The Justice League is the most powerful superteam in the DC Multiverse. An argument can be made that the Justice League is the most powerful team of heroes in superhero comics, with members like Superman and the Flash having godlike levels of power. The Justice League has needed this kind of power, as they’ve faced off against threats that could shake the multiverse itself. As powerful as the Justice League is, they’ve had to go to some pretty great extremes to win some of these battles over the years. Beyond having some of the most powerful heroes ever, the team also has access to the best tacticians in comics, and this has played a big role in their wins against the most dangerous villains ever. Sometimes, these plans are all about using the weapons that the Justice League has access to in pretty conventional ways, but other times the Justice League has to dig deep into their bags of tricks to save all of creation.
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Justice League readers have seen some wild battles over the years, as the League takes things in directions that no one ever would have expected. These unhinged plans definitely shouldn’t have worked, but somehow the League was able to pull out the win. These plans working shocked readers to their core, showing that beyond being the most powerful team around, they’re also the most resourceful. These seven unhinged Justice League plans somehow saved the day, the Justice League throwing everything and the kitchen sink at their opponents.
7) The Death of Darkseid and Saving the Future in “Rock of Ages”
The ’90s were a great decade for Justice Leagues fans, as writer Grant Morrison gave readers some of the coolest Justice League stories of all time. A favorite among fans is “Rock of Ages”, a story that started out as a standard Justice League versus the Injustice Gang (the ’90s name for the Legion of Doom) battle. However, Wally West, Kyle Rayner, and Aquaman got thrown into the future after making their way to Wonder World, the home of the archetypal heroes of reality, to learn how to deal with the Philosopher’s Stone, after which they’re sent back to Earth. However, they show up in a future where Darkseid took over the Earth thanks to the Justice League destroying the Philosopher’s Stone, which is actually the universe altering Worlogog that will help the League defeat Darkseid one day. They meet up with the remnants of the League in the future, and after learning that Batman secretly took DeSaad’s place, they go after Darkseid. As Darkseid and his forces tears through the League, Green Arrow and the Atom step up. Green Arrow launches a flare arrow at Darkseid, and the Atom hitches a ride on a photon of light into Darkseid’s brain and opens fire with the laser on his belt. This insane trick allows the League to kill Darkseid, and the time lost members of the League get back to the present just in time to stop Superman from destroying the Philosopher’s Stone. Everything about this plan is insane, and the fact that it worked so well show just how great the Justice League can be.
6) Superman Uses Giant Electromagnets to Stop the Moon from Colliding with the Earth
JLA #6 and #7 were wild. Zauriel, an angel, learned that Asmodel and the Bull Host of Angels were going to rebel and attack the Earth, so he ran to Earth to warn the Justice League. Meanwhile, Neron and the Demons Three decide to use this moment to attack the Earth as well. The two most powerful Leaguers, Superman and the Flash, are trapped in the Watchtower thanks to their magic, unable to teleport to the Earth as the rest of the League had to deal with the angels. However, Neron and the Demons Three weren’t done yet, as they ended up casting a spell that sent the moon towards the Earth. Back in the day, Superman would have been able to stop this with his super strength, but not only was post-Crisis Superman weaker than before, he was also in his electric blue form, which changed the way his powers worked. Superman and the Flash had to figure out a way to stop the moon from smashing the Earth, and Superman’s new powers were the key to this. Superman created two massive electromagnets and used his energy powers to allow him to pull the moon back into orbit. Foiled, Neron and the Demons Three undid their spells on the Watchtower, allowing Superman and the Flash to join the rest of the team on the Earth. Superman then ended up wrestling Asmodel and defeating him in combat, putting the inconceivable cherry on top of the unhinged sundae.
5) The Justice League of Earth from “World War III”
“World War III” was the last story arc of Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s JLA run, and the team pulled out all of the stops. “World War III” saw the universe attacked by Mageddon, a primordial destroyer created by the Old Gods. The League does everything they can do to defeat Mageddon, but to no avail. However, the Justice League comes up with the ultimate plan to use against the weapon. They need numbers greater than the entire superhero community to win, and they come up with a wild plan. The League modifies the Purple Ray, a healing device used by the Amazonians, and it gains the ability to give anyone superpowers. They turn the Purple Ray on the Earth, and give every man, woman, and child superpowers, deputizing all of them. The JLA expands to the Justice League of Earth, and tackle Mageddon. The Justice League of Earth is just what the doctor ordered, and they’re able to destroy Mageddon. This is one of the wildest moments in DC history, and it shows the out of the box thinking that the Justice League will use when things get the worst.
