Fictional history
It has existed as a country since at least during the Vietnam War. It is north of its neighbors, real-life countries Saudi Arabia and Iran. [1]
The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, and in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America or simply the American War, was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist allies; South Vietnam was supported by the United States, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand and other anti-communist allies. The war, considered a Cold War-era proxy war by some, lasted 19 years, with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973, and included the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is a country in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. With a land area of approximately 2,150,000 km2 (830,000 sq mi), Saudi Arabia is geographically the largest sovereign state in the Middle East, the second-largest in the Arab world, the fifth-largest in Asia, and the 12th-largest in the world. Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south; it is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba. It is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland and mountains. As of October 2018, the Saudi economy was the largest in the Middle East and the 18th largest in the world. Saudi Arabia also has one of the world's youngest populations; 50 percent of its 33.4 million people are under 25 years old.
Iran, also called Persia, and officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in Western Asia. With 82 million inhabitants, Iran is the world's 18th most populous country. Its territory spans 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), making it the second largest country in the Middle East and the 17th largest in the world. Iran is bordered to the northwest by Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, to the north by the Caspian Sea, to the northeast by Turkmenistan, to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. Its central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, give it geostrategic importance. Tehran is the political and economic center of Iran, and the largest and most populous city in Western Asia with more than 8.8 million residents in the city and 15 million in the larger metropolitan area.
Originally ruled by the buffoonish Col. Rumaan Harjavti, the country was taken over by the ruthless femme fatale Queen Bee. She was eventually killed by Harjavti's brother Sumaan, who was in turn replaced by Beatriz, sister of the first Queen Bee. She, in turn, was deposed by forces unknown. After the disaster with Black Adam (see below), a "President Rashid" is seen in power.
Black Adam is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck, the character is a recurring enemy of Shazam and the nemesis of the Marvel Family. Black Adam first appeared as a one-time villain for the first issue of Fawcett Comics' The Marvel Family comic book. However, Black Adam was revived as a recurring character after DC Comics first licensed and then acquired the Fawcett characters and began publishing Captain Marvel/Marvel Family stories under the title Shazam! in the 1970s.
Rulers
Under the reign of the Harjavti brothers and Queen Bee, members of the United Nations superteam known as the Global Guardians became members of the Bialyan military, causing friction with their replacements in the Justice League International.
The Global Guardians is a team of fictional DC Comics superheroes whose members hail from countries around the world. The concept originated in the Super Friends Saturday morning cartoon, in which several heroes were added to the Justice League to give it more ethnic diversity.
Around this time, the survivors of the Champions of Angor, separated from their home dimension, visit Bialya during a mission to rid the world of nuclear bombs. Rumaan Harjavti manages to convince them that he is on their side, and convinces them to attack Russia. The hero known as Wandjina stops a meltdown and seemingly dies in the process, but his body is taken care of by Bialya, and his reanimated body is later used in one of the country's many coups. Despite this, Wandjina come to be revered as a national hero by the country's citizens. [1]
The Champions of Angor are a fictional superhero team in the DC Comics universe. They are a pastiche of the Avengers from the Marvel Comics universe. They were created by Mike Friedrich and Dick Dillin in the pages of Justice League of America #87 February (1971).
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and North Asia. At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), it is, by a considerable margin, the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, and the ninth most populous, with about 146.79 million people as of 2019, including Crimea. About 77% of the population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital, Moscow, is one of the largest cities in the world and the largest city in Europe; other major cities include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. However, Russia recognises two more countries that border it, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which are internationally recognized as parts of Georgia.
During Rumaan's rule, he opens the borders to known supervillains. Dozens go there for refuge, to enjoy the casinos, gambling and the pleasant beaches. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle attempt to stop this by infiltrating the country and making it seem as if the villains were stealing from Rumaan. When this fails, Batman leads a team and fools the villains into thinking Rumaan is stealing from them. In the ensuing chaos, Rumann is forced to officially ask for help from the Justice League. He also foils a coup attempt by his assistant, Geoffrey Foukes, who was trying to take advantage of the fact that Rumaan did not understand the English translation of the press briefing he was reading. Rumann, who had simultaneous translation, kills Geoffrey live and on-air. Rumaan is later killed by the reanimated Wandjina, paving way for the Queen Bee's takeover of Bialya. [2]
Booster Gold is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, the character first appeared in Booster Gold #1 and has been a member of the Justice League.
Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes who appear in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to the Blue Beetle is DC Comics who bought the rights to the character in 1983, using the name for three distinct characters over the years.
Soon, the Queen Bee has managed to brainwash most of the Global Guardians into serving her. Many international incidents arise when the Justice League cross Bialyan borders against the express wishes of the current ruler and the United Nations. Once such incident is after a multi-month media blackout ends and Bialyan stands terra-formed into a green-covered tourist-friendly resort destination. This is when Captain Atom, Sarge Steel and Rocket Red investigate. [1] Finally, the Queen Bee's plans are thwarted by the combined might of the Justice League's American and European branches, as well as the no longer-brainwashed Global Guardians. In the ensuing chaos, the second Queen Bee is killed by Sumaan Harjavti, brother of the deceased Rumaan.
Another incident happens when the fourth Queen Bee (sister of the second) gathers volunteers for an army based on the villains known as the Extremists. The members of Extreme Justice invade the country and defeat what would turn out to be cyborg versions of the villains. Captain Atom discovers facilities to make an army's worth and destroys those too. This incident leads to a disbanding of all three JLA groups. [3]
In the series Young Justice, Red Tornado's adopted daughter Traya Sutton is revealed to be half-Bialyan. Traya was the victim of hate crime at her private school after a fellow student's parents were killed in a terrorist attack in Bialya. She was rescued from such attacks by her roommate, Cissie King-Jones, aka the former Young Justice member Arrowette.
Under the influence of an outside telepathic force, the current ruler of Bialya, a male, helps to draft a merger between his country and Qurac. The Justice League later neutralizes this outside force, a telepathic entity which had been inhabiting the mind of the Martian Manhunter.
Black Adam
Found guilty by Black Adam of collaborating with Intergang and serving as a base of operation for their technology-created Horsemen of Apokolips , two million innocent Bialyans were the victims of a total genocide perpetuated by Black Adam. This retaliation for the murders of Isis and Osiris and many citizens of Kahndaq, apparently results in the death of most life in the country, millions of men, women, and children, as well as animals and insects.
Surviving Black Adam
A flashback sequence in 'Checkmate' #22 reveals there are a quarter of a million survivors of Black Adam. [4]
In 52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen #1 (October 2007), it is revealed President Rashid, the de facto ruler, has refused all but the basic humanitarian aid. Some of such is being supplied by WayneTech and S.T.A.R. Labs. Several instances of more basic crimes are focused upon, such as a food stealing ring and a doctor using injured Bialyans simply to pad his resume.
The legendary Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have re-manifested inside the borders of Bialya. It is thought by the creator of the Horsemen, Dr. Veronica Cale, that the forms built with technology from the distant planet Apokolips served simply as vessels for the biblical Four Horsemen. She further opines that they will return.
The first re-manifestation, which calls itself Yuurd the Unknown, representing Famine, formerly 'Sobek', possesses Reese Taylor, the corrupt WayneTech employee who is selling food shipments. He slays many Wayne-Tech employees, kills a guard, injures many others, including Bruce Wayne and Superman, and escapes into the ruins of Bialya. Another horseman is seen manifesting far from the refugee camps.
Many more humanitarian aid employees and Biaylan citizens are killed in the resulting chaos, their bodies taken by the Four Horsemen in order to build new battle-forms. Later Superman scans the country and indicates that all within its borders, with the exception of Snapper Carr and Batman, have died. [5]
Later, a Bialyan terrorist group, moving weapons, is busted by the J.S.A. [6]
Blue Beetle scarab
In Blue Beetle #8 (December 2006), co-written by Keith Giffen and John Rogers, it was revealed that Dan Garrett, the original Blue Beetle, discovered the scarab which gave him his powers in Bialya. This is apparently a retcon on earlier depictions setting the discovery in Egypt.
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Etta Candy tells of a squad of A.R.G.U.S. (Advanced Research Group Uniting Superhumans) agents operating out of Bialya. They were part of the fatalities when A.R.G.U.S. was attacked on all fronts. [7]
Another mention of the country, regarding the New 52 continuity, is made in the 2011 Batman annual. It's learned several American reporters were once sent as war correspondents to Bialya. [8] Bialya is seen years later, containing an entrance to the mystical Rock of Eternity. [9]
