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Justice League May – October 1987 (#1-6) Justice League International (1987 series) November 1987 – April 1989 (#7-25) Justice League America May 1989 – August 1996 (#26-113) Justice League International (1993 series) June 1993 – September 1994 Justice League International (2011 series) September 2011 – August 2012
Number of issues
List
Justice League: 6 Justice League International (1987 series): 19 (#7–25) Justice League America: 94 (#26–113) Justice League International (1993 series): 17 Justice League International (2011 series): 12, plus 1 Annual
(1987 series) / JL America) Al Gordon Joe Rubinstein Art Nichols Rick Burchett Bob Smith (1995 series) Roy Richardson (2011 series) Matt Ryan Vincenzo Acunzo
Colorist(s)
List
(1987 series / JL America) Gene D'Angelo (2011 series) Hi-Fi
Justice League International (JLI) is a fictional DC comics superhero team that succeeded the original Justice League from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. The team enjoyed several comic books runs, the first being written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, with art by Kevin Maguire, created in 1987.[1] Due to editorial conflicts, the team's new makeup was based largely on newer characters, such as Booster Gold, and recent acquisitions from other comic book companies, such as The Blue Beetle.
The resulting comedic tone was Giffen's idea, introducing new characterizations to old characters: Guy Gardner was now a loutish hothead, Booster Gold was greedier and more inept than he had been in Dan Jurgens' series and Captain Marvel displayed a childlike personality.
When Black Canary resigns, Green Flame and Ice Maiden (both from the Global Guardians) join.[4][5] They eventually change their names to Fire and Ice and become long standing members within the team.
They fight the Champions of Angor, other-dimensional superheroes intent on destroying all nuclear weapons. Bialya's dictator Rumaan Harjavti takes advantage of the Champions to eliminate his rivals.[7] In Russia, the League fights the Rocket Red Brigade, until Mikhail Gorbachev allows them to help. Wandjina sacrifices himself to stop a nuclear meltdown and the League are sent home by international law.[8] Millionaire entrepreneurMaxwell Lord takes an interest in the team, breaching their security and suggesting Booster Gold as a new member.
Booster proves himself in combat against the Royal Flush Gang and Lord declares himself their press liaison.[9] The Martian Manhunter saves the world when they battle against a conscious psychic plague and he consumes it.[10] Gardner challenges Batman to a fight over leadership, but Batman knocks him out in one punch. Doctor Fate is captured by the Gray Man, a rogue servant to the Lords of Order.[11] Teaming up with the Creeper, they release Fate and stop the Gray Man from taking over the world.[12]
Earth is attacked by a mysterious satellite and the League travels into space. Miracle recognizes it as a modified New Genesis device and neutralizes it. They return home as heroes. Maxwell Lord introduces a proposal to get United Nations funding and they are given sponsorship in exchange for government regulation. This plan allows them to act as an independent city-state with worldwide embassies. Captain Atom and Rocket Red #7 are added to the team by the United States and Russia, respectively. Captain Marvel and Doctor Fate quit the team for personal reasons; Batman steps down as leader, appointing the Martian Manhunter to replace him. They are reintroduced to the world as Justice League International.[13] Despite a series of embarrassing accidents, they successfully move in to embassies around the world. This includes Moscow, New York City and Paris.
With issue #7, the series was renamed Justice League International to reflect the team's new international status. The name change spawned the term "JLI", which is used when referring to this period in Justice League history. The series was again renamed following the launch of Justice League Europe in 1989. The series was known as Justice League America until its cancellation in 1996.
"Justice League: Breakdowns"
"Breakdowns" was a 16-issue crossover between the Justice League America (#53–60) and Justice League Europe (#29–36) titles, changing the tone of both series from a humorous one to a more serious one and introducing new creative teams to both series. The major events that occurred were the following:
Maxwell Lord is initially in a coma from a failed assassination attempt. He is later possessed by JLE foe Dreamslayer of the Extremists. Following the end of the "Breakdowns" saga, Maxwell Lord has no more mental powers, apparently drained completely when possessed by Dreamslayer.
The Queen Bee, ruler of the country Bialya, is killed in a coup d'état led by Sumaan Harjavti, the twin brother of the original dictator, Rumaan.
Despero awakens and escapes Manga Khan's starship to wreak havoc on New York City, seeking vengeance against the Justice League. A force of the Justice League's best (the Martian Manhunter, Power Girl, Fire, Rocket Red, Metamorpho, the Flash, Guy Gardner, Major Disaster), along with the Conglomerate (led by Booster Gold) and Lobo, were unable to stop him. Ultimately, it was Kilowog and L-Ron who subdued Despero by transferring L-Ron's consciousness into the cybernetic control collar that remained around Despero's neck.
