Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Justice League Apocrypha: fanfics, fanfics discussion, and more

Welcome to the Justice League Apocrypha thread.

To start things off, here’s my general thoughts on the JLA:

For me, as with many of my generation, it began not with the JLA comic but with the Super Friends TV cartoon . In particular, one awesome episode of the next-to-last incarnation of Super Friends, where they foil Darkseid’s plan to de-power Superman, was the first indication of the sheer awesomeness of the concept.

I began reading superhero comics in the early 90s, and it was not the best of times for the Justice League. The Funny Era was on its last legs, and a five-year run of mediocrity was right around the corner...to be followed by a splashier kind of mediocrity in the form of Grant Morrison’s relaunch (this is in my humble opinion of course.) Shortly after this, I almost completely stopped reading comics for many years.

It’s only been since my all-out return to comics in 2005 that I learned to truly appreciate the JLA. Its mythos may not be as rich as the Avengers’ mythos, but there is something special there whose potential does get achieved from time to time.

The Crisis on Multiple Earths trades, reprinting the JLA/JSA team-ups in chronological order, have been especially delightful. If you haven’t read them yet, by all means do, especially Volume Three, which is heavy on the Len Wein era.

My JLA fanfics were borne out of frustration with James Robinson and with The Powers That Be at DC, for failing to realize the potential of what I thought was a great lineup. “...Than To Curse the Darkness” was originally supposed to be a one-off, but I enjoyed writing it so much that I’ve outlined many more JLA fanfics, and I hope you enjoy them.

Now for my JLA statistics list:

Favorite Era: Len Wein/Dick Dillin

Honorable Mentions: Steve Engelhart/Dick Dillin & Gerry Conway/George Perez

Least Favorite Era: Gerry Conway/J.M. DeMatteis/Luke McDonnell

Dishonorable Mention: Everybody-Has-A-JLA-Story-To-Tell/various creators

Most Underrated Era: Joe Kelly/Doug Mahnke

Most Overrated Era: Grant Morrison/Howard Porter

Most Disappointing Era: (tie) Mark Waid/Bryan Hitch/other artists & James Robinson/Mark Bagley

Favorite Story (single issue): JLA #200 (JLA Newbies vs. Appelaxians-controlled JLA Founders)

Favorite Story (two or more parts): JLA #100-102 (JLA/JSA/7 Soldiers of Victory)

Favorite Justice Leaguer Who Has or Has Had An Ongoing Book: (tie) Green Lantern & Green Arrow

Favorite Justice League Who Has Never Had An Ongoing Book: Donna Troy

And finally, a list of JLA fanfics with links and summaries, which will constantly be updated:

...THAN TO CURSE THE DARKNESS

Summary:

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Starman is summoned to Talok VIII, the shadow planet, which is being invaded by an army from his home planet Talok III, which turns out to be led by Despero. Starman's summons was actually a trap set by Lydea Mallor, the now-insane champion of Talok VIII. In the end, Despero is defeated and Lydea is cured of her madness. Starman agrees to help rebuild the sister planets whenever he has the time.</span></span>

TRULY SUPER (see next post)

Summary:

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Green Arrow tells Starman and Congorilla a lost tale of the Satellite Era in which Superman is captured by Darkseid and the JLA goes to rescue him.</span></span>

TRULY SUPER

“Ollie,” said Congorilla, “this is the best chili I’ve ever had. I could eat a whole pot of it.”

“Thanks, man.” replied Green Arrow.

Starman, for his part, found Green Arrow’s chili a bit too spicy for his taste, but he was too polite to say so. He and Congorilla had accepted Green Arrow’s invitation to join him for the night on monitor duty and swap war stories. With all the beer the trio was downing to cool off their burning mouths, the stories were coming fast and thick.

“So, Mik,” said Green Arrow, “you were saying that when you did that time-travel jazz, you actually met Kal-El’s dad??”

“Yeah,” said Starman, “really great guy, way ahead of his time. He’d have made a great superhero. I’m sure wherever he is, he’s very proud of Kal.”

“Kal...yup.” agreed Green Arrow. “All around good guy, that Kal. Total square, but a real sweetheart.”

“The whole universe is lucky that he is that way.” said Congorilla. “Can you imagine if he went bad?” He shuddered, as it brought back recent memories of the threat of a Despero-controlled Mon-El.

“I remember one of the few times he came close to going bad.” mused Green Arrow. “You won’t find it in the regular JLA files. I think I better start at the beginning.

“Kal had invited the whole JLA to Metropolis for Superman Day. The team was feeling especially chummy towards each other because we had just had the battle of the newbies against the founders who were being controlled by the Apellaxians; it had brought us all closer together.

“So there we all were, in full costume – me, Dinah, Hal, Diana, Ray, Arthur, Barry, J’onn, Ronnie, Zee, Reddy...the Hawks...and Mr. Sunshine himself, Bruce.

“The Superman Day parade was happening in all its pomp and circumstance. A little corny for my taste, but I was in a good mood and I kept that to myself.

“When suddenly, this cosmic portal opened in the middle of the parade. Some of the members recognized what the portal was and who entered through it – a squad of Parademons, Kalibak as first lieutenant, and in command...Darkseid himself!

“This was my introduction to the Big Bad of Apokolips. I don’t scare easily, but, man, I tell you, I had gooseflesh all over!

“Kal looked more pissed than I’d ever seen him. You don’t mess with Supes in his city, you just don’t. He took on Darkseid straight away, while Bruce, naturally, started signaling the rest of us like crazy. I could say a lot of bad things about Bruce, but the guy had a quick mind, I’ll give him that. Some of us started getting the civilians out of harms way, others started fighting Parademons. Katar, being Mister Macho, thought he could take on Kalibak alone...he had another thing coming. Ha.

“But seriously, after Kalibak had made short work of Katar, I got a glimpse of him attaching a green stone to his weapon. I yelled out, ‘Supes, watch out!’ But it was too late. Kalibak zapped him from behind with a Kryptonite ray, and Kal was down for the count.

“Then Darkseid slung Kal over his shoulder and said, in a voice like an erupting volcano, ‘We have what we came for! Let us depart now! And should anyone attempt to follow us, you will do so...to your doom!’

“We had no choice but to let him go or risk him finishing off Kal right there. Once he was gone, though, Bruce whipped out something from his all-purpose utility belt – a device just like the one that had brought the baddies here. Turns out he had swiped it when he and a few other Justice Leaguers had fought Darkseid before on his own turf.

“So we all teleported over to New Genesis, the planet of Darkseid’s sworn enemies. After greetings and introductions, we made a battle plan to invade Darkseid’s planet, Apokolips, and rescue Kal. Then we were split into teams of three – one New God, one Justice Leaguer who had fought Darkseid before, and one newcomer.

“I got teamed up with Big Barda and Ronnie. That Barda, woo boy, she was some lady! Tough as nails yet pretty as a picture! Couldn’t hold a candle to Dinah, of course, but she came damn close! And Ronnie clearly had a crush on her, like he’d had on Diana and on Power Girl. He was all, ‘Yes, ma’am, no, ma’am,’ until she said to him point blank, ‘I’m married.’ Ouch! Poor Ronnie! Heh heh heh.

“So we landed on Apokolips, all guns blazing, and each team took a different sector. Guess what? My team was the lucky one, if you can call it that!

“We stumbled into this lab, and Darkseid and Kal were there, as well as this guy in a red robe who was carrying on like a bad Shakespearean actor, ‘My marvelous mindwipe machine has turned Superman over to our side, master!’ And on and on.

“We made ourselves noticed, and ordered Darkseid and his flunky to let Kal go. Darkseid laughed in our faces and said, ‘I shall indeed let him loose – on all of you! Superman, show no mercy!’

“It was scary, I tell you. Supes facing us with a nasty expression on his face, his eyes glowing red, his fists clenched. I thought we were all goners.

“Suddenly, Supes turned and attacked Darkseid! Ha ha ha ha ha! He’d been playing along until just the right moment! The look on Darkseid’s ugly mug was priceless!

“Barda and Ronnie joined Kal in the assault on Darkseid. I knew I was outclassed against Darkseid, but I did have fun taking down his flunky.

“Darkseid did shake them off and get away, though. But it didn’t matter. Thanks to Kal’s incorruptible, purer-than-pure heart of gold, we had won the battle that day.”

“Wow.” said Starman.

“A toast,” said Congorilla, “to Kal-El. May he inspire us all to be more like him.”

“Amen to that, buddy.” said Green Arrow.

The trio clinked their beer bottles and went back to their chili and their stories.

NEVER THE END


NEXT: Doctor Light and Cyborg go to Japan, and we introduce a new villain: THE MONSTER-MASTER!

I've been reading comics all my life, but I only started actually collecting five years ago. The earliest exposure to the JLA I had was the first two secret files for Morrison's JLA, some old issues of the Detroit League, and ten issues of JLE. That and the cartoon.

Favorite Leaguers: Animal Man, Zatanna, and Martian Manhunter.

Thanks for chiming in, SK.

Given your list of favorite Leaguers, I think you'll be happy to know that J'onn J'onnz and Buddy Baker will be making appearances in future fanfics.

Well I put Buddy in as a favorite Leaguer because I tend to limit myself to listing two-to-three characters in "Favorite" categories, and Vertigo was filled up.

And I think I will be happy to know that.

Very nicely done FL. You have Ollie's voice down pretty well. Loved the Carter stuff too...love the relationship those two have.

Thank you, Dev.

As Cobie noted in an old Gymll's thread which I may just bump up, Ollie is a lot more difficult to write than he seems. It's a fun challenge, though.

Now that Carter's back from the dead, he may be stopping by for a visit. Will the old sparks fly again? Stay tuned.

Any story involving chili already has a point in my favor. I like that it was too spicy for Mik!

Engaging and concise. I wanted to read more, which I think says a lot.

Thanks, Lash.

Yeah, as much as I love Ollie, I've always believed he would tend to overseason his chili.

You may actually get your wish for more. I'm considering the possibility of having other Justice Leaguers tell the same story from their points of view.

In the meantime, though, the Monster-Master is waiting in the wings.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I will not be able to bring you 'Big in Japan' this weekend.

What I can do is recommend a classic JLA story that you can read instead. This time, I am going to recommend issue 144 of the original JLA, by Steve Englehart and Dick Dillin. It's the TRUE origin of the JLA, set in a climate of Cold War paranoia, with lots of cool DCU guest stars.

In a last minute change of plans, I have decided to put BIG IN JAPAN on the back burner so I may first bring you...



