Welcome to The Justice League Satellite!

Welcome to JLAsatellite.blogspot.com, a new blog devoted entirely to the classic adventures of the original Justice League of America!

As a kid, no book was more important to me than Justice League of America--it featured the all-stars of the DC Universe, having adventures that ranged from the small to the (literally) universe-shattering. Even though growing up I normally bought several comics regularly, if I ever found myself with only a little bit of money, a new issue of JLA would be always be Top Priority.

Before we kick off the blog formally tomorrow, I thought I'd answer some questions that are probably on your lips:

What will this blog consist of?

Mainly, it will be a daily examination of each successive issue of Justice League of America. I own every issue--from #1 all the way up to the final, #261, so will be going through them in order.

I was partly inspired by my pal Siskoid's Herculean attempt to catalog and review every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in order. I think the JLA is also worthy of such respect.

Is that it?

Well, no...I also plan to include contemporary ads(like this awesome one for The Brave and the Bold #28), and relevant and/or interesting other JLA-related material. There really isn't that much JLA-specific merchandise around that was tied to the original book, but in some cases we'll talk about it.

Will you be doing interviews like on The Aquaman Shrine?

I sure hope to! One of the most fun things for me doing The Aquaman Shrine(or any of my other blogs) is the opportunity to contact the various writers, artists, and editors whose work has meant so much to me. The internet--aka The Greatest Invention Since Fire--has enabled people like me to have access to people I'd normally never be able to contact and, in some cases, even get to know as friends.

Of course, I'll never have the chance to talk to the giants of the JLA, like Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, and Dick Dillin, but there are still many other fine creative people who I'd love to talk to about their work with The World's Greatest Superheroes.

My God, how many blogs can you have?

I don't know! If there's a limit Blogger hasn't informed me of it yet. I got the idea to do this blog a while ago, since I knew I would bring the same energy and passion that I bring to the other ones, an ingredient that I think/hope makes them enjoyable to read, day after day.

I knew that one of my other blogs, Digest Comics, was coming to a definite end since I had exhausted talking about the ones I loved the most, so I wanted to wait until that happened to start this--it was starting to get a little confusing, keeping track of them all.

Also like my other blogs, I hope JLA Satellite serves as both an enjoyable, reverent-yet-irreverent romp through the JLA fields, as well as a useful historical document of a long-running, influential comic book. I hope that by the time we get to issue #261, this blog will be the place people visit when they want to find out some good, useful, in-depth info on the book.

So why the JLA?

Well, like I said above, it was the book that spoke to me the most growing up--I spent most of my teenage years amassing the entire run(which wasn't easy for someone living off an allowance or a measly Roy Rogers employee salary). Later, during art school, I sold all of my comics(15,000+) to help pay for school, and for a moment I briefly considered the JLAs, too. Luckily, one second after I spoke that idea aloud, my friend Chris Wichtendahl said "You can't do that. Those are the Kelly Family Jewels." And he was right--they were the only comics I kept, and I'm so glad I did.

The DC Universe always seemed like a more fun, happy place than the Marvel one, which is why I always more of a DC kid. And nothing seemed more fun than hanging out in space satellite, 22,300 miles above Earth, hanging out with the all-stars of the DC universe. Heck, I'd even be a mascot--I can snap my fingers as well as anybody else!

Here's me sometime in 1982 with my Mom and my two Uncles, and in the background is JLA #206.

...and there's even another shot of me and Mom(somewhere buried in another photo album), and I'm not even bothering to pose or get the heck out of the shot; I'm too busy reading Justice League of America Annual #1.

The book was never far from my life. I never quite got over the book being cancelled and replaced with an endless succession of #1s, to the point that once in a while I'll catch myself doing the math in my head, imagining what number issue the original book would be up to by now if DC had just kept it going(it'd be hitting its 500th issue this year!).

And since those new JLA titles never had the same impact on me, we won't be covering them here. I have no interest in tracking down every issue of Justice League Task Force, thank you very much. Not that there weren't a lot of good--even great--moments in those books, but those occupy a different part of my heart, and that's not the part this blog is coming from(criminy, did I just write that?).

So starting tomorrow, we'll be talking about Justice League of America #1, where the JLA takes on the evil-yet-goofy-looking Despero. I hope my efforts are as interesting and comment-worthy as my other blogs, and I hope they provide the same level of enjoyment.

Thanks to everyone who reads my other blogs and lets me know how much they like them and even contribute things for me to use. I wouldn't be doing all these Exercises in Fandomosity if it weren't for all of you out there reading. I thank every single one of you.

Oh, and one final question...

Will I get something if I contribute to the JLA Satellite the same way I did by contributing something to the Aquaman Shrine?

Oh, yes. My Darlin' Tracy has her F.O.A.M. certificate on a bookshelf, so its a constant reminder to reward when someone goes The Extra Mile.

See you tomorrow, JLAers!