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Justice League

The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived by writer Gardner Fox as a revival of the Justice Society of America, a similar team from DC Comics from the 1940s which had been pulled out of print due to a decline in sales.

Justice League
The classic cast of the Justice League, from left to right: Green Lantern, the Flash, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter. Art by Alex Ross.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceThe Brave and the Bold #28 (March 1960)
Created byGardner Fox
In-story information
Base(s)The Hall
Watchtower
Satellite
Secret Sanctuary
Detroit Bunker
The Refuge
JLI Embassies
Roster
See: List of Justice League members

The Justice League is an all-star ensemble cast of established superhero characters from DC Comics' portfolio. Diegetically, these superheroes usually operate independently but occasionally assemble as a team to tackle especially formidable villains. This is in contrast to certain other superhero teams such as the X-Men, whose characters were created specifically to be part of the team, with the team being central to their identity. The cast of the Justice League usually features a few highly popular characters who have their own solo books, such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman alongside a number of lesser-known characters who benefit from exposure.[1] The Justice League was created to boost the profiles and sales of said characters through cross-promotion and helped develop the DC Universe as a shared universe, as it is through teams like the Justice League that the setting's characters regularly interact with each other.[2]

Beyond comic books, the Justice League has been adapted to a number of television shows, films, and video games.

Publication history Edit

Since 1960, the Justice League has appeared in comic books published by DC Comics (periodicals and graphic novels). These comic books constitute the bulk of Justice League fiction.

Silver Age and Bronze Age (1960–1984) Edit

 
The Brave and the Bold #28 (March 1960), their first appearance. Superman and Batman do not appear on the cover, but do appear in the story within.

In its inception, the Justice League was a revival of the Justice Society of America, created by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox in 1940. After World War II, superheroes fell out of popularity, which led to the cancellation of many characters, including the Justice Society, which last appeared in All-Star Comics #57 (March 1951). A few years later, sales rose again, and DC Comics revived some of these retired characters, reinventing a few of them in the process. Editor Julius Schwartz asked writer Gardner Fox to reintroduce the Justice Society of America. Schwartz decided to rename it the "Justice League of America" because he felt "League" would appeal better to young readers, evoking sports organizations such as the National League.[3] The Justice League of America debuted in The Brave and the Bold #28 (March 1960), and after two further appearances in that title, got its own series, which quickly became one of the company's best-selling titles.[4] This led DC Comics to create a bunch of other superhero teams, such as the Teen Titans. Marvel Comics, a rival comic book publisher, noticed the Justice League's success and created the Avengers and the Fantastic Four.

The initial Justice League lineup included seven of DC Comics' superheroes who were regularly published at that time: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, the Flash, Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman. Fox also created a new, non-superhero character called Snapper Carr that was intended to represent DC's teenage readership and joined the League as an Honorary member in their debut story.[5] While Superman and Batman were included in the Justice League's initial lineup, they were largely absent from the League's early stories, playing only minor roles as the pair were already starring together in DC's World's Finest Comics and Fox was worried the two more famous heroes would detract attention from their less popular teammates. As the series went on however, Superman and Batman became more and more present as readers increasingly demanded to see more of them in the League's stories. The team roster would quickly expand with the Green Arrow, the Atom and Hawkman being added to the team over the next four years.

In the Justice Society stories from the 1940s (in All-Star Comics), the Justice Society was used more as a framing device for its members' solo adventures. The stories tended to have the following structure: the Justice Society meets to discuss some new menace, they split up to undertake individual missions that somehow connect to said menace, and finally regroup for the showdown with the main villain. In the 1940s, most comic books were anthologies, and All-Star Comics was in practice not a major deviation from that. By contrast, the Justice League worked together more closely in their stories, thereby having a stronger identity as a team.

In another change from the Justice Society stories of the 1940s, Batman and Superman were regular members of the cast, not mere "honorary members" who made occasional cameos.

Justice League of America (vol. 1) #21 (August 1963) featured the first crossover story in which the Justice League meets and teams up with the Justice Society of America. In doing so, DC Comics brought back a number of legacy characters such as Doctor Fate and the Black Canary. The issue was a hit with readers and such crossovers became a recurring event.

Justice League of America (vol. 1) was published from 1960 to 1987.

Detroit era (1984–1986) Edit

From the Justice League's inception in 1960 up until 1984, the team's roster always included a number of A-list characters to draw in readers, such as Wonder Woman and Superman. But in Justice League of America Annual #2 (October 1984), the Justice League was revised to entirely comprise more obscure characters, such as Vixen, Vibe, and the Martian Manhunter. The original A-list members would not be brought back into the cast until 1996. The motives behind this change were to dispense with the convoluted continuities of the classic characters by using lesser-known and new characters, thus giving the writers more flexibility to write character-driven stories; and to give the team a more youthful, hipper feel similar to that of the Teen Titans and the X-Men, which were selling better.[6] The cast was multicultural: Gypsy was Romani,[a] Vibe was Latino, Vixen was Black. However, the writing of Vibe and Gypsy was criticized for using clichés of their ethnic groups, symptomatic of writers who were well-meaning but out of touch, something for which said writers (Gerry Conway and Chuck Patton) later expressed regret.[7][8][9] This era of the Justice League, which lasted about two years, is popularly known as "Justice League Detroit" because they were headquartered in Detroit.

Justice League International and its spin-offs (1986–1996) Edit

The 1986 company-wide crossover "Legends" concluded with the formation of a new Justice League. The new team was dubbed the "Justice League," then "Justice League International" (JLI) and was given a mandate with less of an American focus. The Justice League International was recognized by the United Nations as a political entity and established "embassies" all over the world. The new series was character-driven and had a quirky, humorous tone which proved popular with readers. Numerous spin-off teams such as Justice League Europe/Extreme Justice and Justice League Task Force were created. In 1996, these series were cancelled due to low sales.

