JLA: New World Order

JLA (Original Trades)

by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter (Illustrator), John Dell (Illustrator)

/Grant Morrison /Howard Porter and John Dell Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter--the world's greatest heroes, together again! This new story by some of comics' hottest talents finds the public turning against the JLA in favor of a new group of champions: alien superbeings called the Hyperclan. Faced with powers that rival even Superman's and a hidden agenda that threatens the world, how can the new Le

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Batman, Graphic Novels Comics

Hardcover

First published June 6, 1997

About the author

Grant Morrison has been working with DC Comics for twenty five years, after beginning their American comics career with acclaimed runs on ANIMAL MAN and DOOM PATROL. Since then they have written such best-selling series as JLA, BATMAN and New X-Men, as well as such creator-owned works as THE INVISIBLES, SEAGUY, THE FILTH, WE3 and JOE THE BARBARIAN. In addition to expanding the DC Universe through titles ranging from the Eisner Award-winning SEVEN SOLDIERS and ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to the reality-shattering epic of FINAL CRISIS, they have also reinvented the worlds of the Dark Knight Detective in BATMAN AND ROBIN and BATMAN, INCORPORATED and the Man of Steel in The New 52 ACTION COMICS.

In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.

Reviews

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kickin' butt new beginning!


Creative Team:

Writer: Grant Morrison

Illustrator: Howard Porter


RETURN TO GREATNESS

For too many time the major super-hero team in DC Comics was been kinda a joke with teams without any of "big guns", a publishing decision to avoid the crossover problems of using characters with their own titles and having to accomodate the team storyline to changes suffered in their individual ones.

In paper seemed like a wise decision, but...

...the Justice League isn't inspire the same respect without its "big guns".

Also, a change to the title's name is done (once again) to "update" the coolness of the name of the team. Way, way back in the 40s, it was the Justice Society of America, but in the 70s, a society wasn't something to sound cool anymore, so, the super-team became the Justice League of America, but in the 90s, the acronyms was the cool thing so...

...the JLA is born!

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Plastic Man!

The "Big Guns" are back!


SOME OLD, SOME NEW, SOME UNEXPECTED

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter are the original ones.

The Flash is Wally West and Green Lantern is Kyle Rayner.

And yes, you aren't mistaken...

...Plastic Man is here!

And honestly I don't see anything wrong about it, since Plastic Man is way more useful than Elongated Man and also he can be the comic relief of the team without having to mess with the status of another member in the team.


FALLEN TEAM, RISING TEAM

A mysterious incident provoked the fall of the Justice League Satellite disbanding the then-current team.

The "Big Guns" in DC universe got together again (after too many years without being in the same team) along with brand new headquarters: The JLA Watchtower located in the Moon, with transporters able to unite the team and sending it to wherever there is an emergency on Earth with a response time of 4 minutes! Heck, yeah!!!


ENTER HYPERCLAN

Earth got strange new visitors in the way of a team called themselves "The Hyperclan" offering to end climatic crisis, to solve world hunger, to cure terminal diseases, to eliminate deadly villains...

...and they are having the approval and support by Earth's populace!

Also, the Hyperclan is hiding more than anyone can imagine...

...good thing that we have again...

...the JLA!!!

[Sr3yas · Rating 3 out of 5]

After terrible sales of old JLA titles, DC revamped the team in 1997 by bringing back all the A-list players for facing a brand new threat to humanity.



Alas, I wish this title had a better artist.

The volume starts with the introduction of an unfamiliar Alien Superpeople gang called Hyperclan, which is led by their golden leader Protex to our world and they wish to turn Earth into utopia.



The moment I heard Protex, I thought it sounded like one of those Protein supplement brands for bodybuilders, but I was totally wrong about that.


It's a brand for soaps.

The Hyperclan turns Sahara into an Oasis to prove the point that Superheros could change the world for better, which leads people to turn against Superman and others. Just after that, JLA's Watchtower gets attacked by mysterious forces which put most of the old members of C-list JLA out of commission.