Donna Troy could have been forgiven for thinking she had been thrown out of time. After all, she was battling an army of griffins, minotaurs, and many-headed hydras. But appearances were deceptive. These mythical beasts were in reality the twisted handiwork of the sorceress Circe, who had manipulated the bodies and minds of the animals at the Gotham Wildlife Preserve like so much molding clay – lions and birds of prey into griffins, buffalo and apes into minotaurs, and alligators and snakes into hydras.

As Donna struggled to subdue the beasts without injuring them, Circe herself cackled shrilly while Batman attempted to apprehend her without falling victim to her spells of seduction.

EARLIER THAT DAY, AT THE JLA SATELLITE...

“What we’re looking at,” said Batman to the other Justice Leaguers, “is a classic case of divide and conquer.” He pointed to the monitor, which was split into four screens, each showing a different crisis on Earth: Circe creating out-of-control beasts at the Gotham Wildlife Preserve, Poison Ivy wreaking havoc at the Opal City Botanical Gardens, Mirror Master making mischief at the Hall of Mirrors at a carnival in California, and Chronos running amok in Ivy Town.

“It’s no coincidence,” Batman continued, “that these crimes are occurring at the same time and that there’s no one but us to stop them. This has all been coldly calculated to leave our Satellite vulnerable to invasion. What we’re going to do...is give the mysterious mastermind behind this chaos exactly what he wants!”

CALIFORNIA, THE PRESENT TIME...

“A morge with spirit!” laughed Mirror Master, “That’s how I like ‘em!”

“I have far more than spirit,” snarled Doctor Light, “as you shall find out to your eternal regret.”

“Ye’ve got it all wrong there, lass!” replied Mirror Master, “For I am the kind of man who regrets nothing!”

Doctor Light struck at the Mirror Master in the form of a single focused beam. With great agility, Mirror Master dodged her attack, and she bounced off the mirror which he had been standing behind. Whipping out a prism from his pocket, he caught Doctor Light and split her into several separate Doctor Lights, each corresponding to a different color in the spectrum.

This was a shock to the system for Doctor Light, who screamed in pain and confusion as Cyborg attempted to literally pull himself together after Mirror Master had separated his human parts from his cybernetic parts, trapping each half in a separate mirror. Several civilians were also trapped in the mirrors, distorted into a grotesque Greek chorus to the battle unfolding.

“I am truly an artist!” laughed Mirror Master with great self-satisfaction.

EARLIER THAT DAY, AT THE JLA SATELLITE...

“The best security money can buy.” Batman said proudly as he scanned the monitor’s readout of the Satellite’s security systems.

“It better be,” said Cyborg, “I helped design it. If it fails, I won’t forgive myself.”

“Relax, Victor,” smiled Batman, “it’s not the only trick up our sleeve.”

OPAL CITY BOTANICAL GARDENS, THE PRESENT TIME...

Starman struggled to keep the giant Venus Flytrap from closing down on him. As he felt the plant’s teeth dig into his flesh, he saw his friend Congorilla bound firmly by the strongest vines in existence. Poison Ivy got off the throne she had constructed for herself and walked over to Congorilla, striking a series of sultry poses.

“Congorilla,” whispered Poison Ivy seductively, “don’t fight it. You are as wild a force of nature as I. You are animus, I am anima. Together we can rule the world.”

EARLIER THAT DAY, AT THE JLA SATELLITE...

“Mon-El,” said Batman, “if our uninvited guest should breach the security systems and if you fail to stop him one-on-one, there’s always...this!”

Batman gestured towards a deceptively empty space in a corridor of the satellite that hid a sophisticated cosmic energy trap.

“New Genesis technology. The New Gods’ final gift to us before their death. It’s been tested and re-tested until there was no failure margin.”

IVY TOWN, THE PRESENT TIME...

A herd of Triceratops dinosaurs marched through a residential neighborhood, leaving destruction in its wake as Green Lantern attempted to corral them like giant bulls.

Meanwhile, Green Arrow fought a squadron of medieval knights, having taken one of their horses and led them on a chase into the outskirts of Ivy Town.

And on Ivy Town’s main street, an insane Chronos laughed and laughed as his chronal gun produced ever-more-outlandish time anomalies.

THE JLA SATELLITE, THE PRESENT TIME...

Mon-El had been sitting at the monitor, twiddling his thumbs as he awaited the arrival of the expected intruder.

Suddenly, the alarms went off and the monitor read out in big ominous letters, “SECURITY SYSTEMS OVERRIDE!”

“How can this be?” wondered Mon-El out loud as he raced at super-speed to the location of the breach.

“How, you ask?” enquired a strange voice that was not immediately identifiable as male of female. “Because I am balance, and anything is possible to me.”

Mon-El now saw the intruder, body swathed in a long silken cloak and face hidden by a full mask.

“Now,” said the intruder, unveiling a bizarrely shaped weapon, “you shall feel the power of the Star-Staff.”

Mon-El leaped out of the path of the blast, but the blast itself pursued him like a heat-seeking missile until it made contact.

In an instant, reality itself seemed to unravel for Mon-El. Stars and explosions of bright colors and streams of cosmic energy made themselves visible as they converged within his consciousness. Hidden dimensions opened up to him, conventional perceptions were shattered, and any sense of physical or mental balance came undone for Mon-El, who collapsed convulsively to the floor.

“A mighty mortal you may be,” laughed the intruder, “but you shall be remembered by future generations as the first to fall before...THE NEW LIBRA!”

TO BE CONTINUED

Very nice set-up. Good action for all involved, and nice flashbacks to let us know what's going on.

Thanks, Dev.

I believe if a writer is going to pay homage, they should pay homage to the very best...like Len Wein's JLA.

Oooh, a new Libra.

Yes, and his/her identity will be a shocker.

Cool.

I'm happy to report that now that my life is coming back together, I've made it a priority to finish "A Precarious Balance" and catch up on other LWers fan fiction. So keep an eye on this thread.

Has anyone made any guesses yet as to who the new Libra might be?

Glad to hear you;re back at 'em. So am I. I have three new episodes in three different threads. w00t!

It is with great reluctance that I must announce that I'm not likely to ever complete "A Precarious Balance," because I could never quite work out the resolution to my satisfaction. In hindsight, I think "...Than to Curse the Darkness" and "Truly Super" were the only two JLA stories that I absolutely HAD to tell. Never say never, though.

But for the time being, here's who the new Libra would have turned out to be:

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Wonder Woman, enchanted and manipulated by Circe, the true mastermind behind this scheme.</span></span>

A little background on this entry:

A while ago I was writing and posting a short-lived series on my I Am Milk blog. It was called Outworlders, and it was meant to be my take on the Exiles concept of a team of heroes and/or anti-heroes travelling through space and time on missions to correct anomalies. The teammates are Olivia, Alice, Philip, Magdalene, and Hercules. They report to Utaan, who sends them on their missions. In the third story, which I never posted because I thought it would be too controversial, I had them meet a team of JLI analogues. As requested in another forum by Rocky and IB, here it is.

OUTWORLDERS in: "INTERNATIONAL FEEL"

“I presume,” said Utaan to the assembled Outworlders, “that most of you possess at least some passing familiarity with the malevolent artificial intelligence known as Ultron. For those who do not, Ultron is, quite simply, an evil robot who wants to destroy all organic life. There have been many, many versions of him, both in individual universes and across the multiverse.

“One of these Ultrons was able to breach the timestream and make his way to an alternate timeline where the heroes are a version of the Squadron Supreme...”

“Lemme guess,” snarked Olivia, “those Squadron Supreme losers need our help.”

“Yes,” replied Utaan patiently, “but these are a...very different sort of Squadron Supreme. If you will pay attention to the monitors, I shall introduce them to you, in order from least powerful to most powerful.

“These are Bug Bite and Golden Boy, both average male humans possessing arsenals of sophisticated technology. I should add that Golden Boy’s technology is plundered.

“Next are Demolitia and her partner in romance and adventure, Escape. Both are extraordinary athletes and superb hand-to-hand combatants; in addition, Demolitia has low-level super-strength.

“Burnout, essentially a female Human Torch...

“...and Chilblain, essentially a female Iceman.

“Followed by this universe’s version of Doctor Spectrum, who refers to himself colloquially as ‘Doc.’

“Shifter, a shape-shifting alien possessing super-strength, super-speed, super-endurance and super-telepathy...

“...and, finally, Major Molecule, whose power is nearly on the same level as the Silver Surfer.”

“I don’t understand!” said Alice “That seems to me like a pretty formidable collection of heavy-hitters! Why do they need our help?”

“Because,” explained Utaan, “they are either too arrogant, too self-involved, or simply too idiotic to work together as a proper team.”

“Typical Squadron Supreme, then.” laughed Olivia.

“This is a serious matter.” reprimanded Utaan. “If Ultron gains control of one universe, he shall eventually gain control of the very fabric of space and time and corrupt it with his soulless evil. Already he has used his Encephalo-Ray to dominate the man named Ian Influence, the Squadron Supreme’s liaison with the world leaders, and the team is none the wiser...and probably will not be any wiser unless you Outworlders intervene.”

“As our challenges grow, so doth my appetite for adventure.” declared Hercules. “Let us go forth so that the Lion of Olympus may be satiated.”

“Before you depart,” said Utaan, “observe this Squadron Supreme at the present moment...and tremble.”

The main monitor in Utaan’s domain panned across the conference room of the Squadron Supreme’s headquarters. The Outworlders first saw Burnout admiring her reflection and talking to herself in Portugese, saying what translated roughly to “Who is the fairest of them all?” Next to her was Chilblain, timidly responding to Doc Spectrum’s advances by declaring, “Oh, no, I cannot go on a dinner date with you. The city is scary after nine o’clock at night.” To which Doc Spectrum laughed sophomorically and boasted, “Like you got anythin’ to fear with a real man like me by yer side!” Next appeared Shifter, sitting at the conference table wolfing down chocolate sandwich cookies with a glazed look in his eyes, followed by a sickly-looking Escape assuring Demolitia that her cooking had nothing to do with his current state. Then Bug Bite and Golden Boy burst into the room. “We’ve just accidentally bankrupted the team!” lamented Golden Boy. “Yeah,” added Bug Bite, “that’ll teach us never to GO FOR BROKE! HA! HA! HA!” And, finally, Major Molecule, who kept barking orders and trying to impose discipline until he shrugged and said, “Oh, what’s the use?”

