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JLA: The Deluxe Edition
JLA, Vol. 4
The World’s Greatest Heroes have faced countless threats and the deadliest of enemies and have barely come out alive each time. So what happens when Mageddon — the doomsday weapon of the Old Gods — attempts to end all of existence…at the same time the JLA’s greatest foes band together as a brand new Injustice Gang? World War III is upon us and could be the end of the Justice League…and the world.
This volume collects JLA #32-46.
This volume collects JLA #32-46.
369 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 16, 2010
31 people are currently reading
278 people want to read
About the author
Grant Morrison
1,792 books4,573 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
February 9, 2022
Tower of Babel is a classic story for two reasons:
1) It proved once and for all how smart Batman is
2) It reconfirmed that, like Benjamin, if Batman were an ice cream flavor, he would be pralines and dick
1) It proved once and for all how smart Batman is
2) It reconfirmed that, like Benjamin, if Batman were an ice cream flavor, he would be pralines and dick
April 23, 2014
Grant Morrison ends his JLA run with a war to end all wars, appropriately named "World War III." The "World's Greatest Heroes" face their deadliest threat with Mageddon. A sentient doomsday engine of the Old Gods. The threat is so dire that heaven began planning for the new universe with imminent destruction of the current one.
Morrison understood that to test the world's greatest heroes he needed them fighting extinction level threats and he ended his run with his JLA facing the most destructive force the two universes have seen. You know things are bad when you need a host of warrior angels and the combined armies of 16,000 undersea city-states to bring order to a world gone crazy by the approaching Mageddon.
If Morrison's JLA can be distilled to one character, it's Superman. The writer has an obvious fondness for the world's first superhero. Recalling some of his feats include moving the moon by himself and wrestling with an angel, every feat is epic. Now, he's taking on a universe destroyer that eats gods for breakfast and Superman, with his faithful companions can stop it.
This is a great collection and it reads like the next few years of Morrison have similar themes. The last JLA arc reminds me of Final Crisis and his three-part JLA Confidential story is essentially a Seven Soldiers of Victory. It also includes the excellent JLA: Earth 2 graphic novel collaboration with Frank Quitely.
If one could choose only one JLA Deluxe Edition hardcover from the four volumes that were released, you couldn't go wrong picking this one.
Morrison understood that to test the world's greatest heroes he needed them fighting extinction level threats and he ended his run with his JLA facing the most destructive force the two universes have seen. You know things are bad when you need a host of warrior angels and the combined armies of 16,000 undersea city-states to bring order to a world gone crazy by the approaching Mageddon.
If Morrison's JLA can be distilled to one character, it's Superman. The writer has an obvious fondness for the world's first superhero. Recalling some of his feats include moving the moon by himself and wrestling with an angel, every feat is epic. Now, he's taking on a universe destroyer that eats gods for breakfast and Superman, with his faithful companions can stop it.
This is a great collection and it reads like the next few years of Morrison have similar themes. The last JLA arc reminds me of Final Crisis and his three-part JLA Confidential story is essentially a Seven Soldiers of Victory. It also includes the excellent JLA: Earth 2 graphic novel collaboration with Frank Quitely.
If one could choose only one JLA Deluxe Edition hardcover from the four volumes that were released, you couldn't go wrong picking this one.
April 17, 2014
I read the first volume of Grant Morrison’s acclaimed late ‘90s JLA series and came away thinking it was just ok and that I wouldn’t be reading any more of the series. Then, earlier this year, the Tower of Babel storyline came back into print so I thought I’d go back to the series to see if Babel really is one of the most legendary stories on Batman’s psyche ever. And… yes and no - but mostly no!
The reprinted book features a whopping 15 issues from the series with the four Tower of Babel issues closing the book (the listing incorrectly states this edition collects JLA #36-41 when it actually collects JLA #32-46). I read about 3 or 4 of the issues at the start before I had to skip the rest and jump straight to Babel because this series suuuuuucks!
The first few issues reference the ridiculous and overlong Batman storyline, No Man’s Land, before jumping into the most boring stories ever featuring nanites (microscopic robots that do bad things to superheroes), alien shapeshifters (not J’onn, but the generically evil kind), and Hal Jordan as the Spectre (this was set years before the Rebirth storyline where he returned as the definitive Green Lantern).
These first issues are written alternately by Waid, Morrison, and JM DeMatteis, and none are any good. The action is awful, the panels are too wordy with nothing much worth reading, and the stories are just so forgettable that you may as well not have read them for all the impression they’ll make on you! Plus Plastic Man is on the team and he’s just a super annoying Mister Fantastic making crap jokes with sunglasses, while Kyle Rayner’s Green Lantern wears this laughable Lego mask all the time that makes it hard to take him seriously.
Anyway, I wasn’t going to read another 7 or 8 issues of that rubbish so I jumped to the reason I picked this up: Tower of Babel. The four issue series shows what happens when Batman’s contingencies against the JLA fall into the wrong hands – Ra’s Al-Ghul’s – and the League is very easily (too easily even) brought to its knees.
The “paranoid Batman” storyline has been done before this, at least with regards to Batman and Superman, with Batman possessing pieces of kryptonite should he ever need to take Superman out, but I’m not sure if that extended beyond Superman to the rest of the Justice League. At any rate, the story doesn’t explore Batman’s psyche any more than this – Batman’s paranoid, the League are shocked and that’s it. Ooo, deep!
The League are beaten in fairly interesting ways – Kyle is blinded, Flash has super-fast epileptic seizures, Wonder Woman believes she’s fighting an equally matched opponent continuously, and so on – but it’s done far too easily that it feels contrived. It’s like Mark Waid is basically writing fanfic hypothetical scenarios about his favourite heroes and it’s like reading an outline rather than an actual story. Plus the whole thing relies on a ridiculous piece of pseudo-science – Ra’s has gotten his hands on some nanites and that’s how he’s able to affect all of the JLA. No matter what the superhero and their powers, these magical nanites can do anything and everything because I guess each member of the JLA has the same physiology(!?).
