Justice League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the animated television series based on this comic book, see Justice League (TV series) or Justice League Unlimited.
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The Justice League, sometimes called the Justice League of America or JLA for short, is a fictional DC Universe superhero team. In most incarnations, its roster includes DC's most popular characters. The original line-up is Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. The team has also included Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, Plastic Man and dozens of others.
The team first appears in The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960). Although series featuring the League occasionally have garnered low sales, the team has been fairly popular with comic book fans since inception. The Justice League concept was loosely adapted into the Super Friends animated series (1972-1985) and more directly into the series Justice League (2001-2004) and Justice League Unlimited (2004-2006).
Throughout the years, the team, or segments of it, are called Justice League America, Justice League Europe, Justice League International, Justice League Task Force, and Justice League Elite.
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[edit] Publication history
[edit] Silver and Bronze Age / Justice League of America
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The Justice League of America first appeared in The Brave and The Bold #28 (1960) as a revival of the Justice Society of America (JSA) and gained its own title that same year. Creator Gardner Fox, influenced by the National Football League and Major League Baseball, decided to use the more contemporary word "league", rather than "society" [1]. Mike Sekowsky was the artist for the first five years of the series. Justice League of America was amongst the most popular of DC Comics' publications at the time.
The JLA's early success was indirectly responsible for the creation of the Fantastic Four. In his autobiography Stan Lee relates how, during a game of golf, DC publisher Jack Liebowitz mentioned to Marvel owner Martin Goodman how well DC's new book was selling. Later that day Goodman ordered Lee to create Marvel's own version, but instead of creating a straight copy, Lee and Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four. [2]
The team operated from a secret cave outside of the small town of Happy Harbor. Teenager Snapper Carr tagged along on missions, and was the team's mascot. Snapper, noted for speaking in beatnik dialect, helped the League to defeat giant space starfish Starro the Conqueror in the team's first appearance. In Justice League of America #77 (December 1969), Snapper was tricked into betraying the cave headquarters' secret location to the Joker, resulting in his resignation from the team.
[edit] Satellite years
In need of a new secure headquarters, the Justice League moved into an orbiting "satellite" headquarters in Justice League of America #78 (February 1970). Through this period, the membership was limited to the seven founders along with Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Phantom Stranger, Elongated Man, and Red Tornado. The League's twelve-member limit (sometimes explained as a "no duplication of powers" policy) was conceded (in Justice League of America #161) to have been simply a charter provision about numbers, once the League had formally removed the limitation and admitted Hawkwoman and hoped to admit more members. (Indeed, through this period, several League members challenged and joked about the notion that they shared skills and talents, for example, with speed races between Superman and Flash, and Hawkman's use of archery in combat.) The policy change allowed Zatanna and Firestorm to be admitted as well.
Those involved in producing the Justice League of America comic during the 1970s include writers Gerry Conway, Cary Bates, E. Nelson Bridwell, and Steve Englehart, while Dick Dillin primarily handled the art chores. Justice League of America had a brief spike in popularity in 1982 when artist George Pérez stepped in following Dillin's death, but the commercial success was short-lived.
[edit] Detroit
In 1984, in an attempt to emulate the success of DC's most successful comic at that time, The New Teen Titans, DC Editorial had most of the regular members replaced by newer, younger characters. DC also moved the team from its satellite headquarters into a base in Detroit, Michigan. This move was highly unpopular with readers, who dubbed this period of time the "Justice League Detroit" era. The major criticism was that this Justice League was filled with second-rate heroes. Created by Conway and artist Chuck Patton, the team is initially led by Aquaman and features Justice League veterans Zatanna, the Martian Manhunter, and the Elongated Man, but the majority of the stories focus on newly recruited heroes Vixen, Gypsy, Steel, and Vibe. Zatanna, Aquaman, and the Elongated Man soon left the series, leaving behind characters that most fans didn't particularly care for. Even the return of Batman to the team in Justice League of America # 250 couldn't halt the decline of the series [3]. The final issue of the original Justice League of America series, issue #261 by Writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Luke McDonnell, culminated with long-time Justice League enemy Professor Ivo's murders of Vibe and Steel at the onset of DC's Legends miniseries.
[edit] Modern incarnations
[edit] Justice League International
The 1987 company-wide crossover "Legends" featured the formation of a new Justice League. The new team was dubbed "Justice League" then "Justice League International" (JLI) and was given a mandate with less of an American focus. The new series, titled Justice League (later Justice League International, and later still Justice League America), written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis with art by Kevin Maguire (and later Adam Hughes), added quirky humor to the team's stories. In this incarnation the membership consisted largely of heroes from Earths that, prior to their merging in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, were separate. These characters included Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel, Doctor Light, Mister Miracle, Guy Gardner, and Booster Gold, the first post-Crisis superhero character. The series' humorous tone was very popular for the first few years, but writers following Giffen and DeMatteis were unable to capture the same balance of humor and heroics, resulting in the decline of the series' popularity. New writers gave the storylines a more serious tone. By the mid- to late-1990s, with the series' commercial success fading, it was eventually cancelled, along with spin-offs Justice League Europe, Extreme Justice, and Justice League Task Force.
[edit] JLA
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The low sales of the various Justice League spinoff books prompted DC to revamp the League as a single team (all the various branch teams were disbanded) on a single title. A Justice League of America formed in the September 1996 limited series Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare by Mark Waid and Fabian Nicieza). In 1997, DC Comics launched a new Justice League series titled JLA, written by Grant Morrison with art by Howard Porter and John Dell.
This series, in an attempt at a "back-to-basics" approach, used as its core the team's original and most famous seven members (or their successors): Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), and the Martian Manhunter. Added to this core roster was the character Plastic Man, as well as a new headquarters for the team, the "Watchtower", based on the Moon. Morrison introduced the idea of the JLA allegorically representing a pantheon of gods, with their different powers and personalities, incorporating such lesser-known characters as Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Oracle.
Since this new league included most of DC's most powerful heroes, the focus of the stories changed. The League now dealt only with Earth-shattering, highest-priority threats which could challenge their tremendous combined power. Enemies faced by this new JLA included an invading armies of aliens, a malfunctioning war machine from the future, a horde of renegade angels, a newly reformed coalition of villains as a counter-league, mercenaries armed with individualized take-down strategies for each superhero, various cosmic threats, and the enraged spirit of the Earth itself. In addition, because almost all of the members had their own comics, the stories were almost always self-contained, with all chapters occurring within JLA itself and very rarely affecting events outside of that series. Developments from a hero's own title (such as the new costume temporarily adopted by Superman) were reflected in the League's comic book, however.
The new approach worked, and JLA quickly became DC's best-selling title[citation needed], a position it enjoyed for several years[citation needed]. Despite this, DC didn't create continuing spinoff series as it had done before. Instead, a large number of miniseries and one-shots featuring the team were released. One spin-off team, the Justice League Elite was created following the events of JLA # 100, but their series was limited to 12 issues, and the team appeared only once after the title's cancellation. JLA's popularity was also able to launch the critically acclaimed JSA series, which will be relaunched as Justice Society of America to coincide with the new "Justice League of America" book.
In 2005, a story arc by Geoff Johns and Alan Heinberg called "Crisis of Conscience" (JLA #115-119) depicts the dissolution of the Justice League of America as the breakdown of trust shown in the 2004 limited series Identity Crisis reaches its zenith. At the end of the arc, Superboy-Prime destroys the Justice League Watchtower. JLA, one of several titles to be cancelled at the conclusion of the Infinite Crisis storyline, ended with issue #125.
[edit] 52
In 52 # 24, Firestorm (Jason Rusch) recruits a group to reform the Justice League. It consists of Firehawk, Super-Chief, Bulleteer, and Ambush Bug. They fight a deranged Skeets who takes Super-Chief's powers and kills him as well as numerous persons given powers by Lex Luthor's "Everyman" project. Afterwards Firestorm breaks up the team.
Also in the series, Luthor's new Infinity Inc. was informally referred to as a "Justice League" in solicitions and covers.
[edit] Justice League of America (vol. 2)
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"One Year Later" after the events of Infinite Crisis, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman reunite in the Batcave and begin planning a new incarnation of the Justice League in Justice League of America #0, the kick-off for the new series by Brad Meltzer and Ed Benes.
In issue #1 (August 2006), Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman begin selecting heroes for invitation into their reformed JLA. At the same time stories are told involving Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Black Canary, Arsenal, Red Tornado, Black Lightning, and Vixen. Additionally, the variant covers for both #1 and #2 feature Hawkgirl, and in issue 1, the meeting between the three founders brings a consensus on offering membership to Power Girl. While choosing new members in issue #2, Superman asks a hesitant Wonder Woman to decide whether Batman is in or out of the new league whilst he is otherwise occupied. Upon his return to the table, Batman asks to know the result of their vote - to which Wonder Woman caustically replies that she will tell him if he tells her how he voted for her.
