Newly released in trade paperback, JLA/Avengers creators Kurt Busiek and George Perez seem to start off on auto-pilot but get more passionate and interested in their story as they go along.

This was a project some superhero fans -- and artist Perez -- waited decades for. It had its origins in an aborted 1980s version, but politics got in the way, and it took a couple of decades -- and regime changes -- for it to finally come together.

Make no mistake, a lot of this is still Corporate Comics Crossover Paint-By-Numbers (especially the first, gather-the-items-of-power chapter), but the key entertainment of the series is to be found in the relationships that develop between the DC and Marvel heroes (and the accompanying dialogue, which finds genuine humor in the differences and similarities between them), and the super-detailed artwork of George Perez.

His is a style that often threatens to overwhelm the story with its wild angles and energy and nearly fractal attention to detail; but his obvious enthusiasm for this project make his art a true pleasure to see. Busiek's lifelong love of the characters and universes involved allow him to create an epic scale for the story, but also let him take great delight in the tiniest of character moments. A favorite: Batman and Captain America comparing and contrasting their fighting styles.

JLA/Avengers is an impressive presentation of a Major Corporate Comics Event, of interest to superhero readers and essential to fans of the characters and creators, even with full knowledge of the long uphill battle that it took to finally get the story into print. It's finally available in an affordable paperback edition (after previously only being collected in a pricey hardcover), and would make a great gift for the superhero fan in your life.