MichaelDoran
11-10-2002, 01:28 PM
<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="http://classic.newsarama.com/DC/RRP/FKJLCV2R2.jpg" target="_blank"><img width="175" height="255" align="right" src="http://classic.newsarama.com/DC/RRP/FKJLCV2R2_t.jpg" alt="FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE" border="0"></a>Originally published spring 2002:
Fifteen years ago, they were a sensation, with embassies around the world, now; they’re renting a storefront in Queens. They used to go around under the name Justice League International, but now, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Fire, Captain Atom, the Elongated Man, are back in Formerly Known as the Justice League, a six issue miniseries coming later this year from DC which reunites original JLI creators Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, and Joe Rubinstein.
And instead of calling themselves the Justice League, since they’re another group of heroes using that name these days, the team has come up with a new name: the Super Friends.
We’re not kidding. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s go back a little.
This year’s revisiting of the Giffen/DeMatteis League isn’t the first time such an idea has been floated by the creators. According to Giffen, the duo has been talking about returning to the League in some form or another since the mid-90s.
“They wanted me to do this a ways back,” Giffen said. “Marc and I would come back to it now and then, but my head wasn’t there. I didn’t want to go back. I didn’t want to go back just revisit these characters for the sake of revisiting them. I didn’t want to go back unless I could find something to wrap these characters around that was different. I didn’t want to do embassies.”
In fact, even Formerly Known as the Justice League has suffered through starts and stops, and as little as a few months back, was dead. The light bulb went on above Giffen’s head however, and the project sprung back to life. The concept for the team’s return to “team” status has to do with the man who got the Giffen/DeMatteis team together in the first place, DCU billionaire Maxwell Lord.
“It wasn’t until it dawned on me that if Max was going to try it again, he would probably take a different tact that I really got excited about going back to the League,” Giffen said. “Once I came up with the idea of them being ‘the people’s heroes,’ I figured we had something to go with. If you need a cop, who do you call? 911. In this universe, which is lousy with superheroes, how do you get in touch with them? All of these superheroes that populate the DCU are completely beyond the ability of common man to contact them.
“I thought – 1-800-SuperFriends, or something along those lines. They would operate out of a storefront in Queens and they’re a nonprofit organization. They trade their images for merchandising to plug money back into the organization, and it all goes back to the idea that these are superheroes who don’t need the money – they’re all doing fine, but they’re doing this because it’s the right thing to do. Yeah, they’re kind of goofy, but they’re altruistic and doing this for the right reasons. I figured we should give it a shot.”
With that idea bouncing around in his head, Giffen started looking into the availability of the former Leaguers with editor Dan Raspler, and once he found out he could use Mary Marvel, Giffen said the new project was a lock as far as he was concerned.
To fully recreate the dynamic of the former League, Giffen recruited J.M. DeMatteis to script the miniseries. “As usual with the League, I don't know all that much about the stories till it's time to dialogue,” DeMatteis said. “Then I either a) pay careful attention to Keith's plot or b) ignore alot of it and write whatever I feel like. Usually it's a combination of the two. That, as I've noted just about everywhere lately, is the fun of working with Keith - who is, by the way, one of the single most creative humans I've ever met. We lob the ball back and forth, each one building on what the other does.”
As for the art, when Kevin Maguire’s schedule opened up, Giffen knew for sure Formerly Known as the Justice League was meant to be. “Plus DC was also amenable to my ideas of where these characters have been during their downtime. We’ve kept in touch with Beetle through Birds of Prey, but for the most part, Booster, Captain Atom, Fire, Ralph and Sue [Dinby] – what have they been up to? Once DC said they’d let me run with it, it became fun, and it’s still fun. I’m working on the third issue now, and I’m having more fun that I have in years. It’s funny how easy it is to slip back into these characters’ heads again.”
Giffen admits that FKatJL won’t be a rehashing of unused JLI ideas, and acknowledges that the characters themselves have changed in the years between he and DeMatteis departure and now.
