Justice League Book Club Week 3: The Rebirth of the Justice League of America

Vroom · October 27, 2020, 12:08am

Greetings!

I hope you enjoyed last week’s rumble between the Justice League and the Suicide Squad (and if you didn’t check out Week 2 yet, you can do so right here) , because we’ve got the book that follows up on that titular tussle with the 2017-2018 volume of Justice League of America!

Your mission dossier:

Read:

Justice League of America Rebirth #1, followed by issues 1-4.

Discuss:

Have you read this volume of Justice League of America?
Do you agree with Batman’s stance on wanting a League in a post JL vs SS world that is primarily composed of members he feels society can better get behind rather than the mostly pseudo-gods of the main Justice League?
Who was your favorite team member from this League?

The discussion starts today and will run until next Monday, November 2nd.

That’s the mission for the week, League. Carry it out and, most importantly, have fun and a Happy Halloween!

ALSO: Be sure to check out JLBC member @Razzzcat’s Halloween Scavenger Hunt thread. It’s AWESOME and a ton of fun!

Vroom · October 27, 2020, 5:56pm

Today is Tuesday and that means new comics on DC Universe AND at your favorite comics retailer!

New Justice League content for DCU:

Justice League Dark #16

image1073×1650 1.32 MB

Deep in the basement archives of the Hall of Justice, home to the most dangerous magic the Justice League has ever encountered, there is an artifact so powerful it could rip the world in half. Circe knows it’s there, and with the Injustice League Dark at her side, nobody can stop her from obtaining it. The Witching War strikes close to home in its deadliest chapter yet!

Brand-new Justice League action available at your favorite comics spot:

Justice League Dark #27

Regular cover by Yanick Pacquette

Variant cover by B. Kael Ngu

Welcome to the Other Place, where the Upside-Down Man rules without equal, and where all the odds are bleakly stacked in his favor. Wonder Woman will tap into the darkest recesses of power, but can she control it? What sleight of mind will Zatanna reveal to her greatest villain, and what sacrifice (or three!) must be made? This issue features a battle so costly that the team’s roster will be forever changed.

Justice League Dark may be this week’s Justice League focus for New to DCU and comic stores content, but you can always see the light for great Justice League excitement via their adventures in the DC Universe library, this club and at your favorite outlet for the latest and greatest from DC Comics.

Enjoy!

scoop001 · October 27, 2020, 7:56pm

Wow, can’t believe I am the first one to reply.

No, I have not read this volume before.
I can see Batman’s point about having more relatable League members, but I’m not sure that he has chosen the right people.
My favorite member is Frost. I’m always a sucker for a redemption story.

Vroom · October 27, 2020, 8:05pm

Hi, @scoop001!

This is a pretty solid volume of JLA, I find. It started out as my secondary Justice League book during Rebirth, but I ultimately ended up enjoying it much more than Justice League as time (and Christopher Priest’s sadly disappointing run on that title) wore on.

My favorite member is Lobo. I love The Main Man, and how he tries to be on the side of the angels in this arc due to his obligation to Batman. Well, somewhat on the side of the angels. This is Lobo, afterall.

Thanks for stopping by. Grab a drink with Frost, Lobo and the rest if you like (put it on Bruce’s Wayne Enterprises card).

WingsOfAether · October 28, 2020, 6:46pm

I feel so early! It’s only been 2 days since this was posted!

Nope! I’ve never read any of this volume before.
I can see Batman’s point, and I do think it is a good one - it may be easier for some people to be inspired by heroes that are more like them. Although, I do agree with @scoop001 that some of the choices are perhaps not the best.
Once again, I have to agree with @scoop001 that Frost was my favorite (for the same reason too: I love a good redemption story). I also enjoyed seeing Lobo being a “hero” - it was amusing.

TurokSonOfStone1950 · October 28, 2020, 8:43pm

I had read it before

My favorite characters here outside of this series are Vixen.and Black.Canary. They are far inferior here than in say
The same characters in Justice League by Brad Metzger.

The team just doesn’t work Lobo especially. Frost is the best served but the team seems selected randomly.

Team makeup is most important. Even the best writers can’t overcome it. The first arc of JSA by Geoff Johns doesn’t work because of members in the first arc, like Jack Knight as Starman, Queen Hippolyta as Wonder Woman, Kendra Sanders Hawkgirl and again Black Canaryl His second attempt at Justice Society worked because of the membetship.

A Justice League of America that did work was the new 52 version.by Geoff Johns. Martian.Manhunter, Catwoman, Katana, A Savage Hawkman, Simon Baez, Vibe! and Stargirl. They jelled somehow. This version does not.

Vroom · October 29, 2020, 7:49am

Welcome, @WingsOfAether! Early is nice. Here, have a button (free of blood splatter too, no less!): .

No, I didn’t get that from The Comedian, but good on you to think that. Speaking of that li’l yellow chotchke, have you read Watchmen, Before Watchmen: The Comedian, The Button and/or Doomsday Clock?

I figured you’d enjoy more of Frost here, especially after JL vs SS. Given your fandom for her, have you read her one-shot in this series? It proceeds the Justice League of America: Rebirth one-shot. A pretty fun book and if memory serves, my favorite of the character-specific one-shots in this series.

Top of the morning, @TurokSonOfStone1950! I agree that the New 52 JLA gelled together quite well. That’s an underrated series I find, as it had one of the more unique team rosters in modern Justice League history. My favorite issues were those drawn by David Finch, but he’s my third favorite comic artist ever, so there’s a pinch and a skosh of enormous bias for his work on that title.

