Fire & Water #209 – Justice League of America #s 221-223

Shag and Rob take a look at the “Beasts” storyline from JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #s 221-223 by Gerry Conway and Chuck Patton!

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40 responses to “Fire & Water #209 – Justice League of America #s 221-223

  1. It’s bizarre that Rob drops a Transformers reference, right? It’s not just me?

    BEAST WARS!!!

    As for an alternate JLDetroit, well, the problem was always ever the characters created FOR the team – Steel, Gypsy and Vibe – and they are the only three I’d replace. With who? Well, let me reset my brain to 1984 and get back to you. I’ll be 13 when next we speak.

  2. If I had taken over the creative reins of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA in 1984 after the Martian Invasion storyline, the first change I would’ve made to the team would’ve been… the opposite of what Aquaman does. Instead of disband and streamline the membership, I would’ve gone the Justice League Unlimited route: expand the roster, pretty much anybody who was an active superhero at the time. Yeah, there’s like 25-30 superheroes with JLA signal devices. Of course they won’t all get used every issue/mission. That’s the idea; you cherrypick different groups of heroes, a handful per story arc, men and women and beings who’ve never worked together and see how the chemistry works.

    The only rule is no Red Tornado. F*** that guy.

    However, if I had to go along with the essential premise of the first part of Justice League of America Annual #2, that Aquaman disbands the League and starts over with only the heroes who can show true commitment to the cause, then here is the list I would start with…

    1. Aquaman
    2. Green Arrow
    3. Zatanna
    4. Martian Manhunter
    5. Green Lantern (John Stewart)
    6. Supergirl
    7. Vixen

    I agree with what Siskoid said above, that the major problem with Justice League Detroit is the characters who were created for the team. The Justice League is big time, all-star league. At its inception it was a gathering of established heroes, not a place for rookies. So all of the members of the new Justice League are veterans who have been published before, and in most cases have a history with the team.

    THE OLD ORDER: First up, as with JLA Annual #2, we have four heroes who had been current members sticking around. We’ll grant the premise that this is Aquaman’s idea, so it’s Aquaman’s team. He broke the League; he owns it now. Plus, I like Aquaman.

    Martian Manhunter sticks around, too. He just returned to Earth in the previous story arc, and he was one of the best things about JL Detroit so he’s an easy keeper. Also, Zatanna stays for the reason she gave in the issue and because I like her. The only thing is she gets rid of that atrocious violet-and-white scarab-hair costume that NOBODY likes. Get back to basics (fishnets) with her.

    The one change I would make to Conway’s lineup is I would swap Green Arrow for Elongated Man. This isn’t a slight on Ralph Dibny (I actually like him more than Ollie), but the Justice League needs a human member, someone on the ground who gives them that perspective. Even though he wasn’t a founding member, to me Green Arrow is an essential Justice Leaguer, much in the same ways Captain America and Hawkeye feel like essential Avengers. The team is lesser without the Emerald Archer.

    THE LEGACY HEROES: I firmly believe that a Justice League is not a legitimate Justice League without representation from Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman. Ideally, all three; at minimum two. And yes, I know what that statement says about the post-Crisis League and Justice League International. Don’t care.

    The first legacy hero to join up would be Supergirl. If Superman was too busy, get the next best thing. She had a complicated history at this time anyway; this could be the place where her identity is fixed, and it could spotlight her as a super-powerhouse on the team, even with her youth, on a team of elders. Pretty much the same reasoning that goes into Power Girl in All-Star Comics.

    Next up is John Stewart, the replacement Green Lantern. At this point in the ’80s, he had taken over the Green Lantern title under the stewardship of Len Wein and Dave Gibbons. How much better would it have been if he’d been in the premier team book at the same time. It would have secured John’s place as THE Green Lantern of the 1980s, and then we never would’ve had to deal with the insufferable Guy Gardner that nobody likes.

