TreasuryCast #45 – JLA: Heaven’s Ladder

TREASURYCAST #45  - JLA: HEAVEN'S LADDER

Rob welcomes fellow podcaster Sean Ross to discuss the all-original treasury comic, JLA: HEAVEN'S LADDER by Mark Waid, Bryan Hitch, Andy Lanning, Paul Neary, and Laura Depuy!

Check out images from this comic by clicking here!

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Opening theme by Luke Daab: http://daabcreative.com

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12 responses to “TreasuryCast #45 – JLA: Heaven’s Ladder

  1. Haven’t read this since it was published but coincidentally found it in a box of stuff last week along with my Alex Ross treasuries. Thanks for the push to dive back into this email me.

  2. Kept waiting for Sean to pull out some Biblical quotes to sum up the whole thing about feeling minuscule. Psalms 8:4 goes something like “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?” Seems rather appropriate for a scenario where humanity is faced with godlike beings.

    Darn it, guys, now I need a shot for shot remake of Clash of the Titans with the comic gods, especially after hearing the robot owl would be H.E.R.B.I.E. Yet another unfulfilled dream!

  3. ‘Comics do not disappoint.’ A saying for the ages…

    Another great Treasury Cast – is there any other kind?
    Loved the conversation, even if I didn’t have the book (which based on the gallery page looks really nice, by the way – I prefer the look of that art to the treasuries from that same time with art by Alex Ross).
    And I got a big smile out of Sean’s comment about reading comics in a car on a long road trip from Portland to San Diego – that same scenario played out when I went to LA with my parents from just north of Salem, OR. Many comics were read on that road trip, but also re-read, because Oregon and California are friggin’ huge states. One of the books I had on the way back was Archie’s Super Hero Digest #2 – I thoroughly studied that book in particular as our family’s Monte Carlo sped up I-5 in the hot California sun…

  4. Rob, Surprised to hear an area LCS mentioned in your podcast. Did you enjoy yourself at PPF? I live in the West Palm area. If you need/want a local’s POV the next time you visit, feel free to hit me up on social media.

  5. Great show, chaps. I have this in a modern DC 100pp super-spectacular but I don’t think I’ve got round to reading it. You’ve convinced me that I must rectify this, stat, I didn’t realise it had Legion references in there ! I bet it looks pretty darn good in giant size.

    I love Sean’s idea of the comic book gods… I can see Moses coming down from Mount Sinai with a Treasury Edition in each arm.

  6. I completely know what Sean means my dad’s side is Jewish but not religious. Can even say that having gone to Israel with my grandmother’s synagogues group. I wouldn’t be surprised if at passover I ask him what he’s doing food wise and he’s like ham sandwiches this social distancing quarantine has been rough;)

  7. I love to hear from comic fans who are not obsessive compulsive about their comic books! I love a good stack of well read comics you can sit back and read without worrying about whether or not a leave a bit of a ding in them. For me comics are meant to be read and enjoyed. However, it’s your comic, if you want to seal it up for preservation, it’s not for me to judge.
    Now, on to the treasury. I can’t believe I picked this up 20 years ago! As you said, this was a big story, perfect for the big format! I loved every cosmic page. It was Kirbyesque in scope.
    I believe this book is overlooked because it was under ordered. Living in northern Massachusetts I’ve never had fewer than 3 local comic shops. (I had up to 8 during the 90s boom). Only one shop I visited carried it, and it was the copy I happened to buy. The store owner even told me he wasn’t sure about ordering that single copy, and seemed relieved I was buying it.
    The one other place I saw it was at the Borders Books I worked at, where it was soon mutilated like most of the trades within days of it being put on the shelves.

  8. Great episode fellas. I haven’t re-read this in years, but it’s right here on my book shelf with my other Treasuries, so I should give it a spin. I enjoyed Waid’s run on JLA, and really wish he could have stayed on it longer. But then I wish Waid’s sensibilities were more embraced at DC in general, and he was still with the company too.

    At the time I expected more treasury books like this, especially since there was also that Superman/FF book, but the idea seemed to come and go pretty quickly. Such a shame, but glad to see the worm may have started to turn again…

    Chris

  9. Until I found this episode and listened to it, I hadn’t given JLA: Heaven’s Ladder much thought since I read it twenty years ago. You guys do a wonderful deep dive into the inner workings of this story, and I agree that it is indeed an underrated gem. I wonder why I, like so many others, never think of this book when considering top JLA stories. Is it just that the format didn’t catch on again when it was first published? Perhaps it was the ignominious end to Bryan Hitch’s run on the JLA book itself?

    Regardless, I pulled my copy out and have put it in my to-read rotation of books. Thanks for reminding me what a great book this is.

    Re: Sean’s comment about the book not fitting in storage boxes – I posed the same question to Mark Waid when I met him at the Baltimore Comic Con shortly after the book’s publishing. He pointed out that the book like all treasury edition books are exactly double the size of a regular comic and will fit perfectly in a storage box if placed horizontally in the box. He was right – it works!

  10. Listening to this on a groggy sick day in February 2024 is bringing me what Sean Ross calls transcendental bliss!! This podcast drives home that we need more Sean Ross podcasting in ‘24!

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