Ever since the Justice League debuted in The Brave and the Bold #28 in 1960, they’ve been DC’s premier superhero team. The Justice League set the standard for all other superheroic team-ups, showing how such powerful figures would work together long-term. Today, they’re one of the most recognizable teams in existence, with heavy-hitters like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman as cornerstones of heroes in popular culture. No team gets that legendary without appealing to a wide variety of people, and no team can have that much appeal for so long without some great wins under its belt, narratively or figuratively.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Today, we’re going to look at ten of the best things to have happened to the Justice League during their sixty-five-year-plus tenure. There’s been plenty of ups and downs, but this list is focused squarely on the ups. The Justice League has had plenty of victories, from conquering unstoppable foes to grand reunions, so without further ado, let’s get into it.
10) Fighting Starro the Conqueror
The Justice League battled the deadly intergalactic starfish in their very first appearance. While he wasn’t the first villain they fought chronologically, Starro was the first person we saw the League come together to battle, and it set the stage like nothing else could. Starro was a world conqueror and made that known, so seeing the Justice League assemble to stop him told everyone immediately that the Justice League was a team meant to handle the biggest threats you could imagine.
Back in the day, most hero team-ups had them going up against gangsters or normal villains that an individual hero would deal with, like when the Batmen of All Nations joined together to battle the mobster Knots Cardine. Battling someone like Starro right out of the gate set the League up as heavy-hitters who dealt with worldwide and eventually, cosmic threats. Without that setup, the League could look very different to us today.
9) Expanding to the Justice League Unlimited
This entry is low on our list because of how recent it is, introduced in the DC All In Special, so we won’t understand its true impact until much later. However, thematically speaking, this is one of the biggest changes the League has ever gone through. They’ve always been a team of the world’s greatest heroes coming together, but this change elevated them to a community-wide system. Nearly every hero in DC is now a part of the JLU, and that shows that the Justice League represents something much bigger than a troupe of the greatest heroes.
The JLU shows that the Justice League has become a symbol of heroism in every form in DC. It is a celebration of everything they are, and connects everyone in DC together in a way that they haven’t been before. The JLU is a statement that the heroes of DC are going to work together to fix everything on a scale that they never have before, and that everyone can pitch in to save the day. It doesn’t matter if you’re Superman or Air Wave. If you’re trying to do the right thing, you have a place on the Justice League, and that’s inspiring.
8) Building the Watchtower
During Grant Morrison’s run on JLA, they focused on elevating the team to something above what they were before, something akin to modern-day gods. One of the ways they accomplished that was by giving the Justice League a space station home base, so they could literally watch over the entire planet from on high. Even ignoring the Greco-Roman divinity-esque approach taken to the team here, it cannot be ignored how instantly iconic this new base was. It was a classic on arrival, and with how fans and creators alike treat the Watchtower, you’d think it’d been part of the Justice League mythos for decades.
The Watchtower is one of the coolest superhero bases around. It has the gravitas of godlike beings keeping their eyes on the entire world at once for the good of everyone, and the appeal of just being in space, which every little kid can agree is awesome. The Watchtower has become an essential part of the Justice League, being a literal showcase of how far they’ve come in their career in adaptations, as building the base is a sign that the team has firmly established itself. It’s the most fun measuring tool there is.
7) The Titans Stepping Up
DC has always had a theme of legacy. Even back in the earliest days of the Golden Age, you’ll find imaginary stories depicting the next generation’s Batman and Superman. Legacy has only become more important to DC over time, and it’s shown nowhere better than in the new relationship between the Titans and the Justice League. When the Justice League died in Dark Crisis, the Titans stepped up and united the remaining heroes to save the day, after which the Justice League temporarily disbanded, handing the reins to the younger heroes. While the League came back, what’s important is that this set a precedent.
The Justice League had been the main hero team for decades, but just as they replaced the Justice Society of America, so too will the Titans one day replace the League. The Titans being acknowledged as tomorrow’s hero team actually makes the League even more important. It shows that everything they’ve fought for will be carried on into the future, the importance and impact of their legacy, and that while the Titans’ day will come, today belongs to the League. They were promised a future; now they can give everything their all with no fear.
6) New 52
The New 52 reboot is contentious to this very day. While some incredible stories came from it, such as Batman (2011) and Green Lantern (2011), it is usually looked back on with distaste for how it wiped away decades of history and relationships for every character. While the New 52 certainly had its downsides, it did a lot of good for the Justice League. It simplified their roster and history, creating a jumping-on point that was all action right out of the gate, firmly establishing the League as people who take on threats like Darkseid.
