TALES FROM THE CRYPT
By Mike Cotton
Transcribed by Vu
WIZARD uncovers the 10 greatest comic book stories never told!
(excerpt)
3. 1983's JLA/AVENGERS
THE PLAYERS: Writer Gerry Conway and artist George Pérez
THE PROJECT: JLA/Avengers
THE STORY: In early 1983, writer Gerry Conway plotted out a JLA/Avengers one-shot to be drawn by George Pérez. The original story dealt with Marvel's villainous Kang and the Lord of Time from DC continuity going to the dawn of time and trying to reset history by creating a single, unified Earth. The new world would've been created in either Kan's or the Lord of Time's own image, depending on who won the prize. The story dealt with the "The Eggs of Time," which were little bits of time shot through the time continuum to be retrieved in various points of history. Kang uses the Avengers as his agents by stating that the Justice League are actually villains trying to get the Eggs for the Lord of Time, with the reverse happening with the Lord of Time, who tells the Justice League the same thing. The Avengers and the JLA were then going to be sent to different times in different location to get the Eggs, allowing for various confrontations between Superman and Thor, Quicksilver and Flash, the Red Tornado and the Vision and Batman taking on Captain America.
WHY IT NEVER HAPPENED: Soon after Conway finalized his plot and Roy Thomas came in to rework certain parts of the story, Marvel and DC pulled the plug on the project when they couldn't come to terms as to how some of the battles between the two company's top characters would end. Reportedly, Marvel didn't like some of their biggest characters losing to second-tier DC heroes.
WILL IT EVER HAPPEN: With the current JLA/Avengers mini-series by Kurt Busiek and Pérez planned for sometime in 2003, co-editor Tom Brevoort says there's always the possibility that the plot and early pages from the original JLA/Avengers might be included in a hardcover or trade paperback collection. "It's been casually mentioned, but we're nowhere near worrying about a collection at this point- our focus is on getting the series done," asserts Brevoort. "We'll figure out what to put in the collection once we're there."
