History ComicBook / JLAAvengers

* AudienceAlienatingEra: [[invoked]] Leave it to Creator/KurtBusiek to make a compelling story point out of these. In the third chapter, the heroes are in a happy [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]]-style two-earth universe, and once they finally realize that this is just a distraction as the Earths destroy each other, they ask to see the worlds the way they should be. Each character sees the [[FaceHeelTurn Face-Heel Turns]], {{Heroic Sacrifice}}s, {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s, and WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity that they will experience in the "correct" universe. They are horrified and initially consider the selfish idea of just leaving the Earths as is. Finally Hal Jordan, who arguably has the most to lose, tells everybody that they don't have the right to play God with the Earths (which, ironically, was the root of his own AudienceAlienatingEra), and the heroes agree to restore everything that was, both good and bad.

* DeadAlternateCounterpart: In issue #3 the Marvel and DC worlds have become combined, turning it into a [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] utopia. When the characters learn how their realities are ''supposed'' to be, the character who argues for the restoration the most is Hal Jordan -- who is "supposed to" be dead, and in fact died a ''villain'' as Parallax (Barry Allen is there too, but he's not quite so eager to restore the realities until he convinces himself otherwise).

* SpiritualSuccessor: To the earlier ''Marvel Vs. DC'' four-parter, which (for better or for worse) had been a ''very'' [[UsefulNotes/TheIronAgeOfComicBooks 1990's-style]] story. Since almost every major character in either universe has been an Avenger or a Leaguer at some point, this story has much the same basic premise, but takes a completely different approach, generally having a [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] feel to it.

%%* SaveBothWorlds

* ShooOutTheClowns

* WhatTheHellHero

* OhCrap:
** In the beginning, the Avengers are fighting Starro the Conqueror, and having a bit of trouble since they've never fought him before. They realize his small copies can control minds, though. Then one of them latches onto ComicBook/TheMightyThor. This is not good news.

** Heck, it even goes beyond the comics continuity. What toy does ComicBook/IronMan come up with when he gets his hands on a Green Lantern Ring? Why, the [[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom Proton Cannon]]. To top it off, Iron Man is wearing the [[ContinuityNod Modular Armor]] when the cannon is fired.

* PowerCreepPowerSeep: To fix the imbalance between the Justice League and the generally less powerful Avengers, the story plays on the idea that some characters have different power levels depending on which universe they're in. So in the Franchise/DCUniverse, the higher levels of "chaos magic" make second-tier Avenger ComicBook/ScarletWitch powerful enough to briefly stun the entire League, while in the MarvelUniverse, the lack of a Speed Force makes the Flash nothing more than an ordinary human (Steel creates a device that enables him to store the Speed Force; however after some time in the Marvel Universe, Quicksilver is able to outrun him).

* OffModel: Considering how the Scarlet Witch is artist George Perez's [[AuthorAppeal favorite character]], it's curious how he can't seem to draw her consistently at all. Every closeup of Wanda in this story looks like a completely different person. That's because she was trying to use far more Chaos Magic than she was used to having access to, and the effort was making her sick (her skin even gets pale to the point of grey at one point).
** Might count as a meta-MythologyGag, since Perez did something similar with Raven during his run on ''New ComicBook/TeenTitans'' when her powers were corrupting ''her'' in the same way.

[[caption-width-right:250:The World's Greatest Superheroes meet Earth's Mightiest Heroes!]]

