791 – New JLA Member: Green Arrow

A panel from the Justice League of America #4, February 1961
A panel from the Justice League of America #4, February 1961

This month’s Justice League of America #4 (Feb 1961) also manages to change things up by considering who they should add as a new member. Adam Strange, Green Arrow, and Hawkman are up for consideration. Hm, how is Adam Strange a known hero at this time? Did Adam send them a few postcards from Rann? “Look what I can do!”

The group eventually votes for Green Arrow, just as an arrow plunks down onto their secret headquarters table. What follows next is a concocted interstellar story that just coincidentally happens to embroil the Green Arrow into the JLA activities and wouldn’t you know it, only Green Arrow can free the group from certain doom.

Another panel from the Justice League of America #4, February 1961
Another panel from the Justice League of America #4, February 1961

I don’t mind the roster expanding, but I wonder if maybe the creators realized the JLA was too over-powered and wanted to have more story opportunities with lower-power members like Batman, Aquaman and now Green Arrow. Time to send Superman and J’onn J’onzz off on more outer-space missions?