Avengers vs JLA

[Karma]

After discussing White Queen vs. Martian Manhunter in another thread, I decided to post this.

A crossover of Marvel & DC in 2000.

Who read it? What are your thoughts about it?

I loved the fact that George Perez, who gave us Wonder Woman's amazing post "Crisis" revival & firmly established her as one of DC's "big three" & who also presided over Avengers vol III which was a FANTASTIC reboot of the book following the Onslaught/Heroes reborn crap was the artist & once again teamed up w/ Kurt Busiek (the head writer for Avengers vol III up till "dissasembled") for this. They're team ups ALWAYS produce solid, enjoyable reading material.

It's interesting though that several members from both groups did not @ all reference the heavily hyped & wide reaching Marvel vs DC crossover of '96 which they were also involved in.

My highlights were:

-She-hulk MANGLING Aquaman so bad it made Aquaman look sympathetic

-Wasp going after Plastic Man & blasting the hell out of him & his pained, bizarre responses (but when isnt he bizarre in his responses lol) & Martian Manhunter chiding him for being unable to deal w/ Wasp

-Wonder Woman becoming apoplectic @ the sight of [Marvel] Hercules & viciously assaulting him. Even he was not able to anticipate the raw power she had

-The JLA's reaction & dim opinion of Marvel earth, particularly Martian Manhunter's outrage over Genosha, its past & the recent genocide of the mutant population there

- Thor interrupting Superman's blustering when the Avengers appeared on DC earth & putting him through a building

- Scarlet Witch tapping into DC Earth's chaos magick & flattening ALL of the JLA during their first confrontation in metropolis

- Ms. Marvel attacking Superman

-Wonder Man OWNING Green Lanter

-Photon OWNING Green Lantern...and Captain Atom :haha:

- Quicksilver talking so much shit while beating down Blue Beatle & going on & on about how "he may not be as fast as Flash but he was fast enough to beat everyone else" only to be taken down hard by Black Canary

-Captain America & Batman matching each other move for move in page worth of panels & Batman conceeding Captain America could BEAT him

-The intense battle between Thor & Superman. Superman had come across incredibly pompous through the whole story. Thor repeatedly put him in his place. This battle was hard fought but when Supes CAUGHT Thor's hammer & then blasted him w/ what appeared to be a lethal blast of heat vision & left him lying motionless, possibly dead, She-hulk, Ironman, Wonderman, Hercules & Vision ALL ganged up on Superman & beat him THE HELL DOWN. Even Wonder Woman was dismayed by it. Aquaman saved him @ the very end of that group stomping.

- the rivalry between Hawkeye & Green Arrow. the insults they traded & the constant attempts to out do one another through the whole story no matter what was happening LOL!

 

[Rampage]

This one is more even than it was then. With the many new Hulks that have been on Avenger Teams and the addition of the Sentry, the power is VERY even now as far as strength. Mentally would be a challenge as Dr. Druid is the only telepath of any reasonable note. However, many Avengers are pretty much immune to that in any case.

I favor the Avengers due to the raw power on hand. I just don't see a counter to 2 Hulks, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Photon, Sentry, Luke Cage, Wonder-Man, Thor, Ares and Hercules.

 

[Karma]

This one is more even than it was then. With the many new Hulks that have been on Avenger Teams and the addition of the Sentry, the power is VERY even now as far as strength. Mentally would be a challenge as Dr. Druid is the only telepath of any reasonable note. However, many Avengers are pretty much immune to that in any case.

I favor the Avengers due to the raw power on hand. I just don't see a counter to 2 Hulks, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Photon, Sentry, Luke Cage, Wonder-Man, Thor, Ares and Hercules.

i meant what was your reaction to the actual publication

BUT since you mention it, another confrontation between them NOW after all this time?

I too favor the Avengers. Among those you listed for the Avengers, dont forget Spider-Woman If Bendis did ONE thing that I liked since he DESTROYED the Avengers back in 04-05 it was the magnificent return & upgrade of Spider-Woman & she's all kinds of awesome

It was interesting how in the Avengers vs JLA it was more than a little implied that the Marvel side was generally "less powerfull" than the DC side. They also highlighted how the ppl of DC Earth were far more accepting & supportive, even adoring of their heroes than those on Marvel Earth.

I think today's Avengers, after everything they've been through from Disassembled, House of M, Civil War etc are much more battle hardened & have less qualms about KILLING & w/ the lofty nature various individuals of the JLA tend to display & the group as a whole coming off rather "high & mighty" sometimes i believe they would provoke the wrath of the avengers much more easily now.

JLA's biggest assets are Supes, Wonder Woman, MM & Batman. To have a fighting chance they'd need to have ppl like Zatanna (magick), Flash, Green Lantern, SuperGirl, PowerGirl, Hawkgirl, Starfire, all of whom are past/current members on board as well if they hope to be able to match/counter the raw power.

Dr. Druid is a shitty telepath/magick user & generally was always disliked by his Avengers teammates. If HE's their only source of magick or psychic power, Zatanna would most likely mop the floor w/ him. Substitute him w/ Moondragon (the only other powerfull telepath I know to have been an avenger) & the JLA will have PROBLEMS.