Grant Morrison returned to the JLA last week with the premier issue of JLA: Classified. The comic recaptures the breakneck, take-no-prisoners and leave-no-exposition pace of his earlier JLA work, although it benefits from much stronger art by Ed McGuinness. (I haven’t read any of McGuiness’s previous work but any man who’s willing to play along with Morrison’s games, like the raindrop panels of page 10, the bomb-ripple panels of page 11, or the cubic panel arrangement on page 12, is okay in my book.).
But while the rapidfire action is intensely satisfying to a fan of Morrison’s JLA, it may leave others struggling to keep pace, especially since it focuses on an obscure set of Morrison supporting characters, the Ultramarines. If I had a hard time remembering who all these people were, what might new readers think?
To some extent, it doesn’t really matter if you know who they are – as long as you grasp that they’re meant to be cyphers who get their asses kicked in act one, and maybe pick up on the Ultimates/Authority pastiche, then you’re fine. But I thought it would be helpful to provide some of the background and to talk about how these characters allude to their Marvel counterparts.
The Ultramarines first appeared in JLA #24-26, where they were government-created super-soldiers who took part in a coup against the President and the JLA. That story ended with the Ultramarines siding with the JLA, then declaring their independence and recruiting other superheroes to form a pre-emptive, first-strike team that would kill enemies first and ask questions later. They were never seen or heard from again until last week, but their charter makes them the ideal vehicle for a takeoff on the Authority-style “proactive” superteam. Morrison has also stated that the new Ultramarines are a conscious parody of Marvel’s classic characters, particularly as they’ve been portrayed in The Ultimates.
Three of the four original Ultramarines appear in JLA: Classified #1:
• Warmaker One: little more than a human sentience inside a suit of armor. Obviously the Iron Man character.
• Glob: originally named “Flow.” Based on his radical deviaton from the human form, and his new dialogue tics (“the ever-luvvin’ Glob in the Rain Room”), he seems to be a vague Thing analogue.
• The Master: originally named “Pulse 8.” In his first appearance, Pulse 8 was “connected to the unified harmonic field” and could “perform incredible feats” involving gravity, electromagnetism, and the other fundamental forces of the universe. Now he’s using his powers to rewrite reality. He’s vaguely reminiscent of characters like the Authority’s Doctor, but I suspect Morrison has gone straight to the source and made him the Ultramarines’ version of Doctor Strange.
• 4-D: mentioned and pictured on the cover, but not featured in the issue, this Ultramarine has the power to move through the various dimensions, becoming two-dimensional, four-dimensional, etc. Possibly an Invisible Girl analogue.
The four originals are sufficiently bizarre that Morrison has to retrofit them pretty drastically to match the classic Marvel characters (although their origin – their media-friendly fake origin, anyway – does fit a general Fantastic Four pattern, making them highly appropriate as the inaugural members of a Marvel pastiche). He has a much easier time with the preexisting DC characters who joined after the team went international. Pictured in JLA #26 were the Knight and Squire, Goraiko, Jack O’Lantern, and the Vixen.
• The Knight and the Squire: new versions of characters from the “Club of Heroes,” a 1950s invention comprised of Batman and Robin ripoffs from around the world. They map just as easily onto Captain America and Bucky.
• Goraiko: first appeared in JLA #26, as far as I know. An atomic titan with the size of Giant-Man and the power of the Hulk, he only speaks in equations and ultraviolent haiku. I love him already.
• Jack O’Lantern: once a Global Guardian (and therefore a spinoff from the Super Friends comic book) with a bargain-basement Green Lantern-style power battery, he’s been reimagined as an acrobatic wisecracking Spider-Man type, right down to the poses he strikes on page 3.
• Vixen: mentioned but not featured, this animal-powered heroine will presumably play the Wolverine or maybe Black Widow type.
• Olympian: mentioned but not featured, he’s a Greek Global Guardian with mythology-based powers. Obviously the Thor analogue.
In one interview, Morrison has indicated that the Ultramarines may include an Elektra analogue as well. It’ll be interesting to see who, if anyone, he casts in that role.
