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JLA (Original Trades)
JLA, Vol. 2: American Dreams
The World's Greatest Heroes have reformed the Justice League of America to act as Earth's protector against all threats. But as Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and the Martian Manhunter are joined by a Superman demonstrating new and different energy-based powers, they find themselves facing off against deadly old enemies like the Key and getting caught in the middle of a war between Heaven and Hell. Featuring appearances by Supergirl and the new Green Arrow, this trade paperback also includes the first appearance of rogue angel and future JLA member, Zauriel.
112 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1997
7 people are currently reading
380 people want to read
About the author
Grant Morrison
1,792 books4,570 followersGrant 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
December 9, 2019
I’ve read so many comic books in my lifetime, sometimes it’s hard to say what’s derivative or what’s original. Morrison has a few stories in this slim volume that have that déjà vu ring of “this seems like something I’ve read before”, but to be fair to Morrison the stories should be given a surface judgement anyway.
It’s a new hero, who’s not really what she seems .
Everything seems honky dory until she goes against her evil programming and does good stuff.
A girlfriend, Kyle? Have you checked the fridge?
Jeff, that was just nasty!
I have a head cold. Sue me!
Déjà vu 2: Thanks to The Key, the JLA all take a collective nap together and dream of what if stuff.
Great, another a$$hole villain who likes the sound of his own voice.
And he’s taken down by a new, wide awake JLA member-in-training.
Booyah, loser!
The other story here has something to do with a rogue angel.
Look, its Superman’s horrible blue suit from the ‘90’s that almost nobody liked.
Bottom Line : When Morrison sort of colors between the lines, he’s one of the best. In this volume, the angel story, the least derivative of the trio, Morrison juggles one too many plot balls to earn his wings.
Three and a half honey BBQ chicken wings rounded down.
It’s a new hero, who’s not really what she seems .
Everything seems honky dory until she goes against her evil programming and does good stuff.
A girlfriend, Kyle? Have you checked the fridge?
Jeff, that was just nasty!
I have a head cold. Sue me!
Déjà vu 2: Thanks to The Key, the JLA all take a collective nap together and dream of what if stuff.
Great, another a$$hole villain who likes the sound of his own voice.
And he’s taken down by a new, wide awake JLA member-in-training.
Booyah, loser!
The other story here has something to do with a rogue angel.
Look, its Superman’s horrible blue suit from the ‘90’s that almost nobody liked.
Bottom Line : When Morrison sort of colors between the lines, he’s one of the best. In this volume, the angel story, the least derivative of the trio, Morrison juggles one too many plot balls to earn his wings.
Three and a half honey BBQ chicken wings rounded down.
August 25, 2019
Score: 3.33 out of 5
Grade: 66% (C) | Meh
A mixed-bag of JLA stories makes this volume one of the more forgettable ones. Here is my review of JLA Vol. 2: American Dreams:
The Good:
TOMORROW WOMAN
There wasn’t much to like about this first story. I did enjoy the way it opened and ended. I feel like if everything in-between was done better, then this could have been a solid short story. There’s also a “JLA team tryouts” sequence which was great! The action and art were pretty good too.
ZAURIEL: THE FALLEN ANGEL
I really enjoyed the JLA’s entrance to the scene of the angel landing. The art was solid all the way through, even stupid blue Superman looked alright. Although I dislike the new Superman look, he was a badass in this story. There’s a lot of over-the-top-ness in this that I really liked – I thought it was fun!
Even some of the other JLA members, most notably Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman, step up in a big way. It was interesting to see how the JLA handled this bizarre situation without some key members of the team. Even Asmodel was a pretty tough and scary villain. It took a lot to take that walking apocalypse down!
JLA ELSEWORLDS
The last story in this volume is easily the strongest of the three. It was cool to see all the alternate versions of the JLA members. Superman, Batman and Aquaman had some really interesting dreams and I would have loved to see more of it. There’s even a couple of unexpected character cameos I was happy to see.
The main villain, the Key, was a self-aware lunatic and I loved it. He was a fun villain who liked to talk to himself a lot. Even seeing Green Arrow run around trying to use his dad’s old equipment was hilarious. The classic (but deadly) boxing glove arrow – he was one of the standouts in the final story.
When all the elseworlds start crossing over, that’s where this story takes off. Especially Green Lantern’s entrance, that was just amazing! I was laughing out loud longer than I should have. The art was also excellently drawn in this. There was always something beautiful to look at.
The Bad:
TOMORROW WOMAN
The first story in this volume wasn’t as good as it was trying to be. The main problem comes in Tomorrow Woman’s arc. It ends in a way that strives for this big “wow” moment, but ends off as a “pfft whatever” moment. We never really had any time to care for her as a character. She came, she left, and that’s it.
There’s also her two generic creators who I guess act as the real villains. They were so forgettable and made me cringe every time they popped up. Even their plan of using Tomorrow Woman was dumb and not entirely thought through. They make it seem like anyone who can save a life and has superpowers is worthy of being on the JLA.
This story also introduces Superman’s new look which is just…what?! Blue Superman with new electric powers. It doesn’t even feel like Superman. I just don’t see the creative worth of changing such an iconic hero to such a severe degree. Not a fan…
ZAURIEL: THE FALLEN ANGEL
The second story felt so disjointed. Things were happening but it was hard to tell what their significance to the plot even were. Lord Neron and his two Gollum-looking minions were horrible. They contributed very little to the story and they were annoying as hell. There’s also this random dude who wakes up from a coma and nothing is ever really explained about who he is or why we should care.
