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| Justice League International | |
|---|---|
 Cover ofJustice League #1 (May 1987) byKevin Maguire andTerry Austin. | |
| Group publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Justice League #1 (May1987) |
| 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 | List
|
| Number of issues | List
|
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | List
|
| Penciller(s) | List
|
| Inker(s) | List
|
| Colorist(s) | List
|
| 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 (JLI) is a fictionalDC comics superhero team that succeeded the originalJustice League from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. The team enjoyed several comic books runs, the first being written byKeith Giffen andJ. M. DeMatteis, with art byKevin Maguire, created in 1987.[1] Due to editorial conflicts, the team's new makeup was based largely on newer characters, such asBooster Gold, and recent acquisitions from other comic book companies, such asThe Blue Beetle.
In 2010 and 2011, the team experienced a resurgence as part of theBlackest Night andNew 52 comic runs.
Following the events of the company-wide crossoversCrisis on Infinite Earths andLegends, Justice League of America writer J. M. DeMatteis was paired with writer Keith Giffen and artist Kevin Maguire on a newJustice League series. However, at the time, most of the core Justice League characters were unavailable.Superman was limited toJohn Byrne'sreboot,George Pérez wasrelaunchingWonder Woman andMike Baron waslaunching theWally West version of theFlash.
As a result, the initial team consisted of:
The resulting comedic tone was Giffen's idea, introducing new characterizations to old characters:Guy Gardner was now a loutish hothead,Booster Gold was greedier and more inept than he had been inDan Jurgens' series and Captain Marvel displayed a childlike personality.
When Black Canary resigns,Green Flame andIce Maiden (both from theGlobal Guardians) join.[4][5] They eventually change their names toFire andIce and become long standing members within the team.
The series was nominated as "Best New Series" in 1988 by theHarvey Awards, but lost toPaul Chadwick'sConcrete.[6] It also featuredAdam Hughes' first work for a major comic book publisher.
They fight theChampions of Angor, other-dimensional superheroes intent on destroying all nuclear weapons. Bialya'sdictator Rumaan Harjavti takes advantage of the Champions to eliminate his rivals.[7] InRussia, the League fights theRocket Red Brigade, untilMikhail Gorbachev allows them to help. Wandjina sacrifices himself to stop a nuclear meltdown and the League are sent home by international law.[8] MillionaireentrepreneurMaxwell Lord takes an interest in the team, breaching their security and suggestingBooster Gold as a new member.
Booster proves himself in combat against theRoyal Flush Gang and Lord declares himself their press liaison.[9] The Martian Manhunter saves the world when they battle against a conscious psychic plague and he consumes it.[10] Gardner challenges Batman to a fight over leadership, but Batman knocks him out in one punch. Doctor Fate is captured by the Gray Man, a rogue servant to the Lords of Order.[11] Teaming up with theCreeper, they release Fate and stop the Gray Man from taking over the world.[12]
Earth is attacked by a mysterious satellite and the League travels into space. Miracle recognizes it as a modified New Genesis device and neutralizes it. They return home as heroes. Maxwell Lord introduces a proposal to get United Nations funding and they are given sponsorship in exchange for government regulation. This plan allows them to act as an independentcity-state with worldwide embassies. Captain Atom and Rocket Red #7 are added to the team by the United States and Russia, respectively. Captain Marvel and Doctor Fate quit the team for personal reasons; Batman steps down as leader, appointing the Martian Manhunter to replace him. They are reintroduced to the world as Justice League International.[13] Despite a series of embarrassing accidents, they successfully move in to embassies around the world. This includesMoscow,New York City andParis.
With issue #7, the series was renamedJustice League International to reflect the team's new international status. The name change spawned the term "JLI", which is used when referring to this period in Justice League history. The series was again renamed following the launch ofJustice League Europe in 1989. The series was known asJustice League America until its cancellation in 1996.
"Breakdowns" was a 16-issue crossover between theJustice League America (#53–60) andJustice 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 series. The major events that occurred were the following:
TheJustice League titles continued to expand into the early to mid-1990s. Titles included:Justice League America,Justice League Europe,Justice League Task Force,Extreme Justice andJustice League Quarterly.Justice League Europe was later retitled to become the second volume ofJustice League International.
In the latter part of the series, more recognizable characters, includingSuperman,Wonder Woman,Green Lantern and Aquaman, joined, followed by lesser known characters such asBloodwynd,Maya,Maxima,Nuklon,Obsidian, theTasmanian Devil andTriumph. Longtime JLI-era characters such asCaptain Atom, Martian Manhunter andPower Girl were revised and revamped.
By 1996, with the commercial success of the series fading, each of the titles was eventually cancelled.
In 2003, Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire reunited for the six-issue miniseriesFormerly Known as the Justice League. This depicted Maxwell Lord trying to get the gang back together asTheSuper Buddies – a hero-for-hire group that operated out of a strip mall. 2005 saw a second storyline,I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, by the same creative team published in the pages ofJLA Classified. This tale told a story of the characters attempt to rescueIce fromHell.
FollowingBlackest Night, DC launched two alternating 24-issue bi-weekly comic bookminiseries,Brightest Day andJustice League: Generation Lost, written byKeith Giffen andJudd Winick. This second series features Captain Atom, Booster Gold, the newBlue Beetle Jaime Reyes, Fire, Ice and a new Rocket Red (by the name of Gavril Ivanovich) and essentially saw the return of Justice League International, as explained by Giffen:[14]
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 onPower Girl, which had the title character dealing with villains connected to Maxwell Lord's plans inGeneration Lost, and eventually had her rejoin Justice League International after a crossover between the two titles. The title also indirectly tied intoOdyssey, a storyline published inWonder 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.[15] Plot threads fromKingdom Come andThe OMAC Project also appeared.
