JLA: The Tower of Babel - The Deluxe Edition

JLA (1997-2006) #18-21, 32-33, 43-46

by Mark Waid, Howard Porter (Illustrator)

Batman is the ultimate strategist, using his intelligence and resources to secure his place among his super-powered allies in the Justice League, not just as a member, but as one of the team’s leaders. But what happens when that intelligence is used against him? Ra’s al Ghul takes out the JLA, one member at a time‚ using plans devised by Batman himself, with his own methods to subdue his teammates if they ever got out of control. Can the Justice League recover in time to stop Ra’s? This collection of JLA adventures also includes a spacefaring mission guest-starring Adam Strange, as well as the Justice League investigating mysterious destruction in Gotham City! This volume collects JLA #18-21, #32-33, and #43-46, and two stories from JLA Secret Files #3.

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

278 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 27, 2021

About the author

Mark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This new deluxe edition of The Tower of Babel collects all of Mark Waid's fill-in work on JLA during the Grant Morrison era. Morrison started falling behind because he took The Flash over from Mark Waid for a year while he recharged so the JLA editor made him help out and I'm so glad he did. These stories are great.

Synchronicity is about a scientist who figures out how to manipulate probability on a quantum level. Too bad he didn't really know what he was doing. I really like how this all comes together.

Mystery in Space features Adam Strange. He goes nuts and transports the JLA to Rann where he enslaves them to rebuild his home world. Yet again, another smart story.

Inside Job explains why the JLA wasn't more involved with trying to help Gotham during No Man's Land. Turns out they were. They were constantly turning away villains that were trying to take advantage of the situation.

Altered Egos has Batman sending the JLA off to find the person who is impersonating Bruce Wayne. I like how it tied back in with an earlier Grant Morrison story.

The Tower of Babel is the main event. Ra's al Ghul has figured out a way to stop humans from being able to process language. No one can communicate and it's wreaking havoc across the globe. He's also discovered Batman's files on how he'd take out each member of the JLA. It's a really cool idea that Batman would develop countermeasures against each hero in case they were ever compromised or turned evil. This story has changed how Batman interacts with other heroes ever since as they no longer trust him. There's some neat lost pages included too. This story didn't just affect Batman but also all of his former sidekicks as the Titans no longer trust Nightwing. Nor does Young Justice trust Tim Drake afterwards. Good stuff here.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember wanting this a while back bc while it’s a JLA story it centres around Batman, so this had that as well as being a direct continuation from JLA by Grant Morrison.

The first few stories I liked, they were one or two issue stories about the JLA and were fun reads. But then the behemoth of Tower of Babel came up just wow. I knew the plot but it still blew me away! The JLA has been taken out by foes a few time but for it to happen in this way was so interesting and made for a big moral dilemma at the core of the story, probably my favourite JLA story I’ve read.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this years ago. Recently started Chip Zdarsky’s Batman: Failsafe which calls back heavily to this. Thought I’d reread.

Excellent story about how Batman gathers intel about the JLA behind their backs to develop “take down” plans if they ever become compromised. And how Ra’s Al Ghul steals those plans and utilizes them.

Really good, especially with the implications of how the Leaguers will feel towards Batman after the fact.

[Jack Phoenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still one of the most thought-provoking (and finest, Justice League stories ever told, Waid shows these characters at their best while contrariwise at their weakest.

[Mariam Farooq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely loved the timing of everything while incorporating such a genius plot that has made this comic so well known.
I just felt the writing style fell a little on the lower spectrum.

[Emmanuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never been a big fan of the JLA books (even though I'm a big fan of the JL and JLU animated series), but I have to say that I very much enjoyed that one.

The first two stories are OK, but also represent what I do not like about JLA: unfocused, jumping from one character to another, a meaningless villain, etc. However, when we actually get into the main story, it gets a LOT better.

The plot is interesting, if over-the-top (heck, it is JLA), Ra's is a villain I enjoy, the pacing is great, and the conclusion is smart. All in all, a fun superhero story, one I'll got back to once in a while.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still ruminating how I feel about this one. Like, I don't really understand why the first couple of issues were included in this, when I am not seeing a connection to the Tower of Babel story itself, but I'm not going to complain about more JLA stories.
I also find it an odd choice that they picked a bunch of stories where Batman wasn't really involved when he's the one making these choices.

I have more respect for Talia as a character and also far less, in some ways. It's a weird mix.

