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Mild Mannered Reviews - JLA Comics

JLA #64

Scheduled to arrive in stores: March 27, 2002

Cover date: May 2002

Writer: Joe Kelly
Penciller: Doug Mahnke
Inker: Tom Nguyen

"Golden Perfect" (Part 3 of 3)

Reviewed by: John-Paul Zito (ZitoMan11@aol.com)

Batman can't solve the Riddler's riddles, the Riddler can't solve his own riddles. The Moon is made of Green Cheese. The South has risen again. Vishnu sleeps soundly but could at any moment open his eyes and effectively end all of existence. And Wonder Woman begs for the help of the Rama Khan?

The JLA mobilize outside of Jarhanpur, where all of this began, only to discover that the perception ripple is moving through history. More recent misconceptions are being manifested and working their way further into the past. Eventually the ripple will manifest into individual perceptions of the world and the results will no doubt be catastrophic. This is all a result of Wonder Woman betraying her ideals and shattering the lasso of truth which she bears.

Inside Jarhanpur Wonder Woman tries to save the world by reclaiming the young heir to Rama Khan whom she left behind and betrayed her ideals for. The Rama Khan is not willing to give up his heir, he cares nothing for the outside world. Jarhanpur is all that matters to him. Suddenly the Calvary arrives, the JLA as defined by the public at large, burst into the royal palace to even the odds. Superman is practically a God, Batman is nothing more then a shadow... an urban legend, Plastic man is a toy, J'onn is in his true Martian form, and Green Lantern is Hal Jordan.

After a quick explanation Wonder Woman is told she must take the boy to fix the truth. However, the Rama Khan is not so willing to give him up. Wonder Woman is afraid to make the wrong decision once again and apoligizes to the living spirit of Jarhanpur. She begs for forgiveness and a second chance to make the right decision. Jarhanpur forgives, but the Rama Khan does not.

The Rama Khan refuses to believe Jarhanpur would forgive an infidel such as Wonder Woman. His disbelief sets off the same terrible truth ripple within the walls of Jarhanpur. The city crumbles. The JLA move quickly and manage to save the thousands of citizens. The Rama Khan would appear to be the only causality.

Thousands of Jarhanpur citizens are displaced, and a culture is lost. A boy has been reunited with his mother while a city lay in ruins. Is this a happy ending? No. But it's an honest one.

Story - 5: Joe Kelly said he was going to do more character driven work on JLA. That he would single out certain characters over certain arcs, much like the cartoon does. It reminds me of Star Trek: TNG, how every member of the crew got an equal amount of exposure and development despite the large cast and heavy stories.

I was a little disapointed that no exposition was given to the public perception of the Flash. But since it wasn't vital to the story I can see how it might be passed over.

This kind of "suspension of disbelief" story is the kind of stories the JLA work best with. I don't need endless science buzz words to make me believe a story is plausible.

Art - 4: While Mahnke is still busting out some awesome action shots, who ever is coloring the backgrounds is killing me. Mahnke's massive Jarhanpur towers and arcitecture is colored a flat tan or blue.

Cover Art - 4: The cover depicts the JLA in their public perceptions, except for Plastic Man. Which I don't get? But the detail in Rama Khan's face, I mean even the teeth have great Jarhanpur designs on them, more then make up for any inconsitency.

Other recent reviews:

JLA #63

Mild Mannered Reviews

2002

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

January 2002

February 2002

March 2002

April 2002

May 2002

June 2002

July 2002

August 2002

September 2002

October 2002

November 2002

December 2002

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Mild Mannered Reviews - JLA Comics

JLA #64

Mild Mannered Reviews

2002

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