Reviews (DC)
Review: Justice League of America #200
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #200
(Cover by George Pérez)
Published and © by DC, Mar. 1982
“A League Divided”
Synopsis: When the Justice League’s very first foes reappear, new Leaguers must battle original members before the team can stand united.
Writer: Gerry Conway
Pencilers: George Pérez, Pat Broderick, Jim Aparo, Dick Giordano, Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino, Brian Bolland and Joe Kubert
Inkers: Brett Breeding, Terry Austin, Aparo, Giordano, Kane, Frank Giacoia, Bolland and Kubert
Review: Give early-’80s DC some credit: They knew how to put together a celebratory issue. Gerry Conway’s script, featuring the return of the Justice League’s original foes, is more of an exercise in positioning characters and putting them through their paces than it is a compelling story. But it does its job, offering plenty of classic JLA action and character moments. The real treat, though, is the art, which reunites artists with characters they’ve long been associated with (i.e., Joe Kubert on Hawkman, Jim Aparo on Phantom Stranger and Aquaman, etc.) Not everything works, but the batting average is incredibly high.
Grade: A-
Second opinions: “… flawless …” — Aris, Aris Asks. … “… one of my favorite superhero comics …” — Mike Sterling, Mike Sterling’s Progressive Ruin. … recommended by The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide (second edition).
Cool factor: The art. Seriously, this issue’s a feast.
Not-so-cool factor: Snapper Carr. (He’s even less cool than Rick Jones.)
Notable: Green Arrow rejoins the team.
Character quotable: “This is just sloppy seconds!” — Aquaman.
A word from the writer: “Suffice to say that the coordination of eight different pencilers and ten chapters and one writer and one editor gave us all some pretty hairy moments. ” — Gerry Conway, in “The First Two Hunderd” essay in this issue.
Tags: 1982-3, • Brett Breeding, • Brian Bolland, • Carmine Infantino, • Dick Giordano, • Frank Giacoia, • George Pérez, • Gerry Conway, • Gil Kane, • Jim Aparo, • Joe Kubert, • Pat Broderick, • Terry Austin, Grade: A MINUS, Title: Justice League of America Discussion
6 comments for “Review: Justice League of America #200”
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Just an A-? By far my favorite single issue of JLA, ever. The weak points in the story are glossed over by the sheer awesomeness from cover to cover.
Andrew
You just have me going through long boxes and finding comics that I havent read in years.
I remember this issue and the best part of it was Batman being drawn by Brian Bolland and Pat Broderick drawing Firestorm. Of course having Kubert, Gil Kane, Infantino, Giordano and Aparo on one issue just blew my mind.
I am finding treasures that I didnt even remember that I have - like a FN to NM run of Brave & Bold and a NM copy of JLA 200.
Edo:
“The weak points in the story are glossed over by the sheer awesomeness from cover to cover.”
That might be the best one-sentence review I’ve ever read! The art in this issue really is a treat. But I usually need both the story and the art to be firing on all cylinders to give something an A (and it needs a “special something” to get an A+). In general, I’m finding I’m not nearly as fond of Gerry Conway’s Bronze work as I thought I was. This one’s certainly a keeper, though!
Cheers,
Andrew
Dale:
Glad I can inspire some long-box diving! Every time I push out the Comics Bronze Age schedule, I find treasures I forgot I had. It’s the next best thing to buying new comics!
Cheers,
Andrew
Some of us don’t have long boxes to dive into. *heavy sigh* Sites like these remind me over & over again how many cool comics I had before I dumped (not really, sold for peanuts which actually came to the same thing) comics collection in the mid-80s…
I havent bought anything new over the past 6 months as I have become totally disinterested in comics (well, I might pick up Blackest Night and Daredevil in harcover) so I enjoy these jaunts back throughout my childhood, and I still have my silver age stuff tucked away