The Justice League International featured characters that had previously not been part of the DC Universe, which had been absorbed from the portfolios of other publishers that DC Comics had purchased. These included Captain Atom and the Blue Beetle, which were created for Charlton Comics in the 1960s. In 1983, DC Comics purchased Charlton Comics and, a few years later, integrated the Blue Beetle and Captain Atom into the DC Universe. Captain Marvel, originally from the Fawcett Comics universe, was similarly integrated.

JLA (1996–2006) Edit

The cancellation of the aforementioned spin-off books prompted DC to revamp the League as a single team in a single title. A new Justice League of America was launched in a September 1996 miniseries Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare by Mark Waid and Fabian Nicieza, which returned to the classic cast. In 1997, DC Comics launched a new book titled JLA. Grant Morrison wrote JLA for the first four years, and they gave the book an epic feel by making the Justice League an allegory for a pantheon of gods, and in their stories they regularly fought villains who threatened the entire world or even the entire cosmos.[10] The ongoing series began its monthly run in January 1997, and concluded in April 2006 after 126 issues.

This series utilized a "back-to-basics" approach by shifting the focus back on the team's original and most famous seven members (or their successors): Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), and the Martian Manhunter.[11] Additionally, the team received a new headquarters, the "Watchtower", based on the Moon. JLA quickly became DC's best-selling title,[12] a position it enjoyed on and off for several years.[13]

Volume 2 (2006–2011) Edit

The Justice League books more or less continued the trend set by the JLA era: world-shaking threats with epic stakes, with a focus on plot over character development, and strong tie-ins to all the company's crossover events. In 2006, DC began an ongoing comic series titled Justice League of America (vol. 2).

New 52 (2011–2016) Edit

In The New 52 era, further changes to the retroactive continuity of the DC Universe were made, such as Cyborg, one of DC's premier African American heroes, becoming a founding member of the team. In 2011, DC Comics also released a spin-off title called Justice League Dark, which is an ensemble team of prominent magic users of the DC Universe, such as John Constantine, Zatanna, Madame Xanadu, and Swamp Thing.

DC Rebirth (2016–2017) Edit

New Justice (2018–2021) Edit

In the New Justice era, the fourth volume of the Justice League begins its run, and continues into the following Infinite Frontier era.[14]

A connected new title Justice League: No Justice emerged and ran for 4 issues, taking place shortly after Dark Nights: Metal. Furthering focus on the aftermath is a following title called Justice League Odyssey that established its 25-issue run from 2018 to 2020. Continuing to deal with the concerns of the Source Wall being broken, Cyborg, Starfire, Green Lantern Jessica Cruz, and Azrael find themselves being lured by Darkseid into a newly-inhabited area in outer space named the Ghost Sector. The title was created by Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson, James Tynion IV and Francis Manapul.[15]

A second volume of Justice League Dark was announced, and ran regularly for 29 issues from July 2018 to February 2021.[16][17] Being led by Wonder Woman, the team members include John Constantine, Zatanna, Swamp Thing, Man-Bat, Detective Chimp, Doctor Fate, and briefly Animal Man.

Infinite Frontier (2021–2023) Edit

The fourth volume of the definitive Justice League title continues well into the Infinite Frontier era and reaches a conclusion with a total of 75 issues in June 2022. Despite not having a title run during the Infinite Frontier era, the team from Justice League Dark would continue to appear as a backup feature in the mainline Justice League series during the Dark Crisis story arc, from issue #59 in May 2021 to issue #71 in March 2022, with guest appearances throughout issues #72 to 74.[18][19][20][21]

Also sharing a tie to Dark Crises is Justice League Incarnate. Consisting of a different team, the 5-issue title shortly ran from January 2022 to May 2022[22] The members are Superman of Earth 23, Flashpoint Batman...

Dawn of DC (2023–present) Edit

With the end of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Justice League was brought back from the dead. This has now inspired Amanda Waller, now working under The Light, to take action against all metahumans, as she believes that they have become too powerful. Waller tasked Peacemaker, her new right hand, in the goal of getting the Helmet of Hate. While Peacemaker was off on his mission, Waller met up with a group of villains giving them a new task, which is to kill superheroes.

With the Justice League going on hiatus as a team, the Titans step forward to become the DC universe's premier superhero team, with Nightwing being the leader.[23] The Titans are now located in Blüdhaven with their new Titans Tower being rebuilt over an old prison, which was destroyed following a prison breakout, lead by the villain Heartless.[24]

Inter-company crossovers Edit

The Justice League has on a few occasions appeared in crossover stories with superhero characters from rival publishers such as Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics. In general, such inter-company crossovers are rare because a lot of resources must be spent in sorting out the legal issues and corporate politics of the two companies, and due to licensing issues, they cannot create spin-off merchandise and media, which all reduce the profitability of such projects.

The last crossover between DC Comics and Marvel Comics was JLA/Avengers, which they jointly published in 2003. Now that Marvel Comics and DC Comics are part of major multimedia corporations (Disney and Warner Brothers, respectively), those aforementioned hurdles are even more complicated, which makes another project like JLA/Avengers much less likely.[25] In 2017, Dan Didio remarked that DC Comics and Marvel are very competitive toward each other and only did crossovers when their sales were low.[26] However, DC Comics did go on to feature the Justice League in crossovers with smaller companies such as Dark Horse Comics, such as a crossover with Black Hammer in 2019.

Fictional history Edit

Members Edit

The members of the Justice League are heroes who normally operate independently but who occasionally team up to tackle especially formidable villains. This is in contrast to teams such as the X-Men or the Fantastic Four, who normally operate as a team and for whom the team is central to their identity.

Most versions of the Justice League feature a select cast of highly popular characters from the DC Comics portfolio, such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, to attract readers with their star power; and they often co-feature a few lesser-known characters who benefit from exposure, such as Cyborg or Black Canary. DC Comics has in several periods deviated from this formula, most notably in the late 1980s and early 1990s with books such as Justice League International, which deliberately featured a cast of lesser-known characters. The advantage of this was that lesser-known characters are not burdened by convoluted continuities, which gave writers more creative flexibility to write character-driven stories. This was done to emulate the model of Marvel Comics' X-Men comic books, whose stories were more character-driven and which favored more obscure or new characters.