[edit] Various origins of the Justice League
In 1962's Justice League of America #9 Earth was infiltrated by the Appelaxians, competing alien warriors sent to see who could conquer Earth first to determine who will become the new ruler of their home planet. The aliens' attacks drew the attentions of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. While the superheroes individually defeated most of the invaders, the heroes fell prey to a single competitor's attack; only by working together were they able to defeat the competitor. For many years, the heroes heralded this adventure as the event that prompted them to agree to pool resources when confronted with similar menaces.
Years later, however (as revealed in Justice League of America #144), Green Arrow uncovered inconsistencies in League records and extracted admissions from his colleagues that the seven founders had actually formed the league after the Martian Manhunter was rescued from Martian forces by the other six founders, along with Robin, who did not join the League because of his age. Green Lantern participated in this first adventure primarily as Hal Jordan, though he finally appeared as Green Lantern when the group formalized their agreement, news of which they mutually suppressed because of anti-Martian hysteria (mirroring the backdrop of Martian scares and anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s on our Earth). Because the League members had not revealed their identities to each other at the time, they did not realize that Jordan and Green Lantern were one and the same. While most subsequent accounts of the League have made little mention of this first adventure, the animated Justice League series adapted this tale as the origin of the League as well. And yet, even though it has not officially been removed from League history, much of it could not have unfolded as originally told because of changes in continuity, which continue to emerge as of this writing.
1989's, Secret Origins #32 updated the Justice League of America's origin for post-Crisis continuity. Differences included the inclusion of Black Canary as a founding member and the absence of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. Additionally, this iteration of the League's origin cast the Flash as the team's unofficial leader, since it was the methodical Allen who usually came up with the plans that best utilized everyone's powers.
In 1994's Justice League Task Force # 15, during Zero Hour, an unknown superhuman named Triumph appeared. Via yet another retcon, Triumph was revealed to have been a founding member of the Justice League, serving as their leader. On his first mission with the fledgling Justice League, Triumph seemingly "saved the world", but was teleported into a dimensional limbo that also affected the timestream, resulting in no one having any memory of him. This was to explain how all the heroes ended up in Washington for their first meeting. It is unknown if this retcon is still valid after the events of Infinite Crisis.
1999's JLA: Year One limited series, by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, and Barry Kitson, re-tooled and expanded the Secret Origins depiction. In 2006's Infinite Crisis #7, the formation of "New Earth" resulted in several changes in DC continuity, one of which is Wonder Woman's return to status as a founding member of the Justice League. In Brad Meltzer's Justice League of America (vol. 2) #0 (2006), it is retconned back that both Superman and Batman are founding members as well. No official changes in continuity for Hawkman, Hawkgirl, or Black Canary's involvement with the team have been confirmed.
[edit] Related series
[edit] Formerly Known as the Justice League
In 2003, Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire returned with a separate limited series called Formerly Known as the Justice League with the same humor as their Justice League run, and featuring some of the same characters in a team called the "Super Buddies" (a parody of the Super Friends). A follow-up limited series, entitled I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, soon was prepared, although it was delayed due to the events shown in the Identity Crisis limited series, but was eventually released as the second arc in JLA: Classified. The Super Buddies consisted of Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Fire, Mary Marvel, the Elongated Man with his wife, Sue Dibny, Maxwell Lord, and L-Ron. The second story arc of JLA: Classified focuses on the Super Buddies in a humorous story that features Power Girl, Guy Gardner, and Doctor Fate.
[edit] JLA/Avengers
In 2004, George Pérez and Kurt Busiek came out with a JLA/Avengers crossover, an idea that had been delayed for 20 years for various reasons. In this limited series, the Justice League and the Avengers were forced to find key artifacts in one another's universe, as well as deal with the threats of villains Krona and the Grandmaster.
[edit] JLA: Classified
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In 2004 DC began an anthology series titled JLA: Classified, which would feature rotating writers and artists producing self-contained story-arcs starring the JLA. The first arc features Grant Morrison's return to the team with artist Ed McGuiness and a storyline featuring a "proto-universe" that was first seen in Morrison's JLA run as well as his then-upcoming Seven Soldiers limited series. Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis then did the sequel to "Formerly Known as the Justice League" entitled "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League". Then Warren Ellis ,Gail Simone, and Howard Chaykin wrote the following stories with other writers taking over after that. Writers rumored to do upcoming arcs include Dan Jurgens, Dan Slott, and Tom Mandrake. Garth Ennis has stated that his "final Hitman story will be published in JLA Classified.