There’s also the convenience of having Superman and the Flash stuck on the moon. It felt like they were just up there so that they couldn’t help out on Earth and save the day in like 2 seconds. It was an easy way to write them out of the main story. Batman is also “busy” – I guess too busy to save the world…
JLA ELSEWORLDS
As for the last story, I only had some minor gripes. Wonder Woman’s elseworld may have been the weakest of the lot. There wasn’t really much to it. And even the Key, the main villain for this story, went down way too easily. You expect a villain to put up a bit more of a fight, but he literally goes down in a page. I just wanted to see some more fight!
Conclusion:
This volume gets better as it goes along, but it only does that because the first story sets the bar so low. Ultimately, I disliked the first story, thought the second one was fine, and thought the last story was awesome. I wouldn’t say this is a must read, but there is some fun to be had here.
I couldn’t find any other cool pictures to close off the review, so here’s the book's lame title page…
Grade: 66% (C) | Meh
A mixed-bag of JLA stories makes this volume one of the more forgettable ones. Here is my review of JLA Vol. 2: American Dreams:
The Good:
TOMORROW WOMAN
There wasn’t much to like about this first story. I did enjoy the way it opened and ended. I feel like if everything in-between was done better, then this could have been a solid short story. There’s also a “JLA team tryouts” sequence which was great! The action and art were pretty good too.
ZAURIEL: THE FALLEN ANGEL
I really enjoyed the JLA’s entrance to the scene of the angel landing. The art was solid all the way through, even stupid blue Superman looked alright. Although I dislike the new Superman look, he was a badass in this story. There’s a lot of over-the-top-ness in this that I really liked – I thought it was fun!
Even some of the other JLA members, most notably Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman, step up in a big way. It was interesting to see how the JLA handled this bizarre situation without some key members of the team. Even Asmodel was a pretty tough and scary villain. It took a lot to take that walking apocalypse down!
JLA ELSEWORLDS
The last story in this volume is easily the strongest of the three. It was cool to see all the alternate versions of the JLA members. Superman, Batman and Aquaman had some really interesting dreams and I would have loved to see more of it. There’s even a couple of unexpected character cameos I was happy to see.
The main villain, the Key, was a self-aware lunatic and I loved it. He was a fun villain who liked to talk to himself a lot. Even seeing Green Arrow run around trying to use his dad’s old equipment was hilarious. The classic (but deadly) boxing glove arrow – he was one of the standouts in the final story.
When all the elseworlds start crossing over, that’s where this story takes off. Especially Green Lantern’s entrance, that was just amazing! I was laughing out loud longer than I should have. The art was also excellently drawn in this. There was always something beautiful to look at.
The Bad:
TOMORROW WOMAN
The first story in this volume wasn’t as good as it was trying to be. The main problem comes in Tomorrow Woman’s arc. It ends in a way that strives for this big “wow” moment, but ends off as a “pfft whatever” moment. We never really had any time to care for her as a character. She came, she left, and that’s it.
There’s also her two generic creators who I guess act as the real villains. They were so forgettable and made me cringe every time they popped up. Even their plan of using Tomorrow Woman was dumb and not entirely thought through. They make it seem like anyone who can save a life and has superpowers is worthy of being on the JLA.
This story also introduces Superman’s new look which is just…what?! Blue Superman with new electric powers. It doesn’t even feel like Superman. I just don’t see the creative worth of changing such an iconic hero to such a severe degree. Not a fan…
ZAURIEL: THE FALLEN ANGEL
The second story felt so disjointed. Things were happening but it was hard to tell what their significance to the plot even were. Lord Neron and his two Gollum-looking minions were horrible. They contributed very little to the story and they were annoying as hell. There’s also this random dude who wakes up from a coma and nothing is ever really explained about who he is or why we should care.
There’s also the convenience of having Superman and the Flash stuck on the moon. It felt like they were just up there so that they couldn’t help out on Earth and save the day in like 2 seconds. It was an easy way to write them out of the main story. Batman is also “busy” – I guess too busy to save the world…
JLA ELSEWORLDS
As for the last story, I only had some minor gripes. Wonder Woman’s elseworld may have been the weakest of the lot. There wasn’t really much to it. And even the Key, the main villain for this story, went down way too easily. You expect a villain to put up a bit more of a fight, but he literally goes down in a page. I just wanted to see some more fight!
Conclusion:
This volume gets better as it goes along, but it only does that because the first story sets the bar so low. Ultimately, I disliked the first story, thought the second one was fine, and thought the last story was awesome. I wouldn’t say this is a must read, but there is some fun to be had here.
I couldn’t find any other cool pictures to close off the review, so here’s the book's lame title page…
June 30, 2022
This was certainly fun I guess as we have 3 stories here like one with Tomorrow woman which was cool seeing how an android went past her programming to die like a hero and its a classic tale and then we have one with the coming of Asmodel and the JLA teaming up with Zauriel to knock him down and the seeds of future stuff to come and there is a cool moment of Superman fighting angels that was awesome and interesting stuff with his "Superman blue era" powers!