The Justice League is an independent group, although it usually accepts some constraints from the U.S. government or the United Nations so as to receive their sanction. Particularly in the early decades of publication, DC Comics was keen for its superheroes to be perceived as law-abiding because children were the main audience. The cast is rarely more than a dozen people in size so as to give a reasonable and equal time for each character. While sometimes the League is shown to have a designated chairperson or leader, there is otherwise no hierarchy; they are a small band of equals who make major decisions, such as inducting new members, by vote.

Headquarters Edit

The Justice League operates out of a headquarters. In the 1960s, their headquarters was secretly in a hollowed-out mountain outside the fictional town of Happy Harbor in Rhode Island. In Justice League of America #78 (1970), they moved to a satellite. In the Super Friends cartoons which ran from 1973 to 1985, they operated out of the Hall of Justice located in Washington, D.C. During the brief "Justice League Detroit" era, they were headquartered in a repurposed bomb shelter in Detroit. In the JLA comic book which ran from 1997 to 2006, their headquarters was on the Moon and called "the Watchtower". The centerpiece of the headquarters is a conference table around which the Justice League discusses menaces to deal with. The satellite and Moon base headquarters are equipped with teleporters for those members who cannot fly to it.

Villains Edit

The Legion of Doom was created for the Challenge of the Superfriends animated TV series as a villainous counterpart to the Justice League. In that original incarnation, it consisted of established villains associated with each of the Justice League's members; e.g., Lex Luthor for Superman, Gorilla Grodd for the Flash, and the Cheetah for Wonder Woman. The Legion of Doom, or some variant of it, has since appeared in other TV shows and comic books.

Collected issues Edit

In other media Edit

Animated movies Edit

Animated TV shows Edit

Live-action TV Edit

Live-action movies Edit

  • Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman appear together in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), although not as a formal team. The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg make cameo appearances.
  • The team then formally appears in Justice League (2017), which was the sequel to Batman v Superman. In 2021, Warner Brothers released a major rework of the movie as it was initially intended according to Zack Snyder's original creative intent in the continuation of the SnyderVerse DCEU : Zack Snyder's Justice League, which among multiple other things added a cameo by the Martian Manhunter.

The Justice League is referenced in several other movies that are part of the DC Extended Universe setting, which includes Suicide Squad, Shazam!, Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

Cultural impact Edit

Most of the characters that appear in DC Comics' books are set in the same fictional universe, known as the DC Universe. They occasionally make guest appearances in each other's solo books, and more regularly in team books such as Justice League. Such crossovers encouraged readers to buy other books in DC Comics' catalogue, and readers became engrossed not just in the individual characters but in their web of relationships across the broader setting, thereby building brand loyalty. Marvel Comics copied this idea by creating a number of superhero teams of its own, the closest analogue being the Avengers, so as to promote and develop the Marvel Universe. Many readers devoted themselves to just one of these two comic book universes, as they were both large and did not overlap; thus, the superhero fan community developed sub-communities of DC and Marvel devotees.[2]

Awards Edit

The original Justice League of America series won two 1961 Alley Awards in the categories "Best Comic Book" and "Best Adventure-Hero Group."[27] In 1963, the series won "Favorite Novel" ("Crisis on Earth-One/Crisis on Earth-Two" in Justice League of America #21–22 by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky) and "Strip that Should Be Improved." There also an award specific to the series, "Artist Preferred on Justice League of America," that was won by Murphy Anderson.[28]

Theme park attractions Edit

Justice League: Alien Invasion 3D Edit

Justice League: Alien Invasion is an interactive dark ride at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Australia. In the ride, guests board vehicles equipped with blasters as they join the Justice League in the fight against Starro, who has mind-controlled the citizens of Metropolis.

Justice League: Battle for Metropolis Edit

Justice League: Battle for Metropolis is an interactive dark ride at seven Six Flags parks across the United States and Mexico. In the ride, Lex Luthor and the Joker have captured Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash, and it is up to the combined forces of the remaining members of the Justice League and the Justice League Reserve Team to save them from their capture at LexCorp. Guests board motion-enhanced and stun blaster-equipped vehicles designed by A.R.G.U.S. as they ride through Metropolis and join the fight against the henchmen of Lex Luthor and the Joker.

