Should JLA Exist Outside of Continuity?

[Electric Version]

With characters being yanked away left and right by editorial, would it just be easier to have the title exist in its own universe? That way, the big 7 and anyone else the writer wants to use would be available.

[ryerye17]

No. Just no. If you'reonly problem is editorial mandate, may I point you to Morrison's run who despite constant character changes, pulled off an epic JLA run.

[Electric Version]

No. Just no. If you'reonly problem is editorial mandate, may I point you to Morrison's run who despite constant character changes, pulled off an epic JLA run.

He was never deprived of any of the main characters, though. Because DC wanted the big 7 as the JLA since the end of the JLI era was losing money and readers.

[Will.S]

It should still be within a shared universe but it doesn't have to always fit with whatever events are going around it unless it's something drastic like Superman leaving earth or Dick becoming the new Batman.

And even then you can just kind of plow ahead and try your best not to outright contradict stuff.

[ArnoldoAAD]

No

but it should make the continuity work for it and the other way arround like the Avengers are doing

Avengers have been the center of Marvel U since Civil War
JLA should be the center of DC

[Free-Man]

No. Just no. If you'reonly problem is editorial mandate, may I point you to Morrison's run who despite constant character changes, pulled off an epic JLA run.

Not the same thing at all. He still had access to most of the big guns for the vast majority of his run. He still had Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Martian Manhunter for practically the entire run.

Compare this to the current run where McDuffie literally had ALL of his big guns ripped away from him and was left with nobody by Black Canary, Firestorm, Vixen, and Green Lantern. And then Robinson ended up losing Green Arrow and Green Lantern, his only real big guns aside from Batman after just three issues.

[scary harpy]

Yes.

This solves the major problems.

The writer can have the Big 7 plus whoever else and can actually write subplots with them.

[DonC]

No. Just no. If you'reonly problem is editorial mandate, may I point you to Morrison's run who despite constant character changes, pulled off an epic JLA run.

I'd wager no editor at DC has/had the testicular fortitude to tell Grant Morrison what to do.

[titanfan]

He was never deprived of any of the main characters, though. Because DC wanted the big 7 as the JLA since the end of the JLI era was losing money and readers.

He still had his issues. Wonder Woman got replaced by Hippolyta, Electric Blue Superman, Kyle as GL (then hardly a "big gun"), etc. He still masterfully wove together various plot elements from the regular titles into the JLA.

The Giffen-JL was also masterful, despite heavy editorial interference the whole way through.

But no, the JLA absolutely should exist inside of continuity. Look at Brave and Bold. Great book, but a lot of people don't care because the stories are all standalone. A lot of fans want to feel their stories matter.

If anything, I would like JLA to DRIVE continuity. It should be the "must read" book for every DCU fan every month. Right now, the JLA must follow the directives set in solo titles it seems. I think the other books should be beholden to JLA. Having Star City get blown up in a JLA story and then seeing the solo titles being affected is kind of a start. (Maybe not the story itself, but the concept) You get the impression that the JLA is the central hub of the DC Universe, it should be the hub of the reader's universe too.

[Electric Version]

He still had his issues. Wonder Woman got replaced by Hippolyta, Electric Blue Superman, Kyle as GL (then hardly a "big gun"), etc. He still masterfully wove together various plot elements from the regular titles into the JLA.


I'd say Kyle was a big gun. his series was selling like hotcakes and the time and he WAS the only GL. And it may have been Electric Boogaloo Superman, but it was still Superman.

[NickFury90]

Somebody suggested JLA be a quarterly and/or be reserved to one annual JLA "Crisis" size threat. Like a yearly epic adventure/big powerful enemy/world threat that the big boys have to take care of. I really liked that idea, and it would fix the problem of the JLA title constantly being undermined and having C-listers like Cyborg and freakin' Congorilla on the Justice League of freakin' America.

[earl]

They just need to start telling stories and quit worrying what is going on in Superman, Batman or The Flash this month.

As long as you can keep your villains straight, it all works out.

You could go that way or use it as the straw that stirs the drink.

I thought it might work to do it as a title that comes out more often, so that there are more than 12 issues a year, so there is room to do the annual JSA crossover and big long stories and yet do some smaller stories. With that you would have room to use a big cast and not feel cheated that the big characters are not around as much.

Maybe they should get one writer from each of the character 'families' and let them work as a team with JLA. That way they could maybe have the solo characters come in and out in a logical way.

Maybe also use some back up stories that feature either side-plots or other items, so they could spread out the work to other artists.

It doesn't matter, JLA still sells "ok" even as a cruddy comic. But considering how Marvel has rode the Avengers, which seemingly has not only revitalized interest in those books, it has spawned a bunch of spin offs and seemingly hasn't hurt the main solo characters popularity either.

Maybe one day DC will get someone that can put a plan together to make it work, one way or an another.


