JLA: Divided We Fall - VOL 08: Amazon.ca: Mark Waid, Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary: Books

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4.0 out of 5 stars Great split personality story, so-so fairy tale story, Jan 6 2007

By

Larry Ketchersid "author of Dusk Before the Dawn" (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JLA: Divided We Fall - VOL 08 (Paperback)

These were originally published as JLA #47-#54.

These stories happen right after "Divided We Fall", where Batman gets voted out of the JLA. The remaining JLAers are still dealing with that, when the Queen of Fables is freed from a book and attacks with all manner of fairy tales. With the exception of the very interesting twist of an Aquaman / WonderWoman relationship which continues in this story (see panel 32), and the appearance of Batman and his supposed betrayal of the team, I found this story tedious compared to the others.

The JLAers then start to become divided, with the three that sided with Batman facing off with the three that sided against. Here the story gets going, with the six of them going after Dr. Destiny, who is changing reality, while Superman confronts Batman. Dr. Destiny is seemingly defeated at the same time that Superman and Batman agree there will be no secrets. They call the six other JLAers to Batman's cave, reveal their secret identities, join Batman back to the team....and then meet their alter-egos suited up. Their split-personalities have truly been split!

The ensuing story, with the civilian identities of the JLAers trying to resume normal lives, the superhereo identities of the JLAers battling "fulfillment of wishes" problems full time, with WonderWoman and Aquaman in the middle (they have no secret identities), is one of the best in the series. Both sides, with some exceptions, realize they can't live without their alter-egos, and that the creature "If" has been fulfilling wishes, including theirs to be separated.

The fact that "Eel" O'Brien, Plastic Man's alter-ego who is a former criminal, somewhat reunites the team, is one of the best stories on him in the series.

Fav panel: pg 137, where Kyle Raynor obsessivly covers his walls with JLA cartoons.

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4.0 out of 5 stars MARK WAID TAKES OVER THE JLA, April 30 2004

By

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JLA: Divided We Fall - VOL 08 (Paperback)

Divided We Fall, the most recent collection to anthologize Mark Waid's run on the book, proves that he's more than up to the task of taking over for Grant Morrison. Following the events of his previous collection, Tower of Babel, Divided steadily builds on themes of distrust, betrayal and the division between a hero and his or her secret identity.

In Babel, you may recall, the members of the Justice League were shocked to discover that Batman had secretly been compiling data on his teammates, including information on how to neutralize them should they ever become a threat due to mind control or other reasons. (Readers recognizing similarities to Waid's JLA: Year One miniseries will be relieved to know that this storyline is no mere rehash of that tale.) They learn this in the most alarming way, when Batman's cataloged methods are employed by his longtime foe Ra's Al Ghul. It's not giving too much away to say that heroes eventually overcome their individual adversities, and find themselves shocked and deeply divided over the issue of what to do about Batman, who is voted out of the league.

As Divided begins, the seeds of dissent are sprouting into full-blown alienation and antipathy. Batman's stubbornly Machiavellian method of helping the team defeat the Queen of Fables (the wicked Queen of Snow White come back to real life) only undermines those tensions. A subsequent battle against the reality-warping Dr. Destiny further erodes the team's trust, even as Superman takes comfort in the fact that the members' subconscious selves, not yet hardened against one another, eventually act as a unit to save the day.

At this point, the DCU's most popular duo, Superman and Batman, reluctantly agree that the only way to restore the Leaguers' faith in each other is for Batman to take the drastic, trusting step of revealing his alter ego. Superman also decides to reveal his other self, and the assembled members (most of them, anyway) follow suit. It's at this pivotal moment that the League finds itself "divided" yet again, as all but Wonder Woman and Aquaman find themselves facing their alter egos. In effect, most of the heroes have been somehow split in two.

It's in this final arc of Divided that Waid masterfully asserts himself as a gifted storyteller and strategist in his own right, as both the alter egos and the heroes from whom they've split begin to feel the detrimental effects of the separation.

The artwork teams on display here each do a more than capable job of investing Waid's story with the requisite grandeur and grittiness. While the Morrison-era dynamic duo of penciler Howard Porter and inker John Dell is still missed, the overall quality of the art remains high. Particular praise must go to the Queen of Fables arc, in which we're treated to some of the most beautiful depictions of Wonder Woman yet committed to paper.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The big seven are Back together again, Sep 23 2003

By

R. SHARIFF "rayhans1282" (Jamaica, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: JLA: Divided We Fall - VOL 08 (Paperback)

This collection follows directly after the Tower of Babel storyline. This follows as the JLA comes to terms with Batman's betrayal and consequent expulsion from the group. The first story involves the Queen of Fables, who have escaped from a book of fairy tales and is suffering from the Snow White's Stepmother Complex and is intent on bringing down Wonder Woman (in her eyes, Snow White). The JLA battle all types of fairy tales monsters and modern horror-flick creatures (Jason and even the Terminator). There's even a scene where the Martian Manhunter is being shoved into a burning oven by a witch a la Hensel and Gretel. Anyways, the JLA overcomes the odds but they are at a major crisis, where those that voted for Batman don't seem to see eye-to-eye w/ those who voted against him. Superman sees this problem and has a conversation w/ Batman where it shows how his betryal has left the JLA vulnerable and uneasy due to the distrust growing between them. To remedy this problem, Batman calls them to the Bat-cave but there's one problem, every single super-hero and their alter-egos have literally split (except for Aquaman and Wonder Woman). The split takes it toll on the JLA, as Mark Waid shows how one cannot co-exist w/out the other. Superman looks more like the Kryptonian ruler he had been forseen to be by his father and Clark Kent is afraid of his own shadow. Batman seems to be simply a machine w/ no personality and Bruce Wayne is a psychotic fop. Anyhow, at the end Plastic Man (actually his alter ego) comes to the rescue and sorts out this entire metaphysical mess. The JLA returns to all its glory with Batman welcomed back into the fold. I really enjoyed this story, it was epic in the sense that it involved the near end of the World but to me it seemed to hinge more on the personal side of the JLA. This contrasts greatly from Grant Morrison's epic tales which involved a cartload of chracters. Mark Waid has hit a homerun wih this story and I would recommend it to all comic book fans.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed this one alot
I liked the story line of this book. We all wonder what if you met your alter ego? It catches the flavor of what happens when there is a break up or split. It is worth the price

Published on Jun 21 2003 by Erich E. Geary

4.0 out of 5 stars Mark Waid does it again
The second collection from Mark Waid's run on JLA continues to improve upon the mess Grant Morrison made of the series. Read more

Published on Feb 22 2003 by David S. Coleman