    THE NEWBIE: The one thing Conway got right in his new additions to the team: Vixen. She nearly got her own book were it not for the implosion. She deserves a place on the team. Plus, she’s got a great set of powers. I love the simplicity of taking on the powers of animals. So easy. And she’s a better, more interesting team player than Animal Man, who really only worked in the oddball Vertigo realm.

    Those would be the new Big Seven, the official established members of the Justice League of America established in the first new issue.

    But… their first mission or multi-part story arc would culminate with them encountering and recruiting… Black Orchid! And from there, Black Orchid would be the mystery player on the group, the X-factor that nobody’s quite sure of. This would also give the creators an opportunity to do something that pre-Crisis DC never did–give Black Orchid an actual origin and secret identity.

    So by Justice League of America issue #232 or 233, say, the team would consist of Aquaman, Black Orchid, Green Arrow, Green Lantern John Stewart, Martian Manhunter, Supergirl, Vixen, and Zatanna.

    I finalized this list after three hours knowing my capacity to change daily… Let’s see if I can resist the urge to revise the list tomorrow.

    1. Might have saved Supergirl from the chopping block…

      And I think J’Onn needs to be someone’s father figure. Remove Gypsy, who will that be? Well, the Supergirl show proves Kara is an ideal candidate.

      1. I forget – were automatic garage doors already a thing in 1984? If so, that’s something Red Tornado can be used for

      2. I like the idea of Supergirl being the strongest member, but in some ways the most raw and unformed, so she needs a mentor like J’Onn.

      3. Surprisingly few DC superheroes had their own series at this point: Batman, Blue Devil, Flash, Firestorm, Green Lantern, Superman, Vigilante, and Wonder Woman. That’s it. The rest are in other genres and wouldn’t fit (Arak, Arion, Warlord, Swamp Thing, Blackhawk, Sgt. Rock…). So it’s wide open even if you don’t poach anyone from other 1984 Earth-1 teams (which, for the record, would be the Outsiders, the New Titans, and… Omega Men?!)

        Really doesn’t narrow it down for me.

    2. I’m neither an artist nor a Photoshop wizard, but this is approximately what my team would look like (except John would be in his classic GL outfit).

  3. Dude! I told Rob that this was my comic intro to the JLA. I started out getting the final issue of this book by some random chance – and boy did I love the hell out of it. A few months later, I saw a copy of the first issue at my pediatrician’s (he always had tons of comics at his office – from Archie, to Harvey, to DC and Marvel). It wouldn’t be until 1995 that I was able to locate and buy the middle issue of the arc and finally see how it all pieced together.

    My young mind was simply blown away by the mature handling of some of these characters. My Flash had his arm in a sling! He could be hurt. He needed to time to heal. This was a far cry from the Superfriends. Shayera and that moron to whom she was married had marriage problems! I seem to remember a line about them being separated. Regardless, this was real drama! Then, that scene with Superman angrily punching his fist behind the “whuh?” Aquaman – Superman could be made to feel helpless! And Zatanna’s disguise – holy crap, was that clever! I just loved this comic to bits.

    Sure, there were some things I wondered about. If Aquaman’s telepathy power worked on fish, why would it work on a whale? Just how strong was Wonder Woman that she’d be knocked sideways by the rhino dude. And just how did a bankrupt company get ahold of all that cool gear and red sun gun? But in the end, who gives a crap, because this story was amazing.

    About that last panel – even as a kid, it threw me that the arc closed with FIrestorm looking out sadly into the horizon. I thought it deep, though it was probably an error. It reminded me of one of my favorite episodes of Saturday morning TV – Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends’ “Spidey Meets the Girl From Tomorrow.” It closes in a similar manner with poor Peter crushed and removed by centuries from the love of his life.

  4. Without looking at other lists:
    Seven is the right number. Aquaman is a given. Supergirl is an obvious choice. Bronze Tiger. Vibe, but closer to the tv version than the original. Amethyst, princess of Gemworld. (Freeze her in an exiled from Gemworld but fully adult and magic state, and kill her solo book before the mistakes there get too bad.) Metamorpho. And since I’m taking an outsider I’ll also take a Titan:Changeling, the team member who most needed a full coming of age arc but never escaped the teen Titans trap.

