The Justice League Paradox.

 Okay . . . so this might be a bad idea. Seeing as what few readers I have probably don't care much about comic book superheroes. At least not to the degree that I have since the age of 11 (Oh, my misspent youth). But I started writing all this for my post on the 1997 Justice League of America pilot, then cut it out and told myself that I'd turn it into a separate post somewhere down the line.

So, what is it?

Well, it's a post about how the Justice League as a concept has been sold to most people both comic readers and folks outside the hobby as a certain platonic ideal that is often fairly distant from what it actually is in the comic books themselves. The Justice League is typically sold as a serious all-star team composed of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, with maybe the occasional substitutions made for the sake of diversity, and only engaging in the most epic of adventures. The truth is not exactly that.

Ahem . . .

Okay, so the first Justice League wasn't actually a Justice League. The concept first appeared in All-Star Comics #3 in 1940 as the Justice Society of America. A group of costumed mystery men banding together into one group. It was the first superhero team ever. It was also a promotional scheme. You see, National Comics and All-American Comics (soon to merge into DC) decided to put all the heroes who couldn't quite get popular enough to have their own monthly feature in one book to give them more exposure. This includes early versions of Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and Atom, among others. They would meet at the beginning of the issue, discuss some problem, and then generally go off and have some solo adventure connected to that problem. There was very little actual teamwork for at least the first year. And then when one of the members became popular enough to anchor a monthly magazine, they were moved off the team as an “honorary member” and then a new member came in to replace them.

The original Justice Society of America

Then, after superheroes started making a comeback (their popularity had been surpassed in the '50s by crime, romance and horror comics), DC tried to revive the Justice Society concept in 1960. This time it was renamed the Justice League of America and featured all the superheroes who were already popular enough to carry a title. The roster was: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and the J'onn J'onnz-The Manhunter from Mars! Epic, right?! Well . . . Superman and Batman didn't show up much during the first year. DC editorial didn't think they needed to. It was only later they realized that Superman and Batman's popularity could be used to promote the JLA rather than the other way around. And even before that, the “Big 7” didn't last long as Green Arrow joined in the team's fourth issue. They did have some big science fiction stories, but they felt more like something out of Star Trek or Doctor Who than big blocksbusters. They also very rarely acted together, usually splitting into small groups to handle different parts of an adventure in different locations. And also . . . they were just kind of a club for superheroes. When they weren't out adventuring they just hung out in their Secret Sanctuary (it was a cave. Lots of superheroes hung out in caves) and told adventure yarns to their sidekick/mascot, a hipster teen named Snapper Carr.

The early Justice League of America, including team mascot Snapper Carr.

Moving into the late '60s, the League phased out Snapper Carr and moved their headquarters to an orbiting satellite. Now, this is where the Justice League starts to seem like what was advertised. Mind youy, the HQ wasn't called “The Watchtower” yet. That would come later. But if the “Big 7” is what you think of when you think of the Justice League, then they're going way beyond that. The League at this point consists of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman and Black Canary. The Martian Manhunter had already started to be phased out as well, because his popularity had declined. And to this group of nine, they added such luminaries as Hawkgirl, Zatanna, Red Tornado, PhantomStranger, the Elongated Man and Firestorm. It's not quite the most exclusive team anymore, now was it?

Most of the cast of the Satellite era Justice League of America

And here's where things really go off base.

You see, at this point there was a big shift in how superhero teams were written. Over the years, they had already been leaning more and more into character drama, which was popular with older readers. However, there was also an increase in the popularity of teams of younger heroes with more youthful energy. This was exemplified by the popualrity of DC's own Legion of Super-Heroes and New Teen Titans, as well as Marvel's X-Men.

So, with that in mind and decreasing sales for Justice League of America, writer Gerry Conway had Aquaman disband the League. He then reformed it with fellow remaining members Martian Manhunter (who came back), Zatanna and Elongated Man. To this, they added new, young, fresh members Vixen, Steel, Vibe and Gypsy. The team was at the time without an HQ (the JLA Satellite had been blown out of the sky as part of the previous story) so they relocated to an underground bunker in Detroit, Michigan provided by their new member Steel. This version of the League didn't do particularly well. It lasted for only two years, from 1984 to 1986. It ended with two members, Steel and Vibe, being killed off.