See also Edit

Affiliations and spin-off groups

Notes Edit

  1. ^ This was later retconned in 2013

References Edit

  1. ^ Hickey (2011), An Incomprehensible Condition, p. 19
  2. ^ a b Kaveney (2008), Superheroes!, p. 28: "One of the major driving forces of the creation of these universes was the commercial imperative to create brand loyalty to more titles within a single publishing house's products. Crossovers, in which a character from one comic produced by a house visited the story of another, meant that there was a chance that readers who were not buying the first comic would start to buy it in addition to the second. Team-up comics like the Justice League of America were even more likely to interest readers in characters they had not previously bothered with."
  3. ^ Rhoades (2008), A Complete History of American Comic Books, p. 70
  4. ^ Daniels, Les (1995). "The Justice League of America A Team of Good Sports". DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes. New York, New York: Bulfinch Press. p. 127. ISBN 0821220764. Justice League was a hit. It solidified once and for all the importance of superhero groups, and in the process provided a playground where DC's characters could attract new fans while entertaining established admirers.
  5. ^ Eury (2005), The Justice League Companion: A Historical and Speculative Overview of the Silver Age Justice League of America, p. 14
  6. ^ "Chuck Patton talks Justice League Detroit". DC in the 80s. December 4, 2018.: "I think it was Len Wein who ultimately decided that it was time for a change in the JLA, especially when all of the other major DC books started to crack under the weight of each other's differing storylines and changes in continuity. [...] Gerry [Conway] strongly felt that a new 'JLA' needed a younger, hipper roster to reflect the times, but most important, have little to no connection with the then-current DC roster and more freedom. I enthusiastically agreed with him, wanting to capture the same youthful spirit that made hits of X-Men and Teen Titans."
  7. ^ Bug Norman (May 27, 2021). "Where The X-Men Thrived, The Justice League Died". ScreenRant.
  8. ^ "Chuck Patton talks Justice League Detroit". DC in the 80s. December 4, 2018.: "However I really really wished we had avoided a lot of the gimmickry or played them a lot less clichéd from the jump. I do share responsibility in my part of that, but I always felt uncomfortable with Vibe's accent. It was meant to be a blind, something he hid behind to keep people from knowing he wasn't that "streetwise", but it was handled clumsily and we took our lumps for it."
  9. ^ "JLI Podcast – Meanwhile… Gerry Conway Interview on Justice League Detroit". The Fire and Water Podcast Network. April 25, 2021.
  10. ^ Rosie Knight (October 8, 2020). "How Grant Morrison's JLA Saved DC's Biggest Heroes".
  11. ^ Kirk, Jason. "(1997)" Yahoo! GeoCities, December 2000[dead link]
  12. ^ Miller, John Jackson (2007). . Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  13. ^ Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 278: "Renewed as one of DC's most popular titles, JLA ran for 125 issues before its next relaunch. Earning countless spin-off miniseries and specials, the Justice League reclaimed its place atop DC's hit titles list".
  14. ^ Justice League (2018-2022) #1-75
  15. ^ Justice League: No Justice (2018) #1-75
  16. ^ James Tynion IV (w), Raúl Fernández, Alvaro Martinez (a). "The Last Age of Magic" Justice League Dark, vol. 1, no. 1 (July, 2018). DC Comics.
  17. ^ And Lanning, Ron Marz (w), Amancay Nahuelpan, Marco Santucci (a). "Endless Winter" Justice League Dark, no. 29 (February, 2021). DC Comics.
  18. ^ Justice League (vol. 4) #59 (2021). DC Comics.
  19. ^ Justice League (vol. 4) #71 (2022). DC Comics.
  20. ^ Justice League (vol. 4) #72 (2022). DC Comics.
  21. ^ Justice League (vol. 4) #74 (2022). DC Comics.
  22. ^ Justice League Incarnate #1-5
  23. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (January 25, 2023). "Dawn of DC: Why the Titans Are Replacing the Justice League in 2023". IGN. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  24. ^ "NIGHTWING #100". DC Comics. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  25. ^ Jermaine McLaughlin (June 15, 2015). . SyFy Wire. Archived from the original on October 2, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2021.

    Tom Brevoort: "Those were really the final days of both companies being "Mom & Pop" shops. Now, with both Marvel and DC being integrated multi-platform companies, the inter-mingling of competing IP is a much more complicated and complex situation, along with the fact that you wind up spending considerable resources on a project for which you only recoup half of the eventual profits (and that you cannot utilize across other lines of business beyond the publishing) make it a lot more difficult to justify. It's hard to justify both the allocation of resources and also the difficulties of navigating the politics between two competing corporate giants. So it's not impossible that it could never happen again, but the factors against it happening are considerable."
  26. ^ Brendan Hughes (March 19, 2018). "Could We Get A New Marvel/DC Crossover In The Near Future?".
    "Dan Didio, DC's Co-Publisher, squashed the idea of any crossover with Marvel during the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con stating that the best way for DC to succeed is to compete with Marvel. He linked that the past Marvel/DC crossovers were a temporary measure due to the comic market reaching all-time lows."
  27. ^ "1961 Alley Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. from the original on September 5, 2015.
  28. ^ "1963 Alley Awards". Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac. from the original on September 6, 2015.

Sources Edit

  • Andrew Hickey (2011). An Incomprehensible Condition: An Unauthorised Guide To Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers. ISBN 9781447780021.
  • Roz Kaveney (2008). Superheroes!: Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781845115692.

