RETRO REVIEW: JLA/Avengers: The Collector’s Edition

DC Comics; $75

With all of the attention swirling around the Hero Initiative’s release this week of a limited print run trade paperback collection of the 2003-2004 JLA/Avengers four-issue mini-series – and all of the accompanying demand for that new edition – it seemed like a fortuitous time to revisit the beautiful 2004 slipcased, hardcover edition.

Written by Kurt Busiek, illustrated by George Pérez, and colored by Tom Smith, the book was released in DC’s “Absolute” format. The edition was comprised of two volumes, each with a dust jacket.

The first volume contains the complete four-issue series, introductions by Stan Lee and Julius Schwartz, a Who’s Who of the characters, a character key for the huge number of characters that appear on the slipcase, and creator bios.

The second volume is comprised of the original 21 pages of pencils from the cancelled 1980s series (also drawn by Pérez) along with articles about why it didn’t happen. For the 2003-2004 version, it includes the original proposal for the mini-series, and a “creators’ commentary” in the form of notes about the incredible number of obscure supporting characters packed into JLA/Avengers.

The story itself is gold. As a Marvel fan as a kid, it was impossible to imagine Starro as a scary villain. Even if it did nothing else, Busiek, Pérez and company pulled off that bit of magic. And that was far from the only thing memorable about this team-up.

As prices for the new trade paperback skyrocketed on speculation this week, the $75 I originally spent for the hardcover seems better and better. I do, however, hope that the success of the Hero Initiative JLA/Avengers encourages DC and Marvel to start cooperating once again. It would be great for the industry, just like this one was.

– J.C. Vaughn