Over the years, some of the most powerful and well known super heroes in the history of comic books have made their way into and out of the roster of the Justice League of America. Because of this, it has made the team the single most recognizable grouping of super heroes ever (even if a large chunk of the population thinks their name is “The Super Friends”). Given how many times the book has retooled, relaunch, rebranded and reformatted, it was hard for me to pick two particular debut issues to analyze together. However, two particular relaunches of the book were preceeded by a very particular situation. In 1997 and 2011, the Justice League of America was relaunched with the specific goal of returning the DC Universe’s most recognizable heroes into the roster of the book.
As exciting and bold as characters like Obsidian and Congorilla are, the average person in this country wouldn’t know them from a hole in the wall. The Justice League are supposed to be the DC Universe’s premiere super team and, sadly, a team full of B & C listers fails to live up to that idea. And so their eras are wiped clean and the big toys return to the toy box to punch, batarang and freeze breath their way into our hearts.
That said, just because most the characters and motivation behind the relaunch are identical, does not mean the stories in any way stack up. Click on down to find out why.
Alright, now that you’ve (theoretically) bought into the idea of this article, I should clarify for those unaware that referring to these two Justice League #1s in the usual “label them by their year” way is a bit of a soft touch for these two comics given the impacts they had. These aren’t just any old Justice League debut issues (and believe me, there have been a more than a few). 1997 marked the beginning of Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s run on the title, which would go on to become one of the most notable in the history of the franchise not only because it returned the “Big 7” to the book (more or less, as Hal Jordan and Barry Allen were both dealing with a bad case of dead at the time), but because it took a fundamental approach to not only having the Justice League save the day, but have them do it in such a way that it validated the entire existence of the team. By giving the team dynanamic and history of the organization itself almost a starring role, it breathed new life into a book that had been either stagnant or reserved for slapstick super heroics for many years.
Whereas 2011 I probably don’t need to give that much of a description for, as it is only three months old and was the frontrunner of a massive shift in the comic book industry. DC decided it wanted to reboot it’s franchise and right at the top of the wave was the Justice League featuring all of the familiar faces (and Cyborg) in their most iconic, regonizable forms as created by two of the most well known creators in the industry. At least that was the way it was being pitched any way. The idea was pure and simple: this was a new day for the DCU and the Jusice League embodied every part of shiny, classic message DC wanted it’s readers to get about their universe. In a lot of ways it was more of an advertisement or statement of purpose than a story.
And believe me, that fact is more than apparent when reading it.
We’ve pretty much beaten this comic to death on site, but I’d be lying if I said reading it up against Morrison’s debut made me find new things to not like about it. It’s almost a moot point to compare the two from a storytelling perspective when I can honestly admit that only one of them really has a story whereas the other has some pretty pictures with next to no substance.
Continued below
Morrison begins his epic on the book by presenting the combined super heroes of Earth with a situation that almost completely invalidates them. Not so much a villain they cannot overcome, but an attack on the fundamental core of their existence. In other words, an inciting incident worthy of the combined might of Earth’s greatest heroes. Throughout the course of the story, even the points where the team takes a hit or two (hundred), you as the reader never seem to think this is a story that could involve anyone BUT the Justice League. The scope was grandeous, the concepts were complex and the strength and power of the cast were constantly proven despite the fact that Joe Average already knows how powerful they are. Nothing is taken for granted and every point of the story is articulated with resonance for the stories that came before it despite being self aware of the fact that it was being given a fresh start.
By design of the DCnU reboot, the 2011 League did not have to acknowledge what came before it because in the eyes of everyone on the inside of the production there WAS nothing before it. The previous 75 years of DC history was wiped clean, given the Justice League a chance to begin anew in a world not unlike our own. Given that, you’d think it wouldn’t take anyone for granted with its storytelling when in reality it took EVERYTHING for granted. For a book supposedly centered on rebuilding a franchise, it sure took the inate brand recognition the two primary characters in the issue (Green Lantern and Batman) to heart when completely not defining the motivation or history of the characters. Rather than trying to use these blank slates to tell a new and interesting story, Johns seemed content to fill his 28 pages with just about every one dimensional depiction of these characters that exists.
His definition of iconic, as opposed to Morrison’s, appeared to be “lets have these characters jump around and spout one-liners while doing a condensed version of everything they’ve been doing for the last 70-odd years”, as opposed to “let’s prove why these characters are as important and vital as people think they are.” It took for granted the fact that people knew these characters almost 100% and hid behind that fact. Sure the book was gorgeous because Jim Lee is a fantastic artist. People reading the comic looking for pretty pictures were almost assuredly entertained. But people, like myself, that read comics for compelling, fresh and justified storytelling were left cold.
2011 was all flash, zero substance. Trading sparkly trading card poses for the story elements that originally justified those poses. These characters, no matter how well known, need to constantly keep proving why they are the best and not rely on the fact that people already celebritize them. Morrison knew that, Johns did not. Morrison and Porter wrote a story worth reading, Johns and Lee released a celebrity sex tape. There really is not much more to be said than that.
Final Showdown: JLA #1 (1997) >>>> Justice League #1 (2011)
