Justice League of America Archives, Vol. 6 (DC Archive Editions)

Rating:
Summary: Metamorpho says "No!" But you will say "Yes!!" to this one.
Review: Artist Mike Sekowsky is not really known to today's fans and it is a shame that he is not, because the man could draw. Give him a cosmic epic, a crook story, a science fiction or a fantasy based world and he could do it without missing a beat. There was a sense of whimsy in his work that you do not see today.

The second story, "Metamporpho Says No!" has the freak of a thousand elements turning down the League. Man, when I read that story as a child I wondered who the heck he was to turn down the JLA, but now I could see why.

The Key, The Shaggy Man, The Royal Flush Gang all appear. It is a tribute to the series creators that these characters are still around today in one form or another. Of course there is the treat of another crossover with the JSA and the Spectre makes his appearance fighting things on a cosmic scale with the help of the Atom.

It is worth the price alone to go to page 165 and watch the JSA belt Solomon Grundy with pies. You heard me right, pies!

Another gem in this line of archives. Sometimes the stories were silly, sometimes they didn't make as much sense as they should, but they were fun.

Rating:
Summary: Essential Gardner Fox / Mike Sekowsky
Review: I read the 6th Volume most recently, but this review might apply to the entire JLA ARCHIVES series. The stories in the series improve a bit as time goes on, but the difference from volume to volume is barely perceptible.

You'll have trouble finding a more colorful and bizarre collection of popcorn-science-fiction concepts in any novel or collection of stories; not in comics, not in Larry Niven or in Isaac Asimov, none of those guys. The characters and dialog may seem awkward and stilted (even by the standards of 1960's comics writing), but the inherent weirdness and originality blazes right on through.

With the possible exception of Stan Lee, Gardner Fox is the single most influential writer in American comics. In addition to the Justice League, he created The Flash, The Atom, Hawkman, and the 1940's Justice Society of America (and numerous others I can't think of right now). Along with editor Julius Schwartz, he revamped most of those characters in the late 1950's to create what we call the Silver Age of comics. A list of Fox's literary successors includes comics writers Cary Bates, Mark Waid, and Grant Morrison.

Mike Sekowsky's artwork is perfectly suited to represent the various alien worlds and super-science characters that recur throughout the stories, even if his superheroes usually look a little off (except Wonder Woman).

Rating:
Summary: Essential Gardner Fox / Mike Sekowsky
Review: I read the 6th Volume most recently, but this review might apply to the entire JLA ARCHIVES series. The stories in the series improve a bit as time goes on, but the difference from volume to volume is barely perceptible.

You'll have trouble finding a more colorful and bizarre collection of popcorn-science-fiction concepts in any novel or collection of stories; not in comics, not in Larry Niven or in Isaac Asimov, none of those guys. The characters and dialog may seem awkward and stilted (even by the standards of 1960's comics writing), but the inherent weirdness and originality blazes right on through.

With the possible exception of Stan Lee, Gardner Fox is the single most influential writer in American comics. In addition to the Justice League, he created The Flash, The Atom, Hawkman, and the 1940's Justice Society of America (and numerous others I can't think of right now). Along with editor Julius Schwartz, he revamped most of those characters in the late 1950's to create what we call the Silver Age of comics. A list of Fox's literary successors includes comics writers Cary Bates, Mark Waid, and Grant Morrison.

Mike Sekowsky's artwork is perfectly suited to represent the various alien worlds and super-science characters that recur throughout the stories, even if his superheroes usually look a little off (except Wonder Woman).

Rating:
Summary: Still holding up
Review: This volume contains stories which were a bit removed from the previous ones and characters like Metamorpho (who refused to join) and the Spectre found themselves involved within the adventures of the JLA. One could see the "camp" flavor was here upon us, just months before the 1966 Batman TV series premiered.