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OVERVIEW: JLA
Writer:
Grant Morrison Artists: Howard Porter and John Dell "I
fill the (stories) with ideas because I’ve got just so many (of
them). I want to read a comic that has a thousand ideas on every
page (because) that’s what’s pervading every area of the culture.
This is the new wave. These are the comics of the 21st century.
Get ready for them." DC Comics Executive Editor Mike Carlin described the notion of Grant Morrison writing JLA as "like driving past a car accident... because he’s that Vertigo guy... there’s an appeal to the danger of not knowing what he’ll do with it." Admittedly, I looked forward to JLA for much the same reason. Combined with the fact that I had read and enjoyed Morrison’s earlier takes on superheroes, ZENITH (Phase 1) and SKRULL KILL KREW, anticipation levels were high on my behalf. Thankfully, it delivered. It wasn’t the fact that this revamped Justice League featured DC’s ‘iconic’ characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter... "Five and a half icons," according to Joe Casey); it helped, but that was only part of its appeal. It was evident going in that Morrison has an imagination, and wasn’t afraid to use it. Look at THE INVISIBLES; whatever you may think of it, you can’t deny there’s some interesting stuff going on in there. Yes, Morrison’s JLA was going to be a trip - in both senses of the word. This is the travelogue. ‘Star Seed: The Secret Origin of the New JLA’ (JLA SECRET FILES #1) Following the events of the MIDSUMMER’S NIGHTMARE miniseries, the new League set up temporary residence in their predecessors’ satellite headquarters, only to be tested by the Spectre: can they avert a extraterrestial incursion without using their metahuman talents? This prologue to the ongoing series sets the tone for much of Morrison’s run: Silver Age concepts given a new-millenium polish. The character delinations and relationships are just beginning to be sketched out, and the story moves with breathless pace, ably carried by artistic regulars Porter and Dell. ‘Them!’/ ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’/ ‘War of the Worlds’/ ‘Invaders From Mars’ (JLA #’s 1 through 4) An alien superteam calling themselves the Hyperclan come to Earth, promising to usher in a new age for mankind. The League are immediately suspicious, and inevitably those suspicions are confirmed... Yes, it was somewhat familiar and derivative. (How many times has Earth been invaded in the DCU? A coupla dozen?) It works, though, largely because the focus is on the characters, not the spectacle. The members of the League, archtypical as they are, manage to suspend disbelief - save for GL’s dreadful L.A. surfer vernacular, one of Morrison’s rare missteps. They are no longer the interchangeable automations of their Sixties incarnation; Morrison recognizes the effort put into the revamps of the individual characters, and emphasizes the aspects best required for the purposes of the story. ‘Woman of Tomorrow’ (JLA #5) As a result of the Hyperclan incident, the League has relocated their headquarters to the moon, now called the Watchtower. Having invited new applicants to join their expanded roster, a new heroine known as Tomrrow Woman is accepted wholeheartedly by the League, but a simple turn of phrase will reveal her true purpose... The Silver Age influence is most evident here, from Morrison’s choice of villains (Professor Ivo and T.O. Morrow), to the closing twist and poignant final page. Easily my favourite single issue of Morrison’s run, and the cameo by Tommy ‘Hitman’ Monaghan is brillant. Tommy:
