Regardless of the critical reception to the Justice League movie, the team is currently in the midst of its biggest ever multimedia push. Now even the most causal of moviegoers are familiar with characters like Cyborg and Aquaman and concepts like Mother Boxes and the Speed Force. So with the Justice League becoming such a big deal in the Hollywood realm, why does it seem like the team has become such an afterthought in DC's comics?

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Every Major Justice League Roster 12 IMAGES

Art by Tony Daniel. (DC Comics)

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In general, the quality of DC's comic book line has improved drastically since the start of the DC Rebirth relaunch last year. Rebirth reinvigorated all sorts of characters and franchises. Greg Rucka, Liam Sharp and Nicola Scott greatly elevated Wonder Woman. Tom King and his artists are crafting what has already become one of my favorite Batman runs of all time. Everyone from Green Arrow to Flash to Aquaman is in a drastically better place thanks to Rebirth. That's to say nothing of all the fun, unexpected ways DC's publishing line has grown in other areas, from the Hanna Barbera line to Gerard Way's Young Animal imprint to the upcoming "New Age of DC Heroes" line.But while so many individual heroes have benefited from Rebirth, the same doesn't really hold true for DC's team-based books. Several key superhero teams, including the Justice Society and the Legion of Super Heroes, are basically MIA right now. The Teen Titans continue to struggle (though that's basically par for the course over the last decade). And most significantly, DC's Justice League comics simply aren't connecting in the way so many solo DC books are right now.At present, DC has two ongoing Justice League titles - Justice League and Justice League of America. The former is your traditional take on the team, one focused on big icons like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and the Green Lanterns. The latter features a more diverse ensemble, with Batman spearheading a team that includes Vixen, the Atom, Black Canary, Lobo and Killer Frost. The Justice League franchise has long had a habit of shifting between focusing on the classic "Big Seven" lineup and more unusual teams like Justice League International, so this seems like DC's attempt at following both philosophies at once. Which would be great, but neither series really lives up to its promise.In the case of Justice League, neither the team lineup nor the general direction of the series have felt particularly groundbreaking or inspired. The current Justice League reads like an extension of Geoff Johns' New 52-era series, but without some of that book's more memorable characters (Lex Luthor, Captain Cold, Shazam). Justice League seems content to tell flashy, shallow, spectacle-driven stories that do little to take advantage of the canvas that is DC Rebirth. Johns shaped the course of the entire DCU with Justice League storylines like Forever Evil and The Darkseid War. What has the current volume done by comparison, other than induct Mera into the team?Justice League of America, meanwhile, is probably my biggest disappointment in all of Rebirth. There was such potential with this more character-driven JLA book, especially building on the momentum of the Justice league vs. Suicide Squad crossover and with the involvement of Ivan Reis, one of the best artists in the business. But while the team itself has developed a memorable group dynamic, the actual stories have failed to generate much excitement. Not to mention that the book suffers significantly whenever Reis isn't drawing it, which has been more often than not. And with Reis moving on to The Terrifics with writer Jeff Lemire, the outlook for JLA is pretty grim.It's tough to understand why DC has allowed the Justice League line to lag so far behind the rest of its Rebirth comics, especially with the new movie bringing more attention than ever to the team. Why isn't Justice League being treated like the flagship title it was during the New 52? Why isn't DC putting the biggest creative muscle it can summon on the main series? Heck, Justice League doesn't even have a regular creative team at the moment. The Justice League movie hit theaters last month, and rather than capitalize on that fact with a well-timed jumping-on point in the comics, that week's Justice League #33 was a tie-in to the Dark Nights: Metal crossover handled by a fill-in creative team. Compare that to Marvel, which never misses an opportunity to piggyback on the release of a new movie.The good news is that a new creative team has just taken over the core Justice League comic, writer Christopher Priest and artist Pete Woods. As a huge fan of Priest's Black Panther run, I'm mostly pleased by the new team's debut and excited for what's to come. But it's hard to know how much faith to place in this new team given that we don't know how long they're remaining on the book. Will Priest be a long-term fixture on the series, or will this be another case like Wonder Woman, which has been cycling through temporary creative teams now that its initial Rebirth team has departed?In the past, Justice League has always been the title to light the way for the rest of DC's comics and define the tone and direction of the company. In the '70s, any hero worth their salt was featured in Justice League of America. In the late '80s, Justice League International brought a global focus and a sly sense of humor to the team. In the '90s, Grant Morrison and Howard Porter made the team bigger and bolder than ever, setting a high standard in a time when superhero comics had rarely been worse off. And for all that DC did wrong in the New 52, Johns' Justice League almost always managed to excite and invigorate me as a reader. But now, DC seems to be doing little more than going through the motions with their flagship superhero team.The solution to this dilemma may lie in the recent announcement that Marvel mainstay Brian Michael Bendis is jumping over to DC. Given how much Bendis did to elevate the Avengers comics and make that the dominant franchise at Marvel, he may be just the writer to reinvigorate the Justice League line. If Bendis brings some of his frequent collaborators with him - insanely talented artists like David Marquez, Sara Pichelli and Stefano Caselli - DC would have all the ingredients needed to make Justice League their biggest draw again. As much as I'm a proponent of having Bendis start slow and get a feel for this new superhero universe, there's also an argument to be made that now is the perfect time to throw him in the deep end and tackle this iconic super-team.Regardless of what permanent creative team takes over Justice League, it's clear that DC needs to be doing more to keep that franchise fresh and exciting. For a team comprised of the best and brightest heroes in the DC Universe, the Justice League has certainly seen better days.

"Between the Panels" is a bi-weekly column from Jesse Schedeen that focuses on the world of comics. You can see more of his thoughts on comics and pop culture by following @jschedeen on Twitter , or Kicksplode on MyIGN