History ComicBook / GrantMorrisonsJLA

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[[caption-width-right:350:[[Creator/DCComics DC’s]] DreamTeam.[[note]]Clockwise, starting from the bottom: Franchise/{{Superman}}, Franchise/WonderWoman, Franchise/{{Batman}}, ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, ComicBook/MartianManhunter, Franchise/GreenLantern, Franchise/TheFlash.[[/note]]]]

A 1997 relaunch of [[Creator/DCComics DC’s]] premier [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica superhero team]].

After several years of roster changes, [[GenreShift tone shifts]], a brief, successful foray into [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational comedy]] and a hard turn into the DarkerAndEdgier 90s that left it in the middle of a massive DorkAge, DC decided to clear house and return to a “back-to-basics” approach to the Justice League under the pen of Creator/GrantMorrison. Following off of a three-issue miniseries written by Creator/MarkWaid and Fabian Nicieza titled ''Justice League: A Midsummer’s Nightmare'', Morrison and artist Howard Porter relaunched the book under the title ''JLA'', establishing a new roster consisting of the iconic seven founders of the team or their successors: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash (ComicBook/WallyWest), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter.

A critical and commercial success, ''JLA'' established the League as a force united to face threats on an Earth-shattering level and subsequently revamped several classic villains such as Starro, the Crime Syndicate, the Injustice Gang, Darkseid, and more to raise the stakes in every issue. Morrison stayed with the book until issue #41 (aside from a few fill-in issues by Waid and other writers), bringing their MythArc to an end with the ''World War III'' storyline that saw [[spoiler:every human being on earth imbued with superpowers and inducted into the League to combat an Old God weapon]]. Other writers would take over and the series would run for over a hundred issues, but the Justice League would continue to be defined by its core “magnificent seven” roster, potentially universe-ending threats and keeping its status as DC’s flagship title.

This series served as the primary inspiration for the animated ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', which took a similar approach to restructuring the League for a new generation after the team had been linked for decades to the LighterAndSofter ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}''.

Storylines in this run that have their own pages:
* ''ComicBook/DCOneMillion''
* ''ComicBook/JLAEarth2''
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!!This work provides examples of:
* EightiesHair: Though the series was released in 1997, Superman is still rocking his mullet (pictured above) from the end of ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' at the start of the series. After ditching it in favor of his “Electric Blue” costume, he returns to his more classic short crop.[[note]]Clark had actually cut his hair in ''ComicBook/SupermanTheWeddingAlbum'' shortly before the Electric powers arc kicked in, but because of how the first arc with the Hyperclan and the single issue that debuted Tomorrow Woman were written, ''JLA'' went directly from Superman sporting a mullet to his electric phase.[[/note]]
* NinetiesAntiHero: The Ultramarines, superhuman government mooks ordered to fight and take down the JLA. They end up subject to a {{Deconstruction}} as they partake in the morally questionable strategy of locking down a civilian-inhabited area to fight the Justice League in and eventually undergo a bad HeelRealization when they notice that while they're busy trashing the place trying to take down the League, their enemy was too busy saving people in the crossfire to retaliate. Not only that, but Superman scans their physiologies and discovers that all of their days are numbered due to the experimentation that gave them their powers. They're just as quickly [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructed]] as they maintain their anti-hero tendencies by promising Superman that they'll do "what [the League] can't," but whatever they are intending to do, it has Superman and the League's full blessing and the two teams end their confrontation as full allies.
* AmazonChaser: Zauriel can't help but marvel at how strong and hot Wonder Woman is. This is all superficial since he's a FallenAngel because of a human woman he fell in love with.
* AndTheAdventureContinues: The last shot of Morrison's run is the League heading off to stop another villain.
* {{Animesque}}: Parodied in Issue #6 with Animech and Mangatron, two robots built by a crazy {{otaku}} that Aquaman and Wonder Woman defeat before being called over to deal with the Bull Angels. A more serious example can be found not in the artwork but the ''writing,'' specifically all the {{Shonen}} [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal style]] {{Story Arc}}s.
* AppearanceIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder: The issue dealing with the aftermath of ''Day of Judgment'' sees this applying to Hal Jordan as the Spectre, making him appear to be a different person to each member of the League.
* ArcWelding:
** The "Crisis Times Five" arc reveals that Mr. Mxzytplk isn't the only denizen of the Fifth Dimension to interact with the heroes of the DCU, as the arc retconned that Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt and Quisp, a minor Aquaman character, also hail from there with the Thunderbolt's summoning word "Cei-U" (pronounced "say you") revealed to actually be his name, "Zy", backwards and the name "Quisp" being modified to "Qwsp". ''ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman'' added to this by revealing Bat-Mite is also from the Fifth Dimension.
** The "World War 3" arc that served as the finale for Morrison's run also served as a FullyAbsorbedFinale for ''ComicBook/{{Aztek}}'', revealing that the "Tezcatlipoca" Aztek preparing for was, in fact, the Old Gods' weapon Mageddon, not the Wonder Woman villain.
** The Martian Still Zone, the Kryptonian Phantom Zone, and the Biblical Limbo (which Prometheus calls the "Ghost Zone") are all the same place.
* ArcWords: In the "Imaginary Stories" arc, the JLA begin to realize they are in a LotusEaterMachine whenever someone mentions a key.
* BadFuture: ''Rock of Ages'' features one where [[spoiler:Darkseid rules Earth.]]
* BashBrothers: Despite some sniping early on, Wally West and Kyle Rayner become this much like [[Franchise/TheFlash their]] [[Franchise/GreenLantern predecessors]] were in the original League.
* BigDamnHeroes: Basically every issue.
* BlessedWithSuck: Hector Hammond is portrayed here as being extremely fragile, as one wrong move could cause his oversized head to snap his neck.
* BookEnds: ''A Midsummer's Nightmare'', the miniseries that set-up the run saw the Big Seven deal with (an enslaved) Dr. Destiny. While Creator/MarkWaid would ignore it in favor of presenting ''JLA'' #50[[note]]the issue where Batman rejoins the League after ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmericaTowerOfBabel''[[/note]] as the first time since the mini they met, Morrison ends his run with Oracle informing the Big Seven that Dr. Destiny was stirring up trouble and them heading off to stop him.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: J'emm, an obscure character created as an {{expy}} for J'onn, ends up like this to act as J'onn's counterpart in Lex Luthor's first Injustice Gang.
* CharacterNameAlias: The trope picture is the below-mentioned "RealMenWearPink" example of the Martian Manhunter using "[[Franchise/SailorMoon Rei Hino]]" as an alias, which Batman calls him on. This is due to guest writer Creator/MarkMillar getting pranked after asking for a name tied to Mars.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:As detailed in MetaOrigin, the White Martians reveal that humanity was destined to become a race of superpowered beings much like Kryptonians or Daxamites, but their genetic experiments disrupted this evolutionary chain, resulting in most of humanity being regular people with only a minority holding the metagene. This becomes important in "World War III", when the Justice League temporarily imbues humanity with the powers they were meant to have and thus raise an army of superhumans to fight Mageddon.]]
* TheComicallySerious: Despite all appearances, Batman isn't this and has a rather sardonic sense of humor. However, when Orion of the New Gods (and to a lesser extent, his fellow New God Barda) joins the team he is constantly shown as stern and humorless around more humorous figures like Flash, Green Lantern and Plastic Man.
* ContinuityNod: ''JLA'' was always forced to adhere to the current DC status quo changes, resulting in stuff like Superman spending about three story arcs in his Superman Blue form, Wonder Woman briefly dying and being replaced by her mother, and Wally West seemingly being dead and replaced by a Dark Flash.
* ContinuitySnarl:
