JLA Modern version

[Random Axe]

Okay, I'm a major league(pun intended) fan of Justice League from childhood. I had JL bedsheets, wallpaper, underoos, pajamas, sticker books, colorforms, viewmasters and pretty much anything else associated with the League of Super Friends. I've also been out of the comics loop for the last decade or so and not really following continuity except for picking up Wizard magazine.

I just got back from Borders with JLA Tornado's Path from Meltzer/Benes. It looks sweet and Black KNight highly recommended it. HOw is the rest of the new series and are there some other good TPB's I'm missing? I loved Kingdom COme and Justice, which turned many people off. I also saw TPB for Injustice League and the Lightning Saga. Are those any good? I'm going on vacation middle of the month and want some new reading material.

I was also thisclose to picking up the Sinestro War TPB too. I think I may cash in one of my Borders coupons on Sunday for that...

Scott

[thunderbolt]

I tried the new JLA, and gave up after issue 1. Absolutely nothing happened. blehhh.

[BlackKnight]

Well Scott,

If you liked Re-Birth.... The Sinestro's Corp's War was a Fantastic Sequel imo. Johnn's Just rocks.

[The Toyroom]

As far as the new Justice League series, I've been very disappointed....Meltzer's run started out VERY slowly and uneventful (which is the Torando's Path TPB you have)...the Lightning Saga improved but I was still left with disappointment, as it seemed to be pure set-up but nothing else. The Injustice League is when Dwayne McDuffie took over the book...an improvment over Meltzer but I still feel I'm not getting the JLA I'm looking for. Again, lotsa set-up and talking but very little in the slam-bang action department.

As far as TPBs might I suggest hunting down any of the 4 volumes that are out there of the Crisis on Multiple Earths series...basically every JLA/JSA team-up up until the one where they meeet the LSH. Nice old school JLA, especially if you miss that sort of thing.

[Action Martin]

I returned to comics for the new runs of Green Lantern, Justice League of America, and Brave and the Bold. I gave up on B&B after about 8 issues, JLA after 12, and GL I only really gave up because I didn't think it was worth paying Westfield $6 a month to ship a $2 comic to me. GL was some good stuff though.

With B&B and JLA is just felt like there was nothing going on and that the writers, Waid and Meltzer, were just filling up space in order to sell the eventual tpbs. The JLA #0 was a good hook but the follow up was too slowly executed. Meltzer tried to deliver "old school" JLA but it didn't work for me.

[The Toyroom]

Meltzer, IMO, can't write his way out of a paper bag....his "Archer's Quest" in Green Arrow was good but I didn't care for his pacing in "JLA" (definitely written with trades in mind, as Scott pointed out) and his mucking-up of the JLA in "Identity Crisis". ID started with a nice springboard but it quickly dissolved into the equivalent of tabloid fodder for the DC Universe.

I enjoyed "Brave and the Bold" during the 1st 12-issues...some of the buzz was taken out when George Perez had to leave the book before the arc was finished but Jery Ordway is no slouch and filled the void admirably. However, the recent team-ups (Batman/Flash, Deadman/Green Arrow) have started to make the book lose its luster for me. Scot Kolins artwork was definitely a factor on the last issue. Once Mark Waid is done I'm hoping the book is able to bounce back with some fresh new team-ups and ideas. I think Waid hit a writer's block and was somewhat hand-tied by the current status of the DCU (which "B&B" was supposed to explore but instead it got blindsided by the editorial confines of not knowing exactly WHAT the current status of the DCU is). Me personally, I don't see anything wrong with single stand-alone issues that don't have an underlying continuity that ties into "something bigger". Of course, that makes it hard to sell a trade, I suppose.

[palitoy]

I just couldn't get my head around the current version, can't really put my finger on it but it doesn't seem "fun" I guess. I grabbed Morrison's JLA with both hands, it brought me back to comics in fact and I hung around for the rest of the run but this reboot lost me.

[Random Axe]

I just finished volume one and I liked it, but was not overly thrilled. Meltzer did a poor job of explaining the whole immortal 13 thing, but I know enough about previous DC continuity to follow along. It was a unique idea to center Red Tornado as the entire story catalyst. The artwork is simply outstanding. Benes reminds me of David Finch mixed with Mike Turner. Very slick.

I suppose the best part for me was passing the torch to Red Arrow/Aresenal. As a huge fan of GL/GA back in the day, I found this a little sentimental. Overall a decent start and enough to make me go pick up the next chapter, The Lightning Saga.

Scott

[The Toyroom]

The Lightning Saga was a little better arc from Meltzer IMO...it probably helped that the JSA issues were written by Geoff Johns and that the Legion guest-starred as well. A perfect example of how Meltzer fails to execute can be found in Lightning Saga when he introduces the behind-the-scenes trio of Despero, Per Degaton and the Ultra-Humanite but doesn't capitalize on it. He soon left the title and it was left up to Geoff Johns (in "Booster Gold") to pick up the ball that Meltzer dropped and fashion some sort of storyline out of it.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Yeah, Meltzer is good at character moments, but his plotting is pretty bad. And his character moments, while well-written, aren't always "in character" either. "Tornado's Path" could have been a 2-parter at best.

Chris

[Airdave817]

It is nice that he's a fan of comics. I read his Tenth Justice. It was pretty good. I tried reading his second novel and just couldn't get through it.

His Justice League was just okay. I would go back farther and grab some of the older, trades. Tower of Babel is my favorite.