And then the big story with the coming of "The Key" and how he manipulates heroes into their dreams and we see else-worlds kinda reality for the heroes and how they fight it off and with Conner to the rescue and one of the best GA moments showing his crucial-ness to the JL and its awesome and all and makes for a tremendous read, plus the art still looks great so yeah overall great volume as Morrison fleshes out these characters in fun ways and challenging them which makes for a great read!
And then the big story with the coming of "The Key" and how he manipulates heroes into their dreams and we see else-worlds kinda reality for the heroes and how they fight it off and with Conner to the rescue and one of the best GA moments showing his crucial-ness to the JL and its awesome and all and makes for a tremendous read, plus the art still looks great so yeah overall great volume as Morrison fleshes out these characters in fun ways and challenging them which makes for a great read!
May 15, 2024
Not as strong as the first volume, though I loved the Tomorrow Woman one-off chapter.
But the Zauriel angel story didn't work for me as well (nor the Key alternate reality dream sequences, despite the new Green Arrow). Wish they could've just used Hawkman.
Still solid, just compared to what comes next this volume doesn't quite stand out.
But the Zauriel angel story didn't work for me as well (nor the Key alternate reality dream sequences, despite the new Green Arrow). Wish they could've just used Hawkman.
Still solid, just compared to what comes next this volume doesn't quite stand out.
March 16, 2016
Ahh the '90's. What a wonderful time for some crappy comic book writing. I am willing to give Grant Morrison a small pass for this volume, since it was early on in his career. But there is a problem- Vol 1 was actually really good. I enjoyed it. This was a hodge-podge of stories thrown into one volume. None of them are really very good and ALL of them felt rushed. Very poor character development. It seems like they just introduced some new characters with very little about their background and then didn't bother to develop them before getting rid of them. Oh and one other question. Why the Hell is Superman blue? *sigh*
Okay..we start with some weird one shot story about the JLA looking for new members. So instead of looking for very powerful superheroes they go digging through the c and d listers (Hitman, the Warrior, Damage, etc)..if you just said "Who?"..well join the club. Of all these nonentities they select Tomorrow Woman. Uh yeah..okay then....anyways long story short- she's an evil robot sent to infiltrate the JLA but her AI is so good that she becomes good and commits suicide helping the JLA. *sigh* Did I mention Superman is blue?
Okay then we get a two issue slightly better story about Angels (and Demons that live in the nooks of flowers-just don't ask..if you care so much go read this crap yourself)..and this one wasn't awful. But again- no character development. Some Angel shows up, being chased by other "bad" angels..the "bad" angels are really tough..but Blue Superman (did I mention Superman is Blue? OH! And he uh can reverse the magnetic effects of the Earth's poles..um somehow...with new powers he never had...I assume because he's blue..ohhh and before I forget..he's so powerful that um now he needs an oxygen system to float around in space..on the moon...this is Superman we are talking about *sigh*) goes toe to toe with the boss-bad-Angel (ugh now I sound like that imbecile Jar-Jar Binks..thanks Morrison's AWFUL plot) and shows that blue Superman is still pretty powerful. Then the comatose guy (who no one really knows whom he is, nor is it explained-EVER) gets up and walks out of the hospital while everyone goes insane inside the hospital..oh and the demons? The ones who lived in the nooks of the flowers? They uh are screwed because the unnamed coma dude knocks over the flower vase...no seriously..you couldn't pay me to make this up..though someone paid Morrison to write this.
Then we finish with a two parter about some guy named the Key...who puts the JLA to sleep and they are infected with a virus in their dreams, but when they wake up..somehow the Key will get superpowers to enter the negative zone..but they are rescued by the Green Arrow..but he's a kid..well he's Ollie's kid..and Ollie is dead...*sigh* anyways it doesn't work..Key is defeated by Green Arrow (or is it kid Green Arrow?)..oh and Superman is still blue....for some reason.
The hardest thing, besides finishing this awful volume, was debating between giving it a 1 or a 2 out of 5 stars. I started with a two..but in retrospect..it deserves a 1. SKIP THIS ISSUE- unless you like bad comic writing in which case BUY THIS ISSUE. Oh did I mention Superman is blue?
Okay..we start with some weird one shot story about the JLA looking for new members. So instead of looking for very powerful superheroes they go digging through the c and d listers (Hitman, the Warrior, Damage, etc)..if you just said "Who?"..well join the club. Of all these nonentities they select Tomorrow Woman. Uh yeah..okay then....anyways long story short- she's an evil robot sent to infiltrate the JLA but her AI is so good that she becomes good and commits suicide helping the JLA. *sigh* Did I mention Superman is blue?
Okay then we get a two issue slightly better story about Angels (and Demons that live in the nooks of flowers-just don't ask..if you care so much go read this crap yourself)..and this one wasn't awful. But again- no character development. Some Angel shows up, being chased by other "bad" angels..the "bad" angels are really tough..but Blue Superman (did I mention Superman is Blue? OH! And he uh can reverse the magnetic effects of the Earth's poles..um somehow...with new powers he never had...I assume because he's blue..ohhh and before I forget..he's so powerful that um now he needs an oxygen system to float around in space..on the moon...this is Superman we are talking about *sigh*) goes toe to toe with the boss-bad-Angel (ugh now I sound like that imbecile Jar-Jar Binks..thanks Morrison's AWFUL plot) and shows that blue Superman is still pretty powerful. Then the comatose guy (who no one really knows whom he is, nor is it explained-EVER) gets up and walks out of the hospital while everyone goes insane inside the hospital..oh and the demons? The ones who lived in the nooks of the flowers? They uh are screwed because the unnamed coma dude knocks over the flower vase...no seriously..you couldn't pay me to make this up..though someone paid Morrison to write this.
