JLA: The 10th Circle (Jla (Justice League of America) (Graphic Novels))

Rating:
Summary: I wanted to like this, really I did
Review: Chris Clairmont and John Byrne reunite to try and capture the magic they had during their legendary Uncanny X-Men run. However, it was not be. This story revolves around the Crucifier, a vampire abducting children from all over the world. The JLA investigate, and soon Superman becomes a pawn of the cult. A mysterious new team emerges though, the Doom Patrol. Together they and the remaining JLA members must muster to stop the world from ending.

Some people blame John Byrne's plotting for this, others for Clairmont's scripting. I like to blame both. The story feels as though it was written 15 years ago, and was just buried away in some crypt until an adventurous DC intern unearthed it on expedition. Serving as nothing more than a springboard for the new Doom Patrol series, this was one disappointing reunion.

Should you buy this book? No, unless you're a hardcore Doom Patrol fan. Though I am, and I'm still passing. Not the worst JLA story I've ever read, but a huge disappointment considering who its done by.


Rating:
Summary: The pits.
Review: I'm a great big fan of the current Justice League of America since its Grant Morrison days. But I will have to say JLA hasn't been quite as interesting since Morrison left. Mark Waid was OK and Joe Kelly generally kept the title going for a while, but everything hit the pits after that. And now this travesty - John Byrne and Chris Claremont have both long passed their use-by date, and it shows. The plot is corny and terribly dated - a fugitive vampire (Crucifer) is plotting to open a dimensional doorway that will allow his fellow vampires to cross over into our dimension. He brainwashes a group of young, super-powered outcasts to do his dirty work (i.e. eliminating members of the JLA one by one). He even manages to mentally enslave the mighty Superman and uses him to eliminate Wonder Woman, the sole JLAer who might have secret ancient knowledge of how to deal with vampires (really!). Meanwhile, a shadowy group of super-powered individuals are tracking Crucifer's every move. Are they friends or foes? Apart from serving as a vanity project to launch John Byrne's newly rebooted/revamped/retconned Doom Patrol series, I can't really see the point of the whole exercise. Byrne, as usual, shows his disdain for other writers' work by totally ignoring the past history of the Doom Patrol, choosing instead to "create" anew his own version of the Doom Patrol (albeit using pretty much the same characters). I have never forgiven Byrne for trying to destroy George Perez's work in Wonder Woman, and I doubt Doom Patrol fans will cheer his destruction of the Doom Patrol either. And oh, by the way, the secret to Crucifer's power? He hides his heart in a secret miniature dimension - as long as it stays hidden, he's safe from harm and cannot be killed (really!!). As I said, totally pointless, dated, stupid and a waste of money.

Rating:
Summary: Abysmal
Review: Let me say up front that Byrne and Claremont were--in their heyday--two of the greatest creators in comics, and at one time I considered them the cream of the crop. Now? Well, as Tenth Circle so clearly demonstrates, now they are shambling dinosaurs apparently unaware of their own obsolescence. From embarrassingly bad dialogue to uninspired art to a story that didn't deserve to be a part of JLA history to begin with, these once undisputed masters of the medium show that inertia has rendered them irrelevant: whether through an inability to evolve or a simple refusal to do so, the creators haven't allowed their "game" to improve with time, instead attempting to mine the same vein they did in the early-to-mid 1980s. The problem is that in the 1980s they were producing state of the art material; in those pre-Watchmen, pre-Dark Knight Returns days, the audience didn't expect as much from the comics they consumed. The audience has come to expect better over the course of the years, and Byrne and Claremont would do well to get over themselves and figure that out. Neither one will ever have a hard time finding work (unlike a lot of pros these days, they at least know how to make a deadline), but unless they wake up and smell the decade, their work won't be worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: JLA Tenth Circle
Review: Terrible art, what happened to DC on this one. They allowed their greatest group of heroes to be tainted with poor art and terrible story. Disappointing,to say the least. You are better off picking some of the previous JLA collections, this one is a dud.

Rating:
Summary: so lame i was embarassed for them
Review: the story was terrible, the art was second rate, with all the female characters looking like the same people. the dialogue made me feel embarassed to be reading this book. what a waste!

Rating:
Summary: I can't believe they killed a tree to print this...
Review: This story is not only a mess, but it's a blatant disregard for all that has went before it in the DC universe.

Chris Claremont disappoints yet again. It's as if after leaving his first tenure on X-men in 1991 (which is rich in craft and story), he just stopped caring about the details. Like Plot. Continuity. Characterization. A reason for characters to be there in the first place. And vampires? That's the best he could come up with? You needed the JLA for that? Maybe Mr. Claremont should read Grant Morrison's brilliant runs on JLA, Doom Patrol, and his own New X-men. He might learn a trick or two.
I implore you. If you must read Claremont, pick up Essential X-men instead, or Dark Phoenix Saga. Anything he has written since the Jim Lee days has been not just awful, but disrespectful of anyone who worked on these characters after he left. His X-men stuff today is just as bad. He's an author who should just know better and bow out.

Tenth Circle and X-treme X-men are why there should be a zero-stars rating on Amazon. It's that bad.

John Byrne is equally to blame. His art has no effort to it at all. Considering how great and pivotal an artist he is makes it worse. His Wonder Woman and New Gods art were leagues better than this.

Worst of all, the Doom Patrol, who under Grant Morrison's tutelage were ahead of their time, is a joke here.

If this is how DC wants to treat their characters, icons that have been around longer than their editors, I'm not buying another mainstream title again ever. Vertigo can have my money, but I'll never shell out for anything Claremont writes ever again. And the same goes for DC's core titles. They've screwed me for the last time.

I'm trying to save you all.

Rating:
Summary: What happened.......?
Review: This will be the question that you will be left with if you are unfortunate enough to have read this book. But please be advised that my review is based on the unbound monthly comics and not the collected TPB. Despite boasting writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne and Jerry Ordway....this story falls flat on its face. The basic premise is that a vampire (Crucifer) has hold on Superman and has launched him against the JLA. Batman delves into the mystery when he is looking for missing children. Anyhow, the story takes a turn for the worse when the Legion of Doom is reintroduced and saves the day...yes, it is that simple. The story is very weak for any story and reads like it's more from an episode of "Superfriends" than the more complex settings that was started by Grant Morrison. The art is pretty good though...nothing extraordinary but still good. Avoid this book and read something else.