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Shotgun Reviews presents:
The
Team Concept, Part 2:
The Justice League
by: Troy Brownfield
Last
time, I examined the first team in comics. This time, we're
going at look at what is, in all likelihood, the best. Debuting
in The Brave and The Bold #28, the Justice League of America
grew to represent the basics of what superteams should be
all about. The JLA evolved from the "Silver Age" revolution
in comics. There was a new Flash, a new Green Lantern, and
dozens of new heroes. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman
were still around in their same basic forms. What was lacking
at DC in those days was a representative team book; a pantheon.
Following
in the footsteps of the JSA, the creators assembled a team
of seven of the world's greatest heroes. Why seven? Perhaps
in tribute to the seven archangels. Maybe a tip of the hat
to The Seven Samurai. Seven is one of those numbers that seems
to cycle through heroic fiction, even today. Star Wars followed
seven heroes (Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Obi-Wan, R2D2 and C3P0);
so did Star Trek (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Chekov, Sulu,
Uhura). And on a purely subconscious level, seven just seems
. . . right. So to begin with, the JLA had seven: Superman,
Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern and
Martian Manhunter.
In these
seven characters, you covered all of the bases inherent to
super heroic fiction at the time. You had heroes steeped in
science (Batman, The Flash), science fiction (Superman, GL,
Martian Manhunter), mythology and magic (Wonder Woman, Aquaman).
The group carried infinite storytelling possibilties simply
because of the types of characters they were.
Of course,
we all know that the roster didn't stay set. Green Arrow joined
next, then the Atom, and so on. Members came, members went,
but the concept of the team stayed the same. By the early
'80s though, the team seemed to suffer. The pantheon was gone,
replaced with newer heroes. Where once you had Batman or Green
Arrow, you now had . . .Vibe. It was time for a change.
The big
change for the JLA came at the end of the Legends event in
1987. A new League was forged, this time taking on an international
scope. Many of the stories were told with broad humor and
starred mostly lesser-known DC heroes. The approach made for
some greatly entertaining stories, but after while, the luster
faded again. Two attempts were made to reboot the team, once
just prior to the Death of Superman arc, and once after Zero
Hour. While not absolute failures, they didn't really go over
either. The answer was simple: the JLA needed to be a pantheon
again.
Enter
Grant Morrison. The wily Scots writer, best known for his
dark and strange tales like his run on The Doom Patrol, pitched
a resurrection of the line-up that made the team great. Taking
the modern incarnations of the original seven members, he
posited a new League that would return to the glory of the
old. After an introductory story by Mark Waid and Fabian Nicieza,
Morrison did what he promised, and then some.
While
it's an undeniable fact that the "magnificent seven" represented
a pantheon of their own, Morrison wasn't content. He fashioned
a 14 member League that represented the various aspects of
the Olympian heirarchy. We had Superman (Zeus), Wonder Woman
(Hera), Batman (Hades), Aquaman (Poseidon), Flash (Hermes),
Green Lantern (Apollo), Martian Manhunter (Hestia, more or
less), Barda (Demeter), Orion (Ares), Plastic Man (Dionysus),
Steel (Hephaestus), Oracle (Athena), Huntress (Artemis) and
Zauriel (the male counterpart to Aphrodite). This gave the
League a truly epic scope. Morrison was then able to draw
on a large reservoir of characters to nimbly weave stories,
pairing personalities and showing contrasts. Amazingly, even
with such a huge roster, he effectively used guest stars like
Aztek, Green Arrow, Captain Marvel and the Atom to underscore
the cosmic nature of the proceedings.
In essence,
the team concept of the JLA has always been about the stuff
of legends. It is a fellowship of beings dedicated to, as
the Super Friends cartoon used to say, "truth and justice
for all mankind." Whether loaded with beings of amazing power
or members of the second string, whether small or large, this
is the team that all other modern teams follow. A few short
months from now, Morrison's reign on the team will end, and
Mark Waid will take over. While we can't be sure what Waid
will do, we can be sure that the legend will live on.
Next in
Part 3, I'll discuss the rise of
the Marvel teams and illustrate the disparate natures of the
Avengers, the Defenders, and the X-Men.
Troy
Brownfield works for a publishing company in Indianapolis.
His absolute favorite single issue comic book story of all
time is Justice League of America #200. You'll never prove
to him that Titanic is better than Raiders of the Lost Ark,
that Korn is better than Sugar, or that any single issue story
is as cool as JLA #200. It was so big it had a spine, for
God's sake. Email him at psikotyk@aol.com.
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