Anthonynotes
11-12-2007, 01:04 AM
Last week, I read the "JLA: Greatest Stories Ever Told" trade paperback that was recently published. Apparently, instead of actual "greatest stories", it's just a bunch of stories that tied into recent miniseries like "Identity Crisis" and "Infinite Crisis" (a story with Jean Loring, another story with Dr. Light as the villain, several stories about secret identities, etc.). While the stories were mostly good, short-term marketing mentality apparently took priority over living up to the book's title IMO.
The stories included were:
A reprint of the first few pages of "Justice League of America" #200, which summarized briefly the original JLA origin from "JLA #9" in 1962, about how the team fended off the Appellaxian invasion.
Justice League of America #19 (1963): Dr. Destiny creates imposters of the JLA that impersonate and sully their names, forcing them to become exiled from Earth and reveal their identities to each other for the first time.
Justice League of America #77 (1969): The story where a disguised Joker tricks Snapper Carr into revealing the JLA's cave sanctuary location.
Justice League of America #122 (1975): A story about Dr. Light using some JLAers' alter-egos to turn things to his advantage.
Justice League of America #166 - 168 (1979): A three-parter about the Secret Society of Super-Villains switching identities with the JLA.
Justice League #1 (1987): The first issue of the "humorous" Justice League era.
JLA Secret Files #1 (1997): The origin of the late 90's-era reformed-with-big-guns JLA, with the Spectre telling them not to interfere with an attack by various Starro-type starfish.
JLA # 61 (2002): The JLA vs. various mythological creatures.
Guess my question is: if you were putting such a trade paperback together, which eight stories would you select as the "greatest JLA stories of all time" (or most noteworthy JLA stories, anyway)?
My choices:
- Would keep the origin of the JLA synopsis from JL of A #200, since it's not too long---maybe even freeing up enough space for a ninth story if opted.
- Brave and the Bold #28: The team's first appearance, vs. Starro.
- Either JL of A #10-11 (the Three Demons story; though admittedly this one's more a personal favorite...), JL of A #4 (the famous "Slave Ship of Space" Kanjar Ro tale), or a token JLA/JSA story for the book (probably "Crisis on Earth-Three" vs. the Crime Syndicate) for an example of a classic Gardner Fox-written JLA story.
- JL of A #77: The Snapper tricked by the Joker story would stay; a landmark tale for both getting him off the team and for being the reason the team moved to their famous orbiting-satellite HQ.
- JL of A #166-168: The Secret Society of Super-Villains tale could stay, as a typical 70s-era JLA tale.
- Justice League #1: This one could stay as well (or some other tale more representative of the "humorous" era of the League).
- Guess some Morrison-era JLA story could be thrown in here (for completism/fairness), but don't know which one.
- Not sure what the eighth story should be.
Your suggestions?
The stories included were:
A reprint of the first few pages of "Justice League of America" #200, which summarized briefly the original JLA origin from "JLA #9" in 1962, about how the team fended off the Appellaxian invasion.
Justice League of America #19 (1963): Dr. Destiny creates imposters of the JLA that impersonate and sully their names, forcing them to become exiled from Earth and reveal their identities to each other for the first time.
Justice League of America #77 (1969): The story where a disguised Joker tricks Snapper Carr into revealing the JLA's cave sanctuary location.
Justice League of America #122 (1975): A story about Dr. Light using some JLAers' alter-egos to turn things to his advantage.
Justice League of America #166 - 168 (1979): A three-parter about the Secret Society of Super-Villains switching identities with the JLA.
Justice League #1 (1987): The first issue of the "humorous" Justice League era.
JLA Secret Files #1 (1997): The origin of the late 90's-era reformed-with-big-guns JLA, with the Spectre telling them not to interfere with an attack by various Starro-type starfish.
JLA # 61 (2002): The JLA vs. various mythological creatures.
Guess my question is: if you were putting such a trade paperback together, which eight stories would you select as the "greatest JLA stories of all time" (or most noteworthy JLA stories, anyway)?
My choices:
- Would keep the origin of the JLA synopsis from JL of A #200, since it's not too long---maybe even freeing up enough space for a ninth story if opted.
- Brave and the Bold #28: The team's first appearance, vs. Starro.
- Either JL of A #10-11 (the Three Demons story; though admittedly this one's more a personal favorite...), JL of A #4 (the famous "Slave Ship of Space" Kanjar Ro tale), or a token JLA/JSA story for the book (probably "Crisis on Earth-Three" vs. the Crime Syndicate) for an example of a classic Gardner Fox-written JLA story.
- JL of A #77: The Snapper tricked by the Joker story would stay; a landmark tale for both getting him off the team and for being the reason the team moved to their famous orbiting-satellite HQ.
- JL of A #166-168: The Secret Society of Super-Villains tale could stay, as a typical 70s-era JLA tale.
- Justice League #1: This one could stay as well (or some other tale more representative of the "humorous" era of the League).
- Guess some Morrison-era JLA story could be thrown in here (for completism/fairness), but don't know which one.
- Not sure what the eighth story should be.
Your suggestions?