Review by Aaron Cooper
If you are unaware of the various collaborations between renowned artist Alex Ross and a slew of writers over the past decade, then you most likely have lived under a rock and have been missing out on some milestones. His painted artwork has set a precedence all its own, and just about any book he works on becomes an event all its own. Any and all publisher he works with makes sure of that!
JLA: LIBERTY AND JUSTICE is the sixth collaboration between Paul Dini and Alex Ross in what has become an annual tradition of theirs featuring DC’s top characters in oversized, painted graphic novels at a reasonable price. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a huge fan of this format. As wonderful as Ross’ work has always been in this large format, these books have always been a bit unwieldy for the bookshelf. Usually, a great read once, but a pain to store afterwards.
It’s obvious to me now though, that all of the previous efforts were leading up to this collaboration. LIBERTY AND JUSTICE does exactly what it’s supposed to do: tell really good JLA stories, featuring the original classic characters and a few favorites thrown in. They also do something else that even writers of the monthly JLA title have forgotten to do and that is to feature the excellent group dynamic that has made this team so popular for decades, without compromising the uniqueness of the individual team members personalities.
The story is rather simple. Told from the perspective of the Martian Manhunter, an alien virus has struck in Africa and the JLA is asked to investigate. Due to the nature of the virus, the way it spreads, its origins, and how ultimately the JLA handle it, panic and fear spread amongst the general populace, leading to an even deeper problem for the JLA to confront. Here Paul Dini doesn’t strike much new ground, but he uses the rather simplistic story device to tell the real story of the JLA, how they work together, how they work separately, each with their own unique powers and personalities, and ultimately how they view the world and how the world views them. And he does it brilliantly, where a person that never reads comics could pick this up and enjoy it and fans of any or all the characters will be satisfied at their portrayals. Long time fans will be pleased to know that this is classic JLA also: The Barry Allen Flash, Hal Jordan is Green Lantern, Aquaman has is groovy orange shirt, etc. etc. Dini also infuses social and political commentary into the story, but in a very balanced and non-confrontational way. He doesn’t necessarily infuse HIS viewpoint but those of the characters, something I haven’t seen too many writers pull off successfully.
What else can be said about the artwork of Alex Ross that hasn’t been said in countless other forums? His paintings are nothing short of brilliant. It was once commented that if these heroes walked the Earth, this is what they would look like, and I couldn’t agree more. His use of angles and shadows add a third dimensional quality to all his work. If I have one gripe about this particular work though, is that it just doesn’t seem as dramatic or detailed as previous works like KINGDOM COME. Don’t get me wrong though, even a ‘lesser’ Alex Ross is a cut and above most artists. Even with my so-called criticism, there are pages in LIBERTY AND JUSTICE that quite literally took my breath away!
It should be noted that this story is also now available in the Absolute sized WORLD’S GREATEST SUPERHEROES along with the other Dini/Ross collaborations to date for a measly $50.00 retail price tag and can be found much cheaper at your favorite online retailer. You could do a lot worse with your money. JLA – LIBERTY AND JUSTICE is a beautiful and satisfying read.