The Outworlders were rendered temporarily speechless by this inane spectacle, until Magdalene broke the silence. “By the Seventh Ring!” she exclaimed, “What a nauseating collection of utter fools.”

“It’s up to us to save the day.” declared Philip.

“I love it when you talk in cliche.” quipped Olivia, who then found herself on the receiving end of one of Magdalene’s blood-chilling stares. “Uh...sorry.” she apologized hesitantly.

As the Outworlders stepped through Utaan’s portal, he said to them, “Best of luck on this mission...if ever you have needed it, that time is now!”

The Outworlders now found themselves standing outside the Squadron Supreme’s headquarters, a brownstone located on the corner of a large city’s busy street.

“Here goes nothing.” said Olivia, knocking on their door.

Shifter answered, bag of cookies in hand.

“Hi!” said Olivia. “We’re an inter-dimensional police force, and we’ve come to your universe because your boss is being dominated by an evil robot who wants to take over the world.”

Eyes still glazed, Shifter stopped munching on cookies and stared at the Outworlders in silence until he opened his mouth and laughed, spraying bits of cookie everywhere. “HA! HA! HA! That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!”

“So much for that approach.” sneered Olivia. “Outta my way, you damned stupid alien.” she shoved Shifter aside, causing him to drop his cookies.

“Insults and rudeness I can take,” barked Shifter, “but wasting cookies, I cannot tolerate! You shall pay dearly for...”

Suddenly, he appeared to be surrounded by a ring of fire, which was actually a construct of Alice’s power prism. “Fire!” he bellowed. “My one weakness! Somebody help me!” Alice intensified the phony flames, and Shifter fainted.

“Oh, brother.” said Olivia, rolling her eyes while Alice smirked.

Suddenly, the rest of the Squadron Supreme came bolting towards the door. “Now you’ve done it!” said Major Molecule. “We’re the Squadron Supreme, and we take care of our own!”

“We do?” asked Chilblain innocently.

“Okay, in theory, we do.” snapped Major Molecule. “That is...what I meant to say...SQUADRON SUPREME, ATTACK!”

Major Molecule let loose with powerful nuclear blasts, causing considerable damage to the neighborhood and panic in the streets. Magdalene responded with a focused blast of the cosmic power she channeled through her staff, hitting Major Molecule square in the chest.

“I will deal with this hussy.” said Burnout in heavily accented English. “She is only bitter because I am prettier than her.” She unleashed her flames, but Alice was quicker than her, constructing a bubble of fireproof material around Burnout.

“Now...freeze!” said Chilblain, trying unsuccessfully to sound tough as she encased Magdalene in solid ice, which Magdalene’s powers easily melted away. Next, Magdalene bopped Chilblain on the head with her staff.

“Hey!” roared Doc Spectrum, “Nobody gets rough with Chilblain except me!”

Unexpectedly, Olivia jumped in between him and Magdalene. “I don’t think I like you.” she sneered, and decked him with one punch. As she rubbed her knuckles, she saw out of the corner of her eye that Hercules and Philip were both losing to the respective double-team attacks of Demolitia & Escape and Bug Bite and Golden Boy.

“You’re French, aren’t you?” Golden Boy asked Philip.

“I’m French and English.” replied Philip. “So what?”

“So you don’t bathe OR brush your teeth, then. HA! HA! HA!”

“You ignorant clod!” growled Philip, smacking Golden Boy so hard with the flat of his blade that Golden Boy’s visor shattered.

“Nobody does that to my buddy.” said Bug Bite, pointing his Bug-Blaster at Philip.

“I just did.” said Philip calmly. Then, with one quick stroke, his sword shattered the Bug-Blaster to pieces. Olivia took advantage of this to clobber Bug Bite with one of her truncheons.

“Truly,” said Hercules to Demolitia and Escape, “the two of thee hath proven themselves the only capable fighters of thy motley crew. For that, I commend thee, and I prithee to bring an end to this pointless, unnecessary fight...which is not to say I hath not enjoyed the sport, but...”

“What he’s trying to say,” piped up Alice, “is that time’s a-wasting while the real bad guy gets closer to accomplishing his evil scheme.”

“What do you think, Husband?” asked Demolitia, “Do you believe they speak the truth?”

“Yeah,” replied Escape, “starting this fight was stupid...even for our team.”

LATER, IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM...

“These are the plans of the building where Ian Influence has his main office.” said Major Molecule, pointing to the screen. “The suite is conceivably large enough to house an artificial intelligence like the one you described.”

“What we have to do,” said Alice, “is hit them hard and fast from all sides. This is how we’re going to do it: Olivia will pose as a temp secretary reporting for work at Ian’s office. Then, Escape will disable the alarms, allowing Olivia to bust from the waiting room into Ian’s office. When she takes down Ian and gives the rest of us the signal, we smash our way into the office from outside and do a search-and-destroy on Ultron. Any questions?”

Chilblain raised her hand. “The suite is on the top floor. How do those of us who can’t fly get up there?”

“I have a lot of spare anti-gravity discs.” offered Escape.

“There you go.” replied Alice, satisfied.

SOON, AT IAN INFLUENCE’S OFFICE...

“I hope you’re better than the last secretary.” grumbled Ian.

“And the next-to-last, and the next-to-last?” snarked Olivia.

“Please, save the sass for outside the office.” replied Ian wearily as he walked out of the waiting room and into his office.

“I’ll give you more than sass.” sneered Olivia, looking at her digital watch, waiting for the glow which would indicate that Escape had successfully disabled the alarms. When the glow came, she was overjoyed. She experienced great relief as she removed her high-heeled shoes and took her retractable truncheons out of her pocket book.

Olivia smashed her way into Ian office, to find a shocked Ian staring at her. “Jeez,” he said, “that’s the last time I use THAT temp agency.” As he talked, he fumbled for the pistol in the side drawer of his desk, found it, and fired at Olivia, who dodged the bullets with great ease and did a back-flip onto his desk. She swatted the gun out of his hand with her truncheon, grabbed Ian by his white collar and snarled, “Where’s Ultron?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Ian screamed. “Please, don’t kill me.”

Olivia did not kill Ian, but she did bop him on the head with the end of one of her truncheons, knocking him unconscious. She then pressed a button on her watch, signaling the others to attack as Ultron came charging out of the office’s back room.

“Fool!” shrieked Ultron to Olivia as he blasted lasers from his fingertips at her. “This is the end for you!”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” replied Olivia, dodging the blasts. “You’ve got some party crashers.”

Indeed, the Outworlders and the Squadron Supreme came bursting into the office from all sides, leaving massive shards of glass on the floor. Taking point were Magdalene and Major Molecule, the heaviest hitters. Their concentrated cosmic-rays-and-nuclear-blasts attack on Ultron allowed Bug Bite to sneak past the evil robot into the back room where the computers were.

Before Ultron could pursue Bug Bite, Hercules and Demolitia pounced on Ultron, buying Bug Bite enough time to shut the door. Ultron shook off his mighty oppenents, screeching, “Imbeciles! I am invulnerable!”

“Maybe so,” said Alice, “but we can still snare you!” And Alice and Doc proceeded to do just that, binding the robot in their power-prism constructs.

They were able to hold him long enough for Shifter to shape-shift into a flying insect and fly inside of Ultron, where he planted a tiny but very powerful time bomb.

Just as Shifter exited Ultron, the bomb went off, burning up and tearing apart Ultron’s inner workings. Ultron flailed spastically as he made his way past all the heroes and broke down the door to the back room.

“You’re too late!” gloated Bug Bite. “I’ve erased all your computer files. You can’t jump to another timeline. You’re stuck here!”

“NOOOOOO!” screamed Ultron. “You have won this battle, but not the war. I shall return to torment you!” That said, Ultron jumped through one of the broken windows, plummeted to the far away ground, picked himself up and began running away.

“I just realized,” said Bug Bite, “he’s stuck here...but now WE’RE stuck with HIM. Uh-oh.”

“We shall face him united and defeat him as many times as it takes.” said Demolitia.

“Well said, thy most courageous of warrior women.” replied Hercules.

“Despite getting off on the wrong foot,” said Major Molecule to the Outworlders, “I really have to thank you. Without you, we’d never have learned how to work as a team.”

“Indeed,” said Demolitia as she and the rest of the Squadron Supreme watched the Outworlders depart via Utaan’s portal, “we owe you a great deal. Do please visit us again, and we assure you a friendlier welcome. Farewell.”

“Perhaps we did misjudge them.” mused Magdalene as they settled into Utaan’s domain and the portal closed behind them.”

“Most of them, yes,” said Philip, “but not that ignorant swine Golden Boy.”

“Eh,” said Alice, “there’s one in every crowd.”

“Yeah?” asked Olivia. “And I’ll just bet I’M the one in this crowd, right?”

There followed an awkward silence.

“I believe I speaketh for all of us,” said Hercules, “when I doth say that we are all extremely fond of thee as thou art, fair Olivia.”

“You always know how to say the right thing, Herc,” replied Olivia, “and you say it more eloquently than anyone.” They stared into each others eyes.

“Get a room, kids.” said Philip.

“We already did.” blurted Olivia, and everyone laughed as they realized that no team ever operates completely smoothly...but some come a lot closer than others.

NEVER THE END

Thank you so much for sharing, FL! That was entertaining, and I didn't even find it mildly insulting to the JLI. They do have those silly traits, after all - but you still had them be the heroes they really were.

PS, I love it when you have Olivia bop someone on the head. I just find it hilarious!

Wow. You're very welcome, IB. And thank you for the kind words.

I've been thinking, I'm going to do a Secret Origin of that team and post it in this thread. And if I still feel inspired, maybe some more stories with them.

I'm very grateful to you, IB, and to Rocky as well, for encouraging me to revisit that story. I was running low on inspiration and frustrated with the way the Legion Alternate Timeline was going (though I will get back to that eventually), and you guys showed me I had something with great potential which I was neglecting.

I did call the JLI era my least favorite Justice League era at the time that I made the first post in this thread a little over two years ago. But that was before I wrote that story, which I guess helped me work out my conflicted feelings about the JLI and realize that, while I have still have some problems with the JLI, it was more to do with the execution than the concept. I do like funny superhero books -- for a couple years, Peter David's X-Factor was my favorite comic out there -- but they have to be done a certain way which JLI was not done.

So I guess the door is now open to how I would interpret the JLI! Let's see where that goes!

