The Justice League Is Back (But Will It Doom the Earth?)

The Justice League is one of the most legendary teams in superhero comics. The Justice League has been defending the DC Multiverse from every threat for their entire existence. The Justice League is superlatively powerful, a team that is full of powerful and skilled heroes. The Justice League’s legacy is complicated, and that legacy exploded on them during Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman decided that the Justice League needed a break, to re-evaluate the changing world. Absolute Power was that story, and Justice League Unlimited has brought the team back to prominence. They’ve faced off against Darkseid and a disguised Legion of Doom, formed by Gorilla Grodd to gain the power of Darkseid, and have shown that they are the multiverse’s most skilled team.

Justice League Red #1 tells a different story. The book begins with Red Tornado, his programming in the Justice League’s computer systems, decided to use predictive algorithms to see how the Justice League’s return would affect the Earth. The answer is not good at all, as the Justice League acted as a magnet for trouble. Red Tornado brings together a secret Justice League black ops team to deal with this. Justice League Red #1 shows that maybe there’s more going on with Red Tornado than meets the eye, and that maybe he’s overreacting. However, this idea has a lot of merit to it, especially if you look at the history of the team.

The Justice League Brings as Many Problems as They Solve

When the Justice League started, in the pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, or New 52 eras, they were always brought together to battle a threat. In pre and post-Crisis DC, that threat was Starro the Conqueror, an alien monster, and the Appellaxian invasion. In the New 52, it was an invasion by Darkseid. When the team came together as a unit, they started foiling the attacks of various villains. Sometimes, those villains were the enemies of the heroes on their own, coming together as groups like the Legion of Doom or the Secret Society of Supervillains, and other times they were entirely new villains. These villains would develop a grudge against the Justice League. The same thing would happen when it comes to the various alien races that the Justice League foiled. Many times, these later attacks were just meant to attack the Justice League; the rest of the world was just collateral damage. In fact, the first story arc in Justice League Unlimited saw the Earth under attack by Inferno. Inferno hid their identity and pretended to be a group that wanted to take over the world. However, it was just a past version of the Legion of Doom, brought together by Grodd. The entire point of their attacks on Earth were to attack the Justice League.

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Why the Justice League Doesn’t Matter Anymore (and That’s a Problem)

Look at the history of the Justice League. The team is targeted by so many enemies, and those attacks spill over. People die because of the Justice League. Sometimes, villains are able to take control of Justice League technology and use it to attack the Earth. The Justice League is known throughout the Multiverse, and their enemies always end up attacking the Earth in order to get the attention of the League. The Justice League also experiments with all kind of amazing technology. What’s to stop something from going wrong in one of their super high tech science experiments and then opening a black hole that eats the Earth? What about all of the AI they use? Who’s to say those AI aren’t going to pull an Ultron and want to destroy mankind? The Justice League could bring back a virus from another universe that no one has resistance to and end up costing the Earth drastically. Look at DCeased; a zombie virus was created because of the interaction between Earth technology and Apokoliptian technology. The Justice League does a lot of good, but there’s also so much danger that their very existence brings to the people they’re supposed to protect.

The Justice League Draws Trouble to It

The Justice League is an amazing team. There are so many great Justice League stories out there that show the team at their best. There’s also a lot of stories out there that show them at their worst. Many times, when they’re at their worst, it’s easy to see just how much damage they can do.

Red Tornado’s predictions show three distinct threats that the Justice League would be responsible for — a global freeze over caused by the large number of ice villains (there are so many ice villains in DC, you guys), a zombie virus, and an invasion by Apokolips — only the last one could happen without the Justice League. Red Tornado is right to be scared (although there is something sinister to the whole thing). The Justice League does a lot of good, but there’s always the chance that they endanger humanity by their very existence.

Justice League Red #1 is on sale now.