I was just thinking as I was prompted by the discussion of the Greatest JLA stories touched upon by Philip Portelli in the Mr. Silver Age forum and not considering # 19 of the original series among them, which would I choose for that list.
First off would HAVE to be The Origin of the Justice League of America minus One from the original series # 144. Even putting aside the fact that I am a huge Englehart fan, this is a great story with classic Dick Dillin art, which exemplifies the best of the early JLA stories filtered through a bronze age perspective. It has a great array of guest stars who would have been interested in lending a hand and used them as opposed to just having them as talking heads. On top of which, the teams that didn’t make up the Justice League had side missions that tied in to other characters of the time, specifically Adam Strange and Rip Hunter. I consider this the TRUE origin of the Justice League of America. I don’t care what present continuity says.
Second as a counter point I would likely say Justice League of America # 9 with the other origin. If not that, likely # 16 Cavern of deadly spheres. After all I just said, I do enjoy the original origin. It is a fun story and you get Snapper and Green Arrow singing at the end of it. I even like the idea of Wonder Woman being “chairman” of the housecleaning of the Secret Sanctuary. Ah, good old 1960s unintentional sexism. BUT, I also like the Cavern of Deadly Spheres because it feels to me like a story that was left over from the JSA. Of course, part of that may be that the main instigator is an amalgamation of Jerry Bails and Roy Thomas. I like the idea of the greatest adventure the League NEVER had.
# 77 Snapper Carr Super-Traitor would stay in the mix for its historical importance. It was a major turning point for the League. A betrayal by the teen idol/ honorary member of the group which would lead to the JLA being the first (I think and I am open to being corrected here) group to make a major change of headquarters. I know the JSA changed cities but the brownstones they had were basically interchangeable from one city to the other. Not as dramatic a change as going from a cave by the ocean to a satellite 22,300 miles above the Earth.
Follow by Justice League # 1 as the start of the new JL era. Again, a point of history with the creation of a brand new League (back to the cave) and also a new form of storytelling with the introduction of a funny League with the bulk of the members not being characters in most cases you would have considered for League membership. Well, you might have but it was a bit of a stretch. And this is a team that still has reverberations being felt today.
JLA # 16 & 17 from Grant Morrison’s run as it is one of his shorter stories with a great new villain in Prometheus and the introduction of the expanded team. You can’t deny the impact that Morrison had on the reinvigoration of the JLA and this story expanded on the big 7 which started this incarnation and had a villain who came within a hair’s breadth of taking down the whole team. Toss in some Howard Porter art, season to flavour and yeah, I would happily add it to a list for a book. There are some better stories but they are all 6 parters so for a book, a one or two issue story has be a consideration for space. It is the same reason I didn’t include any of Brad Metzler’s stories for the list. The only one I could think of was Red Arrow and Vixen being trapped underground and I don’t consider it a jewel in the crown. Sorry
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I can't comment on many of your selections, Mr. Moret. Well can't comment on some of them; won't comment on some of the others. My opinion on anything JLA after JLA # 63 (Jun., 1968) is well-known, but I'm hoping this will be a rousing discussion of all eras of the Justice League, and I don't wish for my "everything after issue # 63 doesn't count" opinion to induce any kind of damper on the conversation.
I will offer one thing, and only because you stated that you were open to correxion . . . .
". . . the JLA being the first (I think and I am open to being corrected here) group to make a major change of headquarters."
There was at least one instance of a team making a major change in its base of operations before the JLA did it in following issue # 77.
The Challengers of the Unknown did it, back in '66.
In Challs # 50 (Jun.-Jul., 1966), in "Final Hour for the Challengers", Villo, the self-styled "World's Vilest Villain", destroys the death-cheaters' headquarters when he blows up the peak of Challengers Mountain.
The Challs work out of unspecified digs for a few issues, until "Who is the Traitor Among Us?", from Challs # 53 (Dec., 1966-Jan., 1967). In this story, they adopt a new base at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean---a techologically advanced headquarters bequeathed to them by the deceased alien who called himself Scientist X.
