JLA Deluxe HC volume 1 by Morrison and Porter

[horatio616]

The "New World Order" story from JLA 1-3 is one of the best superhero comics ever. This belongs on everyone's bookshelf. It comes out on Wednesday. Go get it!

http://www.ifanboy.com/comics/dc_comics/jla_deluxe_edition_hc_vol_01/cover-medium.jpg

[paper]

Been waiting for this for months. It was supposed to come out on my birthday last week. I had a temper tantrum.

[labor_days]

I have the issues and trades. Don't see a reason to not buy this though.

Morrison's JLA is what action/adventure superhero comics aspire toward.

[conorkilpatrick]

I have the issues and trades. Don't see a reason to not buy this though.

Morrison's JLA is what action/adventure superhero comics aspire toward.

Ditto and ditto.

[paper]

This will be my first time reading this material. I've been holding out for this collection. Not expecting it to be as good as JSA, but I have high hopes with all the headless pheasants and sheep scattered about the altar.

[conorkilpatrick]

This will be my first time reading this material. I've been holding out for this collection. Not expecting it to be as good as JSA, but I have high hopes with all the headless pheasants and sheep scattered about the altar.

Uh oh... I foresee a Starman scenario coming...

[horatio616]

Morrison usually starts strong. "E for Extinction" from his X-Men run and "New World Order" are some of my favorite things he's ever done.

[esophagus]

I do prefer JSA, but that doesn't stop the JLA from being a stand-up hero team. Good stories.

[horatio616]

This will be my first time reading this material. I've been holding out for this collection. Not expecting it to be as good as JSA, but I have high hopes with all the headless pheasants and sheep scattered about the altar.

This book teabags JSA and puts the pics on its myspace page.

[six-gun]

If it wasn't for the DD Omnibus, this would be my most anticipated HC release of the year

[cenquist]

What is the story about and why should I buy this?

[paper]

It's the start of a landmark run, widely considered one of the best team comics in the history of drawing people in boxes.

I am very excited to pick it up.

[gungadin]

It's the start of a landmark run, widely considered one of the best team comics in the history of drawing people in boxes.

I am very excited to pick it up.

It sounds a whole lot like Starman...

[paper]

Starman is not a team.

[conorkilpatrick]

What is the story about and why should I buy this?

We talked about it on this show (http://revision3.com/ifanboy/morrisonspotlight/).

[horatio616]

FYI: the series premiere of the Justice League cartoon was very loosely based on the first three issues of JLA. Nowhere near as good.

[labor_days]

Also, the most badass Batman moment ever.

[optimus187prime]

Well Horatio tell Grant to put a hash mark next to your name, you just sold another copy.

[horatio616]

Well Horatio tell Grant to put a hash mark next to your name, you just sold another copy.

I get a commission, but he uses the anti-life equation to calculate my cut and he's the only one who understands it. :(

[gungadin]

Starman is not a team.

The basis is there. Starman being a superhero and the book being a run about him. Replace the words: Starman gambit.

[paper]

So.....do we like this art?

[six-gun]

So.....do we like this art?

It's not exceptionally gorgeous, but the storytelling is there.

[conorkilpatrick]

So.....do we like this art?

Very much so, yes. Porter rules.

[hank41]

Porter does most defienetly rule. his art in The Trials of Shazam was fantastic

[paper]

Very much so, yes. Porter rules.

Is there room in the file or should I get another one? I'll use my lunch break.

I'm such a disappointment.

[jgg0610]

I read this recently in trades and it's quite good. Not the biggest Morrison fan, he tends to lose me sometimes, but this is good stuff. Not buying the hardbacks, though.

[mrmister]

Can't wait for this to come in the mail!

[zombox]

This was the first DC series I consistently read in all honesty. Before this I picked up issues here and there and was never impressed. This impressed the hell out of me.

My solitary complaint with his run: Omniscient Batman. Other than that, excellent stuff. Including the art.

[dave-accampo]

Uh oh... I foresee a Starman scenario coming...

Never...again...!

[conorkilpatrick]

Never...again...!

Too late!

[dave-accampo]

Too late! Ha!

Paul can like or dislike JLA all he wants. He just has to understand that the WRONG opinion (i.e., disliking such an awesome series) means he's lame.

[six-gun]

I really dove into it last night.

This is awesome!

[horatio616]

I hunted for this all weekend. Went to two shops and two bookstores, including Barnes & Noble. Gave up after that and ordered it on Amazon for 19.95.