If they want to keep it as a b-list book, just go back to making it fun again. That really was about the best run on the book ever anyway and they even did well when they had Batman to make him fit in.

[gwangung]

They just need to start telling stories and quit worrying what is going on in Superman, Batman or The Flash this month.

As long as you can keep your villains straight, it all works out.

That's how they worked it in the Silver Age (and that's one Silver Age device nobody would mind....).

[theyallfalldown]

That's how they worked it in the Silver Age (and that's one Silver Age device nobody would mind....).


THIS i endorse.


but im not a big fan of the big seven, too much testosterone white mans boys club.

[marvelboy74]

Somebody suggested JLA be a quarterly and/or be reserved to one annual JLA "Crisis" size threat. Like a yearly epic adventure/big powerful enemy/world threat that the big boys have to take care of. I really liked that idea, and it would fix the problem of the JLA title constantly being undermined and having C-listers like Cyborg and freakin' Congorilla on the Justice League of freakin' America.

Except that DC's goal as a publisher is to SELL books. As pointed out by another, a mediocre JLA still sells reasonably well.

[dumbstruck]

Morrison proved it's possible to have all the big characters, tell your own JLA stories, and still reflect events in said characters books. Why is it so impossible for DC to do that now?

[Free-Man]

He still had his issues. Wonder Woman got replaced by Hippolyta, Electric Blue Superman, Kyle as GL (then hardly a "big gun"), etc. He still masterfully wove together various plot elements from the regular titles into the JLA.


From what I understand, Rayner was still selling pretty damn well back then, and while they may not have been Barry and Hal, but Wally and Kyle were still the holders of the Flash and GL mantles back then. Electric Superman? It was a shift in costume and powers, but it was still Superman. Superman was not ripped out of the book and then replaced by Mon-El or something. Same goes for Hippoylta. He was not forbiddden from using WW, he just had to use the new WW that was around in that time.

That doesn't compare to the royal screw-job DC has given the JLA since Final Crisis.

[NeoStar9X]

With characters being yanked away left and right by editorial, would it just be easier to have the title exist in its own universe? That way, the big 7 and anyone else the writer wants to use would be available.

That might be a good idea. However I've always thought that JLoA title should be where the big events happen. For example Final Crisis should have actually been "Justice League of America: Final Crisis". Only use the title when something huge takes place. That way readers become accustomed to knowing when a JLoA title is announced something major is about to take place and it will be a must buy for everyone. As a result it will better reflect it's actual name since the event will be so big it requires an entire "league" of heroes to take it on. Lead by Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman of course. That doesn't mean you put out a JLoA event every year though. Maybe one every 3 or 5 years as to not overuse it.

By doing it this way you can have the JLoA title direct the direction of the DCU as a whole. Which is what it currently doesn't do from my understanding.

[Toni Goodman]

I thought about adding JLA to my pull.

I opened up one of the Brightest Days, saw pretty much no one I knew in it aside from I think Kara in two pages and a few pages with Dick.

Then I set it down and walked away.

[Lorendiac]

No. Just no. If you'reonly problem is editorial mandate, may I point you to Morrison's run who despite constant character changes, pulled off an epic JLA run.


I'd wager no editor at DC has/had the testicular fortitude to tell Grant Morrison what to do.

Given how horribly disappointed I was by "R.I.P." and "Final Crisis," DonC may well have a point about Morrison's editors being far too wimpy to have the guts to tell him when he is perpetrating a bad idea and needs to make some serious changes to the plot.

But as to how it went in his JLA run -- the story I've heard goes this way:

Post-Zero Hour, Denny O'Neil (the editor in charge of the Batman group of titles) desperately wanted to impose the hideously bad retcon of "Batman is a mere Urban Legend -- the general public of the DCU has never seen any proof that he even exists, and any previous story which said otherwise will just have to be ignored from now on!"

That decision was already awful, but in order to hammer the point home O'Neil allegedly also wanted the retcon to spill over into JLA continuity in the following way: "Batman is not, never was, and never will be a regular member of the Justice League -- because it's such a high-profile group that joining it would do serious damage to his Urban Legend status, and of course his Urban Legend status is far more important than anything else (such as saving the world in a team effort) ever could be!"

What I've heard, though, is that Grant Morrison, preparing for his own JLA run a bit later on, was one of those who argued hard against that part about "Batman can't be in the JLA," and thus Denny was finally persuaded to relent on that part.

[celticguy]

I am of two minds on this. The JLA should be the premier team of the DCU but everytime the next event happens it seems to require the team be broken up or completely redone.

[the new sensation]

what with Bagleys awful, ugly art... and Robinsons "eclectic" writing, it might has well be in another reality, never mind outside of continuity.If it wasnt for the delightful Donna Troy, I wouldnt bother with it.

[The Beast Of Yucca Flats]

I'd wager no editor at DC has/had the testicular fortitude to tell Grant Morrison what to do.

Not after the Superman 2000 pitch blew up, anyway.