Your least favorite JLA line up

[henrymalredo]

Robinson's league. Instead of standing on it's own, it tried too hard to be Justice League: The Next Generation, which didn't work well since all the real big guns were still around.

[Talisman]

Joe Kelly's League.

[fishbonex]

The Detroit League and James Robinson's mishmash League prior to the New 52.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Ditto, seconded and quoted for truth.

(I still love Justice League Detroit!)

Quoting the QFT, and though I never LOVED the Detroit league, I always liked it and never understood the hate. It did lead into my favorite, the Giffen league though.

[fishbonex]

Robinson's league. Instead of standing on it's own, it tried too hard to be Justice League: The Next Generation, which didn't work well since all the real big guns were still around.

This league led me to drop the book. Bit I wanted to like it, on paper I actually love the idea of the 2nd gen heroes taking their spot in the league. It just did not work, at all.

[MajorHoy]

This league led me to drop the book. Bit I wanted to like it, on paper I actually love the idea of the 2nd gen heroes taking their spot in the league. It just did not work, at all.

I liked the concepts of that JLA, but a combination of editorial mandates caused it to have a lack of organization in the membership (one group was announced, then suddenly half of them were yanked) and Robinson was providing some terrible writing (dialogue was definitely sub-par).

[sportsguy831]

The Big Seven. Replace Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Flash with Midnighter, Green Arrow, Black Canary and Hawkman.

[stk]

Quoting the QFT, and though I never LOVED the Detroit league, I always liked it and never understood the hate.

What's not to understand?

I can see not hating it now, looking back, and it just being one random run of back issues out of hundreds. But imagine being a 12 year old kid, looking forward to a comic book that features all of your favorite characters together and having huge adventures, then all of a sudden, the next month featuring pretty much NONE of your favorite characters, replaced by characters you never heard of before, and having much smaller-scaled stories. It was really jarring. I felt robbed.

[AdamYJ]

You know, there are more JLA runs that I didn't really care for than ones I was crazy about. Even from the beginning, it was not the best-written superhero comic. Robinson's League was kind of meh. Kelly's wasn't anything to write home about. The "Big Seven" only really work if you're selling it based on the fame of the members (like Gardner Fox did) or if you have some big gigantic stories to tell (like Grant Morrison did). I liked the early '90s Jurgens League when I first read it, but it was kind of mediocre upon reread. The Detroit League lacked "sizzle". The biggest name they had was Aquaman, which wasn't quite enough. One thing I liked was the idea that there were some characters created just for the League in that group. Someone who could stick with the League and provide continuity between the different line-ups and basically be a JLA "lifer" (kind of like how guys like Vision and Hawkeye are for the Avengers). It just didn't work with what they had, though. For example, I think the new JLA line-up with Vibe alongside guys like J'onn J'onnz,Green Arrow and Hawkman looks a lot better than him standing beside Aquaman, Gypsy and Zatanna.

I really did like the original JLI, though. But that book was basically its own animal.

[fishbonex]

What's not to understand?

I can see not hating it now, looking back, and it just being one random run of back issues out of hundreds. But imagine being a 12 year old kid, looking forward to a comic book that features all of your favorite characters together and having huge adventures, then all of a sudden, the next month featuring pretty much NONE of your favorite characters, replaced by characters you never heard of before, and having much smaller-scaled stories. It was really jarring. I felt robbed.

I dunno, I was about the same age. Though not done as well, Teen Titans and XMen had each done the same thing successfully before them, so there was a precedent there to try to revive a franchise in this fashion.

[vampiric_cannibal]

Meltzer's line up was mediocre. I preferred Robinson's line-up.

I'd get rid of Hawkgirl and Red Tornado. The Trinity too, they get dull. Leaving Arsenal, and, uh... very few people. Vixen? She's dull. Canary and Hal aren't terribly fun either on the JL. That was a pretty bad line-up, I like how Meltzer justified it. "so, we had like an awesome line-up, but we ended up choosing whoever showed up completely randomly to beat this one thing up".

[stk]

I dunno, I was about the same age. Though not done as well, Teen Titans and XMen had each done the same thing successfully before them, so there was a precedent there to try to revive a franchise in this fashion.

