For many comic book fans, the nineteen nineties were a bleak time for industry. While DC Comics decided to go down their drug induced path of titles such as The Sandman and Animal Man, Marvel craved the artists who would go on to found Image Comics and most importantly of all, the comics got darker and it was as if you were reading the same comic every time you bought another one. That said, the nineties wasn't all bad. There were titles such as The Batman Adventures and the classic miniseries Marvels, painted by the wonderful Alex Ross. However, the most remembered titles from that era were from the mind of one man (a very bald and Scottish one).
Writer Grant Morrison had been in the comic book industry for quite some time when
he wrote the JLA title. He began working at DC Comics in the late 1980's, working on
such praised titles such as Animal Man (vol 1) and Doom Patrol (vol 2). He then wrote a very strange and unique tale named Batman: Arkham Asylum in 1989 which engraved his name in comic book history. It was a decade later in which he was given the role as the writer of the Justice League comic. However, he was to start on the team's second relaunch (after writers Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis first relaunch in 1987). Justice League America (the last main title of the Justice League International chapter of the team) ended at issue 113, written by Gerard Jones with art by Chuck Wojtkiewicz and Bob Dvorak. After this run met its end, it was followed by a miniseries named JLA: A Midsummer's Nightmare, written by Mark Waid and Fabian Nicieza. This series stands almost as a prelude to the main run as all the heroes that are in JLA 1 meet in this issue. However, it isn't a mandatory read as New World Order doesn't really mention the events of A Midsummer's Nightmare.
Now to get on with the main story of the review, JLA: New World Order which consists of JLA 1-4, published in 1997 from January to April. I am reading this story in the newer, larger format in JLA Volume 1. The story is written by Grant Morrison, penciled by Howard Porter and inked by John Dell.
THE PLOT
The story begins with the President of the USA in the White House, shouting at his
lackeys (sound familiar?) before a shadow emerges above the whole house which turns out to a huge alien space ship. These aliens call themselves the Hyperclan and they have come to Earth to save the human race. They use their powers to help people around the world and even execute a villain (admittedly, not a major one) in order to gain public support. Then because they see the Justice League as a threat to their plan, they decide to go to their satellite to kill them. However, the league now consists of Ice Maiden, Nuklon, Obsidian, Fire (who is absent) and Metamorpho. However, the Hyperclan falls in their task as Metamorpho sacrifices himself to save his partners. At this point, the main heroes of the DC Universe all meet in the old Justice League cave from the 1960's and they decide that the Hyperclan need to be dealt with.
The Hyperclan build their own sanctuaries all over the planet in order to use mind control to turn the people of Earth against the Justice League. Martian Manhunter speculates that the watchtower sanctuaries are what is causing the mind control and heroes go off to different towers to disable them. Wonder Woman ends up meeting Aquaman for his help but they fight a member of the Hyperclan who is trying to kill them. The same happens with the Flash and Green Lantern as well. It is at that point Martian Manhunter meets with the leader of the pack Protex who tries to convince him to join the Hyperclan. But, it is at that point the members of the clan meet the leader with the bodies of the defeated Justice League members with the exception of The Flash, Green Lantern and Batman.
To no surprise, the Dark Knight survived his encounter with The Hyperclan and he now knows their true abilities. Meanwhile, The Flash and Green Lantern continue their fights against the two respective Hyperclan members but ultimately, both heroes are captured when they both go to the main sanctuary, named Z'onn Z'orr (sound familiar?) Martian Manhunter has also disappeared but the Hyperclan are relentless in their search. Seemingly bad for Batman, the Hyperclan members end up finding him but he confirms to them that he knows what they are. They are White Martians and because he is a paranoid freak, he knows the Martian weakness is fire so he sets the room on fire with gasoline. In complete rage, leader Protex transmits the signal for their Martian army in space to invade Earth.
