Prelude to Justice League #50!

art by Luke Daab

Welcome to the introduction of my 50th fan-fiction Justice League story! I always knew that I wanted to make this issue something special. Initially, I hit upon the idea of having the Legion of Doom in this issue and this issue would be my LAST one! Although I reconsidered that part, I kept the Legion of Doom. 

JL #45 "Toyman's WAR on Christmas" Afterwards

So....what did you think?

First off I want to thank my cyber friends Tim Wallace and Ashton Burge with giving me two great "variant" covers this time out. Thanks guys, they look great!!

As for my cover, a tip of the hat to Ramona Fradon and Bob Smith, who provided the source for me on Super Friends #24. I originally played with the idea of having a smiling Toyman on a videoscreen ala the Wonder Twins, but I kinda like how the caroling mannequins turned out.

In case you haven't read the story yet, let's continue this discussion WITH SPOILERS after the jump.

JL #44 Ladies' Night/Flames of Justice AFTERWARD

So, what did you think? Spoilers after the jump, so if you haven't read the stories yet, please do and then come right back...!

JL #43 "Luck Of The Draw!" Afterward

So, what did you think?

JL #43 "Luck Of The Draw!" Forward

This issue was a long time in coming. I took a little longer to write it, and a little longer to draw it, than I had originally anticipated. Plus it started later than it was scheduled to because the previous issue ran late.

But here it is, with a fantastic commissioned cover by the great Bill Walko! I went to his site www.billwalko.com and asked him about the possibility of him doing a Zatanna & RFG illustration. I told him my original idea was of Z standing on stage with a type of "Pick a card" pose, with all of the cards being of the RFG. He came back with an initial version of the final piece. I couldn't be happier. By all means, if you want something with a "fun" feeling, check out his page and ask him to do something for you!

Meanwhile, I had discussed the story with my cyber pal Tim Wallace. He, too, loves Zatanna. So I asked him to draw something for me, if he was interested. Last week, as I was finishing the last pages of the colors, he sent me this.

I love it! So now I have two variant covers to go with my homage to Mike Sekowsky & Murphy Anderson's original cover to JLA #43. I really do love what I'm doing! Hope you enjoy it, too!

The story will go live tomorrow! See you then!

JL #42 "Universal Heroes!" Afterward

So that was fun, wasn't it? Believe it or not, this story has been in the pipeline for nearly two years! I think I seriously started working on it in early 2014 to have it finished for Halloween 2014, then Halloween 2015, and now Valentines' Day 2016!

JL #42 "Universal Heroes" Forward (2)

So let's keep talking about Universal Monsters.....

JL #42 "Universal Heroes" Forward (1)

Well here we are, fellow ghoulies, about to get to the long-awaited but long-delayed "Universal Heroes" issue of my Justice League!

But before we get to it, let's talk about the story-behind-the-story.

JL #41 "They Mystery of the Fiery Eyes!" Afterward

A REQUEST!
If you have not yet read this story, please DO NOT READ THIS AFTERWARD. Skip this article and go down one post to read the story. Then come back. Please!
If you have already read this story PLEASE DO NOT SPOIL THE STORY in any links or shares etc. I went to a lot of trouble to try to write a "real" mystery, and I would like as many people as possible to read it "cold," without already knowing the ending. Thank you!

So, now that my request is out of the way...what did you think? We can talk SPOILERS after the JUMP---!

Happy Halloween 2015

About two years ago I started planning a certain Justice League story for my comic-book universe. I wanted to do an adaptation of an old SUPER FRIENDS comic where the DC super-heroes meet some of the classic Universal Monsters (#10).

When I mentioned the story to my collaborator, Andy Kapellusch, he, too was enthusiastic about working on it. Eventually I decided which members of the JLA should be involved, and which "monsters" should be involved, and I wrote the story. Andy graciously volunteered to draw the story, and we were all set.

Or so we thought.

JL #40 "....Dangerous Brain Storm!" Afterward

So, what did you think?

I will be the first to admit that some of the art was not very good. I guess when I take time off my artistic abilities kind of stagnate? Or maybe I just get lazy or rushed? Some of the art is good, but too many panels remind me myself of Vince Colletta with dull or blank backgrounds. And for that I apologize. I will try to do better in the future.

Of course, I have said it before and I will say it again: I consider myself more of a writer than an illustrator. And I DO like the story, and some of the dialogue. Let me tell you about how this particular story metamorphosed....

JL #40 ".....Dangerous Brain Storm!" Forward

This was a difficult story to get finished! Originally I intended it to be finished in July, before I went to Japan. However,  as you will see when you read it, it's *kind of* a continuing saga. So I had to do some coordination with the next issue before I could finish this one. Then I got terribly busy at my office, and had to go on a business trip or two. I didn't want to cart all of my pages and pens etc with me to Nebraska to work on it, so I brought the script to #41 with me instead. That was a mistake, because I then go into THAT story, and wanted/needed to finish the script for that one! And lastly, my collaborator on #42, the very rad Andy Kapellusch,  asked me to do various prep work on THAT issue before I went to Japan as well....

JL #40 "....Dangerous Brain Storm!" The Cover

Take a gander at this fantastic piece of art by the fantastic Luke Daab! 

I asked for a piece featuring Batgirl in a dramatic pose, with the JLAers defeated around her, and this is what I got! LOVE the "retro" feel he was going with here, too. 

Nice work, again and always, Luke! 

When I asked him why Aquaman wasn't included, he told me he didn't want to show Aquaman defeated. So....extra points for that response!! 

You can commission Luke Daab yourself at his site Daab Creative

JL #39 Bizarro Hockey!

JL #39 featuring Firestorm and Typhoon!

I have been writing and drawing my own Justice League stories for several years. I set "my" universe squarely in the Satellite Era, circa Justice League of America #100. Since that time I have had the Elongated Man, Red Tornado, and Hawkwoman join (and The Atom quit in Martian Manhunter's place). Zatanna has not joined, so of course Firestorm has not joined, either. Oh, and in my universe Kathy Sutton is black.

The only thing you need to know to enjoy this story is that I have been teasing readers with promises of Firestorm for the last year or so. He was mentioned in a conversation between Red and Ralph a few issues ago, but this is his actual debut. That is why Red Tornado and Aquaman don't know who he is....yet.

JL #39 "That's What Friends Are For!" Forward

This issue had a somewhat different genesis than my usual story. This issue came to be because I wanted to introduce Firestorm into "my" JLA universe. Having decided that I would, I quickly decided that I had to actually introduce the character, and not just feature him. You see, Firestorm has never shown up before...he had only been mentioned once, in a conversation between Red Tornado and Elongated Man. So I decided that instead of showcasing him as a guest-star with the whole JLA in his debut appearance, I would introduce him as another co-existing character in "my" universe....just like already introduced non-JLAers such as Black Lightning, Animal Man, and Supergirl. Then I figured that the best way to add him would be to have him guest-star with Superman, in the same way he did in the "real" DC Comics continuity! So I decided to base my story on a classic DC Comics Presents story. From there I hit on the idea of doing a whole series of team-ups for the issue, and from there it all fell into place.

JL #38 "The Yellow Alert!" AFTERWARD

So...what did you think of my newest collaborative effort on "my" Justice League?

I am prejudiced, of course, but I think Andy Kapelusch and I did a pretty good job on it. As I mentioned in the Forward, Andy did the pencils for the majority of the story and I did the inks and dialogue. Andy did supply suggestions or hints to what he was thinking, but I was free to use or over-ride his suggestions. Overall I think the story reads pretty darn well. Shall I go over the parts I am especially happy with?

I love this panel. I think Andy did a great job setting up three people on one side of Green Lantern and three people on the other side. I only wish I did a better job with the green energy aura coloring.

JL #38 "The Yellow Alert!" FORWARD

Nearly a year ago, my cyber-buddy Andy Kapellusch and I were chatting about my Justice League series. I was finishing up my JLA-JSA team-up story (#34, hyper-linked on the right) and we talked about how much we both loved the Justice Society. Either he made an off-hand comment about wanting to help create something with me, or I offered him a chance...I don't remember. One way or another, we somehow decided to work together.

JL #37 "Every Little Breeze...!" AFTERWARD

So, what did you think?

When my co-creator Rick Duncan sent me his script for this story, I immediately realized that it had been written with Bronze Age DC Comics in mind. The Hawks were archeologists working at Midway City Museum, for example, and Zatanna was a member...but so was Plastic Man!?

JL#37 "Every Little Breeze...!" FORWARD

This issue has a very special history. 

When I announced about a year ago that I was going to start doing "my" Justice League series again, my pal Rick Duncan sent me a script for a story he had called "Every Little Breeze." We had worked together on an Aquaman story before (you can find that here, "States Of Matter!") and he had liked how that story had turned out. He sent this script to me and asked if I could do something with it in "my" universe.  Rick had written this a few years before without paying much attention to the "current" JLA; he had included the "satellite-era" members, but also Plastic Man, for example.

I read it, I liked it, and I wanted to do it. However, there were a few specific problems I had to address. For one thing, Hawkman and Hawkwoman were lead characters, and they were not "back" in my universe yet. (And a quick check of the Roll Call (below) may give you a hint as to another member issue we had...!) After talking things over with Rick, I decided to keep the Hawks in the story. But that meant he had to wait for them to come back. So I decided to use his story the first time after the Hawks return. Which is one of the reasons why I have been "sitting" on this story for about a year. Sorry for the wait, Rick!!  

It'll finally be on-site tomorrow. Please let us know what you think!