I would love to see your continued work on the JLI-Squadron Supreme The JLI was a nice era which could have worked (though some things, such as Guy Gardner breaking Beetle's ribs, the shadow of Bialya, and the turning of Maxwell Lord into an out-and-out villain pushed things too far) and seeing it continue, in a way, under you would be excellent

Would anyone be interested in collaborating with me on a re-imagining of the JLI? It would be completely free of any continuity shackles, just us having fun with any of the Justice League characters we want.

I'm picturing a truly international league, with a merger of the Justice League and the Global Guardians.

I also plan to have Bea & Tora front and center, and to give Bea an origin more faithful to her pre-Crisis origin.

If you're interested, please post your thoughts and suggestions in this thread. Thank you in advance.

Kent Shakespeare has been kind enough to share his wonderful ideas for re-imagining several of the Global Guardians:

FL, I just read through the first page of this thread and I love how you -

a) celebrate different eras of the League

b) have the voices down well - you write like you really know Ollie Queen

I'm really excited to see your coming story on Dr. Light and Cyborg in Japan. Kimiyo is my #1 favorite Leaguer, and having her interact with fellow scientist Cyborg, who has a very different personality, is going to be awesome I just know it.

I don't think I can commit to a full-blown collaboration, but I'd be happy to help with ideas. Having Bea and Tora as stars gets two thumbs up from me.

For the Global Guardians -

I think having Rising Sun as the somewhat cavalier Japanese man with a love for battle and a heart for romance is fine. The one element I'd tweak is reviving his pursuit of Dr. Light (Kimiyo), and use it to highlight their contrasting personalities. Kimiyo would be all business, while Rising Sun would enjoy the fun. He's never explored the other applications of his light powers because he just likes throwing blasts. Kimiyo, on the other hand, is much more practiced and truly wants to change the world.

Tasmanian Devil was a hero who just happened to be gay, but I'd like to see him becoming more active in the LGBT community as a spokesperson for LGBT rights. He had a throwaway line where he mentioned liking the JLI more because of it being more accepting of gays. The one thing that mustn't change is his masculinity - he was well-written as is.

Owlwoman was written as a co-conspirator of the Queen Bee/Harvajti before, then they turned it around and said she'd simply been brainwashed. I'd go with her as being angry at injustice (much like what happened to the Native Americans), but she's start enough to be in total control in public. She wouldn't be averse to getting involved in political intrigue though...

My favorite Global Guardians would be Dr. Mist, Icemaiden, Green Fire, Olympian and Tuatara.

For being used as much as they have Ice and Fire have changed so much that they are not much like the original Icemaiden and Green Fire, whom I kind of preferred to the JLI reinterpretations of them.

Ibby, Set, thank you both for chiming in.

I'm still thinking of possibly doing the Monster Master story set in Japan, but with the re-imagined JLI/GG instead of the League I used in those old stories.

Glad you enjoyed the old stories, though, Ibby, and I appreciate the compliment on the individual voices.

Set, I, too, prefer the Pre-JLI Fire in many ways myself, especially her origin.

Before Kent presented his ideas, I was thinking of tweaking Little Mermaid.

I was going to have her be the actual Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen harbor

I would have had her as being from Tritonis. She dabbled in the Dark Arts and as a result she became cursed. The curse turned her into the statue. For periods of time, she can resume her flesh form. The amount of time she can remain flesh depends upon how much previous time she remained as a statue. The curse can be broken when she performs a truly selfless heroic act. (Of course knowing that a heroic act will break the curse makes all, so far, of her heroic acts not selfless)

Also, I'd have her mother be from Poseidonis and her father from Tritonis. Because of this, when she is out of water, she has legs, but in the water she has a mermaid's tail.

I like it, Quis, especially her parentage being from two different Atlantean cities. Thank you.

Have an idea for Thunderlord. Will post by Monday.

I look forward to it, Quis. Thanks in advance.

Lei Gong was bored. He is one of the barely remembered gods. Without worshippers, he and his fellow gods have become like mere phantoms. The most he could do is watch the doings of mankind. He longed for the days when he would aid mankind by punishing those who had committed secret crimes. It seemed as if the mortals did not need the gods as they could help themselves, some even had powers that rivaled the gods. He envied these superheroes. "There must be a way" He thought "for me to aid mankind once again like the superheroes do now. I will go see Sun Wukung. If anyone knows how to do something, it will be him."

Sun Wukung did know a way, but there was a high price to pay. Lei Gong would have to become mortal himself and would eventually die. Lei Gong pondered this for a long time. The empty life he was living soon lost to his need to be worshipped again and to do good deeds for mankind. Sun Wukung told Lei Gong that he must first find a mortal willing to change places. Then Sun Wukung would instruct the mortal in the rituals he needed to do in order to make the transfer.

Liang Xih K'ai was scared and lonely. In the space of a year the eight year old's entire family had died. Some to illness, some to accidents, and his beloved grandmother to old age. He missed his family. And he was scared of dying. So when the spirit form of Lei Gong first appeared to him, he thought it was Death come to claim him at last. But Lei Gong offered him immortality. Liang would swap places with Lei Gong and become a spirit. And as a spirit, Liang would be able to interact with other spirits, including those mortals who have died. Although as a spirit Liang would look like Lei Gong and Lei Gong would bond with Liang's body.

Liang agreed and gathered together all the items Sun Wukung said was needed to make the trnasfer. He painted the sacred symbols in just the right place. And on the next full moon, when the barrier between the spirit world and the material world was at its weakness, Liang began the spell. The spirit form of Lei Gong looked into the eyes of Liang and Liang looked into the eyes of Lei Gong. The two remained locked liked this for 9 hours when neither could tell which was Lei Gong and which was Liang. This continued for another 3 hours until there was a booming clap of thunder. Then Lei Gong looked upon the spirit form of Lei Gong and Liang looked upon the body of Liang Xih K'ai.

For the next ten years Lei Gong trained his body to physical perfection. Only a strong and healthy body could withstand the forces unleashed when he would use his powers. On his 18th birtday Liang felt ready to begin his career as a superhero. He could form his hands and feet into claws or talons. When he wished to fly, two gigantic bat wings would spring forth from the back. And Yes the thunder was his to command once more. Taking the superhero name of Thunder Lord, Liang looked forward to aiding the unfortunate, protecting mankind, and og course, to be worshipped once more.

Very cool! Thank you so much, Quis.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL Issue 1

Written by: Fanfic Lady

Creative Consultant: MLLASH

Special Thanks to: Kent Shakespeare, Quislet, Esq., Invisible Brainiac

PAGE ONE

PANEL 1: (Establishing shot of the Secret Sanctuary in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island, which once served as headquarters for the now-defunct Justice League of America. Moving trucks are pulling up outside the Sancutary.)

PANEL 2: (Inside the Sanctuary, the remanants of the JLA -- Martian Manhunter, Black Canary, Elongated Man, and Sue Dibny stand around, as if no one wants to be the one to say that it is time to leave.)

PANEL 3: (Close-up of...)

BLACK CANARY: I hear the trucks outside. Let's go. We would only be in the workmen's way if we stayed.

PANEL 4: (As they make their exit, Sue brushes away a tear.)

ELONGATED MAN: You okay, honey?

SUE: Of course I am. You know I'm not the...sentimental type.

ELONGATED MAN: Hey, it's not like all our super-friends out there aren't still fighting the good fight. Besides, what could possibly happen that Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman can't handle by themselves?

PAGE TWO

PANEL 1: (Half-page splash of hurricanes and tidal waves and hell-beasts bursting from the Earth's crust all at once. The moving trucks are sent flying and spinning around.)

PANEL 2: (The four heroes with their jaws dropped at the horrific sight of what they are witnessing.)

ELONGATED MAN: Me and my big mouth!

PANEL 3:

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: I shall rescue the workmen. The rest of you, retreat into the Sanctuary and issue an alert calling all available heroes!

PANEL 4:

BLACK CANARY: You heard him! Run for it!

Oooh, so J'Onn, Dinah and Ralph remain as members. Will you be keeping the lineup the same, or throwing in some interesting new faces?

It's going to be pretty much what most people would expect from a JLI lineup, but with all of the Global Guardians mixed in to add a bit of spice. Okay, a lot of spice.

There will be at least a couple more pages by tomorrow.

Oh hey, I just got reminded of this thread, and it seemed like a good place to spurt out a random thought I just had about Thunderlord.

Back when City of Heroes was running, I made a Sonic based character, with a backstory that, I think, could be adapted for a very cool sort of Thunderlord backstory...



That sort of backstory (modified for a male protagonist!) might make for a more mystical sort of Thunderlord, and suggest a greater range of sonic-based effects than just shouting at people really loud and knocking them around.

.

Icemaiden is another one I'd love to dabble with.

Imagine if her 'hidden magical lands' in Norway or wherever where inhabited not specifically by a race of ice-manipulating people, but her gift was more special, and that her hidden people had various other bloodlines of power, carefully bred over thousands of years. These 'Thulians' might be considered some sort of supremacists, due to their isolation, and unwillingness to dilute these bloodlines by interacting with outsiders, and like Department H, going to 'return Wolverine home' whether he wanted to return or not, her people might send a team of super-powered champions to fetch her back, trying to convince her that her abilities are a gift from her people's heritage, and not something she has any right to just take away and use to the benefit of others. (And perhaps not openly admitting that they *need* her, because their hidden magical land is warming without her, and at risk of flooding or whatever!)

Very cool ideas, Set. Thanks for bumping this thread.

I may just have another JLA story or two in me...we shall see.

JLA/JSA: CRISIS ON EARTH-4 (Part 1 of 6)

Special thanks to Eryk Davis Ester for the idea.

ROLL CALL:

JLA - Wonder Woman II of Earth-1, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Gypsy, Vixen, Dr. Light II.

JSA - Wonder Woman of Earth-2, Flash of Earth-2, Green Lantern of Earth-2, Dr. Fate, Wildcat, Power Girl, Huntress

The meetups of the JLA with the JSA, the respective greatest superhero teams of Earth-1 and Earth-2, had been an annual tradition for longer than anyone could remember. This year, it was the JSA's turn to host the get-together at their Gotham City brownstone.

This had been a great relief to the members of the JLA, as they had recently gone through some of the most difficult times in their long and stories history. Their friends in the JSA now provided them with sympathetic ears.

"Clark and Bruce send their regards, young ladies." said recently deposed JLA chairman Martian Manhunter to the Huntress and Power Girl.

"Thank you, J'onn." replied the Huntress. "I understand they'd like to return to the team, but are both dealing with personal matters."

