Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Justice League Detroit - Alternate

I am really enjoying this thoth, I was always more of a Marvel Zombie back in the day so it's interesting to see just how many options there were available for possible JL recruits back then! I also really liked the analysis you gave initially of how the League got to the point they did with the Detroit team forming...it's good to have that background when reading this stuff. I am very interested to see where you take them and who ends up being on the team!

There sure was. I had a few more characters that I hadn't posted. I've just added to those and will put them up shortly. Then I'll need to remember who everyone is for an index.

Huge thanks for taking the time to read not only the plots, but the background too Raz.



Because of the huge shift in the series, in a time of significant changes to DC, there's a decent amount of information out there on the background. It's probably a good thing to see under the hood a little, and to understand that the comics weren't created in a creative vacuum, but were heavily influenced by events elsewhere in the company.

Thanks very much for your comment about having been a Marvel Zombie. I did these last year and having gone through all the issues, I think that I probably take for granted a little that everyone else will have read the comics of the same period.

I'll be sure to add in little notes for anything significant as we go. In fact, there will be a decent sized one, just after the next issue. Just ask if there's anything that could be clearer.



Thanks again. There are constraints from the wider DCU at the time that will hopefully make the membership shift interesting.

230: "War of the Worlds, 1984" (September 1984)



Firestorm returns to the satellite to search for survivors. The atmosphere has escaped from the section he enters. He sees the damage to the JLA's home and tells Professor Stein that his colleagues could all be dead. Phasing through the bulkhead into the next section, Firestorm runs into the Martian boarding party, their changed forms able to withstand the harsh environment.

On Mars, Canary, Tornado and the Manhunter attack the central chamber containing the device that's holding Adam Blake prisoner and mentally crushing Earth's resistance.

As they battle the Martian's guarding the device, J'Onzz wonders at how easily his race has managed to use Comet. Blake was one of the most powerful humans J'Onzz had ever met.

Despite the power of J'Onzz, the league is held back. Tornado is damaged in the battle, his chest plate smashed open. A sudden storm of dust and debris ends the Martian threat. Unable to see Tornado, J'Onzz presses on.

Meanwhile, Canary has booby trapped the device holding Blake, cursing being in a place where her canary cry is useless in a space suit. Still, she has disabled a Martian through a particular grip (shown to her by J'Onzz). As she is about to finish her work, she is stunned by a glancing blow from Bel Juz.

J'Onzz arrives, saving Canary and knocking Juz away from the device. As the two battle into the Martian sky (and towards a bright object there), we learn about Juz's betrayal back in World's finest 212. (The Martians had moved to a new world following events in JLA 71. There, they were enslaved by a trinity of Thythen. Juz led Superman and J'Onzz into their clutches, and may have betrayed others of her race.) She promoted the Marshal as an overlord to help cover her crimes. Juz has led the battle towards the Martian mothership (that bright point in the sky). Below, Canary frees Comet and destroys the device.

Now within the Mothership's communications net Juz tells the others that J'Onzz is a traitor and will be killed before he ever gets to the Marshal. Juz taunts J'Onzz about betraying his love, his race and even his Earth pets far below. J'Onzz heads towards the hull of the mothership as it fires upon him.

Firestorm is helped by the others on the satellite to defeat the boarding party. Aquaman has been injured from his fight with the Challenger robot. Zatanna had been keeping them alive after the attack last issue, but has suffered from the strain of doing this and keeping the satellite together. Dibny has retrieved a Key weapon ( a device used by the JLA enemy The Key)from the trophy room, which he uses against the invaders.

Across the page tops, we see a familiar tunnel effect showing the return of a Kryptonian from the 30th century. We see little slips of the Legion HQ, Space Ranger and OMAC along with the usual dates. There's also a tiny time bubble ahead, and separate, from the silhouetted figure travelling through the centuries.

Having destroyed their military targets last issue, the wave of Martian fighters return from their missions. They encounter the Hawks in their Thanagarian craft. The Hawks realise it's futile, as Earth has only put up a token resistance, but they attack anyway.

Aquaman contacts Earth to find a terrified US/USSR about to launch a nuclear counter strike. They have seen the limits of their defences and wish to retaliate. Their surrender has been replaced by terror now they are free of Comet's influence.

As the time tunnel effect continues, the Hawks manage to make a staged retreat towards Earth. It's looking bleak as their craft takes damage. Although the more powerful members of the league; Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman have not come, they are never alone when they have each other. As they face their end, their attackers are disabled by a returning Supergirl (from events seen in Legion of Superheroes 215).

The Martians are distracted by the sudden victory of the Hawks. J'Onzz, burned by the ship's weapons, uses this distraction to confront the Marshal. Their brutal single combat is broadcast to the remaining fleet as the Martian Commander was interrupted issuing orders.

A little surprised by J'Onzz's appearance in his own ship, the battle does not go immediately the Marshal's way as they crash through the ship. In his weakness, the Marshal blames J'Onzz and the Green Martians for creating the promise of the Red Messiah that his brotherhood is named after. The dogma used by the Green faction, used to keep the White warrior faction in check, has resulted in this war. It becomes clear that The Marshal looked to find this figure of prophecy and either control or eliminate him.

Back on the surface of Mars, Juz looks to celebrate the Marshal's overall victory even as her group survey the damaged machinery and Comet's freedom. As they, and nearby the League, watch the fight through their equipment, she senses that the other Martians are wavering in their support. Juz urges them to remember their prophecy.

Although banned in single combat, The Marshal begins to use his powers of invisibility. Beating J'Onzz back into the heart of the ship, he drops hints that J'Onzz is personally responsible for ensuring that this war is happening now and not lost to the Martian winds.

Steeling himself with grim determination, J'Onzz hurls them both into the ship's engines. On the brink of triumph, Bel Juz sees everything disintegrate in a flash, as the Martian craft detonates high above its home world. The remainder of the fleet are either caught in the blast, or return to Mars having been soundly beaten by the Hawks and Supergirl. On Earth the missiles are stood down and there are early hints of summits or a more concentrated effort against such threats in the future.

Later: Bel Juz leads a small band out onto the Martian surface to search for other remnants of their lost civilisation. She has only a small band as the Martians have nearly all returned home. It's not known if any know of her previous betrayal. Above, there is our sun and a second bright object; the still burning engines of the Martian mothership.

Near the UN building on a New York evening, we see the faint new star in the sky as J'Onn J'Onzz's lost love, J'En (from ##228 above) looks up. Unaware of what has happened, and unable to contact anyone she continues her search for the object of the Martian prophecies.

In the UN building behind her, a blond, dark suited figure (also from #228) reports to an older gentleman who leans on a cane. We see the older man only in profile, but there's a glint from something on his face that we can't see. The Martians captured in #228 have escaped, along with their devices.

Nothing they had could match the ferocity of the White Martians and over a dozen have been killed. The old man considers the loss, but reminds his colleagues that they still have the other craft. We see a guarded crash site in New Jersey and hear the old man wonder what secrets it holds.

A caption tells us that this story continues in J'Emm: Son of Mars.

At the Metropolis JLA teleporter, a battered Justice League reassemble. An injured, weakened Captain Comet is with them and we see Supergirl make some farewells and fly off in the background. They consider the sacrifice of J'Onzz with Firestorm particularly shamed over his attitude to his former Leaguer. An ominous Aquaman wonders what effect the reality of an invasion will have on the nations of Earth and also on an under strength Justice League.




Roll Call: Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Firestorm, Elongated Man, Red Tornado
Support: Captain Comet, Supergirl
Cameo: Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl Space Ranger, OMAC, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern
Villains: Challenger, White Martians, Bel Juz, The Marshal, Major Victory, Tull

Further notable Appearances:

September 1984
BatO Annual 1 : Force of July confront the Outsiders. Batman has told Geo-Force the truth about his sister. Geo-Force new costume. The Force are spying on the US public. Geoforce and Metamorpho solve threat in JLA level style. Major Victory bears a striking similarity to the dark suited gentlemen seen above in JLA #228 & #230

Supergirl 23 : The last issue in Supergirl's series sees her meet Dick Malverne once more. This leads into a spell in the 30th century that results in ...

