A look back at the great Len Wein's run on Justice League of America

[Captain Nostalgia]

Word of forewarning: it wasn't exactly an inexpensive hardcover collection.https://www.dccomics.com/graphic-nov...of-america-the

Yikes! That's a pricey read. It must be a rare commodity (limited prints)

I believe his run is covered in the black and white Showcase Presents reprints.

Apparently this is Grant Morrison's favorite Justice League run. He later used the White Martians and Libra.

Okay thanks, that sounds like a good alternative to the tpb, cheers.

[Jim Kelly]

To get the Len Wein issues in SHOWCASE PRESENTS, you would have to get volumes 5 and 6. I have volume 5, but I never knew there was a volume 6. Now that I look for it online, there don't seem to be any copies available--and if they were they probably would be priced a lot higher.

Personally, I hate the colouring in the new reprint books, so I prefer the black & white editions. And I'm still wondering about issue 103, if anyone is interested in answering my question.

Volume 2 of the OMNIBUS reprints almost all of the Steve Englehart run, just shy of two issues! They should have collected Englehart's whole run in a trade paperback a long time ago.

[BatmanJones]

I’m still wondering about issue 103, if anyone is interested in answering my question.

How often am I going to get a question like this that I can answer? I’d venture never, so thanks. I have omnibus volumes 1 and 2. I just checked and the Marvel characters are all decked out as in the original.

I loved this one as a kid. I was fascinated by The Phantom Stranger and #103 was a great issue for him.

[caj]

The JLA returned to Rutland in #145 with the Phantom Stranger in a creepy story that's one of my favorites.

[DrNewGod]

The JLA returned to Rutland in #145 with the Phantom Stranger in a creepy story that's one of my favorites.

Does the Rutland festival still go on?

[Jim Kelly]

How often am I going to get a question like this that I can answer? I’d venture never, so thanks. I have omnibus volumes 1 and 2. I just checked and the Marvel characters are all decked out as in the original.

I loved this one as a kid. I was fascinated by The Phantom Stranger and #103 was a great issue for him.

Thanks a whole heapin' bunch for answering my question. This puts the OMNIBUS higher up on my wishlist. But my wishlist for books is very long--maybe if a comic shop has a big sale on in the future, I can get a deal.

[MajorHoy]

Does the Rutland festival still go on?

Apparently, though I'm not sure how COVID has affected it.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutland_Halloween_Parade
* https://www.facebook.com/Rutland-Halloween-Parade

[Nomads1]

Definitely the best-written run of the JLA. I didn't regularly check the credits in those days, but there was a notable drop in quality when Wein left (and Bates and Maggin took over).

I hear the Englehart issues are good, but haven't read those yet. George Perez stories were the best-illustrated -- and Gerry Conway did an above average effort on those, but I still rank Wein number one. Oh, and the Nick Cardy covers for Wein's run were some of the best -- particularly JLA 100 and the one with the Shaggy Man.

The way I see it, Englehart gave a, then, Marvel vibe to the book, while Wein upped the game in the more traditional DC style. I have most of Wein's run, and all of Englehart's. Wein's team-ups wth the JSA are some of the most memorable ever. I think he started the trend of always having someone else join the team-ups with the League and the JSA. He gave us the 7Soldiers of Victory and the Freedom Fighters. Later team-ups included the Shazam Family, the LSH, DC's non super-hero heroes, the New Gods, the All-Star Squadron and others.

Peace

[MajorHoy]

. . . I have most of Wein's run, and all of Englehart's. Wein's team-ups wth the JSA are some of the most memorable ever. I think he started the trend of always having someone else join the team-ups with the League and the JSA. He gave us the 7Soldiers of Victory and the Freedom Fighters . . .

He also had a great one-issue JLA/JSA team-up that brought back Golden Age Sandy, Sandman's one-time side kick, in a story that gave a reason as to why Sandman went back to his green-suit-and-gas-mask look instead of his later purple-and-gold outfit.

[Johnny Thunders!]

There is a TPB, actually a series of trades, called Crisis on Multiple Earths. Volume 3 has Len Wein’s Team Up stories with the 7 Soldiers, the Freedom Fighters, and of course the JSA. It also features the Sandy and Sandman story. The paper is newsprint so the colors look more like the old comics. The covers for the trades are by Alex Ross, George Perez, Jerry Ordway, and Matt Wagner.

[Nomads1]

There is a TPB, actually a series of trades, called Crisis on Multiple Earths. Volume 3 has Len Wein’s Team Up stories with the 7 Soldiers, the Freedom Fighters, and of course the JSA. It also features the Sandy and Sandman story. The paper is newsprint so the colors look more like the old comics. The covers for the trades are by Alex Ross, George Perez, Jerry Ordway, and Matt Wagner.

I have that series of TPBs. It was canceled just when there were only three team-ups remaining. A shame.

Peace

[MajorHoy]

I have that series of TPBs. It was canceled just when there were only three team-ups remaining. A shame.

So, it looks like the ones not collected were:

* 1983's #219-220, with the Black Canary retcon into a mother and daughter.
That one was basically negated to some degree by CoIE and really has some creepy/undesirable choices

* 1984's #231-232, the "Family Crisis" story by Kurt Busiek which was somewhat . . . strange

* 1985's #244, a CoIE crossover that seemed more like an encounter between Infinity Inc. and Justice League Detroit as opposed to a classic JLA/JSA team-up.

[Nomads1]

So, it looks like the ones not collected were:

* 1983's #219-220, with the Black Canary retcon into a mother and daughter.
That one was basically negated to some degree by CoIE and really has some creepy/undesirable choices

* 1984's #231-232, the "Family Crisis" story by Kurt Busiek which was somewhat . . . strange

* 1985's #244, a CoIE crossover that seemed more like an encounter between Infinity Inc. and Justice League Detroit as opposed to a classic JLA/JSA team-up.

Yep. And issue #244 is the second part of the crossover, which started in Infinity Inc #19, if I'm not mistaken.

Peace