posted
Welcome to the Justice League Apocrypha thread.
To start things off, here’s my general thoughts on the JLA:
For me, as with many of my generation, it began not with the JLA comic but with the Super Friends TV cartoon. In particular, one awesome episode of the next-to-last incarnation of Super Friends, where they foil Darkseid’s plan to de-power Superman, was the first indication of the sheer awesomeness of the concept.
I began reading superhero comics in the early 90s, and it was not the best of times for the Justice League. The Funny Era was on its last legs, and a five-year run of mediocrity was right around the corner...to be followed by a splashier kind of mediocrity in the form of Grant Morrison’s relaunch (this is in my humble opinion of course.) Shortly after this, I almost completely stopped reading comics for many years.
It’s only been since my all-out return to comics in 2005 that I learned to truly appreciate the JLA. Its mythos may not be as rich as the Avengers’ mythos, but there is something special there whose potential does get achieved from time to time.
The Crisis on Multiple Earths trades, reprinting the JLA/JSA team-ups in chronological order, have been especially delightful. If you haven’t read them yet, by all means do, especially Volume Three, which is heavy on the Len Wein era.
My JLA fanfics were borne out of frustration with James Robinson and with The Powers That Be at DC, for failing to realize the potential of what I thought was a great lineup. “...Than To Curse the Darkness” was originally supposed to be a one-off, but I enjoyed writing it so much that I’ve outlined many more JLA fanfics, and I hope you enjoy them.
Now for my JLA statistics list:
Favorite Era: Len Wein/Dick Dillin
Honorable Mentions: Steve Engelhart/Dick Dillin & Gerry Conway/George Perez
Least Favorite Era: Gerry Conway/J.M. DeMatteis/Luke McDonnell
Click Here For A SpoilerStarman is summoned to Talok VIII, the shadow planet, which is being invaded by an army from his home planet Talok III, which turns out to be led by Despero. Starman's summons was actually a trap set by Lydea Mallor, the now-insane champion of Talok VIII. In the end, Despero is defeated and Lydea is cured of her madness. Starman agrees to help rebuild the sister planets whenever he has the time.
TRULY SUPER (see next post)
Summary:
Click Here For A SpoilerGreen Arrow tells Starman and Congorilla a lost tale of the Satellite Era in which Superman is captured by Darkseid and the JLA goes to rescue him.
[ October 05, 2012, 08:41 PM: Message edited by: Fanfic Lady ]
“Ollie,” said Congorilla, “this is the best chili I’ve ever had. I could eat a whole pot of it.”
“Thanks, man.” replied Green Arrow.
Starman, for his part, found Green Arrow’s chili a bit too spicy for his taste, but he was too polite to say so. He and Congorilla had accepted Green Arrow’s invitation to join him for the night on monitor duty and swap war stories. With all the beer the trio was downing to cool off their burning mouths, the stories were coming fast and thick.
“So, Mik,” said Green Arrow, “you were saying that when you did that time-travel jazz, you actually met Kal-El’s dad??”
“Yeah,” said Starman, “really great guy, way ahead of his time. He’d have made a great superhero. I’m sure wherever he is, he’s very proud of Kal.”
“Kal...yup.” agreed Green Arrow. “All around good guy, that Kal. Total square, but a real sweetheart.”
“The whole universe is lucky that he is that way.” said Congorilla. “Can you imagine if he went bad?” He shuddered, as it brought back recent memories of the threat of a Despero-controlled Mon-El.
“I remember one of the few times he came close to going bad.” mused Green Arrow. “You won’t find it in the regular JLA files. I think I better start at the beginning.
“Kal had invited the whole JLA to Metropolis for Superman Day. The team was feeling especially chummy towards each other because we had just had the battle of the newbies against the founders who were being controlled by the Apellaxians; it had brought us all closer together.
“So there we all were, in full costume – me, Dinah, Hal, Diana, Ray, Arthur, Barry, J’onn, Ronnie, Zee, Reddy...the Hawks...and Mr. Sunshine himself, Bruce.
“The Superman Day parade was happening in all its pomp and circumstance. A little corny for my taste, but I was in a good mood and I kept that to myself.
“When suddenly, this cosmic portal opened in the middle of the parade. Some of the members recognized what the portal was and who entered through it – a squad of Parademons, Kalibak as first lieutenant, and in command...Darkseid himself!
“This was my introduction to the Big Bad of Apokolips. I don’t scare easily, but, man, I tell you, I had gooseflesh all over!
“Kal looked more pissed than I’d ever seen him. You don’t mess with Supes in his city, you just don’t. He took on Darkseid straight away, while Bruce, naturally, started signaling the rest of us like crazy. I could say a lot of bad things about Bruce, but the guy had a quick mind, I’ll give him that. Some of us started getting the civilians out of harms way, others started fighting Parademons. Katar, being Mister Macho, thought he could take on Kalibak alone...he had another thing coming. Ha.
“But seriously, after Kalibak had made short work of Katar, I got a glimpse of him attaching a green stone to his weapon. I yelled out, ‘Supes, watch out!’ But it was too late. Kalibak zapped him from behind with a Kryptonite ray, and Kal was down for the count.
“Then Darkseid slung Kal over his shoulder and said, in a voice like an erupting volcano, ‘We have what we came for! Let us depart now! And should anyone attempt to follow us, you will do so...to your doom!’
“We had no choice but to let him go or risk him finishing off Kal right there. Once he was gone, though, Bruce whipped out something from his all-purpose utility belt – a device just like the one that had brought the baddies here. Turns out he had swiped it when he and a few other Justice Leaguers had fought Darkseid before on his own turf.
“So we all teleported over to New Genesis, the planet of Darkseid’s sworn enemies. After greetings and introductions, we made a battle plan to invade Darkseid’s planet, Apokolips, and rescue Kal. Then we were split into teams of three – one New God, one Justice Leaguer who had fought Darkseid before, and one newcomer.
“I got teamed up with Big Barda and Ronnie. That Barda, woo boy, she was some lady! Tough as nails yet pretty as a picture! Couldn’t hold a candle to Dinah, of course, but she came damn close! And Ronnie clearly had a crush on her, like he’d had on Diana and on Power Girl. He was all, ‘Yes, ma’am, no, ma’am,’ until she said to him point blank, ‘I’m married.’ Ouch! Poor Ronnie! Heh heh heh.
“So we landed on Apokolips, all guns blazing, and each team took a different sector. Guess what? My team was the lucky one, if you can call it that!
“We stumbled into this lab, and Darkseid and Kal were there, as well as this guy in a red robe who was carrying on like a bad Shakespearean actor, ‘My marvelous mindwipe machine has turned Superman over to our side, master!’ And on and on.
“We made ourselves noticed, and ordered Darkseid and his flunky to let Kal go. Darkseid laughed in our faces and said, ‘I shall indeed let him loose – on all of you! Superman, show no mercy!’
“It was scary, I tell you. Supes facing us with a nasty expression on his face, his eyes glowing red, his fists clenched. I thought we were all goners.
“Suddenly, Supes turned and attacked Darkseid! Ha ha ha ha ha! He’d been playing along until just the right moment! The look on Darkseid’s ugly mug was priceless!
“Barda and Ronnie joined Kal in the assault on Darkseid. I knew I was outclassed against Darkseid, but I did have fun taking down his flunky.
“Darkseid did shake them off and get away, though. But it didn’t matter. Thanks to Kal’s incorruptible, purer-than-pure heart of gold, we had won the battle that day.”
“Wow.” said Starman.
“A toast,” said Congorilla, “to Kal-El. May he inspire us all to be more like him.”
“Amen to that, buddy.” said Green Arrow.
The trio clinked their beer bottles and went back to their chili and their stories.
NEVER THE END
NEXT: Doctor Light and Cyborg go to Japan, and we introduce a new villain: THE MONSTER-MASTER!
posted
I've been reading comics all my life, but I only started actually collecting five years ago. The earliest exposure to the JLA I had was the first two secret files for Morrison's JLA, some old issues of the Detroit League, and ten issues of JLE. That and the cartoon.
Favorite Leaguers: Animal Man, Zatanna, and Martian Manhunter.
-------------------- I want to be hated by lies - Bring Back Lian Harper
posted
Well I put Buddy in as a favorite Leaguer because I tend to limit myself to listing two-to-three characters in "Favorite" categories, and Vertigo was filled up.
And I think I will be happy to know that.
-------------------- I want to be hated by lies - Bring Back Lian Harper
posted
Very nicely done FL. You have Ollie's voice down pretty well. Loved the Carter stuff too...love the relationship those two have.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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Yeah, as much as I love Ollie, I've always believed he would tend to overseason his chili.
You may actually get your wish for more. I'm considering the possibility of having other Justice Leaguers tell the same story from their points of view.
In the meantime, though, the Monster-Master is waiting in the wings.
posted
Due to unforeseen circumstances, I will not be able to bring you 'Big in Japan' this weekend.
What I can do is recommend a classic JLA story that you can read instead. This time, I am going to recommend issue 144 of the original JLA, by Steve Englehart and Dick Dillin. It's the TRUE origin of the JLA, set in a climate of Cold War paranoia, with lots of cool DCU guest stars.
posted
In a last minute change of plans, I have decided to put BIG IN JAPAN on the back burner so I may first bring you...
A PRECARIOUS BALANCE PART 1
Donna Troy could have been forgiven for thinking she had been thrown out of time. After all, she was battling an army of griffins, minotaurs, and many-headed hydras. But appearances were deceptive. These mythical beasts were in reality the twisted handiwork of the sorceress Circe, who had manipulated the bodies and minds of the animals at the Gotham Wildlife Preserve like so much molding clay – lions and birds of prey into griffins, buffalo and apes into minotaurs, and alligators and snakes into hydras.
As Donna struggled to subdue the beasts without injuring them, Circe herself cackled shrilly while Batman attempted to apprehend her without falling victim to her spells of seduction.
EARLIER THAT DAY, AT THE JLA SATELLITE...
“What we’re looking at,” said Batman to the other Justice Leaguers, “is a classic case of divide and conquer.” He pointed to the monitor, which was split into four screens, each showing a different crisis on Earth: Circe creating out-of-control beasts at the Gotham Wildlife Preserve, Poison Ivy wreaking havoc at the Opal City Botanical Gardens, Mirror Master making mischief at the Hall of Mirrors at a carnival in California, and Chronos running amok in Ivy Town.
“It’s no coincidence,” Batman continued, “that these crimes are occurring at the same time and that there’s no one but us to stop them. This has all been coldly calculated to leave our Satellite vulnerable to invasion. What we’re going to do...is give the mysterious mastermind behind this chaos exactly what he wants!”
CALIFORNIA, THE PRESENT TIME...
“A morge with spirit!” laughed Mirror Master, “That’s how I like ‘em!”
“I have far more than spirit,” snarled Doctor Light, “as you shall find out to your eternal regret.”
“Ye’ve got it all wrong there, lass!” replied Mirror Master, “For I am the kind of man who regrets nothing!”
Doctor Light struck at the Mirror Master in the form of a single focused beam. With great agility, Mirror Master dodged her attack, and she bounced off the mirror which he had been standing behind. Whipping out a prism from his pocket, he caught Doctor Light and split her into several separate Doctor Lights, each corresponding to a different color in the spectrum.
This was a shock to the system for Doctor Light, who screamed in pain and confusion as Cyborg attempted to literally pull himself together after Mirror Master had separated his human parts from his cybernetic parts, trapping each half in a separate mirror. Several civilians were also trapped in the mirrors, distorted into a grotesque Greek chorus to the battle unfolding.
“I am truly an artist!” laughed Mirror Master with great self-satisfaction.
EARLIER THAT DAY, AT THE JLA SATELLITE...
“The best security money can buy.” Batman said proudly as he scanned the monitor’s readout of the Satellite’s security systems.
“It better be,” said Cyborg, “I helped design it. If it fails, I won’t forgive myself.”
“Relax, Victor,” smiled Batman, “it’s not the only trick up our sleeve.”
OPAL CITY BOTANICAL GARDENS, THE PRESENT TIME...
Starman struggled to keep the giant Venus Flytrap from closing down on him. As he felt the plant’s teeth dig into his flesh, he saw his friend Congorilla bound firmly by the strongest vines in existence. Poison Ivy got off the throne she had constructed for herself and walked over to Congorilla, striking a series of sultry poses.
“Congorilla,” whispered Poison Ivy seductively, “don’t fight it. You are as wild a force of nature as I. You are animus, I am anima. Together we can rule the world.”
EARLIER THAT DAY, AT THE JLA SATELLITE...
“Mon-El,” said Batman, “if our uninvited guest should breach the security systems and if you fail to stop him one-on-one, there’s always...this!”
Batman gestured towards a deceptively empty space in a corridor of the satellite that hid a sophisticated cosmic energy trap.
“New Genesis technology. The New Gods’ final gift to us before their death. It’s been tested and re-tested until there was no failure margin.”
IVY TOWN, THE PRESENT TIME...
A herd of Triceratops dinosaurs marched through a residential neighborhood, leaving destruction in its wake as Green Lantern attempted to corral them like giant bulls.
Meanwhile, Green Arrow fought a squadron of medieval knights, having taken one of their horses and led them on a chase into the outskirts of Ivy Town.
And on Ivy Town’s main street, an insane Chronos laughed and laughed as his chronal gun produced ever-more-outlandish time anomalies.
THE JLA SATELLITE, THE PRESENT TIME...
Mon-El had been sitting at the monitor, twiddling his thumbs as he awaited the arrival of the expected intruder.
Suddenly, the alarms went off and the monitor read out in big ominous letters, “SECURITY SYSTEMS OVERRIDE!”
“How can this be?” wondered Mon-El out loud as he raced at super-speed to the location of the breach.
“How, you ask?” enquired a strange voice that was not immediately identifiable as male of female. “Because I am balance, and anything is possible to me.”
Mon-El now saw the intruder, body swathed in a long silken cloak and face hidden by a full mask.
“Now,” said the intruder, unveiling a bizarrely shaped weapon, “you shall feel the power of the Star-Staff.”
Mon-El leaped out of the path of the blast, but the blast itself pursued him like a heat-seeking missile until it made contact.
In an instant, reality itself seemed to unravel for Mon-El. Stars and explosions of bright colors and streams of cosmic energy made themselves visible as they converged within his consciousness. Hidden dimensions opened up to him, conventional perceptions were shattered, and any sense of physical or mental balance came undone for Mon-El, who collapsed convulsively to the floor.
“A mighty mortal you may be,” laughed the intruder, “but you shall be remembered by future generations as the first to fall before...THE NEW LIBRA!”
posted
Very nice set-up. Good action for all involved, and nice flashbacks to let us know what's going on.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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