Comic Book Geekery -- The JLA/JSA Summer Team-Ups

[kybearfuzz]

After a long and stressful day at work, I decided to stop off at a local comic book store to see what new stuff is out. It isn't my usual comic shop that holds my books for me, so I didn't buy any of my usual comics, but looked to see if there were some one-timer buys for me. I also checked out the back issues for some good buys.



Even though I have all of the Justice League/Justice Society summer team-ups from the 1970's forward, I cannot resist a good buy. I have read some of mine to the point they are near tatters, so when I saw several team-up issues in the back issues for reasonable prices I had to buy them. I found JLA #'s 183-185 (JLA, JSA, and New Gods versus Darkseid and the Injustice Society) and JLA #'s 195 (above) through 197 (JLA and JSA versus the New Secret Society of Super-Villians).

I've loved these particular team-ups. JLA 183 sadly was penciller Dick Dillin's final issue, as he'd passed away suddenly from a heart attack, JLA 184 started a several issue run with my favorite George Perez doing the pencil work, and JLA 195-197 brought some great villians from the 1940's and 1950's to a new generation of readers. Mostly, these issues were favorite moments from my childhood in the early 1980's.

I'll put these copies in bags and boards to file away and continue to read my other issues over and over again, like usual. Hopefully, I'll be re-reading these when I am old and gray and telling those brats on the hovering bicycles to stay off my lawn while shaking my cane at them.

/geek :)

Comments

[cmorley.livejournal.com]

Whatever happened to George Perez, anyway? Every since Teen Titans/Crisis on Infinite Earths, he kind of dropped from view.

Or I dropped out of the comic market.

Hmm.

Maybe both.

[jprtoronto.livejournal.com]

He did the recent JLA/Avengers cross over, and is now doing covers for some new book. Someone said he has carpel tunnel syndrome so he doesn't draw that much anymore.

[cmorley.livejournal.com]

Ouch. Damn, that's a shame.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Actually, you can find George's work on Crossgen Chronicles and the Solus series. The artwork is great and most comic book shops have put them in the bargin bins after Crossgen's downfall. I bought a couple of issues of Solus the other day for a quarter each.

[legionbear.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think it's more that you dropped from the market if you haven't seen him work in a few years. If you don't remember him much since Crisis you've missed some amazing work form him, including the stunning Busiek/Perez run on the previous volume of Avengers. Though he's doing less and less super-hero work, he's still one of the top veteran artists. DC even has him doing the variant covers for this fall's infinite crisis mini. He went through a period from about 1999-2004 that he refused to do super-hero comic work and worked exclusively for the ill-fated Crossgen books. Then he returned and finally unleashed Avengers vs. JLA. He's not doing much more than covers these days since he has severe tendonitis that flares up if he works too much. He is hard at work with Marv Wolfman completing the long awaited Teen Titans "Games" graphic novel that was supposed to serve as the end-piece for their run on Titans all those years ago before DC pulled the plug on it. Some of us have waited 20 years for this book, so a few more won't hurt I guess. I so love this man's art.

PS - Here's a sneak peek at the variant Perez cover for October's Infinite Crisis #1:

[cmorley.livejournal.com]

Oooo, "Games" sounds cool! Yeah, I have been out of the market for awhile now; I went to Vertigo-like titles in the early '90s and then stopped collecting altogether in the late '90s. I've kept up with the market sporadically, but never heard anything about Perez.

I also need to check out the Teen Titans cartoons, speaking of.

[dendren.livejournal.com]

no way, I hadn't heard that they were working on completeing Games. This is so cool. And DAMN... the alternate IC Cover is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks for the teaser on the upcoming "Infinite Crisis" cover, it looks like George is in great form. I've always love the intricate detail he puts into his work.

I've been a fan of his for a long time. I don't have any original work of his, but I have some prints that still await framing.

[dmckins.livejournal.com]

You sooooo need to sit down with my bf. You two would talk your ears off! I should take a quick snap shot of his collection for you.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

It's been a life long hobby for me (and an expensive one), as I'm sure it has for him too :)

[jprtoronto.livejournal.com]

OOOOH

195 - 197 is my particular favourite team up of the JLA/JSA

The other one is when they team up with the new gods (205 I think) and there is this one panel where Granny Goodness just looks at Big Barda that is so freaking awesome.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Ah, that is the other JLA/JSA set I bought yesterday!

Actually, one of my other favorite JLA/JSA team-ups was the two issue story about the death of Mr. Terrific. I had never heard of him until that issue. It's one of the things I liked about the team-ups, it introduced me to the Earth-2 characters that I had never heard of. JLA 195-197 introduced me to Hourman and several unfamiliar villians, like Rag Doll, the Monocle, the Mist, and the Psycho-Pirate, the latter of whom played a big role in the Crisis.

[bigbear4xl.livejournal.com]

I have all those and many more. They are some of my absolute favorites.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

They do bring back grand memories, don't they?

[mikiedoggie.livejournal.com]

You know, I soooo remember that comic book cover. If they got rid of 5 super heros and put them in limbo from Earth 1 and Earth 2 it would remove ALL heroes from those worlds. I would love to see your comic collection. (That's a better line than I'd like to see your 'etchings', right?)

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Oh, as far as covers go, it's one of my favorites. When I bought this issue as a kid, I used to stare at it for long periods of time, taking in the detail. I loved all the old Earth-2 villians I had never heard of, they were new to me.

LOL.. I never thought of using my comic book collection to attract men before.. thanks for the idea ;)

[mikiedoggie.livejournal.com]

Its attracting me, Mark.

Can I see your... graphic novels? [wink wink]

See, how can you go wrong?

[dendren.livejournal.com]

I loved those summer JLA/JSA team ups SO much. I have em all, all the way back to JLA 21 but this one was one of my absolute favorites of them all. Just seeing this cover put a big ol' smile on my face for the morning :)

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed it. When I saw this comic peering out from the back issues yesterday, I couldn't help but buy it. I loved this storyline, especially because I got to see the Golden Age Superman in action, who rarely appeared in comics in the 1980's it seemed.

You have them all the way back to JLA #21? I'm impressed. :)

[dendren.livejournal.com]

grrrr... I forgot to log in... ignore my anonymous comment if you would please Mark :)

YAY for the golden-age Superman. I do really love the way DC has created the "legacy of heroes" that unfortunately means he is booted out of continuity but I really really miss the excitement of those special Earth 2 stories of yesteryear.

And my JLA collection is pretty near complete, only missing about 5 issues total (including 2 of the 3 Brave and the Bold issues :) Finished the Flash a few years ago after searching many many years for the very elusive #106. I'm not sure which title I'll start working on when I find those last hard to find JLA's. Maybe Green Lantern. It was much easier growing up in the 70's, I remember picking up JLA #1 for about $50 and I got most the JLA/JSA's dirt cheap in the 80's. Things are a bit more difficult (and much more expensive) now :P

[kenlin.livejournal.com]

Thank you for brining up that team-up - I remember how much I LOVED that storyline... and the covers!

There was this crossover with All-Star Squadron where he put the character's faces around the border? I loved those too...

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Ah, that was a good storyline too. I enjoyed reading the All-Star Squadron, mainly because these were heroes you couldn't really see anywhere else, some of whom hadn't been written in stories since the 1940's, like Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle. The Roy Thomas artwork was good too.

The only negative I had with that particular JLA/JSA team-up was Don Heck's artwork on the JLA issues, I've never been a fan of his style. The George Perez covers were great though!

[hylandr.livejournal.com]

I always loved the JLA/JSA team-ups. I've always been a big JSA fan. I've been getting the trade paperbacks of the the collections. I can't wait til the next one comes out. Now with them on the same Earth, they cross paths so much that it just wouldn't be the same.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I actually just bought the trade paperback with the Aquarius storyline where Black Canary left the JSA and Earth-2 to join the JLA on Earth-1 after her husband was killed. It was when the artwork was starting to really improve and not look so "cartoonish." I hope they plan to release a trade paperback with the JLA/JSA team-ups from the 1970's and 1980's soon.

[hylandr.livejournal.com]

I think they've done 3 TBPs so far and are working all the way through sequentially. Not sure when the next one comes out but I must have it!