Anyone Think That JLA Year One Is a Bad Justice League Origin?

[Flash Gordon]

JLA: Year One was a misfire. Nothing really there of interest, or to chew on.

[Ascended]

I thought it was an excellent story. It might not be the most universal origin in terms of continuity, but it does its best to marry Silver Age themes with Post-Crisis rules.

The strength of the story is in the characters and relationships. Hal was fresh and cocksure without being a total *******, Barry was good-natured and grew into the role of humble leader, Dinah was trying to live up to her mother's legacy, J'onn was trying to understand humans, and Aquaman was emphasized as a foreigner with a somewhat rigid persona. I loved the way he played them off each other and made their disagreements realistic & reasonable (whereas often they're childish and stupid in other origin stories like Johns'). It had heart, humor, stakes, strong team-building dynamics, and a heroic conclusion. A certified classic for me.

I dunno if I'd say "excellent" but it was pretty damn good, and I think successfully met its goal.

Was this perhaps the beginning of DC trying to re-establish pre-Crisis history in the post-Crisis continuity? I think it might've been.....

Anyway, I liked the characterizations and dynamics with the team and it was nice to see Hal and Barry both alive, active, and not evil. I was happy to see Clark and Bruce (mostly) out of the story, since they didn't really have much to do with the original Silver Age JL anyway, and as much as I missed Diana, Dinah's a worthy replacement.

The Appelexians, as I recall, were pretty lackluster, with no real agency to speak of and barely any real motivation for an invasion but they served their purpose well enough.

It's been a long, long time since I read the series but I feel like it's a story very much in-line with the MCU formula; relying heavily on character interactions, with a two-dimensional threat that exists mostly just so the heroes can get some actions sequences in, with a big team up moment at the end. If I wanted to get a MCU fan into comics, and DC's in particular, you could do worse than giving them JLA Year One.

[Frontier]

It literally can't be. Snyder firmly re-established that all of the classic eras of the League are back in place. Nothing about "Origins" can be cannon at this point. The only thing that could still be in play from that story is Cyborg's upgrades with the mother box and even that's messy.

Continuity is screwed my man. Somehow Johns JL still happened because otherwise how did Metal happen? That relied on baby Darkseid. Don’t think too hard about it but Bendis over in Superman has also said that the Johns JL origin is still canon.

If you go by Superman Reborn, the New 52 origin has been changed to be when the League got back together instead of just formed for the first time.

[Zero Hunter]

It literally can't be. Snyder firmly re-established that all of the classic eras of the League are back in place. Nothing about "Origins" can be cannon at this point. The only thing that could still be in play from that story is Cyborg's upgrades with the mother box and even that's messy.

DC has no continuity right now. Everything is a giant mess thanks to Didio and his "just do whatever you want I don't care" approach he had to leadership before he was fired.

[Mike]

Anyone Think That JLA Year One Is a Bad Justice League Origin?
It was a story that I never returned to.
So I must have thought it wasn't very good.

[DrNewGod]

I wouldn't exactly call it "bad," but it certainly wasn't what I'd call a great story either. Even tho I thought the Flash/Black Canary thing was trying too hard, I could get it. It would be natural for Barry be drawn to somebody who understood the life he was living, happens in the workplace all the time, and it didn't go too far.

[Midnighter]

Continuity is screwed my man. Somehow Johns JL still happened because otherwise how did Metal happen? That relied on baby Darkseid. Don’t think too hard about it but Bendis over in Superman has also said that the Johns JL origin is still canon.

I'm not saying the Darkseid invasion and Johns' run didn't happen but there is no way it can be their origin. It would simply be a story about the band getting back together and Vic's upgrades.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Wow, I thought more people liked this book. I absolutely loved it. It's easily my favourite origin story for the JLA - as long as you accept the post-Crisis roster without the Trinity. Plus, it has the single best version of Barry Allen I've ever read so there's always that.

[Timothy Hunter]

"Cheating" implies that Dinah and Barry were sleeping together. If you paid any actual attention to the story, you'd know that they did not. They didn't even have a romantic relationship.

They don't have to have sex for it to be cheating. They made out, they flirted. There was clearly sexual tension.

My point being that it's admirable to portray the League as flawed but Waid and Augustyn gave the characters negative traits that firstly there was no precedent for and secondly felt out of character.

[Jim Kelly]

I didn't like it really at all. There were a million little things about it that bugged me at the time. For instance, I recall that Ray Palmer when he grew to full height still had his costume on--when in the original comics his costume always became invisible when he grew to full height.

However, that origin was so long ago that it doesn't matter anymore. Gardner Fox wrote the origin of the Justice League--and Steve Englehart wrote the prequel. Those are the ones I swear by.

[Vordan]

I'm not saying the Darkseid invasion and Johns' run didn't happen but there is no way it can be their origin. It would simply be a story about the band getting back together and Vic's upgrades.

Which doesn’t make any sense either. Origin is completely based on this being the League’s first encounter with each other and with Darkseid. It flat out doesn’t make any sense as a reunification because where would the struggle even be? The invasion is a simple straightforward invasion which a pro League could crush with ease.

Honestly it’s the perfect symbol of DC wanting to have their cake and eat it too. Johns JL, like Snyder’s Batman, was far too popular for them to outright retcon out, so they basically just left it as is with a halfassed hand wave. Long as you don’t think about it or question it then yeah it “works”.

[Timothy Hunter]

Geez louise. I think I'd rather prefer DC just continue with the New 52 universe instead of this wonky Post-Crisis/ Post-Flashpoint hybrid.

[Agent Z]

They don't have to have sex for it to be cheating. They made out, they flirted. There was clearly sexual tension.

My point being that it's admirable to portray the League as flawed but Waid and Augustyn gave the characters negative traits that firstly there was no precedent for and secondly felt out of character.

Again, were Barry and Iris actually together at the time?

[witchboy]

Again, were Barry and Iris actually together at the time?

Barry and Iris were already engaged before he got his powers, so I would think they were together.

[Frontier]

Which doesn’t make any sense either. Origin is completely based on this being the League’s first encounter with each other and with Darkseid. It flat out doesn’t make any sense as a reunification because where would the struggle even be? The invasion is a simple straightforward invasion which a pro League could crush with ease.

Honestly it’s the perfect symbol of DC wanting to have their cake and eat it too. Johns JL, like Snyder’s Batman, was far too popular for them to outright retcon out, so they basically just left it as is with a halfassed hand wave. Long as you don’t think about it or question it then yeah it “works”.

Well, it might be the first direct invasion of Earth from Apokolips and Darkseid actually showed up for it, so that might be why it was a bigger deal than a normal alien invasion.

I mean, the White Martians brought the League back together in Post-Crisis, so I don't think it's too far off.