What're the best Satellite Era JLA stories?

[TheBatman]

For such an iconic era of the JLA, there aren't a lot of accessible Trades for it.

I was wondering if there is a consensus on what the best stories of that era were.

[caj]

Broken record here, but for me, Steve Englehart's ten issue run is the best of the Satellite era. JLA #139-146, 149-150. Unfortunately, there is no trade with all of these issues together.

Len Wein also had a great run from #100-114. A lot of great things happened during that time.

Gerry Conway was in no way my favorite write of JLA, but I did enjoy some of the issues from the time Zatanna joined the League (#161) through issue #200 (which is an amazing issue). This run includes a great Justice Society crossover with Darksied and the New Gods (#183-185). I believe that all of the annual JLA/JSA crossovers have been collected in trade paperback editions.

Hope that helps

[Tzigone]

If you are a Green Arrow fan, 166-168 is a good story, IMO. Despite the horrific, retconning taint of Identity Crisis. I like the early days of Canary crossing over to this world an the building relationship with GA, but if that's not your thing, it's not your thing. There are some good stories. And there are a couple after-school-special like stories in there (O'Neil cold sometimes be preachy or avilicious enough to make stories unenjoyable, even though I agree with the message). Though I would not have felt that way at 8-12 years old (I mean, I liked Captain Planet as a kid).

I liked Red Tornado meeting Kathy and Traya, but don't think the stories themselves were anything to write home about - just liked the personal interactions.

Wein's run, already mentioned, is widely considered to be very good. Most consensus I've seen is on Englehart.

[Güicho]

. This run includes a great Justice Society crossover with Darksied and the New Gods (#183-185).

Loved that arc, “Crisis on New Genesis,” “Crisis Between 2 Earths,” and “Crisis on Apokolips”
Writer: Conway
Artists: Dillin(sadly his last) / Perez

Darkseid had mostly been specific to Kirby's corner of the DCU, this moved him to a primary antagonist to the JLA and JSA directly, by extension the entire DCU.



Loved this super-sized event return of J'onn J'onzz a revisit original Appellaxians now pitting the original seven founders, as vehicles of destruction against all the newer members. Simple we have to better work together as a team trope, but yeah this is where it happened.



As well as the arc preceding it; turned into an JLU episodes Once and Future thing Weird Western and Time Warp.

Steve Englehart's ten issue run is the best of the Satellite era. JLA #139-146,

Oh yeah, another random going way back No Man Escapes The Manhunter! Where Jordan takes the fall in a plot to discredit the Corps. Again turned into a JLU arc "In Blackest Night"

[Blacula]

The JLA’s “Satellite-era” covers the period of comics between Justice League of America #78 in 1969 (the issue the Satellite headquarters was built in) and Justice League of America #230 in 1984 (the issue it was incapacitated in; it wouldn’t be completely destroyed until Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 in 1985).

There were a lot of great JLA stories during this period but modern readers should remember that they tended to be more plot-focused than character-focused, and very few of those plots lasted more than two or three issues.

Here are some of my favorites from that era:

JLofA #94: Fun, down-to-earth story with a surprise guest-star in one of their earliest DCU appearances (outside of their own feature), a rare League of Assassins appearance outside of Batman’s comics, and the first appearance and origin of Green Arrow arch-foe, Merlyn.

JLofA #100-114: Possibly the most impactful 15-issue run in JLA history. Len Wein revitalized two long-neglected super-hero teams and introduced two new members to the team, all of whom would become DCU and JLA main-stays for decades. Killed off characters and retired members in a time when such actions were rare. Introduced plot points that would still be inspiring writers like Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison decades later. And all while telling fun, engaging stories too.

JLofA #115: A rare Martian Manhunter appearance during the Satellite-era.

JLofA #120-121: One of the best of Adam Strange’s many guest-appearances with the team, and with a milestone ending too.

JLofA #122: A rare Aquaman-centric JLA story and one that could never be written today (as central as secret identities are to the plot).

JLofA #139-146, 149-150: No man escapes the Manhunter! And no reader can escape the fact that Steve Englehart wrote one of the best periods in JLA history ever. (It’s a shame his run is broken up by a very average JLA/JSA/LSH crossover in #147-148.)

(Now, almost the entirety of the next 100 or so issues are written by Gerry Conway, and opinions of his contributions to the team are mixed. I’m personally a BIG fan of the Conway Satellite-era, particularly the latter half.)

JLofA #154: This is possibly the best issue of Conway’s early period. Fun “what-if” sort of story featuring the team in their civilian identities a lot (something that didn’t occur much until Conway’s arrival) and a great (and lasting) revitalization of an old JLA villain.