External links Edit

justice, league, other, uses, disambiguation, america, team, superheroes, appearing, american, comic, books, published, comics, team, first, appeared, brave, bold, march, 1960, team, conceived, writer, gardner, revival, justice, society, america, similar, team. For other uses see Justice League disambiguation The Justice League or Justice League of America JLA is a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics The team first appeared in The Brave and the Bold 28 March 1960 The team was conceived by writer Gardner Fox as a revival of the Justice Society of America a similar team from DC Comics from the 1940s which had been pulled out of print due to a decline in sales Justice LeagueThe classic cast of the Justice League from left to right Green Lantern the Flash Superman Batman Wonder Woman Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter Art by Alex Ross Publication informationPublisherDC ComicsFirst appearanceThe Brave and the Bold 28 March 1960 Created byGardner FoxIn story informationBase s The HallWatchtowerSatelliteSecret SanctuaryDetroit BunkerThe RefugeJLI EmbassiesRosterSee List of Justice League membersThe Justice League is an all star ensemble cast of established superhero characters from DC Comics portfolio Diegetically these superheroes usually operate independently but occasionally assemble as a team to tackle especially formidable villains This is in contrast to certain other superhero teams such as the X Men whose characters were created specifically to be part of the team with the team being central to their identity The cast of the Justice League usually features a few highly popular characters who have their own solo books such as Superman Batman and Wonder Woman alongside a number of lesser known characters who benefit from exposure 1 The Justice League was created to boost the profiles and sales of said characters through cross promotion and helped develop the DC Universe as a shared universe as it is through teams like the Justice League that the setting s characters regularly interact with each other 2 Beyond comic books the Justice League has been adapted to a number of television shows films and video games Contents 1 Publication history 1 1 Silver Age and Bronze Age 1960 1984 1 2 Detroit era 1984 1986 1 3 Justice League International and its spin offs 1986 1996 1 4 JLA 1996 2006 1 5 Volume 2 2006 2011 1 6 New 52 2011 2016 1 7 DC Rebirth 2016 2017 1 8 New Justice 2018 2021 1 9 Infinite Frontier 2021 2023 1 10 Dawn of DC 2023 present 1 11 Inter company crossovers 2 Fictional history 2 1 Members 2 2 Headquarters 2 3 Villains 3 Collected issues 4 In other media 4 1 Animated movies 4 2 Animated TV shows 4 3 Live action TV 4 4 Live action movies 5 Cultural impact 6 Awards 7 Theme park attractions 7 1 Justice League Alien Invasion 3D 7 2 Justice League Battle for Metropolis 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 Sources 12 External linksPublication history EditSee also List of Justice League titles Since 1960 the Justice League has appeared in comic books published by DC Comics periodicals and graphic novels These comic books constitute the bulk of Justice League fiction Silver Age and Bronze Age 1960 1984 Edit nbsp The Brave and the Bold 28 March 1960 their first appearance Superman and Batman do not appear on the cover but do appear in the story within In its inception the Justice League was a revival of the Justice Society of America created by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox in 1940 After World War II superheroes fell out of popularity which led to the cancellation of many characters including the Justice Society which last appeared in All Star Comics 57 March 1951 A few years later sales rose again and DC Comics revived some of these retired characters reinventing a few of them in the process Editor Julius Schwartz asked writer Gardner Fox to reintroduce the Justice Society of America Schwartz decided to rename it the Justice League of America because he felt League would appeal better to young readers evoking sports organizations such as the National League 3 The Justice League of America debuted in The Brave and the Bold 28 March 1960 and after two further appearances in that title got its own series which quickly became one of the company s best selling titles 4 This led DC Comics to create a bunch of other superhero teams such as the Teen Titans Marvel Comics a rival comic book publisher noticed the Justice League s success and created the Avengers and the Fantastic Four The initial Justice League lineup included seven of DC Comics superheroes who were regularly published at that time Superman Batman Aquaman the Flash Green Lantern the Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman Fox also created a new non superhero character called Snapper Carr that was intended to represent DC s teenage readership and joined the League as an Honorary member in their debut story 5 While Superman and Batman were included in the Justice League s initial lineup they were largely absent from the League s early stories playing only minor roles as the pair were already starring together in DC s World s Finest Comics and Fox was worried the two more famous heroes would detract attention from their less popular teammates As the series went on however Superman and Batman became more and more present as readers increasingly demanded to see more of them in the League s stories The team roster would quickly expand with the Green Arrow the Atom and Hawkman being added to the team over the next four years In the Justice Society stories from the 1940s in All Star Comics the Justice Society was used more as a framing device for its members solo adventures The stories tended to have the following structure the Justice Society meets to discuss some new menace they split up to undertake individual missions that somehow connect to said menace and finally regroup for the showdown with the main villain In the 1940s most comic books were anthologies and All Star Comics was in practice not a major deviation from that By contrast the Justice League worked together more closely in their stories thereby having a stronger identity as a team In another change from the Justice Society stories of the 1940s Batman and Superman were regular members of the cast not mere honorary members who made occasional cameos Justice League of America vol 1 21 August 1963 featured the first crossover story in which the Justice League meets and teams up with the Justice Society of America In doing so DC Comics brought back a number of legacy characters such as Doctor Fate and the Black Canary The issue was a hit with readers and such crossovers became a recurring event Justice League of America vol 1 was published from 1960 to 1987 Detroit era 1984 1986 Edit From the Justice League s inception in 1960 up until 1984 the team s roster always included a number of A list characters to draw in readers such as Wonder Woman and Superman But in Justice League of America Annual 2 October 1984 the Justice League was revised to entirely comprise more obscure characters such as Vixen Vibe and the Martian Manhunter The original A list members would not be brought back into the cast until 1996 The motives behind this change were to dispense with the convoluted continuities of the classic characters by using lesser known and new characters thus giving the writers more flexibility to write character driven stories and to give the team a more youthful hipper feel similar to that of the Teen Titans and the X Men which were selling better 6 The cast was multicultural Gypsy was Romani a Vibe was Latino Vixen was Black However the writing of Vibe and Gypsy was criticized for using cliches of their ethnic groups symptomatic of writers who were well meaning but out of touch something for which said writers Gerry Conway and Chuck Patton later expressed regret 7 8 9 This era of the Justice League which lasted about two years is popularly known as Justice League Detroit because