JLA: American Dreams
Grant Morrison/Howard Porter
Titan, 112pp, £5.99, colour (the latest in the series, Rock of Ages, is reviewed in the current issue)
Reviewed by Philip Douglas (1998)

Remember the Justice League of America? Those old superhero comics involving a team led by Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman? Grant Morrison obviously does, and DC knew what they were doing when they assigned him the scripting duties when they resurrected the monthly title. This collection reprints issues 5-9.

The clue is in the title. American dreams (even though the JLA are now based on the moon) are reflected in the heroes' bright, gaudy fetish outfits, in the superhero/villain games and the fight with a rogue archangel. Played straight throughout but very knowing and postmodern, as you'd expect from Morrison, it's at its funniest when Superman and the angel clash ('How can you bear the scalding light of heaven? Only the purest souls can gaze upon this flame and not be driven mad' Guess who wins) and at the end. Morrison pushes against the genre, but if I've a criticism it's that, at the end of the day, there's not too much substance on offer. Fun though.