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Justice League International Omnibus
Justice League International Omnibus Vol. 3
The Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis era of Justice League International comes to an end in this third omnibus that sees DC’s other super-team taking on alien conquerors, fanatical fascists, and other villains that the Justice League is…um… too busy to deal with. This massive volume features a brand-new wraparound cover by series artist Kevin Maguire!
Collects stories from JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #51-60, SECRET ORIGINS #33-35, JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA ANNUAL #5, GREEN LANTERN #18, JUSTICE LEAGUE QUARTERLY #2-5, JLA 80-PAGE GIANT #1, FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE #1-6, JLA: CLASSIFIED #4-9, JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE #26-36, DC RETROACTIVE: JLA –THE ’90S #1, JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE ANNUAL #2, and JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL #2.
Collects stories from JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #51-60, SECRET ORIGINS #33-35, JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA ANNUAL #5, GREEN LANTERN #18, JUSTICE LEAGUE QUARTERLY #2-5, JLA 80-PAGE GIANT #1, FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE #1-6, JLA: CLASSIFIED #4-9, JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE #26-36, DC RETROACTIVE: JLA –THE ’90S #1, JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE ANNUAL #2, and JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL #2.
1448 pages, Hardcover
First published May 14, 2024
5 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
J.M. DeMatteis
1,912 books233 followersAlso Credited As:
DeMatteis, John Marc
Ellis, Michael
Lombego, Wally
Bio:
J.M. DeMatteis was a professional musician/singer and rock music journalist before entering comics in the late 70's.
Credits include Spider-Man, Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams, Justice League, Abadazad, Hero Squared, the Life and Times of Savior 28.
Created I, Vampire , Creature Commandos, Moonshadow, Hero Squared (co-creator), Abadazad, Stardust Kid, Savior 28 and more.
DeMatteis, John Marc
Ellis, Michael
Lombego, Wally
Bio:
J.M. DeMatteis was a professional musician/singer and rock music journalist before entering comics in the late 70's.
Credits include Spider-Man, Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams, Justice League, Abadazad, Hero Squared, the Life and Times of Savior 28.
Created I, Vampire , Creature Commandos, Moonshadow, Hero Squared (co-creator), Abadazad, Stardust Kid, Savior 28 and more.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 1, 2024
4.5 really
February 16, 2025
Another great collection of superhero team sitcom goodness, thanks to the classic Giffen/DeMatteis duo on plot/scripts and McGuire on art. We get excellent character dynamics, witty banter, and plenty of outlandish situations. The misogynistic jokes from Booster and Guy haven’t aged well, even though other characters in the book call them out.
Highlights: The issues featuring interplanetary designer Mr. Nebula, Stars in Your Eyes (ft. Starro the Conqueror), and My Dinner with G’nort. I’d skip the 15-issue miniseries Breakdowns on a reread—it’s mostly standard superhero fodder and drags on too long. The Secret Origins miniseries is just okay. There's some subpar art in this collection, too. The two story arcs at the end Formerly Known as the Justice League and I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League are classic JLI.
This book is missing an index—WTF, DC?!
Highlights: The issues featuring interplanetary designer Mr. Nebula, Stars in Your Eyes (ft. Starro the Conqueror), and My Dinner with G’nort. I’d skip the 15-issue miniseries Breakdowns on a reread—it’s mostly standard superhero fodder and drags on too long. The Secret Origins miniseries is just okay. There's some subpar art in this collection, too. The two story arcs at the end Formerly Known as the Justice League and I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League are classic JLI.
This book is missing an index—WTF, DC?!
January 28, 2025
And lo, there shall come... an ending.
It was pretty clear by the end of their original runs that Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and that other guy (who sucked and was awful) were running out of ideas. The J.L.I. had started out as a sort of antithesis to Watchmen: using the premise of a superteam operating within the political and logistical realities of our world as a springboard for satire and comedy, rather than tragedy. But by the time the huge "Breakdowns" arc tried to tie up all of the dangling plot threads of the run, the books had completely lost focus-- resulting in a rambling, scattershot finale that illustrated just how shallow and directionless the titles had become.
Thankfully, the two decades-later follow-up minis-- Formerly Known as the Justice League and I Can't Believe it's Not the Justice League!-- are a true return to form, with Kevin Maguire returning to pencil two slice-of-life adventures of the now-rechristened "Super Buddies"! But as delightful as they are in some ways... they're also some of the worst instances of the books' juvenile misogyny, tipping right over the line into creepy lechery. For the minis, Giffen and DeMatteis add Mary Marvel as a replacement for the then-deceased Ice... and given the fact that Mary is explicitly a SIXTEEN YEAR OLD in an adult's body, it is genuinely sickening how often the characters sexually objectify and/or harass her. Once would have been too much; it happens a LOT.
Despite a fair number of glaring flaws, though... I'm still gonna miss this run. It started off as a brilliant social and political satire... devolved into a quip-heavy cartoon... but managed to wrap things up as a decently witty sitcom. And through it all, Giffen and co. were able to add personality and charm to a largely B- and C-tier line-up of heroes-- getting us to CARE about shmucks like Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, and Guy Gardner (well... not so much him).
They may not have been the "Big Seven" JLA, but these guys and gals are MY Justice League.
It was pretty clear by the end of their original runs that Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and that other guy (who sucked and was awful) were running out of ideas. The J.L.I. had started out as a sort of antithesis to Watchmen: using the premise of a superteam operating within the political and logistical realities of our world as a springboard for satire and comedy, rather than tragedy. But by the time the huge "Breakdowns" arc tried to tie up all of the dangling plot threads of the run, the books had completely lost focus-- resulting in a rambling, scattershot finale that illustrated just how shallow and directionless the titles had become.
