JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: RISE OF ECLIPSO
Justice League of America (volume 2) #54-59 & Batman/Superman Annual #5
Written by James Robinson
Art by Brett Booth, Miguel Sepulvada & Daniel Sampere
DC COMICS
Review by Frankie Rodriguez
TALE OF THE TAPE
Welcome Clashers to another grand edition of Comic Book Clash. It’s Justice League Month and there are lots and lots of Justice League books to review. We recently review the current incarnations of the Justice League & Justice League International. I know we said we’d do dark this week BUT … we had a bit of a snag there. So the question becomes, what are we gonna review THIS week. As you already seen, Hector Ramirez reviewed the JLA Foreign Bodies one shot. And what am I gonna do? Well, I am gonna go on the WAY back machine to a year of grand spectacle. A year where the relaunch for DC had not happened yet and Marvel was still on top of sales.
Welcome Clashers to another grand edition of Comic Book Clash. It’s Justice League Month and there are lots and lots of Justice League books to review. We recently review the current incarnations of the Justice League & Justice League International. I know we said we’d do dark this week BUT … we had a bit of a snag there. So the question becomes, what are we gonna review THIS week. As you already seen, Hector Ramirez reviewed the JLA Foreign Bodies one shot. And what am I gonna do? Well, I am gonna go on the WAY back machine to a year of grand spectacle. A year where the relaunch for DC had not happened yet and Marvel was still on top of sales.
What am I kidding? I am talking about last year. Back in 2010, after the Cry For Justice miniseries and the firing of the now-late, great Dwayne McDuffie, James Robinson took over the book. And boy … it was different. The Justice League of America was different. At first, it seemed like a great mix of characters from the old Guard: Green Lantern, Red Tornado . .. to obscure characters: Dr. Light, Mon-El , Congorilla & Starman to the next generation: Dick Grayson Batman & Donna Troy. That changed after the first storyline as it moved into a crossover, written completely by Robinson: The Dark Things. It was at this point, the current team was really taking shape as Jade (taking over for Green Lantern), Jesse Quick (a speedster) and Supergirl ( in place of Mon-El) really came together. And while the line up of Batman, Donna Troy, Jade, Jesse Quick, Congorilla, Supergirl, Starman Mikkal Tomas & later Saint Walker do not seem like much .. . Robinson made sure every adventure was as epic and deadly as their predecessors.
And while many fans were arguing about the line up, I found the line up fascinating. You have people with similar powers of the classic Big 7 but with VERY big and sometimes interesting differences. Jesse Quick is as fast as the Flash but also has super strength. Donna Troy died and came back. Jade’s powers are similar to a Green Lantern but are not from Oa and do not have to be recharged. And Let me point out that Dick Grayson could very well be the greatest team leader in comic book history. He’s lead the Teen Titans, the Titans, the Outsiders and now the JLA … twice. And while I can go on and on about the legimacy of the this league, we are here to talk about the story. And we shall as we embark on this incarnations LAST journey … against a villain who was once the subject of an all annual storyline in the 90s, a catalyst for Infinite Crisis & even had his own ongoing. Get ready as we go dark for “THE RISE OF ECLIPSO”
CLASH FACTS
Our storyline starts in issue # 54 with a quick little recap of the current Justice League. After the recap is done … we go to an named about the devil. That sounds like the ultimate vacation spot. We focus in on Bruce Gordon . .. No, he is not Jim Gordon’s son … and no, he is NOT an amalgamation of Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon. Bruce Gordon happens to be the leading solar scientist on the planet. And he’s on the run … from angry natives. That’s what he gets for going to a place called Diablo Island. He calls his long time love (who oddly sports black hair now when it was red before) Mona and tells hints at the occurances that were happening during the Dark Things crossover. See … I tell you thinks we get back to eventually. With heroes, elementals and the planet having issues, Bruce starts feeling himself changing … while the sun is out.
Back Story Breakdown: Eclipso is a being that *normally* only arises during an eclipse.
