Description:
Prepare
for the highly anticipated film Justice League with this story
written by comics greats Geoff Johns (DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH), Mark
Waid (JLA: YEAR ONE), Brad Meltzer (IDENTITY CRISIS), Kurt Busiek
(ASTRO CITY) and Mark Millar (Kickass), with art from the legendary
Jim Lee (SUICIDE SQUAD), Ivan Reis (AQUAMAN), Doug Mahnke (GREEN
LANTERN) and more. This collection of the biggest victories from the
World's Greatest Super-Heroes, JUSTICE LEAGUE: THEIR GREATEST
TRIUMPHS, offers a chance to get to know Superman, Batman, the Flash,
Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Aquaman in these seven tales from the pages
of JUSTICE LEAGUE and JLA.
From alien invasions and hostile visitors from other dimensions to
this planet’s own endless supply of super-villains, when enemies of
Earth appear, the Justice League answers the call. Though the lineup
of League members may vary, the mission is the same. They are
humanity’s ultimate protectors, the world’s greatest superheroes.
And they will triumph.
Collects: JUSTICE LEAGUE #1, #16, #29; JLA
#33, #107; JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #0; JUSTICE LEAGUE: REBIRTH
#1
Authors: Various
Artists:
Various
Published By: DC Comics
Published When:
Oct. 10 2017
Parental Rating: PG
Review:
What does it mean to be the Greatest? Sports fans love to debate
who is the GOAT, the Greatest Of All Time. Politics-watchers weigh in
on who was the greatest President? Part of the fun of the debate is
how to weigh various characteristics of greatness across sometimes
vastly different historical eras and contexts: prioritizing passing
touchdowns unfairly penalizes players in a less pass-focused era, for a sports example.
This TPB purports to collect the "Greatest" triumphs of
the Justice League, which begs the question of what definition of
"greatest" they mean. The Justice League, after all, has
been around since 1960 and has had an ever-changing roster. How
surprising, therefore, that these stories all come between 1999 and
2016 - a definite 'recency bias' in the selection process.
The collection's title also begs the question of what they mean by
"triumph" - Webster's dictionary calls a triumph a
victory, conquest or notable success. So we should expect the seven
stories in this collection to show the Justice League vanquishing
their enemies, decisively repelling ominous threats, perhaps against
incredible odds.
Yet many of these stories see the opponent still free, a battle
may have been won but the larger war is still undecided.
One more criticism of the title: "Justice League: Their
Greatest Triumphs" sounds like these stories will be
team-centered, the victories a direct result of the whole being
greater than the sum of its parts, their camaraderie and
collaboration serving as key elements in the triumphs. Yet many of
the stories focus on just one or two members of the team: Cyborg in one, Flash in another, the trio of Batman, Superman and Green Lantern in another.
In short, the title vastly oversells the contents of the
collection. More likely these were chosen as a tie-in to the Justice
League movie (2017) and the central characters on the big screen.
Title-criticism aside, there is much to enjoy within the
collection. Familiar characters, interesting stories, vibrant and
dynamic art.
It begins with a 2011 story from that year's rebooted Justice League #1, showing the
first meeting of Batman, Green Lantern and Superman. "Batman?
You're real?" says Green Lantern. "And you're too damn
bright. Turn down the light before they see us," Batman snarls
back. An arrogant Hal Jordan, a severe Bruce Wayne and a suspicious
and powerful Superman are not immediately inclined to trust each
other. Geoff Johns tells a tight story, early steps building toward the eventual
formation of the Justice League. It's not a league yet, these characters do not get along and are hardly working as a team. Jim Lee's accompanying graphics fill
every page with noise and excitement, even when a quieter sub-plot is
front and center.
The "Altered Egos" story from 1999 is the most pure fun
story of the collection, as the large league of that era splits into smaller groups to battle
the world's biggest current threat: Bruce Wayne? Amidst the humor and action, Plastic Man posing as
Barda's gown is just too funny!
A close second for the most-fun story is the 2004 tale called
"Maintenance Day" - rather than involving the whole team, it focuses
on Flash and Martian Manhunter, and their victory is hardly worthy of being
considered a great triumph, but the slice of life in the rhythms of
the league made a great narrative structure for the unfolding
relationship drama.
But the pinnacle of story-telling in this collection is in the
2006 debut issue of another reboot, the Justice League of America #1,
"Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow." The script by Brad Meltzer
meanders between past, present and future, teasing out aspects of the
league's history and the evolution of their dynamics and
relationships, with so many nuggets from DC's history. Nearly two
dozen artists contribute to the story, and the overall effect is, as
each era change arises, the look of the characters, their period
uniforms, the art stylings and more also change. A perfect visual
complement to the exquisitely woven narrative.
None of the rest especially stand out, not in terms
of teamwork, nor on the scale of triumphs, nor even as stories that
are especially fun. But the two or three gems from recent Justice League
history do make this worth adding to your collection.
Score: 3 capes on a pure enjoyment level, 2 capes based on
extreme failure to live up to its overhyped cover billing
ISBN-10: 1401273513
ISBN-13:
978-1401273514
Language: English
Pages:
168 pages
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