by SeekerSalutations people.
I’m not overwhelmingly a Marvel or DC guy. I loved and have read both companies since I was a child. Beyond The Flash the two books that I enjoyed the most were The Justice League of America and The Avengers. The greatest heroes banded together to take on the biggest threats. These two teams were always the pinnacle of heroism of their universes. Now their positions in terms of popularity have been overshadowed by other properties like The X-Men and The Teen Titans but at the end of the day they remained the standard bearers.
Since the late nineties and into the 21st century these two teams came back to the forefront and are almost at the crux of every major event in either company. In their latest incarnations we see them pretty much at the apex of their powers but telling stories in different ways.
The Justice League at this time is reaching their 25th issue and continuing the story started by the DC event: Metal in which Batman and the JLA basically break the source wall to stop a hyper powerful entity(is there any other?) at the core of Batman lore and also introducing a Dark Multiverse to play with. This actually started with the N52 Batman series written by Scott Snyder who also wrote Metal and is the current JL writer. It’s all one big story really and it’s been an entertaining one at that. Snyder reinvigorated Lex Luthor and reintroduced The Legion Of Doom as a group that while over the top, brought a new focus and dread to them. This brings JL into the Year of The Villain event that will bring most of the DCU together facing incredible challenges that would seem to tear them down to build them back up. Against the looming but seemingly disconnected Doomsday Clock it’s been a very fun and crazy run for the JL. The story is expansive and outlandish. It feels like a bit of Morrison’s craziness but with more long term story focus.
Meanwhile The Avengers are in the midst of a massive changing of the playing field in the MU. No longer tied to any world agency, they have assembled perhaps their mightiest team yet. The big three, Captain Marvel, Ghost Rider, Blade, and She Hulk doing her best actual Savage Hulk impersonation. Led now by The Black Panther and based out of a dead celestial in the North Pole, this team is equipped with a support staff boasting names like Ka-Zar, Gorilla Man, and even Odin they keep the info about looming threats ahead. As a result the rest of the team is more than ready to handle multiple threats. This is good seeing as how they must now contend with a new Squadron Supreme that seems to be a lot more (and less) than they seem to be. A team that reflects the more hawkish side of our nation. The book has also resets the state of vampires in the MU and also keeps a high level of the supernatural in the book. This is an impressive feat considering the book has played a major role in The War of the Realms event that has allowed Jason Aaron to continue his epic Thor journey. Still, with Ghost Riders and Mephisto making moves we see a lot of good stories being touched on at the same time.
Both JL and The Avengers are fully in control and up front in how their respective universes are developing while striking two different tones. It’s a fun time to get involved in both books and get a feel for the love of comics again.