[edit] Justice
In October 2005, DC began publishing Justice with stories by Jim Krueger and Alex Ross and art by Ross and Doug Braithwaite. In this new out-of-continuity maxi-series, it is not a single foe that they face though, but rather the combined forces of the most infamous criminal masterminds ever to grace DC's pages, e.g. Lex Luthor, Riddler, Joker, Brainiac, Black Manta, etc. Instead of using their combined strength for destructive ends, the new criminal mega-team is using their unified power to attain humanitarian aid the likes of which the Justice League can only imagine. Whatever their ultimate goal may be though, their efforts have left the League with a tarnished public image.
[edit] Related teams
- The Justice League occasionally has worked with its predecessor, the Justice Society of America. Between 1963 and 1985, a popular annual series of teamups between the two teams to tackle some sort of mutual threat was seen. Now that the teams inhabit the same Earth, the JLA and JSA have Thanksgiving dinner together each year, with the location varying year to year between their respective headquarters.
- A team originally formed by the teen sidekicks of a few Justice League members (and thus known as a "Junior Justice League" of sorts) is called the Teen Titans. A similar group, called Young Justice was founded years later. This group eventually became the newest version of the Titans.
[edit] Justice League parodies/references
- The "Just-Us League" in Tiny Toon Adventures.
- The Guardians of the Globe in Invincible.
- Squadron Supreme as a whole was created as an homage/parody of DC Comics's superhero team Justice League Of America.
- Knights of Justice and Round Table of America (RTA) by Big Bang Comics and published by Image Comics, recreate the golden age and silver age of comics.
- The Allies, from Image Comics.
- Honor Guard from Astro City.
- Apollo's and Midnighter's original Stormwatch team was an homage to the Justice League.
- Planetary contains numerous references to JLA members. The first issue prominently features an homage to the Justice League. Planetary/Authority: Ruling The World features a JLA as though created by H. P. Lovecraft.
- The Justice Friends in Dexter's Laboratory (although the characters who made up the Justice Friends more closely resembled Captain America (Major Glory), The Hulk (Crunk), Thor (Valhallen) and other members of the Avengers).
- The Planetary Brigade by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis is a League parody. The cover of #1 parodies the traditional first issue covers from their time on the real League.
- In the Futurama episode Less Than Hero, after Fry and Leela receive powers from Dr. Flim Flam's Miracle Cream, along with Bender, they form the New Justice Team; whose enemy is the Zoo-Keeper (also the name of a DC villain). The first battle between the New Justice Team and the Zoo-Keeper is an obvious parody of the 1960's Batman television series.
- The Justice Ducks team in the comedic Disney cartoon Darkwing Duck is a team of super heroes (not all of them ducks) that along with Darkwing Duck protect the city of St. Canard.
- In episode 504 of South Park, the Super Best Friends, a team formed of religious figures Jesus, Mohammad, Buddha, Joseph Smith, Krishna, Lao Tsu, Moses (in the same form he appears as in episode 309 "Jewbilee"), and a parody of Aquaman known as "Sea Man", save the world from magician David Blaine.
- The Freedom League, in the Freedom City campaign setting for the Mutants and Masterminds role-playing game, is an homage to the Justice League.
- On Spongebob Squarepants they had the I.J.L.S.A. (the International Justice League of Super-Acquaintances).
- The Drawn Together episode "Ghostesses in the Slot Machine" features a superhero team called the League of Heroes.
- The original and the 2003 animated series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles both feature a parody of the Justice League called "The Justice Force." The Justice Force is composed of parody characters from several different comic series.
- The Underground episode 8 parodies the Justice League, with names like Supra-Man, Man Bat (and his Manmobile), Green Lighthouse, along with a Wonder Woman reference. Spider-Man is the only non-JLA member there, besides the main parody character, Super N-Word.
