Taking the Chair

So...Dinah is the JLA's chair(wo)man now?

Honestly, I don't know how I feel about this.

When Power Girl was named Chairwoman of the JSA, I was grinning ear to ear. I loved that development. From her first appearance, she'd always struggled so hard to prove herself to the old, sexist fogeys that were the legendary super-team. She's rebellious, driven, courageous and she never backs down. She's grown a lot as a character since then too. She knows when to take advice and when to take charge and now that she knows where she comes from and who she is, she's really got no more lingering questions or doubts to hold her back. She is one of the most experienced of the younger generation which has a nice future-oriented symbolism.

It was the perfect development. (And I liked that it wasn't posited as Karen being a better choice for leader than Michael, merely that his role as White King was a greater priority. That means a lot to me, for some weird reason.)

I'm more uneasy about Dinah as JLA chairwoman though. And it's not anything against Dinah as a character. I love Dinah. And she's very experienced, very determined and more than capable of that sort of leadership role, founder or no (on a tangent: I love that Diana's a founder again, but why in the world couldn't both Diana and Dinah be on the founding team? It's not like they have redundant powers after all. But I digress.)

It's just, for some reason, I am very uncomfortable with the idea of the JLA having a chairperson.

I guess it's because the JLA always seemed so very egalitarian to me. What with the round table and all. I mean sure, there were people who'd take the lead at specific times during specific adventures, but it wasn't always the same person. The trinity may have been the core of the team, but it felt like everyone was meant to be equal within. Step forward and lead or follow as you will.

Now the JSA is a bit different. The JSA has always been family themed for me. Even during the Multiverse adventures, but especially nowadays. The JSA aren't all equal. Stargirl, Jakeem Thunder, Maxine Hunkel are no where near the level of Alan, Jay or Carter. And that's okay, because they're the kids and still learning, while the others are fogeys.

The Chairman office always felt right to me there, in part because of the origins during WWII and the All-Star Squadron. It always made sense to have a single field commander/leader. In the modern day, I felt like the chairman role still fit in a different way. As a bridge to keep the old fogeys and the new whippersnappers focused and united.

Notice the Chairpeople so far have been Sand, who might be from the forties, but is time-displaced and thus still very young. He was a child back then and thus tends to be in a strange not-fogey, not-kid area. Michael was more secure in his position as one of the successors, but he (as well as Mid-Nite and Dinah) are the oldest of them. He's confident and secure in his abilities like most of the others weren't. Power Girl, of course, has the background in Infinity Inc, loads of experience and a very forceful personality. Each character functioned to bridge the old, experienced geezers with the naive green youngsters.

It fits for the JSA to have a chairperson. But I don't honestly see where it suits the JLA. It's the team of Icons (versus the JSA as the team of Legends). The A-Listers. Some of the most recognizeable and iconic heroes around along with some that are just plain cool. No one icon is supposed to be greater than the other, and they're supposed to be equal and egalitarian, with the Trinity at the core. Having a chairman seems to throw off this balance somehow for me.

Hey, I never said I made a lot of sense.

That said, I'll give it a shot of course. JLA's started slow but the upcoming crossover with JSA (LOVE) will keep me reading at least until the end. Maybe this Dinah as chairwoman thing will work for me. Right now, the thought is still weird to me...oh well.