Justice League International
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Built in the 1987 company-wide crossover limited series, Legends, a new Justice League was formed and given a less America-centric mandate than before, and was dubbed the Justice League International (or "JLI" for short). The new comic was written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, with art by Kevin Maguire. Although the first six issues of the title were simply titled Justice League, they, together with the latter issues when the book is again renamed to Justice League America are counted as well. Another spin-off title Justice League Europe was later renamed to Justice League International (vol. 2) for the last issues of the run.
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[edit] History
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During this period of time the membership of the Justice League consisted primarily of lesser known heroes such as Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Mister Miracle and Guy Gardner. Because of the humorous nature of the series, these characters are still primarily known for being comical in nature, but are extremely identifiable and have a loyal fanbase to the present day. Many of the characters made popular during this era of the Justice League have also regained prominence, particularly Maxwell Lord and Blue Beetle, because of their role in the limited series Infinite Crisis.
The funny tone of this series was very popular, but eventually the "Breakdowns" story arc (see below) led to new writers and changed the tone to a more serious storyline.
In 1989, the first 7 issues of this series were collected in a graphic novel trade paperback called Justice League: A New Beginning and issues # 8-12 in the follow up graphic novel Justice League International: The Secret Gospel of Maxwell Lord in 1992.
[edit] Justice League: Breakdowns
"Breakdowns" was a 15-issue crossover between the Justice League America and Justice League Europe titles, revising the organization that signalled the change from the humorous tone to the more serious tone. The major events that occurred were the following:
Maxwell Lord is initially in a coma from a failed assassination attempt. He is later possessed by JLE foe Dreamslayer of the Extremists. Following the end of the Breakdowns saga, Maxwell Lord has no more mental powers, apparently drained completely when possessed by Dreamslayer.
The Queen Bee, ruler of the country Bialya, is killed in a coup d'etat led by Sumaan Harjavti, the twin brother of the original dictator ruler, Rumaan.
Despero awakens and escapes Manga Khan's starship to wreak havoc on New York City, seeking vengeance against the Justice League. A force of the Justice League's best (Martian Manhunter, Power Girl, Fire, Rocket Red, Metamorpho, Flash, Guy Gardner, Major Disaster) with the Conglomerate (led by Booster Gold) and Lobo were unable to stop him. Ultimately, it was Kilowog and L-Ron who subdued Despero by transferring L-Ron's consciousness into the cybernetic control collar that remained around his neck.
While possessing Maxwell Lord's body, Dreamslayer kidnaps and later murders Mitch Wacky on the island of KooeyKooeyKooey, where the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold previously attempted to open a resort there called "Club JLI". Using Lord's personna, Dreamslayer lures a large portion of the Justice League to the island and takes mental control of them, making them the "new Extremists".
The Silver Sorceress, one of the former Champions of Angor and Justice League member, dies defeating Dreamslayer. Her gravesite is on the island of KooeyKooeyKooey.
The U.N. withdraws its support from the Justice League and it disbands. The Martian Manhunter seemingly takes a leave of absence, although later re-emerges under the persona of Bloodwynd.
[edit] Expansion
The release of Justice League Spectacular launched the revised Justice League titles under new writers and artists. The Justice League titles expanded to a total of four by the early to mid 1990s: Justice League America (formerly Justice League International), Justice League Europe, Justice League Task Force, and Extreme Justice. Justice League Europe was later retitled to become the second volume of Justice League International.
However, with the influx of new writers and artists in the various Justice League titles coming and going, there was very little consistency in continuity. The more powerful and recognizable characters such as Superman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), and Batman came and went out of the various Justice League titles, replaced by lesser known characters such as Bloodwynd, Maya, Maxima, Nuklon, Obsidian, Tasmanian Devil and Triumph. Longtime JLI-era characters such as Captain Atom, Martian Manhunter and Power Girl were revised and revamped repeatedly, with mixed results from fans.
By the mid to late 1990s, with the commercial success of the series fading, each of the titles were eventually cancelled.
