Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Justice League

Man, I had a great post but lost it.

<----------basically, I said "Fan of Ollie, Roy, Garth and Aquaman".

I like them all and want them all to do well in the medium.

But I don't think I buy into the 'big leagues' notion when it comes to the JLA. Maybe in the Silver Age to the 80's, but not so much anymore. Nightwing is in the big leagues and he's not a JLAer. I'd rather see Garth and Roy follow that path than actually replace Ollie or Aquaman. Roy right now isn't carving out his own identity, he's becoming more derivative of Ollie instead of the opposite.

I agree completely about PAD and Tempest. But I think the same thing could be said about Aquaman himself and PAD. I hate what's been done to Garth post-PAD and how he's been kind of brushed off to the side in recent years.

I have an in-grown distrust of editors-in-chiefs. And I can't help but feel that Ollie is safe, pretty much no matter what. He's been around since the 40's, after all. But Conner and even Roy I get worried about. And I feel the more they try to put him in the mold of 'Standing in for Ollie' the more likely one day they'll be killed off in a DC event or storyline. Because I can't help but feel Ollie's safe, especially post-Hard Travelin' Heroes. Ollie died in the 90's and I knew he'd be ressurected one day. I can't help but feel that he'll stay safe. I like Conner and want him to have a more individual identity, and I like Roy and would prefer him carving out his own place, like Nightwing, to distance himself from such a trend in comics. The change to 'Red Arrow' is too derivative. He was great as Arsenal already, and with a cooler, more individual name.

Jorg, I criticise Melter's JLA as being fan-fiction because that's what it read like . He doesn't right enough comics for me to spread that criticism to other stories (not saying I won't in the future). Its like "hey, how about we put freakin' Geo-Force in the League? Awesome!" and then we get a total of eleven panels of Geo-Force doing something since. Meltzer's JLA...ugh, it was bad

I agree about Geo-Force being forced in by Meltzer for no apparent reason. I liked the move mind you but as CJ said...he's gotten no air time.

And I agree Cobie that Roy has become a Ollie clone of sorts. I think it was probably the editors that wanted "Red Arrow" cause DC seems to be going through a Kingdom Come love fest. I prefer Arsenal. Just like I prefer Nightwing, Tempest, Troia to their original names. For that matter I wish Conner/Kon-El would come back with a different name like Nightwing did.

For Geo-Force my only honest exposure to him is the 90's Outsiders series and I liked him there a good deal and have wanted to see him. But his lack of air time is annoying.

I know I sound all complain-y in this thread, but screw it, complaining about comics are the life-blood of message boards . I just feel that the JLA should always be hella-awesome since its very nature implies its one of DC's best offerings.

Sure he has....Kendra.

What a freakin' lame hookup that was. I don't want to talk about it any longer, I'm sorry I even brought it up! Stupid, stupid, stupid!!

Cobie, another reason I didn't see Meltzer run as fan-fic. It's the JLA. Most of their history reads like fan-fic to me.

Seriously, the JLA has never had the depth that the Legion or Avengers had. Always a bit two-dimensional.

So, is Geo-Force leaving the League for the Outsiders? Or will he be doing double-duty, like Bats?

I like him and want to see how he'd fit in-- same with Vixen, though I want her to get her traditional powers back.

I'm not a League traditionalist, though. I liked the Detroit change (just not the stories told with them), as it was resonant with Cap's Kooky Quartet over at Marvel in The Avengers, an era I find fun and ultimately making the team. So, I'm open to these off-the-wall members.

It's not setting the world on fire, but I'm enjoying this title. I liked the Tangent body-switching thing, I thought it was sort of fun.

The new Firestorm and the new Atom are joining/have joined... that should be interesting.

I thought I'd love Black Canary as leader, but something about her portrayal as such isn't working for me. Dunno what.

Wonder Woman's impressed me more in this series as a Leaguer than in a long time. In small ways.

Red Tornado loses a body *again*? Yeesh, let's have some different beats for Reddy for awhile, OK?

Super-villain armies just aren't as entertaining when they get too large... for me, anyway. Unless they're the complete focus of the storytelling-- which they weren't in the JL issues. Looked good, though. Of course, with a League this large, such an army is required.

If they get a return (leave Luthor out next time, why don't you?), I think it should be in small groups spread out over time, facing handfuls of League members, including reserve characters, building up to some large scheme/smackdown.