Legion of Super Heroes 215 : After a promising visit to the 30th century Supergirl feels that she may no longer fit in there, and returns to our century, leading into her arrival in #230.

Firestorm 27 :? Firestorm & Firehawk vs Silver Deer & Bison

J'Emm: Son of Mars 1-
Following on from JLA#230 a young boy, Luther Mannkin, encounters a red skinned alien, J'Emm, in a Harlem alley.
Two NASA employees (Deidre Johnson & Phil Wheatley) & a CIA operative ( Johnson's fiancé Charles Brigham Dade) are investigating a well-guarded crashed spacecraft in New Jersey. They are attacked by two White Martians and all but Dade are killed.

Having returned home, Luther and J'Emm become involved in a fight against the henchmen (Reginald and Bouncer) of a drug lord called Claudius Tull. In the fight, Luthor's grandfather is killed. The two White Martians locate J'Emm.

The Hidden J'Emm: Son of Saturn

In December 1982, Greg Potter contacted Paul Levitz regarding freelance work. Potter had previously written House of Mystery and Secrets of Haunted House stories for Levitz. Levitz contacted Dick Giordano, who gave Potter the test of coming up with a new hero and a first issue.

Potter returned with a 'stranger in a strange land' concept. An idea concerning an alien in our everyday world, unable to speak our languages and looking at our culture from the outside. Aside from increasing in scale from that grounded start into sci-fi, It was also about the small boy, who would be J'Emm's companion and how he grows up.

The title's link to the DCU was that J'Emm would be the cousin of J'Onn J'Onzz, and that DC's Martian history could be explored.
DC's Martian Manhunter had been in the background for quite a while at this point. Although appeared in a JLA story in 1975 and in a Conway written story in 1980, he had left the JLA back in 1969. His best runs were behind him in Detective Comics and House of Mystery (where Potter would later write).

As with many characters, The Manhunter appeared in DC's explosion, this time in Adventure Comics, written by Denny O'Neil. But the DC Implosion ended any chances of more regular appearances.

So, with their being no other prospect of a Manhunter book Potter had received the green light to proceed with his plotting. He was six issues into development, when he received word that Conway was bringing back J'Onn J'Onzz to the Justice League of America.

Having set out to include only characters without their own book or strip, Conway was reduced to four Justice League members. Now there was a book in development containing one of those.
An agreement was reached that Potter would rework his character and Conway would proceed with the return of J'Onn J'Onzz. The newsflashes from Amazing Heroes of the time shows the changing face of the series.



From a series including Mars in the title and containing J'Onn J'Onzz, to one containing characters from Saturn but outside the DCU, to yet another back in the DCU and having Superman as a guest star.

Even the format changed. It began as a newsstand comic, then changed to deluxe and then to direct sales only.



After the twelve issue series, J'Emm vanished into the background just as J'Onn J'Onzz had before him. Perhaps due to the rewrites and the hasty removal and reintroduction of certain elements, the series didn't leave a lasting impact, not least within the DCU. For example, the use of Superman in the series was removed before finally being given the go ahead. Perhaps the slightly different tone and art didn't fit with the superhero audience.

But perhaps it was simply that J'Emm always looked like a DC Martian, and with the return of J'Onzz there was never really any place in the DCU for him to expand into. He would always be a stand in for J'Onn J'Onzz who had been the JLA's own stand in for Superman in the early years.

Over in the JLA, J'Onzz would develop into the leader by default in the absence of any other character with presence. That, in turn, would be developed further into J'Onzz being the leader of the post Legends JLA and tactical general of Morrison's run. That's where J'Emm also reappeared, as a tool of a team of super villains.

Had Potter pitched the series after Crisis, when Conway's League was again in the doldrums, and with the revitalisation of many other key characters, J'Emm may have been given more of a push. It may have become the new, and only, Martian Manhunter book at DC.

Following the vagaries of DC's decision making, writer Greg Potter would be part of DC's post-crisis relaunch of Wonder Woman. When attached to the book. George Perez brought enough new concepts to the table, that it essentially became his book. After the first issue, and Potter amiably bowed out of the book, and from DC.

Earlier, we had whittled away the existing league members who had their own titles and strips. That gave us the characters that Conway could realistically control in his new League.


Those were Zatanna, Elongated Man and Aquaman. He also added J'Onn J'Onzz to those three.

From an Amazing Heroes issue in March 1984 we have the following









So, there were plans for both Zatanna and Elongated Man series this early on. You'll also notice that J'Onn J'Onzz is mentioned strongly in the JEMM series.

In the letters column for JLoA #229 Len Wein writes:-

"At any rate, as the editor of this summers' Sword of the Atom Special ?, I can promise you that Ray Palmer has plenty of other problems to keep him occupied. His membership in the JLA will definitely be in jeopardy at any rate.

Finally, I'm glad you like what we're doing with Zatanna. This gives an opportunity for my third plug of the column: keep an eye out for the Zatanna mini-series. Gerry gas already started scripting it. Believe me, she'll never be the same again, once she's completed her strange personal quest. In brief, she'll be even better. "

The Hawks and Red Tornado were mentioned and left Conway's league, while the others stayed. This is possibly due to Conway's control over Zatanna and the Elongated Man being a little further way. Still, you imagine that they would have to leave the League at least for the duration of their series.


The Zatanna series would take a long time to go from initial writing to publication, on which more later. But an early publication would hav eremvoed yet another character form his cast, at a time when he needed all the leaguers he could get his hands on.

Elsewhere in the column for #229, Wein writes:-
"If you think the last Red Tornado story has been written,... think again, because Kurst Busiek (who wrote the much acclaimed Paragon story for JLA #224) is starting to write the script for a Red Tornado mini-series that will take this character to many a place he hasn't been heretofore. I think you'll be pleased by Kurt's handling of this often overlooked character. "

Both Zatanna and Tornado series were starting to be written. That was enough to remove Reddy form the roster, while Zatanna, thanks to Conway writing it, got to stay.



While it was too early to know about Aquaman's mini series, it wasn't too far away.



It just reinforces the idea that members of the JLA are always going to be ripe for development in mini series and elsewhere. If Conway's decision to remove any member with DC projects on the planning board, was strictly followed, there would be no one left in the team. This continues to undermine one of Conway's reasons for the change: That he couldn't coordinate the activities of the other members and their continuity, as he was no longer in New York. When every member potentially has such issues in an increasingly continuity fixated company, perhaps there's a discussion to be had in launching a separate book.

Previews and changes

Ah, the trade press. Where you can completely spoil things for yourselves by not being able to wait for the issues to come out.

Back in January 1984, here's what was on the cards for the Justice League of America as told by Amazing Heroes.





Today's bland, vacuous marketing overdrives seek to tell us that every decision is a positive, forward thinking step, regardless of the evidence. So saying that DC's biggest heroes are being written out of the book, just to make it easier to coordinate is certainly different.

The new League had a hard enough time convincing people and I don't think that really helped. I can only imagine the frenzy these comments would have made had Twitter been around. The comments are more of a reflection on the lack of opportunity to develop characters that had their own books.

Another interesting point is the inclusion of Firestorm in the line up of the new league at this point. With Conway working on both titles, many of the reasons the other members were to be written out could be avoided.

Firestorm's own entry in January 1984 was




But a May issue of Amazing Heroes had the following.



Perhaps Firestorm's exclusion from the League had more to do with other issues Conway was having with DC at the time. Despite the article, Conway would go on to write the majority of Firestorm issues through to the end of 1986.

"Oh, man, I feel like something's died," said Firestorm in the Annual that introduced the Detroit based Justice League. If Firestorm was supposed to be included in the new line up, his removal must have also changed Aquaman's speech.