Meanwhile, Ra’s unleashes his Tower of Babel device that eliminates language, both written and spoken, across the planet so suddenly everyone has severe dyslexia and can’t read any signs, notes, etc. or even understand one another. It’s a novel idea but doesn’t give Ra’s much to do – his scientists flips a couple of switches and he basically sits around waiting for people to die.
Waid’s writing is what really bothered me. He can write great books – Superman: Birthright, the first half of Irredeemable, for example – but his work on JLA is clunky and heavily reliant on exposition. Each issue starts with one or more of the characters summing up what’s gone before while establishing each character’s motivation and becomes so irritating to keep reading issue after issue. Howard Porter’s art is fine but nothing special – it’s basically a very standard ‘90s superhero style that looks quite rushed on the page.
So is Tower of Babel worth reading? Nah. It’s very outdated, poorly written and drawn, and is too derivative to take seriously as a great story. The resolution of the arc is like every cornball action movie finale where the whole thing devolves into stopping some henchman from setting off a handheld bomb. Yawn.
“Legendary” JLA story, my foot!
The reprinted book features a whopping 15 issues from the series with the four Tower of Babel issues closing the book (the listing incorrectly states this edition collects JLA #36-41 when it actually collects JLA #32-46). I read about 3 or 4 of the issues at the start before I had to skip the rest and jump straight to Babel because this series suuuuuucks!
The first few issues reference the ridiculous and overlong Batman storyline, No Man’s Land, before jumping into the most boring stories ever featuring nanites (microscopic robots that do bad things to superheroes), alien shapeshifters (not J’onn, but the generically evil kind), and Hal Jordan as the Spectre (this was set years before the Rebirth storyline where he returned as the definitive Green Lantern).
These first issues are written alternately by Waid, Morrison, and JM DeMatteis, and none are any good. The action is awful, the panels are too wordy with nothing much worth reading, and the stories are just so forgettable that you may as well not have read them for all the impression they’ll make on you! Plus Plastic Man is on the team and he’s just a super annoying Mister Fantastic making crap jokes with sunglasses, while Kyle Rayner’s Green Lantern wears this laughable Lego mask all the time that makes it hard to take him seriously.
Anyway, I wasn’t going to read another 7 or 8 issues of that rubbish so I jumped to the reason I picked this up: Tower of Babel. The four issue series shows what happens when Batman’s contingencies against the JLA fall into the wrong hands – Ra’s Al-Ghul’s – and the League is very easily (too easily even) brought to its knees.
The “paranoid Batman” storyline has been done before this, at least with regards to Batman and Superman, with Batman possessing pieces of kryptonite should he ever need to take Superman out, but I’m not sure if that extended beyond Superman to the rest of the Justice League. At any rate, the story doesn’t explore Batman’s psyche any more than this – Batman’s paranoid, the League are shocked and that’s it. Ooo, deep!
The League are beaten in fairly interesting ways – Kyle is blinded, Flash has super-fast epileptic seizures, Wonder Woman believes she’s fighting an equally matched opponent continuously, and so on – but it’s done far too easily that it feels contrived. It’s like Mark Waid is basically writing fanfic hypothetical scenarios about his favourite heroes and it’s like reading an outline rather than an actual story. Plus the whole thing relies on a ridiculous piece of pseudo-science – Ra’s has gotten his hands on some nanites and that’s how he’s able to affect all of the JLA. No matter what the superhero and their powers, these magical nanites can do anything and everything because I guess each member of the JLA has the same physiology(!?).
Meanwhile, Ra’s unleashes his Tower of Babel device that eliminates language, both written and spoken, across the planet so suddenly everyone has severe dyslexia and can’t read any signs, notes, etc. or even understand one another. It’s a novel idea but doesn’t give Ra’s much to do – his scientists flips a couple of switches and he basically sits around waiting for people to die.
Waid’s writing is what really bothered me. He can write great books – Superman: Birthright, the first half of Irredeemable, for example – but his work on JLA is clunky and heavily reliant on exposition. Each issue starts with one or more of the characters summing up what’s gone before while establishing each character’s motivation and becomes so irritating to keep reading issue after issue. Howard Porter’s art is fine but nothing special – it’s basically a very standard ‘90s superhero style that looks quite rushed on the page.
So is Tower of Babel worth reading? Nah. It’s very outdated, poorly written and drawn, and is too derivative to take seriously as a great story. The resolution of the arc is like every cornball action movie finale where the whole thing devolves into stopping some henchman from setting off a handheld bomb. Yawn.
“Legendary” JLA story, my foot!
April 23, 2021
A collection of pretty good stories, and one great storyline at the end.
The start feels very much like Saturday morning cartoon justice league adventures. It is pretty fun and exciting at points if nothing else. The big finale for Grant Morrison's storyline is over the top, kind of stupid, but least it moves at a real fast pace. A bit to erratic at points for me though. Then the final storyline of tower of babel is easily the best story of this collection. With Batman's prevention tools against the Justice League being stolen by Ra and used against his friends Batman has to face the league after.
I think the fact it ended so strong is making me enjoy this collection the most so far. I loved the fallout to Bruce's actions and the way his friends and co-workers reacted was perfect for the situation. While the rest of the storylines were solid it was the final that made me really enjoy this collection.
A 4 out of 5.
The start feels very much like Saturday morning cartoon justice league adventures. It is pretty fun and exciting at points if nothing else. The big finale for Grant Morrison's storyline is over the top, kind of stupid, but least it moves at a real fast pace. A bit to erratic at points for me though. Then the final storyline of tower of babel is easily the best story of this collection. With Batman's prevention tools against the Justice League being stolen by Ra and used against his friends Batman has to face the league after.
I think the fact it ended so strong is making me enjoy this collection the most so far. I loved the fallout to Bruce's actions and the way his friends and co-workers reacted was perfect for the situation. While the rest of the storylines were solid it was the final that made me really enjoy this collection.