** Between the events of ''ComicBook/DCOneMillion'' and the "WorldWar3" arc, the ComicBook/MartianManhunter officially took a sabbatical from the League because of the events of the former with the third ComicBook/{{Hourman}} filling in. Creator/MarkMillar, Creator/MarkWaid, and J.M. [=DeMatteis=] were all willing to ignore this when they guest wrote. Issue 27, written by Millar, is the biggest offender as J'onn was meeting with Superman and Batman to discuss what Hourman told the League about the then-upcoming events of "Crisis Times Five" when he arrived.
** The Corinthian's skull can be seen in [[ComicBook/TheSandman Dream's chest]]. This is in spite of the fact that his predecessor used said skull to recreate the creature.
** Subject to a third one as Creator/MarkWaid's run saw issue #50 be the first time since ''A Midsummer's Nightmare'' the JLA confronted Dr. Destiny--which ignored the AndTheAdventureContinues ending of Morrison's run of the big seven heading off to fight John Dee.
* DeathIsCheap: Lampshaded when Superman sees the only ones attending Metamorpho's funeral are himself, Sapphire Stagg, her and Rex's son Joseph, and Java with the priest pointing out this trope as to the low attendance. To hammer the point home that some people stay dead, statues of Hal Jordan, Barry Allen, Oliver Queen, Ice, and the majority of the Justice Society of America were shown and the same issue saw the debut -- and death -- of Tomorrow Woman. History ultimately proved the priest right -- neither Metamorpho nor Tomorrow Woman -- nor Ice, Ollie, Hal, Barry, or even original ComicBook/{{Hourman}} Rex Tyler stayed dead.
* DeusExMachina: Prometheus would've likely managed to succeed in claiming victory over the League if it weren't for ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} sneaking into the Watchtower to steal some alien jewelry from its trophy room. None of the League seems really surprised by her presence and even she lampshades how incredibly lucky they were that a supervillain on mostly friendly terms with ([[DatingCatwoman one of]]) them was around to bypass Prometheus's ability to [[LoopholeAbuse defeat all superheroes]].
* TheDreaded: Plastic Man uses criminals' fear of Batman to scare a prison riot into dispersing by shapeshifting into a Batman silhouette.
* DreamTeam: The iconic "magnificent seven" incarnation, which has served as the basis for every Justice League roster since and been the subject of parody and homage whenever someone wants to depict a superhero team.
* EldritchAbomination: The League face several:
** The Star Conqueror is reimagined as this.
** Solaris, the Tyrant Sun.
** Mageddon
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Mirror Master only works for whoever pays the most. Batman outbids Lex Luthor and hires Mirror Master as TheMole, a move his peers question the morality of. Batman counters that in spite of engaging in bribery, Mirror Master ultimately donates the majority of his earnings to the orphanage he grew up in.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** During the Injustice Gang's attack on Star City, several people (including children) were killed. After the Joker reveals he rigged the coffins of the children with explosives, Luthor backhands him and expresses regret over their deaths. During the Joker's J'onn-induced "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" moment, he manipulates the Joker into resurrecting those killed with the Worlogog and Superman sees through Luthor's reasoning of simply avoiding murder charges to realize that Luthor felt guilty. In the same arc, Mirror Master claimed to not have killed anyone during the attack.
** In a twisted example, T.O. Morrow, who decided to inform the JLA about a deactivated Amazo to shut Ivo up about escaping, decides to not entirely be truthful about when the android would come online as he didn't want to be seen as helping the League, resulting in a fight between the League and Amazo.
* EvilCounterpart:
** The Crime Syndicate of Amerika, champions (overlords) of Earth-Three.
** Prometheus to Batman, sharing a similar backstory but this time his parents were criminals who were gunned down by policemen.
* ExpyCoexistence: Zauriel is a rather transparent stand-in for ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} which gets lampshaded to hell at back by the other Leaguers, with Aquaman confusing him for Katar Hol for a minute and Superman telling him that his membership will fill out the obligatory "guy with big wings" quota.
* FallenAngel: Zauriel has given up Heaven after falling in love with a human woman, making him a positive example of this. The angel sent after him, Asmodel, is a much straighter example of this trope, planning to succeed where Lucifer failed and being sent to Hell after his defeat at the hands of the League.
* {{Fingore}}: [[spoiler:While attention isn't called to it, looking closely reveals that the Batman of "Rock of Ages"'s BadFuture is missing bits of some of his fingers.]]
* FullyAbsorbedFinale: After ''ComicBook/{{Aztek}}'' ended, Morrison had Aztek join the team for a while, then used the finale to wrap up his story.
* FusionDance: How Lkz is defeated, [[spoiler:by being forcibly merged with Johnny Thunder's genie Yz into Ylzkz.]]
* GondorCallsForAid: Zauriel brings the armies of Heaven to Earth to help repel Mageddon.
* HatePlague: [[spoiler:Part of how much of a danger Mageddon is to the Earth is how it manipulates its populace to turn on each other, driving humanity to the brink of World War III until Zauriel and the armies of Heaven manage to stop the world's leaders from sending nukes at each other.]]
* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} can talk to fish via telepathy. So, to compensate for being far away from seawater and ocean life, Aquaman uses his telepathy on the part of a Hyperclan member's brain inherited from his marine ancestors to give him a seizure.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Tomorrow Woman. Aztek.]]
* HumbleHero: Superman is repeatedly affable and denies that he is as special or TheCape as everyone claims he is. As The Flash puts it:
-->''"This is the guy who said he couldn't live up to his own myth. And he's wrestling with an angel."''
* IgnoredExpert: As Superman forewarned, the Hyperclan's ecological and environmental alterations to the Earth are at best temporary and worst unstable. Sure enough, the lush jungle the Hyperclan create in the Sahara eventually withers away due to the incompatibility.
* ImAHumanitarian: The issue guest-written by ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational'' writer J.M. [=DeMatteis=] that deals with the aftermath of ''Day of Judgment'' (which saw Hal Jordan become the host for the Spectre), [[spoiler:after the Spectre and League leaves his mind, the Joker chalks up his end of the experience (namely feeling a bunch of people shifting around in his head) to eating a man's tongue raw.]]
