YOUR BADGE?, THANK YOU... WELCOME TO THE J.L.E.

books:


	• Justice League Elite: Volume 2 (Jla (Justice League of America) (Graphic Novels)) Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke, ... DC Comics, 2007 - 192 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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Elite?

I will avoid any spoliers to this, but wasn't the first half of this book already done, excellently I might add, in "Kingdom Come"? That being said the second part was very interesting and enjoyable. I am a little curious how the "bad guys" always seem to have a way of incapcitating serious heavy hitters, like Vera, but not killing them when they are in fact killers. I really don't like the way the writers use this medium as a way to take jabs at our government (the cell phone conversation). This is not our world, there is no Metropolis, Gotham, or Central City here, but I can easily read between the lines. I go to these places to escape from this world, not to be reminded in so very unsuttle ways of how everyone that thinks the comic book world could be real is a facist marxist liberal. DC should tread lightly in this realm, I would bet that a good majority of their non-traditional readers are at least moderately conservative.

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awesome

One of the best by the creative teams of DC... very intricate plot development, the heroes (or rather antiheroes) walk a delicate moral tightrope... also has the flavour of a psychological thriller...

Highly recommended!

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YOUR BADGE?, THANK YOU... WELCOME TO THE J.L.E.

While I'm not 100% sure, this collection feels incomplete - we open with a setting of the stage and positioning of all the players, and the arrival of THE ELITE and their view that the world, it's people, it's laws and the heroes (both super, and human) who protect it are corrupt and should be pushed aside, removed, or killed to make way for a New World Order.

It's brutal, violent and coldly rational - and seems to make perfect sense...if it wasn't for all the killings. THE ELITE are unlike anything the JLA have ever fought before. They're more than powerful, they are all but Gods among us - so it comes as a bit of a disappointment that they not only fold so quickly, but that Superman alone manages to bust them up. Granted Superman does so with brains over brawn, he outsmarts and tricks them into exposing their weaknesses - but when push comes to punch, Superman can't match THE ELITE in power. He's our hero, our values, our way of life - he's fair play and Sunday baseball and lemonade - so THE ELITE get off easy. But, something happens to the leader of THE ELITE, one Manchester Black, in a story that is presented to us as a flashback (but missing from the book itself) and is killed.

From then on THE ELITE falls under the sway and control of Black's sister - but the dark edge remains, it's just now "working" for the good guys. In short, it's the CIA, NSA, BLACK OPS arm of the JLA - it's the stealth team that takes the battle to the bad guys before they have time to mount their evil plans (sound familiar?)... and for most of the book, this works. The tension between the two teams, the clashing of ideology, fair play, justice and the rules. And the unexpected, and nicely handled, turning of THE FLASH from scarlet speedster, to midnight traveller - working both sides of the coin, playing on both teams. This is the best part of the book, and is paid off nicely when we see THE FLASH push himself and his powers to the limit to literally be in two places at once (and wearing both costumes at the same time - while the art work is split between two artists as well to show us the different moods of each team: everything with THE ELITE is dark and dank, while everything with the JLA is bright and colorful) saving the day for both teams... excellent work.

But the rest is a mess. There are subplots and past stories that never really connect - and the plot, while rich, is never mined as deeply as it could be. As dark as the series is (both in story and on the page itself) it never really crosses the line - never fully takes the battle to the heart of the problem, and therefore falls short.

It is what it is - a comic book, and being so the answers have to come a bit easier, the attitudes and views have to be less complex, and while it strikes a cord with what absolute power does to a person - it never crosses the line to drive that point home.

A good start to a great idea - and only VOLUME ONE in the series, it could get better.

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A Great Comic

i really dug this one. i enjoy joe kelly's work a lot, first with his excellent deadpool series and then his brief x-men run, which stands as my favorite run by any author on any series. the man knows how to write comics. and with the exception of his incredible (and still unfinished) steampunk series, this is the best thing he's done since.

there's really nothing to complain about with his writing. the pacing is great, the story is interesting. the characterization and dialogue are top-notch. the cast is great, including of most of my favorite justice leaguers (green arrow, major disaster and manitou raven from kelly's JLA run, and batman's not on the team but he's in the book) and some new faces who are fleshed out nicely. the art is rock solid. great storytelling, dynamic and expressive art, and a nice design sense. if i had a complaint to make, and i'm really nitpicking here, it's that certain details like the colors on manitou raven's body markings or menagerie's body details aren't colored as well, or even as often, as they could be. the colors are nice overall, and maybe it would be a waste of time to work out the little tidbits. i would have appreciated the attention to detail, but perhaps most wouldn't, and it didn't hinder the book any.

the paper quality isn't the best. it's not the shiny stuff, but that didn't bother me either. mahnke's art isn't all that flashy, so there's not necessarily a call for premium paper, but i've seen far inferior art get printed on the good stuff, so go figure. all things considered, this is basically as good as the justice league gets. maybe as good as superhero comics get. certainly miles ahead of whatever followed kelly on the flagship justice league title. it's a shame that this run didn't last longer, but it was short and very sweet and worth picking up.

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reviews: page 1, 2