This brings the big gang back in action: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aqua Man and Martian Manhunter.

At first, I thought Grant Morrison has dropped the ball with this title. Hyperclan was poorly introduced and the whole thing felt rushed. The writing was poor in the first issue, but once the new JLA got together, Morrison really pulled the story together. The plotting was good, and the dialogues were good enough although there were some duds. One of the best parts was the hilariously bitter chemistry between Wally and Kyle.



Another favorite part of the portrayal of Batman who is, after all, just a human.



Apart from the first issue's writing, the consistently bad character sketches by Artists Porter and Dell makes this volume far from perfect. Porter and Dell's version of Wonder Woman is disturbingly bad and feels like a Barbie doll rejects in many panels.

It's not all bad, the artists are pretty good with wider shots.


But when it comes to getting all the faces together in one short, they find a way to screw it up.


For Example, the writing here is pretty good. Superman is delivering an iconic punchline, but every member of Justice League looks like "Did Superman just say something is falling?" and starts looking around like a bunch of idiots. smh.

4 Stars for the story, 2 stars for terrible art, 3.5 Stars overall because I'm bad at maths.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Score: 3.88 out of 5
Grade: 78% (B+) | Good

The JLA face their first big test when the mysterious Hyperclan come to Earth and win the affection of the human population. Here is my review of JLA Vol. 1: New World Order:




The Good:

Oh the 90’s, what a time to be alive… This story definitely looks and feels dated, but I mean that in a good way. Superman with a mullet, hell-ya I’m in! Lots of vibrant colours, big bold lettering, and larger than life art. Even certain plot points were so extra, but I found them to be a fun change of pace from the more serious and gritty comics.





The roster of the JLA is absolutely stacked! You have the Man of Steel rockin’ a kickass mullet. Batman being…well, Batman. Flash and Green Lantern not playing nice. Plus much more! There’s a lot of little moments between the heroes which were fun to see. Every hero got their moment to shine, but Batman stole the show for me.





I really liked the idea of the Hyperclan. This super team from space comes out of nowhere and does what the JLA does, but better. I love the whole, “Why doesn’t the JLA be proactive rather than reactive.” It’s an idea that I wish Morrison expanded on some more.





The Bad:

I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending. Sure, there are parts of it I enjoyed, but the whole Superman message to Earth thing…it was just so lame. I understand what it represents, but I feel like there was a better way of handling this. I would have preferred the JLA laying the smack down on the invaders and showing them not to f*** with Earth.





If you really wanted to, you could nitpick the sh** out of this book. There’s a fight between Flash and Züm that is soooo drawn out and takes forever to get to the punchline. There’s a revelation about what Martian Manhunter has been up to which just fell flat for me. Some things happen off-page with the Flash and Green Lantern that I would have liked to see. And then there’s Superman’s face…





The Hyperclan was a good idea, but as a team of bad guys, I barely remember who they were, what they did, or why I should even care. I felt like it was Protex versus the JLA…then all his little Hyperclan minions were just an afterthought. The supporting villains were forgettable and were just there for the JLA to fight.





Conclusion:

In the end, I still had a lot of fun with this. The execution wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked, but the first cosmic outing for the JLA was entertaining. I’d recommend this for DC/Justice League fans, but it may feel too campy for some.


Or, if you wanted to see Superman with a mullet , knock yourself out!

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was so good omg and I have read this multiple times and its still good, so we have this new team called the Hyperclan led by Protex landing on earth and doing more for the planet than the JL and then we see them subdue the members of the JL but whats happening s humanity not realizing they are conquerors in the guise of saviors and when they target Superman and JL, its gonna take Batman to rescue his friends and saved the world and know who they really are: WHITE MARTIANS! And its an epic battle between the JL and Hyperclan/White martians and shows why JLA is the definitive team in the DCU! One of the best stories easily and I freaking love the art here by Porter, all that 90s goodness on full display here!

