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Deleted line(s) 72 (click to see context) :
* EvaFins: The HumongusMecha at the beginning of the episode features these.
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* VerticalMechaFins: The HumongusMecha at the beginning of the episode features these, befitting of the ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' homage.
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* EvaFins: The HumongusMecha at the beginning of the episode features these.
** The episode has the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Martian Manhunter go to the other dimension for a reason. Three of the four Justice League members who end up in the alternate universe are reflections of the Justice Society -- with Wally West and John Stewart representing modern counterparts to Jay Garrick and Alan Scott, and Shayera Hol representing a spin-off character to Katar Hol, better known as Hawkman. Meanwhile, Martian Manhunter is not part of the Justice Society, but he is a creation of Gardner Fox, who had him serve as a founding member of the Justice League. (Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were honorary members of the Justice Society, but are kept OutOfFocus here, as they often were in the original JSA comics.)
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** The giant robot at the beginning of part 1 looks like it was commissioned by [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]]. It also bears a passing resemblance to [[Creator/MarvelComics Ultron]].
to:
** The giant robot at the beginning of part 1 looks like it was commissioned by the episode resembles a cross between [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]]. It also bears Evangelion Unit-01]] with an inverted color scheme and [[Characters/MarvelComicsUltron Ultron]]. Worth noting that character designer Bruce Timm is a passing fan of ''Evangelion'', so the resemblance to [[Creator/MarvelComics Ultron]].is almost certainly intentional.
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Changed line(s) 57 (click to see context) from:
** Ray’s powers are an amplified version of Brainwave’s.
to:
** Ray’s powers are an amplified version of Brainwave’s.Brainwave’s, while his status as team mascot evokes Johnny Thunder.
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* BookEnds: Part 1 begins with a fight against Lex Luthor's giant robot (a 2000s style, anime inspired mecha design, to boot). Near the end of Part 2, another giant robot (a '50s looking TinCanRobot this time) randomly attacks the Justice Guild's headquarters, as Ray's Thompson's last-ditch attempt to stop the Guild from realizing the truth.
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Changed line(s) 130 (click to see context) from:
** A StepfordSuburbia where everyone secretly lives in fear of a CreepyChild RealityWarper, [[Franchise/TheTwilightZone sound familiar?]]
to:
** A StepfordSuburbia where everyone secretly lives in fear of a CreepyChild RealityWarper, [[Franchise/TheTwilightZone sound RealityWarper. [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E73ItsAGoodLife Sound familiar?]]
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Although the reason given for Jay Garrick's Flash comics stopping was the rather more benign "he retired".
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* ComicBooksAreReal: In the Justice League's world, the Justice Guild of America were comic book characters that Green Lantern had read as a kid. J'onn brings up the possibility that the comics' authors in the primary universe had a subconscious link with the Guild's universe, hence why they existed only as comics characters in the primary universe. This is ''also'' why their comics abruptly stopped forty years ago: the year the Guild died saving the world from an atomic cataclysm.
to:
* ComicBooksAreReal: In the Justice League's world, the Justice Guild of America were comic book characters that Green Lantern had read as a kid. J'onn brings up the possibility that the comics' authors in the primary universe had a subconscious link with the Guild's universe, hence why they existed only as comics characters in the primary universe.universe[[note]]a theory lifted directly from the Gardner Fox-penned The Flash of Two Worlds, the introduction of the multiverse to DC[[/note]]. This is ''also'' why their comics abruptly stopped forty years ago: the year the Guild died saving the world from an atomic cataclysm.
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* OddlySmallOrganization: Flash wonders if the two cops the League keeps running into are the only policemen in town. They are.
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* PiratesWhoDontDoAnything: The ice cream man drives his truck around town all day and waves at everyone he passes, but he never actually sells any ice cream. After a while Green Lantern gets suspicious about this.
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Changed line(s) 39 (click to see context) from:
** The earth crime being the trophy for the clay court tennis championship makes a ''bit'' more sense when you consider that the criminal who undertakes that challenge is the Sportsman.
to:
** The earth crime being the trophy for the clay court tennis championship makes a ''bit'' more sense when you consider that the criminal who undertakes that challenge is the Sportsman.Sportsman… although how they knew that specific villain would be performing the “Earth” crime is another matter entirely.
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* AfterTheEnd: The Justice Guild's Earth is revealed to be a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with the real Justice Guild having died forty years ago in a failed attempt to protect their home from nuclear war.
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** The earth crime being the trophy for the clay court tennis championship makes a ''bit'' more sense when you consider that the criminal who commits it is the Sportsman.
to:
** The earth crime being the trophy for the clay court tennis championship makes a ''bit'' more sense when you consider that the criminal who commits it undertakes that challenge is the Sportsman.
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Changed line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) from:
A battle involving Superman, the Flash, Batman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl against a GiantRobot being piloted remotely by ComicBook/LexLuthor goes wrong when the destroyed robot, starting to self-destruct, collapses onto the unconscious J'onn J'onzz, John Stewart and Shayera. Flash races to use his whirlwind-creating speed to hold it up, but instead triggers an explosion that causes the robot and the four heroes to vanish in a huge explosion. When it fades away, the four heroes are gone.
to:
A battle involving Superman, the Flash, Batman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl against a GiantRobot being piloted HumongousMecha controlled remotely by ComicBook/LexLuthor goes wrong when the destroyed robot, starting to self-destruct, collapses onto the unconscious J'onn J'onzz, John Stewart and Shayera. Flash races to use his whirlwind-creating speed to hold it up, but instead triggers an explosion that causes the robot and the four heroes to vanish in a huge explosion. When it fades away, the four heroes are gone.
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The local heroes take the Justice League quartet back to their headquarters, explaining that they are Seaboard City's defenders: the Justice Guild of America. Green Guardsman, who wields a [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower mentally directed energy construct ring]]. The Streak, the team's {{Super Speed}}ster. Tom Turbine, a genius whose "energy belt" allows him to imbue himself with power to achieve feats including {{Flight}} and SuperStrength. And Catman and Black Siren, [[BadassNormal skilled martial artists]]. They also introduce the boy that Flash saved as Ray Thompson, their [[TagAlongKid team mascot]].
to:
The local heroes take the Justice League quartet back to their headquarters, explaining that they are Seaboard City's defenders: the Justice Guild of America. Green Guardsman, who wields a [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower mentally directed mentally-directed energy construct ring]]. The Streak, the team's {{Super Speed}}ster. Tom Turbine, a genius whose "energy belt" allows him to imbue himself with power to achieve feats including {{Flight}} and SuperStrength. And Catman and Black Siren, [[BadassNormal skilled martial artists]]. They also introduce the boy that Flash saved as Ray Thompson, their [[TagAlongKid team mascot]].
Changed line(s) 23,24 (click to see context) from:
It turns out that of the Justice Guild, only the "junior Guildsman" [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Ray Thompson]] is real; forty years ago, the nuclear inferno of war [[BodyHorror mutated him]] into a grotesque being with powerful psionics, which he used to generate an ultra-real illusion that recreated the city and heroes of his childhood. In the resultant battle, Ray nearly defeats the Justice League... but the Justice Guild, declaring that they can repeat their sacrifice, turn on him, finally rendering him unconscious and revealing the desolate wasteland that is the reality of their world. With that, the Streak gives one final salute to the Green Lantern, and a heartbroken Green Lantern can only watch as the Justice Guild [[CessationOfExistence fade away into nothingness]] [[HeroicSacrifice with their last act of heroism.]]
to:
It turns out that of the Justice Guild, only the "junior Guildsman" [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Ray Thompson]] is real; forty years ago, the nuclear inferno of war [[BodyHorror mutated him]] into a grotesque being with powerful psionics, which he used to generate an ultra-real illusion that recreated the city and heroes of his childhood. In the resultant battle, Ray nearly defeats the Justice League... but the Justice Guild, declaring that they can repeat their sacrifice, turn on him, finally rendering him unconscious and revealing the desolate wasteland that is the reality of their world. With that, the Streak gives one final salute to the Green Lantern, and a heartbroken Green Lantern can only watch as the Justice Guild [[CessationOfExistence fade away into nothingness]] [[HeroicSacrifice with their last act of heroism.]]
heroism]].
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* AntiVillain: Ray isn't so much evil as long since [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumped off the slippery slope]] due to [[BreakTheCutie suffering something no child should ever go through and losing his idols at the same time.]]
to:
* AntiVillain: Ray isn't so much evil as long since [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumped off the slippery slope]] due to [[BreakTheCutie suffering something no child should ever go through and losing his idols at the same time.]]time]].
Changed line(s) 57 (click to see context) from:
* CurseCutShort: Flash's comment to Dr. Blizzard about not having "a snowball's chance in hell" has the "hell" part cut off by the sound of a car horn that alerts him to [[DiabolusExMachina the dynamite truck on a collision course]] [[BusFullOfInnocents with the bus full of nuns.]]
to:
* CurseCutShort: Flash's comment to Dr. Blizzard about not having "a snowball's chance in hell" has the "hell" part cut off by the sound of a car horn that alerts him to [[DiabolusExMachina the dynamite truck on a collision course]] [[BusFullOfInnocents with the bus full of nuns.]]nuns]].
