JLA, Vol. 9: Terror Incognita

JLA (Original Trades)

by Mark Waid

Book by Mark Waid

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

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2002

About the author

Mark Waid is an American comic book writer widely known for shaping modern superhero storytelling through influential runs on major characters at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Raised in Alabama, he developed an early fascination with comic books, particularly classic stories featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, whose imaginative scope and sense of legacy would later inform his own writing. He first entered the comics industry during the mid 1980s as an editor and writer for the fan magazine Amazing Heroes, before publishing his first professional comic story in Action Comics. Soon afterward he joined DC Comics as an editor, contributing to numerous titles and helping shape projects across the company. After leaving editorial work to focus on writing, Waid gained widespread recognition with his long run on The Flash, where he expanded the mythology of the character and co-created the youthful speedster Impulse. His reputation grew further with the celebrated graphic novel Kingdom Come, created with artist Alex Ross, which imagined a future DC Universe shaped by generational conflict among superheroes. Over the years he has written many prominent series, including Captain America, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and Superman: Birthright, bringing a balance of optimism, character depth, and respect for comic book history to each project. Waid has also collaborated with notable artists and writers on major ensemble titles such as Justice League and Avengers, while contributing ideas that helped clarify complex continuity within shared superhero universes. Beyond mainstream superhero work, he has supported creator owned projects and experimental publishing models, including the acclaimed series Irredeemable and Incorruptible, which explored moral ambiguity within the superhero genre. He later took on editorial leadership roles at Boom Studios, guiding creative direction while continuing to write extensively. In subsequent years he expanded his involvement in publishing and digital storytelling, helping launch online comics initiatives and advocating for new distribution methods for creators. His work has earned numerous industry awards, including Eisner and Harvey honors, reflecting both critical acclaim and enduring popularity among readers. Throughout his career Waid has remained a passionate student of comic book history, drawing on decades of storytelling tradition while continually encouraging innovation within the medium. His influence extends across generations of readers and creators, and his stories continue to shape the evolving language of superhero comics around the world today through enduring characters imaginative narratives and thoughtful reinventions of familiar myths within popular culture and modern graphic storytelling traditions.

Reviews

[Richard Dominguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

JLA's. Vol 9 "Terror Incognita" collects issues 55 - 60 in the series. In this story the JLA find themselves battling the shape-shifting White Martians. With the ability to read minds the White Martians have come up with a plan to kill each member of the JLA. It also includes 2 more stories, "Bipolar Disorder" finds the JLA taking on Dr Polaris whom having been exposed to the Joker toxin is twice as dangerous as ever.
The final story "Merry Christmas Justice League -- Now Die" is a cute Christmas story that finds The Elongated Man trying to convince his nephew that Santa Claus is a real person by telling his nephew of the time JLA made Santa Claus an official member of the JLA.
All 3 stories are well written with plenty of action and in the case of the final story more than it's fair share of laughs

[Tony Laplume · Rating 2 out of 5]

When Mark Waid isn’t inspired he’s…really, really not inspired. And here he’s revisiting the White Martians from Grant Morrison’s opening arc in JLA. Mostly just filler generic superhero nonsense, completely dodging the chance to tell a decent Martian Manhunter story in the process. There’s an issue tossed in that’s part of a company-wide Joker event (Joker’s Last Laugh, Emperor Joker, whatever it was; this was a period where DC was kind of flailing), plus a nonsense Santa Claus issue that misses its mark, too (the back copy calls it a classic, which would be true if it were referring to Morrison’s Klaus). I bought this used thanks to the old Borders binc sticker. Love coming across those.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The non-stop action and solid teamwork make up for the title adventure and 'BiPolar Disorder' - which, name-wise, is clever - being only slightly better-than-average stories. (An early throw-away scene with Clark, Lois, Perry and the The Daily Planet staff is an amusing highlight.) The finale, featuring Saint Nick's induction into the JLA, is a humorous if sometimes uneasy mix of SuperFriends' cheerfulness and 90's-style sensibility with the violence.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bueno, como me he leído la JLA de Mark Waid del tirón en un par de días y para no hacer tres reseñas separadas, las cuelo todas aquí en la última parte, pero cada una tiene sus estrellitas.

