Our hands were pretty much tied this week.
Justice League was out, which means there was no way we could do several things you didn't know about Crossroads, like we wanted.
I was just kidding, we were never going to do that.
Although for the record, Crossroads did hit its 15th anniversary this year.
Boom, bonus thing you didn't know right here in the intro.
Anyway, here are several things you didn't know about Crossroads, I mean, the Justice League.
(Sound) The Justice League is one of the first superhero teams ever created.
They even predate The Avengers.
We'll get more into the Justice League versus The Avengers in a later thing.
But the point of this thing is, though the Justice League is OG, the Justice Society of America is OOG.
DC's All Star comics introduce the Justice Society back in the early 1940s in the issue no 3.
The founding members were Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Sandman, Spectre, Atom, Doctor Fate, and Hourman.
How many of you are there?
Not enough.
And after the Justice Society, there was the Seven Soldiers of Victory in 1941, which was kind of like the Guardians of the Galaxy in that it was more of a group of comic hero B-Listers.
I mean, the Star-Spangled Kid, what the (Bleep) is that?
Meanwhile, Marvel had the All Winner's Squad in 1946, which also predates the Justice League.
Lame name aside, that group included Captain America, Bucky, and Human Torch.
Characters you've heard of, unlike the Star Spangled Kid.
Next thing.
(Sound) Comic book sales had taken a nose dive by the 1950s, and the Justice Society went the way of the dodo.
Then when comics had a resurgence in the 60s, it was a prime time to reboot the concept of this super hero supergroup.
The Justice League of America debuted in March of 1960 in Issue 28 of DC's The Brave and the Bold.
When the Justice Society was preconceived as the Justice League of America, they cut the core members from eight to seven.
This time around, the super seven were Flash, he didn’t get cut from the team, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter.
Back when it was still the Justice Society, there was an understanding at DC that none of the core members could have comic titles.
But that rule went out the window with the Justice League rebrand.
Evidently, Starro the Conquerer, a giant alien starfish was indeed the first foe for the Justice League.
His superpower, aside from asexual reproduction, was mind control.
He'd basically throw Mini-Me versions of himself at people's faces, and then mess with their heads like the brain slugs on Futurama.
Obviously, Starro isn't going to be the villain for the new Justice League movie.
But honestly, it would have been pretty ballsy of DC if they had gone through with that.
(Sound) Justice League is easily one of the most anticipated movies of the past few years.
The franchise has come a long way from their introduction in the Brave and the Bold number 28, to becoming a multi hundreds of millions of dollars film.
That was English, right?
Technically, anyway, going back to issue 28, though it was the debut of the Justice League, the Brave and the Bold series wasn't intended to be about them at all.
That's why they didn't even show up until they'd already done 27 other issues.
The Brave and the Bold was typically focused on Robin Hood and Vikings and junk like that.
The first dedicated issue of the Justice League of America didn't hit stores until seven months later in October of 1960, which to be honest, isn't all that long a wait.
Seven months is a pretty quick turnaround if you ask me.
You know what? Let's just move on.
(Sound) The insane success of The Avengers films and the MCU overall had put DC in the unenviable situation trying to match Marvel's success.
And though many in the fans fierce side with either team Marvel or team Team DC, the competing labels have managed to partner in the past with a Justice League/Avengers crossover series, but it wasn't easy.
The crossover was supposed to happen over 35 years ago.
Marvel and DC first agreed on the idea all the way back in 1979.
But they ended up canceling the series before the planned publication date of May 1983.
Marvel's then Editor in Chief was in a big huff about some editorial disagreements and the whole project was killed along with a follow up to The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans crossover from 1982.
Later, when the comic industry was falling on hard times yet again, the companies managed to kiss and make up reviving the crossover project in 2002.
The Justice League Avengers series was even reprinted as a hardback edition in 2004 including the original pages from the 1983 version for the first time ever.
And before you head over to eBay to impulse buy a copy, stick around for the next couple of things.
That's it for today.