THE CROSSOVER THAT NEVER WAS
Unpublished ''JLAvengers'' by George Perez!

Long before the recent meeting of the Justice League and the Avengers, George Pérez started drawing the FIRST JLAvengers encounter -- a story that never saw print. Pérez drew approximately 21 pages of the crossover, but differences between companies forced the comic to be canceled. The penciled pages Pérez had completed were never published. The drawing above, by Perez, ran on the cover of "Comics Interview" #6 (Aug. 1983), which also ran several pages from the aborted work. A few more pages were printed in "Focus On George Pérez" from Fantagraphics (1985). No dialogue is available for these pages, but you can pretty much tell what's going on. The two team members meet separately, then later get together and fight each other. What else is new? Click on the pages for big versions!

LEFT: House ad for Justice League of America #1.

BELOW LEFT: Full-size version of JLA #1 -- the one where Despero plays chess to send the Leaguers to other dimensions. The cover is by Murphy Anderson.

BELOW RIGHT: Alter Ego #13 -- Loki plays chess to send the Avengers to other dimensions?!?! Yes! This super-cool recreation of JLA #1, Marvel style, is also by Murphy Anderson. Click the cover for a big version!

Note how brilliantly Anderson parodies his own layout: All postures match, down to the smallest pinky; Green Hulk sits in for Green Manhunter; Iron Man's coloring and belt are similar to Aquaman's; GL and Antman both have circular chest symbols and masks; Loki's yellow collar is shaped like Despero's finny head; and on the chessboard, Marvel superstar Spider-Man stands in for DC's superstar Superman.