With his own title and two people forming him, Firestorm had a lot more going on than a number of others, who patiently waited for their mini series. So Aquaman's insistence of a team living and training together just wouldn't have worked.

Whatever the reasons, the absence of Firestorm left a sizeable gap in the capability of the new Justice League. His powers complemented the other new heroes well. He added a visual power that worked at range as well as an aerial option lacking in the four new members.

Firestorm's popularity and optimism would have helped the fledgling League. He would have connected them to the DCU and provided some interesting subplots such as his relationship with the Martian Manhunter. His possible removal, and the absence of a character to take his place did impact the success of the League, which was never written as being really able to hold their own in a conflict.



Other JLA related news from the start of 1984

In Action & Superman, the stories issues were to be split into two stories of 16 and 8 pages. There was also to be a step back from characterisation and continued plotlines.

Schwartz was aiming for "the type of stories that ran in the '40s and '50s, but updated." Or back when the books sold massively well. It's interesting to see this approach run in parallel to DC big sellers such as Teen Titans and the Legion, both very character and subplot driven.

Batman & Detective were focusing on Batman's relationship with his new partner Jason Todd. Gene Colan's moody art would give this a noir feel.


Zatanna




The Flash




Green Lantern



There's also a page on Blue Devil. It mentions that his series looks at superheroes from the perspective of someone whose life has never touched theirs up until that point.

Steve Gerber spends a page talking about revitalising Wonder Woman.



Elsewhere in the DCU...

The Definitive Handbook of the DC Universe was a 12 issue maxi series. This would evolve into Who's Who and partly into Crisis.

Alan Moore was interviewed about the impact his first few Swamp Thing stories had made.

Roy Thomas seemed to be emulating those JLA stories with a cast of thousands by having the Freedom Fighters and the Fawcett characters about to appear.

Infinity Inc was going to launch. Its plots would be inspired by events form the Golden Age, such as the stream of ruthlessness, and with really nice Ordway art. Thomas wasn't quite sure at that point where the book will be at the end of issue 12.

There's a lot of scope to change the characters and cast before then. I recall that the Huntress and Power Girl would end up not staying. The advertised La Garra wouldn't feature after all.

Thomas would also make more use of that Golden Age material with the America vs the Justice Society mini.

Vigilante was launched into his own series. An interview with Wolfman explains why the character had changed between his Titans appearance and his own book.

There was still some genre diversity at DC with Amethyst, Arak, Arion and (Conway/ Garcia Lopez)Atari Force just under "A". Barren Earth, Blackhawk, GI Combat, Nathaniel Dusk, Sgt Rock, Warlord and Spanner's Galaxy are other examples.

Camelot 3000 was finishing off, a key point in DC's formatting history. Ronin (a couple of pages here) was also coming to a close.

The new format would be picked up in the launch of the Baxter Teen Titans and Legion books in this year.

DC would reprint Kirby's New Gods, making good use of the companies royalty payments.

DC also had the round robin DC Challenge and New Talent Showcase series. Of interest to Legion fans, the latter had Shoemaker and Lightle doing some art,

Zero Man and Redeemer are listed but wouldn't appear. Both had some interesting ideas, one having some similarities to a certain future Justice Leaguer.

The introduction of the new Justice League of America was reported in June 1984 as being a mini series outwith the main title, before being brought back into the main numbering.



Note that one of the new members reportedly joining here is Commander Steel.

Context

Looking through the January 1984 preview issue of Amazing Heroes, it was a really great time to be reading comics. Some of the industry's top talents were able to expand beyond DC and Marvel into independent publishers. The advent of the direct sales market allowed many titles to be aimed specifically at comics readers rather than traditional stores.

Here are some of the highlights that 1984 was supposed to have in store for us:-

WaRP had Colleen Doran's A distant Soil

Marvel had launched their Epic line in 1982. It's Epic Illustrated had a more European feel than the other imprints at the time. In 1984 they were promoting Alien Legion, Sisterhood of Steel, Void Indigo and Six from Sirius.

Pacific had Groo and Alien Worlds not to mention The Rocketeer in his own title.

Marvel's Alpha Flight was at its peak.

Chaykin was still on First's American Flagg!

Grimjack was just launching into his own series also at First, while Jon Sable was going into its second year.

The Badger had been running with Capital Comics as was Nexus and Whisper.

Cerebus was still a mere pup of 50 odd issues, while its publisher branched out a little with the likes of Loebs' Journey and Neil the Horse.

DNAgents was doing well with Mark Evanier over at Eclipse with Scott McCloud's Zot! to come.

Bill Willingham was just about to launch the Elementals at Texas comics, a spin off from the Justice Machine book.

Mage was over at Comico as was Evangeline.

Eagle were reprinting some great Judge Dredd stories with other 2000Ad strips on the horizon.

Love and Rockets was switching frequency and offering the chance of crayons!

Micronauts had a new creative team, that would end up starting a second series.

Vortex were advertising Mister X, "an alternate universe detective story." by Motter and Rivoche. There was a touch of a delay on that one.

Despite the genres DC were publishing, they were about the last in line to offer anything with a similar feel to many of the independent comics available at this time. It was Moore's Swamp Thing that would drag the sluggish DC towards creating it's Vertigo line. A line that had its roots (ouch) firmly in the mainstream DC titles.

A look at the changes to come for the Justice League in 1984 courtesy of the DC Sampler.

Annual 2 - October 1984 : The Day the Earth Stood Still




Detroit, Michigan: It's evening in a warehouse district. A young, costumed, man battles an intruder in an engineering company. The villain is the old JLA foe, Brainstorm. Axel Storm's flashes of inspiration have told him that he will become even more powerful by stealing the plans kept here.

Using the special helmet that captures stellar energy to augment his mental power, Storm has animated the fire hose along one wall, just as the young hero smashes through a blockade of animated drawing tables. The hero is clearly agile and strong as he breaks through Brainstorm's traps.

A little desperate, Brainstorm uses mental blasts to hold back his pursuer as he tries to make his escape with a bag of engineering drawings around his shoulder.

The hero doesn't just rely on his physical powers, using a short nosed concussion blaster to combat the range of the blasts. It barely protrudes from his hand, the small stock and barrel being situated at his forearm of his costume. The gun clicks, and jams. The man curses the weapon through a comm link. He's told to keep his mind on the job, and we learn his codename is Steel.

Carrying the plans he stole, Brainstorm reaches the outer wall of the building. Steel dodges another blast and releases two smoke bombs, from a pouch in the leg of his costume, that blind his opponent. Using infra-red vision, the young man punches Brainstorm unconscious.

Outside the building, Steel is checked over by his support team, including medical support, with a modified Heywood Industries vehicle acting as a control centre. The entire fight had been recorded and we see figures in the background presumably going to retrieve equipment.

Steel's main support comes from Dale Gunn. Gunn is wearing the lower half of a steel grey battle suit. He's also wearing a branded Heywood Steel jumpsuit, offering plenty of protection to its wearer. The fight hadn't been rigged, but they took advantage of Brainstorm's plans to capture as much footage as possible.
His medical support is Doctor Giles. She's insistent that Steel undergoes testing following the encounter with Brainstorm.

Note that this warehouse is one of only a few buildings that look to have been maintained in the area. The whole place looks run down. A lot of the Detroit scenes will have billboards and little things in the background. Specifically AmazInc., Retrofuturist construction silhouette posters, Voting posters for the mayor, redevelopment opportunities, Heywood Industries and Evanesce perfumes, among others.

Arlington, Virginia: The edited fight between Steel and Brainstorm is being reviewed by the chisel jawed Hank Heywood Senior. A thinner faced colleague, who we learn is Mr Lang, has just entered the room. Heywood stops the tape, as Lang asks him to switch channels. The newscaster, Tiffany Gayle, informs him that an emergency session of the UN Security Council has been called at the behest of the Justice League. The newscaster hails the League as heroes of a recent battle against another in a long line of alien threats, and speculates on what the meeting might hold between the group and the UN, that holds the JLA's charter. No details are given on exactly what that threat was, and the general public do not know it was from Martians, or how close to the brink their leaders were.

