Cap's departure from the stands left a huge hole that many rushed to fill. If he'd never left and DC had taken up the reins, things would have turned out quite differently indeed.

Does Elseworlds still exist? Anyone here working at DC?

Since reading the replies here, my brain has been working overtime slotting Supergirl into the many Teen Titans adventures I've read.

He wouldn't return for another two years, when his help was needed in JLA 200. Now, I've never been entirely clear on why he chose to rejoin the team at this point, considering that the threat he was brought in to combat was the League itself. Nevertheless, he was a full-fledge member again a year later, when Batman quits the League to form the Outsiders.

Batman's motivations are not precisely the same as Green Arrow's, but they're certainly in the ballpark. "I've heard the cries of the dying," he says, "and the mourning... the victims of crime and injustice. I swore I would do everything in my power to avenge those deaths... to protect innocent lives... and if I fail to keep that promise... my entire life is a lie."

So can you guess who's sitting at the conference table when Batman makes that speech? Even at the time, it baffled me why Green Arrow wouldn't immediately leap to his feet and join Batman in the liberation of Markovia. The notion that Ollie would feel bound by Superman's promise to the State Department struck me as absurd. Clearly, Green Arrow was the very definition of an Outsider.

My confusion was only compounded a year after that, when Aquaman disbanded the JLA, complaining that the League could only function with members who were willing to commit full-time. Setting aside the fact that this is an odd requirement for a foreign sovereign to be imposing, consider who it is that turn away in shame from their inability to meet this obligation.

The Green Arrow is bad enough. He's been a full-time crimefighter for decades at this point. When was the last time he had a job, or any family commitments? But Red Tornado? Seriously? What has he got going on in his life that's got him so inextricably locked down?

So to answer the original question, both GA and the Black Canary should have quit the League with Batman to form the Outsiders. Later, the Red Tornado should have stayed on with the Detroit League.

The Outsiders was apparently composed of half established heroes, half new ones in the manner of the New Teen Titans. They went with Black Lightning and Metamorpho as Batman's picks for existing characters, both heroes who had, at one point or another, turned down membership in the League. 

* The Metal Men, surprisingly, came in second at 7 appearances, with The Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Sgt. Rock (!) all tying for third place with 6. Black Canary makes that list as well if she is the mysterious "Plus...?" on one of the Green Arrow covers which seems likely since she's the star of the next issue.

And I suppose GL should go into the 7 appearances category since one of the issues features the Guardians, essentially making it a GL story.

I think Mike W. Barr made his choice of the Outsiders based on new characters with a lot of story line hooks (fair enough - look how long it took him to get done with Halo stories!) and established heroes who were more than street level, but not quite Superman/Green Lantern level. Even GeoForce, who was undoubtedly the big time brick of the team, wasn't quite in Superman's class. And since Barr apparently had open permission on BL and Metamorpho, he could make whatever storylines he wanted (and did pretty well, I think.)

As well as Batman/Green Arrow did in Brave and the Bold, I do wonder that DC didn't give a series or backup a shot. Once they went to two stories a book, but after the DC Implosion, I could see a backup in either Detective or B&B focusing on Batman/GA team ups. All things considered, it seems the type of gamble they'd invest in.

Red Tornado and J'onn J'onzz - both were indeed alien enough to invoke a certain sense together (as opposed to, say, Superman and Wonder Woman, who were about as human as Reddy and J'onn.)

They did have some similarities, although John Smith never had to appear with John Jones - and they didn't look much alike either. Oh, and one other little detail... one was red and one was green.

But obviously, neither character was very popular at any point until JJ, just before the Crisis. That's when he became "the heart of the JLA" - yeah, notwithstanding the previous dozen years or so.

As for Justice League Detroit - that was an idea that certainly had its time (it was even a precursor to the New Teen Titans, in its way.) But when the most popular character is Aquaman... there's been a miscalculation.

So there's MY speculation... let's redo Justice League Detroit with Alan Scott or Jay Garrick. A familiar presence, but not Hal or Barry. Not a Teen Titan (who otherwise would have been great - Kid Flash, Robin, or Wonder Girl could have kicked up those stories jsut swell.) Not Supergirl, which would have gotten ME to buy more of the books - but I suspect that her appeal wasn't enough (as it wasn't enough to keep her own book.) It might have worked with Captain Marvel, but I don't think he would have been given a fair deal out of his own stories and genre.

At that point, Alan Scott had just been freed from the Psycho Pirates control IIRC, so a vacation on Earth-1 could easily be explained. His seniority and power level would have suited the idea of JLD. I think it might have been interesting enough to make those stories better (although Gerry Conway... sigh.) That's one of MY ideas.

It could be super hero action, sci-fi, mystical / magic, political, social, street level or personal stories, and that all stemmed from the characters.

Forgive my throwing a straw man into this, but in keeping with your contention that J'onn and John don't look all that much alike, would a blue, bald-headed, dark-eyed fellow, the same color from head-to-toe, apparently shirtless, in short pants with buccaneer boots and an immense blue cloak also have not looked like the other two? Because I have this great idea for a guy called Johhn D'oe, Ice Warrior From Beneath the Antarctic, who would be perfect for the League... :-)

Justice League Detroit debuted in 1984, very much after Wolfman and Perez's New Teen Titans in 1980, and Alan Scott was under the Psycho-Pirate's influence back in 1977. I do agree, though, that after losing his radio empire and being reduced to nothing, there was very little to hold him to Earth-2. I just don't know that DC at that point saw the JSA in the mold of being mentors to a collection of young proteges. They were older, yes, but still very much their own men and women. It wasn't until Infinity Inc. came around at about the same time as JL Detroit that I think DC decided the oldsters could be kicked down to second-tier status and made into supporting characters in other titles.

Given that Roy Thomas opened the Infinity Inc. book with a ten-issue take on the Golden Age "River of Drowned Men" story and that he immediately saddled Alan with kids and story lines of his own in that title, I very much doubt DC would have seen Alan as being free to travel over to Earth-1 and head the Detroit team. Much like Weisinger before him, Thomas seemed to guard his particular corner of the DC Mythos zealously. 

I still like the idea, though. Just the fact that Jay and Alan made it through the Crisis alive surprised me. I had them pegged as goners as soon as that project was announced.