Justice League of America: The Silver Age Vol. 1

Justice League of America: The Silver Age #1

by Gardner Francis Fox, Mike Sekowsky (Illustrator), Bernard Sachs (Illustrator)

More than 300 pages of the famous super-team’s inaugural exploits!
 
Superman. Batman. Wonder Woman. The Flash. Green Lantern. Aquaman. The Martian Manhunter. Green Arrow. As individuals, their names are legend. Together, they are even greater than the sum of their parts. They are the Justice League of America, and they stand for truth, justice and the American way!
 
Since they were first commissioned by renowned DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz in 1960, the Justice League has thrilled audiences across the globe in tales that span time and space.
 
Collects THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #28-30, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1-8 and MYSTERY IN SPACE #75, and includes the classic tales  “Doom of the Star Diamond,” “The Slave Ship of Space” and “Starro the Conqueror!”

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fantasy

329 pages, Paperback

First published February 16, 2016

About the author

Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic book historians estimate that he wrote more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics.
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"

Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase

Reviews

[Gary Sundell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The earliest cases of the JLA, including an appearance in an Adam Strange tale in Mystery in Space. Maybe too much Snapper Carr. At this point the members do not each others secret identities.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Marvel comics of the '60s entirely innovated the comic book field, but it's easy to forget that now, decades later. But you can understand what they did a little better when you read a comic from just before the Marvel Age, like this JLA reprint.

Obviously, it's an analog (and predecessor) to Marvel's The Avengers (see Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers, Vol. 1, three yers later). It similarly collects together the most notable heroes of a superhero universe and has them form a super-team to battle super-super-villains. But what a difference Stan Lee's point of view makes ...

These JLA comics have a very repetitive (and honestly, both unbelievable and dull) structure: the characters come together to learn about a problem. They then split up into teams of one or two characters to face the problem in small increments. And then they join together as a team to finish the story. OVER AND OVER, issue after issue. Sometimes there's a clever twist, such as in JLA #1 when Flash accidentally sends the Justice League to worlds of doom, or in JLA #5 when we get some unreliable narration, but it's still the same 'ole same 'ole. The trope was probably a hold-over from All-Star Comics, which used the JSA as a framing device to tell solo stories of its heroes, but even All-Stars had abandoned the idea a few years before the end of its run. Granted, by modern standards the stories of The Avengers a few years later aren't great storytelling, but they had considerable more variety and variability to their plotting and storytelling than this dusty device.

The other structural problem in these early JLA issues is their very weak characterizations. The comics are basically all about beating up the foes. Even if the heroes of the Avengers were often one-note, they still got that one note and occasionally even a subplot. In comparison, the JLA gets zero notes most of the times: they're simply tools to fight against the baddies.

The high point of these early comics is probably the roster of villains, created one issue after another: Starro (B&B #28), Amazo (B&B #30), Despero (JLA #1), Kanjar Ro (JLA #3), and Amos Fortune (JLA #6). These are characters that have survived through the ages and been major characters with strong arcs in many different eras. They're not necessarily great here, because of their own weakness of characterization, but they contain the seeds of greatness.

And some of these comics are charming, like the magical story in JLA #2, where the JLA have to fight fantasy monsters to bring back science and all the weird luck, mystery and riddling of the Amos Fortune story in JLA #6. There's also a lot of beautiful imagery, ike the cosmic barge of Kanjar Ro (JLA #3) and the image of Aquaman surfing the ocean on a giant shell. But, it's not enough to keep this first volume of the JLA from being unfortunately dull.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first appearances of the JLA. They fight Starro, Despero, evil versions of themselves, invite Green Arrow and Snapper Carr to be members, and team up with Adam Strange. Lots of fun. And I forgot how Superman and Batman are non-participating members. They show up briefly only a few times.

Fun reads. Good DC Silver Age stories.

[Kevin Findley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light-hearted tales of heroes standing tall for everything right and good. Science fiction stories in the vein of Brunner and Smith with a dash of Asimov and Heinlein thrown in. To me, that describes these first stories of the JLA. There was also an introduction of another idea that has been a boon and bane to comics in general: Continuity.

Within these issues, there are recurring villains that call back to previous adventures in detail. Opponents from the team members solo adventures are present as well and bring that history with them also. I point this out, because previously there might be a footnote or a brag about a previous run-in, but there were never any details. Here, Kanjar Ro and others (along with the heroes) make the details part of the new adventures. One group even tricked several members to go into the future to see if an opponent was still in jail.

