What parts of Morrison's JLA is recommended reading?

[Sodam Yat]

He was, and that was Johns.

Ah okay. Thanks.

[dancj]

Avoid it like the plague, its really nothing but more drivel. Not as boring and tedious drivel as his Superman work but its up there.

Well that's just bad advice considering it's possibly the most acclaimed JLA run ever and most people here love it.

[ThiefHookUps]

Can't help with 4-6 yet, but I'd skip the first two trades and definitely get the third. If you like it you can always pick up the earlier ones. That's my vote!

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Morrison having to deal with things like Electric Blue Superman (and prior to that, the mullet) and making him still feel like classic Supes through and through was what made the run so good. Whatever they threw at him, he worked it into the story and made the best of it, usually giving us the best material with the temporary status quo changes for the characters; even more so than in their ongoing solo titles that implemented the changes in the first place. He actually made me LIKE the Electric Blue Superman lol

This is all true. He's also the definitive Kyle Rayner writer.

[Hilden B. Lade]

All of it is worth reading.

The only flaws I can say it possesses is that if you aren't too familiar with what was happening in the JLA roster's solo books at the time, you sometimes might get taken for a loop in moments when Superman is suddenly electric-blue without any in-book explanation.

[Jaylarue]

Yes, ALL of it. Dot't forget, even though Electric Superman was foisted upon the team, Grant still managed to make him move the moon.

[ThiefHookUps]

What'd you end up deciding on?

[Starchild]

I don't think that Morrison's run was the greatest thing ever. I found it boring at times like some of his work. But Rock of Ages was decent...that's pretty much it.

[JBatmanFan05]

Yea, I'd get the first 4 Deluxe versions of Morrison's JLA run. SC or HC is the nearly the same EXCEPT the HC of Vol 4 is very different from the SC version. You get JLA Earth 2 and Grant's JLA Classif stuff (which are basically parts of Grant's JLA work) in the Vol 4 HC and not the softcover.

None of these volumes collect Waid's Tower of Babel well, I think the one HC omits it (because Grant didn't write it), and the SC omits a key issue from it.

[Doctor Know]

Yea, I'd get the first 4 Deluxe versions of Morrison's JLA run. SC or HC is the nearly the same EXCEPT the HC of Vol 4 is very different from the SC version. You get JLA Earth 2 and Grant's JLA Classif stuff (which are basically parts of Grant's JLA work) in the Vol 4 HC and not the softcover.

None of these volumes collect Waid's Tower of Babel well, I think the one HC omits it (because Grant didn't write it), and the SC omits a key issue from it.

What do the softcovers omit from Tober of Babel?

[FanboyStranger]

I'd say Rock of Ages and Earth 2 are the most essential, but I'd read the whole thing. WWIII is something of anti-climax, however.

[FanboyStranger]

Dead serious, his JLA and Superman work is easily some of the most boring, soul less stuff I've ever read. Honestly the only really good thing he's done is Batman (not so much after RIP) and Multiversity.

Wow. We got a real contrarian here. (I'll admit I'm lukewarm on his Action Comics run, but his Batman run was better before RIP? That's crazy talk.)

[ThiefHookUps]

Wow. We got a real contrarian here. (I'll admit I'm lukewarm on his Action Comics run, but his Batman run was better before RIP? That's crazy talk.)

I'm as crazy as ekrolo2. I loved the Club of Heroes Agatha Christie-esque storyline and nearly everything else prior to RIP. However RIP I didn't bother finishing. I just finished Morrison's JLA run and Rock of Ages was the only thing I enjoyed. All the rest of the issues I'm going to give away. Even the Batman vs Prometheus rematch was underwhelming.

[JBatmanFan05]

What do the softcovers omit from Tober of Babel?

JLA Vol. 4 Deluxe softcover omits: (the HC of Vol 4 omits all of ToB!)

Justice League: (Lost Pages) (4 pages)
Mark Waid (Writer), Steve Scott (Penciller), Mark Propst (Inker)
From: JLA Secret Files #3, December 2000

Superman/Batman: "The Green Bullet" (10 pages)
John Ostrander (Writer), Ken W. Lashley (Penciller), Ron H. Boyd (Inker)
From: JLA 80-Page Giant #1, July 1998
Wonder Woman/Aquaman: "Revelations" (10 pages)
James C. Owsley (Writer), Eric Battle (Penciller), Prentis Rollins (Inker)
From: JLA 80-Page Giant #1, July 1998

An Amazon reviewer alerted me to the noticeable omissions. All are in the original ToB tpb! The Secret Files part is written by Waid!

The amazon reviewer said it so well:

However, while the Tower of Babel story is included, it's worth pointing out that the Interlude "JLA Secret Files & Origins #3: Blame" (in which Talia al Ghul recounts how she stole Batman's secret files and reflects who is to blame for the JLA's defeat; it also reveals how Batman developed his plans and is a fascinating exploration of Batman's psyche) and the Epilogue [JLA 80-Page Giant #1] that were in the original Tower of Babel Trade Paperback are missing. As far as I'm concerned, these are glaring omissions that, while not necessary, would have greatly added to and improved the story. The story feels incomplete without these extras. How difficult would it have been to include them? Come on DC, step up your game.

[FanboyStranger]

I'm as crazy as ekrolo2. I loved the Club of Heroes Agatha Christie-esque storyline and nearly everything else prior to RIP. However RIP I didn't bother finishing. I just finished Morrison's JLA run and Rock of Ages was the only thing I enjoyed. All the rest of the issues I'm going to give away. Even the Batman vs Prometheus rematch was underwhelming.

Other than the JH Williams III drawn Club of Heroes arc, I found Morrison's Bat-run to be bland until after RIP. It's Batman and Robin and Return of Bruce Wayne when it really got good. Part of that was the earlier stories were interesting and conceptually pregnant, but artists like Kubert and Tony Daniel made them look like any other superhero comic. After RIP, we'd start seeing more unique artistic styles on Morrison's Bat-books, and we'd get a lot more atmosphere.