Talk:League of Assassins
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Why was the first, and superior, League picture removed?D1Puck1T 05:23, 13 July 2006 (UTC)
Contents |
[edit] John Wells
http://dcboards.warnerbros.com/files/Forum3/HTML/002092-22.html
You're very welcome. Here's another new entry -- “The Society has always existed and will exist when we are all gone. IT -- not YOU or I -- has importance. No one of us has failed our sacred calling -- the sublime art -- DEATH! DEATH by the hand of the assassin.” The Sensei (1968’s STRANGE ADVENTURES # 215). The League of Assassins. For most long-time DC fans, its mention conjures up images of Ra’s al Ghul or the Sensei. And yet, curiously, NEITHER villain was originally affiliated with the League. Neal Adams’ Sensei had overseen the SOCIETY of Assassins and Denny O’Neil’s Ra’s, while the leader of a vast, vaguely defined organization, would seem to be, on the face of it, an ADVERSARY of the League since it was they who kidnapped his daughter.
But there it was, in the pages of 1971’s JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 94. Mike Friedrich was part of a new generation of writers, a fan turned pro who loved peppering his scripts with details from DC’s past and establishing connections between previously unrelated characters. In one fell swoop, Friedrich established that the Sensei, Ra’s and the League’s Doctor Darrk were all part of the same global network. The development came as a surprise to O’Neil and, when he next used the League in 1976’s RICHARD DRAGON # 13, they were just as he’d originally conceived them -- a band of supremely talented (but generic) killers. Eventually, though, Denny embraced the idea and used the Sensei and Ra’s al Ghul’s power struggle as the basis for a series of Batman stories in 1979 and 1980. In the process, he killed both villains, though death would prove to hold more permanence for the Sensei than the Demon’s Head.
There was still a major secret in the Sensei’s past, however, and Andy Helfer and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez’s four-issue DEADMAN mini-series (1986) blew the lid off of it. Here it was revealed that the Sensei was inhabited by Jonah, a spirit not unlike Deadman. Denied eternal rest, Jonah had retaliated against Rama Kushna by seizing control of the Sensei’s League of Assassins and pushing its forces to development sophisticated weaponry. In the end, both Jonah and Rama Kushna were destroyed but the Sensei survived, destined to fight Ra’s al Ghul for control of the League in the future. The post-Sensei League of Assassins has largely vanished from the front lines of the DC Universe although they continue to lurk in the shadows, surfacing in BATMAN # 431 (1989) and ACTION COMICS # 772-773 (2000). The latter reaffirmed that Ra’s al Ghul remained in control of the society.
Despite the revelations of the DEADMAN mini-series, nearly all of the League of Assassins’ pre-Crisis appearances are still valid in current DC continuity. Virtually the only exception is the Paul Levitz-scripted PHANTOM STRANGER # 39 (1975), wherein the Sensei used occult powers in an attempt to kill Cleveland Brand in response to the events of STRANGE ADVENTURES # 215-216 and BRAVE & BOLD # 86. A chronology of the League’s history follows: “It has been whispered in the darkest places for 500 years that a cartel of criminals has slowly sucked its way into the rich veins of the Earth. Many are its names spit from the mouths of men, but most often it is cursed only as …the Demon. It has a leader … a head … but the Sensei guides its power, its League of Assassins --which is known in terror as …Demonfang!” -- JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 94. Though the immortal Ra’s al Ghul -- the Demon’s Head -- had formed the League of Assassins, he eventually put much of the control of his warriors in the hands of the Sensei, an aged martial arts master from Hong Kong. The Sensei would often refer to the group as the SOCIETY of Assassins, a subtle means of asserting his command of the killers. “I do not fear the leader,” he once noted. “It is HE who should fear ME -- for am I not the powerful FANG which protects his HEAD ?” (JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 94, by Mike Friedrich, Dick Dillin, Neal Adams and Joe Giella)
In time, the wandering spirit known as Jonah discovered the Society of Assassins and realized that they could be useful in his ultimate plan to destroy the deity Rama Kushna and her mystic land of Nanda Parbat. Inhabiting the Sensei’s body, Jonah “ordered the group to develop all manner of warlike technology -- a technology he would further twist to help complete his private goal” over the next ten years (DEADMAN [second series] # 2, by Helfer and Lopez). “ONE encounter with the League in a lifetime is ENOUGH for most men, Anthony. TWICE just begs fate.” -- Shrike (ROBIN: YEAR ONE # 4). In Gotham City, a League assassin named Shrike was training a group of boys in the darker applications of the martial arts as part of his Vengeance Academy. Shrike’s decision to accept a contract on Two-Face’s life proved disastrous and, in a battle that drew the attention of both Batman and a disguised Robin, the assassin was impaled on his own knife and killed. One of Shrike’s students, a young man named Boone, left Gotham in the company of Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter, Talia, determined to fulfill the promise that his teacher had seen in him (ROBIN: YEAR ONE # 4, by Chuck Dixon & Scott Beatty, Javier Pulido & Marcos Martin and Robert Campanella).
