Monday, January 4, 2010

TPB winners 05


JLA Year One
Story by Mark Waid
Art by Barry Kitson
In the tradition of Batman,Metamorpho,and Nightwing. The JLA gets a 12 issue series updating their origin to the modern age.This trade tells the story of how Martian Manhunter,Hal Jordan the Green Lantern,Aquaman,Barry Allen the Flash,and the second Black Canery form the first lineup of the Justice League of America.The JLA is the premiere superhero team of the DC universe.Inspired by the World War II superheroic team ,the Justice Society of American,these 5 heroes team up to fight off an alien invasion. This is the first public appearances of Martian Manhunter and Aquaman,who previously had kept their heroic deeds hidden to the general public. After seeing how well they work together the heroes decide to permanently team up anytime there is a threat too big for them to take care of on their own. Through out their first year in existence they are joined by Oliver Queen the Green Arrow,Ray Palmer the Atom,Batman and Superman.I got this trade in a lot,and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Now I ain't a big fan of Superman or Aquaman,I find both of them to be pretty boring no matter who is writing them. But in this mini series it is the first time I actually enjoyed the adventures of both heroes.Another thing that I enjoyed in this trade is the appearance of the Doom Patrol. Who are my favorite team from the silver age. The story by Mark Waid is great,and I loved how he peppered the story with references to alot of the old silver age JLA stories. The art by Barry Kitson,who I hadn't seen much of his artwork before,is very nice. I has a cleanness to it's line work that I liked. And Kitson has a energy to his art that makes the pages just pop.About the only negative,and really it isn't a negative to me. Is that now thanks to Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis this story is most likely not in continuity anymore. In the end this is a good trade to give to anyone that is a JLA fan,or who's only exposure to the JLA is the Superfriends or JLA/JLU cartoons. JLA year one gets a B.