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still holds up well as a superhero epic. Grant Morrison knew exactly how to write these characters epically in a modern context. The art by Howard Porter is too 90s, but that's almost the point. The classic Justice League versus cynical upstarts who are a parody of indulgent antiheroes...

JLA got even better, as the first volume had an interesting message about heroes, and the later volumes are smarter. That said, this first volume was a good start to an important chapter in DC history. And, Batman was ridiculously cool!

[Donovan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't finish. Some really interesting concepts, like why have superheroes never utopianized society and culture with all their power, instead of just punched each other and brought about apocalypse? But I was so bored by the dialog and everything else. And Wonder Woman looks like a crack whore. Will try again later.

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

JLA Vol 1: New World Order by Grant Morrison covers the 1997 3rd Version run of the Justice League. We have Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) and Martian Manhunter as the JLA. In the New World Order storyline a new group of superheroes known as the Hyperclan show up on Earth and propose to solve all of Earth's problems. They start by re-seeding the Sahara desert and end with executing supercriminals. While controversial and definately getting on the JLA's bad side, they draw a lot of praise and support from the everyday people who see them as being far more proactive than the JLA, which is more of a reactive group.
This does bring up some interesting moral dilemmas of what exactly the role of a supergroup ought to be. However, underneath it all there is something nefarious going on here. Who are the Hyperclan and what exactly are they up to? The rest I shall not say since it would spoil the story for you.
This is a story from the late 1990's. It shows in the artwork. We have the overly muscled Superman with the weird late '90's long hair that was a staple of most comic titles. The rest of the characters remind me of Rob Liefields artwork. I didn't hate it, but at best I would say the artwork is not bad to sometimes good.
What saves this book is Grant Morrison. His story has a lot to offer. The JLA is just coming into being. Aquaman is not really a part of the team yet and they don't even know if batman will join. In the end it turns out both are indeed involved. I liked GM's take on the JLA and how they are viewed by the society around them (they story about more proactive and "hard-edged" superheroes has been done in recent times with the Superman vs the Elite storylines-so I was glad to see where the original idea might have come from). I also truly enjoyed GM's Batman. He is wearing a darker all-black suit with a yellow oval bat symbol as opposed to his standard blue/gray suits that were more common during the 80's and 90's period. I also like that Batman is a darker and grimmer character as when he talks about why he wears a dark suit as opposed to a lighter suit like Superman and it shows why he is to be considered a superhero even though he is only a normal human. The Hyperclan consistently underestimates him due him being "only human". I also like the fact that Superman refers to him in one scene as "The most dangerous human on earth".
So factoring in the time in which it was written and the time when the artwork was done-I thin this is deserving a 4/5. If you are a Morrison fan or a fan of the JLA pick this one up and give it a read. Non-fans of the JLA or Morrison may not care for this as much as some of the 90's gloss has faded and you might not appreciate the tale for what it is in relation to when it came out. I did and I quite liked it-I think fans of GM and/or JLA will too.

[Carlex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable.

[Virginia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story itself was interesting, but I found myself constantly distracted by Wonder Woman. What was she wearing? How did it stay on? I mean, really! The bustier was seriously LOW and the underwear - SO HIGH!! How could she possibly fight without being incredibly uncomfortable or worried about flopping out or flossing herself? (Is that TMI?)

At any rate, good story.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written before Morrison became The Grant Morrison of the following decade, this is a pretty good book that serves as something of a reboot of the JLA without being all retcon and pedantic about it. Kyle with his weird mask is the Green Lantern, Wally is the Flash, Superman's got a weird mullet going on, and Diana's suit is about three sizes too small. So... yeah, late '90s, check. The art is pretty good, too, with the balloon style and high gloss that were all the rage then. I especially liked the use of the titles of '50s films for the four section titles: Them, The Day the Earth Stood Still, War of the Worlds, and (spoiler!) Invaders From Mars. And at the end they get a cool new clubhouse on the moon.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty great. Bringing the team back together without spending too much time on where they've been and what they've been doing. Easy to jump in on and new reader friendly. Morrison also juggles around the team well so it feels like a team book and doesn't focus too much on one character.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Well, Superman has a mullet or something just as god-awful. Gotta love the '90s.