As mentioned in other reviews, sitting down to read them all at once is a mistake. There are recurring storylines and some the dialogue is painfully stilted. You have to wonder if the kids of the creators had a good laugh at their parents because they honestly thought that's how Snapper Carr (and other teenagers) really spoke.

Even with those drawbacks, this is a volume that fans of comics in general and the Silver Age specifically should read and reread again. It sets up the next twenty-five years of adventures and brings the separate DC titles into a real universe, and eventually a multiverse that entertained millions of fans.

Find it! Buy it! READ IT!

[Robert S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Justice League of America: The Silver Age Vol. 1 is a perfect representation of everything about comics from the early 1960s. Its all about the action, although superheroes outside of the big two (Batman and Superman) get a lot of time here. This volume is a fun afternoon read which may not have aged like fine wine but still worth reading.

Although I could do without Snapper Carr.

[ThatCasualDragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for the nostalgia, but they're all basically the same format and very simplistic. Maybe the grittier, noir-style comics of recent years have ruined me.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's not really any characters here. Yes, all your favourite DC heroes of the era are present: Bats, Supes, WW, GL, MM, Flash, and Aquaman, with Green Arrow joining along the way. Fox just kinda writes them all the same, though. The only thing that sets them apart is their costumes and their powerset. This was already somewhat of a problem in World's Finest, but the smaller scope allowed distinctions to at least by expressed through the contrast of Gotham and Metropolis, as well as the supporting casts of both characters. Here, it's so overstuffed with heroes that there's no room for any of that, not even sidekicks.

Theses stories are incredibly formulaic, and most fo the pagecount here is spent on middling fetch quests and boss battles, as the League splits into smaller teams to fight the villain of the week's minions and grab the important doohickies, then teaming up against the villain proper at the end. There's not really much comraderie between the heroes, either. They always have eachother's backs in a fight, of course, but they're more coworkers than close friends, and they don't even know eachothers secret identities (other than Bats and Supes, carried over from WF).

This is even teased at the end of the next volume only to be immediately retconned... god dammit DC. Even more irritating is that, since Batman and Superman each already had 2 of their own series (Batman+Detective Comics/Superman+Action Comics) as well as their regular team-ups, they're barely in here. Most of the time they just stay in the background, and often are not even present ( with the story presumably happen at the same time as whatever WF story was out that month).

These stories are really bland. They're rarely silly enough to achieve the wacky antics of the best World's Finest issues, nor do they have enough command of their tone to create any genuine tension. Snapper Carr exists as an anchor for readers but he's an obnoxious non-character. Sekowsky's art is ok- I really like his panel work, it's much more directly visual than a lot of stuff I've read from this era- but he also sucks at drawing buff people, which is kinda a big part of superhero fiction. Superman, Batman, and Martian Manhunter's torsos are basically just rectangles most of the time, and his overly squared designs look pretty stitled and awkward in general. There's not even an origin story in this volume, so it's honestly pretty skippable.

[L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

These comics were written back at the beginning of the 1960's. A simpler time when a heavy dose of radiation had the potential to give you super powers and not, you know, kill you.

Like the Justice League movie, Superman is technically in here but not really there. Also like the Justice League movie there are simply too many superheroes to give adequate time to, so somebody's going to get the shaft. Oddly, here it's Superman and Batman, the two biggest names in DC comics. I would have thought they would have been featured prominently. Instead they seem to always be on another case or in another dimension.

The main heroes we do get are The Flash, The Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, The Green Lantern, Wonder Woman (Who is wearing high heels as she fights evil. Can Superman do that? I think not.), The Green Arrow, and Snapper Carr. You remember Snapper Carr. His powers were being a teenager and speaking gibberish. Where's that meme I've used before? Ah, here it is.



Can you dig it, Daddy O?

This was the dawn of the space race so the Justice League are mainly fighting alien beings like giant interstellar starfish. No, I mean it. The very first story has to do with a giant starfish attacking earth. Why wasn't that included in the Justice League movie?

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book collects the first eleven Justice League stories, published in 1960 and 1961, along with a bonus Adam Strange story featuring the Justice League. I came along to comic books six years after the first issue here, but I've read most of these when I was young, as they were reprinted in various collections back then. So, it's a combination of childhood favorites with interest in the way this series developed. Also, I've grown to love Mike Sekowsky's artwork more and more as I get older - he brought a cartoonist's flare to this series, a sense of simple design that showed us what was going on from all sorts of interesting angles. He had a remarkable ability to capture body language of a large assortment of characters. Gardner Fox's stories were often ridiculous at this phase, but he delivered what the series demanded - putting the stable of DC superheroes into odd situations and allowing them to cleverly turn the tables on the bad guys before the story was over. He also found ways to mess with his formula after only a few issues had passed, knowing he had to keep things fresh for both the reader and himself. I may have to acquire other volumes in this series, especially since I've read less than 1/3 of the next 30 or so issues.

[Greg Trosclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a ;ot of fun reaading these early JLA stories. They have this kindness and simpleness that comics today just do not have. The stories are all written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Mike Sekowsky except for Mystery in Space *75 which is drawn by Carmine Infantino. The art is passable for the time period. I was never a huge Sekowsky fan. I prefer Dick Dillin's interpretation of the Justice League. Sekowsky's figures at times look stiff. I love some of Fox's attempts at hip dialogue. It is very forced and makes it sound funny. There is no character developement here either. The characters' are ciphers of who they are. That being said if you want to read the beginnings of the modern superhero team book here it is in all of of its glory.

[Bob Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good storytelling, but implausible, silly stories

The way stories were told in the silver age was easy to follow and always included an interesting twist. I like the storytelling better than most of the comics around today. Unfortunately, the authors didn't take the time to research the stories' gimmicks and science, so they are often implausible, even silly. They were written for older kids, or early teens. So, while I enjoyed a couple of the stories, the reading overall was somewhat tedious.

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this. Here are the ORIGINAL stories - The first meetings of the Justice League, with the first nine members - with NO "ret-conning", No crap pretense that Cyborg had ever even been thought of yet. J'onn, Diana, Barry, Clark, Hal, Bruce, Arthur, Oliver... and the ORIGINAL eighth member ... What was his name? Read and find out!

[Daniel Q · Rating 3 out of 5]

These silly stories from the Silver Age still have their charm. Banded together in a volume, a formula clearly stands out, from the exclamation point at the end of every story title to the repeated absence of Superman and Batman. But I liked it anyway, even with Snapper Carr annoying lingo.

[Rubin Carpenter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early days of The JLA

This collection of The Justice League of America from the 60s is whimsical fun filled with challenges for Heroes to overcome traps to escape and villains to outwit a lot less physical confrontation than in modern comics quite enjoyable

[Dominic Sedillo · Rating 1 out of 5]

The JLA is my favorite comic book superhero team; who knew their first collection of stories would be incredibly boring and downright silly.

I’ve read golden and silver age stuff and I know there is a bit of silliness, but some of these early adventures are really silly.

I’d skip it.

[Paul Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awesome history lesson on some of the silliest and most repetitive comics. How far things have come!

[Curt Matzenbacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Historically significant, but very tedious to read today.

[Bill Plott]

A good and somewhat surprising introduction to this team of superheroes. The stories got stronger as the series progressed.

[Beni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its ok but nothing really drew me in I liked the batman and superman silver age better this seemed like they had no idea how to handle so many characters.

[Samantha]

god these silver age comics have some fun art but they are a slog. very superficial, all have the same structure.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"thewed"?!?!... alright Justice League... :)

[Nathan Dehoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I tend to read more comics that are either Marvel or not from the Big Two, a DC title will occasionally catch my eye, and it’s usually an old one. Not surprisingly, the stories here were as corny as all get-out, but fun. Originally published in the early 1960s, they introduce Snapper Carr, part of the trend of regular people hanging out with superheroes. Basically created by editorial mandate, he speaks in then-hip lingo, sort of a Poochie of the sixties. The character apparently became more interesting in later comics, some of which even gave him powers of his own, but at this point he’s mostly just obnoxious. I also noticed that these stories tend to downplay Superman and Batman in order to give the others a chance to shine. Not that there’s much focus on anyone’s character; it’s more about creative uses of their abilities.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious Silver Age goodness

The less pricey alternative to the Archive and Omnibus volumes, these trade paperbacks and Kindle editions compile a dozen issues apiece of remastered art. The stories are generally rather terrible, yet also quite funny to read now - this is preposterous comics science at its potty best. I haven't read any of these in decades, and doing so now was fun. I'm looking forward to the next volume.

[Andi Chorley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preposterous Silver Age fun!

[Ammon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goofy, Silver Age DC-goodness.