What was it like moving to Giffen and DeMatteis Justice League?

[tib2d2]

For those regular Justice League of America readers in the mid 80s, what was it like when Giffen and DeMatteis took over and started their run? I'm really curious what long time JLA fans at that point thought of the new direction and long run of those writers with JL/JLI/JLA/JLE?

How'd you feel about it at first?

[Factor]

I wasn’t even born at the time, but one thing we need to remember is that it came right after the Detroit era, not the classic Satellite era. So fans were already not getting the iconic League adventures even before the JLI era started, which certainly affected the reception to JLI.

[Stingo]

For those regular Justice League of America readers in the mid 80s, what was it like when Giffen and DeMatteis took over and started their run? I'm really curious what long time JLA fans at that point thought of the new direction and long run of those writers with JL/JLI/JLA/JLE?

How'd you feel about it at first?

I loved it! Still recall picking up my copy of the first issue at the mall near where I lived in Rome, NY...Crisis had wrapped up and Legends was just calling it a day when this dropped and - after what my seventh grade sensibilities felt was a mediocre run of the Detroit League (I've since come to enjoy those Conway Detroit issues by the way) - this felt fresh and alive. The clever quips from Giffen and DeMatteis sealed the deal for me, as did the lovely artwork. For my money, a textbook example of how to properly reintroduce a concept which might have had a little dust settle over it after so many years.

[caj]

JL of A was my favorite book growing up but I stopped reading it during Detroit. I saw an add for Giffen's new JL but wasn't interested.

My dear sweet Mother who knew how much I loved Justice League, saw JL #1 in a store and bought it for me. It was validation that she understood how I had loved the original format.

I fell in love with the new format, especially that amazing artwork. I bought the full run of JL, JLI, JLA. & JLE.

Thanks Mom.

[Lightning Rider]

JL of A was my favorite book growing up but I stopped reading it during Detroit. I saw an add for Giffen's new JL but wasn't interested.

My dear sweet Mother who knew how much I loved Justice League, saw JL #1 in a store and bought it for me. It was validation that she understood how I had loved the original format.

I fell in love with the new format, especially that amazing artwork. I bought the full run of JL, JLI, JLA. & JLE.

Thanks Mom.

What a nice story.

[Jon-El]

A Super Hero mom!!

I was a teen so I accepted changes pretty well. I hadn’t enjoyed Justice League since the early 80’s & had dropped the title. The book was so fresh! The art was spectacular and the writing was consistently entertaining. I thoroughly loved the book. It was really well done. It probably helps that I was enjoying comics in a vacuum. There was no internet where I’d get a steady stream of “they’re making Captain Marvel look stupid” or something like that. I had no idea how others felt. Honestly, I enjoyed most of the post Crisis books back then.

[Commissioner Wayne]

I was 15 in ‘87 and loved it. I grew up on Superfriends and Batman/Adam West reruns so a lighter tone appealed to me. I gave up on JLA when Batman formed the Outsiders and Crisis changed everything I knew about the DCU. The humor was good but not corny and DeMatteis’ art was a game changer for the time. The biggest problem is after it had run its course, it took years and multiple course correction attempts (Black Canary as a founding member? Ugh…) to return the JLA to greatness. When you think about it, with all the changes over the years, we haven’t seen the ORIGINAL Big Seven together since Bats quit.

[M@Bowers2014]

It was amazing! I actually kinda liked the Detroit era so I was a little nervous but that first issue was stellar. I read it over and over in between #1 and #2 being released. Not something I had done with an issue of JLA probably since the annual that introduced the Detroit era. The DeMatteis/Giffen/McGuire era was so fresh at the time. It really changed everything. That first 2 years was a perfect balance of humor, action and plots. There were disappointments though like Dr Light bailing so quickly soon followed by Black Canary. They made up for that by giving us Booster Gold, Rocket Red and Captain Atom.

[caj]

What a nice story.

Thank you. I appreciate that. She was a special Mama.

[krazijoe]

I think after Crisis I stopped reading as my mother decided to stop buying for me...LOL...Then living in the country and no real comic shops around and no spinner racks at the grocery store, I stopped reading for a bit. Then picked up again in the early 90's once I joined the service. I do know, I thought Detroit sucked but looking back at it now, I have fond memories of that run Overlord, Amazo etc. Plus look who it brought to the forefront, Vixen, Vibe, Gypsy

[Zero Hunter]

When the JLI started it was not nearly as goofy and funny as it become latter on. The jokes were there just not as much. Giffen and crew sort of eased the humor in slowly. It really wasn't until the 2nd year I think when the humor really turned the book intot he one so many of us love.

[kcekada]

Well, the beginning of that run was much different than the end. I preferred the beginning which was more serious in nature -- and was very tired of the humor by the end.

Even without the big 7, the initial lineup of the Giffen league was impressive. But they kept losing members left and right. Black Orchid was going to be a member, but they took her out due to the Vertigo mini-series that was in the works. They lost Captain Marvel, Dr. Fate and Black Canary. That in itself was a problem -- and maybe that's why Giffen and DeMatteis went overboard on the humor elements.

When Fire and Ice joined, their powers had been scaled way back in order to push humor. Adam Hughes coming on board was a boon and the writers actually told a few serious stories in that era, but largely, I found the over-the-top humor inappropriate for the Justice League.

[caj]

JLA was great through issue #40 (Despero storyline). After that, I personally enjoyed JLE much more. Breakdowns was great though.

[Nomads1]

I wasn’t even born at the time, but one thing we need to remember is that it came right after the Detroit era, not the classic Satellite era. So fans were already not getting the iconic League adventures even before the JLI era started, which certainly affected the reception to JLI.

I was not a JLDetroit hater, but, yes, that was the impression I had. Towards the end, with Aquaman and Zatanna leaving, Batman aldready rarely poping up, and J'onn constantly nerfed so the young ones could shine, the book was hardly what fans wanted to see in DC's premier super-team. That cover for #1 said it all, a return to greatness, with Batman, J'onn, Canary and a Green Lantern back in the team, as well as new heavy-hitting inclusions Dr. Fate, Captain Marvel and Dr. Light (which, IMHO, sadly didn't stick around for long), among others. Comics distribuition here in Brazil at the time was very irregular, so the first issue I got of that run was #8 (Moving Day), which was very short on action, and heavy on humor. I found it very refreshing. I got the earlier issues with another distributer later on, and really loved it. As mentioned bellow by Zero Hunter,, the first issues were not as heavy on humor and were more serious, featuring great displays of power from Marvel, Green Lantern, J'onn and others. It was only later on that they chose to make the JLI itself a joke, that got by more on luck than on competence.

When the JLI started it was not nearly as goofy and funny as it become latter on. The jokes were there just not as much. Giffen and crew sort of eased the humor in slowly. It really wasn't until the 2nd year I think when the humor really turned the book intot he one so many of us love.

Still, I love the whole run, spin-offs and all.

Peace

[Riv86672]

For those regular Justice League of America readers in the mid 80s, what was it like when Giffen and DeMatteis took over and started their run? I'm really curious what long time JLA fans at that point thought of the new direction and long run of those writers with JL/JLI/JLA/JLE?

How'd you feel about it at first?

^^^I enjoyed the Hell out of the Giffen and DeMatteis’ book.

What you’ve got to remember is, the “Bwahaha League” didn’t start out that way. The book played things straight in the beginning; action, drama, and a bit of humor thrown in.

And then a little more humor was thrown in. And then a lot!

But yeah it was a gradual change.