The redesign and new take on the Justice League defined a generation of comic book fans. Look at any advertising or images of the Justice League since 2011, and you will find an incredible majority use the New 52 designs. The New 52 gave the Justice League a fresh start, and while it can be debated whether that was good or bad for established fans, it brought in a whole new fanbase on its own, and that does have to be respected.
5) Justice League International
While every run with the Justice League has its own merits, Justice League International was truly special. This comic is beloved because it lets us see a side of the heroes that we normally never get to: them being goofy and friends behind the scenes. This comic focused more on comedy and character-driven storylines, which brought the scale down to a personal, intimate level that is especially rare in superhero team books. This run established countless iconic moments and traits. From Blue Beetle and Booster Gold’s grade-A friendship, to Martian Manhunter’s addiction to Choccos, to Batman legendarily one-punching Green Lantern, this book gave us lots to love.
No other book does what Justice League International did for the Justice League. In the time right after the Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot, nobody knew what the Justice League would or should look like. This comic gave us something nobody expected as a down-to-earth, heartfelt superhero romp, and I highly doubt any other comic today can match what this one did with that style.
4) Recruiting Green Arrow
Green Arrow was added to the Justice League very early on, joining for the first time in Justice League of America (1960) #4. Not only is he one of the most classic members there is, but he was the first additional superhero they ever added. Green Arrow’s joining is, of course, important for his own development with the team and the many adventures they’ve shared, but also because it showed that the League was willing to open its doors to other heroes. Adding a new member established that the team could and would change to fit what it needed. It opened a door that let every other beloved hero who wasn’t a part of the original seven in.
3) Revealing Their Identities to Each Other
This is an event that has happened a couple of times across various reboots. It first occurred in Justice League of America (1960) #19, and more famously in JLA (1997) #50. Every time this event occurs should be celebrated for what it means for the League. Using the JLA example, this came as a direct byproduct of Batman’s contingency plans for his teammates being used against them in Tower of Babel, which caused the League to lose their faith in him. He restored that faith by revealing who he was. Every time the Leaguers reveal their identities, it is in a time when secret identities are strictly enforced.
This is the ultimate show of faith and trust in each other. It says to the audience that the Justice League is not just a group of heroes working together; they’re all friends who deeply care about each other. It celebrates their bonds and promises deeper connections to come, which always happens. This event always heralds the next stage in the League’s evolution to be the best, and it is always lovely to see.
2) Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is, to this day, regarded as DC’s most important event, and is debatably still their best. What it did for DC literally cannot be understated, but what’s important today is what it did for the Justice League specifically. Crisis established the League as the central superhero team not just for their universe, but for the entire multiverse. The League had dabbled in multiversal adventures before, most notably in their team-ups with the JSA and battles against the Crime Syndicate, but they were always just one of many teams out there.
Crisis changed all that. It established that the Justice League was the team you turn to when the chips are down, and to this day, that remains true, with every other team in the multiverse bowing to the experience and strength of the Prime Earth JL. Alongside that, Crisis whipped out the entire multiverse, and the last ones left standing were the Justice League, fighting on until the bitter end. While the JSA was still around, the League firmly stood at the center of everything, and did until the multiverse returned. By that time, they showed that they were the best team around, so even the rest of the multiverse was structured around DC’s now central team.
1) JLA (1997)
The Justice League has had many great comics, but none have been as formative and near-universally beloved as JLA, especially Grant Morrison’s run. Some plot points from this series have already shown up on this list, and for good reason, because so much of what we think of as the Justice League came from this comic. This run established the League’s core seven heroes as the heart and soul of the team, reuniting them for the first time in years. It gave us the Watchtower, “The Rock of Ages,” and firmly established the core team’s dynamic for decades to come.
The most important part of any comic book team is, of course, the comic. This series is considered to be the definitive Justice League book, establishing who the team is in the modern day and what they look like after over a decade of floundering. It unified the Justice League in a way that hasn’t broken apart since, which goes to show just how essential this run was to the Justice League in the grand scheme of things.
So, there we have ten of the best things to ever happen to the Justice League across their 65 years of history. What do you think should sit here on this list?
What do you think? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Stage 6 Films -
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm.