Porter's art grows on you. At first his poses look a little weird but overall his art is dynamic and totally fits the craziness of Morrison's stories.

Did he get kicked off Shazam? I noticed the book was chronically late and he didn't finish the series. Haven't read it but will pick it up in trade.

[hank41]

Did he get kicked off Shazam? I noticed the book was chronically late and he didn't finish the series. Haven't read it but will pick it up in trade.

he broke his hand.

[humphrey-lee]

This was the first DC series I consistently read in all honesty. Before this I picked up issues here and there and was never impressed. This impressed the hell out of me.

My solitary complaint with his run: Omniscient Batman. Other than that, excellent stuff. Including the art.

Really, that's my favorite kind of Batman. I'm not terribly excited by the "Uber-paranoid, I've got a file on EVERYONE!" Batman we were given in Tower of Babel. I liked Morrison's "Always thinking on his feet" Batman. Like...

Spoilers I guess since a lot of peeps here are apparently just reading it for the first time...


How he deduces so quickly what they're dealing with in the first story. Super-powered? Multi-facetedly so? Unwilling to go near the flaming wreckage of his Batjet? Of course they're Martians and he dealt with them accordingly.

I love the Shaggy Man encounter that comes later too.



That kind of stuff is perfect for the character I think. He really was relying completely on his intellect and wits to stay alive. If those failed him, Supes and WW had to save his ass with impunity, the way it should be.

[labor_days]

Oh man. The Shaggy Man issues.

Morrison's JLA is the height of the action/adventure superhero genre.

[horatio616]

he broke his hand.

I saw in the new Previews that Porter's doing an issue of Titans. I might pick it up for nostalgia's sake.

[snowoxx]

I just got this book, but one part doesnt make sense to me. How did Superman have lightning powers?

[conorkilpatrick]

I just got this book, but one part doesnt make sense to me. How did Superman have lightning powers?

The time that he had been dead caused a number of problems, including competition at the planet from new reporter Ron Troupe. An old figure from his past nearly caused him to lose his cover identity and he obtained the Bottle city of Krandor to look after. However he was to face another challenge when the Sun was blotted out by the Sun Eater. Without the Sun's energy Superman quickly lost his powers and was left powerless. A condition that did not improve when Parallax gave his life to destroy the Sun Eater.

Superman was able to regain his superpowers with the help of the New Gods however not everything was the same as it had been. Kent slowly started noticing an ongoing mutation in his powers and physical existence in a process that came to a head when he mutated totally into an energy based being. It was only Professor Hamilton using Kryptonian circuitry and Lex Corp. experimental cloth that saved Superman by creating a containment suit that allowed Kent to control his new powers. Shortly afterwards he was split into two different beings by the Cyborg, the impulsive Superman Red and the more thoughtful Superman Blue. In an interesting development, when he was Clark Kent he was totally human. As an energy being he was later split in two, and for a while there were two Supermen - Superman Red and Superman Blue. Following his selfless sacrifice for the world during the Millennium Giants crisis, he became his old self again.

Source (http://www.dcuguide.com/who.php?name=superman)

[snowoxx]

Thanks, that was very helpful.

[cormano]

This is only three issues? I want to read this (some day…) but I hate thin hardcovers. If it is that small, I'll probably go for the trade.

[conorkilpatrick]

This is only three issues? I want to read this (some day…) but I hate thin hardcovers. If it is that small, I'll probably go for the trade.

Three issues? No, where do you get that from?

...in this amazing oversized hardcover collecting JLA #1-9 and SECRET FILES AND ORIGINS #1!

[cormano]

Three issues? No, where do you get that from?

...in this amazing oversized hardcover collecting JLA #1-9 and SECRET FILES AND ORIGINS #1!

I just read the first post in this thread vaguely saying this collected the story from JLA 1-3, but I guess that's not the only thing included. Ten issues sounds much better, though :p.

[conorkilpatrick]

I just read the first post in this thread vaguely saying this collected the story from JLA 1-3, but I guess that's not the only thing included. Ten issues sounds much better, though :p.

JLA #1-3 is just the New World Order story. There are others in there.

[xebix]

So.....do we like this art?

I liked it overall. The Superman mullet threw me off, but it was the 90s. What are you gonna do? Also, I did not read DC books until recently. What was with the weird blue suit Supes was wearing?

edit: I suppose I should read the whole thread before asking questions.:o

[labor_days]

I am somewhat excited for the return of Superman Blue/Red as Rip Hunter's chalkboard hinted.