Thankfully, the two decades-later follow-up minis-- Formerly Known as the Justice League and I Can't Believe it's Not the Justice League!-- are a true return to form, with Kevin Maguire returning to pencil two slice-of-life adventures of the now-rechristened "Super Buddies"! But as delightful as they are in some ways... they're also some of the worst instances of the books' juvenile misogyny, tipping right over the line into creepy lechery. For the minis, Giffen and DeMatteis add Mary Marvel as a replacement for the then-deceased Ice... and given the fact that Mary is explicitly a SIXTEEN YEAR OLD in an adult's body, it is genuinely sickening how often the characters sexually objectify and/or harass her. Once would have been too much; it happens a LOT.
Despite a fair number of glaring flaws, though... I'm still gonna miss this run. It started off as a brilliant social and political satire... devolved into a quip-heavy cartoon... but managed to wrap things up as a decently witty sitcom. And through it all, Giffen and co. were able to add personality and charm to a largely B- and C-tier line-up of heroes-- getting us to CARE about shmucks like Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, and Guy Gardner (well... not so much him).
They may not have been the "Big Seven" JLA, but these guys and gals are MY Justice League.
August 3, 2025
(Zero spoiler review) 3.25/5
I feel like a bit of a jerk giving this such a middlng score, although far to much of this is either acceptable or just plain skippable, which greatly tarnishes the good to great stuff we get here. The logical portion of my brain will forever pick apart the bloated and poorly utilised roster of characters. Quite why you needed at half to a dozen of these D grade bozo's when all it did was steal time away from characters who deserved it far more. And that's before you get into their utterly random appearance / disappearance for any ol' discernible reason. But the charm of this series isn't in being a straight up superhero romp.
The art, inking and colours, for the most part, are superb. Sure, there are a few dud fill in's here and there, and to only give us one issue of Kevin Maguire as a final swansong was bittersweet, (and really annoying) but the true testament to this unique and timeless series for me, is how many low tier characters it introduced me to, turning them into perennial favourites. So much so, that I would like James Taylor to rename and reword his song to 'Fire and Ice, and make it about my two new best girls. Guy Gardener is forever my favourite Lantern, though I feel no one will ever nail him the way J.M DeMattias did.
I would suggest finishing on the final Giffen/DeMattias/ Maguire issue, as the 400 or so pages of odd's and ends after that didn't interest me enough to even read. And if you ever wanted a comparison to demonstrate how disgusting more modern inking and colouring is compared to the former physical brilliance, look no further than the 2000's series with said creators returning. Quite how you make Kevin Maguire's art look so bad is beyond me. Half of this is great, the other half... not so much. 3.25/5
OmniBen.
I feel like a bit of a jerk giving this such a middlng score, although far to much of this is either acceptable or just plain skippable, which greatly tarnishes the good to great stuff we get here. The logical portion of my brain will forever pick apart the bloated and poorly utilised roster of characters. Quite why you needed at half to a dozen of these D grade bozo's when all it did was steal time away from characters who deserved it far more. And that's before you get into their utterly random appearance / disappearance for any ol' discernible reason. But the charm of this series isn't in being a straight up superhero romp.
The art, inking and colours, for the most part, are superb. Sure, there are a few dud fill in's here and there, and to only give us one issue of Kevin Maguire as a final swansong was bittersweet, (and really annoying) but the true testament to this unique and timeless series for me, is how many low tier characters it introduced me to, turning them into perennial favourites. So much so, that I would like James Taylor to rename and reword his song to 'Fire and Ice, and make it about my two new best girls. Guy Gardener is forever my favourite Lantern, though I feel no one will ever nail him the way J.M DeMattias did.
I would suggest finishing on the final Giffen/DeMattias/ Maguire issue, as the 400 or so pages of odd's and ends after that didn't interest me enough to even read. And if you ever wanted a comparison to demonstrate how disgusting more modern inking and colouring is compared to the former physical brilliance, look no further than the 2000's series with said creators returning. Quite how you make Kevin Maguire's art look so bad is beyond me. Half of this is great, the other half... not so much. 3.25/5
OmniBen.
April 20, 2025
It was delightful to finally see the end of JLI, after DC cancelled their last set of reprints in the middle, as they have wont to do. Breakdowns was especially fun, as something I only saw a few issues of before. It had a reputation for being out-of-control overly long, but it was actually a number of plots cleverly interwoven together. I thought of it as "Avengers Disassembled", but done right.
The two follow-up series clearly don't stand up when placed right next to the originals. The main problem is that they are almost plotless. There's almost nothing going on but funny dialogue, and though the funny dialogue is funny as ever, it suffers where there isn't at least a modicum of plot. The exception is the Tora-in-Hell issue, which still kills, even if Giffen spends too long questioning whether it's really or Hell or really Tora (which undercuts the impact a bit).
(I skipped the Secret Origins, which were mostly not Giffen/DeMatteis, and mostly not interesting.)
In any case, delighted to have all of this finally back in print and all in one volume, even if the less great follow-ups.
The two follow-up series clearly don't stand up when placed right next to the originals. The main problem is that they are almost plotless. There's almost nothing going on but funny dialogue, and though the funny dialogue is funny as ever, it suffers where there isn't at least a modicum of plot. The exception is the Tora-in-Hell issue, which still kills, even if Giffen spends too long questioning whether it's really or Hell or really Tora (which undercuts the impact a bit).
(I skipped the Secret Origins, which were mostly not Giffen/DeMatteis, and mostly not interesting.)
In any case, delighted to have all of this finally back in print and all in one volume, even if the less great follow-ups.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews