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Issue 141 of Wizard, notable for its Alex Ross cover, was out last week. I must confess I haven’t been reading Wizard lately — I get most of my industry news online and have tried to avoid the hype of the X-Men dominated comics media. However, this month Wizard is a goldmine of JLA and JLA related information with a seven page feature on the League and upcoming events.
Before I go on I think I should mention the highlight of the entire issue — a double page spread by Phil Jimenez which updates his group shot from the first JLA Secret Files. It features 95 members and associates of the JLA and is quite frankly stunning! You can find the image online at Wizard World along with a handy identification guide (link moved to webarchive: 2008/08/17) for the characters.
JLA: New Frontier (late 2003/early 2004) — a six-issue prestige format mini-series by Darwyn Cooke (Batman Animated storyboard and SELINA’S BIG SCORE artist). The story focuses on Hal Jordan and follows the “real-time” lives of the Silver Age JLA from the first appearance of the Flash in 1955 to the formation of the League in 1960. Expect guest appearances from most of the DC characters published at that time.
Previews of Mark Waid’s Superman: Birthright and Geoff Johns’s Teen Titans. Both look excellent. I particularly like the TT preview — why is everybody acting so awkwardly around Impulse and why was Cassie looking so stranely at the statue of Donna Troy? As a sidenote: check out the interviews with the TT creative team Geoff Johns (writer) and Mike Mckone (artist) at CBR.
In filler mode Wizard run down the their top-ten JLA stories with Grant Morrison’s New World Order (JLA #1-4) coming out top. They also rundown the “lamest JLA members of all time”, yet shockly include Zatnna! Have these people not read Paul Dini’s Zatanna EVERYDAY MAGIC Vertigo oneshot? They also run down their JLA dream team and the “Greatest Guy Gardner Bitch-Slaps of All Time”. Go figure. 
The really interesting stuff is buried in a text piece on page 84 where they have a few quick words with current JLA writer Joe Kelly. They mention a number of titbits about upcoming JLA storylines:
- “White Rage” 3-parter starting in JLA #80 (out last week) – the JLA wade into a Waco style stand-off and havoc ensues. Apparently this story will introduce “some new concepts and characters, like the Clockwatchers, who we’ll see more of down the pike.”
- The next 3-parter will feature a revamp of an old villain group. This story is notiable as it directly takes the League into Qurac (the DCU version of Iraq).
- “Trial by Fire” 6-parter features the return of some JLA members who left after the Obsidian Age and the first appearance of a villain who has links with the League. It will also deal with the Batman/Wonder Woman connection and will introduce the possibility of new romances around the Watchtower. Kelly ends the section by noting, “It’s going to be a different landscape around the Watchtower by the end of the summer, and things are going to be building into something big for next year. Don’t forget: JLA #100 is right around the corner!”
The headline double-page section on Alex Ross’s JLA LIBERTY AND JUSTICE is interesting and features pencils sketchs of a half dozen pages. Not much more to report, nice pictures and comments from Ross. Buy it and see for yourself.
Hey happened upon your site looking up some cool JL pics to maybe make into a background and I like it. Anyway I have issue 141 of wizard from 2003 so I have that pic but in your blog it says something about a secret files group shot similar to the wizard piece but the link is dead, if you have that I would appreciate it if you could sent it to me as an attachment and if you have the \giant villains pic from i believe that same secret files issue please send that too. Also the link to the identification page is dead as well and I have wanted to know forever and a day if that blue demon dog thing was anything more than a pet to orion, it is to Orion’s right at his feet and i don’t mean yazz i know him. any help would be great thanks.
Ah, the first of the broken links. Something else I’m going to have to fix after I moved the blog. The picture is still available at my old site at http://captain.custard.org/league/graphics/wallpapers/95_Leaguers.jpg, but I’ll move it across as soon as I get the new gallery set up. The links to Wizard I can’t do anything about as they trashed their old site when they put the new one one.
The dog that is shown at the far right of that image is indeed Orion’s dog that appeared in a few issues of Grant Morrison’s JLA. His name was Sturmer and he helped Orion defeat the General in Morrison’s World War III storyline. Orion descibed him as a “Pack-Commander of the Dog Cavalry”, but he was lost into the Phantom/Ghost Zone during that story.
Cool thanks for the info I figured as much but I tried finding the id guide love this pic and the George Perez JLa/Avengers 3 group pic. Regarding the pics I already have the 95 league pic but what I’m looking is the first group shot that the first line of the second paragraph references and a colored version of this villains shot http://www.tri-stateoriginalart.com/gallery_1205/19_1205lt.jpg if you have these or know where to find them that would be great thanks
I’ve uploaded a old scan of the heroes double spread – actually the file the one that link original pointed to – to a new gallery I’m putting together. You can find it at http://league.jmkprime.org/gallery/v/byseries/secretfiles/jlasecretfiles-heroes.jpg.html If I could find my copy of JLA Secret Files #1 I’d upload a higher resolution scan of both the images (darn if I known which box I’ve put it in).
If and when you get around to uploading both images most appreciated. I love the Justice League, best comic team of all time some of my earliest cartoon memories are from the old reruns of Superfriends early morning before school started and ever since I’ve been in love with team books and as far as I can tell the only people who don’t like the post Legends League, which may be my favorite, are those few people without funny bones. Anything you can find would be great thanks again
Update: I’ve updated the gallery link in the original post and have put up a new post with the new higher resolution scans.
you are my hero thanks a million