Why does the JLA have "America" in its title?

[Fantasyartist]

News that Superman is to officially renounce his US citizenship in Action Comics #900 has brought to a head a question I have long been curious about- WHY does the Justice League of America (which the Man of Steel has been a founding member of) have the title "America"?

Can only US citizens be members? If so this would exclude Aquaman, Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter(well maybe not Aquaman as his father was reportedly American but definitely the other two). How about countries clearly allied to the US such as its NATO partners or Israel?

I do hope that this issue will be clarified!

PS even the JLA's Marvel counterpart, the Avengers use the phrase "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" rather than officially identify with a single nation state!

Terry

 

[Drz]

Well for one David S. Goyer has trouble (he admitted this himself) writing characters withouth angts so he created one for Superman so he could write him "properly" or in truth: Have it easier for himself and do it his way while not thinking the bigger picture.

JLA is JLA because back in the 40s/50s the comics we're only US and still are dominantly only US, but you also gotta think business wise and making Justice League International the "only" Justice League instead of both JLA and JLI means less money money money. JLA doesn't care where the members come from or anything, all they need is the right intentions and the right morals and dedications and whatnot whatnot.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Don't look too much into it. The only reason you need is the fact that it's stationed in America. Think of it like companies that open branches in other countries and do that, for example the video game company Konami had Konami of Japan, Konami of America, etc. at one point. There might have been some quasi-patriotic reasoning behind it at some point in time, but there's no reason it can't be something as simple as station.

 

[Motown Marvel]

yeah, i dont think its any more than the fact that they're based out of america. and DC is already back peddling on superman renouncing his citizenship.

 

[fifthfiend]

There is literally no good reason why the Justice League has the word America in their name.

Half the time their base is a satellite.

Or on the moon.

The mother****ing moon

They should just call it... the Justice League.

Like remember that time they made a Justice League of America cartoon, except the Justice League of America was called... the Justice League?

And nobody cared and pretty much everyone thought the cartoon was totally great?

They should just do that.

 

[Motown Marvel]

yes, but traditionally they had the hall of justice in america. the satellite bases were after the fact.

also, when created they were heroes of the american ideal. which was a big sell in post war america.

 

[storyteller]

Dc comics is an American company where most of its readers are american citizens. You writer what you know and cater to your readers. Honestly when you read these comics, they are all in the United States and deal with character with an american point of view.

Plot wise......The Justice League needs permission to enter another country while the US government plays ball. No one "questions" their activities in the US but they can start international incidents in europe. Also home base is in the united states. Its members are either american citizens or speak the english language. Most of the non US Citizens only know an american way of culture and language.

Also


Can we please get the difference between being an US citizen and being species/race?
Superman is an US citizen and is a member of the Kryptonian race. John Jones is a US citizen and a member of the Martian race(well sorta given that John Jones is a human on paper). Diana Prince is not a US citizen in some cases and just a diplomat in others. Species/race =/= nationality.

 

[The Morningstar]

What's the American ideal, really though? Being a good guy? Truth, honor and justice? Thought that was a pretty universal ideal myself.

 

[Anubis]

Well, every bodies idea of "good" isn't the same.

The reason why they're called the Justice League of America is because they're the next generation of the Justice Society of America.

 

[Motown Marvel]

What's the American ideal, really though? Being a good guy? Truth, honor and justice? Thought that was a pretty universal ideal myself.

i think what would be characterized as the "american way" would easily be considered a universal ideal. but america was the country that really championed it....it was essentially our slogan, ha.

 

[Mystirious]

Half the time their base is a satellite.

Or on the moon.

The mother****ing moon

They should call themselves the Justice League of the Moon and fight crime with the Sailor Scouts

 

[Anubis]

Well, to be fair, America does kinda own the moon. We got a flag up there and everything.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Why everybody gettin' all up in our ****? Get your own damn superheroes. Oh and Hollywood belongs to us too. You want that?


Please.

 

[Mystirious]

Oh 'Nubsy

The moon belongs to Sailor Moon though

She's the Moon Princess

 

[Tron Bonne]

Or it's just because the JL is stationed primarily in a America. Come on, now.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Oh 'Nubsy

The moon belongs to Sailor Moon though

She's the Moon Princess

The Watcher has a timeshare.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

What does the Justice League of America have for dessert after their din dins?


Ice-Cream and JLA

 

[Mystirious]

The Watcher has a timeshare.

A timeshare in spaaaaaccceeee

Or it's just because the JL is stationed primarily in a America. Come on, now.

Probably

 

[Kurosawa]

The JLA is the JLA because they were named after the JSA. That's in real life, and in the comics as well. Pre-Crisis Barry Allen named them after the JSA because he was a huge Flash and JSA fan. Post-Crisis he named them after the JSA because they were the first generation of superheroes in their world. That makes Superman's first appearance on that Earth much less special as he is no longer the first superhero and the patriarch of his kind, but that's another DC fail topic.

 

[fifthfiend]

yes, but traditionally they had the hall of justice in america. the satellite bases were after the fact.

also, when created they were heroes of the american ideal. which was a big sell in post war america.

I'm not saying that there wasn't, at some point a million billion years ago, a totally good reason for them to be called the Justice League of America.

I'm saying that there isn't any good reason, to call them the Justice League of America.

 

[Timstuff]

yeah, i dont think its any more than the fact that they're based out of america. and DC is already back peddling on superman renouncing his citizenship.

They couldn't have picked a worse time to have Superman declare "I am not an American."

 

[Tron Bonne]

Oh, great, I knew this would probably lead to this crap all over again.

 

[Speedball]

First off, first poster, simmer down.
The title has been JLA since the 60's, so it's just a long standing tradition of calling it the JLA.
And there have been multiple incarnations of the Justice League, including a Justice League International and a JL Europe.
And they're not just going to change the team name right away. Superman isn't even a member of the Justice League right now, so there's no need to change it since all the heroes of the team are US based.
And yes, they could just change it to Justice League, but you can't just say in one panel "Let's change the name to Justice League!". there needs to be a progression toward it. A lot of people don't understand that Superman's storyline has been leading to him renouncing his citizenship.

 

[The Morningstar]

Who the hell would want to read that "Grounded" garbage anyway?

 

[Motown Marvel]

why cant they have america in the title, by the way? why is that such an offensive thing?