Injustice League
Injustice League | |
---|---|
The first Injustice League. | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance |
Silver Age: Showcase #1 (July 2000) Historical: Justice League International #23 (Jan. 1989) |
Created by |
Scott Beatty Historical: Keith Giffen J. M. DeMatteis |
In-story information | |
Base(s) |
Injustice League Satellite; Hall of Doom |
The Injustice League is the name of two fictional teams of supervillains who appear in American comic books published by DC Comics.
Publication history
The Injustice League first appeared in Justice League International #23 and was created by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis.
Fictional team history
Original League
The original Injustice League was the brainchild of the interplanetary conqueror Agamemno. Bored of his dominion, he set out to conquer Earth and their champions, the Justice League. Aided by the alien former dictator Kanjar Ro, Agamemno contacted Lex Luthor and they recruited other villains to their cause.
Agamemno then engineered a switch wherein the villains' minds switched with those of the JLA. In the true JLA's absence, other Silver Age heroes came to clash with the now seemingly evil heroes. Eventually, Green Lantern used the power of Oa's Central Power Battery and a Thanagarian weapon called "Absorbascon" to reverse the mind swap.
Having spent time in their enemies' bodies, the villains knew their heroic counterparts inside-out. To regain the edge, the JLA used the power of Robby Reed's alien H-Dial to transform themselves into totally different heroes. Then, using his power ring through the Absorbascon, Green Lantern removed all knowledge of the heroes' secret identities from the villains' minds.
This incarnation was retconned as the first version of the Injustice League.
Members
- Agamemno
- Lex Luthor
- Black Manta
- Chronos (David Clinton)
- Catwoman
- Doctor Light
- Felix Faust
- Mr. Element
- Penguin
- Sinestro
- The Joker
- Deathstroke
- The Key
- Bane
- Bizarro
- Harley Quinn
- Poison Ivy
- Scarecrow
Injustice League International
The second Injustice League (the first in publishing history) was created by artist Keith Giffen during his run on the Justice League International comic book. It was composed of Cluemaster, Major Disaster, Clock King, Big Sir, Multi-Man, and the Mighty Bruce. The team would be used, in line with the humoristic tone of the series, as a highly unsuccessful villain team. All the actions of the team would end with humoristic failures. During an Annual of the comic book, Maxwell Lord sent them, along with the incompetent Green Lantern G'nort and his nemesis the Scarlet Skier, to Antarctica to become Justice League Antarctica. It was done so in order to get rid of them, but the team would have their headquarters destroyed by mutant penguins. Afterwards, the Justice League Antarctica were fired.
After Giffen's run in the series, the team volunteered to join the Suicide Squad. On their first mission, Big Sir was killed; Multi-Man was shot through the head (but survived thanks to his powers); and the Clock King and Cluemaster were seriously injured.
Injustice League Unlimited
Lex Luthor, and Joker (widely regarded as the archenemies of the JLA's two primary members Superman and Batman) recently formed an "Injustice League Unlimited", as first seen in the Justice League of America Wedding Special. While it seems the membership is much greater in the promotional image of Justice League of America vol. 2, #13, the core members of the team shown by Wizard magazine are a select group of various arch-nemeses.
The team was created by Dwayne McDuffie, a writer from the animated series Justice League Unlimited, which featured a similar expanded Legion. Lex Luthor has the idea to bring the villains together, claiming it was a protection racket at first, but with the ultimate aim of dominating the world. During the storyline, the Injustice League splits up and manages to capture the Justice League members in small groups. However, the JLA is freed by Firestorm and battles the Injustice League at its swamp headquarters. In the ensuing melee, many of the villains flee (later to attack Black Canary and Green Arrow's wedding), but most are taken captive by the League. It is revealed at this time that Lex Luthor actually had a secret goal in forming the League. He refuses to reveal details, but mentions that he planned for his capture. The remaining villains are then taken away by Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad, who plan to ship them away to a distant planet, as seen in DC's Salvation Run storyline.
It is notable that the alternative covers of the second issue of the arc (Justice League of America vol. 2, #13) feature many more villains than were actually in the League, including Amazo, Bizarro, Black Adam, Sinestro, and the Rogues (Heat Wave, Captain Cold, Weather Wizard, Abra Kadabra, and Mirror Master).
Members
Though the covers featured a large number of villains, membership differed in the actual story. Membership included:
- Lex Luthor - Founder
- Joker - Founder
- Cheetah (Barbara Minerva) - Founder
- Doctor Light (Arthur Light) - Core member
- Fatality - Core member
- Gorilla Grodd - Core member
- Killer Frost (Louise Lincoln) - Core member
- Parasite - Core member
- Poison Ivy - Core member
- Shadow Thief - Core member
- Bane
- Atrocitus
- Black Manta
- Black Spider (Derrick Coe)
- Body Doubles
- Brain
- Cheshire
- Clayface (Basil Karlo)
- Deathstroke
- Doctor Sivana
- Double Dare
- Effigy
- Felix Faust
- Girder
- Giganta
- Hammer and Sickle
- Hyena
- Iron Cross (of the Aryan Brigade)
- Jewelee
- Jinx
- The Key
- Killer Croc
- Lady Vic
- Major Force
- Magenta
- Mammoth
- Manticore
- Metallo
- Mister Freeze
- Mister Terrible
- Mirror Master
- Monsieur Mallah
- Nocturna
- Phobia
- Prankster
- Psimon
- Queen Bee
- Rag Doll
- Reverse Flash
- Riddler
- Rock
- Scarecrow
- Shaggy Man III
- Shimmer
- Shrapnel
- Silver Monkey
- Skorpio
- Sonar (Bito Wladon II)
- T. O. Morrow
- Tar Pit
- Toyman
- Tremor
- Two-Face
- Warp
Based on the covers
This section lists those that only appear on the covers.
- Amazo
- Bizarro
- Black Adam
- Bolt
- Captain Cold
- Chemo
- Circe
- Despero
- Doctor Psycho
- Granny Goodness
- Icicle (Cameron Mahkent)
- Lion-Mane
- Merlyn
- Mongul
- Sinestro
- Solomon Grundy
- Validus
- Zoom
The New 52
During the Forever Evil storyline as part of The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), Lex Luthor forms the Injustice League with villains who resisted the Crime Syndicate in order to take them down.[1][2]
Members
In other media
Television
- A version of the Injustice League appeared in the Smallville episode "Injustice", featuring Livewire, Neutron, Plastique, Eva Greer, and Parasite. They search for Doomsday. When Tess Mercer assumed control of LuthorCorp, she began recruiting metahumans to form a team of heroes of Earth. Tess then kills Livewire using an explosive chip implanted in her skull. When Clark Kent discovers this and tells Parasite and Plastique, they manage to disable the chips and attempt to form their own group of criminals. They are defeated by Green Arrow and Clark.
- The Injustice League appears in the Young Justice episode "Revelation".[3] Its members include Count Vertigo, Poison Ivy, Black Adam, Wotan, Atomic Skull, Ultra-Humanite and Joker. They unleash giant plant monsters (modified by Kobra Venom) upon the major cities of the world. The team is assembled by the more secretive supervillain cabal known as The Light (Project Cadmus' Board of Directors consisting of Vandal Savage, Ra's al Ghul, Lex Luthor, the first Bialyan Queen Bee, Ocean Master, the Brain, and Klarion the Witch Boy) to act as the fall guy for them, which is accomplished after the Injustice League is defeated. The Justice League and the Team operate under the belief that the actions of the other villains are simply continuing the Injustice League's plans until the penultimate episode of the season, "Usual Suspects". This is the first incarnation of the Injustice League to be actually referred to as such, as all previous appearances could easily be considered the Injustice Gang or Injustice Society.
Miscellaneous
- In the Dynomutt, Dog Wonder episode "The Injustice League of America," the Blue Falcon's enemies the Worm, Queen Hornet, Lowbrow, Superthug, Fishface, and the Gimmick join forces as the Injustice League of America (which has no relation to the DC Comics team).
- A similar group appears briefly in Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon albeit with some amalgamation of Superthug and Fishface while the Worm is replaced by Serpent Lady's Ironface form and Swamp Rat.
See also
- Anti-Justice League
- Injustice Society
- Injustice Gang
- Legion of Doom
- Secret Society of Super Villains
- Villains United
References
- ↑ Esposito, Joey (August 9, 2013). "Geoff Johns Reveals the True Villains Behind Forever Evil". IGN. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
- ↑ "DC Comics' FULL JANUARY 2014 Solicitations". Newsarama. October 14, 2013.
- ↑ http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=1134