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Underground > Comic Books >

Grant's run on JLA

15:17 / 23.03.02

I'm considering getting some of the trades that Grant worked on, but wanted to know what folks thought of it, good and bad. (Plot, story arcs, character development, art, etc.) How does it compare next to say, The Invisibles, Doom Patrol, or New Xmen? Similar in scale/scope? Will most likely buy regardless, but am curious as to how others' viewed it. Thanks.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

16:02 / 23.03.02

I dont think it really compares to New Xmen or Doom patrol
He really couldnt do a "reimagining" of any of the chars like he should have, what with the whole crossover to their own series thing DC has.
Best part, Batman as a bad ass among gods
Worst part, electric superman (not grants fault sure, but ick)

uncle retrospective

16:24 / 23.03.02

Earth 2 was ok. Borrow the stuff if you can.
It's just quite good superhero stuff. No better no worse.

[ 23-03-2002: Message edited by: uncle retrospective ]

18:38 / 23.03.02

I enjoyed the whole series. My favorite story was the Rock of Ages plotline ( even though I get the impression that no one here liked it). There are a lot of similarities in this plotline to the Invisibles.

22:22 / 23.03.02

it´s not recommended. for mainstream superhero stories it´s allright but it also has boring scenes where the drama can´t be sustained, the artist was all flash but not the greatest of storytellers..I loved it back then but upon rereading it it felt like the fizz was gone. The Rock of Ages storyline holds up pretty well, though. I would recommend it but the fact that they had three different artists working on the final pages kind of distracted me from following the ending.

23:05 / 23.03.02

big time kiddy comix. I think GM was shooting for age range 8-12- the pacing is a bit weird in place- I'm convinced he was risking alienating us old folks in order to get to the kids at a new level.

insightful, funny characterization of classic characters. some great pop moments. some cool adult level references- the Grail quest, Jung, etc.

I gave them all to my 8yo cousin + he loves them.

01:01 / 24.03.02

It was mixed. Rock of Ages was first rate. DC 1,000,000 was flawed but still one of the best company wide crossovers DC has done. in recent years. World War 3 was good. The rest was passable.

The Earth 2 GN is also worth tracking down.

Matthew Fluxington

01:42 / 24.03.02

About Earth 2 - I really want to get it, if just cos it's a Quitely/Morrison production, but I can never get myself to want to spend $10+ for a double-sized JLA issue. Can any of you say anything particularly convincing about it that might make me want to make the investment?

Please note that my interest in straight-ahead superhero comics is at an all-time low..

01

03:30 / 24.03.02

Go right now and run down to your local comic shop and get Grant Morrison's run on JLA as well as the Earth-2 graphic novel. And hell, chuck in 1 000 000 as well. Faster dammit.

05:03 / 24.03.02

The best one is AMERICAN DREAMS, which reprints 5-9, or something. Great, short stories, really crazy out there stuff, fighting angels, inaginary stories, and the WOMAN OF TOMMOROW, which really changed how a lot of superhero books are written (or at least, it's typical of a new kind of superhero story), where now the action moments are subordinated to the little talks they have during seconds of downtime. Also, I'd say the art is the tightest for the entire series. And the snippet of world's finest dialouge on the last page... seals the deal!

mbz

Robot Man Reformed

07:29 / 24.03.02

Grant's JLA run is so far what I will remember him best for. Whereas I think he fails miserably in NXM to make me invest in the characters - to my memory he has never done what, say, Robinson could -but in JLA it didn't matter because these were icons dammit, Gods even and it was mostly about subjecting them for new ideas.

And to me, it didn't get any better than the Ultra-Marines storyline around 25-27.

A

23:25 / 24.03.02

Grant's run on JLA was gold. It was just full-tilt, crazy, over-the-top, idea-filled superhero action, and i loved every bit of it.

I'm particularly fond of New World Order, which collects the first four issues. The art isn't as good as on later issues, and the story is a lot more straightforward than a lot of Morrison's other JLA issues, but it's just so much damn fun.

One of the features of Grant's JLA that I really like is the number of "hook" moments that make you jump out of your chair in delight. I won't give any of them away, but I'm sure that folks who have read the issues know what I'm talking about.

There are also a lot of Invisibles-style themes lurking under the surface, especially in Rock Of Ages, which i recommend reading straight after reading Terence Mckenna's True Hallucinations- there are a lot of similarities.

There's stuff about control languages (the Tomorrow Woman issue), human evolution and Grant's trademark utopianism (World War III and One Million), the holographic nature of reality (Rock Of ages), and all sorts of other cool stuff that only becomes apparent after a few reads.

If you can find a copy, it's also worth picking up the JLA/Wildcats oneshot. It makes the rest of Grant's run on JLA seem fairly sedate by comparison.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

23:25 / 24.03.02

I personally don't like Earth2 that much, Frank's art is quite nice but I don't think Grant's script is up to much, just gives him a chance to bring Earth2 back from it's Crisis graveyard. Also uses the dodgy idea that the heroes always win, sending dramatic tension down the plughole.

Rock of Ages is quite nice, I like Grant's take on Luthor and The Joker, and the Martian Manhunters shapechanging abilities (which he uses again in FF 1234). It's a very odd story in that it changes direction completely halfway through and I don't think Grant manages to keep control as it goes into the last chapter. But Darkseid is terrifying and I'm not sure if anyone's managed to kill him before (or if it's strictly possible, I'm not up on the New Gods, but I thought what we saw of Darkseid was a 4D hologram or something?).

One of these days I'm going to get all the trades and then grow a big beard to celebrate.

Matthew Fluxington

13:18 / 25.03.02

Um....... hm. See, I read bits and pieces of Grant's JLA, I read Rock Of Ages in its entirety in a bookstore once, and I really just don't like it at all. I think it's cheesy and lame, and I don't like the characters. Sometimes, Batman, Superman, Flash et al can be okay, but I don't think there's any life in Grant's portrayal..

And sure, there's elements of The Invisibles in it, but it's all the elements that I don't care for...

Honestly, my only interest in Earth 2 is that Frank Quitely drew it, and it looks pretty.

Sigh...why can't I just find it used and cheap?

Haus about we all give each other a big lovely huggle?

13:30 / 25.03.02

That's a question I ask of myself a lot. But not about Earth 2.

13:41 / 25.03.02

Used, cheap, slightly soiled, some water damage, a bit torn, spine bent.

Sigh.

I miss the "penis/comics" thread.

Haus about we all give each other a big lovely huggle?

13:46 / 25.03.02

I wish I had.