Acclaimed, New York Times best selling author Brad Meltzer has been writing the newest incarnation of the “Justice League” series since last July starting with “Justice League of America,” or JLA for short #0. Since then, issue #7 came out and finished his first JLA storyline. So I’m going to dedicate this article to looking back at Meltzer’s last eight issues of JLA.
Meltzer grew up reading Justice League, which was why he wanted to write this re-launch. In an interview with NewARama.com, Meltzer said, “I so wanted to do this. I loved it. Just like I loved it when Marvel did it.”
He started off with a ‘number zero’ issue that has little to do with the storyline of issues #1-7. He wrote it as a way of showing the connection between the three most important members of the JLA: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The #0 issue includes flashbacks and flash forwards, the most notable of which was the death of Clark Kent’s father during which we see a brief but truly human glimpse into the souls of the JLA.
When the Justice League first came into existence in the 1960’s with “The Brave and the Bold #28,” all of its members were heroes who were fighting against Starro the Conquerer. For those of you that don’t know, Starro is a giant starfish who tries to use his mind-controlling powers to conquer Earth.
Even though it may seem like Meltzer is telling an homage-style Justice League origin story he does put his own narrative spin on it by spending time humanizing the heroes. He focuses a great deal on the families to which the heroes belong: the best example of which is the relationship between Roy Harper, aka Arsenal and his adoptive father Green Arrow. For comic fans, he focuses on characters like Red Tornado.
Overall this JLA re-launch has been successful. Until next time true believers this is comic book boy saying “Take care!”
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