“The tendrils of the Sensei’s organization are EVERYWHERE, reaching out, CRUSHING what little there is left of virtue and goodness on this world.” -- Jonah (SECRET ORIGINS # 15). Elsewhere, Roy Matson, one of the Sensei’s prized assassins, paid the penalty for failing in an assignment and had his right hand cut off and replaced with a hook. As an assessment of his skills, the newly-christened Hook was sent to America and assigned to execute a presidential candidate. Instead, Matson was manipulated by Rama Kushna into assassinating aerialist Boston “Deadman” Brand, unwittingly creating an agent that the deity could use to oppose Jonah and protect Nanda Parbat (SECRET ORIGINS # 15, by Andy Helfer and Kevin Maguire; based on STRANGE ADVENTURES # 205, by Jack Miller, Carmine Infantino and George Roussos). While Deadman sought his killer (STRANGE ADVENTURES # 206-214 and others), the young man named Boone took the name of Shrike and “traveled alone throughout the Pacific Rim, gleaning an array of martial arts skills both sacred and profane from a variety of unsavory teachers, including several former operatives of the insidious League of Assassins. In the back streets of Hong Kong, Shrike met the ‘Master’ who would forge the already hardened youth into a disciplined fighting machine, undertaking contract eliminations throughout Asia and the former Soviet bloc -- and never once failing to make a kill” (NIGHTWING SECRET FILES # 1, by Chuck Dixon and Scott McDaniel).
Elsewhere, Deadman finally caught up with the Hook in Hong Kong. Assassin “Willie Smith” led Matson beneath a temple that housed all manner of sophisticated weaponry and delivered the Hook to the Sensei, who pronounced judgment. Matson could only make excuses for his decision to kill Boston Brand and the Sensei observed that he’d even failed in that objective. Unknown to the killers, Boston’s twin brother, Cleveland, had taken his place at the circus, creating the illusion that Deadman had survived. With only his limbs as weapons, the Sensei killed the Hook and cheated Boston of his vengeance (STRANGE ADVENTURES # 215, by Neal Adams).
“I can go forward with my plan to destroy Nanda Parbat … utterly. No more will there be a refuge for those weary of evil. Unrest, dissension, revolution, murder and destruction will run rampant. And THERE, ready to reap the spoils of carnage, will be the Society of Assassins. Our services will be GREATLY in demand.” -- The Sensei (THE BRAVE & THE BOLD # 86).
Following Matson’s execution, the Sensei turned his attention to the destruction of Nanda Parbat and sent Willie Smith on a bombing mission. Deadman stopped the killer but Smith managed to salvage the operation by drugging Brand while he was in a transitory state between his tangible and material forms. Smith manipulated Deadman into transferring his anger at the Sensei to his greatest ally -- Batman. Alongside Lotus, an evil woman whose nature had been held in check by Nanda Parbat’s magic, Smith reported the news to the Sensei and a full-scale invasion of the mystic land was scheduled. Batman, however, managed to restore Deadman’s mind to normal and, after Boston took control of his brother’s body, they rushed to Nanda Parbat to thwart the assault. The heroes succeeded but the Sensei escaped, smoldering with hate (STRANGE ADVENTURES # 215, by Neal Adams; BRAVE & BOLD # 86, by Bob Haney and Adams).
“Before I met him, this man called Sensei was NOTHING -- a cheap hoodlum, devoid of any but the most PETTY of ambitions. I molded him, manipulated him -- made him BETTER than he could have ever DREAMED. He controls CORPORATIONS now -- shipping companies, munitions plants, scientific research labs -- all because of ME!” -- Jonah (DEADMAN [second series] # 3).
Now aware of Deadman’s role as Rama Kushna’s champion, the Sensei/Jonah ordered Lotus to execute him while he inhabited Cleveland Brand’s body (DEADMAN [second series] # 1, by Helfer and Lopez). Though Cleve died, Boston survived and flew to the Hong Kong temple on a mission of vengeance. Instead, he found himself snared in a trap that caged his ectoplasmic form (# 2) and watched helplessly as Jonah flew the inhabitants of Nanda Parbat to the outside world, where their evil nature would reassert itself (# 3).