While possessing Maxwell Lord's body, Dreamslayer kidnaps and later murders Mitch Wacky on the island of KooeyKooeyKooey, where the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold previously attempted to open a resort called "Club JLI". Using Lord's persona, Dreamslayer lures a large portion of the Justice League to the island and takes mental control of them, making them the "new Extremists".
The Silver Sorceress, one of the former Champions of Angor and a Justice League member, dies defeating Dreamslayer. Her gravesite is on the island of KooeyKooeyKooey.
The United Nations withdraws its support from the Justice League and it disbands. The Martian Manhunter seemingly takes a leave of absence, although he later re-emerges under the persona of Bloodwynd.
Expansion
The Justice League gets a larger roster as seen in Justice League International #24 (February 1989), cover art by Kevin Maguire and Josef Rubinstein.
The Justice League titles continued to expand into the early to mid-1990s. Titles included: Justice League America, Justice League Europe, Justice League Task Force, Extreme Justice and Justice League Quarterly. Justice League Europe was later retitled to become the second volume of Justice League International.
By 1996, with the commercial success of the series fading, each of the titles was eventually cancelled.
Miniseries
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 a second storyline, I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, by the same creative team published in the pages of JLA Classified. This tale told a story of the characters attempt to rescue Ice from Hell.
Return
Following Blackest Night, DC launched two alternating 24-issue bi-weekly comic book miniseries, Brightest Day and Justice League: Generation Lost, written by Keith Giffen and Judd Winick. This second series features Captain Atom, Booster Gold, the new Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes, Fire, Ice and a new Rocket Red (by the name of Gavril Ivanovich) and essentially saw the return of Justice League International, as explained by Giffen:[14]
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 joined 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 Maxwell Lord's plans in Generation Lost, and eventually had her rejoin Justice League International after a crossover between the two titles. The title also indirectly tied into Odyssey, a 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.[15] Plot threads from Kingdom Come and The OMAC Project also appeared.
Generation Lost ended with a teaser that a new Justice League International series from The New 52 would be coming in a few months (with Booster Gold as leader).
The New 52
As part of DC's 2011 New 52 relaunch of all of its monthly books, Justice League International was relaunched in September 2011, after the conclusion of the Flashpoint storyline, written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Aaron Lopresti.[16][17][18]
This version of Justice League International is formed by United Nations director Andre Briggs as a UN-controlled counterpart to the original Justice League and is based out of the Hall of Justice. The founding members of the team consist of Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Rocket Red (Gavril Ivanovich), Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Vixen, August General in Iron and Godiva, who are recruited to the team due to having their identities publicly known. Batman is denied membership due to having a secret identity, but is allowed to accompany the group as part of an effort to foster good relations between the JLI and the original Justice League. The team goes on to defeat the Signal Men and the alien conqueror Peraxxus.[19]
During a press conference outside the Hall of Justice, Rocket Red is killed when a bomb explodes, while Fire, Ice and Vixen are hospitalized and become comatose. This leads Booster Gold to recruit Batwing, OMAC and Firehawk to the team.[20]
DC canceled Justice League International in 2012,[21] concluding with issue #12 and Justice League International Annual (vol. 2) #1 in August.[22][23]
Writers
Keith Giffen: Justice League / Justice League International / Justice League America #1–60, Justice League / Justice League International / Justice League America Annual #1–5, Justice League International Special #1
J.M. DeMatteis: Justice League / Justice League International / Justice League America #1–60, Justice League / Justice League International / Justice League America Annual #1–5
Dan Jurgens: Justice League America #61–77, Justice League Spectacular #1, Justice League International (vol. 3) #1–12
Dan Vado: Justice League America #78–91, Annual #8
Christopher Priest: Justice League America #92, Annual #10, Justice League International (vol. 2) #68
Gerard Jones: Justice League America #0, 93–113, Annual #9, Justice League Europe / Justice League International (vol. 2) #37–67, Annual #4–5, Justice League Spectacular #1
Collected editions
Title
Material collected
Published date
ISBN
Justice League: A New Beginning
Justice League (vol. 1) #1-6, Justice League International (vol. 1) #7
Justice League (vol. 1) #1-6, Justice League International (vol. 1) #7-17, Justice League Annual #1, Justice League International Annual #2, Suicide Squad #13
Justice League (vol. 1) #1-6, Annual #1, Justice League International (vol. 1) #7-25, Annual #2-3, Justice League Europe #1-6, Justice League America #26-30, Suicide Squad #13
Justice League America #31-50, Justice League Europe #7-25, Justice League America Annual #4, Justice League Europe Annual #1, Justice League Quarterly #1, Justice League International Special #1
Convergence:Justice League International #1-2 and Convergence: Catwoman #1-2, Convergence: Superboy #1-2, Convergence: Green Arrow #1-2, Convergence: Suicide Squad #1-2
Martin A. Stever reviewed Justice League InternationalSpace Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 83.[25] Stever commented that "thanks to clever characterization and wit, this creative team makes team moving day as exciting and as much fun as a brush with Armageddon".[25]
The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #28. Writer Gardner Fox conceived the team 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. 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 several lesser-known characters who benefit from exposure.
