Superman: The Never-Ending Battle (Justice League of America) (audiobook) by Roger Stern

GraphicAudio delivers the goods

Performed by 29 actors.
Duration: 6 hours

GraphicAudio promises "A Movie In Your Mind" and they come awfully close with 29 actors, special effects, music and a go-go-go plot. While not the best of the Justice League series that I have listened to, it was still quite entertaining.

Superman and the rest of the Justice League get caught up in a series of weather-related missions and about one-third of the way into the story the JLA begins to suspect that someone is manipulating the weather - summertime blizzards, ultra-thick fogs, record numbers of tornadoes, droughts and even worse abound. The questions, of course, are who is doing this and why are they doing it?

The main characters in this mission are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, The Martian Manhunter and the Atom who mostly sits in the satellite headquarters monitoring maps and analyzing data. Superman, though, is the star.We get to see how he he somehow pulls off having a secret identity and still has time to be the "Man of Steel." We learn about his specially designed interest to the apartment he shares with his wife, Lois Lane and how he manages to turn in his assignments for the Daily Planet despite the time he takes out to save the world on a regular basis.

Superman has long conversations with his parents, Lois Lane, The Flash (including a nifty little cross-country run together), the Martian Manhunter, Batman and a particularly good one with the Green Lantern in which he is directly asked if he has ever considered just taking over the world and using his powers to make things about as good as they can be. The answer? Yes (who wouldn't, just for a moment?) but he looks to the example of George Washington who turned down the chance to be king twice (for that his old opponent George III called him the greatest man in the world). Superman even philosophizes to the villain in the story about why he fights for the rights of people to lead their own lives, even if they do not appreciate him.

Really, the plot is just an excuse to look at Superman, his life, his fears and how he moves past them, his influences, his philosophy and how he inspires and supports the rest of the Justice League. Batman is intriguing and the Flash is fun but Superman, the original Boy Scout superhero is really the foundation of the whole phenomenon. He is what we would all hope that we would be if we were suddenly endowed with super powers. Listen to this one for a boatload of action, but mostly listen to this one as an homage to Krypton's Last Son and a Kansas farm boy - Superman.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Superman: The Never-Ending Battle.

Reviewed on August 5, 2011.