“There have been moments of … CLARITY over the years -- moments in which I could THINK and REFLECT on my PLIGHT. Listen to me, Deadman. This spirit -- this Jonah -- HE is responsible for all I have done. He USED my body, suppressed my SOUL. Perhaps I WAS evil before, but there are LEVELS to even THAT. He has haunted me for a DECADE now, Deadman -- and when he has achieved his goal here, my TORMENT shall begin ANEW. To him, I am like a GARMENT … omething to be worn and DISCARDED when its usefulness has run its course.” -- The Sensei (DEADMAN [second series] # 4).
Able to assume human form in Nanda Parbat, Jonah separated from the Sensei as his plans reached fulfillment. Meanwhile, Deadman agreed to track down the evil denizens of Nanda Parbat and protect its innocents on behalf of Rama Kushna. Boston pushed Jonah into the bowels of Rama’s temple and the two beings effectively obliterated one another. Meanwhile, the Sensei had regained control of the League of Assassins and ordered them to destroy the temple, which erupted in a display of cosmic fireworks (DEADMAN [second series] # 4). Elsewhere, the League had undertaken a series of executions aimed at shipping magnates who were smuggling weapons to South American rebels. Coordinating the efforts on behalf of the rebels’ opposition was the League’s self-described president, Ebenezer Darrk. When the string of murders reached Gotham City, Batman became involved and defeated an Asian martial artist named Tejja, a veritable “human machine -- programmed for death” (DETECTIVE COMICS # 405, by Denny O’Neil, Bob Brown and Frank Giacoia). When an assassination attempt left one of the magnates paralyzed instead of dead, Doctor Darrk stepped in to personally complete the assignment (DETECTIVE # 405, by O’Neil, Brown and Giacoia).
Having failed, Darrk hired Doctor Tzin-Tzin to murder Batman but this plan unraveled as well (DETECTIVE COMICS # 408, by Len Wein & Marv Wolfman, Neal Adam and Dick Giordano). Desperate and having fallen from grace with the Demon’s Head, Darrk took Talia as a hostage even as Batman trailed him to a small Asian nation. After running a gauntlet of assassins and freeing Talia, Batman found himself held at bay by the knife-wielding doctor. Insisting that the gun-toting Talia was “far too sweet” to kill him, the stunned Darrk reeled backwards from the impact of the shot and fell directly into the path of an oncoming train (DETECTIVE COMICS # 411, by O’Neil, Brown and Giordano). Ra’s al Ghul would have much to say to the detective in months to come … but that’s another story ...
“Might not this assassination go ill with the Demon’s Head ? He holds the would-be victim in his favor. He is already quite suspicious of our League since Dr. Darrk tried to kidnap his daughter.” -- Merlyn (JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 94). Weeks later, the Sensei dispatched M’Naku to kill Batman and, after he failed, sent the even more formidable archer known as Merlyn the Magician. As further protection against the Dark Knight’s powerful Justice League allies, the League’s munitions experts provided him with specialized arrows to overcome the heroes. In the end, Merlyn was defeated by Green Arrow and acknowledged that he could “never return to the organization. The price of failure in the League of Assassins is … DEATH” (JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 94). Months later, Talia was given the mission of executing Merlyn and restoring the League’s honor. She failed only thanks to the intervention of novice hero Black Lightning (BLACK LIGHTNING [first series] # 2, by Tony Isabella, Trevor Von Eeden and Frank Springer). Through intermediaries, Barney Ling hired the League and others to kill martial artist Benjamin Turner (revealed in DC COMICS PRESENTS # 39). After Turner was poisoned, his friends Richard Dragon and Lady Shiva fought off sword-wielding attackers. Recognizing “the style of their swordsmanship” as that of the League, Shiva noted that the Assassins were presently based in Mongolia and traveled there with Richard to find an antidote for the toxins in Ben’s body . In the mountainous country, Richard and Shiva confronted Viper, the League’s foremost creator of poisons, but the villain was killed in a helicopter crash while attempting to escape (RICHARD DRAGON # 13, by Denny O’Neil and Ric Estrada).
Though Turner was eventually cured (RICHARD DRAGON # 14), the attempts on his life continued and King Faraday of the Central Bureau of Investigation assigned Ben and Richard “to take down the League of Assassins” (SUICIDE SQUAD # 38). The League, however, was perilously close to Turner, thanks to his romantic involvement with a woman named Janey Lewis (sometimes known by the pet name of Miyoshi). Janey’s father was an ally of the League and arranged for Turner to be attacked by the Axeman on the night Ben proposed. The murder attempt went awry, Janey was killed (RD # 15) and a vengeful Ben disappeared after confronting her father in arctic (RD # 18). “The Sensei was very careful when he spoke to me. He found my anger without tapping it. Said things, made me want to put my life in his hands. We talked about my anger and the ways the O-Sensei showed me to channel it. The Sensei said it could be sent away. Diverted from me, so I would never have to deal with it again. He had me build the tiger mask. Told me to put the anger in the mask. Give it a name: the Bronze Tiger. The anger would dwell there. It worked. For the first time in my adult life, I was free from the rage. I even breathed differently. The anger was still there, of course. But it wasn’t my problem. When I wore the mask … it was the Bronze Tiger who dealt death in joy and rage.” -- Benjamin Turner (SUICIDE SQUAD # 38).
Ben was taken prisoner by the League and the Sensei personally subjected him to brainwashing techniques that ultimately led to the creation of Turner’s deadly alter ego, the Bronze Tiger (SUICIDE SQUAD # 38, by John Ostrander & Robert Greenberger, Luke McDonnell and Geoff Isherwood). After a brief, ambiguous reunion with Richard Dragon (RD # 18), Turner began to embrace the role that the Sensei had cast him in. “We claim no criminal cunning. Crime is for lesser men. Our strength is in our ARTS -- the crafts and sciences of MURDER.” -- The Sensei (DETECTIVE COMICS # 485).
Meanwhile, Ra’s al Ghul resolved to quash the Sensei’s attempt to control the League and manipulated him into believing that circus owner Kathy Kane was a threat to his organization. Despite Ra’s’ warning of the impending attack on his friend, Batman was unable to save her life and Kathy was murdered while the Dark Knight scuffled with the Bronze Tiger. Batman traced the League to their headquarters and learned that the Sensei was in the United States to personally supervise a project of major importance. Informed that Batman was to be killed following a duel, the Bronze Tiger rebelled and the Sensei ordered both men killed. Though Batman was able to capture the two assassins who actually perpetrated the Kane murder, the Sensei, the Bronze Tiger and the other representatives of the League disappeared. As Ra’s al Ghul had hoped, Batman vowed to crush the Sensei and those loyal to him (DETECTIVE COMICS # 485, by Denny O‘Neil, Don Newton and Dan Adkins). Within weeks, Batman even joined forces with Ra’s and Talia to prevent the League from gaining possession of a formula that transformed anything it touched to crystal (BRAVE & BOLD # 159, by O’Neil and Jim Aparo). Meanwhile, wrongly convinced that a writer named Sergius had learned of their plans and not wishing to reveal the League’s presence in Gotham City, the Sensei hired a local killer named “Ma” Murder to execute the potential obstacle. The Batman managed to save Sergius (DETECTIVE # 487, by O‘Neil, Newton and Adkins) and prevented the assassins from slaying a hospitalized Ben Turner. Thanks to his earlier injuries at the hands of the League, Turner had shaken off some of the mind control and revealed to the Dark Knight that the Sensei’s plans involved a geologist (DETECTIVE # 489, by O‘Neil, Newton and Adkins).
“[Death is] a small price to PAY for witnessing my GREATEST work of art. Yes … ART! For I am an artist -- of DEATH. To assassinate such fools as these, whose very EXISTENCE I despise -- and to accomplish it by means never before EMPLOYED -- this is both a CULMINATION and a GLORY.” -- The Sensei (DETECTIVE COMICS # 490).
Batman ultimately discovered that the Sensei intended to destroy the entire delegation of an international peace conference in Gotham. The Sensei’s weapon was a fault line beneath the delegation’s meeting site, a fissure that he would awaken by using explosives. Batman managed to evacuate the mansion before being rendered unconscious by Talia. Ra’s al Ghul entered the building for a final confrontation with the Sensei but both men were lost when the earthquake was triggered and the mansion was swallowed up by clouds of dust and debris (DETECTIVE COMICS # 490, by O‘Neil, Newton and Adkins). Ra’s survived thanks to the Lazarus Pit (BATMAN ANNUAL # 8) but the Sensei, from all accounts, was not so fortunate.
