Customer Reviews

Superman: The Never-Ending Battle (Justice League of America)

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

 

 

Part of the JLA series. This is how you do one of these. Give Mr. Stern a shot at a few more. Heroic heroes, some interesting characterisations, and your top line super villain. A really sweet ending, too.

overall i was pleased with the book. i like how the novel isnt just about superman but all of the major JLA characters and even some minor ones like The Atom. i think the characters stayed true to there characterization. superman is and always will be the nicest most polite person in the world. the only problem i had with the book is the plot. specificly the bad guy. i dont want t o give it away but it turns out to be a normal man, not Dark seid or doomsday or lex luthor...just a regular villian human varity. i think superman was overkill for the baddy. Batman could have handeld the entire situation. the only thing superman and the other superpowered people int he JLA were good for was stoping the "natural Disasters" which in my opinion is unrealistic. i dont think there was any inocent loss of life which...come on. whatever. i read Stone King liked it, i read Stop motion liked it, i read Exterminators i really like it and now Never ending battle is good too. next i will read Green Lanterns Hero's quest. i know im reading them out of order but its like there a series. maybe i will pick up Wonder Womans book but its not looking good. and by the way... Where is the Martian Manhunters novel!!!

Performed by 29 actors.
Duration: 6 hours

GraphicAudio promises "A Movie In Your Mind" and they come awfully close with 29 actors, special effects, music and a go-go-go plot. While not the best of the Justice League series that I have listened to, it was still quite entertaining.

Superman and the rest of the Justice League get caught up in a series of weather-related missions and about one-third of the way into the story the JLA begins to suspect that someone is manipulating the weather - summertime blizzards, ultra-thick fogs, record numbers of tornadoes, droughts and even worse abound. The questions, of course, are who is doing this and why are they doing it?

The main characters in this mission are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, The Martian Manhunter and the Atom who mostly sits in the satellite headquarters monitoring maps and analyzing data. Superman, though, is the star.We get to see how he he somehow pulls off having a secret identity and still has time to be the "Man of Steel." We learn about his specially designed interest to the apartment he shares with his wife, Lois Lane and how he manages to turn in his assignments for the Daily Planet despite the time he takes out to save the world on a regular basis.

Superman has long conversations with his parents, Lois Lane, The Flash (including a nifty little cross-country run together), the Martian Manhunter, Batman and a particularly good one with the Green Lantern in which he is directly asked if he has ever considered just taking over the world and using his powers to make things about as good as they can be. The answer? Yes (who wouldn't, just for a moment?) but he looks to the example of George Washington who turned down the chance to be king twice (for that his old opponent George III called him the greatest man in the world). Superman even philosophizes to the villain in the story about why he fights for the rights of people to lead their own lives, even if they do not appreciate him.

Really, the plot is just an excuse to look at Superman, his life, his fears and how he moves past them, his influences, his philosophy and how he inspires and supports the rest of the Justice League. Batman is intriguing and the Flash is fun but Superman, the original Boy Scout superhero is really the foundation of the whole phenomenon. He is what we would all hope that we would be if we were suddenly endowed with super powers. Listen to this one for a boatload of action, but mostly listen to this one as an homage to Krypton's Last Son and also a humble Kansas farm boy - Superman.

There's little to object to, continuity- or character-wise, in this workmanlike product by veteran comics writer Roger Stern. Nor is there anything to be particularly enthused about in terms of interesting story or character insights. Imagine a stand-alone giant-size/annual by a guest writer, and you've got this tale. Entertaining but ultimately forgettable. Glad I read it, but not thinking I'll go back and read it again.

3.5 stars.

Though ostensibly a Superman novel, this is really more of an ensemble piece like JLA:Exterminators. Though Superman is the featured hero we have prominent roles played by both civilians and the other major JLA members.

The best parts of the novel are the very basic, human interludes showing the heroes as people in their downtime. J'onn eating ice cream, Wally and Kyle getting chili.

Just as with the previous Hero's Quest though, the book starts well then slows. The plot takes some time to develop and the action scenes are not that well done after the Alaska disaster. The main problem is really too much exposition, too much telling and not enough showing. There were probably one or two superfluous minor weather disasters as well that could have been edited out. In particular the blizzard at the Atom's university.

These faults aside, the team effort of Batman, Superman and the rest of the JLA working together make this an above average entry in this series. I can only hope that the neglected Manhunter, the heart and soul of the JLA gets a novel.