But thanks to the Starheart, the thing that made Alan Scott evil and a bunch of other heroes and villains go nuts during Dark Things (which, by the way, this scene starts DURING the Dark Things crossover), Bruce Gordon loses control and once again becomes the host of Eclipso. Instead of sporting a more traditional supervillain look, Eclipso went to the gym and is showing off his bare chest while wearing his signature cap and face still eclipsed. Come to find out, Robinson establishes that this possession is different from before as Bruce can actually talk with Eclipso while the fallen angel (yes he’s a fallen angel and it is a plot point) begins to murder every last native on the island. And it is gore as we see at least one panel where Eclipso is holding up a severed head. It replays how Bruce became Eclipso’s host and Eclipso’s history . .. which includes the fact that Eclipso said that Jean Loring as a host was a BAD idea, ending with the destruction of Diablo Island.
Jade and Jesse Quick are visiting Alan, who was recently crippled because of the Starheart. They are attacked by Eclipso and his Shadow Army. Jade asks Jesse to take her father and get him away … and she does. Jade prepares to fight alone. Meanwhile, over in the remains of where New Krypton once stood, Dark Supergirl .. . *stops* Yes. Before the reboot, Kara had be evil for a short time. Once brought about by Darkseid, another time brought about by another villain of hers and now . .. after a recent battle with a being known as the Omega Man, Kara is Dark Supergirl again. Yet, this time . .. she’s not evil . . . just got lots of attitude. She, Alpha Lantern Boodikka (they made a lantern out of Rey Mysterio’s theme song?!) and Batman, who is Dick Grayson. Grayson laments that he misses his friend Kara, not the brat he sees before them when … they are attacked by Doomsday. Batman calls the Satelite to send for help when Boodikka is injured only to find Starman coming to their aid. Saint Walker joins the fray after Doomsday slaps Starman away. Starman, Dark Supergirl, Batman & Saint Walker find that Doomsday followed them to the Satelite which is being controlled by Cyborg Superman. It seems he infiltrated Boodikka in order to get into the League Satelite . .. and Doomsday wants to kill him.
We get treated to a sub-plot that Dark Supergirl is dying from holograms of Doctor Midnite and Doctor Fate when we find the source . . . her own mind. It seems that Kara going dark is due to survivor’s guilt from being one of the few Kryptonians to survive. She finds her light and starts to beat back Doomsday . .. only to find that Doomsday had beaten Cyborg Superman to become . ..CYBORG DOOMSDAY. WTH? This subplot ends with Cyborg Doomsday taking Kara away with him while a distress call from Donna to the guys has them move out towards the moon.
Back on the moon, Donna is doing her best to find off Eclipso’s Shadow Army in the Emerald City only to fall from sheer numbers. Then Jade arrives . ..only to be eclipsed. *sigh* So Donna and eclipsed Jade trade blows and the denizens of the Emerald City try to run but the Shadow Army is winning. Shade mocks Donna, telling her to join them when the calvary arrives . .. but not who you expect. Congorilla comes in with a bunch of JL reserves, including Red Tornado, Cyborg, Zauriel and Dr. Light. Eclipso just mocks them as Bruce says that Eclipso will fall to the heroes. Eclipso says they will all darken. We see the reserves get eclipsed little by little, including Red Tornado. Eclipso trades swords with Zauriel, who says his former angelic name of LLadiz. Congorilla fights the Elder God alone and looks about to be swallowed by a giant order of calamari when . . .Starman blasts Syththunu off of his friend. Dick leads the charge and we come to find out that all the JL reserves, save for Zauriel, have become eclipsed with the majority of the citizens of the Emerald City. All the Leaguers left standing are Batman, Donna Troy, Congorilla, Starman & Saint Walker. Before Eclipso's Shadow Army can descend upon them, Obsidian, Jade's twin brother and one time partner of Eclipso, comes and sucks the remaining Leagues into the abyss . . .
And while it looks like Obsidian is working for Eclipso, we come to find out he is not as he teleports the non-possessed Leaguers to Jesse Quick and Alan Scott. And it is thanks to Obsidian and Eclipso ... through the power of exposition and some really stunning panels by Brett Booth, we find out EXACTLY what Eclipso's plan is. And I have to say it is one of the most outrageous plans in the history of super hero comics. Using Zauriel, Eclipso calls his successor, The Spectre, to bring him over to the moon. The Starheart adds to Eclipso's power alongside Jade and the Shade. These things allow Eclipso to KILL his successor and then CRACK THE MOON IN HALF!
Armaggedon has come on Earth with disaster after disaster while the JLA try to fight Eclipso for the final part of his master plan to . . . WELL, to KILL GOD!!!
Yes. ECLIPSO'S PLAN IS TO KILL GOD!!!
We have the moon split in half. One of the most powerful angels and beings in the DC Universe getting killed. I .. . I can't say anymore about this story here.
CLASH TACTICS
This league was filled with controversy. As I said in the beginnning of the review though, most of these heroes are legacy heroes: Dick Grayson Batman, Donna Troy, Jade, Jesse Quick, Mikkal Tomas, Supergirl . .. all holding fast to legacies. They also are very good replacements for their A-lister counterparts: Bruce Wayne Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Starman, Superman respectively. As such, having them be the JLA was a very BIG move by Robinson and DC. And this might be one of the stories which best displays that this team not only can deal with anything the Big 7 can, but that this team has more than earned their Legacy.
With that out of my chest, I am gonna start with art. Brett Booth, Miguel Sepulveda & Daniel Sampere all pencilled portions of this story. Daniel Sampere penciled the least amount of this storyline and I will say this . .. the man has potential. While there were some panels that seemed not as detailed and unbalanced, over all Sampere did some really great work. His 2 page spread in issue #59 was amazing. Miguel Sepulveda was stunning with his pencils being able to convey so much emotion and power while giving some wonderful visuals. Although, coloring wise, I find Andrew Dalhouse's colors are more vibrant with Sepulveda's work than Jose Villarrubia, who's colors are a bit more subdued. The MVP of this storyline is definitely Brett Booth. I have been a fan of Booth's work for years . . . since he was doing art on Backlash for Image Comics back in the 90s. His work on Justice League of America has been nothing short of exceptional. The characters and settings are lively and multidimensional. The action is stunningly rendered. The emotional parts are full with that extra umph! Truly, a great job to Brett Booth and his team.
Which gets me to Mr. Robinson. Mr. Robinson. Mr. Robinson. You were so on your way to a World Heavyweight contendership rating. You really were. Let me break down why you are NOT getting that:
-First, there seems to be inconsistencies at times with certain parts of the story. One minute, Eclipso's old angelic name was Lladiz, stated by Zauriel during a battle in issue # 56. But in issue #57, The Spectre then states that Eclipso's angelic name was Galid. So . .. which one is it? Is it both of them?
- Second, there were times were I felt that the cuts between scenes were so dramatic in some places that it felt a bit daunting. One minute, we see Jade about to leave for action. Next minute, she's possessed by Eclipso. Which brings up my final point.
- Finally, there are just points in this story where the pacing seemed so wrong. The sudden jumps at times or the fact that things happened a lot quicker than they should have. There is a sense that this storyline should have been A LOT LONGER!! And it does not seem apparent till the 3rd and 4th parts of the storyline. There just seemed like there was a lot of cramming which really effected the pacing in the middle. We see the League reserves come in. We see them in action for one other panel, then we don't see them again till they are eclipse. Wait ... what?!
Yet, the follow are things that definitely work in Robinson's favor:
- Robinson does a good job handling not only the Eclipso storyline but also the Reign of Doomsday storylines at the same time.
- He truly does his best to make all the cast seem important with great amount of character development. If he decides to not have a character around, he does make sure there is a reason behind it. Well, for the main characters anyway.
-Really does make this team stand up to their predecessors.
- The fact that Robinson's final JLA story deals with his team stopping Eclipso trying to kill GOD is one of the most insane yet entertaining plots in history. And Robinson does his very best to make sure everything towards that plot connects and makes sense. Why he takes Jade? Why he takes Shade? How Earth and its people are connected directly to God? All these things were just so well displayed and explained it makes the storyline that much richer.
- Robinson had Eclipso TRY To kill God after killing the Spectre and splitting the moon in half. OH DEAR GOD!!!
So overall, why Rise of Eclipso does feel crammed at times and there seems to be so much more that could have been done; this storyline is entertaining with great character development, beautiful art and smart writing. It is not perfect but it is a great storyline that can stand with any of the Big 7's stories.
I give Justice League of America: Rise of Eclipso an Intercontinetal Contendership (4 out of 5). You can find this story in trade.
NEXT WEEK: I promise, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK & more.
