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).