Then we finish with a two parter about some guy named the Key...who puts the JLA to sleep and they are infected with a virus in their dreams, but when they wake up..somehow the Key will get superpowers to enter the negative zone..but they are rescued by the Green Arrow..but he's a kid..well he's Ollie's kid..and Ollie is dead...*sigh* anyways it doesn't work..Key is defeated by Green Arrow (or is it kid Green Arrow?)..oh and Superman is still blue....for some reason.
The hardest thing, besides finishing this awful volume, was debating between giving it a 1 or a 2 out of 5 stars. I started with a two..but in retrospect..it deserves a 1. SKIP THIS ISSUE- unless you like bad comic writing in which case BUY THIS ISSUE. Oh did I mention Superman is blue?
July 31, 2014
Confusion...anger...boredom...these were my stages of reading...
What the hell happened between the first volume and this mess?!
These stories were choppy and boring and ridiculous....angels...really? There are characters and situations that are thrown at the reader with no development or back story. As a reader i was left wondering....why am I supposed to care??
I hate the glowing blue Superman, yes lets give this already unbeatable character even more powers so that he can conveniently act as a plot device and save the day.
The first story was a single issue story that was completely forgettable and did nothing to progress any of the JLA characters.
The second story was about angels, that's really all I got out of it.
The last story was the most interesting of the bunch with isn't saying much. It offers alternate realities of characters while introducing the reader to the new Green Arrow, Ollie's son.
Overall, I was shocked, these stories didn't even seem to be a continuation of the setup we got from the every enjoyable JLA, Vol. 1: New World Order. Grant Morrison, you are so much better than this. It doesn't seem like anything of great importance or consequence happened in these stories, and the worst crime of all, nothing particularly interesting happened either.
What the hell happened between the first volume and this mess?!
These stories were choppy and boring and ridiculous....angels...really? There are characters and situations that are thrown at the reader with no development or back story. As a reader i was left wondering....why am I supposed to care??
I hate the glowing blue Superman, yes lets give this already unbeatable character even more powers so that he can conveniently act as a plot device and save the day.
The first story was a single issue story that was completely forgettable and did nothing to progress any of the JLA characters.
The second story was about angels, that's really all I got out of it.
The last story was the most interesting of the bunch with isn't saying much. It offers alternate realities of characters while introducing the reader to the new Green Arrow, Ollie's son.
Overall, I was shocked, these stories didn't even seem to be a continuation of the setup we got from the every enjoyable JLA, Vol. 1: New World Order. Grant Morrison, you are so much better than this. It doesn't seem like anything of great importance or consequence happened in these stories, and the worst crime of all, nothing particularly interesting happened either.
August 24, 2020
This was meh, there are three short stories in here and none of them are particularly memorable. I liked the one with Tomorrow Woman but the other two were confusing especially the one with Key that had terrible pacing. I also got really annoyed by all the sexist comments made towards Wonder Woman like how that one guy (who’s name I forgot which says a lot) said he only tried out for the Justice League just to check out Wonder Woman with his x-ray vision and how the angel guy’s answer to her thanking him for watching her back is saying that he would pay to watch her back. I think the worst part about this stuff is that Diana doesn’t say anything back, it doesn’t do anything for the plot aside from turning Wonder Woman into a sex object. The art continues to be bad, Howard Porter’s art just doesn’t do it for me if you want to see my full thoughts read my review for the previous volume. The art makes the story more confusing to me. If things don’t improve in the next volume, I’ll probably drop this series or pick it up another time.
August 8, 2016
This was pretty good, not as good as the last one though.
It was pretty short for a volume, so I'm a little surprised that they could cram two big plots into this. They fought Asmodel in the first half and the Key (who?) in the second half. Also Superman changed his outfit in this one and had blue skin, which went completely unexplained to me.
Still, it was pretty good. I'll see how I feel about this series after the next volume.
It was pretty short for a volume, so I'm a little surprised that they could cram two big plots into this. They fought Asmodel in the first half and the Key (who?) in the second half. Also Superman changed his outfit in this one and had blue skin, which went completely unexplained to me.
Still, it was pretty good. I'll see how I feel about this series after the next volume.
October 12, 2012
bought a lot on ebay of graphic books dirt cheap-I still feeling guilty for how cheap it was!
December 30, 2015
OK, here is the deal. I found this for super cheap, used. I saw Batman, Martian Manhunter and the words "JLA" so I bought it. I didn't read what it was about, I only checked to see if it was a "volume". I thought that it wasn't since no where on the cover or spine of my copy does it say "Vol 2". I saw that it was some collected issues on the inside page, but lots of standalone graphics are collected issues so I thought that I was ok to just jump in.
I was unimpressed overall. The artwork was a throwback to my childhood and this is not really a good thing. Howard Porter and John Dell's artwork lack focus, heavy on shading and shadows. Facial details range from honed-in details to just smudges and the bodies follow this same formula, sometimes in focus, other times just simple colored in masses. As with most comic art, backgrounds are just there to keep the background from being white, nothing eye catching or memorable to see there.