And while it looks like Obsidian is working for Eclipso, we come to find out he is not as he teleports the non-possessed Leaguers to Jesse Quick and Alan Scott. And it is thanks to Obsidian and Eclipso ... through the power of exposition and some really stunning panels by Brett Booth, we find out EXACTLY what Eclipso's plan is. And I have to say it is one of the most outrageous plans in the history of super hero comics. Using Zauriel, Eclipso calls his successor, The Spectre, to bring him over to the moon. The Starheart adds to Eclipso's power alongside Jade and the Shade. These things allow Eclipso to KILL his successor and then CRACK THE MOON IN HALF!
Armaggedon has come on Earth with disaster after disaster while the JLA try to fight Eclipso for the final part of his master plan to . . . WELL, to KILL GOD!!!
Yes. ECLIPSO'S PLAN IS TO KILL GOD!!!
We have the moon split in half. One of the most powerful angels and beings in the DC Universe getting killed. I .. . I can't say anymore about this story here.
CLASH TACTICS
With that out of my chest, I am gonna start with art. Brett Booth, Miguel Sepulveda & Daniel Sampere all pencilled portions of this story. Daniel Sampere penciled the least amount of this storyline and I will say this . .. the man has potential. While there were some panels that seemed not as detailed and unbalanced, over all Sampere did some really great work. His 2 page spread in issue #59 was amazing. Miguel Sepulveda was stunning with his pencils being able to convey so much emotion and power while giving some wonderful visuals. Although, coloring wise, I find Andrew Dalhouse's colors are more vibrant with Sepulveda's work than Jose Villarrubia, who's colors are a bit more subdued. The MVP of this storyline is definitely Brett Booth. I have been a fan of Booth's work for years . . . since he was doing art on Backlash for Image Comics back in the 90s. His work on Justice League of America has been nothing short of exceptional. The characters and settings are lively and multidimensional. The action is stunningly rendered. The emotional parts are full with that extra umph! Truly, a great job to Brett Booth and his team.
Which gets me to Mr. Robinson. Mr. Robinson. Mr. Robinson. You were so on your way to a World Heavyweight contendership rating. You really were. Let me break down why you are NOT getting that:
-First, there seems to be inconsistencies at times with certain parts of the story. One minute, Eclipso's old angelic name was Lladiz, stated by Zauriel during a battle in issue # 56. But in issue #57, The Spectre then states that Eclipso's angelic name was Galid. So . .. which one is it? Is it both of them?
- Second, there were times were I felt that the cuts between scenes were so dramatic in some places that it felt a bit daunting. One minute, we see Jade about to leave for action. Next minute, she's possessed by Eclipso. Which brings up my final point.
- Finally, there are just points in this story where the pacing seemed so wrong. The sudden jumps at times or the fact that things happened a lot quicker than they should have. There is a sense that this storyline should have been A LOT LONGER!! And it does not seem apparent till the 3rd and 4th parts of the storyline. There just seemed like there was a lot of cramming which really effected the pacing in the middle. We see the League reserves come in. We see them in action for one other panel, then we don't see them again till they are eclipse. Wait ... what?!
Yet, the follow are things that definitely work in Robinson's favor:
- Robinson does a good job handling not only the Eclipso storyline but also the Reign of Doomsday storylines at the same time.
- He truly does his best to make all the cast seem important with great amount of character development. If he decides to not have a character around, he does make sure there is a reason behind it. Well, for the main characters anyway.
-Really does make this team stand up to their predecessors.
- The fact that Robinson's final JLA story deals with his team stopping Eclipso trying to kill GOD is one of the most insane yet entertaining plots in history. And Robinson does his very best to make sure everything towards that plot connects and makes sense. Why he takes Jade? Why he takes Shade? How Earth and its people are connected directly to God? All these things were just so well displayed and explained it makes the storyline that much richer.
- Robinson had Eclipso TRY To kill God after killing the Spectre and splitting the moon in half. OH DEAR GOD!!!
So overall, why Rise of Eclipso does feel crammed at times and there seems to be so much more that could have been done; this storyline is entertaining with great character development, beautiful art and smart writing. It is not perfect but it is a great storyline that can stand with any of the Big 7's stories.
I give Justice League of America: Rise of Eclipso an Intercontinetal Contendership (4 out of 5). You can find this story in trade.
NEXT WEEK: I promise, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK & more.
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