Reviewed: JLA 37 by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter and John Dell

The plot: The Injustice Gang attacks the Watchtower, Prometheus confronts Oracle on her turf, and Mageddon gets closer to its goal, whatever the hell that is.

I guess that's the whole plot. It usually takes longer to sum up even comics I enjoyed less than this one.

I mean, I really, really want to love every issue of this latest JLA series. The first 15 issues or so were utterly wonderful, and even some of the quick-buck mini-series and one-shots have been entertaining.

But when I look back at the length of this run, one thing keeps popping up: there should be more here (to quote an old friend).

One look at any of Alex Ross's posters and lithographs of the JLA says more than I ever could about the intrinsic power of this particular grouping of superbeings. From the Super Friends to some moments in the current series, the JLA are the shit, man.

But Morrison has been extremely unfocused, starting not long after the initial four-issue arc that introduced the current run. Sure, there are tons of interesting ideas half-explored (if even that much), but very few have been realized to their maximum potential. The Rock of Ages arc is a perfect example, but there are plenty of others as well: on paper, it always sounds good, but the actual books just seem to come up short.

I've rarely been as disappointed in a story arc as I was by the recent JLA-JSA team-up. What a sad, sorry waste of potential. When I saw previews of the cover with Captain Marvel flying headlong into a confrontation with Superman, an homage to a cover from a pre-crisis JLA-JSA crossover, I thought I was in for a treat. It was more like Treet, for those of you familiar with the Spam-substitute. A ghastly imitation of something that wasn't very good in the first place.

If you're like me, you're looking forward to seeing what Mark Waid will be doing with the characters. Hopefully, one of those things will be repairing the Watchtower. Their Moon-based HQ is, in my opinion, the single best thing Morrison introduced to the JLA. It gets trashed pretty well in this arc. I'm pretty sure the idea of basing the team on the moon came from a scene in Alan Moore's Swamp Thing in the 1980s of the Justice League looking down like Gods on the Earth from their space-based satellite. Morrison took that one step further, removing the team even more from the earthlings they've vowed to protect.

The problematic artwork of Howard Porter supplements, but does not contribute to, my problems with Morrison's work. Porter, I think, is truly deserving of the nickname often bestowed on Rob Liefeld: Porter is the Ed Wood of comic books. His enthusiasm comes through on almost every page. Every awkward, bizarre, static page. His figures loom huge, massive, in some panels, and yet are barely detailed in middle or long shots. He draws an interesting Batman (who Morrison also handles extremely well), but has no apparent affinity for drawing the rest of the series regulars. He also has trouble drawing women.

But while Liefeld is just bad, Porter is entertainingly so, earning in my mind the Ed Wood comparison. I like to draw, but would never want to draw like Porter. I complain here about his style, and yet the most disappointing issues of the entire run of the current JLA series for me have been the ones drawn by fill-in artists. I'm also disapppointed Porter will be leaving soon after new writer Mark Waid takes over.

As for the issue at hand, I didn't hate it. The scene between Oracle and Prometheus was great (although the supervillain looks about 3 foot 8 in panel 3 of page 6), and the return of the Martian Manhunter toward the end was suitably powerful. It's difficult, though, to believe that the following issue will be worthy even of these minor pleasures. If history holds true, Morrison will find some way to undermine or disregard altogether the things I liked here.

Porter seems to be working as hard as he can here. The scenes of battle between Superman and The General (a truly lousy idea for a villain given an even lousier visual design) were clearly labours of love. Even if he is no great talent in terms of storytelling, Porter obviously put a lot into this issue.

When all is said and done, if I was running DC I would pay Morrison and Porter whatever it took to get them to do a book featuring Batman and Oracle (the latter being my favourite addition to the current JLA after the Big 7). The duo excels in their portrayal of these two characters, and most of my favourite scenes throughout the run have involved their interaction with their more-powerful teammates.

Obviously, I don't think this was the best comic ever. But if you've enjoyed previous issues of this series, you'll like this one too. And even if you hated previous issues, you have the added benefit of knowing it'll all be over soon.