JLA #61

Feb 2002 · DC · 2.25 USD; 3.75 CAD

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

★ 1st appearance — Witchfire★ 1st appearance — Skyrocket★ 1st appearance — Sapphire

About this Issue

JLA #61 marks the debut of writer Joe Kelly and penciller Doug Mahnke on DC's then-flagship team book, and the issue has earned a lasting reputation among fans as perhaps the finest single-issue primer on the modern Justice League ever produced — a done-in-one story that efficiently and affectionately captures every member of the Big Seven roster (with Plastic Man standing in for Aquaman) before the longer arcs of the Kelly/Mahnke era began. Beyond the lead story, the issue doubles as the publishing debut of The Power Company, Kurt Busiek and Tom Grummett's team of corporate superheroes-for-hire, making it the first appearance of Josiah Power, Skyrocket, Striker Z, Sapphire, and Witchfire. That combination of a landmark creative-team changeover and multiple genuine first appearances gives the issue significance well beyond its self-contained story.

Contains 2 stories

Two-Minute Warning

22 pp · Superhero

JLA [Justice LeagueSuperman [Clark KentKal-El]Batman [Bruce Wayne]Martian Manhunter [J'onn J'onzzJohn Jones]Wonder Woman [Diana]Flash [Wally West]Green Lantern [Kyle Rayner]Plastic Man [Eel O'Brian]]Lois LaneLinda Park WestAbra Kadabra (villain)

The Power Principle

14 pp · Superhero

Skyrocket [Celia Forrestal]Manhunter [Kirk DePaul]Witchfire [Rebecca Carstairs]SapphireStriker Z [Danny Tsang]Bork [Carl Bork]Josiah PowerDoctor Cyber (villain)Ariadne (villain)Margaret (villain)

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $0

Flagged key issue — estimate limited by sparse sales.

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

DC Comics JLA #61 (2002) Superman Batman Wonder Woman Kelly Mahnke Nguyen Direct $2.99 JLA 61 Doug Mahnke Cover $2.99 DC COMICS JLA #61 HIGH GRADE COMIC BOOK 2001 $6.29 JLA #61 2002 DC Comics 1st App 8.0 Comic Book A98-221 $8.99 Dc Jla #61 $15

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 5 total · seen 25 days ago

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

Kelly and Mahnke arrived on JLA following the conclusion of Mark Waid and Bryan Hitch's run, inheriting what was then DC's premier superhero title after the defining Grant Morrison/Howard Porter era had already set an extremely high bar. Rather than ease into the assignment with a multi-part arc, Kelly opened with 'Two Minute Warning,' a structurally ambitious, single-issue ensemble piece that cycled through each Leaguer's civilian life in the two minutes before a global emergency called them into action — a bold choice for a debut that signaled the team's intention to do things their own way. The oversized issue also served a second editorial function, housing a 16-page insert written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by Tom Grummett and Wade Von Grawbadger that introduced The Power Company ahead of that team's own ongoing series launching in early 2002.

Trivia · 9 facts

Cover date February 2002; published on shelves December 26, 2001 (also listed by some sources as December 28, 2001).
Lead story 'Two Minute Warning' is written by Joe Kelly with pencils by Doug Mahnke — the creative team's debut issue on JLA after the conclusion of Mark Waid and Bryan Hitch's run.
Editors on the issue were Dan Raspler and Steve Wacker; coloring credited to David Baron and Alex Sinclair.
The full active JLA roster featured in the issue: Superman (Clark Kent), Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (Princess Diana), Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz), The Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), and Plastic Man (Eel O'Brian) — the 'Big Seven' configuration with Plastic Man filling the slot left vacant by Aquaman.
The issue contains a 16-page backup/insert story, 'The Power Principle,' written by Kurt Busiek with art by Tom Grummett and Wade Von Grawbadger, constituting the first published appearance of The Power Company as a team, and the first appearances of individual members Josiah Power, Skyrocket, Striker Z, Sapphire, and Witchfire.
The Power Company subsequently headlined their own ongoing series (April 2002–September 2003, 18 issues), also written by Busiek.
The issue's villain in the lead story is Abra Kadabra, whose manipulation of space and time triggers simultaneous global disasters that force each Leaguer to respond from their separate civilian lives.
JLA #61 was reprinted in the trade paperback JLA Vol. 10: Golden Perfect (DC, February 2003, ISBN 1563899418), which collects issues #61–65, and again in the hardcover JLA Vol. 6 Deluxe Edition (collecting #61–76), as well as in JLA: Greatest Stories Ever Told (DC, 2006).
The issue exists in both a Direct Sales edition and a Newsstand edition variant.