| Justice League International | |
|---|---|
Cover to Justice League #1. Art by Kevin Maguire |
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| Group publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Justice League #1 (May 1987) |
| Created by | Keith Giffen J. M. DeMatteis |
| In-story information | |
| Type of organization | Team |
| Roster | |
| See: List of Justice League members | |
| Justice League International | |
| Series publication information | |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | Superhero |
| Publication date | (Justice League) May – October 1987 (Justice League International (vol. 1)) November 1987 – April 1989 (Justice League America) May 1989 – August 1996 (Justice League International (vol. 2)) June 1993 – September 1994 (Justice League International (vol. 3)) September 2011 – Present |
| Number of issues | Justice League: 6 Justice League International (vol. 1): 19 Justice League America: 94 Justice League International (vol. 2): 17 Justice League International (vol. 3): 1 (as of September 2011) |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Keith Giffen J. M. DeMatteis Dan Jurgens (vol. 3) |
| Penciller(s) | Kevin Maguire Aaron Lopresti |
| Inker(s) | Al Gordon Joe Rubinstein |
| Creator(s) | Keith Giffen J. M. DeMatteis |
| Collected editions | |
| Volume 1 | ISBN 1-4012-1666-8 |
| Volume 2 | ISBN 1-4012-1826-1 |
| Volume 3 | ISBN 1-4012-1941-1 |
| Volume 4 | ISBN 1-4012-2196-3 |
Justice League International (or JLI for short) is a DC Comics superhero team written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, with art by Kevin Maguire, created in 1987.
Contents |
Writer J. M. DeMatteis was given the Justice League title after finishing out Justice League Detroit. Paired with Keith Giffen and Kevin Maguire he set out to create a "big seven" title similar to the original line up and Grant Morrison's subsequent title. However, Superman was being revamped by John Byrne's reboot while George Pérez was handling the relaunched Wonder Woman and Mike Baron was handling his relaunch of The Flash. Aquaman was off limits as well due to the character being in creative limbo for some time. According to the introduction to the trade paperback of the series, Denny O'Neil took pity on the team and gave them Batman to be used in the series. Dr. Fate's inclusion coincided with DeMatteis and Giffen writing a Dr. Fate series. Editor Andy Helfer (also editor of Green Lantern at the time) suggested using the newer Guy Gardner instead of Hal Jordan. The resulting comedic tone was Giffen's idea; in terms of the industry, it served as heavy competition compared to Marvel Comics' grim and gritty titles. The title would introduce new characterizations to old characters: Guy Gardner was now a loutish hothead, Captain Marvel was no longer a separate personality but retains Billy's personality, Booster Gold was greedier and more inept than he had been in Dan Jurgens' series, and Black Canary's personality was written as a strong feminist.
Justice League International was created after the 1987 company-wide crossover limited series, Legends, when a new Justice League was formed and given a less America-centric mandate than before. The term JLI covers several different names for the series, including the first six issues, which were titled simply as Justice League, and the later issues when the book was renamed Justice League America (without the "of"). Another spin-off, Justice League Europe, was renamed to Justice League International (vol. 2) for the last issues of the run.
During this period of time, the membership of the Justice League consisted primarily of such lesser-known (at the time) heroes as Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Mister Miracle, and Guy Gardner. Because of the series' humorous nature, these characters are still known primarily for being comical in nature, but are also 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 since regained prominence, particularly Maxwell Lord and Blue Beetle, because of their roles in the limited series The OMAC Project. Similarly, Guy Gardner co-stars in Green Lantern Corps, Booster Gold stars in Booster Gold and a new Blue Beetle starred in his own self-titled book that lasted 36 issues. Wally West (Flash) continues to appear in The Flash. Fire is a regular in Checkmate, Metamorpho is in Batman and the Outsiders (vol. 2), and Power Girl is the chair-person of the Justice Society of America.
"Breakdowns" was a 15-issue crossover between the Justice League America and Justice League Europe titles, changing the tone of both series from a humorous one to a more serious one, and introducing new creative teams to both books. The major events that occurred were the following:
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 new writers and artists coming and going into the Justice League titles, there was very little consistency in continuity. The more powerful and recognizable characters such as Superman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman and Batman came and went in the various 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 responses from fans.
By the mid to late 1990s, with the commercial success of the series fading, each of the titles was eventually cancelled.
In 2003, Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire reunited for the six issue miniseries Formerly Known as the Justice League. This depicted Maxwell Lord trying to get the gang back together as The Super Buddies - a Hero-For-Hire group that operated out of a strip mall. 2005 saw second miniseries, I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, by the same creative team published in the pages of Justice League Confidential. This one told a story of the characters attempt to rescue Ice from Hell.
Following Blackest Night, DC launched two alternating 24-issue biweekly comic book limited series, one stemming directly from the storyline, Brightest Day and the other being Justice League: Generation Lost, written by Keith Giffen and Judd Winick. This second series features Captain Atom, Booster Gold, the new Blue Beetle, Fire, Ice and a new Rocket Red (by the name of Gavril Ivanovich) and will, essentially, see the return of Justice League International, as explained by Giffen:[1]
| “ | In all of my years in comics, I have never experienced anything like the complete 180 this project took once the brainstorming kicked off. Like I said, when we started the writers' summit, the Justice League... hell, why mince words... Justice League International was not on the table. Then someone, and I really wish I remembered exactly who, stirred the JLI into the mix. | ” |
Over the course of the series, Power Girl and Batman join the group as well, with Wonder Woman appearing in the book's final three issues. The title was heavily tied to Winick's run on Power Girl, which had the title character dealing with villains connected to Max Lord's plans in Generation Lost, and eventually had her rejoin the Justice League International after a crossover between two titles. The title also indirectly tied into Odyssey, a controversial storyline published in Wonder Woman that saw the title character being removed from history with her existence forgotten by most of her fellow heroes. This formed the basis of the book's finale, with the members of the Justice League International racing to track down Wonder Woman before Lord could find her and kill her.[2] Plot threads from Kingdom Come and The OMAC Project also appeared.
The final issue of Generation Lost includes a thumbnail solicit for an upcoming Justice League International monthly series, with Batman and Booster setting out to officially reform the team.
The Justice League International title was relaunched in September 2011 after the events of Flashpoint, written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Aaron Lopresti.[3][4] The new team is assembled by United Nations director Andre Briggs, with the intent of creating a UN-controlled answer to the existing Justice League. The new League consists of Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Rocket Red (Gavril) and Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), with new members in Vixen, August General in Iron, and Godiva. Batman is initially denied membership due to having a secret identity, but ends up forcibly joining the group as part of an effort to foster good relations between the JLI and the original Justice League. The team is based out of the Hall of Justice, the headquarters of the original League.[5]
In 1989, the first seven issues of this series were collected in a trade paperback called Justice League: A New Beginning (ISBN 0930289404) and issues #8-12 in the follow-up Justice League International: The Secret Gospel of Maxwell Lord in 1992 (ISBN 1563890399).
In 2008, DC announced plans to collect the early years of the JLI as individual volumes, initially as hardcovers and later on as trade paperbacks; starting with volume 5 the books will be released solely as trade paperbacks: