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Howard Porter and John Dell “Fire in the Sky” JLA #6 Zauriel title splash (1997) Source

Colors by Pat Garrahy

Marvel going bankrupt in the late ‘90s wasn’t a surprise. It was like that scene in Talladega Nights where the car crash goes on for so long there’s a commercial break. Onslaught, the Heroes Reborn stuff. It was Ricky Bobby’s stock car endlessly flipping across the track and it was so bad they took a commercial break, only to come back for an even more drawn out car wreck.

X-Men was this huge hit in the 1980s, and it created Jim Lee (and by extension: Image Comics). Marvel reacted by doubling down. Crossover events every other month. Foil variants. Bolero jackets and pockets. It reached a boiling point.

Meanwhile, DC Comics killed Superman and then killed Batman. But. A small vertigo book was making waves. Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing is fantastic. Neil Gaiman’s Sandman was perhaps the most literary and well written comic of all time.

Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol had a story arc about a painting attacking a city.

Naturally, DC editorial said fuck it and gave Grant Morrison the writing duties for the reboot of their premiere team. All the headliners: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern. And Grant pulled an ace for the art duties. Howard Porter.

“JLA” was for the JLA what “Ultimates” and “New Avengers” was for the MCU. It made a failing property relevant for a new generation, and it rereads very well. (Skip the DC 1 Million Stuff).

“Crisis Times Five!” by Howard Porter and Grant Morrison, with Inks by John Dell, Letters by Ken Lopez, Colors by Pat Garrahy, and Richard Isanove Colored the Cover Artwork.

1996's JLA #1 cover by Howard Porter, John Dell & Pat Garrahy.

From the beginning of the 1980s until the middle of the 1990s, the X-Men was an absolute juggernaut of popularity. It dominated the sales markets. Death of Superman, the Spider-Books, and the Image books were all trying to compete with the X-Titles.

In 1996, an atom-bomb went off. Coupled with poor editorial decisions and a deeply convoluted amount of backstory that was daunting for new readers, X-Men was waning in popularity. And DC’s up and coming hippest writer just launched a brand new version of the JLA with eye-popping art and thrills every page.

Reading Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s JLA feels, in retrospect, like the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited tv show. Every episode was a must watch event. Every episode something big happened. And it was fun. Great, great series.

Scott McDaniel and John Dell, Hourman 3

Colors by Tanya and Richard Horie.

this is one of my favorite moments from Morrison and Porter’s take on the JLA.

it is from JLA, Vol. 1 # 25 Pages 15-16 by Howard Porter, with Inks by John Dell, Colors by Pat Garrahy, Letters by Ken Lopez, and a Script by Grant Morrison.

this is one of my favorite moments from Morrison and Porter’s take on the JLA.

it is from JLA, Vol. 1 # 25 Pages 15-16 by Howard Porter, with Inks by John Dell, Colors by Pat Garrahy, Letters by Ken Lopez, and a Script by Grant Morrison.

JLA, Vol. 1 # 03 Page 02 by Howard Porter, with Inks by John Dell, Colors by Pat Garrahy, Letters by Ken Lopez, Separations by the Heroic Age Studio, and a Script by Grant Morrison that was Edited by Ruben Diaz.

MARVELous Double Page Spreads in Black and White by Jim Cheung, with Additional Inks by Mark Morales and John Dell.