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JLA (Original Trades)
JLA, Vol. 8: Divided We Fall
The JLA has always been a team of superheroes that have relied on each other to defeat insurmountable odds. But with Batman's betrayal and expulsion from the group, suddenly the team has become divided amongst themselves. Dealing with dangerous issues of trust, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, and Plastic Man must try and unite to face off against the twisted fairy-tale nightmare of the Queen of Fables and the world-altering abilities of Dr. Destiny. But even if they defeat these formidable foes, the JLA may be shattered by their loss of faith in one another.
208 pages, Paperback
First published December 31, 2001
2 people are currently reading
237 people want to read
About the author
Mark Waid
3,192 books1,275 followersMark 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.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 27, 2019
I really, really loved this arc! It was really engaging!
Just after Batman was kicked out of the league for being a naughty bat, the JL try to move on without their strategist. They end up in a fairy tale world where they have to fight the evil queen that's kidnapped Diana. The men (seven knights) have to work together to try to rescue her and, without Bruce dropping in, they would have failed.
Next, we have Clark coming to Bruce because his betrayal has caused an irreparable rift in the league. No one trusts each other and those that voted Bat out are conflicting with those that wanted him to stay in. Basically, everyone's walking on eggshells and no one's happy. Clark basically sits Bruce down and yells at him for a while. I honestly could have read 5 hours of that!
But, the plot I enjoyed the most was the one where Clark accidentally wishes that he didn't have to worry about being Superman and Clark Kent. He didn't want to live a double life. So, these space creatures (called the Id?) split his and the rest of the leaguers apart from their civilian counterparts and their superhero personas. Bruce Wayne becomes a dick... not entirely sure why. Clark is just bumbling reported Clark Kent, who's afraid of heights. J'onn loses the pyrophobia and the destabilizing grief. Most effective of all: Eel O'Brian loses the part of him that became a good man. He's back to the thug that used to mug and rob people and he'd very much like to go back to being a respected hero. The scenes with him were very, very well done.
So, I really enjoyed this. I even enjoyed the art for the most part. If I had to make one complaint, I'd say that I don't think enough is done with Diana here. I think the rest of the men all have significant character development but Diana seems to keep getting the short end of the stick. Perhaps because Waid isn't sure how to write her? Which is strange because I see a lot of similarities between her and Cap - with the way they handle battles, their ideals, their stubbornness, etc.
Just after Batman was kicked out of the league for being a naughty bat, the JL try to move on without their strategist. They end up in a fairy tale world where they have to fight the evil queen that's kidnapped Diana. The men (seven knights) have to work together to try to rescue her and, without Bruce dropping in, they would have failed.
Next, we have Clark coming to Bruce because his betrayal has caused an irreparable rift in the league. No one trusts each other and those that voted Bat out are conflicting with those that wanted him to stay in. Basically, everyone's walking on eggshells and no one's happy. Clark basically sits Bruce down and yells at him for a while. I honestly could have read 5 hours of that!
But, the plot I enjoyed the most was the one where Clark accidentally wishes that he didn't have to worry about being Superman and Clark Kent. He didn't want to live a double life. So, these space creatures (called the Id?) split his and the rest of the leaguers apart from their civilian counterparts and their superhero personas. Bruce Wayne becomes a dick... not entirely sure why. Clark is just bumbling reported Clark Kent, who's afraid of heights. J'onn loses the pyrophobia and the destabilizing grief. Most effective of all: Eel O'Brian loses the part of him that became a good man. He's back to the thug that used to mug and rob people and he'd very much like to go back to being a respected hero. The scenes with him were very, very well done.
So, I really enjoyed this. I even enjoyed the art for the most part. If I had to make one complaint, I'd say that I don't think enough is done with Diana here. I think the rest of the men all have significant character development but Diana seems to keep getting the short end of the stick. Perhaps because Waid isn't sure how to write her? Which is strange because I see a lot of similarities between her and Cap - with the way they handle battles, their ideals, their stubbornness, etc.
March 3, 2013
Some good storylines in this volume. My favorite one was where the justice league becomes a part of one. Mark Waid always writes a good story and this was no different.
