Jolt Country

The best comic book in the world is back.



Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire rebooted the Justice League back in the late 80s and it was consistently the most entertaining and flat-out funny comic I have ever read in my life.

Giffen and DeMatteis got through sixty issues of JLA before calling it quits (Maguire didn't stick around nearly as long) but they are all back this month with a comic called "Formerly Known as the Justice League." And lucky for everyone who loved the "Bwa-ha-ha" version of the JL, it's great.

This six-issue limited series (though I heard that it was renewed for another six) is an introductory tale, and unlike most other comics based on introduction, it doesn't completely suck. After boss Maxwell Lord rescues the robot L-Ron from his job working the drive-through, he brings back several of the real Leaguers. Blue Beetle -- one of the finest characters in American fiction -- is back, although apparently some idiot gave him a heart condition in the last few years. Booster Gold is making his way as a "kept" man, and Fire had been passing the time with her own Internet porn site.

Hee, hee, hee.

It's excellent, and easily the best comic I've read since I got back into comics three years ago. The art and dialogue in this one is fantastic. This is what I've been missing.

I have no idea how this read to people who didn't follow the JLA during the period that Giffen and DeMatteis wrote it, but the success that this new book is makes it completely recommendable regardless. I only hope that Guy Gardner makes an appearance somewhere down the line and that further issues are not a re-hash of previous jokes and situations (from what I have gathered off Usenett and various interviews, this does not seem to be the case, but we'll see).

********** out of 10.

I recently... ah... acquired this series... electronically. Pretty good, even though I haven't the foggiest clue who a single one of those people were. Were there ever any more than the initial six issues?

There wasn't. However!!! Actually, it gets slightly complicated.

You know the "JLA"? Superman? Batman? Flash? Wonder Woman? The Atom, maybe? Yeah, the JLA was cancelled in the mid-80s. So they wanted to bring it back.

The plotter and writer got together and found out they couldn't use the characters people normally associate with the JLA. So they got second and third stringers like Blue Beetle, Shazam!, the Martian Manhunter and (as an exception to the weak lineup) Batman.

Anyway, they called the magazine Justice League International. For a little while, anyway -- eventually they made a "Europe" book as well and therefore named the International book "Justice League America."

Sixty issues of JLI/JLA was excellent. All of the issues of JLE that I am aware of were good. Everything beyond before they reset the book again sucked. The art was consistently good as well, although Kevin Maguire did not stick around for the entire sixty-issue run.

They have at least one "trade paperback" that I know of -- Justice League: A New Beginning. Fun stuff, with the addition of the nasty Green Lantern, Guy Gardner.

(I tried to find it on Mile High Comics, but geez their search engine is picky.)

(Justice League America actually went 113 issues, but every single one after #60 was crap.)

I'll see if I can find a link to the JLA trade paperback there. It's quite good.

Also, they are currently killing the Elongated Man's wife in a miniseries called "Identity Crisis" which may kill the chances of a sequel to Formerly Known, as that act had the plotter of Formerly Known reportedly swear off ever writing for DC Comics again. Thanks, DC!!!

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:The plotter and writer got together and found out they couldn't use the characters people normally associate with the JLA. So they got second and third stringers like Blue Beetle, Shazam!, the Martian Manhunter and (as an exception to the weak lineup) Batman.

I liked the fact that they acknowledge their b-team status. Like two out of every three Avengers lineups where it's all reformed b-level villains from other books, but they're all Trained by Captain America!!! so we're still supposed to take them seriously.

But, on the downside, I still haven't even the vaguest idea what the Blue Beetle even does. Or the legal background behind DC's acquisition of the Captain Marvel character.

On a completely unrelated note, I acquired the first 44 or so issues of Exiles from the same source. About half of them (the first half) are really good, then I guess they lost their writer or something. A lot of stuff's the good sort of High Concept: Vampire Captain America!! World Dictator Iron Man!! Lesbian Mary Jane!!! You probably have to be enough of a nerd to know who Mimic is before you can really get into it, though.

Debaser wrote:But, on the downside, I still haven't even the vaguest idea what the Blue Beetle even does. Or the legal background behind DC's acquisition of the Captain Marvel character.

I only saw him hit somebody once in the whole run. Well, he had a boxing match with Guy Gardner at one point.

But he has a light gun that will blind you temporarily, and he is an inventor. But mostly he is there for the yukks.

On a completely unrelated note, I acquired the first 44 or so issues of Exiles from the same source. About half of them (the first half) are really good, then I guess they lost their writer or something. A lot of stuff's the good sort of High Concept: Vampire Captain America!! World Dictator Iron Man!! Lesbian Mary Jane!!! You probably have to be enough of a nerd to know who Mimic is before you can really get into it, though.

What now!? This was a recent comic that came out? A trade paperback? Were they really called "Iron Man" and such, or was it a wink-wink nudge nudge thing with different names for the people they represented?

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:What now!? This was a recent comic that came out? A trade paperback? Were they really called "Iron Man" and such, or was it a wink-wink nudge nudge thing with different names for the people they represented?

