Justice Lords
Encyclopedia
The Justice Lords are fictional hero
es-turned-villain
s who first appeared in the two-part Justice League
episode "A Better World" (airdate November 1, 2003).
The Justice Lords are an alternate version of the Justice League
from a parallel Earth. The roster
of the Justice Lords was the same as the original DCAU
Justice League — an alternate Batman
, Green Lantern
, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter
, Superman
, and Wonder Woman
— with the exception of The Flash
, because the Flash from their universe had been killed.
The Justice Lords' world diverged from that of the Justice League when their Lex Luthor
was elected President of the United States
. The Flash was executed personally by Luthor for unknown reasons, and Luthor's policies eventually resulted in the country "being on the brink of a war that could destroy the whole planet". The alternate Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman decided to try and stop the impending war, storming the White House and confronting President Luthor. After Luthor goaded the alternate Superman, that no matter how many times Superman sent him to prison Luthor would find a way back into power all over again in an unending cycle, the enraged Kryptonian targeted Luthor with heat vision and killed him. This decision led to far-reaching consequences, as Superman decided he liked this new brand of "justice". Soon, the other Lords lost faith in humanity's ability to do what was right, as well as their own moral compasses.
The initial act of staging a coup eventually led to the Justice Lords taking over the world's governments and ruling with an iron fist. Using their satellite base for global surveillance, the Justice Lords went on to suppress free speech, outlaw election
s, and eliminate all crime by lobotomizing
all criminals
and supervillain
s (to the point of having a man arrested for complaining about the food quality and incorrect calculation of cost at a restaurant). Although they justified their behavior to the masses as "temporary," and to each other as for the good of the people, it amounted to tyranny
in the eyes of the Justice League
.
counterparts when the alternate Batman came across the League while experimenting with a dimensional transporter he had built. Bored with their own largely domesticated world, the Lords decided to "assist" their counterparts by taking over the League's world. The Lords tricked the League into coming to the alternate Earth. Upon the League's arrival, they were trapped in a specially designed prison built by the alternate Batman. Later, they were transferred to cells that had been designed to neutralize their powers, except for Hawkgirl, who had suffered serious injuries trying to escape.
When the Lords came to the normal Earth (posing as the 'mainstream' Earth's true heroes), they soon encountered Doomsday
, a giant monstrous fighter. Doomsday had apparently come to challenge Earth's mightiest combatants, and went on a rampage. The Lords, particularly Superman, were more than happy to fight him (the Martian Manhunter being the only one skeptical on winning stating "IF we can stop it"). Attacking first and asking questions later, the alternate Superman predicted the Lords would win over the normal Earth people with their brand of justice. The fight ended with the Justice Lords beaten down and the alternate Superman held at Doomsday's mercy, however he managed to lobotomize Doomsday with his heat vision, to the shock of reporter Lois Lane
. Lex Luthor, intimately aware of the real Superman's character (and what he would or would not therefore do) was the only one who figured out that the Lords weren't the League, stating "It's not them."
The League escaped from their prisons when the Flash, in an attempt to play on his status as martyr in the eyes of the Lords, sped up his heartbeat to trick the alternate Batman into thinking it had flatline
d. The alternate Batman responded by releasing the Flash and was subsequently knocked out. The League then escaped. Most of the League went to Arkham Asylum to retrieve Hawkgirl, except for the normal Batman, who went to the Batcave to hijack the dimensional transporter. There, he engaged the alternate Batman in a fight. The fight ended abruptly with the alternate Batman playing off their mutual tragedy after Batman says the Lords have created a world without freedom or thought by seizing power, countering with, "And with that power, we've made a world where no eight-year-old boy
will ever lose his parents because of some punk with a gun
." The normal Batman was eventually able to convince the alternate Batman that the Lords' methods were wrong by (like the alternate Batman) playing on their mutual tragedies by sarcastically remarking, "They'd love it here, don't you think? Mom and Dad. They'd be so proud of you." The alternate Batman saw the error of his ways and saved the Justice League from the alternate Earth's security forces, and transmitted them back to their reality, presumably then going on to rebuild his world.
Back on the normal Earth, Superman approached Lex Luthor
, offering him a presidential pardon in exchange for his help against the Lords. The Lords were defeated when the League engaged the Lords again to distract them long enough as Luthor used a power disruptor to strip them of their powers. The depowered Lords were then arrested, but it is not known what happened to them afterwards, save the alternate Batman, who never went to normal earth.
At the end, normal Earth Luthor said that he would go into politics.
