Rating: 
Summary: A World Reshaped
Review: One of the better Elseworlds tales of recent times. This three-part story looks at the Justice League of America in a world where the Kents did not go out one day due to a nail in a tire and stayed home to fool around. That means they would not find the infant Kal-El after he crashes to Earth.
Back in the present, we see a world where heroes are not as popular as in the regular comics. Many are not trusted and there is even a lot of bickering between them. Much of the DC universe is present and we see many familiar faces in new or unusual places. At this time it seems a new menace is facing the Earth. Some suspect some of what is going on but no one really knows what is up. Green Lantern makes a startling discovery but the rest of the Corps is busy with the New Gods.
Eventually we see how everything is pulled together and just who is behind all of the trouble. We eventually learn what happened to Kal-El and where he has been all of this time (pretty believable).
As this is an Elseworlds tale, the writer does not need to pull punches. Characters can die or get taken out of the picture in one of these tales so do not be surprised by some of the developments.
While I really enjoyed the story I was not convinced that this was a "What If" type story. If this really was the straight DC universe with a small variation, many of the characters would be dead because Superman did not save them (ala It's A Wonderful Life). I am also not convinced that people would have followed the career paths they did. But if you look at it like a true Elseworlds tale where anything can change, this one can knock your socks off.
Rating: 
Summary: Good art Bad story
Review: Originally presented in three individual volumes. The artwork of alan davis was never in question, however the story was billed as a world without superman? So, how absurd was the ending of the story where the "world without superman" was saved by, none other than,...superman. Go figure. On the plus side the two stars I gave the book were earned by Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) and Hawkwoman two characters that turned in wonderful performances.
Rating:
Summary: The nail : an Elseworlds tale of the Justice League of Ameri
Review: Super! This is the best DCU story ever since Kindom Come. The story ask the question what if Superman was not discovered bt the Kents? See what happens to other characters such as Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Batman & the JLA if they haven't meet with Supes. Metropolis is a police state & the world is about to be invaded by an unknown alien enemy. The superheroes are not what you expect then to be nor are the supervillians. Alan Davis provides smooth and beautiful rendering of the DCU character and its like Crisis in Infinite Earths once again! Grab this book, you won't regret it!
Rating: 
Summary: Did Not Hit The Nail Right On The Head
Review: The art by Alan Davis is fantastic but the story was very predictable and did not do much for me. The premise of a world without Superman was broken when Superman showed up at the end of the story. Also, the presence of so many members of the Superman family and their roles in the story made the story flow too easily...you almost knew what was going to happen before you read it. The story was not entertaining and even the wonderful artwork could not save this one.
Rating:
Summary: Everything worked for me except the ending
Review: The art was fantastic and I enjoyed the story. So why three stars, because the writers violated the premise of this Elseworlds story: a world without a Superman had a Superman. It was a shame because the characterization of the rest of the JLA, most notably Green Lantern, Batman, and Hawkwoman, was very well done. It would have been a better story if Batman would have won the final fight...with a timely assist from Oliver Queen--I was annoyed that they didn't reintroduce the Green Arrow subplot. If the story would have been handled in this way, I would have rated it 5 stars. As it is, it's still worth reading--it's just not what it could have been.
Rating: 
Summary: A Book that brings you back to the Silver Age of Comics
Review: The main focus of this story was to see how the other heroes of the DC Universe would function without Superman to help them win public approval and win acceptance from the public. Without Superman to lead them the heroes were slandered by the press and their lives were made miserable by the government. A different look at the DC Universe. Everything was changed all because there was no Superman. What Alan Davis's goal of the Nail was to bring back the fun of the Silver Age of comics. The age where everything was simple and the characters were happy. Since Davis was raised on the heroes that appear in this book he uses them to the best of their ability. From Hal Jordan and Barry Allen still being alive to Hawkwoman having a very strong roll. A fun story with a little camp (See Villian at the end of story) and a lot of wonder. The best characters, amazing art, and a story with intrigue. My only gripe is that it was not long enough. It felt rushed and hurried and the beginning left you more confused then needed. I would have liked a little more depth on either end of the book. But all in all a great read.
Rating:
Summary: A Book that brings you back to the Silver Age of Comics
Review: The main focus of this story was to see how the other heroes of the DC Universe would function without Superman to help them win public approval and win acceptance from the public. Without Superman to lead them the heroes were slandered by the press and their lives were made miserable by the government. A different look at the DC Universe. Everything was changed all because there was no Superman. What Alan Davis's goal of the Nail was to bring back the fun of the Silver Age of comics. The age where everything was simple and the characters were happy. Since Davis was raised on the heroes that appear in this book he uses them to the best of their ability. From Hal Jordan and Barry Allen still being alive to Hawkwoman having a very strong roll. A fun story with a little camp (See Villian at the end of story) and a lot of wonder. The best characters, amazing art, and a story with intrigue. My only gripe is that it was not long enough. It felt rushed and hurried and the beginning left you more confused then needed. I would have liked a little more depth on either end of the book. But all in all a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Good �what if� story, but predictable
Review: The Nail is a relatively good story and worth the reading. It could have been less predictable. It takes a �Marvel� slant about �meta-humans�, which made it predicable to some extent. The characters are consistent with the 70s aspect of their development. It is a self-contained story with no continuity subplots, so it�s an easy read.