    Firestorm’s league training should still be writing “I can turn intangible” on a blackboard, I see.

    1. Actually, I’m going to go eight. Last pick is Blue Beetle. (Instead of Family Crisis we do Crisis on Infinite Earths Prologue:Crisis on Earth-4, which ends with him stuck on Earth-1.)

  5. In JLA #192, it is stated that the original League charter limited the team to ten members so ten was always the magic number for me. Superman and Batman were/are overexposed, so they’re gone. Firestorm was too unreliable, so he’s gone. Green Arrow and Black Canary were out of place in the satellite era, so bye bye for them. Hawkman was a redundant assorted, so sayonara. Hal Jordan, at the time Conway left the first time, was exiled and he quit the Corps shortly after returning so he’s out too. Atom was busy playing mini-Tarzan at the time. Flash was preoccupied with his trial.

    That leaves Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkwoman, and Zatanna. To round out the ten I would replace Hal with John Stewart, and to replace Superman and Batman I would bring in Supergirl and Batgirl. Acting as team liaison to the U.S. government would be Snapper Carr; acting as team liaison to the Soviet government would be Red Star.

  6. In my opinion, Rex and Rena drown themselves in the sea. It was their last act as the devolved into total beasts.
    Thanks again for covering the 3 most important comic books in my collection. They were the first comics I decided to keep, thus beginning my collection.
    As for what I would have done for The Detroit League. I would have had more overlap between the teams. I strongly believe that had Steel, Vibe, and Vuxen been added to the team while Superman and Wonder Woman were still active, the audience would have had time to adjust and learn to appreciate the characters.

  7. I’m going to have to think on my own JLD line-up, so I’ll come back to that later.

    I only had the first issue of this storyline until last year. Dreaded newsstand distribution woes, and all of that. But man, did this issue freak me out. And no Rob, I wasn’t hiding under the bed from it, but even at age 8 I could tell how much gorier, nastier and DARKER this storyline was. But also, even then, I thought Rena was going to stick around and be a supporting player, just from this first issue!

    The scorpion-people were indeed, truly disturbing. I had never seen such horror in a mainstream, DC super hero book. Nasty. But I dug it!

    And Shag, “Bronze Agey” should not be a pejorative. To me that, just means good, solid comics. Comics that had matured and become sophisticated enough to retain readers into adulthood, but not gone so far as to ostracize young readers. In my mind, super hero comics should have never lost sight of that. It’s why comics industry sales is in the state it’s in, ultimately.

    Off my soap box. Fun episode guys!

    Chris

      1. what’s the Crisis debate? That it was a great idea that had really bad consequences? Or that it was a great idea that didn’t fulfill Wolfman’s expectations?

          1. I consider one of the Mates of Supermates pretty super (the abusive one in case there’s any question).

  8. ‘each of us hates the one we love a little ” – That’s Rob and Shag in a nutshell

    “underground network of moral zeroes” – and with that, Fire and Water was born!

    NOW – JL DETROIT – DAG STYLE
    Okay. I like Ryan’s idea of classic, new, and legacy characters. I think this team should be both the premiere org for the heroes that don’t have their own series and somewhat of a more accessible bunch of heroes. Also, I’d want a bigger number than usual to keep things interesting and mix up the team for when they pair off w/ set alternates in case they can’t answer the call for whatever reason. Ideally, this arc kicks off with the murder of Firestorm and Martian Manhunter by Angleman. Mort on mort crime, I call it.

    So here goes:
    1. Aquaman – Founding member in place as co-leader and mentor.
    2. Supergirl – A better fit than Clark (less demands for time), and a tank. Also, who doesn’t love Kara? Other than idiots, that is.
    3. Speedy – Not sure if he was off the smack or not at this point, but he’s a better ground-level hero than his mentor.
    4. Doctor Occult – He’s stranded from Earth-2 or whatever. Maybe he’s looking for Rose Psychic. I just like the idea of an awesome couple on the team that doesn’t include Green Arrow or Hawkdud. Also, every group needs a detective and some sort of mystic character – and they’re both!
    5. Vixen – Untapped awesome.
    6. Batgirl – The crazy man-child’s (Batman) link to the team and co-leader. Retroactively, a nice middle ground for her turn as Oracle. More personable than her male counterpart. And a helluvalot more balanced. I don’t like Batman. Coupled with Kara, talk about “world’s finest”! (That’s for you, Shag)
    7. Salakk – I love that crazy curmudgeon. It’ll be nice to have a non-human GL on the team. I’d have gone with John Stewart, but I think he’s much better as a solo character.
    8. Wonder Woman – Co-leader and founding member. What needs to be said? She’s the best.
    9. Black Orchid – I LOVE this character. Mysterious and great for espionage missions.
    10. El Dorado – the only character from the SuperFriends TV show deserving inclusion in the JLA. Similar powerset to Martian Manhunter, but much cooler. Probably should get a redesigned costume.

    1. “This arc kicks off with the murder of Firestorm … by Angleman. Mort on mort crime, I call it.”

      Bold. You may proceed.

  9. I feel like JLD needs to have a sort of ‘underappreciated hero’ vibe.

    So I think I would say –
    Aquaman. Keep him as leader.
    Supergirl.
    Batgirl.
    Hawk and Dove.
    Metamorpho
    Captain Comet
    and Zatara!

    I’d love Aquaman to have a rotating role for some of the “whatever happened to …’ heroes. Like some honorary veteran pinch hitter spot that writers could bring in someone for wisdom and experience. Have Zatara sit there most of the time, to inspire his daughter.

    I love the Black Orchid idea. That’s brilliant!

    Love this idea!

    1. You can try to suck up to me all you want by praising Black Orchid. It won’t stop me from rejecting your inclusion of Hawk and Dove.

  10. I definitely agree, I am not a fan of the covers of these issues. They would not get me to pick them up to see what the story is about

  11. The Alternative Detroit League:

    So, I’ll assume it has the same regular Leaguers — Aquaman, Martian Manhunter an Elongated Man (with Sue). So, I think the assignment would be to come up with another set of diverse heroes who could be featured solely in this book:

    1. Black Lightning — Sorry, Outsiders. The 1990s version of Black Lightning’s home may or may not have been part of Detroit. He’s got some visibility and might strike readers as a better version of Black Vulcan.

    2. Captain Thunder of Earth-One. A variation of the 1974 extra-dimensional analogue of Captain Marvel. The original Captain Thunder was Willie Fawcett who derived his power from Native American traditions. I’d make this Willie or Billy Native American himself. Presumably he’d look like that “Shazam!” Guy mentioned on my old bed sheets and wallpaper.

    3. Vixen — hey, a good idea, and no reason to deprive Gerry Conway of all his creations.

    4. Green Flame/Fury of the Global Guardians. Hey, she’s been part of an international team and helped out the Super Friends. (And was put into Earth-One continuity.)

    5. Supergirl — I like Ryan’s suggestion. It adds again a bit of name recognition to the team.

  12. Okay, JLA team for 1984.

    This is harder, because this is the 3rd New Teen Titans-like team, or if you want to be technical, the 4th X-Men-like team! If the Outsiders didn’t exist, I would bring in Metamorpho and Black Lightning, who I think SHOULD have joined the JLA when they were nominated.

    Aquaman – He disbanded the team, so he stays. No leaving with Mera. She joins too, later.

    Wonder Woman – She comes back from the “Family Crisis” arc and says “Aww hell no!” She demands to stay on the team and works it out that Diana Prince is team liaison to the UN. She’s more of the big gun that comes in every so often to straighten the team out.

    Supergirl – She never could decide on a civilian life. She comes back with Wonder Woman and stays on, filling Clark’s role.

    Zatanna – What else did she have to do? And they need a magic person. She goes back to the fishnets.

    Elongated Man – He never had a secret ID, so why not? Sue is around more often. Brad Meltzer is not.

    Green Lantern John Stewart – He was Earth’s GL at the time. He doesn’t fully commit because of his GL duties (which irritates Aquaman), but helps out often. Often enough to meet…

    Vixen – The one new JLD member I would keep. She’s obviously proven to have legs with the team. The JLU romance could start early, causing friction with John and Katma Tui in his own title.

    Martian Manhunter – He became the heart of the team. The JLD’s greatest contribution to the canon.

    Chris King – Dial “H” For Hero – Why wouldn’t the JLA want this guy on their team, if for no other reason than to keep tabs on his extraordinary powers? He could be the new young blood, and the JLA would always have a fresh new hero. He’s the new Firestorm, basically.

    The Vigilante (Greg Saunders, Earth One version) – He showed up to chastise the JLA for going to the satellite. He participated in their almost-origin-story. He would be the new team’s Green Arrow, their every man moral compass.

    The Guardian – Gives the JLA their new headquarters at the DNA/Cadmus project. Becomes chief of security, and serves to set up some interesting plot lines involving the project and left over Kirby ideas…before the 80s Super-team gets to them.

    That’s just off the top of my head. I can’t make up new characters to go with the team like Conway and Patton did, so…

    Chris

  13. Fun episode, guys! I haven’t read this story, but your excitement for it is infectious. I’ll have to track it down! I really like what Rob said about the necessity for comics to “snap back” to lighter stories after taking a trip into darker fare. Levity is important! The light shines brighter against the darkness. And the darkness is that much darker in contrast to the light. Fun stuff! I definitely want to put together my Detroit era league, now.

  14. OK lets see a list for Justice League Detroit. So, can be there full time and already existed.
    Snapper Kar
    Jimmy Olsen
    Johnny Thunder
    Woozy Winks
    G’nort
    dolphin
    Red Tornado (Hunkel)

    There that should make JL Detroit look better 😉

  15. Just finished listening to the show, and I have to say I really enjoyed your coverage of the storyline. I have not read much of Justice League of America, but these do seem much more vicious than the ones I have read. I remember Rob’s blog post about Aquaman putting the brain-whammy on the whale guy (who reminds me of Duff McWhalen from Mega Man X5), and between that and this episode, I think I will dig up some scans of these issues and check them out.

    Regarding “What If? Justice League Detroit,” I thought this link might be helpful — it shows all of the DC books on sale in August 1984.

    http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/mikes/features/newsstand.php?publisher=dc&type=calendar&month=8&year=1984&sort=alpha

    This comes from Mike Voiles’ fantastic Mike’s Amazing World of Comics, which is widely used as a reference site over on the Two True Freaks podcast ( twotruefreaks.com ) network of which I am a part. (I use Mike’s site for release dates and credits on Earth Destruction Directive every time I cover a comic book.)

    Thanks for the great show, Rob and Shag!

    PS: As a big Transformers fan, I very much appreciated the Beast Wars stinger.

  16. I’m mad at myself that Anj got to Captain Comet first!
    Actually, my gripe is with Conway, and not just for JLD. It’s for the storyline that set it up; the Mars story that brought The Martian Manhunter back. Because Gerry, the established comics-writing veteran, had this big story planned out, Greg Potter, the new guy, had to change HIS story and make Jemm (J’emm?), a Son of Saturn, rather than a son of Mars. Which, I felt, diminished the character and his potential somewhat. (See, youngsters, there was lots of pre-Crisis stuff to complain about!)
    Jemm, Son of your-planet-here, was (as I recall) different than your usual alien-comes-to Earth-with-super-powers. He was extremely aware of being in an completely new environment. EVERYTHING was new to him! He was extremely uncomfortable about being in a completely new environment. He didn’t instantaneously learn the English language! (Perhaps the most radical idea ever in a comic book!) He was not typical of his “race.”
    As I’m writing this, I’m realizing that Jemm has a lot in common with the Non-Neural Typical people I teach music to. Put him on the team! He has powers and he needs to learn how best to use them. He needs guidance, mentoring, and understanding. His teammates would have to think about almost ewverything they take for granted. (Why we say what we say, why we act the way we do, is this learned behavior or instinctive behavior…)
    Captain Comet would have been a great partner with Jemm!

    Now, I’m going to have to dig out that maxi-series and read it, aren’t I?

  17. Beast Wars!!!!

    Came up with a team. It’s probably more Hickman (everybody and the kitchen sink) with Transformers Season 3, but I tried to stick with the 1984 rules and pretty much ignore most previous team members and those that were part of the really-for-reals Justice League Detroit.

    https://s20.postimg.org/uyl6kmwpp/ANAD-_JLD.jpg

    Firestorm steps up as the League leader after Aquaman leaves to take care of Mera and Atlantis. He’ll be doing the whole Rodimus Prime thing with Professor Stein serving as the wisdom from the Leadership Matrix, etc.

    I don’t think Robotman had a book commitment at the time, and he’s the closest thing I could think of to an old curmudgeon who can offer Firestorm some words of wisdom from time to time like Kup.

    Richard Dragon would be the straight-laced Ultra Magnus type and serve as the best hand-to-hand fighter on the team (like a modern-day Batman). He’d also serve as second-in-command. Lady Shiva can show up later with her own Injustice Gang.

    Ray Palmer would be the Sword of the Atom era version and serve as the swashbuckling and sarcastic Springer-type with some Perceptor scientific know-how to go along with it.

    I dig Looker. She’s pink. She’s a hot red-head. She’ll be my Arcee of the League. Her and Ray can hook-up.

    The Daniel Young Green Lantern can get plucked from the late 1800’s via time-travel and serve as the League’s dedicated Green Lantern.

    Omega Men era Lobo will be the dumb Dinobot-esque bruiser of the League, but he’ll listen to Firestorm and Kid Devil b/c they helped him save his Space Dolphins and he’s got a goofy crush on……

    Dolphin (who will be the underwater expert for this League). Lobo can also bring the Omega Men into the mix for future story lines/crossovers.

    Fastback will be the team Speedster, serving as a more dedicated Flash. (or Blurr if we keep to the TF analogues). He can also be a gateway to setting up epic 4th World story arcs.

    I don’t know that DC even still had the rights to publish Isis at the time, but I guess she’ll be a refugee from Earth-S without all the Black Canary Cray-Cray that goes along with it. Maybe they can fight General Sivana and the Big Red Cheese can make a guest-spot in the run.

    Amethyst had her own title and can be the League’s dedicated Zatanna or Mage. Also the League can return the favor by helping her defend and have adventures in Gemworld. Maybe Mordru from one timeline or another can be the big-bad in an arc.

    Along with Kid Devil, Rex The Wonder Dog will be the “kid sidekicks” on this particular League. They pull some Daniel and Wheelie type shenanigans and try to find out Richard Dragon’s Birthday in order to throw him a surprise party. Kid Devil ends up looking up to Firestorm more than he does Blue Devil. Also, despite everyone else hating this inclusion, they are totally bad-ass and infallible as a pair. They even single-handedly defeat Chemo on their own (or they just run across a weak bridge and Chemo falls to his doom).

    1. Rob is going to have a helluva time reading this comment on the air and just imagining what Rodimus Prime, Springer, Wheelie, and Dinobot are.

