Being born a year after the Silver Age of Comic
Books began I was just three when the Justice League of America
premiered. It was a re-imagining of the Justice Society of America
feature from the Golden Age of Comics. And like the Justice Society,
the
Justice League was a collection of All-Stars that first appeared in
The Brave and The Bold No.28 (March 1960). Written by Gardner Fox it
had a cover illustrated by Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson with
interior art by Sekowsky. The cover featured Aquaman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman in
combat with Starro, a giant starfish. Both Superman and Batman made
cameo appearances in this first story. But were not featured on the
landmark cover.
I was one of those people that the editorial staff at DC was trying
to entice with the all - star team format. Hoping that someone who was a
fan of the Flash would buy a copy of the Justice League and find Green
Lantern was pretty neat and start buying
that hero's title as well. Though at this time in my life as a young
comic book reader I couldn't understand why Captain America wasn't a
member of this team. It seemed like a natural. If nothing else he and
Wonder Woman would look great in scenes together.
The JLA had some of the coolest covers going. Some, like the
cover for JLA No.1, would become iconic. And most of these covers
displayed the "super friends" using teamwork to defeat an enemy.
Though it always seemed to me while reading these stories
that if any of the villains they fought had turned up in any of these
heroes' individual titles they would be handily beaten as well. I also
preferred the earlier stories where Superman and Batman only made cameo
appearances. And the action was carried by
lesser known characters. After Green Arrow joined the team I thought
that he and Martian Manhunter would have made a good substitute for the "World's Finest Team". To me four or five was the perfect number for a
group of superheroes. But seeing that this
was an all-star squad I could see them having a few more.
Below is a cover from the Goode Guy Comic Book universe illustrated
by Vance Capley. It features the heroes Dr. Judo, Mr. Incognito, the
Phantom Gorilla, and the Judo Twins (Judo Jim & Judo Jenny) with a
guest appearance by El Tigre.
Get Dr. Judo, Judo Comics, Monster Magazine, and many more....here:
Now YOU can support the JLA!!
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