Mark Waid, autor de Kingdom Come, llegó a JLA con una misión difícil: continuar con la épica JLA de Morrison, y la verdad es que a través de sus tres arcos argumentales, Waid hizo un trabajo más que digno en la colección. El primero de ellos, Torre de Babel, es una de las historias mejor trabajadas y con más mala baba que he leído sobre superhéroes, siendo especialmente importante para dos figuras: Batman, y el villano Ra's al-Gul. En este arco, la Liga tiene que hacer frente a un grupo de operaciones especiales que parece capacitado para anular uno por uno los poderes de cada uno de los miembros de la Liga de la Justicia, comenzando por el Detective Marciano, Aquaman, Plastic Man y Green Lantern... y al mismo tiempo, Ra's al-Gul comienza uno de sus retorcidos planes para sembrar el caos en la humanidad, y esta vez lo hace de forma que el ser humano sea incapaz de entender ningún texto escrito en ninguna parte del planeta, lo que lleva a múltiples y peligrosas confusiones en fronteras, hospitales, etc... La historia es bastante potente, y lo primero que hace Waid es reducir el tamaño de la JLA que tanto había crecido con Morrison a un número bastante más manejable de miembros que mantendrá durante toda su etapa. Lo malo de este arco es que está dibujado por Howard Porter, pero bueno... este sería su último arco en Liga de la Justicia.

Para dar paso en el siguiente arco al mucho más espectacular Bryan Hitch, muy Alan Davis hasta que poco a poco fue definiendo su propio estilo. Realmente, en Divide y Vencerás encontraremos dos arcos independientes. El primero, llamado El Bosque, nos trae el enfrentamiento de la Liga de la Justicia con la Bruja Malvada de Blancanieves, que aparece en Manhattan tras ser liberada de un libro encantado, y que comienza a convertir Manhattan en un país de cuento de hadas perverso, creyendo que Wonder Woman es su antigua adversaria. El arco que da nombre al volumen, Divide y Vencerás, comenzó en el número 50 de JLA, y fue un número especial con varios dibujantes, en el que Waid narraba como diversos grupos de la JLA hacen frente al Doctor Destino (Doctor Destiny en inglés, no el héroe, Doctor Fate), pero sobre todo a sus propias dudas, después del tenso final de Torre de Babel y las consecuencias que había tenido para la propia JLA. Pero el grueso de la historia llega cuando las identidades particulares de la JLA se ven separadas de sus identidades heróicas. Así, Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, John Jones, Kyle Rayner, Patrick O'Brien y Wally West se encuentran con que ya no son Superman, Batman, el Detective Marciano, Green Lantern, Plastic Man y Flash; y que sólo Wonder Woman y Aquaman (que no tienen identidades secretas), continúan siendo ellos mismos. Waid aprovecha este argumento para analizar qué partes de cada uno de ellos corresponden a su identidad enmascarada o a su identidad privada, y nos sorprende cuando vemos por ejemplo a un Wally West perezoso, un Bruce Wayne lleno de ira (mientras Batman es poco más que un espantajo), un Clark Kent con miedo a las alturas o un Superman deshumanizado.

Por último, en Terror Incognita, Waid vuelve al origen de la Liga de Morrison, y trae de vuelta a los terroríficos marcianos blancos, liderados por Protex, y que parecen decididos a aplastar de una vez a la Liga de la Justicia, en una historia tensa y con un final espectacular en el mejor estilo Morrison.

En fin, Waid tuvo una etapa breve pero efectiva, con dibujos muy espectaculares en la parte de Bryan Hitch, y muy bien trabajado, sobre todo, repito, eficaz, muy Waid.

[Mert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beyaz Marslıların bir önceki yenilgilerinden çıkardıkları ders neticesinde tam teşekküllü olarak dünyayı istila etme girişimi nerdeyse kusursuz bir şekilde işler, kahramanlar hiç zorlanmadıkları kadar zorlanmış, kaybetmeye çok yaklaşmışlardır lakin Beyaz Marslıların en ufak hataları dahi JL ekibinin dünyayı koruması için kendilerine gerekli avantajı sağlayacaktır.

