stumbling in the dark

[ratcreature]

I tried to look into the Justice League comics, that is post-Crisis but before the current JLA series, to see what prior JL incarnations there have been, and whether any look interesting, etc. and I didn't even get as far as to look up which titles there were before becoming confused. I knew that at one time the team split into Justice League Europe and Justice League America, but what is this Justice League International? And is there more than one of those? And something with the issue numbers is confusing, too.

* Some research (mostly here and here) later. *

Okay, so in 1987 the series started as "Justice League", the members seem to have been: Batman, Martian Manhunter, Black Canary II, Captain Marvel, Dr. Fate, Blue Beetle II, Guy Gardner, and Mister Miracle.

Then with #7 still in 1987, it became "Justice League International", and there were some changes to the team, Captain Marvel and Dr. Fate quit, Captain Atom, Booster Gold and someone named Rocket Red with various, probably significant, numbers ("Rocket Red #7"? "Rocket Red #4"?) join. That series lasts until issue #25. Then it became "Justice League America" in 1989 but the issue number continue with #26, and the new "Justice League Europe" starts as its counterpart and lasts until #50.

Then in June 1993 the "Justice League Europe" starts to go by "Justice League International" but the issue numbers also continue, that being the reason why the issue numbers of the series called "Justice League International" don't match, but go only from #7-25 and #51-68, which are really two different series/teams. In June 1993 another series/team starts, the "Justice League Task Force" and I'm not sure how that team relates to either of the others (but looking at the descriptions that one has Nightwing in it).

As an aside, these various Justice League teams start to look as complicated to keep track of as the gazillion of different X teams and titles from Marvel...

So basically it's like:

               JLA
JL --> JLI --<         
               JLE --> JLI
                      \?
                       JL Taskforce 

Anyway, the new "Justice League International" lasted till September 1994, so I guess Zero Hour had an impact on it? I'm still not sure how the "Justice League Quarterly" title that ran from 1990 to 1994 fits into it. Both the JL Taskforce and the Justice League America series lasted summer 1996. Then in September a "Midsummer's Nightmare" started the lastest JLA series with the Justice League in its current configuration.

I still have no clue which (if any) of these might be worth reading. (I mean, do I really want to know about the numbered Red Rocket guys?) The one comforting thing is that I don't really have to worry about it yet, because I for now I can catch up on the current series first, if I want more Justice League, and that series seems to be straightforward enough, if you don't look at the ton of available specials.

Comments

Re: continuing...

[ratcreature]

Yeah it helps, though I'm not familiar with all the DC characters you mention (also I've never heard about G. Gordon Liddy, but I guess I could google him).

I knew that the JLE stuff was more humorous, but didn't know the JLA was as well. And you know, I have no idea about "Justice League Antarctica" but I bet Animal Man was all in favor of it as long as it was about wildlife and nature protection... I've always wondered how the main DCU titles dealt with Animal Man becoming part of Vertigo and starting a wacky cult and such.

Re: continuing...

[chicago-h.livejournal.com]

The entire JLI run through "Break Downs" (the Giffen-DeMatteis era) entertained me fantastically, but is not everyone's cup of tea. If you want to get into the JLA, the current run is as good a place as any to start. I wouldn't dive into the earlier runs unless you develop a serious attachment to certain characters (my collection stemmed from a Martian Manhunter fixation). If you're into comics in a cultural studies way and are old enough to remember the Cold War, a lot of the mid-80s stuff has some amazing commentary on the changing world of the Reagan years.

Justice League Antarctica was a dumping ground of sorts for the reformed Injustice League and G'nort and was sort of a parody of itself.

A word to the wise - get started on JLA and really into the barely-there continuity, you're heading down a scary path of comics buying just to figure out what's going on. If you've got an obsessive personality and a willingness to accept the continual flux of continuity as shaped by changing politics in the industry, it'll be fun. If you just want to understand present continuity (realizing it'll change soon anyway because it always does), the current run plus Midsummer's Nightmare and Year One will be plenty.

Happy reading!

Re: continuing...

[ratcreature]

Oh yeah, I remember Reagan and the Cold War just fine. As a small kid I found it rather terrifying, I remember a children's books about nuclear war and after 1986 also nuclear accidents, which I guess were supposed to help children to deal with all of this, but still. (Looking back I think that possibly two opposing superpowers had been the safer option after all, but well.) One of my earliest memories of news is of Reagan becoming the US president. I still remember the huge controversy and demonstrations against stationing even more US nuclear weapons here after NATO decided on the twin-track policy in 1979, then of course Reagan and Gorbachev in Reykjavik, the whole peace movement thing that overlapped with the growing anti-nuclear power and environment movement after Chernobyl...

And yeah, I pretty much thought that it's best to start with the current series, which seems to have a more manageable cast too. I just like to have some sense of the bigger picture when I start reading a in "section" of the DCU, even if I don't buy the comics in question right away. Kind of like having a mental map where I can place things.