The Martian Manhunter is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in the story "The Manhunter from Mars" in Detective Comics #225. Martian Manhunter is one of the seven original members of the Justice League of America and one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe.
John Marc DeMatteis is an American writer of comic books, television and novels.
Booster Gold is a 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.
"Legends" is a comic book crossover story line that ran through a six-issue, self-titled limited series and various other titles published by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987. Each of the individual crossover/tie-in issues had a Legends Chapter # header added to their trade dress.
Maxwell Lord IV is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Justice League #1 and was created by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire. Maxwell Lord was originally introduced as a shrewd and powerful businessman who was an ally of the Justice League and was influential in the formation of the Justice League International, but he later developed into an adversary of Wonder Woman and the Justice League.
Ice is a fictional character, a comic book superheroine in publications from DC Comics. She is a member of the Justice League who possesses cryokinetic abilities and is often associated with Fire.
Justice League Europe (JLE) is a comic book series published by DC Comics that was a spin-off of the comic book Justice League America.
Fire is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
Super Buddies are a team of comic book superheroes in the DC Comics universe who appear in the six-issue Formerly Known as the Justice League miniseries in 2003, and its 2005 sequel, I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League. The team is put together by former Justice League bank roller Maxwell Lord as a superhero team "accessible to the common man". The team is considered more or less inept and incapable of being of any help by many. The team was created by writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, and artists Kevin Maguire and Joe Rubinstein.
Despero is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Justice League of America #1, and was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky.
The OMAC Project is a six-issue American comic book limited series written by Greg Rucka with art by Jesus Saiz and published by DC Comics in 2005.
Theodore Stephen "Ted" Kord is the second fictional character to use the identity of Blue Beetle, a superhero who was originally published by Charlton Comics and later acquired by DC Comics. He was created by Steve Ditko and first appeared as a back-up feature in Captain Atom #83, with Gary Friedrich scripting from Ditko's conception and plot.
Justice League Quarterly (JLQ) was a quarterly American comic book series published by DC Comics from Winter 1990 to Winter 1994; it lasted 17 issues. It had a variable cast, pulling from the Justice League membership. The title centred on short stories featuring a differing number of characters, often solo stories, and in later issues often featured a pin-up section of members of the Justice League. Various writers and artists worked on the title.
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Since their first appearance in The Brave and the Bold #28, various incarnations of the team have appeared in film, television, and video game adaptations.
The Beefeater is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. He appeared in his civilian identity as Michael Morice in Justice League International Annual #3 (1989), and debuted as Beefeater in Justice League Europe #20 in a story by Keith Giffen, Gerard Jones and Marshall Rogers. His code name and appearance are both taken from the uniform of the Yeomen Warders.
DC Universe: Justice League Unlimited Fan Collection is an action figure line based on the highly popular Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series. Though it was based on the show(s), the line has continued well beyond it, and has been re-branded in 2008, as a Target exclusive. Mattel announced in February 2011 that the line would come to an end later in the year with the final figures being released on the Mattel website including the final two three-packs, a seven-pack as well as the three exclusive Con three-packs being made available to the public.
DC Universe is a toy brand manufactured by Mattel. It has five sub-lines – Classics, Fighting Figures, Giants of Justice, Infinite Heroes, and the reintegrated Justice League Unlimited line.
Justice League: Generation Lost is a comic book limited series that premiered in July 2010. It ran twice a month for 24 issues, alternating with Brightest Day, which was written by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi.
The Weapons Master is a supervillain who appears in various DC Comics publications. He was created by artist Mike Sekowsky and writer Gardner Fox. He first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #29.
References
↑ Manning, Matthew K. (2010). "1980s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p.228. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. It was clear that the [Justice League] needed a major overhaul. But no one quite expected how drastic the transformation would truly be in the hands of writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire.
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