Morrison's writing is not what I am accustomed to and I chalk that up to this being early in his career. His writing is a bit overdone and stuffy. Words just to fill the frame in an attempt to have something to say that the artwork can't get across to the reader. The storylines are stilted and choppy, as a single issue itself feels like separate stories, not just the change of pace from different issues.
I would have never gotten this if I would have known how little Batman shows up and if I would have known that it was Kyle as G.L and Wally as Flash. The only character from this time period that I like is angry, one handed Aquaman who was the coolest of the bunch, as sad as that seems. I know nothing about Blue Superman other than he "is" Superman and since I don't like the character anyways, I honestly don't care what form he is presented to the readers as.
I didn't like the angel plot point or really any other arc in this book and I don't think that I can trade this back in fast enough.
I was unimpressed overall. The artwork was a throwback to my childhood and this is not really a good thing. Howard Porter and John Dell's artwork lack focus, heavy on shading and shadows. Facial details range from honed-in details to just smudges and the bodies follow this same formula, sometimes in focus, other times just simple colored in masses. As with most comic art, backgrounds are just there to keep the background from being white, nothing eye catching or memorable to see there.
Morrison's writing is not what I am accustomed to and I chalk that up to this being early in his career. His writing is a bit overdone and stuffy. Words just to fill the frame in an attempt to have something to say that the artwork can't get across to the reader. The storylines are stilted and choppy, as a single issue itself feels like separate stories, not just the change of pace from different issues.
I would have never gotten this if I would have known how little Batman shows up and if I would have known that it was Kyle as G.L and Wally as Flash. The only character from this time period that I like is angry, one handed Aquaman who was the coolest of the bunch, as sad as that seems. I know nothing about Blue Superman other than he "is" Superman and since I don't like the character anyways, I honestly don't care what form he is presented to the readers as.
I didn't like the angel plot point or really any other arc in this book and I don't think that I can trade this back in fast enough.
August 8, 2021
An adventure with the new JLA kicks off with a recruiting sesssion.
July 10, 2022
The Keys > Tomorrow Woman >>>> Zuriel
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2022
I've just got to say I love the format of this collection. Three stories, each being one or two issues long, it's absolutely perfect. Having these shorter stories makes the team feel more connected, in my opinion, and is something that some Marvel movies miss out on. For those films, it looks like the Avengers had two large-scale adventures before something as climactic as Infinity War, a problem not faced here.
I really enjoyed the first story, even though it was only an issue long, it still managed to have a lovely and bittersweet ending which is a very impressive feat. The middle one, the with plot revolving around angels didn't connect to me as much, maybe because it felt very similar to the first story in this run: New World Order. The third was also very enjoyable, but it felt a little derivative of some other stories dealing with Elseworlds scenarios - I'm very glad the League has a new permanent member in Green Arrow. I really haven't read much of this incarnation of G.A. so I'm definitely looking forwards to the next volume (when it decides to arrive from eBay).
I really enjoyed the first story, even though it was only an issue long, it still managed to have a lovely and bittersweet ending which is a very impressive feat. The middle one, the with plot revolving around angels didn't connect to me as much, maybe because it felt very similar to the first story in this run: New World Order. The third was also very enjoyable, but it felt a little derivative of some other stories dealing with Elseworlds scenarios - I'm very glad the League has a new permanent member in Green Arrow. I really haven't read much of this incarnation of G.A. so I'm definitely looking forwards to the next volume (when it decides to arrive from eBay).
April 25, 2015
Actual rating would be 1.5 stars.
Howard Porter's art isn't very good. During the 90's when comics were at the height of their popularity, DC was the one company that was lagging behind. DC had some of the worst comics in general at that time, but by far the worst art. The bodies of Porter's characters look pretty good. With the exception of a few panels, most of the character's faces look off somehow. Porter does well with the creatures in the story and Aquaman is consistently the best looking of the major characters. This book was originally published as single comics issues back in 1997. I just read it in April of 2015. It is easy to see why Porter isn't still around in comics 18 years later. Art gets 1.5 stars.
I'm a fan of Grant Morrison. Most of the material I have read of his has been written since 2006ish. It is easy to see that this was written early in his career. His writing is nowhere near as polished as it is today. This collected volume contains 4 issues of the JLA series and those issues contain 3 different stories. The first story is a filler story that is supposed to bridge 2 bigger stories and it is utterly forgettable. The second story is vaguely interesting, but it ends without giving the reader any information about why the events that happen are taking place. It also has a rather bland ending that also leaves the reader questioning what happens next. The third story is the most interesting, but it still has some major flaws. This is the worst thing I have ever read that was written by Morrison. Writing gets 1.5 stars also.
One of the major reasons DC Comics were so bad in the 1990's was the fact that they kept changing their main characters. To me that change actually started back in the mid 80's with the death of Supergirl. In 1989 Alan Moore had the Joker shoot Barbara Gordon and paralyze her. She then became Oracle who was really popular, but that's one of the only changes that was well received. A few years later Bane broke Batman's back and Bruce Wayne was replaced by Azreal in the Batsuit. Thankfully, that didn't too awfully long, but it should never have happened in the first place. Somewhere in there Barry Allen was replaced by Wally West as the Flash, Hal Jordan went crazy and left his Green Lantern persona to become Parallax. Some time before the beginning of this series the writers at DC decided to destroy Superman and have him become an energy being in a containment suit. Aquaman is the only major character that was actually made better during these years.
