Thursday, February 09, 2006

Does Brad Meltzer Get It?

I'm worried that he doesn't. When I first heard that he was going to be writing JLA (actually "Justice League of America," but I'm not going to type that every time). I was pretty interested. When I heard that Ed Benes would be the artist I was very interested.

But a little while ago I was flipping through the issue of Wizard where he discussed what characters he'd like in the League. I took another look, as I couldn't remember where he'd placed Martian Manhunter. When I saw where he did place J'onn, I was appalled.

Brad Meltzer placed J'onn J'onzz in the longshot category, and had this to say:

"Believe it or not, has not always been my guy. I don't see him as the center point of the League."

To me, that statement says something about Brad Meltzer. It says that Brad Meltzer doesn't get the Justice League.

J'onn J'onzz, Martian Manhunter is the JLA. He's its heart and soul. The Justice League exists because of J'onn J'onzz. I get that. Hell, even Chuck Austen gets that. How can Brad Meltzer not?

Look at these last few issues of JLA. The League is falling apart. Piece by piece it's collapsing. Say that it's the Trinity's fault if you want to. But the League has survived their absence in the past. The true deathblow to this incarnation of the League was that assault on the Watchtower -- which led to Martian Manhunter's abduction.

As long as there is a Martian Manhunter, there will be a Justice League. But can there be a Justice League without Martian Manhunter? I'm not so sure...

4 Comments:

At 4:51 PM, Blogger Scipio said...

While that is certainly MY Justice League, it is not Brad's

Brad grew up reading the Justice League of America in 1970s Satellite Era. J'onn, for the most part, simply wasn't part of that.

The concept of MM as the 'heart of the League' started in fact with Justice League Detroit. People who think of him that way are mostly fans of the POST Crisis Justice League.

Brad gets the Justice League. Just not the same one we do.

 
At 5:25 PM, Blogger Diamondrock said...

Scipio,

Fair enough. It'll be very different from the League I know, but I'll probably still be checking it out. Should be interesting, if nothing else...

 
At 8:26 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just hope that Meltzer isn't trying to re-create the satellite-era of the League. Those were fun stories, but they've been done. We should be getting something new, not just wallowing in the past.

And I'm a huge J'onn fan - have been since almost the same time I started reading comics in the early 80s. There's just something about him that I've always liked. I don't mind him not being in the current League, because I know that eventually he'll be back. After all, there's no such thing as "never" in comics. If Earth-2 Superman can come back and Bucky can come back to life, well never say never about anything.

 
At 2:36 AM, Blogger acespot said...

I think jamawalk meant Bloodwynd, not Moonstone. Back in the Jurgens days, around the same time as the death of Superman and Knightfall.

 

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