JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA

Whenever people talk about the major eras of the Justice League, they tend to skip from the sitcom-inspired International era of Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire straight to the big action widescreen reboot of Grant Morrison and Howard Porter's JLA, and with good reason. Those were two hugely important and influential runs that helped to define what DC was for an era, and they're certainly worth talking about. The thing is, there was another era in there, too, and while it doesn't get talked about too much, it's every bit as tied into exactly what was driving the DCU: That stretch from 1992 to 1993, when Dan Jurgens rebuilt the Justice League around Superman. To be fair, though, it's easy to see why it might not get the press that the other major runs receive. It's in this weird little middle ground between those two extremes, caught between snarky quips and world-shattering stories, never quite getting as memorable as either. Also, there's the thing where the new Justice League is almost murdered by a board game in their first adventure.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our years on the Internet, it’s that there’s no aspect of comics that can’t be broken down and quantified in a single definitive list, preferably in amounts of five or ten. And since there’s no more definitive authority than ComicsAlliance, we’re taking it upon ourselves to compile Top Five lists of everything you could ever want to know about comics. The Justice League is known for having not only the heavy hitters of the DC Universe, but some of the most popular fictional characters in the world, so it’s really no surprise that numerous worthy heroes fall through the cracks and never get the attention and accolades they deserve. Today we’re going to try to remedy that just a little and give five such characters their moment in the sun.

Q: Why does Jimmy Olsen work so well as Superman's Pal when Snapper Carr doesn't work as the Justice League's? -- @luckyrevenant A: I honestly hadn't considered it until I saw this question, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that you're right. Snapper Carr, the finger-snapping teenage mascot of the Justice League from back when it actually wasn't that unusual for the Justice League to have things like teenage mascots, really is the direct descendant of Jimmy Olsen --- at least from a character standpoint. They fill that same role, the kid who gets to hang out with all your favorite superheroes so that you too can imagine yourself hanging with Batman and Superman. And yet, while Jimmy ranks at #3 in my illustrious and immutable list of the greatest comic book characters of all time, Snapper is one of the most ignored and forgotten characters of the entire Silver Age.

Many of comics’ most popular heroes have been around for decades, and in the case of the big names from the publisher now known as DC Comics, some have been around for a sizable chunk of a century. As these characters passed through the different historical eras known in comics as the Golden Age (the late 1930s through the early 1950s), the Silver Age (the mid 1950s through the late 1960s), the Bronze Age (the early 1970s through the mid 1980s) and on into modern times, they have experienced considerable changes in tone and portrayal that reflect the zeitgeist of the time. With this feature we’ll help you navigate the very best stories of DC Comics’ most beloved characters decade by decade. This week, we’re taking a look at the best Justice League comics.

What kid growing up reading comics hasn't dreamed of being a member of an elite planet-saving force like the Justice League? Well now you're going to have the chance to help your favorite heroes like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman tackle the likes of Lex Luthor and the Joker in a little place we like to call the fourth dimension. Wait. No. Texas. Which may as well be another dimension. Yes, that's right; Six Flags Over Texas (the "Thrill Capital of Texas" as long as we're just putting words next to each other) will debut a new DC-themed attraction this summer dubbed Justice League: Battle for Metropolis. And get this--it's going to be in 4D. Well, at least what amusement parks consider 4D because it's not really possible to transcend the barriers of space and time in an amusement park ride unless you're in The Explorers.

DC's Convergence crossover is built around pitting cities pulled from different eras against each other in an ultimate battle to determine which continuity reigns supreme, and as you may already know just from reading that sentence, that can get a little confusing. With all the Gothams and Metropolises (Metropoli?) throwing their heroes against each other, we thought it might be useful to offer our readers a handy guide to telling Pre-Flashpoint from Post-Crisis with a series of Bottle City Travel Guides! Today, we're looking at Pre-Crisis Gotham City, the only version of Gotham where murder victims are actually outnumbered by giant billboards that look like coffee cups.

With the Justice League of America on its way to theaters as a result of some cruel Monkey's Paw wish, this week finds us going back into the history of DC's pre-eminent super-team to rustle up some strange facts about their origin! Find out about their first foes, their weird headquarters, how they were almost brought down by a teen who snapped his fingers a lot, and the strange connections between the JLA, major league baseball and Sailor Moon!

Q: Since this is Ask Chris #200, what's the best 200th issue in comics? -- @therealdealkern A: You know, Kern, I'm glad you asked. 200 is a really weird number, especially in comics. It should be a pretty huge deal -- as alert reader Charlotte pointed out in her own question this week, once a comic racks up 200 issues, it's pretty much going to be around forever -- but it doesn't quite have the ring of #100, and even hitting that third century mark seems way more important than breezing through the two. Maybe it's that it feels like a foregone conclusion, that once you've passed that first milestone, the second feels like more of an inevitability than an achievement. But at the same time, there's definitely one issue that sticks out as being everything you want out of an anniversary comic, and that's the subject of this week's column. I mean, come on. You didn't really think I was going to answer 100 questions again, did you?

We like diversity here at ComicsAlliance. We've said it before, and we'll say it again. We're also big fans of superheroes, and that probably goes without saying. We especially like diversity with our superheroes. Diversity broadens the genre's reach, encourages respect and understanding of people's differences, and gives minority audiences more chances to see themselves in fiction, and those are

If your money was on Marvel turning Alpha Flight into the Northern Avengers before DC could introduce a Canadian version of the Justice League, pay up. DC Comics will announce the launch of Justice League Canada at Toronto's Fan Expo today, though it's less of a launch than a renaming. Next spring, writer Jeff Lemire (who grew up in Essex County, Canada, and who lives in Toronto) will take over Ju