This series has the original Green Arrow, Ollie Queen's, son who is now Green Arrow joining the JLA. I never even knew Ollie had a son until I read this. Superman is a mockery of the great character that he normally is. Wally is the third best Flash behind Jay Garrick and Barry Allen. Kyle Raynor is the second worst of all of the Green Lanterns. Hal Jordan, Alan Scott, Guy Gardner, Mogo, Kilowag, Ch'p, etc are all better Lantern characters. The only way the Lantern selection could have been worse would have been if they chose John Stewart to be in the book. Wonder Woman basically has no personality in this book. She isn't around on the pages long enough to develop one. Random baddies have more page time than her or Batman and we still don't know who those bad guys were. If they were gonna focus on some villains, they should have given us some star power with Lex Luthor, Zod, or someone else equally recognizable. The stories are too short and crammed with new faces that we never get properly introduced to and the heroes are an afterthought. Maybe that is a good thing though because we've got a second-rate Green Arrow, a third-rate Flash, a terrible Green Lantern, a joke of a Superman in one of the worst outfits in comics history, and a Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman and Batman that have no personalities. It's dumb casting decisions like that that caused me to wait 18 years to read this. I wouldn't have even read it now if my sister hadn't found a copy of it for $2 at a used book store. Stay away from this. There is so much better stuff out there to read.
Howard Porter's art isn't very good. During the 90's when comics were at the height of their popularity, DC was the one company that was lagging behind. DC had some of the worst comics in general at that time, but by far the worst art. The bodies of Porter's characters look pretty good. With the exception of a few panels, most of the character's faces look off somehow. Porter does well with the creatures in the story and Aquaman is consistently the best looking of the major characters. This book was originally published as single comics issues back in 1997. I just read it in April of 2015. It is easy to see why Porter isn't still around in comics 18 years later. Art gets 1.5 stars.
I'm a fan of Grant Morrison. Most of the material I have read of his has been written since 2006ish. It is easy to see that this was written early in his career. His writing is nowhere near as polished as it is today. This collected volume contains 4 issues of the JLA series and those issues contain 3 different stories. The first story is a filler story that is supposed to bridge 2 bigger stories and it is utterly forgettable. The second story is vaguely interesting, but it ends without giving the reader any information about why the events that happen are taking place. It also has a rather bland ending that also leaves the reader questioning what happens next. The third story is the most interesting, but it still has some major flaws. This is the worst thing I have ever read that was written by Morrison. Writing gets 1.5 stars also.
One of the major reasons DC Comics were so bad in the 1990's was the fact that they kept changing their main characters. To me that change actually started back in the mid 80's with the death of Supergirl. In 1989 Alan Moore had the Joker shoot Barbara Gordon and paralyze her. She then became Oracle who was really popular, but that's one of the only changes that was well received. A few years later Bane broke Batman's back and Bruce Wayne was replaced by Azreal in the Batsuit. Thankfully, that didn't too awfully long, but it should never have happened in the first place. Somewhere in there Barry Allen was replaced by Wally West as the Flash, Hal Jordan went crazy and left his Green Lantern persona to become Parallax. Some time before the beginning of this series the writers at DC decided to destroy Superman and have him become an energy being in a containment suit. Aquaman is the only major character that was actually made better during these years.
This series has the original Green Arrow, Ollie Queen's, son who is now Green Arrow joining the JLA. I never even knew Ollie had a son until I read this. Superman is a mockery of the great character that he normally is. Wally is the third best Flash behind Jay Garrick and Barry Allen. Kyle Raynor is the second worst of all of the Green Lanterns. Hal Jordan, Alan Scott, Guy Gardner, Mogo, Kilowag, Ch'p, etc are all better Lantern characters. The only way the Lantern selection could have been worse would have been if they chose John Stewart to be in the book. Wonder Woman basically has no personality in this book. She isn't around on the pages long enough to develop one. Random baddies have more page time than her or Batman and we still don't know who those bad guys were. If they were gonna focus on some villains, they should have given us some star power with Lex Luthor, Zod, or someone else equally recognizable. The stories are too short and crammed with new faces that we never get properly introduced to and the heroes are an afterthought. Maybe that is a good thing though because we've got a second-rate Green Arrow, a third-rate Flash, a terrible Green Lantern, a joke of a Superman in one of the worst outfits in comics history, and a Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman and Batman that have no personalities. It's dumb casting decisions like that that caused me to wait 18 years to read this. I wouldn't have even read it now if my sister hadn't found a copy of it for $2 at a used book store. Stay away from this. There is so much better stuff out there to read.
February 2, 2011
Sometimes I'm forgetting how early in Morrison's career this is. Then I catch a glimpse of just how ham-handed he can be with the dialogue when he's just filling frames, and I realize this is not the Morrison I know now.
The Tomorrow Girl story is complete throwaway. The story with the Angels ends rather abruptly with no idea or real reason why it started or stopped. However, the sense of foreboding on which he ends this book is pretty awesome.
The Tomorrow Girl story is complete throwaway. The story with the Angels ends rather abruptly with no idea or real reason why it started or stopped. However, the sense of foreboding on which he ends this book is pretty awesome.