[edit] After Justice League International
[edit] Formerly Known as the Justice League / I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League
Several members of this incarnation of the Justice League later formed the Super Buddies, whose humorous adventures were featured in the mini-series Formerly Known as the Justice League and later again in the title JLA: Classified with a story called I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League.
Since then, most of the JLI cast have suffered horrible fates, causing many fans to accuse DC, or more specifically Dan Didio, Mark Waid and Greg Rucka, that the company is specifically trying to destroy the "fun" era of the League, or the characters from that era. The most obvious example is Ice, who is killed by the Overmaster. The writer, Mark Waid, admits that he killed the character not for any story reason but because she was the character that would upset the fans the most. [1]
[edit] Identity Crisis
- In Identity Crisis, Sue Dibny is murdered by an unstable Jean Loring as part of her plot to win back her ex-husband Ray Palmer. It is subsequently revealed that the villain Doctor Light had raped her.
[edit] Infinite Crisis
- As part of the lead-in to the Infinite Crisis crossover, Maxwell Lord is revealed to have taken over the JLI to make them as ineffectual as possible, as part of his plan to rid the world of metahumans. When Blue Beetle discovers this and refuses to join Lord, Lord executes him with a gunshot to the head. Later, he brainwashes Superman into attacking Batman, and Wonder Woman is forced to snap Lord's neck.
- In The OMAC Project, Rocket Red sacrifices himself by self destructing his armor and destroying three OMACs in the process.
[edit] 52
- In the weekly series 52, Booster Gold becomes a "superhero for hire" again, using Skeets's knowledge of the future to stop crimes from happening, and advertising for several corporations. When it's revealed that he hired an actor to pretend to be a villain and participate in a staged incident in which Booster 'saves' a group of people from said villain, his reputation is ruined. To restore his reputation, Booster attempts to take a nuclear submarine away from the city before it explodes, but in the process is killed in the explosion.
- Also in 52, Ralph Dibny becomes involved in a resurrection cult that promises to resurrect Sue. When he attends the ritual with some of the other heroes, they convince him the ritual is a farce and attempt to break it up. During the chaos, the effigy that was used to bring back Sue calls out Ralph's name. Realizing it wasn't a hoax, Ralph tries to have the ritual continued but the building explodes. Ralph is later seen under a bridge, cradling Sue's effigy and rambling to himself about "trying again." He later regains sanity and continues his search to resurrect Sue. 52 is on-going.
- Justice League Europe member Animal Man is lost in space along with Adam Strange and Starfire in 52. Dialogue in Justice League of America #1 suggests he may not have survived the missing year. Indeed in 52 issue #36 he dies fighting Lady Styx. However, he comes back to life in 52 issue #37.
[edit] "One Year Later"
- In the The Battle for Blüdhaven series when Captain Atom returns to consciousness he dons the armor of the Monarch, a despot from the future.
- Fire goes to work for the government agency known as Checkmate at the behest of Amanda Waller. She does Amanda's bidding because of an unrevealed incident that occurred when Beatriz worked for the Brazilian Intelligence Agency.
- Mary Marvel, who is not a JLI member but took Captain Marvel's place in the Super Buddies, is badly injured in the Trials of Shazam! limited series and falls into a coma.
- In Birds of Prey #104, Barbara Gordon's team discovers an unconscious woman they believe to be Ice within a Rocket Red exosuit that they have wrested from the possession of an underworld figure.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
| Justice League | |
|---|---|
| Creators | Gardner Fox |
| Characters | List of Justice League members |
| Related teams | Justice League Elite | Justice Society of America | Outsiders | Super Buddies | Teen Titans | Young Justice |
| Headquarters | Secret Sanctuary | Justice League Satellite | Justice League Watchtower |
| Ongoing series | Justice League of America (vol. 2) | JLA: Classified | Justice | Justice League Adventures / Justice League Unlimited |
| Previous series | Justice League of America | Justice League International | Justice League Europe | Justice League Quarterly | Justice League Task Force | Extreme Justice | JLA |
| Other media | Cartoons: The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure | Super Friends | Justice League | Justice League Unlimited Live Action: Legends of the Superheroes | 1997 TV Pilot |