Batman was not the only hero to find out the Hyperclan's secret. Superman discovers this and breaks out to go head to head with Protex. Martian Manhunter makes his return and frees his teammates from the torturous alien technology that they have been trapped by and the huge fight breaks loose. Each individual member beats a member of the Hyperclan but now they have the threat of an oncoming alien invasion. However, now that the mind control powers of the sanctuaries have been disabled, Superman gives courage to the people of Earth by telling the to use fire against the Martians. This makes all the aliens scared and they fly off. We then get to see the effects of the Hyperclan reversed , showing that their ecological intentions were also fake. Now that the crisis has been dealt with, the superheroes use the wreckage of the old Justice League satellite in order to make the base of operations for the JLA which consists of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter.
MY THOUGHTS
For an incredibly simple premise and plot, JLA 1-4 provides an excellent opening and introduction to a new Justice League. As a huge fan of Justice League International (specifically by Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis), it is a shame to see characters such as Ice and Metamorpho leave, but what must be celebrated is the line up of the team in this story, This is this as classic a line up that you can get for the Justice League. These members of the team haven't been seen together since the Bronze Age of Comics. Additionally, comparing the original team and the JLA team, although they are the same characters, they are all different. Superman has got the regrettable mullet which appeared in the mid 1990's. Batman has become darker and moodier. Wonder Woman has... well, I don't know. The Flash and Green Lantern are both new people. Aquaman has lot his arm and also his own child to the evil of Black Manta and Martian Manhunter has seen Justice Leagues rise and fall. This is great as it really shows that the characters age and brings out more humanity in them. In terms of the villains, the Hyperclan are a great idea as it gets to bring out Martian Manhunter's sadness and anger as his own Martian family is dead at the hands of White Martians. However, all of the members of the clan, with the exception of Protex, can be quite forgettable by name but they do provide for some good battles against the new Justice League. In terms of the story, it is very basic and not very original (with elements of Legends {1986-7 By Ostrander,Wein and Byrne}) but it is a good story and is incredibly fast paced. Although, I do think people holding peices of paper on fire is a bit of a stretch because the Martians are in space ships and are thousands of miles away in space. It is also very good to see the beginnings of friendships between heroes of the league, specifically Green Lantern and The Flash. In this story, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) has been in his role for very long and this is his first time being in the big leagues. He is very formal and nervous. The Flash jokes around with him and they work quite well together (despite my dislike of Rayner's GL). By the about issue 10 of the run, both characters are more comfortable with each other and it shows that joining the Justice League also includes meeting new people.
In terms of the art, I can see why Howard Porter was chosen for the job, but (a very
big but too) I think his art is quite unclear and a bit Liefeld in appearance. Yes, it is true that in this decade of comics, Porter's art has improved (specifically in The Flash Vol 5 21 and 22 {The Button}). However, at this point, Porter was still quite the beginner. Every character in JLA is wide and they tend to have muscles on their muscles. The inks by Dell embellish this problem. Also, poor Howard needs to be taught how to draw faces. Everyone (including the women) look like their faces are make of brick and everyone has a look of boredom on their faces. (which is better to what he attempts to achieve later on in the run {ISSUE 45 ANYONE}). I understand his artwork is meant to represent the JLA as gods, however, at the end of the day, it just looks dated and horrid. I think the colouring doesn't help either because everyone looks like they have just come out of a bath of grease and this tends to make everyone look robotic in places.
VERDICT
Overall, JLA: New World Order is fantastic and fun way to begin a new series. There are elements of the 1960's Justice League Of America stories while also adding new and exciting aspects to the team. The writing and characters are very well done by the bald Scots man with very few flaws. Although it is basic, it does have some great twists and clever writing. What lets this down to me is the art. I think Porter's art can make it difficult to see what is going on.
Story: 9/10
Art: 3/10
HIGHLIGHTED CHARACTER: Martian Manhunter
NEXT REVIEW - JLA: AMERICAN DREAMS (JLA 5-9, JLA SECRET FILES AND ORIGINS 1)
By Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Howard Porter, John Dell, Oscar Jimenez, Chip Wallace and Don Hillsman
PUBLISHED AND READY TO VIEW NOW
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