"...I kill people - for money." ‘Fire In The Sky’ / ‘Heaven on Earth’ (JLA #’s 6 and 7) "My name’s Zauriel... I was a guardian angel. I quit." And, not without good reason: he’s fallen in love. However, the Bull Host is hot on his trail, as Zauriel is privy to a plot to overthrow Heaven... Some neat imagery (Superman wrestling Asmodel, head of the Bull Host), some great character insights - notably Aquaman’s self-deprecation and the Manhunter’s refusal to surrender - and the introduction of Zauriel, who turned out to be a great character in his own right, add up to a fun ride. ‘Imaginary Stories’ / ‘Elseworlds’ (JLA #’s 8 and 9) Superman...Green Lantern of Krypton? Batman...retired and married to Catwoman? All is not what it seems, due to the machinations of the Key, who is using the imaginations of the League against them to power his ascent to godhood. It’s up to Connor Hawke, the new Green Arrow and recent League initiate, to stop him... but how, when all you’ve got at your disposal is a few dusty trophies? Oscar Jimenez fills in artiscally on this two-parter, and lends his lush pencil work well to depicting the various psychodramas the Leaguers experience. That’s only icing on the cake, though. The heart of the story lies in watching Connor take on the Key: a heady mixture of nostalgia (a boxing glove arrow?), humour, and ever escalating danger, with a particularly apropos denouement. ‘Rock of Ages’ (JLA #’s 10 through 15): ‘Genesis and Revelations’/ ‘Hostile Takeover’/ ‘Wonderworld’/ ‘Wasteland’/ ‘Twilight of the Gods’/ ‘Stone of Destiny’ Hard-light holographic doppelgangers of the League lay waste to Star City... The League’s hardiest foes unite for a concentrated attack on the team... A quest takes place for a object that can change the course of human history, reaching to the far ends of space-time and back again... A look at an alternate future where Darkseid is the alpha and omega of makind... It’s a heck of a mix, and a rewarding tale to boot. The beauty of it is that Morrison refuses to spoonfeed the reader, but makes sure that same reader isn’t dissatisfied at the conclusion of the arc. The sly reference to James Joyce encapsulates the thrust to ‘Rock of Ages’, and to Morrison’s run on JLA as a whole: superhero comicbooks as mind-expanding drug. Morrison, Porter and Dell have meshed terrifically at this point, and there is some nice pinch-hitting from the likes of Greg Land and Gary Frank in the final chapter. ‘Heroes’ (JLA SECRET FILES #2) "You are only forerunners. Prepare for the fortification of Earth." With Metron’s words ringing in their collectibe ears, the League regroups and refocuses in order to prepare for the future. Their new recruits: a fallen angel, an armoured inventor, a female vigilante and a slippery ex-con... Christopher Priest and Yanick Paquette bring us this tale of transition, and the subdued tone is a welcome change of pace. Steel and the Huntress get their respective moments in the sun, and there are the typical Priest touches: Ma and Pa Kent kowtowing to Aquaman, for instance. ‘There Was A Crooked Man’ (NEW YEAR’S EVIL: PROMETHEUS #1) Prometheus wants to destroy the League; this details the how and why, courtesy of Morrison and Arnie Jorgensen. Essentially an inversion of the Batman origin riff, which is kinda interesting to see. This leads into: ‘Camelot’ / ‘Prometheus Unbound’ (JLA #’s 16 and 17) The expanded League makes its media debut, with Prometheus crashing the party. Despite the hoopla with the new members - now including Orion and Barda of the New Gods (with Oracle behind the scenes) - the dispatching of Prometheus as at once succinct and trite, despite nearly succeeding in his mission. And with a burst of a Boom Tube, the first phase of Morrison’s JLA was over. The next quartet of issues were guest written by Mark Waid, with the first two-parter guest-starring the Atom, and the second featuring Adam Strange. Decent reads, but they don’t tie into Morrison’s overarching plot. ‘It’ / ‘Conquerors’ (JLA #’s 22 and 23) The Star Conqueror (first glimpsed in ‘Star Seed’) returns in full force, and only with the aid of Daniel the Sandman does the League have any hope of routing it. In brief: another alien invasion. Ho-hum. It’s worth it, though, just to see the League interacting with the King of Dreams. ‘Prisoners of the Twentieth Century’ (JLA # 1,000,000) Taking place in the midst of the DC ONE MILLION crossover, the League’s new recruits must defend the Watchtower from their far future counterparts, Justice Legion A, who are already maddened by the Hourman Virus... With the stars of the book displaced to the future, the second srting gets a chance to shine: Steel is