"Indeed." said MM. "Their respective turfs require their full attention. It is as though all of Earth-1 is in a state of alarm in these times."

"I give you credit for not letting your team fall apart." said Power Girl.

"I certainly did my part," answered MM, "but I feel it is Donna who deserves the credit."

The Donna of whom MM spoke was Donna Troy, the former Wonder Girl who had taken up the mantle of Wonder Woman since the untimely death of her mentor, Diana of Themyscira. Out of respect for Diana, she had altered the Wonder Woman costume, eschewing the gaudy red and blue for lightweight golden armor and a differently-shaped tiara, with wings. She had recently succeeded MM as the JLA chairperson, and was currently doing her best to make friendly conversation with the Diana of Earth-2.

"She always spoke very highly of you." said Donna to Diana hesitantly.

"Bless her soul, may it rest in peace." replied Diana serenely. "And please know that I have full confidence in you."

"Thank you, that means a lot to me. It hasn't been easy, but then growing up never is. I'm definitely not a kid anymore, that's why I thought it best to leave the Titans for the JLA."

In another part of the conference room, Vixen and Gypsy were getting acquainted with the always-affable Jay Garrick, the more reserved but polite Alan Scott, and the grouch-with-a-heart of gold named Ted Grant.

"So how do you like Earth-2 so far?" asked Jay.

"It is certainly much friendlier than Earth-1." answered Vixen.

"Not to sound arrogant," interjected Alan, "but I think we've held on more firmly to basic humanistic values."

"There ya go again, Alan, scramblin' my brains with yer big words." laughed Ted.

Before Alan could reply, Jay had spoken up about another subject. "Your newest member doesn't seem to be enjoying herself. She's all alone in that corner." Jay said to Vixen and Gypsy as he pointed with his thumb at Kimiyo Hoshi, the second, and first heroic, Dr. Light.

"Her idea of a good time is partying with her test tubes." snarked Gypsy.

"Cynthia, don't say things like that." scolded Vixen. "She's merely a naturally reserved individual."

Suddenly, all conversations were interrupted when the brownstone's doorbell rang loudly.

"What in Hera's name could that be?" inquired Diana.

"If it's a baddie tryin' to catch us with our guard down," said Ted, "he's gotta 'nother thing comin'."

"I'll go check it out on the monitor." said Elongated Man. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get a head start." And with that, EM stretched his neck towards the monitor on the other side of the conference room. He pushed the monitor's button with his long, equally stretchable and versatile nose. The security camera outside the front door broadcast the image of a blue-and-black clad young man, holding an unconscious purple-and-black clad young woman in his arms.

"Anybody recognize them?" asked EM.

"The boy is my son, Todd, better known as Obsidian," replied Alan, "but I have no idea who the girl is."

"I smell a mystery." said EM.

TO BE CONTINUED

JLA/JSA: CRISIS ON EARTH-4 (Part 2 of 6)

"...and that's when I decided it would be best if I brought her here." said Obsidian.

"She just dropped into your apartment, out of the shadows? That's a bizarre story, even by our standards." replied Power Girl.

"Her life signs are normal." interrupted the Huntress, looking away from the medical instruments which were attached by wires to the unconscious young woman on the mattress. "The trauma appears to be purely on a mental level, probably a shock to the system when she crossed dimensions...if what she managed to tell Todd before she passed out is the truth."

"J'onn," said Donna, "do you think you could look into her mind and see if there's any way to help her?"

"I shall do my best." said MM.

An eerie silence blanketed itself over the heroes as MM put his fingertips on the young woman's forehead. Seconds seemed to become minutes seemed to become hours, until MM abruptly jumped back.

"By H'ronmeer!" he exclaimed. "I am surprised she yet lives. An attempt was made on her life...by her own mother. Worse, her mother succeeded in killing her other child, a son. Her own flesh and blood..."

The other heroes either gasped, put their hands in their heads or simply shook their heads.

Finally, Diana spoke up. "Poor thing. I would not wish that on my worst enemy."

"Her brother must be avenged." said a seething Donna.

"You sounded a little bloodthirsty there." retorted Power Girl. "I mean, Rao knows I'm just as outraged and angry as you are, but we can't set ourselves up as judge, jury, and executioner."

"It's not about vengeance," replied Diana, "it's about bringing her mother to justice."

"First things first," said the Huntress calmly, "we need to pinpoint her home dimension and then find a way to get there."

"I believe this is where I come in." asserted Dr. Fate. "Todd, if you will put one hand in the young lady's hand, and put your other hand in mine, we should manage to do just that."

As Dr. Fate and Obsidian worked their magic, the young lady began to moan.

"I only require a few more seconds." said Dr. Fate.

Now the young lady sat bolt upright. "Where...where am I?" she demanded to know.

"I brought you here." said Obsidian, "to the only place you could get help, the headquarters of the Justice Society of America. You're lucky that the Justice League of America, from another Earth, happened to be here tonight as well."

"Meta-humans...forming...teams?" slurred the young lady. "I wish they had that on...my world..."

"What is your name, and where do you come from?" asked Donna.

"I'm Eve...Princess Eve. I was born in the Land of the Nightshades, but raised on Earth by my adoptive parents. Then my parents...my...real parents...invaded Earth. It was all chaos and destruction when I escaped." was the young lady's answer.

"How did you get here?" asked Alan.

"I can teleport through the shadows. I was born with that ability."

"Can you teleport back to your Earth?" asked Jay.

"I've...only teleported once, to get here, and it almost killed me. But there has to be some way to get there. The world needs to be saved from...my parents."

"Perhaps if you tell us more about your monstrous parents?" asked Diana.

"Their names are...Queen Magda and King Ian. And they..."

"Ian?" gasped Jay. "His last name wouldn't happen to be...Karkull, would it?"

"Yes." sighed Eve. "That's his last name."

"Who's Ian Karkull?" asked a confused Gypsy.

"A most dreadful human being." replied Dr. Fate. "He learned esoteric secrets in the ancient city of Ragnor which allowed him to manipulate shadows. I faced him alone twice, and then once more with the All-Star Squadron back in 1942. We thought him destroyed. Apparently, that was not the case."

"No, it wasn't." said Eve. "He ended up in the Land of the Nightshades, and seduced my mother, who then assisted him in killing her own parents, the previous King and Queen. They set themselves up as tyrants, and had everyone living in terror. When my twin brother and I were born, they sent us to Earth as their magical familiars. Without our knowledge, they observed the Earth through our eyes until they were ready to launch an invasion. That was when my brother and I learned the truth about ourselves. They offered us a choice: join them or die. My brother was the first to speak out, and when he defied them, they...killed him. My powers kicked in instinctively, and I barely escaped to this Earth."

"If Karkull originally accessed the shadow dimensions through Ragnor, then maybe we can do it ourselves if we go there." offered the Huntress.

"Yes." said Dr. Fate. "With the rich mystical energies in that city, it would be child's play for me to summon a portal."

And so it was that the JLA and JSA, along with Eve, journeyed to the deserted ancient city of Ragnor, in the middle of the Sahara. Those who could fly themselves did. The others used the most advanced aircraft on Earth-2.

Dr. Fate quickly found the highest concentration of mystical energy emanating from a crumbling temple. He wove a spell around all the others to protect them as they were about to enter the temple.

Unfortunately, Dr. Fate had to face the others in order to cast the spell over them, which meant his back was turned to the entrance of the temple. Which is why he was not prepared for a long black spear to emerge from the temple and pass through his shoulder.

As Dr. Fate keeled over in pain, a whole army of living shadow warriors charged out of the temple and attacked the other heroes.

TO BE CONTINUED

I am greatly enjoying this, Fanfie! The cast you chose is diverse and amazing, kudos for choosing less-popular Leaguers like Donna, Ralph, Gypsy, Vixen, and of course Kimiyo. Also, for linking Obsidian and Nightshade in.

Loved the characterization, especially bits like Vixen defending Kimiyo, and Power Girl calling out Donna for being a bit bloodthirsty. I much liked Power Girl when she was more level-headed, there were times when she was too hot-tempered and aggressive for my liking.

Thank you, Ibby.

Yes, I thought keeping at least part of the team from the late-period original JLoA series seemed like a more natural segue. I also have to thank Peter David, for getting me to like Gypsy in his Justice League Task Force two-parter.

Glad you're enjoying the links to the different DC shadow characters. Again, it just seemed natural to me.

Agree 100% on Power Girl. I think a lot of readers (and writers) think that because Kara often has to play (emphasis on PLAY) the Bad Cop to Helena's Good Cop, that Kara should be like that all the time. And that just ain't Kara.

I agree, the real Kara has a good head on her shoulders.

Nightshade having to fight her parents is also going to be interesting. I can't wait for the next installment!

JLA/JSA: CRISIS ON EARTH-4 (Part 3 of 6)

Meanwhile, two universes away, on the Earth where Eve was raised...

Up until now, Blue Beetle had been the world's most flippant superhero. Always quick with a quip, always happy-go-lucky, the eternal boy who laughed so he may not cry.

But at this moment, the man born Ted Kord could not find any humor in the situation he was in. As he piloted his custom-built airship -- known colloquially as The Bug -- through the city, all he could see for miles were either invading shadow warriors or panicking civilians. He flew at a reasonable enough height where he thought he would be safe from the shadow warriors while he struggled to figure out how he could possibly fight them.

Blue Beetle was wrong. He was not safe. And he discovered this too late, thanks to a shadow-matter spear which pierced The Bug's tough hide and short-circuited one of the engines. Ted desperately tried to find a clearing somewhere where he could crash-land without injuring any civilians. He finally found a small patch of empty space in the city's largest public park. He braced himself for a rough landing, but it was not enough. The Bug hit the ground hard and went skidding straight into a massive tree. Worried that he may be suffering from internal bleeding, Ted exited The Bug as slowly and carefully as he could.

As he got his bearings, he could see a squad of shadow warriors running towards him. Grimacing through the pain, Blue Beetle drew his BB Gun and put it on the compressed air setting. Thankfully, the shadow warriors had needed to solidify in order to use their weapons, so the blast scattered several of them and cleared a path for Ted to run for cover. Blue Beetle set the BB Gun on the light blast setting, and ran as fast as he could, blinding any shadow warrior who crossed him.

Eventually, the BB Gun's charge ran out, and the shadow warriors moved in for the kill.

