Customer Reviews

Justice League of America - Archives, VOL 06

You'll have trouble finding a more colorful and bizarre collection of popcorn-science-fiction concepts in any novel or collection of stories; not in comics, not in Larry Niven or in Isaac Asimov, none of those guys. The characters and dialog may seem awkward and stilted (even by the standards of 1960's comics writing), but the inherent weirdness and originality blazes right on through.

With the possible exception of Stan Lee, Gardner Fox is the single most influential writer in American comics. In addition to the Justice League, he created The Flash, The Atom, Hawkman, and the 1940's Justice Society of America (and numerous others I can't think of right now). Along with editor Julius Schwartz, he revamped most of those characters in the late 1950's to create what we call the Silver Age of comics. A list of Fox's literary successors includes comics writers Cary Bates, Mark Waid, and Grant Morrison.

Mike Sekowsky's artwork is perfectly suited to represent the various alien worlds and super-science characters that recur throughout the stories, even if his superheroes usually look a little off (except Wonder Woman).