Dezago, Todd
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
3 out of 5
(1 book)
JLA: World Without Grown-Ups
(Art by Todd Nauck, Humberto Ramos, Mike McKone, Lary Stucker, Wayne Faucher, Paul Neary and Mark McKenna)
When a sulky boy accidentally gains the godlike powers of an ancient evil sorcerer, everyone over the age of sixteen are displaced onto a parallel Earth. The magically empowered boy then names himself Bedlam and begins to use his growing powers to shape Kidworld into his personal playground. Adrift without the adult Justice League, Robin, Superboy and Impulse band together to save the world.
I have to say I rather enjoyed the basic premise of this book, forcing the younger superheroes to take on the world-saving responsibilities which usually fall on their older and more experienced counterparts. The three main characters make for an interesting and engaging mix too, with Robin the most experienced but lacking powers, Superboy being the most powerful but lacking a sense of maturity and Impulse struggling to balance his responsibilities and his total lack of attention span.
The biggest downside to this book however is simply how heavily it plays into the teen-heroes trope. I'm not against the idea of teen heroes at all (in fact, some of my favourite ninja reptiles were teenagers) but in comics, particularly in the 90s, teen hero stories were painfully out of touch with actual teenagers and just smacked of adults trying to understand and, more importantly, cash in on the youth movement of the day. This book has that latter element written all over it and the (in my opinion) dreadful artwork doesn't help matters, with the main characters having anime-style eyes and grins, as well as weirdly oversized heads, hands and feet.
Overall an interesting concept, which later led to Young Justice, but which is weighed down by being too cynically teen-focused.
3 out of 5