After ranking the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the Legion… twice… unsurprisingly, someone in the comments asked me if I was going to rank the Justice League as well.
Why not?
As usual, a few ground rules.
I’m only including member who joined until the end of the Mark Waid run in 2001, with JLA #58. Simply because that’s when I stopped reading JLA regularly; while I have run quite a few later issues and series, it wouldn’t be fair since I’m a very casual JLA reader.
Also, there are already A LOT of JLA members in the count, and going forward with the other series would come VERY close to ranking the entire DC Universe.
There’s also a period where exactly who I should count as “the Justice League” is a bit vague, given that the 80s and 90s have more than one team acting at the same time.
For the sake of completion, here’s who made the cut:
- Justice League Of America. Duh.
- Justice League International made it, since I believe it’s the closest thing to the “official” Justice League of its era.
- Justice League Europe also made it
- Justice League Antarctic did NOT make it, since it’s a joke team
- Both Justice League Task Force and Extreme Justice made it… kind of: since I didn’t read either series, they’re just included for completion.
- Justice League Elite did not make it, since it debuts after the cutoff date
And finally, a disclaimer.
I’m not a huge Justice League fan and, with the exception of some of the 80s stuff and the 1998 JLA series, I’ve read most of this stuff only once several years ago.
So a lot, and I do mean A LOT of this is just going off how much of an impression the characters made on me, because this is entirely based on personal preference.
And with that out of the way: Let’s Do Some Justice!
Man this team really needs its own rallying cry, doesn’t it?
NO IDEA
These joined in a period that I haven’t read, so I have little to work with. I’m ranking them based on the general vibe.
74) Despero
I don’t even particularly care for him as a villain, and I didn’t read the Justice League Task Force series where he joins. From what I understand this was just Despero’s body with the mind of L-Ron, the robot from the Giffen/DeMatteis run.
L-Ron can be hilarious but it was a joke that was run into the ground early on, and merging him with Despero… what the heck!?
72-73) Wonder Twins
A serious version of the Superfriend characters should theoretically be feasible.
But they’re from the Extreme Justice series, which is some of the worst 90s slop I’ve ever seen… I had to flip through their appearance to find ONE good panel showing the Wonder Twins, and let me tell you: thare are NO panels where ANYONE looks good in this series.
71) Icemaiden
We have Ice at home. Well, we HAD Ice at home, but when she died we needed someone to replace her.
If only we had found someone interesting.
70) Maya
An Indian teenage girl with mystic powers isn’t a bad idea, but she feels way too young for the Justice League.
69) Black Condor
As long as you get away from the sheer insanity of the Golden Age version he could work as a hero, but is he really Justice League material?
68) Mystek
If I had read Justice League Task Force and if it wasn’t such a crappy series, Mystek would definitely rank higher. But in all honesty, if I haven’t read the series the rank can’t be any higher than this category?
But why would Mystek deserve anything? After all the name is bad, the design is as generic as they come, and there’s barely a dozen Mystek appearances.
Because I feel that the concept SHOULD work: Mystek is actually a Korean-American girl who wears a male-looking power armor.
It doesn’t work because it was done on Justice League Task Force, but come on, don’t tell me you don’t see the potential.
F TIER
BARELY A MEMBER
These are characters who are TECHNICALLY members of the Justice League but didn’t leave a real mark and who I don’t think had the potential to do anything notable.
An argument could be made that some of these should rank lower, but at least I have read their stories.
67) General Glory
The most “technical” of the technicalities. He’s basically a joke character… why is the Captain America spoof given membership?
66) Tomorrow Woman
She joins in 1 issue during the Morrison run, which is where she dies.
Decent story, but she has basically no personality.
65) Dark Flash
An alternate Wally West from a point at which even Mark Waid had run out of steam in his book. We have the actual Flash at home.
64) Blue Jay
63) Silver Sorceress
They hang around for a while, mostly because they have nowhere to go. They come from a parallel timeline that is explicitly based on the Marvel Universe; Silver Sorceress is the counterpart of Scarlet Witch, so she should work. Even though SHE DOESN’T WEAR SILVER.
Blue Jay, on the other hand… I’m sorry, he just sucks.
E TIER
YOU DON’T BELONG HERE
These are characters that to me feel completely out of place in the Justice League because they’re way too connected to a different team. Cyborg would be here if he was included in the period I’m analyzing.
