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"Where No League Has Gone Before!": Big Barda uses her Mega-Rod to give the JLI's space vessel transwarp capabilities, and they appear in front of the Cluster Ship of Lord Manga Khan. Khan i

Quote1 We are not having a Justice League membership drive! Can you imagine the tumult? The chaos? Quote2
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Justice League International #18 is an issue of the series Justice League International (Volume 1) with a cover date of October, 1988.

Synopsis for "Where No League Has Gone Before!"

Big Barda uses her Mega-Rod to give the JLI's space vessel transwarp capabilities, and they appear in front of the Cluster Ship of Lord Manga Khan. Khan is determined to bring his quarry Mister Miracle to Apokolips to trade to Darkseid and he refuses to let this ragtag team of super-heroes stand in his way. To this end, he hires the galactic bounty hunter Lobo to destroy the Justice League.

After receiving the contract and the promise a ten-year supply of space dolphin treats for payment, Lobo flies his spacehog to the destination point and Barda insists that they let him board so he won't destroy the hull of their ship. Barda warns the Martian Manhunter not to injure Lobo too severely for every drop of spilled blood will grow into a new Lobo. Lobo grabs Rocket Red and tears his armor off of him. G'nort encases Lobo in a green bubble, but as Lobo's willpower is sufficiently greater than G'nort's, he is able to walk through the bubble and grab him. He tosses G'nort out the breach he created in the side of the ship, but the Martian Manhunter catches him. Barda uses her Mega-Rod to open a dimensional aperture and pushes Lobo through it.

The rift in time space sends him somewhere random and far away. What she doesn't realize is that the aperture's destination point is Earth—specifically, the New York City Justice League Embassy. Lobo plows through the wall, slamming into Guy Gardner. The impact seems to correct Guy's recent behavioral issues. With a nasty gleam in his eye, Gardner rises singing, "I'm baaaaaaaa-ack!"

Appearing in "Where No League Has Gone Before!"

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Synopsis for "Raising the Roof!"

Mister Miracle struggles with domestic chores while his wife Barda cooks. Oberon cleans out the basement and accidentally arms one of Thaddeus Brown's old explosives, destroying their home. The trio now have to live in the Justice League Embassy in New York City. The new housemates immediately cause some tension and Batman downloads a blueprint of their old home and the team rebuilds it while Batman takes Barda shopping for furnishings.

The individual members all decide to revise the designs on a whim, resulting in a mish-mash of 30th-century design, Martian features, and Russian domes. A lack of nails also lead them to use Guy Gardner's power ring constructs for nails but he forgot to recharge the ring and the entire structure collapses, leaving piles of rubble on their property, spilling into the neighbors' lawn.

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Notes

  • This issue includes a sixteen-page "Bonus Book No. 7" feature.
  • This issue sees the return of Guy Gardner's more cynical, violent personality. For the past year, Guy has suffered from a head injury causing him to act polite and accommodating to his teammates—a behavioral trait which is in stark contrast to his typical demeanor.
  • Batman's presence as a JLI member in "Raising the Roof!" means this story must occur prior to Suicide Squad #13.
  • This issue marks the first appearance of Lobo's grungy, over-the-top post-Crisis characterization.
  • The scene depicted on the cover does not appear in the issue itself.

Trivia

  • The title to this issue, "Where No League Has Gone Before!", is taken from the famous Star Trek tagline "Where no man has gone before".
  • Barda is the only member of the JLI who has heard of Lobo at this point; It is not explained whether she has met him in person before or if she has only heard rumors about him, but she is well aware of his replication powers.
  • One of the few times in Post-Crisis where Martian Manhunter is seen using superbreath.
  • Again, Rocket Red only mentions having a son in this issue but he also has a daughter, Tascha.
  • Adam Hughes did an homage to this cover for Justice League America #45.


See Also

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