COMIC BOOK REVIEW
Why is JLA the most popular comic today?
By Jamil of Jamil's Comics
JLA has the distinction of being the No 1 Comics month after month since its release in September last year. Heavy hitters from both Marvel and its own publisher DC could not move it from its top spot. Honorable mentions for the failed attempts include Uncanny X-men #1 (reboot), Wolverine & the X-men #1, Wolverine #300, Hulk #1 (reboot), Avenging Spiderman and the new Ultimate Spider-man, as well as the host of DC new 52 titles.
JLA is written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee both superstars in their own rights. Geoff has written such important stories like Green Lantern Reborn, Flash Reborn, Blackest Night and Brightest Day. He has been involved in most of the major DC projects in the last few years.
Jim Lee rose to prominence when he took up as the artist on Uncanny X-men in the early 90's, following his successful run on Punisher War Journal. He was one of the co-founders of Image in 1992. His hits include X-men (1990), Batman, Superman, All star Batman and Wildcats.
Coming back to JLA, the first story arc (issues 1-6) presents us with the members meeting each other for the first time; and uniting to form a group to fight the great evil of Darkseid (“Darkside? What is that? A Band?” Green Lantern in JLA #1). The first issue shows the first meeting between Green Lantern and the on-the-run Batman. Hal is amazed when he realizes Batman has no super-powers. Both run into an angry Superman, and Hal promptly pisses him off. Once in the fight Hal realizes he has bitten more than he can chew and asks the Flash for help. After a power display by the three, Batman is able to calm Superman down.
JLA #3 introduces Wonder Woman and Aquaman into the fray. The proud amazon warrior is ready for battle, and seems pleased when the challenge from the minions of Darkseid appears. Aquaman, the king of the seas is presented as powerhouse (his own series is also written by Geoff btw; and is a big hit).
The seventh and unlikely member of the team is Victor Stone (Cyborg) who was a victim in the battle of Darkseid. He was fatally wounded and almost dead. Victor's father, a genius scientist revived him using artificial parts to keep him alive.
The fight between JLA and Darkseid is epic. Darkseid uses his Omega beams on both Superman and Flash at one point. Flash manages to evade, vibrating through solid and diverting the beam to a parademon; but Superman fell. Darkseid took him back to his home-world Apokolips as prisoner. Batman, realizing the mother box was some sort of a teleporting device, hops on one of the parademons and comes to the rescue.
JLA is intense story-telling and a lot of fun, just like a good old comic book should be. Thank you JLA, for delivering such powerful high quality comics month after month!
Finally a week where we were at loss on which entry to print. Some very good stories showed up. But we like monkeys. For next week, our topic will be: When the music's over. Submissions need to be sent to ds.risingstars@gmail.com by Sunday noon. Word limit: 350-500 words. Good luck.
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IN THROUGH THE WINDOW
By Rezwan Chowdhury
In through the window jumped the most beautiful monkey I had ever seen.
"Mother, mother, please come here!" I was so excited I could barely form the words. I dragged her into my bedroom, worried that she might miss the chance to see it.
We both stared at it- mesmerised. My mother had a history of kicking cats and dogs if they got too near. But still, I didn't worry for a second that she would kick it.
The monkey sat on the bare floor of the room as innocently as a two-year old child. Occasionally he would look at us with a shy, pleading look. But mostly he just stared at the floor, seemingly lost in his own, mysterious world.
I asked one of the girls who worked at our house for a banana. She came back with a whole stack of bananas, and a big loaf of bread. I offered the monkey a banana, and he slowly crawled towards me on all fours. He took the banana from my hand with such grace that I quickly rewarded him with one more, followed by a piece of bread.
My mother whispered into my ear, "Don't spoil him dear. Save something for tomorrow."
The monkey calmly finished eating his meal, more politely than any friend I ever had over. Once he finished, he sat patiently, staring at me blankly with his beady little eyes.
I carefully took out my cell phone, and proceeded to take several pictures. I thought it might scare him, but to my delight, he happily posed for us. Once I put my phone away, he jumped right back through the still open window.
We all watched him through it, leaping from mango tree to mango tree, a miniature Tarzan finally disappearing amidst the shadows of the concrete jungle.
"I do hope he comes back!" my mother wished excitedly.
"Let's build a wooden house for him on the roof!" I declared anxiously.
"Just get me some supplies, and I can start today Bhaiya," volunteered our carpenter dramatically.
"After all, the monsoon is coming, and the poor monkey will need a proper shelter," contemplated our driver deeply.
"Mister Carpenter, please come with me! I am going to go out and buy the supplies right now!" I was off to the markets.
But as luck would have it, we got caught up in a most terrible traffic jam.
"This city is becoming just like a jungle!" I remarked bitterly to Mister Driver and Mister Carpenter.
And as if things couldn't get worse, soon a wild-looking beggar had dragged himself to our car. He stared at me with a zombie-like intensity, and so I hurriedly raised my window, and had the air-conditioner turned on.
I started playing with my cell phone, flipping through the 8.0 Mega pixel pictures of my beautiful and gentle little friend. I was hoping the annoying beggar would go away, if I just pretended hard enough to ignore him.
