10 Best Justice League Creative Teams And How They Influenced the DC Team

The Justice League has had many creative teams in its more than 60-year run. They’ve been such a fixture of the DC Universe that it can be difficult to figure out something to bring the team that the last team hadn’t already done. This reflects the constant struggle to remain relevant in an industry where things are always changing.

Still, different creative teams have had great runs on the Justice League. These groups often influence the team by bringing something completely new or reintroducing elements lost for years. These runs stick with fans the longest, reminding them of the best elements of the World’s Greatest Heroes.

10 Christopher Priest, Sal Velutto, and Ramon Bernado Let Martian Manhunter Take Charge

Justice League Task Force #20-37

Quietly, Christopher Priest’s work with Sal Velluto and Ramon Bernado on Justice League Task Force made for one of the better Justice League comics of the ’90s. Thanks to the Justice League International’s popularity, the team had more ongoings than ever. Still, as they splintered, the quality didn’t stay at the same level. Priest & co.’s Justice League Task Force was different, though.

Initially, the Justice League Task Force was meant to be a rotating cast of heroes and creative teams. When that idea didn’t stick, it turned into a team book led by Martian Manhunter, who was in charge of training recruits. The JLA usually focuses on the biggest and brightest, so this short run represented a much-needed change.

Justice League of America (Vol. 2) #0-12

After Infinite Crisis, the Justice League had been in disarray for too long. It took Brad Meltzer & Ed Benes to dial back the dysfunction slightly and allow the World’s Greatest Heroes to act like it again. Even dating back to Identity Crisis, Meltzer’s focus was always on treating the hero community like an actual community of friends and family, and it shined through in his run with Benes.

Starting with the Tornado’s Path, Meltzer & Benes reformed the League around many of the key members from the Satellite Era. That isn’t to say there weren’t any newcomers, as they brought on characters like Black Lightning and Roy Harper. While this line-up couldn’t stay buddy-buddy forever, it was a key part of Meltzer and Benes’ run that made it fun to reread the team.

8 Denny O’Neil & Dick Dillin Prepared The League For Their Best Era

Justice League of America (Vol. 1) #66, 68-75, 77-83

The Justice League’s Bronze Age adventures began with Denny O’Neil & Dick Dillin. The two kicked things off by getting rid of the Justice League’s teen mascot Snapper Carr, having him betray the team to the Joker. After defeating the Joker and dismissing Snapper, the Justice League started their next era by getting a new headquarters.

While this run wasn’t very long, it played an important role in setting up future things. Stories gradually became more complex and topical to fit the 1970s. At the same time, the Satellite was such an iconic part of the Justice League that it remained the team’s headquarters well into the 1980s.

7 Mark Waid & Barry Kitson Gave The Justice League A Post-Crisis Origin

JLA: Year One #1-12

JLA: Year One is one of the best DC Comics of the 1990s and certainly one of the best Justice League comics ever. While it’s no longer canon, at the time it was vital to setting up an important part of Justice League history. With Crisis on Infinite Earths having changed the Justice League’s history, fans needed a story that explained how this legendary team formed.

Waid and Kitson told an awesome story that wasn’t just about the Justice League but the DC Universe as a whole. The Justice League weren’t the respected titans they are today, but rather young upstarts that the world wasn’t yet sure about. This maxi-series also gave readers a modernized version of the classic Silver Age team, serving as the perfect introduction to the League.

6 Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Francis Manapul, and Jorge Jiminez Made The Justice League Feel Important

Justice League (Vol. 4) #1-39

Once Geoff Johns stepped away from the Justice League following his last storyline, the team began to feel a little rudderless. There were still good stories being told, but they no longer felt like they were the center of the DC Universe. Enter Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Francis Manapul, and Jorge Jimenez to save the day.

The 2018 Justice League book made the team the crown jewel of the DCU once again. Each new arc had the team in these massive adventures that had ramifications for their titles and other books. Everything from Aquaman having to deal with the events of Drowned Earth to the rest of the DC Universe dealing with Year of the Villain and eventually Dark Nights: Death Metal, this run made the League feel like a big deal again.