“It’s been about four or five years comic book time since their Justice League broke up, and I want these people to have progressed,” Giffen said. “Although, not in the way I’d seen them where I’ve been watching them turn Booster into a robot, killing Ice, and Guy - I don’t know what the hell they’re doing with him, but I wish they would leave him alone. I’m also looking forward to having a few guest appearances by some familiar faces from Justice League Europe and a few other heroes that were around the team previously.”
Speaking of those who will and won’t be in the series, due to his use in the Green Lantern series, Giffen will not be able to use Guy Gardner in FKatJL. As mentioned above, in addition to the regular members of the old team, Mary Marvel will join the group. “Think about our portrayal of Captain Marvel in our early issues...then add incredible sex appeal...and you'll get an idea,” DeMatteis said. “You'll also be seeing L-Ron, Manga Khan, and perhaps even an appearance by those other guys who claim to be the JLA, when we know they're not. I'd love to see J'onn in this, and I might be the only one lobbying for the return of G'nort.
“The real fun of the League, for me, is the sheer spontaneity of the writing. I discover so much about the characters as we go along. So, as the scripting progresses, I think all kinds of new angles will emerge. I do know that Keith has it set up so that our familiar characters are still very much their old selves...despite the fact that they've changed considerably. In other words, no matter how much they may have gone through in recent years...they've hardly become Deadly Serious. It's going to be the same light treatment as the old days. Even when we're dealing with something somewhat serious, it's handled with a ‘Bwa-ha-ha.’ Kind of like life: the worse things gets, the more we need to laugh. Which is why I've always felt these characters, despite their vaudeville-sitcom roots, are far more true-to-life than the average grim and gritty superguys.”
That said, both Giffen and DeMatteis are very aware that the comics market and industry as a whole has changed since the debut of their version of the League in 1987, but Giffen noted more than a few similarities between then and now. “The first time we tried this, we put it out in the middle of Dark Knight Returns, Punisher, and the grim and gritty era,” Giffen said. “We thought we were dead. I thought I was going to be crucified by putting out a book that mild. God only knew.
“And now, I think there’s room on the shelves for a comic book that’s fun. It’s six issues – I think we can have a little bit of impact. Yes, the threats we’re dealing with are serious, but it will allow you to step back and say, ‘he’s got wings!’ which is ludicrous. The whole idea of the JLI was not just the superhero adventure, but that you got to follow them home and you got to see what goes on behind closed doors when they take off their masks and they become human beings.”
One of the serious threats Giffen mentioned can be plainly seen on the cover of issue #3, where Mary Marvel holding an unconscious (or lifeless) Captain Atom over her head. “Mary Marvel comes within an inch of killing Captain Atom,” Giffen said. “I think that’s enough to convince people that the team will be facing serious situations. The threats they’re coming up against are life threatening. But think of this - a guy holding a gun on Jim Carrey – that’s really serious. If Jim Carrey decides to be funny then, okay, he’s funny, but the fact remains, the guy could pull the trigger, and he could die. That’s serious.
“People complained about the League when we were doing it, saying that it was making fun of the heroes and we weren’t taking them seriously, but I think we were showing what people can do in times of stress. They tend to use levity and laughter. Joking around is as big a defense mechanism as fight or flight. It’s just a way of breaking the dead seriousness.”
In terms of his treatment of the characters within the shared DCU, while not as many of the individual members have their own series this time around, Giffen said he’s going to use the same rule of thumb he used in the original Justice League series.
“If I have characters who are active in other books, like Batman, or Captain Atom, who had his own book at that point, and Flash – I used to say that when they walked into the door of the embassy, I’m going to have some fun with them. But I promised that when they walked out again, I would return them in the same shape they were given to me in.
“It’s the same way now - when they wander into this book, let’s explore them a little bit. Let’s look at parts of their characters we haven’t seen before. Let’s see some things we haven’t seen. At the end of the day, they’ll be just fine.
