The world of comic books has no shortage of iconic superhero teams. But in the end, DC Comics‘ Justice League remains the best of the best, simply because it boasts a roster of Earth’s greatest and most iconic heroes. Among them, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. But when it comes to the League’s various series over the past sixty years, which runs are the all-time greatest? Whether it’s as the Justice League of America, International, Unlimited, or very simply “the Justice League,” these are our rankings for their greatest comic book creative runs of all time.
10. JLA by Joe Kelly
with Doug Mahnke, Chris Cross
This run of the Justice League often falls through the cracks. Probably because it’s a follow up to both Grant Morrison and Mark Waid’s more celebrated versions. After successful runs on Deadpool and Daredevil at Marvel, writer Joe Kelly took over JLA with issue #61, along with artist Doug Mahnke. Their four-year run has some great stories throughout, starting with “The Golden Perfect.” That story deals with the ramifications of Wonder Woman’s indestructible golden lasso getting severed, rewriting the rules of reality. Longtime Leaguer Martian Manhunter gets a spotlight too, as this run explores his PTSD as the sole survivor of Mars.
But the greatest story in Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke’s run was “The Obsidian Age.” It’s a magical time-travel story where the JLA goes back thousands of years to the ancient Atlantean era. Meanwhile, in the present, a new League forms made up of characters whose time as Leaguers was long overdue, like Nightwing. Joe Kelly’s run also extended into the mini-series Justice League Elite, a commentary on the brutal vigilante teams like the Authority that were all the rage at the time. For unknown reasons, this run doesn’t get the love it deserves. Hopefully, more readers will discover it in the future.
Issues in Joe Kelly’s JLA Run:
JLA #61-90, Justice League Elite #1-12 (2001-2005)
9. Justice League of America by Gardner Fox
with Mike Sekowsky, Sheldon Moldoff
To a modern reader, the original run of Justice League of America will seem very dated. It was written with little kids in mind, and the characters are all just costumes and powers, without distinct personalities. But writer and JLA co-creator Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky still managed to load up the series with tons of imagination, with villains introduced that are still major Justice League adversaries to this day. Bad guys like the alien despot Despero, the evil alt-JLA the Crime Syndicate, the android Amazo, and the sorcerer Felix Faust all debut here in the original run. Put yourself in the right preteen mindset, and these are still fun to read.
These early JLA stories would also flesh out the idea of the DC Multiverse, and begin the grand tradition of the Justice League/Justice Society annual crossovers. And as “kiddy” as they are, they do try to teach children real life science concepts via larger-than-life sci-fi stories. Early issues hid Batman and Superman, especially from the cover art, as DC editorial felt didn’t need more exposure. Once Batman ’66 blew up on TV, however, that edict went out the window. Once Superman and Batman could participate more, the series really took off. If you can view these stories through the lens of a young kid in the ‘60s, you can see how this was the foundation for a franchise that has stood the test of time.
Issues in Gardner Fox’s Justice League of America Run:
The Brave and the Bold #28-30, Justice League of America (vol.1) #1-65 (1960-1968)
8. Justice League by Geoff Johns
with Jim Lee, Ivan Reis, Jason Fabok
Geoff Johns is known for his seminal runs on DC titles like The Flash, Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, and especially Green Lantern. Not to mention a stint as president of DC Entertainment. He was known for building on DC’s vast history. But when DC rebooted their whole universe in 2011 with their New 52 initiative, Johns and superstar artist (and DC co-publisher) Jim Lee started from scratch. The pair built up the world’s greatest superheroes from the ground up, introducing them to each other as brand-new heroes. Younger versions of the DC icons came together again for the first time in the modern day, with Cyborg replacing Martian Manhunter as a team founder.
In their first adventure, the team saves the world from Darkseid, a story that greatly informed Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Later stories in this run would even see a reformed Lex Luthor join the team, and a new take on the Crime Syndicate. Some choices were suspect—we’ll never be on board with that Superman/Wonder Woman romance for example—and most of this run is no longer in continuity. (DC continuity is a mess, it’s hard to know). But that doesn’t stop this from being a fun and beautiful-to-look-at comic book. The art from Jim Lee, and later Ivan Reis and Jason Fabok, is always jaw-droppingly good.
Issues in Geoff Johns’ Justice League Run:
Justice League (vol. 2) #1-50 (2011-2015)
7. JLA by Mark Waid
with Howard Porter, Bryan Hitch
Mark Waid doesn’t get the credit he deserves as a Justice League writer, but he absolutely should. He re-introduced the classic JLA roster for the modern era in the 1996 mini-series Justice League: A Midsummer’s Nightmare, before taking over from Grant Morrison in JLA with issues #43-60, during which he wrote the seminal story “Tower of Babel.” This storyline saw Ra’s al Ghul steal Batman’s protocols to take down the League and became the basis for the animated film Justice League: Doom. Waid also introduced the villainous Queen of Fables in a run with future Ultimates artist Bryan Hitch.
Aside from the main JLA title, Waid also wrote the JLA: Year One, telling the story of the League’s earliest days from a modern perspective, with artist Barry Kitson. You could even argue Waid and Alex Ross’ epic Kingdom Come mini-series is a Justice League story, which elevates Waid’s Justice League tenure even further. Few writers have a better understanding of these classic heroes as much as Mark Waid does. Soon, he’ll be taking on the team again in a new Justice League Unlimited ongoing series this year. If it’s as good as his past JL work, his ranking on this list could shoot up even higher.
Issues in Mark Waid’s JLA Run:
Justice League: A Midsummer’s Nightmare #1-3 (1996) JLA ##18-21, 32-33, 43-60 (1998-2002) JLA: Year One #1-12 (1998-1999) JLA Heaven’s Ladder (2000) Kingdom Come #1-4 (1996)
6. Justice League: The Nail by Alan Davis
Technically, this is an Elseworlds run, as it takes place outside of regular DC continuity. But that doesn’t stop it from being an all-time classic Justice League story. Writer/artist Alan Davis was originally best known for his work on Marvel books like Excalibur and Avengers. But in the late ’90s, he came to DC with a twist on their mythology: what is a Justice League like in a world where Superman never existed? In the three-part mini-series Justice League: The Nail, Davis imagines a world where Ma and Pa Kent never found baby Kal-El’s rocket, thanks to a rusty nail giving Pa’s truck a flat tire.
Without the Kents’ influence, Earth has no Man of Steel. What does that mean for the very foundation of the Justice League? Davis imagines a world very similar to the DC universe we know, but without the metaphorical nail holding it all together that is Superman. The art in this series from Davis, showcasing his trademark clean lines and retro style, is superb. And the twists and turns the story takes are wild. The series was so successful, Davis returned for another mini-series sequel, Justice League: Another Nail, which takes things into an even weirder direction. Both of these JLA runs are collectively an underrated gem.
Issues in Alan Davis’ Justice League: The Nail Run:
Justice League: The Nail #1-3 (1998) Justice League of America: Another Nail #1-4 (2004)
5. Justice League of America by Brad Meltzer
with Ed Benes, Gene Ha
Novelist Brad Meltzer is a bestselling author, known for thrillers like The Tenth Justice. But Meltzer is also a lifelong comic book fan, and wanted a chance to take on the JLA. Especially after his non-traditional take on DC in Identity Crisis was so controversial. In 2006, he got to bring his love of DC heroes in a brief (but more traditional) relaunch of the team in Justice League of America. During his one-year run with artist Ed Benes, he saw the trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman reunite after a long absence to recruit a new team, adding heroes like Black Lightning and Red Arrow, Green Arrow’s ex-sidekick.
During Meltzer’s run, longtime member Black Canary finally became team leader, and stories like “The Tornado’s Path” gave some much-needed character development to neglected android member Red Tornado. Maybe the best storyline in his run was “The Lightning Saga,” in which the JLA, the JSA, and the Legion of Super-Heroes brought back Flash Wally West after over a year missing in the timestream. Ed Benes’ artwork was never more stylish or sexy than in this Justice League of America run. The only bad thing about Meltzer’s run was that it was just far too brief. We’d welcome another round from him with Earth’s greatest heroes.
Issues in Brad Meltzer’s Justice League of America Run:
Justice League of America (vol.2) #0-12 (2006-2007)
4. Justice League of America by Gerry Conway
with Dick Dillin, George Perez
Gerry Conway went down in comic book history as the man who killed Peter Parker’s great love Gwen Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man. But after his time at Marvel Comics, Conway went to DC and wrote Justice League of America for several years, working with artists such as Dick Dillin and a young George Perez. During his tenure with the League, Conway introduced more personal conflict into the group, who in the Silver Age era got along all the time. This was also the time period when the League took up residence in an orbiting satellite, miles above the Earth.
Among the highlights of the Gerry Conway era were the introduction of the magician Zatanna and Firestorm, the Nuclear Man into the main roster, a memorable Justice League/Justice Society crossover where the teams had to solve a murder on the JLA Satellite, and a three-part story where the JLA, JSA, and New Gods team up to fight Darkseid. Yes, Gerry Conway’s run ended with the less-than-beloved “Justice League Detroit” era. The less said about that misfire, the better. But we’ve got to hand some points to Conway for taking a big swing and trying something different.
