JLA Year One with Case Aiken
We’re back with another episode of Trade School! This week, we are looking back on an earlier time of the Justice League, when we look at JLA Year One! Our returning host is Case Aiken from the Men of Steel and Another Pass podcast!
Find him at https://www.certainpov.com/men-of-steel and https://www.certainpov.com/another-pass-podcast
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Edited by Case Aiken
Scored by Bret Eagleston
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Outline
Introduction to Trade School and JLA Year One (00:00 - 01:29)
Case Aiken introduces the Certain Point of View's Trade School podcast focusing on comic book trade paperbacks.
He discusses JLA Year One by Mark Waid, Brian Augustine, and Barry Kitson, originally published in 1998.
Roster and Character Background (01:29 - 02:50)
Case explains Black Canary's unique place as a founding member post-Crisis.
He reflects on the odd decision to exclude Superman and Batman from the original lineup.
Synopsis and Critique of JLA Year One (02:50 - 04:07)
The series revolves around a doomsday cult and an alien invasion linked to the Justice League's origins.
Case praises Mark Waid's peak storytelling and Barry Kitson's artwork.
Personal Recommendations and Related Work (04:07 - 05:23)
Case considers this series the best portrayal of Hal Jordan, comparable to other works by Mark Waid.
He outlines the embedded Silver Age references such as cameo appearances by Doom Patrol and Sea Devils.
Promotion of Other Projects and Audience Engagement (05:23 - 07:02)
Case promotes his other podcasts Men of Steel and Another Pass on the Certain Point of View podcast network.
He shares his social media handles for interaction, emphasizing community engagement.
Ideas
Use of a Nontraditional Justice League Roster Post-Crisis (00:30 - 01:30)
Case explains the use of an unusual lineup excluding iconic heroes like Superman and Batman to align with post-Crisis retcons.
Black Canary as Substitute for Wonder Woman (01:30 - 02:00)
Black Canary's incorporation on the Justice League team offers a fresh dynamic contrasting the usual roster.
Storyline Centered on Doomsday Cult and Alien Invasion (02:50 - 03:20)
The trade paperback weaves a conspiracy theme tied to Justice League origins, offering layered storytelling.
Highlighting Silver Age References (04:45 - 05:10)
The comic includes nods to lesser-known Silver Age teams like Doom Patrol and Sea Devils, enriching the narrative world.
Expanding Audience Engagement through Podcasts and Social Media (05:23 - 06:50)
Case promotes engagement through various podcasts, YouTube content, and Discord community for deeper interaction with fans.
Key Takeaways
Unique Justice League Lineup (00:00 - 01:29)
JLA Year One offers a rare and fascinating look at a Justice League lineup atypical in DC continuity due to post-Crisis retcon attempts.
Quality Storytelling and Art (02:00 - 02:50)
Mark Waid's writing and Barry Kitson's art present the characters, especially Barry Allen and Hal Jordan, in a humanized and compelling manner.
Balanced Story Structure (02:50 - 04:07)
The story structure balances overarching alien invasion plots with episodic Silver Age style adventures, appealing to fans of classic and modern comics alike.
Comic's Availability and Quality (03:50 - 04:30)
This run is overshadowed by contemporaneous Grant Morrison work but stands out for quality storytelling and is still accessible digitally and in print.
Nostalgic Appeal (04:45 - 05:15)
Case recommends the trade paperback for its nostalgic yet fresh take and highlights Silver Age references as a strong appeal point.
Community Engagement (05:20 - 07:00)
The podcast leverages this discussion to promote further content related to Superman and comics, encouraging community interaction through socials and Discord.
Transcription
00:00
Welcome to Certain Point of View's Trade School, where each episode a different host talks about a comic book trade paperback that they loved and why they love it. Hey everyone, I'm Case Aiken. And yes, I'm back with another trade paperback to talk about here on Trade School. So today I wanted to talk about JLA Year One by Mark Waid, Brian Augustine, and Barry Kitson. So this one is a collection of JLA Year 1, the Maxi Series that was running back concurrent with the Grant Morrison JLA run that was going on at the time this series came out in 1998 initially, and then was collected in trade paperback shortly thereafter. And this follows a very weird period of Justice League history. Specifically, this is an attempt at reconciling the extremely strange roster that they supposedly had in their original formation post Crisis on Infinite Earths.