November 22, 2017
Reading (and really liking) Vol. 7: Tower of Babel only a week earlier, I was prepared that Vol. 8: Divided We Fall would probably not be as good as its predecessor. And . . . it wasn't. That said, it was a decent enough follow-up -- there a few nice moments where the JLA realize that they need a tactician / investigative mind like the recently-ousted Batman -- though early on Plastic-Man quickly becomes insufferable, and the final story ('ID') seemed really drawn-out.
September 9, 2008
I grabbed this at the Library sale, because, hey, it's been years since I could buy a comic book for 75¢. It reprints JLA issues 47 through 54. The writing is good, the art is mostly excellent. My one complaint is that it starts in the middle of a story without any summary of what had gone on before. As near as I can figure, right before these tales, the Justice League discovered that Batman had devised plans to capture and/or disable each member in the event that they turned to the dark side or some such. They discovered this because one of Batman's enemies, Ra's al Ghul, managed to get ahold of this data and put the fail-safe plans into action. This honked everybody off and the result was that Batman was voted out of the League, 4 to 3. The result is that you have a divided league who are not only in disagreement over whether Batman should have been axed, but also are starting to wonder what dark secrets their other teammates might be harboring. It makes for some ineffective crime fighting across multiple dimensions. Anyway, that's a long winded explanation of the overall scenario. If you want details, you'll just have to check it out for yourself.
May 7, 2011
I'm liking this better than vol7 for some reason. I think it's that there's a good story here and that I recognized the good story *before* I got tired of the stilted, over-explanatory dialogue.
Love the twists and turns of the story. Just wish they could bring in a Bendis to rewrite the dialogue - and cut out about 3/4 of the exposition.
The book builds to a good plot-moving-forward, almost...confusing crescendo (partly that the writing finally assumes you have a brain, but parky because the art doesn't give us enough to distinguish between generic looking characters). Best part of Waid/Hitch's run so far. I do enjoy Hitch's art - his Authority run was solid - but it's a bit repetitive in the same kinds of framing and stances.
Love the twists and turns of the story. Just wish they could bring in a Bendis to rewrite the dialogue - and cut out about 3/4 of the exposition.
The book builds to a good plot-moving-forward, almost...confusing crescendo (partly that the writing finally assumes you have a brain, but parky because the art doesn't give us enough to distinguish between generic looking characters). Best part of Waid/Hitch's run so far. I do enjoy Hitch's art - his Authority run was solid - but it's a bit repetitive in the same kinds of framing and stances.
Read
August 10, 2011Great stories and the art of Hitch is awesome, due to Laura DePuy's colors. Great comics and a little reference for Sandman.
July 11, 2022
The stories collected here follow directly from Tower of Babel, where Batman was voted out of the league for having scret plans to defeat weach one of its members. Tower of babel was alot of fun, and a very well written story.
I expected something around the same level. Sadly, the arcs collected here are noe nearly as engaging. While not a bad read, its not a very exciting read either. The plots are sometimes streched well beyond what would be necessary, and are not as gripping as Waid's previous arc.
The first story concerns the Queen of Fables. This was the better arc here, and while the ending was a bit dissapointing in its resolution, the ride there was a fun one.
The second arc's foe is Dr. Destinity, and it was so dull and convuluted I almost forgot it was included in this collection. What starts out as a mildly interesting trippy ride leads to a dumb ending.
In the following arc, the Justice League members find that, for some reason, their super-hero and civilian identities have been separated from each other - there is now a Clark and a Superman, A Batman and a Bruce Wayne,and so forth. Nobody knows why that hapenned, while simultaneously a series of bizarre events are happenning around the globe.
This arc felt overlong and scaterred, and the most promising premises were not even properly explored, so it read like a overly serious and extended arc that failed to really focus on what was the most enticing part of it.
The artwork throughout is moslty by Bryan Hitch, whose work is absolutely fantastic. In the art department the book is flawless, but sadly certain portions of it were somewhat dull.
Hope the second volume of Waid's JL run is a bit more to the point, and less dull.
I expected something around the same level. Sadly, the arcs collected here are noe nearly as engaging. While not a bad read, its not a very exciting read either. The plots are sometimes streched well beyond what would be necessary, and are not as gripping as Waid's previous arc.
The first story concerns the Queen of Fables. This was the better arc here, and while the ending was a bit dissapointing in its resolution, the ride there was a fun one.
