The Bwa-Ha-Ha band is back together once again: The classic Justice League International team of co-writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, along with artist Kevin Maguire, are reuniting for August one-shot DC Retroactive: Justice League of America — The ’90s #1. (Whew, long title.) Now, given that the team’s original run stretched from 1987 to 1992, and they released the Formerly Known as the Justice League and I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League miniseries in 2003 and 2005, I’d say that the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire team is arguably more known for the ’80s and ’00s than the ’90s, but this is still worth getting excited about. (When you think ’90s Justice League, you think of the Grant Morrison and Howard Porter JLA run, right?)
Solicitation info — and the artist announcements for the rest of the Retroactive ’90s books, straight from The Source — after the jump.
DC RETROACTIVE: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA – THE ‘90s #1
Writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire are one of the most classic creative teams in the Justice League’s history. In this issue, they reunite to tell the story of the Injustice Gang gaining access to a device they should never have been allowed to have, causing potentially disastrous results. It’ll be up to the Justice League of America to put a stop to their dastardly deeds.
ONE-SHOT • On sale AUGUST 24 • 56 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T
DC RETROACTIVE: BATMAN – THE ‘90s #1
Writer Alan Grant and artist Norm Breyfogle helm a tale that spins directly off of the events of DETECTIVE COMICS #613 (reprinted in this issue). When The Ventriloquist and Scarface are released from prison after only one year, they become determined to reclaim their statuses in the upper echelon of Batman’s Rogues Gallery.
ONE-SHOT • On sale AUGUST 17 • 56 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T
DC RETROACTIVE: THE FLASH – THE ‘90s #1
When Wally West became The Flash in the ‘90s, he morphed from a sidekick into a hero in his own right. The creative team of writer Brian Augustyn and artist Mike Bowden set the Fastest Man Alive in another race against evil.
ONE-SHOT • On sale AUGUST 17 • 56 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T
DC RETROACTIVE: GREEN LANTERN – THE ‘90s #1
In this issue, the legendary ‘90s creative team of Ron Marz and Darryl Banks team up again. The result? Kyle Rayner, while on monitor duty at the JLA Watchtower, must overcome his fears in order to stop a villain in his tracks and save his own abilities and imagination.
ONE-SHOT • On sale AUGUST 24 • 56 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T
DC RETROACTIVE: WONDER WOMAN – THE ‘90s #1
Joining writer William Messner-Loebs is artist Paris Cullins to tell a defining story that shows why Wonder Woman is Princess of the Amazons.
ONE-SHOT • On sale AUGUST 17 • 56 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T
DC RETROACTIVE: SUPERMAN – THE ‘90s #1
Fan-favorite creative team of writer Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove come back together to tell a lost tale of the Man of Steel. As Lex Luthor slowly loses his mind, he subsequently hatches a scheme that could both increase his wealth and kill Superman. Can he successfully kill two birds with one stone? Not if Clark Kent has anything to say about it.
ONE-SHOT • On sale AUGUST 24 • 56 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T
May 2nd, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Some really good creative teams there…. Nice.
May 2nd, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Can’t complain about the creative teams, and I know there already is a Justice League retro title, but I thought since both Morrison and Porter were around we might have seen a JLA retro title.
May 2nd, 2011 at 10:50 pm
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May 3rd, 2011 at 1:31 am
mike Bowden? on flash? who?
and Paris cullins? not mike deodato? george Perez? jill thompson”? lee moder? mike deodato… yoyu choose the least liked 6 issues of the run?
May 3rd, 2011 at 6:27 am
Sad that things remain frozen between Waid and DC. Then again, Waid’s last return to Flash was all nostalgia.
May 3rd, 2011 at 6:28 am
Hopefully this JLA is better than the Metal Men back up. That never did anything for me. Felt like I read it already.
Mike Deodato has been with Marvel for years. Perez is known for relanching WW not working with Loebs, and the others you mention are not bigger names than Paris.
On another note it is good to that Banks will be drawing Kyle again.
I have been reading comics way to long since most of these I am really looking forward to.
Alan Grant and artist Norm Breyfogle on an new Batman story is something I never thought I would see again. Welcome back guys.
May 3rd, 2011 at 6:46 am
This 90′s line looks great.
JLA – thats a no brainer. But I agree with you about Morrison/Porter for the 90′s and Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire for the 80′s. That would be amazing! One more Morrison JLA story!
Green Lantern – Marz/Banks on Kyle again? Love it! GL #51 was my first GL issue so this is gold!
Batman – Bit iffy – I loved the Grant/Breyfogle run. But Scarface? I hate the broken nose, spelling issue
On the bright side, at least they’re not using Anarky. We’ll see.
And I may get Superman too. Bogdanove?!? Yay!
May 3rd, 2011 at 7:49 am
Honestly, I just can’t wrap my head around, how you guys are sooo excited for this stuff. I’m an avid DC fan and all, but this retro stuff does nothing for me.
