Two years ago, DC Comics' ongoing flagship Justice League the title ended with number 75. It featured the death of the entire League. Oh, they got better pretty quickly. At the end of the Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths event, they were all back in the land of the living. That said, the comic book giant decided to put the Justice League concept to rest while they figure out their next move, leaving the Titans as protectors of the Earth. However, these two years have been the longest DC has gone without publishing a title with “Justice League” in the name since 1960. So what's the stop with a new Justice League series? And how can DC ensure that a new iteration becomes a necessary and talked about comic book?
DC Comics: A World Without Justice League
The Justice League of America first appeared in Brave and bold #28, published in February 1960. After a successful three-issue trial, the JLA received their own series later that year. Unlike the Justice Society of the World War II era, the JLA had Superman and Batman as regular members. This elevated the team to A-list status. Since 1960, DC has published an ongoing book with the words Justice League in the title. This unbroken run ended after 62 years in 2022. The idea was that they would be back bigger and better very soon. But unless you're talking about out-of-continuity tales like Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong, We are all waiting for the return of the League.
DC is probably thinking that “absence makes the heart grow fonder” when considering when to bring back the League, which makes sense. Marvel did something similar when the flagship series The fantastic four ended its decades-long run in 2015. When the quartet relaunched in 2018, it was really good. But what will make this La Liga relaunch stand out from so many in the past, other than an unusually long hiatus? We have some ideas about the angles DC could take with League when the world's greatest superheroes they make their most welcome return. In fact, some of these ideas could inform James Gunn's new DCU.
All 7 original Justice League players have died and returned, forming a unique bond between the team
The original Justice League was founded by seven members: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Flash (Barry Allen), Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. Many other members have come and gone over the years. However, in many ways, these original seven remain the most iconic version of the team. However, since Barry Allen died in Crisis on Infinite Earths, the founders have not headlined any books together. When Barry returned after 23 years in 2009 Flash: Rebirththe hypothesis was great JLA The reunion book was next. Then the New 52 of 2011 rebooted and everyone met again for the first time. However, the New 52 continuity has been largely undone, with much of the League's original history restored. And we haven't seen the Big Seven get together as a team since. Now seems like an ideal time.
The Original Justice League: Death Becomes Them
Besides being a nostalgic reunion, one thing unites the original seven. They have all died and come back. And not just the standard “We thought they were dead, but it was a clone/they were in a coma/it was an alternate universe version.” They all actually died, passed on to an afterlife and came back. Yes, even the very human Batman of the event series final crisis. Some were dead for many years, like Barry Allen and Hal Jordan. Others, like Wonder Woman, for just a few months.
With that detail in mind, the Leaguers all going to face the Grim Reaper and coming out on the other side could make for an interesting team dynamic. Are they all functionally immortal now? Writer Grant Morrison played with the metaphor of the “Seven Great” Binders as Olympian gods of the DCU in the 90s JLA series Could this interpretation be more literal than metaphorical? They certainly share a strange bond that no other team has in DC. (However, we must note that Marvel's X-Men certainly.) It is fodder for an interesting meeting of the most famous heroes of DC Comics.
It's time to Justice League Unlimited in the DC Universe
That said, the original seven should only be a starting point for what DC does next. Because, let's face it, this is a very white and male team for the year of our Lord Darkseid 2024. It's time for the League to take a cue from its greatest media incarnation of the team, the Justice League Unlimited. It's time to open the doors to all the heroes of the DCU. In the JLU animated series, the League became more than a team. It became almost a superhero conglomerate. It was a true superpower society, in a way that its predecessors, the Justice Society of America, never were.
Comics have played with this notion before, like the excellent one International Justice League course of the 80s. But never on the scale of Justice League Unlimited cartoon show. Expanding the League in this way allows it to truly become something unique, something that has never been rivaled by the Avengers at Marvel. Perhaps, the original seven founders realize that they had to return from their respective graves to make the League something greater than they had ever dreamed of in the beginning. It could be something bigger that goes beyond the definitions of what we now think of as a superhero team.
A strong Justice League from the comics can inform the big screen version
Of course, comics are the main source of inspiration for most live action content. The New 52 League was the main inspiration for the DCEU version, from Cyborg as a founding member, to its first villain on the planet Apokolips. So it would be fitting for whoever the new DC Justice League is to inspire the eventual DCU version. We've long believed that Gunn's DCU would have one the Justice League already existsbut if the Comic League is a gigantic group with many members and branches, we would not like this concept to make this transition to film and television.
Whatever DC does when they inevitably relaunch the Justice League title, there should be top-notch creatives. Justice League should always be DC's biggest title. It was in the Age of Silver, again in the mail-crisis It was JLI, and also in the 90s Grant Morrison. Love it or hate it, the New 52 Justice League he carried the line, sales-wise, for a long time. It wasn't a series of afterthoughts for the publisher. It would be shocking if we didn't see a relaunch in 2025, the 65th anniversary of the Justice League of America. We hope it's something that excites readers and the larger superhero team of Springboard comics going forward. They deserve a series that it reflects their status as the greatest super team in the world.