Çizimler çizgi roman için ekstra bir artı katmaktan uzakta lakin yeterince iyi olsalar da, görsel tasarım ve renk düzeni benim için birer eksiydi.
Hikaye çok çabuk ilerlediği ve sonu yine iyilerin galip gelmesiyle tamamlandığı icin bayat bir klişe tadı verdi. Yine hızlı geçilen olay akışı neticesinde karakterlerin kişilikleri de yeterince işlenmemiş durumdaydı. Daha uzun soluklu bir anlatıda belki de beni cezbedecek bir hikaye olabilirdi, belki de düşüncelerim yine değişmezdi, bilemiyorum. Neyse, genel olarak pek tatmin olarak ayrılmadım eserden.

[Terry Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a rule, Mark Waid writes some of the best mainstream comics in the business, with superheroes being a specialty. However, in this collection, he's ... not at his finest. I'm not sure if it is the artwork and storytelling that undercuts the script, but for a tale that carries world-altering high stakes (along with a physical stunt on a level that rivals the ridiculous audacity of Hercules pulling the entire island of Manhattan back into place during a 1970s Marvel Team-Up tale that is unforgettable), the entire affair is kinda ... okay, I guess? Worth checking out of your public library, or, if you have an Ollie's closeouts store in your neighborhood, pick up a copy for $1.99 and you'll be just fine.

[Nolan Gutenschwager · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. A very solid finale to Waid's run on JLA, and the art is strong. The White Martians are back and I do thoroughly enjoy them as villains. Even though they were used at first in Morrison's JLA, it is still refreshing to see them and the serious threat they pose. They genuinely seemed unbeatable. Maybe I shouldn't be so surprised then, that the way the JLA was able to beat them was utterly ridiculous (moving the entire moon). Good character moments though and Martian Manhunter is such a critical part of this team. After that was a decent story about Dr. Polaris being Jokerized which was fine. The final story is a Christmas one and it was just ok. Sometimes the holiday specials are very wholesome but this one was just adequate.

[Hugo Emanuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good art from Bryan Hitch, and decent artwork from Mike Miller.

The story was decent. Interesting, but overall, just ok.

I was expecting a great JLA run from Mark Waid, but it was such an underwhelming read, that I don't even feel like writing much about it.

The paperback edition itself is awfull. Terrible page quality, excessively darkened colouring, the issue were not divided by the covers, so you didnt allways know what issue you were reading, and the covers were collected at the end of the TPB not in full pages, but very small squares. Absoultely godawfull edition.

[Maythavee · Rating 3 out of 5]

It makes me sad that I didn't enjoy Mark Waid's last arc as much as I wanted to. I loved that this arc is focused on J'onn J'onzz but I felt that the other characters were neglected. In his previous arcs, Waid did a fantastic job balancing all the JLA members so they would all have a chance to shine but that didn't happen here. I did liked the interactions between Batman and J'onn though. They were the highlight of this arc for me.

P.S. I miss Aquaman.

[mayleh · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️3.5

[S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not amazing but still entertaining

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

ehhhh it’s fine. i’ll never complain about some j’onn moments but i think the white martians are just not usually the best villains

[Esdras Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like a classic Justice League story, this is high up there

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reprints JLA #55-60 (August 2001-January 2002). The White Martians are back and threatening to destroy the Earth with their latest plan to overtake it unless the JLA can stop them. Plus, the JLA deals with fallout from Joker’s gas attack when Doctor Polaris goes insane, and Plastic Man relays the events which had Santa Claus joining the JLA.

Written by Mark Waid, Chuck Dixon, and Scott Beatty, JLA 9: Terror Incognita follows JLA 8: Divided We Fall. The collection contains the four issue “Terror Incognita” storyline involving the White Martians in addition to a Joker: Last Laugh tie-in and a Christmas issue. The issues have also been collected in JLA—Volume 5.

I really liked the JLA relaunch. I wasn’t much of a DC reader at the time, but buzz about the launch with Morrison’s writing got me picking it up. When Waid took over the tone changed, but the stories remained strong. This entry is strong as well, but very typical Mark Waid.