Finally, a few other interesting details that hint of past and future stories:
• Neh-buh-loh the Huntsman: the Squire’s files suggest a connection to Nebula Man, the being who scattered the Seven Soldiers of Victory across time back in Justice League of America #100-102. Neh-buh-loh’s speech reads like a bit of classic Morrisonian set-up for a larger story, which is exactly what it is: this will almost certainly lead into the “Seven Soldiers” saga next year.
• Batman’s “sci-fi closet”: given that Morrison loves to reintroduce the more outré bits of expunged continuity, I’m surprised this closet wasn’t filled with all those costumes from the days of the Cosmic Zebra Batman. In my mind, they’re all knocking around in the back somewhere. The “Don’t tell my friends in the G.C.P.D.” line seems to acknowledge this forgotten silliness.
• The infant universe of Qwewq. First mentioned in JLA #12, this baby universe was being protected and nurtured by the heroes of Wonderworld. Apparently it survived Wonderworld’s destruction and somehow found its way into the hands of the JLA. The name is a reference to Italo Calvino’s stories about Qfwfq, a being as old as the universe who narrates the stories of Cosmicomics and t zero.
(I’m disappointed that Qwewq looks exactly like the “information sent backwards in time” form that Neh-buh-loh assumes to trap and consume the Master. Unless there’s some good plot reason for this in the later issues, it just seems unnecessarily coincidental and misleading.)
So there you have it. The first issue of JLA: Classified is a straightfoward but entertaining superhero story perfectly in keeping with Morrison’s earlier JLA work. The storyline looks like it’s building towards a giant DC/Marvel rumble in the grand Avengers/Squadron Supreme manner, updated for the house styles of the new millenium. Should be a lot of fun.
You know, considering the Squadron Supreme is what, 30 years old now, it's about time DC did this.
Not sure if Matt's being tongue in cheek or not, but the Assemblers were the counterparts of the Squadron Supreme in the original "not actually a crossover" stories, and they featured heavily in the opening days of the post-Legends Justice League title in the 80s.
And wouldn't Olympian be a slightly better fit to Hercules?
How did I know that somebody would say Olympian is a Hercules reference? (Because approximately 74% of internet traffic is driven by hairsplitting?)
Given that Thor is the more prominent Marvel hero, that Morrison has mentioned Thor as one of the archetypes he's using, and that no other obvious Thor candidate has thus far presented himself, I'm going with Thor. He could, of course, be a double allusion.
I guess I'm alone in trying to forget everything Kieth Giffen did to the Justice League, huh? The Assemblers didn't really 'stick' as far as I'm concerned: maybe the Ultramarines will.
And maybe we'll get "Ultimate Might" a little ways down the road, a slow, plodding, painful series written by someone with more reputation than he deserves and some kickass art.
Now this is getting silly. Much of the Authority were pastiches of the JLA, and the Ultimates are homages to the Authority, by two of the creators. Has Morrison really made a parody of a homage to a pastiche? It can't really get any more inbred, unless Millar or Ellis decide to make a responce. A fake Anti-Authority issue of Planetary, for instance.
Well, the Authority were only the largest in a long, long line of Justice League pastiches that appeared in Ellis' Wildstorm Universe work.
(I'm wondering why Greg didn't mention Grodd himself as Ultimate Hulk analog...)
Much of the Authority were pastiches of the JLA...
Well, the Authority were only the largest in a long, long line of Justice League pastiches that appeared in Ellis' Wildstorm Universe work.
I don't really agree. Apollo is Superman, Midnighter is Batman, and the rest of their JLA-analogue group was killed off on some secret mission or other. The only other I can see is that Swift has Hawkman's powers. Who are Jenny Sparks, the Engineer, the Doctor, and Jack Hawksmoor supposed to be take-offs of?
...and the Ultimates are homages to the Authority...
In the feel of the comic only, since they're overtly the same characters as the Avengers.
The Engineer is Ellis' Green Lantern analog.
The Doctor is an Ellisized Dr. Fate. The originals to both of them were in Ellis' JSA analog, so the "next generation" versions of both that wound up in the authority map to the JLA versions.
Sparks and Hawksmoor are Ellis originals, but the Authority picked up enough JLA-oid strays to make the team solidly JLA flavored.
The Engineer is Ellis' Green Lantern analog.
The Doctor is an Ellisized Dr. Fate. The originals to both of them were in Ellis' JSA analog, so the "next generation" versions of both that wound up in the authority map to the JLA versions.
I remember slowly... This was the group where everyone had names starting with "The"? The High? The Eidolon?
I don't think the High's team were analogs to the JSA. They were archetypes and therefore there's overlap, but the Doctor is as much Doctor Strange as Doctor Fate, and the Engineer as much Iron Man as Green Lantern.
(I'm wondering why Greg didn't mention Grodd himself as Ultimate Hulk analog...)
Because Greg didn't write this post? :)
I've seen others mention the Grodd-as-Ultimate Hulk comparison. I suppose the two do share a bad temper and a sweet tooth for human flesh, but I didn't include Grodd since he's not actually one of the Ultramarines. Goraiko's an angry atomic-powered giant; that's good enough for me.
Rounding up the rest of the comments, Isaac, I think you're right about the total bankruptcy of all the Authority ripoffs, parodies, and "homages" over the past five years; the Ultramarines offer the advantage of having just beaten the rush, but most of their appeal lies in the specific response to Millar's Ultimates.
And Ralf, I'd say the Authority are indeed the terminus of a long line of equally bankrupt Ellis ripoffs. Within a year or so, he gave us the archetype group that Stormwatch fought (the High et al) and not one but two carbon copies of the JLA (in Planetary and Stormwatch), combining one of these groups with the successors to the High's group to form the Authority. This was the same time he was treating us to other such innovative character designs as the Vertigo issue of Planetary, which also plagiarizes Alan Moore's introduction to V for Vendetta word for word and culminates in a self-aggrandizing love letter to his own Spider Jerusalem (himself not exactly a wholly original creation).
Yeah, that was the year I gave up on Warren Ellis.
Ellis is to Moore as Byrne is to Kirby. Maybe not that far, but it is worrisome to see the way that he refers to Moore on Fanboy Rampage, or wherever else the opportunity to praise his idol arises. ("Moore always used to say, Other writters don't really understand Watchmen, Moore is such a crazy bastard," so on)
Anyway, The Ultramarines might have been created first, but it's used now in a way that draws attention to the fact that it's use as a critique of a homage. It doesn't help that JLA: Elite is being made right now, or that The Authority: Kev is wrapping up. But I did like his JLA series, so if it's actually fun instead of frowning at unfun things, I might pick it up.
Ellis is to Moore as Byrne is to Kirby.
Well, we'll have to wait twenty years to see if that comparison holds. It's always possible that someone can lose it like Byrne has. I hope that won't be the case with Ellis. It would be just as much of a shame as it is with Byrne.
I'm evidently the only Ellis fan out here, huh?
For what it's worth, I never read the Authority as a direct 1:1 JLA analog. The comparison could be made, I suppose, but only by really stretching character types: i.e., in a way that would make Dr. Fate the same as Dr. Strange the same as the Spectre the same as the Pharmacist because, you know, they all use magic.
The Vertigo issue of Planetary was pretty ham-fisted, however.
I'm evidently the only Ellis fan out here, huh?
No way, I am consistently entertained by Ellis' comics.
I've not read a huge amount of Ellis' stuff, but I like what I've read a lot. He's better when he's not doing superheroes though.
I liked Ellis work on Stormwatch and The Authority, not so much when he writes in playgrounds I actually have some interest in.
I didn't mind the JLA analogues in the first issue of Planetary because their purpose was to get slaughtered by their pulp forebears, not serve as deep characters. I've enjoyed the issues of Planetary dealing with pop culture (i.e. the Science City Zero issue, the dead cop in Hong Kong, the Monster Island thing) most of all. However, Iron Man #1 is pretty good. On the one hand, Stark is the ideal "Here's the future and you're too small-minded to get it" Ellis protagonist but he's admittedly a compromised (in Ellis' eyes) due to his munitions background (esp. since he never researches the non-military uses for his tech).
Except of course that writers from Mantlo to Michelinie to Busiek have shown that he does and to drag the munitions background back to the forefront after it's been thoroughly examined and moved away from (hell, it's not even the same company anymore) is just plain goddamn silly.
And damn them for bringing back Krypto, too! ;-)
Yes, and I for one can't wait for Ellis' brilliant run on Batman when we find out that he's got some issues because his parents were killed when he was a child. It should be groundbreaking, boy.
At what point is something an integral component of a character as opposed to a storyline that can be moved on from?
Well, when your character hasn't made munitions in over 20 years, it's not an integral part of the character anymore.
No, an Ellis Batman series would start off with a thrilling discussion of the physics of Batman's tool belt, armor, and car. Then he fights NASA.
Matt, I don't care if the munitions background is well worn. It's not well worn for me. I didn't pick up the stories in the early 60s and have no desire to pick up the reprints. I haven't picked up an Iron Man issue in five or six years (some of the Busiek run I think) and before that it was probably more like seven or eight (I think Paul Ryan was drawing the book). I'm interested enough again now.
If it all turns out just to be a six issue romp, that's fine. If Ellis stays on the book for an extended run, I'm sure he'll expand or move on from the munitions background and that's fine too.
My problem with Ellis's various "homages" and "reinventions" - I can only speak to past ones since I have no interest in his Iron Man, especially to judge by the abysmally padded preview pages - is not that the elements he chooses to highlight are well-worn parts of the characters. Frankly, I would expect any back-to-basics approach to focus on those time-tested elements.
My problem is that Ellis's stories usually have nothing beyond the two-sentence high-concept character pitch or plot summary. Stark as a guilty arms manufacturer is fine (although it's nowhere near as novel as Ellis would like us to think it is); thirty-two pages that only tell me "Stark is a guilty arms manufacturer" is not.
Oh, and Stark using a personal recorder to narrate how cool his armor is has got to be just about the laziest attempt at programming audience reaction I've ever seen. Even Busiek would blush.
Ralf -
My original response was to Robby's point that as an Ellis mouthpiece, Stark is compromised because he doesn't research non-military uses for his technology. This is quite simply not so: Stark has been shown using that technology to create artificial organs and limbs, new neural systems, web browsers, etc etc... in fact, for over 20 years now Stark's every use of the technology has been nonmilitary. Holding him up as an example of a munitions developer who doesn't research his technology's other uses would be like saying that Spider-Man is still in high-school.
Now, if you want to go back to his munitions background for some reason, be it a reboot or relevance in the modern era, that's certainly justifiable. Hell, they laid groundwork for that in the whole 'Tony as Secretary of Defense attempting to prevent his technology from being used by the military' arc in recent issues of Iron Man. But to argue that finding the summary dismissal of the past two decades of stories annoying is somehow reactionary of me... well, you're free to that opinion.
But I already read these stories. If Ellis can't do something new instead of having Iron Man go on about how cool he is for a whole issue, then why is he writing it? This is the guy who wrote Hellstrom and Druid, after all.
Sparks and Hawksmoor are Ellis originals
I've always considered Hawksmoor an Aquaman analogue.
If Ellis were writing Batman, the first thing he'd have to do is bring back the all-white arctic Batman costume from the 50s...
from ellis's mr sleepless:
It occurs to me that an awful lot of trouble in Gotham City could have been averted a long time ago if Batman had just ripped the Joker's nipples off.
I mean, treatment doesn't work, does it? They stick the Joker in the nuthatch, he comes out again and does the same things.
A man with the nipples ripped off him does not make the same mistakes twice.
Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot, and need the nipples ripped off them.
I mean, who's going to argue?
"Batman, I've heard disturbing reports that you ripped the Joker's nipples off."
"Choke on my fuck, Commissioner Gordon."
"...okay."
I mean, crime in Gotham City doesn't exactly seem to be affected by a man dressed as a bat flapping around the place. But no-one disobeys a man wearing a necklace of human nipples.
"I'm Batman" isn't cutting it in the striking-fear-into-their-hearts stakes. But "I'm Batman -- and I'm here for your nipples" is an entirely different proposition.
Criminals would see the error of their ways after a man in a black leather pervert suit had their nipples off with the edge of a Batarang, you mark my words. Or a Bat-Denipplizer.
I'm off to ring DC Comics.
(C) Warren Ellis 2002, 2004