And that's why I gave it a chance. But the difference for me was that X-Men and Teen Titans had been like that since before I began reading the comics. So it was kind of a non-issue for me. JLA was something that was yanked right out from under me. Also, Teen Titans and X-Men continued to tell the same style of story, just with additional new characters. JLDetroit became something entirely different than what JLA had been. It wasn't a team capable of handling the same types of situations.

And beyond that, characters like Raven, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Colossus, Storm, Kitty Pryde, Wolverine, etc. were just way more compelling characters, right out of the gate, than Gypsy, Vibe, Steel and whoever else ever managed to be.

[Robotman4]

The Robinson League was horrible! Though a lot of that was editorial interference. The League right before Grant's JLA was terrible also.

[Nomads1]

I actually loved everything about that line-up, except Diana's biker chick costume!

As far as Wonder Woman's teams go, I think the worst was the one right after Doomsday; Black Condor, Agent Liberty, etc. Luckily it didn't last more than an arc or two...

To this day the only thing I like about JL Detroit is the fact Aquaman was it's leader. Otherwise, blegh!

To each it's own. I think Gerard Jones JLA is possibly my most hated incarnation of the League. The line up had potential, even if I was WTF? when I saw Nuklon and Obsiadian in it. But JJones made the whole run into a showcase of cheap melodrama and discussion of sexuality. Are Nuklon and Obsidian gay? Are Fire and Ice gay? Is El Diablo metrosexual? Will Metamorpho throw another fit? I don't know, and who cares? I wanted to read about great super-hero stories. Plus, what the hell was the Yazz? I did like the Hawkman/ Warrior/ JLA crossover, though, and, yes, I did dig WW biker's outfit.

I dunno, I was about the same age. Though not done as well, Teen Titans and XMen had each done the same thing successfully before them, so there was a precedent there to try to revive a franchise in this fashion.

As pointed out, the attempt to make the JLA into the same kind of book as those was what, IMHO, killed the JLD innitiative. The idea of making the JLA into a full time team was a solid one, and a pretty good new direction for the book, but you don't take a team with heavy hitters like Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, etc... a team used to tackling the biggest threats to the universe, and replace them with a bunch of untrained kids like second rate Cyborg Steel, break-dancing shaker-up Vibe, and, tremble in fear, evildoers, dissppearing Gypsy. Had the added a few highly powered, more experienced adult heroes (such as Firehawk, Blue Devil, Captain Comet, etc...) and only one or two kids, I think the book would have had a better chance of succeding. I kinda liked it, though.

Meltzer's line up was mediocre. I preferred Robinson's line-up.

I'd get rid of Hawkgirl and Red Tornado. The Trinity too, they get dull. Leaving Arsenal, and, uh... very few people. Vixen? She's dull. Canary and Hal aren't terribly fun either on the JL. That was a pretty bad line-up, I like how Meltzer justified it. "so, we had like an awesome line-up, but we ended up choosing whoever showed up completely randomly to beat this one thing up".

Meltzer's run for me was a great dispppointment. So weak, boring and decompressed. Plus, IMHO, he writes terrible group fight scenes. Dog pile, everyone!
What really bugged me the most was Meltzer's idead that super-heroes were a tight community on a first name basis. Like people like Hawkgirl or Powergirl would even know who a terrifying paranoid like Batman is, or even have the stones to talk to speak to him, much less call him Bruce.

Peace

[stk]

What really bugged me the most was Meltzer's idead that super-heroes were a tight community on a first name basis. Like people like Hawkgirl or Powergirl would even know who a terrifying paranoid like Batman is, or even have the stones to talk to speak to him, much less call him Bruce.

They would, because they were co-members with a different Batman than the one you seem to like. Paranoid, a-hole, no friends Batman was already gone.

But it's funny how this thread has turned into "least favorite run or creative team" rather than "least favorite line-up."

[Nomads1]

They would, because they were co-members with a different Batman than the one you seem to like. Paranoid, a-hole, no friends Batman was already gone.

Ah, no, he was still pretty much around. Still is, as a matter of fact. I just saw him a couple of months ago in Johns JL.
Anyway, Meltzer was they only one that waaay overdid the everybody on a first name basis routine. It was like his thing.
And I guess when you start talking about line-ups, it becomes inevitable that you end up talking a bit about who wrote them.

Peace