Alex Ross has repeatedly homaged Norman Rockwell, and he clearly idolizes him. We are the better for it.

Bryan Hitch.

Chuck Patton (Penciller), Dick Giordano (Inker) - Justice League of America #233-236 (DC, 1984)

the Justice League by Sergio Aragones, with Inks by Jerry Ordway, Colors by Tom Luth, Letters by Richard Starkings, and a Script by Mark Evanier.

I have been following Balu8 for about a year now, maybe more. He shared the original artwork for this page a while back. I suggest following his blog if you like what I post.

Justice League of America, Vol. 2 # 02, by the late Michael Turner.

the Interlocking Variants for Justice League of America, Vol. 4 # 01, written and illustrated by Bryan Hitch, with colors by Alex Sinclair, and interior inks by Daniel Henriques, Wade Von Grawbadger, and Andrew Currie.

the Batman by Doug Braithwaite, with Colors painted by Alex Ross.

Justice League of America 200 (1960) by Joe Kubert

Justice League of America, Vol. 1 # 217, by George Perez.

Alex Ross ~ JUSTICE Hardcovers Art

As the 12 issue maxi-series “JUSTICE” was being published, it took a while for each issue to come out. They were on an approximately bi-monthly shipping schedule, so it took about 2 years for all of it to be published. Jim Krueger provided the script from a story he came up with in collaboration with Alex Ross. Doug Braithwaite pencilled it, and Alex Ross painted over Doug’s pencils. Anyways, DC did something rather smart: because the issues were so far apart, every 4 issues (8 Months) a hardcover collection came out. Those are the first three images I posted.

-The Heroes Cover is for the first hardcover, Issue #s 1-4 -The Villains Cover is for the second hardcover, Issue #s 5-8 -The Armored Cover is for the third hardcover, Issue #s 9-12 -The Final Cover is for the Absolute Edition, collecting the whole series plus extras.

Honestly, it’s the most enjoyable Justice League story I’ve found. It is not in-continuity, and each issue ended with a “From the Batcave Computer Files” description of one of the characters, with a paragraph or so, written in Batman’s Voice. The exception to that is the Batman entry, which is in Superman’s voice. The story is a great, nostalgic but modern take on the Justice League. It’s like a really good “SuperFriends” Two-Part Episode. It is new-reader friendly, while being fun for existing fans, and it is GORGEOUS throughout. I honestly can’t think of a better Justice League book.

I LOVED Grant Morrison’s JLA. I didn’t mind Brad Meltzer’s take on the team either.

I hated the Geoff Johns/Jim Lee reboot. It’s just awful. Like reading the Justice League Coloring book for 5 year olds, punctuated with PG-13 violence. Just awful. In the Morrison & Meltzer stories, the books were continuity heavy and fun for fans, but not easy for new readers that just saw “Batman Begins” for example. Geoff Johns went WAY overboard in being accessible.

JUSTICE was a deliberate choice to create a stand alone story about the JLA (and the DCU in general) that was readily available to new readers, and would stand the test of time. So, I repeat:

I cannot think of a better Justice League book.

As a bonus: I suggest purchasing the Absolute edition of this book, because DC really put effort into the publication of that edition. The pages are sewn, and on a heavier than usual paper stock. It was clearly meant to be a more durable, longer lasting version of the book with oversized artwork for everyone to drool over. It is a book that keeps bringing me back, and it puts a smile on my face like nothing else.

The quality of the printing leaves other Absolute editions that DC has done in the dust. Seriously, you will open the book and wonder why DC does not give all of their Absolute Editions such attention and care.

JUSTICE is one of those books you should just have on your shelf. I recommend the Absolute Edition, but it really is pretty great in any format. It is up there with DKR, MARVELS, and Watchmen, and so on. It’s just a book you should own. Trust.

in case I did not make it clear, if you have a friend or loved one or whatever that seems to enjoy the Flash TV show, or Gotham, or Supergirl (or anything of that realm really) but is kinda hesitant about reading comics… JUSTICE is a good gift that is easy to swallow for new fans. Just putting it out there.

JUSTICE, Vol. 1 # 01 2nd Printing Variant by Dougie Braithwaite, with Colors by Alex Ross.

in my experience, this is the hardest of the covers to find. it was not a retailer incentive either. this was just a second print, but most stores sold out of it and immediately reordered the third printing. I did not even see this on the shelves when the book was being published. I had to haggle at a convention, and the guy had the only copy there. I paid $10.00 for it, I think.