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JLA Membership Drive Specifications


Grant Morrison has turned the JLA into one of today's hottest comics with DC finally pulling out the big guns to make this comic work. With Morrison's writing skills and Howard Porter's quirky art this series is shaping up to be great. But is it your favorite League? Everyone has a League that they loved otherwise you wouldn't be reading this article for me it was the League ran by Maxwell Lord IV and his crazy band of misfits. With Beetle and Booster making J'onn J'onzz climb the walls with their antics while Guy would be downtown demolishing a crack-house or two. This league had all the makings of the family I always thought it should have been and introduced us to some great new characters like Manga Khan and brought back some old enemies such as Starro and Despero. But would these characters fit into today's league? Well lets see.

Let's say that the League is having a membership drive where better to look then members from the past right? Not always.

FLASH (Barry Allen): Still missed by many who knew him Barry would be right at home in this new League having served with a many of the members and having there respect and admiration. The only problem with having Barry in the team? Well at the moment he's dead and Wally is serving in the League.

BLACK CANARY: With the new Green Arrow in the League in would be great to see Canary back in the League currently without a title of her own she is possibly DC's most underused female character and I think she could even give the Batman a run for his money. Her agility and professionalism would make her a great asset to the team.

GREEN LANTERN (Hal Jordan): NO WAY! Hal would not be able to fit in with this League or any for that matter because I don't remember any of the teams trying to reset time and create a new universe by destroying ours. Like Barry Hal is dead and hopefully he will stay this way (although the hot rumor at the moment is he returns in G.L #100) as his end was fitting and to bring him back would make light of the sacrifice that he made. Hal died a hero let him stay that way.

GREEN ARROW (Oliver Queen): Isn't it amazing how many characters DC has killed off in the past few years. Here's another leaguer who is in the land of the dearly departed. Oliver would have been happy with this league they are professional and organized and would have had some great debates with the others. I would have loved to have seen Oliver and Aquaman arguing. With his new attitude Aquaman would probably be less tolerant of Ollie than in the past. The fireworks would have been great.

ATOM (Ray Palmer): Reverted to an eighteen year old during the Zero Hour Ray lost most of his knowledge and experience during the transformation. His place right now is leading the Teen Titans and for now this is where he should stay. Building up confidence in a few years he could be ready to join the league and would no doubt hit it of with Connor, Wally and Kyle and we would see the younger generation begin to come through.

HAWKMAN: Well This is one character who has gone through so many changes I really haven't been able to keep up with it. Hawkworld? Hawkman? Hawkgod?? Which one is DC's real Hawkman. I am still betting my money that the old Katar Hol character will return as he was the only one that really worked. Katar would be a great asset to the team and it would be great for Batman to have someone in the team who is as stiff as he is.

RED TORNADO: Well as he's now an elemental it would be hard for him to join the team but it would be great to see a guest appearance by Red Tornado who turned up in Firestorm and Captain Atom's titles in his elemental form and was given a new robot form which he could enter and leave at any time.

FIRESTORM: Well as much as I love ol' flamehead I don't think he's ready to join the league. Without Martin's influence Ron has become more brash then he used to be and his attitude would quickly see him booted out. He was perfect for Extreme Justice and fit into that team well but the current league just wouldn't be his style. Maybe he should get his own title instead!

ZATANNA: Well this league doesn't really have any magical members yet but do they really need one? I haven't really seen much of her since 'The books of Magic' but don't really see magic fitting in with this team.

VIXEN: Always close to Martian Manhunter, Vixen is a force to be reckoned with. An excellent fighter and she secured the league well in the past. With her close ties to J'onn it would be a great way to explore both there characters and see what makes them tick.

STEEL: Unfortunately this guy is dead. Killed during the 'The end of the Justice League' His remains were kept in the old league headquarters until they were destroyed by Despero when he returned to Earth.

GYPSY: Gypsy has been in several of the league's incarnations and like Vixen shares close ties with the Martian Manhunter her powers include becoming invisible but would probably be looked over for membership by the league and with J'onn's overprotective streak showing he probably wouldn't let her.

