JLA #40

JLA #40 by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter and Drew Geraci

The Plot: All-out chaos all over the Earth as nation makes war on nation at the prompting of the ever-approaching Mageddon. Meanwhile, while one of the league's most powerful members is brought down, a minor-league superhero approaches the League with a possible solution to the force that threatens to consume the Earth.

I think at this point I can comfortably say I will be glad when Grant Morrison departs this title, #41 being his last after relaunching this series a few years back and reenergizing everyone's affection for DC's "Big Seven" superheroes.

Morrison's first 4-issue story arc, in which the Justice League battled an invading team of Martians, was pretty spectacular in comparison to what we had seen of the Justice League in the years previous. His characterizations, even when not quite right, were at least intriguing, and I loved and continue to love his take on Batman's role in the League. He also does well demonstrating Kyle Rayner's awe of working with the JLA, and the relationship of the Martian Manhunter to the team.

But much of Morrison's run, especially after the first year or so, has been unfocused to the point of incomprehensibility. The recent JLA: Earth II hardcover demonstrated in spades what we've been missing in the regular title: top notch art, a focused story, and a spectacular, big-budget movie feel to the proceedings.

Unfortunately, that big-budget movie feel is here in Morrison's World War III story arc, and that movie is Wild, Wild West starring Will Smith and Kevin Kline. Yeah, it's big, yeah, it's loud, yeah, things blow up--but what a goddamned mess.

I guess it's more entertaining, dollar for dollar, than that disastrous, wrong-headed movie. After all, at least the JLA has Morrison's Batman saying cool things like "Get me tactical," and, and--well, okay, that's the only cool thing he says in this issue. But he fired the Huntress last issue, and while I like her, that must have made a lot of fans happy.

There are a lot of cameos by former (and never) JLAers here, I guess to emphasize the hugeness of the threat that is heading towards Earth. But the goofy-looking Deadman on page 6 (how do you kick a ghost's ass, anyway?) and badly drawn single-panel appearances by Impulse, Superboy and Hawkwoman (hey!) do little to convey any real sense of danger.

Further, the out-of-left-field appearance of Animal Man, a character written for a long run in his own title by Morrison, is a deus ex machina in the worst sense of the term: the solution to the problem facing the League comes from outside their ranks, had no apparent foreshadowing in previous issues, and looks likely to serve no other purpose than giving Morrison the chance to kill one of his characters at the end of this storyarc without doing any real damage to the DC Universe. If the expected deaths of Animal Man and Zauriel are the best Morrison can do to lend this storyline emotional depth and lasting impact, well--hurm, to quote a favourite grim 'n gritty character of mine.

Artist Howard Porter has taken a lot of heat for his sometimes grotesque facial work and wonky layouts, and both of those are in abundant supply in this issue. Batman appears to be holding some sort of invisible device in the 2-page splash that opens the issue, the full-page spread of Superman in chains near the end of the issue is almost laughably inept, and while we're at it, the cover isn't much to write home about either.

The busy-looking backgrounds are filled with sketchy, indistinct characters drawn in just enough detail to let you know who they are supposed to be, but without any real grounding in the overall design itself--giving the final product a look not dissimilar to that of Colorforms playtoys. Don't believe me? Check out the Golden Age Flash in the last panel of page 6, and Impulse and The Atom on page 9. I'm telling you, Colorforms.

I know I'm being negative here, and I wish I didn't have to be--JLA is probably one of my favourite titles, despite its frequent weaknesses, simply on the strength of Morrison's ideas, frequently excellent dialogue, and the iconic nature of the lineup. But the utter lack of focus and barely perceptible plot of this World War III storyline have me anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mark Waid as new writer.