Joe Kelly presents Justice League of America Volume 1 – Urban Comics – 35€
- Script : Joe Kelly
- Drawing : Doug Manhke
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It will have taken its time, but Urban Comics finally gives us a new title stamped Justice League to put us under the tooth. And even more, this is about (re)discovering the run of Joe Kelly after the era of Grant Morrison and of Mark Waid (see the titles JLA in collection DC Classics). The publisher has also announced that it will publish all of its 30 episodes in the form of 2 integrals. In short, as much to say that there will be something to read for aficionados of the team’s most emblematic team. DC. And as much to tell you right away, Joe Kelly has some interesting ideas to exploit, but is it enough to leave its mark?
THE PLACE OF THIS VOLUME IN THE CHRONOLOGY
If we exclude events and crossovers like wars which would involve a lot of heroes, and of course the famous Crisesyou should know that in the 90s and early 2000s, most of the narrative arcs specific to the Justice League could be read independently, a bit like the episodic format found in popular TV series. And so is volume. Of course, elements can be put in place as and when, but the narrative common thread of each story was limited to a few chapters. All this to tell you that this volume 1 of Justice League of America par Joe Kelly lies between the events of Superman New Metropolis and of Justice League: Identity Crisisbut it is not necessary to have read.
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In terms of content, this first volume is composed of 4 stories, including a major one, and a last chapter which serves as an epilogue and moral. We find the codes dear to the Liguethat is to say adventures that lead to the four corners of the Terrefrom Temps and even of Reality. There is also a number of characters that can quickly grow in size and strength (I’ll let you count all these beautiful people once the volume is finished), which risks losing more than one in the course of reading if you are not used to this type of narration which borders on creative madness. We are far from recent publications post-Flashpoint from Ligue where everything is very calibrated so as not to offend the status quo of the characters.
ADVENTURERS OF LOST ATLANTIS
As you will have understood, despite its multiple stories, it is the one entitled “The Obsidian Age” which constitutes the bulk of this volume. It all starts when the League has to investigate two cases. One concerns the disappearance of children and the other the appearance of corpses of marine animals in the middle of cities. These two cases are nevertheless linked to each other, and when two meta-human warriors appear to do battle with the Ligue, this is where things start to escalate. Their appearance, their speech and even their powers… Indeed, everything seems to indicate that they come from another era.
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After fending them off once, the heroes then attempt to trace their trail to the point of their disappearance, but are stunned when they find thatAtlantis reappeared. Unfortunately, the city has no inhabitants and seems to have endured the ravages of time. Finally, with the help of Tempestson of’Aquaman and mighty magician, the JLA understand thatArthur is probably still alive, and that he is restrained in some way by the two mysterious antagonists. From there, the story takes on a larger dimension that will mix fanaticism, revenge and even the origins of theAtlantis. The writing of Joe Kelly does not derogate from that of a Grant Morrison or a Mark Waid. There’s a lot of resemblance in form, but what sets it apart is the addition of details and elements that are quite appreciable, especially as they affect individual team members.
INTERESTING INDIVIDUAL ISSUES
Indeed, the author makes it a point of honor to show the vagaries of the daily life of the members of the Ligue. Whether it be Kyle Rayner who cannot afford a simple coffee because he is not remunerated when he acts as Green Lanternof Clark who finds it difficult to reconcile duty and life as a couple or as a Plastic Man who must face his paternal responsibilities in spite of himself, the heroes seem far from corresponding to the image of the gods that humans give them. And these aspects quoted above are far from those which touch Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Batman or Aquaman that I let you discover during the reading of the volume. Besides, these are not the only concepts brought by Joe Kelly. Indeed, if you have read the runs of Grant Morrison on Batmanor of Geoff Johns on Green Lantern et Aquaman (which will be written many years later), there are still some great inspirations drawn from this title JLA.
And finally a few words on the graphics part. The screenwriter is accompanied by the great Doug Manhke for almost all of the 424 pages of this volume. Certainly the artist is far from his level of the last ten to fifteen years (Final Crisis, Green Lantern, Superman or Detective Comics), but its style already has a relatively recognizable basic skeleton if you’re familiar with it. Likewise for colorization, we are on a very mainstream rendering with very saturated images.
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Joe Kelly presents Justice League of America, in addition to marking the return of the DC Signature collection (because we know that we left to settle for more than a single volume) is an opportunity to discover the screenwriter and his work whom history has retained less than others. Yet his work is more than correct and quite accessible for newcomers, including a satisfactory and fair characterization between the characters. Of course, there will be some truths and facts that will escape you, especially if you missed the Superman New Metropolis series, but this is not impacting on understanding the story. The end of this first volume seems to announce a “soft reboot” for the sequel, so see you for the release of the second volume.
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