Justice League International Omnibus Vol. 1

Justice League International Omnibus

by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire (Illustrator)

Batman leads a team of unlikely heroes in these satirical 1980s adventures co-starring Black Canary, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Martian Manhunter, Mister Miracle and more. Can an unlikely new Justice League lineup work as a unit to stop terrorists at the U.N., the Royal Flush Gang, and other threats--or will they succumb to squabbling and bad jokes?
Pairing humor with hard-hitting action and heartfelt emotion, Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, along with frequent illustrator Kevin Maguire, created one of the greatest iterations of the Justice League ever!
This oversize omnibus graphic novel series collects their run in its entirety for the first time ever, beginning with JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL OMNIBUS VOL. 1! Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE #1-6, JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #7-25, JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #26-30, JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE #1-6, and JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL #1-3.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Comics Manga, Batman

1080 pages, Hardcover

First published October 17, 2017

About the author

Keith Ian Giffen was an American comic book illustrator and writer. He is possibly best-known for his long runs illustrating, and later writing the Legion of Super-Heroes title in the 1980s and 1990s. He also created the alien mercenary character Lobo (with Roger Slifer), and the irreverent "want-to-be" hero, Ambush Bug. Giffen is known for having an unorthodox writing style, often using characters in ways not seen before. His dialogue is usually characterized by a biting wit that is seen as much less zany than dialogue provided by longtime collaborators DeMatteis and Robert Loren Fleming. That approach has brought him both criticism and admiration, as perhaps best illustrated by the mixed (although commercially successful) response to his work in DC Comics' Justice League International (1987-1992). He also plotted and was breakdown artist for an Aquaman limited series and one-shot special in 1989 with writer Robert Loren Fleming and artist Curt Swan for DC Comics.

Giffen's first published work was "The Sword and The Star", a black-and-white series featured in Marvel Preview, with writer Bill Mantlo. He has worked on titles (owned by several different companies) including Woodgod, All Star Comics, Doctor Fate, Drax the Destroyer, Heckler, Nick Fury's Howling Commandos, Reign of the Zodiac, Suicide Squad, Trencher (to be re-released in a collected edition by Boom! Studios)., T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and Vext. He was also responsible for the English adaptation of the Battle Royale and Ikki Tousen manga, as well as creating "I Luv Halloween" for Tokyopop. He also worked for Dark Horse from 1994-95 on their Comics Greatest World/Dark Horse Heroes line, as the writer of two short lived series, Division 13 and co-author, with Lovern Kindzierski, of Agents of Law. For Valiant Comics, Giffen wrote XO-Manowar, Magnus, Robot Fighter, Punx and the final issue of Solar, Man of the Atom.

He took a break from the comic industry for several years, working on storyboards for television and film, including shows such as The Real Ghostbusters and Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy.

He is also the lead writer for Marvel Comics's Annihilation event, having written the one-shot prologue, the lead-in stories in Thanos and Drax, the Silver Surfer as well as the main six issues mini-series. He also wrote the Star-Lord mini-series for the follow-up story Annihilation: Conquest. He currently writes Doom Patrol for DC, and is also completing an abandoned Grant Morrison plot in The Authority: the Lost Year for Wildstorm.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ground breaking rebirth of the JLA with a new name, only limited appearances by just one of the primary three heroes, Batman; and a totally shocking new concept… tongue-in-cheek humour!

This worked really well, and at the time was seen as an outrageous gamble to enact on DC's premiere team franchise! But to be honest humour asides the plots were just OK. 6 out of 12 Three Star read.

I read the comic books Justice League #1-6, Justice League International #7-25, Justice League Europe #1-6, JLI Annuals #1-3 etc. covered by this volume.
2013 read

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was loving this, at first, but it quickly became tiresome...a little of the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League goes a LOOOONG way. By the end, I was crying out for it to stop. This book is a steal at the $99.00 cover price, the restored colors are a big improvement on the originals, and there's a lot of fun to be had here, but the relentlessly jokey attitude, and the massive blocks of text, and the unexplained tie-ins to MILLENNIUM, INVASION, and SUICIDE SQUAD, as well as the close continuity to DR. FATE, CAPTAIN ATOM, WONDER WOMAN, and other books, leaves a lot of questions unanswered. I was there when this book was first published as a monthly floppy, but newcomers may be left scratching their head as to who Kent Nelson is, why Dr. Fate is now a woman and a little boy combined, why Wonder Woman has no lasso, why the league considers Captain Atom a spy, why Black Canary just up and vanishes.....Half-formed ideas abound, and are never really followed up on, such as the other-Earth analogues of Thor, Yellowjacket, and The Scarlet Witch that appear out of nowhere, only for two of them to mysteriously disappear with no explanation, or the evil middle-eastern state of Bialya, which pops up every few issues to cause mischief with little or no consequences. This is hit-or-miss stuff, and, while I had fun occasionally, it was more miss than hit for me this time around. This was fun in small monthly installments, but reading in one huge chunk was quite a chore.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Video Review - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1PtC...

