Flashback Fave: JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL

Everyone is familiar with Justice League - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the rest of DC comics' "magnificent seven" - the top-tier, i.e., most popular, most iconic of the company's characters, teaming up to vanquish evil no one hero can tackle alone.

Less well-known is the 80's iteration of the group: Lesser known heroes such as Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, et. al. (though still keeping Batman for a few adventures), battling together, but mostly bickering and bantering with one another - to hilarious results.

In the intro to the 1st JLI paperback, A New Beginning, editor Andy Helfer related the genesis of the project, spurred on by popular Legion of Superheroes plotter/penciller Keith Giffen, who was bugging him on a daily basis ("He would stick his head in my office and say, 'Jusssticce Leeeaague'.") Finally, Helfer answered, "You got it." But before they could chronicle the continuing adventures of the one of comicdom's signature teams, they hit a snag. Post-Legends (a company-wide crossover following Crisis on Infinite Earths), most of the editors and creative teams in charge of solo titles like Superman and Green Lantern were still in the midst of revamping and renewing their characters, so these heroes were off-limits. What was left were second-tier characters that, although familiar to fans, weren't quite strong enough to star in their book.

Plotted by Giffen, scripted by J.M. DeMatteis (then known more for horror and angst), and wondrously penciled by newcomer Kevin Maguire, Justice League International was considered a breath of fresh air after the serious, dour tone of comics post-Watchmen and  Dark Knight Returns. The emphasis was not on adventuring and fighting the big baddie every issue; instead, it was how the characters related to one another and humor. Importantly, the treatment of humor wasn't the typical, full-on sight gags and slapstick of "funny"-based comics. Rather, it was dialogue and character-driven, with facial and body expressions that were more grounded in reality.

Never truly done before in comics, much less superhero mainstream comics, strange that it hasn't been truly replicated since, at least compared to the "serious, dark" turn of heroes that became the dominant, de facto style for the better part of a decade. Although the series, like most, petered out towards the end (almost becoming a parody of itself), the first several years remain a distinct, highlight of that late 80's period.

Proves you can go home again