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Just Imagine GNs published by DC Comics

Just Imagine Stan Lee and Jerry Ordway Creating JLA2001 (SC GN) 48 pages

Written by Stan Lee (story Lee and Michael Uslan). Illustrated by Jerry Ordway.
Colours: David Baron. Letters: Bill Oakley.

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

The sixth volume in the series of graphic novels where former Marvel Comics legend, Stan Lee, takes a stab at re-imagining some of DC Comics' key properties, Lee's JLA unites all the characters that he has previously featured in their own one-shot graphic novels (Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Lantern, the Flash) as they team up against the "Just Imagine..." Universe's resident villain's villain, the Reverend Darrk and his Church of Eternal Empowerment.

Lee's Just Imagine.. project has been a mixed bag. It hasn't really turned the industry on its head the way some had hoped (and the way Lee's pioneering work at Marvel Comics in the '60s helped revolutionize the super hero genre). But as moderate, super hero adventures, some of the books have been enjoyable reads (Batman, Superman and to a lesser extent, the Flash), while others have been a tad bland.

The plot here has the various heroes uniting to form a Justice League against a super-villain trio, the Doom Patrol (another DC Comics property, re-imagined by Lee), and to help a teen-ager, Adam Strange (ditto), who's on the run from the evil Reverend.

Throwing all his characters together, and letting their various personalities play off of each other (Flash's guileless enthusiasm, Superman's surliness), Lee's JLA emerges as one of the better books in the series. In fact, combined as a team, some of the characters emerge as stronger personalities than they had in their own, solo stories. Lee's Green Lantern had been a kind of blandly generic leading man in the Green Lantern one-shot, but here, those very qualities make him an endearing character as he plays the straight man to some of the other, more colourful characters.

The plot's still just a fairly routine action-adventure, but it's paced out well and with a twist or two (Lee shares plotting credits with Michael Uslan, the instigator of the whole "Just Imagine..." project). And Lee seems more at home juggling the bigger cast of characters than he has in some of the other books, where the lack of a supporting cast has kind of dulled the potential for human interaction. And though Lee's "Just Imagine..." series has invited complaints that it's not "edgy", or "modern" enough, it's interesting to note that Lee's five character JLA is 40% women and 40% minorities...which, I believe, is a better, more inclusive ratio than the real JLA (or many other super hero team books on the shelves!)

Popular artist Jerry Ordway's sturdy, reliable art is always pleasant, with rounded, well-realized faces and figures that tell the story well. No flash or stylistics, just an old fashioned, tell-the-tale approach.

All in all, Lee and Ordway's JLA is a fun little romp.

Cover price: $9.95 CDN./ $5.95 USA. 

Just Imagine Stan Lee and and John Byrne Creating Robin   2002 (SC GN) 48 pages

Written by Stan Lee. Pencils by John Byrne. Inks by Terry Austin.
Colours: Alex Sinclair. Letters: Bill Oakley.

Back up story: Writers: Michael Uslan, Stan Lee. Art: John Severin. Colours: Sinclair. Letters: Oakley.

Rating: * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Beginning the second wave of "Just Imagine..." books (which is a fancy way of saying they didn't publish one in January), this continues Marvel Comics' creator Stan Lee's attempt to re-imagine various DC Comics' characters. Here we get Robin. Lee's Robin is an embittered teen who works for the resident villain's villain of Lee's Just Imagine universe, the Reverend Darrk (who has appeared in all the books so far, in big and small parts). Darrk sends Robin out on various assignments, all the while promising Robin something in return. The book opens with Robin attempting his current assignment -- to kill Lee's version of Batman.

Unlike previous Just Imagine books, the story doesn't unfold linearly, telling the origin from the beginning. Instead it begins in the now, and a fight with Batman, while the character's background is filled in, piece by piece, with flashbacks throughout the story. The result is a decently paced tale that clips along fairly well. And by throwing in Batman in a few scenes, Lee takes some of the pressure off his lead character, since he doesn't have to carry the whole thing (in much the same way that Lee's JLA benefitted from the multi-character approach). Though, even then, Batman doesn't appear enough.

