:justice_league_book_club: The Justice League Book Club Returns with Bryan Hitch's Justice League of America :justice_league_book_club:

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Greetings @JusticeLeagueBookClub, and how are ya?

The gig’s been on hiatus for a while, but with the Death of the Justice League, the one year anniversary of Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Dark Crisis all coming up, now is an absolutely PERFECT time to flick on the lights, dust off the joint and jump onboard to discover the greatest action and adventure in the DC Multiverse as only the Justice League can provide!

Not already a member of the Justice League Book Club? No problem! You can join in on the fun
:point_right:t2: right here. :point_left:t2:

On with the show! :partying_face:

From now and throughout all of March, we'll be discussing the 10 issue entirety of writer/artist Bryan Hitch's Justice League of America:

Things to ponder/discuss/talk to Snapper Carr about:

:superman: Have you read this volume of Justice League of America?

Also: What was your favorite issue, scene and/or who was your favorite character from the series?

:batman: Writer/artist Bryan Hitch is no stranger to bombastic, whirlwind, widescreen and absolutely thrilling comic adventures starring teams of super heroes.

From The Authority to The Ultimates, Fantastic Four, the Rebirth-era Justice League and more, the guy just gets big-time super hero adventure and then some.

What’s your favorite team-based title to star Hitch’s talents, and how do you compare it to his work on this book?

:00_wonder_woman_stars: There have been several volumes of Justice League of America over the 60+ year history of the Justice League franchise. Do you have a favorite, and if so, which is it?

Always remember that ALL Justice Leagues count (yes, even Extreme Justice :wink:)

:large_blue_circle: Discuss anything else about this series that comes to your heroic mind. :superman_hv_4:

That’s the mission for March, heroes! I hope you have fun, and I look forward to your thoughts on one of the more bombastic and exciting Justice League series of the last decade.

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I, Always Loved the J.L.A. J.S.A. Team Ups!
I Miss Them!

I, Loved the Legion of Doom and Secret Society of Super Villains Team Ups!

I, Loved the Story Where All of the J.L.A. Members Were Captured!
Held Hostage On the Bridge!
Batman Was Left Free!
The Aliens Didn’t Count On Batman Turning the Tables On Them!
Great Batman Story!
Great Story On How Different Batman is From the Rest of the Justice League of America!

Ultra Humanite Capturing J.L.A. and J.S.A. Members Too Wipe Out All Heroes From His Planet!
The Albino Gorilla Was Very Good, as Was Killer Frost!

Madame Xanadu Casting Spells On Justice League!
Zatanna Zatara Has Too Save Them!
Three of My Favorite J.L. Stories!

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Those are indeed some good tales, no doubt.

What are your thoughts on the selected reading?

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This was an interesting story. The JLA fighting against Rao. He claims to be a god, but he is really a leech. I liked the art in these issues. Some loose ends left at the end of this. Are the Olympians coming back? What are these stones? At least Rao is defeated.

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Welcome back JLBC! :00_justice_league2:

I actually have these books on in TPB on a shelf! Interesting that volume 2 concludes with issue 11 which isn’t Hitch. I haven’t read these yet and I think I have a reason to read them now!

Did you ever do Final Night? Wasn’t sure if I missed it or it hasn’t happened yet.

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Hiya @scoop001, and welcome back! :wave:t2: :clark_hv_4:

I agree. In fact, I remember when the initial DC You titles were announced, and for this one, I thought “The Justice League vs. Krypton’s supreme deity, eh?” and then pondering if it truly would be Rao the League would rumble with, or someone pretending to be Rao.

Ultimately (and to avoid heavy spoilers), we saw just who and what Rao really was.

Yes, me too! Hitch’s art is just gorgeous, and very much worth staring at for long periods of time, so as to fully take in all of its grandeur.

If you’d like more spectacular art from Hitch, give the most recent volume of Hawkman a whirl.

I’m betting that they were planned to be tied up, but given how delayed this series became and how its end occured well into wave 1 of Rebirth (and that a Rebirth-era JLA series was on the way), DC cut the series at #10, and cancelled the solicited issues 11 and 12, along with Annual #1.

It would have been neat to see where the series went post-Rao, but given how DC had switched gears from DC You to Rebirth, its understandable how they wanted to wrap up this title and move forward.

As always, thanks for chiming in!
:superman_hv_4:

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Thank you, sir!

bows politely

Volume 2, you say?

sits back and strokes his chin in thought

Offhand, I’m drawing a blank on that. I recall this series having one trade (and it left out #5, since that wasn’t by Hitch), but a second volume and one that has #11?

I am most curious about this.

Nope, it hasn’t been covered yet.

