concerns the formation of a new Injustice Gang and the imminent threat of a 15 billion year old galaxy destroying doomsday weapon called Mageddon. This is yet another Grant Morrison tale that goes through the motions of giving you lots of action but very little story. We are told that this Mageddon is an unstoppable doomsday weapon that causes those of an evil nature to wage war against those of a good nature until all are corrupted by its influence. But before the JLA can face Mageddon they have to deal with the Injustice Gang. After bypassing the JLA's security measures the Injustice Gang decimates the Watchtower leaving the team in disarray.

Now this brings us to the character of Prometheus. Morrison has described this character he created as "the anti-Batman." As we all know Batman trained himself to be a weapon against crime after seeing his parents killed by a criminal. Prometheus trained himself to be a weapon against law after seeing his criminal parents killed by the police. He created a helmet that feeds the skills and abilities of others he keeps stored on compact discs directly into his central nervous system. He confronts Oracle in her clock tower and offers to use his technology to restore her legs if she will betray the JLA. When she refuses he knocks her through the face of the clock leaving her hanging on to one of the clock hands. When we see Oracle again next issue she is safe and sound back in her wheelchair inside the clock tower but we never find out how this happened. I guess this happened in one of the Batman related books. It would have been nice if Morrison had made some mention of how she survived since she had no way to call for help.

Despite having no weapons available Oracle somehow managed to damage Prometheus' helmet when he attacked her. During a previous fight the JLA had with Prometheus Batman had captured one of his helmets and ran tests on it to find out how it worked. When he returns to get his spare helmet he knocks out Huntress and is then confronted by Batman. During their fight Batman pulls out a device that rewrites the information on his disc leaving him helpless. Why would Batman even bother to fight him if he didn't have to? This doesn't sound like the master strategist Batman is supposed to be.

I would have given this trade a one star review if not for the Spectre story in issue 35. It concerns Hal Jordan trying to find a way to balance his role as The Spectre against his humanity. It's an interesting story that shows some members of the JLA could be open to judgement by the Spectre. J.M DeMatteis wrote this story.

Having now read Morrison's work on JLA I'm not inclined to try anything else of his. If over reaching convoluted stories are your idea of good comics you may just like Grant Morrison's JLA. But if you prefer your comics have great stories and well written characters I suggest you buy Kurt Busiek's Avengers stories or his creator owned work in Astro City. You'll be glad you did.

This book contains the final chapters of Grant Morrison's JLA, and it is the final that everybody wanted. With the most powerful heroes of DC Universe, Morrison had constructed a mighty League, a team made to confront Apocalipsys once and another time. "World War III" keeps that line, but this time the JLA fights the definitive menace. The story is full of emotion, epics and imagination, as Morrison had been doing till here, and Howard Porter's art is as spectacular and surprising as ever. Obligatory for JLA's fans, and a good choice if you are seeking a good superheroes story (but first, make a friend tell you what happens in JLA: Rock of Ages).

Its difficult for me to review Morrison's wrapup to his run on JLA. Personally, I thought many of his stories were excellent- I have never seen Barda and Orion used as well as they were by Morrison, for one thing. This volume starts well - the new Injustice Gang (sigh- with the exception of the Queen Bee, who is possibly the dumbest mega-villain I've ever seen) reunites to take out the JLA, not realizing a greater menace is on the horizon. Luthor, Prometheus, the Colonel (good villain, stupid name) are pretty fun villains, though Luthor seems to have almost nothing to do.

Unfortunately, after the Injustice Gang attacks, the story starts to slide as the menace is revealed. For me, Megadon is another dumb idea- without spoiling anyone's read, its not a person or an entity, its a weapon, an automated machine- because of this, all the personality usually associated with a terrific villain is not in evidence here. Yes, the earth will be destroyed, yes the heroes ban together with heroes past to defeat the menace, et al. Unfortunately, the menace is so stupid and underwhelming that by the time the JLA comes up with the ridiculously cheesy manner in which they defeat Megadon, you're ready for it all to be over anyway.

In short, the first 100 pages are a thrill ride - I just have issues with the last.

This storyline had TOO much hype behind it to begin with and it didn't deliever everything the fans were promised. I mean first of all the title World War 3 doesn't fit the story! They should've just called it Mageddon it would've made more sense. Second, they had A LOT of old super hero's that you don't normally see in the DC universe in the comic but they bearly used them at all. Like Captain Marvel (Shazam) for example he didn't do ANYTHING! The only reason why I gave this book a 3 is because of the fight between Batman and Prometheus! THIS WAS THE HIGHLIGHT of the comic and one of the best action scenes! To tell the truth its the only reason why I got it. However, I wouldn't exactly recommend this graphic novel to someone instead I recommend you go get "Rock of Ages", "Tower of Babel", or "Strength in Numbers".

Like I said before the only thing good about this storyline is the fight between Batman and Prometheus. So if you have no other reason to get this graphic novel at least get it for that fight!

The JLA face a doomsday weapon known as the Anti-Sun, the Primordial Annihilator, and Mageddon in this story from Grant Morrison. Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang (consisting of Luthor, Zazzala, Prometheus, and General Eiling) destroy the JLA's moon-based Watchtower before Mageddon takes over Luther's mind. The JLA find assistance from Oracle (Barbara Gordon), Big Barda, and Orion who brings his dog Sturmer along for the ride. It's very over-the-top and fun.

The Justice League face a large scale menace from space, and with that on their plate already, the Injustice Gang and that bald guy that likes to harrass Superman decide the time is right to make a play for dominance.

The League will not be able to overcome such threats without sacrifice.

These were originally published as JLA #34 - #41.

The World War III story is the best one of the JLA series so far. Not only does it bring together many of the previous stories, it also yet again brings forth the basic characters of several of the key JLAers.

This is the end of the world saga foretold in several earlier JLA issues. The Injustice League is back as well, recruiting previous nemesis Prometheis (although Batman, whom Prometheis handily whooped last time, has a few tricks in store for him). The injustice league also rescues General Eiling from an asteroid where he was marooned several issues ago. But the return of the Injustice League isn't the main event; the end of the world as foretold by many (Meteron, Hourman, Zauriel to some extent) is coming, in the form of the aptly named Mageddon. This is the threat that Orion and Barda were sent to Earth to fight, although it seems even greater than their powers.

Batman, Superman, Green Lantern and Plastic Man all get to show their character, flaws and all. Again, this is what makes JLA among the best graphic novels: the heroes have character flaws, even Superman, and the JLAers sometimes dig into each other.

The best bit is Batman, the king of despair, helping Superman, the eternal optimist, overcome mental anguish caused by Maggedon.

The worst part of the JLA is all of the changes that happen in the characters own comics. Diana is back as Wonder Woman, replacing her mother with no explanation. Other characters wander in and out (though there is some great interaction with Huntress, Superman and Batman).

Fav panel: pg 176: Zauriel, getting volunteers from the Pax Dei!