they were headquartered in Detroit Justice League International and its spin offs 1986 1996 Edit Main article Justice League International The 1986 company wide crossover Legends concluded with the formation of a new Justice League The new team was dubbed the Justice League then Justice League International JLI and was given a mandate with less of an American focus The Justice League International was recognized by the United Nations as a political entity and established embassies all over the world The new series was character driven and had a quirky humorous tone which proved popular with readers Numerous spin off teams such as Justice League Europe Extreme Justice and Justice League Task Force were created In 1996 these series were cancelled due to low sales The Justice League International featured characters that had previously not been part of the DC Universe which had been absorbed from the portfolios of other publishers that DC Comics had purchased These included Captain Atom and the Blue Beetle which were created for Charlton Comics in the 1960s In 1983 DC Comics purchased Charlton Comics and a few years later integrated the Blue Beetle and Captain Atom into the DC Universe Captain Marvel originally from the Fawcett Comics universe was similarly integrated JLA 1996 2006 Edit The cancellation of the aforementioned spin off books prompted DC to revamp the League as a single team in a single title A new Justice League of America was launched in a September 1996 miniseries Justice League A Midsummer s Nightmare by Mark Waid and Fabian Nicieza which returned to the classic cast In 1997 DC Comics launched a new book titled JLA Grant Morrison wrote JLA for the first four years and they gave the book an epic feel by making the Justice League an allegory for a pantheon of gods and in their stories they regularly fought villains who threatened the entire world or even the entire cosmos 10 The ongoing series began its monthly run in January 1997 and concluded in April 2006 after 126 issues This series utilized a back to basics approach by shifting the focus back on the team s original and most famous seven members or their successors Superman Batman Wonder Woman Aquaman the Flash Wally West Green Lantern Kyle Rayner and the Martian Manhunter 11 Additionally the team received a new headquarters the Watchtower based on the Moon JLA quickly became DC s best selling title 12 a position it enjoyed on and off for several years 13 Volume 2 2006 2011 Edit The Justice League books more or less continued the trend set by the JLA era world shaking threats with epic stakes with a focus on plot over character development and strong tie ins to all the company s crossover events In 2006 DC began an ongoing comic series titled Justice League of America vol 2 New 52 2011 2016 Edit In The New 52 era further changes to the retroactive continuity of the DC Universe were made such as Cyborg one of DC s premier African American heroes becoming a founding member of the team In 2011 DC Comics also released a spin off title called Justice League Dark which is an ensemble team of prominent magic users of the DC Universe such as John Constantine Zatanna Madame Xanadu and Swamp Thing DC Rebirth 2016 2017 Edit This section is empty You can help by adding to it August 2023 New Justice 2018 2021 Edit In the New Justice era the fourth volume of the Justice League begins its run and continues into the following Infinite Frontier era 14 A connected new title Justice League No Justice emerged and ran for 4 issues taking place shortly after Dark Nights Metal Furthering focus on the aftermath is a following title called Justice League Odyssey that established its 25 issue run from 2018 to 2020 Continuing to deal with the concerns of the Source Wall being broken Cyborg Starfire Green Lantern Jessica Cruz and Azrael find themselves being lured by Darkseid into a newly inhabited area in outer space named the Ghost Sector The title was created by Scott Snyder Joshua Williamson James Tynion IV and Francis Manapul 15 A second volume of Justice League Dark was announced and ran regularly for 29 issues from July 2018 to February 2021 16 17 Being led by Wonder Woman the team members include John Constantine Zatanna Swamp Thing Man Bat Detective Chimp Doctor Fate and briefly Animal Man Infinite Frontier 2021 2023 Edit The fourth volume of the definitive Justice League title continues well into the Infinite Frontier era and reaches a conclusion with a total of 75 issues in June 2022 Despite not having a title run during the Infinite Frontier era the team from Justice League Dark would continue to appear as a backup feature in the mainline Justice League series during the Dark Crisis story arc from issue 59 in May 2021 to issue 71 in March 2022 with guest appearances throughout issues 72 to 74 18 19 20 21 Also sharing a tie to Dark Crises is Justice League Incarnate Consisting of a different team the 5 issue title shortly ran from January 2022 to May 2022 22 The members are Superman of Earth 23 Flashpoint Batman Dawn of DC 2023 present Edit With the end of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths the Justice League was brought back from the dead This has now inspired Amanda Waller now working under The Light to take action against all metahumans as she believes that they have become too powerful Waller tasked Peacemaker her new right hand in the goal of getting the Helmet of Hate While Peacemaker was off on his mission Waller met up with a group of villains giving them a new task which is to kill superheroes With the Justice League going on hiatus as a team the Titans step forward to become the DC universe s premier superhero team with Nightwing being the leader 23 The Titans are now located in Bludhaven with their new Titans Tower being rebuilt over an old prison which was destroyed following a prison breakout lead by the villain Heartless 24 Inter company crossovers Edit The Justice League has on a few occasions appeared in crossover stories with superhero characters from rival publishers such as Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics In general such inter company crossovers are rare because a lot of resources must be spent in sorting out the legal issues and corporate politics of the two companies and due to licensing issues they cannot create spin off merchandise and media which all reduce the profitability of such projects The last crossover between DC Comics and Marvel Comics was JLA Avengers which they jointly published in 2003 Now that Marvel Comics and DC Comics are part of major multimedia corporations Disney and Warner Brothers respectively those aforementioned hurdles are even more complicated which makes another project like JLA Avengers much less likely 25 In 2017 Dan Didio remarked that DC Comics and Marvel are very competitive toward each other and only did crossovers when their sales were low 26 However DC Comics did go on to feature the Justice League in crossovers with smaller companies such as Dark Horse Comics such as a crossover with Black Hammer in 2019 Fictional history EditMembers Edit Main article List of Justice League members The members of the Justice League are heroes who normally operate independently but who occasionally team up to tackle especially formidable villains This is in contrast to teams such as the X Men or the Fantastic Four who normally operate as a team and for whom the team is central to their identity Most versions of the Justice League feature a select cast of highly popular characters from the DC Comics portfolio such as Superman Batman and Wonder Woman to attract readers with their star power and they often co feature a few lesser known characters who benefit from exposure such as Cyborg or Black Canary DC Comics has in several periods deviated from this formula most notably in the late 1980s and early 1990s with books such as Justice League International which deliberately featured a cast of lesser known characters The advantage of this was that lesser known characters