Generation Lost ended with a teaser that a newJustice League International series fromThe New 52 would be coming in a few months (with Booster Gold as leader).
As part of DC's 2011New 52 relaunch of all of its monthly books,Justice League International was relaunched in September 2011, after the conclusion of theFlashpoint storyline, written byDan Jurgens and drawn byAaron Lopresti.[16][17][18]
This version of Justice League International is formed byUnited Nations director Andre Briggs as a UN-controlled counterpart to the original Justice League and is based out of theHall of Justice. The founding members of the team consist of Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Rocket Red (Gavril Ivanovich), Green Lantern (Guy Gardner),Vixen,August General in Iron andGodiva, who are recruited to the team due to having their identities 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.[19]
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 recruitBatwing,OMAC andFirehawk to the team.[20]
DC canceledJustice League International in 2012,[21] concluding with issue #12 andJustice League International Annual (vol. 2) #1 in August.[22][23]
| Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Justice League: A New Beginning | Justice League (vol. 1) #1-6,Justice League International (vol. 1) #7 | May 1989 | 978-0930289409 |
| Justice League International: The Secret Gospel of Maxwell Lord | Justice League International (vol. 1) #8–12,Justice League America Annual #1 | February 1992 | 978-1563890390 |
| Justice League International Volume 1 | Justice League (vol. 1) #1-6,Justice League International (vol. 1) #7 | March 2008 | 978-1401217396 |
| Justice League International Volume 2 | Justice League International (vol. 1) #8–13,Justice League Annual #1,Suicide Squad #13 | August 2008 | 978-1401218263 |
| Justice League International Volume 3 | Justice League International (vol. 1) #14–22 | November 2008 | 978-1401219413 |
| Justice League International Volume 4 | Justice League International (vol. 1) #23–25,Justice League America #26–30 | March 2009 | 978-1401221966 |
| Justice League International Volume 5 | Justice League International Annual #2–3,Justice League Europe #1–6 | January 2011 | 978-1401230104 |
| Justice League International Volume 6 | Justice League America #31–35,Justice League Europe #7–11 | May 2011 | 978-1401231194 |
| Justice League International Book One: Born Again | Justice League (vol. 1) #1-6,Justice League International (vol. 1) #7-17,Justice League Annual #1,Justice League International Annual #2,Suicide Squad #13 | January 2020 | 978-1401295714 |
| Justice League International Book Two: Around the World | Justice League International (vol. 1) #18-25,Justice LeagueAmerica #26-30,Justice League Europe #1–6,Justice League International Annual #3 | January 2021 | 978-1779507617 |
| Superman & Justice League America Vol. 1 | Justice League America #61–68,Justice League Spectacular #1 | March 2016 | 978-1401260972 |
| Superman & Justice League America Vol. 2 | Justice League America #69–77, Annual #6 | September 2016 | 978-1401263843 |
| Wonder Woman & Justice League America Vol. 1 | Justice League America #78–85, Annual #7, Guy Gardner #15 | March 2017 | 978-1401268343 |
| Wonder Woman & Justice League America Vol. 2 | Justice League America #86-91,Justice League International (vol. 2) #65-66,Justice League Task Force #13-14 | October 2017 | 978-1401274009 |
| Justice League: Corporate Maneuvers | Justice League Quarterly #1-4 | February 2020 | 978-1401299064 |
| Justice League International Omnibus Vol. 1 | Justice League (vol. 1) #1-6, Annual #1,Justice League International (vol. 1) #7-25, Annual #2-3,Justice League Europe #1-6,Justice League America #26-30,Suicide Squad #13 | October 2017 | 978-1401273866 |
| Justice League International Omnibus Vol. 2 | Justice League America #31-50,Justice League Europe #7-25,Justice League America Annual #4,Justice League Europe Annual #1,Justice League Quarterly #1,Justice League International Special #1 | November 2020 | 978-1779502964 |
| Formerly Known as the Justice League | Formerly Known as the Justice League #1-6 | April 2004 | 978-1401203054 |
| I Can't Believe It's Not The Justice League | JLA: Classified #4–9 | December 2005 | 978-1401204785 |
| Justice League: Generation Lost Vol. 1 | Justice League: Generation Lost #1–12 | April 2011 | 978-1401230203 |
| Justice League: Generation Lost Vol. 2 | Justice League: Generation Lost #13–24 | October 2011 | 978-1401232832 |
| Justice League International Vol. 1: The Signal Masters | Justice League International (vol. 3) #1–6 | May 2012 | 978-1401235345 |
| Justice League International Vol. 2: Breakdown | Justice League International (vol. 3) #7–12, Annual (vol. 2) #1,The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #9 | January 2013 | 978-1401237936 |
| Convergence: Zero Hour Book One | Convergence:Justice League International #1-2 andConvergence: Catwoman #1-2,Convergence: Superboy #1-2,Convergence: Green Arrow #1-2,Convergence: Suicide Squad #1-2 | October 2015 | 978-1401258399 |
Martin A. Stever reviewedJustice League InternationalSpace Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 83.[25] Stever commented that "thanks to clever characterization and wit, this creative team makes team moving day as exciting and as much fun as a brush with Armageddon".[25]
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.