Ben Turner continued to struggle against his programming, falling under the sway of Barney Ling and being rescued by Richard Dragon (DC COMICS PRESENTS # 39). The Bronze Tiger soon returned to the League once more and the C.B.I.’s King Faraday resolved to rescue Ben once and for all. Alongside Colonel Rick Flag and Nightshade, he led a raid on the League’s mountainous stronghold. Faraday “finally got the drop on {Turner] and pumped him full of tranqs.” The Bronze Tiger was returned to the U.S. for deprogramming, eventually being recruited for Amanda Waller’s Task Force X (SUICIDE SQUAD # 38).
In the wake of the Sensei’s death and the Bronze Tiger’s recovery, the League returned to the shadows, its involvement in crimes rarely detected. Through a middle man named Thaddeus Gladden, the League was hired by a Gotham mobster to assassinate a federal attorney. Batman eventually brought the quartet of swordsmen to justice but had to deal with the fact that they’d studied under Kirigi, the same martial artist who’d instructed a young Bruce Wayne (BATMAN # 431, by James Owsley, Jim Aparo and Mike DeCarlo). The most conspicuous leader among the current League of Assassins is a flamboyant executioner known as the Scarlet Scythe. He explained to a captive Lois Lane, “We discovered the unthinkable. An unknown party infiltrated the League, used our resources to stage an attempt on Superman’s life and promptly disappeared -- along with our ship, our security and our honor, somewhere off the Russian coast. Needless to say … the Master is vexed. For a person to dupe the League and vanish, they would have to be more ruthless, more cunning, than Ra’s al Ghul himself” (ACTION COMICS # 772-773, by Joe Kelly, Kano and Marlo Alquiza). In time, the League learned that the betrayer had worked on behalf of General Zod. After Zod presented the League with the man’s severed head, the Scarlet Scythe declared a truce (SUPERMAN: OUR WORLDS AT WAR SECRET FILES # 1, by Kelly and Alberto Saichann). “The general has restored HONOR to the League,” the Scythe declared, “and undone what he has BEGUN. The mark on his head is washed CLEAN with BLOOD.” “The sins of great men do not wash clean so easily,” observed Zod. “Indeed,” the Scythe agreed. “Nor would a SECOND infraction against my brothers.” It is the 21st Century and the League of Assassins lives on, its dark ideals surviving the power struggles and the loss of influential leaders. Death, as Jonah once said, “not YOU or I -- has importance … The Society has always existed and will exist when we are all gone.” And as long as it exists, champions like The Batman and Deadman will rise to oppose it. THE LEAGUE OF ASSASSINS (Earth-One): Black Lightning [first series] # 2 (behind the scenes) The Brave and The Bold # 86, 159 Detective Comics # 405-406, 408, 411, 485, 487, 489-490 Justice League of America # 92, 94 The Phantom Stranger [second series] # 39 Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter # 13 Strange Adventures # 215-216 Who's Who '86 # 13 THE LEAGUE OF ASSASSINS (current): Action Comics # 772-773 Batman # 431 Deadman [second series] # 1-4 Nightwing Secret Files # 1 (text: Shrike) Robin: Year One # 4 Secret Origins [third series] # 15 Suicide Squad [first series] # 38 Superman: Our Worlds At War Secret Files # 1 THE LEAGUE OF ASSASSINS (Earth-992): Batman: Gotham Adventures # 6, 8-9 THE LEAGUE OF ASSASSINS (variant): Elseworld's Finest # 1
15:23, 29 July 2006 (UTC)Enda80
[edit] At Least 450 years ago
JLA#94 indicates that Ra's Al Ghul started the League of Assassins about 450 years ago, while a Marv Wolfman written story in Batman #334-#335, we find out that Talia is 150 years old.
21:44, 26 December 2006 (UTC)~Enda80
[edit] Deathstroke Drugging
At this point I feel it is presumptive to conclude that all of Cass's behavior OYL are attributed to the drugging by Deathstroke. Setting aside arguments that she may be injected with other materials other than that of Rose and/or Rose's own abilites to fight her father's chemical and Machivellian manipulation, mind control does not necessarily yield that she is not still innately evil. Cassie could still be the killer leader of the League of Assassins and was brainwashed/drugged to pull her away from the group. In short, until we see conclusively that she is not acting of her own fruition for EVERYTHING OYL, we shouldn't attribute Slade as the sole cause. 66.109.248.114
- Agreed that it's too early to call either way, but it's worth mentioning at least that exactly what her role with the league is up in the air at the moment.D1Puck1T 23:45, 19 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Assassinsandshadows.jpg
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BetacommandBot (talk) 03:55, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Nyssasleague.jpg
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