So there you see above, my copy of the original Justice League of America #200 from 1981, propped up there against a copy of the new Justice League of America #200 treasury-sized facsimile edition due out in your better comic shops this week, and even in mine, too.
For a long time I’ve pushed for a hardcover reprint of this, as it’s the absolute ideal of an Anniversary Issue. Written by Gerry Conway (with some assistance from Roy Thomas), the story is based in the origins of the team, presenting a sequel to those events while demonstrating the changes the League has undergone in the decades since.
And how does it do that? By pitting the original members of the team against the members that joined later, dedicating multiple chapters to the individual battles. Plus, each chapter is illustrated by perfectly-matched artists…Aquaman versus the Red Tornado? Drawn by Jim Aparo. The Flash versus Elongated Man? Drawn by Carmine Infantino? The Atom versus Green Lantern? FREAKIN’ GIL KANE:
Batman…excuse me, The Batman (they were pushing that pretty hard at the time) versus Green Arrow and Black Canary? You feel like they probably wanted that to be by Neal Adams, but instead we get Brian Bolland, who nails it perfectly.
I didn’t even mention Pat Broderick, or Dick Giordano, or Joe Kubert, or the bookends and between-chapter bits by George Pérez, who also did the wraparound cover…basically, I’m saying this is a beautiful comic. And each fight gets a swell full-page shot like that Atom/GL clash pictured above.
Now I didn’t get that hardcover I wanted, but this oversized treasury edition is a welcome second choice for getting this wonderful comic back into print. Especially at this size, which is far easier on your pal Mike’s beleaguered eyeballs.
Even after four-plus decades, the comic still holds up. It’s a delightful piece of post-Bronze Age comicking, balancing the heavy use of captions and dialogue of the era while showcasing the beautiful artwork. Conway’s story expertly weaves in and out of the individual chapters, pulling together a plotline that propels the action along while still paying homage to the Justice League tales of the past. And don’t skip Conway’s “behind the scenes” text piece in this issue, which oges into some detail about how this story was assembled.
In conclusion…just buy it already. It’s great.
Now hopefully DC will give up a similar reissue of Detective Comics #500, the other Great Anniversary Issue of the period.
I’m slightly younger than you, Mike, so the original Treasuries came out when I was a kid, and I loved them like nothing else except Star Wars. I read the FFE’s of All-Star #3 and Superman #1 more times than I could count. Still have all of them now, including upgraded copies of the ones I read to–well, not ruin but to not great condition.
Remember the ill-fated Russ Cochran plan to do Treasury-sized EC reprints? I was SO psyched for those, and only one was ever made. My retailer at the time HATED the plan, and that sentiment probably was widespread and killed the idea. Now I want all my EC’s in Artist’s Edition or Taschen XXL size.
Today the only category of comics I still consider myself a collector of is oversized ones. I even bought the first H2SH “treasury” edition (but, uh, none of the subsequent ones).
Oh, we definitely had that E.C. treasury at our shop…some things are just too beautiful for this fallen world.
I’m pulling for reprints of SUPERMAN #400 and ACTION #500 in this format.
I’m intrigued that you refer to a 1981 comic as “post-Bronze Age”. I tend to think of the Bronze Age as running from around 1970 (Adams/O’Neil on Batman and GL/GA, Kirby leaving Marvel, Spider-Man Drug Issues) to around 1985-86 (Crisis on Infinite Earths/The Dark Knight Returns/Watchmen, the shift from newsstands to specialty shops, the black & white/indy boom).
I’m curious to know what your benchmarks are for the transitions between Silver, Bronze, and Iron.
I didn’t think the Atom’s joke was remotely funny when I read this issue as a kid, and 40-plus years on I still don’t.
I vote for a treasury reprint of Batman #400. Just picture that Sienkiewicz cover oversized and foil stamped!
There are quite a few comics that DC should consider reprinting as treasury editions.
Batman no. 300 would be a good one; so would DC Special Series no. 15 –Batman Spectacular.
Also, the Famous First Editions are worthy of being reprinted again in Treasury Size.
And to supplement All-Star Comics no. 3, the first appearance of the JSA, I would suggest reprinting DC Special no. 29, “The Untold Origin of the Justice Society.” I would even suggest a JSA related Treasury edition which reprints the first Golden Age appearances of Jay Garrick/Flash, Alan Scott/Green Lantern, Carter Hall/Hawkman, Kent Nelson/Dr. Fate, Rex Tyler/Hour Man, Wesley Dodds/Sandman, Jim Corrigan/Spectre, Al Pratt/Atom, Johnny Thunder, Charles McNider/Dr. Mid-Nite, Ted Knight/Starman, Wonder Woman, Ted Grant/Wildcat, Terry Sloane/Mr. Terrific, Dinah Drake/Black Canary, Superman and Batman–as it would be very cool to have all of those first appearances published in one giant comic.
And why not reprint the entire original Swamp Thing run by Wein and Wrigtson in several Treasury editions? Or how about the Denny O’Neil and Mike Kaluta run of The Shadow? Or the Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams run of Green Lantern/Green Arrow?
Or The Legion of Super-Heroes “The Great Darkness Saga” by Levitz and Giffen?
I probably already wrote something to this effect before, but I also think that DC should be putting out either treasury edition sized–or even standard sized 80 to 100 page giants–editions which compile the first appearances of various characters from the company’s vast acquisitions.
I could see one or two of these for the Fawcett Comics acquisitions: The Shazam/Marvel Family characters first appearances (Billy Batson, Freddy Freeman, Mary Bromfield, Dudley H. Dudley, Teth-Adam, Hoppy, etc.); and then the first appearances of all the other Fawcett superheroes who were published in the ’40s: Bulletman & Bulletgirl, Spy Smasher, Minute-Man, Ibis the Invincible and Princess Taia, Golden Arrow, Mr. Scarlet & Pinky, Phantom Eagle, Commando Yank, Radar the International Police Man, El Carim –Master of Magic, Devil’s Dagger, Diamond Jack, Red Gaucho, Warlock the Wizard, and Master Man–the first Fawcett Comics Superman knockoff character who was forced to hang it up. Also, I’m not certain if DC Comics has the rights to use Captain Midnight, and Nyoka the Jungle Girl, but if so, it would be cool to see their first Fawcett appearances as well. I figure all of these characters debuts could be squeezed into a few treasury editions or 100 Page Giants.
And the same situation applies to main Quality Comics characters which DC acquired. Several treasury editions–or standard sized 80 to 100 Page Giants– compiling the first appearances of many of these characters would be appreciated. Of course, the main Freedom Fighters characters: Uncle Sam, Doll Man, The Ray, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, Human Bomb, and Firebrand. But also, Plastic Man, Midnight, Blackhawk, Doll Girl, Wildfire, Red Bee, Manhunter, Quicksilver/Max Mercury, Kid Eternity, The Spider Widow & The Raven, Red Torpedo, Blue Tracer, Jester, Lady Luck, Neon the Unknown, The Clock, Alias the Spider, 711 & Destiny, Bozo the Iron Man, Hercules, Invisible Hood, Zero the Ghost Detective, The Whistler, USA–the Spirit of Old Glory, Wonder Boy, Madam Fatal, Magno, Merlin, Miss America, Tor, Mr. Mystic, The Great Defender (Stormy Foster), Captain Triumph, Ghost of Flanders, Torchy, Margo The Magician, The Marksman, and G-2.
If nothing else DC should consider releasing a Fawcwett Characters compendium and a Quality Characters compendium with the first appearances of these characters just to establish ownership of them–because quite a few of them DC has never used.
And DC should also really consider releasing some facsimile editions of the Quality Comics ’50s pre-code horror comic “Web of Horror,” and also the Fawcett Comics issues of “This Magazine is Haunted” and “Worlds of Fear.” They would sell!
That art’s GREAT! I don’t really buy the Atom punching out HAL JORDAN, though!
@Snark Shark
I see your point. However, I think the logic at the time was to allow several of the old school, foundational Silver Age DC Comics artists draw the characters they were most associated with during the Silver Age. Hence, Gil Kane drawing both Green Lantern and The Atom, and Carmine Infantino drawing both Flash and Elongated Man. And Joe Kubert drawing Hawkman (although Kubert wasn’t really associated with Superman).
The other thing was that Gerry Conway designed it so that each of the seven original JLA members (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter) battled against later additions to the team. But, arguably, there might have been better battle combinations. It seems that Superman would take Hawkman fairly easily–unless Katar Hol was equipped with a mace made out of Kryptonite, or they were fighting each other under a red sun, or something. It might have been interesting to have Superman battle Zatanna–with her magic being the wildcard, and Wonder Woman battling Hawkman–in terms of both being trained warriors; although her physical strength is greater. But if Katar somehow outmaneuvered her, or was able to use her lasso against her it could be intriguing. Also, it could be interesting to see Wonder Woman’s Invisible Plane vs. Hawkman’s Thanagarian Star Cruiser. And, if Katar and Shayera Hol double teamed Wonder Woman, perhaps they would succeed. Then again, Batman vs Hawkman would be an interesting match up–although, Batman, being Batman, would win.
Could you see the Atom punching out Guy Gardener…?
Back to facsimile editions and treasury editions, now that JLA no. 200 was released (and it looks great!), I think DC should bundle JLA. Vo.1, issues 100-102, “The Unknown Soldier of Victory” featuring the JLA/JSA/Seven Soldiers of Victory story arc into one treasury sized volume.
It’s a great story, and I believe it features the first time that the Golden Age Earth-2 Wonder Woman and Silver/Bronze Age Earth-1 Wonder Woman meet each other. I believe it may also be the fist (and only?) time that the Golden Age Earth-2 Green Arrow and the Silver/Bronze Age Earth-1 Green Arrow appear in a story together. And, of course, the first Bronze Age appearance of the Seven Soldiers of Victory.
If there is enough room, they could also include the Seven Soldiers of Victory in “The Land of Magic” solo stories that ran as back-up features in Adventure Comics no. 438-433, which featured an old unpublished Golden Age SSOV story written by Joe Samachson which DC got various artists in the ’70s to draw the various chapters of: Shining Knight by Howard Chaykin (doing his best Frank Frazetta homage), Green Arrow and Speedy by Lee Elias(a nice touch, as Elias had been the regular Green Arrow & Speedy artist during the Atomic Age/early Silver Age), Crimson Avenger & Wing by Mike Grell, Star Spangled Kid and Stripesy by Ernie Chua, and The Vigilante by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. And Dick Dillin does the art of the whole team which bookends the story, which is cool, as Dillin also drew JLA Vol.1 issues 100-102.
And maybe get Marv Wolfman to do a write up about Len Wein’s “The Unknown Soldier of Victory” story that could be featured as a text piece on the inside front cover, unless there is an old fanzine interview out there of Wein discussing it which could be reprinted. And reuse either the cover to JLA no. 100 or no. 102 by Nick Cardy as the cover for the treasury edition.
Also a treasury edition of the JLA Vol. 1, issues 107 – 108 would be way cool. Seeing the classic JLA/JSA/Freedom Fighters “Crisis on Earth X” team-up by Len Wein, Dick Dillin, and Dick Giordano printed big, with the great Nick Cardy cover art from issue 107 as the treasury cover would be nice.
And for supplemental material, Freedom Fighters no. 1 could be reprinted as a back up feature, or else the first appearance stories from Quality Comics of Uncle Sam, The Doll Man, The Ray, Black Condor, Phantom Lady, and The Human Bomb could be included–or else use the Secret Origins stories of Doll Man, Uncle Sam, and Black Condor published in the ’80s with the great Murphy Anderson art. Gil Kane did layouts for a Roy Thomas script for The Ray for Secret Origins, but apparently they never got used. Maybe DC could unearth the Kane layouts and have Jerry Ordway or Terry Austin finish the art?
I don’t think Phantom Lady or The Human Bomb got Secret Origins stories published in the ’80, but Adam Hughes would be a great choice as the artist for Phantom Lady. And they could also feature the Dave Stevens illustration of P.L. from Who’s Who as a pin-up bonus feature. Additionally, they could do Uncle Sam, Ray, Doll Man, And Black Condor pin ups by reproducing a few of the great Quality Comics covers from National, Feature, Crack, and Smash Comics which boast amazing Lou Fine, Reed Crandall, and Will Eisner Art. And if DC included new material with Ray, Phantom Lady, and The Human Bomb origin stories, that could be an added inducement to buy the treasury edition.
And lastly, a treasury edition of JLA Vol. 1, issues 135, 136, and 137–the first (and only?) JLA/JSA/Shazam’s Squadron of Justice (Fawcett Comics/Earth-s) team-up in the ” Crisis on Earth-S” story arc would be way cool.
Again, as a back up, first appearances in various Fawcett Comics of Ibis, Spy Smasher, Bullet Man & Bullet Girl, and Mr. Scarlet & Pinky could be included–or new content could be created with brief secret origins for each character. Based on some Bullet Girl art by Will Meugniot that I have seen, I would nominate him to draw her (actually, Meugniot would be good for Phantom Lady art as well, if Adam Hughes is busy). And maybe pin ups of some of the characters from various Fawcett Comics covers or old Who’s Who art from the ’80s.