The Justice League is finally getting another serious chance at superstardom after the last Justice League series fizzled out. After Amanda Waller almost destroyed the superhero community in Absolute Power, the Justice League has risen again. They’ve rebuilt their Watchtower satellite base and have inducted nearly every hero on Earth into their ranks. Their adventures in Justice League Unlimited have reminded readers why they love the team, and DC has made the group central to the main plots of the DC Multiverse. While the main team deals with the big time threats, readers have seen different groups within the League itself dealing with other problems, something that Justice League Red highlights.
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Justice League Red #1 is an intriguing read. It kicks off with Red Tornado deciding that the return of the Justice League is liable to bring even more problems to Earth. This spurs him to create a secret Justice League team, bringing together members like Power Girl and Simon Baz to deal with the threats that the main team may miss. This is basically a Justice League black ops team, which may feel anachronistic for a group like the Justice League. However, this isn’t the first time that the Justice League had a black ops team. That was over 20 years ago, during a time that is looked back upon fondly by Justice League fans.
Justice League Elite Gave Readers the First Justice League Black Ops Team
Justice League Elite, by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke, has its genesis in two of the best comics of early ’00s DC Comics. The first is JLA, the Justice League book that was relaunched in 1996 by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter. Morrison and Porter’s JLA is one of the greatest team books of all time. Once Morrison left the book in the year 2000, Mark Waid took over, and kept the book running at the highest possible level. Waid would be replaced by Joe Kelly, who came to DC after working on X-Men (in a very underrated run) and Deadpool (basically everything you like about Deadpool came from him). Kelly teamed with artist Doug Mahnke, co-creator of The Mask and Major Bummer (a seriously underrated DC book you should try to hunt down), for JLA. They had previously teamed together for Action Comics. Their run on Action Comics gave readers the classic “Whatever Happen to Truth, Justice, and the America Way”, a story that introduced the Elite. The Elite was based on the Authority, a team that was violent, proactive, and very popular with early 21st century audiences. They were the new breed of hero and “Whatever Happened to Truth, Justice, and the America Way” was meant to show that Superman still had his place in superhero comics. The Elite wouldn’t be seen again until JLA #100, where their former leader (and future Superman villain/ally) Manchester Black is replaced by Sister Superior, his sibling. The Justice League and the Elite buried the hatchet and teamed together.
This led to Justice League Elite, one of the best ’00s Justice League stories. Justice League Elite was meant to be a black ops group, with Green Arrow, the Flash, Manitou Raven, Manitou Dawn, and Major Disaster teaming with Superior, Coldcast, and Menagerie, Kasumi of the Elite, along with Naif al-Sheikh, who acted as the team’s intelligence community expert. The team stopped Circe from getting the Spear of Destiny, fought the assassin known as the Blood Brothers, and had to deal with the return of Manchester Black, who was trying to get the Worlogog. The Worlogog is made of Element X, from New Genesis and Apokolips, and gives its bearer near godlike reality altering power. The team was able to defeat Black, and the Justice League Elite would break up. The Elite weren’t really seen again for a very long time; DC was so busy rebuilding their classic universe during this part of the ’00s that a lot of the newer characters and concepts they had introduced fell to the wayside. Several members, like Coldcast, would show up in Superman and the Authority, and Manchester Black would become an enemy of Superman, appearing several times over the years. That was the last time the League had their own black ops team.
Justice League Elite Is a Forgotten Justice League Gem
Justice League Elite was one of the Justice League bright spots of the Justice League in the mid ’00s. After Kelly left the book, JLA didn’t have the best reputation, despite the fact that creators like Kurt Busiek, Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Ron Garney were on the book, and Justice League Elite was a great change of pace. The 12-issue series wasn’t the bestselling or most beloved, but it has become something of a classic among DC fans.
Bringing back a Justice League black ops team is a great idea in the present days. Justice League Elite showed where the concept could be taken, and hopefully Justice League Red will be able to live up to that prior book. If Justice League Red can be half as good as Justice League Elite, fans are in for a treat.
Justice League Red #1 is on sale now.
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