. The events of "A Better World" added fuel to Amanda Waller
's crusade against the destructive capabilities of the metahuman
population if the government left it unchecked. Project Cadmus
, which was originally created to counter Superman if he went rogue (as shown in the Superman: The Animated Series
two-part episode "Legacy"), expanded its threat list to the whole Justice League. It also led to some increasing paranoia and distrust within the rank of the Justice League, including Batman and The Question
, who feared that what happened to the Justice Lords' world would eventually happen to theirs when Luthor appeared close to winning the presidency as his counterpart had.
Further examples of the League's degeneration in the public eye — such as Superman’s fight with Captain Marvel
over what turned out to be a fake emergency, staged by Luthor and Amanda Waller, and Superman’s later near attempt to lobotomize Doomsday in a similar manner to his Lords counterpart — cast the League, and particularly Superman, in an increasingly bad light.
Fortunately, the League had also taken precautions such as recruiting the ardently populist and politically astute Green Arrow
as their political conscience. He in turn is critical in putting the role of Cadmus in a reasonable perspective for the League and thereby prevents them from falling into the same temptation that created the Lords.
/Brainiac
combined creating duplicate androids of the Lords in the Justice League Unlimited
episode Divided We Fall. However, Brainiac added an android duplicate of the Flash in a costume design almost identical to that of comic book villain Zoom
, to distract the League from his and Luthor's ultimate goal of universal domination. Not only did the androids fight the League, but they also played on their worst fears at the time: Superman was confronted with the possibility of becoming a Justice Lord, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl played off their failed relationship, as well as Hawkgirl's pariah status on both Earth and Thanagar, and Flash confronted his role among the world's greatest heroes. However, the fears of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter were not revealed (Batman was able to destroy his double the second quickest next to Flash, so that his double never even had a chance to mock him). Only Flash seemed unaffected by his replica's taunts, apparently due to his overpowering sense of self confidence, and also considering that, while he faced off against the Justice Lords themselves, he never actually had a Lord counterpart to begin with. The androids were destroyed after a short fight.
This growing fear concerning the League somehow turning into their Justice Lord counterparts reached a climax in that episode when the Flash surpassed his maximum speed by tapping into the Speed Force
in order to destroy the link between Brainiac and Luthor. This caused the Flash to vanish into the Speed Force, to which the defeated Luthor amusedly remarks: “What do you know? I did kill him.”
Unlike the Justice Lords' Superman, who killed the alternate Luthor, the League’s Superman, refused to succumb to such temptation and follow the path of his tyrannical counterpart and states that “I’m not the man who killed President Luthor. Right now, I wish to Heaven that I were, but I’m not.”
A few minutes later, the League succeeded in drawing the Flash back from the Speed Force, saving his life, and avoiding the path traveled by the Justice Lords.
Realizing that they had allowed themselves to become distanced from the very people they were trying to protect and fearful of becoming the Justice Lords, Superman publicly announced the immediate disbandment of the Justice League. After Green Arrow
points out that the Justice League had grown to be far bigger than any individual hero and would continue even without the original seven members, and with public support, the League opted instead to open an embassy on Earth which would serve as a second Watchtower
.
in three 3-pack collectors sets and "the big three" were re-released later with a lava Doomsday variant in a 6-pack. The first set featured Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. One reviewer criticized for not standing on their own, but noted "represent one of the most popular episodes of the entire Justice League series." The next pack included Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and, oddly the Flash. The final set had Hawkgirl and featured the Brainiac copies of Superman and Batman. The characters did not appear in the Justice League Unlimited series, except in flashbacks.
story but as the writers worked on it they decided that having it about a Justice League that went fascist
had more story potential as the Crime Syndicate was simply evil.
This resulted in the episode being very similar to a saga that Dan Jurgens
wrote during his run on Justice League America
titled "Destiny's Hand". In that story, the Atom
dreams about the original Justice League becoming the oppressive rulers of the world. Doctor Destiny
tries to make this "dream universe" absorb the mainstream reality, and the modern Justice League fights the "evil" old Justice League.
The premise of a Justice League-esque superteam establishing a totalitarian state for what they see as the good of humanity has also been taken up in Marvel Comics
' original Squadron Supreme
miniseries, its recent re-imagining of that story
, in Wildstorm's
The Authority, and the Titans Tomorrow
storyline from the Teen Titans comic book. The idea of metahuman
s taking control away from humans, and of Superman leading them to make a better world, is also developed in the Elseworlds
mini-series Kingdom Come
, albeit after Superman had retired only for the new violent heroes to push Earth to the brink of apocalypse. According to the DVD commentary from Bruce Timm, that the plan for Batman's distrust on the League because of the Justice Lords was to have him form Outsiders as a counter-superteam to it, but the idea was dropped.