I just can’t see what DC is hoping to achieve with this. Is it to gain new readers? You don’t do that by showing them the past; you give them an interesting present and future.
Is it to long time readers one last nostalgic moment? Wow, so these are the exact same stories, by the exact same creative teams. Don’t you think that’s redundant?
It happens all the time: Nostalgia in small doses is fine, but anything beyond that keeps you stuck in the past, and prevents you from appreciating the present.
It’s the same thing with music, that’s why, even though i like the old stuff, I try not to gorge myself with it, because it would make me not bother with seeking out some of the new stuff that’s great too.
So, I say focus on FlashPoint and beyond, and go back to your back issues from time to time, if you want that nostalgic feeling.
[/end rant]
May 3rd, 2011 at 7:50 am
Besides, if you guys are really having a wet dream over these creators, then you should be clamoring for DC to put them on NEW or current books, rather than wasting their talents on stuff they’ve already done.
May 3rd, 2011 at 8:16 am
“When Wally West became The Flash in the ‘90s ….”
What’s the deal with this?
May 3rd, 2011 at 11:28 am
It’s a bit of a slap in the face for Wally West fans. Especially considering how poorly Dan D-Bag DiDio & his lapdogs have treated Wally & his fans with their SA resurgence crap and the return of Boring Allen.
God I hate Dan DiDio
May 3rd, 2011 at 11:42 am
Shameless Says:
May 3rd, 2011 at 6:46 am
·Batman – Bit iffy – I loved the Grant/Breyfogle run. But Scarface? I hate the broken nose, spelling issue
On the bright side, at least they’re not using Anarky. We’ll see.”
Dude, put down the pipe. Anarky was amazing. What’s not amazing is DC being too much PC these days to let a character/writer express an opinion about injustice. I wish they would give Alan and Norm the copyright of the character so they could keep making new, poignant stories.
I hate the “RetroActive” title (it doesn’t sound respectful somehow), but I’ll take what I can get.
May 3rd, 2011 at 2:30 pm
@Samurai36 Why do you assume that those of us who are excited about these creators aren’t also clamoring for them to get regular books? We can’t like these one shots AND want them on regular books?
Is it nostalgia? Sure, to a certain extent. But a lot of us think Norm Breyfogle is one of the best Batman artists of all time. A lot of us don’t like how Wally West got hosed for the resurrection of white bread. And given that the JLI is getting a new title, the Justice League in the 90′s title is pretty current.
Both of the Big Two know they have a certain level of guaranteed sales when it comes to nostalgia books, so we will always get titles like this. It’s also entirely possible that, if one of these titles does really well, we could see the creative team move to something more regular.
So stop whining and let people enjoy what they enjoy.
May 3rd, 2011 at 3:54 pm
@Kyle Garret:
“@Samurai36 Why do you assume that those of us who are excited about these creators aren’t also clamoring for them to get regular books? We can’t like these one shots AND want them on regular books?”
Hmmm, maybe because no one here (except for me) actually suggested such a notion? No one’s a mind reader.
“Is it nostalgia? Sure, to a certain extent. But a lot of us think Norm Breyfogle is one of the best Batman artists of all time. A lot of us don’t like how Wally West got hosed for the resurrection of white bread. And given that the JLI is getting a new title, the Justice League in the 90′s title is pretty current.”
I don’t get caught up (for the most part) in artists and writers. I’m all about books and characters. That’s a sure-fire way to stay stuck in the nostalgic past.
It’s like saying “I’m a Michael Jordan” fan, instead of saying “I’m a Bulls Fan”.
I like Wally as much as the next guy, but I also like Barry too. I could tell you to “give it time, that something will happen with Wally”…. But I get the feeling you (and others) are not trying to hear that.
“Both of the Big Two know they have a certain level of guaranteed sales when it comes to nostalgia books, so we will always get titles like this. It’s also entirely possible that, if one of these titles does really well, we could see the creative team move to something more regular.”
Sure, they do the “Absolutes”, and the “Omnibuses” all the time. But I don’t think it’s as simple as these books doing well, and the creators will get more work. These people are damn-near legends in the business. Don’t you think if they wanted more work, they could get it from one publisher or another? Not that I know personally, but I’m just curious, who called who: did they call DC, or did DC call them?
“So stop whining and let people enjoy what they enjoy.”
LOL at me “whining”…. Says the guy that said:
“A lot of us don’t like how Wally West got hosed for the resurrection of white bread.”
And others on here said:
“What’s not amazing is DC being too much PC these days to let a character/writer express an opinion about injustice.”
and:
“It’s a bit of a slap in the face for Wally West fans. Especially considering how poorly Dan D-Bag DiDio & his lapdogs have treated Wally & his fans with their SA resurgence crap and the return of Boring Allen.
God I hate Dan DiDio”
Are you prepared to defend all this, too? Otherwise, good morning pot… What color is your kettle?
Besides, it’s wholly inaccurate to call me a “whiner”. I gladly collect and read 90-95% of DC. This Retro stuff just happens to fall in the 5-10% category that I don’t read.