[edit] Awards
The original Justice League of America series has won:
- 1961 Alley Awards for Best Comic Book
- 1961 Alley Awards for Best Adventure-Hero Group
- 1963 Alley Awards for Favorite Novel ("Crisis on Earth-One/Crisis on Earth-Two" in Justice League of America # 21-22 by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky)
- 1963 Alley Awards for Strip that Should Be Improved
- 1963 Alley Awards for Artist Preferred on Justice League of America (Murphy Anderson)
- 1973 Shazam Awards for Best Inker (Dramatic Division) (Dick Giordano)
[edit] Bibliography
- JLA #1-125 (January 1997 - February 2006)
This series has been collected in the following trade paperbacks:
| # | Title | Material collected |
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| 1 | New World Order | JLA #1-4 |
| 2 | American Dreams | JLA #5-9 |
| 3 | Rock Of Ages | JLA #10-15 |
| 4 | Strength In Numbers | JLA #16-23, JLA Secret Files #2, Prometheus One-shot |
| 5 | Justice For All | JLA #24-33 |
| 6 | World War Three | JLA #34-41 |
| 7 | Tower of Babel | JLA #42-46, JLA Secret Files 3, JLA 80-Page Giant 1 |
| 8 | Divided We Fall | JLA #47-54 |
| 9 | Terror Incognita | JLA #55-60 |
| 10 | Golden Perfect | JLA #61-65 |
| 11 | The Obsidian Age (Book 1) | JLA #66-71 |
| 12 | The Obsidian Age (Book 2) | JLA #72-76 |
| 13 | Rules Of Engagement | JLA #77-82 |
| 14 | Trial By Fire | JLA #84-89 |
| 15 | The Tenth Circle | JLA #94-99 |
| 16 | Pain Of The Gods | JLA #101-106 |
| 17 | Syndicate Rules | JLA #107-114 and a story from JLA Secret Files 2004 |
| 18 | Crisis Of Conscience | JLA #115-119 |
| 19 | World Without A Justice League | JLA #120-125 |
[edit] In other media
Justice League of America has been adapted for television numerous times.
- The first animated television appearance of the League were three segments in the 1967 animated series The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.
- The longest-running television version of the Justice League was a loosely adapted animated series called the Super Friends, which ran in various incarnations from 1972 to 1985.
- Legends of the Superheroes were two live-action adaptations of the Justice League that appeared in the 1970s, and saw Adam West, Burt Ward and Frank Gorshin return to their fabled roles of Batman, Robin, and the Riddler (respectively) from the 1960s live-action Batman television series. Other heroes portrayed on the show included Black Canary, Captain Marvel, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Huntress and more.
- A live action television series pilot in the mid-1990s that was produced failed to sell, possibly a result of the series using less well-known characters to avoid dealing with licensing issues surrounding Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. This pilot featured Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Fire, Ice, Flash, the Atom, and the Weather Wizard as the featured villain.
- Cartoon Network's Justice League animated series debuted in 2001 and lasted for two seasons. In July 2004, the original series was replaced by a successor series, Justice League Unlimited. Both of these are extensions of the DC Animated Universe, continuing the continuity begun by Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series.
- Smallville features appearances of other DC Comics heroes in several storylines. The episode "Run" (season 4, episode 5) presents Bart Allen and "Aqua" (season 5, episode 4) introduces Aquaman.
- In "Run", the young speedster finishes the episode by telling Clark he is going to search for others like them, setting the table for an eventual Justice League.
- In "Aqua", Aquaman calls Clark to form the Junior Lifeguard Association (JLA). Clark replies that he's not ready to join the JLA yet.
- Oliver Queen/Green Arrow appears in Smallville in season six. His story arc will last "at least seven episodes" says Alfred Gough, co-creator of Smallville.[citation needed]
- Also according to Alfred Gough, episode eleven of season six will be titled "Justice", and will feature appearances by Green Arrow, Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg.
- Gough has recently stated that Martian Manhunter will appear in the sixth season episode 'Static' and "is potentially going to show up again." later in season 6.
[edit] References
- ^ "League was a stronger word, one that the readers could identify with because of baseball leagues"
- ^ Lee, Stan and George, Mair (2002) Excelsior! The Amazing Like of Stan Lee. ISBN 0684873052
- ^ "Sales dropped by tens of thousands, very little favorable fan response for the new team"
[edit] See also
- List of Justice League members
- Justice League animated TV series
- Justice League Unlimited
- Justice Society of America
[edit] Spin-off groups
- Extreme Justice
- Justice Leagues
- Justice League Antarctica
- Justice League Elite
- Justice League Europe
- Justice League International
- Justice League Task Force
- Super Buddies
[edit] External links
- DC Comics - JLA
- Cartoon Network's official site
- The Justice League Library
- The Captain's Unofficial Justice League Homepage
- JLA Roster Database
- Justice League heroes
| Justice League | ||
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| Characters | ||
| Related teams |
Justice Society of America | Outsiders | Teen Titans | Young Justice | Super Buddies |
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| Headquarters |
Secret Sanctuary | Justice League Satellite | Justice League Watchtower |
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| Ongoing series |
Justice League of America (vol. 2) | JLA: Classified | Justice League Adventures / Justice League Unlimited | Justice |
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| Previous series |
Justice League of America | Justice League International | Justice League Europe |
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| Other media | The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure | Super Friends | Legends of the Superheroes | Justice League | Justice League Unlimited | |