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* FauxActionGirl: Black Siren is portrayed as this. Although, she held her own in [[LetsYouAndHimFight in the fight with the Justice League]] and got some good hits on Ray at the end.
* GeniusBruiser: Tom Turbine is an accredited nuclear physicist and inventor... he's also the Justice Guild's counterpart to Superman.
* GeniusBruiser: Tom Turbine is an accredited nuclear physicist and inventor... he's also the Justice Guild's counterpart to Superman.
to:
* FauxActionGirl: Black Siren is portrayed as this.Siren. Although, she held her own in [[LetsYouAndHimFight in the fight with the Justice League]] and got some good hits on Ray at the end.
* GeniusBruiser: Tom Turbine is an accredited nuclear physicist and inventor... he's also the Justice Guild's counterpart to Superman.
* GeniusBruiser: Tom Turbine is an accredited nuclear physicist and inventor...
Changed line(s) 75 (click to see context) from:
* HarmlessFreezing: The Flash and Black Siren are subjected to this by Dr. Blizzard, The Flash [[ForgotICouldFly for some reason not phasing through it.]]
to:
* HarmlessFreezing: The Flash and Black Siren are subjected to this by Dr. Blizzard, The Flash [[ForgotICouldFly for some reason not phasing through it.]]it]].
Changed line(s) 102,104 (click to see context) from:
** J'onn's theory for how the justice guild was also a comic book in their world, is pretty much identical to the one Barry Allen gave to Jay Garrick when they first met during ''Flash Of Two Worlds''.
** In a FreezeFrameBonus, Black Siren's grave reveals her true name to be Donna Nance, a reference to Dinah Lance (a.k.a. Black Canary), her counterpart from the comics. The grave for Catman reveals his real name to be "Thomas Blake", a reference to the alter ego of the Batman villain, who'd appeared sans costumed identity in ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'', in the episode, [[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE15CultOfTheCat "Cult of the Cat"]].
** The robot Roy summons to distract the Justice Guild is based on [[https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Rog_(New_Earth) Rog]], a robot that clashed with the ComicBook/DoomPatrol
** In a FreezeFrameBonus, Black Siren's grave reveals her true name to be Donna Nance, a reference to Dinah Lance (a.k.a. Black Canary), her counterpart from the comics. The grave for Catman reveals his real name to be "Thomas Blake", a reference to the alter ego of the Batman villain, who'd appeared sans costumed identity in ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'', in the episode, [[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE15CultOfTheCat "Cult of the Cat"]].
** The robot Roy summons to distract the Justice Guild is based on [[https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Rog_(New_Earth) Rog]], a robot that clashed with the ComicBook/DoomPatrol
to:
** J'onn's theory for how the justice guild Justice Guild was also a comic book in their world, is pretty much identical to the one Barry Allen gave to Jay Garrick when they first met during ''Flash Of Two Worlds''.
** In a FreezeFrameBonus, Black Siren's grave reveals her true name to be Donna Nance, a reference to Dinah Lance (a.k.a. Black Canary), her counterpart from the comics. The grave for Catman reveals his real name to be "Thomas Blake", a reference to the alter ego of the Batman villain, who'd appeared sans costumed identity in ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'', in the episode,[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE15CultOfTheCat "Cult "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE15CultOfTheCat Cult of the Cat"]].
Cat]]".
** The robot Roy summons to distract the Justice Guild is based on [[https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Rog_(New_Earth) Rog]], a robot that clashed with theComicBook/DoomPatrol ComicBook/DoomPatrol.
** In a FreezeFrameBonus, Black Siren's grave reveals her true name to be Donna Nance, a reference to Dinah Lance (a.k.a. Black Canary), her counterpart from the comics. The grave for Catman reveals his real name to be "Thomas Blake", a reference to the alter ego of the Batman villain, who'd appeared sans costumed identity in ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'', in the episode,
** The robot Roy summons to distract the Justice Guild is based on [[https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Rog_(New_Earth) Rog]], a robot that clashed with the
Changed line(s) 108 (click to see context) from:
* NotWhatItLooksLike: The Justice Guild shows up just as the Justice Leaguers get hold of the stolen violin, leading to the teams' LetsYouAndHimFight meeting.
to:
* NotWhatItLooksLike: The Justice Guild shows up just as the Justice Leaguers get hold of the stolen violin, leading to the teams' LetsYouAndHimFight meeting.LetsYouAndHimFight.
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* OfficialCouple: Black Siren and Catman appear to be this in spite of all her ShipTease with the Flash.
to:
* OfficialCouple: Black Siren and Catman appear to be this Catman, in spite of all her ShipTease with the Flash.
Changed line(s) 112 (click to see context) from:
* PsychopathicManChild: Ray has kept the form of a child for ''forty years'' [[BodyHorror though you can hardly blame him.]]
to:
* PsychopathicManChild: Ray has kept the form of a child for ''forty years'' [[BodyHorror though you can hardly blame him.]]him]].
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* RetroUniverse: Seaboard City, which feels like it came straight out of the 1950s... because the real one did, and Ray wouldn't allow the fake one to advance.
to:
* RetroUniverse: Seaboard City, which feels like it came straight out of the 1950s... because the real one did, and Ray wouldn't allow the fake one to advance.
Changed line(s) 122,124 (click to see context) from:
** The giant robot at the beginning of part 1 looks like it was commissioned by [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]].
*** It also bears a passing resemblance to [[Creator/MarvelComics Ultron]].
** The Justice Guild's sidekick "Ray Thompson" is an expy of Golden Age fanboy supreme Roy Thomas.[[note]]Who had, for extra coincidence points, done [[http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/entries/avengers_85-86.shtml a similar plot]] in his ''ComicBook/{{Avengers}}'' run ''thirty years earlier'' - with the "alternate" heroes being parodies of the Justice League themselves![[/note]]
*** It also bears a passing resemblance to [[Creator/MarvelComics Ultron]].
** The Justice Guild's sidekick "Ray Thompson" is an expy of Golden Age fanboy supreme Roy Thomas.[[note]]Who had, for extra coincidence points, done [[http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/entries/avengers_85-86.shtml a similar plot]] in his ''ComicBook/{{Avengers}}'' run ''thirty years earlier'' - with the "alternate" heroes being parodies of the Justice League themselves![[/note]]
to:
** The giant robot at the beginning of part 1 looks like it was commissioned by [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]].
***Ikari]]. It also bears a passing resemblance to [[Creator/MarvelComics Ultron]].
** The Justice Guild's sidekick "Ray Thompson" is an expy of Golden Age fanboy supreme Roy Thomas.[[note]]Who had, for extra coincidence points, done [[http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/entries/avengers_85-86.shtml a similar plot]] in his''ComicBook/{{Avengers}}'' ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' run ''thirty years earlier'' - with the "alternate" heroes being parodies of the Justice League themselves![[/note]]
***
** The Justice Guild's sidekick "Ray Thompson" is an expy of Golden Age fanboy supreme Roy Thomas.[[note]]Who had, for extra coincidence points, done [[http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/entries/avengers_85-86.shtml a similar plot]] in his
Changed line(s) 126 (click to see context) from:
** J'onn's first reaction to Seaboard City is [[Film/TheWizardOfOz "It seems we're not in Metropolis anymore."]]
to:
** J'onn's first reaction to Seaboard City is [[Film/TheWizardOfOz "It "[[Film/TheWizardOfOz It seems we're not in Metropolis anymore."]]anymore]]."
Changed line(s) 132 (click to see context) from:
* StayInTheKitchen: Parodied. Given that since the Justice Guild's world is based on the fifties, therefore it isn't considered at all awkward for the only female member of the 50's-esque team to suggest to ''[[ActionGirl Hawkgirl]]'' that they go get cookies while the "men" talk out the whole dangerous supervillain issue. Flash is amused. Hawkgirl... isn't.
to:
* StayInTheKitchen: Parodied. Given that since the Justice Guild's world is based on the fifties, therefore it isn't considered at all awkward for the only female member of the 50's-esque team to suggest to ''[[ActionGirl Hawkgirl]]'' that they go get cookies while the "men" talk out the whole dangerous supervillain issue. Flash is amused. Hawkgirl... isn't.
Deleted line(s) 134 (click to see context) :
* StepfordSuburbia / TownWithADarkSecret: Seaboard City is actually a war-torn wasteland but the residents always smile because they're scared to mess with [[TheDreaded Ray's]] fantasy.
* TownWithADarkSecret: Seaboard City is actually a war-torn wasteland but the residents always smile because they're scared to mess with [[TheDreaded Ray's]] fantasy.
Changed line(s) 146 (click to see context) from:
** The Streak says this when the Guild decides to fight Ray and save the League: "We died once to save this Earth, and we can do it again."
to:
** The Streak says this when the Guild decides to fight Ray and save the League: "We died once to save this Earth, and we can do it again."
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Changed line(s) 145 (click to see context) from:
** When Tom Turbin wonder who or what is creating the illusion they are living in like the League thinks, J'onn suggests they ask the Guild's KidSidekick Ray. When Ray asks why he would know anything, J'onn answers: "Because you are the source."
to:
** When Tom Turbin wonder Turbine wonders who or what is creating the illusion they are living in like the League thinks, J'onn suggests they ask the Guild's KidSidekick Ray. When Ray asks why he would know anything, J'onn answers: "Because "[[TheDogWasTheMastermind Because you are the source.source]]."