The Justice League during the Detroit period (plus Cosmic Boy and Firestorm)

After this, in 1985, there was a huge time-bending story across all of the DC line called Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Crisis is hard to explain, but its intention was to rewrite DC's in-universe history, streamline some things, revitalize some other stuff and just try to spruce up pretty much everything.

So, this would be a good time to relaunch the classic Justice League of America, right? Get all the big guns back in one place. Back to an all-star lineup of characters, right? Well, DC editorial thought so at first. There was a problem, though. It turns out that when you rewrite the history of everything, you end up rewriting the history of all the major characters too. Every major superhero DC had was in the process of being revamped and rebooted. And in order to keep their work from becoming more complicated, the editors of all their solo books told the editor of Justice League “hands off”.

So, other than Batman and Martian Manhunter, all the other big name Justice League characters were unavailable. They also got a Green Lantern, but not the classic one Hal Jordan. Instead, they got the ornery and egotistical Guy Gardner (you may remember him from the recent Superman movie). Beyond that, the new writers pick from what they could among the lesser lights, choosing some characters who were brand new, some who were facing a revival and some that were pretty obscure. The roster was flexible, but a basic line-up would be something like Martian Manhunter, Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Captain Atom and Rocket Red. Batman, despite involvement, remained a bit aloof. The new creative team had a few tricks up their sleeve. First was the addition of a mysterious new suppoprting character named Maxwell Lord to head up the team's development. Next, they managed to set the stakes pretty high by giving the League a new political status as a team backed by the United Nations. And the last thing they did was maybe the biggest risk of all: They made it funny. The Justice League International as it was now called was basically a workplace comedy that found humor in how a group of very different people bounced off each other.

And it was wildly popular. Much to the consternation of higher-ups at DC.

There were spin-off titles. Justice League International split into Justice League America and Justice League Europe. Later on, there would be comics with titles like Justice League Task Force and Extreme Justice. The comical tone didn't stay and neither did the original writers and artists, but this version of the Justice League lasted for ten years. I should also note that this is the version of the Justice League that I grew up reading about.

The Justice League International

Despite a respectable run, sales would eventually decline significantly. In 1996, that version of the Justice League ended too. A new title JLA was launched by superstar writer Grant Morrison (note: I will be referring to Morrison as “they” and “them” pronoun-wise because that's what they prefer to be called). They once again brought back the “Big 7” roster, stationed them in the new JLA Watchtower on the moon and used their knack for big concept science fiction to create one of the most lauded runs of the Justice League there is. And even Morrison didn't stick with the “Big 7”. Morrison added characters like Green Arrow, Plastic Man, Oracle, Huntress, Zauriel, Steel (a different Steel than the one in Detroit), Aztek, Tomorrow Woman, Orion and Big Barda. Some of them were just temporary members. Others were part of Morrison's greater theme of the Justice League as a pantheon of modern gods. You see, the new members along with the “Big 7” were supposed to correlate with certain figures from the Greek pantheon (Oracle=Athena, Steel=Hephaestus, Plastic Man=Dionysus, etc).

Anyway, that version was also wildly popular. And it basically became the basis for most Justice League-related media outside of comics going forward. Notably the Justice League cartoon series.

JLA by Grant Morrison and Bryan Hitch

After that, I stopped paying quite such close attention. But it was mostly the same stuff. New writers and artists constructing their own Leagues of both major and minor players. The main difference now seemed to be that they were very hesitant to not have Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman in their lineups. Also, the Justice Society had a revival, though they've evolved from a promotional title posing as a team to a multi-generational extended family of superheroes where the descendants and proteges of heroes from the '40s go to train with what remains of the old guard.

The new generation Justice Society of America

So, why does it keep happening? Well, beyond the obvious cases of editors saying “no”, there's also the fact that a comic book series can be really boring if all you can do with your characters is have them punch things. Most modern comic writers don't have the knack for just big science fiction like Morrison and are more attuned to character drama. So, it helps a lot to have characters they themselves can have full control of. Characters they can change and put through their paces. Characters who can be coupled up in romantic pairings. Characters they can kill off if it serves the story. And it didn't just happen for the League. Over at Marvel, the Avengers stopped being a collection of big stars in 1965.

So, what's the takeaway? Why did I write all this? Well, part of me hopes some Hollywood big shot at Warner Brothers sees it and realizes that Justice League media can be more flexible. I hope for that, but know it's a long shot. At best, maybe I can convince some comic book fans out there that this stuff doesn't need to be taken quite so seriously.

[SIGH]

Anyway, next time will be a subject that's more approachable. Though, I am thinking about taking another shot at writing about superhero comics now. Because I think I can do better than this giant wall of minutiae I just produced. Maybe. It's an interesting challenge at least.

Television Oddities: Justice League of America (1997)

 

Television Oddities title card

Today, dear readers, I want to take you back. Back to a time when superhero media was no where as prevalent as it is today. Back to the ramshackle days of the mid-to-late 1990s, when superheroes weren't blowing up international box offices and were still largely the denizens of comic book shops, toy boxes, video game consoles and Saturday morning TV. With maybe the occasional evening drama or big budget movie to serve as an exception to the rule.

It was into this environment that this pilot was made. After the ambitious but ultimately doomed 1990 series The Flash, and 1993's rousing success of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, DC Comics was still interested in continuing to showcase their characters on TV. That's when a pilot for CBS was greenlit for one of DC Comics' premiere teams, The Justice League of America.

Group shot of the cast of Justice League of America.

Now, this is kind of an infamous pilot in some circles. And it's been talked about a lot. But many of the videos and blog posts I've encountered about it seem to mostly be the same thing. They all just kind of seem like comic book fanboys kvetching about how the pilot, and particularly the cast, don't match perfectly with their platonic ideal of what a Justice League of America television show should be. I'm hoping to take a different tack and cover both why it didn't work from a comics fan perspective and why it just doesn't pass muster as a pilot.

Part of me wants to give you a “quick-and-dirty” run down of the history of the Justice League, but that would be a bit much. So, I've decided to save all that for a different post and focus on the one version of the Justice League that this pilot is ostensibly based on.

In 1987, DC Comics wanted to relaunch the Justice League of America. This came right after a big event story titled Crisis on Infinite Earths, which changed the DC Universe to a large degree. And which they were now using as an excuse to try to clean up and revamp their big name characters. Origin stories were retold in different ways. Wonder Woman was relaunched completely. The Flash was a different person. A lot going on. Now, DC wanted to relaunch the JLA with all the big name characters. The last version didn't have any of them (I'll explain that some other time) and it didn't work out well. There was just one problem and it was that all the big name characters were being relaunched too. The editors of those comic books told the editor of Justice League to kindly keep their hands off. So, writers Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire reaching for whoever was available. They ended up with a cast of lesser lights, newbies and characters who were being tried for a revival. The cast changed but a general line-up would be something like Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern (the Guy Gardner one), Captain Atom, Rocket Red, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire and Ice. They had a couple of tricks up there sleeves, though. One is that they maintained the sense of scope for their team even without Superman in their ranks by making the team official. The Justice League was rechristened the Justice League International and was now officially sanctioned by the United Nations. So, now they had to deal with global politics too. The other was the philosophy for the JLI. The idea was that the League would be a place where superheroes could act like people complete with flaws, foibles and rough edges. Some became fast friends, others grated on each others' nerves. And a lot of these interactions would be leveraged towards humor. Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire essentially created possibly the first superhero workplace comedy.

The comic that introduced the Justice League International.

It was wildly popular. Popular enough for Justice League International to be spun into two series Justice League America and Justice League Europe. Plus a quarterly book they would share.

This was the Justice League I largely grew up with. It's also the Justice League that this pilot is supposedly based on.

Supposedly . . .

We start out with Tori Olafsdotter aka Ice giving a documentary-style confessional to a camera about her lack of confidence and how she never expected to end up a superhero.

In comics, Ice is Tora Olafsdotter and she hails from a race of Nordic “Ice Gods”. Here, she's a meteorologist with self-esteem issues who works for Dr. Eno at the Eno Institute. They are tracking a shurricane headed to New Metro City. A storm that has been predicted by a cryptic individual known as The Weatherman.

Ah, New Metro City. Of all the fake cities associated with DC superheroes, this one seems the fakest. Somehow the city is near a desert and a waterfront and has some sort of film/TV industry going on and yet has no truly noteworthy character. It's not gloomy like Gotham, awe-inspiring like Metropolis or bustling like Central City. It just kind of is.

Then we get another confessional featuring Barry Allen aka The Flash. The Barry Allen we know from the comics and recent TV shows is a forensic scientist. This one is unemployed. And he's seemingly going out of his way to communicate that he is basically “Joe Shmoe”. He talks about how he likes to go bowling and watch football on the tube and all that. And then we're treated to a scene of Barry's landlord evicting him from his apartment, including throwing his stuff out of a second-story window. Right before Barry has to race off and deal with the rogue hurricane.

Next the camera trains itself on Guy Gardner, aka Green Lantern. There have been a number of different Green Lanterns in the comics. This version seems to be three different ones squished together into one character. For a more accurate take on the Guy Gardner version, watch 2025's Superman movie. Anyway, he laments that Barry gets to have such an uncomplicated life while his is so complex. We then see him on a date trying to make up with his girlfriend Cheryl, who apparently is angry because he keeps disappearing to save the city. And then he disappears to save the city.

I feel like this will go a long time if I keep doing this as a blow-by-blow.

To keep things short, we are introduced to two more heroes via on-camera confessional. One is B.B. DaCosta aka Fire. In comics, Beatriz DaCosta, a Brazilian supermodel and secret agent with fire powers. Here, she's a struggling actress. The other is Ray Palmer aka The Atom. Here he's a science teacher who can shrink down in size. In the comics . . . actually, Ray's pretty much spot on. Except he's a college professor instead of a science teacher.

The Justice League right before they run off to the final battle. 

The confessionals continue throughout the pilot. The plot becomes about finding and stopping the Weatherman, who is manipulating the weather while dealing with their own personal struggles. Barry keeps looking for a job. Guy keeps trying to get back together with Cheryl. B.B. Doesn't struggle so much with pursuing acting as being pursued by a guy she meets at an audition who's way too young for her. Ray deals with his growing attraction to Tori while Tori deals with her confidence issues. This is also an origin story for Tori as she gains ice powers from being zapped by the Weatherman's machine.

To aid Tori in her quest to control her powers, she's brought to the Justice League's mysterious, shadowy leader/mentor, The Martian Manhunter. He's played by David Ogden Stiers, of M*A*S*H fame. He's got an amazing voice for the role, but he's more than a little, shall we say, paunchy. The pilot uses Martian Manhunter very sparingly anyway. The two times he leaves the League's secret underwater headquarters, it's shape-shifted into someone else.

David Ogden Stiers as The Martian Manhunter

As for the Weatherman . . . I'm just going to spoil it up front. The Weatherman is Tori's boss Dr. Eno, played by Miguel Ferrer. They tried to do a fake-out thing where one of Tori's co-workers is hinted to be the Weatherman. But anyone watching should have figured it out. Because there are only two actors in the whole cast that seem capable of projecting enough gravitas to be a supervillain. One is David Ogden Stiers, who is already playing Martian Manhunter. The other is Miguel Ferrer.

So, I'm going to say something that would be considered blasphemy in some comic book circles: the problem with this pilot was not the lack of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Adding them to this specific pilot would not have improved anything (imagine Barry complaining about not having a job while billionaire Bruce Wayne is right there). And under normal circumstances and with proper characterization, the characters they did have are good characters. After all, Justice League International was able to succeed using a group of characters who are even lower tier than this (Note for the uninitiated: The Flash and the Atom are generally considered to be bigger characters than, say, Blue Beetle or Booster Gold). And most regular people and network executives would not be comparing it to a comic book.

The problem is that it's just a bad pilot.

I mean, the costumes are a problem and the special effects are a problem. But a further problem is that it's just so generic. The city they're in is generic. The villain is generic.  The characters feel like the generic character types you'd pick if you were doing “Five young people getting by in the big city”. There's the guy with relationship problems, the guy who has trouble holding down a job, the struggling actress and two varaiations of the nerd with self-confidence issues. They're clearly trying to run with the same “What if superheroes were human beings with feelings” approach as the comic book and seem to have circled around again to “What if superheroes' personal lives were kind of boring and mundane”. The scope has gone downright local and domestic. And they're relying on trends of 1990s television to make it work. Instead of a workplace comedy like the original JLI, they went with a friend group dynamic like the NBC show Friends. And while the confessional bits may remind modern people of The Office, back then it would have been considered evocative of the MTV reality show The Real World.

The final line-up sans Martian Manhunter and including Ice.

But for some reason I still find it kind of charming. Because it reminds me of a time earlier in my life when depicting the Justice League didn't have quite so many rules attached to it.

Anyway, this pilot never aired in the United States. But I believe it did air in some places overseas. And bootlegs of it did start popping up on the comic con circuit shortly thereafter. If you're morbidly curious, I found it online at Dailymotion.