Your favorite superheroes are back! And then some.
Justice League Infinity is a 2021 comic series continuing off of the Justice League Unlimited cartoon, penned by DC Animated Universe veterans James Tucker and J.M. DeMatteis.
Set shortly after the events of the Unlimited finale, the fight for the throne of Apokolips continues, with its participants agreeing to settle the matter with one challenge: Who can defeat the Justice League?
Meanwhile, the wandering Amazo discovers a threat on the edge of the cosmos that not only threatens the universe, but the multiverse...
The first issue was released on DC Digital First on May 13, 2021, and paperback on July 7, 2021, evenutally lasting a total of 7 issues.
Tropes in this series include:
- Adaptational Name Change: The name of Earth-D's Wonder Woman is Unatti, though she's partially based on Earth-23 Nubia.
- Alas, Poor Villain: J'onn reads Overman's mind and discovers that he's a Superman who was indoctrinated by Vandal Savage and the Nazis instead of raised by a loving family. Additionally, he fell in love with his world's Lois, but when she turned out to be The Mole, he executed her personally, yet his immense heartbreak and grief was enough to force Savage's scientists to erase her memory from his mind so that they could still use him.J'onn: Beneath that impenetrable skin… he's just a broken man.
- Diana feels this way towards a Darkseid from a different universe after she learns of his story and he sacrifices himself to save her life from the Anti-Life Equation.
- Big Bad: The mysterious voice that compels Amazo towards the Mirrored Room and causes the entire crises is revealed to be an evil Amazo from another world that absorbed the Anti-Life Equation and is on a rampage.
- The Bus Came Back: Previews
show that Amazo finally comes back after being subjected to What Happened to the Mouse? in the show. - Call-Back:
- Lois recognizes Overman's symbol as the same one used by the alternate Superman in Superman: The Animated Series episode "Brave New Metropolis".
- Overman's Earth is a world where the Nazis won and are led by Vandal Savage, which Superman remembers as having happened in "Savage Time".
- Learning that alternate versions of herself and Darkseid were in love in another universe makes Diana painfully recall Hades of Tartarus/Hell claiming to be her father in "The Balance" episode.
- Canon Immigrant:
- Ted Kord as Blue Beetle appears as a supporting character.
- Overman's General Zod physically resembles the Silver Age version of the character, though this Zod seems to be a human or raised on Earth.
- The end of Issue #1 brings in Overman, who in the comics is an alternate version of Kal-L whose pod landed in Nazi-occupied Sudentenland and led to him becoming an evil superpowered Nazi overlord.
- In Issue #3, we're introduced to the Justice Alliance on Earth-D, who are composed of an African-American Kal as Superman, a Nubia-like Unatti as Wonder Woman, a Silver Age-inspired disabled Batman, Jose Hernandez as Green Lantern, a never-before-seen Flash, a Hawkman named Ahmed, a dark-skinned Aquaman, and a Native-American Green Arrow. In the comics, Earth-D was envisioned as a more racially-diverse take on the main universe in combination with Silver Age depictions of the characters — these characters included a Black Superman, a Native-American Green Arrow, and an Asian Flash.
- Composite Character: The Black Superman of Earth-D that appeared in the 1999 one-shot Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths is combined with the more recent Calvin Ellis/President Superman of Earth-23 who was introduced at the end of Final Crisis and had his backstory and world expanded on during Grant Morrison's run on Action Comics (New 52).
- Continuity Nod: Superman mistakes Overman's Zod for being the same man as his General Zod. While Zod was never in any of the DCAU cartoons, he was in the tie-in comics. Otherwise, you could assume Superman faced off against Zod at some point in the past.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: When Superman suddenly switches places with Overman, he's thrust in the middle of a rally supporting Overman's fascist and bigoted views. He initially assumes that he's somewhere in the U.S. as even in-universe, these types of rallies have become more popular in the past few years, which he's disgusted with, and he then attempts to calm the crowd by telling them to be more empathetic to other people "instead of building walls between us".
- Evil Power Vacuum: The power vacuum that has engulfed the Apokoliptians since Darkseid's death in Season 2 culminates in them agreeing that whoever can defeat the League can lead Apokolips.
- Funny Background Event: At Flash's birthday party, Fire, Ice, and Red Tornado can be seen dancing. Red Tornado appears to be doing the Robot.
- Immediate Sequel: According to the official synopsis, the series kicks off with the Apokoliptians turning their attention to Earth to see who can conquer it and thus is most deserving to rule Apokolips. This would be in light of Darkseid's death at the end of Unlimited.
- In Name Only: The Freedom Fighters on Overman's Earth are made up of General Abraham "Zod" Zodesta, Doomsday (a mutated Professor Hamilton), and a cyborg version of Natasha Irons who goes by Metallo.
- It's Personal:
- Discussed in Issue #3. J'onn feels guilty that he returned to the League only because Superman was in trouble and not because the rest of the universe was in danger, but Diana assured him that it's human.
- Doomsday, who turns out to be a Professor Hamilton that was mutated from experimentation, lost his wife and daughter to the Nazi regime.
- After Diana disappears and is replaced by her alternate self's remains at the end of Issue #3, Batman gets upset and decides enough is enough.
- Lighter and Softer: The comic has less adult jokes and focus on political themes than the cartoons have, though there are a few moments that lean on darker aspects of the DCAU, like Overman's Earth being ruled by Nazis and Overman's Lois having been hanged.
- Mythology Gag:
- General Zod from Overman's Earth physically resembles the Silver Age version of General Dru-Zod.
- The comic's Earth-D is partially based on Earth-23/Earth-D, with Superman's costume being modelled after Calvin Ellis's suit and Wonder Woman/Unatti resembling Nubia.
- Darkseid being in love with Wonder Woman is a reference to Super Friends, when he had a infamously silly Villainous Crush on Diana.
- The shot of Overman grieving by Lois Lane's grave is a near-exact recreation of Superman doing the same by Dan Turpin's grave in Superman: The Animated Series.
- No-Sell: Lois's Kryptonite gun doesn't work on Overman, mysteriously.
- No Swastikas: Averted. Unlike the TV series, the comic has less censorship, so Vandal Savage's Nazi regime shows off the swastika.
- Pitiful Worms: Overman at one point refers to Lois as an "annoying insect".
- Ship Tease: At the end of Issue #3, Batman gets upset when Wonder Woman suddenly disappears and is replaced by her remains. Lois notes John and Mari's horrified reactions, clearly worried that it may also happen to them, and Shayera briefly looks on at the couple with sadness and envy.
- Issue six has plenty of teasing for Batman and Wonder Woman, who ended up birthing a new multiverse together with the Life Equation after Amazo II's rampage.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Amazo's journey in self-discovery leads him to the Mirrored Room at the edge of the universe, and tampering with the fragments ends up causing the Earths to Reality Bleed with each other.