  18. In defense of JL Detroit if it wasn’t for it their wouldn’t be JLI, and where would the Arrowverse be without it. Also it helps show aquamaman not best to be king so supporting Vulko

    Hmm OK maybe I will stop defending JL Detroit…

    1. Ok so as an actual replacement
      Aquaman
      Zatanna
      Martin Manhunter
      Super girl
      Metamorpho
      Blue devil (gives a new character)

  19. I JUST listened to this episode today on my lunch (again, short commute, way behind on podcasts).

    As someone who loved the Detroit League growing up (they were more “my” League while the other League was more the Super Friends), I’d keep the Detroit League in place and add to it. So you’d have:

    Aquaman
    Mera
    Steel
    Vibe
    Vixen
    Gypsy
    Elongated Man
    Zatanna
    Martian Manhunter
    Hawkman
    Hawkwoman
    Red Tornado (right after he sits down for a game of checkers with Ryan)

    If I were setting the lineup now, it’d be quite a bit different, but of the time, there ya go.

  20. I have a line-up for my Elseworlds Justice League Detroit.

    The premise I’m borrowing is the one I think I read somewhere about Gerry Conway’s idea for the original Justice League Detroit: that it was a DC take on Avengers #16 where the original members disbanded the team and Captain America led a team of characters that were originally presented as adversaries. Not really villains, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Hawkeye were people who’d been duped and wanted to get a second chance at redemption. A bit like Kurt Busiek’s Thunderbolts but with a smaller cast.

    Now, my selection is kind of clouded by 30 years of continuity. If I had a better memory for Bronze Age stories of the time, I might suggest different characters. Oh well…

    Team Leader: Wonder Woman
    The old school member of the team who acts as a mentor. Highly unlikely at the time. Diana was kind of struggling in her own magazine to have a stable identity unfortunately. Having her as team leader would have been risky, but it’s my team and I do what I want!
    Alternate choice: Martian Manhunter
    My original choice for team leader. He only lost out because I feel like Diana makes sense to lead the team. J’onn will get his chance post-Crisis.

    Core team members:
    – Manhunter
    The Mark Shaw version. I know this pushes up his redemption arc post-Crisis with Millennium, but who cares? I do what I want! Plus it makes sense after the events of JLA #150 that he might want a second chance.
    – Star Sapphire
    The Secret Society of Super-Villains version. There’s some speculation that she wasn’t Carol Ferris at all, which suggests she could have been an alternate pick like Jon Stewart or Guy Gardner. Maybe even reveal that her appearance in SSOSV was an illusion and make her non-caucasian to bring in some diversity. We get some space stories with her as she explores her relationships with the Zamarons.
    – Atomic Knight
    The tank! Almost literally. He brings extra muscle as he tries to cope with life outside of his virtual reality simulation.
    – The Trickster
    In both SSOSV and Blue Devil, we saw James Jesse flirt with the idea of being a good guy. Now he gets a chance to do it for real. Shenanigans involving Flash’s Rogues Gallery are sure to occur.
    – Black Lightning
    Diana offers him a second chance to join the JLA but without all the nonsense of the first attempt. This time he takes it for a chance to mentor other people.

    Alternates:
    – Aegeus
    A pre-Crisis Wonder Woman opponent. I’m fuzzy on what his backstory was, but I thought it was enough cool at the time that he could be offered a second chance.
    – Silver Swan
    Another pre-Crisis WW opponent who seemed like she needed someone to offer her a hand up.
    – Captain Comet
    Kind of lost as he fought the SSOSV by himself. When you go up against Grodd, Darkseid, Reverse-Flash, Sinestro, and a bunch of other villains, that should be a good enough reason to join the JLA!
    – Ultraa
    Was I the only person who liked him?
    – Vartox
    Sean Connery!
    – Tyroc
    WHAT?!? Yes a Legion of Super-Heroes member! If he hails from an island which is the DC equivalent of Briggadoon, there’s a good chance he could appear. A nice wildcard to shake things up!

    That’s it for me. Thanks for reading!

    1. Oh! One more alternate…
      – Blockbuster
      The team might need an angry wall of meat. Grab him up before Brimstone get ahold of him post-Crisis.

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