Red Arrow... I'm not loving the Kendra connection, but since she's 'only' Kendra now I don't mind as much as I once did. Frankly, I still want Shayera back and probably always will.

The Cheshire stuff was disturbing... I thought Roy'd gotten past cutting her slack. How's he going to feel when she kills the population of a city, or something?

Time to dispel Lian's illusions, I think. Maybe with Donna in the upcoming reunited Titans series?

can't wait for the jla to hand the suicide squad their...*ss*s.

not feelin this book even though i keep pickin it up..maybe i pick it up for the art and the satellite era feel the line up has.

hmmm. he vixen has ANIMAL powers. that is all. not people power snatching abilities. she's called the vixen.

After Lightning Saga I pretty much dropped this book, but my impression is that this League could have been really interesting, if only Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Hal Jordan / Green Lantern had wandered off to be big names somewhere else.

I am *way* more interested in Roy (who is Arsenal, dammit! Red Arrow? Lame!), Vixen and Black Lightning. The dudes who already have their own books are just weighing it down and taking airtime from the interesting characters, IMO.

Then again, I've always been a fan of the ones that get little airtime, like Vixen, Steel, Booster Gold, Phantom Stranger, Oracle, Rocket Red, Hawkwoman and Amazing Man.

The 'old squad' feels just that to me. Old. I'm past ready for Donna Troy to take over being Wonder Woman, Conner Kent to be Superman, Nightwing to take over for Bruce, Kyle Rayner and Wally West to remain the Green Lantern / Flash, rather than constantly have the dead people get ressurected, only to be used poorly, if at all.

Set... you are my hero!

So another issue featuring Roy and Kendra, you know I had to pick it up. They make a brief appearance, and they don't make an impressive appearance. But they were there.

It's more about The Human Flame, and Libra recruiting him.

And the Trinity have a secret metting place within the Hall of Justice. I dont' like the idea at all, it sounds too exclusive. They rate Canary's performance and Vixen's powers.

I think by this time I'm pretty sick of the Trinity constantly appearing together (and the Trinity weekly hasn't even come out). I feel like we've been beaten over the head with it these last few years.

Honestly Supes & Bats are buddies; Wonder Woman belongs more with the rest of the League. But drawing a distinction between them specifically from the entire rest of the League again and again and again...well, I'm bored with it.

I agree. And if Mark Bagley wasn't drawing Trinity, I wouldn't have added it to my list, but my reasoning is that if Trinity sells in good numbers, then Bagley will be rewarded with a plum assignment which I would be 100% commited to.

And if anyone's wondering why I'd get a comic written by Kurt Busiek when I dislike his Avengers so much, the answer is that I don't have the same emotional investment in the DC characters that I do in the Marvel characters -- ESPECIALLY NOT the Trinity, even though they've all had their brief moments over the last three years that I've been reading comics again: DnA & Chris Batista's Superman Confidential arc, Paul Dini's first few issues of Detective Comics, bits and pieces of Gail Simone's Wonder Woman...

I actually don't mind that particular trio existing as their own little team-within-a-team. Sort of like the Legion's founders, though none of this trio actually *was* a JL founder, I don't think?

Anyway, it sort of resonates with Bats and Supes status with the Justice Society back in the 1940's. Members, but not.

Though it's a rare issue that *doesn't* have the Power Trio (I dislike the Trinity name-- too quasi-religious for me). I'd prefer that it was a real event when all three participate in a Justice League adventure, though one or two of the three can and should be featured often.

I'd prefer they met openly, though. This clandestine stuff hasn't been big enough to merit all the energy they're (the characters) putting in to the secrecy, etc.

I was amused that the *real* JL founders, or at least some of them, had selected a team, trumping their would-be machinations back at the beginning of the series. Keeping a sense of humor in place when presenting them would go a long way towards keeping them palatable.

New issue's out-- and it moves the Vixen and Red Tornado subplots forward quite a bit. Reading solicits for upcoming months tells you what's happening with Mari.

The RT body drama just needs to stop. I hope there's a definitive end ahead soon. If not, let it rest for a few decades. Or is that such a fundamental part of the character now that a writer wouldn't feel like he or she's writing a Red Tornado story without destroying his body?