But, at heart, the story never quite becomes...exciting. Despite working with a potentially poignant figure (a bitter orphan), Robin never becomes that interesting. And despite the jumbled storytelling technique meaning Lee can tell a faster, tighter story, the plot itself isn't anything twisty or clever. Lee throws in a potentially interesting scene, and some room for human drama, as Robin encounters a woman he had a crush on years before...but then that scene never goes anywhere (except that the woman pops up in the "On the Street" back-up story). The problem with the Just Imagine books is that Lee keeps writing them as if they're the beginning of on going series, occasionally throwing in hints of sub-plots and supporting characters that aren't developed in the books they appear, but aren't followed up upon in later books in the series either.

The art is by John Byrne, reunited with his old X-Men inker, Terry Austin. Of course, Byrne's style has changed so much from his X-Men days that the re- teaming hardly conjures up any nostalgia. Once a meticulous, detailed artist in the George Perez/Phil Jimenez mold, Byrne's style has evolved into a much, much looser, rougher style as though he's trying to emulate someone like Joe Kubert (who drew Stan Lee's Batman). Actually, given that Batman is a supporting player in this story, it's not an inappropriate choice. Still, I'm on the fence as far as Byrne's art is concerned. His work lacks the discipline, the detail of his early work, but, to my mind, he hasn't really replaced it with much -- his handling of figures, or faces, or panel composition isn't noticeably better. Put another way, he may be emulating Kubert or even Gil Kane...but he ain't there yet. Still, it was perfectly serviceable art, don't misunderstand, and Byrne draws an eerie Reverend Darrk.

Though this is at least the second of these books where I preferred the art in the eight page back up story -- here by the great John Severin -- to the art in the main story. I didn't even realize Severin was still working in the business.

Ultimately, not great, not terrible, Stan Lee's Robin is passable but unmemorable.

Cover price: $9.95 CDN. / $5.95 USA.

Just Imagine Stan Lee with Gary Frank Creating Shazam!2002 (SC GN) 48 pages

Written by Stan Lee. Pencils by Gary Frank. Inks by Sandra Hope.
Colours: Chris Chuckry. Letters: Bill Oakley.

Back Up Story: Writers: Stan Lee, Michel Uslan. Art: Kano. Colour: Alex Sinclair. Letters: Bill Oakley.

Rating: * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

The eighth book in the twelve part series of graphic novels in which Stan Lee puts his own spin on the DC Comics universe. Here, Lee re-imagines the original Captain Marvel/Shazam premise by having the hero be a mild mannered Interpol agent named Robert Rogers. Teamed with the beautiful, and much tougher, fellow agent, Carla Noral, the two of them are in India searching for the megalomanical master criminal, Gunga Kahn.

Rogers, unbeknownst to himself, is given the power to transform himself with the magic word, "Shazam!", by a fakhir, dying on the streets.

Like other Lee reinventions of DC Comics characters, this one blends ideas from the original, with aspects borrowed from some of Lee's own Marvel Comics repertoire. Here, there is a hint of the Incredible Hulk, with Rogers transforming into a grotesque monster who seems to be a bit of Rogers' id unleashed; the Shazam monster is bad tempered, and Rogers and his alter ego don't seem to share full memories. Shazam isn't as unbridled, or as unintelligent, as the Hulk, though. Think of him as more like the She-Hulk in her pre-comedy days: a lot of attitude, but still in control of his actions.

The story is fairly straight forward, with Rogers discovering his ability after Noral is kidnapped by Gunga Kahn's men, leading to a showdown.

In the aftermath of September 11th, it's easy to infer Lee may have been inspired a little by those events -- rather, the subsequent war in Afghanistan -- with agents tracking a global terrorist and his men hiding out in the mountains of an Eastern nation. But it's probably best not to look for too much connection, as it might seem in bad taste since Lee's story remains decidedly simple and light weight and not a serious examination of anything. And, in truth, the nature of the publishing business means that Lee may well have plotted this out before September 11th, 2001.

