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JUST IMAGINE STAN LEE WITH JERRY ORDWAY CREATING JLA
Neutral (3/10)
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DC Comics
Writers: Stan Lee & Michael Uslan
Artist: Jerry Ordway
Colors: David Baron
Letters: Bill Oakley
Editor: Mike Carlin
Price: $5.95 US/$9.95 CAN |
"Maybe," I thought, "just maybe bringing these characters together will prove to be the key to a half-decent Just Imagine Stan Lee... book." No such luck. Lee's awkward dialogue persists, and it's matched by a clunky plot by Lee and Uslan. Ordway's art is sharp and fun, but the new villain designs are rather uninspired.
Rev. Dominic Darkk recruits three death-row inmates to serve him as the super-powered Doom Patrol. The first task he charges the purple-hued trio of villains with is the assassination of am unusual teenager -- appropriately named Adam Strange -- who knows too much about Darkk's evil plans. Adam is saved by the Green Lantern, whom he convinces to recruit four other heroes -- Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Flash -- to join together to fight the Doom Patrol and Darkk himself.
I've been a fan of Jerry Ordway's work ever since I first saw it on early issues of Roy Thomas's All-Star Squadron in the early 1980s. His detailed but bright tone suits the world of Stan Lee's altered DC super-heroes. However, I was thoroughly disappointed in the designs for the new villains: Parasite, Deathstroke and Blockbuster. The monochromatic approach, though logical in the context of the plot, isn't all that appealing from a visual standpoint. This is a Stan Lee book; the readers aren't signing on for purple men in street clothes. They're looking for colorful costumes and a variety of characters.
The third caption on the first page reads as such: "Their crimes are too heinous to fully describe in a publication that may fall into the hands of young readers." OK, I can understand that reasoning and the decision to make this book more appropriate for young readers (the tone certainly aimed at them, despite the hefty cover price). However, the creators then include several acts of murder -- some which could be seen as gruesome in the eyes of sensitive readers -- over the course of the story. The move struck me as rather hypocritical.
The one aspect of this book that did click for me, aside from most of Ordway's efforts, was the naming of the new characters. I've been disappointed to find that Lee's take on the heroes have more than a passing resemblance to their mainstream-continuity counterparts. Lee plays a little more loosely with the villains here. I love the use of "Doom Patrol" as a villainous team name (it's a natural), and the new Deathstroke riff was fun as well.
In the latter sequences in the book, there's a lack of clarity in the action. The Parasite's role is completely nebulous. She doesn't control the actions of the heroes. She exerts an undefined influence of Superman, then drains GL's power. Is she serving Darkk or turning against him? Furthermore, Adam Strange's personality goes from one extreme to another later in the book, as he's revealed to be something of a villain as well. It makes for a confusing and disinteresting read.
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