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I know folks aren't big fans of Garth Ennis around here, but I just read JLA/Hitman and found it worth commenting on.
Garth Ennis usually doesn't do straight-up Superheroes very well outside of a farcical context, however I have to say I was pretty impressed with how he handled the JSA/Hitman two parter. It was actually a very good character driven story, which nicely brought Tommy back to his less than impressive roots launching off of the Bloodlines Annual crossover event from '93.
Ennis gives each individual member of the JLA their own distinct understanding of morality within a difficult and morally grey situation, which is something Superheroes aren't always confronted with. Usually, capes and spandex doesn't stand up well under that kind of scrutiny, but the Big Five have such strong personalities that there are some very nice moments created. I particularly liked Superman being the one who relates the most to the "everyman" quality of The Hitman, as does Green Lantern to a different kind of degree (Kyle Rayner has always been written well in this respect under guys like Ennis and Grant Morrison). Wonder Woman finds a common ground with the warrior aspect. Batman and Flash hold their own ground with the Black and White Superhero world-view, however I do like the fact that Flash doesn't live in that kind of world and it's acknowledged (at least in terms of a degree of denial on Wally's part).
A very touching framing sequence with Clark needing to tell the story about how Superman could be seen hanging out with a known criminal like Tommy.
Generally when Ennis does a Superhero story, he manages to sidestep that aspect entirely by introducing an "everyman" to take up the burden... he's done it with the creation of Hitman, his Legends of the Dark Knight arc, The early issues of the Punisher featuring Det. Soap, Hulk Smash, The Authority: Kev and many more. In this case, he seems to have found a handle with each of the five members of the JLA that appear in this book, and allows their characters to come through and interact on a human level with each other and Tommy. The subtext of Flash having done this since he was a kid, to Green Lantern's relative inexperience is absolutely delicious in their interactions with each other in face of the crisis, despite the fact that we've seen it a hundred times before. The snappy dialogue probably helps.
I still think Hitman is a hugely underrated series and is well missed. I'm hoping DC gets onto getting the latter part of that series back into print via trades.
Garth Ennis usually doesn't do straight-up Superheroes very well outside of a farcical context, however I have to say I was pretty impressed with how he handled the JSA/Hitman two parter. It was actually a very good character driven story, which nicely brought Tommy back to his less than impressive roots launching off of the Bloodlines Annual crossover event from '93.
Ennis gives each individual member of the JLA their own distinct understanding of morality within a difficult and morally grey situation, which is something Superheroes aren't always confronted with. Usually, capes and spandex doesn't stand up well under that kind of scrutiny, but the Big Five have such strong personalities that there are some very nice moments created. I particularly liked Superman being the one who relates the most to the "everyman" quality of The Hitman, as does Green Lantern to a different kind of degree (Kyle Rayner has always been written well in this respect under guys like Ennis and Grant Morrison). Wonder Woman finds a common ground with the warrior aspect. Batman and Flash hold their own ground with the Black and White Superhero world-view, however I do like the fact that Flash doesn't live in that kind of world and it's acknowledged (at least in terms of a degree of denial on Wally's part).
A very touching framing sequence with Clark needing to tell the story about how Superman could be seen hanging out with a known criminal like Tommy.
Generally when Ennis does a Superhero story, he manages to sidestep that aspect entirely by introducing an "everyman" to take up the burden... he's done it with the creation of Hitman, his Legends of the Dark Knight arc, The early issues of the Punisher featuring Det. Soap, Hulk Smash, The Authority: Kev and many more. In this case, he seems to have found a handle with each of the five members of the JLA that appear in this book, and allows their characters to come through and interact on a human level with each other and Tommy. The subtext of Flash having done this since he was a kid, to Green Lantern's relative inexperience is absolutely delicious in their interactions with each other in face of the crisis, despite the fact that we've seen it a hundred times before. The snappy dialogue probably helps.
I still think Hitman is a hugely underrated series and is well missed. I'm hoping DC gets onto getting the latter part of that series back into print via trades.
