Justice League International

Justice League International

Cover to Justice League (vol. 1) #1 (May 1987). Art by Kevin Maguire
Group publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Justice League (vol. 1) #1 (May 1987)
Created by Keith Giffen
J. M. DeMatteis
In-story information
Type of organization Team
Roster
See: List of Justice League members
Justice League International
Series publication information
Schedule Monthly
Format Ongoing series
Genre
Publication date (Justice League)
May – October 1987
(Justice League International (vol. 1))
November 1987 – April 1989
(Justice League America)
May 1989 – August 1996
(Justice League International (vol. 2))
June 1993 – September 1994
(Justice League International (vol. 3))
September 2011 – August 2012
Number of issues Justice League:
6
Justice League International (vol. 1):
19
Justice League America:
94
Justice League International (vol. 2):
17
Justice League International (vol. 3):
12 and an Annual
Creative team
Writer(s) Keith Giffen
J. M. DeMatteis
Vol. 3
Dan Jurgens
Penciller(s) Kevin Maguire
Ty Templeton
Adam Hughes
Vol. 3
Aaron Lopresti, Dan Jurgens, Marco Castiello
Inker(s) Al Gordon
Joe Rubinstein
Vol. 3
Matt Ryan, Vincenzo Acunzo
Creator(s) Keith Giffen
J. M. DeMatteis
Collected editions
Volume 1 ISBN 1-4012-1666-8
Volume 2 ISBN 1-4012-1826-1
Volume 3 ISBN 1-4012-1941-1
Volume 4 ISBN 1-4012-2196-3

Justice League International (or JLI for short) is a DC Comics superhero team written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, with art by Kevin Maguire, created in 1987.[1]

Publication history

Writer J. M. DeMatteis was given the Justice League title after finishing the previous Justice League of America series. Paired with writer Keith Giffen and artist Kevin Maguire he set out to create a "big seven" title similar to the original lineup and Grant Morrison's subsequent JLA title. However, at the time, Superman was being revamped by John Byrne's reboot while George Pérez was handling the relaunched Wonder Woman and Mike Baron was handling his relaunch of The Flash. Aquaman was off limits as well due to the character being in creative limbo for some time. According to the introduction to the trade paperback of the series, Denny O'Neil took pity on the team and gave them Batman to be used in the series. Dr. Fate's inclusion coincided with DeMatteis and Giffen writing a Dr. Fate series. Editor Andy Helfer (also editor of Green Lantern at the time) suggested using the newer Guy Gardner instead of Hal Jordan. The resulting comedic tone was Giffen's idea; in terms of the industry, it served as heavy competition compared to Marvel Comics' grim and gritty titles. The title would introduce new characterizations to old characters: Guy Gardner was now a loutish hothead, Captain Marvel was no longer a separate personality but retains Billy's personality, Booster Gold was greedier and more inept than he had been in Dan Jurgens' series, and Black Canary's personality was written as a strong feminist. DC Comics Bonus Books appeared in issues #18 (October 1988)[2] and #24 (February 1989)[3] and featured extra stories of JLI members by new comics creators.

Justice League International was created after the 1987 company-wide crossover and limited series, Legends, when a new Justice League was formed and given a less America-centric mandate than before. Following the events of both "Legends" and "Crisis on Infinite Earths", the new League also gave DC an opportunity to mix characters that represented different universes or histories prior to the mid-eighties. While Batman, Martian Manhunter and Black Canary maintained the connection to the former League, Blue Beetle was a recent acquisition from Charlton Comics, Doctor Fate was from Earth-2, Mister Miracle was brought in from (Jack) Kirby's Fourth World and Captain Marvel was previously on a separate Earth populated by characters from Fawcett Comics. Doctor Light was a new addition, making her first appearance during the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" storyline, while Guy Gardner served as the legacy hero for Green Lantern.

The series would go on to become nominated as "Best New Series" in 1988 by the Harvey Awards but was beat out by Paul Chadwick's Concrete. It would also feature Adam Hughes' first work for a major comic publisher.

The term JLI covers several different names for the series, including the first six issues, which were titled simply as Justice League, and the later issues when the book was renamed Justice League America (without the "of"). Another spin-off, Justice League Europe, was renamed Justice League International (vol. 2) toward the end of its run.

Justice League: Breakdowns

"Breakdowns" was a 16-issue crossover between the Justice League America (#53-60) and Justice League Europe (#29-36) titles, changing the tone of both series from a humorous one to a more serious one, and introducing new creative teams to both books. The major events that occurred were the following:

Expansion

The Justice League gets a larger roster as seen in Justice League International (vol. 1) #24 (Feb, 1989). Art by Kevin Maguire.

The release of Justice League Spectacular launched the revised Justice League titles under new writers and artists. The Justice League titles expanded to a total of four by the early to mid-1990s: Justice League America (formerly Justice League International), Justice League Europe (which had started two years after Justice League launched, spinning from #24), Justice League Task Force, Extreme Justice and Justice League Quarterly. Justice League Europe was later retitled to become the second volume of Justice League International.

However, with new writers and artists coming and going into the Justice League titles, there was very little consistency in continuity. The more powerful and recognizable characters such as Superman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman and Batman came and went in the various titles, replaced by lesser known characters such as Bloodwynd, Maya, Maxima, Nuklon, Obsidian, Tasmanian Devil, and Triumph. Longtime JLI-era characters such as Captain Atom, Martian Manhunter, and Power Girl were revised and revamped repeatedly, with mixed responses from fans.

By the mid to late 1990s, with the commercial success of the series fading, each of the titles was eventually cancelled.