This is one BIG book, but for the most part, it's extremely enjoyable.

There's basically 5 graphic novels worth of stories in here. If couldn't guess by me reviewing each one of the graphic novels covering the first 30 issues of JLI and then 6 issues of Justice League Europe.

Together we had a combination of writers, plotters, and artist creature something so different than what comics were back then. Basically grabbing some of the biggest names in superheroes but also a lot of B, C, and even D listers as well. And having them work together as a team but half the time they're arguing, doing stupid things, and overall just assholes to each each other. Mostly it was a sitcom, but in a superhero world, and I was ALL here for it.

The first arc is the strongest, introducing us to the JLA, and having Batman have a heart attack trying to lead everyone. It's both hysterical and actually makes sense. With teammates like Guy, and Batman, you know things are going to get messy and John is the perfect inbetween guy.

We do lead to some big arcs. Bringing in Booster to the team was both fun and interesting. But even more so we have a big storyline playing out in the back of the JLI getting involved in international matters. Which this was the 80's, and so it was political then and still holds up now. You also have some excellent stories with Blue Beetle and Booster going into a underground vampire area which doesn't seem that interesting but actually has a great somber ending. Have little storylines of Beetle getting possessed by Queen Bee. Have the formation of Justice League Europe, which only is the first six issues, but man is it funny and holds up.

And that's the best part of this entire omnibus. It's funny. Like, not every single joke lands but a good portion of them do. Even if not laughing hard, you will be smiling. You can't help it. So many teammates act in realistic fashion that you'd think you're watching a episode of the office or something with superheroes, and you know what? It works really well.

I'm hoping volume 2 holds up but for a first volume? It was great. A 4 out of 5.

[Vicente Ribes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un tomo imprescindible con el que me he divertido muchísimo. Fantástico dibujo, buenas aventuras y un humor que convierte esta etapa de la liga de la justicia en algo muy especial. He reido con las cafradas de Guy Garder y el cachondeo que se llevan Booster Gold y Blue beetle en todo el tomo.
Un comic digno de los 80. Para mi posiblemente la etapa cúspide de los cómics de superheroes. A destacar las aventuras contra la organización de Byalya, el viaje a Akropolis, el combate de booster y Gold contra el vampiro y cuando Guy Gardner se vuelve una ricura jajaja.
Una lástima que con el cierre de ECC este material pueda estar descontinuado o valer un potosí porque es de lo mejor de DC.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember loving this JL series when it was first published, beginning in 1987. I'm sorry to say that this "comedy era" did not hold up for me at all. The non-stop attempts at humorous dialogue derail what might have otherwise been pretty good stories. Even the bits that could have been funny are belabored so much that in the end they aren't. By the time Hawkman shows up, calling this new League a joke and complaining that "this never would have happened with the old League," I can only nod and concur.

[OmniBen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 3.75/5
And just like that, I'm a massive Guy Gardener fan. And just like that, hitherto unknown characters like Fire and Ice rapidly shot up the ranks as characters I care about. And just like that, I actually appreciate DC team up books, even if this one well and truly breaks outside the mold of traditional superhero fare. Eschewing the usual 'go get the big bad, repeat', formula for infighting, arguments and humour that is actually funny. And with some absolutely glorious Kevin Maguire art and printed in the halcyon days of physical colouration, the book looks a million bucks as well.
It was a tad slow to start, with a little too much bronze age flavour for my liking, but about half way through it picked up and there was no looking back. The JLE stuff at the end wasn't as good as the JLI material across the board, but it was still pretty good and a solid closer to an omnibus I wasn't sure I was going to continue with at the start. Looking forward to volume 2. 3.75/5


OmniBen.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most well-loved Justice League comics ever, Keith Giffen's JLI was probably informed in part by Justice League: The Detroit Era Omnibus, a comic which was mocked and dismissed in its time (but which has gotten the last laugh, both in modern-day appreciation and in the influence on the CW Flash show). Like Detroit, Giffen's JLI brings together many of DC's lesser heroes, to create a comic that could be more about the evolution and changes in those characters, and less about the latest Big Bad to fight.

