Now they have chosen, so we can end this story as it was meant to end.
- — Perpetua
Justice League (Volume 4) #39 is an issue of the series Justice League (Volume 4) with a cover date of March, 2020. It was published on January 29, 2020.
Synopsis for "Justice/Doom War, Finale"
Washington D.C., Earth-0. The conflict between Doom and Justice
The Martian Manhunter is back, and he connects himself with all the people of Earth. Perpetua is not able to catch his thoughts, not able to trap his mind. He tells everyone that Perpetua wants them to live by themselves, trusting only their own persona and working only to make life better for the self, not worrying about the other. He wants them to reach down, to their basic instincts, to their primordial state, and become her creation, the predators they were meant to be.
But J'onn tells them there is another chance: to reach beyond nature, and become something different. Beings of love, trust, friendship. Trusting the emotions and the connections, trusting the word together. And the League is there, fighting a war they know they cannot win, but still doing it because they trust them, they have faith. For the heroes of the Justice League, the true heroes are everyday people who live their life, bonding with each other.
But then, the sky rumbles and the seal of Doom appears, gigantic. They lost the vote. Humanity chose Perpetua, chose Doom, chose egoism. They refused the League's plea. And Perpetua laughs, and tells them in satisfaction that she allowed them to make a plea, because she knew she would win. She created humanity in the first place, and knows how they work, think, are. Since she put in motion the plan to free herself, starting with Vandal Savage finding the pieces of the Totality which fell from Hypertime, and ending with Lex awakening her. And even if her favorite son Luthor now is sorry for his actions, it is over: the Multiverse will be reshaped in Doom.
And then, Perpetua strikes a blow and disintegrates all the members of the core Justice League...
The Moon
The Martian Manhunter reforms in space, and finds himself on the surface of the Moon. He cannot reach anyone, and knows they have lost. But he cannot let go: Shayne sacrificed himself to give him a chance, so he will push. But in that moment, an hand reaches his shoulder: is the one of Clark, with all the others behind him. They are safe, but they are, in a way, outside of Perpetua's new reality. They cannot fight back, and if they try, they will fail. But if that's the case, why are they alive, and not dead after Perpetua's blow?
In that moment, the Quintessence appears: Ganthet, head of the Guardians of the Universe. Hera, all-mother of the Olympians. Highfather, king of the New Gods. The Phantom Stranger. Shazam, the great mage. And the Spectre, Spirit of Vengeance.
They observed the conflict since it started, and they knew how it would end. They are now protecting them from Perpetua, hiding them in their energy. During the conflict, they never intervened for one thing: they were hiding something that might be the only hope for things to come back, out of Perpetua's influence.
They explain to the League that the Multiverse was influenced by division, as it was not united anymore. Evil spread so exponentially that relationship shattered in all existence. And with division, comes fear and anxiety, leading then to Doom. That's why they were refused by people. But they have protected a way, a path through all the universe's history that must be redefined by the League to fight back. A path that, upon following it, will lead them to a battle for everything, not just Doom and Justice. Will they try, then?
And united, the League answers yes, catapulting themselves inside the door opening the pathway, trying to claw their way back against Perpetua, one last time...
Appearing in "Justice/Doom War, Finale"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Bizarro (Earth 29) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Black Adam (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Black Canary (Dinah Drake) (Cameo)
- Deathstroke (Slade Wilson) (Cameo)
- Dinosaurs (Cameo)
- Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson) (Cameo)
- Green Arrow (Cameo)
- Hourman (Rex Tyler) (Cameo)
- Johnny Thuderbolt (Cameo)
- "Leviathan" (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Naomi (Unknown Earth) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Young Justice (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Amethyst (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Drake (Tim Drake) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Impulse (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Jinny Hex (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Superboy (Conner Kent) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Teen Lantern (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Atlanteans (Mentioned only)
- Green Martians (Mentioned only)
- Justice Legion (DC One Million) (Mentioned only)
- Justice Society of America (Mentioned only)
- Lionel Luthor (Mentioned only)
- Shayne J'onzz (Sixth Dimension) (Mentioned only)
- Vandal Savage (Mentioned only)
- Will Payton (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Hypertime
- Timestream (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Dawn of Time (Mentioned only)
- End of Time (Mentioned only)
- Alternate Earth 0 Future (Earth 0 residents are turned into Apex Predators) (Unnamed) (Erased) (Mentioned only)
- DC One Million (Mentioned only)
- Kamandi's Future (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Timestream (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Post-Flashpoint Multiverse
- Earth 0
- Earth
- United States of America
- Port Oswego (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Washington, D.C.
- Hall of Justice
- White House (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- United States of America
- Earth's Moon
- Earth
- Speed Force (Behind the scenes)
- Sphere of the Gods
- Graveyard of Gods (Mentioned only)
- Earth 0
Items:
- Batsuit
- Bracelets of Submission
- Helmet of Fate (Cameo)
- Lasso of Truth
- Nth Metal
- Power Battery Pack (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- The Totality
- Trick Arrows (Cameo)
- Trident of Neptune
- Trident of Poseidon
- Wonder Woman's Sword
- Wonder Woman's Tiara
Vehicles:
- Jinny Hex's Truck (Flashback only) (Cameo)
Events:
- Doctor Manhattan's Experiment (Flashback only)
- Event Leviathan (Flashback only)
Concepts:
- Magic
- The Seven Dark Forces of the Universe
- Faithlessness
- Invisible Spectrum (Mentioned only)
- The Seven Forces of the Universe
- Sigil of Doom
- Sigil of Justice (Erased)
- Time Travel (Mentioned only)
Notes
- The epilogue of this issue directly leads into the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal #1.
- Perpetua and Apex Lex's story continues in Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen (Volume 1) which takes place before the Dark Nights: Death Metal event.
- Although it is not revealed in this story, the Quintessence imbues the League with the leftovers of Doctor Manhattan's Anti-Crisis Energy.[1]
Trivia
- While speaking about the events of Doomsday Clock, Ganthet refers to that events as "being disconnected from reality but still deeply felt and impactful" which is a reference to the original DC Rebirth timeline of Prime Earth being erased by Doctor Manhattan and the creation of the current timeline (eventually erased in Dark Nights: Death Metal #7) in the epilogue of Doomsday Clock #12.
See Also