It's an ongoing series. Supposedly, the issue after the last one I have they get a new, better writer again. But those aren't available over bittorent yet that I've seen so I can't vouch for anything,

Basically, it's Yet Another X-Men Spinoff, only in this one they take a bunch of alternate universe X-Men and send them on quantum leap style adventures where they have to accomplish some sort of task to set history on whatever course it's supposed to go. That all leads to the sort of "What If" geekery you'd expect, but they have a lot of fun with it in the better episodes and create some pretty good self-contained stories within the intentionally vague framework.

Oh, and the download speeds are pretty crappy, but...

Debaser wrote:Oh, and the download speeds are pretty crappy, but...

Save me the google, what do I open the files with?

I believe this is what I'm using.

Wow, four gigs. These are good comics, right? You guys any know a Comic Specific tracker? I now feel like checking out the rest of the Thundercats series and some of Scud.

Worm wrote:These are good comics, right?

Oh yeah. Well, the actual JLI/JLE books are good (at least during the first team's run), and the Booster Gold solo isn't bad. Most of the other peripheral shit in that torrent is worthless. I don't know how Blue Beetle got such a cool gig after his utterly lame solo book. I mean he fights a guy called "Firefist, the Incendiary Man". Who commits arson because he has a grudge against firefighters for not rescuing him from a fire. But any hero who embezzles JL funds to start his own island resort is my kind of guy, so no hard feelings I guess.

Debaser wrote:

Worm wrote:These are good comics, right?

Oh yeah. Well, the actual JLI/JLE books are good (at least during the first team's run), and the Booster Gold solo isn't bad. Most of the other peripheral shit in that torrent is worthless. I don't know how Blue Beetle got such a cool gig after his utterly lame solo book. I mean he fights a guy called "Firefist, the Incendiary Man". Who commits arson because he has a grudge against firefighters for not rescuing him from a fire. But any hero who embezzles JL funds to start his own island resort is my kind of guy, so no hard feelings I guess.

I wish I had read this. =(

Okay after I delete all the SHIT you gave me a download link for I'm going to search that tracker more. Is there anyplace that just has the comic books per episode instead of in huger sets?

Worm wrote:Okay after I delete all the SHIT you gave me a download link for I'm going to search that tracker more. Is there anyplace that just has the comic books per episode instead of in huger sets?

Oh, <s>Ch</s> <s>K</s> Cheer-ist, you couldn't get this downloaded in the three months since I provided the link? Just run the torrent while you sleep, it's not like you're on dialup or something.

I've got a torrent file for just the "Formerly Known" miniseries, though I don't know if anyone's seeding that anymore as I got it off Suprnova sometime last year. I can mail that to you if you want. I can seed, too, but I think Comcast puts a choke on my upload bandwidth.

Debaser wrote:Oh, <s>Ch</s> <s>K</s> Cheer-ist,

Motherfucker!

Debaser wrote:you couldn't get this downloaded in the three months since I provided the link? Just run the torrent while you sleep, it's not like you're on dialup or something.

I downloaded it all and sat and wondered why there were five comics I cared about and others I did not.

Debaser wrote:I've got a torrent file for just the "Formerly Known" miniseries, though I don't know if anyone's seeding that anymore as I got it off Suprnova sometime last year. I can mail that to you if you want. I can seed, too, but I think Comcast puts a choke on my upload bandwidth.

Oh, so it's just a miniseries? Fuck, I think I've figured out why I hate comics all over again. Maybe I'll try to get the Thundercats series or some shit. That tracker up there is dead. =(

Hey, wot, you got all the Justice Leagues? I didn't and then the tracker didn't work for me.

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:Hey, wot, you got all the Justice Leagues? I didn't and then the tracker didn't work for me.

It's got a load of various shit. JL that JL this. Let me see if I've still got a torrent. I do, though I deleted the comics. So, ask Debaser.

Also, buy a entire new game system just for fucking Resident Evil 4, anything else is silly.

Gamecube kicks your ass.

System, 2 controllers, and Mariokart for a Bennie?

I know you hate new systems but it don't get much better than that.

No, I just hate Mario games.

How much can I get one system, one controller and RE4 for? They can keep their precious "Mario Kart."

$99 for the system, no matter what comes with it. If you want RE4, you're either shit out of luck, or shit out of $50.. whichever way you want to look at it. You could.. oh.. sell the extra controller + mario kart, it's still around a full-price game.
Then, call up Nintendo and bitch that you have an HDTV and where the hell is my component video port. Even if you don't have an HDTV or component ins, they'll send you a fresh new (old) gamecube with the removed port. It's fun, and Nintendo gets to see the fallout that occurs when they just do whatever the fuck they want and don't listen to ANYONE.

"No one wants to play online games, anyway" TRANSLATION: We have sold almost as many broadband adaptors as copies of PSO (three)

"Only 2% of our customers use component inputs" TRANSLATION: PLEASE SAVE US MONEY EVEN IF IT'S TWO CENTS A CUBE WE SUUUUUCCCKKKK!!!!