JLA by Joe Kelly #61-76 Review

Golden Perfect & The Destroyers

• JLA #61 - "Two-Minute Warning" = I didn't enjoy this first chapter as much as I wanted to, and that definitely turned me off a little about the tone of the series.
• However, Golden Perfect was a fantastic arc and acted as a great primer for my getting used to Kelly's writing. The pacing was excellent, Mahnke's art is stunning, and Joe Kelly's dialogue set in way too well. The moral quandaries between Diana and Rama Khan paired with the bonkers universal physics turning the league topsy turvy was so fun.
• JLA #65 - "Bouncing Baby Boy" = was an awesome piece on Plastic Man, and the first appearance of his son Luke outside of the Kingdom Come universe. The sensitive interior side of O'Brien was very well presented, and his back & forth with Bats made this issue work.
• The Destroyers arc was awesome; the team dynamic is very enjoyable, Flash and GL + Bats & Plas are the standouts. It seems like Kelly has some Supes fatigue and saves the best moments for when he's writing action, since he hasn't had any memorable moments as of yet. Wonder Woman is always utilized well and Kelly does a great job of making her a badass with agency. The threat of Manitou Raven and Tezumak is presented in a big bad way, and I'm super excited to get into Obsidian Age.

JLA : Obsidian Age 

• JLA #68 - The Obsidian Age, Prelude : "Stillborn Atlantis" = time travel mumbo jumbo, I'm all for it! Garth casting the spell during worlds at war created a new history for Atlantis, one where instead of it sinking to the bottom of the sea, ancient magic concealed it with the artificial trench. When Tezumak and manitou used the old magic of the spell to send them back into the past, they revealed the ancient Atlantis and undid the mirage.
• JLA #69 - The Obsidian Age, Part I : "New Blood" = Oh my god: new blood was one of the best JLA stories I've ever read. So ironic that I'm reading this as dark crisis is coming out with their bummy rehash. The lineup is pretty great, except for major disaster and the faith chick (who I'm sure I will learn more about). The art wasn't as good as Mahnke, but I still enjoyed some parts.
• JLA #70 - The Obsidian Age, Part II : "Revisionist History" = Holy dense batman! I was under the impression that the leaguers on the cover were our league transformed by magic or whatever; but no they are an actual primordial jla. I can see proto supes, Diana, and green lantern I think, but the big surprises were ancient Rama Khan and a newbaddie named Gamemnae. I loved Golden Perfect already, but the fact that it ties into this makes me very hyped to see him throw down with Diana. Not sure if the mysterious virus infecting batman is just ancient disease (but he should just have immunity since he's from the future?). Manitou Raven's internal monologue was dope, and I'm definitely feeling more sympathy for him, but lets be honest screw Tezumak. The final page reveal of Arthur was great.
• JLA #71 - The Obsidian Age, Part III : "Transition" = I don't think I've ever had a storyline surpass my expectations like Obsidian Age. That last page reveal had my jaw drop. I'm loving the dynamic between [nu]League and the fact that they double shipped JLA with the past story issues drawn by Mahnke and the present by Guichet brings great contrast/pacing to the story, and the tension builds up in an exciting and engaging fashion. The dialogue is so clever, and the Zatanna reveal also got me good. Nightwing is the scene stealer of this issue, with the intro and his exchange with Jason Blood being the high points. SO excited for this next one.
• JLA #72 - The Obsidian Age, Part IV : "History Is Written By..." = THIS IS BREAKING MY HEART AND MAKING ME SCREAM! So much revealed but so many questions! What the hell is up with green lantern! What the hell do the flies mean! What is going on with Batman's fever! The Batman-Kyle exchange was top, the league as manta-rays was top, and goddamn Kelly did everything in his power to make you hate the proto-league and Gamemnae. Justice for Mera!
• JLA #73 - The Obsidian Age, Part V : "Last Call" = This was the epitome of "what the heck is going on" comics. We get a bit more on Faith, and her powers are pretty sketchy if you ask me, mainly because her selection for the backup JLA could have been because of her power influencing Bruce. Nightwing's writing was fun, definitely a side of his I've grown more accustomed to the more I read stuff he's in. Gamemnae's patchwork corpse body was horrifying (but the rough Guichet pencils helped and hurt it). I love how Kelly writes everybody as a dysfunctional team that actually ends up operating really well. They know they have to fill in big shoes, and they put aside the BS to show up and take names. Jason Blood is awesome, and I'm glad he saved my girl Zee, but the final reveal of Kyle's willpower ghost and the withered immortal Manitou was pretty wild. Who's heart is he holding! Let's jump into the next one!
• JLA #74 - The Obsidian Age, Part VI : "Obsidian" = This chapter might have been my favorite alongside New Blood. The (not-so) final stand of the JLA vs Gamemnae's League was absolutely bonkers. I honestly did not even notice that Wally's legs had been ripped off until this issue, and I had to flip back to #72 just to make sure. Our heroes getting clapped sucked, and it was genuinely horrifying to see Kyle's heart get ripped out and the League's corpses put on pikes for display. J'onn's internal monologue was brilliant; I especially liked the idea that the Obsidian Age is a savage time, with civilizations resorting to primitive violence as more common reactions to "invaders". Manitou Raven steals this issue completely, and the final half of the story is pure comic kino. The Aquaman moment was awesome, and I wonder if there is a reason as to why Plastic Man is not in the ghost entourage. I'm so excited to see Gamemnae get shredded (hopefully).
• JLA #75 - The Obsidian Age, Part VII : "Tragic Kingdom" = 54 pages of ancient mysticism, Atlantean lore, time travel shenanigans, and JLA taking names + saving the day. I got anxiety reading this. In an ideal world Doug Mahnke would have drawn all of it, but the art shifts worked when they worked, and kinda didn't when they didn't. The lore dumps were great, the time travel was fun but vague, especially when the two histories collided. I guess because of Hypertime, they will always have memories of the Obsidian Age, but it's definitely more of a "don't think too hard about it". At the end of the day, I would definitely let Manitou Raven rip out my heart to save my friends' souls too.
• JLA #76 - "Picking Up The Pieces" = The epilogue was fantastic. Kelly nails these quiet transition issues, his dialogue is on a whole different level. He's not trying to impersonate or mimic any style, he's just so good at making the JLA people. The art was fine, but the John Stewart reveal was disgusting, he looks like he wants to consume my soul. The intro with the Plas dream sequence was fantastic as well, and the art actually looked a lot cleaner to me. J'onn stole this for me, and I'm sad to see him, Kyle, and Plas go. They were without a doubt the all-stars until this point.