BLUE BEETLE: Along with Booster Gold, Beetle was the backbone of the family that Maxwell Lord's league became. His love for being a hero was only shadowed by the love for his team mates. Often his scientific skills and fighting ability were overlooked because of his constant jokes and pranks but Beetle was always able to go above the call of duty for the league and who knows with Wally, J'onn, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman having worked with him in the league before maybe he could get in........ but I doubt it BBWWWAAAHHHHHAAHHHHHAAAAHHHA

BOOSTER GOLD: Just like Blue Beetle Booster was great for Max's league but would probably feel restricted the current version. His marketing skills could probably be put to better use else where. Just getting a new costume in the pages of SUPERMAN Booster is back to his old look and maybe it's time for that BLUE AND GOLD miniseries that DC was promising at one stage.

CAPTAIN ATOM: As the former leader of Extreme Justice, Justice League Europe and leading the heroes in the INVASION miniseries Captain Atom would be a great addition to the league. With the two Captain's on board ( Atom and Marvel not Kirk and Picard) with Green lantern and Superman this team would be an unstoppable force. With his experience and ability to take orders Cap would be a worthy addition to the team.

ROCKET RED: Are these guys still around?? I haven't heard a peep from Dimitri or his comrades for ages. Well he wouldn't really be for this team anyway. His broken English would just lead to misunderstanding and who needs a man in an armored suit in a team like this one?

FIRE: Hmmm What's Fire doing now?? I haven't heard anything from her since the league she was in broke up. Is she still alive or just in comic book limbo. I am afraid that Fire would create too much of a distraction for Kyle and Wally. She would be more at home in a team that was more a family after the death of her close friend Ice.

ICE: Ice died during the 'Cold war' saga and was one of the league's her death was quite unexpected as far as readers were concerned and one of the most well written I have read. Bringing back Ice would just spoil a perfect story and take away a lot of it's impact.

ANIMAL MAN: I have heard rumblings that Buddy Baker may be making an appearance somewhere down the track in the pages of JLA. His character was at his best when written by Morrison and with some recent strange changes before his title was canceled maybe he can bring him back to the mainstream DC universe.

METAMORPHO: Rex made a short appearance in JLA #1 and then his funeral was shown in JLA #5. Classed as inert Metamorpho died while saving his team mates when the JLA's satellite headquarters entered the atmosphere and crashed to Earth.

POWER GIRL: With the birth of her child Power Girl seemed to disappear. Having another powerful female member would be great and her experience would be great for the league. She has always been a very spirited young lady and lets see how motherhood has been for her.

CAPTAIN MARVEL: Well the big red cheese is coming on board sometime soon and he's going to add some real power to this line-up. With Superman's current changes Cap is really the big gun now filling the void that superman's change has left. It's about time that Cap took his place in the league his earlier membership was just way to short.

GUY GARDNER: Well Guy has changed a lot since his Green Lantern days having tempered somewhat. Guy has lost a lot recently first his G.L. ring then Hal destroyed the Corp itself and then he lost his yellow ring after being defeated by Hal Jordan in space. But I don't think Batman or Superman would really be too happy to see Guy in their ranks.

GENERAL GLORY: uhhh. . .I don't think so.

BLOODWYND: Well not much has been seen of the real Bloodwynd after he left the league but did turn up in a few issues of FATE recently. He is really more of a fringe dweller and doesn't really fit that well into a tight group. After his experience of being captured, tortured and replaced by J'onn his was left shaken and uneasy, fitting in better with the supernatural heroes then the league.

THE RAY: Ray Terril started of with a bang. A hit miniseries entry into the league and his own title. What happened? With his own title canceled and with the Justice League Task Force disbanding Ray like so many others in the DC universe is left without a home. His powers are extraordinary and the league would be the perfect place for this young hero to hone his skills.

These are just a few of the characters who have been a part of the league in the past but there are many more who have been there. Silver Sorceress and Blue Jay, Obsidian and Dr. Fate. But everyone has their favorites With the league's long and colorful history it wouldn't be that hard to bring in new members with Aztek just joining and Captain Marvel and Plastic man joining the team in the next few months. The JLA has always been a great comic to read allowing fans to argue about which league was the best or who should join and who should leave and with Grant Morrison's obvious love for the JLA I'm sure we will be for years to come.


Article by Steven Conroy
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