I remember as a teenager going somewhat out of my way to get my hands on JLA 1 (Grant Morrison edition) at the height of my Morrison obession and being thorougly entertained by a) the storyline and b) the notion that DC's premier team actually had the company's iconic characters in it. Don't get me wrong I loved the JLI bunch of also-rans and the humour that emerged.
But it felt proper that the League had the big stars in it.
Which brings us onto this week's relaunch of not just this title but the entire DC comics universe.
I am not a huge fan of Jim Lee's art and it did kind of prompt memories of the horrors of Heroes Reborn, Marvel's mid 90s small-scale precusor to what DC are now doing.
And like, the HR characters, I do find it hard to like the new younger "edgier" heroes. Hal Jordan comes off as too much of a cocky sod.
Batman's greener than normal but entertaining enough. And Supes is barely in it.
I know this is relaunching the DCU and comics as a medium but personally I would hope that out of seven coverstars we get more than four in the actual book.
Going from the preview I have seen of Morrison's edgier man-of-the-people take on Superman maybe DC should have started with that. Or at least shown more than a page of him in this issue of Justice League. When Marvel started the New Avengers seven years or so ago, the first issue had the full roster. They weren't a team as yet but they were all in the book and it was a stronger story than this...
'Tis selling well though and it's available for download on Comixology so it's giving a shot in the arm to the industry. Time will tell if it succeeds.
Showing posts with label Justice League. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Justice League. Show all posts
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Bialyan nights
I remember in the 90s reading a DC letter column in which an editor explained that the reason why increasingly comics characters visited fictional foreign locations was not to upset the locals if there was a research failure.
Which kind of means laziness.
However fictional countries do allow creators to world build and create gems.
In the late 80s Justice League, writers Kieth Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis did that with Bialya, a Middle Eastern country ruled by Colonel Rumaan Harjavti, a military dictator who had a habit of trying to rile his public against the US.
This era of the League was notably more humorous than previous versions but was unafraid of delving into more serious storylines from time to time.
Harjavti fitted right in.
He was inspired by figures like Gaddafi and Saddam. This being the 80s, Harjavti was allies with the USSR, who seemed to barely tolerate his antics.
Harjavti was only in the comics for a year or so before being overthrown in a coup. However, during his brief run, he would pop up as frequently as, say, the pirates in Asterix.
The Bialyan storyline took a darker turn in the aftermath of the coup with his successor, Queen Bee, using a Leaguer as a Trojan horse for an attack on the team. It sounds hackneyed but Giffen and DeMatteis make it extraordinarily tense and the Queen Bee, being a youthful female leader, opens up more story opportunities and gives a freshness that a military dictator can't supply.
Nowadays it would be hard to imagine a mainstream comic using a character like Harjavti as a figure of fun. Which is understandable, especially this year.
But his appearances were fun back in the day
Which kind of means laziness.
However fictional countries do allow creators to world build and create gems.
In the late 80s Justice League, writers Kieth Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis did that with Bialya, a Middle Eastern country ruled by Colonel Rumaan Harjavti, a military dictator who had a habit of trying to rile his public against the US.
This era of the League was notably more humorous than previous versions but was unafraid of delving into more serious storylines from time to time.
Harjavti fitted right in.
 |
| Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire |
 |
| Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire |
 |
| Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire |
Harjavti was only in the comics for a year or so before being overthrown in a coup. However, during his brief run, he would pop up as frequently as, say, the pirates in Asterix.
The Bialyan storyline took a darker turn in the aftermath of the coup with his successor, Queen Bee, using a Leaguer as a Trojan horse for an attack on the team. It sounds hackneyed but Giffen and DeMatteis make it extraordinarily tense and the Queen Bee, being a youthful female leader, opens up more story opportunities and gives a freshness that a military dictator can't supply.
Nowadays it would be hard to imagine a mainstream comic using a character like Harjavti as a figure of fun. Which is understandable, especially this year.
But his appearances were fun back in the day
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