August 24, 2011
The four stars is really for the last storyline, "Elseworlds", involving the Key. That's excellent stuff. Also, the first story, with two mad scientists trying to one-up each other as their robot faces the JLA, was fun. I think with different art it could've been better. The middle story, with Zauriel, had its moments but I didn't like that character. The villains were kind of interesting though, and watching how the team fought them had some bright spots.
February 25, 2010
Oh Tomorrow Woman, you're a real girl at heart.
Connor Hawke saves everybody in one of the best trope-defying "everyone gets put in a dream world they have to realize isn't real" setups.
Also, there's a weird thing with Angels that doesn't make much sense.
Connor Hawke saves everybody in one of the best trope-defying "everyone gets put in a dream world they have to realize isn't real" setups.
Also, there's a weird thing with Angels that doesn't make much sense.
April 28, 2017
Tomorrow Woman's story was bittersweet if brief, then it's a chore of a middle section. I'm glad I stuck it out 'til the end because the 'Imaginary Stories' finale, with a heroic appearance by Green Arrow, was worth it.
March 17, 2012
A bit disjointed as a whole, I still enjoyed the individual smaller story arcs. It's fun to see what the writers thought relevant in 1998.
November 21, 2019
En la epopeya épica que es la JLA de Grant Morrison, las historias reunidas en Sueños Americanos suponen una especie de interludio entre dos grandes eventos, el ya visto en su primera trama, y el que vendría a continuación en La Roca de la Eternidad, aunque incluso en estos momentos de interludio a Morrison no se le cae el ambiente épico de las manos.
En la primera de las historias, la JLA conoce a un nuevo héroe, Zauriel, que es ni más ni menos que un ángel que ha renunciado a su situación en el cielo por "amor", ya que se ha enamorado de una mortal (en una situación que, todo sea dicho, si se hubiera escrito a día de hoy sería un poco turbia en plan acoso), pero ha descubierto los planes de otro ángel, el poderosos Asmodel, para revelarse contra Dios y tratar de triunfar donde Lucifer falló, por lo que Asmodel y sus seguidores persiguen a Zauriel... mientras el demonio Nerón, por otro lado, amenaza con derribar la Luna sobre la Tierra, lo que obliga a Superman a tomar medidas excepcionales.
Después de la aparición de Zauriel, las manipulaciones de Nerón reviven a un antiguo enemigo de la JLA, un villano conocido como La Llave, que consigue atrapar a todos los miembros de la Liga en la Atalaya, mostrándoles imágenes de un futuro ficticio (algo que Morrison hará en repetidas ocasiones, mostrándonos varias versiones futuristas de la Liga), dejando sólo al miembro más reciente del equipo, Flecha Verde, que en aquellos momentos no era Oliver Queen, sino su hijo, Connor Hawke, mucho más inexperto.
Lo dicho, incluso en estas historias entre historias, Morrison mantiene el tipo y el nivel, y la participación en el dibujo de Óscar Jiménez, hace que podamos "descansar" un poco del trazo sobresaturado de Howard Porter, así que eso también se agradece.
............
En la primera de las historias, la JLA conoce a un nuevo héroe, Zauriel, que es ni más ni menos que un ángel que ha renunciado a su situación en el cielo por "amor", ya que se ha enamorado de una mortal (en una situación que, todo sea dicho, si se hubiera escrito a día de hoy sería un poco turbia en plan acoso), pero ha descubierto los planes de otro ángel, el poderosos Asmodel, para revelarse contra Dios y tratar de triunfar donde Lucifer falló, por lo que Asmodel y sus seguidores persiguen a Zauriel... mientras el demonio Nerón, por otro lado, amenaza con derribar la Luna sobre la Tierra, lo que obliga a Superman a tomar medidas excepcionales.
Después de la aparición de Zauriel, las manipulaciones de Nerón reviven a un antiguo enemigo de la JLA, un villano conocido como La Llave, que consigue atrapar a todos los miembros de la Liga en la Atalaya, mostrándoles imágenes de un futuro ficticio (algo que Morrison hará en repetidas ocasiones, mostrándonos varias versiones futuristas de la Liga), dejando sólo al miembro más reciente del equipo, Flecha Verde, que en aquellos momentos no era Oliver Queen, sino su hijo, Connor Hawke, mucho más inexperto.
Lo dicho, incluso en estas historias entre historias, Morrison mantiene el tipo y el nivel, y la participación en el dibujo de Óscar Jiménez, hace que podamos "descansar" un poco del trazo sobresaturado de Howard Porter, así que eso también se agradece.
............
August 17, 2020
Here the Justice League of America, finding themselves short-handed, begin seeking new recruits. Meanwhile they have to face infiltration, the legions of Heaven and an old enemy; the Key.
There are actually three separate but contiguous stories here, with the first being the length of a single comic issue and the other two being two issues in length. This means that none of the three gets much room to develop and they all feel pretty shallow and rushed.
The first is a call-back to comic stories of old, with a one-off android hero finding their humanity before being destroyed. It works as an homage to the classic style of story, but feels weirdly out of place in the continuity it's set in.
The second story is just pure bizarre as the JLA find themselves fighting literal angels. The implications of this (i.e. God is real, the Bible is all true etcetera) are never explored and everyone just shrugs this all off as one of those things.
