The Justice League is an organization composed of the world's greatest superheroes. Together, they operate as a team dedicated to fighting crime and injustice, and act as Earth's first line of defense from terrestrial, extra-terrestrial and inter-dimensional threats. A team with a long history, the current version is made up of the inheritors of heroic legacies from the past.
History
The original Justice League fought a team of White Martian invaders known as the Hyperclan multiple times. Eventually they decided the Hyperclan were too dangerous to be imprisoned by normal means and exiled them to Earth Omega, a parallel world of fire and ash which was a living Hell for a Martian. Aquaman felt this was too cruel of a punishment and objected but was overruled.[1]
Eventually the Justice League grew to the point that the individual members could no longer trust each other. The League was betrayed by one of their own, who learned all their secrets. Many Leaguers died in the subsequent battle and the Hall of Justice was left in ruins.[2]
The current version of the Justice League formed in response to a multiversal crisis involving Darkseid and Starro. Unlike previous versions of the team, who were held together by strong personal bonds, the new League operated under a charter which prevented the members becoming too close to each other in order to avoid a repeat of the past. The League was kept intentionally small, had no physical headquarters, referred to each other only by their codenames, were forbidden from visiting each other's homes and only met when necessary to respond to major threats. The Flash and Batman kept their true identities secret even from their fellow Leaguers, and members treated each other in a brusque, businesslike fashion when together.
This made the League highly effective, although Superman privately wished for the League to be more like the one of his father's day and feared that the isolated members were missing vital emotional support. He and Wonder Woman, who had a pre-existing friendship from their adventures together, would occasionally talk outside of League business in defiance of the charter. Additionally, Aquawoman and the Flash were secretly dating behind their teammate's backs.[3]
The Legion of Doom, seeking to expose them as (in their minds) false idols released the Hyperclan from captivity. Their plan was for the Hyperclan to use their shapeshifting abilities to kill and replace the League. However, the Legion was unable to control the powerful beings, who murdered the Legion and left their bodies in the ruins of the Hall of Justice.
The League arrived to investigate, and, determining that there were no survivors and the killers had long since left, dispersed back to their respective homes and headquarters despite Superman's attempts to call a team meeting. The Hyperclan, disguised as members of the League, attacked and overpowered the members as they were alone.[2]
The Hyperclan transported the League to Earth Omega where the League's predecessors had imprisoned them years ago. They discovered the Hyperclan's camp and from the Martian writing deduced who their captors were, and also learned their plan to take over the minds of every human on Earth. Unfortunately their attempts to escape were hampered by their lack of trust and affection for each other and they quickly fell into infighting when Aquawoman pointed out that any of them could be White Martian infiltrators, with Superman suspecting that some Leaguers may have been replaced long before they were captured.
Batman and Superman began to argue about which of them was more likely to be a Martian, but Green Lantern stopped them and explained that they could prove their identities by sharing things they know about each other they could only have learned from spending time together, revealing she has noticed that Wonder Woman bites her lip when stressed. Wonder Woman responded that Green Lantern uses more elaborate constructs when she feels condient and that Superman has always felt that they were not the "real" Justice League because of their distance from each other; Superman announced that he knows Batman hums to himself while fighting; and the Flash revealed that Aquawoman talks in her sleep.
Batman was unconvinced, pointing out that a telepath could have easily discovered all this. He was especially suspicious of the Flash, since they were not even from the same universe as the others, which almost brought him and Aquawoman to blows. The Flash was able to prove their identity by using their unique ability to sense the vibrational frequencies of alternate universes to determine they were on a parallel world, and make the jump across the Multiverse back to Earth 0.
The League arrived back on Earth just as the Hyperclan, who had assumed their identites, were preparing to activate a device at the Hall of Justice which would kill millions of humans and reduce the survivors to a primitive state. The two teams fought, with the League able to identify the impostors and overpower them. Protex, the leader of the Hyperclan, fled into the Hall pursued by Batman and the Flash. He assumed the Flash's form and they fought.
Aquawoman headed into the Hall after them and saw the Flash and Protex fighting, each insisting they were the real one. She was able to identify her friend when they called her "Princess", Jess' private nickname for her. She blasted Protex back with a jet of water and destroyed his machine, whereupon Batman arrived and finished him off with a flamethrower built by T.O. Morrow, the deceased leader of the Legion of Doom.
After the fight the League agreed to suspend the charter, as knowing each other had allowed them to win the day. Batman and the Flash revealed their identities to the others and the group decided to go out for dinner together. Months later, under the leadership of Green Lantern, they met in the rebuilt Hall of Justice to decide who they would invite to join.[1]
See Also
- 6 Appearances of Justice League (Future State)
- 4 Images that include Justice League (Future State)
- Team Gallery: Justice League (Future State)
Links and References
Footnotes