JLA: The Obsidian Age, Book Two

Rating:
Summary: garbage plain and simple...
Review: Kelly is one of the worst writers ever to write for the JLA, I have been reading the JLA for a very long time, i have also read many of the early issues thanks to the many trades so i know a little about them.

now the story is overly confusing, I love a cplex story bit i hate stories that think being extra confusing for the sake of being confusing makes them great.

we also have a lot of back and forth between the teams, never any real use of the new team that replaced the old JLA, and i think it would be a lot better if the focus had been on the replacments and been their story.

the story after you get past everythign else is only average at best, and with the rest of the problems it's just not worth the money with so many other great JLA or JSA trades out right now.

Also another beef i have with it is the character raven, he joins the team for stories that show up in future trades is a stereotyped character (who was based on the old superfriends TV show Apache Cheif who is also badly stereotyped, they just give him a new name but the writer admits he was based on him), though it does not happen in this issue we see him walk in casinos and do his native american tears act they love to write, i am native american and i find it insulting.

would it have been so bad to create a native american character who was not always a shaman or warrior brave who does his little native act? well Kelly can't it seems.

so stay away from any kelly JLA comics, trust me a long time JLA fan.

Rating:
Summary: Kelly and Manhke do justice!
Review: On the second part of the Obsidian Age saga, things just keep getting better. Ill admit this story is complicated, but never boring. The league's status quo changes greatly by the end of this tale, and some of league's staples decide to leave the team (or just cant be on the team for other reasons).

Joe Kelly has added great and new things to the Leagues mythology. Overall, Kelly's JLA run is right up there with Grant Morrison's run. Mark Waid's run isnt quite as good in my opinion (although Tower Of Babel is brilliant and one of the all time best, the rest of his run wasnt that good). So if you wanna read a really good JLA story, buy Obsidian age Vol 1 and 2. You will probably have to read it at least twice to understand everything, but i wouldnt mind that, that way you get your moneys worth!

Rating:
Summary: I loved this book!
Review: This graphic novel rounds out the two book series covering the Justice League of America adventure: The Obsidian Age. Picking up where book one left off (and covering JLA issues #72-76), the Justice League finds out what has become of Aquaman and Atlantis. Simultaneously facing the same threat in both the Obsidian Age and in the present, the League meets its greatest threat in a murderous magic. Will the Justice League survive? No...and yes. It is a time of change - a time of losing and gaining, and losing some more.

This is another excellent DC graphic novel. The illustrations were very good, and often excellent, while the story was absolutely gripping. I loved the new characters, including the ancient heroes of the Obsidian Age (though I wish there had been more time for character development), and all of the great adventure! I loved this book, and highly recommend it to you.

Rating:
Summary: good conclusion, but leaves some problems
Review: This volume of JLA reprints the JLA comic issues 72-76. This is the second half of the Obsidian Age storyline, so OA Book One (the JLA trade paperback vol. 11) is necessary to understand anything in this edition.

OA1 began alternating chapters of the JLA's journey to 1000 BC, while a team of handpicked replacements filled in for them in the present. OA2 begins with the League searching for Aquaman in the past and finding that he and his people, the Atlanteans, are being held as slaves by a sorceress named Gamemnae. When Gamemnae comes into our time to conquer the present, the new and "classic" Leagues band together to stop her.

Kelly skillfully converges the parallel past and present stories with a climax that boggles the mind, but still leaves you thinking "WOW!" at its inventiveness. It doesn't quite live up to OA1, though, mainly because Doug Mahnke's art is more prominent in the first half. The League of Ancients, a band of prehistoric superheroes designed by Mahnke, stole the show in Book One from the present-day replacement League. It's apparent anytime Mahnke's absent from the book that his art skills are sorely needed to bring dynamism to Kelly's sometimes slow-paced storytelling.

Another problem with OA2 is that "Faith," a new character created by Joe Kelly to join the substitute JLA, is made a permanent member at the end of the book. Faith's powers are vague and her background murky. In a ludicrous moment between her and Nightwing (the adult ex-Robin), she talks about Batman as if she knew him better than the man who Bruce Wayne raised as a sidekick and surrogate son! The incorporation of Faith and Manitou Raven, a member of the aforementioned League of Ancients, into the JLA threatens to lead us back to the days when third-string characters like Gypsy and Vibe were the book's focus, rather than the fan-favorite characters Morrison and Waid preferred. Faith's prominent role in the next JLA volume, "Rules of Engagement," shows us that this is seemingly Kelly's true intent.