“Everyone’s worried right now what I might do to Mary Marvel. Look – when Mary Marvel comes in, we’re going to have some fun with the character, but when she walks out of the book, she’ll still be Mary Marvel and can go back to Fawcett City, or wherever she lives now. We’re not going to do anything horrible to the character – I don’t understand the concern. ‘Oh no! They’ll make fun of her and destroy her!’ I don’t think we’re making fun of the character. I have a genuine affection for these characters. It’s not making fun of them – it’s having fun with them. Let them come out and have a good time – let them let down their hair for God’s sake.”
As a prime example of what Giffen’s talking about, he points back to the “One punch!” scene from Justice League #5. “It took place between Guy and Batman – two of the most serious characters outside of Justice League, but it fit in, they were in character,” Giffen said. “And hey, guess what – I had Batman in Justice League, and he’s still being published today. I guess I didn’t ruin him for all time.”
While it sounds like Giffen and DeMatteis have everything in hand for the new project, one thing did catch Giffen off guard. The overwhelmingly positive response to the news FKatJL was in the works when the story broke at <a href="http://www.cbr.cc" target="_blank"> Comic Book Resources</a>.
“I’m astonished,” Giffen said. “I’ll admit to being completely floored by the reaction. I knew people liked the Justice League back then – it was a popular book. But I never imagined that getting together to revisit them for six issues would cause such a flurry. Back then, we were having so much fun, but never really thought we were making that big of an impact on people. JLI was supposed to be a good, entertaining comic book, and I’m flattered that we had this kind of impact, and that people are anticipating it so much. I also hope we can live up to their expectations.
“I’m hoping that we can reconnect with the audience that was into it then, and I’m also hoping we can draw in a new audience that wasn’t around. All I can think is that, and I’ve maintained this for a long time, that there is a market out there for a ‘good-natured, tell the story, and have fun’ kind of comics. It doesn’t all have to be continuity mired, or only give a piece of the story, or require the reader to have written their Master’s thesis on the X-Men to enjoy. Maybe there is room for this kind of book, where people can pick it up, visit some old friends, roll it up, stick it in their back pocket, and go play softball.”
And to answer the question that’s beginning to form, yes, both Giffen and DeMatteis have ideas about what they could do with this group of heroes on a regular basis, although both are very cautious about the possibilities of returning to FKatJL after the initial six issues.
“It’s not for me to say,” Giffen said. “I don’t know if I’d want it to continue as an ongoing. I wouldn’t fight it, but maybe it could return as a regular series of six-issue miniseries. Kevin has committed to six issues, and he might not want to do any after #6. Maybe we should take a couple of months off and come back with another artist. We had different artists on the Justice League, after all. I’d like to do some more stuff with these characters, but again, it’s not for me to say. It’s for DC to say, based on sales and fan reaction. I’d certainly be up for it.”
With that in mind, and not willing to give up too many details about the plot, Giffen did have one revelation – he’s not writing this as a one-time event for the characters. “By the end of the sixth issue, we’ll have a good, solid, definable group dynamic, and they’ll still exist,” Giffen said. “I don’t disband them after issue six. Hopefully, other people won’t damage them too badly if they use them, or go killing them indiscriminately like has happened before, and they’ll still be there for us to come back to if we’re able.
“But for now, I’m amazed by the response to this one project, and can honestly say I don’t think fans will be disappointed. It encapsulates what I like to think is, or was the best of the JLI and updates it for a new audience, or even for an old audience that’s wondering what happened to these characters after they left. When I sit down to write these characters, I have a ball. It’s something I look forward to, and am really, really enjoying.”
And as for that team name?
“I want it to be on the window in the same style it was from the cartoon series,” Giffen said. “We’re looking into getting permission to use that logo, and you have to figure, since this is Maxwell Lord we’re talking about, he’ll run television commercials. The way I see it, that ad would be the opening of the old Super Friends cartoon…but we’re still working on that.”