Then, without warning, a lithe figure leaped from a tree branch into the fray, his limbs a flurry of martial arts kicks and chops. This, thought Ted, could only be the Judomaster...but wasn't he an old man by now? Not wishing to lose his life through nitpicking, Blue Beetle ran for the nearest building -- the public restrooms. He ducked into the one labeled "Men" and stopped to catch his breath.

To Ted's shock, another man burst out of one of the toilet stalls. With his body armor and lethal weapons, he had to be the urban legend known as the Peacemaker.

"Don't shoot!" shouted Ted. "I'm not a shadow monster!"

"Well, well, fancy meetin' you here." growled the Peacemaker sardonically. "Too bad for you I got a reputation to protect and can't leave any witnesses. Nothin' personal, y'understand..."

"Are you crazy??" yelled a terrified Ted at the top of his lungs.

"Everybody's crazy." replied a grinning Peacemaker, pointing his gun at Ted's chest.

Before Peacemaker could shoot, he was distracted by a strange smell. He realized too late that it was powerful knockout gas, and he fell to the floor unconscious.

Blue Beetle, for his part, had instinctively reached for the gas mask he carried on his belt. So it was that he found himself face to face with another urban legend, this one emerging from the ventilation shaft. It was the Question.

There followed a tense silence which Ted eventually broke. "I could make a joke about bathroom odors, but I'm not in the mood."

"Glad to hear that." said the Question. "Let's make haste before he recovers."

"And get impaled on the shadow monsters' spears??"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Before Blue Beetle could answer, Judomaster burst through the door. "I have cleared us a path." he said with a marked Japanese accent. Wait, thought Ted, wasn't Judomaster an American WASP? Oh, well, that doesn't matter right now.

The three men ran for their lives through a field of fallen shadow warriors. Ted wondered briefly if Judomaster had killed them. As if he could read Ted's mind, Judomaster announced, "This is war. Never forget that."

Finally, they climbed a tall statue which had been erected in the park. Hopefully, this would buy them some time.

"Our fate may not be our own anymore." intoned Judomaster gravely.

"What are you talking about?" demanded Blue Beetle.

Judomaster pointed at the sky. Captain Atom, Earth's most powerful meta, was divebombing them. Blue Beetle turned up the maginification in his goggles to its highest setting, and what he saw chilled him to the bone. Where Captain Atom should have had eyes, there were pitch-black holes. The shadow monsters must have gotten to him somehow, thought Ted, converted Captain Atom into their slave.

Blue Beetle sighed and said to no one in particular, "Mother said there'd be days like this."

To which the Question replied, "The question is, what are you willing to do to survive?"

TO BE CONTINUED

Nice! Glad you brought the Charlton heroes in. I think you got Ted down to a T, and I'm happy with your writing of the Question and Judomaster too.

Peacemaker is interesting, when I first encountered him in COIE he was already buddy-buddy with the other Earth-4 heroes. But it's not a stretch for him to be like this.

And of course we have to remember Nightshade's comment that on her Eearth, heroes don't band together.

Looking forward to the next parts!

Thank you, Ibby.

Blue Beetle was an absolute joy to write. Glad you like the portrayal.

Regarding Peacemaker, remember that this is a different multiverse where CoIE never happened. That said, I'll freely admit my Peacemaker comes off a lot like his scummy Watchmen counterpart, The Comedian, with a bit of Lobo thrown in. You'll see why in Part 4.

JLA/JSA: CRISIS ON EARTH-4 (Part 4 of 6)

Meanwhile, back on Earth-2...

As soon as the battle between the heroes and the shadow warriors had started, J'onn J'onzz had instinctively created telepathic mind-links with all the other heroes, through which Donna Troy issued the battle plan she'd had to make up as she went along. It helped when she quickly realized that the shadow warriors needed to solidify in order to fight.

As Alan Scott shielded the recovering Dr. Fate with a green-energy force field, Jay Garrick took the point, using his super-speed to keep the shadow warriors off-balance. The rest of the heroes counter-attacked, each in their own particular way: the animal ferocity of Vixen, the brute force of Wildcat, the invisibility powers of Gypsy allowing her to sneak up to individual shadow warriors and strike from behind, and Elongated Man lassoing whole groups of warriors with his own stretchable body.

"Donna," called out J'onn telepathically, "the shadow warriors' commander is emitting a mental frequency familiar to me. I believe him to be our old enemy, the Shadow Thief."

"Roger that." replied Donna telepathically. "I need Kimiyo to open a path for the double team of Eve and Todd, while Diana and I combine our lassoes."

Dr. Light blasted the Shadow Thief unrelentingly. "Fall, damn you, FALL!" she screamed.

Eve and Todd then used their own natural shadow powers to counteract the Shadow Thief's artificial shadow powers and pummel him to the ground. They then deactivated his shadow suit. As the Shadow Thief tried to get up, Donna and Diana's lassoes ensnared him. Without anyone to command them in the field, the remaining shadow warriors fell before the might of the heroes.

"You WILL cooperate with us." hissed Donna through clenched teeth at the now-unmasked Shadow Thief.

"I...will...cooperate...with...you." replied the Shadow Thief as if under a spell.

Meanwhile, on the warzone known as Earth-4:

Just when it seemed as if the three heroes were done for, the recovered Peacemaker burst out of the restroom, firing his enormous gatling gun directly at Captain Atom and shouting, "Eat death, ya cosmic commie! WA-HOOOOOOO!"

Blue Beetle, Question, and Judomaster got themselves out of the line of fire as fast as they possibly could.

Peacemaker discovered to his jaw-dropping horror that his weapon had done no harm to Captain Atom, who scowled eyelessly at Peacemaker as he turned around to face him.

Captain Atom let loose with nuclear blasts from his hands, vaporizing Peacemaker instantly.

The three heroes had taken advantage of the commotion to hide in the trees. But Captain Atom was no fool. He blasted the treetops, setting them on fire.

"And here I forgot to bring the weenies and marshmallows." said Blue Beetle ruefully.

Meanwhile, on Earth-2...

"Is everyone clear on the plan?" Donna Troy asked the heroes assembled at the temple in Ragnor.

"Yes," replied J'onn, who had shapeshifted into an exact replica of the Shadow Thief and put on the shadow suit, "I shall lead one team, posing as my prisoners, into the Land of Nightshades, where we may battle the King and Queen -- beard the lions in their den, as it were."

"And meanwhile," said Donna, "I'll lead another team to Eve's Earth, where we can get the situation under control."

With a wave of Dr. Fate's good arms, two portals appeared. Donna's team -- her, Diana, Vixen, Gypsy, Alan, Jay, Ted, and Dr. Light -- stepped through one. J'onn's team -- him, Power Girl, the Huntress, Eve, Obsidian, Elongated Man and Dr. Fate -- stepped through the other as Dr. Fate said, "May the gods watch over us all."

TO BE CONTINUED

Fab stuff FL, you obviously love the JLA!

Sadly I don't really know them so I may ask some silly questions...

Your first story with Ollie telling the story of Kal El's good-as-gold heart was very touching. Green Arrow strikes me as a cynic (though I don't really know so tell me if I'm wrong) so it's all the more poignant that he's the one telling the tale. No idea who Ronnie or ConGorilla are btw, but that didn't stop me from loving it - Ronnie flirting with Big Barda was funny.

Never the end, indeed!

I liked the writing technique executed in the next story using flashbacks to explain the story as it went along - I've never been brave enough to do that so I applaud anyone who does it, and does it convincingly.

Mirror Master vs Dr Light seems like a decent fight, loved her being split into component colours and cyborg being split human and tech - very striking image that.

Every story needs dinosaurs so I loved Triceratops! You have inspired me with this o do something myself, once I work it out properly you'll read it in one of my fanfics soon

Mon El in the JLA? Ok... I didn't know he was a member but there you go, I must go pick up some trades soon.

It's a pity you didn't finish this as it was a great story, but given that about 10years ago I started Ambers Song then never finished it I can understand that.

Marvel characters in the next story though again I didn't really know them, sorry. Bug Bite and Golden Boy made me laugh - Blue Beetle and Booster are chumps in every reality it seems

Loved the two teams fighting - it's an old trope but a fun one that two hero teams have to fight the first time they meet, and it was great to read here, as was Shifter and his cookies - you had a lot of fun with this story didn't you?

JLA/JSA team up

Loads of yummy characters! Donna as Wonder Woman? Coolio!Dr Light being shy - nice touch. Gypst being snaky - yup, well written. Kara telling of Donna - best part of the fist section! Very nice character interaction! Well done.

The Princess Eve character - no idea if she's canon or not, sorry, but watching her brother being killed - how horrific!

And then Dr Fate, the resident powerhouse, possessed by shadow demons! What a cool cliff hanger, splendid!

Blue Beetle the Worlds most flippant hero - haha! Great line!

I only know the Charlton characters from their watchmen analogues so again I'm reading this without ant preconceptions.

The Question making knock out odours in the bathroom made me laugh, though Captain Atom possessed is a scary thought!

What are you willing to do to survive? Chilling line!

MM mentally networking the team together was clever as was the rest of the team getting stuck in. Good teamwork to catch the Thief. Looking forward to seeing where the teams go next - I'm hooked!

Great stuff FL. More, more,more!

Thank you, Harbi. I do love them, especially when the lineup has a nice variety.



Ask away anytime. I'm always happy to answer questions.



Ah, Ollie, Ollie, Ollie...such a great character, so frequently misunderstood by writers, even some good writers. To try to explain Ollie would take a whole thread in itself. Say...maybe I'll do that in Gy'mll's...

Ronnie is the dominant personality of the original Firestorm, a nuclear-powered character made up of both teenager Ronald Raymond & Prof. Martin Stein.

Congorilla is an obscure character -- a man inside a golden ape's body -- whom James Robinson thought would be fun to include in the JLA.



Thank you! I may try that again soon.



Again, many thanks. And I hope that, as a Scotswoman, you found his accent acceptable.



Nice! Looking forward to it.



I'd suggest reading trades of James Robinson's Superman run instead, where he dug much deeper into Mon-El (who, at the time, was living in the 21st Century as Superman's deputy) than he did in his JLA stories. I think that, despite such a promising initial JLA lineup, Robinson either mischaracterized or underdeveloped everybody.



Awww...thanks. I'd have enjoyed writing Mirror Master and Poison Ivy some more. Maybe in the future.



I really did have a lot of fun with this story -- ironically, the whole reason I wrote it was because I needed an alternate reality for the Marvel characters to go to, and Marvel has a long history of parodying the Satellite Era JLA as the Squadron Supreme, so I thought, why not parody the JLI for a change?



