Justice League of America: The Second Coming (JLA) (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Ed Benes (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Dwayne McDuffie, a writer-producer on the Emmy Award-winning animated series JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, joins forces with superstar artist Ed Benes for thrilling new adventures of the World's Greatest Super Team in this latest hardcover graphic novel collecting the series.

Red Tornado, the Justice League's resident android, discovers the culprit behind his recent malfunctions and the ensuing confrontation leads to a massive battle between the JLA and one of their oldest adversaries. Meanwhile, Vixen and Animal Man struggle with their own super-abilities and challenge a deadly being who warps the histories of every JLA member. It's DC's heaviest hitters as you've never seen them before!

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (May 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401222528
• ISBN-13: 978-1401222529
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #157,065 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Positive attributes do not outweigh negative ones unfortunately, May 19, 2009

By	Chris Zabel - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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This hardcover reprints issues 22 through 26 of the current Justice League of America. The first three issues deal with the return of Amazo, while the last two issues cover a story involving Vixen and the source of her powers.

The artwork, mostly by Ed Benes, is nice as usual and up to his regular quality. I have more problems with the writing of Dwayne McDuffie on this title, as I have found much of his past writing a bit pedestrian. He clearly plays favorites with a few characters that probably do not deserve the spotlight, such as Vixen and the Red Tornado. The second arc in this hardcover is basically a Vixen solo story in the guise of a what if story which involves some ridiculous spider god in her totem. It has no redeeming features other than a brief appearance by Animal Man. The Amazo story, which comprises the first arc, is a more traditional JLA story. While heavy on action and light on intricacy, it serves its purpose well as a decent and entertaining yarn.

I really can only recommend this particular volume to JLA completists who want the entire run.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars JLA: The Second Helping, May 12, 2009

By	Roochak - See all my reviews

Vixen's come a long way since her Wolverine haircut days. She's strong, beautiful, clever, and interesting enough to carry a five-issue Justice League story arc that revolves around her quest to learn the truth about, and regain control of, her malfunctioning powers. That said, what's interesting about her is her courage and resourcefulness, not her inner life; in Dwayne McDuffie's meat-and-potatoes superhero writing, she doesn't seem to have one.

"Meat and potatoes" -- is watching heroes being uncomplicatedly heroic not enough anymore? The League's three-issue battle with the revived killing machine Amazo is thrilling as hell, and Ed Benes's artwork (on the two chapters that he drew) is gorgeous, but for some of us there's more to even superhero comics than a long, but well-choreographed, fight scene. It's true that McDuffie had several hard acts to follow, including Brad Meltzer (who pitted the JLA against the ravages of time and memory), Joe Kelly (JLA vs. governmental and political authority), Mark Waid (JLA vs. their own inner demons), and Grant Morrison (JLA vs. an absurd and unstable universe).

I'm inclined to look at the two final chapters of SECOND COMING, with Vixen and Buddy (Animal Man) Baker held captive by a very chatty trickster god, as a metafictional experiment gone not so much wrong as gone boring. Things pick up when we enter the alternate world Gotham City, where the alternate world Batman is a gun-toting serial killer hunted by his nemesis, Jim Gordon. Oh, what a JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED episode that would've made!