<a href=http://classic.newsarama.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=000039>CLICK HERE</a> to return to the main menu to read about more of DC’s upcoming projects.
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Fifteen years ago, they were a sensation, with embassies around the world, now; they’re renting a storefront in Queens. They used to go around under the name Justice League International, but now, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Fire, Captain Atom, the Elongated Man, are back in Formerly Known as the Justice League, a six issue miniseries coming later this year from DC which reunites original JLI creators Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, and Joe Rubinstein.
And instead of calling themselves the Justice League, since they’re another group of heroes using that name these days, the team has come up with a new name: the Super Friends.
We’re not kidding. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s go back a little.
This year’s revisiting of the Giffen/DeMatteis League isn’t the first time such an idea has been floated by the creators. According to Giffen, the duo has been talking about returning to the League in some form or another since the mid-90s.
“They wanted me to do this a ways back,” Giffen said. “Marc and I would come back to it now and then, but my head wasn’t there. I didn’t want to go back. I didn’t want to go back just revisit these characters for the sake of revisiting them. I didn’t want to go back unless I could find something to wrap these characters around that was different. I didn’t want to do embassies.”
In fact, even Formerly Known as the Justice League has suffered through starts and stops, and as little as a few months back, was dead. The light bulb went on above Giffen’s head however, and the project sprung back to life. The concept for the team’s return to “team” status has to do with the man who got the Giffen/DeMatteis team together in the first place, DCU billionaire Maxwell Lord.
“It wasn’t until it dawned on me that if Max was going to try it again, he would probably take a different tact that I really got excited about going back to the League,” Giffen said. “Once I came up with the idea of them being ‘the people’s heroes,’ I figured we had something to go with. If you need a cop, who do you call? 911. In this universe, which is lousy with superheroes, how do you get in touch with them? All of these superheroes that populate the DCU are completely beyond the ability of common man to contact them.
“I thought – 1-800-SuperFriends, or something along those lines. They would operate out of a storefront in Queens and they’re a nonprofit organization. They trade their images for merchandising to plug money back into the organization, and it all goes back to the idea that these are superheroes who don’t need the money – they’re all doing fine, but they’re doing this because it’s the right thing to do. Yeah, they’re kind of goofy, but they’re altruistic and doing this for the right reasons. I figured we should give it a shot.”
With that idea bouncing around in his head, Giffen started looking into the availability of the former Leaguers with editor Dan Raspler, and once he found out he could use Mary Marvel, Giffen said the new project was a lock as far as he was concerned.
To fully recreate the dynamic of the former League, Giffen recruited J.M. DeMatteis to script the miniseries. “As usual with the League, I don't know all that much about the stories till it's time to dialogue,” DeMatteis said. “Then I either a) pay careful attention to Keith's plot or b) ignore alot of it and write whatever I feel like. Usually it's a combination of the two. That, as I've noted just about everywhere lately, is the fun of working with Keith - who is, by the way, one of the single most creative humans I've ever met. We lob the ball back and forth, each one building on what the other does.”
As for the art, when Kevin Maguire’s schedule opened up, Giffen knew for sure Formerly Known as the Justice League was meant to be. “Plus DC was also amenable to my ideas of where these characters have been during their downtime. We’ve kept in touch with Beetle through Birds of Prey, but for the most part, Booster, Captain Atom, Fire, Ralph and Sue [Dinby] – what have they been up to? Once DC said they’d let me run with it, it became fun, and it’s still fun. I’m working on the third issue now, and I’m having more fun that I have in years. It’s funny how easy it is to slip back into these characters’ heads again.”
Giffen admits that FKatJL won’t be a rehashing of unused JLI ideas, and acknowledges that the characters themselves have changed in the years between he and DeMatteis departure and now.
“It’s been about four or five years comic book time since their Justice League broke up, and I want these people to have progressed,” Giffen said. “Although, not in the way I’d seen them where I’ve been watching them turn Booster into a robot, killing Ice, and Guy - I don’t know what the hell they’re doing with him, but I wish they would leave him alone. I’m also looking forward to having a few guest appearances by some familiar faces from Justice League Europe and a few other heroes that were around the team previously.”
