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Lukewarm delivery, art leaves something to be desiredFull disclosure: I am a Marvel reader. While I have started to get into DC comics, I am not as familiar with the characters, the plot lines, the (convoluted, frequently retconned) continuity as some. As such, judge my review accordingly.
I picked up The Tornado's Path because I read Meltzer's Identity Crisis and, despite some glaring plot holes, rather enjoyed it. I expected to enjoy this collection as well, in spite of the fact that I had no familiarity with the central character, Red Tornado. Perhaps the problem lies there, that without knowing the Red Tornado's full background, I can't fully appreciate his desire to "become a real live boy" as the introduction by Damon Lindelof (who?) so eloquently puts it. That said, the danger with trade paper backs is that, at least in some sense, they must be evaluated from cover to cover, not whats been covered before. In spite of Lindelof's claim that Red Tornado "rocks", I could not bring myself to care. Why? The character simply does not have (or Meltzer failed to convey) any real depth. His central motivation is to be real, to smell, taste, and touch, and that's fine, I can understand that, but outside that motivation (and a two-dimensional sobbing wife and hopeful child family structure), there is nothing.
Which is not to say Meltzer is incapable of conveying relationships with depth and a touch of humor. The interactions between Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman as they try to decide who is in or out of the new Justice League draws on old story lines and character developments, giving you a feel for how far these characters go back. In addition, I enjoyed the interactions between Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Arsenal and Black Canary. Again, you get a feel for how long these characters have been together.
The central story line is all right. It did not captivate me like Identity Crisis, nor did it touch me in the same way. Not every story must be ground breaking and emotionally jarring, but I think Meltzer relied too heavily on this super powered Pinocchio theme without giving us any reason to care whether the Red Tornado is a man, a machine, or a bucket of bolts (beyond characters bursting into tears for no apparent reason).
Now: the art. The art is not terrible, but it's terribly distracting. I get that appreciation for art is subjective, that some people may enjoy, for example, John Romita Jr.'s distinct style while others (myself) absolutely abhor it, I also get that not everyone can be a Steve McNiven or an Ivan Reis. Finally, I get that (male) super heroes are supposed to be muscular, at the peak of human fitness--but I was under the impression that we left the ridiculously muscled steroid drones in the 90's where they belonged. Every character, *every character* From Deadman to Batman to Red Tornado to Superman has the same hyper masculine physique with the same bulging neck muscles (check the title page if you don't believe me). I have (virtually) no issue with the idea that comics represent an idealized form of man, an aesthetic that is hardly achievable in reality, but when everyone, even Speedy, cuts the same figure as Superman, I cry foul. For the most part, all the women look the same as Diana who is supposed to be a six feet tall Amazon warrior. Compare that with 5'7" Dinah, not that you'd be able to tell the difference by looking at them. They all appear to have identical breast sizes, even, so that the only real difference is hairstyle and costume choice.
In order for a comic to work, both the writer and the artist have to delivering roughly the same level of talent in their respective tasks. Meltzer is a better than average writer who was paired with an artist whose work is soulless and distracting. He is not the worst artist out there, I would not avoid picking up a comic that he drew for in the same way that I will avoid anything and everything Greg Land and Rob Liefeld, but he is a definite under performer in my book.
In conclusion, this trade paperback is not a complete waste of money. If you want to read about the reformation of the Justice League then you will not be disappointed (though that is a definite subplot to Red Tornado's story). If, however, you were looking for something on par with Identity Crisis, you may be disappointed.
If you want dynamic super hero stories, look into Geoff Johns' work on Green Lantern and the Green Lantern Corps. He *usually* is paired with artists that range from decent to fantastic. Or, if you're not afraid of taking a dip into the other pool, check out the Ed Brubaker Daredevil run.
Reformation of Justice LeagueAfter recently getting back into comics after 15 years, a good friend of mine told me to check out DC comics and some of the Justice League stories. Back in the day, I was a strictly Marvel person, but I decided to give DC a shot. Justice League of America: Tornado's Path was a very interesting and well written story. Coming into this story, I had previously read Final Crisis, so I had some background on some of the characters. Tornado's Path mainly deals with Justice League core (Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman) looking to reform and get the Justice League of America back up and running. I enjoyed the process they used to vote on and describe the superheroes under consideration. Along with this story, this book also focused on the Red Tornado and his path to closure with his family. I didn't know much about the Red Tornado, but I finished this book having gained much more knowledge and insight into the Red Tornado. I'm not a comic guru, so I won't embarrass myself and go into detail and analysis about this story, but I defiantly enjoyed reading it. I would defiantly recommend this story to Justice League fans and look forward to exploring the DC universe more indepth.
Organization Is Key!A compilation of several JLA issues from a few years back. Excellent artwork, and plenty of well-choreographed action. But what makes this story stand out from others is the running side-plot showing Superman, the Batman and Wonder Woman sitting around a table and debating as to who will be the new Justice League members. It's a detail which readers of this sort of story seldom get to see depicted in this sort of depth and, as handled here, it actually forms the more entertaining aspect of the novel.
Exellent standalone grapic novelMetzger's storyline has multiple subplots, but the overall theme is the evolution of both hero and villain; in this case, Red Tornado (John Smith) and Amazo. While in the astral plane, Tornado is aided by Deadman into inhabiting a fully human cloned body. However, this decision proves to be fateful. While Tornado loves feeling human again, his android body and Vixen's totem are stolen by mercenaries working for Professor Ivo.
Meanwhile, Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman meet in the "Lounge" to vote on new members of the JLA. Each is debated on with Power Girl receiving an invitation to join and Nightwing, Flash, and Supergirl being rejected. The verbal sparring between the three DC titans is amusing.
Meanwhile, Black Canary, Red Arrow (formerly Arsenal) and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) track down Tornado's android body and find Professor Ivo with hundreds of Tornado clones and Solomon Grundy. Vixen, in Hub City ostensibly to meet The Question for a date, finds two villains who steal her Tantu totem.
Tornado follows them and Grundy isolates him from the JLA, who battle Amazo after he attacks Tornado's wife Kathy in their home. Meltzer's story moves along rapidly and the hero(ine) of the day proves to be Vixen, who literally punches a hole through Amazo at the conclusion of the battle. Vixen, Red Arrow, Hawkgirl, and Black Lightning are voted into the JLA.
Quite nice"Justice League Of America: The Tornado's Path"
by Brad Melzer & Ed Benes
(DC Comics, 2007)
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Just glancing at the artwork, I thought I wasn't gonna like it: I'm so *not* into the overly-stylized, hyper-realistic, fine-line muscle-and-sinew fetishism that has dominated much of mainstream comicbook art since the late 1980s... But I was looking for something good and superhero-y to take my mind off the troubles of the world, and I figured, what the heck, I'll give this a shot, even with the fanboy-ish artwork.
Boy, am I glad I did.
This was a fun story arc, which harkened back to the early-1970s era of the JLA that I grew up with (indeed, issue #105, which also centered on Red Tornado, was one of the first comics I ever bought...) The story starts with the big three -- Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman -- who have convened a secret meeting to put the recently dissolved JLA back together, and while they are figuring out who to invite to join, all kind of weird stuff is going on with the Tornado. What follows is a pretty action-packed, often somewhat gruesome and intense story, one that brings the League back in its full glory. Great version of uber-baddie Solomon Grundy, too, and some good stuff with Batman. If you're looking for a good, old-school superhero story, give this book a shot... it's worth it! (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)