The idea of having criminals surgically altered to prevent them from returning to lives of crime seems reminiscent of Superman: Red Son
, which in turn was inspired by Doc Savage
, who brainwashed criminals after his battles with them. It was also a plot point in the recent DC Comics mini-series Identity Crisis—although in that case the alteration was magically-induced rather than surgical and primarily consisted of the heroes erasing the villains' knowledge of their secret identities, save in extreme cases, such as when Doctor Light
raped Sue Dibny
, wife of the Elongated Man
—and in Marvel Comics
' original Squadron Supreme
miniseries.
Hero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
es-turned-villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
s who first appeared in the two-part Justice League
Justice League (TV series)
Justice League is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 2001 to 2004 on Cartoon Network. The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It is based on the Justice League of America and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics...
episode "A Better World" (airdate November 1, 2003).
Biography
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
from a parallel Earth. The roster
Roster
A roster is a list of names of people involved with an organization of some kind.A roster can be a list of people and the times when they are required to work or a list of students in a classroom....
of the Justice Lords was the same as the original DCAU
DC animated universe
The DC Animated Universe is a fan term that refers to a series of popular animated television series and related spin-offs produced by Warner Bros. Animation which share the same continuity. Most of these series are adapted from DC Comics properties...
Justice League — an alternate Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, Green Lantern
John Stewart (comics)
John Stewart is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Green Lantern vol. 2, #87 , and was created by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams.-Publication history:...
, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter
Martian Manhunter
The Martian Manhunter is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in publications published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in Detective Comics #225...
, Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, and Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
— with the exception of The Flash
Wally West
The Flash is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first Kid Flash and the third Flash....
, because the Flash from their universe had been killed.
The Justice Lords' world diverged from that of the Justice League when their Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
was elected President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. The Flash was executed personally by Luthor for unknown reasons, and Luthor's policies eventually resulted in the country "being on the brink of a war that could destroy the whole planet". The alternate Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman decided to try and stop the impending war, storming the White House and confronting President Luthor. After Luthor goaded the alternate Superman, that no matter how many times Superman sent him to prison Luthor would find a way back into power all over again in an unending cycle, the enraged Kryptonian targeted Luthor with heat vision and killed him. This decision led to far-reaching consequences, as Superman decided he liked this new brand of "justice". Soon, the other Lords lost faith in humanity's ability to do what was right, as well as their own moral compasses.
The initial act of staging a coup eventually led to the Justice Lords taking over the world's governments and ruling with an iron fist. Using their satellite base for global surveillance, the Justice Lords went on to suppress free speech, outlaw election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
s, and eliminate all crime by lobotomizing
Lobotomy
Lobotomy "; τομή – tomē: "cut/slice") is a neurosurgical procedure, a form of psychosurgery, also known as a leukotomy or leucotomy . It consists of cutting the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex, the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain...
all criminals
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
and supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
s (to the point of having a man arrested for complaining about the food quality and incorrect calculation of cost at a restaurant). Although they justified their behavior to the masses as "temporary," and to each other as for the good of the people, it amounted to tyranny
Tyrant
A tyrant was originally one who illegally seized and controlled a governmental power in a polis. Tyrants were a group of individuals who took over many Greek poleis during the uprising of the middle classes in the sixth and seventh centuries BC, ousting the aristocratic governments.Plato and...
in the eyes of the Justice League
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
.
A Better World
The Justice Lords learned of their normal Justice LeagueJustice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
counterparts when the alternate Batman came across the League while experimenting with a dimensional transporter he had built. Bored with their own largely domesticated world, the Lords decided to "assist" their counterparts by taking over the League's world. The Lords tricked the League into coming to the alternate Earth. Upon the League's arrival, they were trapped in a specially designed prison built by the alternate Batman. Later, they were transferred to cells that had been designed to neutralize their powers, except for Hawkgirl, who had suffered serious injuries trying to escape.
When the Lords came to the normal Earth (posing as the 'mainstream' Earth's true heroes), they soon encountered Doomsday
Doomsday (comics)
Doomsday is a fictional character, a supervillain that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Superman: The Man of Steel #18 , and was created by writer-artist Dan Jurgens. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Doomsday as #46...
