Trimming the List Part 5 - Justice

There were two books which got me to start following comics on a regular basis in the late 80's.  Giffen and DeMatteis' Justice League International, condescendingly referred to as the Joke League by all too many fans, and Mark Gruenwald's Captain America.  I've bought few Captain America books since before Gruenwald left and none since Mark Waid's turn during/following Heroes Return.  Justice League International, however, lead to a life long love of DC's legacy from the Justice Society of the 1940's to the most current incarnation of both teams.

 

First and foremost among these books currently is Justice League: Generation Lost, the recently begun bi-weekly series reuniting five former members of the Justice League International, and plotted by JLI co-creator Keith Giffen.  The downside - Judd Winnick on scripts.  I honestly have nothing against the former Real World cast member as a person, but his comics work is always problematic for me.  However there is no way I can say no to the concept of the book, or to Giffen, so it stays.

 

Sadly I haven't read the flagship Justice League of America in a long time.  I enjoyed some of what Brad Meltzer did on the initial run but I had a hard time connecting to some of the events, for whatever reason and walked away.  I'm only picking it up now for the Brightest Day tie-ins.  Once those end, I may well be done again for a while.  But James Robinson is a fantastic writer, and I've been a fan of Mark Bagley since New Warriors started in 1990 - together they may well be able to pull me back in. 

 

The Justice Society of America may have been the JLA's forerunner, but the recent past demonstrated just how strong it can be today. The JSA was written by Geoff Johns for much of it's current incarnation and with few rough spots it was a very well crafted run.  With his departure the main book was taken over by Bill Willingham of Fables, and the younger members of the team were spun-off into their own book, JSA All-Stars when they decided the methods of the older generation were too passive.  Results have been mixed for me.  For one, I detest the split as it eats at what I believe is a fundamental characteristic of the JSA - preservation of the generational legacy.  I don't like the idea of a split on basic generational lines.  From an economic point of view, two titles is too much for the JSA.  Historically the title struggled to maintain even a single monthly until Johns came along, so creating a spinoff shortly after he leaves seems an ill-considered move.  I think once the JLA crossover is done I'll be taking a break for a while and likely will not miss it.   

 

Two books stay, two eliminated.  Next up, a smattering of miscellaneous titles that don't fit neatly into a broader category to close out this little exercise.   

 

Posted via email from Newtronika