$7.95 from DC Comics
Credits:
Written by Grant
Morrison
Pencils by Howard
Porter and Oscar Jimenez
Inks by John Dell,
Chip Wallace, Ken Branch and Anibal Rodriguez
Colors by Pat Garrahy
“Man, doesn’t it ever
just hit you how *awesome* all this is?” asks the Green Lantern at one point in
JLA: AMERICAN DREAMS. This is the young, new (not really new, 5 years new, I
guess) Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, and in Grant Morrison’s JLA, he’s still
reeling from just what it is that’s always made the JLA cool. In this case,
he’s referring to gigantic ships driven by angels from heaven itself in a
knock-down, drag-out battle with the behemoths of DC, Superman, Wonder Woman
and all the rest. I’m thrilled that Morrison has Kyle in the series because he
can stand in for us. Superman is accustomed to cosmic battle- - it’s valuable
to have someone fresh enough in the super-hero game to go, “Whoa. Wow.”
JLA: AMERICAN DREAMS
reprints issues 5-9 of the newest incarnation of the JLA and gives an excellent
look at how well this series has been handled. I remember at least three “new”
Justice Leagues along the way. There was the old JLA, basically the Super
Friends with thought balloons in the days when they went up against the Justice
Society once a year (see, son, we had something called Earth 2, then. The JLA
was on Earth 1. *We* were on Earth *Prime*, and…) Then there was the piker JLA,
made up of small-time heroes and led by the Elongated Man. Shortly thereafter
we had the “clever” JLA, with Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Guy Gardner and
Shazam. Morrison’s JLA is something else, though: this is the postmodern JLA,
as clever as that ever was, but with heavy hitters.
And it is clever.
Morrison’s talent lies in narrowly defining exactly what each of his characters
is about: Superman is a righteous alien comfortable protecting his homeworld
but uncomfortable with being a walking myth. Batman is the way he’s always been
in the JLA, grim and gritty, the perfect foil for jokers like Kyle Rayner.
Morrison’s even allowed some of the old *World’s Finest*-style friendship
between the
Morrison takes these
characters we’ve been watching for decades and somehow makes them fresh, with
techniques as simple as letting them ponder their own characters. But he’s
postmodern enough to know that in the end, when giant angel-creatures are
hurling skyscrapers at you, sometimes you have to realize it’s all pretty
funny.
The story brings back
an old, old JLA villain called The Key, who uses a very clever dream device to
try to siphon energy from the Leaguers. Morrison uses this trick as an excuse
to give us some brief Elseworlds, such as Batman retired and married to
Catwoman, Superman with a power ring, and my favorite, Aquaman in the silly
camouflage costume he wore in one miniseries. How the captives in the dream
realize they’re dreaming is well-done- - and reminds you that if anyone could
beat Superman, it’s probably Batman.
But the single best touch
is Connor Hawke, the son of Oliver Queen, who not only has to grapple with his
father’s legacy, but has to learn to use those ridiculous trick arrows the old
Green Arrow was so fond of. The gag is so funny, I’d be cheating Morrison to
quote it.
Oh, yeah. The JLA is
on the moon now. Remember when they were on a satellite? What makes Morrison’s
JLA great is that *it* remembers… and keeps right on truckin’.