From the Comics: The Origin of the Justice League (New 52 Edition)

The Justice League is one of the comic book world’s most popular teams. Their lineup includes some of the biggest superheroes of all time and their adventures have inspired media of all types. They are so significant that their role in the DC Universe and in the real world cannot be denied.

However, many fans of the team may be unaware of exactly how the group was formed and who ended up forming it. In today’s “From the Comics” exploration, we’re looking at the events of Justice League: Origin a story, written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Jim Lee, that updated the Justice League’s origin for modern audiences. 

Background

At the time Justice League: Origin was published, the DC Universe had just been reset by the events of Flashpoint. This meant that the Justice League’s past has been wiped clean and was completely open to being rewritten.

The Justice League: Origin story established the new status quo in this new universe. It established that most DC Comics, published at the time, took place in the present. Meanwhile, the Justice League’s origin story took place five years before the present.

At this time, most of the world’s superheroes had only been operating for about a year. Some of them were familiar with each other, Green Lantern and the Flash were already friends, but most had never interacted with another major hero.

Foundation

This all changed when mysterious creatures, Parademons, were seen placing mysterious boxes, Mother Boxes, in cities. Batman was investigating one when he was joined by Green Lantern, allowing the two to meet for the first time. From there, they decided that the boxes were probably alien so they should check and see if the world’s most famous alien, Superman, knew anything about them.

After arriving in Metropolis, a misunderstanding prompted a fight between the two heroes and Superman. This caused Green Lantern to call in his friend, the Flash, for some backup. Luckily, before things got too out of control, Batman was able to make the group stop fighting and realize that they were all working toward the same goal.

Unfortunately, not long after this, the Mother Boxes began to open portals all around the world. These portals heralded a Parademon invasion. The Parademons would emerge in a location, grab whatever humans they could, and then make their way to Metropolis, where their base was being assembled in the nearby ocean. All of this disturbance caught the attention of Wonder Woman and Aquaman, who quickly joined the rest of the heroes in Metropolis.

At the same time, the opening of one portal occurred directly overtop the son of one of the world’s most prolific scientists. The young man, named Victor Stone, was nearly killed but his father used experimental technology in order to revive him. The process saved Victor’s life but the experimental technology gave him unbelievable powers. Newly revived and extremely confused, Victor fled his father’s lab, saved a woman from a Parademon attack, and accidentally merged with the Parademon’s Mother Box. This Mother Box connected Victor to the Parademon communication network and immediately teleported him to Metropolis, right alongside the rest of the heroes. 

Almost immediately after Victor’s teleportation, the leader of the Parademons, Darkseid, arrived. He easily defeated the heroes opposing him and was able to capture Superman and break Green Lantern’s arm.

This action forced everyone to regroup. Batman willingly got himself kidnapped by Parademons so he could go to the location where they took Superman. Meanwhile, Green Lantern developed a plan of attack with the rest of the active heroes.

The group then attacked Darkseid directly. Wonder Woman was able to stab him in one eye with her sword and Aquaman was able to stab him in the other eye with his trident. While this was going on, Victor Stone used his Mother Box’s connection to the enemy in order to gain control of their portals. He opened a portal near Superman, who was recently freed by Batman, to allow him to join the fight against Darkseid. Superman and the rest of the heroes pushed Darkseid into a new portal, which Victor was able to close behind him. Victor was also able to teleport the rest of the Parademons and fry their Mother Boxes, preventing them from attacking Earth again.

Sometime after the battle, the group of heroes was recognized by the US Government. Though some of them weren’t too happy with the idea of working on a team, they did recognize that working as a group would have some advantages. The Flash then triumphantly announced that the group would be going by the name “The Super Seven”. With a mixed reaction to this name, he said that he was sure they would think of something better. 

The Justice League’s origin story also contains a few cryptic clues about their future adventures. Backup stories from this time show a woman named Pandora looking for a Box. In addition, dialogue from Darkseid and his accomplices indicates that Darkseid invaded Earth in order to find his daughter.

Recommended Reading

If you’re interested in reading these comic adventures for yourself, we recommend picking up the following titles:

• Justice League #1-7- Which depicts everything about the Justice League’s origin. This issue is collected in Justice League: Origin (Review).
• Flashpoint #5- Which shows how the universe was reset and somewhat explains the fact that its stories have been rewritten. This is collected in Flashpoint (Review).
• Check out ComicBookWire’s “Justice League Reading Order” to see how their adventures progress throughout this era.
• Also check out Justice League: War and Justice League, movies that essentially adapt this story arc.

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