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Changed line(s) 60 (click to see context) from:
* DiabolusExMachina: Flash pretty much has Dr. Blizzard beaten, only for suddenly a runaway dynamite truck on a collision course with [[BusFullOfInnocents a bus full of nuns]]. Flash manages to stop the collision but knocks himself out in the process, leading to him and Black Siren being captured. This later turns out to be an enforced trope, with things going bad in order to protect the illusion of the world whenever someone gets too close to discovering it.
to:
* DiabolusExMachina: Flash pretty much has Dr. Blizzard beaten, only for to suddenly be interrupted by a runaway dynamite truck on a collision course with [[BusFullOfInnocents a bus full of nuns]]. Flash manages to stop the collision but knocks himself out in the process, leading to him and Black Siren being captured. This later turns out to be an enforced trope, with things going bad in order to protect the illusion of the world whenever someone gets too close to discovering it.
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* DiabolusExMachina: Flash pretty much has Dr. Blizzard beaten, only for suddenly a runaway dynamite truck on a collision course with [[BusFullOfInnocents a bus full of nuns]]. Flash manages to stop the collision but knocks himself out in the process, leading to him and Black Siren being captured. This later turns out to be an enforced trope, with things going bad in order to protect the illusion of the world whenever someone gets too close to discovering it.
-->'''Hawkgirl:''' And anytime someone starts to figure things out...\\
'''Flash:''' Nuns and dynamite.
-->'''Hawkgirl:''' And anytime someone starts to figure things out...\\
'''Flash:''' Nuns and dynamite.
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** When Tom Turbin wonder who or what is creating the illusion they are living in like the League thinks, J'onn suggests they ask the Guild's KidSidekick Ray. When Ray asks why he would know anything, J'onn answers: "Because you are the source."
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* GoneHorriblyRight: Ray made the Justice Guild to be true rightous heroes, and it was because of that they fought against him despite knowing it would destroy them.
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Changed line(s) 135 (click to see context) from:
* TomatoInTheMirror: The Guild learns that they aren't real, and that their KidSidekick Ray has been keeping them alive as a fantasy. They don't show much anguish about it, except to consider that if they defeat Ray before he kills the League then they will face CessationOfExistence. After a few seconds, they dive in to fight him, to FaceDeathWithDignity.
to:
* TomatoInTheMirror: The Guild learns that they aren't real, real and that their KidSidekick Ray has been keeping them alive as a fantasy. They don't show much anguish about it, except to consider that if they defeat Ray before he kills the League then they will face CessationOfExistence. After a few seconds, they dive in to fight him, to FaceDeathWithDignity.
Changed line(s) 139 (click to see context) from:
* WhamLine: Written on a tombstone: "Here lies Scott Mason, The Green Guardsman."
to:
* WhamLine: WhamLine:
** Written on a tombstone: "Here lies Scott Mason, The Green Guardsman."
** The Streak says this when the Guild decides to fight Ray and save the League: "We died once to save this Earth, and we can do it again."
** Written on a tombstone: "Here lies Scott Mason, The Green Guardsman."
** The Streak says this when the Guild decides to fight Ray and save the League: "We died once to save this Earth, and we can do it again."
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Natter.
Deleted line(s) 60 (click to see context) :
** Of course, [[FairForItsDay by the standards of the Golden Age]], they're amazingly progressive. Despite the occasional racist or sexist comment, it's obvious that the characters respect each other, as well as other people, without regard for color or gender. In the age of "separate but equal" and women making their first strides in the workplace, that's pretty impressive.
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Changed line(s) 100 (click to see context) from:
** In a FreezeFrameBonus, Black Siren's grave reveals her true name to be Donna Nance, a reference to Dinah Lance (a.k.a. Black Canary), her counterpart from the comics.
to:
** In a FreezeFrameBonus, Black Siren's grave reveals her true name to be Donna Nance, a reference to Dinah Lance (a.k.a. Black Canary), her counterpart from the comics. The grave for Catman reveals his real name to be "Thomas Blake", a reference to the alter ego of the Batman villain, who'd appeared sans costumed identity in ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'', in the episode, [[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE15CultOfTheCat "Cult of the Cat"]].
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** The robot Roy summons to distract the Justice Guild is based on [[https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Rog_(New_Earth) Rog]], a robot that clashed with the ComicBook/DoomPatrol
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Not that trope. To quote the page: " Keep in mind, this is only to wonder what will happen if the villain wins." They are discussing what if they win over the villain.
Deleted line(s) 33 (click to see context) :
* AndThenWhat: When the Guild realizes that Ray is killing the League, they bring up briefly that if they are just figments of Ray's projections, they will disappear when defeating him. Black Siren and Catman hug, before they all make a decision: to defeat Ray and give up their lives again.
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Changed line(s) 121 (click to see context) from:
** The Justice Guild's sidekick "Ray Thompson" is an expy of Golden Age fanboy supreme Roy Thomas.
to:
** The Justice Guild's sidekick "Ray Thompson" is an expy of Golden Age fanboy supreme Roy Thomas.[[note]]Who had, for extra coincidence points, done [[http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/entries/avengers_85-86.shtml a similar plot]] in his ''ComicBook/{{Avengers}}'' run ''thirty years earlier'' - with the "alternate" heroes being parodies of the Justice League themselves![[/note]]
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* AndIMustScream: What it's like for the other survivors living out Ray's fantasy. The ice-cream truck man describes himself as being one of Ray's automatons, having to drive the truck for forty years, while being aware that it was wrong.
* AndThenWhat: When the Guild realizes that Ray is killing the League, they bring up briefly that if they are just figments of Ray's projections, they will disappear when defeating him. Black Siren and Catman hug, before they all make a decision: to defeat Ray and give up their lives again.
* AndThenWhat: When the Guild realizes that Ray is killing the League, they bring up briefly that if they are just figments of Ray's projections, they will disappear when defeating him. Black Siren and Catman hug, before they all make a decision: to defeat Ray and give up their lives again.
* LetsGetDangerous: Black Siren is an AffectionateParody of a FauxActionGirl. In the climax, she assists in walloping Ray, matching the rest of the Guild blow-for-blow.
Changed line(s) 103 (click to see context) from:
* OfficerOHara: Complete with red hair.
to:
* OfficerOHara: Complete with red hair. It's later revealed he is one of the survivors Ray brainwashed into becoming this role; he's among the crowd thanking the League when everyone is free.
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* ShipTease: It's implied Catman and Black Siren are a couple from the way they hug each other after the Guild realizes that defeating Ray will cause the end of their existence.
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* SincerityMode: The survivors tell the Justice League to not apologize for defeating Ray; they said that Ray kept them in a virtual prison that didn't allow them to rebuild. Everyone smiles and thanks them.
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Changed line(s) 23,24 (click to see context) from:
It turns out that of the Justice Guild, only the "junior Guildsman" [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Ray Thompson]] is real; forty years ago, the nuclear inferno of war mutated him into a grotesque being with powerful psionics, which he used to generate an ultra-real illusion that recreated the city and heroes of his childhood. In the resultant battle, Ray nearly defeats the Justice League... but the Justice Guild, declaring that they can repeat their sacrifice, turn on him, finally rendering him unconscious and revealing the desolation that is the reality of their world, fading away into nothingness with this last act of heroism.
to:
It turns out that of the Justice Guild, only the "junior Guildsman" [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Ray Thompson]] is real; forty years ago, the nuclear inferno of war [[BodyHorror mutated him him]] into a grotesque being with powerful psionics, which he used to generate an ultra-real illusion that recreated the city and heroes of his childhood. In the resultant battle, Ray nearly defeats the Justice League... but the Justice Guild, declaring that they can repeat their sacrifice, turn on him, finally rendering him unconscious and revealing the desolation desolate wasteland that is the reality of their world, fading world. With that, the Streak gives one final salute to the Green Lantern, and a heartbroken Green Lantern can only watch as the Justice Guild [[CessationOfExistence fade away into nothingness nothingness]] [[HeroicSacrifice with this their last act of heroism.
heroism.]]
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* BittersweetEnding: The Justice Guild are [[CessationOfExistence erased]] in a heroic sacrifice that defeats [[TragicVillain Ray]] and turns the town back into ruins, but the residents are happy to be free of [[AndIMustScream the endless illusory world]] and vow to rebuild.
to:
* BittersweetEnding: The Justice Guild are [[CessationOfExistence erased]] in a heroic sacrifice that defeats [[TragicVillain Ray]] and turns the town back into ruins, but the residents are happy to be free of [[AndIMustScream [[FateWorseThanDeath the endless illusory world]] and vow to rebuild.
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* FateWorseThanDeath: How one of the survivors describes being trapped in Ray's false world.
to:
* FaceDeathWithDignity: Seeing the League in trouble, and faced with the horrible possibility that the Justice League's accusations might be real and that taking down Ray would mean they, and the whole world they lived in, cease to exist, the Justice Guild decide to take down Ray anyway. They were created to be heroes and fight for justice, and that's what they do, right to the very end.
