Here's How DC's Justice League Should Return After a Two Year Comic Absence (2024)

Two years ago, DC Comics’ ongoing flagship Justice League title ended with issue #75. It featured the death of the entire League. Oh, they got better pretty quickly. By the end of the Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths event, they were all back in the land of the living. Having said that, the comic giant decided to let the concept of the Justice League rest while they figured out their next move, leaving the Titans as Earth’s protectors. However, these two years have been the longest DC has ever gone without publishing a title with “Justice League” in the name since 1960. So what’s the hold up with a new Justice League series? And how can DC make sure a new iteration becomes a necessary and talked about comic book?

Here's How DC's Justice League Should Return After a Two Year Comic Absence (1)

DC Comics: A World Without a Justice League

The Justice League of America first appeared in Brave and the Bold #28, published in February 1960. After a successful three-issue trial, the JLA received their own series by the end of that year. Unlike the World War II era Justice Society, the JLA had Superman and Batman as regular members. This elevated the team to A-list status. Since 1960, an ongoing book with the words Justice League in the title has been published by DC. That unbroken run ended after 62 years in 2022. The idea was that they’d come back bigger and better very soon. But unless you’re talking about out-of-continuity tales like Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong, we’re all still waiting for the League’s return.

Here's How DC's Justice League Should Return After a Two Year Comic Absence (2)

DC is probably thinking “absence makes the heart grow fonder” in considering when to bring back the League, which makes sense. Marvel did a similar thing when the flagship series Fantastic Four ended its decades-long run in 2015. When the quartet relaunched in 2018, it was to much fanfare. But what will make this League relaunch stand out from so many in the past, aside from an unusually long break? We have some ideas on angles DC could take with League when the World’s Greatest Superheroes make their very welcome return. In fact, some of these ideas could inform James Gunn’s new DCU.

The Original 7 Justice Leaguers Have All Died and Come Back, Forming a Unique Bond Among the Team

Here's How DC's Justice League Should Return After a Two Year Comic Absence (3)

The original Justice League was founded by seven members—Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Flash (Barry Allen), Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. Many other members have come and gone over the years. Yet in a lot of ways, those original seven remain the most iconic version of the team. However, since Barry Allen died in Crisis on Infinite Earths, the founders have not headlined a book together. When Barry returned after 23 years in 2009’s Flash: Rebirth, the assumption was a big JLA reunion book was next. Then 2011’s New 52 reboot happened, and everyone met again for the very first time. However, the New 52 continuity has largely been undone, with much of the original history of the League restored. And we haven’t seen the Big Seven reunite as a team since. Now seems like an ideal time.

The Original Justice League: Death Becomes Them

Here's How DC's Justice League Should Return After a Two Year Comic Absence (4)

Besides being a nostalgic reunion, one thing bonds the original seven. They’ve all died and come back. And not just the standard “We thought they were dead, but it was a clone/they were in a coma/it was an alternate universe version.” They all actually died, went on to a form of an afterlife, and returned. Yes, even the very human Batman in the event series Final Crisis. Some were dead for many years, like Barry Allen and Hal Jordan. Others, like Wonder Woman, for just a few months.

With this detail in mind, the Leaguers all having gone to face the Grim Reaper and come out the other side could serve as the basis of an interesting team dynamic. Are they all functionally immortal now? Writer Grant Morrison played with the metaphor of the “Big Seven” Leaguers as Olympian Gods of the DCU in his ’90s JLA series. Could that interpretation be more literal than metaphorical? They certainly share a weird bond no other team has at DC. (However, we must note, that the X-Men at Marvel certainly do.) It’s fodder for an interesting reunion take for DC Comics’ most famous heroes.

It’s Time for Justice League Unlimited in the DC Universe

Here's How DC's Justice League Should Return After a Two Year Comic Absence (5)

Having said that, the original seven should just be a starting point for whatever DC does next. Because let’s face it, that’s a heavily white and male team for the year of our Lord Darkseid 2024. It’s time for the League to take a cue from their greatest media incarnation of the team, the Justice League Unlimited. It’s time to open the doors to every hero in the DCU. In the JLU animated series, the League became more than a team. It became almost a conglomerate for superheroes. It was a true society of superpowers, in a way their predecessors the Justice Society of America never were.

The comics have played with this notion before, like the excellent Justice League International run of the ‘80s. Yet never on the scale of the Justice League Unlimited cartoon show. The League expanding in this manner allows it to truly grow into something unique, something its rival the Avengers over at Marvel have never been. Maybe, the original seven founders realize they had to return from their respective graves to make the League something bigger than they ever dreamed of in the beginning. It could be something grander that goes beyond the definitions of what we now think of as a superhero team.

A Strong Comic Book Justice League Can Inform the Big Screen Version

Here's How DC's Justice League Should Return After a Two Year Comic Absence (6)

Of course, comics are the primary source of inspiration for most live-action content. The New 52 League was the main inspiration for the DCEU version, from Cyborg as a founding member, to their first villain being from the planet Apokolips. So it would be fitting for whatever DC’s new Justice League becomes to inspire the eventual DCU version. We’ve believed for some time now that Gunn’s DCU would have an already existing Justice League in it, but if the comic book League is a gigantic group with many members and branches, we wouldn’t hate for that concept to make that transition to film and TV.

Whatever DC does when it inevitably relaunches the Justice League title, there should be top-notch creatives on it. Justice League should always be DC’s biggest title. It was in the Silver Age, again in the post-Crisis JLI era, and also in the ’90s Grant Morrison years. Like it or hate it, the New 52 Justice League carried the line, sales-wise, for a good long time. It was not an afterthought series for the publisher. It would be shocking if we don’t see a relaunch by 2025, the Justice League of America’s 65th anniversary. Here’s hoping it’s something that gets the readership excited, and springboard’s comics’ greatest superhero team into the future. They deserve a series that reflects their status as the world’s greatest superteam.

Here's How DC's Justice League Should Return After a Two Year Comic Absence (2024)

FAQs

Is Justice League comic finished? ›

DC Comics: A World Without a Justice League

This elevated the team to A-list status. Since 1960, an ongoing book with the words Justice League in the title has been published by DC. That unbroken run ended after 62 years in 2022.

Who is the old man in Justice League Crisis on Infinite Earths? ›

An elderly John Constantine sends Barry Allen on a "time trip" to key moments in his life, from gaining his metahuman abilities to a fight against the power absorbing android Amazo created by Dr. Anthony Ivo to his wedding with Iris West.

How did Superman come back to life in Justice League? ›

Cyborg retrieves the last Mother Box from S.T.A.R. Labs for the group to analyze. The League has a discussion and decides to use the Mother Box to resurrect Superman, noting that the Motherbox could "turn smoke back into a house".

Are Justice League comics worth anything? ›

Justice League of America #1 was published in 1960. The most valuable copy ever sold cost a mind-crushing $215,000, graded at NM 9.6, in 2018. A FN 6.0 FNcopy will run you about $1,500 today, and a GD 2.0 copy has fallen from $591 in 2018 to $405 today.

Who is faster flash or Superman? ›

The two heroes have raced several times since then, in the comics, cartoons and movies. As a general rule, the comics claim that The Flash is the faster hero, with Barry Allen, Wally West and even an octogenarian Jay Garrick having outrun Superman over the years.

Who is the strongest DC character? ›

When counting down the most powerful DC cosmic characters of all time, the number one has to be DC's version of God, known as The Presence. While there are numerous Gods in the DC pantheon, mostly from the Greek versions of Zeus and his offspring, the Presence is more powerful than them all.

What is the new DC cartoon in 2024? ›

Creature Commandos Animated Series (Possibly 2024)

The Creature Commandos series is in production now, and Gunn hinted it may be ready in time for a 2024 release, beating Superman: Legacy to the finish line.

What is the new Justice League movie in 2024? ›

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Part One arrived in early 2024, with Part Two arriving April 23 for purchase as a digital movie or on disc.

Who is the faceless man in Justice League? ›

The Question is an almost superhuman vigilante armed with his iconic pseudoderm mask, fedora and trench coat. The pseudoderm mask gives the Question the appearance of someone without a face, which is useful for scaring people, has slight protection against damages, and moldable enough for use in disguises.

Can Aquaman beat Superman? ›

This gives him super-strength on par with heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman. Aquaman also wields a mystical trident that could exploit Superman's alternate weakness to magic. Aquaman's strength could give his mystical trident enough force to potentially stab Superman if the two ever faced off in a fatal battle.

Who kills doomsday? ›

Finally realizing he has no choice, Superman kills Doomsday, slicing the monster in half and, as it disintegrates, inhaling its ash-like remains to contain them within his indestructible body.

Why did Superman turn evil at the end of Justice League? ›

The version in the Knightmare from the Snyderverse is that Darkseid kills Lois Lane, and the grief renders Superman vulnerable to the Anti-Life equation and becomes a pawn of Darkseid. He's not evil of his own volition as such.

What is the rarest superhero comic book? ›

The first issue of Superman's comic isn't his first debut, as Action Comics previously took that honor. But this book is the rarest and currently the most valuable comics of all time. While a high-quality issue of Detective Comics #27 would be up for debate, in terms of value experts can quantify Superman #1.

What DC Comics are worth the most? ›

Detective Comics #27, All Star Comics #8 and Fantastic Four #1 all have values equal to or exceeding $1.50 million. Detective Comics #27 features the first appearance of Batman and All Star Comics #8 was the introduction to Wonder Woman.

Do DC Comics sell better than Marvel? ›

For decades now, Marvel has usually had the lead in the comic book industry and has almost always sold more comics than DC every year.

How does the Justice League comic end? ›

In the end, the Justice League are killed by the Dark Army with only one survivor to warn the remaining heroes of Earth about what is coming for them!

Will there be a new Justice League comic series? ›

No sooner did DC announce a new Titans ongoing series by writer Tom Taylor and artist Nicola Scott reflecting their new status quo as the DC Universe's premiere superhero team and Justice League replacement, than the publisher not-so-subtly and not-so-slyly revealed the Justice League is returning in the latter half of ...

Is there a new Justice League comic? ›

The Justice League appear in the Tomorrowverse: Green Lantern: Beware My Power (2022) Justice League: Warworld (2023) Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part One (2024)

Why is there no Justice League comic? ›

The Justice League were killed at the end of Justice League #75. They were resurrected during Dark Crisis, but the Justice League is still disbanded. The Titans team are seen to be the natural successors, led by Nightwing. Looks like the Justice League will be returning soon than may have thought.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Twana Towne Ret

Last Updated:

Views: 6238

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (64 voted)

Reviews: 95% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Twana Towne Ret

Birthday: 1994-03-19

Address: Apt. 990 97439 Corwin Motorway, Port Eliseoburgh, NM 99144-2618

Phone: +5958753152963

Job: National Specialist

Hobby: Kayaking, Photography, Skydiving, Embroidery, Leather crafting, Orienteering, Cooking

Introduction: My name is Twana Towne Ret, I am a famous, talented, joyous, perfect, powerful, inquisitive, lovely person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.