JLofA #161: Zatanna made a very welcome addition to the team in an interesting mystery story that harkened back to her first appearance.

(JLofA #177-220 is Gerry Conway’s golden age. They’re all good but some of them are the best JLA stories ever IMO. My personal best of the best are

JLofA #181-182: Conway wrote a great Green Arrow and this is an important story in his development.

JLofA #186: An exciting one-and-done featuring some of the weaker members against one of their most powerful enemies.

JLofA #189-190: The story that turned Starro from a hokey 1960s villain into a horrifying modern antagonist.

JLofA #192-193: A George Perez master-class brings this excellent Red Tornado spotlight to life. Seriously this is probably the second best story in this amazing period.

JLofA #194: Another fantastic one-and-done with great characterization.

JLofA #195-197: Possibly the best JLA/JSA crossover ever.

JLofA #198-199: An extremely entertaining “lost in time” story set in the Old West with a bunch of fun guest-stars.

JLofA #200: Widely considered THE. BEST. JLA. STORY. EVER. and with good reason. Superb.

JLofA #203-205: A wild ride of an “And Then There Were None”-type story with a great “winner”, a wonderful sub-plot involving possibly the most under-seen JLA member ever, and a great revitalization of an old villain-team.

JLofA #207-209: Really good JLA/JSA/ASS crossover.

JLofA #213-216: A rare extended story featuring the JLA way out of their element in a fantasy setting. I’m amazed no writer has ever returned to this world or its characters.

JLofA #219-220: Love or hate what this story did to Black Canary, there’s no doubt that it made excellent and exciting use of the long history these two teams had together.

[shaboo]

I really hope that some day we'll see a third and a final fourth JLA Bronze Age Omnibus!

[Jim Kelly]

I had previously got a couple of issues of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky, but those comics failed to get me invested in the team. It was issue 91 (August 1971) that hooked me on the League--and the Justice Society of America, too, since that was the first part of the two part annual crossover that year. Those comics were by Mike Friedrich and Dick Dillin--so Friedrich is my most favourite writer of the Satellite League.

Some people don't like his work--because it has the quirks of its time--but I value those comics above all others. Friedrich wrote each story with enough subplots to set up the following issues, so every issue from 91 to 98 (although 93 was a Giant) flowed together. There was the awesome issue 94 Demonfang story that led into 95's Johnny Dune story which led into the League's first trilogy, the Starbreaker three-parter. Issue 99 was less impressive but it set up the JLA's 10th anniversary and the annual crossover with the Justice Society in issue 100. I was fairly depressed when I picked up 100 and found Friedrich was no longer the writer.

Soon after I became a regular JLA consumer, I got all the back issues of the Friedrich run I had missed (beginning with 86). Those represented other intriguing plots--including the tale that introduced the Heroes of Angor (his parody of the Avengers) in issue 87. And whereas Denny O'Neil had almost completely ignored Aquaman's JLA membership, Mike brought back the Sea King for several stories where he proved important to the plot.

While Friedrich developed the soap opera between the Justice Leaguers and ripped stories from the headlines, Len Wein evoked the spirit of Gardner Fox's run which was strong on plot. Len's first outing being the JLA/JSA/Seven Soldiers epic, that looked back on the history of all those teams--the story was written like a classic Justice Society or Justice League yarn, with the heroes breaking up into smaller teams. I could appreciate Wein's homage to Fox, especially once I got to read more Justice League reprints (given the issues were now 100 Page Super Spectaculars).

Steve Englehart managed to do a Justice League that had the qualities of both Friedrich and Wein's run. Like Len, he paid homage to the past, to the grandeur of the World's Greatest Super-Heroes, while at the same time bringing in the soap opera drama between the characters on the team that Mike had served up. An added benefit for Englehart was that his run all had double-sized stories and JLA was now a monthly comic. Wein was at a disadvantage for most of his run, because the title went to bi-monthly status, so it was a lot harder to develop the ongoing drama that Friedrich and Englehart could pull off--to the extent that the JLA/JSA crossover in 1974 was limited to only one issue (113).

[caj]

JLofA #161: Zatanna made a very welcome addition to the team in an interesting mystery story that harkened back to her first appearance.

JLofA #181-182: Conway wrote a great Green Arrow and this is an important story in his development.

JLofA #189-190: The story that turned Starro from a hokey 1960s villain into a horrifying modern antagonist.

JLofA #192-193: A George Perez master-class brings this excellent Red Tornado spotlight to life. Seriously this is probably the second best story in this amazing period.

JLofA #195-197: Possibly the best JLA/JSA crossover ever.

JLofA #200: Widely considered THE. BEST. JLA. STORY. EVER. and with good reason. Superb.

Nice list. These were my favorite Gerry Conway stories plus #162-168, #171-172, #175-178, & #183-185.

[batnbreakfast]

Not surprised to see the love for Engle hart and Conway. They killed it over on the Batbooks. Now I need those JLA issues

[Dr. Ellingham]

For such an iconic era of the JLA, there aren't a lot of accessible Trades for it.

For a long time, there was a somewhat notorious Bronze Age (1971) cutoff with trades. Not sure DC ever formally addressed why, but the theory was that they needed to work out royalty agreements for all creators whose work was being collected, which was a nightmarish legal undertaking. That was (apparently) resolved a decade or so ago.

Around that time we saw the first satellite JLA trade - a George Perez-themed hardcover. And I think a volume 2 as well. But nothing since.

I was wondering if there is a consensus on what the best stories of that era were.

The consensus is usually:

1. Len Wein
2. Steve Englehart
3. Early-mid Conway

I'd say Conway hit his stride around the time Zatanna and Firestorm joined the team. Either way, once George Perez left the book in the early 200s, it went downhill.

I've been waiting for a nice hardcover collection of this stuff for a long time. As well as Englehart's Batman. That one is coming next year, thankfully.

[Jim Kelly]

I can't say I was ever a fan of the Conway run. I stuck with those issues right up to and including the early Detroit League issues, but it was never for Conway's writing. It was mainly because I loved the Justice League and I loved Dick Dillin's art--as well as some of the artists that came after Dillin's passing, like George Perez. I liked issue 200, but I liked it for all the artists that worked on the chapters and for the idea of having the original members vs the later members in each chapter. But Conway's scripting and a lot of his plot ideas bored me. He was a utility player, someone to fill in on the book when they couldn't get someone else--but he should never have been the regular writer for the League. There were other titles by Conway that I enjoyed but JLA wasn't one of them.

[Tzigone]

I can't say I was ever a fan of the Conway run. I stuck with those issues right up to and including the early Detroit League issues, but it was never for Conway's writing. It was mainly because I loved the Justice League and I loved Dick Dillin's art--as well as some of the artists that came after Dillin's passing, like George Perez. I liked issue 200, but I liked it for all the artists that worked on the chapters and for the idea of having the original members vs the later members in each chapter. But Conway's scripting and a lot of his plot ideas bored me. He was a utility player, someone to fill in on the book when they couldn't get someone else--but he should never have been the regular writer for the League. There were other titles by Conway that I enjoyed but JLA wasn't one of them.

I can't say he made much impression with me, mostly. Not as engaging as what came before. Not say there were no good stories (I mentioned one I really liked up thread), just that as a whole, it was kind "meh" - not actively bad, just not as engaging as what came before. I think I bowed out earlier than you. I read from Dinah's entry up until about #218 and then stopped. So I guess I finished Conway. Looked at synopsis, and don't remember the story at all. I see it's about the same time the Outsiders showed up. I'm philosophically opposed to the group's existence because of how its initiation treated Batman v. the JLA (and so have never read an issue), and them even being mentioned might be sufficient to make me drop the JLA title that I wasn't feeling anymore, anyway (keeping in mind that I binge-read these all many years later). If it wasn't that, then no idea.

I do remember Ray's story from 213 - both not liking it and thinking of Identity Crisis (which I hate) and him v. Jean in mental instability.

Definitely disliked some of Conway's early Ollie and Di\nah. Seems like they took turns swapping out on unreasonable and somewhat caricatured roles of straw feminist and sexist jerk. At least, I wrote a post saying I thought that at one time. Don't remember what specifics made think it anymore.

[Lightning Rider]

I really hope that some day we'll see a third and a final fourth JLA Bronze Age Omnibus!

How would you rate the first 3? Is it mostly good with several gems, or is it a lot of mediocrity in between classic runs?

[Vampire Savior]

I often find these rather old comics (mostly pre-80s) a bit difficult to read. Speaking in broad general terms, they are often written poorly from a craft point of view. They suffer quite a bit from being overly verbose. I'll give you a random example.

Take a look at Red Tornado's text.



He apologizes twice. This is unecessary. Instead of having...

"Forgive me, my colleagues, I heard my name mentioned--and I must apologize for my tardiness. I was spending the evening with young Traya, and expended some time trying to persuade her to return to the orphanage where we placed her."

This is in desperate need of line editing. I feel it would be better if it went like this.

"I apologize for my tardiness. I was spending the evening trying to persuade Traya to return to the orphanage."

This might seem like I'm being a stickler, but these comics suffer from this type of thing just about every time there is text. Just poor writing and editing, by any standard, I think.

[Tzigone]

Doesn't bother me. And I think it specifically works well for the vibe that I think they were going for with Red Tornado.