Why hasn't there ever been a revival of the Satellite Justice League

[SiegePerilous02]

Maybe after 5g there will enough equivalents to create a racially diverse satellite league. We could still have Superman, Batman, Flash,Wonder Woman, etc... but not the old school versions. That might satisfy everyone. I actually like the idea of the satellite headquarters.

5G is very unlikely to satisfy everyone. It's actually far more likely to create further fandom divisions, which we don't need.

The classic versions don't have to go anywhere. An expansive take on the Satellite era/JLU inspired take on the team could allow a lot more diverse characters to be brought in in addition to them. The main problem, as someone else said, is the decompression and modern writing style which means characters would either be reduced to cameos or one set of them would get focus for an arc that would take 2-5 months to tell, if not more, forcing everyone else to wait. While the writers back then weren't as equipped to deal with more diverse characters, the writing style that allowed a satisfying one-shot issue with one group of characters that could be rotated out for a new one the following issue was actually better for this type of thing.

[Koriand'r]

I say put Zatanna back in her old outfit and you're halfway there.

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[caj]

I still say if a half decent writer/artist team were to reunite those characters in a monthly book, it would sell through the roof.

I mean, Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal), Flash (Barry), Green Arrow (Ollie), Atom (Ray), Hawkman (Katar), Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl (Shayera), Zatanna, and Firestorm. Come on.

[SiegePerilous02]

I still say if a half decent writer/artist team were to reunite those characters in a monthly book, it would sell through the roof.

I mean, Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal), Flash (Barry), Green Arrow (Ollie), Atom (Ray), Hawkman (Katar), Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl (Shayera), Zatanna, and Firestorm. Come on.

If it scratched the nostalgia itch with a well put together comic, I agree that it would. At least for a little bit.

I don't think it's a good idea to bring it back for an extended period of time in stories set in the present day, at least not without a LOT of diverse additions. But I would totally buy a 12 issue self contained maxi series if we're talking just the Bronze age lineup.

[Midnight_v]

I still say if a half decent writer/artist team were to reunite those characters in a monthly book, it would sell through the roof.

I mean, Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal), Flash (Barry), Green Arrow (Ollie), Atom (Ray), Hawkman (Katar), Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl (Shayera), Zatanna, and Firestorm. Come on.

That is very much what I think of when I think of a justice league. Still... I think you need a great writer to sell that. There are people who want to read about those people and people who want to see others as well.

I mean "Elongated Man"? Red Tornado... and in a lesser sense Green arrow and/Black Canary and maybe firestorm and Zantana seem like flex slots.

I'm not even taking the diversity angle either on this one, frankly I'm looking a that and thinking about who is missing: Plasticman instead of EM and no Martian Manhunter and maybe a few others might claim a spot on the team. IDK.


This does inspire me a bit though, so maybe something along these lines would be a refreshing book. One thing I want is more of the personal interactions of the JL that make them seem like family.

[Jim Kelly]

Whenever I think of the Satellite Sanctuary, my mind always goes back to JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA 78 (February 1970). Not that I was even reading JLA at that time--I had to get this comic as a back issue.



But that's the one where the Justice League move into their new HQ, after Snapper Carr's betrayal in the previous issue. So I always think of that core membership. And that didn't even include Aquaman, although he was supposed to be a member--Denny O'Neil never bothered to use the character, the Sea King had to wait until Mike Friedrich took over the run to get any facetime on the satellite.

The main members were Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Atom and Hawkman. And once O'Neil started up the Green Lantern/Green Arrow Search for America, they took a leave of absence, with Pretty Bird sometimes joining them. So if you don't count those three, then that leaves just five active members for a lot of the adventures. That was a very small group--a Fantastic Five.

[Jon-El]

My absolute favorite Justice League era is from around 1969 to about 1981. I actually didn’t start reading until 1976 but I’ve gone back and bought a lot of back issues. Really fun comics especially the JSA teams ups every year. Last time I read JL was during Morrison & Ward’s run. They did a decent job of capturing some of the Bronze Age feel.

All the concerns I’ve read about race, I honestly never considered at the time and I was a biracial kid. I just loved the characters. I get that it would be a concern now though. No reason a writer can’t recreate the feel of that era with a more racially diverse group I’d think.

[j9ac9k]

If one were to go for the nostalgia of the bronze age JLA so that it doesn't just seem like a bunch of random characters on a satellite, I might do a mini that takes place in the JLA's past and retcon the Detroit team as having been part of that lineup. That would help a lot with representation, and maybe re-present those Detroit characters as something other than the stereotypes some of them were.