5 Judd Winick, Keith Giffen, Aaron Lopresti, Joe Bennett Made The JLI A Serious Team Again

Justice League: Generation Lost #1-24

Justice League International represented an important era in Justice League history. It was a time DC allowed their biggest team to be fun, and dysfunctional but not in a bad way. A lot of 2000s-era DC Comics made a laughingstock of them, but fortunately, Judd Winick and the creative team for Justice League: Generation Lost turned that around. A biweekly series that ran for a full year, Generation Lost saw key members of the JLI working together to hunt down a revived Maxwell Lord.

This run was easily the best Justice League comic on the stands before the New 52, but more importantly, it rehabilitated the image of the JLI. With the rest of the superhero community ignoring them, all the JLI truly had to rely on were each other. Still, they found a way to stop Lord from achieving his plan and save the day. This run would likely have lead to a Justice League International revival, if not for DC launching the New 52 just a few months later.

4 Gene Luen Yang & Viktor Bogdanovic Made The League International Again

New Super-Man & The Justice League of China (Vol. 1) #20-24

Gene Luen Yang and Viktor Bogdanovic had one of the best new titles from DC Comics’ Rebirth era with New Super-Man. While it began with young new hero Kenan Kong, it wasn’t long before Kenan was a member of the Justice League of China. Yang and Bogdanovic gradually expanded the roster until it had its own Flash and Aquaman, protecting the country even if it meant standing up to their government.

New Super-Man and the Justice League of China did something the Justice League had needed for years; it took the team international again. Better than that, it made them more than just a coalition of European nations. The Justice League of China featured heroes from China, North Korea, and America, all working together to improve the world. It’s a shame DC canceled this ongoing, as there was still plenty they could’ve done with it.

3 Geoff Johns & Jim Lee Modernized The Justice League

Justice League (Vol. 2) #1-13

Geoff Johns and Jim Lee got the opportunity to present the Justice League to an entirely new audience thanks to the New 52. Since the New 52 was a partial reboot, they got to make up their own story of how the team formed. With this new origin, the Appellaxians were forgotten in favor of a more familiar foe: Darkseid. A more inexperienced Justice League must come together when Darkseid’s army of Parademons attacked planet Earth.

This is one of the strongest villains the Justice League has beaten in the past, but now they were asked to do it right after forming. This Justice League run gave readers a much-needed update to the characters for the 2010s. It modernized the team, making them feel fresh and approachable to a new audience. DC promoted the first arc very strongly and even made a film of it in 2014 called Justice League: War.

2 Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire Allowed The League To Be Funny

Justice League International #1-12, 16-19, 22-24, 60

In the aftermath of the Legends event, DC was ready to try the Justice League again. However, many of its biggest members were unavailable, forcing the creative team to abandon their ideas of a “Big Seven” and try something new. So Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire took a huge risk and turned the Justice League into a comedy-action title. While it still had a few serious members from the old days, new members like Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, and Mister Miracle weren’t afraid to crack jokes to deal with being part of the biggest superteam in the world.

While it seemed like an idea that shouldn’t have worked, it became a massive success. Giffen and DeMatteis’ clever scripts made the league humorous yet heroic, while Maguire captured the human side of these characters like never before. Even though the team eventually went serious again during their run, they successfully changed what the Justice League could look and act like for several years.

1 Grant Morrison & Howard Porter Brought The Team Back To Being Epic

JLA #1-41

In the mid-90s, the Big Seven hadn’t been an actual team in over a decade. With the JLI era ending, DC let Grant Morrison and Howard Porter reunite the big guns for the greatest Justice League era. Of course, the roster looked slightly different with Kyle and Wally as Green Lantern and Flash, but that made things work even better. It meant the veteran heroes had to work with the next generation as the team tackled some of their most dangerous missions ever.

Morrison and Porter found new ways to top themselves with each new arc. In one arc, the League fought a team of White Martians pretending to be superheroes; in the next, they battled the Injustice League for the fate of planet Earth. The League wasn’t just brought back to prominence here; this quickly became everyone’s favorite Justice League run.