Justice League of America: The Nail Hardcover – October 24, 2017

There's something to be said for the consistency of creative vision and in this case it produces marvelous results. Alan Davis is both penciller and writer on the book and I'm guessing this adds a lot. His art is reminiscent simultaneously of Graham Nolan and Norm Breyfogle. While visually its more like Nolan's art, the high dynamicity of it reminds of Breyfogle. As a footnote, here's another creator from the British scene that started his work on 2000 AD series which I have yet to read.This book is split into two distinct parts, the Nail and Another Nail. They are separate stories with the same characters. What would happen if the Kent family did not discover Superman's ship back then? Well, then we wouldn't have Superman, of course. And without him as a symbol, the world is not so keen on trusting the Justice League. Lex Luthor is now the highly popular mayor of Metropolis and is eyeing the presidency, Green Arrow is a bitter cripple due to the tragic events of the past and someone is methodically eliminating the villains one by one in the background. Early on in the story Batman's life is brutally changed by the Joker and half of the book he spends in an almost catatonic state. The narrative threads are many and they weave into a cohesive whole and then into the satisfying conclusion perfectly unlike the Zero Hour book I've read just recently. In fact, I cannot help but constantly draw parallels to it and other "Crisis" events. But more on that later.The second book has Superman take up his mantle and Justice League is whole once more. First it describes the events of New Gods/Apokolips war and then moves on to the mysterious energy loss in Oan central battery. Other disturbances occur with some supposedly good heroes behaving very weirdly while multiple investigations proceed in parallel until the culprit is revealed. It all ends very dramatically as expected. This book is an Elseworlds title and marketed as that but is an example of a perfectly executed Crisis event. Dramatic cosmic-level developments, lots of characters each having a place in the story, great art, everything is in place here. I was reminded of Zero Hour and 52 as examples of how everything is so similar and is done so badly. On the other hand I recalled Infinite Crisis event where Geoff Johns also did an amazing job, though parts of it had to be offloaded to supplemental books.Interestingly enough, though this world has some notable differences from the canon, it all seems very comfortably familiar. Almost every character has the classic design (maybe apart from Catwoman), looks and behaves like they should so in a way Another Nail could be an actual event book and you might not even notice the difference. All in all, both of the books are incredible and Alan Davis is now high on top of my comic book authors/artists list.

This deluxe edition they got right. There is not much in the way of extras, but having both miniseries in the same volume, and hardbound, is really nice. They did not screw up the inking so you lose a lot of the pencil work like DC had done with another deluxe edition Elseworlds sorry. Perhaps too simplistic or not as edgy for newer readers of comic, definitely an old-school feel to it where the heroes fight bad guys and not each other. Would have preferred seeing more of Batman in it but his story is more of a sidetone directly related to the initial incident that drives the first story, and the ending to Batman's story in Another Nail is not only satisfying viscerally but heartwarming. The art - what can I say. Alan Davis is one of the masters. It was good to see the JLA of my youth back in form. Get it, read it, enjoy it.

Very much enjoyed reading this for a second time. Great artwork and story. A real page turner. I highly recommend it to new readers.

I read these years ago when this came out in individual issues and I'm not sure where my old copies got to but it's a gorgeous story full of wonderful nods to the nooks and crannies of the old DC universe. I miss that old world as the new one seems so far removed from my youth. This is a story where the heroes are still heroic-feeling. I really do recommend this collection to fans of the older works.

JLA the nail is a great read for any fan of the DC universe elseworld series.

Three part the nail and three part Another Nail. Both stories were better than I expected. Massive six part Elseworld’s event. 5 stars

Bought it as a gift, the art is really terrific.

Loved the nostalgia this book brought to life. Great read for those of us who read early 80's DC, especially DC presents such as crossovers with deadman and the rest of the mystic bunch.