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Of Embassies and Origins - Justice League International Part 2 (Eaglemoss Collection v77)

  Review: Since we are doing a series of reviews focusing on Booster Gold over his nearly 40-year history, we include this one as a collection of some of his earliest appearances, dating to late 1987. That places the original publish date of these tales while his original solo series was still going strong.  This book is a beautiful, glossy hard-cover with smooth and heavy-stock paper inside, although the sometimes-low print reproduction quality leads to blurred and hard to read word balloons on occasion. It is also a rare book here in North America, as Eaglemoss Collections targeted UK fans with this series. At this point in the history of the 1987-rebooted Justice League, they have gained official United Nations recognition and sanction. To ensure their reach truly is global, they rebrand as Justice League International (as does the title of the series!) and they open new headquarters buildings around the world: New York, Paris and Moscow are included here. As this is a product of 19
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Review: Superman: Mon-El - Man of Valor

Cover of Superman: Mon-El Man of Valor TPB

Description:

Writer James Robinson (STARMAN, JSA: THE GOLDEN AGE) and a bevy of up-and-coming artists including Fernando Dagnino, Bernard Chang, Javier Pina and Matt Camp continue the adventures of Superman's adopted cousin Mon-El, the new guardian of Metropolis! With The Man of Steel away on New Krypton, it's up to Mon-El to face off against Bizarro and General Lane - Lois Lane's father! Mon-El also debuts his new Superman-inspired costume in this collection guest-starring Superboy, the Legion of Super-Heroes and many others! And when Superman returns to Earth, will Mon-El freely give up his duty as protector of a city he's grown to love?

Collects: Superman Secret Files #1, Superman Annual #14, Superman #692-697 and Adventure Comics #11
Authors: James A. Robinson
Artists: Javier Pina, Bernard Chang, more
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: Oct. 18 2011
Parental Rating: Teen

Review:

What a boring, uinspired and scattered graphic novel this is.

Sure, it has most of the requisite elements of the superhero genre. We have Mon-El, a young man of immense physical strength and superhuman power. It has alien invaders. There is a home-grown power-hungry and manipulative military mind, in General Sam Lane, who even has a close family connection to a significant minor character. There are guest appearances by well-beloved heroes in the Legion of Super-Heroes and Superboy. Even Krypto the wonder dog.

And yet it falls flat. Nothing in the narrative, plot twists, or art draws me to the main character. Someone who is already steeped in the history and mythology of Mon-El might find this compelling reading filled with exciting developments. For me, as a reader with no prior experience with Mon-El, I never encountered a reason to care about him or his challenges.

The problems begin from the very first page, a story titled "The History Lesson." James Robinson's story-telling is scattered and text-heavy, jumping planets and epochs with only tenuous connections between them. The art by Javier Pina may contain some clever nods for those in the know, but for us newcomers the visuals only compound the confusion caused by the narration.

Subsequent chapters, drawn by an ever-changing roster of artists, move us through a Bizarro attack with his famously inverted broken English, General Lane's machinations, romantic encounters.

The pinnacle of the collection is the multi-part "Man of Valor" story line and its gauntlet of challenges thrown at Mon-El. They were the best chapters of the collection, but could do little to salvage this set.

Like a bad action movie, this book is filled with lots of noise and destruction, but leaves the reader with little memory of the forgettable plot or of any lasting visuals.

I give it just a single cape out of five.

ISBN-10: 1401229387
ISBN-13: 978-1401229382
Language: English
Pages: 224 pages


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