Heywood agrees with Lang that they can accelerate their schedule. On the intercom, Heywood tells his secretary, Mrs Bloom, to contact his grandson as he has a proposition for him.

JLA Satellite 22 300 miles above the equator: The Justice League return to their headquarters, in a borrowed NASA shuttle, to assess the damage following the Earth/ Mars war.

The damage is extensive and the atmosphere gloomy among the members. When Canary asks if it can be rebuilt, Firestorm replies with a "rebuild what?" All are upset at the cost of their last battle, and remember the Martian Manhunter. Perhaps none more so than Aquaman who has already lost so much. The former King of Atlantis considers this to be "the end of the JLA."

They look to capture equipment and artefacts for transport back to their old HQ in Happy Harbour, outside Metropolis. Artefacts include the Materioptikon, Magic Land Mirrors, a Key Weapon... One piece ready for shipment looks to be an unassuming long metal box with its own power supply.

Inside the satellite, the damage seems just as bad. But Hawkman considers that the there's "perhaps not quite so much damage as the traditions of the League itself." As they leave a Russian space capsule is seen approaching the satellite.

Cape Canaveral, Florida: Back on Earth, the League carry some of their more useful equipment from the shuttle. Arrow suggests the satellite can be fixed before another maudlin put down from Aquaman. "I doubt if we could repair ourselves." Aquaman leaves the others, reminding them that the meeting is the following morning. When Green Arrow asks if Aquaman is going to tell them what the meeting's about, Aquaman simply departs telling them that they all have important thinking to do. Canary's hand on his shoulder tells Ollie not to pursue it further. Green Arrow feels uneasy about not knowing.

Atlantic Ocean: Aquaman returns home, to find a 'Dear John' psyche projector message from his wife Mera. She talks about Arthur pulling away more into his league duties after the death of their son, and ends their relationship. Arthur's home is lit only by the final image of Mera's message. He turns the projector off.

UN Security Council chamber, New York: Aquaman addresses an emergency session of the security council's permanent members. He tells them that he feels that the group "failed to fulfil our duty--to the world and to ourselves. Too long, we've chosen to deny the reality--that the league, as presently constituted, is a chimera and a fraud. The world deserves something more than a part-time organisation of uncommitted dilettantes." His head bowed, Aquaman finishes his speech. "The old League is finished-- and hereby disbanded." He suggests the UN "charter a new Justice League."

As Aquaman leaves the chamber, Canary is trying to calm Green Arrow down. Zatanna confirms to Firestorm that as the only charter member present, Aquaman must feel he has the authority to take this course of action.

22 300 miles above Earth: Following the events of DC Comics Presents 73, where they were travelling across time and space, Superman & Flash return to the JLA satellite. They see the debris form the Martian attack and the trail of a departing Russian craft. Worried over the destruction and fearing an attack has been made, they follow the path of the craft, Superman making it out with his telescopic vision.

UN Plaza, New York: Firestorm confronts Aquaman outside the UN chamber, and demands a vote. Aquaman ducks this, saying "The league, as it stands, can't do the job it's sworn to perform.
We see the faces of J'Onzz and the leaguers who have recently left the team: The Atom, Hal Jordan who had been in space for a year and Batman.

"The world needs a committed fighting force," Aquaman continues. "A team of full time, active members, living together, training together--sharing a common purpose, a common duty...A full time league might have turned back the Martian invasion on its own, instead of depending on J'Onn J'Onzz to make a final sacrifice."

Green Arrow resents being called a fraud or anything less than committed, since they have all been present for any number of threats over the years. He points out that a number of the others have always been there for the league, even in times when both Aquaman and Arrow himself weren't around

Aquaman starts to use his position as a founding member, but is cut off by Green Arrow. "Are you telling us that because a meteorite fell on your head, that you get to make all the decisions?" in reference to the group's origins.

Arrow also reminds the team that it would take a vote from all active members to disband the group and that Aquaman can't make that decision (from JLA 41).

Switching tacks, the former ruler says to the group that "The choice really is yours. Give the league your full allegiance or give it nothing."

While Hawkman agrees with Aquaman's assessment, disbanding the League while Aquaman gathers this group of soldiers will only leave the Earth defenceless against the threats they have successfully stopped in the past.

The still damaged Red Tornado reminds them of the League's purpose, as the World's Greatest Heroes banded together to stop foes that any one of them could not stop. He suggests that they look to rebuild what they have, rather than destroy everything. This isn't Tornado being coldly logically. This is the emotive Tornado Champion within. The being that created its own version of the league in their honour. Although mechanical, Tornado's voice sways the others, reminding them of what the League means to them.

Aquaman is still unhappy. His moment to lead, as he would have in Atlantis, has slipped away. He suggests they all take time to review their commitments to the league.

The arguments have not gone unnoticed, and a group of journalists has turned up to hear at least the end of it.
As the league look a little despondent/ frustrated, one person bridges the gap; willing to help the League rebuild its strength and to commit fully to doing so to appease Aquaman's position. In his calm right stuff way, Adam Blake joins the league telling the crowd that they are witnessing a rebirth of the new Justice League. The journalists lap it up, even as the League behind Blake looks a bit more uneasy, particularly Aquaman.

Kazakhstan: On the desert steppes, Superman and Flash encounter the returned Soviet capsule and the guards who are there to meet it. They meet the Maestro, a man in concert attire with a keyboard and his handler, Gorki. The two Justice leaguers have no defence against the hideous magical demons that physically manifest from the nightmarish sounds of the keyboard, and are defeated.

Metropolis: In a converted loft, a fashion shoot is underway with a TV on in the background. The newscaster, Tiffany Gayle, we saw earlier talks about the recreation of a super team in front of the world. The last part of the transmission is heard by Mari McCabe and she stops the shoot. As she tells the photographer she may be unavailable for another assignment after this one, we hear the newscaster hand over to Jack Ryder about the world's reliance on super heroes.

Detroit: The lights at a very well protected factory go on at exactly midnight.

New York Hilton: Aquaman has had a night to reflect on the positions of his colleagues. But his mind hasn't changed. He is convinced that his vision of the league is needed. He gets some level of support from the more military minded Leaguers Comet and Hawkman. They agree that they need to find a headquarters, repair the satellite ...

A little later and Aquaman wonders if he pushed it too far, and considers if there is a league left to reform. He mourns the loss of the calm experienced voice of J'Onzz. Ralph 9there with wife Sue), Zatanna and Adam give some support. Ralph quips that if no one else shows up, they could be the new Justice League.
Hawkman says that although Thanangar has his allegiance, the Hawks will continue with the League. The group begin to discuss what response the league can give, based on the commitments they have. Would they need new signal devices ...

Star City: Canary and Arrow have an argument. Arrow is continuing work on a case he had to put on hold for the Martian invasion. Canary is preparing to meet the rest of the JLA in New York the following day. What really annoys Canary is that it was Ollie who made such a big fuss outside the UN, yet doesn't back it up now. Queen argues that it's the leagues principles that he was fighting for. Not just a means to secure a spot on a team. Canary, who has a lot of loyalty to both the Justice League and the Justice Society before it, takes this remark about needing a team badly. She storms out with her bags leaving a protesting Green Arrow.

Already operating out of New York, an eager Ronnie Raymond flies above the skyline, keen to get to the meeting. Professor Stein asks him to think about Aquaman's words. Although Ronnie thinks that the League's very important to him, the Professor reminds him that all of his grades are slipping. Then there's Stein's own job that he never seems to have enough time for, let alone a life beyond it.