I don't really understand how any of them are surprised Batman is a paranoid mess, and that he's got all this going on. Or that it's necessarily a bad thing to have safeguards. Admittedly it wasn't well handled but I didn't really expect to see any of it from Bruce's side of the story at all, but I'm a little less annoyed with him than I think I'm supposed to be.

[Gerry Sacco · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ideas are good. The execution, shockingly disappointing. I love Mark Waid. This might be one of the worst books by him I've ever read.

On top of the massive story miss, the art is downright horrible. Some of the worst, rushed, lackadaisical drawing I've seen in comics before. It's not even a style issue, it's a design issue.

Overall, poor. It got 2 stars just because the idea itself for the Babel story was good, outside of that, not much else good here.

[Yusuf Shafi · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a full package the non 'tower of babel' stories are a lil hit or miss. BUT, tower of Babel bangs

[Clay Bartel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading Morrison's JLA Volume 1... underwhelming... which was odd as I'm a big Morrison fan.

Finished Vol 1 and got straight into Volume 2... but again while it felt like it had improved, was still not connecting with me.

Then I spotted this vary famous JLA story, Tower of Babel.

I admit my expectations were high but for the first 3/4 of this book I felt like I was really trudging along... fortunately that final act was very good and definitely pulled me through to the end.

I think my expectations were maybe to high for the JLA and I wanted to get to the nitty gritty to fast... the build up had its moments but over all I don't think I'd reread the series.

I realize this is a highly praised series and story but it wasn't quite a 4 star for me.

[Nolan Gutenschwager · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this, just a great collection of JLA stories by Mark Waid, with Tower of Babel being the highlight. Art is also really good throughout.

Very intricate and good story about things going haywire, people are disappearing, things tying back to the number 7, etc. The Atom gets involved and it's this crazy quantum thing. Then there's a story where it appears Adam Strange has gone evil and he is making the JLA do all this labor to rebuild his planet but it was some deep strategy Strange was using to be victorious when these enemies pulled up and he didn't tell the JLA ahead of time to make it work. But they kind of thwarted him anyways, but then learned his real plan, so they all still prevailed in the end. Very well done.

Some other stories in here but then it gets into Tower of Babel. Love this story and just a great concept. All of the plans Batman devised to take down the JLA are believable, and it's not surprising he had them. The issue is just that he never told the JLA he had them, and that is why they don't trust him at all by the end. This is a great version of Talia, because she is carrying out her father's orders but does so reluctantly and kind of turns against him by the end. I like when she is nuanced and not a full fledged villain. Ra's is great in this because he is taking out the JLA so that he can cause all these other global problems. He disrupts all communication and nobody can understand each other, whether verbal or written, hence the name. This will cause all sorts of global conflicts like war and he has some virus he is trying to spread. There are clever ways the JLA eventually get back on their feet after they were taken out and they do have to team with Batman to save the day but they are mad at him. Ra's ultimately gets away which is kind of cool. They take it to a vote on whether Batman should still be a member. Plastic Man, WW, and Aquaman all want him out. GL, Flash, and Martian Manhunter all vote to keep him in. Superman is the deciding vote and he votes to kick Batman out, but Batman already leaves the Watchtower before they announce this decision.

[Evan Ransom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t give this a perfect rating because there is an annoying frustration to this collection. But that’s mainly because when these issues first came out I was there.

If this is the first time anyone’s read this, than I hope you read Mark Waid’s introduction, too, since it explains how 6 of the 11 issues reprinted here are not the titular story but fill in issues he did during the legendary Grant Morrison run of JLA. Now that means there is no thematic connection between those and the main tale, especially as there’s a roster change that’s not detailed in this issues at all. (You need to read the Morrison stuff for that.) All they serve in the overall reading experience is an idea of what the JLA status quo was before the main tale rocks everyone to their core.

That said “Tower of Babel” is my second favorite Justice League story of all time behind Morrison’s “New World Order” and I can’t give it anything less than 4 stars either. Mark Waid at his worst is better than most writers at their best and it shows. Disconnected as they are, all 5 tales told are exquisite superhero fun from a man who loves the old school stuff but still has an eye for the times that leads to timeless stories that can be enjoyed by any generation.