00:55
And by that I mean so supposedly post crisis. And like, I don't know why they did this. Supposedly the Justice League did not include Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman when they were originally formed post crisis. Now this again is no longer the actual case, but at the time they were trying to keep the Crisis on Infinite Earths retcons the way things were. And so at the time they were trying to push this idea that the actual founding Justice League members were Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, Aquaman, Barry Allen, Flash, and Black Canary, which is fine. Black Canary is an interesting addition to the roster. But it gets into this whole scenario of Black Canary was originally from Earth2Pre Crisis, and then post crisis, all of a sudden she wasn't originally from Earth 2, so she was actually around all the time.
01:44
So it made enough sense for her to be a stand in for Wonder Woman, who was established as being a new hero at the time of crisis. Or like at the time of the post crisis relaunch. She was a new hero just on the scene while other heroes like Superman and Batman had been around for a while. That one makes enough sense. I don't know why Superman and Batman had to be pulled off the team. And it's not for this book. This was already established as like their old roster. So what happens in the book? Well, there's a big overarching story about a doomsday cult and trying to bring back an alien invasion that was connected to the original story that brought the JLA together in the first place. And then there's individual stories that happen throughout.
02:22
This is Mark Waid, like just at his peak in terms of storytelling, doing very creative, very fun Justice League stories in this classic setting. This is the way that I really love seeing Barry Allen and Hal Jordan. It is rare that I particularly care for them in modern stories, but seeing them in the lens of history as being these really pivotal figures who were very human at the same time was very cool. Mark Wade just can write the hell out of them. Barry Kitson's art is great on this as well. It's. It's a great, you know, a good book is what I'm getting at. And look, me recommending a Mark Waid book isn't going to be a game changer for anyone. But this is a really good one.
03:04
And it's from a weird window of time that I think is overlooked because it gets overshadowed by the Morrison JLA run that was happening simultaneously. This one was a weird attempt at patching some continuity holes, but ended up being just really good old comics. Fortunately, even though it was somewhat overlooked at the time, you can still read this on the DC Universe app. So you can go to that and read JLA year one. It's just the whole maxi series. It's a 12 issue run, but if you prefer to have it in a physical form, the trade paperback's really nice. It has an intro by Kurt Busick and is just a lovely story about Silver Age superheroes with a bit more of a modern spin on it. It's very much a precursor to the Wade Dan Mora world's finest run that is currently going on.
03:53
That is so great. This is just a really solid Justice League comic book. Even though the roster is a little bit different than what most people are used to. Black Canary is a great member of the team. The rest of the team is just handled really well. It's the best Hal Jordan has ever been written, in my opinion. Not counting the other times that Wade has taken on the character, such as the Brave and the Bold miniseries that they did the same team did, I think like a year later after this. But yeah, so that is JLA Year one. I think it's a really fun trade paperback that follows a bunch of substories that ties together to this much larger conspiracy theory that brings together the whole of the Silver Age dcu.
04:39
But up until that point, we get to sort of romp around checking out things like the Doom Patrol and seeing how they operate, comparing them or comparing with other teams like the Sea Devils, seeing, like I said, all kinds of like Silver Age references. And it's just a solid comic that really illustrates why Silver Age DC comics was a lot of fun. Even though the entire purpose of this comic is to Be a retcon. So yeah, this is JLA year one. Like I said, it is available as digital reading now, but you can pick up the trade on Amazon, I'm sure, or ebay or your local comic book store. And I would highly recommend you to check it out. And then after you have checked out that comic, you should check out the stuff that I work on outside of this.
05:23
So I am the host of Men of Steel, which is a Superman and Superman adjacent podcast, as well as Another Pass, which is a movie analysis show. Those are both shows that you can find here on the certain POV podcast network. You can also find stuff that I work on at the certain POV media YouTube channel where I do those shows. But then I also have videos that I put up like Superman Analogues or my D and D videos that I've been doing. Those you can all find there. You can find me on socials, Ace Aiken on most platforms except for Instagram, which is where I am holding on to my AIM screen name from high school for dear life. And that is quetzalcoatl5q u e t Z A L C o a T L5.
06:03
But yeah, you can find me most places at Case Aiken. And I, I, I'm happy to interact with you. Love chatting. Find, find me on the Discord for Certain pov. If, if you're not familiar with that already, there's links on our website and if not, you could just DM me on like Blue sky or something and I'll shoot you a link. It's a, a great place to chat and interact. But yeah, check all those things out. Check out other certain POV shows and then Happy reading. Hey. Oh, hey, Jeff. What's going on, guys? Oh, you know, talking about Superman. Oh cool. I could talk about Superman. I could talk some more about Superman. We know. I'll bet a few people would want to get in on this. I'm down. You know it. That sounds like fun. I'll do it. Cool. Let's do it.
06:49
We can call the show Men of Steel and you can find it at certainpov.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Yay. Certainpov.com.