We get an image of Firehawk, as Stein asks when can they look into her father's disappearance if they're with the League? Ronnie is clearly deflated as the other half of the Firestorm matrix tells him that it's just not to be for them at this time.(See Firestorm 28 & 29)

Kazakhstan: Captured in a secure facility, Flash's increased metabolism allows him to overcome the Maestro's nightmares for a moment, to activate his JLA alarm. It's a sound that goes unheard as the scarlet speedster doesn't know the extent of the damage to the league following the Martian invasion.(1)
New York Hilton: As Aquaman asks about membership numbers, Zatanna sees a shape at the window. She's sees a silhouette, apparently grasping the side of the building, monitoring their meeting. The group pursue the figure, with Ralph's nose twitching at a mystery.

After evading Aquaman and Elongated Man's attempts to snare her, the figure is caught by Blake's telekinesis. Blake looks exhausted having had to climb the stairwell to get there. The woman introduces herself as Vixen and asks about membership in the League. Zatanna is about to ask more questions, but Aquaman takes over.

As they are about to descend back to the suite they are met by Steel. He arrives to with an offer of a headquarters on the condition that he joins the team. Vixen had shown enhanced agility to avoid capture and, again, Aquaman seems keen to find out more, presumably as a step to his vision of the League. Comet asks where this headquarters is.

An hour later... the team are on board a Low Orbit Supersonic Transport aircraft, with Heywood Ind. logo, approaching Detroit over Lake Erie. Sue has recognised Vixen as top model Mari McCabe.

After entering a bunker through a sliding rooftop, Steel begins a tour. We're told that there's also an entrance for the shuttle under the Detroit River, but that the LOST's engines don't like it much. The League are impressed and Ralph points out that the other option is a musty cave with bats. Eyebrows are raised at the mention of a biohazard suite, an arsenal and detention facilities in the compound.

As Steel continues, the team meet Dale Gunn. He's in the battlesuit we saw the lower half of earlier. With Comet just in front of the group, Gunn fires on the unknown figure with a heavier version of the concussion weapon Steel tried to use against Brainstorm. Comet deflects the concussion charge, but it staggers him. Steel shouts for Gunn to stop, and recognising the boy in the group, Gunn ceases.

Gunn hasn't been told that the Bunker has been handed over to the League and storms off to call Heywood. Steel gives a brief description of his grandfather in answer to all the Heywood Industries branding. In the background, Hawkman is already patching in some monitoring equipment.

Steel is Hank Heywood, named after his ultra conservative grandfather, General Hank Heywood. The General owns Heywood Defence Industries and the bunker is an urban bunker and fortress designed to survive pretty much anything the enemy could throw at it. The others are left in no doubt that "the enemy" is Russia and that General Heywood is heavily involved in the cold war.

A distress alarm sounds as soon as Hawkman has completed hooking the bunker's systems to the JLA monitoring network. It's from the Flash. Using the main Bunker screen Hawkman tells them the coordinates of the signal devices are in Russia. As Steel comments that his grandpa would just love that, they head for the LOST. As they depart, Aquaman wonders what the big guns will think of the changes. Aquaman, Steel, Vixen, Zatanna, Elongated Man, Hawkman & Comet form the rescue party.

Kazakhstan: Gorki gives his superior a tour of the institution where he is based. He's very confident from his success against two western heroes. With the Maestro and the information contained in the shuttle, and two powerful captives, he tries to blackmail his superior.

His commander reminds him that Russia is also on the security council that sanctions the Justice League. It has been decided that Gorki's prisoners are to be released. When told that he is about to be arrested, Gorki instructs the Maestro to kill the commander and his entourage.

The paralysed Superman and Flash encounter the last man to wield the nightmarish keyboard; Anton Allegro and a fellow inmate. In a flashback to JLA#163, we see that following being deafened by Green Arrow in an earlier encounter, Allegro plotted revenge against him, involving the League. The defeated Maestro returned home, only for his work to fall into Gorki's hands.

Gorki enters and threatens to execute the leaguers to make an example. Flash tells him that the League will intervene. Gorki tells him that the JLA the Flash knew is no more, and leaves them.

While the Maestro was occupied elsewhere, the two feel that the effects of the keyboard's magic is lessening on them. Flash, Allegro and Superman begin planning an escape.

The LOST shuttle crosses the Russian border. As Steel talks to Gunn, Aquaman recalls that Batman left over the league's unwillingness to get involved in a rescue attempt. 2 Russian jets are scrambled. They encounter the flying Zatanna, who uses her magic to summon massive lightning discharges and disable them.

Aboard the LOST, a returned Zatanna lets her first impressions about Vixen be known to Ralph as Vixen gets very close to Gunn at the controls. They aren't very complimentary. With more Russian forces on the horizon, the League opts for stealth and dive below a lake close to their target.

Using some heat vision to distract the two door guards, Allegro and his friend help the wheelchair bound Flash and Superman escape.

The group get out of the compound, but not much further before they are caught by Gorki and his guards. The troops surround Flash, Allegro and Superman at the edge of the lake. (1) Annoyed that his superiors would force him to release the heroes, he decides instead to shoot them. As Gorki aims his pistol at the Flash, the JLA rise from the ice behind them, protected by Comet's telekinesis.

The JLA mop up the guards easily enough. Steel shows superhuman speed to race into them, and that he's also bulletproof. Hawkman flies towards the base to prevent reinforcements as Zatanna tries to locate the source of the magic she feels nearby. Vixen summons the strength and resistance of a rhino through the wolf headed totem around her waist. Visuals of the animal she channels appear above her

Comet protects Flash's group while Elongated Man lassos a number of the guards throwing them together. The group are subdued by the Maestro's demons, as they try to free their comrades. Aquaman smashes through the ice, from the waters below to break the Maestro's concentrations. This allows Allegro, deaf and immune to the keyboard, to smash the instrument. His reward is to be shot by Gorki.

Gorki, his plans ruined, and his life forfeit to his superiors moves in to kill as many as he can. Comet, dazed from the Maestro's attack clutches Gorki's face, his mental powers burning into the man's mind. Gorki screams and collapses.

A little shocked, the group resolve to deal with it later, once their friends have been brought home safely to their HQ. This prompts a question from Superman on where exactly that is. Allegro's comrade is left holding his body as the league leave, taking the Maestro's keyboard.

Washington: In a conference room, four suited American men conclude their meeting on the events surrounding the league and the Martian Invasion. They have resolved that they must take matters into their own hands in order to protect themselves, and their cities, from the alien threat. One thinks that Aquaman's comments on a league "working together, living together"? have merit. He's identified as Carlyle and told that Blairman's Force of July ran into problems following this path. Another of the men resembles King Faraday. They resolve to find a new approach to meet their aims.

Morrison Field Cemetery, Middleton: Three days after their return from Russia, Barry Allen and Clark Kent meet Diana Prince at the Martian Manhunter's funeral. The three founders look across at the remaining league and Flash wonders about the future.



Roll Call: Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Flash, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkwoman, Zatanna, Firestorm
Joining: Captain Comet, Steel, Vixen
Support: Dale Gunn, Dr. Giles, Hank Heywood Snr, Sue Dibny, Mrs Bloom, Mr Lang, Carlyle, Faraday, Tiffany Gayle, Jack Ryder
Cameo: Mera, Atom, Batman, Martian Manhunter Green Lantern (Jordan), Firehawk
Villains: Brainstorm, Gorki, Maestro, Allegro.

Further notable Appearances:
None

Comments 228-Annual 2

That's the first story done in shuffling the Conway plots to change Justice League of Detroit. Some thoughts, while I remember them...

Aquaman's decisions
I felt that Aquaman should get to present his point of view. To try to effect the changes he felt were in the best interests of the League. The difference is that here, the other members didn't blindly accept them like sheep after nominal protests.

It made absolutely no sense at the time why most of the team departed based on events that they couldn't possibly know about in their futures (i.e. mini-series that were many months away).

Having separate positions within the team should lead to more character choices. In the published version, everyone followed Aquaman, while occasionally moaning about how no one considered them to be the real League.

Membership Changes
Which brings me to the point about what the League should be. While it's something I'd like to post more on later, the original selling point was:-

"Just imagine! The mightiest heroes of our time have banded together as the Justice League of America to stamp out the forces of evil wherever and whenever they appear!"

Through the years between the Brave and the Bold to the second Justice League Annual, that hasn't meant that characterisation was ignored. A number of writers focused on this during their spells on the title. It was the development of those characters in the JLA book that made them popular. While characters such as Superman & Wonder Woman could be seen interacting with their peers, characters like Red Tornado and Green Arrow could have room to change.

By removing both the greatest heroes and the characters who had been developed in the book over a long period, both vocal reader camps were no longer getting the book they had wanted.

Removing the magical foresight that most of the cast developed in the second annual, there is no immediate wholesale change that weakens the membership. There are plenty of changes on the way, but it will hopefully be a bit more natural.

This fits in more with some of the post Annual 2 comments, that I'll be posting later. One key one is that the membership roster was intended to change as the title progressed. This didn't happen in the book, eventually leading to a few awkward, poorly received editorial comments. It was just one reason that the book stagnated.

As we've seen, a lot of Conway's changes were to get control over his cast. We've also seen that nearly all of them were lined up with mini-series already. Getting that level of control of DC's (supposed) flagship team title would become increasingly difficult as all books in the line would go through further changes. Getting the World's Greatest Heroes together proves more and more difficult as we get towards the Crisis.

There's a hint of an alternate 'All New, All Different' version mentioned as a subplot at the end of this version of the annual. Faraday & Carlyle mention it. I'll probably do little capsule plots on what that would have looked like later. I'm doing it later, mainly as I'll be pinching bits of it for this version.

Removing J'Onn J'Onzz from the line up
I've touched on a few of the reasons for this earlier. J'Onn had been absent for some considerable time from the league. The Earth-Mars War and his return in it, were mainly due to the very few Leaguers Conway would have left at the end of the Annual.

The team needed as much help as possible, and the Manhunter was a character that Conway could control.But his powers completely overshadow and duplicate nearly every other member leaving them without a place to really shine. Captain Comet is probably more powerful than J'Onzz, but he's not at that level at the end of this version's Earth-Mars War.

Finally, it clears the way for the J'Emm maxi series. DC had received Potter's ideas for a revamp of the character. They felt J'Emm was the preferred option rather than bring back J'Onzz in his own series.

Whether J'Emm ends up with this version League remains to be seen. I've done a bit of shuffling of the JEMM plots that will be in the 'Further Notable Appearances'? section after each of the JLD issues. That's because there's a little more of an overlap than there was previously, with one of the JLD characters appearing more often.

Absent Heroes
The absence of certain Leaguers could be accounted for easily in their own titles. Superman was with The Flash travelling through space and time, Wonder Woman was in the future and Green Lantern was saving an alien planet.

So, there's no need for fill in issues to explain away where they were during this time. In the book, Flash, Superman and Wonder Woman are missing for much longer. There's a massive fudge where they all then travel back in time so their own titles aren't disrupted. Back in their own time, they don't get involved in the Earth/ Mars War even though they were now present for it.

The big plus of not having that time travel headache is that the characters who wanted a new league, such as Aquaman, can't hide behind a three week absence of the big guns to bed everything in.

It also frees up some issues, starting with the next story which goes straight into "Rebirth"? It also means that Events in the Annual give only a brief introduction to the League's new home. But I felt that the Annual could do with the League in action (shuffled from #236 and #237) rather than a block party ad a little gang warfare.

Here's the letter column to the second annual.

I'm impressed at all the legwork and analysis you put into this. Captain Comet is an inspired choice. I do miss J'Onn, but your reasoning for his exclusion is sound.

Also happy at the possibility of Canary, Firestorm, Tornado, the Hawks, Supes, Flash and Wondy staying. Though Firestorm's spot is still iffy as you rightly highlighted his real life struggles. Even if many of them do live, I think your gradual changing of the membership makes more sense than what happened in the comics.

Also like how you handled the differences of opinion among the League.

Thanks Ibby. I enjoyed looking back at DC at the time as much as I did putting the alt+plots together. I've got a number of the comment posts to do as we go.

J'Emm is pretty much DC's post crisis J'Onn, just appearing well before the event itself. I've got some Alt+plots to do for that series as well (partly resulting in the delay here), so we'll see how he develops. I don't recall getting to the end of reading it giddy with excitement at the thought of J'Emm in the DCU. But many people thought that of J'Onn at the time too.

I'm glad to get agreement on the slower changing of the team. It does make more sense, but I was a little concerned that there wouldn't be enough change. But there's plenty going on in everyone's titles to keep the transition moving.

Firestorm is a pain. The '80s version of Conway's would easily make my team. But his life is complicated at that time. Which is my out for following the "none shall have their own title and remain" rule that this League employed at the start. Silly.

EDIT: Particularly silly edict when you think about Firestorm's youth, popularity at the time and that it was a book Conway was already writing. See above Amazing Heroes previews where Firestorm was originally intended to stay in the group.

I'll be looking to add a bit more personality to the plots as I go. Although it's in my mind it can be left out with the missing dialogue sometimes when it's just plot outlines.

Comments on Annual 2's Letter Column

The editor of the book said in the Annual 2 comments that "We haven't dismantled the JLA, but we have put most of the characters on standby."

The idea was that "once you've had a chance to see the new kids from Detroit show what they can (and cannot) do, you'll surely see some of [The Big Characters] in just about every issue."

A common problem in shoehorning in new characters is that there's an overemphasis in making them look good. Often you'll see the character the writer prefers winning/ putting down/ rescuing older, more experienced characters in unlikely situations. It's why Batman gets slapped a lot by his colleagues and partly why Superman is so indecisive.

Here, the old League go missing for a few weeks, before returning to get rescued by the new kids. It could have been a lot worse, although having time travel fudges at the end rather undermined it. The comment about not dismantling the league also undermined having Aquaman disband the League in front of the UN in the annual. So with the four issues of rebirth, that's the introduction to the new League.

But then the old league never really did appear in every issue. Gerry's idea about featuring the second-stringers? didn't feature any of the favourite second-stingers. There was a flashback issue and then pretty much nothing until #250 when a number of them reappeared. So readers were pretty much stuck with only the new guys. They never got to see them develop with the help of the former cast and we never got to see the team operate at anywhere near its previous levels. The new league, whether disbanded or not, would always be overshadowed by the old.

The editor tells us that the annual "is only a beginning". But by isolating the characters we never got to see them move too far from this beginning. When Crisis came around, it was always a pleasant surprise to see the new JLA appear with their peers. Because they hadn't really done so before then, despite being the group previously being the focal point of the DCU.

The editor notes that the book already had "many negative prejudgements." I've posted my surprise at the amount of information given away in the likes of Amazing Heroes. It allowed for quite a head of steam to develop against changes. It helps the outcome of the new JLA to become self-fulfilling. The comments would clearly affect the writer and artist's investment in the book, and would undermine what support they had from editorial. The result was poorer work (certainly by much of Conways earlier output) that fuelled the negative reaction further.

The editor already distances himself from the creative team. He doesn't say that his heart soared when the pitch was made. He only says that this was what he asked for. He says that he wanted to give the creative team a "chance to amaze us all" but not if he thinks they pulled it off. He repeats the fan question "Are these jokers really qualified to carry on the traditions of the JLA?" But there's no answer.

At one point we have characters "who spend a lot of time painting graffiti on walls or perpetrating small time rip offs" while at another we're to believe that the league are not a collection of "greenhorns."? We ended up with too much focus on the former, without the development (apart from Vixen) to show us the latter. We have the concept that no "single member possessing the power to solve almost any imaginable problem all by him- or herself"? would be there, but we get the Superman class Martian Manhunter as the key member.

The key word in the column is probably "drastic"? The editor has just told us he's not looking to make waves, but then a drastic change is undertaken. I short, the League had to change to match the Teen Titans, the X-Men and Marvel in general (which is where Conway's interest in the All New, All Different Avengers came in handy.

