Don’t look at the filename for that picture of Vibe.
I typed a lot about comic industry predictions and stuff over the last month, so let me pop in here with something Current and Now to tell you…
…that courtesy the DC Universe Infinite app, I’m finally reading straight through, for the first time, the 1980s Detroit-era Justice League of America and you can’t stop me.
This iteration of the team, which lasted ’til the end of the series’ run in 1987, was introduced in Annual #2 in 1984. I didn’t pick that up, which was weird because, being a fan at the time of “anniversary” and annual issues, I usually bought all of them. And for JLA I picked up #1 in ’83, and #3 in ’85, but skipped the second. …Which I did finally read and, well, I liked the set-up, with JLA founding member and current chairman Aquaman disbanding the team after a disastrous adventure in which all the League’s Big Guns (Supes, Bats, etc.) were otherwise occupied. He then reforms the League with members who can devote all their time to the team, including superhero veterans and a handful of newcomers.
The execution overall is…acceptable, with utilitarian art, and stories that are entertaining enough if sort of average-ish. Now I have read issues from this run before, mostly the Crisis on Infinite Earths tie-ins (which would explain why I picked up Annual #3, which is one) and the Legends tie-in issues that concluded the series. Those final issues were particularly good, as I recall, by a different creative team that the one that began this era of the book. But we’ll see how I think about them once I read them in the full context of the run. I suspect I’ll still like them.
I will note I was unduly excited to come across a pre-Crisis appearance of the Monitor and Harbinger I hadn’t seen before in one of the earlier issues. Even after all this time Crisis shenanigans can still pluck my little nerd heartstrings.
Once I get through ’em all I’ll try to report back here. Will I turn into the World’s Biggest Fan of Vibe?
Stay tuned and find out!
Yes, J.M. DeMatteis took over writing the book at the tail-end from Gerry Conway. You may recognize DeMatteis (in this context) as the co-writer of the amazing, and leagues different, JLA relaunch spinning out from the end of this series. So, I’d say the book does improve once DeMatteis takes over, not that the Conway issues were bad, just sort of pedestrian for a Justice League series.
It doesn’t sound correct to say I’m a “fan” of this material, but I think of it fondly enough to have bought the omnibus (for about $75 I think–good luck finding it for under $150 now). Practically worth it for the JLGL wraparound cover alone.
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OT: I know he’s partly shadowed, but that Firestorm figure makes me realize his costume would have been much better with black in it.
I loved the idea of the Detroit League, but I agree that it didn’t get exciting until the end. That Luke McDonnell art was so good. It was a no-brainer to follow him over to Suicide Squad.
To become the World’s Biggest Fan of Vibe, you’d probably have to bump off Scipio at the Absorbascon, though it looks like he’s currently taking another of his extended breaks from comics blogging.
nerdstrings!
Steel was cool!
That run as a whole was… IFFY. But there are a few very good issues!
Thom H.: “That Luke McDonnell art was so good.”
Agreed!
Poor Vibe.
He TRULY Sucked.
twitter: “because I made fun of Gambit once”
Gambit sucks so hard.