Justice League United

Justice League United

Cover of Justice League United #0
Group publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Justice League United #0 (April 2014)
Created by Jeff Lemire
Mike McKone
In-story information
Base(s) Moosonee, Ontario
Roster
See: List of members
Justice League United
Series publication information
Schedule Monthly
Format Ongoing series
Genre
Publication date April 2014 – December 2015
Number of issues 19 (0-16, plus a Futures End One-Shot, and 1 annual, as of December 2015 cover date)
Creator(s) Jeff Lemire
Mike McKone

Justice League United or JLU, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The team was created by Jeff Lemire and Mike McKone. First appearing in their eponymous series, Justice League United #0 (published in April 2014 and cover-dated June 2014), the team features Animal Man, Equinox, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter, Stargirl, Supergirl, Adam Strange and his partner Alanna Lewis. The team forms in the aftermath of "Forever Evil", following the disbandment of the United States Government-sanctioned Justice League of America.

Publication history

In August 2013, it was announced that following "Forever Evil", writer Jeff Lemire and artist Mike McKone would be taking over Justice League of America, with the series being retitled Justice League Canada, as the series would be taking place in Canada. Adam Strange and a brand new character of Canadian origin would join the team.[1]

In December 2013, Lemire revealed that Animal Man would be a part of the team, upon the cancellation of his eponymous solo title, which was also written by Lemire.[2]

However, in January 2014, it was announced that the Justice League of America would no longer be retitled, instead relaunching in April 2014 as Justice League United with a zero-issue.[3] The team's Canadian addition was revealed to be Miiyahbin Marten, a 16-year-old Cree teen from Moose Factory, with the codename Equinox. Her powers stem from the Earth and change with the seasons.[4]

In September 2015, DC announced that it will be canceling the series in December, with news outlets citing low sales as the most likely cause of cancellation.[5]

History

On the prison moon of Thalsalla, Hawkman challenges the Czarnian bounty hunter Lobo in order to win freedom for his fellow inmates. While Lobo is distracted, Hawkman orders Alanna Lewis to take the others and run for their lives. Back on Earth, the remnants of the Justice League of America are battling with a monstrous alien giant. In the confusion, Dr. Adam Strange is knocked down into the alien base it came from. After recovering, he discovers a wall full of space-suits and tries to use one to aid the JLA. Unfortunately, his attempt to play hero gets him knocked miles away. While Animal Man gets Green Arrow a safe distance away, Stargirl uses her Cosmic Staff as a distraction while Martian Manhunter tries to connect with the alien telepathically. He determines that the alien is a failed experiment made of hybrid DNA. It was kept alive only so that it could serve the purpose of protecting the scientists who made it. The creature senses Martian Manhunter's presence and tries to expel him from its mind, running away with Martian Manhunter still trapped in its body. Stargirl chases after him. Alanna and her fellow escapees run afoul of some Khundian guards. As she hurries on, she is distracted by the sound of Adam Strange's voice. As he fights Lobo, Hawkman demands to know who hired the Czarnian this time. Green Arrow and Animal Man spot Adam Strange sitting atop a rock in a stream, hoping that they managed to stop the creature without him. When Adam learns that Stargirl went after it alone, he powers up his jet pack and prepares to lead the way. Having chased the creature half way across Canada, Stargirl realizes that just blasting it with her staff isn't doing much good. She flies into the creature and finds Martian Manhunter. Using the remnants of their psychic connection, Stargirl successfully free J'onn, but is unable to stop the creature from continuing on its path of destruction. Martian Manhunter explains that the creature cannot be reasoned with. So if she can give him a form he can punch, all will be well. After realizing Stargirl's staff can change the form of the monster, J'onn has her fire on the alien until it is turned into wood, and smashes it. Unfortunately, the creature begins reconstituting itself. Before they can do anything to stop, they find themselves transported unexpectedly to the Desert of Nagalis on the planet Rann. Alanna runs into Adam Strange's arms, but he grabs her arm and warns that he'll kill her if she tries to pull another stunt like her escape again. Alanna realizes quickly that he isn't Adam Strange at all. He is Lord Byth in disguise and he explains that he has been using all of the prisoners' DNA to create a baby that will one day grow up to be Ultra the Multi-Alien: Slayer of Worlds.[6]

Miiyabin Marten and her friend Heather return to the forest in Moosonee, Ontario, where Miiyahbin swears that she saw American heroes fighting monsters. Though Heather doesn't believe her at first, they soon see for themselves that the secret alien base the heroes uncovered there remains there. While they explore it, they are suddenly attacked by a horrifying creature who grabs Miiyahbin. When Heather turns to look for her, she is gone. Meanwhile on the planet Rann, Stargirl and her friends try to get their bearings, having been suddenly teleported into what Martian Manhunter can only determine is in the Polaris System. The realization that they are not in Canada anymore leads Green Arrow and Animal Man to fall into a bickering match which they become so consumed by that they fail to notice the monster they'd fought the day before has caught up with them, and threatens to crush them under-foot. Stargirl is wary of using her Cosmic Staff to fight the thing, because every time she hits it with a beam from the rod, the creature changes forms where some forms are harder to fight off than others. Fortunately, they have unexpected help from Supergirl. Before Supergirl can deal with the creature herself, both the creature and the Earth superheroes are confined to containment fields. The stasis shells were activated by the natives of the planet, who explain that the rogue hybrid entity the heroes have been fighting feeds on cosmic energy and by reducing its access to that stimulus (the Cosmic Rod), they can shrink it down to a manageable size. The leader of these people named Sardath explains that they are on his planet of Rann and that the alien visitors must remain his prisoners until he determines that they are not a threat. When Sardath realizes that Martian Manhunter is a Martian, he becomes worried about psychic invasions. Sardath he is too slow to prevent Martian Manhunter from stepping through the stasis shell and grabbing him to demand just what is going on. Meanwhile on the Moon of Thalsalla, Byth Rok reveals the child Ultra the Multi-Alien who is a hybrid of multiple aliens. One day, he explains to Alanna Lewis that this baby will grow into the most powerful creature in the universe. Hearing that the prisoners will no longer be needed for DNA samples, Lobo is eager to see them all killed, but he is attacked suddenly by Hawkman and the other escapees. He is disgusted to see Byth there after the Daemonite incursions on Thanagar. While he and Lobo fight, Byth becomes preoccupied with Ultra the Multi-Alien warning that the time of the baby's awakening is upon them. Sardath explains that his people are pacifists which is part of what caused the problems they now face. The Zeta Beam was what brought the visitors to Rann and they are the first humans ever to make that journey which means they don't have Adam Strange's fiancée Alanna with them. Still there are more questions to be answered such as what the Rannians were doing in the bunker in Moosonee not to mention the hybrid entity. Sardath explains that the things the heroes encountered down there only became threats after Byth got hold of them and he is likely responsible for Alanna's disappearance. Everything that has occurred began with the best intentions as something called the Ultra Project. Sardath explains that the Polaris and Vega Star Systems have been plagued for years by interplanetary war. Thanagar and Czarnia had been at the heart of it for some time, but others like Psion and Tamaran have stakes in the conflict. As such, aliens like the Dominators and Daemonites have taken advantage of the instability. Rann has stayed neutral using technological prowess and ingenuity as their own strengths, but neutrality led to their being caught in the middle. They began to take on refugees and of like minds, they worked together to bring about a ceasefire. However, they knew the conflict would reach a boiling point again and it was suggested that they create a weapon. Sardath opposed this suggesting instead that they create a symbol of unity in a child whose genetic heritage would come from all of the races with a stake in the system. This would be Ultra, a multi-alien and a being of pure science. However, they knew that they could not simply make the child representative of a few planets. It was necessary to get samples from every planet in the galaxy including Earth. Nobody was harmed or kidnapped until Byth found out about the project. He discovered the Earth lab and used his abilities to pose as Sardath to infiltrate the team. He killed them, returned to Rann, and took the project for himself. Sardath's people have since tracked Byth to the Thanagarian moon of Thalsalla. When he learned this, he attempted to contact some of Earth's super-humans to ask for help. But if the shared look of suspicion on his guests' faces are any indication, it is not going well. Despite that, Martian Manhunter concedes that it is only just that they help for the sake of the galaxy. Meanwhile, Byth is eagerly anticipating the imminent awakening of Ultra the Multi-Alien when the Justice League arrives via Zeta Beam. Happily, Adam reunites with Alanna. Unfortunately, they are all too late to stop Byth's plan and the baby's awakening is punctuated by a violent blast of energy.[7]

Team roster

References

  1. ↑ Mudhar, Raju (August 23, 2013). "DC Comics to launch Justice League Canada in 2014". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on August 25, 2013.
  2. ↑ Schedeen, Jesse (December 12, 2013). "Jeff Lemire's Animal Man Will End in March 2014". IGN. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  3. ↑ Lemire, Jeff (January 16, 2014). "Justice League Canada becomes Justice League United A New Ongoing Series in April!". Jeff Lemire's Blog. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Exclusive - Equinox, new Cree teen superhero, joins DC Comics lineup". CBC News. March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  5. ↑ "DC Comics Cancelling 5 Titles As Of December". Retrieved 2015-09-14.
  6. ↑ Justice League United #1
  7. ↑ Justice League United #2
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