The Watchtower
3 years ago - The White Martians assault the Justice League Satellite, decimating it's membership. The surviving members, Wally West &
J'onn J'onzz, assemble all the League's reservists to form a new team to defeat them. They choose to form their own organization, responding solely to threats to the planet. Their moon-based facility The Watchtower is designed by Michael Holt. They are joined by new hero Tomorrow Woman, unaware that she is an android designed to infiltrate their ranks. She sacrifices her life to save the team while fighting a Daemonite Temporal War Beast. 35-year-old Curt Calhoun assaults the Watchtower, successfully defeating almost everyone individually before he is stopped by 32-year-old Selina Kyle, escaping into his Ghost Zone. The Key uses his psycho chemicals to imprison the Watchtower in their own dream fictions, using their efforts to break free to unlock the Dream Realm. He is stopped by 23-year-old Connor Hawke, returned to a coma and trapped in a fractal maze. They are attacked by 46-year-old Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang. 54-year-old General Wade Eiling has his mind transfered into the Shaggy Man's brain and attacks the Watchtower; he is teleported onto an Asteroid.
Membership (The Big Seven): 32-year-old Clark Kent, 36-year-old Bruce Wayne, 29-year-old Diana Prince, 23-year-old Wally West, 24-year-old Kyle Rayner, 38-year-old Arthur Curry, J'onn J'onzz
J'onn J'onzz, assemble all the League's reservists to form a new team to defeat them. They choose to form their own organization, responding solely to threats to the planet. Their moon-based facility The Watchtower is designed by Michael Holt. They are joined by new hero Tomorrow Woman, unaware that she is an android designed to infiltrate their ranks. She sacrifices her life to save the team while fighting a Daemonite Temporal War Beast. 35-year-old Curt Calhoun assaults the Watchtower, successfully defeating almost everyone individually before he is stopped by 32-year-old Selina Kyle, escaping into his Ghost Zone. The Key uses his psycho chemicals to imprison the Watchtower in their own dream fictions, using their efforts to break free to unlock the Dream Realm. He is stopped by 23-year-old Connor Hawke, returned to a coma and trapped in a fractal maze. They are attacked by 46-year-old Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang. 54-year-old General Wade Eiling has his mind transfered into the Shaggy Man's brain and attacks the Watchtower; he is teleported onto an Asteroid.
Membership (The Big Seven): 32-year-old Clark Kent, 36-year-old Bruce Wayne, 29-year-old Diana Prince, 23-year-old Wally West, 24-year-old Kyle Rayner, 38-year-old Arthur Curry, J'onn J'onzz
2 years ago - The Watchtower is infiltrated by Ma'alefa'ak. Several new members join the Watchtower, including Zauriel (who assists the Watchtower & Shadowpact in restoring Jim Corrigan as the Spectre), John Henry Irons (who is invited to refit the Watchtower's technology), and Big Barda & Orion (who were sent by the New Gods because of a coming cosmic threat). Natasha Irons hacks her way onto the Watchtower. Starro returns, it's body now slightly smaller than the moon, overwhelming everyone in North America. The Watchtower is only able to battle it from within the Dream Realm. Mr. Mxyzptlk appears on the Watchtower, tormenting all of them. 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.
Team Membership: 33-year-old Clark Kent, 37-year-old Bruce Wayne, 30-year-old Diana Prince, 24-year-old Wally West, 25-year-old Kyle Rayner, 39-year-old Arthur Curry, J'onn J'onzz, 40-year-old John Henry Irons, Zauriel, Big Barda, Orion
Team Membership: 33-year-old Clark Kent, 37-year-old Bruce Wayne, 30-year-old Diana Prince, 24-year-old Wally West, 25-year-old Kyle Rayner, 39-year-old Arthur Curry, J'onn J'onzz, 40-year-old John Henry Irons, Zauriel, Big Barda, Orion
1 year ago - 26-year-old Kyle Rayner must leave earth in order to serve his role with the Green Lantern Corp. His role on the team is taken over by John Stewart. The coming cosmic threat is revealed to be Mageddon, the manifestation of the end of creation. The Watchtower is joined by Eel O'Brian (coming out of retirement temporarily) and Uno (who's entire existence was in preparation for the battle against Mageddon). Lex Luthor reassembles Injustice Gang under the influence of Mageddon, including General Wade Eiling & Curt Calhoun. 42-year-old Bruno Mannheim aggrees to allow the Watchtower access to his boomtube network to battle Mageddon. Once Mageddon is defeated (thanks to both Uno & Zauriel sacrificing their lives), Orion returns to New Genesis, Big Barda leaves the Watchtower to join the new Justice League, and John Henry Irons retires as a superhero to become a United Nations liaison. When Brainiac's drones attack the entire solar system, He is only stopped thanks to the intervention of the Watchtower.
Before the Battle of Mageddon: 34-year-old Clark Kent, 38-year-old Bruce Wayne, 31-year-old Diana Prince, 25-year-old Wally West, 39-year-old John Stewart, 40-year-old Arthur Curry, J'onn J'onzz, 41-year-old John Henry Irons, 63-year-old Eel O'Brian, 26-year old Uno, Zauriel, Big Barda, Orion
Before the Battle of Mageddon: 34-year-old Clark Kent, 38-year-old Bruce Wayne, 31-year-old Diana Prince, 25-year-old Wally West, 39-year-old John Stewart, 40-year-old Arthur Curry, J'onn J'onzz, 41-year-old John Henry Irons, 63-year-old Eel O'Brian, 26-year old Uno, Zauriel, Big Barda, Orion
After the Battle of Mageddon: 34-year-old Clark Kent, 38-year-old Bruce Wayne, 31-year-old Diana Prince, 25-year-old Wally West, 39-year-old John Stewart, 40-year-old Arthur Curry, J'onn J'onzz
now - 40-year-old Arthur Curry goes into Xebel with his wife Mera to confront the threat of her people. 38-year-old Bruce Wayne's Babel protocol are stolen by Nyssa Al Ghul, proving that he had contingency plans against the Watchtower, leading to his expulsion before he is presumed dead. 35-year-old Clark Kent, taking 37-year-old Lois Lane into space to see the remains of Krypton, is captured by the forces of Mongol & General Zod. 32-year-old Diana Prince & 40-year-old John Stewart heads into space to rescue them, Kyle Rayner returning to Earth to cover Jon's position. J'onn J'onzz & Wally West (whose wife 26-year-old Linda Park just had their twins Irey & Jai West) remain behind. When Dick Grayson discovers the existence of the Light and attempts to contact the Watchtower only to find them gone, he assembles his own team from among the best heroes of his generation. Vandal Savage initiates Tartarus, a team designed to distract and test the Watchtower.
New Team: 26-year-old Dick Grayson, 28-year-old Donna Troy, 26-year-old Wally West, 25-year-old Roy Harper, 28-year-old Vic Stone, 21-year-old Kara Zor-El, 27-year-old Kyle Rayner, 25-year-old Kendra Saunders, J'onn J'onzz, 19-year-old Jason Rusch, 29-year-old Ronnie Raymond
New Team: 26-year-old Dick Grayson, 28-year-old Donna Troy, 26-year-old Wally West, 25-year-old Roy Harper, 28-year-old Vic Stone, 21-year-old Kara Zor-El, 27-year-old Kyle Rayner, 25-year-old Kendra Saunders, J'onn J'onzz, 19-year-old Jason Rusch, 29-year-old Ronnie Raymond
Noteworthy Teams
Original Team
Other Members
Modern Team
There is no team in the comics called "The Watchtower". It's the sometimes-name of the Justice League's moon-based headquarters. They've also used the infamous Justice League Satellite; Mount Justice (a hollowed out mountain in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island); and the Hall of Justice, made famous in the super-friends. The Watchtower was specific to Grant Morrison's JLA. So why did we make an original team using characters traditionally associated with the Justice League. It's in response to a very specific problem.
There's a longstanding issue with having a team made up of the best and brightest characters in the DC catalog. That problem is that most of these characters have ongoing books of their own. The events happening in the pages of Wonder Woman or Detective Comics have to be reflected in The Justice League book. The solution was often to remove the huge characters from the team books and populating the team with minor characters. This more-or-less worked, but it certainly caused a dip in the coolness of the League.
There's a longstanding issue with having a team made up of the best and brightest characters in the DC catalog. That problem is that most of these characters have ongoing books of their own. The events happening in the pages of Wonder Woman or Detective Comics have to be reflected in The Justice League book. The solution was often to remove the huge characters from the team books and populating the team with minor characters. This more-or-less worked, but it certainly caused a dip in the coolness of the League.
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The Watchtower's Comic HistoryWhen Grant Morrison tackled the JLA they brought in DC's starting lineup, and it showed. The book was staggeringly good. It suffered those same old stresses of having to depict the character changes from other books: Hippolyta taking Wonder Woman's place, or the infamous blue electrical Superman... but they made it work.
Meanwhile, even though this group of top-tier characters made the Justice League amazing, it also means that there was no place for the multitude of characters that might not usually be counted among the best of DC, but are unmistakably characters that are defined by their association with the Justice League. Characters like Booster Gold or Captain Atom are long-standing League mainstays, but they have no place on a team with Superman and Wonder Woman. So for us, the solution is to take the big, sweeping change in the League's membership that Grant Morrison created and make that an entirely separate team. By creating the Watchtower as a separate unit, we still get to maintain the Justice League proper back on Earth, functioning out of the Hall of Justice, but these characters get to have their own round table in space, meeting only in the event of major worldwide emergencies. |
Our Watchtower StoryOur Watchtower team begins with the White Martian Invasion. With a little creative finagling, we've made it so that this specific lineup of characters make up the Justice League reserves at the time of that event, so they are the ones that respond when the main team is defeated. This group then chooses to become the Watchtower as Grant Morrison envisioned it.
We've also used the upcoming arrival of Mageddon, the embodiment of the end of creation, as the focal point of the team's development. Other members join the team, and over time it builds and evolves to meet this final universe-ending conflict. |
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The Future of The WatchtowerOne of the goals with our timeline is to do one thing that DC itself seems unable to do; to bring their amazing cast of young characters that make up the next generation of heroes into the limelight. To that end, we've moved many of the classic characters off the board for one reason or another; Batman is captured by the League of Assassins and presumed dead. Aquaman and his wife have journeyed into her homeland of Xebel. Superman and HIS wife are prisoners on Warworld, while Wonder Woman and John Stewart have gone into space in an effort to save them. In this void, we've allowed a new team to form to take up the mantle of the Watchtower.
At first glance, this new team looks a lot like a modern interpretation of the classic Titans... and in many ways that's correct. but it's not meant to just be the Titans. yes it includes classic Titans like Cyborg, Arsenal, and Troia, but there are also other heroes of that generation including Supergirl, Kyle Rayner, Firestorm and Hawkgirl. The elder statesman of the Justice League, Martian Manhunter, gives them a sense of permanence and authority. This is meant to be the new guard of heroes, the new leaders of DC's pantheon. This is the team that DC deserves; heroes that grew up doing this, that have EARNED their place, and that any true fan of DC will recognize as the greatest heroes in the world. |