Miniseries

In 2003, Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire reunited for the six issue miniseries Formerly Known as the Justice League. This depicted Maxwell Lord trying to get the gang back together as The Super Buddies - a Hero-For-Hire group that operated out of a strip mall. 2005 saw second storyline, I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, by the same creative team published in the pages of JLA Classified. This one told a story of the characters attempt to rescue Ice from Hell.

Return

Following Blackest Night, DC launched two alternating 24-issue biweekly comic book limited series, one being Brightest Day and the other being Justice League: Generation Lost, written by Keith Giffen and Judd Winick. This second series features Captain Atom, Booster Gold, the new Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes, Fire, Ice and a new Rocket Red (by the name of Gavril Ivanovich) and will, essentially, see the return of Justice League International, as explained by Giffen:[4]

“ In all of my years in comics, I have never experienced anything like the complete 180 this project took once the brainstorming kicked off. Like I said, when we started the writers' summit, the Justice League... hell, why mince words... Justice League International was not on the table. Then someone, and I really wish I remembered exactly who, stirred the JLI into the mix. ”

Over the course of the series, Power Girl and Batman joined the group as well, with Wonder Woman appearing in the book's final three issues. The title was heavily tied to Winick's run on Power Girl, which had the title character dealing with villains connected to Max Lord's plans in Generation Lost, and eventually had her rejoin the Justice League International after a crossover between the two titles. The title also indirectly tied into Odyssey, a storyline published in Wonder Woman that saw the title character being removed from history with her existence forgotten by most of her fellow heroes. This formed the basis of the book's finale, with the members of the Justice League International racing to track down Wonder Woman before Lord could find her and kill her.[5] Plot threads from Kingdom Come and The OMAC Project also appeared.

Generation Lost ended with a teaser that a new Justice League International series would be coming in a few months (with Booster Gold as leader).

The New 52

As part of The New 52, Justice League International was relaunched in September 2011, after the conclusion of the "Flashpoint" storyline, written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Aaron Lopresti.[6][7][8]

This Justice League International is formed by United Nations director Andre Briggs as a UN-controlled counterpart to the original Justice League and is based out of the Hall of Justice. The founding lineup of the team consists of Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Rocket Red (Gavril Ivanovich), Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Vixen, August General in Iron, and Godiva, who are recruited to the team due to having their identites publicly known. Batman is denied membership due to having a secret identity, but is allowed to accompany the group as part of an effort to foster good relations between the JLI and the original Justice League. The team goes on to defeat the Signal Men and the alien conqueror Peraxxus.[9]

During a press conference outside the Hall of Justice, Rocket Red is killed when a bomb explodes, while Fire, Ice and Vixen are hospitalized and become comatose. This leads Booster Gold to recruit Batwing, OMAC and Firehawk to the team.[10]

In May 2012, DC announced the cancellation of Justice League International.[11] The series concluded with issue 12 and the Justice League International Annual in August 2012.[12][13]

Writers

Collected editions

In 1989, the first seven issues of the original Justice League International series were collected in a trade paperback called Justice League: A New Beginning (ISBN 0930289404) and issues #8-12 in the follow-up Justice League International: The Secret Gospel of Maxwell Lord in 1992 (ISBN 1563890399).

In 2008, DC announced plans to collect the early years of the JLI as individual volumes, initially as hardcovers and later on as trade paperbacks; starting with volume 5 the books will be released solely as trade paperbacks:

In other media

Television

The JLI in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. It was clear that the [Justice League] needed a major overhaul. But no one quite expected how drastic the transformation would truly be in the hands of writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis and artist Kevin Maguire.
  2. ↑ Justice League International #18 at the Grand Comics Database
  3. ↑ Justice League International #24 at the Grand Comics Database
  4. ↑ Rogers, Vaneta (January 12, 2010). "JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL Returns in "GENERATION LOST"". Newsarama. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
  5. ↑ Newsarama.com : Generation Lost | Judd Winick | JUDD WINICK: The Future of MAX LORD & the GEN LOST GANG, p.2
  6. ↑ Hyde, David. "The New Justice". DC Comics. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  7. ↑ Live From The DC New 52 Panel… Updating | Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors
  8. ↑ Rogers, Vaneta (August 17, 2011). "The DCnU Take 2: Justice League International". Newsarama. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  9. ↑ Justice League International (vol. 2) #1-6 (Sept. 2011 - March 2012)
  10. ↑ Justice League International (vol. 3) #7 (April 2012)
  11. ↑ Langshaw, Mark (May 15, 2012). "Justice League International to end with issue #12". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on June 12, 2012. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  12. ↑ Justice League International (vol. 3) #12 (August 2012)
  13. ↑ Justice League International Annual #1 (August 2012)
  14. ↑ JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOL. 1 | DC Comics (Hardcover)
  15. ↑ JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOL. 1 | DC Comics (Softcover)
  16. ↑ JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOL. 2 | DC Comics (Hardcover)
  17. ↑ JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOL. 2 | DC Comics (Softcover)
  18. ↑ JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOL. 3 | DC Comics (Hardcover)
  19. ↑ JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOL. 3 | DC Comics (Softcover)
  20. ↑ JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOL. 4 | DC Comics (Hardcover)
  21. ↑ JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOL. 4 | DC Comics (Softcover)
  22. ↑ VOL. 5 | DC Comics (Softcover)
  23. ↑ Justice League International Val. 5 | DC Comics (Softcover)
  24. ↑ Who's News | ‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold’ returns tonight, prepares for the coming of Justice League International
  25. ↑ TV Schedule | Cartoon Network South East Asia
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