Diggin in the bin for JUSTICE LEAGUE ELITE

Just set down and read through the full 12 issue run of Justice League Elite.

Justice League Elite was a twelve-issue comic book limited series published monthly by DC Comics in 2004 and 2005. The title was created by writer Joe Kelly and penciller Doug Mahnke. The Justice League Elite was formed to attempt black ops that would not be acceptable for the JLA to "sully their hands" with. "The Justice League Elite are a not-exactly-sanctioned, don't-ask-don't-tell, covert operations unit-- newly formed to hunt and eliminate extra-normal threats to the earth before they go public." (JLA Secret Files and Origins 2004). The team was formed at the end JLA #100 from most of the second incarnation of The Elite (only missing Hat), members of the JLA and a couple of spies/assassins. They operated out of Somerset, New Jersey.

• Sister Superior, sister of the Elite's first leader Manchester Black, sees the Elite as a means of atoning for her brother's actions.
• Coldcast, the only original member of the Elite in the JLE, and inspired by Superman to fight for right after his earlier actions in the Elite.
• Menagerie II, joined with an alien weapon crèche (formerly bonded to her comatose sister) which drove her insane, now in a metahuman prison facility.
• Manitou Raven and his wife Dawn (who later becomes Manitou Dawn), serving as the team's magical expert.
• Green Arrow (Oliver Queen), serving as the team's tactical expert and left-winger, commonly coordinating their battles from the base; has a brief affair with Dawn.
• Flash (Wally West), working in the Elite after recent events caused him to question the League's policy of only reacting to threats; he was a member of both teams simultaneously, but used a new, dark costume for his time with the Elite.
• Major Disaster, a former supervillain who reformed.
• Kasumi, apparently an assassin who killed two hundred men before she was sixteen, but actually an undercover Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) sent by Batman to monitor the Elite.
• Naif al-Sheikh, an Arab expert in international espionage who was brought in by Vera Black because she believed his hatred of metahumans would keep the team in check.

Doug Mahnke's art has never looked this good. Joe Kelly takes the best aspects of his JLA run and runs with it full-out here in Elite. You can be satisfied with Elite for kick ass action, an amazing story and what should become an ongoing series rather than the twelve issues for which it's scheduled. Never really knew what DC was thinking with this series. I was highly impressed and very entertained. It is definitely a precursor to what Batman and the outsiders are right now in their latest incarnation. It is a great melding of various level characters to create a fairly well produced group dynamic. Th trades are pretty rare to find, but if interested I will be throwing the full run up on ebay at thecomicmafia store in a few days. Check them out one way or another – this is definitely a series that will entertain!!