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allowableman2's review against another edition
2.0
In the 80s, the Justice League of America, DC's most renowned superhero team, relocated to Detroit to counter the growing popularity of the Teen Titans, Legion of Superheroes, and X-Men, as the title lost sales to these rivals. Aquaman was chosen as the leader due to Gerry's love for his 70s run and lack of title, Zatanna and Elongated Man's for the same reason, and the addition of canceled characters like Vixen and Steel. Gypsy, a mysterious Kitty Pryde character, was created for the title. Vibe, a break-dancing member of a gang, was criticized for his stereotyping.
JLD, despite its potential, was not as expansive as Teen Titans and Legions of Superheroes due to its slow development of each team member and lack of character interactions, which is a crucial appeal of team books. Just read Justice League International instead.
JLD, despite its potential, was not as expansive as Teen Titans and Legions of Superheroes due to its slow development of each team member and lack of character interactions, which is a crucial appeal of team books. Just read Justice League International instead.
nickpalmieri's review
I picked these issues up on the cheap a few months ago, figuring I'd just read a few important issues to fulfill my curiosity and skim the rest. After all, this era of the League has a reputation for being the team's low point. So I read an issue. And another. And another. And now, a little over 48 hours later, I've read the whole run.
First off: It's not as bad as people say. The entire run is very readable, and there are enough subplots going that, even when the main stories are lacking, there's always something to hold your interest. It's a good thing, too: the first half of the series takes so long to establish everything that the team only has one major mission before everything gets shaken up by Crisis. In this part of the book, the subplots are all that holds the team together.
Talking creative teams, the first 3/4 of the run is written by Gerry Conway (just coming off a stint as regular writer for a more traditional JLA) and the final quarter by J.M. DeMatteis (right before he would co-write JLI). On art, Chuck Patton covers the first half while Luke McDonnell (who would go on to pencil the first two years of Ostrander's Suicide Squad) takes the back half. That third quarter by Conway/McDonnell was my favorite, as Conway had finally settled into writing the new characters and shed their less interesting aspects, while McDonnell's phenomenal art added realism and tension while also delivering horror and bombastic action when needed. Honestly, the Despero story in 251-254 deserves to be known as one of the greatest JLA stories ever.
In the end, though, it's easy to see why the run isn't well received. The only recognizable regular here is J'onn J'onzz, and he hadn't been a regular in any comics for 15 years prior to this. Beyond that, the characters never found their footing for long before being shaken up. Aquaman had to leave due to other plans for his character, Batman joins for a few issues and then is never seen again, the team moves from Detroit to New York midway through, tie-ins to Crisis and Legends mess with things, DeMatteis's endings to Conway's original subplots are in a completely different realm.
The run has a lot going against it, but I still enjoyed reading it. Recommended for diehard fans or those curious about this era, but not for any casual readers.
First off: It's not as bad as people say. The entire run is very readable, and there are enough subplots going that, even when the main stories are lacking, there's always something to hold your interest. It's a good thing, too: the first half of the series takes so long to establish everything that the team only has one major mission before everything gets shaken up by Crisis. In this part of the book, the subplots are all that holds the team together.
Talking creative teams, the first 3/4 of the run is written by Gerry Conway (just coming off a stint as regular writer for a more traditional JLA) and the final quarter by J.M. DeMatteis (right before he would co-write JLI). On art, Chuck Patton covers the first half while Luke McDonnell (who would go on to pencil the first two years of Ostrander's Suicide Squad) takes the back half. That third quarter by Conway/McDonnell was my favorite, as Conway had finally settled into writing the new characters and shed their less interesting aspects, while McDonnell's phenomenal art added realism and tension while also delivering horror and bombastic action when needed. Honestly, the Despero story in 251-254 deserves to be known as one of the greatest JLA stories ever.
In the end, though, it's easy to see why the run isn't well received. The only recognizable regular here is J'onn J'onzz, and he hadn't been a regular in any comics for 15 years prior to this. Beyond that, the characters never found their footing for long before being shaken up. Aquaman had to leave due to other plans for his character, Batman joins for a few issues and then is never seen again, the team moves from Detroit to New York midway through, tie-ins to Crisis and Legends mess with things, DeMatteis's endings to Conway's original subplots are in a completely different realm.
The run has a lot going against it, but I still enjoyed reading it. Recommended for diehard fans or those curious about this era, but not for any casual readers.
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