DC75: Justice League of Arbor

I talked yesterday about my disappointment in Comics Should Be Good's 75 Most Memorable Moments in DC Comics History, and have decided to do something about it. I'll be offering up alternatives at my various blogs, and encourage others to do the same, so I can link to them at DC Bloodline's Truly Most Memorable Moments of the Dodranscentennial.

While I'm sure there's no shortage of memorable Martian Manhunter solo moments among his fans, I don't see general audiences even being aware of the introduction of Diane Meade, the death of John Jones, the destruction of the Diabolu Idol-Head and so on. For my own part, I'll try to stick to moments that should be familiar to all comic book fans and looked on favorably by most.

For instance, fans haunting the spinner rack in the early '60s would have been safe in assuming the Justice League of America were formed in The Brave and The Bold #28. Superman and Batman were already quite chummy, as were Green Lantern and the Flash. It wouldn't have been a stretch to assume the Manhunter from Mars patrolled the same Gotham City streets as the Caped Crusader, plus everyone knows Wonder Woman and Aquaman. Starro the Conqueror strucks, and it just took the lot of them to bring him down. While battling a giant mind-controlling space starfish might have made for a great first cover image, I don't think there were any particularly winning moments within.

Imagine a kid's surprise at one of the first great retcons of the Silver Age-- as two years later, they learned of the case that really brought the team together. That's pretty memorable on its own, but even with the full knowledge that the team had survived to tell the tale, seeing Earth's greatest heroes turned into helpless trees burned into the consciousness of a generation. In the decades since, the moment has been revisited and recreated, as the individual heroes played to one another's strengths to free themselves from the Appelaxians' trap. I'd say February 1962's Justice League of America #9 stands among DC's finest hours of a great many.

If you want more, check out the DC Bloodline's DC75 Countdown, where LissBirds at Comics Make Me Happy! gets us started with Adam Strange, while Aaron at Continued On 2^nd Page Following offers a really alternative 10 Moments in DC History That You Won’t See On the Top 75...