The second arc's foe is Dr. Destinity, and it was so dull and convuluted I almost forgot it was included in this collection. What starts out as a mildly interesting trippy ride leads to a dumb ending.
In the following arc, the Justice League members find that, for some reason, their super-hero and civilian identities have been separated from each other - there is now a Clark and a Superman, A Batman and a Bruce Wayne,and so forth. Nobody knows why that hapenned, while simultaneously a series of bizarre events are happenning around the globe.
This arc felt overlong and scaterred, and the most promising premises were not even properly explored, so it read like a overly serious and extended arc that failed to really focus on what was the most enticing part of it.
The artwork throughout is moslty by Bryan Hitch, whose work is absolutely fantastic. In the art department the book is flawless, but sadly certain portions of it were somewhat dull.
Hope the second volume of Waid's JL run is a bit more to the point, and less dull.
June 1, 2025
4 stars. Nice follow up to Tower of Babel, and art is very good throughout. A few different stories but the general theme is the JLA not being as cohesive after voting Batman out, with conflict between those who voted to keep him in and those who voted to kick him out. Also, missing his presence in the field with strategy and detective work.
There's a solid story with this Queen of Fables who is targeting Wonder Woman but is warping everything into different types of fiction stories. Pretty unique and engaging and highlighted the conflict in the JLA.
Next story has Doctor Destiny causing some crazy, confusing dream sequence. Still pretty good but harder to follow.
Last and longest story was good, with this "ID" villain and 6th dimensional beings splitting Superman, Batman, GL, Flash, Plastic Man, and Martian Manhunter into their costumed and civilian personalities, so they exist as two people now, and at the extreme end of each. Aquaman and WW are spared since they don't have other identities. It starts out great with Clark lecturing Bruce about how the JLA does not trust each other anymore because of what he did and it's a big problem now. Bruce needs to make amends, there can't be any more secrets. So Bruce and Clark summon everyone to the batcave and they all exchange their secret identities, I liked that a lot. The rest of the story is good and the JLA prevail. Batman is back on the team and they are starting to gel a lot better by the end.
There's a solid story with this Queen of Fables who is targeting Wonder Woman but is warping everything into different types of fiction stories. Pretty unique and engaging and highlighted the conflict in the JLA.
Next story has Doctor Destiny causing some crazy, confusing dream sequence. Still pretty good but harder to follow.
Last and longest story was good, with this "ID" villain and 6th dimensional beings splitting Superman, Batman, GL, Flash, Plastic Man, and Martian Manhunter into their costumed and civilian personalities, so they exist as two people now, and at the extreme end of each. Aquaman and WW are spared since they don't have other identities. It starts out great with Clark lecturing Bruce about how the JLA does not trust each other anymore because of what he did and it's a big problem now. Bruce needs to make amends, there can't be any more secrets. So Bruce and Clark summon everyone to the batcave and they all exchange their secret identities, I liked that a lot. The rest of the story is good and the JLA prevail. Batman is back on the team and they are starting to gel a lot better by the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 16, 2017
This was a good character study on the members of the League. Coming fresh off of Batman being expelled, the others face a threat of a fairy tale book coming to life. There's also a great story about how their secret identities are separated and how they see the benefits of not being a hero, yet how horrible life can be without that balance. Excellent use of team dynamics.
July 1, 2018
Another fantastic arc by Mark Waid and the team! The highlight of Waid's run is the way he writes the interactions between the JLA members. Every member of the League got the chance to shine and I just appreciated it so much. The only reason why I didn't give it 5 stars was because the plot was a bit confusing at times.
April 29, 2013
To begin with, this would have a perfect rating if it were Mark Waid alone, but comics being a collaborative effort I cannot in all fairness disregard the missteps of his fellow creators.
Storywise, JLA, Vol. 8: Divided We Fall is brilliant. The stories date pretty well, actually while reading them I couldn't help but feel some of the awe and childish joy and this sense of 'anything can happen' in the stories that the old silver age comics give me when I read them. Comic stories since the late 80's to the present have tried to mine the idea of realism, since Watchmen, for good and ill. Some stories succeed at integrating the real world with comic book storytelling but others fail miserably at it, well most actually. But in true genius author fashion Mark Waid wasn't doing what everyone else was doing, he was going and doing his own thing. These stories are more magical, and bigger than the individual character's usual adventures. As they have to be. This isn't Flash versus his greatest villains, in itself a great and daunting task for our hero, this is the Justice League, all the best superheroes that DC has to offer, and any threat they have to fight must be just as big as the whole league.