[Dr. Ellingham]

My absolute favorite Justice League era is from around 1969 to about 1981. I actually didn’t start reading until 1976 but I’ve gone back and bought a lot of back issues. Really fun comics especially the JSA teams ups every year. Last time I read JL was during Morrison & Ward’s run. They did a decent job of capturing some of the Bronze Age feel.

Agreed - Len Wein, Steve Englehart and Grant Morrison are the three greatest JL writers, and they all exemplified the Satellite formula:

The founding big guns + the exploding pantheon.

That said, I think the satellite League is something they can't really ever get back to; the modern DCU is a wholly different continuity, and - a big part of the Satellite era was the slow expansion of the League to include a band of wacky supporting characters, added judiciously over time. When they voted to add Elongated Man, it was a big deal - such changes were rare, important. Ditto Red Tornado, Zatanna, Firestorm. These were not whims, nor crossover-driven stunts. It was the expansion of DC's crown jewel over the slow course of ~15 years.

Now? There is no permanence - characters come and go. Teams too. Any attempt to reignite that flame would be short lived, and doomed to revision via crossover. Just like the last time some smart folks tried to cover that tune:




And despite Meltzer's plots not being well thought out, that run had a lot of heart - it came close in feel. But it certainly wasn't the real deal. Most importantly, it didn't last long.

[Mike]

Justice League of America #125 has to be one of my earliest comic book purchases.
The Satellite Era is still my favorite.
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[The Darknight Detective]

Justice League of America #125 has to be one of my earliest comic book purchases.
The Satellite Era is still my favorite.
3794987.jpg

My first JLA purchase was almost a year later (#135).

[leo619]

5G is very unlikely to satisfy everyone. It's actually far more likely to create further fandom divisions, which we don't need.

You mean like Rebirth and this thread has already done? No era is going to satisfy everyone, it's just that threads like this and rebirth leans towards the classic fan viewpoint who often believe their viewpoint is universal, even when tons of evidence clearly points otherwise.

[SiegePerilous02]

You mean like Rebirth and this thread has already done? No era is going to satisfy everyone, it's just that threads like this and rebirth leans towards the classic fan viewpoint who often believe their viewpoint is universal, even when tons of evidence clearly points otherwise.

It's not even just the fans of the more classic characters. There are four other generations of characters, many of whom are being neglected by management, who may now have to make room for a fifth nobody was asking for. It's excess. We already have fandom divisions between the various characters that already exist and not enough publishing material to put them in.

[leo619]

It's not even just the fans of the more classic characters. There are four other generations of characters, many of whom are being neglected by management, who may now have to make room for a fifth nobody was asking for. It's excess. We already have fandom divisions between the various characters that already exist and not enough publishing material to put them in.

Disagree, people have asking for something along the lines of ANAD for DC for a while, it's that classic fans refuse to listen or ignore these demands due to the fact that they were getting what they want. It's also not like a bunch of new characters are suddenly being created. Like ANAD, rumors indicate they're taking already existing characters, and bringing them into a specific mantle. So this is what I mean, division within the comic book community has been happening for quite a while. So rather it goes to 5g to support the individuals looking for diverse rendition of characters versus Rebirth attempts of reaching out to classic readers, there's going to be issues. One side will get what they want, while the other will complain on the internet. The only difference is that new readers/readers who's looking for diverse representation doesn't pretend the other side is nonexistent.

[SiegePerilous02]

Disagree, people have asking for something along the lines of ANAD for DC for a while, it's that classic fans refuse to listen or ignore these demands due to the fact that they were getting what they want. It's also not like a bunch of new characters are suddenly being created. Like ANAD, rumors indicate they're taking already existing characters, and bringing them into a specific mantle. So this is what I mean, division within the comic book community has been happening for quite a while. So rather it goes to 5g to support the individuals looking for diverse rendition of characters versus Rebirth attempts of reaching out to classic readers, there's going to be issues. One side will get what they want, while the other will complain on the internet. The only difference is that new readers/readers who's looking for diverse representation doesn't pretend the other side is nonexistent.

Lol nobody was asking for Jon Kent to be aged up and replace his father. Even most Jon Kent fans are not happy with Bendis now.

Fans have been clamoring for the return of the likes of Wally West and Cassandra Cain, and more attention paid to the likes of John Stewart, and to cure Dick Grayson of the Ric Grayson BS. There isn't any indication that this will benefit any of them or other characters in similar situations.