are not burdened by convoluted continuities which gave writers more creative flexibility to write character driven stories This was done to emulate the model of Marvel Comics X Men comic books whose stories were more character driven and which favored more obscure or new characters The Justice League is an independent group although it usually accepts some constraints from the U S government or the United Nations so as to receive their sanction Particularly in the early decades of publication DC Comics was keen for its superheroes to be perceived as law abiding because children were the main audience The cast is rarely more than a dozen people in size so as to give a reasonable and equal time for each character While sometimes the League is shown to have a designated chairperson or leader there is otherwise no hierarchy they are a small band of equals who make major decisions such as inducting new members by vote Headquarters Edit The Justice League operates out of a headquarters In the 1960s their headquarters was secretly in a hollowed out mountain outside the fictional town of Happy Harbor in Rhode Island In Justice League of America 78 1970 they moved to a satellite In the Super Friends cartoons which ran from 1973 to 1985 they operated out of the Hall of Justice located in Washington D C During the brief Justice League Detroit era they were headquartered in a repurposed bomb shelter in Detroit In the JLA comic book which ran from 1997 to 2006 their headquarters was on the Moon and called the Watchtower The centerpiece of the headquarters is a conference table around which the Justice League discusses menaces to deal with The satellite and Moon base headquarters are equipped with teleporters for those members who cannot fly to it Villains Edit The Legion of Doom was created for the Challenge of the Superfriends animated TV series as a villainous counterpart to the Justice League In that original incarnation it consisted of established villains associated with each of the Justice League s members e g Lex Luthor for Superman Gorilla Grodd for the Flash and the Cheetah for Wonder Woman The Legion of Doom or some variant of it has since appeared in other TV shows and comic books Collected issues EditSee also List of Justice League titlesIn other media EditMain article Justice League in other media Animated movies Edit The Justice League appears in Justice League The New Frontier 2008 an adaptation of Darwyn Cooke s graphic novel DC The New Frontier The team appears in Justice League Crisis on Two Earths 2010 The movie was based on an unused script for a never made movie that was to bridge the TV shows Justice League and Justice League Unlimited An alternate version of the Justice League appears in Justice League Gods and Monsters 2015 In this movie Superman is the son of General Zod Wonder Woman is the New God Bekka and Batman is essentially the Man Bat This Justice League while ultimately heroic is more ruthless than the traditional Justice League Along with the film a three part animated series entitled Justice League Gods and Monsters Chronicles was released before the film on Machinima The team appears in Justice League The Flashpoint Paradox an animated adaptation of the Flashpoint graphic novel The team are prominently featured in following movies set in the DC Animated Movie Universe Justice League War 2014 Justice League Throne of Atlantis 2015 Justice League vs Teen Titans 2016 Justice League Dark 2017 The Death of Superman 2018 Reign of the Supermen 2019 Justice League Dark Apokolips War 2020 The Justice League appeared in the Tomorrowverse The Justice League appears in the computer animated film DC League of Super Pets 2022 Animated TV shows Edit In 1967 CBS aired three animated shorts titled Justice League of America as part of The Superman Aquaman Hour of Adventure The cast featured Aquaman the Flash Superman the Atom Green Lantern and Hawkman The team appear in Super Friends Super Friends is an American animated television series about the Justice League which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup It was produced by Hanna Barbera and was based on the Justice League of America JLA and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics There were a total of 109 episodes preceded by two backdoor pilot episodes of The New Scooby Doo Movies An animated television series titled Justice League ran from 2001 to 2006 on Cartoon Network It is part of the DC animated universe The show was produced by Warner Bros Animation It is based on the Justice League of America and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics After the second season the series name changed to Justice League Unlimited Another series titled Justice League Action was also released It is an American animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name The series is produced by Jim Krieg Butch Lukic and Alan Burnett This show debuted on Cartoon Network UK on November 26 2016 and premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on December 16 2016 The Justice League make minor appearances in the adult animated web television series Harley Quinn Live action TV Edit A proto Justice League lineup is featured in Smallville first appearing in the episode Justice of the show s sixth season The group initially consists of Clark Kent Bart Allen Arthur Curry Victor Stone Oliver Queen Chloe Sullivan and Dinah Lance in the show s comic book continuation Smallville Continuity an assemblage more familiar to the Justice League in most other media is formed including Martian Manhunter Hawkman Stargirl Tess Mercer Supergirl Booster Gold Batman Wonder Woman and Green Lantern The Justice League are mentioned in the first season of Titans during a conversation between Dick Grayson and Donna Troy during flashbacks At the end of the Arrowverse crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths the heroes of the newly created Earth Prime gather at an abandoned S T A R Labs building and around a table forming a team to defend their new world following a memorial for Oliver Queen Green Arrow who gave his life to save the multiverse While never referred to as the Justice League this group consists of White Canary The Flash Supergirl Batwoman Black Lighting Superman and Martian Manhunter with an empty seat in honor of Oliver The Justice League makes a cameo appearance in the first season finale ofPeacemaker 2022 set in the DCEU with the group consisting of Wonder Woman Flash Superman and Aquaman Live action movies Edit Batman Superman and Wonder Woman appear together in Batman v Superman Dawn of Justice 2016 although not as a formal team The Flash Aquaman and Cyborg make cameo appearances The team then formally appears in Justice League 2017 which was the sequel to Batman v Superman In 2021 Warner Brothers released a major rework of the movie as it was initially intended according to Zack Snyder s original creative intent in the continuation of the SnyderVerse DCEU Zack Snyder s Justice League which among multiple other things added a cameo by the Martian Manhunter The Justice League is referenced in several other movies that are part of the DC Extended Universe setting which includes Suicide Squad Shazam Black Adam Shazam Fury of the Gods Cultural impact EditMost of the characters that appear in DC Comics books are set in the same fictional universe known as the DC Universe They occasionally make guest appearances in each other s solo books and more regularly in team books such as Justice League Such crossovers encouraged readers to buy other books in DC Comics catalogue and readers became engrossed not just in the individual characters but in their web of relationships across the broader setting thereby building brand loyalty Marvel Comics copied this idea by creating a number of superhero teams of its own the closest analogue being the Avengers so as to promote and develop the Marvel Universe Many readers devoted themselves to just one of these two comic book universes as they were both large