A 4 out of 5.
March 4, 2019
Tower of Babel saves the day.
January 25, 2018
The Tower of Babel is a JLA story penned by Mark Waid, and it's excellent. Well worth reading. It does a fantastic job of taking the Batman character - a paranoid, almost psychopathic vigilante - and examining how his relationships with the self-appointed, godlike guardians of humanity might actually play out, despite best intentions. The villain is engaging, and there's a lot of pulpy superhero fun to be had while still taking itself seriously within its own fiction.
World War III is a JLA story penned by Grant Morrison, and it's hot garbage. Morrison continues his trend of being somewhat despicable, ethically, and I've talked about the ableism in one of his more popular books, Arkham Asylum, before, but... oh, wow, where do we even start with this one.
The plot itself is... whatever. The stakes are huge. Earth is in peril. There's a weapon the Old Gods built that's basically ushering forth an apocalypse of humanity's own design, stoking the innate hatred within man's very soul so that the planet practically destroys itself. It's not really much fun, and while it builds on momentum gathered over the previous three volumes, none of the threats feel very genuine. I will say it's one of the best of these epic, crossover-type storylines I've read as far as introducing characters that the audience might not already be familiar with (I was never confused in the way I was when I read DreamWar a few weeks ago), but it's still a tangle of character motivations and plot threads that absolutely diffuse any tension outright. Oh, also:
Batman gives a man motor neuron disease so he can punch him better.
Even within context, it's about as ridiculous and outright callous as it sounds. Hell, he doesn't even give the man motor neuron disease, he specifically gives the man Stephen Hawking's motor neuron disease. Then he punches him in the head. He graciously stops Huntress for continuing on to kill the man, which I suppose is... somewhat heroic (or just generally responsible?), but it's really kind of emblematic of Morrison's writing style. It's dark, grizzly, and mature - he hails from the same generation of writers as Alan Moore - but he frequently falls to shock to create drama, in ways that kind of undercut the intentions of the story. Batman is not meant to be awful, here. He's presented as a tactician and a genius that plays a positive key role in defeating the Old Gods' ancient doomsday weapon. And yet he uses the degenerative symptoms of a crippling and horrifying medical condition in order to incapacitate a foe he was already relatively evenly matched against.
It's just weird and wrong and bad in ways I have trouble processing coming from the actual, mainline JLA book. Morrison has written tons of tongue-in-cheek, introspective superhero stories, and, y'know, I don't even mind him trying to push as hard as he can against Batman in his era of that series, but JLA! Superman! (Morrison can write Superman well, too, as evidenced in All-Star Superman.) Wonder Woman! Flash! Plastic Man makes funny shapes out of himself! There's jokes and brevity and... Batman... goes and does... that! Oracle is called a "cr*p"! Mankind is revealed as inherently hateful to the point that those fires can be gently stoked to start World War III! It's tonally dissonant in ways that only smarter, more respectful authors can typically pull off, and Morrison doesn't.
...so, I'm only slightly embittered that I read through World War III, which precedes Tower of Babel. Just a little. This is currently the most convenient way to get a trade of Tower of Babel, so, like, y'know, watch the price (or go to a library), because Tower of Babel is easily a five-star JLA story. Stoke your curiosity if you must, but I think World War III is one of the most incidentally mean-spirited superhero comic arcs I've read from DC (at least outside of Batman books). It... eurgh. Thinking on it makes me almost ill. I've got a pretty high tolerance for this stuff - I'd begrudgingly call myself a fan of Garth Ennis - but this one... this one doesn't cross "the" line, per se, but it sure crosses something.
World War III is a JLA story penned by Grant Morrison, and it's hot garbage. Morrison continues his trend of being somewhat despicable, ethically, and I've talked about the ableism in one of his more popular books, Arkham Asylum, before, but... oh, wow, where do we even start with this one.
The plot itself is... whatever. The stakes are huge. Earth is in peril. There's a weapon the Old Gods built that's basically ushering forth an apocalypse of humanity's own design, stoking the innate hatred within man's very soul so that the planet practically destroys itself. It's not really much fun, and while it builds on momentum gathered over the previous three volumes, none of the threats feel very genuine. I will say it's one of the best of these epic, crossover-type storylines I've read as far as introducing characters that the audience might not already be familiar with (I was never confused in the way I was when I read DreamWar a few weeks ago), but it's still a tangle of character motivations and plot threads that absolutely diffuse any tension outright. Oh, also:
Batman gives a man motor neuron disease so he can punch him better.
Even within context, it's about as ridiculous and outright callous as it sounds. Hell, he doesn't even give the man motor neuron disease, he specifically gives the man Stephen Hawking's motor neuron disease. Then he punches him in the head. He graciously stops Huntress for continuing on to kill the man, which I suppose is... somewhat heroic (or just generally responsible?), but it's really kind of emblematic of Morrison's writing style. It's dark, grizzly, and mature - he hails from the same generation of writers as Alan Moore - but he frequently falls to shock to create drama, in ways that kind of undercut the intentions of the story. Batman is not meant to be awful, here. He's presented as a tactician and a genius that plays a positive key role in defeating the Old Gods' ancient doomsday weapon. And yet he uses the degenerative symptoms of a crippling and horrifying medical condition in order to incapacitate a foe he was already relatively evenly matched against.
It's just weird and wrong and bad in ways I have trouble processing coming from the actual, mainline JLA book. Morrison has written tons of tongue-in-cheek, introspective superhero stories, and, y'know, I don't even mind him trying to push as hard as he can against Batman in his era of that series, but JLA! Superman! (Morrison can write Superman well, too, as evidenced in All-Star Superman.) Wonder Woman! Flash! Plastic Man makes funny shapes out of himself! There's jokes and brevity and... Batman... goes and does... that! Oracle is called a "cr*p"! Mankind is revealed as inherently hateful to the point that those fires can be gently stoked to start World War III! It's tonally dissonant in ways that only smarter, more respectful authors can typically pull off, and Morrison doesn't.
