The World's Greatest Super-Heroes
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| The World's Greatest Super-Heroes | |
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| Publisher | DC Comics |
|---|---|
| Publication date | July 6, 2005 |
| Main character(s) | Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Justice League of America |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Paul Dini and Alex Ross |
| Artist(s) | Alex Ross |
The World's Greatest Super-Heroes is the name to the Oversized Slipcased Hardcover collection, collecting the six oversized graphic novels by Paul Dini and Alex Ross. Those are; Superman: Peace of Earth, Batman: War on Crime, Shazam!: Power of Hope, Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth, JLA: Secret Origins, and JLA: Liberty and Justice. The artwork is of Ross' photorealism, and the books themselves were created in-between Ross' other well known works; Kingdom Come and Justice.
This shouldn't be confused with The World's Greatest Superheroes, the syndicated newspaper comic strip from April 9, 1978 to February 10, 1985..
Contents |
[edit] Superman: Peace on Earth
After helping to start the Christmas season in Metropolis; Superman finds a starving young woman and takes her to a shelter. The next day, as his Clark Kent alter-ego, the young woman’s health makes him look up the topic of world hunger. Wanting to help, Superman announces at the United Nations his help to bring food all over the world, something newspapers and television consider thoughtless. With tankers filed with food, Superman brings each of them to the locations where their food is in crisis, with the people's reactions varying depending on where he brings the food to. But when Superman arrives at one country who doesn’t want his help, they fire a nuclear missile at him and the tanker and Superman uses his speed to force the radiation into space. But the nuke has poisoned the food, and Superman’s mission ends in failure. The news wants to hear from Superman, and by being interviewed by his alter ego, Superman makes a statement quoting the old phrase Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man who to fish and he eats for a lifetime. His message to the world is for everyone to share their knowledge to anyone, and everyone, in need. He asks for the world to inspire others in hopes for true peace to live on.
[edit] Batman: War on Crime
During patrol, Batman asks himself; if he wasn’t rich, would he have fought crime still or become part of it. In a business meeting, corrupt Randall Winters proposes to replace the Bayside area. That night, Batman hears gunshots in a store and captures the mugger. Inside, as expected, he finds bodies, but unexpectedly, finds a boy who saw his parents die, something he knows all too well. The boy, Marcus, is taken to the hospital and Batman watches him, as a mirror to his eight-yea-old self. The next night, Batman takes care of a gang and is stunned to see Marcus one of them who runs off. Bruce decides to make changes without the mask. The very next night, Batman stops a location dealing with drugs when he sees Marcus pointing a gun on him. Talking him down, asking him not to become what killed his parents, he lowers it. With Marcus having hope in his future, Bruce Wayne goes on to help rebuild, not replace, Bayside. Randall is not so happy, and after Bruce talks with him, the cops come to arrest Randall. Batman knows he is fighting a war he cannot completely win, but it's the small victories that encourage him to keep trying. And with Marcus moving on from his pain, Batman hopes he'll do the same from his.
[edit] Shazam!: Power of Hope
Giving the news on Captain Marvel's adventures, alter-ego Billy Batson hopes to have some fun until he is ask to take with him a big mailbag to Captain Marvel as he leaves. Reading all of them, he stops at one asking if Marvel could come to the hospital for sick kids. Shouting SHAZAM!, he meets with the Shazam Wizard who tells him there will be a child who may need for help, but doesn't reveal who. Arriving at the hospital, all the kids go happy when they meet with him, except for one in a wheelchair, who Marvel thinks is the kid who needs his help. Telling his adventures to the kids and taking them to see the world, Marvel decides to talk to the wheelchair kid again. Realizing he is afraid of him because he is a grownup, Marvel changes back into Batson and finally talks with him, and from their conversation, the kid asks if his father would hurt him. Later, Billy meets with the kid's father, and after getting nothing, threatens him as Captain Marvel, telling him not to hurt his son anymore. After his visit is over, Marvel goes to the Wizard and learns that he has given hope to all, including Billy Batson, the actual child who needed help. Happy as ever, Captain Marvel continues his adventures and plays ball with the kid in the wheelchair.
