Comments on: I Finally Read JLA/Avengers

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:08:38 +0000

I read it on the weekend and enjoyed it!

It’s exactly what you expect, and if you like what you expect, then it’s good times.
If not, you suck.

By: Peter Svensson

Peter Svensson — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:48:27 +0000

The X-Statix story had a few disparaging remarks about JLA/Avengers in the recap pages that opened up each issue. My favorite being an incredulous bit about Superman beating Thor.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:35:20 +0000

I recently read Avengers/JLA (I know it’s formally called JLA/Avengers for various reasons, but I love Marvel just as much as I love DC), and I just felt too many characters were involved. Now, I understand that currently the Big Two is trying to add more focus on other characters so that they can receive the same love as the mainstays like Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Hulk and other beloved characters. However, because of everything that went on that took so long for JLA/Avengers to get in stores, I felt the story should have focused on a core group of heroes (and not any PARTICULAR team from both universes, mind you). On the other hand, George Perez IS the artist and is legendary for his having multiple characters in a scene. If that’s what he loves to draw, then all the better for us fans. All-in-all, I thought it was a great story, incorporating elements from both DC and Marvel that many of us probably didn’t expect to see in a crossover. With crossovers now happening in movies like Iron Man/The Incredible Hulk and even an extremely smaller one like Spider-Man/The Punisher, maybe we’ll see multiple company crossovers on the big screen someday. After all, as comic book fans, we have PROVEN to Hollywood that we’re not a bunch of “nerds with pocket protectors and can’t-get-girls” as the stereotypes go, haven’t we?

By: Joe Rice

Joe Rice — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:37:30 +0000

I do. I really do suck.

By: FunkyGreenJerusalem

FunkyGreenJerusalem — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:29:13 +0000

God, I hated that book. Ugly fan service . . .I mean, I guess that’s all it could have been, really, but I remember it, at the time, seemed to exemplify a lot of superhero books’ lamest aspects.

You should check out Waid and Perez’s Brave And The Bold – might be more up your alley!

PSYCHE!

You suck Rice!

Go read an autobiographical comic!

By: Anthony Cheng

Anthony Cheng — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:29:17 +0000

JLA/Avengers was fun, but mostly eye-candy mixed with cosmic mumbo-jumbo. Granted, that’s probably what most readers wanted/expected, but the stand-out moments were the quieter ones:

#1 Marvel heroes hate DC heroes, and vice-versa. Busiek did a great job of plausibly showing how the heroes didn’t get along, which grew organically out of Marvel and DC’s differing philosophies. The DC heroes think the Marvel heroes are doing a shitty job. The Marvel heroes think their counterparts are just overstuffed celebrities. Great!

#2 The “shared reality” universe. I loved this idea that the two teams had interdimensional team-ups going back to the Invaders/JSA era. If only it were so …

By: MarkAndrew

MarkAndrew — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:49:35 +0000

Batman vs. Batroc, hmmm?

Gosh, I have no idea who would possibly win that one.

By: John Trumbull

John Trumbull — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:26:31 +0000

I still remember my disappointment when the original crossover fell through in 1983. What Busiek & Perez did was worth the 20-year wait. It pleased the 11-year old fanboy who wanted the original team-up but it still held up as a story for the 31-year old fanboy I’d become.

Everyone doing a massive crossover should study what Busiek & Perez did to make JLA/Avengers both comprehensible & FUN. Which really should be the minimum requirements for superhero stories.

By: James Moar

James Moar — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:50:58 +0000

I’m pretty sure the X-Statix story was specifically inspired by the Avengers/Defenders war — the globehopping to find a macguffin and use of subchapters within issues for each fight are very reminiscent.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:50:16 +0000

The Avengers/X-Statix story was a direct parody of the old Avengers/Defenders War.

By: Mike Loughlin

Mike Loughlin — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:38:51 +0000

In the opening fight of issue 2, Perez drew Batman kicking through the Vision, with a surprised look on his face. Oddly enough, that was the first image that came to my head when I read the title of the post.

By: Scott MacIver

Scott MacIver — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:34:00 +0000

I don’t think that was a JLA/Avengers send up at all.

I think it was more of a parody of the old Avengers/X-Men or Avengers/FF brawls that Stan and Jack used to have back in the 60′s.

There was no Busiek/Perez/JLA allusions in those XStatix issues, I’m pretty darn sure.

By: Dalarsco

Dalarsco — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:20:14 +0000

I believe it was #20-25, and it was hilarious. It features the semi-famous Iron Man vs. The Orphan while naked fight.

By: HammerHeart

HammerHeart — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:01:56 +0000

Neal K – I’ve read X-Statix and honestly don’t remember the JLA/Avengers send-up you’ve mentioned. Which issue was it in?

By: Neal K

Neal K — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:40:53 +0000

I remember enjoying JLA/Avengers when it came out, and I will probably revisit it at some point in the future. But I remember enjoying the spot-on send-up of the cross-over by Milligan and Allred in X-Statix even more. X-Statix is certainly on the list of “forgotten” series that I really miss.

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:20:02 +0000

I can testify that the book works for comic-novices. When my girlfriend was first getting into comics, it was one of the first books of mine that she read, since it had both DC and Marvel characters in it. She enjoyed it a lot, and subsequently reading Busiek’s Avengers, she has noticed more and more of the allusions that KB/GP were able to fit in there.

By: Joe Rice

Joe Rice — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:01:21 +0000

God, I hated that book. Ugly fan service . . .I mean, I guess that’s all it could have been, really, but I remember it, at the time, seemed to exemplify a lot of superhero books’ lamest aspects.

By: Scott MacIver

Scott MacIver — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:59:33 +0000

Composite Rob Liefeld is terrifying.

Why would you conjure up such an image?

By: Sijo

Sijo — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:53:38 +0000

In my opinion, JLA/Avengers was THE last good “Event” crossover. At least on DC’s side. After that, “Identity Crisis” came out, and it’s been downhill since then. JLA/A was the last of the “for the fun of it!” crossovers, done not to change the Status Quo or to to set up a long chain of crossovers but to bring to life fan’s dreams about their two favorite universes meeting (in a way even the Marvel vs. DC miniseries never did!) And of course, it had Busiek and Perez, the best in the business, doing it, for extra credit.

I remember the fans arguing over such things as Superman beating Thor, but hey, we’re fans, and that’s what the Net is for; but I was quite impressed that Busiek actually bothered to try to answer the naysayers’ complaints online, despite many being less than polite about it. That only increased my respect for the man. And Perez actually HURT his hand trying to meet the deadlines (instead of, you know, letting the whole thing slip off schedule like it’s been done with other crossovers recently). Now THAT’S dedication!

Some might say that JLA/A was the last piece of a more naive era. Maybe, but it was STILL great. I think we could use more of that “naivete” in today’s comics.

Favorite moment: When the heroes decide to restore reality to normal, DESPITE knowing it would mean ruining their lives (by allowing all the bad, in-continuity stuff that had happened over the years to occur again). Now THAT is heroism!

By: Random Stranger

Random Stranger — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:34:28 +0000

The Perez art really looks great blown up in the oversized hard cover. It really is an absolute masterpiece by him.

And I won’t discount Busiek’s ability to put together a story for the event that justifies bringing together the two teams, puts in something that should resonate with any comic fan, while at the same time flowing smoothly. It really helped that each issue was its own self contained epic.