The same brain, it dawned on me, created the seminal story that featured – who else – Justice League analogues. This super categorized juggernaut of information left no stone unturned at Marvel… and it came from a DC brain. For some reason, as I read these new/old JL comics, I recalled the mega-project Gruenwald spearheaded: the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. But as the years rolled on and I studied the works of Gruenwald in particular, I grokked his sense of management, his employment of grouping and transparency.

What’s a DC person anyway and what does that entail? And how’s it so different from being a Marvel person? Not to be glib but isn’t it all the same? Sure, DC was stuffier & proper and Marvel was gloomier & flawed, but those traits weren’t mutually exclusive, so these unspoken differences always baffled me a little. Known for being one of the leading creative spirits for Marvel Comics in the 80s and a top ranking executive overseer in the 90s, in addition to being a freelance writer during the entirety of his tenure, Mark Gruenwald never hid the fact that he was a DC person.

One name kept bouncing back to me as I read this modestly drawn entertainment: Mark Gruenwald. Everything had its place and function in these bright comics. As I was picking up what they were laying down, I caught a familiar scent of organization. It was definitely a newfound fondness for the well-behaved, well-groomed do gooders we all know from cartoons and toy lines. I fell in love with a stack of old comics over the holidays and now I understand what being a “DC person” really means. Two underrated workhorses who defined the adventures of the world’s leading superhero group for decades. JUSTICE LEAGUE of AMERICA – A Mike Sekowsky & Dick Dillin appreciation.Character archaeology as expression, especially to pin a moment in time. JSA/ALL-STAR SQUADRON – A Roy Thomas appreciation.

TEEN TITANS Part Two– My enthusiasm for the TT franchise was destroyed by troubling story elements but was resuscitated by the excellent Titans Hunt storyline.TEEN TITANS Part One – My need for colorful, clean-cut super heroics and my obsessive habit to hunt back issues in bulk met at the intersection of Wolfman & Pérez.

Squadron supreme by mark gruenwald