Customer Rating:  
Summary: Solid and Fun Story
Comment: I was just as big a fan of the BWAH-HA-HA! Justice League as most people back in the late 80's, and it was good to see the fun again!
I will admit it was difficult to read at times because of what DC has done to several of the characters, i.e. Sue, Beetle and Max, but it was still a fun read.
If you were a fan of the 80's JL, then I can recommend you pick this book up. You might also want to check out the Trade Paperback of Justice League International, which contains the first 6 or 7 issues of the original series.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Big Keith Giffen Fan
Comment: Years ago I got rid of a majority of my moderately extensive comic book collection keeping only the ones I couldn't bear to part with. So, recently I went back through the comics I had kept and found an interesting pattern. A tremendous amount of material by artist and writer Keith Giffen managed to make the final cut. After all this time it finally occurred to me. I'm a big Keith Giffen fan. So acting on this revelation I went out and bought the first Keith Giffen material I could find which happened to be this book, `Formerly Known as the Justice League'.
I'd seen many of these Keith Giffen comics on the comic shelves when they originally came out including `Justice League International' and `Justice League: A New Beginning' but they looked silly with second tier heroes and quite frankly I wasn't buying comics at the time. What I learned after reading Formerly Known As... was that it doesn't matter who's in the comic. In the end good writing is what matter most.
Most of the book is dialogue consisting of clever banter and exchanges of insults particularly between the two stars of the show Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. The writers also have a lot of fun with Maxwell Lord and the robot L-Ron and besides his appearance as the head of Checkmate this is my only experience with Mr. Lord and it's quite a dramatic difference. I'm not usually a fan of this much dialog but Giffen makes it so fun it never felt tedious.
The writing here isn't nearly as slapstick as the venerable Ambush Bug but it remains funny. Legitimately humorous dialogue is just about the hardest thing to pull off in comics and I have to give credit to the team of Giffen and DeMatteis for years of great material that contrasts with the too often heavy tone of other DC Comics. If I would change just one thing I actually would have had Keith do the art because he's as talented at penciling as he is at writing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Funny and enjoyable - just what comics should be
Comment: Ok, this is not your daddy's Justice League. This is funny stuff and they do not apologize for making you laugh either.
I have always been a Shazam fan, perhaps moreso than Superman. Here is this great powerful warrior who is really a little kid. Compare that to a grown man with a good job and the adoration of millions.
Plus Captain Marvel can so kick Supes but...
Anyway, I bought this because I saw Mary Marvel on it.
If you are at all a Shazam fan, this will truly amuse you. Mary Marvel is the most powerful goody goody on the planet and this superteam is exactly what happens to pretty goody goody girls at frat parties...
The humor is laugh out loud funny. If you have read Final Crisis or the neverending 52/Countdown/quest to take all your money recent DC lines, you may really enjoy this storyline.
Also if you enjoyed the Identity Crisis storyline, you will feel a much greater affinity for Elongated Man's wife as she plays a major role in this series and is fully fleshed out as well. I found Ralph Dibney to always be an annoying Jimmy Olsen with superpowers copy, and after reading this and Identity Crisis, you actually feel for Dibney.
Sue Dibney up until this funny comic series is just sort of there and really is more in the way. Here, she is part of the humor and becomes a real character in her own right.
Also anything with Booster Gold and Blue Beetle is good, and this storyline is really great.
I fun romp that should not be taken too seriously.
Customer Rating:
Summary: nothing is as good as the original
Comment: I bought this as a big fan of the original run.
Customer Rating:
Summary: family
Comment: This is just a good light hearted read in the superhero community. Yeah there are fights but the main concept of this book help established the bonding of these individuals into something of a family. This was evident as seen in the later titles of Idenity Crisis and Infinite Crisis when it was pay back time for killing/hurting one of their own.
|