, a giant monstrous fighter. Doomsday had apparently come to challenge Earth's mightiest combatants, and went on a rampage. The Lords, particularly Superman, were more than happy to fight him (the Martian Manhunter being the only one skeptical on winning stating "IF we can stop it"). Attacking first and asking questions later, the alternate Superman predicted the Lords would win over the normal Earth people with their brand of justice. The fight ended with the Justice Lords beaten down and the alternate Superman held at Doomsday's mercy, however he managed to lobotomize Doomsday with his heat vision, to the shock of reporter Lois Lane
Lois Lane
Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....
. Lex Luthor, intimately aware of the real Superman's character (and what he would or would not therefore do) was the only one who figured out that the Lords weren't the League, stating "It's not them."
The League escaped from their prisons when the Flash, in an attempt to play on his status as martyr in the eyes of the Lords, sped up his heartbeat to trick the alternate Batman into thinking it had flatline
Flatline
A flatline is an electrical time sequence measurement that shows no activity and therefore when represented, shows a flat line instead of a moving one. It almost always refers to either a flatlined electrocardiogram, where the heart shows no electrical activity , or to a flat electroencephalogram,...
d. The alternate Batman responded by releasing the Flash and was subsequently knocked out. The League then escaped. Most of the League went to Arkham Asylum to retrieve Hawkgirl, except for the normal Batman, who went to the Batcave to hijack the dimensional transporter. There, he engaged the alternate Batman in a fight. The fight ended abruptly with the alternate Batman playing off their mutual tragedy after Batman says the Lords have created a world without freedom or thought by seizing power, countering with, "And with that power, we've made a world where no eight-year-old boy
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
will ever lose his parents because of some punk with a gun
Joe Chill
Joe Chill is a fictional character in the DC Comics Batman series. He is best known for murdering young Bruce Wayne's parents , thus making him indirectly responsible for Batman's existence....
." The normal Batman was eventually able to convince the alternate Batman that the Lords' methods were wrong by (like the alternate Batman) playing on their mutual tragedies by sarcastically remarking, "They'd love it here, don't you think? Mom and Dad. They'd be so proud of you." The alternate Batman saw the error of his ways and saved the Justice League from the alternate Earth's security forces, and transmitted them back to their reality, presumably then going on to rebuild his world.
Back on the normal Earth, Superman approached Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
, offering him a presidential pardon in exchange for his help against the Lords. The Lords were defeated when the League engaged the Lords again to distract them long enough as Luthor used a power disruptor to strip them of their powers. The depowered Lords were then arrested, but it is not known what happened to them afterwards, save the alternate Batman, who never went to normal earth.
At the end, normal Earth Luthor said that he would go into politics.
Long-term effects
The Justice Lords' proposed alteration to the Justice League's world had repercussions in the first two seasons of Justice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited
Justice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
. The events of "A Better World" added fuel to Amanda Waller
Amanda Waller
Dr. Amanda Blake Waller is a character published by DC Comics. She first appeared in Legends #1 in 1986, and was created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and John Byrne...
's crusade against the destructive capabilities of the metahuman
Metahuman
Metahuman is a term to describe superhumans in DC Comics' shared universe, the DC Universe. It is roughly synonymous with both mutant and mutate and posthuman in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. Use of the term in reference to superheroes was coined in 1986 by author George R. R...
population if the government left it unchecked. Project Cadmus
Project Cadmus
Project Cadmus is a fictional genetic engineering project in the DC Comics Universe. It was created by Jack Kirby as the DNA Project in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #133 , and was run by the former Newsboy Legion...
, which was originally created to counter Superman if he went rogue (as shown in the Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series
Superman: The Animated Series is an American animated television series starring DC Comics' flagship character, Superman. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on The WB from September 6, 1996 to February 12, 2000. Warner Bros...
two-part episode "Legacy"), expanded its threat list to the whole Justice League. It also led to some increasing paranoia and distrust within the rank of the Justice League, including Batman and The Question
Question (comics)
The Question is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by DC Comics. The original was created by writer-artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Blue Beetle #1...
, who feared that what happened to the Justice Lords' world would eventually happen to theirs when Luthor appeared close to winning the presidency as his counterpart had.
Further examples of the League's degeneration in the public eye — such as Superman’s fight with Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
over what turned out to be a fake emergency, staged by Luthor and Amanda Waller, and Superman’s later near attempt to lobotomize Doomsday in a similar manner to his Lords counterpart — cast the League, and particularly Superman, in an increasingly bad light.
Fortunately, the League had also taken precautions such as recruiting the ardently populist and politically astute Green Arrow
Green Arrow
Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...
as their political conscience. He in turn is critical in putting the role of Cadmus in a reasonable perspective for the League and thereby prevents them from falling into the same temptation that created the Lords.
Divided We Fall
As a major insult, Lex LuthorLex Luthor
Lex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
/Brainiac
Brainiac (comics)
Brainiac is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Action Comics #242 , and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino....
combined creating duplicate androids of the Lords in the Justice League Unlimited
Justice League Unlimited
Justice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
episode Divided We Fall. However, Brainiac added an android duplicate of the Flash in a costume design almost identical to that of comic book villain Zoom
Zoom (comics)
Zoom is a fictional comic book supervillain from the DC Comics universe. He is primarily associated with the superhero Wally West, the third Flash and is the third of the Reverse-Flashes...
, to distract the League from his and Luthor's ultimate goal of universal domination. Not only did the androids fight the League, but they also played on their worst fears at the time: Superman was confronted with the possibility of becoming a Justice Lord, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl played off their failed relationship, as well as Hawkgirl's pariah status on both Earth and Thanagar, and Flash confronted his role among the world's greatest heroes. However, the fears of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter were not revealed (Batman was able to destroy his double the second quickest next to Flash, so that his double never even had a chance to mock him). Only Flash seemed unaffected by his replica's taunts, apparently due to his overpowering sense of self confidence, and also considering that, while he faced off against the Justice Lords themselves, he never actually had a Lord counterpart to begin with. The androids were destroyed after a short fight.
This growing fear concerning the League somehow turning into their Justice Lord counterparts reached a climax in that episode when the Flash surpassed his maximum speed by tapping into the Speed Force
Speed Force
The Speed Force is a concept presented in various comic books published by DC Comics, primarily in relation to the various speedsters in the DC Universe.-Empowered:...
in order to destroy the link between Brainiac and Luthor. This caused the Flash to vanish into the Speed Force, to which the defeated Luthor amusedly remarks: “What do you know? I did kill him.”
Unlike the Justice Lords' Superman, who killed the alternate Luthor, the League’s Superman, refused to succumb to such temptation and follow the path of his tyrannical counterpart and states that “I’m not the man who killed President Luthor. Right now, I wish to Heaven that I were, but I’m not.”
A few minutes later, the League succeeded in drawing the Flash back from the Speed Force, saving his life, and avoiding the path traveled by the Justice Lords.
Realizing that they had allowed themselves to become distanced from the very people they were trying to protect and fearful of becoming the Justice Lords, Superman publicly announced the immediate disbandment of the Justice League. After Green Arrow
Green Arrow
Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...
points out that the Justice League had grown to be far bigger than any individual hero and would continue even without the original seven members, and with public support, the League opted instead to open an embassy on Earth which would serve as a second Watchtower
Justice League Watchtower
The Watchtower is the name of various bases used by the Justice League of America in DC Comics and various other media. It has been portrayed in DC comics as a building on Earth's moon, and as a space-station in orbit in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon.The Watchtower debuted in JLA #4 during...
.
Toys
All the Justice Lords were eventually released in the Justice League Unlimited toylineDC Superheroes: Justice League Unlimited (toy)
DC Universe: Justice League Unlimited Fan Collection is an action figure line based on the highly popular Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series. Though it was based on the show, the line has continued well beyond it, and has been re-branded in 2008, as a Target exclusive...
in three 3-pack collectors sets and "the big three" were re-released later with a lava Doomsday variant in a 6-pack. The first set featured Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. One reviewer criticized for not standing on their own, but noted "represent one of the most popular episodes of the entire Justice League series." The next pack included Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and, oddly the Flash. The final set had Hawkgirl and featured the Brainiac copies of Superman and Batman. The characters did not appear in the Justice League Unlimited series, except in flashbacks.
Inspiration and Similarities
As revealed in the DVD commentary on the second part of this episode the Justice Lords started out as a straight Crime Syndicate of AmericaCrime Syndicate of America
For the concept of crime syndicates in general, see Organized crime.The Crime Syndicate are teams of fictional supervillains, from one of DC Comics' parallel universes, who are the evil counterparts of the Justice League of America. The original team was specifically known as Crime Syndicate of...
story but as the writers worked on it they decided that having it about a Justice League that went fascist
Fascist (epithet)
The word fascist is sometimes used to denigrate people, institutions, or groups that would not describe themselves as ideologically fascist, and that may not fall within the formal definition of the word. The Fascist party that developed in Italy in the 1920s rigidly enforced conservative values...
had more story potential as the Crime Syndicate was simply evil.