I’ve always argued that Mark Waid is a really good comic book writer…but he doesn’t really try to go above and beyond that. Writers like Morrison, Gaiman, and Moore try to change the medium by writing more adult and more detailed stories…that don’t always work. I don’t think that writing true comic book stories is a bad thing and Waid is one of the best writers in that sense. I just go into a Mark Waid story expecting pretty much what is visible on the surface and with very few layers.

The book does suffer a bit from a tie-in story that has very little context. JLA #59 ties into the bigger Joker: Last Laugh crossover event. There is no background in the book and all of the sudden the JLA is rounding up crazies like Polaris. A one page summary of Joker: Last Laugh would have been a nice bridge to understand the story.

The last issue in the volume is also quite fun (but not tied in to anything larger). The story features Plastic Man telling Woozy’s nephew about Santa Claus being part of the JLA. There is a nice throwback feel to the story which easily could have taken place in the early days of DC…but it has a modern writing style which gives it a weird feel. It is fun and light and worth checking out in itself.

JLA is one of DC’s consistently better books from the late ’90s. The comic industry was just getting out of the Image boom and returning to solid storytelling over art. I still recommend the JLA for a nice team-book and would love to see the current series try to match the tone and storytelling of this line-up. JLA 9: Terror Incognita was followed by JLA 10: Golden Perfect.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

They're back. The White Martian are free of their mind controlled prison and have been planning a full scale assault on Earth, right under the noses of the League. With their old enemy returning, can the JLA stop them?

I really enjoyed the first appearance of the White Martian, with Morrison's New World Order. The twist and their powers was really cool, and their return is even more vile and vicious.

Needless to say the JLA have a pretty tough fight and its one big awesome story arc instead of dividing up with different villains.

The Santa Claus story at the end is pretty good too. Its fun but not too childish.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The White Martians come back and try to destroy the Justice League and the earth. Do they succeed?
Mark Waid’s almost as good at Grant Morrison at writing earth-shattering JLA stories, and there are some nice bits in this one, especially how the Martians take oxygen out of Earth’s atmosphere. Martian Manhunter got a lot of good scenes, but on the whole it wasn’t an amazing story. I think I’ve finally decided that the JLA is better than the Avengers.
There’s also a filler Christmas issue that I wasn’t too impressed with.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story starts out great - cryptic, tossed-in-the-middle-if-the-action, moving well. Once we get into it, it's suspenseful and taut. However, once we reach the end, it's just...maudlin. Really, Waid? Is that the best ending you could come up with? Batman never talks like that. :(

And Waid's understanding of basic chemistry is pretty disappointing - lost me entirely on the science talk portion (best left forgotten).

The little stories at the end, not necessary. Fun tho - especially plastic man making up weird things as he goes along.

[Devero · Rating 4 out of 5]

A parte una storiella natalizia e il tie-in con Joker: L'Ultima Risata, il piatto forte di questo volume sono le 4 storie in cui Waid tratta la minaccia dei Marziani Bianchi e con estremo realismo affronta una delle (poche) questioni lasciate in sospeso da Morrison.
Si tratta di una più che buona sequenza ottimamente disegnata da un omonimo di Miller e da Neary.

[Devin Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last read in December 2013.

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my note about it in my blog:

http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/20...

[Nate Deprey · Rating 4 out of 5]

White Martians are such bastards!

[nobody · Rating 2 out of 5]

JLA stories seem to be too diluted for my taste, it's cool having all those heroes together, but there's too many for any one hero's personality to really shine through.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one's a big step down in terms of both story and art compared to the work that preceded it.

[Juan Jose]

Great stories by Mark Waid, it was a shame that Hitch left the book!

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, white martians attack the earth. Nothing stands out apart from the Santa Claus storyline which is quite fun.

[Virginia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The White Martians resurface again! As usual, quite a set up but just an okay resolution.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was exciting. The White Martians make for some scary villains against the Justice League. And any comic that has Superman and Wonder Woman moving the moon is okay in my book.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak art throughout. Weak story. Uninteresting side stories. Yawn.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Santa Claus story was fun, but the larger Martian story was pretty average. Not bad, but not a very interesting sequel to Morrison's first JLA story.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

All-Hitch art would have been better.