the man with the plan, Barda lays the smackdown, Plastic Man is the voice of (un)reason. The structure of the book is atypically mindbending (given the nature and premise of the crossover), replete with ‘Pop-Up Video’ styled captions; you half expect to hear a little voice asking you to turn the page! ‘Executive Action’ / ‘Scorched Earth’ / ‘Our Army At War’ (JLA #’s 24 through 26) As the Ultramarines are presented to a skeptical media, courtesy of general Wade Eiling, the Shaggy Man is retrieved from the depths of the ocean. It doesn’t take long to ascertain that the two events are connected, especially when the League is ambushed by the U.S. Army... The quality slips ever so slightly - the fill-in by Mark Pajarillo suffers in comparison to Porter - but the story is not with its moments. For instance: * Flash commenting to Wonder Woman about the unwieldy size of the League (omnious foreshadowing #1); * The brief look at events on New Genesis (omnious foreshadowing #2); and * Plastic Man in full flight, channeling Jim Carrey. ‘The Bigger They Come...’ (JLA #27) It’s Amazo versus the League, and it’s up to the Atom to save the day. Mark Millar guest-writes (with Pajarillo again on pencils), and while the main story is worthwhile - more Silver Age-styled silliness (and I mean that in a positive way) - it’s the discussion between Superman, Batman and the Manhunter about the future of the League that makes this essential to understand Morrison’s intended direction. ‘Crisis Times Five’ / ‘World Turned Upside Down’ / ‘Worlds Beyond’ / ‘Gods & Monsters’ (JLA #’s 28 through 31) War in the Fifth Dimenson. The return of a disgraced Leaguer. The Spectre, imprisoned. A missing pen, and its connection to the Justice Society. All that, and death, waiting in the wings... There’s a lot going on in this arc; it borders on confusing at times, and you get the feeling that there’s a few too many characters running through the course of the story. It does manage to dovetail in the end, though, so it’s worth wading through, no matter how dense it may get. ‘The Ant and the Avalanche’ (JLA #34) After another pair of fill-in scripts by Mark Waid - one dealing with the ramifications of No Man’s Land, the other following up on the series’ opening arc - Morrison penned this prologue to his final story. A riot at Belle Reve Prison seems like par for the course, but a visit at the Watchtower by Mister Miracle reveals far more about what is taking place. The sense of apocalypse begins to creep in around the edges... This was followed by yet another fill-in, by J.M. DeMatteis and Pajarillo, detailing the fallout from DAY OF JUDGEMENT. Not required reading. ‘World War Three: Mageddon’ (JLA #’s 36 through 41) It all comes down to this: an assault on the Watchtower - orchestrated by Lex Luthor - turns out to be the symptom of a far larger threat. Mageddon, a remnant from the war between the Old Gods, is on a course towards Earth. The closer it gets, the more the nations of Earth get caught up in war fever. It’s up to the League to keep things together, but even they won’t escape unscathed... ‘World War Three’ was a satisfying culmination of the themes and concepts that typified Morrison’s approach to JLA, despite a rushed ending...but the last page brought it all back home: the danger over, the League stands ready to take on the next threat that presents itself. Can Morrison do superheroes? Obviously, but JLA was not straight superheroics...the Justice League franchise had been suffering from being seen (and presented) as just that. All it took was a walloping dose of (here’s that word again) imagination, and lo and behold, collective fandom fell all over itself to get ahold of JLA. Now, Morrison has been tapped by new Marvel E-I-C Joe Quesada to write the comicbook industry’s premier franchise, the X-MEN. Can lightning strike twice? Personally, I rather hope so. If what I’ve just described is anything to go by, then anticipation levels will (once again) be high on my behalf. Why? Imagination, pure and simple. Imagination - the most addictive drug of all. Highly Recommended
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