{"id":47,"date":"2008-04-25T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2008-04-25T11:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/2008\/04\/25\/grant-morrison-wants-to-do-what\/"},"modified":"2008-04-25T06:47:09","modified_gmt":"2008-04-25T10:47:09","slug":"grant-morrison-wants-to-do-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2008\/04\/25\/grant-morrison-wants-to-do-what\/","title":{"rendered":"Grant Morrison wants to do what…?!?!"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I think Grant Morrison<\/a> must either be a complete nut-bar or a genius beyond our understanding.<\/p>\n

\"JLA<\/a>I’d heard that the upcoming “Final Crisis<\/a>” would have something to do with the former JLA villain Libra<\/a>.\u00a0 In preparation for “Final Crisis”, I decided to enter Shag’s Sanctum Sanctorum and dig through the archives for Libra’s one and only appearance – Justice League of America #111<\/a> (June 1974).\u00a0 I found my tattered copy and dove into the story.<\/p>\n

This was one of those 100 page comics for only 60 cents.\u00a0 It featured a 20-page lead story with the JLA versus Libra and the newly-formed Injustice Gang of the World<\/a>.\u00a0 Back-up stories included a reprint of a golden age “Seven Soldiers of Victory<\/a>” story, and a reprint of an early JLA story where they battle Brain Storm.\u00a0 All told, this is a massive 100 pages of fun!<\/p>\n

While the 100 page comics are pretty cool just for their massive size and content, this Libra story was pretty tough to slog through.\u00a0 Why on Earth this inspired Grant Morrison is beyond me.\u00a0 The lead story in JLA #111 was written by Len Wein<\/a> and drawn by Dick Dillin<\/a> & Dick Giordano<\/a>.\u00a0 The gist of the story is that a bunch of villains (all foes of various JLA members) are gathered by a mysterious stranger named Libra<\/a>.\u00a0 Together they form the Injustice Gang of the World<\/a>.\u00a0 Libra wants the Injustice Gang to be the evil opposite of the Justice League (they even have a satellite orbiting Earth 22,300 miles above the opposite side of the Earth).\u00a0<\/p>\n

All this is pretty standard fair for the time period of superhero comics.\u00a0 The story enters the realm of ridiculous when the heroes get ready to go face down their respective foes.\u00a0 Elongated Man makes a suggestion that instead of the heroes tracking down their usual villains, they put their names in a hat and randomly draw which villain they will go after.\u00a0Batman is the voice of reason stating that the idea is unprofessional and illogical.\u00a0 Unfortunately Batman is outvoted and they use the random method.\u00a0 Why on Earth would you do that?!?!?!\u00a0 If lives are in danger, you should send\u00a0your best or more experienced guy.\u00a0 Why send Aquaman after Poison Ivy?\u00a0 Don’t you think Batman’s experience would allow him to beat her up quicker?\u00a0 So the JLA is risking many innocent bystanders lives, simply because they feel like “changing it up a bit”.\u00a0 Crazy… but that’s comics in 1974 for you.<\/p>\n

In the end Libra managed to capture the active JLA members, stole half their powers, and activated his device to steal half of the power from the entire Milky Way galaxy.\u00a0 Yup, you read that correctly… half of the power from the entire Milky Way galaxy.\u00a0 What a nifty device!\u00a0 Don’t you think if Libra could build a device like that, he really didn’t need to bother with these second-rate villains and the JLA?\u00a0 Anyway,\u00a0a few Leaguers were able escape Libra’s trap, but not before Libra began to soak in half of the power in the galaxy.\u00a0 The power proved to be too much for Libra and he became so disjointed he couldn’t hold together the very atoms of his own essence.\u00a0 Libra dissipates into the ether complaining about knowing too much.\u00a0 Libra’s device did manage to rob the JLA of half of their superpowers, however, this wasn’t a permanent loss.<\/p>\n

So this is the villain that Grant Morrison feels simply must be\u00a0brought back after almost 35 years in obscurity?!?!?!\u00a0 Maybe Morrison is going to take the approach of Libra balancing the cosmic scales, or depowering the heroes by robbing them of half their power, or maybe Grant\u00a0just wants all the heroes to put their name in a hat to decide who they fight.\u00a0 I keep imagining this funny scene where Aquaman draws Doomsday’s name out of a hat – Suffering Sardines, Aquaman!\u00a0 Who knows what angle Morrison will take.\u00a0 After reading this story, I’d be more likely to \u00a0bring back Flex Mentallo<\/a> after seeing the classic Charles Atlas ad<\/a> in this issue.\u00a0 I’m willing to forgive Len Wein given the way comics were written back in 1974.\u00a0 However, Grant…\u00a0sorry, time for your meds.\u00a0 With that said, if Grant can pull off “Final Crisis” like he has previously done with “Arkham Asylum<\/a>“, “JLA”, “Animal Man<\/a>“, “Doom Patrol<\/a>“, or\u00a0“52<\/a>“,\u00a0then we’ll\u00a0be singing the praises of Grant’s misunderstood genius.<\/p>\n

Tell the world about ONCE UPON A GEEK:<\/h3>