Plot summary:
So a group of Martians known as the Hyperclan come to Earth and talk the human population into believing they are superior to the JLA and that they can save the world. I know, I know. Smells like trouble. And a whiff of unoriginality...? But hey, at least it doesn't stink. So the JLA gets suspicious, and their suspicions are proven to be correct. The Hyperclan is in fact a clod of megalomaniacal Martians. So the JLA battles them, but they are momentarily bested. Until Batman does his thing, and then Superman does his thing. Then they all do their things and live happily ever after... Except there's a gentle cliffhanger at the end.

What I liked about this was that it was simple without being too bland. The artwork was a little cringe-worthy at times just because of the hairstyles and outfits, but the art representation itself was great! The characters were funny and had depth. My favorite thing about this is that the Hyperclan underestimated Earth. And they underestimated Batman and Aquaman, which is a violation of what should be the first rule of the DCU: don't underestimate Batman or Aquaman.

Good, classic JLA. Can't wait to continue this series.

[Katherine (Kat) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Nick Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grant Morrison reinvents the mainstream superhero comic book. Ten years later, the rest of them are still catching up.

As the inaugural volume of Morrison's justly lauded run on the Justice League, this story of a Martian invasion (with chapter titles taken from old Martian invasion movies) doesn't exactly possess the most original plot. What it does have is a willingness to go faster and bigger than just about any comic that came before it. Wally West and Kyle Rayner begin a great friendship/rivalry; Aquaman displays an interesting new facet of his powers; Batman kicks more ass than you ever thought possible; and everyone is reminded of why Superman, even with the mullet, is still the greatest superhero ever created.

While this is sadly one of the few JLA stories featuring just what came to be known as the "magnificent seven," that also makes it a nice little gem of a book. No continuity concerns, no unrecognizable heroes, no pointless bickering. Just good heroics ushering in a new era for DC.

[Jack Herbert Christal Gattanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some decent writing and clever dialog at times between some of the characters, notably Flash and Kyle Rainer as Green Lantern, the drawing was just too BIG in that 90's style that has now oddly become kinda dated (no, it's not Rob Leifeld or something, don't get nervous, but... everything is just OFF in some way in how some of the drawings are done - and to have to introduce the characters TWO ISSUES into the book once more, WTF man). Some cool moments with Batman though, one can see what would make Grant Morrison the wild-fuck-nut king of Batman years to come. It's not a bad comic, just not very good either. I'm generous with my star rating; I had some enjoyment while reading it, but I won't remember it the way I do Batman and Son or, of course, Allstar Superman when it comes to memorable Morrison DC work.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to re-read this early Morrison work after becoming such a fan of the mind-bending stuff he's written after the millennium. I'm having a difficult time not evaluating it from the perspective of what was available back in 1997 (when this was a new way of writing/illustrating/inhabiting these characters).

Nowadays I'm feeling a little shortchanged compared to what I can get from current Morrison, even though the philosophical thoughts in this book are beyond what you get from 90% of any writer today. Perhaps a little of my disappointment stems from the fact that this plotline has been done better since in both The Authority and The Ultimates.

However, no amount of retroactive context can forgive Superman with a mullet.

[Batman Collected Editions · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not really collect JLA books, but I do pick up some of them because of their importance to the Batman mythos. JLA: New World Order, written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Howard Porter, is one of those books. Morrison’s JLA run is not only significant to the Batman mythos but also to DC’s overall mythos, as it united the Big Seven: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter into a single team.