Stan Lee's Shazam! is moderately enjoyable fluff, with some occasional clever touches. Though Rogers gets the power, Noral is pretty much an equal character, making this, unexpectedly, a buddy-romance story, allowing for a bit of interaction. Some of Lee's other volumes had, I felt, been hurt by the fact that the main character had no one to play off of. It's paced a bit more sprightly than some of the lesser books in the series, as well -- thanks, perhaps, to the use of character interplay. There's also some nice humour in spots.

The art by Gary Frank is appealing in its no nonsense way, telling the story with clarity, with solid figurework and detail. Frank also has propensity toward cleavage, as well as depicting a scantily clad villainess who appears briefly at the beginning. Which, y'know, can be pleasant...if, ahem, you like that sort of thing, of course.

At the same time, "moderately fun" is the operative phrase. Though not bad, there's nothing really special or that stands out here. The plot is pretty basic and straightforward, the villain just a villain, the dialogue, as with most of these Just Imagine books, can be a bit stiff at times. There's a sequence where Shazam is brainwashed by Gunga Khan...but nothing's done with the idea and it barely lasts for a couple of pages. And Khan's master plan is, well, kind of goofy...but could've been fun if more had been done with the idea, or at least, if it had been built up to, or foreshadowed. And I'm not sure if Merlin the Magician -- depicted in an opening flashback -- was supposed to be the present day fakhir, or whether Frank just happened to draw them similar.

The backup, "On the Street" story (drawn by Kano) is O.K., but gets its biggest boost by the clever ending.

Ultimately, Lee's Shazam! isn't a "must read", but is an enjoyable enough time-killer, nicely drawn by Frank.

Cover price: $9.95 CDN./ $5.95 USA. 

Just Imagine Stan Lee and John Buscema Creating Superman 2001 (SC GN) 48 pgs.

Written by Stan Lee. Illustrated by John Buscema.
Colours: Chris Chuckry. Letters: Bill Oakley.

Back up story: Writer: Michael Uslan, Stan Lee. Artist: Kyle Baker. Colours: Kyle Baker. Letters: Bill Oakley.

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Just Imagine Stan Lee's Superman continues DC Comics off-beat prestige format maxi-series wherein comics legend Stan Lee, the guy who co-created probably two-thirds of Marvel Comics' line, takes a stab at re-imagining DC's characters in a series of interconnected one-shot graphic novels. The series so far has been getting mixed reviews (at least the ones I've read). I liked Lee's Batman (teamed with equally geriatric artist Joe Kubert), but Lee's Wonder Woman (with hipper artist Jim Lee -- no relation) was pretty blah.

Here Lee is re-teamed with one of his old Marvel collaborators, artist John Buscema. This Superman is Salden, a police officer on a technologically advanced alien planet who works out but is still the weakling compared to his genetically enhanced fellow officers. When a vicious criminal, Gorrok, kills Salden's wife, he pursues him and the two end up on a prototype space ship that crashes them on the comparatively primitive planet earth, whose lighter gravity gives them super powers. Separated from his foe, Salden tries to make his way in contemporary Los Angeles, heading for a showdown with Gorrok.

There are some early bits that can make one sigh with disappointment, like the whole hero trying to avenge himself against the villain -- it's the same trick Lee used in his Batman and Wonder Woman books. Aside from the repetition, the problem is that Lee has yet to make any effort to flesh out his bad guys. They're just one dimensional black hats. And there's a technical glitch in the story in that the device that lets Salden flies gets broken...but later he seems to be flying (though maybe he's just supposed to be jumping).

With that being said, Lee's Superman emerges as being kind of fun. Sure, it's silly in spots and Lee writes with a blunt edged subtlety, but it's an ingratiating silly and the story trundles along at a fair clip and keeps you turning the pages. He doesn't explore things as much as he might, and some of the scenes are paired to the bone, but with scene layered on scene he crams enough into his story that it comfortably fills the criteria of a graphic novel (unlike his Wonder Woman which seemed awfully thin).