The final story is the best overall, with the JLA incapacitated in a computer-generated dreamworld which sees them having very personal hallucinations such as Kal-El becoming Krypton's Green Lantern and Batman being old and acting in the Alfred role as Tim Drake goes into action as Batman with Bruce's son (with Catwoman) as Robin. There's some interesting stuff in the dreams and Batman's in particular put me in mind of an updated 'The Dark Knight Returns' (by Frank Miller) universe.
Unfortunately the dream sequences are too short to redeem this otherwise bizarre collection of mismatched storylines. And that's before you get into the fact that this was the era when Superman was blue and made of lightning (the 90s... what can I say?).
Credit is due, however, to the cool introduction of the young new Green Arrow to the team.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *
There are actually three separate but contiguous stories here, with the first being the length of a single comic issue and the other two being two issues in length. This means that none of the three gets much room to develop and they all feel pretty shallow and rushed.
The first is a call-back to comic stories of old, with a one-off android hero finding their humanity before being destroyed. It works as an homage to the classic style of story, but feels weirdly out of place in the continuity it's set in.
The second story is just pure bizarre as the JLA find themselves fighting literal angels. The implications of this (i.e. God is real, the Bible is all true etcetera) are never explored and everyone just shrugs this all off as one of those things.
The final story is the best overall, with the JLA incapacitated in a computer-generated dreamworld which sees them having very personal hallucinations such as Kal-El becoming Krypton's Green Lantern and Batman being old and acting in the Alfred role as Tim Drake goes into action as Batman with Bruce's son (with Catwoman) as Robin. There's some interesting stuff in the dreams and Batman's in particular put me in mind of an updated 'The Dark Knight Returns' (by Frank Miller) universe.
Unfortunately the dream sequences are too short to redeem this otherwise bizarre collection of mismatched storylines. And that's before you get into the fact that this was the era when Superman was blue and made of lightning (the 90s... what can I say?).
Credit is due, however, to the cool introduction of the young new Green Arrow to the team.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *
January 19, 2024
I have to disagree with a lot of the negative reviews that I've read for this book. Someone said, Morrison's getting better...better than what, did he stink before? I mean the other JLA story he'd written before this was New World Order which was picked by Wizard and CBR as one of the top JLA must-reads. So, I really don't get the negative reviews.
The first story has an amusing audition of potential JLA members, such as Hit Man, Damage etc. but the final pick is Tomorrow Woman who is an android. The next story features the arrival of Zauriel, a fallen angel who is hunted by Asmodel. The dialogue is a bit confusing but the story is good.
The final story features the Key and how he is foiled by the new Green Arrow. The Key puts all the JLA in a trance and brings them into an Elseworlds scenario which was very entertaining. The stories are good and I recommended it. I wouldn't give it 5 stars but it gets a solid 4.
The first story has an amusing audition of potential JLA members, such as Hit Man, Damage etc. but the final pick is Tomorrow Woman who is an android. The next story features the arrival of Zauriel, a fallen angel who is hunted by Asmodel. The dialogue is a bit confusing but the story is good.
The final story features the Key and how he is foiled by the new Green Arrow. The Key puts all the JLA in a trance and brings them into an Elseworlds scenario which was very entertaining. The stories are good and I recommended it. I wouldn't give it 5 stars but it gets a solid 4.
August 20, 2017
Art: 3
Story: 2
Action: 2
This is a huge downgrade from the previous arc/vol.
First of all, the writer did not make any reference to why superman is all blue. Fans who do not read the superman arc that time will be left confused.
The Angels storyline was meh. Inviting a random angel after the fight to JLA is retarded.
Playing JLA's mind like amateurs, and introducing an elseworld storyline for us. Too common.
Aquaman is still very underutilized. Perhaps that era he is still not that popular guy.
Story: 2
Action: 2
This is a huge downgrade from the previous arc/vol.
First of all, the writer did not make any reference to why superman is all blue. Fans who do not read the superman arc that time will be left confused.
The Angels storyline was meh. Inviting a random angel after the fight to JLA is retarded.
Playing JLA's mind like amateurs, and introducing an elseworld storyline for us. Too common.
Aquaman is still very underutilized. Perhaps that era he is still not that popular guy.
November 27, 2016
This collection had 3 short story arcs so it kind of felt all over the place. Each one on its own was entertaining, though I thought the ending of the last one was kind of cheesy. The Batman alt-universe stuff was really heavy and cool though so that made up for it.
June 11, 2018
1.5 stars if I'm being honest. The only story arc that I liked was the two-parter where the Justice League was captured by the Key and Conner Hawke (Green Arrow) had to single-handedly save them. The rest was meh. The artwork got worse somehow.
January 15, 2022
Still early on in the JLA run by Grant Morrison. Nice set-up so far. For anyone new to Justice League Grant Morrison can be a little convoluted, but the JLA run has some of the best Justice league stories ever.
May 28, 2017
Some of the worst writing in Justice League stories.
November 4, 2020
The stories are more ridiculous and over the top than the first issue. No interesting concepts are explored in this issue. A forgettable work.
March 17, 2021
It felt like it was trying to do so much in a short amount of time but this might be my favorite of the comics so far
November 24, 2022
Segunda saga de la JLA de Morrison y Porter.
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