This story begins with the arrival of a team of alien superheroes called the Hyperclan, who claim they are here to save the world, but things are not as they appear. I did not think I would enjoy this at first. Being a Batman fan, I have always preferred more grounded stories. However, this story surprised me. Morrison is a very good writer, and it helps that he wrote Batman incredibly well, showing how a man with no powers can outsmart and outmaneuver beings far more powerful than himself. He is such a badass in this story.

Collects JLA (1997) 1-4.

My Batman Collected Editions Instagram page

[Chaitra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really impressed enough to continue with this, and it's Grant Morrison too - I've mostly liked what he's involved with. There are aliens, and they act like they are extremely good but surprise! They're evil. I'm reading the Injustice arc along with this, and it seems like the same story with different aliens (Supes & WW). And that's impressing me just as little as this one. (Unfortunately it's 5 whole years of Injustice vs. 93 pages of this one).

[Adam Šilhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I po znovu přečtení v rámci DCKK se mi líbilo. Slušně odvedená superhrdinská práce.

[Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Team-up books can be a lot. Morrison leans hard into the just-too-muchness of an all-in Justice League story by following news broadcasts and other mass communications from place to place and character to character, creating a pulsing rhythm that kept me engaged where I sometimes find my interest drifting in these types of stories. Well done!

[Devero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quando la DC incaricò Morrison di riportare in auge il loro super gruppo di bandiera, la Justice League of America, lo scozzese se ne uscì con la trovata di riunire le 7 grandi e storiche maschere e di ripartire mettendo l'enfasi sugli scontri e gli effetti speciali e lasciando un poco in disparte gli approfondimenti psicologici. Ne venne una collana tutta azione, disegnata da Howard Porter, a mio avviso buono ma non eccellente quanto il progetto avrebbe richiesto.
La prima saga vede la JLA ricostituita affrontare gli ultimi marziani bianchi, con gli stessi poteri e debolezze di Martian Manhunter, intenzionati a conquistare la Terra mascherandosi da eroi.
Come se nella Marvel non l'avesse già fatto Busiek con i Thunderbolts.

[Sananab · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of a mixed bag. The artwork is 90s-ish in the worst way, but Superman's mullet is glorious. He should have it all the time, because it helped distract me from the things I don't like about Superman. It sort of brings him down to earth a bit.

The story is alright but doesn't have an interesting ending. On the other hand, there is a Batman part that made me remember why people like Batman. It's almost worth reading just for that.

[Randy Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first single issue I ever purchased happened to be #1 in this new JLA series. Not too long after that this volume became the first graphic novel I ever bought.

5-star rating probably comes from nostalgia alone. The art is inconsistent, but the story is engaging and memorable. Thanks to this story for kicking off my relationship with DC properties.

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho sempre trovato la gestione di Grant Morrison sulla JLA enormemente sopravvalutata. Del resto, però, erano gli anni '90 e non c'era effettivamente di meglio, ma rimane il fatto che, pure allora, era una serie molto meh. Nonostante tutto, un buon inizio quello che vede la Justice League affrontare i ThunderboEHM, l'Hyperclan. Volevo dire l'Hyperclan, si.

[Dan Weiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard 90s superhero stuff, launching a new run. Big splash pages with absurd posing, ridiculous anatomy, etc. Superman has a mullet. Yep. Story is decent, but too small for a big team like the JLA.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buen comienzo para un gran serie, cómo me gustó en su momento la revelación del Hyperclan. Uno de estos años debería releerme la historia en el tomo del coleccionable Novelas Gráficas DC.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 4 out of 5]

DC seems to have sort of lost Grant Morrison's seminal JLA in the shuffle over the years, what with his later work like the long Batman run or All Star Superman (considered by many to be his definitive superhero comic) or Final Crisis, and Geoff Johns' later New 52 Justice League relaunch, which heavily inspired the 2017 movie. Seems crazy to anyone who remembers just how impactful Morrison's JLA was, and was for years. Now, a little over twenty years later, reading the first collection again...Wow! Wow all over again!