* AllYourPowersCombined: Busiek mixes and matches a lot interesting power combos.
** [[ComicBook/MonicaRambeau Photon]] copies Comicbook/GreenLantern's energy signature to effectively gain his powers.
** ComicBook/IronMan designs a complicated weapon[[note]]The [[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom Proton Cannon]][[/note]] that Lantern can then generate and use[[note]]Kyle Rayner's day job as an artist also helps, plus his constructs tend to be more complicated than his GL partners due to this[[/note]].
** Radioactive Man generates Kryptonite's energy signature and while Solarr blasts him with red sunlight (which had been a tip-off from ComicBook/LexLuthor, no less) to de-power Franchise/{{Superman}}.
** ComicBook/GreenArrow briefly adds ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'s arsenal to his own.
** ComicBook/MartianManhunter lets ComicBook/CaptainAmerica command the entire battlefield simultaneously.
** And of course Superman armed with [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor's hammer]] and Captain America shield.
** Kyle Rayner used the Cosmic Cube to recharge his power ring, which gave him a [[ComicBook/SilverSurfer chrome color scheme]] and a considerable power boost.

[[caption-width-right:250: ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes Always we will fight as one.]]'']]

** Heck, it even goes beyond the comics continuity. What toy does ComicBook/IronMan come up with when he gets his hands on a GreenLanternRing? Why, the [[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom Proton Cannon]]. To top it off, Iron Man is wearing the [[ContinuityNod Modular Armor]] when the cannon is fired.

* StatusQuoIsGod: By necessity, since neither company can ''directly'' cite the other's trademarked characters. However, the ''JLA'' arc immediately after this crossover spun out of the destruction of the Anti-Matter universe in the first issue. Also Krona only managed to escape the Cosmic Egg much later in ''Trinity''[[spoiler:, as well as being one of the masterminds behind the events of ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'']].

* CombatBreakdown: In the final battle, the Martian Manhunter establishes a telepathic link that allows Captain America to command the entire battlefield at once. Attack orders and enemy weaknesses are distributed in seconds, which allows the heroes to cut through Krona's defenses with a brutal efficiency. That all falls apart when the link is severed after Manhunter is swapped out thanks to a temporal shift, leaving the heroes to fend for themselves.

* BigBad: Despite many planners and tricksters moving things around against the heroes, the true villain of the miniseries is Krona, the Mad Guardian of the Universe.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Plenty of them in the moments where many characters are on-panel. An example is the fight that opens volume 2, when you can see Batman do a flying kick right through an intangible Vision. The "whoa!" look on Bats' face as he does so is priceless.

* PlotInducedStupidity: Plenty to go around, but Thor and the Flash suffer the most.
** Thor can block, deflect, and absorb energy attacks with his hammer, yet never tries to defend himself from Superman's heat vision. He is also [[SuperReflexes fast enough]] to block bullets and energy attacks, even those fired at point-blank range. Given how effortlessly Thor's defended himself from heat vision-style attacks over the years, even against opponents he's never fought before, for the God of Thunder to suddenly "forget" his most reliable defensive ability is bad writing at best. According to {{Word of God}}, both Superman and Thor were starting with their standard "tank" options and would have worked up to their more advanced abilities if the fight had progressed further. Alluded to when Thor mentions to Aquaman that he could have taken Superman now that he has his measure and knows how to counter him.
** Despite being [[DramaPreservingHandicap unable to use his powers]] in the Marvel universe, [[ComicBook/TheFlash Wally West]] should still be [[StorybreakerPower fast enough]] to defeat several of the Avengers by himself. As it is, Wally is limited to the basic speedster skill set: running fast, dodging attacks, and little else.
*** Possibly justified since most of his other tricks are based on the Speed Force.

* UpToEleven: Superman [[http://superherouniverse.com/articles/fights/superman-vs-thor.jpg notes this explicitly]] with his knockout punch to Thor, by ''holding {{Mjolnir}} mid-swing''.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Even more than you'd expect, since the final issue features ''everyone'' who'd ever been on the roster of either team up until that point fighting virtually every villain they'd ever faced. That number gets really big considering that just about every major hero in the Marvel Universe has been an Avenger (save Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} pre-''ComicBook/FearItself'' and [[ComicBook/FantasticFour the Human Torch]] pre-''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'' [[note]]That's, obviously, without mentioning basically 99% of the ComicBook/XMen[[/note]]), and no small number of heroes have joined the Justice League, including many members of the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica.