Customer Reviews

Justice League of America: The Nail (JLA (DC Comics Unnumbered Paperback))

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The set-up for The Nail is amazingly straightforward: On the day Jonathan and Martha Kent would, in the "normal" DC Universe, discover a certain crashed rocketship, instead they postpone their trip into town because a nail's flattened one of their truck's tires. Thus they never find the ship, Kal El doesn't become Clark Kent doesn't become Superman. From that one divergence, writer/penciller Alan Davis builds a story that asks, "What would the DC Universe be like without Superman?"

It's a pretty grim place, actually, in which the Justice League of America consists of Aquaman (in the old yellow and green outfit), Atom, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkwoman, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman. Basically THE classic lineup, only no Superman, and Hawkwoman replaces Hawkman.

Barry Allen is still alive and the Flash.

Green Arrow, crippled in battle, has subsequently gone insane.

Batman, his friendship with Superman never teaching him the benefits of cooperation with other heroes, is at best an ambivalent JLA member. Operating in secrecy, dealing brutally with criminals, he's the superhero most feared and hated by the general populace.

Hawkman is dead; Hawkwoman soldiers on. This is to the good. The Silver Age Hawkgirl (here updated to Hawkwoman) was always criminally underused. Hawkman was the only Silver Age DC hero with a female counterpart as strong-willed, intelligent, competent, and even cooler than himself. The fact she was also his wife showed Hawkman was no dummy, either.

Green Lantern is still Hal Jordan, and, absent Superman, his ring makes him the most powerful hero in the DC Universe.

Lex Luthor, mayor of Metropolis, has turned the city into an anti-metahuman police state in which there are no superheroes but no superpowered crime, either. Because Metropolis never had its own costumed defender to deal with supercriminals, the people support him. Jimmy Olsen is deputy mayor.

Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon is dead, murdered.

In this world, a propaganda campaign to discredit metahumans moves into action. Without Superman as a universally respected symbol of superheroic good, it enjoys a measure of success. All over Earth, metahumans are beaten and kidnapped, most ominously by the Liberators, masked, black garbed, flying figures with Superman's powers. Most metahumans are put into a concentration camp, some killed outright. Finally, only a handful are left. The story proceeds from there. Who is the mastermind behind this plot? Where is Kal El? How does he fit into it all?

The Nail is an excellently written and drawn mainstream superhero tale (if you can call an Elseworlds "imaginary story" mainstream). Alan Davis is a talented writer, but it's his artwork here that will truly blow your mind. He has a real feel, and obvious love, for the Silver Age DC characters. In particular his redesign of Hawkgirl's uniform into Hawkwoman is superb. Every major hero in this story gets their own full-page splash. Each could stand to be framed as it truly captures the essence of a character. Mark Farmer's inking perfectly complements Davis' work.

The rear covers of the original 3-issue mini-series collected in this volume all ran a "colloquial adaptation of a verse by George Herbert (Jacula Prudentum 1651)": "For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, for want of a horse the knight was lost, for want of a knight the battle was lost. So it was a kingdom was lost - all for want of a nail." It's worth noting that, in addition to the obvious nail in the Kent's tire beginning the story, Superman is "the nail" of the DC Universe, the overriding symbol of everything a superhero should be, that holds together "the kingdom" of the DC Universe. His absence causes all the bad things occurring in The Nail, that nearly destroy every facet of the superheroic ideal on this world. It's sad that, since 1986 and the post-Crisis revamp of the Man of Steel, the DC Universe hasn't really had Superman, only a character somewhat resembling him. Perhaps, in subversive fashion, that's what Alan Davis is saying in a story in which the "worst of all possible worlds," a world without Superman, isn't all that different from the current DC Universe. In the end - not to give away too much of the story - it's the return of Silver Age virtues that saves the day, and this "DC Universe" as well.

Or perhaps I'm projecting too much into a simple funny book story. Read The Nail, and you decide.

The main focus of this story was to see how the other heroes of the DC Universe would function without Superman to help them win public approval and win acceptance from the public. Without Superman to lead them the heroes were slandered by the press and their lives were made miserable by the government. A different look at the DC Universe. Everything was changed all because there was no Superman.

What Alan Davis's goal of the Nail was to bring back the fun of the Silver Age of comics. The age where everything was simple and the characters were happy. Since Davis was raised on the heroes that appear in this book he uses them to the best of their ability. From Hal Jordan and Barry Allen still being alive to Hawkwoman having a very strong roll. A fun story with a little camp (See Villian at the end of story) and a lot of wonder. The best characters, amazing art, and a story with intrigue.

My only gripe is that it was not long enough. It felt rushed and hurried and the beginning left you more confused then needed. I would have liked a little more depth on either end of the book. But all in all a great read.

"For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of the shoe the horse was lost, for want of the horse the rider was lost, for want of the rider the kingdom was lost...."

Imagine a world without Superman. Imagine a world without the concept of Superman. You quickly see that the Kryptonian is more than merely the most physically powerful of the world's heroes. Superman is the one constantly good and true fact in the world. He is the nail at the center of the moral universe. Without his example and leadership would the rest of the super-heroes have the will and determination to oppose and triumph over evil no matter the cost? That's what this Elseworlds tale explores.

I found this tale to be one of the all time best in the history of graphic novels. I rank it up there with _Kingdom Come_ and Millar's _Dark Knight_. It is also an eye opening story about team work and the importance of a true leader. You can have all the greatest individual talents in the world on an all-star team, but without that selfless team leader who inspires everyone to forget their own egos and agendas and to play for something greater than themselves, then the team will crumble when the going gets tough and ruthless.

Yeah, I liked this story alot.

Imagine, a world without Superman, and that is just what DC did. The Justice League made up of Green Lantern (Hal Jorden), The Flash (Barry Allen), Aquaman (without a beard), Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, Atom, Martian Manhunter, and a particularly grim Batman, was amazing. Lex Luther the Mayor of Metropolis? Robin and Batgirl murdered by the Joker? Batman a Killer? Jimmy Olson the world's most powerful villian? Superman raised in an Amish home? Exactly. Find out for yourself just how good, JUSTCE LEAGUE: THE NAIL is. I recommend it to everyone.

Like so many other Elseworlds books, this starts with the simple question, " What would the DC universe be like if Superman had never been found by the Kents?" That question is answered by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer in this masterwork, and the answer is frightening. Without a Superman to check Lex Luthor, he's attained godlike political power, and his political platform is to criminalize all earth's heroes. Mysteriously, cameras are around to capture and misinterpret acts by various league members to make them look like monsters. Who's really behind the plan to wipe out the league is a shock, and the book has a nice twist ending.

It's also stunning to see Alan Davis's artistic take on so many DC heroes. Everyone from Katana to Black Canary, from Catwoman to Killer Croc, it seems 50% of the DCU is crammed into this one graphic novel, but not in a way that feels forced or rushed.

There are some very dark and disturbing moments in this volume, so it is better suited for older readers rather than younger ones. And because it's an Elseworlds it can be read by newcomers and veteran collectors alike.

Highly recommended for comic book fans.

I have been a JLA fan for the last 20+ years. The current title has been going in a brilliant direction for the last 4 years, and "The Nail" was a great supplement to the ongoing series. For what I believe was his first go at writing rather than just drawing (he followed this with an run at "X-Men"), Alan Davis put together a very engaging story. Davis took his own opportunity to pay tribute to some characters that he has never drawn before and some with which he made notable runs. While Davis had a solid history on Batman titles in the mid- to late- Eighties, his version in "The Nail" was more reminiscient of Neal Adams with a splash of Brian Bolland. Davis' Green Lantern also invoked 1970s Neal Adams (and what different fates GL and Green Arrow meet in this alternate reality). Another highlight that satiated my taste for eye candy (Did I mention how outstanding the art is in this book?) was the use of a full splash page somewhere in the series for each JLA member. Anyone ever pick up "JLA #200" back in 1981? God, they should reprint that one or something! Anyway, I thought the story made for a good murder mystery - there was a high enough body count to warrant that label. I was racking my brain at the time of the series' 3-part run as to how Kal-El would fit into a DC Universe that knew no Superman. I couldn't have picked a more interesting fate than the one Davis chose. Nice work, and recommended for those who consider themselves DC scholars of the last 30 years.

Most of the criticisms of the storyline have been right on the money: we're just getting too many dark "Elseworlds" stories from DC where old favorites go berserk and are responsible for the deaths of others, and it finally takes the reassertion of old superheroic values to put things to rights. We've had in the last few years "Kingdom Come," "the Golden Age," and on and on and on...

But this is worth buying just for the art alone. Alan Davis has about the finest lines of any working artist (his figures remind me of John Byrne in his better, earlier, more cartoonish days in the Seventies). He does a spectacular job of drawing several old Silver Age favorites (including an absolutely luscious Star Sapphire, making me wish DC would bring back that character to the Green Lantern series). The simplicity of the storytelling is also greatly appreciated, and the dialogue is done quite well. This would've been fantastic had he just chosen a more original plotline.

A lot of the reviews of this book seem to center around the fact that they believe Alan Davis, writer and penciller of this book, lied to them by saying the premise is a world without a Superman, then having Superman show up eventually. What they're forgetting is that Superman isn't Superman when he shows up. This is a world without Superman, but not a world without Kal-El. To say any more would be spoiling the fun, and I wouldn't do that.

Alan Davis is, for lack of a more flamboyant word, great. His pencilling skills have been honed over years of work, the best being on Captain Britain, Excalibur and Clandestine. His writing skills came into play on the two latter works. He has always had a knack for displaying both humor and serious overtones, sometimes at once. This has never come more into play than on "The Nail."

This is perhaps the most enjoyable Silver Age book I've ever read, even if it was made in the Modern Age. That's because it isn't silly, it isn't campy, and it isn't one to avoid serious themes. A grand amount of DC's Pre-Crisis history is used (if you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm sure you can find a synopsis, as it's too confusing to explain here), and used well. The characterization is excellent, especially that of Hal Jordan and Hawkwoman, two characters who I've felt never had the chance to truly shine. The artwork is vivid and magical, just like his other works, and the splash pages of each of the JLA members are something to behold.

If this comic is anything, it's a deep admiration for what has come before. It's a man in love with the stuff he read as a kid, and now using it to write one last grand drama with it. If you like this, you'll like the books I listed above, and vice versa. Pick it up and see why the kingdom was lost.

I've read comic for most of 45 years and I've read a lot of Justice League stories. This here is one of the very best ever. It ranks up there with Kingdom Come, New Frontier and Absolute Justice. This one may even top those elite titles.

If you've never read this. Don't hesitate. Pick up a copy however you can. You'll be in DC comics bliss.

The concept of the story is simple, What if Jonathan and Martha Kent were stopped from their fateful drive because of a flat tire? The Nail is that answer to such a question and it brilliantly instills the fact that Superman is indeed The Great American Legend. That is all I will say. Enjoy.