Issues in Gerry Conway’s Justice League of America Run:
Justice League of America (vol.1) #125-127, 131-134, 151-216, 219, 221-223, 228-230, 233-239, and 241-255 (1974-1984)
3. Justice League by Scott Snyder
with James Tynion IV, Jim Cheung, Jorge Jimenez, Francis Manapul, Mikel Janin
When we say we love “Snyder’s Justice League,” we mean this Snyder. After a critically acclaimed run on Batman, writer Scott Snyder decided to turn his eye toward Bruce Wayne’s allies in the Justice League. Snyder, together with artists Jorge Jimenez, Jim Cheung, and others, decided to go big in this Justice League relaunch, perhaps the most cosmic and mind-bending run of the team since Grant Morrison’s days on the title. Scott Snyder’s Justice League brought in several deep-cut characters from DC lore, not to mention one of the silliest and yet wonderful additions to the team, Jarro. He’s a clone of Starro the giant cosmic starfish, who is loyal only to Batman.
In addition to making the Legion of Doom a real threat and not just a Super Friends reference, Snyder also introduced Perpetua, mother of the Omniverse and perhaps the most powerful entity in all of DC history. The team lineup was also fantastic, mixing the animated JLU with the DCEU team. Some of Snyder’s ideas get away from him, and he’s not quite as adept with “big and cosmic” as Grant Morrison is. And far too many of his plotlines that started in Justice League were finished off in other series of his, like Dark Nights Metal. But when his Justice League cooks, it really cooks.
Issues in Scott Snyder’s Justice League Run:
Justice League (vol. 4) #1-39 (2018-2020)
2. Justice League International by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis
with Kevin Maguire, Adam Hughes, Chris Sprouse, Bart Sears, Darick Robertson, Chris Wozniak
In a post-Crisis on Infinite Earths universe, DC successfully relaunched Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. But what about the Justice League? Their previous “Justice League Detroit” version had fizzled badly, and DC didn’t want their “Big Seven” characters all together in one book just yet. So DC took a swing, and the creative team of writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, along with artist Kevin Maguire relaunched the team in Justice League International. Very unlike previous iterations, this version leaned into almost sitcom comedy to go along with the superhero action.
JLI kept iconic Leaguers like Batman and Martian Manhunter, but the breakout characters of the book were C-list heroes like Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire & Ice, and obnoxious jerk Green Lantern, Guy Gardner. Their bickering and snarky banter was unheard of for a superhero book at the time, especially one that wasn’t a straight-up parody. Artist Kevin Maguire’s expressive faces only made the comedic nature of the stories shine even more. Justice League International was so successful, it split into two books—Justice League America and Justice League Europe—and this run lasted five glorious years. It also gave artists like Adam Hughes, Darick Robertson, and Mike McKone their first big breaks in the biz. This is perhaps the only truly great version of the team that doesn’t have the DC Trinity at its center.
Issues in Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis’ Justice League International Run:
Justice League (vol. 1) #1-6, Justice League International (vol. 2) #7-62, Justice League Europe #1-36, Justice League Quarterly #1-4 (1990-1991)
1. JLA by Grant Morrison
with Howard Porter, Frank Quitely
Sometimes, it takes three decades and change to get the best version of a concept. This was the case with writer Grant Morrison and artist Howard Porter’s JLA, which reunited the original seven members of the team for the first time in decades (with Wally West and Kyle Rayner now as the Flash and Green Lantern). In Morrison’s view, the Justice League were the modern equivalent of the Greek Gods, with their Watchtower HQ on the moon as their Mount Olympus. Morrison took their weirder sensibilities from his books like Arkham Asylum and Doom Patrol and found a way to make them work in a more mainstream framework.
Grant Morrison told stories that fit that oft-overused word “epic.” They had the League taking on evil Martians posing as superheroes, and an invasion of angelic army from Heaven. Then there’s “Rock of Ages,” a saga that pits the team against Luthor and Joker’s new Injustice League, evil holographic versions of themselves, and a post-Apocalyptic future where Darkseid rules all. Somehow, that’s all just how this run starts. Later stories had the League meeting their descendants from the far future, the Justice Legion Alpha, and even characters from Sandman. Morrison and Porter’s run lasted four years and 41 issues. Yet it’s still the version of the Justice League by which all other iterations are compared.
Issues in Grant Morrison’s JLA Run:
JLA #1-17, #22-26, #28-31, #34, #36-41, JLA: Secret Files #1 New Year’s Evil Prometheus #1, JLA/WildC.A.T.S. #1, DC One Million #1-4, JLA: Earth 2, (1997-2000) JLA: Classified #1-3 (2004)
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