Justice League #1

During the late 1980s DC Comics was on a winning streak.  The company had successfully been reborn with such titles as Crisis On Infinite Earths, The Killing Joke, The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen and various Vertigo titles.

Many of DC titles had been relaunched including Superman, The Flash, etc.  So, it was only natural that DC’s major team title: Justice League, would get the reboot treatment.

Boy, did it get a reboot!  Gone were the heavy hitters such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.  Instead the team consisted of some second and third tier characters like Black Canary, Mr. Miracle and others.

Also gone was the heavy storylines.  The title concentrated on humor with some world threatening menaces and drama thrown in for good measure.

I have to admit when I picked up the first issue I was totally unprepared for the story and art.  It only took a few pages and I was hooked on the book’s new direction.

Other than the inclusion of humor in the title the other thing that impressed me about it was the artist.

Kevin Maguire had the uncanny talent for depicting each character as an individual.  Their facial structure, body language and the way they conducted themselves were unique to each member of the team and those they came in contact with.

Equally impressive was Kevin’s mastery of facial expressions.  He went far beyond such simple expressions as angry, happy and sad.  The figures’ facial expressions served to reflex what each character was thinking and feeling at any given time or situation.

Terry Austin providing the inks didn’t hurt either.

Justice League #1 by Giffen, DeMatteis, Maguire and Austin is a classic example of how the right creative team can invigorate, re-imagine and offer a fresh take on a particular title.

2 Timothy 1:7 - For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.