[paulsharkey]

I am somewhat excited for the return of Superman Blue/Red as Rip Hunter's chalkboard hinted.

If Geoff Johns writes it it will be gold.

[cav]

Hi ifanboys- and base!
On your recommendation I picked up the first trade of Morrison's JLA, "New World Order". But, to be honest, I found it a little trite and bland. What I wanna know is, does it get better along the way? Was Morrison struggling to find his voice and direction on this first arc? Or does he continue in the same vein?

I like Morrison for his BIG ideas and his unique take on the superhero-genre, but this book seems more traditional and easily precictable.

Any advice?

[demonboy]

Cav,

I just started reading Morrison's JLA run as well and I was kind of disappointed with New World Order. I tend to pick up trades when I'm bored at work because there is a Baarnes and Noble right there.

I hear Rock of Ages (Volume 3) is really good and I'm hopefully picking up Volume 2 this week to check out. Keep with it, I hear it gets better :-)

Also, it's not Morrison, but Tower of Babel is an excellent JLA story. I think Mark Waid wrote it.

[labor_days]

Morrison's entire JLA run is spectacular. The height of superhero comics of that era and what all superhero comics afterward aspire toward.

In any case, we are talking about one of the most legendary runs and what was a clinic on the superhero genre. If one doesn't dig on New World Order, it may be a case of simply not liking Morrison's vulgar style used in JLA. Or perhaps the comics since then have blunted some of the novelty & newness of Morrison's JLA during that time.

Otherwise, I don't know how anyone could find fault in the perfection of New World Order. :P

[cam-]

Yeah I don't know, if you didn't like New World Order you might not like his run. Personally I think New World Order has one of the all time great Batman moments.

[thenextchampion]

NWO does have a great Batman moment, but I do admit it is generic and slow when you read it. I also read this run by recommendation of the INation and I didnt see much of the praise.

Then I picked up vol 2, then 3, then four, then ended up buying the recent big HC last month. So it definitely gets better after his first arc, most definitely. Then again I am a Plastic Man nut and the fact that Morrison used him a ton during his run made me giddy....But to answer your question, yes it does get better as it goes along.

[labor_days]

"Generic and slow" compared to what came afterward? Because Morrison's JLA run has been ripped off left and right since it first hit.

Its like that dude who was on here a few months ago that said Watchmen was just another "superheroes in real life" comic and he had seen it all before.

I was all like;

http://img03.picoodle.com/img/img03/3/11/13/f_rollbarfm_bb04333.gif

[conorkilpatrick]

Morrison's JLA is classic superhero comics right from issue one.

[thenextchampion]

What I ment by generic is that there really wasnt a special hook to the first arc of JLA.

It was basically a race of aliens coming down and the JLA had to fight them. It didnt have the complexity like Rock of Ages, or Infinity Girl, or Tower of Babel. When we get into those volumes (or past #1) it's all groovy pants from there.

[labor_days]

What I ment by generic is that there really wasnt a special hook to the first arc of JLA.

It was basically a race of aliens coming down and the JLA had to fight them. It didnt have the complexity like Rock of Ages, or Infinity Girl, or Tower of Babel. When we get into those volumes (or past #1) it's all groovy pants from there.

Ah cool. I don't disagree outright. But as a first arc New World Order does everything right. In setting the direction of the new JLA at the time, in revitalizing DC concepts, introducing the team and their strengths, etc, et cetera.

I meant what I said above; Morrison's JLA is a fucking clinic in how modern superhero books are written.

[neb]

You know, the only thing that bothered me about this collection is that stupid, goddamned blue, electric Superman. I read that and groaned. Groaned I tell you.

Otherwise, it was fucking awesome.

[conorkilpatrick]

You know, the only thing that bothered me about this collection is that stupid, goddamned blue, electric Superman. I read that and groaned. Groaned I tell you.

Yes, but Morrison took that stupid concept and worked with it and handled it in a cooler and much more inventive way than any of the four Superman books did at the time.

[labor_days]

Conor, OTFM as usual.

[neb]

Yes, but Morrison took that stupid concept and worked with it and handled it in a cooler and much more inventive way than any of the four Superman books did at the time.

Absolutely, which is why I said it was still awesome. It's that it was visually jarring (and lame-o).

[labor_days]

Its hard to beat the classic Superman look, Neb.

Think everyone agreed on that. Then and now.