Today, I thought I would offer up some thoughts on the Justice League. I like the idea of a Justice League, but I haven't always liked the Justice League comic books.
I like some of the classic tales from the first incarnation of the book -- Justice League of America. The idea of all these heroes banding together to fight the menaces that no one hero could handle alone. Several issues from that 20-year series are great ones.
I didn't care as much for the re-launch after Crisis on Infinite Earths -- Justice League -- or it's subsequent variations Justice League of America, Justice League America (no of), Justice League Europe, Justice League International, etc. I picked up story arcs here and there, but nothign consistently during this time.
I loved Grant Morrison's re-launch -- JLA -- in the 1990s. He returned the book to greatness with his return to the main characters of the DC Universe and his epic adventures.
The most recent relaunch of the title has been somewhat hit-and-miss for me. Back with the original name, Justice League of America, the title has had some truly great arcs, especially those penned by Dwayne McDuffie, whose run as writer of the book was all-too brief and hindered by inter-company crossovers. And I'm curious to see where the newest issues will go with this "replacement" League where Dick Grayson is Batman, and other members include Starfire, Troia and Cyborg. What can I say, the Titans fan in me is a little bit "geeked" to see so many Titans graduating into the League, even if we all know it'll only be temporary.
I'm also kind of liking the different take presented by James Robinson in Cry for Justice. The title has taken a lot of online bashing, and I don't agree with absolutely every scene. For instance, in issue No. 4, the Atom and Green Arrow are arguing over methodology. Green Arrow says, "This isn't you. This isn't the Ray Palmer that was my friend." The Atom responds, "My journey is MY journey. And I've got news for you: we may have been colleagues, but we were never friends."
This is a small example, but I think those words are a little strong for how I see these characters. They ARE friends. They may not always see eye to eye. They may disagree and even argue, but they ARE friends. But I can also live with the Atom saying this in the heat of an argument. How many times have we all said something we didn't mean or even later regretted during an argument. I'm liking this story because it treats these characters like real adults, not stereotypes or goody-goody two-dimensional characters.
And Cry for Justice is my idea of a great Justice league story because Justice League should be an event comic. I don't mean every issue has to be an over-hyped mess or have a zillion crossovers. In fact, these days, it would be more of an event not to have all of that. But Justice League should involve a story or threat so great that it justifies bringing several heroes together.
That doesn't mean you can't tell a small, character-driven story. Look at Morrison's run to dispell that silly notion. Each of his arcs involved huge events that demanded Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and more to all be involved, but he also had great bits of character development and story along the way. But very few of those stories involved a thief or a purse-snatcher. They involved events that called for a Justice League, and that's what made readers take notice of his run. Morrison's run didn't return the League to greatness by bringing the focus back to the big seven; he did it by bringing back a reason for the big seven to be involved.
Robinson doesn't have the big seven in his book, but his tale seems to get the event worthy of the League right. Here's hoping his upcoming run as scribe for the title will live up to the promise Cry for Justice makes.
No comments:
Post a Comment