Can you tell me what are the best Justice League storylines from the seventies to 2010? Which one is the best read for a new fan?
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Can you tell me what are the best Justice League storylines from the seventies to 2010? Which one is the best read for a new fan?
[QUOTE=CaptainMar-Vell92 of the Kree;4712980]Can you tell me what are the best Justice League storylines from the seventies to 2010? Which one is the best read for a new fan?[/QUOTE]
Well let me tell you the little history of the Justice League.
DC's main storyline revolves around major events. The first one was in 1985 and was the first ever big event/crossover of this kind in comics. And the last one is still ongoing.
Those event helped define major eras in DC Comics' history:
[LIST=1][*]1930-1985 - Golden Age / Silver Age / Bronze Age[*]1985-2011 - Modern Age[*]2011-now - New52 / Rebirth / New Justice - Concidered as the Flashpoint age[/LIST]
So here is how the major Events and Series are organized:
[LIST=1][*]1961 - [B]Flash of Two Worlds[/B] - First acknowlegment of the DC Multivers - 1 tpb[*]1985 - [B]Crisis on Infinit Earths (COIE)[/B] - End of the multivers and start of a new age - [B]1 omnibus[/B][*]1986 - [B]DC: Legend[/B] - Darkseid wants to take earth - creation of the modern age Justice League and Suicide Squad - [B]1 volume[/B][*]1987-1989 - [B]Justice League International[/B] - continues from DC: Legend - [B]5 volumes[/B][*]1987-1992 - [B]Suicide Squad[/B] - continues from DC: Legend - [B]8 tpb[/B][*]1994 - [B]Zero Hour: Crisis in Time[/B] - return of the multiverse - [B]1 volume[/B][*]1997-2006 - [B]JLA[/B] - Great serie by Morrison, Waid and others [B]24 tpb or 4 volumes[/B][*]2004 - [B]Identity Crisis[/B] - Crisis tha will implicate all the super-heroes of the DC Univers - [B]1 volume[/B][*]2006 - [B]Infinit Crisis[/B] - Follows up to the event of COIE and Identity Crisis - [B]1 omnibus[/B][*]2006-2007 - [B]52[/B] - tells the story of the missing year after Infinit Crisis - don't have to read it before Final Crisis - it's excellent - [B]4 volumes or 2 omnibus[/B][*]2006 - [B]Seven Solder of Victory[/B] - 4 volumes - important prequel to Final Crisis - [B]4 volumes[/B][*]2007 - [B]Final Crisis[/B] - The end of the storyline started by COIE - 1 volume or 1 omnibus[*]2005-2011 - [B]Green Lantern by Geoff Johns[/B] - includes Sinestro War Corps, Blackest Night and Brightest Days, and many more. - [B]3 massive omnibus[/B][*]2011 - [B]Flashpoint[/B] - Time is disrupted and a new earth begins - DC is rebooted - [B]1 tpb[/B][*]2011-2016 - [B]Justice League New52[/B] - The New52 era has lots of crossovers and events, so here is the best reading order:[*]-- Justice League New52 vol.1-2: [B]Origins / Vilain's Jurney[/B] - 2 tpb[*]-- Justice League of America vol.1: [B]World's Most Dangerous[/B] - 1 tpb[*]-- Justice League: [B]Trinity War[/B] - 1 volume[*]--[B] Forever evil[/B] + Justice League vol.5: [B]Forever Heroes[/B] - 2 tpb[*]-- Justice League vol.6: [B]Injustice League[/B] - 1 tpb[*]-- Justice League vol.7-8: [B]Darkseid War[/B] - 2 tpb or 1 volume or 1 omnibus[*]2016 - [B]Titans Hunt[/B] - road to Rebirth - [B]1 tpb[/B][*]1986 - [B]The Watchmen[/B] - will be important to know this story for the upcoming events - [B]1 volume[/B][*]2016 - [B]DC Univivers Rebirth[/B] - things from before flashpoint seem to be comming back - [B]1 issue[/B][*]2016 - [B]Titans: The Return of Wally West[/B] - concludes Titans Hunt - [B]1 tpb[/B][*]2016-2018 - [B]Justice League Rebirth[/B] - 8 tpb or 4 volumes[*]2017 - [B]Batman/Flash: The Button[/B] - continues the story started in DC Univers Rebirth - [B]1 tpb[/B] - skipable[*]2018-2019 - [B]Doomsday Clock[/B] - ends the storyline started by Falshpoint - [B]2 volumes[/B][*]2017-2018 -[B] Dark Knights: Metal[/B] + various tie-ins - A Dark Multivers invades ours - [B]1 volume[/B] - no omnibus yet[*]2018 - [B]Justice League: No Justice[/B] - concequence of Dark Knight: Metal[*]2018-ongoing - [B]Justice League (aka New Justice)[/B] - new Justice League serie under the label New Justice[/LIST]
With all that it makes a lot. But you can cut it into smaller blocks that you can read on their own:
[LIST][*]COIE + Zero Hour + Identity Crisis + Infinit Crisis + 52 + Seven Solders + Final Crisis[*]DC: Legends + Justice League International[*]JLA - at least the Grant Morrison and Waid parts[*]Green Lantern by Geoff Johns[*]Justice League New52[*]Watchmen + Flashpoint + Titan Hunt + DC Univers Rebirth + Return of Wally West + Doomsday Clock[*]Dark Knight: Metal + No Justice + New Justice[/LIST]
Flashpoint can be read before Justice League New52 or as a conclusion to Brightest Day and Final Crisis.
There are also some must read standalone and elsworld stories:
[B]Kingdom Come[/B] - Story by the great Mark Waid and art by the sublime Alex Ross
[B]DC: The New Frontier[/B] - By the very tallented Darwyn Cooke
As a personal opinion I wouldn't start with the recent stuff, I find it less good.
The DC Crisis are great (with a few lesser good chapters) but it's very long to read.
The JLA serie has some very iconic stories especially during Grant Morrison and Mark Waid runs.
Geoff Johns' new52 run doesn't start very greatly in my opinion, but it gets better after the 2 first tpb.
Also you might not like the old style of JL international but it's very very good.
And of course the 2 Elseworlds I suggested are must reads. And probably 2 of the most important super-hero comics of all times.
Have fun