The biggest surprise is actually Morrison's Aquaman. I don't particularly remember Aquaman having a huge role in later stories, and he doesn't really have one here, either, but the dude's all bad-ass posturing as he debuts in this collection. It's very safe to say that even in the midst of stuffing the League with the big guns again, Morrison also single-handedly redeemed Aquaman's reputation, starting him on the path to being taken, once and for all, seriously.

But the real showcase belongs to Batman. This is a Batman, at last, who truly belongs to his famed reputation as "the most dangerous man on the planet" (what someone calls him in New World Order). It's no wonder that Morrison later revisits the Dark Knight in a big way. More than Aquaman, obviously, Morrison's repositioning of Batman had a huge impact, including later stories by other writers that exploited the idea that the dude has a way to defeat his allies, not to mention his enemies, an idea that may have originated in Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns (also an inspiration for the recent movies, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), in which he can legitimately tackle the awesome power of Superman.

In terms of storytelling, Morrison's big idea is that superheroes shouldn't be expected to solve all the world's problems. Post-Cold War Americans, especially in the age of Iraq and Afghanistan, can easily see what modern observers view nation-building, even if it just looks like nation-building, as an increasingly controversial idea. If someone comes along claiming the ability to solve all your problems, it's probably too good to be true. (And it's not really exclusive to one political party, folks.) Not groundbreaking, maybe, but always a relevant message.

A bigger revelation for 2018 eyes is Howard Porter's art. Porter was largely responsible for what was called Morrison's "widescreen" adventures, and rightly so, but his art can look sloppy at times. In the years following his run on JLA, Porter all but drifted into obscurity. He's resurfaced recently, and reclaimed his previous reputation, thanks to high profile work in the pages of the Rebirth era Flash, and that's been good to see. It's just funny to see that his most famous work is not actually his best. But it certainly has its moments. His Superman can look incredibly super, and his Batman is Kelley Jones levels of intimidating. No wonder the guy helped Morrison pump up the League to new levels.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 4 out of 5]

En 1997 DC decidió dar un (necesario) golpe en la mesa y revitalizar a uno de sus grupos enseña, la propia Liga de la Justicia, que con el paso del tiempo y la penosísima etapa que para el mundo del cómic fueron los años 90, se había ido hundiendo (como casi todo DC salvo Batman y la línea Vértigo) en una serie de historias nefastas, protagonizadas incluso por una alineación de cuarta. Pero en este año, se decidió dar un cambio de rumbo total a la Liga de la Justicia, y jugando una arriesgada baza, se decidió que el escritor adecuado para esta nueva etapa iba a ser el escocés Grant Morrison, que había trabajado ya en la casa renovando el concepto de la Patrulla Condenada por ejemplo (suya es la etapa que ha promovido la serie HBO), pero cuyas ideas no son exáctamente clásicas. Y Morrison decidió que lo mejor que podía hacer para renovar la Liga de la Justicia era retomar su espíritu original, el que había tenido en el momento de su creación: reunir a los héroes más poderosos del Universo DC. Así que Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman y el Detective Marciano, los llamado Siete Grandes (sí, Cyborg no estaba... gran adición para la peli... que desastre...), se volvían a reunir para hacer frente a una gran amenaza... Y así la Liga recuperaba su estatus de principal potencia del Universo DC.

Nuevo Orden Mundial fue el primer arco de Morrison con la Liga, y en él, los héroes deben hacer frente a... bueno, a otros héroes, o eso parece al menos (no, no cuela, Prótex huele a villano desde que asoma la nariz). La Liga de la Justicia se ve sorprendida por la llegada de un grupo de extraterrestres superpoderosos que se hacen llamar el Hiperclán y que parecen haber venido para ayudar a la humanidad... pero que en la mejor tradición de V, realmente quieren lo de siempre... Dominarnos a todos y esas cosas. Pero con la perspectiva extraña y particular de Morrison... Es una auténtica gozada.