This resulted in the episode being very similar to a saga that Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens is an American comic book writer and artist. He is best known for creating the superhero Booster Gold, and for his lengthy runs on the Superman titles Adventures of Superman and Superman , particularly during The Death of Superman storyline...
wrote during his run on Justice League America
Justice League
The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
titled "Destiny's Hand". In that story, the Atom
Ray Palmer (comics)
The Atom is a fictional character, a DC Comics superhero introduced during the Silver Age of comic books in Showcase # 34 . He was named after Raymond A...
dreams about the original Justice League becoming the oppressive rulers of the world. Doctor Destiny
Doctor Destiny
Doctor Destiny is a fictional supervillain published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Justice League of America Vol. 1 #5 , and was created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky.- Fictional character biography :...
tries to make this "dream universe" absorb the mainstream reality, and the modern Justice League fights the "evil" old Justice League.
The premise of a Justice League-esque superteam establishing a totalitarian state for what they see as the good of humanity has also been taken up in Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' original Squadron Supreme
Squadron Supreme
The Squadron Supreme is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Squadron Supreme first appeared in Avengers #85 - 86 The Squadron Supreme is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Squadron Supreme first...
miniseries, its recent re-imagining of that story
Supreme Power
The Squadron Supreme is a fictional superhero team that appears in publications under the mature-audience MAX imprint by Marvel Comics. The team first appears in Supreme Power #1 and was created by writer J...
, in Wildstorm's
Wildstorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
The Authority, and the Titans Tomorrow
Titans Tomorrow
"Titans Tomorrow" is a storyline of a possible alternate future in the DC Comics Universe, from Teen Titans #17-19 , by Geoff Johns and Mike McKone...
storyline from the Teen Titans comic book. The idea of metahuman
Metahuman
Metahuman is a term to describe superhumans in DC Comics' shared universe, the DC Universe. It is roughly synonymous with both mutant and mutate and posthuman in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. Use of the term in reference to superheroes was coined in 1986 by author George R. R...
s taking control away from humans, and of Superman leading them to make a better world, is also developed in the Elseworlds
Elseworlds
Elseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...
mini-series Kingdom Come
Kingdom Come (comic book)
Kingdom Come is a four-issue comic book mini-series published in 1996 by DC Comics. It was written by Alex Ross and Mark Waid and painted in gouache by Ross, who also developed the concept from an original idea...
, albeit after Superman had retired only for the new violent heroes to push Earth to the brink of apocalypse. According to the DVD commentary from Bruce Timm, that the plan for Batman's distrust on the League because of the Justice Lords was to have him form Outsiders as a counter-superteam to it, but the idea was dropped.
The idea of having criminals surgically altered to prevent them from returning to lives of crime seems reminiscent of Superman: Red Son
Superman: Red Son
Superman: Red Son is a three-issue prestige format comic book mini-series published by DC Comics that was released under their Elseworlds imprint in April 2003...
, which in turn was inspired by Doc Savage
Doc Savage
Doc Savage is a fictional character originally published in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L...
, who brainwashed criminals after his battles with them. It was also a plot point in the recent DC Comics mini-series Identity Crisis—although in that case the alteration was magically-induced rather than surgical and primarily consisted of the heroes erasing the villains' knowledge of their secret identities, save in extreme cases, such as when Doctor Light
Doctor Light (Arthur Light)
Doctor Arthur Light is a fictional supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He is the third individual to have adopted the persona of Doctor Light, after a Golden Age foe of Doctor Mid-Nite and Arthur's associate Jacob Finlay...
raped Sue Dibny
Sue Dibny
Susan "Sue" Dearbon Dibny is a fictional character from DC Comics associated with the Elongated Man. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, the character first appeared in Flash vol. 1 #119...
, wife of the Elongated Man
Elongated Man
The Elongated Man is a fictional comic book superhero in the DC universe. He is a reserve member of the Justice League. His first appearance was in The Flash vol. 1, #112...
—and in Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' original Squadron Supreme
Squadron Supreme
The Squadron Supreme is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Squadron Supreme first appeared in Avengers #85 - 86 The Squadron Supreme is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Squadron Supreme first...
miniseries.
External links
- World's Finest Online biopage
- "A Better World," Part 1, at tv.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...
- "A Better World," Part 2, at tv.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...