...so, I'm only slightly embittered that I read through World War III, which precedes Tower of Babel. Just a little. This is currently the most convenient way to get a trade of Tower of Babel, so, like, y'know, watch the price (or go to a library), because Tower of Babel is easily a five-star JLA story. Stoke your curiosity if you must, but I think World War III is one of the most incidentally mean-spirited superhero comic arcs I've read from DC (at least outside of Batman books). It... eurgh. Thinking on it makes me almost ill. I've got a pretty high tolerance for this stuff - I'd begrudgingly call myself a fan of Garth Ennis - but this one... this one doesn't cross "the" line, per se, but it sure crosses something.
June 26, 2019
After the last volume failing to grab my attention the same way as the first 2 volumes of Morrison's run had, I was pleasantly at ease when I realised how epic this final volume was going to be.
And it's exactly that; EPIC AS HELL!
This is everything Morrison and Porter had been working towards and I'm so glad to say they knocked it out of the park. Such an enormous scope that had me unable to put the book down. This is everything I love about Morrison's work; it's unique in a way where the bad guy isn't exactly a guy, more of a concept weapon. Which Morrison has done a few times before with other stories, but it never seems to be hashed out or predictable.
What a satisfying ending to such an iconic run on this title. I loved how pretty much a piece from every arc comes into play here at this last stand of sorts. That's what I think makes it so impactful that way all the puzzle parts come together.
This is the perfect example of why I love this writer so much. If your down for a great Justice League story then you have to treat yourself to this. Even if you haven't read vol 1-3 I think this is easily accessible. And for the most part it's not too bonkers where people who don't like Morrison are put off.
As for me, I'm off to go read Final Crisis again!
And it's exactly that; EPIC AS HELL!
This is everything Morrison and Porter had been working towards and I'm so glad to say they knocked it out of the park. Such an enormous scope that had me unable to put the book down. This is everything I love about Morrison's work; it's unique in a way where the bad guy isn't exactly a guy, more of a concept weapon. Which Morrison has done a few times before with other stories, but it never seems to be hashed out or predictable.
What a satisfying ending to such an iconic run on this title. I loved how pretty much a piece from every arc comes into play here at this last stand of sorts. That's what I think makes it so impactful that way all the puzzle parts come together.
This is the perfect example of why I love this writer so much. If your down for a great Justice League story then you have to treat yourself to this. Even if you haven't read vol 1-3 I think this is easily accessible. And for the most part it's not too bonkers where people who don't like Morrison are put off.
As for me, I'm off to go read Final Crisis again!
March 17, 2023
The ending to the Morrison run is great. They do an amazing job connecting the last 35 issues and making a massive story that feels important and with characters who I have become (even more) invested in. Awesome!
The bug colony on the boys brain is a great single issue- seems to be a perfect send off to the Morrison run.
The Waid Tower of Babel is awesome - one of the best JLA stories.
The bug colony on the boys brain is a great single issue- seems to be a perfect send off to the Morrison run.
The Waid Tower of Babel is awesome - one of the best JLA stories.
August 11, 2021
A great finale to Morrison's run, which weaves together lots of his own interests and the things he has seeded throughout the previous volumes. Also: Mark Waid comes out of the gate strong with Tower of Babel, which is a classic.
March 24, 2021
Picked up this book off the shelf without checking the author. Was stuck on a subway for an hour with nothing else to read. Miserable stuff. Grant Morrison legit the worst.
November 16, 2018
Y así termina por todo lo alto la etapa de Morrison al frente de la JLA, con la mega saga "Tercera guerra mundial". Estos últimos issues mejoran sustancialmente a lo ya visto anteriormente, suponiendo un broche de oro para una etapa inolvidable de la Liga de la Justicia escrita por el genio escocés
May 17, 2017
Extraña decisión editorial de Dc para conformar éste volumen. El primer número está dedicado a explicar el porqué la Jla no se involucra en lo que fue No Man's Land en los títulos de Batman de finales de los noventas. Explicación floja y queda descolgado de lo que venía siendo en si la Jla. El siguiente número sirve de plataforma para la última gran saga de Morrison. Me dio la sensación de estar o mal desarrollada o muy compacta. Algo está mal y no se entiende como unitario. El tercer número mismo problema del primero. La colección se ve afectada por un evento del momento, Datos of Judgment. Queda totalmente fuera de lugar y no llega a contextualizar sin leer el evento completo. Y los últimos seis números están dedicados a WWIII. Una historia que arranca prometiendo mucho y se va desinflando y como es común en Morrison se lleva todo lo que trajo y lo deja tal cual estaba. Una pena que en lugar de poner esos rellenos hayan dejado fuera la saga Dc One Million, mucho más interesante y de mayor implicancia con el título en sí. Olvidé mencionar otro unitario entretenido protagonizado por Atom y el primer arco largo de cuatro números, Tierra of Babel. Una buena historia que deja mejor parado el nivel del tomo.
May 6, 2018
Je suis pas vraiment fan de cette série, mais c'est apparemment un run important, et puis je ne déteste pas non plus. Donc je continue. Ici on a plusieurs histoires. J'ai beaucoup aimé World War 3 même si c'est plutôt classique, l'histoire à l'intérieur du gars malade, pareil, sympa même si ça ne me paraît pas hyper original, et Tower of Babel j'ai bien aimé, tout est un peu trop rapide (la Justice League qui se fait battre un peu trop rapidement, mais surtout qui s'en sort très vite et facilement, et la fin aussi est trop rapide).
L'issue avec Hal Jordan / Spectre était très très bof à l'exception du twist de J'onn qui était pas mal. Et le début qui se passe en même temps que No Man's Land, je ne m'en rappelle même plus, mais ce n'était pas exceptionnel.