Last year would’ve been when the JLBC would have done it, and for the 25th anniversary.

However, and speaking of anniversaries, there’s a chance that The Final Night will pop-up over in The Modern Age Superman Club later on, so as to set the stage for a certain Triangle Era story celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. :white_circle: :large_blue_circle: :00_shazam:

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Oh wow! My bad, I was looking at my shelf and just realized I had Justice League not JLA. Two completely different series.

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Ah, the Hitch Rebirth Justice League, then?

I liked that series, especially with its semi-focus on time travel stories.

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That would be the one!

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You know, I don’t get why some :poop: on the Rebirth Justice League ongoing, yet love the Post-Metal JL, especially Snyder’s run.

Don’t get me wrong, the Post-Metal series is good, as is most of Snyder’s run, but…IDK…I guess I just found some level of fun and entertainment that others overlooked when it came to the Rebirth book?

Maybe I’m just bummed that Jessica Cruz hasn’t been on the core League since Post-Metal?

Jess being a star of Justice League Odyssey is one reason why I vastly prefer it to Snyder’s JL, which, again, I do like, but…I like Jess (and Simon), too.

Anyhow, the DC You JLA!

claps hands together

I’d like a Rao figure. If done right, he’d have a unique visual splendor all his own, and greatly stand out on a shelf.

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Yes, it reads much better when you don’t have the long delays. This is the sort of JLA I love, big widescreen action and off the charts super science. Favorite character of the series is, of course, Superman. My faovrite scene is Superman trapped in the ship and he just flies it right into the moon! The best part of this series at the time was you got to see the real Superman, Batman and Green Lantern, not Above Average Guy, Bat Chappie and Green Glove. Geoff Johns also got to ignore that nonsense in his Justice League book.

I still have to go with The Ultimates. He had a better inker back then as well as his best DC work, JLA: Heaven’s Ladder. (treasury sized greatness)

I’ll be dead in the cold cold ground before I ever recognize Justice League Elite, or the state of Missouri.

My favorite volume will always be number one. Englehart, Fox, Waid and Morrison are my JLA Mount Rushmore of writers.

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Greetings, Cap’n! :saluting_face:

Good choice!

If memory serves, The Ultimates was the title that brought Bryan Hitch (and Mark Millar) to my attention.

While The Ultimates is my fav non-DC work of Hitch’s, I’d go with The Authority v1 as my favorite of his DC oeuvre.

Like this month’s series, The Authority is big, widescreen, awe-inspiring action and adventure that consistently entertains every time you read it.

SN: JLA: Heaven’s Ladder is fantastic. I haven’t read it in years, and with Hitch’s JLA on the mental sponge/brain, now would be a good time for a re-read.

Thanks for highlighting that one, @CaptainYesterday. :+1:t2:

squints through his glasses

Abe Simpson…is that you? :wink:

That’s one heck of a snazzy, JLA-style, Mount Rushmore!

Let’s see, my JLA (and only JLA, as I’m not counting all JL-related titles) Mt. Rushmore would be…

• Morrison
• Waid
• Meltzer
• McDuffie

Meanwhile, Geoff Johns would get an Honorable Mention plaque below the monument for his overall JLA output (the Crisis of Conscience arc on JLA, along with the New 52 JLA).

Thanks for stoppin’ by, Cap! :superman_hv_4:

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Justice League Book Club! Tally-Ho! :justice_league_book_club:

Oh… That was… Kind of loud… My apologies… :sweat_smile:

Good to see everyone once again here. :clark_hv_4:

Previously I had not.

Number 5 was pretty interesting since it took a break from the main story… :thinking:

Made me want to take a look at where Martian Manhunter’s story would go after it. :books:

And the final three of this story were also good. :grin:

Scene… A few do come to mind. :smile:

Wonder Woman using Zeus’ thunderbolt to revive Superman… Thank you very much Wonder Woman. :0_wonder_woman:

The end battle that also took place was a lot of fun seeing play out. :sunglasses: :+1:

I also find it pretty funny whenever a lantern has a conversation with their ring. :00_lc_green_lantern: :smile:

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I think for favorite characters it would also be Wonder Woman, Superman, and Hal. :wonderwoman: :superman: :0_lc_green_lantern_hal_jordan:

Well… Since I’ve only read this JLA run and am about halfway through Hitch’s Rebirth JL run… I’d say it’s a tie between the two for now on my favorite team-based title to star Hitch’s talents. :sweat_smile:

Since Rao was heavily featured in this story it made me think of the TV show Krypton… :pensive:

Almost made me think Brainiac would somehow have showed up at some point because of it. :joy: :eyes:

At least everything worked out towards the end of the story and I found it worked well based on all the Rebirth reading I have done to connect the two. :smiley:

Up, up, and away then till next time. :superman_hv_3:

Probably when I finish reading the other JLA selection. :smile:

Justice League Book Club! Tally-Ho! :wave: :sunglasses:

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Sup wassssuuuuup, @ajm08g!
:fist_right:t2: :fist_left:t2:

Welcome back, friend! I’ll be back to reply in-depth later on, but I just wanted to say “Hi, how are ya?”, and that I’m glad to see you darkening the JLBC’s doorstep once more.

