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Rating:  -
It is nice to get a story on one of the 'lesser' known members
The Red Tornado's history is broght up so you don't have to have a lot of background to understand this book. Enjoyable read.
Rating: -
Justice League, grew up with it as a kid in the 80s, loved the New World Order rebirth, loved the new animated series which is one of my favorite shows of all time, New Frontiers also...so how could I not get this G-novel.
I had high expectations and the opening pages just brought a tear to my eye, as the Big Three are trying to rebuild the JLA. The artwork is superb and the hardcover edition is very classy. The best way to follow stories are through the G-novels which can be purchased at considerable discounts online, think of it this way, you pay $10 or more for a movie, sit back and just enjoy a G-novel, then save it for another night, or resell it and make someone happy.
The story takes a clever turn and focuses the story through the eyes of Red Tornado and his own personal quest. This book is not an intro book, and you really need to know your characters and the background leading to the current story plot. I loved seeing Black Lightning again and Speedy too, plus with the animated show I really got to like Vixen and Hawkgirl which are now JLA members.
If I have faults, the main one is the weakness or rather the lack of strong, developed villains, I love Solomon Grundy, but felt his character could have had much more depth and page time, plus Amazo and Ivo seemed very underutilized.
Still overall a great read, easy one-sitter done, and I plan to continue with Book 2.
Thanks and keep dreaming. John Dae
Rating:  -
I recently picked up volumes 1-10 of the previous JLA series -- the one that started with Grant Morrison's very good "New World Order" -- and I have to say that over the course of 10 volumes I pretty much lost interest in the League. I loved Bruce Timm's Justice League Unlimmited cartoon, but as far as League comics go, they just seemed bland and unimportant overall (with the exception of New World Order, and the also very good Tower of Babel storylines.)
The previous series had lots of big action, but it didn't have much if any continuity. It didn't have character development, it didn't have a sense of history to it, it didn't even really have any character moments (again, with the exception of the two volumes listed above.) It was pretty much all big action with larger than life stories that in the end were all chaos and violence amounting to nothing.
I almost didn't buy the Tornado's Path (Meltzer's first collection) or the Lightning Saga because I'd honestly lost interest in the JLA comics over the course of the prevous 10 volumes. In fact, if I hadn't bought all ten volumes at once, I would have stopped after the first three or four most likely. I'm glad I had a change of heart and decided to give Melter's take a chance (based on his excellent Identity Crisis.)
Meltzer brings real character, emotion, and history to the series. His stories have continuity. He knows where the League has been, and he gives a sense that it's going somewhere. Reading Meltzer's stories, the League's past matters and it's future matters and its characters matter. I honestly don't think any of that was true for most of the previous JLA series. And because Meltzer makes you care about the character and grounds them in a world where the past seems to matter and consequences carry forward, it makes the action far more interesting (plus Meltzer just writes really good action sequences, his best being the JLA vs Deathstroke scene in Identity Crisis.)
I honestly came to care about the JLA again over the course of Meltzer's two volumes. And while I like longer story arcs better, I have to say Walls was an amazing stand alone story (that still, despite being a stand alone story, had some lasting reprecussions in later issues.) Monitor Duty was also very good and really showed the importance Meltzer places on characterization and the continuing story of the League. Too many League stories in the past felt like they happened in a vacuum, with no consequesnces, coming from nowhere and going nowhere. Meltzers stories felt like they evolved from what came before, like they mattered more, and like they would continue to matter as the League's story went forward.
The final issue in the Lightning Saga collection, issue zero, really exemplifies the epic, historical, character driven nature of Meltzer's work on the series, and was truly enjoyable and affecting.
Overall, I recommend both of Melter's Justice League collections -- the Tornado's Path and the Lightning Saga. To me, they are the Justice League done as they should be done, similar to the way Geoff Johns is currently doing the JSA -- like a team of real people with a real past and a real future. There's far more emotion invested in Meltzer's two volumes than in the first ten of the previous series. And boy, it was great to see Meltzer's and John's take on the Legion of Superheroes in volume two. They did a great job of instiling a sense of history and importance to the Legion in just five issues (and they made Karate Kid a much more interesting character than he's ever been.)
Rating: -
Brad Mektzer's is, for me, "mostly-hit"; many of his works (the Zero Game, Identity Crisis) are great reads, while others feel uneven (the interesting but convoluted Book of Fate.) This meant that the graphic novel containing the first seven issues of his JLA relaunch weren't guarenteed satisfactory reads.
But they were.
This book hits all the right notes--it shows a group trying to re-piece itself, as well as a deeply personal story focusing on one of the League's lesser-known members, Red Torando. This makes for a compelling read--the traditional action-intensive romps take a backseat to the story of an adroid who loves his family and wants to be human. His quest, in turn, drives the plot and this is the book's greatest sucess--taking an unknown background character and showing us who he is, and why he needs to be a JLA member.
Another highlight is the stunning art, provided by Ed Benes and Sandra Hope. Detailed without being overly flashy, his stlye is a perfect fit for Melzter's character-based storytelling.
Don't fret--I'm not saying this is comic's equivelant of a soft-hearted indie film. Bows are shot, heat vision is utilized, and Batarangs are chucked. But at the end of the day, we've followed the Torando's path.
Rating: -
The origin of this newest incarnation of the Justice League is grand storytelling of immense scope. Told with the greatest respect and appropriate homage to the League's long and rich history, the tales collected in this latest graphic novel move and touch the emotions while spiced with lots of action and fanboy-pleasing characterization. The psychological, relational interplay between the Big Three (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman) and between the now-human Red Tornado John Smith, his wife Kathy Sutton, and their daughter, Traya are fascinating and just plain lovely to behold. The maturing, long-lived relationship between Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Black Canary, and the former Speedy/Arsenal, now Red Arrow is also shown moving toward a newer, greater complexity and understanding. There's little doubt that writer Brad Meltzer is well on his way to joining the pantheon of stellar JLA chroniclers which includes Grant Morrison, Kurt Busiek, George Perez, Gardner Fox, and Mike Sekowsky. The art here by Ed Benes is spectacularly beautiful and the overall design of the work is extraordinary. A very promising new chapter for the World's Greatest Super-Heroes. Essential for fans and a great jumping-on spot for new readers.
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