The "Just Imagine..." series may not be re-establishing Lee as a comics pioneer for the 21st Century, but when compared to the writing of, say, a Dan Jurgens, or any of a dozen other modern writers, he doesn't exactly have to hide his head in shame either.

Superman at first seems like an odd characterization, given a kind of working class spin, and a brusque, even surly personality. But that becomes part of the fun, the decidedly off-beat take on Superman (while still maintaining clear ties to the original, something Lee was less prone to do in his Batman and Wonder Woman stories). And Lee seems comfortable with these down to earth characters and their colloquial speech patterns. There's even some of Lee's old humour and twinkle that had been missing from his more sombre Batman and Wonder Woman...particularly when his take on Lois Lane arrives on the scene.

There are some quirky ideas, like Salden wanting to go home, but concluding the only way humans will develop the kind of spacefaring technology he needs is if they aren't wasting so much money fighting crime and wars. So he concludes he must fight crime and speed things along. It's a bizarrely audacious concept, but it illustrates Salden's self-confidence, and his condescension toward earth people, as well as giving him a slightly selfish reason for his altruistic actions.

The art by John Buscema is vivid and striking. I had read that Buscema had "officially" retired from comics a few years ago, but it's nice to see that whatever his reasons for retiring, it wasn't because of dwindling skill with a pencil. He's still one of the best in the business, and his work is aided nicely by Chris Chuckry's warm, atmospheric colours. The early scenes on Salden's homeworld are particularly striking. As well, the redesigned costume for Superman is snazzily effective too, the best of the "Just Imagine..." re-designs.

Additional note: Actually, John Buscema passed away shortly after this was published, which may make this his final, published work.

This is also the first of these books where I actually got a kick out of the "On the Street" back up stories (here, it's a comical piece).

Lee's Superman is hardly going to shake up the industry. It ain't particularly smart, or sophisticated, but as just a kick-off-your-slippers, breezy super hero read, it fills out its 42 pages comfortably and is beautifully drawn. Lee's Batman may've been the edgiest of these books so far, but his Superman may be the most...fun.

Cover price: $9.95 CDN./$5.95 USA.

Just Imagine Stan Lee and Jim Lee Creating Wonder Woman 2001 (SC GN) 48 pgs.

Written by Stan Lee. Pencils by Jim Lee. Inks by Scott Williams.
Colours: Alex Sinclair. Letters: Bill Oakley.

Back up story: Writers: Michael Uslan, Stan Lee. Art: Gene Colan, Tom Palmer. Colours: Lovern Kindzierski. Letters: Bill Oakley.

Rating: * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

This is the second in a proposed 12 graphic novel series in which comics legend Stan Lee, formerly of Marvel Comics, takes a stab at re-imagining various DC Comics' characters. The first book was Stan Lee's Batman and I rather liked it. In fact, I liked it quite a lot. So it's in that light that I say that Just Imagine Stan Lee's Wonder Woman is a disappointment.

The story starts out promising enough with an intriguing mythological opening that contrasts nicely with the down-to-earth urban grittiness of the Batman GN. Then we meet our heroine, with Lee once more playing the ethnicity card (his Batman was black) -- this time, his heroine is a young Peruvian woman named Maria Mendoza. Maria is incensed by the way a local kingpin, Armando Guitez, is tearing up a local archaeological dig in his quest for artifacts, and by the way he abuses the local farmers. Her father, too, is in Guitez's pocket. At least, so we are told, but almost as soon as we meet the senior Mendoza he decides to stand up to Guitez...with unfortunate results. What Guitez really wants from the archaeological dig is ancient, supernatural power, a power he acquires, even as Maria gains her own magical abilities leading to a showdown between the two.

