Justice League (Volume 4) #4 is an issue of the series Justice League (Volume 4) with a cover date of September, 2018. It was published on July 18, 2018.
Synopsis for "The Totality, Part 4"
The Past. The life of a young Grodd
Grodd was constantly beat up and mistreated in his youth, by his father especially. To make him strong, was the reason. Grodd doubted it. Also, he kept a secret from other gorillas: he could do things with his mind that no other of his kind could. One day, a man found him and tried to lure him into a trap with food. He wanted to capture him and use him as a circus attraction, dancing behind glass. Learning about this, he took the man as his secret prisoner, and made him dance until he could see the bone of his feet. Grodd knew a truth: him, his father, gorillas and humans alike always had a darker purpose in mind, without showing it on the surface. Earth itself was dark at its core.
The Present. Inside the Totality
Superman and Martian Manhunter battle the giant guardians of the Source Wall, there as part of the Totality which descended on Earth. They loathe J'onn, calling him an abomination and the one who ruined her. J'onn does not understand completely what they are telling him, but he can see the images of their minds, and he's scared: the truths they are revealing about J'onn's own race are terrible, and nonsensical. Superman would like to reach him and talk to him about what he's seeing in the mind of the enemy, but the battle is a mess. Meanwhile, inside J'onn's body, Hawkgirl just found out that the Joker is in her ship, trembling in ecstasy as he wants to cut off Kendra's head. And Batman has company, too: Lex Luthor is attacking him with a ship of his own, inside Superman's body.
In the Legion of Doom's secret underwater headquarters
Flash, Wonder Woman and Aquaman are fighting strange creatures, resembling White Martians but also, from the readings, possessing genetic material of Humans, Atlanteans and Amazons, a thing Arthur believes impossibile. As they fight them, Barry experiences more and more difficulties related to the Still Force, and soon finds out why: Grodd is harnessing the Still Force himself, thanks to a special conduit, a baby. With those powers, he's not only able to trick Diana and Arthur, making them fight each other on the illusion of facing their most hated foes, but also he can finally slow the Flash down and take his time with him. Meanwhile, the real Cheetah and Manta get away, to find the key for another of the Seven Forces.
Back in the Totality
The guardians get distracted by the fact that the first force, the Still Force, is gaining power. Superman takes this chance to get away with J'onn and let him explain why he's troubled: Martian Manhunter tells him that while he was away, he searched for the truth about the self-destruction of his planet and his race, the Martians. His odyssey led him to Thanagar, where he found The Keep, a Martian who was tasked with holding all the history of his race, being them a collective mind. This figure revealed him that their death was the outcome of a plague, destined to end his people. It was nobody's fault, and there were no hidden truths behind it. But the thing these guardians revealed to him hint at a whole different direction: they make him doubt, as for them the Martians were made to be something, and for that they were destroyed.
J'onn is afraid that he might learn the Martians, and so him as their last survivor, might be the reason that will shape the universe towards Doom: Superman, with a dark look on his face, tells him that he's right. He is the key to Doom, and he thanks him for it. Confused, J'onn soon learns that Lex is inside Kal's body, controlling him after lacing through his brain. Batman's ship, it seems, was destroyed and the Dark Knight consumed by the micro-organisms the Totality introduced in Superman. But the surprises are not finished: J'onn will be soon controlled as well, and by a far crazier persona.
The Legion's base. The fight between Barry and Grodd
Grodd reveals to Barry why he always failed to understand that there was another force hid in the Speed Force he harnessed: he never stops to look for the detail. He is too fast, and always comes out with the easy, immediate answers. That's not what his first villain, Turtle, did: he studied and, in four generations, found out there was a static point in the Speed Force, pointing towards death. It was the Still Force and now the fourth generation of Turtle, living in the baby Grodd brings with himself, is a battery for Grodd to access. He also failed in understanding that accepting the fight with Grodd was his final mistake: the Speed Force is like nourishment for the Still Force, and thanks to him the awakening of the first force is complete.
On the ruins of the Moon
John and Vic are facing Sinestro, who harnesses the full Invisible Spectrum, the power of the dark sun Umbrax. John tries to use his power as Green Lantern, but the Ultraviolet power of Sinestro breaks his ring, then making him an Ultraviolet Lantern forever. Also, as the First Force is completely awakened, the second force, which is the Invisible Spectrum, is now free to enter the universe and Sinestro fully controls it: he calls upon his powers, and converts all of Earth to the Ultraviolet Corps. He now has power over the largest Lantern Corp ever existed.
The Totality
A Luthor-controlled Superman and a Joker-controlled Martian Manhunter are approaching the Totality: with two forces awakened, something showed itself to the Legion, something holding the key of the Totality. And both Joker and Lex are ready to turn the doorknob, and enter...
Appearing in "The Totality, Part 4"
Featured Characters:
- Justice League
- Aquaman (Arthur Curry)
- Batman (Bruce Wayne) (Apparent Death)
- Cyborg
- The Flash (Barry Allen)
- Hawkgirl
- Martian Manhunter (Flashback and main story) (Possessed)
- Superman (Clark Kent) (Possessed)
- Wonder Woman (Diana of Themyscira)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Cosmic Mutagen Cells
- Giant Guardians
- Legion of Doom
- Black Manta (Also as an illusion)
- Cheetah (Also as an illusion)
- Gorilla Grodd
- Joker
- Lex Luthor
- Ultraviolet Corps
- White Martians
Other Characters:
- The Explorer (Single appearance) (Unnamed) (Dies in flashback)
- Gorillas (Flashback only)
- King Grodd (Flashback only)
- Solovar (Flashback only)
- Green Martians (Flashback only)
- The Keep (First appearance) (Flashback only)
- K'hym J'onzz (Flashback only)
- M'yri'ah J'onzz (Flashback only)
- Blue Lantern Corps (Mentioned only)
- Green Lantern Corps (Mentioned only)
- H'ronmeer (Mentioned only)
- Indigo Tribe (Mentioned only)
- Orange Lantern Corps (Mentioned only)
- Red Lantern Corps (Mentioned only)
- Sinestro Corps (Mentioned only)
- Star Sapphire Corps (Mentioned only)
- Vandal Savage (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Multiverse
- Earth 0
- Earth
- Gorilla City (Flashback only)
- Pacific Ocean
- Veracity Point
- Legion of Doom's Underwater Base
- Veracity Point
- United States of America
- Earth's Moon (Destroyed)
- Mars (Flashback only)
- Thanagar (Flashback only)
- Earth
- Speed Force
- Still Force
- Source Wall (Mentioned only)
- Sphere of the Gods
- Graveyard of the Gods (Mentioned only)
- Earth 0
- Overvoid (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Batsuit
- Bracelets of Submission
- Cosmic Doorknob
- John Stewart's Green Lantern Ring (Destroyed)
- Key to the Graveyard of Gods (Mentioned only)
- Lasso of Truth
- Nth Metal
- Totality
- Trident of Neptune
- Ultraviolet Power Ring
- Wonder Woman's Tiara
Vehicles:
- Bat-Pod (Destroyed)
- Hawkgirl's Pod
- Lex Luthor's Pod
Concepts:
- Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum (Mentioned only)
- H'ronmeer's Curse (Mentioned only)
- The Seven Dark Forces of the Universe
See Also