The Origin of the Justice League!

Justice League of America #9

February 1962

In a Nutshell

The seven founding members recount the formation of the Justice League. Seven aliens had come to Earth to battle for the title of Emperor of Appellax. Seven heroes literally rip them apart.

Roll Call

  • Snapper Carr and Green Arrow are here, but only as audience to the story of the JLA’s origin.

Seven heroes learn that reports of strange meteors falling to Earth are actually part of an alien invasion. Investigating independently, the heroes find bizarre creatures transforming humans into their own images.

  • The Martian Manhunter overcomes a Stone alien.

  • Aquaman enlists the help of his finny friends to defeat a Glass alien.

  • Wonder Woman saves the Amazons of Paradise Island from a Mercury alien.

  • Green Lantern bests a Golden Bird alien.

  • The Flash snuffs out a Fire alien.

  • Rushing to the site of a sixth meteor, the five victorious heroes find themselves transforming into trees. This prompts the first of the team’s round robin rescue efforts. Aquaman bumps into Green Lantern, exposing his power ring, which he uses to turn J’onn’s head back to normal. J’onn blows the Flash into Wonder Woman, sending her into the range of the power ring. Wonder Woman defeats the Tree creature, returning the heroes to normal.
  • In Greenland, Superman and Batman team up to defeat the last of the invaders, a Diamond creature.

The assembled heroes agree that teamwork is the cat’s pajamas, and agree to form some kind of League for Justice based in America.

The Scorecard

The seven founders all get a point this month, with only Green Arrow and Snapper left out.


Team Member


Tenure

Cover Appearances

Story Appearances

Contribution Rating

Flash

12

12

100%

12

100%

10

83%

Martian Manhunter

12

11

92%

12

100%

10

83%

Green Lantern

12

12

100%

12

100%

9

75%

Snapper Carr

12

0

0%

12

100%

8

67%

Wonder Woman

12

12

100%

12

100%

8

67%

Aquaman

12

12

100%

12

100%

7

58%

Superman

12

2

17%

10

83%

5

42%

Green Arrow

6

5

83%

6

100%

4

67%

Batman

12

2

17%

10

83%

3

25%

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Outcasts of Infinity!

Image
Justice League of America #25 February 1964 In a Nutshell Kraad the Conqueror is bored. He has discovered that teleporting a trio of alien scientists to random planets is hilarious, and the fact that those planets later blow up as a result of his pranks only adds to the fun. Fully half the Justice League disagree. Roll Call We appear to be entering a new era here, as this is the first issue where only a small subset of the League shows up for the mission. In this case, it is Superman , Wonder Woman , the Flash , Green Lantern and the Atom who are attending the regular JLA meeting. Batman and Aquaman are said to send their regrets, while Green Arrow , the Martian Manhunter and Snapper Carr get the “and the rest” treatment. The five participating members all contribute to Kraad’s capture, even when handicapped by an untimely swap of body parts. But it’s the Atom I would like to focus on here, as we’re seeing an odd trend emerge. This is the third time in the twelve issues since he ...
Read more

The Super-Exiles of Earth!

Image
Justice League of America #19 May 1963 In a Nutshell Doctor Destiny creates evil dream duplicates of the Justice League, and the real JLA are framed for their crimes. Exiled from Earth, the real Leaguers are forced to seek answers in their civilian identities. This issue shows the first instance of the Leaguers learn each others’ secret identities, but that knowledge is undone at the story’s end. Roll Call The first half of this book involves the Leaguers getting their hindmosts handed to them by their dream duplicates. Chapter 3 begins with them trapped in a prison deep within the Earth.  Oliver Queen offers the idea to use their combined will power on Hal Jordan’s ring to overcome the evil Green Lantern’s trap. Diana Prince suggests they could disorient the dream duplicates, causing them to lose control of their bodies. Ray Palmer suggests he could shrink down and, aided by John Jones’ Martian breath, enter the duplicates’ brains to perform impromptu lobotomies. Superman us...
Read more

Challenge of the Weapons Master!

Image
The Brave and the Bold #29 April 1960 In a Nutshell Xotar, a criminal from the 120th century, travels 10,000 years into the past just to pick a fight with the Justice League. Once he learns which of his awesome future weapons can defeat the JLA, Xotar can return to his own time to battle the Intersolar Police. This turns out to be a bad plan. As a rule, I’m not fond of stories where the good guys are just responding to a direct attack by the bad guys. I like my heroes to be proactive. To capture my interest, our heroes have to be voluntarily putting themselves at risk to help others. When all they’re doing is defending themselves, it’s hard to argue that they’re really making a contribution. And of course, contribution is what this blog is all about. In the JLA’s battle with the Weapons Master, we have two choices. We can either say that everyone contributed, or that no one did. It’s perfectly valid to note that, if the JLA did not exist, there would be no threat here. So my first incl...
Read more