La JLA y Morrison deberían ser un cinco estrellas, pero es que siempre me he chocado de frente con el dibujante, que me parece una elección bastante mala (pésima), y es que Howard Porter es un dibujante que me transmite todo lo contrario a lo que debería, ya que ha trabajado en Flash durante mucho tiempo, y me da una sensación de hieratismo y de parálisis bastante agobiante. Si hubiera tenido otro dibujante... que maravilla hubiera sido.

[Zack · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t believe this is happening.

Okay, some explanations are in order: A friend of mine texts me periodically to tell me that he’s interested in JLA comics. I, a lapsed superhero fan, couldn’t care less about this type of stuff; but he’s mentioned it so many times that I decided to give JLA a chance—first, with The New Frontier, and now second, New World Order.

This is straight up for Libertarians.

Here’s the actual plot of NWO: The Hyperclan, an alien species, comes to America after their hometown was destroyed, vowing to prevent similar ecological disasters across the galaxy. Superman *hates* this: he doesn’t think the environment needs fixing—things just *are the way they are*—and frankly, he’s pissed that another hero is getting attention.

So The Green Party (I’m sorry, I mean The Hyperclan) take over after they dupe America into believing they can fix their problems. But it turns out that they just wanted power the whole time, nothing else! Superman and the rest of the Justice League then *light the planet on fire* to stop them.

It’s not only ecological issues that the JLA have issues with others trying to solve; Wonder Woman asks Superman, “are we doing too much or too little ? When does intervention become domination?” How much should we step in to fix the world’s problems?

Superman says, “humankind has to be allowed to climb to its own destiny. We can’t carry them there…[we] catch them if they fall.” Superman as a Reactionist was confirmed in the first couple pages, when a TV newscaster says, in reference to The Hyperclan against the Justice League, “it’s looking more and more like the old versus the new. The reactive vs. the proactive.”

So yes, Grant Morrison wrote a story where the enemies are those who try to enact societal change instead preserving the garbage systems already in place. The Justice League are far-right reactionists fighting The Green Party, who, with their alien powers, have “brainwashed” the youth of the nation into believing they can actually fix our problems.

I still like DC superheroes, and I think when these heroes can have strong individual stories (particularly Batman), but every JLA thing I’ve read and seen has either been A) For Children or B) Right-Wing Trash. I will not be reading from now on.

The art is really good, though. Two stars for the drawings.

[Alex E · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I finally got around to reading what is generally known in comic circles, as not only one of the best runs on JLA, but one of the best writing runs for Grant Morrison. And being huge Morrison fan, I couldn't wait to see what the hub bub was all about.

As expected, this was awesome. This is more than just the Justice League in my opinion, its the core of the DC universe boiled down to one team of the heaviest hitters (at the time) and reminding us of why they are so great and why they work so well alone and together.

In this volume, the threats range from alien invasion, to existential deities, to an updated, and far deadlier version of a golden age villain. And all work to such great affect. The stories are thrilling in a way that they remind me of reading comics when I was younger. The action is visceral, but there is also a sense of Justice and bravery that subtly highlight underlying themes hidden in comics.

I wouldn't be surprised if books like "the Authority" and more mid modern "Avengers" titles took inspiration from this run. Because like those books, the plots in this are huge, to the point where they are almost ideas come to life which then the JLA have to out think in order to fully defeat. I can really see the idea of "widescreen" comics originating from this run.

And of course Morrison's explanation of things, his twists, his surprises are classic Morrison but without the elevated LSD-induced plots that he is more known for. Not that any of that is bad, but its nice to see a more grounded, back to roots superhero book written by Morrison. And I say back to roots, but really, the themes, villains and surprises in this book are really well thought out and well written.

The art is solid, and helps cement that 90's/2000's aesthetic of heroic ambition that was lost in the 80's and early 90's. I like how Porter can focus in on one character at a time, or can draw a big swatch of scenery into smaller panels as well as giant splash pages which serve to illustrate the big ideas of this book.

I definetley recommend this to anyone who is a fan of DC heroes and what they do best.