JSA: The Liberty Files (Justice Society, Elseworlds) (graphic novel) by Dan Jolley and Tony Harris



It was good, but not great.

Published by D.C. Comics in 2004.

I am not the biggest comic book fan. I have never even set foot in a real comic book shop so I don't even know if the 'Comic Book Guy' on 'The Simpsons' is realistic or not. Continuity means nothing to me. Being a history teacher, I was more intrigued by the history part of the story. (Speaking of continuity, I know for a fact that Superman was fighting Nazis during WWII, just like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck - I've seen the movies!)

 However, I've read some of the big stuff (Dark Knight I and II, Red Son and a few more). I was dimly aware of some of the heroes featured in this one, which makes sense since JSA was originally intended to promote the lesser known heroes). This one was interesting, but in the end, not as good as I had hoped.

 Learning the new characters was fairly easy, but telling them apart in their street clothes was darn near impossible with the exception of "Clark Kent", thanks to the trademark cowlick. Also, even though it was a JSA book, the focus seemed to be Batman. Batman vs. "Jack the Grin" (Joker). Batman vs. Scarecrow. Batman making his teammates mad. Batman's introspection. And, finally, Batman vs. 'Superman'. The last one has been done umpteen times, I know, even though I am, as already stated, a casual fan. Heck, I've seen it done in Frank Miller's "Dark Knight I" and Mark Millar's "Red Son", and to be honest, they both did it better (especially Millar's).

 An interesting observation - I appreciated the fact that at the WWII Battle of El Alamein, the artists included two well-known fictional characters of this time period in the two page spread (pp. 116-117): Sgt. Rock and PFC Ryan (from "Saving Private Ryan").

 So, while not a waste of my time, it certainly did not do the job as well as others.

 I give this one 3 stars out of 5.

 This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: The Liberty Files.

 Reviewed on June 17, 2007.

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