* FateWorseThanDeath: How one of the survivors describes being trapped in Ray's falseworld.world, a perfectly reasonable viewpoint seeing as he was forced to be an ice cream man nonstop for ''forty years.''
* FateWorseThanDeath: How one of the survivors describes being trapped in Ray's false
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* NotSoStoic: As the Justice Guild are about to fade away from existence, Green Lantern is shown visibly distraught. Once they do, Lantern could only try to reach out to them and says a LittleNo.
to:
* NotSoStoic: As the Justice Guild are about to fade away from existence, Green Lantern is shown visibly distraught. Once they do, Lantern could only try to reach out to them and says a LittleNo. In the final scene, he's distant from the other League members, and utterly crestfallen having watched a major part of his childhood cease to exist right in front of him.
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* WhamLine: "Here lies Scott Mason, The Green Guardsman."
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* WhamLine: Written on a tombstone: "Here lies Scott Mason, The Green Guardsman."
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* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: The Flash mutters this when he sees the imperiled BusFullOfInnocents. Just to drive the point home, the passengers are shown to be all nuns, calmly crossing themselves as they careen into danger.
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* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: The Flash mutters this when he sees the imperiled imperilled BusFullOfInnocents. Just to drive the point home, the passengers are shown to be all nuns, calmly crossing themselves as they careen into danger.
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** Of course, [[FairForItsDay by the standards of the Golden Age]], they're amazingly progressive. Despite the occasional racist or sexist comment, it's obvious that the characters respect each other, as well as other people, without regard for color or gender. In the age of "separate but equal" and women making their first strides in the workplace, that's pretty impressive.
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ComicBooksAreReal: In the Justice League's world, the Justice Guild of America were comic book characters that Green Lantern had read as a kid. J'onn brings up the possibility that the comics' authors in the primary universe had a subconscious link with the Guild's universe, hence why they existed only as comics characters in the primary universe. This is ''also'' why their comics abruptly stopped forty years ago: the year the Guild died saving the world from an atomic cataclysm.
to:
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Changed line(s) 54 (click to see context) from:
* ComicBooksAreReal: In the Justice League's world, the Justice Guild of America were comic book characters that Green Lantern had read as a kid. J'onn brings up the possibility that the comics' authors in the primary universe had a subconscious link with the Guild's universe, hence why they existed only as comics characters in the primary universe. This is ''also'' why their comics abruptly stopped forty years ago: the year the Guild died saving the world from an atomic cataclysm.
to:
ComicBooksAreReal: In the Justice League's world, the Justice Guild of America were comic book characters that Green Lantern had read as a kid. J'onn brings up the possibility that the comics' authors in the primary universe had a subconscious link with the Guild's universe, hence why they existed only as comics characters in the primary universe. This is ''also'' why their comics abruptly stopped forty years ago: the year the Guild died saving the world from an atomic cataclysm.
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* [[SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl Seemingly Wholesome 50's Boy]]: Ray at first seems like a parody of kid sidekicks during the era, particularly Robin from the [[{{Series/Batman}} Adam West Batman series]], but is revealed to be a BitchInSheepsClothing RealityWarper.
to:
* [[SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl Seemingly Wholesome 50's Boy]]: Ray at first seems like a parody of kid sidekicks during the era, particularly Robin from the [[{{Series/Batman}} [[Series/Batman1966 Adam West Batman series]], but is revealed to be a BitchInSheepsClothing RealityWarper.
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* NotSoStoic: As the Justice Guild are about to fade away from existence, Green Lantern is shown visibly distraught. Once they do, Lantern could only try to reach out to them and says a LittleNo.
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* InNameOnly: Ray is Brainwave, who is an entirely different character.
to:
* HypocriticalHumor: When he gets back home, Flash snickers at all the cornball villains and their ridiculous puns, apparently forgetting that he was matching them pun for pun.
* InNameOnly: Ray is clearly based on the Golden Age villain Brainwave,who but is an entirely a significantly different character.
* InNameOnly: Ray is clearly based on the Golden Age villain Brainwave,
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* WholePlotReference: Starts as one to the annual "Crisis on Multiple Earths" crossovers that were popular in Silver Age DC comics. The second act abruptly shifts to one for ''Literature/ItsAGoodLife''.
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* DueToTheDead: Green Lantern mourns the Guild, which confuses him since the ones he met were imaginary beings.
-->'''Green Lantern:''' Why should I feel like this? I mean, they weren't even real.\\
'''Hawkgirl:''' They gave their lives for us. That's real enough for me.
-->'''Green Lantern:''' Why should I feel like this? I mean, they weren't even real.\\
'''Hawkgirl:''' They gave their lives for us. That's real enough for me.
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* ItHasBeenAnHonor: The Streak salutes Green Lantern just before fading away.
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* LittleNo:
** Hawkgirl when she finds the graves.
** Green Lantern when the Guild members fade away.
** Hawkgirl when she finds the graves.
** Green Lantern when the Guild members fade away.
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A battle involving Superman, the Flash, Batman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl against a GiantRobot being piloted remotely by ComicBook/LexLuthor goes wrong when the destroyed robot, starting to self-destruct, collapses onto the unconscious J'onn J'onzz, John Stewart and Shayera. Flash races to use his whirlwind-creating speed to hold it up, but instead triggers an explosion that causes the robot and the four heroes to vanish in a huge explosion. When it fades away, the four heroes are gone.
Meanwhile, the four then reawaken in an unfamiliar city, unharmed but confused. J'onn tries to contact Superman and Batman telepathically, but sees visions of the city exploding and almost faints. A local newspaper identifies their location as "Seaboard City", which none of them have ever heard of. Puzzlement has to wait, however, as a crime is being committed; a wild-looking red-haired man has just stolen one of the legendary Stradivarius violins from a local store; using an energy-blast-throwing accordion and a suped-up car that resembles a flute. The criminal, who goes by the name "Music Master", manages to escape -- but not before the heroes recover the stolen violin.
Which unfortunately leaves them looking like the actual criminals when the city's own defenders arrive. They [[LetsYouAndHimFight promptly attack the displaced Justice Leaguers]], until their own speedster sees Flash save a child from being crushed by rubble as a result of a misplaced blast. He immediately calls his friends to a halt, insisting that nobody willing to save a child could be a criminal.
The local heroes take the Justice League quartet back to their headquarters, explaining that they are Seaboard City's defenders: the Justice Guild of America. Green Guardsman, who wields a [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower mentally directed energy construct ring]]. The Streak, the team's {{Super Speed}}ster. Tom Turbine, a genius whose "energy belt" allows him to imbue himself with power to achieve feats including {{Flight}} and SuperStrength. And Catman and Black Siren, [[BadassNormal skilled martial artists]]. They also introduce the boy that Flash saved as Ray Thompson, their [[TagAlongKid team mascot]].
The Justice Guilders and the Justice Leaguers talk, with John Stewart explaining that the Justice Guild of America were characters in a 50s comic book series that he loved to read as a child. Tom Turbine and J'onn J'onzz theorize that the Justice Guild's world is one of myriad alternate worlds that form TheMultiverse; the comic authors in the Justice League's world were subconsciously viewing the exploits of the Justice Guild and used these to create the comics, while Flash's absorbed vibrations from the giant robot opened a temporary rift that catapulted the Justice League into the Justice Guild's world. Tom Turbine reveals an interdimensional gate generator he has built, but admits he hasn't found a way to power it yet. He promises to do all he can to get it running so as to send the Leaguers home.
Meanwhile, Music Master is meeting with his own gang, the Injustice Guild -- himself, Doctor Blizzard, who wears a headband that doubles as a FreezeRay, Sir Swami, [[MagiciansAreWizards a stage magician with real magic]], and Sportsman, who wields sports equipment themed weapons. While the latter are skeptical of Music Master's claim that there are new heroes in town, they decide to throw a contest; whoever can commit the most successful crime based on the four elements (Earth, Air, Water, Fire) can instead direct the Injustice Guild in its next big organized crime.
To the disbelief of the Justice League, the Justice Guild receives a letter warning them about the contest from the Injustice Guild itself, and the two superhero teams divide into four groups to go after each member of the Injustice Guild, while Tom Turbine stays behind to work on the gateway generator.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Sir Swami easily escapes Green Lantern and The Streak with the "Flame of Rasputin" ruby. The Sportsman manages to defeat Catman and Martian Manhunter whilst making off with the trophy for a clay court tennis championship after another psychic impression of the city exploding stuns J'onn. Music Master evades Hawkgirl and Green Guardsman whilst flying away in an antique airplane. And Doctor Blizzard's attack on a new city fountain not only goes off without a hitch, he captures the Flash and Black Siren in the process. For this feat, the Injustice Guild dubs Doctor Blizzard the winner and lets him come up with their next crime.
The Justice League quit the field first. Regrouping at the Justice Guild's headquarters, Shayera has disturbing news for her teammates; while she lost Music Master, she found herself crashing into a cemetery -- where she found headstones dedicated to each of the Justice Guild's members. The "Justice Guild" they have been speaking to aren't real. Refusing to believe this, John Steward flies off, forcing Hawkgirl to go after him. This leaves only J'onn to help when the Justice Guild return and immediately have to go and stop a blimp-based attack on the Seaboard City Mint by the Injustice Guild. After a fierce battle, they free their captured friends and return triumphant.
Whilst they are doing this, however, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern are making unnerving discoveries. John Stewart also finds the same graves Shayera did; determined to find the truth, he sets out with her. Firstly, he interrogates the local ice cream truck's driver, having noticed he constantly circles the city but never stops. The man refuses to say anything, but hints ominously at the presence of someone who would be dangerous if they heard what Green Lantern is trying to find out. At the local library, the books are all blank, while the newspaper archives are bricked up. When Shayera breaks through the wall, they find themselves in the mangled ruins of a subway station, where they find two old newspapers from 40 years ago. One announces the imminent outbreak of war, the other is more disturbing...
When the Justice Guild, Flash and Martian Manhunter return to the Justice Guild's headquarters, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl confront them with the fact that the Justice Guild are not real -- the second newspaper they found, dated the day that the Justice Guild comics stopped being published, declares the Justice Guild perished in an attempt to save Seaboard City from being consumed by nuclear war. Horrified, the Justice Guild are forced to admit that they are fakes -- though they didn't know it.
It turns out that of the Justice Guild, only the "junior Guildsman" [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Ray Thompson]] is real; forty years ago, the nuclear inferno of war mutated him into a grotesque being with powerful psionics, which he used to generate an ultra-real illusion that recreated the city and heroes of his childhood. In the resultant battle, Ray nearly defeats the Justice League... but the Justice Guild, declaring that they can repeat their sacrifice, turn on him, finally rendering him unconscious and revealing the desolation that is the reality of their world, fading away into nothingness with this last act of heroism.
However, it turns out that Ray was not the only survivor; the other non-super people seen in the illusory Seaboard City were all human survivors, trapped in an endless loop-world to amuse Ray. They thank the Justice League from freeing them of their nightmarish prison, vowing to rebuild their home in reality.
Exploring the ruins of the Justice Guild's headquarters, Green Lantern is able to power Tom Turbine's gateway generator with his ring and return them home. Back home, Flash tells the others about their adventure while Green Lantern mourns the loss of his childhood heroes. He wonders why he's so sad when they weren't real, but Hawkgirl says they gave up their lives to save them, and they are real enough for her.
----
!!Tropes:
* TheAgeless: Everyone on the Guild's Earth looks the same after the illusion wears off.
* AntiVillain: Ray isn't so much evil as long since [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumped off the slippery slope]] due to [[BreakTheCutie suffering something no child should ever go through and losing his idols at the same time.]]
* AsideGlance: The Flash does this, in conjunction with YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe, at the [[BusFullOfInnocents Bus Full Of Nuns]].
* BatDeduction:
** The Justice Guild gets a notice that the bad guys are planning a crime spree themed for the four classical elements. The Guild members immediately figure out what these refer to, even if they are only tangentially related to the elements themselves: The fire crime is the theft of the famed ''fire'' ruby (a gem), the air crime is the theft of an "antique flyer", the water crime is the theft of a new fountain being dedicated by the city's mayor, and the earth crime (this one is a doozy, and the biggest Bat Deduction of all) is the theft of the trophy for the clay court tennis championships. The League is pretty confused by this development, to be fair, which is one part of TheReveal that neither the Guild nor its enemies are real.
** The earth crime being the trophy for the clay court tennis championship makes a ''bit'' more sense when you consider that the criminal who commits it is the Sportsman.
* BigNo: Ray shouts this after J'onn exposes his true form.
* BittersweetEnding: The Justice Guild are [[CessationOfExistence erased]] in a heroic sacrifice that defeats [[TragicVillain Ray]] and turns the town back into ruins, but the residents are happy to be free of [[AndIMustScream the endless illusory world]] and vow to rebuild.
* BlankBook: The entire library.
* BodyHorror: Ray Thompson's true form due to the radioactive fallout he absorbed.
* BusFullOfInnocents: An actual bus full of nuns on a collision course with a dynamite truck.
-->'''Flash:''' [[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe You've got to be kidding.]]
* CaptainErsatz: The Justice Guild and Injustice Guild are based on the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica and their nemesis team the Injustice Society from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks.
** Tom Turbine is based on Golden Age Atom, with elements of Golden Age Superman.
** Green Guardsman is based on the Golden Age Green Lantern.
** The Streak is based on the Golden Age Flash.
** Black Siren is based on Black Canary I, the first of the Golden Age incarnations of the character.
** Catman is based on Golden Age (and a bit of Adam West) Batman and Wildcat.
** Sportsman is based on The Sportmaster.
** Music Master is based on The Fiddler.
** Doctor Blizzard is based on The Icicle.
** Sir Swami is based on The Wizard.
** Ray’s powers are an amplified version of Brainwave’s.
* ComicBooksAreReal: In the Justice League's world, the Justice Guild of America were comic book characters that Green Lantern had read as a kid. J'onn brings up the possibility that the comics' authors in the primary universe had a subconscious link with the Guild's universe, hence why they existed only as comics characters in the primary universe. This is ''also'' why their comics abruptly stopped forty years ago: the year the Guild died saving the world from an atomic cataclysm.
* CurseCutShort: Flash's comment to Dr. Blizzard about not having "a snowball's chance in hell" has the "hell" part cut off by the sound of a car horn that alerts him to [[DiabolusExMachina the dynamite truck on a collision course]] [[BusFullOfInnocents with the bus full of nuns.]]
* DeadAllAlong: The real Justice Guild died ''forty years'' before the Justice League arrived to their dimension.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The Justice Guild's distinctly 50s/Golden Age-based world is out-of-date to both the 2000s-based Justice League and any younger viewers, with cliches and routine elements of that era played for laughs. In a less humorous sense, they're also all {{Innocent Bigot}}s.
* TheDogWasTheMastermind: Seemingly innocuous TagAlongKid Ray is actually behind everything.
* DreamApocalypse: Once the League and the Guild defeat Ray, Green Lantern at first attempts to apologize to the freed citizens for destroying the utopia-illusion. Unlike most examples, this was shown to unambiguously be the right thing to do, as the now-ex ice cream truck driver brushes off GL's apology, revealing that the people were trapped in the illusion against their will, and freeing them finally gives them a chance to live their own lives and repair their world.
-->'''Ice Cream Man:''' Being stuck in an ice cream truck for ''forty'' years, that's a nightmare.
* FateWorseThanDeath: How one of the survivors describes being trapped in Ray's false world.
* FauxActionGirl: Black Siren is portrayed as this. Although, she held her own in [[LetsYouAndHimFight in the fight with the Justice League]] and got some good hits on Ray at the end.
* GeniusBruiser: Tom Turbine is an accredited nuclear physicist and inventor... he's also the Justice Guild's counterpart to Superman.
* GoOutWithASmile: The Guild smiles to the League after defeating Ray and ceasing to exist in the nuclear wasteland.
* HarmlessFreezing: The Flash and Black Siren are subjected to this by Dr. Blizzard, The Flash [[ForgotICouldFly for some reason not phasing through it.]]
* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: The Injustice Guild has some of the strangest powers: Music Master, for example, has weaponized an accordion. The accordion's vibrations also knock out the League's members successfully. It's justified in that Ray has created the heroes and villains, and thus the villains have to be a legitimate threat.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: For some reason, Luthor is never actually shown in Part 1's ColdOpening. All we get is a close-up of a malevolent grin and a back view of the PoweredArmor he gained in "Injustice For All".
* HeroicSacrifice: The Justice Guild charges into battle against Ray, despite knowing his defeat will result in a DreamApocalypse that would take them along with it. In the backstory, the people they were based on did something similar to save the Earth from complete atomic catastrophe.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Ray created the Justice Guild to be just like the heroes he remembered from his childhood. So of course, once he's revealed as a villain, they have no trouble fighting him, even if it means their lives.
* HostageSituation: The Guild and League can't take down the villains' blimp without getting a tied-up Flash and Black Siren hurt.
* HurricaneOfPuns: When Flash fights Doctor Blizzard, he gets ''really'' into the spirit of the thing.
* InNameOnly: Ray is Brainwave, who is an entirely different character.
* InnocentBigot: The Justice Guild displays some of the less than admirable qualities of 1950's morality -- the unassuming sexism evoked by Black Siren's place among the team and the Streak calling John Stewart "[[YouAreACreditToYourRace a credit to your people]]", mainly. John is polite enough to take the condescending "compliment" in the spirit it was intended, although he does sound a mite frustrated at the same time.
* ItsWhatIDo: The Justice Guild contemplate that defeating the enemy will, in fact, kill them as well. The immediate reply The Streak gives is essentially this.
-->'''The Streak:''' We died once to save this Earth, and we can do it again.
* JusticeWillPrevail:
** The Justice Guild's catchphrase "Let Justice Prevail!"
** A pretty catchy variation, said by the Streak to The Flash, whom the Streak thinks is [[LetsYouAndHimFight evil]]: "Villainy can never outrun justice!"
* LampshadeHanging: The League frequently do this to the over-the-top [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age tropes]], and this eventually becomes SpottingTheThread.
* LetsYouAndHimFight: This is how the League first met the Justice Guild, who mistake the League for villains.
* MeaningfulEcho: When they decide to sacrifice themselves by defeating Ray, they shout "Let Justice Prevail!".