It's an interesting column. It highlights some of the issues the book had and it's certainly looking for a response from readers. But, reading between the lines, there's not a huge amount of support from DC for such a big change. Or rather, there's support but not cheerleading.

231: October 1984 - Rebirth Part 1



Thinis, Egypt. Dynasty 0: Nomarch Scorpion has usurped Prince Amentep, just one of several forces vying for power in pre-dynastic Egypt. Beneath the city of Thinis, Scorpion accompanies a group of men into a large, roughly hewn underground chamber. Many of the men wear jewellery with icons of flame. Some show marks of ritual burning. They are the Brotherhood of the Dark King. They claim to have been there far longer than the current city, something that unsettles Scorpion.

The chamber is lit by a floating golden pyramid. Scorpion clutches the wand of Thoth tightly to his chest. He knows he must show no weakness if he is to later defeat Narmer and unify the country. Using the energy from the wand, Scorpion makes contact with the pyramid, seeking to use its power. He fails. Devastating golden light bursts from the pyramid, incinerating those present.

Alexandria, Egypt. Present Day: Night on the dock front sees Moroccan dissidents being paid off for obtaining the Helm of Set (a Jackal faced golden mask last seen in JLA #226) by a larger, well-armed force. It can be seen in the open crate between them. The emblems they wear roughly match those shown on the Brotherhood of the Dark King.

The group comment on the night mists that surround the docks. A couple of the men begin to cough as part of the mist takes shape to form the laughing face of Urania Blackwell - Element Girl.

Taken by surprise the Brotherhood is pushed back towards their trucks. Element Girl is enjoying being cut loose to handle a mission. But she's trying to capture everyone, rather than focusing on the objective.

While internal phosphorescence lights the scene for her comrades, her metamorphic form gasses a couple of the men while her iron arms knock a few unconscious as she phases between solid and gas around them. A few of her opponents reach a truck and start the motor. One of the brotherhood wears oddly large sunglasses.

A team mate of Blackwell's shouts at her roughly that the cultists are escaping. Blackwell releases a blast of liquid at the back of the truck as it drives off. Her handler arrives, a black suited man, and is far from pleased that the bad guys have managed to escape an ambush. Blackwell is embarrassed at being criticised (again) in front of the others. A close up of her face says quietly that she can track them as part of her is now with the truck.

Detroit: A monitor screen shows a face very similar to that of Element Girl. It's of Rex Mason 'Metamorpho'. With the image is dialogue showing part of a disagreement on the way forward for the league, between Aquaman and Wonder Woman. With them are the Hawks, masks off, and working away on the bunker's equipment. Through the doorway to a mission control area, Ralph and Sue can be seen decorating.

Aquaman defends his right to try and disband the league. He would still prefer a dedicated team, providing full time protection to the Earth. It's surely better than hoping enough members turn up to stop the latest crisis (as expressed in Annual #2). The screen behind them shows allies we've seen in previous issues.

(Adam Strange, Metamorpho, Sargon, Privateer, Phantom Stranger, Golden Eagle, Mind Grabber Kid, Black Lightning and Sandman.)

Wonder Woman argues that the strength of the group is because it has been able to change naturally over the years. She feels that heroes will always come forward in a time of crisis.

Hawkman's police background leads him to prefer Aquaman's more organised approach, but he also tells them that enforcing such a drastic change would severely weaken the team

Determined to make his point, Aquaman argues that the team is already weakened. He asks the others just how stable the group is. Batman and The Atom have gone, while J'Onn has died. Now The Red Tornado is recuperating while Flash (his ongoing trial) and Firestorm have taken leaves of absence (see Annual #2 and Firestorm #28 for 'Stormy's reaction). What happens when there aren't enough heroes to come forward? He doesn't feel that the candidate Superman has proposed solves the problem.

It's not lost on Hawkwoman, that for all the talk on natural changes, everyone present comes from civilisations that have been steadfastly unchanged over centuries.

Shayera, looking to reach some middle ground between her husband, Wonder Woman and her sympathy for Arthur, says that the group's new additions have already allayed Aquaman's fears. She removes the screen of old associates, bringing up details of the new members.

Steel not only brings new blood into the league, says Shayera, but also their new headquarters. Vixen has plenty of maturity and potential. While Captain Comet is one of the oldest superheroes on Earth, bringing experience and power.

Experience and power that's already leaving to accompany Wonder Woman to Washington , retorts Aquaman. Wonder Woman, a little irate at Aquaman's actions, tells the former sea king that Comet needs time to reconnect with a world he's been away from for some time. Diana reminds them that they have all lost things they hold dear, homes, worlds and loved ones.

As Hawkman asks where Comet is, we switch to an alleyway elsewhere in the city. The caption tells us that Comet has gone to meet Black Canary before he leaves. We see a gloved, female fist smash into the jaw of a soon to be unconscious gang member.

Two gang members are already on the ground as we see Black Canary unleash a powerful kick sending a third to the ground. The gang are dressed in casual sports gear, with brand logos. One has a T-Shirt with a wolf design indicating a link to a gang known as Los Lobos. A few small white packets can be seen on the ground.

Canary turns to the last of them. He sees his friends, weighs up his chances and turns to run. She begins to follow but the heel on one of her boots slips and she falls onto one knee. Cursing her costume, she prepares a sonic cry to take out the running man, who has already reached the end of the alley.

As she begins to concentrate, Canary sees the gang member begin to levitate, hands flailing in the air. Captain Comet descends from the sky between the buildings.

Comet places the gang member in a dumpster in the middle of the alley and lands a little heavily. A few people gather around the alley entrance. One is a small, elderly woman with a frame. She tells anyone who will listen that they had enough trouble without super heroes. The lady will become known to us later as Mother Windom.

Canary is pleasantly surprised to see him (also see SSoSV #6 for the pair working together). Blake tells her that he wanted to see her before he meets some old acquaintances Washington. Hawkwoman had mentioned she was looking around the area.
Canary is blowing off steam and tells Blake it's related to an argument (as seen in Annual #2). Realising she means Ollie, he asks her where he is. Canary bluntly states that "He won't be coming."

Comet offers to give her a lift back to the league's HQ, but realises that he's exhausted from getting there, and disposing of the mugger. Canary notices just how much older and drawn Blake still looks after his captivity in the Earth-Mars war. With a look back to the four gang members, she tells him that it's not a city to be left vulnerable in.

Interlude: Elsewhere in Detroit: Looking alone and vulnerable, Cindy Reynolds sits at a small café table in the bus terminal. An older man in a slightly crumpled business suit and loose tie sits beside her. His hand is on her knee as he tries to pick her up.

Behind her is a newsstand. On it are a number of headlines affecting the city. "Ex-Mayor Indicted"; "City Hall Fraud"; "Industry Crisis Continues"; "Steel crushes gunrunners"; "Lions Turn Season Around"?; "Fourth Missing Teen"?; "Gangs Target Downtown." In among the ads at the station including the sports brand worn by the gang members, is an older poster advertising sportswear for group of happy, young sporty people from various ethnic groups. The brand is Vibe.

Reynolds has been waiting for her contact for an hour. She has already rebuffed three advances. Confident at not being caught away from home, this man is proving harder to dissuade.
As Reynolds turns to her unwanted admirer, a second girl approaches from the bustle of the station. She's thin, with dyed hair and second hand clothes.

Cindy looks at the man and his jaw drops. In his mind he's back home, in his church. Around him are his family and friends. They know everything he's done on his trips. He is half animal ,and lies in the aisle as the shame and guilt overwhelm him.

We see Cindy ask the other girl if she's Pamela. Pamela tells Cindy that she'll take her to the others. The two leave the man at the table, his face frozen in terror.

A look of fear crosses Element Girl's face. The desert campsite around her is lit by the headlights of trucks, one of which she had tracked. The lights are focused on a makeshift ceremonial stand comprising of a small plinth and two strong poles. Beside her are the bullet riddled bodies of all but two of her colleagues. This time, they were the ones ambushed investigating the empty site. The two remaining agents are being held at gunpoint. Blackwell is frozen in indecision. The site contains the tents and tools of an archaeological dig. One of the crates has been marked with A. Rothstein of Ivy University.

The bloodied survivors of the archaeological team that originally occupied the site are brought forward. One man looms a good two heads above the others. He is tied to the poles. The cultists bring forward the golden mask of Set. The man screams as it is placed on his face, searing his skin, bonding to it. The mask begins to change shape; from an anthropomorphic wolf's head to a malevolent human one. One cultist, continuing to wear sunglasses in the night, tells Blackwell and the agents that the host has been accepted. Now their master will lead them to conquer this world and those beyond death and the stars.

A blue and red blur crosses in front of the stars, as it approaches the damaged Justice League Satellite. Linda Danvers has an appointment to keep with her cousin. As she enters the airlock, she muses about this being another anniversary celebration (See Supergirl #20 where the full JLA appeared)

Inside she meets her cousin, Superman. He congratulates her on the great work she did in the Mars/ Earth war. They enter the transporter room, where The Flash and a distant looking Green Lantern have been talking (see Green Lantern #180 for details). The transporter activates and Hawkman arrives, confirming that it seems to be operational with a grim smile. Hal Jordan confirms that he plans to move their 'guest'? to the sanctuary before he leaves.

Speaking of plans, Kal wonders what Kara's are. She isn't sure having just returned from an uncertain spell with the Legion in the 30th century(ending in Legion of Superheroes #315). As Zatanna enters the room, Kal tells Kara that he hopes to have something to help her decide. From his cape pocket, he produces a new JLA signal device. Knowing what a proud moment it is for Superman to ask her to join the League, Kara is a little teary when she accepts. The others applaud her acceptance.

Enlightenment: At his lab, physicist Geoffrey Thibodeux is being applauded by his colleagues for making a breakthrough. His discovery relating to the mass of subatomic particles will change everything. A blazing light bursts from the centre of the room, blinding those present. Thibodeux is taken by an energy vortex that reaches from the light. An energy source that calls his name.

The transporter light intensifies and fades, leaving the Flash and Zatanna in the room. Barry confides in Zatanna that Hal is unsure whether he's going to stay a Green Lantern. Zatanna is more concerned about getting some artefacts from the archive back down to Earth. Boxes appear around her as the Flash races back and forth. We see some older JLA souvenirs including a variety of old uniforms on a rack.

Looking for, and not getting a smile from Zatanna, the Flash tells her that it's good to spend some time together as friends again. Zatanna gives a curt response, seemingly oblivious to the time the pair were almost closer than that. She begins preparation to teleport the items.

They have to become closer as a team, Aquaman tells Black Canary and a seated Comet as they watch Steel test himself in the weight room.

Under the supervision of Dale Gunn, Steel is pushing his strength. He's lifting over 3 tons. But he can't cope with the weight from the huge machine that is pushing down on him. His legs begin to buckle and it takes the additional strength of Aquaman, and a small telekinetic assist from the weakened Comet, to get Steel free.

Aquaman reminds Steel about knowing limitations, especially when ignorance could get him killed. He's clearly being hard on Steel as a release from other disappointments, as well as out of concern. But Steel doesn't know this and reacts badly, telling Arthur that he knew what he was doing, Steel calms down very quickly and walks off. Gunn tells Aquaman that the device has a failsafe that would have cut out before hitting him. Gunn reminds Aquaman that he should get to know people before deciding on what's best for them. He leaves, following Steel.

Enlightenment: In a military research bunker, a small group look at the wrecked remains of a room. Gooey, shadow stuff can be seen around the edges of the damage. In flashback we see research scientist Jessica Brown taken in an energy vortex. The vortex has been created by something calling itself The Overmaster. The shadow stuff looks to have been formed from Brown in shock at the appearance of the vortex.

Back to the present, one of the group asks if the incident has affected their other resident at the facility. The answer is that the only thing that person wants is oblivion. In a nearby rest room, a bottle of scotch lies just of reach of the bed. A blue hand dangles from the covers.

Oblivion for those who do not follow him. That is the promise made to Jessica Brown as she clears her vision in a dimly lit cavern.

It is made by the new host of the golden mask. The artefact is completely in control of the human who wears it. The host has grown bigger since the event that bonded the mask to his face and now towers over the others present. It calls itself The Overmaster and invites Brown to join the others in his Cadre. To join him in his triumph.




Roll Call: Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Black Canary, Captain Comet, Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, Elongated Man, Zatanna, Supergirl (joins), Steel

Support: Sue Dibny, Element Girl, Cindy Reynolds, Pamela, Dale Gunn, Mother Windom

Cameo: Atom, Batman, Firestorm (leave of absence), Green Arrow (leave of absence), Red Tornado (medical leave), Vixen, Adam Strange, Metamorpho, Sargon, Privateer, Phantom Stranger, Golden Eagle, Mind Grabber Kid, Black Lightning, Sandman.

Villains: Nomarch Scorpion, Brotherhood of the Dark King, Element Girl's Handler; Los Lobos, Overmaster, Nightfall, Black Mass

Further JLA Appearances:

September 1984
DC Comics Presents Annual 3: Superman teams up with Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel & Captain Marvel Jr against Sivana. Rock of Eternity sees across the multiverse. This story follows on from DC Comics Presents 74.

Wonder Woman 319 : Someone impersonates Diana Prince, stealing launch codes and making her a wanted woman. This removes her from JLA 232>

Green Lantern 180: Hal Jordan consults the Flash (on the damaged JLA satellite), Superman in metropolis and Green Arrow in Star City while making his decision to quit the GLC.


October 1984
DC Comics Presents 74: Superman is with Hawkman and Hawkwoman on Thanagar following on from their appearance early this issue.

Firestorm 28 The monitor makes an appearance as Firestorm battles Slipknot. Firehawk's father has disappeared, but Ronnie is focused more on himself and having to leave the League. "It's like something died," he tells Firehawk who is looking to the more experienced hero for support. She realises that there's part of the nuclear hero who is still immature. Professor Stein chides Ronnie for his insensitivity.

BatO 14 Maxie Zeus forms the New Olympians with the assistance of the Monitor. Halo & Geo Force begin a relationship.

JLA Annual 2 : The Annual was originally published this month.

Wonder Woman 320 Diana Prince continues to be hunted by the authorities. (note: Wonder Woman mentions she's still a JLA member in this issue. This indicates that Aquaman didn't get to really disband the League in the published comics.)

Green Lantern 181 Jordan goes to Oa to quit. John Stewart arrives to rebuild Ferris aircraft. Sen Bloch is killed by the Predator. Bloch confesses Jordan's secret to the first person outside his office - Diana Prince, who keeps the secret (this is prior to Wonder Woman 319). Jordan twice fails to be convinced to change his mind by his comrades (Tui is angry as Jordan convinced her to stay as a lantern when she had a similar decision, Arisia because she loves Jordan). The Guardians return Jordan to Earth where he stays with Ferris.

November 1984
BatO 15 The Outsiders confront the New Olympians

JLA:1953 reminded me about this thread and the pile of notes I have sitting around concerning it.

I thought I might look to put up capsule summaries of the issues, or whatever level of detail I had. I can then add in more as I go.

I've noticed that my imaging service has given up the ghost. I'll be reposting things as I get to them in my hard drive.

Finally, I notice DC have a Leviathan event going. Just wanted to mention that Leviathan was going to be my Post Crisis Aquaman series. Just in case that's where DC happen to be going with it

Thought this might be the result of Mon-el fighting the Time Trapper in 5YL #4.... the pictures you restore may not be the same....

I think that the pics will be the same, but the next time anyone looks in the mirror, after seeing them, they'll have a Rond Vidar bowl cut.