Justice League

16 years ago - Starro attacks Earth, taking control of the population of Happy Harbor, a coastal town in New England. It takes the combined efforts of Barry Allen, Arthur Curry, Dinah Lance, Hal Jordan, & J'onn J'onzz to defeat him. They decide to form a permanent partnership, forming the first Justice League. 20-year-old Michael Holt develops their technology for their hollow mountain headquarters Mount Justice & consults withIron Munro in it's execution.
Membership: 27-year-old Barry Allen, 25-year-old Arthur Curry 20-year-old Dinah Lance, 25-year-old Hal Jordan, J'onn J'onzz

15 years ago - 19-year-old Ted Kord helps develop the security systems for the Justice League teleporters, and in the process sees superheroes for the first time. The League moves from Mount Justice to the Satellite. The League stops 34-year-old Felix Faust from summoning three demons to amass power in hell. The League has their powers stolen by Professor Ivo & given to his Amazo android, but are saved by Dinah Lance. Arthur Curry saves the Justice League from 36-year-old John Dee's Materioptikon by not having an alter ego.
Membership: 28-year-old Barry Allen, 26-year-old Arthur Curry 21-year-old Dinah Lance, 26-year-old Hal Jordan, J'onn J'onzz

14 years ago - Oliver Queen joins the Justice League. 30-year-old Pieter Cross begins working with the Justice League as a medic. The League battles Arthur Light, and confronts the Shaggy Man, held accountable for his destruction by General Wade Eiling.
Membership: 29-year-old Barry Allen, 27-year-old Arthur Curry, 22-year-old Dinah Lance, 27-year-old Hal Jordan, J'onn J'onzz, 28-year-old Oliver Queen

13 years ago - Clark Kent & Bruce Wayne are invited to join. Blackbriar Thorn is unearthed and begins trying to rebuild the world with Natural Magic, but is stopped by the League. Nathan Prince kills a city mayor in the middle of a Justice League public appearance and manages to elude them, making a bold public statement. The League are confronted by General Wade Eiling over the juristiction of their satellite, but he is ultimately ordered to stand down. 46-year-old Kanjar Ro escapes and robs Earth with his Gamma Gong before he is stopped by the Justice League.
Membership: 30-year-old Barry Allen, 28-year-old Arthur Curry, 23-year-old Dinah Lance, 28-year-old Hal Jordan, J'onn J'onzz, 29-year-old Oliver Queen, 22-year-old Clark Kent, 26-year-old Bruce Wayne

12 years ago - Diana Prince & Ray Palmer join the Justice League. Despero samples Superman's DNA and experients on Karen Starr before the League stops him. Professor Ivo, now deformed and in constant pain thanks to his immortality serem, begins kidnapping League members by stealing their powers, intent on getting his revenge. He is defeated by a depowered League and imprisoned. 39-year-old John Dee is able to manifest the powers of the Materioptikon from his Arkham cell, attacking the League in their dreams.
Noah Kuttler hires operatives to challenge each member of the League to collect data on them, beginning a comprehensive database on their abilities. The League battles an awakened Nommo Balewa, stopping him from magically resetting the world back to his own time.
Membership: 31-year-old Barry Allen, 29-year-old Arthur Curry, 24-year-old Dinah Lance, 29-year-old Hal Jordan, J'onn J'onzz, 30-year-old Oliver Queen, 23-year-old Clark Kent, 27-year-old Bruce Wayne, 20-year-old Diana Prince, 27-year-old Ray Palmer

11 years ago - Ralph Dibny, Carter Hall & Shiera Hall join the Justice League. Sue Dibny is made an official member. Eclipso starts a terror campaign to attract the League so he can usurp their seats as modern gods. They defeat him and his host Bruce Gordon is imprisoned. 25-year-old Zazzala exerts control over the League, but is stopped by the female members of the League, Dinah Lance, Diana Prince, Shiera Hall & Sue Dibny. The League deposes Mongul from the throne of Warworld when he captures Clark Kent for the fighting pits. The League works with 28-year-old Adam Strange to stop the Starbreaker from consuming the Earth.
Membership: 32-year-old Barry Allen, 30-year-old Arthur Curry, 25-year-old Dinah Lance, 30-year-old Hal Jordan, J'onn J'onzz, 31-year-old Oliver Queen, 24-year-old Clark Kent, 28-year-old Bruce Wayne, 21-year-old Diana Prince, 28-year-old Ray Palmer, 56-year-old Carter Hall, 50-year-old Shiera Hall, 26-year-old Ralph Dibny, 24-year-old Sue Dibny

10 years ago - Zatanna, Red Tornado, Ronnie Raymond & Martin Stein join the Justice League. 35-year-old Jefferson Pierce turns down membership, & Phantom Stranger is offered membership but disappears without accepting or declining. The League helps Hal Jordan battle Solomon Grundy, sapping him of the magic that animates him, returning him to Slaughter Swamp. The Key uses his psycho-chemicals to take control of the Justice League. He is defeated and put in Arkham Asylum.
Membership (the complete Satellite League):33-year-old Barry Allen, 31-year-old Arthur Curry, 26-year-old Dinah Lance, 31-year-old Hal Jordan, J'onn J'onzz, 32-year-old Oliver Queen, 25-year-old Clark Kent, 29-year-old Bruce Wayne, 22-year-old Diana Prince, 29-year-old Ray Palmer, 57-year-old Carter Hall, 51-year-old Shiera Hall, 27-year-old Ralph Dibny, 25-year-old Sue Dibny, 22-year-old Zatanna, Red Tornado, 19-year-old Ronnie Raymond, 35-year-old Professor Martin Stein

9 years ago - 34-year-old Barry Allen Is baited into a deadly speed force battle by 37-year-old Eobard Thawne when he threatens Iris West-Allen. Their battle leads to Barry's expulsion from the League. 33-year-old Arthur Light hacks the Justice League satellite transporters. He tries to attack 26-year-old Sue Dibny who fends him off until the League arrives. They vote to have 23-year-old Zatanna wipe his mind; with 28-year-old Ralph Dibny, 52-year-old Shiera Hall, 58-year-old Carter Hall, 30-year-old Ray Palmer & 20-year-old Ronnie Raymond voting yes, and 33-year-old Oliver Queen, 27-year-old Dinah Lance, 32-year-old Hal Jordan & 36-year-old Martin Stein voting no (26-year-old Clark Kent, 30-year-old Bruce Wayne, 23-year-old Diana Prince, 32-year-old Arthur Curry, J'onn J'onzz & Red Tornado are not present. Light is left in a coma. Zatanna quits the League out of guilt, while Ralph & Sue quitto become full-time detectives Soon after, the League Satellite is destroyed when they are attacked by Despero. Red Tornado sacrifices himself to save them, his consciousness uploading itself into the League Database. J'onn J'onzz and Despero engage in an extended battle of wills with the lives of the Justice League hanging in the balance, until 31-year-old John Stewart extinguishes the Flames of Py’tar, leaving him to exist disembodied in the subtle realms. 20-year-old Ronnie Raymond & 36-year-old Martin Stein's connection is ruptured, forcing them to reduce their time as Firestorm.The League collapses.

8 years ago - 33-year-old Arthur Curry forms a new Earth-based Justice League. Clark Kent & Diana Prince become reserve members.
They are attacked and nearly destroyed by Doctor Sivanna's Secret Society.
Membership: 33-year-old Arthur Curry, 28-year-old Dinah Lance, J'onn J'onzz, 31-year-old Bruce Wayne, 31-year-old Ray Palmer, 31-year-old Guy Gardner, 19-year-old Mari Jiwe McCabe

Reserves: 27-year-old Clark Kent, 24-year-old Diana Prince

7 years ago - Bruce Wayne takes over leadership of the Justice League from Arthur Curry, who steps down when his half brother 45-year-old Orn Marius begins amassing his followers, choosing to become a reservist. 29-year-old Dinah Lance quits after the death of her mother. 32-year-old Ray Palmer leaves to focus on his research. The League holds his first major recruiting drive. The Key unlocks more of his unconsciousness, staging an entire hive-mind crimewave using his psycho-chemicals. The Justice League turns his control back on itself, the feedback wave putting him in a coma.
Membership: J'onn J'onzz, 32-year-old Bruce Wayne, 32-year-old Guy Gardner, 20-year-old Mari Jiwe McCabe, 27-year-old Michael Jon Carter, 27-year-old Ted Kord 24-year-old Beatriz Bonilla De Costa, 23-year-old Tora Olafsdotter, 27-year-old David Knight, Scott Free

Reserves: 28-year-old Clark Kent, 25-year-old Diana Prince, 34-year-old Arthur Curry

6 years ago - Mark Bloodwynd & Maxima join the Justice League. Bruce Wayne steps down as leader, becoming a reservist. 21-year-old Mari Jiwe McCabe defeats her uncle to reclaim her birthright and leaves the League to focus on her home. 17-year-old Forager arrives via boom tube, and brings Scott Free, Big Barda and the Justice League to New Genesis to fight the regime of Glorious Godfrey. Scott Free retires. The League assists Big Science Action in their fight against the invasion fleet of Lord Zarok in the outer orbit of the solar system. The League battle Eclipso on the surface of the moon to save a possessed 29-year-old Clark Kent & 26-year-old Diana Prince. They are successful but 28-year-old David Knight is killed & the Heart of Darkness falls back to Earth. The League manage to stop Chemo from destroying Washington DC, but in the aftermath 50-year-old General Wade Eiling orders 35-year-old Christopher Smith & the Americommandos to arrest them. Smith shoots Guy Gardner and shatters his femur, but ultimately loses to him.
Membership: J'onn J'onzz, 33-year-old Guy Gardner, 28-year-old Michael Jon Carter, 28-year-old Ted Kord, 25-year-old Beatriz Bonilla De Costa, 24-year-old Tora Olafsdotter, 43-year-old Mark Bloodwynd, 23-year-old Maxima

Reserves: 29-year-old Clark Kent, 26-year-old Diana Prince, 35-year-old Arthur Curry, 33-year-old Bruce Wayne,

5 years ago - Doomsday attacks, decimating the League. Michael Jon Carter tries to battle Doomsday even after most of the Justice League have fallen, ultimately fails, and feels responsible for Superman's death. 24-year-old Maxima is the last Leaguer to fall to Doomsday. Ted Kord is left in a coma for two months. 44-year-old Mark Bloodwynd, 26-year-old Beatriz Bonilla De Costa & 25-year-old Tora Olafsdotter leave the Justice League after the attack by Doomsday. 34-year-old Guy Gardner's ring is depowered when 36-year-old Hal Jordan attacks Oa. Several heroes join the League in the aftermath of Superman's death.
Membership: J'onn J'onzz, 29-year-old Michael Jon Carter, 29-year-old Ted Kord, 21-year-old Wally West, 56-year-old Shiera Hall, 25-year-old Lorraine Reilly, 28-year-old Nathan Adam, 20-year-old Ray Terill, 21-year-old Todd James Rice, 28-year-old Inza Cramer

Reserves: 30-year-old Clark Kent, 27-year-old Diana Prince, 36-year-old Arthur Curry, 34-year-old Bruce Wayne,

4 years ago - 29-year-old Inza Cramer is overwhelmed by her amulet. The League finds Kent Nelson and saves her. They are married by Nabu and she returns to Fate's tower. 57-year-old Shiera Hall retires. Kimiyo Hoshi uses Doctor Light's equipment to contain the energy her body is generating, staying with the league until she's able to undo the effects. Rex Mason, Buddy Baker & Billy Batson join the Justice League. 49-year-old Jason Woodrue attempts to unify the plant population of the planet and eradicate all non-plant life, and is stopped by the League. 44-year-old Neil Emerson's asteroid base is discovered by the League. They work with Kyle Rayner to defeat him & return him to prison. on on earth. Kyle becomes a reserve member. The League battles the Royal Flush Gang.
Membership: J'onn J'onzz, 30-year-old Michael Jon Carter, 30-year-old Ted Kord, 22-year-old Wally West, 26-year-old Lorraine Reilly, 29-year-old Nathan Adam, 21-year-old Ray Terill, 22-year-old Todd James Rice, 40-year-old Kimiyo Hoshi, 35-year-old Rex Mason, 33-year-old Buddy Baker & 13-year-old Billy Batson

Reserves: 31-year-old Clark Kent, 28-year-old Diana Prince, 36-year-old Arthur Curry, 34-year-old Bruce Wayne, 23-year-old Kyle Rayner.

3 years ago - The Justice League is decimated in the White Martian invasion. 30-year-old Nathan Adam absorbs too much radiation and is again cast into the timestream. 27-year-old Lorraine Reilly's powers are psychically shut off. 36-year-old Rex Mason is rendered 'inert' while saving the team in freefall. 23-year-old Todd James Rice is injured and falls into a coma, 31-year-old Michael Jon Carter suffers a fractured spine while holding off the invasion during the escape, all of which is only possible thanks to 22-year-old Ray Terrill's sacrifice of his own life. Afterward, 34-year-old Buddy Baker chooses to step down from the Justice League. 23-year-old Wally West & J'onn J'onzz go to form the Watchtower along with the Justice League reservists. 14-year-old Billy Batson's age is discovered & he is removed from the League. Meanwhile, 31-year-old Ted Kord begins his work to build the Hall of Justice for a next-generation Justice League.

2 years ago - After the death of 32-year-old Ted Kord, Michael Jon Carter & Dinah Lance assemble an entirely new Justice League using the Hall of Justice. The League battles 27-year-old Alexander Nero. 54-year-old Slade Wilson is hired by 35-year-old Noah Kuttler to attack the League to rebuild his database. Morgaine Le Fay steals an artifact from Themyscera and frees Mordred from the Paths Beyond. They are only stopped by the combined strength of the Justice League. 13-year-old Amazo's new programming matrix is complete. It attacks the Justice League, and is able to defeat their entire lineup, along with all back-up members of the league who come to assist, before it is defeated when the League is disbanded. The original Justice League confront 39-year-old Arthur Light when 33-year-old Sue Dibny is attacked, inadvertently breaking his mindwipe. The League and the Shadowpact confront 38-year-old Jean Loring, the new host of Eclipso, as she tries to escape Earth, seperating her from the Heart of Darkness and casting it into the Paths Beyond. Despero’s consciousness is placed in president Lex Luthor’s body by Johnny Sorrow. They are defeated by the combined Justice League, Justice Society & the Watchtower.
Membership: 32-year-old Michael Jon Carter, 34-year-old Dinah Lance, 23-year-old Connor Hawke, 30-year-old Zatanna, 43-year-old Jefferson Pierce, 25-year-old Mari McCabe, 30-year-old Nathan Adam, 67-year-old Cliff Steele, 46-year-old Rita Farr

1 year ago - The League participates in the Battle against Mageddon. 68-year-old Cliff Steele is damaged during the battle, and goes to the island of Doc Magnus for repairs, staying on to lead the Metal Men. 44-year-old Jefferson Pierce & 31-year-old Nathan Adam leave to begin a Justice League Task Force for the American government. Her duty to the Watchtower completed, Big Barda joins the Justice League along with her husband Scott Free. 18-year-old Jason Rusch leaves the Outsiders to join the a Justice League with 28-year-old Ronnie Raymond.
Membership: 33-year-old Michael Jon Carter, 35-year-old Dinah Lance, 24-year-old Connor Hawke, 31-year-old Zatanna, 26-year-old Mari McCabe, 47-year-old Rita Farr, Scott Free, Big Barda, 18-year-old Jason Rusch, 28-year-old Ronnie Raymond

now - The Legion of Doom attacks the Justice League, but there are able to overcome them and shut down 53-year-old Gorilla Grodd's ultimate weapon.
Membership: 34-year-old Michael Jon Carter, 36-year-old Dinah Lance, 25-year-old Connor Hawke, 32-year-old Zatanna, 27-year-old Mari McCabe, 48-year-old Rita Farr, Scott Free, Big Barda,19-year-old Jason Rusch, 29-year-old Ronnie Raymond

Noteworthy Teams

Satellite Era League

The League that fought Doomsday

Booster Gold

"Blue Beetle"

Fire

Ice

Other Members

Modern Team

Vixen

As the flagship team of DC, the Justice League has some very big shoes to fill. DC has, by a very wide margin, the biggest and most recognizable characters in comics. Spider-Man & Wolverine might be internationally famous and draw millions of merchandising dollars, but they will never reach the market recognition of Superman and Batman. There are children playing right now in a remote village in Peru wearing Batman t-shirts. These are characters that will never, ever, EVER stop starring in their own comics.

Unfortunately, that huge high profile can actually work against the team. The Justice League has features so many characters over the years and while many of them have built up hugely successful fanbases, not everyone is one of the huge Flagship DC characters. often, there is a bit of a disconnect from the Justice League recognized by the general population... the classic grouping of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Aquaman... and the dozens of fantastic characters that are so clearly defined by being members of the League even though they might not be marquee characters themselves.

We've deliberately built in a way to work around this long-standing problem. We've made our own team, the Watchtower, where those flagship characters can flourish. This allows our version of the Justice League to focus on those longtime characters that totally deserve a spotlight.

The Justice League's Comic History

The Justice League of America first appeared in 1960 in the pages of the Brave and the Bold. It was a modern version of the classic superhero team the Justice Society of America. Those early years are often referred to as the 'Satellite Era" of the League which built out a larger membership that established a legacy of definitive Justice League members. As time went on, however, it became editorially inconsistent to have characters appear in the Justice League AND their solo titles, and the decision was made to take a page from the classic team book All-Star Squadron and only use characters that weren't currently starring in their own books. This lead to different eras of the team with varying degrees of quality. For example; Keith Giffen & J M Dematis built their own lineup of lesser-known characters that became incredibly successful. Overall, though, the lineups tended to feel like something less than the sum of their parts.

In 1996 a Mark Waid miniseries called Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare brought together the modern equivalent of the original seven members of the League, which led to Grant Morrison's seminal JLA series. This firmly established the importance of using those key characters in the Justice League. Several new lineups have appeared over the years and some of them have been very clever, but for the most part modern audiences almost always think of those key seven characters as the definitive Justice League.

Our Justice League Story

Trying to craft our version of the Justice League became a real exercise in finding a balance between those seminal lineups and the good-sized group of interesting characters that have floated through the team over the years.

One of the most important stages of this was to make sure the classic Satellite-Era Justice League was given it's due. You can't really overstate its importance; this is the era that essentially defines exactly what the Justice League is. We've left them almost completely intact, even going so far as to make the team grow gradually into its entire expansive lineup. Overall, this takes up almost half of the team's timeline. Afterward, several years pass and the team is joined by new heroes while others leave for a variety of reasons. We've deliberately put this together in specific patterns that allow the team to mirror classic League memberships from over the years.

The major events in the League's timeline that really mix up the team's lineup are the end of the Satellite team (and the subsequent membership drive that brings in League mainstays Blue Beetle & Booster Gold), the Death of Superman, and the attack by the White Martians.

We used the innovation of League reservist to explain the specific characters that step up once the league is utterly destroyed by the Martians. Those reserves can come together and become the Morrison-era Justice League... a team that we've actually moved into a completely different orbit as the Watchtower.

The Future of The Justice League

After our deliberate choice to take the Morrison-era Justice League (which heavily mirrors most modern incarnations of the League) and separate them out into the Watchtower, we were free to create our very own Justice League lineup built from classic leaguers as well as a few modern additions. We waited until this point to introduce the idea of the Hall of Justice. This is Ted Kord's vision of what the League can be; a place where the viewing public can walk the same halls as superheroes, can view their trophies and actually watch the team meet. It is a huge contrast to the moon-based gods of the Watchtower and immediately illustrates the differences between the teams.

We adore this lineup. Often when you make a Justice League grouping without the big seven it feels like the team is lacking , but in this case it actually feels like we've finally achieved the idea of a League team without those characters that can stand on its own. This team immediately feels like a definitive Justice League: Black Canary, Booster Gold, Zatanna, Connor Hawke's Green Arrow, Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Jason Rusch's Firestorm & the classically underused Elasti-Girl... it feels powerful, effective and complete without aping any particular lineup that's come before. The fact that it has equal gender representation is just gravy.

This is the team that's going to be dealing with the newly formed Legion of Doom, and that feels like an amazing story that I would just love to read.

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