There are people who frequent this site who do not care for Dan Jurgens' Justice League run. A recent commenter complained that the run is "essentially either an unimaginative retread of past stories or a vehicle for his absolute hero worship of Superman." I have to admit, that's not inaccurate.
Everyone can like what they like, of course, but I will point out that during his run, Jurgens was aware enough of exactly this criticism that his Justice League America #66 is 22 pages of team infighting while former Leaguers complain about how rotten everything has gotten. And then they worship Superman.
In light of the "things were better back in my day" theme of the issue, I particularly like this page that hints that when no one is looking, the Blue and Gold team aren't quite the pair of doofuses they play on TV.
Speaking only for myself, I think this issue is pretty good. But then, I tend to enjoy Superman hero worship, so I'm the target audience. You do you.
Rob snow posted on Aug. 15, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Im the complete opposite. I loved this run. One of my comfort food collections. Mostly because lot of the arcs are Beetle-centric. Hes the hero in most of the conflicts. And Boosters personal trials are deep
Brandon posted on Aug. 15, 2025 at 11:51 AM
I found Jurgens' JLA run to be bland.
He tried to walk the line between the original humorous tone of the book and a more traditional action oriented tone. Trying to please both fan bases.
A reasonable approach, but one that often winds up pleasing nobody
SLW (Steff) posted on Aug. 15, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Aw, Walter, you can name me if you want to. I agree on this page! I like it too! And I don't think that every single page of Jurgens' run on JLA was bad. I just don't think the man deserves to sit pretty on any unearned pedestals, and in terms of how he handled the JLI-- he most definitely does not. But he did have moments in it I liked quite a lot.
But I think him writing Booster as a caveman is pretty awful; I absolutely think Booster's own creator should have respected his characterization more, especially since Dan himself established some of the more charming parts of it in Vol. 1. I do think Dan turning Ice into some vapid fangirl was lousy. And, as I think I mentioned, he ignored most -- if not all -- of Guy's better traits. (Bear in mind that I think Giffen and DeMatteis did a pretty bad job with Ted Kord and Guy Gardner too, though. I hardly venerate them, either.)
In fairness, I think I had also pointed out that I too appreciated Ted Kord being treated as less of a joke. If I didn't, I should have.
Dan's big problem was a lack of imagination. As Brandon says above, he tried to thread the line between the funny sitcom-style humor preceding him and the more traditional rock 'em-sock 'em comic plotting. Thing is: Dan's really only funny when he's channeling his dry wit. I think that's probably the midwesterner in him, because boy, I can recognize that tone.
He could have probably leveraged that, instead of trying -- and failing -- to find the humor in team dynamics. Mostly, everyone kind of comes across as actively disliking one another in his run, with rare exceptions. Aside when they're getting beaten half to death by Doomsday, you don't really get the feeling his version of the JLI is a family, and remain such even when they argue, which is something Giffen and DeMatteis did right.
Max Lord was also sort of ill-used. He'd reached a fairly good spot at the end of Breakdowns, as a character, only for Superman to charge in and treat him poorly. Another fan I talk with said she's surprised he didn't go full villain right around then, and honestly-- so am I. When you go from J'onn J'onzz calling you a good man to Superman in your face on the team you built -- regardless of original motivation -- that's a pretty mean kick in the crotch.
I do appreciate your point of view, Walter. You have indeed made me take second looks at things I might not have without you. I hope you don't feel my POV is a shot at you, as I'd never want to do that or to make you feel like I am.
Boosterrific [Official Comment] posted on Aug. 15, 2025 at 6:36 PM
@SLW No need for any apologies. I don't take your opinions on Jurgens body of work as a personal attack. A diversity of viewpoints can be enlightening. (I should also probably mention that I wasn't trying to call you out on this. If I was going to take issue with your commentary, I'd have done it directly in private. I just thought it was interesting that your recent comments were pretty aligned with this particular issue.)
SLW (Steff) posted on Aug. 15, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Fair enough! I'm glad; I think if I didn't find some of Dan's creativity to be genuinely brilliant, I probably wouldn't get so nettled by where I believe his failures to be. And even though I quite like Superman as a character, I'm way more apt to get starry-eyed over Captain Marvel, which probably doesn't help when the Superman hero worship feels especially thick. 🤣 I mean, even beyond their fraught history and DC's constant foundering with knowing how to handle Cap.
