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Jul 31, 2014 Web Exclusive By Zach Hollwedel

Reprinting the first four and a half years of Justice League history (including the famed debut team-up against Starro the Conqueror), this omnibus is a collector’s treat. In 1960, then-editor of DC Comics Julius Schwartz commissioned the legendary crime-fighting League, and Omnibus Volume One is a venerable archive of Silver Age history. Nearly 900 pages long, the same weight as the Batmobile, and with a retail price of $100, the
volume is a more exclusive edition targeted at diehard fans and those wishing to learn the early history of DC Comics’ most recognizable group of superheroes.

In the collection, Batman, Superman, Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, J’onn J’onzz, and Snapper Carr routinely square off against robots, aliens, monsters, and bygone rogues, as well as villains that have survived the decades and remain part of the DC Comics universe today. The massive hardcover will be a delight for fans excited to explore the formative years of the team. There’s an undeniable element of camp unavoidable in work from that era, and younger readers unfamiliar with so much on-the-page narration might mistakenly pass off the collection as slow or bogged down. However, the value of reading about the League from their
first collaborations and (for those up to date) tracking their evolution to the League as it is today is hard to dismiss. Fans concerned about the value of their books should be aware the book is almost too massive for its own good (the spine and binding split easily under the weight of the high-quality ream of paper), but it’s difficult to deny the worth of perusing over 30 early Justice League tales and having this prestige item on any committed JLA bookshelf. (www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/justice-league-of-america-omnibus-vol-1)

Author rating: 7/10