But what a difference an author makes. Giffen stumbled upon a formula for JLI that took those opportunities for deep characterization and really expanded that to create real seeming people. And somewhere along the line Giffen couldn't help but make it funny too. Sometimes hilariously funny, and that's what made JLI (and later JLE) a hit.

As for the plots: most people probably remember the Max Lord mystery that ran the first year, and which had a somewhat moving finish. And the skirmishes with Bialya and maybe even the hilarious interactions with Manga Khan and L-Ron. All of whom fill out the first two years or so of JLI. Giffen really did a marvelous job of creating his own mythology for the Justice League, one which he'd return to and expand over time.

And Giffen's use of these particular heroes has powered their popularity and defined their characters for decades. Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Fire, and Ice were truly the core of this League and become very real people in this volume. But it's also great to remember Oreo-loving J'onn, manipulative Max, one-punch Guy Gardener, and so many others. It's actually surprising how fast Giffen goes through characters other than his core four, but in doing so, he manages to offer up a really nice cross-section of the DC Universe of the late '80s.

These were foundational issues that continue to be quite strong, so it's great that DC finally got them into an Omnibus (with V2, containing one hopes all of the uncollected Giffen issues, due in 2020).

[ダンカン · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superman. Batman. Wonder Woman. Aquaman. The Flash. Green Lantern. Martian Manhunter. These are the original Justice League of America.

... and then, there is Justice League International. Guy Gardner. Blue Beetle. Booster Gold. Mister Miracle. Captain Atom. Ice. Fire... and whoever joins. Here's the difference - these are not your usual superhero team. With dialogues written by J.M. DeMatteis and plot lines by Keith Giffen with art by Kevin Maguire, what you have is a winning formula of a successful comic book series.

Reading JLI can be fun and witty. There's lots of humor and action. The art is great and the series is never a dull moment. I do not know what to say more except that I am glad to own this omnibus edition.

[William Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a gigantic, wonderful, sloppy mess. It makes zero sense to me now, made zero sense to me back then, and that fact doesn't spoil my joy a bit. Wouldn't exactly recommend it for people who are not invested in the characters or the series as a nostalgia trip because, damn, the editors did not give a single shit that it didn't make sense, couldn't tie any of the runs together and is like a movie missing reels every now and then so it feels choppy.

Grade: A

[Richard Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s funny how well the funny Justice League era has aged, in part because the quippy dialogue has become such the norm for many team books, even those dealing with more serious subject matter.
The only thing I wish we saw a bit more of in this volume is big villains. But that doesn’t stop me from loving this era and these issues; I’m especially glad they include Justice League Europe, which is at least as fun as the main Justice League International title.

[Onur Kaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Başta çok iyi başlayan bir run, komedi ağırlıklı. Şu günün Marvel filmlerinden yaklaşık beş kat falan daha cıvık, sesli güldüğüm çok an da oldu ama ilerledikçe espri mantalitesi biraz eskiyor ve kendini tekrarlamaya başlıyor. Hikaye konu gidişatını esprileri yapmak için araç olarak kullandığından da, komedi bir kere kendini tekrara başladı mı, diğer taraflardan kompanse edemiyor kitap. Sonlara geldiğimde "artık bitse de gitsek" modundaydım. Devamı alınacaklar listemde öncelikli olmayacak.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

V fun!! There are a few character choices i dont love (ted and wally being consistent hornballs) and sometimes the jokes can pile up, but hey: plot was (mostly) comprehensible, women are written competently, and i have multiple new fav characters. New JLI fan!!!

[TV’s Kevin Lanigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just wish way more superhero team books felt like this. Lighten up!

[Sadiel Giron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the beginning of the Justice League after the events of Crisis. A very fun read.

[Rizzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is for the entire Giffen/DeMatteis run, not just this volume.

