Since the team’s debut in 1960, the Justice League has faced every kind of threat imaginable, from alien invasions to infighting. In just about every adventure, the League has been able to come out on top and unscathed, defeating the evil they faced with their combined powers and exceptional teamwork. But there have been moments when the League was left devastated by the enemies they faced.
Sometimes, these enemies literally cut the League deep, greatly injuring or even killing a member. Other times, the wounds were psychological, leaving the team unsure of what to do next or how to handle the emotional damage they had taken on. These adventures not only left the League feeling discombobulated, it made the readers feel for the heroes in ways most superhero stories never do. These are the darkest periods for the League, leaving everyone with one question: how do we move forward after all we have been through.
Of course, the League always finds a way. Heroes return from the dead. Old grudges fade. But in those moments, across the pages of those grim tales, it can seem like nothing will ever be the same again, that the League’s members will never be able to move beyond the darkness that has entered their lives.
The League’s First Great Tragedy Happened In 1969
For the first nine years of the team’s existence, the Justice League of America had it pretty good. Their adventures, including the annual team-up with the Justice Society of America from Earth-Two, were filled with excitement, but most problems were solved by the end of an issue, and no one was ever in serious danger. The team even had a powerless teen sidekick, Snapper Carr, to help keep things breezy.
But that all changed when writer Dennis O’Neil took over the title. O’Neil hated Snapper Carr and wanted him out of the book. Deciding against his first idea — killing Snapper off — O’Neil took a different path that turned one of the worst sidekicks in the history of comics into a pariah for decades. In Justice League of America #77, Snapper betrayed the League, turning against them and — unwittingly — teaming up with Joker. Not only did Snapper help turn the world against the League, he also revealed their secret headquarters to the Clown Prince of Crime. For the first time in their history, the League found itself questioning one of their own members and was forced to kick Snapper off the team.
Compared to many of the stories that would follow, Snapper Carr’s betrayal is relatively innocent, but for the League and the readers, it was the first time the heroes were put into a losing position with no clear way to win the day without hurting one of their own.
Breakdowns Ended The League’s Good Time
The first iteration of the team following Crisis on Infinite Earths, Kieth Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis’ Justice League, which became Justice League International before splitting into two titles — Justice League America and Justice League Europe — is known for its more lighthearted approach to superhero action. Birthing the classic “BWA-HAHAHAHAHA!” and introducing readers to the greatest bromance in comics — Blue Beetle and Booster Gold — the series was as funny as it was exciting.
But when the time came for Giffen and DeMatteis (along with a plethora of other writers and artists) to move on to other titles, the duo decided to end the series on a dark note. It all starts when the League’s benefactor, Maxwell Lord, is shot, and ends with the League being forced to disband by the United Nations.
“Breakdowns,” the 16-part story that ran through both titles, pushed the team to their limits and left each member emotionally drained. For fans, it was a sad conclusion to such a fun series, but one that fit the story Giffen and DeMatteis had begun years earlier when they asked readers to give their team of misfits a chance. To this day, the JLI days are spoken of with fondness and respect as one of the greatest comic book runs of all time, even if the finale will leave you feeling weepy.
Doomsday Killed Superman And Destroyed The Justice League
“The Death of Superman” was an instant classic, and for good reason. The team working on the four Superman books put together an amazing story that presented the world with something no one thought possible: the Man of Steel facing off against a foe that was too powerful for even him to beat. Superman’s demise at the end of the sixth-issue story and the image of a crying Lois Lane holding his beaten and bloodied body has stuck in the minds of readers ever since. But what is often forgotten is how Doomsday didn’t just destroy Superman, he destroyed the Justice League.
Before Superman was able to show up and take Doomsday on, the Justice League tried to stop the monster, and the battle didn’t go well at all. Booster Gold’s suit, made out of tech from the 25th century, was torn apart, leaving him powerless. And poor Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), who never had powers to begin with, was so badly beaten by Doomsday, he was left in a coma. When Beetle finally woke up months later, he faced a long recovery time, including having to learn to walk again. Superman may have died that day, but he was far from the only hero to suffer at the hands of Doomsday.
Batman Betrayed The League
The most paranoid member of the Justice League, Batman is known for being prepared to handle anything that gets thrown his way. But in Mark Waid, Howard Porter, and Steve Scott’s “Tower of Babel,” the Dark Knight took things too far when his contingency plans to take out his teammates should they ever turn evil fell into Ra’s al Ghul’s hands. Every member of the League, even Batman, was incapacitated, leaving the Demon’s Head free to enact his plans for the world.
