Graphic SF Reader A group of issues included for the reason of a particular character officially joining the Justice League of America.
This starts right in the early days with Green Arrow, moving on into the more interesting eras with the fine artwork by Dick Dillin, and including the Red Tornado, and Zatanna not long after the events of Zatanna's search, with her new costume.
Finally extending as far as looking at Black Lightning.
3.5 out of 5
Should have been released as "Justice League of America: The Dick Dillin Collection" JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA HEREBY ELECTS collects tales in which various secondary characters are at some point selected for membership on the team of heroes. Green Arrow, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Hawkgirl, Red Tornado, Zatanna, and Black Lightning all receive entries, with, for the most part, predictable results. It's important to note that their membership is often not the focus of the story - rather, it's a random adventure that culminates with them being nominated for membership. While the stories do follow a similar framework, I felt that they didn't work that well together, and the writing as a whole is not that spectacular. I finished the book with the thought that, rather than release a collection of membership stories, DC should have just released a collection of JLA stories by Dick Dillin. Dillin was the main artist for the JLA from 1968 to 1980 and illustrated almost every story contained within this trade. Dillin doesn't get a lot of recognition today - his style is very straightforward, with no frills, but boy does it look good. It does change somewhat over the time period presented in this book, apparently a combination of his evolving skill plus the various inkers with whom he is paired. Aside from the first two stories illustrated by Mike Sekowsky, this book is Dillin's showcase, and if this review were based on his work alone, I'd give it five stars.
Included are Justice League of America # 4, 75, 105-106, 146, 161, and 173-174, written by Gardner Fox, Denny O'Neil, Len Wein, and Gerry Conway. Jerry Ordway provides an excellent cover that appropriately reflects the contents.
Silver Age Classics These aren't the best stories ever, but they are all pretty good and they make a nice collection of silver age Justice League stories by a variety of well-known comic book writers (mostly illustrated by Dick Dillon). It does not include the stories about the Atom and Hawkman. Only two of the stories have been reprinted in Archive Editions. The stories do feature Green Arrow, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkgirl, Zatanna, and Black Lightning. I would like to see more similarly themed reprint books from the Silver Age.
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