Welcome to the 3rd edition of Judgment Calls. In this edition, I will
be talking about the 3-part mini series JLA: The Nail. The Nail is written
and penciled by Alan Davis. This mini-series is an Elseworlds tale. An
Elseworlds tale, for those of you who dont know, is a tale of another
world that might have existed, and some other worlds that cant or
shouldn't exist. In this story, John and Martha Kents (Superman's parents,
well, the people who raised him) truck gets a flat and they dont have a
spare, so they dont take the drive that fateful day and find Supermans
space ship. So Superman never was.
OK, now we go to the early days of the JLA. Luthor is the mayor of
Metropolis, and there is some sort of organized anti-metahuman campaign.
In addition, there is a force field surrounding Earth, war has broken out
between Apokolips and New Genesis, and the Green Lantern Corps is too busy
dealing with that to answer Hal Jordans distress call. The world is
going down the tubes, everybody is dying, and on top of that, Batmans
lost it. Alan Daviss view of the world without Superman is horrifying,
and it makes you wonder. His writing is great and his art is fantastic,
very silverageish, and Mark Farmers inks are nice. This mini series is the
best one this year so far, and I expect it to take some awards. I think
Ill end with the poem that sums up this mini very well (it also is on
the back of the comics):
"For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.
For want of a horse, the knight was lost.
For want of a knight, the battle was lost,
So it is a kingdom was lost.
All for the want of a nail."
-colloquial adaptation of a verse by George Herbert(Jacula Prudentum 1651)
This is one of the best mini-series I have read. I recommend you pick it up.
I apologize this column was written rather quickly, but still I would
like you to check out my Wizardcon '98 report, and my Saving Private Ryan
movie review.