I’m ranking them on how well they COULD fit if the other team wasn’t viable.
62) Flash (Jay Garrick)
He was TECHNICALLY a member for a second. As the quintessential Justice Society member? Even that is too much.
61) Dr. Fate (Kent)
60) Dr. Fate (Linda)
Same problem of Jay Garrick, but at least with Linda there’s a different person under the helmet. Arguably that’s the case for Kent as well, but Dr. Fate lore gets complicated really fast.
59) Wonder Woman (Hippolyta)
A time traveling Hippolyta retconned into being the Wonder Woman of the Golden Age? Actually a good idea.
Having her in the Justice League? Not so much.
58) Amazing Man
The grandson of the Amazing Man from the All-Star Squadron.
I didn’t find either one amazing.
57) Obsidian
56) Nuklon
These two firmly belong in the Infinity Inc. team, graduating into the Justice Society in some of its incarnations. The attempted transition into the Justice League didn’t work out.
55) Tasmanian Devil
He’s from the Global Guardians, also known as “Who?” and “That team where Fire and Ice debuted”. Since basically nobody knows these guys, his real problem isn’t his association with another team.
His real problem is that he’s not even the most famous Tasmanian Devil.
D TEAR
D FOR “DOESN’T FIT”
These are characters who I don’t think work well with the JLA in terms of powers, personality or background.
54) Agent Liberty
I’m barely aware of him. Didn’t seem to do anything remarkable.
53) Lightray
He could’ve worked if he had any personality and a reason for being in the team, other than following his heterosexual life partner Orion.
52) Phantom Stranger
How much he’s an actual member is a matter of debate, even in-universe. His powers are by design incredibly vague: that works fine in his stories or if he’s a guest star, but it’s untenable for a full member.
51) Zauriel
I already find DC integrating actual religion into its comics problematic. Having an angel in the Justice League is too much for me. He also didn’t seem to have much of a personality.
50) Hourman
I really, REALLY liked his oddball series. And I like him better than most of the members in this category, but his powers REALLY break the story.
If he keeps his time manipulation powers he’s a walking deus ex machina, and if you remove them he’s a poor man’s Red Tornado.
49) Triumph
A walking retcon without much else going on for him.
It’s the first case of “Silver Age superhero invented as a retcon and forgotten by everybody” that was later used for Sentry. And while I do have my problems with Sentry, at least he’s been interesting a couple of times!!!
By the way, if you want to read a GOOD way to tackle that trope, check out the “Avenger X” storyline from the 2016 Avengers series by Mark Waid.
48) Aztek
He has a memorable costume, but that’s about it.
His powers were way too vague and he was basically in the team because Morrison created him in his own series.
47) Orion
Unlike Lightray he DOES have a personality, and I could see him as the Wolverine of a superhero team. But the Justice League is too by-the-book for him.
46) Blue Devil
DC keeps looking for ways to use him. I think they kind of did with Shadowpact, but he felt out of place in the JLA.
45) Mr. Miracle
Don’t get me wrong, I like Mr. Miracle! But I don’t think his tendency to reveal he had a secret gadget that saved him at the last second is sustainable for a regular member.
44) Captain Marvel
One of the things you MUST do if you have him in the same universe as Superman is differentiating them. So he can only be in the JLA when Superman isn’t AND you can’t give him Superman’s role… that’s a hard combination that is rarely achieved.
C TIER
ARE WE SURE NOBODY ELSE IS AVAILABLE?
These are not terrible in the team, but I don’t find them to be good enough to be in the JLA.
Ranked on how well they managed to fit, from worst to best.
43) Crimson Fox
Both the gimmick of two twin sisters sharing the identity and her pheromone powers got old really fast. Find her better gimmicks and a decent costume THAT IS ACTUALLY RED.
42) Animal Man
Great character that could be used to great effect as the point of view from the common man, but…
41) Steel
40) Vibe
39) Gypsy
The so-called “Detroit Justice League” isn’t as bad as its reputation, but it’s not that great.
Steel is entirely forgettable… this is the grandson of the WWII hero, not the black guy in the armor, meaning this is arguably the THIRD most famous Steel.
Vibe was a walking stereotype that had to be entirely rebuilt from the ground up.
And Gypsy… in addition to having a codename that has aged terribly… feels like she would belong in the Teen Titans better.