Princess Eve is Nightshade, a Charlton character (her Watchmen analog was Silk Spectre). Her origin in this reality is similar to the one in the mainstream reality, but with a few tweaks (Obsidian and Ian Karkull had no connection to her in the mainstream reality, and Queen Magda was not a villainess.) If you're curious enough about her, I think you could do a lot worse than to pick up John Ostrander's entire Suicide Squad run, where she was one of the main characters and even got a spotlight arc set mostly in the Land of Nightshades. Sadly, only one trade of this run has ever been published, due to ongoing royalties issues between Ostrander and DC, but the floppies are cheap and readily available.

Thank you so much for all the kind words, especially the ones about the JLA/JSA team-up.

I'm so happy that you're giving updates so often, Fanfie! Just read Part 4, I do love how you move the story so quickly and concisely - that is, every scene counts yet there's a lot of characterization wrapped up in it too.

I think I understand now why you wrote Peacemaker so much like the Comedian And the Earth-4 heroes being unfamiliar with each other makes his futile attack on Captain Atom so very believable.

Thank you, Ibby.

The final two installments probably won't be ready til the weekend, but considering the tremedous gaps between installments in some of my past fanfics, I think I'm doing pretty well.

Part Five got finished faster than I expected. Here 'tis:


JLA/JSA: CRISIS ON EARTH-4 (Part 5 of 6)

On Earth-4...

With the treetops on fire, the three heroes -- Blue Beetle, Judomaster, and the Question -- had nowhere to hide from Captain Atom, who had finally managed to track them down.

"It's been nice knowing you guys..." said Blue Beetle, looking over at the other two heroes, "...even if it was just for a few minutes."

Suddenly, the Question appeared to vanish into thin air. Blue Beetle blinked, and then Judomaster was gone, too. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Captain Atom's hands beginning to glow. Blue Beetle closed his eyes and hoped his death would be quick and painless.

When Blue Beetle felt nothing happen after a few seconds, he opened his eyes to find himself at a safe distance away from the fire and from Captain Atom. He was also surrounded by several gaudily garbed heroes he had never seen before. The Question and Judomaster were there, too.

"How did I get here?" asked a puzzled Blue Beetle.

"That would be me." said a smiling Jay Garrick. "Fastest man alive."

"Freakin' awesome!" exclaimed Blue Beetle. "And who are the rest of you?"

"We'll have time for greetings later." said Donna Troy firmly. "Right now, I want Green Lantern and Dr. Light to execute maneuver Z-1."

Alan Scott and Kimiyo Hoshi flew towards the blazing trees, in time to see Captain Atom emerge from there. Kimiyo hit him high with laser beams, Alan hit him low with a green-energy battering ram.

Captain Atom was nearly thrown off-balance by the attack, but he managed to keep his footing. He fired a nuclear blast at Kimiyo, grazing her and sending her spiraling downward. As for Alan, Captain Atom uprooted a burning tree and threw it at him. Alan tried to dodge the tree, as his one weakness was wood, but the roots smashed him and got through his green-energy shields, knocking him out.

The distraction of dealing with the two heroes allowed Donna Troy a window of opportunity to charge at Captain Atom like a juggernaut. She pounced on him with all her Amazon might, and the two wrestled ferociously on the ground.

Meanwhile, Kimiyo managed to make a rough landing at the clearing where the other heroes were gathered. Judomaster helped her to her feet, asking her in Japanese if she was hurt. She replied she was not, and thanked him.

A short distance away, Diana, Gypsy, Vixen, and Wildcat were holding their own against the remains of the shadow army, when Donna tumbled into sight. She had managed to land on her feet after being tossed by Captain Atom, but she could barely stand. Diana signaled to Gypsy to follow her, and the two ran towards Captain Atom.

"Hey, tinfoil face!" yelled Gypsy at Captain Atom. "Yeah, you! Why don't you take a shot at me? I'm right here! C'mon!"

Just as Captain Atom was about to fire, Gypsy faded away out of his sight, and in the momentary confusion, Diana lassoed him around the neck and tugged as hard as she could. He felt himself choking, and tried to burn off the lasso, but it stayed intact.

"Listen to me!" she commanded. "You are not a slave to the shadows! Let the truth set you free!"

Meanwhile, in the Land of Nightshades...

"Blast!" roared Ian Karkull, self-appointed monarch of this shadowy dimension, as he watched Captain Atom and Diana through the scrying pool in front of him. "She's getting through to him! I can't keep my telepathic hold over him!"

"But you must!" said Queen Magda. "Or all is lost!"

"You have a talent for stating the obvious." snarled Ian, putting his hands on his head as he struggled to reassert control over Captain Atom. "Go and attend to the Shadow Thief and his army, they have...urgh...returned with...argh...prisoners."

Shortly, Queen Magda went to the entrance of the palace, where J'onn J'onzz in his Shadow Thief disguise was mind-controlling the entire squadron of shadow warriors, and the rest of his team was in shadow-construct chains.

"I bear good tidings." said J'onn.

"Deactivate your suit and remove your mask." ordered Queen Magda. "I wish to see you face to face when I address you."

"As you command." replied J'onn, taking off his mask to reveal the Shadow Thief's face.

"Very well." said Queen Magda. "At least you were successful. Once we mind-dominate these prisoners, it should turn the tide on Earth-4." She then looked Eve in the eye and began to say, "As for you, prodigal daughter..."

"I regret to inform you," said J'onn, "that we have different plans."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Queen Magda.

As the other heroes broke their chains, the shadow warriors fell to the floor unconscious as J'onn released his hold over them and shape-shifted back into his Martian Manhunter form, his supple muscles tearing the shadow suit to pieces.

"Treachery!" yelled Queen Magda as she prepared to blast them with shadow-bolts. But before she could, Elongated Man had stretched himself out and wrapped himself around her. "Now, now, Queenie." he said. "Is that any way to treat your guests? You should meet my wife, now there's a hostess with the mostest."

"Shut up and get off me!" she screamed.

"Sure thing." he replied, unwinding himself and slithering away. "I've got bigger fish to fry. Besides, I think the Princess has some choice words for you."

Eve grimaced viciously as she assaulted her mother with shadow bolts.

The other heroes took advantage of this to head deeper into the castle, with Obsidian leading the way.

"I can sense Karkull." he declared. "His chambers are through...that giant door, there."

Power Girl attempted to smash her way through the door, only to get knocked down by mystical feedback.

Dr. Fate now stepped forward. "Karkull's spells shall avail him none." he asserted, holding up his good arm and blasting it with magic rays. This counteracted Karkull's protective spell and cancelled it out. Another magical blast from Dr. Fate followed, this one so powerful it atomized the door.

The heroes charged through, with Dr. Fate front and center. "Karkull!" he belted out in a stentorian tone. "Only one of us shall leave this palace alive!"

"Die, all of you!" yelled Karkull, firing the strongest shadow bolts he could summon. "DIE!"

TO BE CONCLUDED

As usual, love the concise but effective battle scenes. Really loving Ted and Kimiyo and Gypsy and Donna and Ralph... Well, all of them! I think you got their personalities down really well.

Eve vs. her mom is quite poignant, in one line you pointed out how hard it must be for Eve.

Thanks, Ibby.

The character bits are what I've been happiest with in this story. I can be quite self-critical. At the very least, I think I should have been more descriptive of the Land of Nightshades and its royal castle. But I'm not George Lucas, I don't like to go back and try to "fix" my stories.

Will do my best to deliver a good conclusion.

Yes I think your scene with Ian and Queen Magda already captured the "feel" of the castle well enough. No need to add any more to that.

Thank you, Ibby.

And here's the final installment:


JLA/JSA: CRISIS ON EARTH-4 (Part 6 of 6)

Dr. Fate was able to put up a mystic shield just in time, but it proved too weak against Karkull's shadow bolts, and it shattered, the shockwave knocking over Dr. Fate.

"You can't fool me, my old enemy." cackled Karkull. "You're only operating at half-strength. And that will prove to be your doom." Karkull began influencing the unconscious Dr. Fate's shadow, having it wrap itself around the fallen mage and cutting off his air supply.

But Dr. Fate's shield had nonetheless accomplished its purpose, for so intent was Karkull on annihilating his nemesis that he paid no attention to the rest of the heroes, all of whom were still standing thanks to Dr. Fate.

Huntress struck first, launching a flash-bomb right at Karkull's face, blinding him just long enough for Martian Manhunter to get close and unleash a powerful psionic blast at Karkull, who went down screaming in pain.

Meanwhile, on Earth-4...

By now, Diana had wrapped her rope around Captain Atom's midsection, effectively immobilizing him as he continued to struggle to throw off Karkull's control over him.

And back in the Land of Nightshades...

Karkull was able to get back on his feet, but he could no longer maintain his shadow form, which gave Power Girl the opportunity to pummel him back to the ground.

As the heroes backed away from Karkull to catch their breath, the villain rallied and began firing shadow-bolts at them again. The heroes scattered.

Enter Eve and Obsidian, who double-teamed against Karkull to great effect.

And at that moment, on Earth-4...

"I...remember...now." mumbled Captain Atom, whose eyes suddenly went back to normal as his voice got louder. "Yes, I remember. Karkull did this to me! Let me go, so I can make him pay!"

Diana looked over at Donna, who nodded. She set Captain Atom free, and he used his quantum powers to open an interdimensional portal. "Follow me to the Land of Nightshades."

And within moments, the assembled heroes of Earth-1, Earth-2, and Earth-4 were charging the royal castle, taking down the palace guards with great ease. Captain Atom blasted the front door open.

In Karkull's chambers, Martian Manhunter alerted his fellow heroes, "I have detected telepathically that the others have arrived from Earth-4. Donna is telling me that we must evacuate the castle immediately.

The heroes, with Eve carrying the unconscious form of Queen Magda and Martian Manhunter carrying Dr. Fate, ran past Captain Atom, who was flying straight towards Karkull's chambers.

When Captain Atom reached his destination, he found Karkull struggling to pick himself up off the floor.

"This is the end for you!" screamed Captain Atom at the man who had turned him into a killer.

Captain Atom fired his nuclear blasts at maximum intensity, while Karkull found just enough strength within to equal Captain Atom's blasts with his own shadow bolts. The humongous explosion tore apart the castle and created a mushroom cloud.

Outside, a revived but still weak Doctor Fate summoned all of his might in order to project a mystical force field around himself and the others, shielding them from the explosion.

After a moment, Donna broke the eerie silence. "J'onn, does your telepathy detect any life signs?"

