A review by the_graylien
JLA, Vol. 5: Justice for All by Howard Porter, Devin Grayson, Mark Pajarillo, Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, Mark Millar
4.0
So I'm reading through these volumes of JLA because of Grant Morrison's run on the title, but he isn't the only author to have a hand in this one.
Though this volume features what may be the most "Morrisonian" story yet in his run on JLA, we have some other stories and authors to look at, too.
The book begins with the 3-issue Ultramarine Corps story which was one of the ones done by Morrison. The Ultramarine Corps are bascially four soldiers who gained strange powers after being exposed to some alien dimension and then were enlisted and brainwashed by a corrupt commander in the United States military to try and wipe out the Justice League.
The Ultramarines were fun, pretty straight-forward superhero fare. Morrison did make it interesting, though, by showing a little humanity in some characters that you least expect. He also plants seeds for future JLA stories and hints at a future for the Ultramarines.
The next story was an Amazo story by Mark Millar that involved The Atom. Some folks say it's a filler issue. While it TECHNICALLY may be, I loved it. I love Mark Millar's work, as well, and I love Amazo. C'mon! An android with all the powers of the whole Justice League! That's awesome! And I love the DC heroes and I really don't know why, but Amazo always seems to give them a run for their money and I think it's fun to watch!
The next story was called "Crisis Times Five" and this was the more Morrison-esque story that I mentioned up above. It deals with beings from the 5th Dimension and Morrison mingles in the occult, magic, perception of time, alternate selves, and a few other themes to really put his stamp on it. Good stuff.
If I had to pick two issues that I thought were the filler of the book, it would be the last two issues. A story involving No Man's Land (a story of an earthquake in Gotham City that had impact on the whole DCU at the time) and a story where a white Martian, like the ones from the very first story arc of JLA was posing as Bruce Wayne. Not terrible stories, I guess, but not stories such as the ones by Morrison and Millar.
This one's a nice superhero read throughout, though, and I'd recommend it to any fan of that genre or any fans of the creators contained within.
Though this volume features what may be the most "Morrisonian" story yet in his run on JLA, we have some other stories and authors to look at, too.
The book begins with the 3-issue Ultramarine Corps story which was one of the ones done by Morrison. The Ultramarine Corps are bascially four soldiers who gained strange powers after being exposed to some alien dimension and then were enlisted and brainwashed by a corrupt commander in the United States military to try and wipe out the Justice League.
The Ultramarines were fun, pretty straight-forward superhero fare. Morrison did make it interesting, though, by showing a little humanity in some characters that you least expect. He also plants seeds for future JLA stories and hints at a future for the Ultramarines.
The next story was an Amazo story by Mark Millar that involved The Atom. Some folks say it's a filler issue. While it TECHNICALLY may be, I loved it. I love Mark Millar's work, as well, and I love Amazo. C'mon! An android with all the powers of the whole Justice League! That's awesome! And I love the DC heroes and I really don't know why, but Amazo always seems to give them a run for their money and I think it's fun to watch!
The next story was called "Crisis Times Five" and this was the more Morrison-esque story that I mentioned up above. It deals with beings from the 5th Dimension and Morrison mingles in the occult, magic, perception of time, alternate selves, and a few other themes to really put his stamp on it. Good stuff.
If I had to pick two issues that I thought were the filler of the book, it would be the last two issues. A story involving No Man's Land (a story of an earthquake in Gotham City that had impact on the whole DCU at the time) and a story where a white Martian, like the ones from the very first story arc of JLA was posing as Bruce Wayne. Not terrible stories, I guess, but not stories such as the ones by Morrison and Millar.
This one's a nice superhero read throughout, though, and I'd recommend it to any fan of that genre or any fans of the creators contained within.