38) Rocket Red
I like the guy, but he only works in very specific historical contexts.
And if you want the Iron Man equivalent, we have Steel at home.
The black guy I mean.
37) Elongated Man
I’ve always liked him as a character, but in the JLA he only works in very specific circumstances and the series ends up spending too much time convincing us why he’s there.
He absolutely should have “was a beloved JLA member” in his resumé, but he shouldn’t stay too long.
B TIER
THE JUST FINE LEAGUE
These are characters who I feel have been too inconsistent. They are good in some runs or if a specific writer handles them, but otherwise they’re just there. Or there’s another character that fills their spot infinitely better.
36) Ray
This poor guy had the misfortune of joining the team at one of its low points. This is a character who is just begging for DC to find him the right place, because I think he has tons of potential.
35) Hawkman
34) Hawkgirl
The cartoon is the only time I ever cared for Hawkgirl as a member of the team. As for Hawkman… has he ever brought anything unique to the team? He’s not even the only alien space cop!
33) Green Arrow (Connor)
Oliver’s son joined during his death. He was pretty great as the point of view of the common man AND as the zen warrior, but he never really got out of his father’s shadow.
32) Maxima
In concept, Maxima is a great redemption arc. In practice she keeps getting less and less interesting.
31) Green Lantern (Guy Gardner)
30) Booster Gold
29) Blue Beetle
There is a VERY restricted number of writers that can handle these three in a VERY restricted number of eras… and even then, they have the tendency to turn into exaggerated parodies of themselves.
These three absolutely need to have “was a member of the Justice League” in their past, but they really shouldn’t stay too long.
28) Red Tornado
If it wasn’t for Vision at Marvel, Red Tornado would be one of the greats. But I can never shake the fact that Vision does everything Red Tornado tries to do infinitely better.
27) Vixen
The JLA needs at least one member with a sort of average power level, and in that category she has tons of potential and in SOME eras she has a personality.
26) Green Lantern (John Stewart)
The only reason he’s this low is that in the period I’m examining he doesn’t have a lot of adventures with the team. Otherwise, depending on the era he’s either my favorite human GL or at the very worst my second favorite, and he would be way, WAY higher than this.
25) Big Barda
24) Power Girl
You can’t have both or have them in the same team of Wonder Woman without feeling redundant. But if for some reason you can’t have Wondy, they’re both great at replacing her while being different enough.
23) Firestorm
22) Metamorpho
I didn’t find either one particularly interesting during their membership (Firestorm in particular was VERY irritating by continuously messing up every single mission for what felt like ages), but they are both so fascinatingly versatile and they have such distinct personalities that it’s hard to mess them up too badly.
21) Dr. Light
I think she had the misfortune of being in the wrong incarnation of the team. She’s definitely the “I’m here to do a job, not to make friends” type, and she was stuck in the “Most of us are here to have fun first and save the world second”.
Without that limitation, I think she would’ve been one of the greats. Bonus points for being a resident supergenius, surprisingly the JLA doesn’t have that many.
A TIER
THE GREAT LEAGUE
I would still rank those among the best JLA members… but they don’t quite make it to my personal Top Ten.
20) Plastic Man
Exclusively based on the Morrison and Waid runs (especially the latter), as they elevated him to the “magnificent seven” roster. He doesn’t ALWAYS fit in, but if he had had been written so well in other eras he might have gone higher.
19) Steel
The other reason why I don’t like Cyborg in the team: if you want an African-American tech genius, you already have a great character that isn’t tied to another team!
18) Aquaman
The only reason he’s this high is the historical significance, because very rarely I find him interesting in the team. And it’s mostly thanks to the Morrison and Waid runs to be honest.
And even then, it felt like they spent more time saying “No really, Aquaman is awesome” than actually showing us that he can be awesome.
17) Ice
16) Fire
The only caveat is that you MUST have both. But I think they are able to transition to a more serious team without losing the fun of the JLI era.
15) Oracle
14) Huntress
Unpopular opinion: I think Huntress is more interesting in the JLA than in Birds Of Prey.
Both her and Oracle great there as well, but there’s the additional viewpoint of street heroes that Batman just can’t bring anymore.
That being said, Oracle has the disadvantage of not being able to join any fight, and there’s a better candidate to represent street heroes than Huntress.
13) Captain Atom
If for some reason you can’t have Superman, he’s the best replacement.
But he’s not redundant enough to exclude having both.
12) Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)
Hands down, the best “viewpoint from the regular human” member, not to mention the one with the most unique interactions. Oliver will have STRONG opinions on any given teammate, there’s no in-between with him.
11) Zatanna
Compared to other super-teams, the JLA is surprisingly light on magic. So she’s kind of essential in several circumstances, without being as overpowered as Dr. Fate (at least in most incarnations).
She’s versatile and she is a fun character. But even if it makes no sense whatsoever, she HAS to keep her stage magician outfit!
Mostly because her other costumes suck.
S TIER
THE TOP TEN
My favorite members. Not necessarily in order of my favorites AS CHARACTERS, but my favorites as members of the JLA.
10) Flash (Barry Allen)
9) Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
This is my bias for having known these two when they had already been replaced. Historically important and great characters, but I don’t think either of them is the incarnation of their respective legacy that works best in the Justice League.
Berry is slightly worse: it’s great that he’s friends with everybody, but that’s a boring approach.
Hal is very opinionated on a lot of members, but he seems to treat the JLA as a job more than anyone else. Which makes sense given his role, but that’s not explored particularly well.
Still they are SUCH an important part of the team’s history that they qualify.
Also, am I wrong in thinking that their friendship is explored more in their books and in later continuity inserts than during their membership?
8) Black Canary
There’s a reason why, when Crisis removed Wonder Woman from being one of the founding members, Black Canary was chosen as her replacement.
She’s been an essential member since the 70s and is the best “regular power level human” hero for this team.
Unpopular opinion: I don’t care about her relationship with Green Arrow and find her more interesting when they are not operating as a duo.
7) Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)
I’m going to be decimated for this in the comments… but I really, REALLY liked his evolution in the team. In fact I liked him way more on JLA than in his own book.
I liked the dynamic of the rookie being one of the most powerful members, I liked his initial rivalry turned camaraderie with Wally, I liked the visual creativity, I liked his character growth… I don’t think replacing him with Hal has brought anything new to the team while also detracting a lot.
Kyle is a particularly controversial character for an extremely vocal part of the Green Lantern fandom, so this warrants a particular request: do not turn the comments section into a Kyle flame war, I don’t want the comments to only talk about Green Lantern.
If things get out of control, I will intervene in the comments.
Be civil and remember that not every Kyle fan hates Hal, in fact I’m pretty sure very few do.
6) Wonder Woman
The pre-Crisis version would’ve been waaaaaay down the list: other than historical significance, she wasn’t all that interesting. But man did they find her stuff to do in later years, to the point of making her feel essential.
5) Batman
Another unpopular opinion: Batman shouldn’t be a REGULAR member of the team.
Don’t get me wrong, he can be amazing… but I am SO tired of the Bat God approach. He takes away the focus from the others and it the fact that he STILL has trouble with his rogues gallery despite what he can accomplish in the team can be hard to accept these days.
Still… he’s Batman. Of course he’s going to be awesome when he shows up.
4) Atom
As mentioned, the JLA lacks super-geniuses. And until Mr. Terrific qualifies (he’s too recent for this list), nobody plays the role better than Atom.
3) Superman
Every, and I do mean EVERY incarnation of the Justice League has to figure out how to approach him.
How do you make the rest of the team relevant when Superman can often do everything by himself? Even the runs where he’s not a member have to struggle with either finding a Superman analogue or position the team as the underdogs.
That being said… if Superman is not around, very often it doesn’t FEEL like the Justice League.
2) Flash (Wally West)
I can’t get enough of this guy. It took him a while to reach this status… he was kind of insufferable in the team during his earliest years right after Crisis… but man has he grown.
He’s just fun! From his interactions with other members, to his oddball point of view given his crazy history, to his story-breaking powers that can be fun to exploit… you just can’t go wrong with Wally on the team.
He can be mature or childish without feeling out of character, and can you think of a member of the Justice League with as many unique interactions with every single superhero he works with?
There is only ONE member who could possibly be considered more essential than him…
1) Martian Manhunter
…and it’s probably exactly who you thought it would be.
Do I even need to say anything? Other members come and go. Other members have a possible replacement or two in some of the roles they play in the team. But J’onn alone can be THE anchor of the Justice League.
Wow, that was A LOT of members. Any idea of what other teams I could attempt to rank?
Don’t say X-Men. I’m not doing the X-Men.