4) Vixen Divebombs Amazo
“The Tornado’s Path” brought back the Justice League after the events leading up to Infinite Crisis broke the team up. Solomon Grundy, reincarnated in an intelligent form, tricks Red Tornado into a human body, and uses Tornado’s body to create an Amazo, a robot that can copy the powers of the entire Justice League, in order to transfer his brain to it and become invincible so he doesn’t have to go back to being stupid (now that’s a sentence). The whole thing backfires as the Amazo is activated before the transfer. It still has some of Red Tornado’s memories, so it goes back to his home, where the Justice League does it best to save Red Tornado’s family before Amazo kills them. However, Amazo is able to trounce the team, leaving only Vixen to get the win for the team. Using the Tantu Totem, she takes the abilities of an eagle and divebombs the Amazo. There’s honestly no way this should have worked at all, but Vixen was also able to tap into the power of the League as well — humans and Kryptonians, after all, are just animals — and gain the strength of Superman. The thing is, though, that Vixen had no idea that she could take the powers of her compatriots at this point. She basically just figured she’d be able to use an eagle’s dive attack to take out one of the most powerful robots ever made. That’s as unhinged as it comes.
3) Saving the Earth and Defeating Darkseid in Final Crisis
Final Crisis is an amazing story, giving readers the greatest battle against Darkseid ever. Darkseid gets the Anti-Life Equation and enslaves the Earth, but the heroes are able to stop him. However, things are basically doomed — the death of Darkseid’s body caused a black hole that was destroying the Multiverse (that’s simplest explanation, the existence of the black hole is way more complicated than that; Final Crisis is nuts in the best possible way). The Earth compresses down to the Justice League Watchtower station and Titans Tower as it falls into the black hole. The heroes are able to freeze everyone on Earth and place them in the Watchtower, and turn to Superman to save the day. Superman had gone into the future to learn how to create a Miracle Machine, which would give him one wish, from Brainiac 5. He does his best to recreate the Machine he had only seen once, but is menaced by Darkseid’s spirit, who mocks him and tries to get Superman to doubt his plan. However, Superman has always known Darkseid’s weakness — music. He activates the Miracle Machine, wishing the Multiverse back into existence and then whistling at Darkseid in the same frequency as the multiverse vibrates at that discorporates Darkseid. Final Crisis is wild — which is fitting for a story written by Grant Morrison — and this is one of the wildest moments in the story (there’s also a Vampire Monitor who the Supermen of the Multiverse and the Green Lantern Corps defeat, staking him with green energy contructs; yes, seriously). If you want to see the definition of unhinged DC, definitely check out the whole story.
2) Wonder Woman Ending the Darkest Knight in the Craziest Way Possible
Final Crisis might be the most insane DC story ever, but Death Metal tried to give it a run for its money. The story opens up after Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs had conquered the Multiverse, using the power of Doom to rewrite reality. Wonder Woman ostensibly worked for them, imprisoning any metahuman who tried to stop them, but she was making a plan to harness Anti-Crisis energy to defeat the villains and save everything in creation. She melted down her Invisible Jet in order to make a chainsaw to kill the Batman Who Laughs, which led to him having his brain put into Dr. Bathattan (yes, really, and it’s exactly what it sounds like), becoming a god. Calling himself the Darkest Knight, he destroyed Perpetua and was ready to take over everything. However, Wonder Woman changed her plan. She had the remaining heroes of the Multiverse attack the Darkest Knight, while she lead an army of Lobos to the World Forge to create the Death Metal, which would allow her to defeat the Darkest Knight. However, Wonder Woman and her army learn that the World Forge is now in the Dark Multiverse, where the Darkest Knight’s power is at its height. As the Lobo army is destroyed, Wonder Woman is able to get to the World Forge and create a suit of armor made of Anti-Crisis energy (there’s Crisis energy and Anti-Crisis energy, and it would take way too long to explain it, so just go with it). Wonder Woman then goes head to head with the Darkest Knight and is able to defeat him, rebuilding the Multiverse into the Omniverse and saving reality. Death Metal is amazing, and it really needs to be read to be believed.
1) Defeating the Gorilla God in “We Are Yesterday”
“We Are Yesterday” is the latest Justice League epic, using the set-up from DC All-In #1 to tell an amazing story. So, at the end of Absolute Power, the abilities of some of the superpowered beings of the universe got transferred around, and Gorilla Grodd gained the mental powers of Martian Manhunter. He used these powers to mind control Air-Wave II into helping him send his mind back in time through a rift in time and space. This allowed him to bring the Legion of Doom of the past to the present, and they attacked the Earth as Inferno. The whole point of the attack was to eventually get aboard the Justice League Watchtower Satellite so he could gain access to the Omega Rift, the place where Darkseid was “killed” in DC All-In #1, in order to gain the powers of the God of Evil. The Legion of Doom used time guns to throw the League through time and Grodd is able to get see his plans come to fruition. Grodd became Gorilla God, but Air-Wave II, reduced to tachyon energy, used his powers to bring the heroes back from the timestream, as well as heroes from around time like Batman Beyond and many more from DC history. This group is able to defeat the Legion of Doom as the Atom and Mister Terrific II create a device to take back Martian Manhunter’s powers, interrupting Grodd’s link to the Omega Rift. Air-Wave II, angry that he was manipulated by Grodd, focuses all of his power to into one blow on Grodd, breaking the link and defeating the evil gorilla. Everything about that is unhinged, frankly, and the victory is one of the wildest DC moments out there.
Which Justice League plans do you think are the most unhinged? Sound off in the comments below.
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