JLA #97: Review & SPOILERS!!

[Fazhoul]

JLA #97
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artists: John Byrne & Jerry Ordway

This is the fourth chapter in the "Tenth Circle" story arc by Byrne & Claremont and it moves the story forward a little but not much. We do get to see a bit more of the "new" Doom Patrol though. There's not much action either. In spite of all of these negative sounding comments I still enjoyed the issue. It may not be as good as Claremont & Byrne's run on the X-Men but it is still head & shoulders above anything that we've been given in the JLA for the past few years.

While Claremont's dialogue seemed to drag on a little for me the art more than made up for it. IMO, Byrne hasn't lost any of his skill as an artist over the years. Also, where Ordway's inks almost completely overpowered Byrne's pencils in the first few issues of the arc he seems to be going a little easier in this installment. Byrne's style is now evident and Ordway's inks complement John's pencils a little better. From the samples I've seen over at John's message board he's doing much tighter pencils than when he inks his own work and the quality shows. If his stuff looks as good on DP I'll definitely be enjoying the book.

Grade: B+

[CountD]

Nice one, Fazhoul.

Agreed, Byrne seems to be pouring his heart into the pencils.

That alone is enough to ignore Claremont's somewhat clunky dialogue.

Give him credit where credit is due, you couldn't pull off a story like this without incapacitating the two most powerful league'ers: WW and Supes.

I'm a sucker for vampire stories, SOOOO: B+

[Caramuru]

I'm so far unimpressed by this arc. I don't think it's bad, but it seem a bit like a filler to me. I think Byrne's pencils were good, but far from his best work.

The clunky dialoge bothers me. More than the dialogue, I think the story doesn't "flow" right. I think the new/old Doom Patrol is completely unnecessary and is actually just one more element that's being handled rather clumsily. The Atom subplot seems removed from the main story. I'm sure it has a purpose, but right now there are too many scattered subplots they actually hinder the main story. The JLA themselves are uncaracteristically stalled. The attack on Wonder Woman and Superman's captivity should have prompted a more massive, big-scale response than trying to get in touch with the Doom Patrol.

The good points of this arc are that the subplots are not too bad. They just don't mix well. The vampire invasion of the small town could have been a good horror idea, but there's so much else going on it gets kinda lost. A lot of people are probably just as curious as I am to check out the new Doom Patrol, but I don't think a JLA vs vampires story is the best environment. They seem a bit out of their element, IMO.

I'm sorry to be the voice of dissent, but I give this book a C.

[Lukecage_2099]

So far it is a decent storyline, not great, just decent. Since this creative team is not around for the long haul, they are basically submitting a standard self-contained story which essentially maintains the status quo of the group while reintroducing the original Doom Patrol to the DC universe. That is its only purpose, and on that level that it delivers.

My biggest question or complaint about this issue was Batman's statement about the nearly-incapacitated WW not being able to provide them with info on the defeat of the original Tenth Circle. Can't any other Amazon provide this info? Or is it that the Amazons are so unresponsive to men that they would not cooperate with him except to help Diana at the hospital? Maybe this would have been too conveinent, as it would not have allowed the JLA to interact with the Doom Patrol.

[COREMARK]

I'm really not enjoying this arc at all. Byrne's art is actually quite good, but the story and dialogue are horrible. I've said it before but the thought balloons are killing me, only 2 issues to go.

Book Grade: D

[Godfather]

This arc isn't really over with me either. I think its pretty average so far. I did like Batman in this issue a lot. Maybe at some point Claremont could give him a shot. Seems he had a pretty good handle on it.

Still dunno wth is up with Atom and Manitou Raven. Like I said, I'm waiting for Chuck Austen's run.

[FreeBird]

I am enjoying this arch quite a bit. But i think i have a little different take on the whole thing. One i think it is just a set up for the New Doom patrol, and second i wonder if this was done as Clarmonts way of welcoming in Joss Whedon to the X books at marvel. I mean with the whole vampire thing and all? Just a thought. And i am most likely wrong but it works in my world.:)

The art workl i think is great but again thats just me.

overall B

[CountD]

Would the retired trauma surgeon really be able to administer proper first aid to an amazon? I guess so...

If it's not really blood flowing through her veins (as explained in the issue), then wouldn't normal protocol be thrown out the window?

[Fazhoul]

Originally posted by CountD
Would the retired trauma surgeon really be able to administer proper first aid to an amazon? I guess so...

If it's not really blood flowing through her veins (as explained in the issue), then wouldn't normal protocol be thrown out the window?
I guess it's better than no treatment at all.

[dollman]

I remain indifferent on this arc. One because I really hate vampire stories. And two, I'm still on the fence as to whether the return of the original DP is a good idea or not.

It seemed like Rita Farr's death meant something, because like Barry Allen, her death had remained permanent for many years. I'm not sure if anyone had realized, but Barry Allen has remained dead for almost 20 years, Rita's probably closer to 30.

The other thing that's REALLY REALLY bothering me is the flying skelton that's supposed to be Negative Man. Sorry Johnny, but the black-elasticky humoniod energy silloutte is the only Negative Man that works for me.

[Fazhoul]

Originally posted by dollman
It seemed like Rita Farr's death meant something, because like Barry Allen, her death had remained permanent for many years. I'm not sure if anyone had realized, but Barry Allen has remained dead for almost 20 years, Rita's probably closer to 30.
It's actually closer to 40 years. The DP died in issue #121 in 1968. It was the Sept.-Oct. issue so that puts it just shy of 36 years. Damn I feel old. :)