JLA (comic book)
JLA | |
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Flash. | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Ongoing series |
Genre | |
Publication date | November 1996 – February 2006 |
No. of issues | 126 (#1–125, plus an issue numbered # ISBN 1-56389-369-X |
JLA was a
Publication history
The low sales of the various Justice League spin-off books by the mid-1990s
This series, in an attempt at a "back-to-basics" approach, used as its core the team's original and most famous seven members (or their successors): Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash (
Morrison introduced the idea of the JLA allegorically representing a
Under Morrison, the series pitted the League against a variety of enemies including the White Martians, renegade angels, a new incarnation of the Injustice Gang led by
Since this new League included most of DC's most powerful heroes, the focus of the stories changed. The League now dealt only with Earth-shattering, highest-priority threats which could challenge their tremendous combined power. Enemies faced by this new JLA included an invading army of aliens, a malfunctioning war machine from the future, a horde of renegade angels, a newly reformed coalition of villains as a counter-league, mercenaries armed with individualized take-down strategies for each superhero, various cosmic threats, and the enraged spirit of the Earth itself. In addition, because almost all of the members had their own comics, the stories were almost always self-contained, with all chapters occurring within JLA itself and very rarely affecting events outside of that series. Developments from a hero's own title (such as the new costume and electric-based powers temporarily adopted by Superman in 1997–1998) were reflected in the League's comic book, however.
Morrison departed with issue #41, after which the book saw runs by
Storylines
Despite all of this, DC did not create continuing spin-off series as it had done before. Instead, a large number of miniseries and one-shots featuring the team were released. One spin-off team, the Justice League Elite was created following the events of JLA #100, but their miniseries was limited to 12 issues, and the team appeared only once after the miniseries ended its run. JLA's popularity was also able to launch the critically acclaimed JSA series, which was relaunched as Justice Society of America to coincide with the new Justice League of America book.
In 2005, a story arc by
As depicted in the Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special and the final issue of Infinite Crisis itself, preparations for the defense of Metropolis against an army of organized supervillains required a brief and temporary expansion of the Justice League to its largest roster to date. The main defensive teams of the JLA, JSA, Teen Titans and Outsiders already being occupied elsewhere by the Crisis, it fell on the Oracle and the Martian Manhunter to contact and deputize seemingly every active or once active hero in the DC Universe as Justice League members, effective immediately, to form a last line of defense for the city.
Reception
The new approach worked, and JLA quickly became DC's best-selling title, a position it enjoyed on and off for several years, as reflected in the following advance sales figures for months in which JLA was DC's best-selling title:
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Collected editions
JLA was collected in a series of trade paperbacks:
- New World Order (collects JLA #1–4, 1997, 1-56389-369-X)
- American Dreams (collects JLA #5–9, 1998, 1-56389-394-0)
- Rock of Ages (collects JLA #10–15, 1998, 1-56389-416-5)
- Strength in Numbers (collects JLA #16–23, New Year's Evil: Prometheus #1 and "Heroes" from JLA Secret Files and Origins #2, 1998, 1-56389-435-1)
- Justice for All (collects JLA #24–33, 1999, 1-56389-511-0)
- World War III (collects JLA #34–41, 2000, 1-56389-618-4)
- Tower of Babel (collects JLA #42–46, JLA Secret Files and Origins #3 and JLA 80-Page Giant #1, 1-56389-727-X)
- Divided We Fall (collects JLA #47–54, 1-56389-793-8)
- Terror Incognita (collects JLA #55–60, 1-56389-936-1)
- Golden Perfect (collects JLA #61–65, 1-56389-941-8)
- The Obsidian Age (Book 1) (collects JLA #66–71, 1-56389-991-4)
- The Obsidian Age (Book 2) (collects JLA #72–76, 1-4012-0043-5)
- Rules Of Engagement (collects JLA #77–82, 1-4012-0215-2)
- Trial by Fire (collects JLA #84–89, 1-4012-0242-X)
- The Tenth Circle (collects JLA #94–99, 1-4012-0346-9)
- Pain of the Gods (collects JLA #101–106, 1-4012-0468-6)
- Syndicate Rules (collects JLA #107–114 and a story from JLA Secret Files and Origins 2004, 1-4012-0477-5)
- Crisis of Conscience (collects JLA #115–119, 1-4012-0963-7)
- World Without a Justice League (collects JLA #120–125, 1-4012-0964-5)
There is also a Deluxe Edition series:
- JLA Deluxe Edition:
- Hardcovers:
- Vol. 1 (collects JLA #1–9 and JLA Secret Files and Origins #1, 256 pages, deluxe hardcover, September 2008,
