Editing Justice League (section)

==Publication history==
{{see also|List of Justice League titles}}

Since 1960, the Justice League has appeared in comic books published by [[DC Comics]] (periodicals and graphic novels). These comic books constitute the bulk of Justice League fiction.

===Silver Age and Bronze Age (1960–1984)===
[[File:Brave bold 28.jpg|right|thumb|''[[The Brave and the Bold]]'' #28 (March 1960), their first appearance. Superman and Batman do not appear on the cover, but do appear in the story within.]]
In its inception, the Justice League was a revival of the [[Justice Society of America]], created by editor [[Sheldon Mayer]] and writer [[Gardner Fox]] in 1940. After World War II, superheroes fell out of popularity, which led to the cancellation of many characters, including the Justice Society, which last appeared in ''[[All-Star Comics]]'' #57 (March 1951). A few years later, sales rose again, and DC Comics revived some of these retired characters, reinventing a few of them in the process. Editor [[Julius Schwartz]] asked writer [[Gardner Fox]] to reintroduce the Justice Society of America. Schwartz decided to rename it the "Justice League of America" because he felt "League" would appeal better to young readers, evoking sports organizations such as the [[National League (baseball)|National League]].<ref>Rhoades (2008), ''A Complete History of American Comic Books'', p. 70</ref> The Justice League of America debuted in ''[[The Brave and the Bold]]'' #28 (March 1960), and after two further appearances in that title, got its own series, which quickly became one of the company's best-selling titles.<ref>{{cite book|last = Daniels|first = Les|author-link = Les Daniels|title = DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes|chapter= The Justice League of America A Team of Good Sports|publisher= [[Little, Brown and Company|Bulfinch Press]]|date= 1995|location= New York, New York|page = 127|isbn = 0821220764|quote= ''Justice League'' was a hit. It solidified once and for all the importance of superhero groups, and in the process provided a playground where DC's characters could attract new fans while entertaining established admirers.}}</ref> This led DC Comics to create a bunch of other superhero teams, such as the [[Teen Titans]]. [[Marvel Comics]], a rival comic book publisher, noticed the Justice League's success and created the [[Avengers (comics)|Avengers]] and the [[Fantastic Four]].

The initial Justice League lineup included seven of DC Comics' [[superheroes]] who were regularly published at that time: [[Superman]], [[Batman]], [[Aquaman]], the [[Barry Allen|Flash]], [[Hal Jordan|Green Lantern]], the [[Martian Manhunter]], and [[Wonder Woman]]. Fox also created a new, non-superhero character called [[Snapper Carr]] that was intended to represent DC's teenage readership and joined the League as an Honorary member in their debut story.<ref>Eury (2005), ''The Justice League Companion: A Historical and Speculative Overview of the Silver Age Justice League of America'', p. 14</ref> While Superman and Batman were included in the Justice League's initial lineup, they were largely absent from the League's early stories, playing only minor roles as the pair were already starring together in DC's ''[[World's Finest Comics]]'' and Fox was worried the two more famous heroes would detract attention from their less popular teammates. As the series went on however, Superman and Batman became more and more present as readers increasingly demanded to see more of them in the League's stories. The team roster would quickly expand with the [[Green Arrow]], the [[Atom (Ray Palmer)|Atom]] and [[Hawkman (Katar Hol)|Hawkman]] being added to the team over the next four years.

In the Justice Society stories from the 1940s (in ''All-Star Comics''), the Justice Society was used more as a framing device for its members' solo adventures. The stories tended to have the following structure: the Justice Society meets to discuss some new menace, they split up to undertake individual missions that somehow connect to said menace, and finally regroup for the showdown with the main villain. In the 1940s, most comic books were anthologies, and ''All-Star Comics'' was in practice not a major deviation from that. By contrast, the Justice League worked together more closely in their stories, thereby having a stronger identity as a team.

In another change from the Justice Society stories of the 1940s, Batman and Superman were regular members of the cast, not mere "honorary members" who made occasional cameos.

''Justice League of America'' (vol. 1) #21 (August 1963) featured the first crossover story in which the Justice League meets and teams up with the Justice Society of America. In doing so, DC Comics brought back a number of legacy characters such as Doctor Fate and the Black Canary. The issue was a hit with readers and such crossovers became a recurring event.

''Justice League of America'' (vol. 1) was published from 1960 to 1987.

===Detroit era (1984–1986)===
From the Justice League's inception in 1960 up until 1984, the team's roster always included a number of A-list characters to draw in readers, such as [[Wonder Woman]] and [[Superman]]. But in ''Justice League of America Annual'' #2 (October 1984), the Justice League was revised to entirely comprise more obscure characters such as [[Vixen (comics)|Vixen]], [[Vibe (comics)|Vibe]], and the [[Martian Manhunter]]. The original A-list members would not be brought back into the cast until 1996. The motives behind this change were to dispense with the convoluted [[Continuity (fiction)|continuities]] of the classic characters by using lesser-known and new characters, thus giving the writers more flexibility to write character-driven stories; and to give the team a more youthful, hipper feel similar to that of the [[Teen Titans]] and the [[X-Men]], which were selling better.<ref>{{cite web |date= December 4, 2018 |title=Chuck Patton talks Justice League Detroit |website=DC in the 80s |url=http://www.dcinthe80s.com/2018/12/chuck-patton-talks-justice-league.html}}: "I think it was Len Wein who ultimately decided that it was time for a change in the JLA, especially when all of the other major DC books started to crack under the weight of each other's differing storylines and changes in continuity. [...] Gerry [Conway] strongly felt that a new 'JLA' needed a younger, hipper roster to reflect the times, but most important, have little to no connection with the then-current DC roster and more freedom. I enthusiastically agreed with him, wanting to capture the same youthful spirit that made hits of X-Men and Teen Titans."</ref> The cast was multicultural: [[Gypsy (comics)|Gypsy]] was [[Romani people|Romani]],{{efn|This was later retconned in 2013}} [[Vibe (comics)|Vibe]] was Latino, [[Vixen (comics)|Vixen]] was Black. However, the writing of [[Vibe (comics)|Vibe]] and [[Gypsy (comics)|Gypsy]] was criticized for using clichés of their ethnic groups, symptomatic of writers who were well-meaning but out of touch, something for which said writers ([[Gerry Conway]] and [[Chuck Patton]]) later expressed regret.<ref>{{cite web |author=Bug Norman |date=May 27, 2021 |title=Where The X-Men Thrived, The Justice League Died |website=ScreenRant |url=https://screenrant.com/justice-league-detroit-xmen-failure-vibe-gypsy-stereotypes/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date= December 4, 2018 |title=Chuck Patton talks Justice League Detroit |website=DC in the 80s |url=http://www.dcinthe80s.com/2018/12/chuck-patton-talks-justice-league.html}}: "However I really really wished we had avoided a lot of the gimmickry or played them a lot less clichéd from the jump. I do share responsibility in my part of that, but I always felt uncomfortable with Vibe's accent. It was meant to be a blind, something he hid behind to keep people from knowing he wasn't that "streetwise", but it was handled clumsily and we took our lumps for it."</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=April 25, 2021 |title=JLI Podcast – Meanwhile… Gerry Conway Interview on Justice League Detroit |website=The Fire and Water Podcast Network |url=http://fireandwaterpodcast.com/podcast/jli-37z/}}</ref> This era of the Justice League, which lasted about two years, is popularly known as "Justice League Detroit" because they were headquartered in [[Detroit]].

===''Justice League International'' and its spin-offs (1986–1996)===
{{Main|Justice League International}}
The 1986 company-wide crossover "[[Legends (comics)|Legends]]" concluded with the formation of a new Justice League. The new team was dubbed the "Justice League," then "Justice League International" (JLI) and was given a mandate with less of an American focus. The Justice League International was recognized by the United Nations as a political entity and established "embassies" all over the world. The new series was character-driven and had a quirky, humorous tone which proved popular with readers. Numerous spin-off teams such as ''[[Justice League Europe]]'', ''[[Extreme Justice]]'', and ''[[Justice League Task Force (comics)|Justice League Task Force]]'' were created. In 1996, these series were cancelled due to low sales.

The Justice League International featured characters that had previously not been part of the [[DC Universe]], which had been absorbed from the portfolios of other publishers that DC Comics had purchased. These included [[Captain Atom]] and the [[Ted Kord|Blue Beetle]], which were created for [[Charlton Comics]] in the 1960s. In 1983, DC Comics purchased Charlton Comics and, a few years later, integrated the Blue Beetle and Captain Atom into the DC Universe. [[Captain Marvel (DC Comics)|Captain Marvel]], originally from the [[Fawcett Comics]] universe, was similarly integrated.

===''JLA'' (1996–2006)===
The cancellation of the aforementioned spin-off books prompted DC to revamp the League as a single team in a single title. A new Justice League of America was launched in a September 1996 [[Limited series (comics)|miniseries]] ''Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare'' by [[Mark Waid]] and [[Fabian Nicieza]], which returned to the classic cast. In 1997, DC Comics launched a new book titled ''[[JLA (comic book)|JLA]]''. [[Grant Morrison]] wrote ''[[JLA (comic book)|JLA]]'' for the first four years, and they gave the book an epic feel by making the Justice League an allegory for a pantheon of gods, and in their stories they regularly fought villains who threatened the entire world or even the entire cosmos.<ref>{{cite web |author=Rosie Knight |date=8 October 2020 |title=How Grant Morrison's JLA Saved DC's Biggest Heroes |url=https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2020/10/08/how-grant-morrisons-jla-saved-dcs-biggest-heroes}}</ref> The ongoing series began its monthly run in January 1997, and concluded in April 2006 after 126 issues.

This series utilized a "back-to-basics" approach by shifting the focus back on the team's original and most famous seven members (or their successors): Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash ([[Wally West]]), Green Lantern ([[Kyle Rayner]]), and the Martian Manhunter.<ref>Kirk, Jason. "[http://geocities.com/TheTropics/1185/newera/jla1997.htmlJLA (1997)]{{cbignore|bot=medic}}" Yahoo! [[GeoCities]], December 2000{{dead link|date=March 2011}}</ref> Additionally, the team received a new headquarters, the "[[Justice League Watchtower|Watchtower]]", based on the [[Moon]]. ''JLA'' quickly became DC's best-selling title,<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.cbgxtra.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1670 |title= North American Comics Market Estimates for January 1997|first= John Jackson|last= Miller|author-link = John Jackson Miller |year= 2007|magazine= Comics Buyer's Guide|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501091723/http://www.cbgxtra.com/Default.aspx?tabid=1670|archive-date=May 1, 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date= April 8, 2012}}</ref> a position it enjoyed on and off for several years.<ref>Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 278: "Renewed as one of DC's most popular titles, ''JLA'' ran for 125 issues before its next relaunch. Earning countless spin-off miniseries and specials, the Justice League reclaimed its place atop DC's hit titles list".</ref>

===Volume 2 (2006–2011)===
The Justice League books more or less continued the trend set by the ''JLA'' era: world-shaking threats with epic stakes, with a focus on plot over character development, and strong tie-ins to all the company's crossover events. In 2006, DC began an ongoing comic series titled ''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2).

===[[New 52]] (2011–2016)===
{{anchor|The New 52}}In ''[[The New 52]]'' era, further changes to the [[retroactive continuity]] of the [[DC Universe]] were made, such as [[Cyborg (DC Comics)|Cyborg]], one of DC's premier African American heroes, becoming a founding member of the team. In 2011, DC Comics also released a spin-off title called ''[[Justice League Dark]]'', which is an ensemble team of prominent magic users of the DC Universe, such as [[John Constantine]], [[Zatanna]], [[Madame Xanadu]], and [[Swamp Thing]].

===[[DC Rebirth]] (2016–2017)===
{{Empty section|date=August 2023}}

===[[New Justice]] (2018–2021)===
In the [[New Justice]] era, the fourth volume of the Justice League begins its run, and continues into the following [[Infinite Frontier]] era.<ref>Justice League (2018-2022) #1-75</ref>

A connected new title ''Justice League: No Justice'' emerged and ran for 4 issues, taking place shortly after ''[[Dark Nights: Metal]].'' Furthering focus on the aftermath is a following title called ''[[Justice League Odyssey]]'' that established its 25-issue run from 2018 to 2020. Continuing to deal with the concerns of the [[Source Wall]] being broken, Cyborg, [[Starfire (Teen Titans)|Starfire]], [[Green Lantern Jessica Cruz]], and Azrael find themselves being lured by Darkseid into a newly inhabited area in outer space named the Ghost Sector. The title was created by [[Scott Snyder]], Joshua Williamson, [[James Tynion IV]] and [[Francis Manapul]].<ref>Justice League: No Justice (2018) #1-75</ref>

A second volume of [[Justice League Dark]] was announced, and ran regularly for 29 issues from July 2018 to February 2021.<ref name="JLD #1">{{cite comic||writer=James Tynion IV|artist=Raúl Fernández, Alvaro Martinez|story=The Last Age of Magic|title=Justice League Dark|volume=1|issue=#1|date=July, 2018|publisher=DC Comics}}</ref><ref name="JLD #29">{{cite comic||writer=And Lanning, Ron Marz|artist=Amancay Nahuelpan, Marco Santucci|story=Endless Winter|title=Justice League Dark|issue=#29|date=February, 2021|publisher=DC Comics}}</ref> Being led by [[Wonder Woman]], the team members include [[John Constantine]], [[Zatanna]], [[Swamp Thing]], [[Man-Bat]], [[Detective Chimp]], [[Doctor Fate]], and briefly [[Animal Man]].

===[[Infinite Frontier]] (2021–2023)===

The fourth volume of the definitive ''Justice League'' title continues well into the ''Infinite Frontier'' era and reaches a conclusion with a total of 75 issues in June 2022. Despite not having a title run during the ''Infinite Frontier'' era, the team from ''[[Justice League Dark]]'' would continue to appear as a backup feature in the mainline ''Justice League'' series during the ''[[Dark Crisis]]'' story arc, from issue #59 in May 2021 to issue #71 in March 2022, with guest appearances throughout issues #72 to 74.<ref>''Justice League'' (vol. 4) #59 (2021). DC Comics.</ref><ref>''Justice League'' (vol. 4) #71 (2022). DC Comics.</ref><ref>''Justice League'' (vol. 4) #72 (2022). DC Comics.</ref><ref>''Justice League'' (vol. 4) #74 (2022). DC Comics.</ref>

Also sharing a tie to ''Dark Crises'' is ''Justice League Incarnate''.  Consisting of a different team, the 5-issue title shortly ran from January 2022 to May 2022<ref>Justice League Incarnate #1-5</ref> Some pivotal members are [[Superman of Earth 23]], [[Flashpoint Batman]], Mary Marvel of Earth 5, Captain Carrot of Earth 26, among others, including their own Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, plus a new character by the name of Doctor Multiverse.

===[[Dawn of DC]] (2023–2024)===
With the end of ''Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths'', the Justice League was brought back from the dead. This has now inspired [[Amanda Waller]], now working under ''The Light'', to take action against all [[metahuman]]s, as she believes that they have become too powerful. Waller tasked [[Peacemaker (character)|Peacemaker]], her new right hand, in the goal of getting the Helmet of Hate. While Peacemaker was off on his mission, Waller met up with a group of villains giving them a new task, which is to kill superheroes.

With the ''Justice League'' going on hiatus as a team, the [[Teen Titans|Titans]] step forward to become the DC universe's premier superhero team, with [[Dick Grayson|Nightwing]] being the leader.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schedeen |first1=Jesse |date=January 25, 2023 |title=Dawn of DC: Why the Titans Are Replacing the Justice League in 2023 |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/dawn-of-dc-titans-comic-interview-nightwing-justice-league |access-date=April 3, 2023 |website=[[IGN]]}}</ref> The Titans are now located in [[Blüdhaven]] with their new Titans Tower being rebuilt over an old prison, which was destroyed following a prison breakout, led by the villain Heartless.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NIGHTWING #100 |url=https://www.dc.com/comics/nightwing-2016/nightwing-100 |access-date=April 28, 2023 |website=[[DC Comics]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

===[[DC All In]] (2024–present)===

For DC's DC All-In aimed at providing a jumping on point for new readers, a new Justice League series ''Justice League Unlimited'' debut, written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Dan Mora. The premise of the new series is that following ''[[Absolute Powers (comics)|Absolute Power]]'', the superhero community has enlisted the majority of the world's heroes as Justice League members, stationed together in a new Watchtower orbiting Earth and dispatching heroes to counter threats. The main team comprises Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Atom (Ryan Choi), Black Lightning, Star Sapphire, Green Lantern, and many others.

===Inter-company crossovers===
The Justice League has on a few occasions appeared in crossover stories with superhero characters from rival publishers such as [[Marvel Comics]] and [[Dark Horse Comics]]. In general, such inter-company crossovers are rare because a lot of resources must be spent in sorting out the legal issues and corporate politics of the two companies, and due to licensing issues, they cannot create spin-off merchandise and media, which all reduce the profitability of such projects.

The last crossover between [[DC Comics]] and [[Marvel Comics]] was ''[[JLA/Avengers]]'', which they jointly published in 2003. Now that Marvel Comics and DC Comics are part of major multimedia corporations (Disney and Warner Brothers, respectively), those aforementioned hurdles are even more complicated, which makes another project like ''JLA/Avengers'' much less likely.<ref>{{cite web |title=Marvel and DC team-up: An oral history of JLA/Avengers, the most ambitious crossover event ever |author=Jermaine McLaughlin |date=15 June 2015 |website=SyFy Wire |url=https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/marvel-and-dc-team-up-an-oral-history-of-jlaavengers-the-most-ambitious-crossover-event |access-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-date=October 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211002151857/https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/marvel-and-dc-team-up-an-oral-history-of-jlaavengers-the-most-ambitious-crossover-event |url-status=dead }}<br/>
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Tom Brevoort: "Those were really the final days of both companies being "Mom & Pop" shops. Now, with both Marvel and DC being integrated multi-platform companies, the inter-mingling of competing IP is a much more complicated and complex situation, along with the fact that you wind up spending considerable resources on a project for which you only recoup half of the eventual profits (and that you cannot utilize across other lines of business beyond the publishing) make it a lot more difficult to justify. It's hard to justify both the allocation of resources and also the difficulties of navigating the politics between two competing corporate giants. So it's not impossible that it could never happen again, but the factors against it happening are considerable."</ref> In 2017, [[Dan Didio]] remarked that DC Comics and Marvel are very competitive toward each other and only did crossovers when their sales were low.<ref>{{cite web |author=Brendan Hughes |title=Could We Get A New Marvel/DC Crossover In The Near Future? |date=19 March 2018 |url=https://lrmonline.com/news/could-we-get-a-new-marvel-dc-crossover-in-the-near-future/}}<br/>"Dan Didio, DC's Co-Publisher, squashed the idea of any crossover with Marvel during the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con stating that the best way for DC to succeed is to compete with Marvel. He linked that the past Marvel/DC crossovers were a temporary measure due to the comic market reaching all-time lows."</ref> However, DC Comics did go on to feature the Justice League in crossovers with smaller companies such as [[Dark Horse Comics]], such as a crossover with ''[[Black Hammer (comics)|Black Hammer]]'' in 2019.