The Challengers operated out of their underwater HQ for a year and a half; its last appearance came sometime in the early summer of '68. After that, the tales mostly sidestepped the question of where the Challs hung their hats until the title limped along to cancellation. When the series was revived in 1977, the foursome was back to operating out of Challenger Mountain---no doubt because, in the typical writers' sloppiness of the era, whomever did the scripting forgot, never knew, or just plain didn't care that the team had shifted bases ten years earlier.
Hope this helps.
"I don't suppose it's possible they bought another mountain, and re-named it 'Challenger Mountain'?"
I imagine that would be the writer's excuse, but I rather doubt he had that explanation in mind when he put the foursome in Challengers Mountain. In fact, since that fellow---I just looked it up; it was Steve Skeates---also got June Robbins' status with the Challs wrong (although in that case, I'm sure that was a sop to the times), I'm sure he just plain goofed.
how do you alter history so that a bank robber suddenly becomes Kryptonian or Martian?
That bit always kind of bugged me about that story, too.
I bought that run just last week!
Well, you can't make a story a Mopee; a tale either is a Mopee story, based upon the response of the fanship, or it isn't. But I take your point.
As to “Earth---Without a Justice League”/”Crisis on Earth-A”, from JLA # 37-8 (Aug. and Sep., 1965), of the five Fox/Sekowsky JLA/JSA team-ups, it ranks next to last in my estimation. But there are still some things to recommend it.
I liked the notion that JSA member Johnny Thunder’s Earth-One counterpart was criminally minded. It recognises that, while things on both Earths are usually identical, or nearly so, there are some significant differences. Besides that, it was a good plot idea. It would have been a better idea if Fox hadn’t made the Earth-One Johnny a total nimrod.
And I enjoyed the Silver-Age introduction of Mister Terrific. He was used only twice in the Fox/Sekowsky Justice team-ups, and I had hoped to see much more of the Doc Savage-like potential in a hero who had “mastered every art and science known to man.” Instead, Fox employed him as a Christmas-colored version of Batman.
And it was fun to see what was, essentially, the Justice Society's first solo case since it was revived in the Silver Age.
As to the unfeasibility of the Thunderbolt rearranging history to make crooks Superman or J’onn J’onzz, yes, it’s a knotty plot point, but there’s a way that I can make it work. For me, at least.
The caption referencing those two alterations reads like this:
Eddie Orson is gifted with the powers of the Martian Manhunter! Ripper Jones is substituted for Superman!
There’s just enough wiggle-room in that text for me to view it this way: the Thunderbolt didn’t change history to refit Ripper Jones and Eddie Orson into Superman and J’onn J’onzz; what the T-bolt did was alter history to reconfigure Superman and the Manhunter into Jones and Orson.
In other words, the T-bolt altered history in this fashion: first, he removed the real, original Ripper Jones and Eddie Orson by changing the circumstances which led to their births. Then the T-bolt altered the circumstances of Superman and the Manhunter’s origins. Instead of being found by the honest, decent Kents, baby Kal-El was discovered and raised by the criminally minded Mr. and Mrs. Jones (something in the fashion of Super-Brat/Bully/Menace, from Superman # 137 [May, 1960]).
The Martian Manhunter is a bit trickier, but theoretically, the T-bolt’s magic could have warped J’onn J’onzz’s mind, making him corrupt, so that when he was brought to Earth, instead of selflessly aiding mankind, he chose to use his powers for criminal purposes. Rather than assuming the Earth identity of John Jones, police detective, the Manhunter uses the identity of small-time crook Eddie Orson.
I’m not claiming it’s a perfect solution, but it makes the notion more palatable.
Commander, if I may supplement your observation, another group made a rather significant change of venues before JLA #77 (12/69.)
The Legion of Super-Heroes clubhouse was pretty much demolished* in Adventure Comics 366 by the Fatal Five, and the UP helped them build a new one, presented in Adventure Comics 367 (4/68.)
Not that I didn't love the inverted spaceship, of course, but this did make quite a change. (And I never could figure out just how big that original clubhouse was... but even with the esteemed Mr. Swan's meticulous art, I'm sure that its appearance was far too small to even house just the meeting room with only a dozen members. I suspect that a lot of the construction of that original clubhouse was actually underground.
x<]:o){
*Aren't you glad I didn't say "decimated"? :)
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