- Vol. 2 (collects JLA #10–17, New Year's Evil: Prometheus and JLA/WildC.A.T.S., 320 pages, deluxe hardcover, Titan, July 2009,
- Vol. 3 (collects JLA #22-26, 28–31 and 1,000,000, 256 pages, deluxe hardcover. April 28, 2010, DC Comics 1-4012-2659-0)
- Vol. 4 (collects JLA #34, 36–41, JLA: Classified #1–3 and JLA: Earth 2, 368 pages, deluxe hardcover. November 10, 2010, DC Comics, 1-4012-2909-3)
- Tower Of Babel (collects JLA #18-21, 32-33, 43-46 and JLA Secret Files and Origins #3, 280 pages, deluxe hardcover. April 21, 2021, DC Comics, 1-7795-0951-0)
- Softcovers:
- Vol. 1 (collects JLA #1–9 and JLA Secret Files and Origins #1, 256 pages, softcover, October 2011, DC Comics, 1-4012-3314-7)
- Vol. 2 (collects JLA #10–17, New Year's Evil: Prometheus, JLA Secret Files and Origins #2, and JLA/WildC.A.T.S., 336 pages, softcover, DC Comics.com 1-4012-3518-2)
- Vol. 3 (collects JLA #18–31, 344 pages, softcover, January 2013, DC Comics, 1-4012-3832-7)
- Vol. 4 (collects JLA #32–46, 384 pages, softcover, February 11, 2014, DC Comics, 1-4012-4385-1)
- Vol. 5 (collects JLA #47–60, and JLA: Heaven's Ladder, 448 pages, softcover, June 17, 2014, DC Comics, 1-4012-4750-4)
- Vol. 6 (collects JLA #61–76, 432 pages, softcover, January 27, 2015, DC Comics, 1-4012-5136-6)
- Vol. 7 (collects JLA #77–93, 416 pages, softcover, May 26, 2015, DC Comics, 978-1401255282)
- Vol. 8 (collects JLA #94–106, 360 pages, softcover, May 10, 2016, DC Comics, 978-1401263423)
- Vol. 9 (collects JLA #107–125, 480 pages, softcover, Nov 25, 2016, DC Comics, 978-1-4012-6567-0)
- Hardcovers:
See also
Notes
- ^ Beatty, Scott, and Roger Stewart. JLA: The Ultimate Guide to the Justice League of America. Grand Rapids: Dorling Kindersley, Incorporated, 2002.
- ^ Miller, John J. "JANUARY 1997 Comic Book Preorders from Heroes World and Diamond Comic Distributors". Comics Buyer's Guide. 2007.
- ^ Kirk, Jason. "(1997)" Yahoo! GeoCities, December 2000[dead link]
- ^ Miller, John Jackson (2007). "North American Comics Market Estimates for January 1997". Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
- ^ Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 278: "Renewed as one of DC's most popular titles, JLA ran for 125 issues before its next relaunch. Earning countless spin-off miniseries and specials, the Justice League reclaimed its place atop DC's hit titles list".
- ^ "Sequart Organization – advancing comics as art since 1996". Sequart Organization.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Jan. 1997". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Feb. 1997". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, May 1997". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, June 1997". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, July 1997". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Aug. 1997". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Sept. 1997". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Oct. 1997". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Nov. 1997". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Dec. 1997". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Jan. 1998". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Feb. 1998". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, March 1998". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, May 1998". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, June 1998". CBGXtra.com. Archived from the original on 2007-02-04. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, July 1998". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Aug. 1998". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Sept. 1998". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Oct. 1998". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Nov. 1998". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Jan. 1999". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, March 1999". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, May 1999". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, June 1999". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, July 1999". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Aug. 1999". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Sept. 1999". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Nov. 1999". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Dec. 1999". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Jan. 2000". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, Feb. 2000". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, March 2000". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, April 2000". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, May 2000". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, June 2000". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ "Comics Sales Charts, July 2000". CBGXtra.com.
- ^ JLA Deluxe Edition: Vol. 1, DC Comics.com
- ^ JLA Deluxe Edition: Vol. 2, DC Comics.com
References
- JLA at the Grand Comics Database
- JLA at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
External links
- JLA at Grant Morrison.com