But it’s best to know that “Tower of Babel” was just the first story of Mark Waid’s official JLA run and it ends on a major plot thread that doesn’t get resolved until two arcs later if my memory serves me correctly. Fortunately, a plot thread isn’t a cliffhanger so it’s not a frustrating read. I just wish this was part of a larger collection that had all of Waid’s run. I know that probably would’ve meant a bigger price tag to go with a thicker hardcover, but this does feel a little incomplete and I don’t see any solicitations for a hardcover with the rest of it. (His run was only for a couple of years so there’s no need for more than one more collection to cover it all.)

I still highly recommend this and glad that there’s a hardback version I can enjoy for years to come. It also makes for a great read before reading Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis as those two crossovers delve deeper into the themes set up here.

[Tacitus · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this collection. The issues were haphazardly organized around issues that Mark Waid wrote (or started and passed off). Without the full continuity, some issues did not make complete sense on their own.

There were too many executional details that undercut the effort. Confusing paneling, overly wordy dialogue, talking during fight scenes, and jokes that didn’t land all distracted from the plots that were too clever by half. There were too many exclamation points in the older style of Stan Lee and characters staring gaped mouth in shock at some new revelation.

All of that compounded the premise of some issues, including the “Tower of Babel” run. In one, I didn’t understand why the JLA would allow a White Martian to occupy a powerful person and put one of their members at risk at the same time.

Similarly, on the one hand, Batman is so paranoid that he developed contingency plans involving his peers. But on the other hand, he made Oracle aware of these plans and wrote them down in such a way that they could be stolen. This seems contradictory for the sake of making it into a story. As a result, these and the other stories felt forced and contrived, straining credibility.

[Sebastian Lauterbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the JLA run by Grant Morrison. This collection is supposed to be a companion piece, filling in the gaps, that have been guest written by Mark Waid.

And that's exactly what these stories are: Filler. The stories here are small in scale in simple in their resolution. The exact opposite to what the Grant Morrison stories do so well: tell an epic tale, that has more layers, than the JLA can handle. What we have here is simple writing and nothing consequential or clever.

So, in here we have 11 issues: 6 are downright filler and 5 are the titular Tower of Babel. The latter one is definitely the standout here, while the former are just forgettable. Tower of Babel reminded me a lot of Civil War, but the reason for the internal struggle is not quite convincing to me. The JLA mess up and get caught, that's not Batman's fault. A bit of soap opera is fun, but the outcome of this arc is not what I was looking for.

The artwork on the other hand is fantastic, I love Howard Porter's art style in this.

In my opinion, these stories do not supplement the JLA omnibus well enough to recommend it. Tower of Babel is a fun idea, but it pales next to the stories by Grant Morrison.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my second read of this graphic novel, the first being some years ago when I seemed to have been much younger and much less critical of my reads.

Sadly, this has not stood the test of time. It's OTT, it contains that truly awful electric blue Superman and some has some really strange choices in JLA members. Granted, this can't all be placed at the feet of Mark Waid but as for the writing you really can blame it all on him.

I suppose there's two ways too look at the stories here. You can see them as just fun and outlandish tales that utilises all the supes in our of this world situations. You know, like comics are meant to be. Or you can see them like I did and see them as having no soul, no hidden messages about being good and no scenes of Batman breaking someone's arm.

So that's all I can say really. Didn't enjoy it and the story just didn't pull me in like it once did.

[Connor Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is essentially the missing pieces of grant Morrisons Justice league run. With that it's not a very good standalone book in my eyes as if you were reading it without taking that run into consideration the stories are very disjointed and don't flow that well. The standout is obviously the title arc of the book, tower of Babel. This is a pretty good story that I think had the right idea at the time but with hindsight the animated movie managed to capitalise on and make more efficient. The best thing about that story is the conversations the justice league have in the fallout of the book. That said I think the aftermath of this book would be more interesting than this book itself. Still worth a read for TOB since it's so iconic though.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

After not particularly enjoying what I read of his Flash run, I’m happy to say that I had much more fun with Waid’s time here with the JLA.

The first half of this book collects the fill-in issues as a companion to Morrison’s JLA omnibus, and they’re decent enough…

But the main attraction is the titular Tower of Babel story and I found it completely lived up to the hype. It’s a great story, though it’s accompanied by more of Porter’s art, so that’ll certainly influence reception. It grew on me in Morrison’s run, so I’m good with it here too.

