Justice League Elite, Vol. 1

Justice League Elite

by Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke (Illustrator), John Byrne (Illustrator)

Calling themselves Justice League Elite, the former allies turned enemies of the Justice League use their aggressive, and some would say excessive, approach to fighting crime to stop atrocities before they happen.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Superman, Batman

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2005

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Reviews

[Ryan Haupt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wanted to like it more than I did based on the creative team but I didn't find the characters all that compelling and the story seemed disjointed. The Mahnke art was pretty but not enough to make this feel like anything other than "Authority Lite."

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of a black ops version of the Justice League is interesting but Joe Kelly doesn't quite pull it off. He takes his characters from his JLA run and branch them off here. Flash and Green Arrow are here for no reason and Kelly doesn't do a good job of explaining why on earth the Justice League would allow any of this. The villains are typical generic DC tropes. The book wasn't bad just full of plot holes and inconsistencies. Manhke's art is very good but the coloring was a let down. Overall, a decent read that doesn't capture the essence of Manchester Black in any way.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this team. I’d love to see this team written by Ellis or Ennis. In a sense I have because this is similar to The Authority, but I’d love to see those guys working in a world where DC heroes have to be avoided.

[Richard Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Checkmate or the early 2000s Outsiders series, you’ll love this tale of a sort of black-ops, covert offshoot of the JLA, featuring a mix of new, new-ish, and classic characters and written by one of my favorite JLA writers, Joe Kelly.

[Steven W · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good. I think knowing that the idea was abandoned so quickly kept me from getting into it...

[Vivvy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not good and not even Cassandra Cain could save this

[Desmond Killian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes DC falls into the trap of trying to franchise the Justice League like Marvel does the X-Men, usually by doing a mature audiences "black ops" title like X-Force. Justice League Elite is one of their earliest attempts. Kelly tries to elevate the book by making it about 9/11 and the Iraq War, but the point comes across muddled, drowned out by endless arguments over what The Line is and how we will know when we have Crossed It.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Justice League Elite makes its debut in this collected edition of the black ops team. The volume opens with the one-shot Superman issue that introduced the Elite as violent vigilantes. The volume then picks up with the new Elite being formed at the behest of Vera Black. A mostly successful first mission then yields mistrust and suspicion after the murder of a prisoner, threatening the bring down the JLE just as they get started. While writer Joe Kelly and artist Doug Mahnke attempt to bring the grim and gritty to the JLA table, the Elite experiment feels doomed from the start. Former Elite members Coldcast and Menagerie are flat characters, JLA transfers Major Disaster and Manitou Raven were schlepped over due to lack of fan support in the big league title, and Green Arrow and Flash are on the squad just to tie in the "Justice League" banner. While the Flash spotlight issue - showing Wally West's torn loyalties as a member of both squads - is fantastic, the rest of the book is just not up to snuff. The lack of major DCU enemies, bland characterizations, and unlikable members just means this team - and this book - are not elite enough.

[William Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

manchester black was probably the greatest dc character i have seen in recent issues... i wish they would have developed that story even more, or showed more of his back story... vera is a let-down by comparison. this volume beats the second hands down with a great storyline, fantastic artwork and paneling, just about as much as i could want from a team book.

[Ramiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it by chance and really liked it.
Not really a DC fan, more of a Marvel Zombie my self so I had to look up some info on some of the players but I still liked it. Just based on the premise of a black ops super hero team I was hocked from the start.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

A black ops Justice League. It has potential but so far has failed to live up to it. The inclusion of Green Arrow makes this book interesting but it could be better.

[Ilona · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars

[Jamie · Rating 1.5 out of 5]

I surprisingly managed to finish this book, but it’s nothing special at all. Couldn’t recommend…

[Kairi]

Justice League Black-ops? How awesome is that?