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crm/ow pages
1st app of Justice League of America (Batman, Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman); 1st app of Starro the Conqueror; Murphy Anderson cover & art


Brave and the Bold #28 became a top collectible of the early Silver Age with the first appearance of the Justice League of America. DC editor Julius Schwartz had already started the heroic Silver Age revival with the debut of Barry Allen as the Flash in Showcase #4. He tasked Gardner Fox with updating the Golden Age's Justice Society for DC's modern reinventions, launching the new superteam in the anthology title The Brave and the Bold. "Starro the Conqueror" was an instant classic comic, introducing both the JLA and the intergalactic starfish who'd become one of DC's favorite villains. The story was also a comeback for Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter, who both finally made their first U.S. cover appearances here. (There's also the first appearance of Snapper Carr as the hipster sidekick who was common in pop culture after Edd Byrne's success as "Kookie" in the hit TV series 77 Sunset Strip .)

Readers responded enthusiastically to this debut, leading to a great scarcity of this issue in higher grades. There would only be two more Brave and the Bold turns before the Justice League landed their own title. (This issue also contains the notable first appearance of the Justice League's Secret Sanctuary inside a cavernous Rhode Island mountain, which would remain their headquarters until they moved to a satellite in 1970.) The value of Brave and the Bold #28 has only increased in recent years as Justice League heroes hit the big screen. 2017 saw the first Justice League movie, and fans are eagerly anticipating James Gunn's vision for the team in his own DC Extended Universe.