The Red Arrow/Hawkgirl gets as big a stamp of approval as it could get in the DCU in this issue. Guess it ain't gonna be just a bit of a fling, after all.

While I loved that the team lineup ended up falling together without the Big3, the only founder present for the real formation of the current team was Green Lantern. According to current retcontinuity, Wonder Woman has re-replaced Black Canary as a founder.

I would have preferred BC being among the original founders, with WW having a similar relationship like Bats or Supes.

Some pigs are more equal than other pigs, I guess.

The holy trinity is rating Black Canary's performance? Puh-lease, that's like having Doctor Druid deciding whether or not Thor has what it takes to be an Avenger.

Well we actually had an issue where Black Canary was the leader.

I also want to see an end to the Red Tornado body story line. Reddy has always been one of my favorite characters, but the story line has just dragged on too long.

I originally hoped that Meltzer's "Reddy in a human body" storyline would result in an end to the "Reddy gets blown up" storylines. Oh well. Maybe MacDuffie will have better luck.

#23 features more of the Amazo fight. I like the art, and the story's OK- I've always found Amazo one of the more boring DC villains. Here, he's a bit more computational than I remember him.

It was a kick seeing him duplicate a JLAer's power that I don't remember him using before- that of Zatanna. What he does with it reminds me of an old STAR TREK story- or specifically of a particular image in that story that horrified me as a kid. It's not so much horrifying as 'bout time' here. IMO.

A robot wielding magic? That's a cool idea, a *really* cool one- for anyone else but super-power duplicating Amazo. Magic's just another super-power? Really?

Isn't DC's magic supposed to have consquence and stuff after the recent crises and resolutions? They've never delivered on that promise, have they?

I hope this results in a big power-down for Zatanna and a resolution to the power fluctuations for Vixen.

Decent fight scenes, but it's mostly so much middle.

It reminded me of Twilight Zone: The Movie (specifically, a bit in the segment based on the short story "It's A GOOD Life"). I don't recall seeing it on Star Trek, but it's been a looooong time since I've watched most of the episodes. Can you remember the title, or provide a plot description?

I am also curious about that (I don't remember ever reading an Amazo story with Zatanna in it before). It does raise questions about the relationship between magic and "ordinary" super-powers in the DCU, [cynical]but I won't hold my breath waiting for such questions to actually be *addressed*.[/cynical]

I'm also wondering how Amazo did what he did to Firestorm: is that something the current Firestorm is capable of? I haven't been reading that book. I can't think of anyone else in the League who could do that, except Zatanna - and we didn't see Amazo use a spell in *that* scene. And can the current Firestorm turn intangible? I seem to recall that at least one of the previous Firestorms had learned that trick. If not, then how was Amazo able to escape after being blasted by Green Lantern?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bicycle Repair Man:
[QB] It reminded me of Twilight Zone: The Movie (specifically, a bit in the segment based on the short story "It's A GOOD Life"). I don't recall seeing it on Star Trek, but it's been a looooong time since I've watched most of the episodes. Can you remember the title, or provide a plot description?
[QUOTE][qb]

The episode was "Charlie X" from the original episodes. It wasn't a big scene, but at one point the character- who developed reality-changing power- caused a random female crewmember to walk around without a mouth... like Zatanna.

I read it last night...it was a pretty good battle issue, although one wonders why Amazo didn't use Firestorm's powers to transmute Supes' heart into kryptonite, stuff like that... but a good battle issue. WHAT is that creep that has Vixen and Animal Man as "puppets"?

Just read the latest JLA, the one with Vixen and Animal Man on the cover. -Thought it strange that they were featured when the story was dominated by the defeat of Amazo, which was a great spotlight on Zatanna. Did she spell "Heal Me" backwards in her own blood? I never knew she could do that. I thought her words had to be uttered.

I'll be interested in how Mari and Buddy are connected and I hope Vixen has her powers returned. Right now, she's too "Rogue-ish" in nature, power-wise.

It's always nice (for me anyway) to see Dinah use her Canary cry. Looks like Zee is going to stick around and I approve.

The cover? Maybe a way to let Animal Man fans know he was appearing and to get them onboard for the next issue, maybe.

Thank space Reddy has a body again. Now can we never EVER have another 'destroyed Red Tornado body' storyline again?

Although the "Amazo not being able to duplicate a soul" thing was a bit of a nice touch.