The collection takes up after JLA, Vol. 7: Tower of Babel storyline that Mark Waid also wrote and served as the fertile ground for the Doom cartoon by DC animation. So the story begins without Batman on the team, and the whole team still divided as to whether Batman should have been voted out of the league or not. This schism leads to our heroes not exactly being at their best when they come across a fairy tale wonderland New York City. Its a beautiful story, and I love the whole Wonder Woman as Snow White element of the story. I thought it especially cool who kisses her and wakes her from her slumber.
The stories are pretty awesome, they bleed in from one into the other, and despite the fact that he's juggling a very large cast of characters Mark Waid still manages to make them each unique, giving them their own voice, and he gives them great interactions and interesting moments together or as a team. In the following story where the heroes are split up from their alter egos, Mark Waid shows us just how much he knows and loves these characters as he shows us Batman minus Bruce Wayne, and Clark Kent without Superman and how different they are. Economical storytelling, done in simple panels or one page asides, yet this book manages to pack a lot of story.
Again the stories are near perfect and they work wonderfully, what doesn't is the change in artists, and here is why I withheld the last star. While the book is still illustrated by the A-list of DC artists of the time, the art styles are not similar and it jars the story a little. Also, when Brian Hitch finally returns to the book, we get him doing needless one page pin ups that just seem gratuitous. He is a solid artist, but he has never really done anything experimental as far as panel design, and while he's a solid artist his work on the book just seems not as energized as his work on Stormwatch and The Authority.
All in all it is a very good book, and a great run for the JLA even if the art left something to be desired.
Storywise, JLA, Vol. 8: Divided We Fall is brilliant. The stories date pretty well, actually while reading them I couldn't help but feel some of the awe and childish joy and this sense of 'anything can happen' in the stories that the old silver age comics give me when I read them. Comic stories since the late 80's to the present have tried to mine the idea of realism, since Watchmen, for good and ill. Some stories succeed at integrating the real world with comic book storytelling but others fail miserably at it, well most actually. But in true genius author fashion Mark Waid wasn't doing what everyone else was doing, he was going and doing his own thing. These stories are more magical, and bigger than the individual character's usual adventures. As they have to be. This isn't Flash versus his greatest villains, in itself a great and daunting task for our hero, this is the Justice League, all the best superheroes that DC has to offer, and any threat they have to fight must be just as big as the whole league.
The collection takes up after JLA, Vol. 7: Tower of Babel storyline that Mark Waid also wrote and served as the fertile ground for the Doom cartoon by DC animation. So the story begins without Batman on the team, and the whole team still divided as to whether Batman should have been voted out of the league or not. This schism leads to our heroes not exactly being at their best when they come across a fairy tale wonderland New York City. Its a beautiful story, and I love the whole Wonder Woman as Snow White element of the story. I thought it especially cool who kisses her and wakes her from her slumber.
The stories are pretty awesome, they bleed in from one into the other, and despite the fact that he's juggling a very large cast of characters Mark Waid still manages to make them each unique, giving them their own voice, and he gives them great interactions and interesting moments together or as a team. In the following story where the heroes are split up from their alter egos, Mark Waid shows us just how much he knows and loves these characters as he shows us Batman minus Bruce Wayne, and Clark Kent without Superman and how different they are. Economical storytelling, done in simple panels or one page asides, yet this book manages to pack a lot of story.
Again the stories are near perfect and they work wonderfully, what doesn't is the change in artists, and here is why I withheld the last star. While the book is still illustrated by the A-list of DC artists of the time, the art styles are not similar and it jars the story a little. Also, when Brian Hitch finally returns to the book, we get him doing needless one page pin ups that just seem gratuitous. He is a solid artist, but he has never really done anything experimental as far as panel design, and while he's a solid artist his work on the book just seems not as energized as his work on Stormwatch and The Authority.
