Justice League of America #11

Justice League of America #11
I'm torn. This issue is either really good or really bad. And I'm having a hard time figuring it out. From one angle, this story could possibly be a classic story of superheroes without any super powers. From another perspective, this story is soooooooooooooo decompressed it's stupid. There are so many internal inconsistencies, even when a lantern is hung upon them, that it just removes the reader from the story. For instance: Mari's powers can only be drawn from humans? Then how on Earth could she take Clark's powers? He's not human!
The art doesn't help this story either. It's too shaky.
Or maybe it does. Maybe the art contributes precisely to the feeling of claustrophobia that the writing's trying to evoke.
I can't rate this issue. It's either ASS or EXCELLENT. I don't know. I have no clue how to read it. Sorry.

After sleeping on it, I decided that I was being unfair to this issue, based on my bias of agreeing with the good folks at Comics Should Be Good that the last issue of this book was the WORST BOOK OF THE YEAR. You know what? This book, against all odds, is actually quite good. It's a story about a man who's put in superheroic situations alongside GODS, as if he had superpowers, and how he must cope when the fact that he has none comes front and center. And it's also the story of a woman who has lost her powers, a woman who was never alone due to her inherent connection with the animal kingdom and now finds herself utterly alone when that connection is stripped from her. And how she deals with it. And how they deal with each other. It's not a book about superheroics. It's just a story about two (relatively) normal people doing their best to be heroes. Doing their best to use their talents to make a difference in the world. It doesn't matter how they came to be in this predicament. It doesn't matter why. What matters is how they rise above their limitations and become the best that they can be, when the chips are down.
That said, this story is very well written. It accomplishes exactly what it should, and is, essentially, a done-in-one. And any flaws mentioned above are eminently excusable, due to the nature of the stress being put upon the protagonists. After considering this book more thoroughly, I fail to find any flaws with it, and must therefore give it a rating of EXCELLENT. You may disagree, but try to put aside any prejudices and appreciate this issue for what it is: a surprisingly EXCELLENT story.