Bref avec cette série je ne m'éclate pas, je n'aime pas franchement le dessin, mais il y a aussi des arcs qui me plaisent plus et je vais continuer.
L'issue avec Hal Jordan / Spectre était très très bof à l'exception du twist de J'onn qui était pas mal. Et le début qui se passe en même temps que No Man's Land, je ne m'en rappelle même plus, mais ce n'était pas exceptionnel.
Bref avec cette série je ne m'éclate pas, je n'aime pas franchement le dessin, mais il y a aussi des arcs qui me plaisent plus et je vais continuer.
February 4, 2017
Morrison was clearly running out of steam by the end of his tenure on JLA. WW3 is not a great story and the resolution was silly at best. The New Gods are under-utilized concerning the natire of the threat.
The one shot featuring the Atom was redundant and has been told many times over. Pass.
Mark Waid's JLA entry, Tower of Babel, is much more interesting and saves this volume. It sets up a lot that happens later in the DCU and is executed well.
The art through out the book is just atrocious. Wonder Woman looks like a hooker, and most of the artists have a really bad sense of human proportion.
The one shot featuring the Atom was redundant and has been told many times over. Pass.
Mark Waid's JLA entry, Tower of Babel, is much more interesting and saves this volume. It sets up a lot that happens later in the DCU and is executed well.
The art through out the book is just atrocious. Wonder Woman looks like a hooker, and most of the artists have a really bad sense of human proportion.
April 1, 2022
Grant Morrison's JLA (8.5/10): Grant Morrison's JLA was solid. Not as good as I was expecting it to be, but solid. It also made me realize that I prefer the emphasis on character work highlighted in Mark Waid's stories rather than the the multi layered, aggressively creative plots showcased in Grant Morrison's stories. The highlights of Morrison's run were the Prometheus arc and World War III, the epic endgame of his run. World War III was really great because it was Morrison writing an epic scale of a story that is completely unreserved with the six-issues it is given and brings together every piece set up in his run. It showcases what I really liked about Final Crisis and Rock of Ages. In fact Rock of Ages and World War III are arguably a proto-Final Crisis because of how it reveals how Morrison would write such an epic scale, and it really does deliver in all of those stories, albeit with the caveat of each story getting a bit nonsensical and convoluted in one way or another. As for the run in general, Grant Morrison delivered very imaginative adventures to have the JLA embark on. From stories that blend and pushes the boundaries of space and time, highlighted in Rock of Ages, to different iterations of the Justice League through multiverse stories. However, my lack of enthusiasm from the run comes from the amount of dense, convoluted concepts that are described in these books that make it fun to talk about but hard to read. Concepts that sideline character work, for the most part, because of how hard those dense concepts are pushed in the story. The art also leaves A LOT to be desired, but I will give it credit for having some pretty creative paneling at times. The only character that I was completely in love with was Kyle Rayner, who had a simple and complete arc throughout the run-- from reluctant rookie to a stoic veteran that emerges from Hal Jordan's shadow. Overall, Grant Morrison wrote a simply solid run on the JLA.
JLA The Deluxe Edition Volume 4 (9/10): This volume has the most consistency of solid quality compared the the latter three. In terms of the larger stories, you have World War III as the conclusion to Grant Morrison's JLA and you have Tower of Babel as another iconic JLA story that showcases the Justice League facing all of their weaknesses in a pretty clever way. As for the other smaller stories, they were pretty good too. Nothing too bad, but the most definitely noticeable one was the issue where Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Atom shrink down into a child's brain tumor to discover that the brain tumor is actually a sentient, alien bacteria civilization that is gradually killing the child because of their use of bacterial fossil fuels infecting the blood system. There is even political debates between the bacteria creatures, a faction that doesnt believe the bacterial fossil fuels is killing their environment and the faction that believes otherwise that is assisted by the JLA. The civilization eventually dies and the leader that believed that the bacterial fossil fuels was killing the environment sent his son to the child's liver in a small space ship to likely become bacterial Superman. It's extremely nutty and it really does feel like a meta-wacky "Rick and Morty" plot with JLA characters, and I love the hell out of it. World War III was the endgame to Morrison's run on the JLA that showcased his imagination on a very epic scale, which is always fun to see. Tower of Babel is another story that I thought was very fun. It's just very fun to see the JLA suffer and Batman reign supreme. If Tower of Babel and Grant Morrison's JLA is what the JLA's most iconic stories has to offer, then I'd argue that JLA stories have little substance to them and are simply a lot of fun.
JLA The Deluxe Edition Volume 4 (9/10): This volume has the most consistency of solid quality compared the the latter three. In terms of the larger stories, you have World War III as the conclusion to Grant Morrison's JLA and you have Tower of Babel as another iconic JLA story that showcases the Justice League facing all of their weaknesses in a pretty clever way. As for the other smaller stories, they were pretty good too. Nothing too bad, but the most definitely noticeable one was the issue where Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Atom shrink down into a child's brain tumor to discover that the brain tumor is actually a sentient, alien bacteria civilization that is gradually killing the child because of their use of bacterial fossil fuels infecting the blood system. There is even political debates between the bacteria creatures, a faction that doesnt believe the bacterial fossil fuels is killing their environment and the faction that believes otherwise that is assisted by the JLA. The civilization eventually dies and the leader that believed that the bacterial fossil fuels was killing the environment sent his son to the child's liver in a small space ship to likely become bacterial Superman. It's extremely nutty and it really does feel like a meta-wacky "Rick and Morty" plot with JLA characters, and I love the hell out of it. World War III was the endgame to Morrison's run on the JLA that showcased his imagination on a very epic scale, which is always fun to see. Tower of Babel is another story that I thought was very fun. It's just very fun to see the JLA suffer and Batman reign supreme. If Tower of Babel and Grant Morrison's JLA is what the JLA's most iconic stories has to offer, then I'd argue that JLA stories have little substance to them and are simply a lot of fun.
