Justice League of America, Vol. 2: The Lightning Saga

I'll make this brief. I really enjoyed this book - based on comments on here, the book well surpassed my expectations. After reading Identity Crisis I was instantly a big Brad Meltzer fan, and this was more good works with a blend of very funny moments with very deep overall writing. The first component of "The Lightning Saga" (hereafter "TLS") was basically a "training" story. After all of the fascinating-but-yet-emotionally-tiring seriousness of DC over the past half-decade this was a nice moment of traditional (JLA & JSA just "hanging out" together) relaxing enjoyment of the two "super teams" and their go-betweens. The main component of TLS fits in and explains more about Starman & Karate Kid with regards to Final Crisis (Countdown) and the JSA run. I have honestly never read a story about the Legion - they seemed more like cheesy kids to my assumptive perspective. But the main component story arc was: a mystery; an ultimate team-up of the newer JLA & JSA with the blends of older heroes & also the "legacies"; and a resurrection. The third component was a more seemingly-random story that I wasn't sure why it was included, but was impressed with the deep simplicity of the writing (two heroes caught in a life-threatening situation and trying to find their courage). The final component is a very nice retrospective on the history of the JLA sort of in a memory scattershot of poignant moments. The single page with Batman and Wonder Woman lamenting the death of Superman from that epic 90's story still evoked a surprising amount of emotion. I felt that this was an awesome book for the amount of content and WELL WORTH the money. Brad Meltzer has a great writing style & really seems to capture the heart and soul of particularly the JLA. Overall I am truly thrilled about the DCU right now - they have utterly AMAZING writers doing very deep and well-written stuff. As for this particular book, I strongly recommend it - it will entertain you for the two hours or so it takes to read it, and at the VERY LEAST you will not feel like you "wasted your money". I am very happy I purchased it.

Hey there back again for another review. Like my other reviews no SPOILERS...I think a review can be helpful and knowledgeable without giving away the butler did it. Anyway moving on to the THE LIGHTING SAGA. First off like my title suggests, this collection is nowhere near what we got with The Tornado's Path which was the first Justice League collection...which is amazing and I gave it 5 stars...if you don't have it yet...go throw it in your shopping cart right now! I'll wait for you...go ahead. You got it...ok, good we can continue. Anyway saying this book isn't as good as the first is sort of a backhand compliment, because it's still really an incredible read. It's kind like me saying a Porsche isn't a fast as a Ferrari...when they both are pretty damn fast....Well faster then my mini-van anyway. Well getting back to my review....That's why I'm giving it four stars out of five. This story arc includes issues of both Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America....and the story crosses over between issues...which sometimes doesn't always mesh well. In this case however it does....and it does it extremely well. The writing from Brad Meltzer and Geoff Johns is top notch and will engross the reader immediately from page one. The only problem I had is where Ed Benes art shines...it makes the other artist in the book fall a little flat. The story does make up for that in a huge way. This collection has one of those moments where the writers pull the rug right out from underneath us....because just when we think we see where Johns and Meltzer are talking us...they pull a really hard 90 degree left turn...and leave us speechless. Yeah so do yourself a favor...go ahead and put this in your shopping cart next to volume #1. Oh and when you wife or spouse gives you grief cause you are reading 'Comics' or 'Funny Books'....tell them they are GRAPHIC NOVELS....the same thing works on when they might say something is a 'Doll' or 'Toy'....you can correct them and let them know it's not...it's a COLLECTIBLE or ACTION FIGURE. See how this works? Anyway do yourself a favor pick up The Lighting Saga...it will be a wonderful addition to your collection. Thanks for reading!

Im not to much of a justice league guy but this book and part one are great toread and try to like the league.

This is the great follow up to The Tornado's Path. It is written by two very superb writers Brad Meltzer (Identity Crisis), and GEOFF (The Man) JOHNS (Green Lantern/Infinite Crisis/52)! It reveals the conclusion as to why Karate Kid was in the past posing as Trident, and hosts the return of a certain superhero thought to be dead. Also the trade gives a few building block for Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds. This is another great addition to the JLA storyline.

I recently picked up volumes 1-10 of the previous JLA series -- the one that started with Grant Morrison's very good "New World Order" -- and I have to say that over the course of 10 volumes I pretty much lost interest in the League. I loved Bruce Timm's Justice League Unlimmited cartoon, but as far as League comics go, they just seemed bland and unimportant overall (with the exception of New World Order, and the also very good Tower of Babel storylines.) The previous series had lots of big action, but it didn't have much if any continuity. It didn't have character development, it didn't have a sense of history to it, it didn't even really have any character moments (again, with the exception of the two volumes listed above.) It was pretty much all big action with larger than life stories that in the end were all chaos and violence amounting to nothing. I almost didn't buy the Tornado's Path (Meltzer's first collection) or the Lightning Saga because I'd honestly lost interest in the JLA comics over the course of the prevous 10 volumes. In fact, if I hadn't bought all ten volumes at once, I would have stopped after the first three or four most likely. I'm glad I had a change of heart and decided to give Melter's take a chance (based on his excellent Identity Crisis.) Meltzer brings real character, emotion, and history to the series. His stories have continuity. He knows where the League has been, and he gives a sense that it's going somewhere. Reading Meltzer's stories, the League's past matters and it's future matters and its characters matter. I honestly don't think any of that was true for most of the previous JLA series. And because Meltzer makes you care about the character and grounds them in a world where the past seems to matter and consequences carry forward, it makes the action far more interesting (plus Meltzer just writes really good action sequences, his best being the JLA vs Deathstroke scene in Identity Crisis.) I honestly came to care about the JLA again over the course of Meltzer's two volumes. And while I like longer story arcs better, I have to say Walls was an amazing stand alone story (that still, despite being a stand alone story, had some lasting reprecussions in later issues.) Monitor Duty was also very good and really showed the importance Meltzer places on characterization and the continuing story of the League. Too many League stories in the past felt like they happened in a vacuum, with no consequesnces, coming from nowhere and going nowhere. Meltzers stories felt like they evolved from what came before, like they mattered more, and like they would continue to matter as the League's story went forward. The final issue in the Lightning Saga collection, issue zero, really exemplifies the epic, historical, character driven nature of Meltzer's work on the series, and was truly enjoyable and affecting. Overall, I recommend both of Melter's Justice League collections -- the Tornado's Path and the Lightning Saga. T