All in all it is a very good book, and a great run for the JLA even if the art left something to be desired.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2015
Due i cicli di storie a opera di waid raccolte in questo volume, in entrambe l'autore cerca di analizzare la JLA mettendola di fronte a situazioni anomale anche per loro. Ai disegni arriva il miglior Hitch chinato da Neary almeno per i primi albi, incentrati su un invasione dal mondo delle fiabe e sulla figura di Wonder Woman.
Il secondo arco narrativo approfondisce, invece, la dualità dei personaggi. L'eroe e l'identità segreta vengono separati in due distinte persone fisiche, e vediamo come agirebbero gli eroi senza la controparte umana a bilanciarla e "temperarla".
Cos'è Superman senza Clark Kent, Batman senza Bruce Wayne, Martian Manhunter senza John Jones e così via. Una sequenza decisamente interessante e ben centrata sui protagonisti e le loro motivazioni invece che sull'azione vera e propria.
Il secondo arco narrativo approfondisce, invece, la dualità dei personaggi. L'eroe e l'identità segreta vengono separati in due distinte persone fisiche, e vediamo come agirebbero gli eroi senza la controparte umana a bilanciarla e "temperarla".
Cos'è Superman senza Clark Kent, Batman senza Bruce Wayne, Martian Manhunter senza John Jones e così via. Una sequenza decisamente interessante e ben centrata sui protagonisti e le loro motivazioni invece che sull'azione vera e propria.
September 3, 2012
Another collection of JLA stories instead of one big arc kind of derails this volume. Its divided into three arcs: The Queen of Fables, Dr. Destiny, and then the wish granting ID.
First off, I love Bryan Hitch's artwork. Its detailed and makes everyone look awesome. I loved the first two story arcs, a new villain with the Queen of Fables. Dr. Destiny was super trippy but made for a great mind bending story.
The last story was rather weak. People's desires are becoming real, because a wish granting machine from the 6th dimension is on the loose and being are after it. It doesn't really do anything except set up the next volume. If they had tightened this last story it would have been better.
First off, I love Bryan Hitch's artwork. Its detailed and makes everyone look awesome. I loved the first two story arcs, a new villain with the Queen of Fables. Dr. Destiny was super trippy but made for a great mind bending story.
The last story was rather weak. People's desires are becoming real, because a wish granting machine from the 6th dimension is on the loose and being are after it. It doesn't really do anything except set up the next volume. If they had tightened this last story it would have been better.
October 25, 2014
Mark Waid follows the excellent Tower of Babel story (which you don't need to have read before this one - unless you mind it being spoilered - because the characters give a wee summary for you) with three self-contained tales.
The theme here is distorted realities, with story books coming to life, dreams infesting reality and wishes coming true. This last story is the best in the book but they are all excellent and can be read with virtually no background knowledge. Great stuff.
The theme here is distorted realities, with story books coming to life, dreams infesting reality and wishes coming true. This last story is the best in the book but they are all excellent and can be read with virtually no background knowledge. Great stuff.
May 4, 2009
The boyfriends make up and have their coming out! Seriously, though, this is set after the events of the Tower of Babel, and the League is dealing with the fallout of Batman's betrayal. And with the fact that they are missing Batman's expertise. It's not a bad resolution, all in all, and I stand by my first sentence, too.
January 19, 2023
Hitch's art is an improvement over Porter and everyone else in the series so far. Other than that, this volume is a big step down. The fairy tale story is kind of dumb and the titular second story has some interesting takes on these characters dual identities but doesn't do anything else interesting across multiple issues.
January 4, 2008
See my note on it in my blog:
http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/20...
http://gypsylibrarian.blogspot.com/20...
April 5, 2009
After the mess of Batman's "betrayal", the JLA falls apart, but recovers in time to save the day. Yay. Sounds boring, sure, but Mark Waid seems comfortable enough writing JLA, and it shows.
September 24, 2010
The stories are okay, but there's a little too much of the reality-warping stuff in a row.
September 22, 2011
The fairy tale story is really good, and the changed reality is full of character pieces. This is one for those who like Fables and stories that concentrate on character not plot. A decent read.
August 5, 2016
When the Justice League loses faith in one of their own, What will it take to restore their faith in each other? And can the league survive losing what makes them who they are?
February 4, 2010
Typical superhero schtuff; not great, not awful. Kinda fun, though.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews