Today we're discussing the Avengers of the DC Comicbook Universe (DCCU), the Justice League of America (JLA). The JLA was created by Gardner Fox and made their first appearance in 1960, when they came together to battle a giant starfish. No, I'm not kidding. The cover of their first issue kind of reminds me of the first issue of Giant Sized X-Men #1 (the X-Men were the mutant Avengers, who were more popular than the Avengers were when I was growing up), where the X-Men are shown fighting Krakoa the Living Island. The Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, & Hulk) were created 3 years (1963) later by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and were made to compete with the Justice League title DC released.
Like the Avengers, the JLA was a team comprised of DC's biggest heroes: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. I'm guessing you at least recognize most of the names and know their abilities. Superman is easy, Batman - yeah, no duh, Wonder Woman is an Amazonian princess with super strength, speed, & agility (some versions allow her to fly; other times she fights with magic bracelets and the lasso of truth; also known to be the greatest warrior in the DCCU), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan, member of the galactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps. His power ring is the strongest weapon in the universe; allowing him to project anything he can imagine), the Flash (fastest man alive), Aquaman (super strong, breathes underwater, talks to fish; also the King of Atlantis), and Martian Manhunter (real name: J'onn J'onzz or John Jones on Earth. He's from Mars, and can fly, shapeshift into any form, and is a powerful telepath). They're much different than the Avengers right? And that's just the original lineup.
The Avengers have more of a rag tag group of super powered people brought together to fight a common evil. While the Justice League seem to have been assembled for the same purpose, but also because they're the most powerful heroes in the universe. At least that's how I've always felt; it's as though DC was telling tales of gods coming to Earth and their interactions with mankind vs. the Avengers who were actually OF THE WORLD. I'm not saying one way is better than the other, that's a personal preference on the readers part. I enjoy both companies, their super teams and their stories, as both companies have unique stories to tell for each team. **I recommend Justice League of America: Tower of Babel (all about Batman and his secret plans to defeat everybody in the JLA if he had to), also Infinite Crisis and finally Kingdom Come. Those are my favorite JLA stories so far.**
Just like Marvel's Avengers, the JLA has gone through different variations of team membership through the years. The originals members always have some role to play (just like the Avengers), but the ranks of the JLA has swelled exponentially; to the point where there were JLA teams not only across the country, but across the world. For instance there was a storyline that had a bad guy run a successful smear campaign to ruin the reputation of the JLA, the team was discredited but a more powerful team replaced them. Backed by Maxwell Lord (later taking the persona of Lord Havoc for a short time, and who would also become an enemy of the League, and murdered by Wonder Woman), the United Nations formally recognized the JLA as international peacekeepers and established a teams all over the world to confront supervillains of every country. There was a Justice League: Detroit team at one point too, the members were Martian Manhunter, Zatanna (a magic user), Steel (John Henry Irons - a dude in an armored suit), Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny - like Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic 4, he could stretch his body to ridiculous lengths), Vixen (has a mystical totem that gives her abilities like an animal), Vibe (emits shockwaves that cause earthquakes), Gypsy (camouflaging powers, also can project images into other people's heads), and Aquaman. Weird line-up right? That's just a fraction of the amount of people that would be members of the JLA. **EDITOR'S NOTE: Another really great version of the JLA is Justice League Dark. A team made up of magic users and paranormal characters like John Constantine, Zatanna, Swamp Thing, Madame Xanadu, Shade, the Changing Man, Frankenstein, and Deadman. Definitely worth the read***
The Avengers did the same thing with their membership. Several years back a major complaint from hardcore fans was that, now "everybody is an Avenger" because a "controversial" new writer (Brian Michael Bendis) took over the title and formed a new team. The new team was made of Luke Cage, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, the Thing, and Doctor Strange. I, for one, loved the New Avengers! One of my favorite things to do with super heroes is see them team up with each other. From just two heroes to an entire team. So the JLA and the Avengers are a lot of fun!
The JLA would introduce me to such heroes as Captain Marvel (now called Shazam), Captain Atom (flight, atomic energy manipulation), Black Lightening (electricity manipulation powers), Booster Gold (time travel and future tech), Blue Beetle (super smart, uses lots of technology), the Red Tornado (synthetic android, like Vision in Marvel, but can rotate his body at tremendous speeds to create a tornado), Power Girl (alternate Earth's version of Supergirl), Hawkman & Hawkgirl (they are exactly how they sound, with a bit more mythology behind them), and many many others. Including the other members of the Green Lantern Corps. (John Stewart, Kyle Raynor, and Guy Gardner), and the other variations of the Flash (Barry Allen, Wally West, Bart Allen, and Jay Garrick).
One thing that novice fans should understand. DC comics LOVES their multiverse. A multiverse is basically the alternate versions of Earth in DC comics. There are an infinite number of possible versions. The most well known is Earth 2, where the heroes are just a little bit different than Earth 1. Earth 2 has the Justice SOCIETY of America with members like Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Mr. Terrific, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Hawkgirl, Atom-Smasher, Stargirl, Black Canary, Flash (Jay Garrick) and the Spectre. The Earth 2 heroes resembled more of the classic version of the characters ie Superman had whitening hair. First appearing in 1940, and although technically the first super team main super hero team in the DCCU, the JSA would become exclusive to Earth 2. This became DC's way of continuing to write stories for the "all-star" versions of their most popular characters. Earth 2 resembled more of the Golden Age of comic books (1930's-1950's) characters.
I guess you could say I was a JLA fan before I was an Avengers fan because I met the JLA much earlier in my life. Before I could even read there was a tv show that I loved to watch called The Super Friends. It was a super cheesy kid's tv show created in the late 70's and played from 1973-1986.
It was basically the Justice League in kid friendly situations facing their villains. I wouldn't meet the Avengers until the late 80's/early 90's. The Super Friends faced off against each member's respective bad guys, which was probably my favorite part of the show. The bad guys called themselves The Legion of Doom. They were led by Lex Luthor and their members consisted of guys like, Bizarro (Superman), Gorillia Grodd (Flash), Captain Cold (Flash), Cheetah (Wonder Woman), the Riddler (Batman), Scarecrow (Batman), Black Manta (Aquaman), Giganta (Wonder Woman), Solomon Grundy (Batman), Brainiac (Superman) and Sinestro (Green Lantern).
So who would you put on your Justice League of America lineup? I had an opportunity to do that very thing when I got married a couple of years ago. My groomsmen and I all wore superhero t-shirts underneath our suits. I planned it all out, especially who would wear who's iconic symbols. THAT'S my favorite part of the Justice League. Where the Avengers are cool and a lot of fun and their characters are great; they lack one thing only the JLA can offer. Iconic hero symbols! Superman's S, Batman's Bat, Wonder Woman's double W crest, Flash's lightening bolt, Green Lantern's...uh..green..lantern, things like that. Not every hero has them, but the core members do. My line up was Superman (myself heh), Batman (my best man Tony), the Flash (my little brother Kevin), Shazam (my best friend Jimmy), and Green Lantern (my friend Chris). Superman was always my favorite growing up and it was my wedding, so that was a given. My best man (and cousin), Tony Turco, was a perfect fit to be wearing the bat symbol (Superman and Batman have always been depicted as great friends despite their differences. Tony and I have been best buds since birth); my little brother has the reddish blond hair that Barry Allen has and used to pride himself on how fast he ran when he was younger, and would often help the old lady around the corner shovel out her driveway in the Winter. Something I imagine Barry Allen doing, so that was an easy pick; Jimmy as Shazam was a fun one because in the comics (specifically the Kingdom Come story) Superman fights Shazam and Shazam is the only hero capable of defeating Superman on his own. Jimmy is the kind of friend that I would trust with the knowledge and ability to defeat me. IF it was ever necessary. I'd say that's a pretty good compliment (what do you think Jim?). And my friend Chris as Green Lantern was an easy choice too. He's a good guy who has shown extraordinary willpower in his lifetime. That's what GL's powers are based on. The only one missing from my lineup was Wonder Woman, but that's because I was marrying her and she wanted the boys to have their picture together. I really am an incredibly lucky man.
So who would you pick for your Justice League of America lineup? Would you keep the core members or add on your own? The movie, due out next year, seems to be leaning towards 7 members (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman), so that's a good amount.
Let me know who you would want on your team by commenting on my Facebook page, commenting here, or tweeting me @SuperNerdyNews. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out Jimmy and my new podcast: The Good Shit, all episodes now available on Soundcloud. Thanks! Have a great day!
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