Comics / Back Issues

JLA Incarnation

By Hervé St-Louis
November 30, 2002 - 11:15

For many fans of JLA Year One, JLA Incarnations seemed like the logical follow up to the first popular series. Unfortunately, JLA Incarnation did not fare so well.

So what was so bad about JLA Incarnations? Well, I think John Ostrander, the writer, did a good job on the series and explained some retcons in a way that made sense.

However, there are many shortcomings to this series.

For many, it was the first time that they heard that Carter and Shiera were the official hawks in the JLA, though it had been confirmed a decade ago, as early as the first Hawkworld annual.

Some unnecessary retcons were the time different members joined the JLA. There was confusion about the Red Tornado, Firestorm, Zatanna and Ralph.

Another problem was that Val Semeiks, the artist, drew the Atom as a regular size man in costume. The Atom is only in costume when he shrinks.

Ostrander moved the time at which the original Black Canary died before the Crisis. Her death happened in a touching story after Canary Junior's time in the JLI after Crisis. This story did not require any retcons as it did not conflict with anything.

J'onn Jonzz, the Martian Manhunter, who had left and returned much later was portrayed as if he had never left.

There was confusion about the time the League built the satellite.

There even were a couple of retcons from Giffen's JLI which were not necessary.

Justice League incarnation seems like a rushed project.

On the other hand, I like the Year One JLA better. It builds up DC's stable of second line characters by removing the overbearing influence and stage presence of the big three.

It reinvented part of DC's past for a newer generation.

There was more character development in the Year One series than in the 200 something issues featuring the classic team. You could really tell that Green Lantern and Flash were not clones of the same always happy go lucky boring do-gooder.

The series also dealt with old questions like the power discrepancy among the characters, the weird guy who lives under water, the Green giant that everybody trusted immediately in the old series.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12