Speaking of those who will and won’t be in the series, due to his use in the Green Lantern series, Giffen will not be able to use Guy Gardner in FKatJL. As mentioned above, in addition to the regular members of the old team, Mary Marvel will join the group. “Think about our portrayal of Captain Marvel in our early issues...then add incredible sex appeal...and you'll get an idea,” DeMatteis said. “You'll also be seeing L-Ron, Manga Khan, and perhaps even an appearance by those other guys who claim to be the JLA, when we know they're not. I'd love to see J'onn in this, and I might be the only one lobbying for the return of G'nort.
“The real fun of the League, for me, is the sheer spontaneity of the writing. I discover so much about the characters as we go along. So, as the scripting progresses, I think all kinds of new angles will emerge. I do know that Keith has it set up so that our familiar characters are still very much their old selves...despite the fact that they've changed considerably. In other words, no matter how much they may have gone through in recent years...they've hardly become Deadly Serious. It's going to be the same light treatment as the old days. Even when we're dealing with something somewhat serious, it's handled with a ‘Bwa-ha-ha.’ Kind of like life: the worse things gets, the more we need to laugh. Which is why I've always felt these characters, despite their vaudeville-sitcom roots, are far more true-to-life than the average grim and gritty superguys.”
That said, both Giffen and DeMatteis are very aware that the comics market and industry as a whole has changed since the debut of their version of the League in 1987, but Giffen noted more than a few similarities between then and now. “The first time we tried this, we put it out in the middle of Dark Knight Returns, Punisher, and the grim and gritty era,” Giffen said. “We thought we were dead. I thought I was going to be crucified by putting out a book that mild. God only knew.
“And now, I think there’s room on the shelves for a comic book that’s fun. It’s six issues – I think we can have a little bit of impact. Yes, the threats we’re dealing with are serious, but it will allow you to step back and say, ‘he’s got wings!’ which is ludicrous. The whole idea of the JLI was not just the superhero adventure, but that you got to follow them home and you got to see what goes on behind closed doors when they take off their masks and they become human beings.”
One of the serious threats Giffen mentioned can be plainly seen on the cover of issue #3, where Mary Marvel holding an unconscious (or lifeless) Captain Atom over her head. “Mary Marvel comes within an inch of killing Captain Atom,” Giffen said. “I think that’s enough to convince people that the team will be facing serious situations. The threats they’re coming up against are life threatening. But think of this - a guy holding a gun on Jim Carrey – that’s really serious. If Jim Carrey decides to be funny then, okay, he’s funny, but the fact remains, the guy could pull the trigger, and he could die. That’s serious.
“People complained about the League when we were doing it, saying that it was making fun of the heroes and we weren’t taking them seriously, but I think we were showing what people can do in times of stress. They tend to use levity and laughter. Joking around is as big a defense mechanism as fight or flight. It’s just a way of breaking the dead seriousness.”
In terms of his treatment of the characters within the shared DCU, while not as many of the individual members have their own series this time around, Giffen said he’s going to use the same rule of thumb he used in the original Justice League series.
“If I have characters who are active in other books, like Batman, or Captain Atom, who had his own book at that point, and Flash – I used to say that when they walked into the door of the embassy, I’m going to have some fun with them. But I promised that when they walked out again, I would return them in the same shape they were given to me in.
“It’s the same way now - when they wander into this book, let’s explore them a little bit. Let’s look at parts of their characters we haven’t seen before. Let’s see some things we haven’t seen. At the end of the day, they’ll be just fine.
