Justice League International
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Built in the 1987 company-wide crossover limited series, Legends, this new Justice League was given a less America-centric mandate than before, and was dubbed the Justice League International (or "JLI" for short). The new comic was written by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, with art by Kevin Maguire. This new series added a quirky sense of tongue-in-cheek humor to the stories.
Team history
During this period of time the membership of the Justice League consisted primarily of lesser known heroes such as Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Mister Miracle II and Guy Gardner. Because of the humorous nature of the series, these characters are still primarily known for being comical in nature, but are extremely identifiable and have a loyal fanbase to the present day. Many of the characters made popular during this era of the Justice League have also regained prominence, particularly Maxwell Lord and Blue Beetle, because of their role in the limited series Infinite Crisis.The funny tone of this series was very popular for the first couple of years, but the humor and silliness ultimately drove readers away, leading to the "Breakdowns" story arc that brought in new writers and changed the tone to a more serious storyline.
Years later, in the 2000s, the first seven numbers of this series were collected in a graphic novel called Justice League: A New Beginning.
Justice League: Breakdowns
"Breakdowns" was a 15-issue crossover between the Justice League America and Justice League Europe titles, revising the organization that signalled the change from the humorous tone to the more serious tone. The major events that occurred were the following:
Maxwell Lord is initially in a coma from a failed assassination attempt. He is later possessed by JLE foe Dreamslayer of the Extremists. Following the end of the Breakdowns saga, Maxwell Lord has no more mental powers, apparently drained completely when possessed by Dreamslayer.
The Queen Bee, ruler of the country Bialya, is killed in a coup d'etat led by Sumaan Harjavti, the twin brother of the original dictator ruler, Rumaan.
Despero awakens and escapes Manga Khan's starship to wreak havoc on New York City, seeking vengeance against the Justice League. A force of the Justice League's best (Martian Manhunter, Power Girl, Fire, Rocket Red, Metamorpho, Flash, Guy Gardner, Major Disaster) with the Conglomerate (led by Booster Gold) and Lobo were unable to stop him. Ultimately, it was Kilowog and L-Ron who subdued Despero by transferring L-Ron's consciousness into the cybernetic control collar that remained around his neck.
While possessing Maxwell Lord's body, Dreamslayer kidnaps and later murders Mitch Wacky on the island of KooeyKooeyKooey, where the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold previously attempted to open a resort there called "Club JLI". Using Lord's personna, Dreamslayer lures a large portion of the Justice League to the island and takes mental control of them, making them the "new Extremists".
The Silver Sorceress, one of the former Champions of Angor and Justice League member, dies defeating Dreamslayer. Her gravesite in on the island of KooeyKooeyKooey.
The U.N. withdraws its support from the Justice League and it disbands. The Martian Manhunter seemingly takes a leave of absence, although later re-emerges under the personna of Bloodwynd.
Expansion
The release of Justice League Spectacular launched the revised Justice League titles under new writers and artists. The Justice League titles expanded to a total of four by the early to mid 1990s: Justice League America (formerly Justice League International), Justice League Europe, Justice League Task Force, and Extreme Justice.Unfortunately, with the influx of new writers and artists in the various Justice League titles coming and going, there was very little consistency in continuity. The more powerful and recognizable characters such as Superman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), and Batman came and went out of the various Justice League titles, replaced by lesser known characters such as Bloodwynd, Maya, Maxima, Nuklon, Obsidian, Tasmanian Devil and Triumph. Longtime JLI-era characters such as Captain Atom, Martian Manhunter and Power Girl were revised and revamped repeatedly, with mixed results from fans.
By the mid to late 1990s, with the commercial success of the series fading, each of the titles were eventually cancelled.
Super Buddies
Several members of this incarnation of the Justice League later formed the Super Buddies, whose humorous adventures were featured in the miniseries Formerly Known as the Justice League and I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League.
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