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A review by caitcoy
Az Igazság Ligája: Bábel Tornya by Mark Waid
2.0
I am extremely disappointed in this book. This is one of those very rare occasions when a movie vastly outperforms a book. It's unfortunate that I saw Justice League: Doom before I read this because it took the same incredible premise as the book and hit it out of the park. In contrast, the book is silly and heavy-handed. The main idea of both is that Batman has created plans for each member of the Justice League in case they ever go bad and these plans are stolen by a villian who uses them to incapacitate the JLA and prevent them from interfering with said villain's plans for world domination. In the book, the villain is R'as al Ghul who intends to create his own Tower of Babel and plunge the world into chaos. This premise is absolutely outstanding because it fits Batman so perfectly and puts him in direct contrast to the rest of the JLA. It's really pretty amazing how little they apparently understand Batman. At his heart, Batman will always be secretive, paranoid, distrustful of metahumans and a bit of a jerk. It's just who is. It makes perfect sense that Batman would consider all possiblities and make a contingency plan for anyone with enough power to be a problem. Before I get into why the main storyline disapointed me, can I just say this about the "Half a Mind to Save the World" issue that comes before the main storyline:
I don't often cuss in my reviews, but seriously, what the fuck was that? It has to be a) one of the most ridiculous storylines I've ever seen in a comic book and b) has absolutely zero relation to the main storyline of Tower of Babel. What the hell was the point of it? Basically, the Atom miniaturizes Superman, Wonderwoman, Flash, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) and Martian Manhunter in order to go speak with a civilization of bacteria that are causing a tumor in a young boy's brain. Seriously. That's not a joke, that's literally what the story is about. The bacteria, through their destructive way of living and desire to "strip mine" the resources from the boy's brain are creating a tumor and killing him. These members of the JLA have been given some time to play diplomats with a civilization of fucking bacteria before the doctors remove it with a laser. And then it immediately changes to R'as al Ghul plotting the Justice League's downfall. No chapter break, just an instant transition after Superman explains the story to the boy who had the tumor. Just insanely stupid.
Alright, on to the main storyline. My problem here with it is how little the reader is left to make their own decisions. In the animated movie, it's made clear that Batman is a different sort of hero than the others and their inability to forgive his actions causes the conflict. In the book, instead of leaving readers to question it, all possible questions are considered by Talia as she details how she stole the plans. Literally every question you could have. Is Batman responsible? Is the JLA too trusting? Is it the fault of the humans for some reason? Did I burn my toast this morning? I hate books that don't credit me with at least SOME intelligence. You don't need to spell everything out for me, thanks. And I don't blame the JLA for being upset with Batman but the ending was so poor in comparison to the movie that it frustrated the hell out of me. For those who have seen the movie: To sum up an extremely long review, I am hugely disappointed in how this was handled (especially in comparison to an extremely well done movie) but the premise is very, very good so it's worth a read just for that.
I don't often cuss in my reviews, but seriously, what the fuck was that? It has to be a) one of the most ridiculous storylines I've ever seen in a comic book and b) has absolutely zero relation to the main storyline of Tower of Babel. What the hell was the point of it? Basically, the Atom miniaturizes Superman, Wonderwoman, Flash, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) and Martian Manhunter in order to go speak with a civilization of bacteria that are causing a tumor in a young boy's brain. Seriously. That's not a joke, that's literally what the story is about. The bacteria, through their destructive way of living and desire to "strip mine" the resources from the boy's brain are creating a tumor and killing him. These members of the JLA have been given some time to play diplomats with a civilization of fucking bacteria before the doctors remove it with a laser.
Spoiler
Hands down the dumbest moment of what is already an incredibly stupid plot is when the scientist bacteria that is helping the superheroes sacrifices himself and his wife to send their progeny to the boy's liver a la Superman's origin story.Alright, on to the main storyline. My problem here with it is how little the reader is left to make their own decisions. In the animated movie, it's made clear that Batman is a different sort of hero than the others and their inability to forgive his actions causes the conflict. In the book, instead of leaving readers to question it, all possible questions are considered by Talia as she details how she stole the plans. Literally every question you could have. Is Batman responsible? Is the JLA too trusting? Is it the fault of the humans for some reason? Did I burn my toast this morning? I hate books that don't credit me with at least SOME intelligence. You don't need to spell everything out for me, thanks. And I don't blame the JLA for being upset with Batman but the ending was so poor in comparison to the movie that it frustrated the hell out of me. For those who have seen the movie: