Hello fellow Questers!!!
It's T to tha E to tha X back again on the wheels of steel, with the jams that make you slam and the grooves that make you move!!
Finally! Like General Douggie Mac, I have returned! It's been a long time - please forgive me. My wife took a huge promotion, which means more traveling for her, and more single parenting for me, which means lots of late nights with extra-curricular activities, on top of my own late-night teacher activities...But mama did it for me. She kept the home fires a-burning when I was off serving my country for over 11 years, so now it's my turn. I got this.
It is TIME!!! After years of wishing, and hoping, and praying...the Justice League film has finally arrived!!! I'm beyond stoked! Beyond excited!!! I am ready to rock!! But first...It's time get our Quest on with a few Justice League gems from my collection:
This is my copy of The Brave and the Bold vol 1, #28, printed in 1960, this is the first major Silver-Age superhero team! That's right - before the Marvel Age, before the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the Avengers, there was the dawn of justice! This comic features the 1st app of Starro the Conqueror and that crazy teenage superhero super-fan, Snapper Carr!!
Fun Fact: This is not only the first appearance of the Justice League of America, but it is also the very 1st time that Aquaman was ever featured on a cover.
Fun Fact/Flash Fact: The first (shown) chair of the Justice League was none other than the Scarlet Speedster himself...The Flash!!!
Here is my copy of Justice League of America, vol 1, #1!! This comic is the moment that the JLA leap into their very own long-running title (1960-1987), and it features the first appearance of one of the JLA's most formidable enemies: Despero!!
The Justice League was originally thought up by prominent comics editor, Julius (Julie) Schwartz in the very late 1950s. He wanted a new team to be an updated version of the Golden Age super force, The Justice Society of America, which was all the rage in the 1940s until superhero popularity began to fade in the latter part of the same decade. Schwartz one again tapped the brilliant Gardner Fox, architect of the Justice Society of America, to develop the new team, along with Golden Age artist, Mike Sekowsky. The result of this tenacious trio of minds was The Justice League of America which debuted in the March 1960 issue of The Brave and the Bold, which sported an amazing cover by a group of professionals including Mike Sekowsy, and the great Murphy Anderson. The new super-team originally consisted of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Batman, and Superman, along with their far-out fan, Snapper Carr. The Justice League battled an alien threat named Starro the Conqueror! This new super-team was a runaway hit - it graced the pages of the next two issues of The Brave and the Bold, and then lept into its own new series, which was without a doubt one of the most successful titles published in the Silver Age.
The Justice League left an indelible mark on comics; however, comics weren't the only media pathway that The Justice League conquered. With the help of renowned animation company, Hanna-Barbera, The Justice League made the leap to television in 1973 as the action-packed, hour-long animates series, "The Super Friends." It only lasted for one season, but returned in 1977, conquering the hearts, minds, and imaginations of kids everywhere, and running until 1986 in several different iterations with a total of 109 episodes:
The first series of "The Super Friends" (1973-1974)
The final series, "The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians"
FUN FACT: I loved this show.
FUN FACT: Hanna-Barbera thought that the name, "The Justice League" might not work out too well in the anti-Vietnam War climate that was stirring up national strife. "The Super Friends" fit perfectly for a kids show based on comics - with toned-down violence for younger audiences. Funny thing is...Sometimes they actually called themselves "The Justice League."
FUN FACT: There were several members of the Super Friends who had never appeared in comics - these members are thought to be heavy-handed, but well-intentioned, attempts at a more racially diverse team (Apache Chief, Samurai, Black Vulcan and El Dorado):
Yep, there is no doubt that the Justice League conquered TV with it's amazingly well-done animated show; however, unfortunately, we can't forget the major misstep that Warner Bros. took with this unaired, unforgettable (and some would say, unforgivable) 1997 TV movie/TV Show pilot, The Justice League of America. Here's a clip:
And then there were those equally horrid late 70s specials:
FUN FACT: Oh, let's be honest. I call them horrid, but to my little kid eyes, those 70s DC and Marvel shows, specials and movies were GREAT!! And so were reruns of the 60s cartoons!
From comics to cartoons, to TV specials, to TV movies, to big screen hits...All this leads us up to right now: the most important time in comics film history to DC fans for sure...The debut of the "Justice League" starring Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher!!! The culmination of nearly 60 years of great stories populated by great, iconic characters! And I, for one, just can't wait to see it tomorrow!!
That's it for today friends!! Drop me your thoughts and comments on the article and the new Justice League film!!
No comments:
Post a Comment