"None whatsoever." replied J'onn, shaking his head.

"What was done was what had to be done." declared Donna, even though she knew that not everybody present agreed with her.

Much later, back on Earth-2 at the JSA brownstone, all of the heroes were celebrating the overthrow of the rulers of the Land of Nightshades. Queen Magda was being kept in a holding cell in the lower levels, bound by shadow ropes created by Eve, awaiting trial on Earth-4 to answer for her crimes against humanity.

Eve, for her part, was alone on the balcony, until Obsidian stepped next to her. "Don't you want to join the party?" he asked her.

"I prefer solitude right now." she whispered wistfully.

"Okay." replied Obsidian, turning around.

But before he walked out, Eve called him back. "Wait. I did want to tell you something."

"What's that?"

"I think we make a great team. And I'd...really like it if you came to live with me."

"Um...I don't know how else to say this, but...I swing the other way."

"I understand. But...can we still be friends?"

"Absolutely."

"Thank you. I'll be needing friends as we work to rebuild Earth-4 and to turn the Land of Nightshades into a democracy."

"Speaking of rebuilding Earth-4, Blue Beetle, Question, and Judomaster are talking about forming a team called the Sentinels of Justice, and they'd like to know if you'd like to join them, at least on a part-time basis."

"I would be happy to. Let's go tell them."

The two youths stepped back in, and in the cool night sky of Earth-2, all seemed well.

NEVER THE END

That was quite an ending, Fanfie! Loved the teamwork among the heroes. Eve and Obsidian do make a great team, it would be nice to see their battle techniques in greater detail. Thank you for keeping Todd as a gay man; I found it perfectly believable that Eve, whose life has been turned upside down in the last few days, really took a liking to him.

Poor Captain Atom. His rage at being mind controlled was understandable and realistic. Will you have him reappear, perhaps after being tossed through time?

The moral ambiguity of the destruction of the castle was well done. This is certainly a different Donna Troy. Even Diana is arguably more shades of grey than usual for letting an enraged Captain Atom loose.

Quite an enjoyable read! You juggled the huge cast quite well!

Thank you, Ibby.

And regarding Todd, you're welcome. I felt it was important to make it clear that Todd's sexuality is the same in this reality.

Captain Atom will definitely reappear. I'm toying with the idea of a fanfic focusing on the newly formed Sentinels of Justice, and reintroducing the Son of Vulcan as the team's "Thor". Imagine a battle between SoV and Captain Atom.

It is definitely a more warlike Donna. That's what came naturally to me, and when I analyzed it, I saw it as a realistic part of her evolution, a combination of the twin burdens of team leadership and the Wonder Woman mantle.

Good point about Diana, but I'd like to think she was simply being pragmatic.

Hi FL,

Great to see you are obviously really enthusiastic about this story, your enjoyment shines through.

It was quite touching reading Blue Beetle think his time was up and saying his goodbye so to the two guys he'd just met, though I think he would have felt being whisked aside by Jay. Loved the "freakin' awesome!" Though, that was the perfect response. Donna Troy being a physical match for Captain Atom was cool, I never would have thought of that but she is one tough cookie. Dr Light and Green Lantern distracting him was clever team work.

I haven't read a lot with Gypsy in it so it was a nice surprise reading her so confident and spunky - I think the only think I've read was the 4 parter when the Detroit team were mostly killed off and she wasn't like that then so good to see character development and growth.

I didn't really get the land of nightshade as there were no real descriptions to work with, I think that was the one part that didn't fit as a result. Sorry, I'm really not all that knowledgeable about DC'S history so things like that are difficult to follow.

That said Jonn in disguise as the Shadow Thief was great, very clever to use a mega powerful character like that to do something so stealthy.

I Googled Obsidian as I again didn't know too much about though glad I did, from what I read you did his character justice. And as cliffhangers go part 5 is a doozzie! Splendid stuff.

Part six and it's all led to this...

Opening with Dr Fate having trouble shielding the team was a fantastic way to keep the excitement up, excellent! Interesting that it was the non powered Huntress who attacked Karkull first too.

I'don't have liked to have seen a bit more action in the little interlude with Diana and captain Atom, just to know what the rest were doing -putting out the burning trees? Catching their breath? Introducing each other properly? This seemed like a missed opportunity for you to add a little bit of characterisation into this final section.

Why is Power Girl pummelling always so satisfying? I loved her pummelling Karkull into the ground, made me smile!

Obsidian and Eve double teaming the villain could have had a bit more detail though as it had such a good lead up to it that I wanted to know how they did it. Captain Atom regaining his memories and getting angry was well done, he's such a dangerous character that the idea of it is scary! Donna'so comment about what was done being what had to be done was cold, almost too pragmatic though I do get it, and understand her rationale, even if I don't necessarily agree. Still, controversial characterisation is absolutely the way forward - they may be heroes but we don't have to agree with everything they say or do, and the slices of gray in a character always help make them more honest.

Ebe and Obsidian'so friendship was nicely written at the end, after everything they'd been through it was only fitting that they had a moment of sorts.

Excellent that you ended with the Earth 4 team forming into a cohesive unit, out of the loss and struggle something good was born.

Great stuff FL, as I don't really know much about the characters a lot of my points may be mistaken so please accept my feedback as just that - from someone who knows nothing about the majority of the settings or characters but enjoyed it thoroughly anyway.

I'm really looking forward to seeing where you take us next and which charters you use, so please don't keep us waiting too long for more, more, more!

Thank you, Harbi.



Good point about how he would have felt being whisked aside by Jay. I considered writing something about that, but ultimately I decided it was more surprsing to write him just opening his eyes and being safe.

I'm very proud of "Freakin' awesome!" In fact, my whole writing of Blue Beetle is what I'm proudest of in this story.



Donna's my girl. She took up the Wonder Woman mantle all-too-briefly in the mid-2000s, and it was very badly executed. I wanted to be sure I got it right.



Thanks. As I said to Ibby earlier in this thread, Gypsy finally grew on me when I read Peter David's 2-parter in Justice League Task Force #7-8. He gave her a lot of the best snarky lines. Those issues have not been collected, but are well worth seeking out.



Yeah, that's my biggest regret with this story. If I do revisit these characters, I'll be more descriptive of the Land of Nightshades.



That's another bit I'm very proud of.



Thanks. Todd's one of the best LGBT characters in the history of comics, and I appreciate your kind words about me doing him justice.



Helena, like Donna, is a favorite of mine. I wanted her to have at least one iconic moment. It's tough to do things like that with non-powered characters without making them come off as a bit much (see: Morrison's Batman in JLA) but I was happy with this bit.



I agree. At the time of writing it, I wanted to make sure the pace didn't flag, but in hindsight it was a missed opportunity.



Awwwww...thank you.

Why? Because Power Girl is an awesome, underappreciated character.



That's another part I think I should have thought through a little more.



Thank you. That proves to me that I succeeded in my intent. As I said to Ibby, the pressures of leadership and the WW mantle are definitely having an effect on Donna.



Exactly. Thank you.



And I think that's the most rewarding part of this project for me, to know that I made it accessible enough. Many thanks.



I promise I won't take too long. I've got a Marvel project I need to get out of first gear, and then we'll see where this thread goes next.

Looking forward to whatever you create next FL, and sorry for Defrost team, it should say Detroit but I was using my new tablet and it auto corrected me, honest!

LOL That's all right, I figured out easily that you meant Detroit.

I've never been to Detroit, but I imagine in the winter they have to defrost a lot, so there's that, too.

Drat that autocorrect. The other day it turned my "Quislet" into "Quid Key". Bah!

All right, I think (I hope) I've got it all figured out.

From this point, I'm only going to write the JLA stories that I absolutely feel need to be told, and provide summaries of the rest. I'll use the same lineup as in the JLA/JSA team-up.

I came up with the backstory for this lineup. The original JLoA timeline deviates after JLoA #243, the issue where Aquaman leaves.

Then there's a 7-part battle royal against Darkseid, with JLoA ending at issue #250. The lineup for this epic is:

Martian Manhunter
Zatanna
Elongated Man
Gypsy
Vixen
Vibe
Steel

Plus guest stars:

Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman

And introducing:

Dr. Light II (Kimiyo Hoshi, empowered by Highfather of New Genesis rather than the Monitor)

Wonder Woman, Steel, and Vibe all die during this battle. In the aftermath, Wonder Girl (Donna Troy) leaves the New Teen Titans and takes up her mentor's mantle, joining the JLA.

Superman and Batman turn down the offer to return to the team full-time. Zatanna retires from superheroing.

This leaves the lineup at the time of the JLA/JSA team-up: Wonder Woman II, Dr. Light II, Martian Manhunter, Gypsy, Vixen, Elongated Man.

The JLA/JSA team-up is issues #1 and #2 of the JLoA relaunch.

Issue #3, which I may or may not write, is a recruitment drive. Firestorm returns, Cyborg is convinced by Donna to join, and Metamorpho leaves the Outsiders for the JLA (I know it might seem redundant with Ralph already in the team, but the way I look at it is, Ralph is a sophisticate while Rex is salt-of-the-earth, creating a nice contrast despite their similar powers.)

Issues #4-13, which I probably will not write, are various battles against The Key, The Weapons Master, and Amazo, plus a battle alongside guests stars the Sea Devils and Dolphin, against an invasion from an Ocean Master-ruled Atlantis, after which Dolphin joins the JLA, and a team-up with the Outsiders against the Masters of Disaster, after which the Outsiders disband and Geo-Force joins the JLA.

Which brings us to the next JLA/JSA team-up in issues #14-16: "Crisis on Earth-Infinity". What is Earth-Infinity? Find out soon!

This is wonderful, Fanfie! I agree, summaries can fill in for issues which are not absolutely crucial to write.

I like how you took the established Detroit League and morphed it into something else. I think your continuity very cleverly merges your own ideas with canon continuity. Superman and Batman both really became much less involved with the League after COIE; and Vibe and Steel really did die in canon continuity. I am a bit sad that Diana died, as she is a favorite, but I recall she also "died" at the end of COIE. Just curious, but did you decide to have her die as part of Donna Troy's character arc? Or to "fill in" for her canon "death" and rebooting in the comics?

I of course love that you brought Kimiyo in.

Adding Firestorm, Cyborg and Metamorpho is a great move. All are capable heroes with great powers. And I think that besides the personality differences, Ralph and Rex also have powers which are different enough to justify their concurrent membership (plus, they served together in Justice League Europe for a while so we know they will work well).