By Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, John Dell & others (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-416-9
After the Silver Age’s greatest team-book died a slow, painful, embarrassing death, not once but twice, DC were taking no chances with their next revival of the Justice League of America and tapped Big Ideas wünderkind Grant Morrison to reconstruct the group and the franchise.
And the idea that clicked? Shove everybody’s favourite Big Names in the team.
Of course it worked, but that’s only because as well as star quantity there was an absolutely huge burst of creative quality. The stories were smart, compelling, dauntingly large-scale and illustrated with infectious exuberance. One glance at JLA and anybody could see all the effort undertaken to make it the best it could be.
This third collection re-presents issues #10-15 of the resurgent revival and covers a spectacular landmark tale where old-world goodies-vs.-baddies met contemporary fringe science chic for a rollercoaster ride of boggled minds which only served to set up even bigger concept clashes further down the line. That’s the magic of foreshadowing, folks…
Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Martian Manhunter, Flash, Green Lantern and Aquaman are the legends who are targeted by a coalition of arch enemies comprising Lex Luthor, the Joker, Circe, Mirror Master, Ocean Master and Doctor Light, in the prologue ‘Genesis and Revelations’ wherein ghastly doppelgangers of the World’s Greatest Heroes go on a campaign of destruction all over the globe. Even with new members Aztek and Connor Hawke (the new Green Arrow), on board the new “Injustice Gang’ are running the heroes ragged, but the stakes change radically when the telepathic Martian Manhunter detects an extinction-level entity heading to Earth from deep space…
Rock of Ages proper begins with ‘Hostile Takeover’ as the legion of villains press their advantage whilst the New God Metron appears to warn the JLA that the end of everything is approaching. As Circe tries to head-hunt Aztek, Arrow and Plastic Man, Green Lantern and Flash are treated to a distressing view of the Universes beyond our own reality, as they are dispatched to recover the fabled Philosopher’s Stone in a last-ditch effort to save the worlds.
In ‘Wonderworld’ the fabled last defenders of Cosmic Reality proffer a grim warning of Mageddon, the Anti-Sun, ender of all things to the lost superheroes. Shell-shocked, they are rescued by Hourman, an artificial time-controlling intelligence, and return to our plane of existence only to find it has been conquered by the evil god Darkseid.
‘Wasteland’ is a bleak and chaotic taste of the Final Crisis, with humanity all but dead, and the surviving champions fighting their last battle against the horrors of Apokolips-on-Earth, leading to a perfect Deus-ex-Machina moment of triumph in ‘Twilight of the Gods’ as this wicked universe is un-made and “our†reality reinstated.
Unfortunately if you’ve been keeping up, that was the continuity where the Injustice Gang were beating the stuffing out of the good guys…
‘Stone of Destiny’ brings the saga to a neat and satisfying conclusion as the villains go down fighting and an approximation of order is restored in a cataclysmic combat climax. With Gary Frank, Greg Land, John Dell & Bob McLeod lending artistic assistance to the spectacular proceedings, Morrison and Porter resolve the epic and close with a perfect example of the maxim “always leave them wanting more†– shocking twist to make the reader hungry for the next instalment.
If you haven’t read this sparkling slice of fight ‘n’ tights wonderment then your fantastic comic-life just isn’t complete yet. Savvy, compelling, challenging but not afraid of nostalgia or laughing at itself, the new JLA was an all-out effort to be Smart and Fun. For that moment these were the “World’s Greatest Superheroes†and these increasingly ambitious epics reminded everybody of the fact. This is the kind of thrill that nobody ever outgrows. Got yours yet?
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