JLA: Divided We Fall (Book 8)

Rating:
Summary: The big seven are Back together again
Review: This collection follows directly after the Tower of Babel storyline. This follows as the JLA comes to terms with Batman's betrayal and consequent expulsion from the group. The first story involves the Queen of Fables, who have escaped from a book of fairy tales and is suffering from the Snow White's Stepmother Complex and is intent on bringing down Wonder Woman (in her eyes, Snow White). The JLA battle all types of fairy tales monsters and modern horror-flick creatures (Jason and even the Terminator). There's even a scene where the Martian Manhunter is being shoved into a burning oven by a witch a la Hensel and Gretel. Anyways, the JLA overcomes the odds but they are at a major crisis, where those that voted for Batman don't seem to see eye-to-eye w/ those who voted against him. Superman sees this problem and has a conversation w/ Batman where it shows how his betryal has left the JLA vulnerable and uneasy due to the distrust growing between them. To remedy this problem, Batman calls them to the Bat-cave but there's one problem, every single super-hero and their alter-egos have literally split (except for Aquaman and Wonder Woman). The split takes it toll on the JLA, as Mark Waid shows how one cannot co-exist w/out the other. Superman looks more like the Kryptonian ruler he had been forseen to be by his father and Clark Kent is afraid of his own shadow. Batman seems to be simply a machine w/ no personality and Bruce Wayne is a psychotic fop. Anyhow, at the end Plastic Man (actually his alter ego) comes to the rescue and sorts out this entire metaphysical mess. The JLA returns to all its glory with Batman welcomed back into the fold. I really enjoyed this story, it was epic in the sense that it involved the near end of the World but to me it seemed to hinge more on the personal side of the JLA. This contrasts greatly from Grant Morrison's epic tales which involved a cartload of chracters. Mark Waid has hit a homerun wih this story and I would recommend it to all comic book fans.