How much can you say you read at present?
May 3rd, 2011 at 5:44 pm
@Samurai36
Why would I need to defend what other people have said? I’m not their keeper, they can defend themselves.
So because no one suggested that these creators should get regular gigs, that means none of us think that? When commenting on an article about the one shots? That doesn’t make an ounce of sense.
Why would I want to read bad stories by characters I like? Of course I follow creators, if I didn’t, I would be reading anything that happens to feature a character I like, no matter the quality. That’s insane.
For that matter, if you only follow characters, then what’s wrong with people who follow Wally West wanting a book like this? It’s been over 2 year since Barry returned. By your own admission, you’d be reading this book, too, regardless of the creative team, if you were a Wally West fan.
The Big Two’s reliance on nostalgia isn’t just limited to reprints. Look at all the books that Chris Claremont has been given, picking up where he left off on X-Men? They did the same thing with the other X-books, too.
Unfortunately, I truly doubt most of these legendary creators could get regular work because tastes change. It’s the nature of comics. What is popular in one decade isn’t necessarily popular in the next…but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people out there who don’t still want those types of stories, and so we get one shots like this.
I would say the fact that you read 90-95% of what DC publishes and decide you need to complain about the other 5-10% does, in fact, make you a whiner.
May 3rd, 2011 at 6:59 pm
@Kyle Garret:
“Why would I need to defend what other people have said? I’m not their keeper, they can defend themselves.”
Because you said:
“Why do you assume that those of us who….”
And:
“We can’t like these….”
And:
“But a lot of us think….”
And:
“A lot of us don’t like…”
That’s one of the problems I have about comic fans: they attempt to speak for everyone else besides themselves. You can’t pick and choose when you want to do this. Just make it easier on yourself, and just say “*I* don’t like such-n-such”. You reduce the need to eat crow that way.
“So because no one suggested that these creators should get regular gigs, that means none of us think that? When commenting on an article about the one shots? That doesn’t make an ounce of sense.”
If it doesn’t make sense, then why was I the only person that actually suggested it? My mother didn’t give birth to a mind reader, and I wouldn’t have suggested it, if I’d seen that somebody else had mentioned it before me (except maybe to co-sign).
“Why would I want to read bad stories by characters I like? Of course I follow creators, if I didn’t, I would be reading anything that happens to feature a character I like, no matter the quality. That’s insane.”
Oh, so now you are saying “I” instead of “we”? Nice. However, only following certain creators doesn’t automatically mean that anything that creator didn’t make “bad”. Now THAT’S what’s insane.
“For that matter, if you only follow characters, then what’s wrong with people who follow Wally West wanting a book like this? It’s been over 2 year since Barry returned. By your own admission, you’d be reading this book, too, regardless of the creative team, if you were a Wally West fan.”
By “my own admission”, I’m a FLASH fan, not just a Wally fan. I thought I’d made that clear in my initial response about Wally.
“The Big Two’s reliance on nostalgia isn’t just limited to reprints. Look at all the books that Chris Claremont has been given, picking up where he left off on X-Men? They did the same thing with the other X-books, too.”
Interesting that you mention Claremont and the X-Men. This is the poorest example that you could’ve used. Did you actually read his last run on those books? That stuff wasn’t his best.
Also, someone here mentioned Mark Waid, and how his latest attempts at DC were a fail as well. This is what happens when you hold onto nostalgia.
“Unfortunately, I truly doubt most of these legendary creators could get regular work because tastes change. It’s the nature of comics. What is popular in one decade isn’t necessarily popular in the next…but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people out there who don’t still want those types of stories, and so we get one shots like this.”
So, is this you changing horses in the middle of the race here? Because that’s been my entire point the whole time. That’s why it’s pointless to stay stuck on those creator’s glory days.
I’m a Green Lantern fan, but not (just) because of Geoff Johns. I’m also a fan of the Big 7 JLA, but not (just) because of Grant Morrison. I’m just waiting for someone (anyone) to put that band back together. It really doesn’t matter who it is.
“I would say the fact that you read 90-95% of what DC publishes and decide you need to complain about the other 5-10% does, in fact, make you a whiner.”
Dude, c’mon… You’re just saying stuff, just to be saying it. You know as well as I do, that didn’t make a bit of sense. I’m happy, so what on earth do I have to whine about?? If I’m to assume that you are in the opposite category from me (and it’s obvious that you are; you only like one iteration of a character, and from one creator(s), and from one time period), then you’re the one that’s not content, and thus are the whiner.
May 3rd, 2011 at 10:59 pm
The 90′s JLA was the absolute best incarnation! But the team was Morrison and Porter! Bring back the big 7! As long as Kyle is the GL you’ve got the perfect team!!!
So happy to see a Kyle GL tale!!! Johns is a great writer but Jordan blows as a character. All GL is now is events that could be told with any generic hero archtype.
May 3rd, 2011 at 11:03 pm
Anubis 8 has it right on!!! The Silver Age resurgence blows!!!! What happened to a forward evolving universe?!!!!