JLA:The Ultimate Guide to the Justice League of America

by Scott Beatty, Roger Stewart

For the last 40 years, DC Comics' Justice League of America has united the most powerful superheroes -- Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, and Green Lantern -- against some of the most diabolical villains in comic book history. The Ultimate Visual Guide tells the history of the Justice League of America; their epic battles against awesome adversaries such as The White Martians, The Key, and Megaddon; and includes specially commissioned, spectacularly detailed artwork revealing JLA's brand-new headquarters on the moon, Wonder Woman's island home, Aquaman's undersea base, and more.

Genres: Comics, Reference, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Scott Matthew Beatty is a comic books writer.

Reviews

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable read, which broke down all the ends and outs of the Justice League of America.

[Maire]

i didn't like it that much i prefer marvel

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really underwhelmed. I read comics of the Justice League of America as a kid in the 1970's and early half of the 1980's. This was a disappointment because it really washed over the entire first few decades and focused mostly on characters that came from 1990 on. One spot is not even correct and the time line in the back of the book proves the comment to be wrong. It really comes across as though two different people wrote the two sections of the book. The entire front 3/4 of the book focus on the modern with few comments about the origins of Justice League. Here is the biggest glaring error in the book. The two page spread on Wonder Woman (who has been around since 1941 in comics) does not even mention that she is one of the early members of the JLA. It does not even mention that she is actually a part of the JLA yet most of the other characters are all given a mention on when they joined and who was a founding member except her. Then we get the Black Canary 2.0. The daughter of the original is said to be the "..JLA's very first female member and one of the team's founding five heroes." Like hell she is. That would be Wonder Woman. The Fortress of Solitude also gets short shift as they could have given a nod to the first one which was a cave and the second one which was a space station by putting some kind of little drawing of them in. Instead we get a complete sectional schematic of the current one. This may not be the authors fault. There are very few images showing our heroes as they looked when they first appeared. There are more modern renderings of some of the old ones. This may be a copyright issue with DC. But here is where it splits. The last 1/4 of the book is a great timeline of the JLA. It starts in 1940 with a nod to the Justice Society of America which is where the idea of hte Justice League came from. Then it jumps to Feb. 1960 for the first JLA appearance with the founding members. One of which happens to be Wonder Woman so there is the first female. It is 1972 before another woman officially joins and that is the original Black Canary. The time line is amazing and worth the read. I had not realized some of the heroes were on again and off again in the JLA. And while I read it in the 1970's and 1980's. I did not realize at the time , that Batman and Superman were not actually part of the JLA at first. This shows when they finally decided to officially join. The only flaw I found in the great detail in such short blurbs in the timeline is that some members have a mention of coming back to re-join yet there was never a mention that they left. Not always anyway. That may be for space. They have a lot of years to fit into the timeline as that goes all the way up to 2002. The timeline is worth it. I am not sure the rest of it is.

[Matt Mazenauer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does not span the history of the characters in any way, this seems more like a recap of the last 3 years of the comics. Really bad one shot villains even made it in, as long as the comic was published post 2000. Disappointing, but it's still interesting and filled with a great selection of drawings.

[Michael Beyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the ultimate comic-book guide to the characters, plots, and features of the Justice League of America. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash, Steel, and Martian Manhunter come together to protect and save the world. This fascinating information covers the lifetime of a popular comic book series.

[Harle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would be nice if DC really went all out on their guides, like Marvel does... but this one is okay for looking up simple things.

[Lily]

I don't understand how this is listed under the Best of Batman Goodreads list. If there is a two page mention of him. Then a paragraph here and there.