Rating:
Summary: Good 'what if' story, but predictable
Review: The Nail is a relatively good story and worth the reading. It could have been less predictable. It takes a 'Marvel' slant about 'meta-humans', which made it predicable to some extent. The characters are consistent with the 70s aspect of their development. It is a self-contained story with no continuity subplots, so it's an easy read.
Rating:
Summary: Elseworlds "Imaginary Story" of a World Without Superman
Review: The set-up for The Nail is amazingly straightforward: On the day Jonathan and Martha Kent would, in the "normal" DC Universe, discover a certain crashed rocketship, instead they postpone their trip into town because a nail's flattened one of their truck's tires. Thus they never find the ship, Kal El doesn't become Clark Kent doesn't become Superman. From that one divergence, writer/penciller Alan Davis builds a story that asks, "What would the DC Universe be like without Superman?" It's a pretty grim place, actually, in which the Justice League of America consists of Aquaman (in the old yellow and green outfit), Atom, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkwoman, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman. Basically THE classic lineup, only no Superman, and Hawkwoman replaces Hawkman. Barry Allen is still alive and the Flash. Green Arrow, crippled in battle, has subsequently gone insane. Batman, his friendship with Superman never teaching him the benefits of cooperation with other heroes, is at best an ambivalent JLA member. Operating in secrecy, dealing brutally with criminals, he's the superhero most feared and hated by the general populace. Hawkman is dead; Hawkwoman soldiers on. This is to the good. The Silver Age Hawkgirl (here updated to Hawkwoman) was always criminally underused. Hawkman was the only Silver Age DC hero with a female counterpart as strong-willed, intelligent, competent, and even cooler than himself. The fact she was also his wife showed Hawkman was no dummy, either. Green Lantern is still Hal Jordan, and, absent Superman, his ring makes him the most powerful hero in the DC Universe. Lex Luthor, mayor of Metropolis, has turned the city into an anti-metahuman police state in which there are no superheroes but no superpowered crime, either. Because Metropolis never had its own costumed defender to deal with supercriminals, the people support him. Jimmy Olsen is deputy mayor. Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon is dead, murdered. In this world, a propaganda campaign to discredit metahumans moves into action. Without Superman as a universally respected symbol of superheroic good, it enjoys a measure of success. All over Earth, metahumans are beaten and kidnapped, most ominously by the Liberators, masked, black garbed, flying figures with Superman's powers. Most metahumans are put into a concentration camp, some killed outright. Finally, only a handful are left. The story proceeds from there. Who is the mastermind behind this plot? Where is Kal El? How does he fit into it all? The Nail is an excellently written and drawn mainstream superhero tale (if you can call an Elseworlds "imaginary story" mainstream). Alan Davis is a talented writer, but it's his artwork here that will truly blow your mind. He has a real feel, and obvious love, for the Silver Age DC characters. In particular his redesign of Hawkgirl's uniform into Hawkwoman is superb. Every major hero in this story gets their own full-page splash. Each could stand to be framed as it truly captures the essence of a character. Mark Farmer's inking perfectly complements Davis' work. The rear covers of the original 3-issue mini-series collected in this volume all ran a "colloquial adaptation of a verse by George Herbert (Jacula Prudentum 1651)": "For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, for want of a horse the knight was lost, for want of a knight the battle was lost. So it was a kingdom was lost - all for want of a nail." It's worth noting that, in addition to the obvious nail in the Kent's tire beginning the story, Superman is "the nail" of the DC Universe, the overriding symbol of everything a superhero should be, that holds together "the kingdom" of the DC Universe. His absence causes all the bad things occurring in The Nail, that nearly destroy every facet of the superheroic ideal on this world. It's sad that, since 1986 and the post-Crisis revamp of the Man of Steel, the DC Universe hasn't really had Superman, only a character somewhat resembling him. Perhaps, in subversive fashion, that's what Alan Davis is saying in a story in which the "worst of all possible worlds," a world without Superman, isn't all that different from the current DC Universe. In the end - not to give away too much of the story - it's the return of Silver Age virtues that saves the day, and this "DC Universe" as well. Or perhaps I'm projecting too much into a simple funny book story. Read The Nail, and you decide.
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