Jla: Pain of the Gods

The JLA has broken up amid distrust and recriminations. However, just as the heroes all going their own separate ways, crises are arising that require all their powers. When the time comes that they must work together, just what will happen? Well, this seems to be a much-maligned graphic novel. Yes, it is somewhat disjointed, with the most powerful heroes being either gone at the beginning of the book, or disappearing along the way. And, yes, it probably is irrelevant, with the story coming down to the least powerful and most human heroes. But, that said, I did enjoy this book, even more so than some other DC stories I have read. I enjoyed the action, which was fairly intense and bloody enough to seem very important. And, I enjoyed the story. In the end, it is a story of healing and moving on. And perhaps that did need to start with the most human of the heroes. So, while I would never say that this is a great graphic novel, I am glad that I read it, and I do recommend it to others.

This is not what you might think it is. I thought this story was a sequel to Grant Morrison's great JLA Earth 2 graphic novel, but it's not. This is not the Crime Syndicate of Amerika vs. the Justice League of America. Oh, they fight, but it's much more complicated than that. It's actually a CSA story featuring the JLA. And it harkens back to the wonderful JSA/JLA crossovers of the 60's and 70's. I agree with the reviewer who said the only thing missing was the JSA, that would have been awesome. The stories biggest weakness it's all the past stories it builds on. I was not familiar with the Construct or with Krona. It didn't hurt my enjoyment of the story and the characters caught me up on everything I needed to know, but I was missing the little notes from the editor telling me where the stories happened. (I looked it up, all the references to Krona are to the JLA/Avengers crossover also written by Mr. Busiek. The Construct is from the 70's and 80's first appearing in Justice League of America #146 and later in Red Tornado #1-4 the latter I think Busiek also wrote). To be honest, the story started to lose me before it really got started, part of that was because the Justice League was not around, and I was starting to think, "Kurt, what are you doing?" but like I said before, it's more of a CSA story (I know it's a JLA book, but the old JLA/JSA crossovers always happened in the JLA book, but they were not always the focus of the story.) And by the middle of the story I was enjoying the CSA so much that I had kinda forgot about the JLA. I keep comparing this to the classic JLA/JSA crossovers and it's because I think this was what Busiek was going for, especially when the JLA calls in for help and splits up into three teams. The big difference is if this had been one of the old crossovers, the whole story would have been condensed to three issues tops. In short, I would not put this at the top of a list of Kurt's best stories, it's not Marvels or Astro City, but I don't think it's trying to be. If it is trying to pay homage to a time when comics were much simpler (or more complicated?) and fantastic in their scope and less character driven, then it succeeds greatly. So you wanna know the plot? Okay, deep breath... In the anti-matter universe the Crime Syndicate of Amerika is bored so they attack the world of Qward. As the CSA is slaughtering the warriors of Oward, the universe is suddenly recreated, but with a few differences. The CSA go in search of what force recreated their Universe. While that is going on, the warriors of Qward awaken the most powerful weapon in the universe and go on the warpath... and the JLA, well, they're mixed up in there too. I've recently been reading the JLA trade paper backs and this is the first one I've enjoyed in quite a while. (I haven't read all of them, but I didn't care for Joe Kelly's Obsidian Age which I felt was similarly convoluted, but with no pay off and quite a few loop wholes or the recent Clare

In JLA: Earth 2, the Justice League of America encountered an anti-matter universe where good is evil and evil is good, and the superheroes of that Earth are the Crime Syndicate of Amerika. Well, they bested them that time, but the CSA is back, and using Owlman's drug-enhanced brain they have a plan to undo the Justice League. And to make matters worse, there's more than one player in this drama, and it is going to take all of the muscle and brains of the JLA to save the Earth. Some people seem to love this book, and some seem to hate it. Me, I loved it! For a JLA story, it actually hangs together rather well. It follows the formula of big-baddies arrive, JLA gets trounced, JLA calls in second-string heroes, JLA pulls surprise out of hat to win over baddies. Now, I must admit that it helps if you are familiar with the second-stringers, because the story never has time to develop the characters at all. But, that said, I found the story to be quite entertaining. I enjoyed the villains, and I liked the non-stop action. This is a good JLA story, one that I found to be quite a lot of fun. Overall, I recommend it highly.

Even the Justice League fails sometimes, and when Superman is unable to prevent the death of a new, novice hero, the different members of the JLA begin to feel the cumulative effects of various events they've been unable - individually or as a team - to avert. Tensions that must surely be just under the surface of the superheroes's psyches much of the time - not only the occasions when they haven't been able to 'save the day' to the extent they would have liked but also the toll it takes being 'on call' all the time - come to the forefront, as the story arc unfolds on three different levels: each character's individual moments of mental crisis (each issue - JLA #s 101-106 - focuses mainly on one of the six characters who are the League's core members at the time of the story: Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern John Stewart, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman and Batman); the reprecussions of the initial disaster, i.e. Superman taking it on himself to try and look after the family of the deceased man, along with subsequent developments; and how the community of the DCU's champions - and the League in particular - acts as both a support system for each other, and very much as an extended family. Issues 103 and 104 - the GL and Martian Manhunter spotlights - are especially worth commenting on. John Stewart stars in one of his greatest comics ever with # 103, an emotionally riveting issue that draws on the history of the character, including the much-missed (by me, anyhow) "Green Lantern: Mosaic" series from the first half of the 1990s. I'm glad that John was the Green Lantern in the JLA at the time this story takes place instead of Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner. Hal and Kyle are already acknowledged as top tier characters, but often John seems to be perceived as almost an 'auxulliary' character, probably because a lot of the time when he plays a major role in the books it co-incides with a time when (an)other GL(s) are unavailable, being off in another galaxy or whatnot. Here, John Stewart is seen in his spotlight role as the major hero and great character he is. And the Martian Manhunter issue - oh, for one glorious issue it's like having the phenemonally good (and sadly underappreciated) Martian Manhunter ongoing from the late 90s/early 2000s back with us again! Although J'Onn is, here, a less well-adjusted character, more pessimistic and less personable than he was in the ongoing, that's the way events between that that series and this arc have affected him. It's got the same quality and the same tone as the Martian Manhunter ongoing though, and it introduced a new character that I found myself instantly and very much wanting to see turn up again and frequently, particularly where J'Onn is concerned. Overall excellence; one of the best possible choices from the packed 'JLA' section of DC's bookshelf.

In the Five For Fighting song, Superman explains that it is not easy being him, and this book lets you know that, in spades. Having such great powers, the Justice League of America can do such great things, but even they are not omnipotent, and when they fail they carry the pain of that failure in an equally large way. This is a series of stories on failure, on what that failure means to the JLA. This graphic novel is a reprint of JLA #101-106, in book form, and marks quite a departure. The characters in this graphic novel are still larger than life, but this book focuses on them failing, and the pain that that can cause them. It's quite an interesting take on superheroes. Overall, I found this to be a great book, and I loved its unique take. If you are interested in expanding your view of superheroes, the get this book, it's great!