This is where the fun begins!

The Justice League of America represented the capstone of DC's silver-age superhero revival. All the major heroes had been revamped and revived, so all that remained was to bring back their classic team, the Justice Society! Slightly retooled as the "Justice League" instead, this version was magical from the beginning!

This Archive Edition starts off with a very interesting foreward by Paul Gambaccini which, among other things, points out the influence of these classic JLA stories on Salmon Rushdie (of all people). It's a great piece that sets things up nicely for the good stuff to follow.

The stories themselves contain some of Gardner Fox's most imaginative (sometimes surreal) stories, all ably drawn by the quirky Mike Sekowsky. Fox manages a perfect balance between the campy and the dramatic, producing stories that were both classic superhero stuff, but with a very fresh, almost satirical edge. Sekowsky's art complements this mood perfectly. Every character looks and feels like the hero they are supposed to be, but they are also distinctly Sekowsky characters in these stories too. These eccentric stories are definite products of the sixties. In a way, they are to superheroes what the Avengers (Steed and Peel) were to spies: a fresh, ecclectic spin on an old concept!

The stories occasionally become a bit campy, but not in a dumb way. It's more like the stories don't take themselves completely seriously; they possess an intelligence that transcends comics and recognizes what these tales are in the grand scheme of things: just good clean fun. That existential maturity is what makes the Justice League smarter than most other silver age comics.

A word about Mike Sekowsky. He was never a polished, slick artist in the mold of Alex Raymond (though Raymond did sometimes influence him on some character designs). But I will always argue that Sekowsky was the single best layout artist of the silver age. Even when his characters didn't look as good as another artist's, you can be sure that Sekowsky's panels told the story better than anyone's. It's like his stories read themselves, they pull you in to such an extent. Few comics artists undertand sequential storytelling well enough to accomplish this.

The stories in this volume are virtually all classics that have been homaged repeatedly by DC. They include the very first JLA story, "Starro the Conguerer", as well as classics like "Challenge of the Weapons Master", "The Case of the Stolen Super-Powers" (First appearance of Amazo), "World of No Return" (First appearance Despero), "Slave Ship of Space" (First apparance of Kanjar Ro, First appearance of Hyathis), "Doom of the Star Diamond" (Green Arrow joins the JLA) and "Wheel of Misfortune" (First appearance of Amos Fortune).

Given that these stories are four decades old, they can be a bit dated at times, but that only takes a brief while to get used to. After that, there's a lot of enjoyment to be found here. I admit that these comics may not be for everyone, but I can't help it, I love this stuff!

This review is about volume 1 of JLA Archives.

I have to say I love the JSA better than the JLA. JLA, at the time it was made, seemed like a campy version of the modern JSA. Still the issues contained in these books are good and entertaining.

This book is written by Gardner Fox, the same man who wrote for the early JSA - so it really is like a historical prespective to compare the two.

Warning: If you are buying this book thinking you'll get issues with Batman and Superman - don't count on anything substatial. Batman and Supes usally take a side route in these adventures, not participating, or appearing very little at all. I at first didn't like these issues becuase of the lack of Superman and Batman - but after that inital disapointment the issues become enjoyable.

These issues show the first appearences of many villians - like Amazo

For those of you afraid this is like the Superfriends, it is and it isn't. It's much smarter than the Superfriends (No Legion of Doom or any dumb ideas like that) but don't expect it to be that smart or intelligent - I emphizise the word: Campy!
Still you don't nessisasrily have to have been born durring 1960 to enjoy these books. They are good and entertaining. (And starting with Volume 3 have regular guest appearences of the JSA)

This book recalls the days of the sixties, when heroes were heroes, villains were villains, and reasoning and deduction were more useful in defeating evil than fists, guns, and gore. A treat for those of us who preferred the clever plots and cheerful camaraderie of the DC comics of the '60s to the sappy soap opera and relentless angst of Marvel.

If you enjoyed "The Super Friends" cartoon, then this book is for you. If you like reasonably intelligent comics like Silver Age Marvel comics, then skip on this.

I understand some people like these comics because it reminds them "of the good old days." Anyone needing a reminder about the good old days should pick up some EC classics.

This book presents 9 classic Silver Age stories of the JLA. The only fault I could find was that the old ads weren't printed!