In 2004, Kurt Busiek–the fan letter writer who scored a job writing one of the best runs of The Avengers–took over the JLA for an 8-issue stint featuring the evil version of the JLA. It’s one of my favorite Justice League arcs ever. For many reasons.
And only one of them is that a violent version of the JL is always fun to watch. (And keep in mind that the above panel was created long before Mark Waid’s brilliant, long-form story of an evil superman in Irredeemable, in which Plutonian burns an entire family to death.
No, Busiek’s book is great because it’s one of the few times that we see the JLA acting like a bunch of … Guys. People. Folks with powers, but folks under it all.
They get bored.
They get frustrated.
And they have EGOs.
It’s not giving too much away to show that during the story Superman forces the evil alternate-versions to beg for help from the Justice League. But I have to say, it’s odd that the Crime Syndicate seems to feel beholden…
These dudes kill innocents every day. Do we really think we can trust them?
Anyway, it’s a terrific run overall. Well worth getting. And you can find the back issues at cons for like a buck each.
By now, we’re up to the year 2004 and we get the incredible miniseries, “Identity Crisis,” followed by Geoff Johns’ first run writing the Justice League. This seems like a good time to stop, as we’re heading into the current age.
Next: In anticipation of the coming Netflix series…Luke Cage!