JLA Vol. 4 Paperback – February 11, 2014

UPDATE 03192014---------------This book contains more than the hardcover edition. It brings JLA #32-46.This is GREAT because it have issues the hardcover had and also the story Tower of Babel, which is a classic story.Can't believe the Deluxes were so incomplete and the paperbacks are so great.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------And finally the last volume of the Grant Morrison JLA Deluxe run has come. The one word it comes to my mind is... "Meh!".The biggest story (and the best on this volume) is the first one. World War III. It doesn't begin where the paperback begins, but to be fair, you don't really need the first issues of World War III to understand what's coming. All is self explained and it feels pretty complete. I was impressed by this story. I think it could be a big crossover if done right, but seems to be that the powers that be in those days simply didn't felt this could be a bigger event. Because of that, although the story is gripping and exiting, the end felt very "duh". It really took impact out of it.The second story is Grant Morrison's one shot story "Earth 2". This is a good story. Not GM's best but it have it's thing. Morrison teams up with Frank Quietly, whose art I don't really dig too much. Maybe the art is not bad, but the coloring doesn't really help. I think I was kind of impressed with Quietly's work in All Star Superman and Batman Reborn, but now that I see this I think the coloring have lots to do with it. Anyway, it was nice to have Earth 2 in a bigger size. Again, it was good but not fantastic.The third story is JLA: Classified where Batman and the JLA goes face to face (again) with a mind controled Ultramarine Corps. This story was a waste of time. I was strucked of how boring this story was. I guess it have a moment or two but it doesn't really paid off. Who the hell is Goraiko?. Doesn't matter. Goraiko is not important anyway. I really dislike Ed McGuinness art. It makes the dumb story look even dumber. Who's Nebula?. And no, "The Adult Universe..." Doesn't do it.I was actually enjoying these Deluxe volumes, but at the half of the third one, and specially this fourth one, the compilation of stories simply start to decay. A pitty, really. These books could be the JLA Ultimate Collection, but they blew it.No extras nor intro whatsoever on this book. It's big and it looks pretty though.If you can get this one at a lower price, get it. Don't pay full price for it. It really doesn't worth $20. Least of all $23.

[Review for Morrison JLA Deluxe Editions 1-4]I'm a pretty mixed Morrison fan. I've enjoyed smaller titles and shorter works, but his Batman run was more miss than hit for me, and Final Crisis made me want to tear out my hair. Sometimes, I feel like he's convoluted and layered in allusions and obscure references at the expense of a coherent story.But I read JLA and suddenly things clicked. No, I still do not completely love what I think of as the extreme Morrison, but this run of JLA really cemented two things for me: (1) the sheer scale and number of ideas running through this writer's head are incredible, and I can now see echoes in his work in so many other current writers (Snyder, Taylor, King, etc.); (2) when he's constrained by a certain kind of book, like an ensemble like this, and paired with a methodical artist who approaches the visuals cleanly, his stories are so much easier to understand (even if the written content is still convoluted). What makes some stories like Final Crisis so frustrating, I think, is that the art, while beautiful, is just as close up and choppy and messy as the writing. But the crisp storytelling in the JLA, the constraints of self-contained arcs with explainable endings, all come together in a way that made me appreciate his genius.The complete run contains some truly unforgettable stories you'll see other folks talk about (Rock of Ages for example). And I'm so glad I purchased this. It's like there was a big missing piece in my DC reading and it suddenly fell into place. I strongly recommend this, even if you don't think of yourself as a Morrison person. Just give it a shot. I'm so glad I did.

The grand finale of Morrison's legendary run of JLA is collected here, the final battle against the Anti-Sun Mageddon. Obviously I recommend going through the whole series up tot his point, but I also think that this book is a good jumping on point, I read this first when I was younger and didn't have a lot of trouble grasping what was going on and was motivated to seek out the other volumes. Included is also Tower of Babel, Mark Waid's next arc, which is a lot easier to understand but to my mind you'll get your money from the Morrison chapters

Are these arcs classics? Almost, not classics but very entertaining and well written. One arc is by Morrison and the other arc is written by Waid. Morrison is very interesting but the promise of the evolution from the fourth to the fifth world, which supposedly concludes in his Final Crisis, is a better story for an elseworld than as part of DC's continuity, in which normal humanity has to be more or less like our real world. Waid's arc shows his culture and his good humor, at firs treating the topic of some villains written by Morrison and afterwards a plan to get rid of the Justice League which is amazing. The only thing I'd wish is that Batman would be in a darker setting, he looks out of place.

This is the last part of the Grant Morrison Run of JLA with the Maggedon storyline. You have the new Injustice Gang tied in with Matheson and it wraps up the build up Morrison out until the story since the Rock of Ages arc in JLA Volume 1. Then you have Mark Asia's Tower of Babel story arc which is probably one of my favorites from Waid. If you have the first three volumes, you need to get this to round out the Morrison run.

I've generally gravitated towards Marvel for my comic collection but this volume of JLA really reminded me why the Justice League is so well loved.

This volume contains one of the best JLA stories ever (Tower of Babel).A must-read for every JLA fan.

En este tomo viene la tan famosa “Torre de Babel” (de la cuál de inspira la película animada JL: Doom) donde Ras roba el plan de contingencia de Batman por si un día necesitan detenerla.Inflatable en tu colección.

A DC errou feio ao juntar o antigo volume 4 da JLA com o final da fase do Grant Morrison com o primeiro arco do Mark Waid (Tower Of Babel). Os leitores que já tinham comprado os quatro volumes anteriores, se quiserem ter a saga do Mark Waid, têm que pagar novamente por toda a fase final do Morrison e ficar com histórias repetidas na sua coleção.

Collecting the World War III and Tower of Babel JLA stories this volume continues the strong storytelling of this Grant Morrison Run. The 1st part 'World War III' concludes the larger story hinted at in the previous 3 volumes with the biggest threat the Justice League have faced so far with the big bad enemy Mageddon finally arriving including the return of Prometheus the villain who also defeated the whole league single handed.It's the epic large scale conflicts like this where this series shines, with all the biggest heroes and villains thrown in the mix and the fate of the planet at stake.The 2nd part of the book covers the Tower of Babel storyline and is the stand out story of the two. With Earths finest heroes all targeted and their secret weaknesses exploited the fate of the Justice league seems in the balance. The big reveal as to whats who these secrets were obtained is worth the pay off and has big repercussions.It's worth getting this book for Tower of Babel alone, it's one of the finest JLA stories out there. As with the previous 3 volumes the artwork here is big, vivid and bombastic. These new numbered volumes of the JLA run are highly recommended for the comics fan.