and did not overlap thus the superhero fan community developed sub communities of DC and Marvel devotees 2 Awards EditThe original Justice League of America series won two 1961 Alley Awards in the categories Best Comic Book and Best Adventure Hero Group 27 In 1963 the series won Favorite Novel Crisis on Earth One Crisis on Earth Two in Justice League of America 21 22 by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky and Strip that Should Be Improved There also an award specific to the series Artist Preferred on Justice League of America that was won by Murphy Anderson 28 Theme park attractions EditJustice League Alien Invasion 3D Edit Main article Justice League Alien Invasion Justice League Alien Invasion is an interactive dark ride at Warner Bros Movie World on the Gold Coast Australia In the ride guests board vehicles equipped with blasters as they join the Justice League in the fight against Starro who has mind controlled the citizens of Metropolis Justice League Battle for Metropolis Edit Main article Justice League Battle for Metropolis Justice League Battle for Metropolis is an interactive dark ride at seven Six Flags parks across the United States and Mexico In the ride Lex Luthor and the Joker have captured Supergirl Wonder Woman Green Lantern and Flash and it is up to the combined forces of the remaining members of the Justice League and the Justice League Reserve Team to save them from their capture at LexCorp Guests board motion enhanced and stun blaster equipped vehicles designed by A R G U S as they ride through Metropolis and join the fight against the henchmen of Lex Luthor and the Joker See also Edit nbsp Comics portalAffiliations and spin off groups Extreme Justice Justice League 3000 Justice League Dark Justice League Elite Justice League Europe Justice League International Justice League Queer Justice League Task Force Justice League United Justice Leagues Legion of Super Heroes Legion of Super Pets Super Buddies Super Friends Green Lantern Corps Teen Titans Young JusticeNotes Edit This was later retconned in 2013References Edit Hickey 2011 An Incomprehensible Condition p 19 a b Kaveney 2008 Superheroes p 28 One of the major driving forces of the creation of these universes was the commercial imperative to create brand loyalty to more titles within a single publishing house s products Crossovers in which a character from one comic produced by a house visited the story of another meant that there was a chance that readers who were not buying the first comic would start to buy it in addition to the second Team up comics like the Justice League of America were even more likely to interest readers in characters they had not previously bothered with Rhoades 2008 A Complete History of American Comic Books p 70 Daniels Les 1995 The Justice League of America A Team of Good Sports DC Comics Sixty Years of the World s Favorite Comic Book Heroes New York New York Bulfinch Press p 127 ISBN 0821220764 Justice League was a hit It solidified once and for all the importance of superhero groups and in the process provided a playground where DC s characters could attract new fans while entertaining established admirers Eury 2005 The Justice League Companion A Historical and Speculative Overview of the Silver Age Justice League of America p 14 Chuck Patton talks Justice League Detroit DC in the 80s December 4 2018 I think it was Len Wein who ultimately decided that it was time for a change in the JLA especially when all of the other major DC books started to crack under the weight of each other s differing storylines and changes in continuity Gerry Conway strongly felt that a new JLA needed a younger hipper roster to reflect the times but most important have little to no connection with the then current DC roster and more freedom I enthusiastically agreed with him wanting to capture the same youthful spirit that made hits of X Men and Teen Titans Bug Norman May 27 2021 Where The X Men Thrived The Justice League Died ScreenRant Chuck Patton talks Justice League Detroit DC in the 80s December 4 2018 However I really really wished we had avoided a lot of the gimmickry or played them a lot less cliched from the jump I do share responsibility in my part of that but I always felt uncomfortable with Vibe s accent It was meant to be a blind something he hid behind to keep people from knowing he wasn t that streetwise but it was handled clumsily and we took our lumps for it JLI Podcast Meanwhile Gerry Conway Interview on Justice League Detroit The Fire and Water Podcast Network April 25 2021 Rosie Knight October 8 2020 How Grant Morrison s JLA Saved DC s Biggest Heroes Kirk Jason 1997 Yahoo GeoCities December 2000 dead link Miller John Jackson 2007 North American Comics Market Estimates for January 1997 Comics Buyer s Guide Archived from the original on May 1 2009 Retrieved April 8 2012 Manning 1990s in Dolan p 278 Renewed as one of DC s most popular titles JLA ran for 125 issues before its next relaunch Earning countless spin off miniseries and specials the Justice League reclaimed its place atop DC s hit titles list Justice League 2018 2022 1 75 Justice League No Justice 2018 1 75 James Tynion IV w Raul Fernandez Alvaro Martinez a The Last Age of Magic Justice League Dark vol 1 no 1 July 2018 DC Comics And Lanning Ron Marz w Amancay Nahuelpan Marco Santucci a Endless Winter Justice League Dark no 29 February 2021 DC Comics Justice League vol 4 59 2021 DC Comics Justice League vol 4 71 2022 DC Comics Justice League vol 4 72 2022 DC Comics Justice League vol 4 74 2022 DC Comics Justice League Incarnate 1 5 Schedeen Jesse January 25 2023 Dawn of DC Why the Titans Are Replacing the Justice League in 2023 IGN Retrieved April 3 2023 NIGHTWING 100 DC Comics Retrieved April 28 2023 Jermaine McLaughlin June 15 2015 Marvel and DC team up An oral history of JLA Avengers the most ambitious crossover event ever SyFy Wire Archived from the original on October 2 2021 Retrieved October 2 2021 Tom Brevoort Those were really the final days of both companies being Mom amp Pop shops Now with both Marvel and DC being integrated multi platform companies the inter mingling of competing IP is a much more complicated and complex situation along with the fact that you wind up spending considerable resources on a project for which you only recoup half of the eventual profits and that you cannot utilize across other lines of business beyond the publishing make it a lot more difficult to justify It s hard to justify both the allocation of resources and also the difficulties of navigating the politics between two competing corporate giants So it s not impossible that it could never happen again but the factors against it happening are considerable Brendan Hughes March 19 2018 Could We Get A New Marvel DC Crossover In The Near Future Dan Didio DC s Co Publisher squashed the idea of any crossover with Marvel during the 2017 San Diego Comic Con stating that the best way for DC to succeed is to compete with Marvel He linked that the past Marvel DC crossovers were a temporary measure due to the comic market reaching all time lows 1961 Alley Awards Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on September 5 2015 1963 Alley Awards Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on September 6 2015 Sources EditAndrew Hickey 2011 An Incomprehensible Condition An Unauthorised Guide To Grant Morrison s Seven Soldiers ISBN 9781447780021 Roz Kaveney 2008 Superheroes Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films Bloomsbury Academic ISBN 9781845115692 External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Justice League Justice League Archived October 23 2013 at the Wayback Machine at DC Comics com Justice League of America at Don Markstein s Toonopedia WebCitation Archive The Justice League Library Justice League Mortal at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Justice League amp oldid 1180806380, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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