JL #14, "The Story of the Justice League!" AFTERWARD

So, what did you think?

Given that my premise was to create a sort of "behind the stories" story, I think it succeeds. However, every time I have re-read it since it was printed I thint that I should have succeeded *better.*

For example, I like the re-telling of the JLA origin. In fact, looking back at it, I think I should have made that the *focus* of the whole story, instead of just four pages. Following that lead, I could have matched some of the villains with some more stories (such as the Dr. Destiny flashback on page 38; every time I see it I think, "Wow, I'd like to have read that story...!") Then maybe one page summaries of how the new members had joined instead of just saying who they were....? Similarly, I think I shoud have cut the number of "introductions" of friends and foes drastically. Those that I had chosen to keep I should have made more dramatic, ala the Origin, the JSA, or Dr. Destiny flashbacks. This is epecially true of the ones I had no intention of ever featuring again (such as the Darkseid vs Phantom Stranger panels from page 20). At this point I knew who I was going to feature in the next few issues, so some of this is foreshadowing; I should have emphasized that and cut some of the other stuff. Again: I sorely needed an editor to help reign myself in.

Now let's talk about a few things I actually did like.

 Right off the bat I was glad I had added the Elongated Man to the mix. Comedy writing came easy with this character, who could realistically talk about how terrible somebody sounds and then be enthusiastic a moment later to see a souvenir from one of *his* cases on display.There was another line of dialogue in this issue I really liked, too: it's when Hawkwoman and Green Lantern are talking about how many allies the JLA has, and Ralph says, "Wow, being a JLAer is going to be fun!" I doubt any other character could possibly say that and get away with it. I also snuck his wife, Sue, into the story. I had every intention of showing her every time I showed him answering a summons, but now I can't remember if I ever actually managed to do that. Well, atleast she made it in once.

 This is the last appearance of Hawkwoman's light-blue wing/chest straps. I originally added them to her uniform to make her more closely resemble her husband (long story). With him now in the group rocking the chest strap look himself, I decided she would lose hers. If you look closely she has them at the beginning of the issue (the same meeting as at the end of last issue). When they all come back for the tour and meeting the next day, they are gone.  

This is the original cover to the "real" JLA Origin, from JLA #9. My re-telling of it stuck to the facts of this story. The only change I made was switching John Stewart GL for Hal Jordan GL.

This is my re-visioning of the first meeting between the JLA and the JSA. I liked how I made the JSAers a little bit older, especially Black Canary, who I established was "our" Black Canary's mother. 

Although the re-telling of how the JLA met the JSA is well done, I think, three pages of JSA profiles is three pages too much. I should have cut all of those. The one page of the Teen Titans is also pointless, and the art on that page is horrible. I should have done something similar to The Women panel on page 30: "The Teen Titans are made up of younger partners such as Kid Flash, Robin, Aqualad, and Speedy and their friends" and left it at that.  

The other thing I always think about whenever I re-read this issue are what I call "the lost opportunities." Most of the villains featured were there because they had been featured before and/or they were going to be featured soon or again. I featured Queen Bee in the first issue but I had not made a profile picture for her. So I took the time to do one for this issue, with the very specific plan to use her again. I wanted to do a story similar to JLA #60 featuring her and Batgirl (another favorite). I never got around to it.

Likewise, I wanted to introduce Starro into my continuity in a story similar to JLA #190. However, that, too was set aside when I ran out of time.

As for Darkseid, I had a germ of an idea to try to do a take on the SUPER POWERS stories by Jack Kirby that feature him and most of the Justice League. But he is such a powerful character, and I didn't have six or eight issues to deal with it, so I was still trying to do something with him when, you guessed it, I ran out of time. 

So to sum up, this story was okay for what it was. If it had been about 10 pages shorter and then led into some action (maybe these JLAers fighting...I dunno..Starro?!) it would have been much, MUCH better.

Oh, well.

Next issue we will finally stop talking and have some action!! Yes, that's right, Dr. Destiny attacks and all the JLAers---go to sleep!! ;-)