Readers of The Blot Says… may remember that the late 80’s/early 90’s run of Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire on Justice League International is one of The Blot’s holy grails of comics. I hold it in the same high regard as the 80’s run of Marv Wolfman and George Perez on both The New Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths. And so it made me really happy this week to find out DC Direct was continuing its line of Justice League International action figures based on the artwork of Kevin Maguire.
There was no doubt in my mind that a second wave of figures would be coming because while Series 1 was great, it didn’t include any of the super heroes who really represented what it meant to be a member of the JLI. Yes Batman, Ice and G’Nort were important characters to many key JLI stories, but the humorous legacy of Justice League International was created by its core members: the Martian Manhunter, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle and Fire.
One of the highlights of the JLI era was Giffen and DeMatteis’ unique and absurd take on the classic JLA super hero J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter. His new found obsession with Oreos was hilarious and even though they took his personality in a bizarre direction, there is no doubt in my mind that the Martian Manhunter is and always will be the heart and soul of the Justice League. In my opinion his exclusion from the current Justice League series is a key reason the book has been so disappointing to fans; from the very start of the book’s re-launch, the team has been written without direction and focus. Something J’onn often brought to the Justice League of America.
And while I am a little disappointed DC Direct chose to go with Fire and Ice’s original costumes (from their Ice Maiden and Green Flame Global Guardian days), I am pumped to finally be able to own a Justice League team consisting of Blue & Gold and Fire & Ice. These four characters are some of my favorite heroes of all time and I love that they are finally getting their due respect from the higher ups at DC Comics. Now that Tora (Ice) has been brought back to life, we only need to convince the idiots at DC to bring back poor dead Ted Kord (Blue Beetle).
Each Justice League International Series 2 action figure stands between 6.75”-7” tall, features multiple points of articulation, a base to stand on and comes in a 4 color clamshell blister card packaging. You can expect to see the line of Justice League International Series 2 action figures in stores on August 26, 2009.