By: Mark Waid Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: DC Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 160 Publication Date: August 01, 2001 Reading Level: Young Adult Release Date: August 01, 2001
My hero I bought this book because Batman was the central charater. I like the other characters, but let's face it, Batman rocks! You shoud definately buy this book.
conspriacy theory Excellent depiction of batman's preparedness. Good story, unlike any graphic novel I have read before.
Graphic SF Reader Batman's ex-lover Talia rips his heart out, by infiltrating the Justice League Watchtower. She knows him better than his friends, as what she is after is his secret files on how to defeat his own teammates if it becomes necessary.
Of course, she uses them against the League, and this forms a rift that is the very long beginning of the end for the JLA.
Logical loopholes spoil an otherwise good story If you've read any of the other reviews, you already know the premise of the story. The idea is that Ra's al Ghul has stolen Batman's handiwork, and used his secret plans to demolish the JLA expeditiously. However, the problem with the story is that Batman's plans range from ludicrous to heartless, and the League of Assassins fails to make some very basic changes to the plans that would have made them much, much more effective.
SPOILER ALERT I'm going to give a quick run-down on each character, so if you want the plans to be a surprise, don't read this section.
Martian Manhunter: Hit him with thousands of nanites that are composed of magnesium, so, when exposed to oxygen, he bursts into flames. Nasty, nasty. Apparently Batman is willing to murder J'onn, even though he goes well out of his way to avoid killing people like Two-Face and the Joker.
Aquaman: Dose him with Scarecrow's fear gas to give him a terrible phobia of water, which Aquaman needs to survive. The problem, of course, is that he can still whomp on you while you wait for him to dry out.
Plastic Man: Freeze him with liquid nitrogen, then shatter him with a hammer. The only problem is that the JLA manages to bring him back to life, so he's still around.
Wonder Woman: Send a tiny machine into her inner ear that causes her to hallucinate and believe she's in a never-ending battle, eventually leading to cardiac arrest. Not a bad idea, but again, Batman seems to be all too willing to kill Leaguers.
Flash: Use a "vibro-bullet," fired into Flash's spine, to cause light-speed seizures. Somehow the Flash isn't maimed or killed by this, but this seems almost more like a method of torture than a manner of simply immobilizing him. Also, I'm pretty sure twenty minutes of super-siezures would probably kill him.
Green Lantern: The biggest logical problem is the plan to stop Green Lantern. It is as follows: Sneak into his apartment at night, put the Power Ring on his finger, then implant a post-hypnotic suggestion that causes him to subconsciously use the ring to blind himself. Complicated, weird, and ignores the fact that as long as you're there, why not just STEAL THE FREAKING POWER RING?
Superman: Of all the Leaguers, Superman should have been the easiest to kill. Just hand him a chunk of kryptonite and be done with it. Instead, Batman goes to the trouble of creating a non-lethal form of kryptonite, and the League of Assassins goes to the extra trouble of making a duplicate of it. Why? Why is Ra's al Ghul so concerned about not killing Superman?
It all boils down to this: Most of Batman's secret plans don't make any sense. He's extremely willing to kill most of the Justice League, but goes to tremendous lengths to avoid killing others. Then, when the League of Assassins get their hands on the few non-lethal plans, they don't change them at all. Basically, if their plans had worked, they'd be left with a lot of dead Justice Leaguers and one MAJORLY mad Superman. And Batman, too, because after luring Bats away from his team, they really didn't have a plan to stop him other than "send a bunch of nameless thugs after him." Because that always works. Finally, something that was not addressed in the story: what's to stop the League of Assassins from re-using these plans? Sure, the JLA would be ready for them, but setting the Martian manhunter on fire would kill him just as effectively.
I like Mark Waid, but this whole storyline needs a serious re-write. The characters are written just fine, in fact they're written quite well, but the premise has some tremendous problems that spoiled the story for me.
Don't piss-off Batman! After a long run by Grant Morrison on JLA (too long), it was good to see a new writer take over and make the series their own, and he did it with a bang! Tower of Babel is easily my favorite JLA story to date. No mystery here, just an old fashioned "we are coming to get you" story. Ra's Al Ghoul has stolen Batman's secret files on the JLA's weaknesses, and uses them to rain destruction upon the League. When all is said and done and Ra's is defeated, it's interesting to see how the League as well as the Titans and Young Justice handle Batman and his wards (everyone thinks all of them are keeping secret files on their respective team mates as well). Solid story (although a lot like the Batman Beyond episode "Babel" as far as Ra's plot, not sure which came first), great dialogue, wonderful art, this book has it all. Wasn't too thrilled with the intro story with the Atom (didn't really seem to fit in anywhere and a bit rehashed), but criticism aside, it's a great book and a good look inside Batman's paranoia.
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