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Avengers Punch Up, Justice League Punch Down

[Editor's Note: Devon Sanders writes this piece for Bleeding Cool about his experiences as a long-time comic fan viewing "Avengers: Endgame" and how it measures up to "Justice League".]

There was a moment, born in comics, in Avengers: Endgame that I've sat with for over 32 years. Friday night, it was given to me. I didn't ask for it but there it was. As the realization that it was finally happening began to dawn on me, I slowly started saying, "No. No. NOOOOOO." My girlfriend had never seen me like this and tried to squish me back down into my seat. She was as enthused but not as overly enthusiastic.

I'm 100% sure that I was in some other place. More like I was taken back to the day I started to read a Thor comic, not knowing that it would soon change the way I viewed the comics medium. I remember reading that comic like it was yesterday. In the pages of the comic I'd just put down, one character changed the rules. He'd done what few could do and most importantly, did it when many had thought him down.

Fast forward, thirty-two years and me in the dark, clapping and feeling a giddiness like I hadn't experienced in years. I am a fan of things. I am a fan of the comics medium but I am not particularly entrenched in any particular fandom. But that night? That night, I understood what it must be like to be a huge Star Wars fan.

That night, after over forty years of taking in The Avengers, I truly became an Avengers fan.

But not at that moment.

Nope.

Not that one either.

It was earlier, in a much quieter moment. It was the moment I saw Rocket Raccoon in an Avengers jumpsuit. With Cap. With Thor. With Tony Stark. He was a part of hope and I was there for it.

50%  of the universe has been wiped out and with that, anyone who can contribute is necessary. Rocket is necessary. Rocket is an Avenger and once again, I am here for it.

Why? Because I am sure that when he was created, no one… not Bill Mantlo, not Keith Giffen, not Mike Mignola, thought he'd be side by side, in any capacity, with the likes of Captain America, Thor and Iron Man as an Avenger.

Yet, there he was. Rocket was ready to rise to the challenge. And that's when I realized why I loved this movie so much. No matter who is on the team, they will rise to the mantle of "Avenger." They will rise to meet the call.

My favorite Avengers stories are the one where heroes rise to answer the call. Avengers: Under Siege where the roster has been decimated and has to fight back to win the day with the likes of Cap, The Wasp, a badly injured Thor, The Black Knight, Monica Rambeau – the former Captain Marvel and freaking Doctor Druid.

For those who don't know Doctor Druid, think Great Value Doctor Strange.

This team fought and rallied to win the day. They fought back. They punched up. I love them for that. I welcome it. They give you a sense of victory.

The Justice League will forever punch down. It's inevitable every time when your team starts with the trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman.

This isn't on anyone in particular but to me, The Justice League, outside of the wonderful Justice League Unlimited cartoon series, feels more obligatory. Once to twice a year, we're told the fate of the universe is at stake while in their own book, The League rises to meet whatever "alien invasion of the month" or another "fate of The Multiverse" thing leading into an event. New members come and go but few rise. Eight years in and all anyone got off of Cyborg was "Not J'onn J'onnz."

The Justice League has come to serve the event. The essence of The Avengers rise to the event.

Nowadays, when I see Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman at a conference table, I don't feel relief. I should but it's become shorthand for foreboding. To paraphrase the great King B, The Justice League currently operates like they're in the "Murder, She Wrote" universe." When they come around, you don't go, "The League's gonna visit. No, it's more like, "Oh, somebody's going to die now."

This past Friday, Rocket Raccoon was on my movie screen, y'all. In an Avenger jumpsuit. The fate of the universe was partially in his paws. I was there for it.

I am here for it.

Devon can be found, oddly enough, on Twitter at @devonsanders.

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