I guess I'll just get right to it. I think the reputation of this run has grown a bit beyond the quality of the run itself. I'm a bit disappointed in that regard. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of fun stuff in here, but it's pretty vastly outweighed by generic late 80's superhero fare. The run is at its absolute best when it's just being a workplace comedy with D-list superheroes. That's the stuff that JLI is remembered for. It's called the "Bwahaha" era for a reason, right? But man, that just isn't most of the run. This is a BIG run, and I would say the comedic issues take up maybe 30% of the page count.

The worst part is that most of the funniest "iconic" moments happen within the first 15-20 issues. What happens after that? Well, I hope you like revisiting the same uninteresting subplots a dozen times, because you're gonna be reading a LOT of arcs about the same villains returning over and over (I'd guess that Silver Sorceress, Queen Bee, the Global Guardians, and the Extremists take up more than half this lengthy run). Who are any of those people? Who cares? Giffen, that's who. There are some decent non-comedy arcs here and there, such as the first Despero story, but they're few and far between.

The real sin though, are the goddamn "membership drives". The roster of the JLA (and later JLE) change CONSTANTLY, and they take entire issues to explain these changes every single time. Seriously, I couldn't tell you how many issues revolved around heroes leaving to deal with much more interesting stories in their respective solo books (Batman, Animal Man, Black Canary, Mister Miracle, many others). The various teams never got any time to develop a dynamic because no one stuck around long enough. You know why people remember Booster Gold and Blue Beetle from this run the most? Because they're two of the only characters to stick around the entire run and have a well-defined relationship to each other. The problem is particularly bad in Justice League Europe, which never found its footing across its entire run. What a massive failure on editorial's part. The Animal Man exit was particularly pathetic. He was one of the founding members of JLE, did absolutely nothing, basically only appeared in the background, then only a few issues into JLE had a whole issue explaining why he was leaving the team. Good god, what a waste of the reader's time. The book basically comes out and tells you that you should be reading Morrison's Animal Man rather than JLE, which is an entirely correct assessment.

So overall, this run was quite the disappointment for me. It was enjoyable at parts to be sure, but it was such a slog to get to those moments. The image of Giffen's JLI that people have in their heads is sadly not how the run really is. Rather, that image is defined by the books this run would later inspire, including those by Giffen himself which leaned much heavier into his strengths (namely, "Formerly Known as the Justice League" and "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League", both good fun). For that reason, it's hard to say whether I can recommend this. Basically, I'd say read until you stop enjoying it, because it starts fun but only gets worse as it goes. If you are totally fine with generic 80's superhero fare, you'll probably love it from beginning to end. If you need a bit more however, don't make the mistake of hoping it will get better after it starts dipping. The final extended arc, "Breakdowns", is the worst part of the whole run by far.

[Jason Luna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Justice League Of America (JLA) that everyone knows had some editorial problems in the 80s and got cancelled. So this book isn't really different from that Justice League other than the fact that it was a fresh start and a new team.

In pragmatic terms, JLI is a little more self-referential/humorous than its JLA predecessor, and also no Superman whatever that's worth.

Considering it was two plus years in the making since the cancellation of JLA, it makes sense that "Justice League #1", the debut issue, is really well thought out and easily the best issue of the volume. The team comes together with really clever quippy introductory dialogue from Shazam, Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle and the rest. Also, a clever storyline involving terrorists at the UN with multiple clever plot twists.
This single issue, bought years ago at a Comic-Con, made me a fan of writer Keith Giffen. Maybe it'll make you a fan too.

The rest of the book is not quite as original as that, but it's also not bad. It's kind of good. Bright colors, solid artwork (mostly by Kevin Maguire, who's solid if not amazing), a mess of quirky and/or cool DC heroes. They go on adventures that are a mix of legit adventuring and humor/jokes.

BUT the main problem, with all those at least ok qualities, is it just gets repetitive. The joke structure gets hackneyed very quickly. Charming, maybe, but the 100th time Blue Beetle makes a joke that belies the danger his Beetle Ship is in, not exactly cracking me up.

"Justice League" becomes "Justice League International", with the team getting UN status and a bunch of international embassies. Means zilch for changing storylines, arguably adds a lot more talky business about organizing the international thing, not much else.

"Justice League Europe #1", and the JLE team, is really the main "get" out of international status, as we get a new team that's kind of similar to the main one. In the first issue, Captain Atom and the Flash and others are trying to get used to being French-based heroes, but bad guys are trying to sabotage their rep. The plot twists are kind of unique, still the same monotonous one-liner stuff that is ok/affable, not great.

The annuals in the book, like "Justice League Annual #3", are bulky affairs that are the worst of the book. They're either stories that are too long, or in this case, two random stories that don't go from random to "actually, this makes sense".
One story is the JLI going from embassy to embassy, with quirky staff at the thing, while residents of an island try to petition the JLI to use their island. At the basic level, it's at least a multi-varied plot, but it lacks clear tension or a point.
And the other story is Martian Manhunter and Batman investigating the murder of one of MM's old friends. Such prolonged and arguably pretentious internal monologues about the meaning of life. It's a change of pace I guess, it's just not that great.

So in summary, like I said, the book's solidly ok. Bright colors, lots of unique heroes. Could've used some dynamic tension and some real bad guys and suffering, even multi-issue arcs that really felt like they were building to something.

There are some sporadic highlights that beat this criticism, but could've been more.

As it is, it's an ok superhero book and an amazingly ambitious weird newspaper comic strip style humor thing. 5/5 because I like the humor even if I don't always like the execution of it.

[Michael Emond · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off - great value in this omnibus with over 1000 pages. This rebirth of the team took place after Crisis on Infinite Earths and spun off from the mini-series Legends. The last rebirth of the team was called the Detroit era and I remember it being boring and bad. Aquaman the team leader? Not a great choice. Having the team made up of mostly new heroes that are were so bad out of all of them only Vixen is still mentioned in the DC universe on a regular basis (yeah, I know Vibe and Gypsy showed up in TV Flash but only their names are the same). The only good thing about the Detroit era is the Martian Manhunter came back - I am not sure why he had disappeared in the 70's.

This version of the JL was story boarded by Keith Giffen, dialogued by J.M. Dematteis (weird that Giffen couldn't dialogue his own stories) and drawn by new comer Kevin Maguire. When I first read these comics it was instant love. This was the height of the comic era when new exciting series flew off the shelf. It was called the "Dark Era" by some because of Watchmen (Moore), The Dark Knight (Miller) and the Killing Joke (Moore) but this comic was fun and silly (a but too silly as I read them today). And the art by Kevin was a revelation. He wasn't great at action scenes but he could not be matched for facial expressions.
Rereading this collection all at once, it doesn't hold together as well as it seemed to when I read it on a monthly basis. The Maxwell Lord storyline makes little sense and the story arcs weren't that well constructed. The mix of story and humour was MUCH better at the start of the series and went too far into silliness near the end.
We also - for some reason - get the first 5 issues of JL Europe in this omnibus. An odd choice but it is interesting to see this spin off. I didn't like it at the time (the depiction of Wally West is particularly distasteful today with his sexual harassment of Power Girl) but it is a fun read.
Overall - this brought back memories of a series that I loved so much at the time. I think it hasn't aged as well as some of the other series I loved but it is still fun.

[Ross Cudmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to preface my review by saying I was born a number of years after JLI began and typical prefer comics from the post 2000s.

This was a lot of fun. Having a team of superheroes engage in low-stakes shenanigans while getting on each other's nerves was a really successful recipe for comedy. The disparate personalities and unprofessionalism of the team was really entertaining.

I think that focusing on B and C tier characters worked to the strength of the writers. Sometimes when the Justice League consists of Wonder Woman, Superman and similar
characters, the personalities all begin to blend together a little too much and the characters lack distinctive voices. But that wasn't a problem here.

The stories contained within are for the most part light-hearted and goofy, but I still grew to really care for a lot of the characters, in particular MIster Miracle, Big Barda, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold.

The villians were a tad lacklustre, with the exception of the fantastic Lord Manga Khan and Lobo, who both appeared in the same story arc. The "villian" of a particular Blue Beetle/Booster Gold story was also quite good as a one of villian, with the issue having a rather sombre ending.

One of my favorite stories actually came at the end of the Omnibus, when Martian Manhunter and Batman team up to solve a murder case that is personal to MM. This story was a bit darker and more introspective than the rest of the Omnibus, but it gave some depth to MM that really endeared me to the character.

As I haven't read many comics from this time period, there were some plot points that popped up and were a little confusing (Nabu inhabits Kents body, Diana doesn't have her lasso of truth, Captain Atom was a spy?). Furthermore, the JLI was involved in crossover events like Invasion and Millenium, but those events are not contained in this Omnibus, nor have I read those events, so I was left a little confused as I read.

