Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League era appreciation

[Lee Stone]

Oddly - quite a number of characters on this team didn't "go anywhere."

Dr Light featured on the 1st cover but never joined

Captain Marvel didn't last long

Neither did Dr Fate ... and the FEMALE Dr Fate even less time

Huntress never seemed like a proper member

Wonder Woman in JLE was ridiculous - 1 issue

Animal Man disappeared

Tasmanian Devil joined then quit with Dr Light again

It was an odd time for membership and some characters development.

The first year's membership was tightly constructed.
Dr. Light wasn't intended to be a full member, at least not yet. Her story purpose was to get the League into the UN.
Booster Gold's joining (editorially mandated, as were the founders) was used to serve the Maxwell Lord plot, as did Dr. Light's initial membership.
The League, once Giffen and DeMatteis got started, was slated to turn international before the end of the year, as part of the Maxwell Lord storyline, with two new members added to reflect it.
Dr. Fate was removed as one of the slots to free up for Captain Atom and Rocket Red, as Giffen and DeMatteis already had plans for a solo title.
Captain Marvel was removed to make room for Captain Atom and Rocket Red, likely because he was just the least interesting character dynamic at the time and was probably 'voted out' by Giffen and DeMatteis. Although, IIRC, there were plans for a Captain Marvel title that never materialized.
Rocket Red joining also sync'd well with Millennium, as they would need a Manhunter in the book.
And the replacement Rocket Red connected with the early issues, which strengthened the book's internal continuity.
Blue Beetle was almost taken away during Millennium, as Wein originally had plans to relaunch his title with a new Blue Beetle. But when plans changed, Beetle was spared and remained in the JLI.

After the first year, though, Giffen and DeMatteis were a bit less in control of the comings and goings.
Black Canary was removed due to Grell's use in Green Arrow, which also left the team with no females... So Fire and Ice were brought in.
Wonder Woman was taken away before the first issue hit the stands, requiring the previously solicited cover to #3 to be edited with her replaced with Catherine Cobert.
Batman rarely appeared after the second year, and was likely being kept out due to editorial's preparation for the movie.
Animal-Man left after the events of Morrison's Animal-Man #20.
Huntress was given to them by Andy Helfer, who edited the JLI titles and the recently cancelled solo Huntress book. It would seem that Giffen and DeMatteis just couldn't find a purpose for her on the team and they struggled to find a good voice for her that interacted well with the others.
JLI #42 made light of how characters were blocked to Giffen and DeMatteis, with several then-popular characters being offered membership and flatly turning it down.

And most, if not all, the new members post-Huntress were characters that were free of other writers or editors: Bluejay, Silver Sorceress, Crimson Fox, Lightray, Orion and General Glory.

[Assam]

Although, IIRC, there were plans for a Captain Marvel title that never materialized.

.

Well, Power of Shazam was a thing. (And a damn fine book)

The first year's membership was tightly constructed.Booster Gold's joining served the Maxwell Lord plot.

Actually, Michael wasn't part of their original plans (Well technically none of them were because they originally wanted the Big 7 but that's besides the point) In the forward for the A New Beginning trade, it was mentioned that Giffen was told to use Booster by editorial as a last ditch effort to save his book's sales.

[Lee Stone]

Well, Power of Shazam was a thing. (And a damn fine book)



Actually, Michael wasn't part of their original plans (Well technically none of them were because they originally wanted the Big 7 but that's besides the point) In the forward for the A New Beginning trade, it was mentioned that Giffen was told to use Booster by editorial as a last ditch effort to save his book's sales.

Thanks. Will update my post.

[OutlawGunStar]

Some of them had longer mileage in JL Europe.

[HandofPrometheus]

https://twitter.com/ToddNauck/status/930484023507410944

Bloody love it!

I miss the big shoes guy Gardner was drawn with lol

[liwanag]

[liwanag]

[Nomads1]

Dr. Light wasn't intended to be a full member, at least not yet. Her story purpose was to get the League into the UN.

IMHO, ditching Dr. Light was one of the book's greatest mistakes, and a HUGE personal disappointement for me.
A new, powerful female character fresh from COIE, with little history and one clear personality trait, she was a bitch. Imagine how well that air of superiority would have gone over with everyone else. Sadly, it was not to be, and Kimyo only definitively joined in that terrible Gerard Jones JLE, which made her into a shy gheisha.

Peace

[SJNeal]

^ ^ ^

To be fair, she did regain a lot of backbone by the time she took over as team leader.

A progression that was unfortunately cut short by the books cancellation...

[Agent Z]

So sometime in the 90s, there was going to be an animated tv series starring Wonder Woman and other female DC superheroes. One of those heroes in question was going to be Ice.

[Lee Stone]

Very nice image!

[Assam]

Very nice image!

Very nice indeed!

[Agent Z]

Anyone know where, if possible, I can get the Giffen/DeMatties run in trades?

[thales]

Anyone know where, if possible, I can get the Giffen/DeMatties run in trades?

Did you try Amazon? Although these days, I got most of my comics on comixology.

[Agent Z]

Did you try Amazon? Although these days, I got most of my comics on comixology.

I'll try. Thank you.