Justice League Adventures #17 is an issue of the series Justice League Adventures (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 2003. It was published on March 5, 2003.
Synopsis for "The Weapons of Man"
At a racetrack hosting a Grand Prix, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, the Flash, and the Martian Manhunter are handily foiling the criminal activities a gang of rogue racecar drivers known as the "Speedway Bandits". One member of the gang, however, manages to flee the racetrack and enter the city. The Flash pursues this fifth bandit and, after a lengthy chase, realizes that the bandit in question is the League's old enemy Aresia. With some quick thinking, the Flash manages to remove the wheels on Aresia's getaway car, trapping the rogue Amazon.
Back at the racetrack, the remaining heroes recover the prize money that the Speedway Bandits were attempting to steal, and confront the remaining members of the all-female gang. While three of the bandits distract the heroes, a fourth bandit sneaks up on the heroes from behind, and activates an electronic gadget. The gadget produces a high-pitched noise that sends the four heroes to their knees, clutching their heads in pain.
Meanwhile, the Flash is about to place Aresia under arrest, when the rogue Amazon suddenly exits her getaway car and attempts to seduce him. The Flash is distracted by her charms, and Aresia takes advantage of the opportunity, handcuffing his wrist to the steering wheel of her car. That done, the rogue Amazon makes her escape, leaving a humiliated Flash to return to the Watchtower alone.
Aboard the Watchtower, the Flash is confronted by Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl for not only letting Aresia escape, but also losing track of the other four heroes. Soon after, however, several flash news reports inform the three Leaguers where the four missing heroes have gone. Superman and Martian Manhunter have been spotted near the Bering Strait, stealing a Russian fighter jet; Green Lantern has been recorded stealing a United States nuclear submarine; and Batman has been seen making off with an Israeli missile launcher.
One of the news reports then cuts to Aresia, who claims responsibility for all of these events. The rogue Amazon explains that her newest weapon, the Sonic Equalizer, produces a high-pitched hypnotic frequency that only men can hear. With this device, Aresia has turned Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Martian Manhunter into her devoted slaves, ready to obey any command from her.
The three remaining Leaguers mull over this state of events, and Wonder Woman briefly recounts Aresia's origins and motivations, citing Aresia's psychotic hatred of men as the reason that they must find and stop the rogue Amazon as quickly as possible. Some time later, the Leaguers manage to track the signal from the Martian Manhunter's communicator to Aresia's base of operations: an abandoned Air Force hangar in the Arizona desert.
Although the Flash wants to immediately rush into Aresia's base, he is persuaded to consider subtler tactics by Wonder Woman. After a bit of pacing, the Scarlet Speedster develops a plan that will allow him to infiltrate the base without raising any alarms: disguising himself as a woman. Moments later, the Flash puts this plan into action, and rushes toward Aresia's base. Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl express doubts, but fly away to confront the four brainwashed Leaguers, who have left Aresia's base to steal more weapons for the rogue Amazon.
The Flash manages to make it into Aresia's base, but is soon spotted by one of Aresia's subordinates. The Scarlet Speedster quickly finds himself dodging heavy gunfire from Aresia's stolen weapons, and is eventually exposed to a full blast from the Sonic Equalizer. Meanwhile, the Scarlet Speedster's two comrades face equally bad luck: Wonder Woman fails to stop Superman and Green Lantern from stealing an aircraft carrier, while Hawkgirl similarly fails to stop Batman and the Martian Manhunter from making off with a Chinese tank.
Hours later, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl regroup outside of Aresia's base. The two briefly discuss what the world would be like without "man's weapons", but are soon interrupted by a report from the Flash over their communicators. The Scarlet Speedster explains that, while Aresia believes him to be under the Sonic Equalizer's spell, he had actually managed to counteract its effects by plugging his ears with cotton from his disguise's purse.
The Flash then removes his disguise and confronts Aresia and her cronies, and is quickly joined by Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl. A fierce battle ensues between the three Leaguers and Aresia's four brainwashed heroes, culminating in an apparent defeat for the former: the Flash is downed, while Hawkgirl is disarmed of her mace. As a gloating Aresia tells her slaves to stand down while she finishes the battle, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl attempt to reason with the rogue Amazon one last time, trying to convince her that not all men are evil.
Aresia is little swayed by these words, but fails to realize that they were actually a distraction ploy: while the words occupy her, Wonder Woman manages to surreptitiously give Hawkgirl her mace back. Then, as Aresia prepares to command her slaves to kill the three Leaguers, Hawkgirl flings the mace into the rogue Amazon, knocking the Sonic Equalizer out of her hand. Wonder Woman grabs the device, putting an end to Aresia's plans.
Eventually, the Sonic Equalizer's effects wear off, freeing the four brainwashed Leaguers. The device itself is destroyed, and gratitude is expressed by all. The Flash then wisecracks that Aresia is probably the most grateful, since she is now residing in a place without men: an all-women prison.
Appearing in "The Weapons of Man"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Aresia
- Speedway Bandits (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Snapper Carr
- Summer Gleeson
- Angela Chen
- Amazons of Themyscira (Flashback only)
Locations:
- Earth
- China
- Israel
- Russia
- Bering Strait
- Themyscira (Flashback only)
- United States of America
- Justice League Watchtower
Items:
- Batarangs
- Bracelets of Submission
- Green Lantern Ring
- Lasso of Truth
- Sonic Equalizer
- Thanagarian Mace
Vehicles:
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Justice League Adventures series
- Images from Justice League Adventures Vol 1 17