All that being said I loved this Omnibus and look forward to Volume 2.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it little by little over several months. I loved it. It is very wordy (end of the 80s), intentionally silly (and sometimes lame) and repetitive like most comedy television shows of the era. It is basically a group of people not getting along together, which leads to disputes and mocking jokes, while fighting minor villains. So I really do not think it is the kind of Omnibus you should binge. But it is unique and totally worth it. I have never read anything else like it. The art (the faces!) is perfect for this.

There isn't really a big plot, and it is dependent of what happens in other on-going series and events (Legends kicks-off the serie, then Millennium and Invasion happen in the middle) but without explanations. I think it was really meant to be read issue by issue at the time of the publication as the chill and fun / goofy book of the global lineup.

As in all other collected editions, the Millennium ties-in are impossible to understand. Invasion ties-in are ok, but somethings happen in the main issues that really impact a few characters and the plot of other later JLI issues so some background or summary would have been nice (but it is not blocking). For completion I will probably read Legends and Invasion later.

The bigger plot (several issues) that I remember the most (and liked a lot) was with the bartering alien group called the Cluster that comes to earth and then it ends on Apokolips. Another recurring plot is with Bialya (several smaller plots), the antagonist Middle-East country at the time.

The annual issues are particularly good, especially the home party one which also has the Joker in it.

I will definitely read the Volume 2 over the next few months.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enough already. Everyone is a kidder. Everyone is joking. There are no stakes. There aren't even any straight men. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle get along so well because they're THE SAME CHARACTER.

It seems clear that Giffen and DeMatteis do not want to tell a superhero story -- you know one with a big fight. Or one where a villains builds a plan step by step. Or one where the powers really matter. This is to a superhero comic as Newsradio is to a story about a radio station. (The headquarters falling apart being akind to "we are waaaaay overbudget")

Guy Gardner has absolutely no redeeming characteristics and they never even suggest why he's around.

Perhaps the only characters who appear to have any depth are Ice and Fire and they show up pretty infrequently.

The Qaddafi stand-in seemed to be going somewhere (Bialya = "Libya"), but then he went away. The Marvel pastiche did not really serve a purpose. The Maxwell Lord thing is bizarre. Why does Batman accept him?

Frustratingly, there are stories here that connect to things outside this giant book. It's always impossible to pay for a comic story in one book, I guess.

It's not all bad. A few of the jokes are funny. They brought some unused characters into circulation (although without giving them too much to define them). The art is uniquely clean. But it winds up feeling tiresome when in bursts.

[Aidan]

Finally finished this after wanting to read this series for a multitude of reasons (it’s influence on Transformers: MTMTE, it’s landmark fusion of mainline superheroes and comedy, its foundational characterization for a swath of DC staples, etc) and was honestly underwhelmed a lot of the time. Giffen and DeMatteis have each written two of my favorite Marvel books (Annihilation: Conquest-Starlord and Kraven’s Last Hunt respectively) and I became a fast fan of Kevin Maguire, but I think the writing process really ages and hinders this at times. With Giffen doing layouts and DeMatteis adding dialogue after art is finished the book is often overwritten and lacks some of the strong, character focused, and quieter portions seen in these writers’ other work, as well as lacking narrative velocity panel to panel. This overwriting is particularly grating in the seemingly aimless JLE issues. Additionally all the Bialya and Middle East stuff has really aged poorly as ham fisted anti-Iran propaganda, and is a nagging recurring story element.

That being said, when this series is good, it’s really good. It functions best when DeMatteis chills out on the captions or when the team decides to focus in on around 1-4 characters in an issue and tell a smaller story against the backdrop of an ongoing plot in the sprawling DCU. When this book is hot it feels like a definitive character focused take about the entire world of the DCU, not just the team in question.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing quite like this. I’d only read bits and pieces of this very long run, and seeing it in one place only heightens its appeal. How did something like this — very much the bigger-budget version of Keith Giffen’s Ambush Bug work, with his breakdowns at the heart of the whole enterprise — persist for as long as it did? This weird superhero sitcom, a sort of Taxi/Cheers for the spandex set, is almost as subversive as Watchmen, perhaps more so given how long Giffen and DeMatteis got away with it. The faces drawn by Kevin Maguire and Bart Sears — close ups and big, brisk panel layouts are hallmarks of the Giffen era — hammer home the unexpected auteur quality of what, by rights, should be nothing more than corporate makework. The creators are at their best with the flotsam and jetsam of the DCU, heroes and villains both — whether we’re talking about the lesser lights of the Global Guardians or the feckless losers in the Injustice League. A bit dated, perhaps, but it’s aged much better than a lot of other work from the late 80s.