Stan Lee's Wonder Woman, unfortunately, is a little...bland. Lee dumps most of the mainstream Wonder Woman concepts (stranger to modern society/goddess) for a pretty standard super hero origin: normal person swears to avenge an injustice, gains super powers, beats bad guy. Period. Instead of getting some sort of edgy or radical take on the character, Lee's version, other than in her being Latin American, is less unusual than the original. Given that Lee co-created Thor, with that character's supporting cast of gods and ancient Asgard, it's too bad he didn't put more of that kind of mythological spin on the character.

The build up, as we watch Guitez murder and abuse people, is rather pointlessly protracted, particularly since Guitez never emerges as an interesting personality, or demonstrates anything approaching motivation. He's just the stock bad guy. In fact, none of the characters are really fleshed out. Maria meets a black American archaeologist named Steve Trevor who befriends her...then abruptly starts telling her all she needs to know about the mystical history of the excavation without ever explaining how he knows so much, or why a modern, educated man believes in the myths. And Maria herself never really stretches beyond being the feisty, righteously indignant heroine we meet in the opening pages. Lee's Batman chronicled that character's growth...not so here.

Lee has always had two modes of dialogue. The stilted, mannered speech he would use for gods, aliens, and profundity, and the glib, everyman speech patterns of a Spider-Man or Ben Grimm. Here, though, he seems to be locked into the former mode, robbing much of the dialogue, and by extension, the characters, of some needed quirks and humanity. And humour. Both Lee's Batman and this are pretty humourless -- this from the guy who gave us the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man!

The art here is by Jim Lee (no relation to Stan). A modern fan favourite, Lee's art is pretty good in a modern sort of way--sure, all the guys look pretty similar, and Maria has a bit too much of that gamine-look that's all the rage, but the backgrounds are nicely detailed and the figures well-realized. Like Stan Lee's dialogue, though, Jim Lee's art never quite explodes into life. Though he demonstrates aspirations to Good Girl Art that can make some of the panels appealing.

The Lee-Lee collaboration raises interesting questions. Stan Lee pioneered the "Marvel style" of comicbook writing, wherein a writer writes an outline, an artist draws a story from that, and then the writer puts in dialogue. It's a style that has tended to blur the line between who did what, and has led pundits to infer that Stan Lee's artists can claim more credit for the finished story than simply being the guys who drew it. When Lee collaborated with Joe Kubert on Batman, the result was a surprisingly sombre, low-key story, and Kubert's recent solo work has included such gritty works as "Fax from Sarajevo". Here Lee is collaborating with the younger, hipper, Jim Lee...and we get a story that is kind of thin and basically boils down to a fight with a big ugly monster. Hmm. In other words, although Stan Lee has to take his lumps for the blandness of this Wonder Woman, one wonders if Jim Lee isn't entirely blameless. Given that critics of Lee's Batman decried its Old School sensibilities, Lee's Wonder Woman seems more a New School sort of thing -- unfortunately.

With all that being said, the book isn't exactly boring, and moves along at a fair clip. In one panel we see a sign for the Church of Eternal Empowerment which was introduced in Lee's Batman, indicating there is going to be some sort of story thread connecting the various Just Imagine books. Although one unfortunate trend that seems to be emerging is that in both the Wonder Woman and Batman books, the characters dispatch their foes with lethal force. In the Batman book it was at least cast in an ambiguous light, with another character criticizing Batman. Not so here. Perhaps Lee is trying to appeal to a modern, nihilistic readership, which is too bad.

Also in the book is a back up story by Michael Uslan with art by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer. Like in the Batman book, it seems kind pointless...and confusing. Some of it seems to involve this new Wonder Woman...but demonstrating abilities that weren't in evidence in Lee's story, and other scenes seem as though they may be foreshadowing future books.

Ultimately, the jury's still out on Just Imagine as far as I'm concerned. I liked Lee's Batman, but his Wonder Woman was pretty bland. Next time out it's Lee and "Big" John Buscema reuniting to tackle Superman...here's hoping they can bring something a little more unexpected to it.

Cover price: $9.95 CDN./$5.95 USA

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