“Everyone’s worried right now what I might do to Mary Marvel. Look – when Mary Marvel comes in, we’re going to have some fun with the character, but when she walks out of the book, she’ll still be Mary Marvel and can go back to Fawcett City, or wherever she lives now. We’re not going to do anything horrible to the character – I don’t understand the concern. ‘Oh no! They’ll make fun of her and destroy her!’ I don’t think we’re making fun of the character. I have a genuine affection for these characters. It’s not making fun of them – it’s having fun with them. Let them come out and have a good time – let them let down their hair for God’s sake.”
As a prime example of what Giffen’s talking about, he points back to the “One punch!” scene from Justice League #5. “It took place between Guy and Batman – two of the most serious characters outside of Justice League, but it fit in, they were in character,” Giffen said. “And hey, guess what – I had Batman in Justice League, and he’s still being published today. I guess I didn’t ruin him for all time.”
While it sounds like Giffen and DeMatteis have everything in hand for the new project, one thing did catch Giffen off guard. The overwhelmingly positive response to the news FKatJL was in the works when the story broke at <a href="http://www.cbr.cc" target="_blank"> Comic Book Resources</a>.
“I’m astonished,” Giffen said. “I’ll admit to being completely floored by the reaction. I knew people liked the Justice League back then – it was a popular book. But I never imagined that getting together to revisit them for six issues would cause such a flurry. Back then, we were having so much fun, but never really thought we were making that big of an impact on people. JLI was supposed to be a good, entertaining comic book, and I’m flattered that we had this kind of impact, and that people are anticipating it so much. I also hope we can live up to their expectations.
“I’m hoping that we can reconnect with the audience that was into it then, and I’m also hoping we can draw in a new audience that wasn’t around. All I can think is that, and I’ve maintained this for a long time, that there is a market out there for a ‘good-natured, tell the story, and have fun’ kind of comics. It doesn’t all have to be continuity mired, or only give a piece of the story, or require the reader to have written their Master’s thesis on the X-Men to enjoy. Maybe there is room for this kind of book, where people can pick it up, visit some old friends, roll it up, stick it in their back pocket, and go play softball.”
And to answer the question that’s beginning to form, yes, both Giffen and DeMatteis have ideas about what they could do with this group of heroes on a regular basis, although both are very cautious about the possibilities of returning to FKatJL after the initial six issues.
“It’s not for me to say,” Giffen said. “I don’t know if I’d want it to continue as an ongoing. I wouldn’t fight it, but maybe it could return as a regular series of six-issue miniseries. Kevin has committed to six issues, and he might not want to do any after #6. Maybe we should take a couple of months off and come back with another artist. We had different artists on the Justice League, after all. I’d like to do some more stuff with these characters, but again, it’s not for me to say. It’s for DC to say, based on sales and fan reaction. I’d certainly be up for it.”
With that in mind, and not willing to give up too many details about the plot, Giffen did have one revelation – he’s not writing this as a one-time event for the characters. “By the end of the sixth issue, we’ll have a good, solid, definable group dynamic, and they’ll still exist,” Giffen said. “I don’t disband them after issue six. Hopefully, other people won’t damage them too badly if they use them, or go killing them indiscriminately like has happened before, and they’ll still be there for us to come back to if we’re able.
“But for now, I’m amazed by the response to this one project, and can honestly say I don’t think fans will be disappointed. It encapsulates what I like to think is, or was the best of the JLI and updates it for a new audience, or even for an old audience that’s wondering what happened to these characters after they left. When I sit down to write these characters, I have a ball. It’s something I look forward to, and am really, really enjoying.”
And as for that team name?
“I want it to be on the window in the same style it was from the cartoon series,” Giffen said. “We’re looking into getting permission to use that logo, and you have to figure, since this is Maxwell Lord we’re talking about, he’ll run television commercials. The way I see it, that ad would be the opening of the old Super Friends cartoon…but we’re still working on that.”
<a href=http://classic.newsarama.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=000039>CLICK HERE</a> to return to the main menu to read about more of DC’s upcoming projects.
Got something to say about this? <a href=http://classic.newsarama.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=agree>CLICK HERE</a> to register and join one of comics' most active online communities. Registration is fast and easy.</font>