DC’s Elseworlds stories are often about grand changes. Like setting Batman during the Victorian era or transplanting Superman to Apokolips. Or a world where the Flash saved his mother and everything went to pot. While they do deal with an idea of “What If…?” similar to the Marvel counterparts, they’re often less to do with continuity changes, of pivotal moments where things go differently, and focus on more esoteric impossible steps sideways.
But not always.
There are a number of them that use a character defining moment in history to flap their butterfly wings. Like that Nora Allen moment. At the murders in Crime Alley. Or during one fateful day when a rocket from a distant planet, maybe carrying a baby, crashed to the Earth and the Kents missed it because they decided to stay home. Having previously found a tire on their truck deflated. By a nail.
“It is not enough for us to vanquish evil. We must be untainted symbols of good to inspire humanity.”
JLA – The Nail by Alan Davis, Mark Farmer, Patricia Mulvihill, and Pat Prentice gives us a world without a Superman. It’s not as immediately dystopian as you might think, with much of the Golden Age playing out the same, but it does set up the conflict for this story. The colourful costumed heroes of the Silver Age did appear as normal, but subtle differences crop up, like the defence of Metropolis and a devastating confrontation with Amazo.
There’s a feeling of paranoia throughout the tale, as people in power, like Lex Luthor as the mayor of Metropolis, work to turn the populace against metahumans. Playing up the idea that they’re aliens arriving to conquer the planet. It’s interesting to see what happens without Superman as that stabilizing element for everyone to galvanize around, how people as inherently good as Wonder Woman and Green Lantern get torn down. And the mystery of who is behind the entire thing. Davis is very good at planting red herrings to play with our expectations as to how everything fits together. Including a familiar star-shaped entity.
I firmly believe that Alan Davis is one of the greatest superhero artists ever to draw a comic. He sits alongside Neal Adams and José Luis García-López as someone whose style is just so ingrained with the fluidity of motion and action of superhero comics. It’s gorgeous work here, capturing the spirit of the Silver Age, with a wide array of everyone from the Justice League through to the Doom Patrol and Metal Men. Though there are some interesting choices, like with Catwoman, where I think Davis has chosen to use more then-contemporary costumes. With Mark Farmer’s inks, there’s a sleekness to the lines that just further enhance that feeling of motion in the images.
Patricia Mulvihill’s colours merge old school colour palettes and modern techniques. The classic colour schemes are on display for the various characters, including a blue-grey Batman, capturing the essence of their old designs, but there’s also a sheen to it. Especially in one of the final battles where the colours of the energy just glow off the page. Straightforward lettering from Pat Prentice, with some interesting unique balloons for characters slowly getting weaker.
“All we can do now is make a stand and fight to the finish.”
There was a sequel called Another Nail that dealt with more of the fallout from this world. And Alan Davis would do another alternate Superman tale transporting him into the future rather than the 20th century with Superboy’s Legion. If he’s up for it, I’d still love to see a third part to The Nail with the Final Nail he talks about in the introduction to the most recent collection. At this point it’s almost nostalgia for the nostalgia, but it’s fun.
JLA: The Nail by Davis, Farmer, Mulvihill, and Prentice is a showcase for Silver Age nostalgia, turned into a kind of cautionary tale about insidious forms of control. Which in itself makes it kind of timeless. Not as a cry to turn back the clock to the simplicity of the past, but as a statement as to the true nature of heroism. And humanity.
Classic Comic Compendium: JLA – THE NAIL
JLA – The Nail
Writer & Penciller: Alan Davis
Inker: Mark Farmer
Colourist: Patricia Mulvihill
Letterer: Pat Prentice
Publisher: DC Comics – Elseworlds
Release Date: June 17 – August 26 1998 (original issues)
Available collected in Justice League of America: The Nail – The Complete Collection
Read past entries in the Classic Comic Compendium!
English (US) · 