February 14, 2024
Solid collection of JLA stories. This is probably oneof the best volume of the Morrison run on Justice League. In fairness Mark Waid has the best story in this whole volume. The Tower of Babel story arc still ranks as an all time favorite JLA tale. Howard Porter is still a hero here when it comes to the art. I admit I am not a fan of the World War III crossover story but the JLA issues are still amazing. The most clever tale in this book is "Half a Mind to Save the World" tale featuring Ray Palmer aka The Atom, The parallels writer Dan Curtis Johnson makes to the destruction of Krypton are really heartfelt and the twist at the end was incredibily cool. Ultimately the main event to this volume of JLA is the the final arc of the Tower of Babel. Its a great Ras Al Ghul story and it is also a character analysis story of the paranoia that Batman carries. Waid did a masterful job of leaving it up to the reader to decide if Batman's choice to spy on his friends and exploit their weaknesses for the sake of a fail safe was the right choice. I love the fact that true to who he is that Batman doesn't even stay to hear the whether he has been kick out the league or not. Ras also cement's himself as the supreme staragist by using Batman's secret kknowledge of the league's weakness against them. I really did enjoy this book and I am looking forward to the next volume. Here are some great recommendations for great stuff by Grant Morisson:All-Star Superman, Batman and Son, New X-Men by Grant Morrison: Ultimate Collection, Book 1. Here are few good books for Mark Waid: Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold, Superman: Birthright, Captain America: Man Out of Time.
June 16, 2020
A literally stellar ending to one the best superteam comics I've ever read. There's something so satisfying about watching a writer take all the various individual threads from a long run on a comic and weave them together into an explosive final story. After all of the massive stakes Morrison's been dumping on the JLA throughout his run, he somehow manages to make them even larger and more dire in this volume, and the payoff is awe-inspiring. I loved it.
Morrison accomplishes this by hitting the JLA on multiple fronts this time around. Often they've been faced with a single planetary threat at a time, but this time around, they're faced with multiple planetary threats and and a universal threat simultaneously. It's page-turning stuff, and brings back a lot of my favorite villains from throughout the run, all building to a very cool, ridiculous-in-a-good-way conclusion to Morrison's run. Again, I'm a big fan.
Also included in this volume are two other JLA stories from later in Morrison's career. First comes the JLA: Earth 2 graphic novel, which is penciled by Frank Quitely and reads like a well-paced action movie. It's one of Morrison's most straightforward superhero stories (though it still involves a parallel earth composed of anti-matter, so it ain't exactly a workplace comedy), but he pays such attention to character and the world-building of the Crime Syndicate of America that you can't help but be drawn in. It's a great story that had later implications in Geoff Johns' Forever Evil event during The New 52.
And finally, this also contains the 3-issue kickoff story Morrison wrote for JLA Classified in 2005. It definitely feels different from the other two stories, as it's got that late-stage Morrison quality of doing very little to explain itself. I don't often mind that, and find it more invigorating to be dropped into sci-fi superhero nonsense in media res, but with this one, it's a little hard to find your footing for the first half or so. Ed McGuinness's pencils are fantastic and the story moves at a breakneck pace, but it could've used a little more setup to really allow you to get comfortable before Gorilla Grodd starts eating the Ultramarine Corps (no spoilers, this happens literally right away).
In any case, this book represents an excellent ending and coda to Morrison's JLA work. The whole series reads like a nonstop blockbuster movie. Highly recommended.
Morrison accomplishes this by hitting the JLA on multiple fronts this time around. Often they've been faced with a single planetary threat at a time, but this time around, they're faced with multiple planetary threats and and a universal threat simultaneously. It's page-turning stuff, and brings back a lot of my favorite villains from throughout the run, all building to a very cool, ridiculous-in-a-good-way conclusion to Morrison's run. Again, I'm a big fan.
Also included in this volume are two other JLA stories from later in Morrison's career. First comes the JLA: Earth 2 graphic novel, which is penciled by Frank Quitely and reads like a well-paced action movie. It's one of Morrison's most straightforward superhero stories (though it still involves a parallel earth composed of anti-matter, so it ain't exactly a workplace comedy), but he pays such attention to character and the world-building of the Crime Syndicate of America that you can't help but be drawn in. It's a great story that had later implications in Geoff Johns' Forever Evil event during The New 52.
And finally, this also contains the 3-issue kickoff story Morrison wrote for JLA Classified in 2005. It definitely feels different from the other two stories, as it's got that late-stage Morrison quality of doing very little to explain itself. I don't often mind that, and find it more invigorating to be dropped into sci-fi superhero nonsense in media res, but with this one, it's a little hard to find your footing for the first half or so. Ed McGuinness's pencils are fantastic and the story moves at a breakneck pace, but it could've used a little more setup to really allow you to get comfortable before Gorilla Grodd starts eating the Ultramarine Corps (no spoilers, this happens literally right away).
In any case, this book represents an excellent ending and coda to Morrison's JLA work. The whole series reads like a nonstop blockbuster movie. Highly recommended.
April 25, 2019
If there was one word to describe this book, its Epic.
There are two major story lines in the book, both which are surrounded by smaller one shot issues. I really enjoyed this because the two story lines really run the gamut of what kind of stories can be told with this type of team.
First, there is the big, sci fi type story, called World War III written by Grant Morrison. This is one of Morrison's largest stories, in terms of scale. All characters from the JLA team return to battle a New Gods weapon, which is basically a massive space Cthulhu with only one thought: turn life into death. It also has the ability to bring out the most primal, violent part of people, so the entire population of Earth basically goes nuts, thus: WWIII. The battle is won, but not without casualties.
This is the quintessential early Morrison story, as there are many moving parts thrown at you at the beginning of the book. So much so that it can be a bit overwhelming and confusing. But in classic Morrison style, he ties it altogether to bring the story line to a nice, cohesive ending. Really great stuff.
