DC Database
Register
Advertisement

Quote1 Someone goes after one of us, they go after all of us. Quote2
ā€”Guy Gardnersrc

The Justice League International was a group of crimefighters, created some time after the Justice League's public debut. A later, short-lived and United Nations-backed group was formed by Andre Briggs, including several members of the original JLI as part of its roster.

History

Origin and Early History

The original Justice League International was organized by Maxwell Lord, and included Batman, the Black Canary, the Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel, Doctor Fate, Doctor Light, the Green Lantern Guy Gardner, the Martian Manhunter, Mister Miracle, and Oberon.[1]

Early on, they faced off against the Royal Flush Gang, a battle during which they were aided by Booster Gold, who they then recruited into the group. Not long afterwards, Booster and Blue Beetle fought Blackguard, who overwhelmed them until they could be rescued by Guy Gardner.[1] Later recruits included Captain Atom,[2] [3] and Rocket Red #7, Fire, Ice,[4] and Hawkwoman, and the League fought alongside heroes such as Firestorm and Peacemaker during the Alien Alliance's invasion of Earth.[2] With Animal Man of their European branch and Superman, they attempted to prevent the Brotherhood of Dada from destroying the world with the Painting That Ate Paris, but were ineffectual and relied on the action of the Doom Patrol.[5] At around the same time, Booster and Beetle also found themselves upon a living, mobile island known as Kooey Kooey Kooey.[6] With new additions Superman, Maxima, and Bloodwynd[7]—the latter in reality the Martian Manhunter with the memories and identity of another hero—the League fought against the Weapons Master,[8] and later the monstrous Doomsday in Metropolis, but were defeated and failed to avert the death of Superman.[7] With their new member the Ray and ally the Atom, the Justice League also freed the true Bloodwynd from a gemstone embedded in the Manhunter's chest.[8]

The false hero known as the Spider attempted to infiltrate the team, but was thwarted by Fire and Ice. The JLI was less serious than other super-teams, its members playing practical jokes upon each other,[9] and was derided as a low point in Justice League history. Though their time with the team was brief, JLI members Booster Gold and Blue Beetle maintained a lasting partnership[10] and close ties with their former teammates Gardner, Fire, and Ice.[11] The JLI's initial roster was commemorated in the Justice League's Hall of Justice.[12]

New 52

The Signal Masters

 Main article: Justice League International: The Signal Masters

Year later, the United Nations' head of intelligence Andre Briggs launched a reformed Justice League International as a publicly-sponsored super-hero initiative intended to restore faith in the government, using the Hall of Justice, which had fallen into the ownership of the United States Government, as their headquarters. This team included Booster Gold as their leader alongside August General in Iron, Fire, Godiva, Guy Gardner, Ice, Rocket Red and Vixen.[13]

Their first mission was the to deal with the Signal Men, advanced robot scouts of an alien race that were buried for millennia before their activation.[14] The Signal Men alerted Peraxxus, a fearsome galactic conqueror, to Earth's presence.[15] He captured the entire League and announced his plans to destroy Earth then harvest its resources for scrap.[16] By learning to work as a team, they were able to neutralize Peraxxus and disable the Signal Men.[17] Having completed their first mission successfully, Booster successfully appealed to the U.N. and the team was finally given public support.[18]

Breakdown

 Main article: Justice League International: Breakdown

During their public debut ceremony, a bomb went off, creating a large explosion. Rocket Red, Andre Briggs and Emerson Esposito were killed in the explosion.[19] The terrorists responsible were a super-villain team led by Breakdown called the Burners, including Crosscut, Intersek and Lightweaver. The JLI were officially disbanded by the United Nations but persisted regardless, with Batwing temporarily joining the team.[20] OMAC joined the team after fighting them while searching for a cure to his condition.[21] They also briefly teamed up with Firestorm to save the Eiffel Tower.[22]

Later, the Burners defeated them in combat, and took the JLI prisoner.[23] Breakdown intended to stage a public execution, but they broke free and defeated his team.[24] Holding a funeral for Rocket Red, they decided to continue so that his death wouldn't have been in vain. Batwing then left the team; subsequently, Batman arranged financial backing and a new headquarters for the team.[25]

Batwing later enlisted their aid in taking down Africa's Lord Battle.[26] They were also seen investigating false leads when Harry Tanner was trying to distract Stormwatch from his own actions.[27]

Later, Blue Beetle and Olympian join the team, though Guy Gardner subsequently quit over disagreements with Booster. Brother Eye returned to possess OMAC, and was able to devastate the team until Booster managed to defeat the artificial intelligence. Booster's future-self appeared while everyone else was unconscious, and tried to pass on a message but both boosters, past and present, then faded away.[28]

Notes


See Also

Links and References

Footnotes

Advertisement