Creative Casting for the DC comics World

books:

	• Showcase Presents: Justice League of America, Vol. 1 Gardner Fox DC Comics, 2005 - 544 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Cheese-tastic greatness

My God, DC silver age comics were goofy. If you LOVE the Superfriends, then this is for you. I mean, if you love the fact that every villain in the universe had some Krytonite, some yellow lasers to zap Green Lantern with, and a Bic lighter to get Martian Manhunter- then this is AWESOME! The stories are so absurd that you have to suspend all disbelief and just enjoy the comedy of it. This is not for people who want a serious story, this is for heroes who are so stupid they are trapped by the most insane devices. This is about villains who are mega-whacky. This stuff is just FUN, FUN, FUN.

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Creative Casting for the DC comics World

I enjoyed this huge graphic novel for the most part. The stories were bizarre but good if you expect that. Makes me think of B Sci-fi movies, very over the top but creative despite that. My favorite part had to be the creative use of super powers, one of the most fun parts of the book. Of course you expect Green Lantern to do some very different things with his ring, but the Flash does some amazing things too. He can control the world around him by varying the way that his uses his superspeed: create vibrations, slow down his rate of falling, create wind etc. (If you read this you will see what I mean).

The villains were all very different, using technology, alien intellect, or magic to trouble the Justice League. The plots have the general pattern of: 1. some seeming impossible challenge, 2. solution through the creative use of powers or some other clever device. This makes for some redundancy but still a lot of fun. (Don't try to read all in one setting...Space them out at bit.)

There are some flaws that draw you out of the fun that the book has to offer. The thing that irked me the most was "Snapper Carr." I understand this is the age of sidekicks, and part of this era of comic books, but he was definitely overused and annoying. The only other complaint is the lack of color. The color would add so much to the visuals. I understand this comes with the territory of these huge complitations, though.

I think this book is definitely worth the read and if you like old comics worth a purchase. It was fun to read these early comics and consider how much comics have changed.

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The Real Dream Team

With original members Aquaman, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter - and, later, the Green Arrow and Atom - this best-selling comic book team debuted in The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960), which is part of this volume.

Other titles are The Brave and the Bold #29-#30, Mystery in Space #75 and the initial sixteen titles from the JLA. Along with the sidekick Snapper Carr, the super heroes face a mostly second-tier lineup of bad guys, but the story lines swiftly move along and simplify what could have been a very difficult task in juggling so many stars.

A wonderful journey down memory lane, the comics are a timeless lesson in working together and placing egos aside for the team.

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JLA Forever

The Showcase Presents line is letting me have a second childhood and I'm loving every page, even in B&W. Years ago I had every issue in this collection. I started buying JLA new with issue #19, and started my time as a serious collector soon after. I always felt Sekowsky was the perfect JLA artist while my favorite artist, bar none, was Infantino. When Sekowsky's run on JLA was done it was hard for me to keep my interest in the series. By the time I was in the 10th grade had I found the three Brave and Bold issues plus JLA 1-18 for a nickle each in a used book store. The lady who owned the store knew comic collecting was starting to take off because of The Batman TV show but she continued to sell used comics at half their original cover price, and she usually let me have first crack at them. Years later I let most of my collection go and even if I had them all today I doubt I would ever take them out of their bags. The Archive series is nice but I'm tired of collecting things and tired of finding places to put them. When I finish my Showcase Presents books I think I'll just give them to a grandson or sell them on ebay, or toss them. If nothing else, the price of these is hard to beat.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

The first volume of the Justice League of America in Showcase Presents, DC's competitor to Marvel's budget-priced black-and-white Essentials line, collects 20 early issues of the super team, starting in The Brave and the Bold 28-30 and continuing into the first 16 issues of the JLA's own book and Mystery in Space 75 (featuring Adam Strange).Truthfully, a lot of the issues have a sameness to them, with the Leaguers generally splitting up to tackle menaces (usually alien) individually and having to figure out how to handle something specifically designed to neutralize each member's powers, e.g., Green Lantern against something yellow (if only they'd selected those assignments a little better?).Notable issues include the JLA's first appearance, facing Starro the conqueror; the introduction of teen "hipster" Snapper Carr; the "origin" of the League; and the addition of Green Arrow and the Atom to the core lineup of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman.Fortunately this 1960-62 run by the classic team of Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky (with occasional other contributors) improved as it went along, with more use of teamwork and story lines involving Doctor Light, Felix Faust, the untouchable aliens, and the cavern of deadly spheres.--David Horiuchi

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