To end the book, we get the other type of story you can tell with the JLA. More of a inter-personal, grounded story, it deals with the Batman villain, Ras al Ghul stealing Batman's secret plans for each JLA member detailing how to incapacitate them in case they ever go rogue or are taken over. This is a fantastic Mark Waid story that is very well known in comics circles and deservedly so. We get to view the relationships between each member and we get to see major repercussions as they deal with the elephant in the room which is: can they ever trust Batman again?
This is a dense volume, but with a great payoff. With two masters like Grant Morrison and Mark Waid at their best, you cant really go wrong.
Highly recommended for anyone that likes the JLA characters or just good comics.
There are two major story lines in the book, both which are surrounded by smaller one shot issues. I really enjoyed this because the two story lines really run the gamut of what kind of stories can be told with this type of team.
First, there is the big, sci fi type story, called World War III written by Grant Morrison. This is one of Morrison's largest stories, in terms of scale. All characters from the JLA team return to battle a New Gods weapon, which is basically a massive space Cthulhu with only one thought: turn life into death. It also has the ability to bring out the most primal, violent part of people, so the entire population of Earth basically goes nuts, thus: WWIII. The battle is won, but not without casualties.
This is the quintessential early Morrison story, as there are many moving parts thrown at you at the beginning of the book. So much so that it can be a bit overwhelming and confusing. But in classic Morrison style, he ties it altogether to bring the story line to a nice, cohesive ending. Really great stuff.
To end the book, we get the other type of story you can tell with the JLA. More of a inter-personal, grounded story, it deals with the Batman villain, Ras al Ghul stealing Batman's secret plans for each JLA member detailing how to incapacitate them in case they ever go rogue or are taken over. This is a fantastic Mark Waid story that is very well known in comics circles and deservedly so. We get to view the relationships between each member and we get to see major repercussions as they deal with the elephant in the room which is: can they ever trust Batman again?
This is a dense volume, but with a great payoff. With two masters like Grant Morrison and Mark Waid at their best, you cant really go wrong.
Highly recommended for anyone that likes the JLA characters or just good comics.
June 8, 2021
Morrison’s last volume is divided in three parts:
- The first part features a big threat: Maggedon is here! And that big threat is using Luthor’s new Injustice Gang (2.0; Luthor, Prometheus, General Eiling, and Quern Bee) as peons to ruffle some feathers while it thinks about taking over the everything. The best part here is when Bruce talks Clark through delivering the final KO to Maggedon.
- The second part is where I think this deluxe shines. It’s the inclusion of JLA: Earth 2. I freaking loved everything about this and it almost makes up for having to read through these 4 deluxe to find this gem. Frank Quitely’s art is superb and the story is great. I know this version of the Crime Syndicate changed after Infinite Crisis but it was so interesting to me. I know this story is what they used to adapt the Justice League: Crisis in Two Earths movie, which I also love. 10/10 all around for this.
- The last part is about JLA: Classified (1-3), which I ended up skipping as it didn’t interest me at all.
Next stop, Waid’s Tower of Babel and skip the rest.
Overall, 6/10 for both story and 7/10 for the art. If only it were all JLA: Earth 2.
- The first part features a big threat: Maggedon is here! And that big threat is using Luthor’s new Injustice Gang (2.0; Luthor, Prometheus, General Eiling, and Quern Bee) as peons to ruffle some feathers while it thinks about taking over the everything. The best part here is when Bruce talks Clark through delivering the final KO to Maggedon.
- The second part is where I think this deluxe shines. It’s the inclusion of JLA: Earth 2. I freaking loved everything about this and it almost makes up for having to read through these 4 deluxe to find this gem. Frank Quitely’s art is superb and the story is great. I know this version of the Crime Syndicate changed after Infinite Crisis but it was so interesting to me. I know this story is what they used to adapt the Justice League: Crisis in Two Earths movie, which I also love. 10/10 all around for this.
- The last part is about JLA: Classified (1-3), which I ended up skipping as it didn’t interest me at all.
Next stop, Waid’s Tower of Babel and skip the rest.
Overall, 6/10 for both story and 7/10 for the art. If only it were all JLA: Earth 2.
January 17, 2024
My short take is that, while I liked Vol. 4 of JLA: The Deluxe Edition more than Vol. 3, I still find these stories to be overrated. Grant Morrison gets a great deal of credit for the JLA story arcs, but my feeling is that these just move from one disaster to another. Characters that avid readers likey know are introduced, then they are beaten by the JLA. Planet Earth is in jeopardy every issue, but then the JLA fixes it. I never get a real sense of the actual characters of any of the JLA members, as I think you are intended to know about them going in. Even that would be okay, if their intereactions were explored more.
I did think the Tower of Babel story was the best part of this paperback, but also found it interesting that it was written by Mark Waid, not Morrison. Again though, a good story idea is wrapped up faily quickly, with more action than story. The primary issue with these books is that there is so little story that it becomes hard to care about what happens during the action.
I did think the Tower of Babel story was the best part of this paperback, but also found it interesting that it was written by Mark Waid, not Morrison. Again though, a good story idea is wrapped up faily quickly, with more action than story. The primary issue with these books is that there is so little story that it becomes hard to care about what happens during the action.
March 18, 2020
Thé ending of the Morrison run was terrific. I think it might’ve been his best story he had on the run, I like how it encompassed everything he used in the run inside the story. It was a really nice touch.
I was not too fussed on the issues written by the authors other than Morrison and Waid. They were very meh stories to me.
And as for Waids legendary Tower of Babylon storyline? I mean, do I need to say anything about it? Those 4 issues on their own almost make me give this whole trade a 5 star rating. It’s one of the greatest JL story ever told and a great end to my 90’s Batman run I’ve currently been having.
Im onto some Star Wars comics and then Invincible for the next couple of weeks. I’ll be back for more Batman if I don’t die of the coronavirus.
I was not too fussed on the issues written by the authors other than Morrison and Waid. They were very meh stories to me.