Tally-ho, good sir! :superman_hv_4:

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Ah, pretty busy nowadays. :sweat_smile:

Nice to catch a break in the evenings, and stop by JLBC as well. :clark_hv_4: :justice_league_book_club:

Oh yes. :sunglasses: :+1:

Very close to digging into another of the past JLBC’s threads once again as well. :joy:
Might have something to do with things getting a bit… Metal… :sunglasses: :metal:

Always a pleasure seeing what the JLBC has offered, and thank you for putting all these fun topics together. :smiley:

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This was an interesting read. You can’t say that Hitch wasn’t trying for an epic story with high concepts and stakes. It reminded me a bit of the JLA comics from the late 90s starting with Grant Morrison. I also liked how the story found ways to keep the League separate so as to give the characters a bit of a disadvantage while giving almost each member a good moment to shine.

I will say that while by and large, it was a solid story, there were some character bits that nagged at me. Initially, Superman almost immediately buying into Rao despite never really having the history for it threw me off, but they explained it well enough in story that I could live with it. Wonder Woman having to be dragged away from the fight to help people just did not feel right.

(As an aside, Diana being able to use Zeus’ thunderbolt is rad as hell and I wish it stuck around.)

Also, while Batman made sense as the big skeptic, especially in contrast to Superman’s belief, stuff like Bruce not wanting to see people healed or made whole if they’re criminals rang VERY false to me. Batman can be a really harsh and rigid character who can succumb to desire for vengeance, but I feel like if it isn’t tempered with a desire for people to heal and reform. he just sounds like a psychopath.

Speaking of Batman, I really didn’t care for the initial Parasite fight because of how the other Leaguers basically rushed in half-cocked all for Batman to admonish them for it. I enjoy seeing Batman in the League as an equal due to his intelligence and strategic mind, but I don’t want to see the other Leagers basically being beaten with the Stupid Stick to do it.

But despite those nags, this was a solid read, glad to have gone through it.

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Hey-hey @Jay_Kay, what’s up?

Absolutely agree. When I read this series as it came out, I was always reminded of Morrison’s storytelling ambition from JLA, and how he was constantly topping himself with one grandiose adventure after the other.

I don’t think Hitch was trying to ape Morrison by any means, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he read his run on JLA and thought “I can do something like this, too.”

Likewise. At first, you think Superman will question him and see what the deal is, but by and large? Nope! Buys into Rao’s act, hook, line and sinker.

YES! I was hoping it would find its way into her further adventures (be they JL-based or otherwise), but unless I’m forgetting something, I don’t think it went beyond this series.

I wouldn’t mind seeing it pop back up in Trial of the Amazons, should that tale allow for it to work.

I dug that sequence, and its a highlight of the title.

Agreed. Batman doesn’t always know The Score, and in the years to come, you’d think the League would give him :poop: in return.

Anyone on the League to Batman: "Oh, you didn’t like how we took down Parasite, 7 years ago, huh? Well, we didn’t exactly like that whole GD Dark Multiverse coming into our reality and threatening everything we love and care about, not once, but TWICE, that came afterward! So, deal with THAT, Mr. “I have plans behind plans and thought you all screwed up in taking down Parasite!”

I could see Arthur just laying into Batman like that. :grin:

This volume of JLA was indeed pretty darn solid. When the DC You titles were announced, this series was easily my most-anticipated of the whole group. “Bryan Hitch and the JLA? Sold!” I thought to myself.

It stayed my #1 for a while, too…until the prominent delays began. Oh, and then I really got into The Omega Men, which supplanted JLA as my favorite DC You title (which it remains, to this day).

Overall though, Hitch’s Justice League of America is a fun (and eye-popping) ride.

Thanks for stopping by, @Jay_Kay! :superman_hv_4:

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I do remember it showing up at least initially in Hitch’s Rebirth era of JL, specifically the first arc with Tony Daniel art.

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Blimey, that’s right! I remember that being a fav scene of mine from early in his run, too.

Welp…guess I know what my next JL-related re-read is, now. :nerd_face:

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