Luckily, the League was able to overcome the fates Batman dreamed up for them and stop Ra’s before he could complete his scheme, but the whole thing left the team shaken. Knowing that someone they trusted didn’t trust them forced the League to vote on Batman’s future with them, revealing secret feelings each member had about the World’s Greatest Detective. Before Superman could make the deciding vote to kick Batman off the team, Gotham’s hero chose to quit. The ramifications of Batman’s actions would reverberate for years, and some Leaguers continue to view him with a skeptical eye to this day.
Identity Crisis Revealed The League’s Biggest Sin
Brad Meltzer and Rags Morales’ controversial Identity Crisis started with the murder of Sue Dibny, the wife of longtime Justice League member Elongated Man. But the deeper tragedy was the revelation of the League’s darkest choice: having Zatanna use her magic to wipe the minds of their foes, making them easier to deal with in future encounters. But, proving that Batman may have had a point when he created blueprints to defeat every DC hero in “Tower of Babel,” the League also wiped the Dark Knight’s mind when he found out what they had done.
That the League would be so willing to mess with the minds of those they deemed dangerous went against everything the team supposedly stood for. While they had battled everything from alien invasions to whatever wild plan Lex Luthor had come up with in a given week, the League was never meant to decide the fate of their enemies, leaving that to the justice system. Taking it upon themselves to alter the memories of others, including one of their own, showed that no matter how righteous DC’s heroes are, they can still fall prey to humanity’s greatest failing: fear.
The Death of Martian Manhunter
Grant Morrison and J.G. Jones kicked off Final Crisis by killing the heart of the Justice League, showing founding member Martian Manhunter set ablaze by a group of supervillains that included Lex Luthor and Gorilla Grodd. While superhero deaths rarely stick — Superman even suggests J’onn J’onzz will return from the grave in his eulogy to his fallen friend — the moment still represented a tragic and dark moment for the League.
Martian Manhunter hasn’t been a member of every iteration of the League, but he has been the most consistent hero in the roster, and losing him at the start of the event made it clear that the team would be facing a serious threat. There isn’t a member of the League who doesn’t love J’ohnn, and having to lay his body at rest on Mars was not an easy thing for any of them. And it wasn’t any easier on the readers.
DC’s Darkest Future Showed A League Torn Apart
DC Comics has long hinted at a dark period known as The Great Disaster that comes after the age of heroes, but that moment has never been seen. The closest readers have come to witnessing the event may be Mark Waid and Alex Ross’ Kingdom Come, a story set in the near future where the DC Universe in on the precipice of an apocalypse, with the Spectre enlisting a lowly minister, Norman McCay to decide the fate of the world.
In the story, Superman has walked away from his responsibilities after Joker killed dozens of Daily Planet employees, including Lois Lane. His disappearance leads to other heroes losing their moral compass and the destruction of Kansas. When Superman comes out of his self-imposed retirement to try and turn things around, Batman forms his own team to take control while Lex Luthor works to ensure the heroes never return to their status as beloved figures. The events lead up to a horrific battle that sees countless heroes and villains die in a war. And while Superman is able to turn the tide — thanks in no small part to Captain Marvel’s sacrifice — the scars remain.
Blue Beetle’s Murder Leads To A Crisis
A former member of the Justice League International, Blue Beetle was never taken seriously by the other heroes. When he stumbled upon a conspiracy, his attempts to get other heroes, including Batman, to help him are brushed off. Beetle ends up going it alone, leading to his death at the hands of his onetime friend (and boss) Maxwell Lord.
Beetle’s death — and Maxwell Lord’s hand in it — shatters the superhero community, leading to revelations of deep mistrust between everyone. Making matters worse, Lord’s plans to kill or capture all the heroes was taken from Batman’s own blueprints, once again making the League question the Caped Crusader’s true intentions. Just as the heroes have come to distrust one another, Alexander Luthor launched his attempt to recreate the universe into his own image. The heroes are able to stop the Luthor of Earth-Three and his partner, Superboy-Prime, but not before many of their peers fall. The failure of the League to prevent the crisis from happening leads to Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman all stepping away for a year, leaving the hero community to find a new way forward.
- Cast
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Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Cara Delevingne, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Zachary Levi, Dwayne Johnson, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Djimon Hounsou, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett, Rosie Perez, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong, Ewan McGregor, Idris Elba, John Cena, Michael Keaton, George Clooney, Xolo Mariduena
- Created by
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Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson
- Character(s)
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Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg, Harley Quinn, The Joker, Shazam, Darkseid, Amanda Waller, Lex Luthor, Doomsday, Deadshot, Deathstroke, Black Canary, Black Adam
- Movie(s)
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Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Aquaman, Shazam!, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, The Suicide Squad, Black Adam, Shazam! The Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, Superman, The Brave and the Bold