And as for Waids legendary Tower of Babylon storyline? I mean, do I need to say anything about it? Those 4 issues on their own almost make me give this whole trade a 5 star rating. It’s one of the greatest JL story ever told and a great end to my 90’s Batman run I’ve currently been having.
Im onto some Star Wars comics and then Invincible for the next couple of weeks. I’ll be back for more Batman if I don’t die of the coronavirus.
December 31, 2020
This book marks the end of Grant Morrison's legendary, era-defining run on JLA (Justice League of America) and one of Mark Waid's best storylines. This was a good action comic. You feel the same way reading it, that you feel watching a Marvel movie. Morrison ends with a universe-level clash and Waid begins with the Justice League being wiped out because of someone that knows them too well. This is a fun book to end the year on and this is probably the last book from this run that I'll read. This was a very enjoyable series overall and one that I had been reading since I started reading comics in 2013.
September 1, 2024
JLA Vol. 1 - Vol. 4
. JLA Vol. 1, calificación 3.5/5 estrellas
. JLA Vol. 2, calificación 3.5/5 estrellas
. JLA Vol. 3, calificación 3/5 estrellas
. JLA Vol. 4, calificación 3.5/5 estrellas
Una buena carrera de Grant Morrison y Howard Porter.
Prometheus su origen es como si fuera el hijo del plagio de Bonnie y Clyde, que son Mickey Knox y Mallory Wilson de la película Natural Born Killer (1994), además Prometheus fue ayudado demasiado por él guión de Morrison, para atacar a la JLA y lo peor es que después fue derrotado fácilmente por Batman dejándolo con la incapacidad de Stephen Hawkins.
. JLA Vol. 1, calificación 3.5/5 estrellas
. JLA Vol. 2, calificación 3.5/5 estrellas
. JLA Vol. 3, calificación 3/5 estrellas
. JLA Vol. 4, calificación 3.5/5 estrellas
Una buena carrera de Grant Morrison y Howard Porter.
Prometheus su origen es como si fuera el hijo del plagio de Bonnie y Clyde, que son Mickey Knox y Mallory Wilson de la película Natural Born Killer (1994), además Prometheus fue ayudado demasiado por él guión de Morrison, para atacar a la JLA y lo peor es que después fue derrotado fácilmente por Batman dejándolo con la incapacidad de Stephen Hawkins.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2024
Morrison ends his run with a bang with the World War III storyline (which goes to show you that you can do a huge event without spreading it over a hundred different tie-in books), and then Mark Waid delivers the classic Tower of Babel story.
As I have been reading these volumes I have also come to the conclusion that this JLA series has one of my favorite depictions of Batman. Secretive to the point of the reader not even knowing what he's up to, let alone his own teammates, and a bit on edge at all times. I also don't mind the weird shoulder horns they put on him.
As I have been reading these volumes I have also come to the conclusion that this JLA series has one of my favorite depictions of Batman. Secretive to the point of the reader not even knowing what he's up to, let alone his own teammates, and a bit on edge at all times. I also don't mind the weird shoulder horns they put on him.
March 28, 2018
This feels a lot like an early draft of Final Crisis. Morrison does a good job of setting up a big, huge conflict. But the war takes place on a spiritual plane and is never really conveyed to the reader in an identifiable way. It's almost like Morrison wrote, "Assume this is an awesome battle sequence."
Then the stuff at the end has some pluses and minuses. But it all feels like a sideshow still.
Then the stuff at the end has some pluses and minuses. But it all feels like a sideshow still.
August 23, 2018
I always enjoy Grant Morrison's JLA, but even I need to admit that World War 3 was testing my patience a bit too often, and a bit too much. Morrison's whole gameplan is to introduce wacky characters, all cosmic in scope and ideology, and then use them as deus ex machinas to win the day in the end. The reason this works for the umpteenth time is because the "solution" is not where the story is at; the thrill in reading Morrison's stuff rests in your incredulity at how effortlessly he executes his ideas which essentially marries metaphysics and physics with usual superhero fare. However, here he treads a very fine line between doing that and looking like a one trick pony. This volume also has Mark Waid's Tower of Babel, which is one of the seminal DC storylines of all time. The less the said about it the better. It's a classic.
February 1, 2022
Once again, Mark Waid elevates one of these collections from “ambitious but flawed” to “blockbuster character-driven excellence.”
Grant Morrison gets all the credit for this run — I certainly gave them plenty when it was being published — but Waid is the heart and soul. Morrison’s final arc, “World War Three”, is a convoluted disaster. Waid not only provides a credible explanation for why the JLA stays out of Gotham during the Cataclysm, he spikes the football with “Tower of Babel”, which might be the best JLA story ever written.
I’m really disappointed with my 20-something self for thinking Morrison’s issues were so much better than they actually were. Their Doom Patrol holds up beautifully. Their straight superheroics, not so much. I’m about to dive into their Superman and Batman runs, and now I have a sense of dread about it…
Grant Morrison gets all the credit for this run — I certainly gave them plenty when it was being published — but Waid is the heart and soul. Morrison’s final arc, “World War Three”, is a convoluted disaster. Waid not only provides a credible explanation for why the JLA stays out of Gotham during the Cataclysm, he spikes the football with “Tower of Babel”, which might be the best JLA story ever written.
I’m really disappointed with my 20-something self for thinking Morrison’s issues were so much better than they actually were. Their Doom Patrol holds up beautifully. Their straight superheroics, not so much. I’m about to dive into their Superman and Batman runs, and now I have a sense of dread about it…
August 21, 2023
The first couple issues by Waid in this volume are real stinkers, but the quality does a total 360 by the time Morrison takes back over in Issue #36. However, the best part of this book is, by far, Howard Porter’s art. The 90’s are over…Porter’s art announces the arrival of a new century.
June 19, 2024
With this thing covering such large story arcs, I separate my rating by WW3: 2.5 stars and ToB: 4.5 stars. The art in the former was weird, and the story was a bit befuddling. Overall, the latter was strong, decent artwork.
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