[edit] Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth
Stopping a terrorist attack, Wonder Woman hurries to help those in need before returning to her home; Themyscira. Talking to her mother, Queen Hippolyta, she confesses how that the leaders of the world always question her. Returning back to Man's World, Wonder Woman's attempts to end the civil war in Asia and stops a tank when it almost kills a woman. Helping her, the woman asks what she is and disagrees and runs off when Wonder Woman replies that she is like her. Then, asked in a plea in the Middle East, the people throw rocks at Wonder Woman when she asks simple questions. Talking to Clark Kent, he helps her by saying that she should live with them instead of above them. Trying this out, Wonder Woman changes her armor to many civilian clothes and sees situations from the sidelines, different from before. Thanks to this, she goes back to the Middle East and disguises herself as one of the women used as shields. Taking a stand, she removes her clothes to reveal her as Wonder Woman and takes out the soldiers. Freeing the women, the reactions are better than before, with the people acknowledging her like them. Wonder Woman notes that she is a heroine, demigoddess, and a warrior, but only in part, but she is like everyone else; a human being. She thanks Clark as she prepares to be more part of the human world.
[edit] JLA: Secret Origins
This is just a book of the origins to the heroes that make up the Justice League of America in two-page origins that homages the early comics that did the same.
[edit] JLA: Liberty and Justice
Martian Manhunter, aka J’onn J’ozz, notes how the world sees the superpowered as separate from them as he saves a plane. Wonder Woman comes to him on the urgent news from The Pentagon and J’onn calls the other main JLA members to join if they can. Inside the Pentagon; the JLA learn of a virus in Africa that made them lose contact with the country. In Africa, the JLA see what’s going on and see that the victims are alive but prisoners in their own body. The virus is learned to be alien, and racing back, The Flash falls ill and is saved by Aquaman, but he feels ill too. J’onn stops some jets wanting to bomb the area with help by Superman. News spreads as the virus being alien-in-origin and the world goes into panic as Wonder Woman brings Flash and Aquaman to Batman so he and The Atom can find a cure. Entering inside Flash's body, the Atom finds that the virus affects humans because it adapts with the brain's impulses, but if the impulses were increased, the virus can't adapt anymore. From a test, Flash is cured and back in action as he goes to make more of the cure. The panic of the world leads to fights and riots and the JLA and their reserve members step in to stop them just as Flash and Green Lantern use their powers to bring the virus back into space. Addressing the United Nations, J’onn speaks on how the JLA acted but brings up that it is the world that gives them strength and hopes the world can see them part of their world. Trust is then restored toward the JLA as J’onn and Superman place what was left of the virus into a meteor and send it off.
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- The story in Peace on Earth is based on the Superman stories in the 1940s where he fought in World War II to fix problems. The big difference is that, in Peace on Earth, Superman fails. Alex Ross said that the lesson Superman learns in Peace on Earth is that he leads by example, instead of becoming the brawn that humanity doesn't and shouldn't have. Finally, from the artwork, Superman clearly becomes a stand-in for Jesus Christ. Something the character is often alluded to.
- As inspiration, Ross based his Batman on the 1939 version by having him not have the Batmobile, or any other vehicles, and have him just appear in the scene. For the mask, he came up with the concept on having the mask act as a second skin and have the eye holes come right up to the upper and lower eyelids, so the mask becomes the face.
- Alex Ross' challenge in designing Wonder Woman was making her feminine and psychically imposing at the same time, since she is an Amazon. Ross says that the only person he can identify with Wonder Woman is Lynda Carter. The story in Spirit of Truth, dealing with the Middle East, was conceived before September 11, 2001. The story was also done, not only to show the character as a real ambassador, but to make her real to the world.
- Paul Dini and Alex Ross are clearly fans of Captain Marvel, which is why he was also done as a book by them. The story, Power of Hope, where Captain Marvel deals with troubled children, was developed to show that the character was a mortal like many others and was a child too.
- The inspiration Ross had for his version of the Justice League of America was the Bronze Age version, which explains the lineup used in the Liberty and Justice book and the Justice maxi-series, because it was the version he grew up reading. The same is said with all the characters he has done, why Barry Allen is The Flash, and why Ross’ Supergirl wears the hotpants version of her costume because, as Ross stated, it was the first costume he saw of her wearing.