Overall, I don’t think I would’ve missed much if I didn’t read the fill-ins alongside the JLA omni, but I’m happy I did and ending with Tower of Babel was much more satisfying than the one-off Secret Files from the other book.

[Sleepseeker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not new to comics but I'm new to DC Universe for (older)comics. Lately I've been reading crucial moments in the DC world. Overall, I enjoyed this book. It has a few stories in the beginning of the book that are not the Tower of Babel story. I liked them because it gives good insight on how this team operates.

For the Tower of Babel story arc, I liked it. I can see why it's a classic. I would recommend this for others like me, who want to read more into this world as it gives great characteristics on the Superheroes. Those characteristics are still part of their core in comics being written now.

It's a Great book.

[Nicko · Rating 4 out of 5]

The issues that don’t have to do with TOWER OF BABEL are decent. I do l really like Waid injecting the real life science experiment into the thematics of the first issue — chance, probability, coincidence, etc. And the “twist reveal” issue with Adam Strange was clever. A little tiny bit convoluted, but subversive and clever.

But I love how TOWER OF BABEL is basically a showcase of Bruce’s paranoia, over preventive-ness, and cynicism. I thought Ras’s plan was well thought-out, especially the whole language failure plot. I’d recommend this to any new readers of both JLA or Batman. It was fun and interesting.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've mostly stopped reviewing my comics reading here because tracking comics on this site is kind of a mess, but really felt I had to jump in with a warning for this one.

This isn't very good.

The concept is a lot of fun. The writing is poor, the execution of the idea is poor, the art really isn't great. This is a book that shows up time and again on lists of top Batman stories and I've kicked myself for well over a decade for not having read this.

Well, turns out it really wasn't worth reading. The version I'd written in my head is way cooler.

Skip it. Especially when read today, it adds nothing to the characters that you don't already know.

[Sadiel Giron · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, I've enjoyed everything that I have read from Mark Waid. This deluxe edition covers not only the Towel of Babel storyline but also early JLA issues written by Mark Waid during Morrison's run because Morrison was also writing issues for The Flash so he started to fall behind. I started reading this along side the JLA Omnibus. The first half of this book was decent but once you get to the Towel of Babel issues, it is phenomenal.

[Warty Goblin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah it was fine. Not sure what the additional build up chapters added, except to make the heroes' defeat less believable. I love comics, but when you brag about how many of your characters can lap the world too fast to be seen, I have trouble believing the perfect aim and timing of these assassins, particularly with Wonder Woman and the Flash. The last 10 pages or so are the best as they focus on the relationship dynamics and how Batman's actions changed those, and it comes across very well.

[John Reimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Justice league Doom is one of my favorite movies so its no surprise how much i would love the book its based on. At first i was confused with some of the beginning issues inclusion but as i read more i learned it was to show just how close the teamwork is in the league, only to have that betrayed by batmans plans. Loved the use of Ra's in this. Would recommend this to any fan of the Justice league or just comics in general

[Josh Trice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tower of Babel is an intriguing story of trust, betrayal and fail-safes. As a newer reader I was having a hard time seeing why the additional issues were included in this addition before the actual four-issue run of "Tower of Babel." This was a good introduction to the JLA, and I enjoyed the various interactions between its members.

[awe_flaw_some · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of friendship gone sour. It is one of the best stories on working in a Team.

This particular edition has other stories written by Mark Waid too which are not related to Tower of Babel storyline and ideally should not be there..

Tower of Babel story arc is amazing

[alejandro galvez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A non stop fun read.

I had a lot of fun reading this book. It was nothing too major in terms of stakes but it was a fun read nonetheless. Wish more books were fun like this. Sometimes I just need fun book that's not too deep in thought. Just fun.

[Greg Reimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great! A smart JLA story that reveals the character of batman in a surprising but inevitable way. The art style at times can leave a bit to be desired, but the plot is interesting and Mark Weid gives attention to each of the JLA members.

[Kurt Lorenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

18-19, Synchronicity, ☆☆☆
20-21, Mystery in Space, ☆☆☆
32, Inside Job, ☆☆☆☆
33, Altered Egos, ☆☆☆☆☆
43-46, Tower of Babel, ☆☆☆☆☆

[Eugene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Some of the extras were just OK, but the Secret Files and Lost Pages were just as important as the actual story. This was the way to read it.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can anyone really trust Batman? This is a good story that exposes why the borderline paranoia that makes him a great crime fighter can also make him a lousy team player.