* MusicalNod: At one point while the Justice Guild is doing heroics, a version of the classic Superman theme plays
* MyBrainIsBig: Part of Ray Thompson's BodyHorror mutations.
* MythologyGag:
** Tom Turbine explains a vibration-based multiverse theory, which is pretty close to how the pre-ComicBook/{{Crisis|OnInfiniteEarths}} DC multiverse worked.
** J'onn's theory for how the justice guild was also a comic book in their world, is pretty much identical to the one Barry Allen gave to Jay Garrick when they first met during ''Flash Of Two Worlds''.
** In a FreezeFrameBonus, Black Siren's grave reveals her true name to be Donna Nance, a reference to Dinah Lance (a.k.a. Black Canary), her counterpart from the comics.
* NewspaperDating: To John's confusion, the date matches their own universe despite everything looking straight from the 50s. He then finds a ''real'' newspaper dated forty years ago that describes what happened to this world.
* NostalgiaFilter: The episode deconstructs the fondly-remembered "Golden Age" of comic books in numerous ways, with the most blatant examples being the casual sexism and racism Green Lantern encounters, and the artificiality of their world. At the same time, it still portrays the Golden Age heroes as ''heroes''.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: The Justice Guild shows up just as the Justice Leaguers get hold of the stolen violin, leading to the teams' LetsYouAndHimFight meeting.
* OfficerOHara: Complete with red hair.
* OfficialCouple: Black Siren and Catman appear to be this in spite of all her ShipTease with the Flash.
* PsychicPowers: Officially, Ray Thompson creates psychic illusions. In practice, he comes off as a RealityWarper.
* PsychopathicManChild: Ray has kept the form of a child for ''forty years'' [[BodyHorror though you can hardly blame him.]]
* {{Politically Incorrect Hero}}es: As noted elsewhere, the Justice Guild aren't very enlightened in their views on race and gender. Though they are more like InnocentBigot due to DeliberateValuesDissonance of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks rather than outright malice.
* RebuiltPedestal: Downplayed since Green Lantern still idolizes the Justice Guild even after the YouAreACreditToYourRace comment, but he's also suspicious after learning they died forty years ago. The Guild then gives up their lives and existence to save the League from Ray. John grieves at the end, even though they technically weren't real; Hawkgirl tells him they're real enough for her.
* {{Reconstruction}}:
** This episode is both an AffectionateParody and reconstruction of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks. The episode points out the racism and sexism prevalent in the Golden Age and the Flash mocks the Guild's cheesy "let justice prevail!" catchphrase, but at the end of the story the Guild helps defeat the villain, knowing that they'll fade from existence when they do, and when they yell "Let justice prevail!" ''that'' time, it's completely awesome.
** The episode was dedicated to Gardner Fox, a rather influential comic writer, so it wasn't just Reconstruction; it was an {{Homage}} to the man.
* RetroUniverse: Seaboard City, which feels like it came straight out of the 1950s... because the real one did, and Ray wouldn't allow the fake one to advance.
* [[SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl Seemingly Wholesome 50's Boy]]: Ray at first seems like a parody of kid sidekicks during the era, particularly Robin from the [[{{Series/Batman}} Adam West Batman series]], but is revealed to be a BitchInSheepsClothing RealityWarper.
* ShoutOut:
** The giant robot at the beginning of part 1 looks like it was commissioned by [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]].
*** It also bears a passing resemblance to [[Creator/MarvelComics Ultron]].
** The Justice Guild's sidekick "Ray Thompson" is an expy of Golden Age fanboy supreme Roy Thomas.
*** His first name is more than just being a letter off either, its is also a reference to renowned sci-fi writer Creator/RayBradbury whose work often had nostalgia as its theme.
** J'onn's first reaction to Seaboard City is [[Film/TheWizardOfOz "It seems we're not in Metropolis anymore."]]
** A StepfordSuburbia where everyone secretly lives in fear of a CreepyChild RealityWarper, [[Franchise/TheTwilightZone sound familiar?]]
* SimilarSquad: The Justice Guild is similar to the Justice League.
* SpannerInTheWorks: The Guild hasn't even learned they're dead until John shows them the newspaper. It's implied that if the League hadn't entered their dimension by accident, they and the townsfolk would have stayed like that for eternity.
* SpottingTheThread: Even before the discovery of the graves, The League notices several small hints that something is wrong, though they don't come up until TheReveal (the ice cream truck that never stops, the entire town only having two cops, the way danger just conveniently pops up whenever someone starts asking too many questions).
* StayInTheKitchen: Parodied. Given that since the Justice Guild's world is based on the fifties, therefore it isn't considered at all awkward for the only female member of the 50's-esque team to suggest to ''[[ActionGirl Hawkgirl]]'' that they go get cookies while the "men" talk out the whole dangerous supervillain issue. Flash is amused. Hawkgirl... isn't.
-->'''Hawkgirl:''' ''One word'' and you'll be the [[Franchise/TheFlash The Fastest Man Alive]] with a ''limp''.
* StepfordSuburbia / TownWithADarkSecret: Seaboard City is actually a war-torn wasteland but the residents always smile because they're scared to mess with [[TheDreaded Ray's]] fantasy.
* ThisCannotBe: Ray's reaction when his recreation of the Guild attack him.
--> '''Ray:''' What is this?!?\\
'''Tom Turbine:''' In Seaboard City, crime doesn't pay.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Subverted; the Guild and League find themselves forced to overwhelm Ray until he dies and his brain gives out. He wouldn't have backed down peacefully.
* TomatoInTheMirror: The Guild learns that they aren't real, and that their KidSidekick Ray has been keeping them alive as a fantasy. They don't show much anguish about it, except to consider that if they defeat Ray before he kills the League then they will face CessationOfExistence. After a few seconds, they dive in to fight him, to FaceDeathWithDignity.
* TragicVillain: Ray was heavily irradiated by nuclear bombs which killed his idols. In his insanity he created an illusion of a pre-war world and used his abilities to trap the survivors of the fallout into resuming their routines before the bombs dropped. He was seemingly killed when he overused his powers to maintain the illusion and defeat both the Justice League and Justice Guild.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: The Guild was re-created by Ray but rather than live out this falsehood and enslavement of other survivors, the Guild turns on him to kill him, setting the world free at the cost of their own lives.
* WeaksauceWeakness: Green Guardsman's power ring has no effect on anything made from aluminum, a reference to the Golden Age Green Lantern, Alan Scott, who couldn't affect anything made from wood with ''his'' ring.
* WhamLine: "Here lies Scott Mason, The Green Guardsman."
* WhamShot: Hawkgirl after getting knocked out finds gravestones with the Guild members' names on them. She utters a LittleNo and shows John.
* YouAreACreditToYourRace: The Streak, when talking to Green Lantern, says that "You're a credit to your people", though his tone sounds less like he's implying unpleasant things about other black people and more trying to convey the far more well-intentioned but still ''amazingly'' out-of-touch sentiment of "You do your big black family proud". Green Lantern feels ''incredibly'' awkward after this.
* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: The Flash mutters this when he sees the imperiled BusFullOfInnocents. Just to drive the point home, the passengers are shown to be all nuns, calmly crossing themselves as they careen into danger.
----
Meanwhile, the four then reawaken in an unfamiliar city, unharmed but confused. J'onn tries to contact Superman and Batman telepathically, but sees visions of the city exploding and almost faints. A local newspaper identifies their location as "Seaboard City", which none of them have ever heard of. Puzzlement has to wait, however, as a crime is being committed; a wild-looking red-haired man has just stolen one of the legendary Stradivarius violins from a local store; using an energy-blast-throwing accordion and a suped-up car that resembles a flute. The criminal, who goes by the name "Music Master", manages to escape -- but not before the heroes recover the stolen violin.
Which unfortunately leaves them looking like the actual criminals when the city's own defenders arrive. They [[LetsYouAndHimFight promptly attack the displaced Justice Leaguers]], until their own speedster sees Flash save a child from being crushed by rubble as a result of a misplaced blast. He immediately calls his friends to a halt, insisting that nobody willing to save a child could be a criminal.
The local heroes take the Justice League quartet back to their headquarters, explaining that they are Seaboard City's defenders: the Justice Guild of America. Green Guardsman, who wields a [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower mentally directed energy construct ring]]. The Streak, the team's {{Super Speed}}ster. Tom Turbine, a genius whose "energy belt" allows him to imbue himself with power to achieve feats including {{Flight}} and SuperStrength. And Catman and Black Siren, [[BadassNormal skilled martial artists]]. They also introduce the boy that Flash saved as Ray Thompson, their [[TagAlongKid team mascot]].
The Justice Guilders and the Justice Leaguers talk, with John Stewart explaining that the Justice Guild of America were characters in a 50s comic book series that he loved to read as a child. Tom Turbine and J'onn J'onzz theorize that the Justice Guild's world is one of myriad alternate worlds that form TheMultiverse; the comic authors in the Justice League's world were subconsciously viewing the exploits of the Justice Guild and used these to create the comics, while Flash's absorbed vibrations from the giant robot opened a temporary rift that catapulted the Justice League into the Justice Guild's world. Tom Turbine reveals an interdimensional gate generator he has built, but admits he hasn't found a way to power it yet. He promises to do all he can to get it running so as to send the Leaguers home.
Meanwhile, Music Master is meeting with his own gang, the Injustice Guild -- himself, Doctor Blizzard, who wears a headband that doubles as a FreezeRay, Sir Swami, [[MagiciansAreWizards a stage magician with real magic]], and Sportsman, who wields sports equipment themed weapons. While the latter are skeptical of Music Master's claim that there are new heroes in town, they decide to throw a contest; whoever can commit the most successful crime based on the four elements (Earth, Air, Water, Fire) can instead direct the Injustice Guild in its next big organized crime.
To the disbelief of the Justice League, the Justice Guild receives a letter warning them about the contest from the Injustice Guild itself, and the two superhero teams divide into four groups to go after each member of the Injustice Guild, while Tom Turbine stays behind to work on the gateway generator.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Sir Swami easily escapes Green Lantern and The Streak with the "Flame of Rasputin" ruby. The Sportsman manages to defeat Catman and Martian Manhunter whilst making off with the trophy for a clay court tennis championship after another psychic impression of the city exploding stuns J'onn. Music Master evades Hawkgirl and Green Guardsman whilst flying away in an antique airplane. And Doctor Blizzard's attack on a new city fountain not only goes off without a hitch, he captures the Flash and Black Siren in the process. For this feat, the Injustice Guild dubs Doctor Blizzard the winner and lets him come up with their next crime.
The Justice League quit the field first. Regrouping at the Justice Guild's headquarters, Shayera has disturbing news for her teammates; while she lost Music Master, she found herself crashing into a cemetery -- where she found headstones dedicated to each of the Justice Guild's members. The "Justice Guild" they have been speaking to aren't real. Refusing to believe this, John Steward flies off, forcing Hawkgirl to go after him. This leaves only J'onn to help when the Justice Guild return and immediately have to go and stop a blimp-based attack on the Seaboard City Mint by the Injustice Guild. After a fierce battle, they free their captured friends and return triumphant.
Whilst they are doing this, however, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern are making unnerving discoveries. John Stewart also finds the same graves Shayera did; determined to find the truth, he sets out with her. Firstly, he interrogates the local ice cream truck's driver, having noticed he constantly circles the city but never stops. The man refuses to say anything, but hints ominously at the presence of someone who would be dangerous if they heard what Green Lantern is trying to find out. At the local library, the books are all blank, while the newspaper archives are bricked up. When Shayera breaks through the wall, they find themselves in the mangled ruins of a subway station, where they find two old newspapers from 40 years ago. One announces the imminent outbreak of war, the other is more disturbing...
When the Justice Guild, Flash and Martian Manhunter return to the Justice Guild's headquarters, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl confront them with the fact that the Justice Guild are not real -- the second newspaper they found, dated the day that the Justice Guild comics stopped being published, declares the Justice Guild perished in an attempt to save Seaboard City from being consumed by nuclear war. Horrified, the Justice Guild are forced to admit that they are fakes -- though they didn't know it.
It turns out that of the Justice Guild, only the "junior Guildsman" [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Ray Thompson]] is real; forty years ago, the nuclear inferno of war mutated him into a grotesque being with powerful psionics, which he used to generate an ultra-real illusion that recreated the city and heroes of his childhood. In the resultant battle, Ray nearly defeats the Justice League... but the Justice Guild, declaring that they can repeat their sacrifice, turn on him, finally rendering him unconscious and revealing the desolation that is the reality of their world, fading away into nothingness with this last act of heroism.
However, it turns out that Ray was not the only survivor; the other non-super people seen in the illusory Seaboard City were all human survivors, trapped in an endless loop-world to amuse Ray. They thank the Justice League from freeing them of their nightmarish prison, vowing to rebuild their home in reality.
Exploring the ruins of the Justice Guild's headquarters, Green Lantern is able to power Tom Turbine's gateway generator with his ring and return them home. Back home, Flash tells the others about their adventure while Green Lantern mourns the loss of his childhood heroes. He wonders why he's so sad when they weren't real, but Hawkgirl says they gave up their lives to save them, and they are real enough for her.
----
!!Tropes:
* TheAgeless: Everyone on the Guild's Earth looks the same after the illusion wears off.
* AntiVillain: Ray isn't so much evil as long since [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumped off the slippery slope]] due to [[BreakTheCutie suffering something no child should ever go through and losing his idols at the same time.]]
* AsideGlance: The Flash does this, in conjunction with YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe, at the [[BusFullOfInnocents Bus Full Of Nuns]].
* BatDeduction:
** The Justice Guild gets a notice that the bad guys are planning a crime spree themed for the four classical elements. The Guild members immediately figure out what these refer to, even if they are only tangentially related to the elements themselves: The fire crime is the theft of the famed ''fire'' ruby (a gem), the air crime is the theft of an "antique flyer", the water crime is the theft of a new fountain being dedicated by the city's mayor, and the earth crime (this one is a doozy, and the biggest Bat Deduction of all) is the theft of the trophy for the clay court tennis championships. The League is pretty confused by this development, to be fair, which is one part of TheReveal that neither the Guild nor its enemies are real.
** The earth crime being the trophy for the clay court tennis championship makes a ''bit'' more sense when you consider that the criminal who commits it is the Sportsman.
* BigNo: Ray shouts this after J'onn exposes his true form.
* BittersweetEnding: The Justice Guild are [[CessationOfExistence erased]] in a heroic sacrifice that defeats [[TragicVillain Ray]] and turns the town back into ruins, but the residents are happy to be free of [[AndIMustScream the endless illusory world]] and vow to rebuild.
* BlankBook: The entire library.
* BodyHorror: Ray Thompson's true form due to the radioactive fallout he absorbed.
* BusFullOfInnocents: An actual bus full of nuns on a collision course with a dynamite truck.
-->'''Flash:''' [[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe You've got to be kidding.]]
* CaptainErsatz: The Justice Guild and Injustice Guild are based on the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica and their nemesis team the Injustice Society from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks.
** Tom Turbine is based on Golden Age Atom, with elements of Golden Age Superman.
** Green Guardsman is based on the Golden Age Green Lantern.
** The Streak is based on the Golden Age Flash.
** Black Siren is based on Black Canary I, the first of the Golden Age incarnations of the character.
** Catman is based on Golden Age (and a bit of Adam West) Batman and Wildcat.
** Sportsman is based on The Sportmaster.
** Music Master is based on The Fiddler.
** Doctor Blizzard is based on The Icicle.
** Sir Swami is based on The Wizard.
** Ray’s powers are an amplified version of Brainwave’s.
* ComicBooksAreReal: In the Justice League's world, the Justice Guild of America were comic book characters that Green Lantern had read as a kid. J'onn brings up the possibility that the comics' authors in the primary universe had a subconscious link with the Guild's universe, hence why they existed only as comics characters in the primary universe. This is ''also'' why their comics abruptly stopped forty years ago: the year the Guild died saving the world from an atomic cataclysm.
* CurseCutShort: Flash's comment to Dr. Blizzard about not having "a snowball's chance in hell" has the "hell" part cut off by the sound of a car horn that alerts him to [[DiabolusExMachina the dynamite truck on a collision course]] [[BusFullOfInnocents with the bus full of nuns.]]
* DeadAllAlong: The real Justice Guild died ''forty years'' before the Justice League arrived to their dimension.
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The Justice Guild's distinctly 50s/Golden Age-based world is out-of-date to both the 2000s-based Justice League and any younger viewers, with cliches and routine elements of that era played for laughs. In a less humorous sense, they're also all {{Innocent Bigot}}s.
* TheDogWasTheMastermind: Seemingly innocuous TagAlongKid Ray is actually behind everything.
* DreamApocalypse: Once the League and the Guild defeat Ray, Green Lantern at first attempts to apologize to the freed citizens for destroying the utopia-illusion. Unlike most examples, this was shown to unambiguously be the right thing to do, as the now-ex ice cream truck driver brushes off GL's apology, revealing that the people were trapped in the illusion against their will, and freeing them finally gives them a chance to live their own lives and repair their world.
-->'''Ice Cream Man:''' Being stuck in an ice cream truck for ''forty'' years, that's a nightmare.
* FateWorseThanDeath: How one of the survivors describes being trapped in Ray's false world.
* FauxActionGirl: Black Siren is portrayed as this. Although, she held her own in [[LetsYouAndHimFight in the fight with the Justice League]] and got some good hits on Ray at the end.
* GeniusBruiser: Tom Turbine is an accredited nuclear physicist and inventor... he's also the Justice Guild's counterpart to Superman.
* GoOutWithASmile: The Guild smiles to the League after defeating Ray and ceasing to exist in the nuclear wasteland.
* HarmlessFreezing: The Flash and Black Siren are subjected to this by Dr. Blizzard, The Flash [[ForgotICouldFly for some reason not phasing through it.]]
* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: The Injustice Guild has some of the strangest powers: Music Master, for example, has weaponized an accordion. The accordion's vibrations also knock out the League's members successfully. It's justified in that Ray has created the heroes and villains, and thus the villains have to be a legitimate threat.
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: For some reason, Luthor is never actually shown in Part 1's ColdOpening. All we get is a close-up of a malevolent grin and a back view of the PoweredArmor he gained in "Injustice For All".
* HeroicSacrifice: The Justice Guild charges into battle against Ray, despite knowing his defeat will result in a DreamApocalypse that would take them along with it. In the backstory, the people they were based on did something similar to save the Earth from complete atomic catastrophe.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Ray created the Justice Guild to be just like the heroes he remembered from his childhood. So of course, once he's revealed as a villain, they have no trouble fighting him, even if it means their lives.
* HostageSituation: The Guild and League can't take down the villains' blimp without getting a tied-up Flash and Black Siren hurt.
* HurricaneOfPuns: When Flash fights Doctor Blizzard, he gets ''really'' into the spirit of the thing.
* InNameOnly: Ray is Brainwave, who is an entirely different character.
* InnocentBigot: The Justice Guild displays some of the less than admirable qualities of 1950's morality -- the unassuming sexism evoked by Black Siren's place among the team and the Streak calling John Stewart "[[YouAreACreditToYourRace a credit to your people]]", mainly. John is polite enough to take the condescending "compliment" in the spirit it was intended, although he does sound a mite frustrated at the same time.
* ItsWhatIDo: The Justice Guild contemplate that defeating the enemy will, in fact, kill them as well. The immediate reply The Streak gives is essentially this.
-->'''The Streak:''' We died once to save this Earth, and we can do it again.
* JusticeWillPrevail:
** The Justice Guild's catchphrase "Let Justice Prevail!"
** A pretty catchy variation, said by the Streak to The Flash, whom the Streak thinks is [[LetsYouAndHimFight evil]]: "Villainy can never outrun justice!"
* LampshadeHanging: The League frequently do this to the over-the-top [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age tropes]], and this eventually becomes SpottingTheThread.
* LetsYouAndHimFight: This is how the League first met the Justice Guild, who mistake the League for villains.
* MeaningfulEcho: When they decide to sacrifice themselves by defeating Ray, they shout "Let Justice Prevail!".
* MusicalNod: At one point while the Justice Guild is doing heroics, a version of the classic Superman theme plays
* MyBrainIsBig: Part of Ray Thompson's BodyHorror mutations.
* MythologyGag:
** Tom Turbine explains a vibration-based multiverse theory, which is pretty close to how the pre-ComicBook/{{Crisis|OnInfiniteEarths}} DC multiverse worked.
** J'onn's theory for how the justice guild was also a comic book in their world, is pretty much identical to the one Barry Allen gave to Jay Garrick when they first met during ''Flash Of Two Worlds''.
** In a FreezeFrameBonus, Black Siren's grave reveals her true name to be Donna Nance, a reference to Dinah Lance (a.k.a. Black Canary), her counterpart from the comics.
* NewspaperDating: To John's confusion, the date matches their own universe despite everything looking straight from the 50s. He then finds a ''real'' newspaper dated forty years ago that describes what happened to this world.
* NostalgiaFilter: The episode deconstructs the fondly-remembered "Golden Age" of comic books in numerous ways, with the most blatant examples being the casual sexism and racism Green Lantern encounters, and the artificiality of their world. At the same time, it still portrays the Golden Age heroes as ''heroes''.
* NotWhatItLooksLike: The Justice Guild shows up just as the Justice Leaguers get hold of the stolen violin, leading to the teams' LetsYouAndHimFight meeting.
* OfficerOHara: Complete with red hair.
* OfficialCouple: Black Siren and Catman appear to be this in spite of all her ShipTease with the Flash.
* PsychicPowers: Officially, Ray Thompson creates psychic illusions. In practice, he comes off as a RealityWarper.
* PsychopathicManChild: Ray has kept the form of a child for ''forty years'' [[BodyHorror though you can hardly blame him.]]
* {{Politically Incorrect Hero}}es: As noted elsewhere, the Justice Guild aren't very enlightened in their views on race and gender. Though they are more like InnocentBigot due to DeliberateValuesDissonance of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks rather than outright malice.
* RebuiltPedestal: Downplayed since Green Lantern still idolizes the Justice Guild even after the YouAreACreditToYourRace comment, but he's also suspicious after learning they died forty years ago. The Guild then gives up their lives and existence to save the League from Ray. John grieves at the end, even though they technically weren't real; Hawkgirl tells him they're real enough for her.
* {{Reconstruction}}:
** This episode is both an AffectionateParody and reconstruction of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks. The episode points out the racism and sexism prevalent in the Golden Age and the Flash mocks the Guild's cheesy "let justice prevail!" catchphrase, but at the end of the story the Guild helps defeat the villain, knowing that they'll fade from existence when they do, and when they yell "Let justice prevail!" ''that'' time, it's completely awesome.
** The episode was dedicated to Gardner Fox, a rather influential comic writer, so it wasn't just Reconstruction; it was an {{Homage}} to the man.
* RetroUniverse: Seaboard City, which feels like it came straight out of the 1950s... because the real one did, and Ray wouldn't allow the fake one to advance.
* [[SeeminglyWholesomeFiftiesGirl Seemingly Wholesome 50's Boy]]: Ray at first seems like a parody of kid sidekicks during the era, particularly Robin from the [[{{Series/Batman}} Adam West Batman series]], but is revealed to be a BitchInSheepsClothing RealityWarper.
* ShoutOut:
** The giant robot at the beginning of part 1 looks like it was commissioned by [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]].
*** It also bears a passing resemblance to [[Creator/MarvelComics Ultron]].
** The Justice Guild's sidekick "Ray Thompson" is an expy of Golden Age fanboy supreme Roy Thomas.
*** His first name is more than just being a letter off either, its is also a reference to renowned sci-fi writer Creator/RayBradbury whose work often had nostalgia as its theme.
** J'onn's first reaction to Seaboard City is [[Film/TheWizardOfOz "It seems we're not in Metropolis anymore."]]
** A StepfordSuburbia where everyone secretly lives in fear of a CreepyChild RealityWarper, [[Franchise/TheTwilightZone sound familiar?]]
* SimilarSquad: The Justice Guild is similar to the Justice League.
* SpannerInTheWorks: The Guild hasn't even learned they're dead until John shows them the newspaper. It's implied that if the League hadn't entered their dimension by accident, they and the townsfolk would have stayed like that for eternity.
* SpottingTheThread: Even before the discovery of the graves, The League notices several small hints that something is wrong, though they don't come up until TheReveal (the ice cream truck that never stops, the entire town only having two cops, the way danger just conveniently pops up whenever someone starts asking too many questions).
* StayInTheKitchen: Parodied. Given that since the Justice Guild's world is based on the fifties, therefore it isn't considered at all awkward for the only female member of the 50's-esque team to suggest to ''[[ActionGirl Hawkgirl]]'' that they go get cookies while the "men" talk out the whole dangerous supervillain issue. Flash is amused. Hawkgirl... isn't.
-->'''Hawkgirl:''' ''One word'' and you'll be the [[Franchise/TheFlash The Fastest Man Alive]] with a ''limp''.
* StepfordSuburbia / TownWithADarkSecret: Seaboard City is actually a war-torn wasteland but the residents always smile because they're scared to mess with [[TheDreaded Ray's]] fantasy.
* ThisCannotBe: Ray's reaction when his recreation of the Guild attack him.
--> '''Ray:''' What is this?!?\\
'''Tom Turbine:''' In Seaboard City, crime doesn't pay.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Subverted; the Guild and League find themselves forced to overwhelm Ray until he dies and his brain gives out. He wouldn't have backed down peacefully.
* TomatoInTheMirror: The Guild learns that they aren't real, and that their KidSidekick Ray has been keeping them alive as a fantasy. They don't show much anguish about it, except to consider that if they defeat Ray before he kills the League then they will face CessationOfExistence. After a few seconds, they dive in to fight him, to FaceDeathWithDignity.
* TragicVillain: Ray was heavily irradiated by nuclear bombs which killed his idols. In his insanity he created an illusion of a pre-war world and used his abilities to trap the survivors of the fallout into resuming their routines before the bombs dropped. He was seemingly killed when he overused his powers to maintain the illusion and defeat both the Justice League and Justice Guild.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: The Guild was re-created by Ray but rather than live out this falsehood and enslavement of other survivors, the Guild turns on him to kill him, setting the world free at the cost of their own lives.
* WeaksauceWeakness: Green Guardsman's power ring has no effect on anything made from aluminum, a reference to the Golden Age Green Lantern, Alan Scott, who couldn't affect anything made from wood with ''his'' ring.
* WhamLine: "Here lies Scott Mason, The Green Guardsman."
* WhamShot: Hawkgirl after getting knocked out finds gravestones with the Guild members' names on them. She utters a LittleNo and shows John.
* YouAreACreditToYourRace: The Streak, when talking to Green Lantern, says that "You're a credit to your people", though his tone sounds less like he's implying unpleasant things about other black people and more trying to convey the far more well-intentioned but still ''amazingly'' out-of-touch sentiment of "You do your big black family proud". Green Lantern feels ''incredibly'' awkward after this.
* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: The Flash mutters this when he sees the imperiled BusFullOfInnocents. Just to drive the point home, the passengers are shown to be all nuns, calmly crossing themselves as they careen into danger.
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