[RafaCSQ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. It reads more like a sitcom than your regular super hero comic book. So, the focus is not on the action, but on characters relations, how they interact with each other daily. Actually, some of the best issues are the ones where there's no villain, no fights, just them interacting at the embassy.

I'm not sure if we had many comedic super hero comics before this, and even looking to what came after this, it's not the same. I giggled and even laughed out loud many times. Being able to achieve this using only B and C characters from DC is awesome. And it made me appreciate this characters so much, Martian Manhunter is now of my favorite heroes ever.

Strongly recommend it, such a incredible run. I still have two omnibus left to read, but I already feel sad thinking about the moment when this ends and I will have to "say goodbye" to these characters.

Anything drawn by Kevin Maguire here is absolutely incredible too, the expressive faces are a fundamental part of this. Ty Templeton does a good job too, even if not always at the same level than Maguire.

[Daniel McTaggart · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're gonna read a gigando-mongo-rific tome of comic book goodness, THIS is the one! In the mid-1980s, the Justice League kinda fizzled out as DC's flagship title. The team had very few original members, if any at times, and felt like a third-rate book in some eyes. Then Crisis on Infinite Earths happened. Then Legends happened. The JL was restarted and revamped with some classic members and a few interesting surprises. The book started out kinda serious, but due to the diligence of an unknown artist (Kevin Maguire) and an existential writer (J.M. DeMatteis), the Justice League carved an entirely unique path to fandom. Maguire became noted for his wonderful facial expressions. And J.M.D. helped create the era of BWAH-HA-HA! It was a wonderful time for comics and superhero fun. Yet there did come a time when even that energy burned out. However, that energy does NOT lack in this book. This is the beginning, baby! The best stuff is all right here!

[Maddy Whitaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This omnibus really has it all. I am so happy to have it in my collection. This is the second omnibus I have gotten through and I am more than pleased. This creative team is among "the greats" in not just DC, but comics in general. Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis write all of these characters so flawlessly and capture fantastic humor that is its own kind of a rarity in this genre. Not to mention one of the best artists in the industry, Kevin Maguire, master of the facial expression. Seeing all these amazing characters with great art and writing behind them makes it no wonder that this team has an Eisner award under their belts for bringing it all to life. Omnibuses can be a bit of a commitment to read but I highly suggest you invest in a copy of this because you will grow to love this cast of characters, writers, and artists. I am highly anticipating the release of the second volume in August of this year.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1989 or 1990, I read a comic about a superhero (Mr Miracle) struggling to pull off a summer bbq with his Justice League buddies at his suburban NJ home, and it either rewrote or help establish my taste in humor and comics. JLI was important to me during my formative years and although less special in a world with Venture Bros., various versions of The Tick, Doom Patrol, The Boys, etc. it still works to establish an offbeat, everything-will-ultimately-be-ok extended universe outside of the traditional superhero landscape, sometimes in suburban NJ.

[roberto ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volver a leer estos números de la Liga de Giffen, DeMatteis y Maguire es recordar los 90s cuando los ví x primera vez. Un disfrute tanto en lo gráfico, con el dominio de las expresiones faciales de Kevin Maguire y las historias hilarantes y muy entretenidas. El mejor Guy Gardner, la definición de la amistad reflejada en Booster y Beetle. Primero de América luego internacionales. Europa y nuevos integrantes, nunca deja de ser divertido. Se le tiene mucho afecto a estos personajes.

[Paganraul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Omni was hard to read it had some ups and downs but it starts getting better after issue 15 it’s a run from the 80s right after Crisis on Infinite Earths so the panels are long and it’s gonna be really cheesy at first it had some really good moments overall i recommend this to people that want to know more about leaser known characters.

[David Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as I remembered. I saw another reader mention it probably was due to a month between issues rather than reading them all quickly in a collected edition, and I think that was correct. Nice nostalgia, but I won't be keeping it for another reading.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The quality of the art reproductions in this omnibus leaves a lot to be desired. It's pretty distracting. Here's hoping that someday when DC inevitably does the nicest possible edition of JL that the line work actually matches up with what was published.

Stories are fine!