Regarding the Rebirth JLA, I think conceptually it works, but within the story, the team can be a bit rickety. It’s something of a minor miracle that the team made it out of their first mission alive, especially given that Lobo and Canary bumped heads a bit (I’d steer clear of any fight, verbal or physical, involving them).

WingsOfAether · October 29, 2020, 12:36pm

I’ve read Watchmen, but haven’t read the others yet.

Yep! Since I wasn’t particularly familiar with most of the individuals in the newly formed Justice League, I went ahead and read all the Rebirth one-shots about them so I had some idea of who they were.

Vroom · October 29, 2020, 5:14pm

You are on-point, Skip.

SuperBlueGrodd · November 4, 2020, 4:02am

Ok, just finished and it’s time to put down my thoughts!

I’ve been wanting to start this series for a while, and this was a good prompt to do so. In addition to the rebirth issue and the first 4, I read the 4 One shots and those were really really really good (my favorites probably being atom and killer frost). All of this was really good, I enjoyed the story so so so much, it kept me entertained consistently. I knew of the extremists for a tiny bit before reading this, but this was my first time reading much of them (except Havoc, I’ve read a little bit with him before). ~~Doctor Doom~~ Havoc was great, and I really enjoyed Dream slayer, he was really intriguing and interesting to me

Another thing that made this book so enjoyable was the art. Each issue, it was just astounding. I especially liked how in some, there were consultant movement in the whole panel.
Like, to use Lobo for two examples, these panels

You have the main focus (usually those speaking and having a general impact on the plot at that moment) and then you also have Lobo doing something separate… I don’t know if I’m explaining this well, but I just like how there are all these moving pieces that make it an active world…
Another good example is this

Also, those splash pages were sweet. I love a good last page splash

And this last panel from issue 4 was just beautiful

Nope.

Actually, yes, I believe it’s a good idea to have a team that can connect to those they are protecting… of course, Lobo kind of contradicts this (though I’ll give him a pass, it’s freaking logo) and the fact they have super powers (we, most of them) further removes them from that connection (something that actually came up in, I believe, issue 3 after I thought this answer up)

Oof, this is a hard one, especially considering that this lineup is chalk full of some of my favorites… but… I guess I’ll say… a tie between Black canary, Ryan, and Frost?

Sorry if this isn’t that articulate, I’m rather tired but had to get this down while everything was still fresh.

SuperBlueGrodd · November 4, 2020, 4:04am

I’m also totally continuing on with this series.

SuperBlueGrodd · November 4, 2020, 4:09am

Interesting, you make really good points there.
Though I do have to say

It’s actually kind of the opposite for me, just personally. The new 52 version is also full of some of my favorites, but it just doesn’t seem to work as well as this one seems to… though, I do have to admit that I haven’t read much of the new 52 version, so perhaps I’ll look into reading more of that

Jay_Kay · December 31, 2020, 1:38am

Catching up on this club a bit!

Have you read this volume of Justice League of America?

I remember reading a bit of this in the past, but not a lot.

Overall, this arc was okay – an interesting team with an interesting mission statement, some solid art especially by Ivan Reis, but the villains of this story were rather bland.

Do you agree with Batman’s stance on wanting a League in a post JL vs SS world that is primarily composed of members he feels society can better get behind rather than the mostly pseudo-gods of the main Justice League?

Like others have said, I can see the idea in theory, though adding members like Lobo kind of flies in the face of it.

Who was your favorite team member from this League?

Because Batman would be too easy, I’ll go with either Black Canary or Vixen.

CaptainYesterday · April 27, 2021, 3:12am

I read it as it was coming out including all the one shots. The art by Ivan Reis is stellar as usual. I really did get behind the team (with one glaring pasty white exception) and was sad it didn’t quite make it. I’ll just be happy with the issues I got.
As mentioned above, then why put Lobo on the team? Captain Marvel would have been a better choice for that. (so would Snapper Carr, but I digress)
Batman, then Ryan, then Ray, Vixen and Black Canary. There were a couple of guest stars I was real happy to see.

ajm08g · January 16, 2022, 8:41pm

Hello there Justice League Book Club Tally-Ho!

Previously I had not, but kept it in a Rebirth reading list of mine that I’ve managed working my way through to the point of starting to read it.

I did enjoy reading through the one-shots before it as well.

I could see Batman’s reasoning making sense after all the ~~fun~~ chaos that ensued during the JL vs SS story.

Although… I’m with Frost and Black Canary on questioning what Batman’s motives might be with the formation of this team.

Tough to only pick one so… Here’s also some art panels I quite enjoyed while reading.

Hope you also had a nice Birthday yesterday Vroom!

Vroom · January 20, 2022, 12:40am

Hey-hey, @ajm08g! Look at you, digging up old topics, which is perfectly okay to do.

As always, I dug your highlights, especially those pertaining to Vixen. Good stuff, my man.

My birthday was very schway, and thank you for the well-wishes.

ajm08g · January 20, 2022, 2:13am

Hey there Vroom.

Yup I might still have a few League missions bookmarked that I’ve been working my way towards completing… As time goes on.

Also good to hear, and you’re welcome.

Vroom · January 20, 2022, 2:19am

Cool beans. As always, there’s no expiration date on topics, so post away to your heart’s content.