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"The Totality, Part 1": A mysterious object appears across time and space—viewed by members of the Quintessence, Kamandi, Justice Legion, and the Monitors, all of whom are helpless to intervene.

Quote1 When I found you… you took me in, as you have again now. And since then I have seen it as my purpose to connect you to each other. But I see now… that maybe I have something more to offer. Quote2
Martian Manhunter

Justice League (Volume 4) #1 is an issue of the series Justice League (Volume 4) with a cover date of August, 2018. It was published on June 6, 2018.

Synopsis for "The Totality, Part 1"

A mysterious object appears across time and space—viewed by members of the Quintessence, Kamandi, Justice Legion, and the Monitors, all of whom are helpless to intervene.

Now. In different places on planet Earth

Coordinated telepathically by Martian Manhunter, the Justice League is working against a mysterious plan of several tribes of "Neoanderthals", descendants of the species known as Homo Neantderthalensis. Their purpose is unknown, but the fact they acted on a scheme which had its root 50'000 years into the past, it's clear that Vandal Savage is involved. As the League finds a way to defeat all the tribes, another, final part of the plan is revealed: using the Moon's magnetic field, the tribes are trying to deviate the Earth's very orbit. J'onn thinks the only way to stop it is to destroy the Moon itself, and combining his powers and the bombs Batman planted on the Earth's satellite, he's successful in destroying it. The planet is safe.

Somewhere on Earth, Vandal Savage is monitoring what happens and his allies, the Neoanderthals, are lamenting: all their plans failed, and now Earth won't be theirs, like Savage promised them. In that moment, another figure appears, unexpected: Lex Luthor. Lex addresses Savage directly, telling him that he found out what he was keeping all humanity from knowing, the secret he wants so much to protect. He also tells him he knows he sided with Justice, and that was a mistake. Vandal remains vague on the matter, and tells Lex to leave, but Luthor tells him he came to him to end his life once and for all.

Back to the Justice League, after destroying the Moon, J'onn calls his comrades and the core members of the League join inside a "mental room" the martian created to talk to them in private. While he was destroying the moon, he sensed something and he understood what was the point of Savage's last phase of his plan: an object is approaching Earth, something coming from outside the Source Wall, something called the Totality. Savage was trying to move the Earth to deny this Totality the possibility of reaching Earth. Batman comments this, citing a myth from New Genesis: the New Gods believed the Source Wall acted as an incubator for their Multiverse, and that once free from it, something, maybe the Totality, was going to come and act as the mean for an evolution of reality as a whole.

Assuming both the facts that Savage did not want the Totality to reach Earth, and that New Genesis could have foretold the event, the League must decide what to do: they can tell John Stewart, standing by, to shot the object with a bullet containing a miniaturized omniversal wormhole, cancelling it from existence. Or they can vote to let it come to Earth, and see what changes it can bring. There's no way to tell if the Totality is something that could help them heal the Multiverse after the invasion from its Dark counterpart and the Source Wall breaking, or if it is a bad omen from an evil power. As they discuss about it, J'onn wants to tell them what he thinks about it and his whole new adventure with the League: he was elected as their president, but he felt he was not right for the role.

Then, he remembered what the Justice League is for him: a new family, the first he had since he lost his wife and children on Mars. And he remembered Mars burning, and the Martians disconnecting their minds from the collective. He remembered feeling alone, without links. This sensation it's something he wants to avoid, and even if his initial vote was to destroy the Totality, maybe this feelings he had suggested another decision, a decision about trust, discovery and union. For him, they should accept the Totality and hope for the best.

Meanwhile, inside Savage's base, Lex kills the Neoanderthals and then reveals he's not alone: once again, the Legion of Doom lives. Then, he reveals to Savage that the place they are in right now has never been Vandal's base, but his. He bought the place and built hidden parts of it, full of terrible weapons and mysterious prisoners. Then, he made him think this was his secret base, his quiet place. The rest of the building was hidden from Savage with invisible doors, on them a symbol only visible to people fighting against Justice. And the doorknobs for those passages were built of the only thing able to kill the immortal Vandal Savage: with one of those doorknobs, Lex ends Vandal's life. In that last moment, the immortal shares his knowledge away with the only living creature that can successfully harness it.

Inside the mental room of the Justice League, J'onn's message convinces his comrades, and they vote to let the Totality come. In that moment J'onn is hit with a vision about future and past. Knowledge he never wanted filled his mind, and then an evil presence showed itself.

Martian Manhunter realized he would regret the decision he made for the rest of his life: accepting the Totality will lead only to one thing, and that's remaining alone in the Multiverse, the last thing alive inside it, while everything withers in dust. And a laughing presence smiles behind it all, because their Multiverse was just built upon an unseen door, a door hiding a terrible secret. What J'onn wanted now was to close that door, and never open it again. Getting back, he wanted to convince the League to change their minds again. But this time, it was too late and the decision was taken. J'onn convinced himself that what he saw was an illusion, but he cannot shake off the sensation he has: watching the martian symbol for Justice, he has the perception that right now the lines changed, and another word is forming: the word is Doom.

And Lex Luthor, holding the bloody doorknob with the Doom symbol on his front, someway knows what J'onn is feeling. And in three, two, one...the Totality hits Earth.

Appearing in "The Totality, Part 1"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • A.R.C. (Cameo)

Concepts:

Notes



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