Justice League of America

The Justice League, sometimes called the Justice League of America or JLA for short, is a fictional DC Universe superhero team. In most incarnations, its roster includes DC's most popular characters. more...

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The original line-up is Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. The team has also included Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, Plastic Man, Zatanna and dozens of others.

The team first appears in The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960). Although series featuring the League occasionally have garnered low sales, the team has been fairly popular with comic book fans since inception. The Justice League concept was loosely adapted into the Super Friends animated series (1972-1985) and more directly into the series Justice League (2001-2004) and Justice League Unlimited (2004-2006).

Throughout the years, the team, or segments of it, are called Justice League America, Justice League Europe, Justice League International, Justice League Task Force, and Justice League Elite.

Publication history

Silver and Bronze Age / Justice League of America

The Justice League of America first appeared in The Brave and The Bold #28 (1960) as a revival of the Justice Society of America (JSA) and gained its own title that same year. Creator Gardner Fox, influenced by the National Football League and Major League Baseball, decided to use the more contemporary word "league", rather than "society" . Mike Sekowsky was the artist for the first five years of the series. Justice League of America was amongst the most popular of DC Comics' publications at the time.

The JLA's early success was indirectly responsible for the creation of the Fantastic Four. In his autobiography Stan Lee relates how, during a game of golf, DC publisher Jack Liebowitz mentioned to Marvel owner Martin Goodman how well DC's new book was selling. Later that day Goodman ordered Lee to create Marvel's own version, but instead of creating a straight copy, Lee and Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four.

The team operated from a secret cave outside of the small town of Happy Harbor. Teenager Snapper Carr tagged along on missions, and was the team's mascot. Snapper, noted for speaking in beatnik dialect, helped the League to defeat giant space starfish Starro the Conqueror in the team's first appearance. In Justice League of America #77 (December 1969), Snapper was tricked into betraying the cave headquarters' secret location to the Joker, resulting in his resignation from the team.

Satellite years

In need of a new secure headquarters, the Justice League moved into an orbiting "satellite" headquarters in Justice League of America #78 (February 1970). Through this period, the membership was limited to the seven founders along with Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Phantom Stranger, Elongated Man, and Red Tornado. The League's twelve-member limit (sometimes explained as a "no duplication of powers" policy) was conceded (in Justice League of America #161) to have been simply a charter provision about numbers, once the League had formally removed the limitation and admitted Hawkwoman and hoped to admit more members. (Indeed, through this period, several League members challenged and joked about the notion that they shared skills and talents, for example, with speed races between Superman and Flash, and Hawkman's use of archery in combat.) The policy change allowed Zatanna and Firestorm to be admitted as well.

Read more at Wikipedia.org