I greatly enjoyed this story, just as I'd expected to - the writer, Roger Stern, is a gifted author with many previous home runs in superhero fiction. (click on the Amazon link to his name to see what I mean) How can this not turn into a movie?

I've now read Graphic Audio Justice League of America titles on Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern, and are in the middle of The Flash. These audio CD's have a full-cast with additional orchestral/music scores and sound effects. It's nice to hear the same voices doing the same characters across multiple audio books. As a reader of comic books when I was young, it's nice to come back to the same big name superheroes. Each individual story includes the superhero's original tale woven into the narrative and each provides additional insight into their daily lives. DC Comics has always been more black-and-white, while Marvel and other independents have been more "grey", in their treatment of issues/characters/motives and this continues in these stories. I listen to these in the car and its really easy to visualize what is happening as I pass the time on my long commutes. The use of a narrator is very helpful as I've listened to other audio CD's that don't make use of a narrator and try to directly port the story from a comic book and those are hard to follow in terms of scenes/location changes.

This one on Superman is the most balanced so far in terms of time spent with each of the members of the Justice League. While it's focus is on Superman, the others do get their own time instead of quick cameos. I recommend it as the first title in the series to listen to.

I highly recommend this series of audio books from Graphic Audio for anyone who is a fan of comic books and the DC Universe. As an audio book, you can't ask for anything more in the experience.

Yet another novel based on comic book characters . As to be expected this isn't a great work of art, although this little paperback is readable enough.
The author Roger Stern is a name well known to comic book geeks. He's worked on a number of publications over the years, but perhaps most famous for his run on the Superman titles. So it is nice to see an old hand at work here. Lots of minor characters from the Superman comics like Bibbo, Dan Turpin and Cat Grant.

The story is a bit weak. Basically a couple of super villians are manipulating the weather and causing all sorts of natural disasters which Superman and the rest of the Justice League have to stop. (Despite Superman snagging the cover title, this really is a Justice League book and the other members get almost equal time to Superman).

This is probably just personal preference, but I never really cared much for natural disaster type stories in my superhero books. I prefer more tangible villians. The first couple thirds of this book I was slightly bored by. I thought it picked up in the end when the villian was revealed to be Kobra. (Kobra is apparently one of the more infamous villians in the DC universe, but I had somehow missed him during my comic book Geek days, and I enjoyed the education this book gave me).

This book also showcases a lot of the superheros in quieter moments. For example in one place Superman and Lois Lane spend a good ten pages simply talking about their love for each other. Other similar scenes are written in for other characters. I suppose you could argue that this is either a master story teller showing off how he can keep the reader's interest even while slowing down the pace of the story and adding characterization. Or you could argue this is filler for a story that doesn't have much of a plot, depending on whether you were inclined to be generous or critical.

There's a bit of philosophy thrown in here. References to the Paradoxical Commandments, and a parady of religious fundamentalism. It's not quite enough to boost this book to this book up to high brow respectability, but it does help to heighten the overall enjoyment.

If like me you have heard the other amazing Graphic Audio Dramatisations, you will be aware of the extrodinary production value of these classic stories. Unfortunatley it is wasted on this CD, the story is extremely poor for thos format. Not worth the effort for the cast or crew. But i will continue buying all new DC Graphic Audio Dramatisations.

Overall, I enjoyed "Superman: The Never-Ending Battle" more than "Green Lantern: Hero's Quest" ... but not enough to give it that extra star in the rating.

I usually discuss my most notable likes and dislikes about the books I read, but the fact that I am having trouble with this one says something on its own. The book was an almost perfect "So-So." It was not really good, it was not really bad. There were SMALL elements that I liked, such as Superman's description of how it feels to fly. There were EQUALLY small elements that I did NOT like, such as the over use of Wonder Woman's plane.

But that's just it. These are LITTLE pluses and minuses. With the Green Lantern novel, I thought that the first half was better than the second half. THIS book was pretty much level all the way through. I would think of this book as a "5" out of 10, then as a 6, then back to a 5, then as a 4, the back to a 5. And so on and so on. You get the idea.

In the end, I decided it was just that: A middle of the road book. It was worth the time it took to read. Nothing more and nothing less ... but I guess it ALSO says something that, in the end, I AM now curious about reading the other Justice League of America books. Hmm. I guess it's too bad Amazon doesn't allow 3 ½ stars after all.