Justice League of America
Justice League of America
A super-team comprised mainly of DC's most popular characters. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, the Atom, and Hawkman.
The team, inspired by the Justice Society of America of the Golden Age, was first seen in The Brave and the Bold #28 in 1960. They soon got their own series.
Superman was a founding member of the team, as was Batman. However, both heroes were kept off the cover of their earliest appearances as editor Julius Schwartz felt it was more fair for the others to have more of the spotlight.
The original roster consisted of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lantern, and was expanded to include Green Arrow, the Atom, Hawkman and more.
In 1963, the League teamed up with the Justice Society of America for the first time in issues #21 and 22. This would eventually become a regular occurance. The story was also a predecessor to the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths.
The series inspired the successful Super Friends cartoon series and the popular Super Powers toyline. However, in 1984--inspired by the success of New Teen Titans, DC swiftly turned the comic into a series focusing on also-ran DC characters, such as Vibe and Vixen. Meanwhile, most of the team's founding members left. This hurt the team severely.
After Crisis on Infinite Earths ran its course, the various backstories of superheroes were altered so that Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were not founding members of the team. In fact, in the new history, Superman was never a member of the team, and Wonder Woman hadn't even surficed until after the Crisis and her role in the founding of the team was retroactively filled by the Black Canary.
In 1987, the series had a revival. It continued to focus on lesser heroes such as Booster Gold and Dr Light (although, by now, Batman had returned as the team's leader). This revival proved short-lived, however.
Superman briefly returned to (or first joined, in modern continuity) the League in 1992, however, this return turned out to be fleeting as Superman was killed by Doomsday later that year.
Superman finally rejoined the Justice League in 1996. In fact, that year saw the first true all-star roster of the team since the pre-Crisis era.
Recently, however, the Justice League fell apart as a result of recent storylines. Time will tell if a new League will emerge.
The JLA's senses-shattering battles and eventual triumph over evil are truly the stuff of heroic legend.
External Link
Justice League of America appearances in the Superman Chronicles:
(S No. 149, Nov 1961: "The Death of Superman!")
(SGLL No. 29/3, Nov 1961: "The Irresistible Lois Lane")
(Act No. 314, Jul 1964: "The Day Superman Became the Flash!")
(S No. 173, Nov 1964: "The Triumph of Luthor and Brainiac!")
(S No. 192, Jan/Feb 1967: "The Brat of Steel!" and "Once There Was a Superman!")
(SGLL No. 74, May 1967: "Superman's Unbeatable Rival")
(Act No. 350/2, May 1967: "The Anti-Supergirl Plot")
(S No. 199, Aug 1967: "Superman's Race With the Flash!")
(Act No. 365, Jul 1968: "Superman's Funeral")
(Act No. 366, Aug 1968: "Substitute Superman")
(WF No. 189, Nov 1969: "The Man with Superman's Heart")
(WF No. 201, Mar 1971: "A Prize of Peril")
(Adv No. 423, Sep 1972: "Treachery")
(SGLL No. 128, Dec 1972: "Death Waits To Kiss the Bride")
(Act No. 429, Nov 1973: "The Man Who Wrote Superman's Obituary")
(SG No. 8, Nov 1973: "A Head-Full of Snakes")
(Act No. 437, Jul 1974: "Magic Is Bustin' Out All Over")
(Act No. 443, Jan 1975: "At Last! Clark Kent--Superhero!")
(SF No. 171, Jun/Jul 1975: "Cleopatra, Queen of America")
(WF No. 246, Aug/Sep 1977: "The Prisoner of the Kryptonite Asteroid")
(Act No. 480, Feb 1978: "Amazo's Big Breakthrough")
(Act No. 481, Mar 1978: "It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Supermobile")
(Act No. 483, May 1978: "Sleep No More")
(S No. 327, Sep 1978: "The Sandstorm That Swallowed Metropolis!")
(Act No. 489, Nov 1978: "Krypton Dies Again")
(Adv No. 462, Mar 1979: "Voyage of the Sorcerers Lost")
(Adv No. 464, Jul/Aug 1979: "Slave of the Queen Bee")
(DCCP No. 43, Mar 1982: "In Final Battle")
(PZ No. 2, Feb 1982: "Earth Under Siege")
(PZ No. 3, Mar 1982: "The Terror Beyond Twilight")
(PZ No. 4, Apr 1982: "The Phantom Planet")
(Act No. 535, Sept 1982: "The Saucerer's Apprentice!")
(WF No. 286, Dec 1982: "When Hell Breaks Loose")
(WF No. 287, Jan 1983: "Within My Heart, the Enemy")
(WF No. 288, Feb 1983: "To Hell and Back")
(DCCPA No. 2, 1983: "The Last Secret Identity")
(Act No. 546, Aug 1983: "Showdown!")
(S No. 387, Sep 1983: "The Conqueror from the Past")
(WF No. 300, Feb 1984: "A Tale of Two Worlds", or, "Planets In Peril")
(WF No. 302, Apr 1984: "No Rest for Heroes")
(SG2 No. 20 , Jun 1984: "Celebration")