* KryptoniteFactor:
** Batman deduces the Hyperclan’s true identities [[spoiler:when they refuse to check the wreckage of his crashed Batwing. Seeing the super-beings recoil from something as mundane as fire leads him to realize that they’re actually Martians.]]
** The Hyperclan subdue Superman with a piece of Kryptonite. [[spoiler:Once they’re revealed to be White Martians mentally projecting the image of Kryptonite into Superman’s head he breaks out and lays down a CurbStompBattle on the aliens.]]
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Zauriel was created and introduced to be a stand-in for ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}, who at the time was off-limits due to his infamous case of [[ContinuitySnarl/{{Hawkman}} Continuity Snarl]]. However, Morrison and company still managed to make a wink to Hawkman by showing Aquaman briefly confusing Zauriel for Katar Hol.
* LegacyCharacter:
** Wally West and Kyle Rayner were chosen to be a part of the League's most iconic lineup due to their predecessors either being dead or having turned to villainy, respectively at the time.
** The original Green Arrow's son Connor Hawke takes his (also at the time) deceased father's place in the League just as the Key attacks. The issue shows the stark differences between father and son, with Connor forced to use Ollie's more outlandish [[TrickArrow trick arrows]] after his quiver is destroyed.
** Steel was one of four replacement Supermen to appear following the ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman and joins the League due to his impressive engineering acumen.
* LegionOfDoom: The Injustice Gang serves as the primary antagonists of the “Rock of Ages” arc [[spoiler:until ''ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}'' shows up]]. As the League has been returned to a “back-to-basics” approach the Gang similarly institutes an “arch-enemies only” rule amongst its membership. The new Injustice Gang and their counterparts are:
** '''Lex Luthor''' (Superman)
** '''The Joker''' (Batman)
** '''Circe''' (Wonder Woman)
** '''Mirror Master''' (The Flash)
** '''Doctor Light''' (Green Lantern)
** '''Ocean Master''' (Aquaman)
** '''[[BrainwashedAndCrazy Son of Saturn]]''' (Martian Manhunter)
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Averted at first, with the team being a not-unreasonable squad of seven. It’s after the events of ''Rock of Ages'' that the League expands, settling on a roster of ''14'' heroes.
* LonelyFuneral: As noted under "Death is Cheap", because of the very nature of death in the comics, the only people attending Metamorpho's funeral were Superman, Rex's family, Java, and the preacher.
* LotusEaterMachine: The Key, upon his return, traps the JLA in a computer program that makes them live through {{Elseworld}} scenarios.
* MassOhCrap: The JLA goes on full alert when they discover that the Shaggyman has been removed from his prison.
* TheMole: Batman has ''three'' in Luthor's first Injustice Gang: the Mirror Master, via outbidding Luthor; Green Arrow, who feigns defection after a meeting with Circe; and [[spoiler:Plastic Man, who captures and impersonates the Joker.]]
* MetaOrigin: The White Martian race studied humanity and performed experiments on them, changing their genetics, specially the nature of what would be the metagene. The group of renegades who did this (the Hyperclan) was imprisoned in the Still Zone as punishment. Had the White Martians not interfered with primitive humans, humanity would've evolved into a more uniformly powered race, much like Kryptonians and Daxamites did.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In the climax of "Rock of Ages", J'onn uses his powers to stabilize the Joker so he can't use the Philosopher's Stone to wreak havoc. While due to the nature of Joker's mind, J'onn can't keep it, during this time, the Joker regrets what he's done over his life.
* MythArc: While the series cycles through a villain of the week premise, overall there is the impending danger of Mageddon's arrival into the DC Universe and Wonderworld's warnings to the JLA if it was to ever breach their defenses.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The "Rock of Ages" BadFuture is perpetuated by Superman destroying the Philosopher's Stone. With a powerful artifact such as it is out of the way, [[spoiler:Darkseid and Apokolips found their window of opportunity to take over Earth]].
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Grant Morrison basically wrote Plastic Man as a superpowered Creator/JimCarrey.
* NoSell: Circe gets fed up with Plastic Man and attempts to turn him into a pig and other assorted animals. Unfortunately, Plastic Man is a natural shapeshifter who can revert back and all this does is make him even hornier for her.
* NothingIsScarier: Of all the alterations Julian September makes to the timeline, Oracle finds the fact that Bruce Wayne's parents survived to be the most frightening. She's even reduced to a cowering mess when Bruce comes to visit with his folks, as she's unable to bear seeing people who should be dead and how different they might be. We never see them as the timeline is corrected just as Bruce is opening the door to her apartment.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: It turns out in the "Rock of Ages" BadFuture, [[spoiler:Desaad is actually an older Batman, who doesn't specify what he did to Desaad other than he won a battle of wits with him.]]
* PetTheDog: Guy Gardner spends most of his appearances being the arrogant jerk that he is known for being, especially to Kyle Rayner, who he almost always lambasts for not being up to snuff as a Green Lantern. At the DarkestHour however, Guy wholeheartedly tells Kyle to take a break and recollect himself, adding that Kyle really should stop taking him seriously.
* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: The "Crisis Times Five" arc served as a lead-in for ''JSA''.
* PowerPerversionPotential:
** In the same that introduced Tomorrow Woman, [[ComicBook/Hitman1993 Tommy Monaghan]] freely admits he only came to a JLA recruitment drive to check out Diana with his XRayVision.
** In an issue guest-written by Creator/MarkWaid, ComicBook/PlasticMan poses as a dress for Big Barda to wear--and promptly gets strangled by her when she realizes what happened.
* ProductionForeshadowing: Prevalent in Morrison's work:
** Superman living in the sun until the 853rd century (as seen in ''ComicBook/DCOneMillion'') is the character's ultimate fate in Morrison's [[spoiler: ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman''.]]
** Everything in the ''Rock of Ages'' arc, from Darkseid turning Earth into a hellscape to a small collective of Leaguers fighting back would finally come to pass in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''.
* RealMenWearPink: The infamous bit of both Batman and the Martian Manhunter knowing enough about ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' that the latter used Sailor Mars's real name "Rei Hiro" as the basis for an alternate identity and the former immediately knew that "Rei" was really J'onn? Granted, it was an issue guest written by Creator/MarkMillar, but it was published during this time.
* RealityWarper:
** The Philosopher's Stone is a compression of all of creation into miniature crystalline form, allowing anybody who wields it to manipulate reality the way they see fit.
** Julian September invents the Engine of Chance, which allows him to manipulate reality by altering probability enough to be in his favor.
** The Joker is given free reign to manipulate the environment of a satellite Superman and Martian Manhunter are lured to, turning it into an MindScrew physical representation of his unstable mind.
* ReimaginingTheArtifact: Though StatusQuoIsGod was in effect for the members of the League themselves, many of the team's most iconic villains were reimagined from their usually goofy Silver Age incarnations into terrifying threats capable of taking on the world's greatest superheroes:
** [[PuppeteerParasite Starro]] (the League's original villain) goes from a giant starfish to a true StarfishAlien, being a continent-sized EldritchAbomination that spawns countless probes to attach themselves to the face of any individual. This becomes especially horrifying when it happens to someone like the Flash, who essentially becomes a super-speed zombie under the Star Conqueror's control.
** [[EvilCounterpart The Crime Syndicate]] TookALevelInBadass similar to the League from their original "what if the Justice League were bad guys" incarnation, becoming the overlords of an entire world built on the concept of "evil always wins." It's notable in that though J'onn and Arthur lay a CurbStompBattle on the Syndicate when they arrive on Earth, they still don't lose in the end as they must remain in the Antimatter Universe to maintain the status quo.
** The various [[LegionOfDoom Injustice League/Gangs]] over the years have typically had an odd assortment of supervillains chosen to plague the League in standard "one-on-one" fights that lack any real tactical prowess. Luthor founds his "archenemies only" incarnation and launches an attack that involves discrediting the League and tearing them apart from within along with using a stone that can literally rewrite reality to his wishes.
** [[MadScientist The Key]] goes from an Intergang scientist in a robe to a dream manipulator with SuperIntelligence capable of locking the Justice League inside their own minds. It's only due to the out of nowhere appearance of Green Arrow literally sucker punching him with his late father's boxing glove arrow that stops the Key from obtaining omnipotence.
** The original [[HiveQueen Queen Bee]] was a standard alien invader from a bee-themed PlanetOfHats who was disgarded in the 80s for her human mind-controlling counterpart. She returns as part of Luthor's revamped Injustice Gang as the ruler of a race of superhuman insectoids.
** [[ImplacableMan The Shaggy Man]] was always an "all-hands-on-deck" level threat for the League, but his sasquatch-esque appearance was more than a little goofy. Here, he's just a shell for General Eiling, who decides to put his brilliant tactical mind into the body of the beast. It basically makes him (renamed the General) a remorseless Superman with the strategic mind of Batman.
* RuleOfCool: Much of the series is really just the Justice League kicking the collective asses of the villain(s) of the week.
* SadisticChoice: Zauriel and Alan Scott try to call on ComicBook/TheSpectre for aid, but someone had imprisoned him in a world teeming with developing life. Whoever had made the prison made it so whoever wanted to free The Spectre would have to commit mass genocide do to so. [[spoiler:They technically do, as Alan uses the Green Flame to accelerate the world's time so it reaches its apocalypse within minutes.]]
* SuperiorSuccessor: [[ComicBook/TheSandman Daniel Hall]] assures Kyle Rayner that he will surpass Hal Jordan on the basis that unlike him, Rayner is more open about his fears than Hal ever was.
* TakeThat:
** Some of the people the Hyperclan kill are unmistakably ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} and ComicBook/DoctorDoom.
** The Hyperclan themselves are an indictment of the NinetiesAntiHero; they are perfectly willing to kill and regularly defy ReedRichardsIsUseless, but they are ultimately an invasion force brainwashing the masses with promises of paradise.
** Kyle Rayner briefly criticizes the DarkerAndEdgier supervillains prevalent during the period ''JLA'' was being published, complaining about the decrease in bad guys who just want to rob jewel stores and the proportionate increase of villains who kill your girlfriend and [[StuffedInTheFridge stuff her into a refrigerator]].
* UnderestimatingBadassery: The Hyperclan pay Batman no mind because they assume that by being the only non-powered member of the League, he is the weakest. Unfortunately, Batman is, as Superman describes him, "[[BadassNormal the most dangerous man on Earth]]."
* WellDoneSonGuy:
** Or rather "Girl" in Huntress's case, as Batman had Huntress join the League to curb her more violent tendencies and kicked her off when he caught her about to kill Prometheus.
** Circe suggests that Kyle and Connor only joined the League in search of father figures to please, and that their older teammates are using this to keep them pliable and compliant. Seeing as how Circe is evil, she's hardly a trustworthy judge of the situation: but there's enough truth in the first part of her suggestion to get under their skins.
* WorldWarIII: [[spoiler:Mageddon is causing this by affecting everyone's aggression levels to the point every almost country is going to war with each other. Hell, the arc it appears in is even called "World War III".]]
* XanatosGambit: The Key knows that the Justice League will inevitably escape their LotusEaterMachine and is counting on the mental energy required to do so to power his plan to achieve omnipotence.
* YourMindMakesItReal: [[spoiler:The Hyperclan keeps Superman incapacitated with a chunk of Kryptonite. However, he deduces that it's only an illusion and all the Kryptonite poisoning symptoms he's experiencing are all fake when he notices that he's way past the point when he should be dead already and can hear air raid sirens all over the globe.]]

* FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome: Discussed by Eel O'Brian (when separated from Plastic Man), where he notes that, much like the protagonist will always remember what being smart is like, if their LiteralSplitPersonality continues, he's going to be an average thug who yet remembers what it's like to be a hero and how much he loved being Plastic Man.

* LiteralSplitPersonality: One arc has the League split into their civilian and superhero selves by a wish-granting machine, excepting Aquaman and Wonder Woman (who don't have secret identities). [[spoiler: They're eventually split too; Aquaman into a human and a fish, and Wonder Woman into a clay statue and the Spirit of Truth... which she uses to save the day]]. It doesn't work out well, as the Leaguers quickly fall apart without their other halves for balance.
** Superman loses his humanity both literally and figuratively, becoming more 'displaced Kryptonian' than an adopted son of Earth. Clark Kent becomes mild-mannered and timid for real.
** Batman had the opposite problem; sure, as the normal Batman he's angry and only his own iron will prevents him from crossing all of the lines... but this all stems from ''Bruce Wayne'''s trauma, so the separated Batman is an empty shell with no face, while Bruce Wayne is [[HairTriggerTemper violent and unstable]] without Batman to channel his rage. It's even lampshaded that it's the opposite of what most people expected would happen if Batman and Bruce split up.
** Wally West's speed and sense of urgency were part of being the Flash, and he starts being late to things. Flash, meanwhile, starts to disregard Barry Allen.
** Green Lantern loses Kyle Rayner's imagination, while Kyle nearly goes crazy without use of the ring for self-expression.
** John Jones, after an initial freakout over no longer having telepathic powers, is actually the happiest of the civilians, since he no longer fears fire and the Martian Manhunter got all the 'last of my race' angst.
** Plastic Man loses his ability to take ''anything'' seriously, while Patrick "Eel" O'Brian reverts to who he was ''before'' his superhero career- an amoral thug. He's the first to realize how serious things are because he has the perspective of ''never'' wanting to be that guy again.

** During the Injustice Gang's attack on Star City, several people (including children) were killed. After the Joker reveals he rigged the coffins of the children with explosives, Luthor backhands him and expresses regret over their deaths. During the Joker's J'onn-induced "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" moment, he manipulates the Joker into resurrecting those killed with the Worlogog and Superman sees through Luthor's reasoning of simply avoid murder charges to realize that Luthor felt guilty.

** Between the events of ''ComicBook/DCOneMillion'' and the "WorldWar3" arc, the ComicBook/MartianManhunter officially took a sabbatical from the League because of the events of the former with the third ComicBook/{{Hourman}} filling up. Creator/MarkMillar, Creator/MarkWaid, and J.M. [=DeMatteis=] were all willing to ignore this when they guest wrote. Issue 27, written by Millar, is the biggest offender as J'onn was meeting with Superman and Batman to discuss what Hourman told the League about the then-upcoming events of "Crisis Times Five" when he arrived.

* CharacterNameAlias: The below-mentioned "RealMenWearPink" example of the Martian Manhunter using "[[Franchise/SailorMoon Rei Hino]]" as an alias, which Batman calls him on. This is due to guest writer Creator/MarkMillar getting pranked after asking for a name tied to Mars.

* RealityEnsues:
** As Superman forewarned, the Hyperclan's ecological and environmental alterations to the Earth are at best temporary and worst unstable. Sure enough, the lush jungle the Hyperclan create in the Sahara eventually withers away due to the incompatibility.
** Hector Hammond is portrayed here as being extremely fragile, as one wrong move could cause his oversized head to snap his neck.

** The Martian Still Zone, the Kryptonian Phantom Zone, and the Biblical Limbo are all the same place.

* AmazonChaser: Zauriel can't help but marvel at how strong and hot Wonder Woman is. This is all superficial since he's a FallenAngel because of a human woman he fell in love with.
* AppearanceIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder: The issue dealing with the aftermath of ''Day of Judgment'' sees this applying to Hal Jordan as the Spectre, making him appear to be a different person to each member of the League.

** The "Crisis Times Five" arc reveals that Mr. Mxzytplk isn't the only denizen of the Fifth Dimension to interact with the heroes of the DCU, as the arc retconned that Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt and Quisp, a minor Aquaman character, also hail from there with the Thunderbolt's summoning word "Cei-U" (pronounced "say you") revealed to actually be his name, "Zy", backwards and "Quisp" modified to "Qwsp". ''ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman'' added to this by revealing Bat-Mite is also from the Fifth Dimension.

A critical and commercial success, ''JLA'' established the League as a force united to face threats on an Earth-shattering level and subsequently revamped several classic villains such as Starro, the Crime Syndicate, the Injustice Gang, Darkseid, and more to raise the stakes in every issue. Morrison stayed with the book until issue #41 (aside from a few fill-in issues by Waid and other writers), bringing his MythArc to an end with the ''World War III'' storyline that saw [[spoiler:every human being on earth imbued with superpowers and inducted into the League to combat an Old God weapon]]. Other writers would take over and the series would run for over a hundred issues, but the Justice League would continue to be defined by its core “magnificent seven” roster, potentially universe-ending threats and keeping its status as DC’s flagship title.

** Between the events of ''ComicBook/DCOneMillion'' and the "WorldWar3" arc, the ComicBook/MartianManhunter officially took a sabbatical from the League because of the events of the former. Creator/MarkMillar, Creator/MarkWaid, and J.M. [=DeMatteis=] were all willing to ignore this when they guest wrote.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Creator/DCComics DC’s]] DreamTeam.[[note]]Clockwise, starting from the bottom: ComicBook/{{Superman}}, ComicBook/WonderWoman, ComicBook/{{Batman}}, ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, ComicBook/MartianManhunter, ComicBook/GreenLantern, ComicBook/TheFlash.[[/note]]]]

After several years of roster changes, [[GenreShift tone shifts]], a brief, successful foray into [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational comedy]] and a hard turn into the DarkerAndEdgier 90s that left it in the middle of a massive DorkAge, DC decided to clear house and return to a “back-to-basics” approach to the Justice League under the pen of Creator/GrantMorrison. Following off of a three-issue miniseries written by Creator/MarkWaid and Fabian Nicieza titled ''Justice League: A Midsummer’s Nightmare'', Morrison and artist Howard Porter relaunched the book under the title ''JLA'', establishing a new roster consisting of the iconic seven founders of the team or their successors: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter.

* BashBrothers: Despite some sniping early on, Wally West and Kyle Rayner become this much like [[ComicBook/TheFlash their]] [[ComicBook/GreenLantern predecessors]] were in the original League.

* TheDreaded: Plastic Man uses criminals' fear of Batman to scare a prison riot into dispersing by shape shifting into a Batman silhouette.

** Solaris, the Tyrant Sun

* LegacyCharacter: Wally West and Kyle Rayner were chosen to be a part of the League's most iconic lineup due to their predecessors either being dead or having turned to villainy, respectively at the time.

** [[EvilCounterpart The Crime Syndicate]] TookALevelInBadass similar to the League's from their original "what if the Justice League were bad guys" incarnation, becoming the overlords of an entire world built on the concept of "evil always wins." It's notable in that though J'onn and Arthur lay a CurbStompBattle on the Syndicate when they arrive on Earth, they still don't lose in the end as they must remain in the Antimatter Universe to maintain the status quo.

** [[AC:ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} is.]]

After several years of roster changes, [[GenreShift tone shifts]], a brief, successful foray into [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational comedy]] and a hard turn into the DarkerAndEdgier 90s that left it in the middle of a massive DorkAge, DC decided to clear house and return to a “back-to-basics” approach to the Justice League under the pen of Creator/GrantMorrison. Following off of a three-issue miniseries written by Creator/MarkWaid and Fabian Nicieza titled ''Justice League: A Midsummer’s Nightmare'', Morrison and artist Howard Porter relaunched the book under the title ''JLA'', establishing a new roster consisting of the iconic seven founders or the team or their successors: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter.

A critical and commercial success, ''JLA'' established the League as a force united to face threats on an Earth-shattering level and subsequently revamped several classic villains such as Starro, the Crime Syndicate, the Injustice Gang, Darkseid and more to raise the stakes in every issue. Morrison stayed with the book until issue #41 (aside from a few fill-in issues by Waid and other writers), bringing his MythArc to an end with the ''World War III'' storyline that saw [[spoiler:every human being on earth imbued with superpowers and inducted into the League to combat an Old God weapon]]. Other writers would take over and the series would run for over a hundred issues, but the Justice League would continue to be defined by its core “magnificent seven” roster, potentially universe-ending threats and keeping its status as DC’s flagship title.

This series served as the primary inspiration for the animated ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', which took a similar approach to restructuring the League for a new generation after the team had been linked for decades to the LighterAndSofter ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}''.

* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} can talk to fish via telepathy. So to compensate for being far away from seawater and ocean life, Aquaman uses his telepathy on the part of a Hyperclan member's brain inherited from his marine ancestors to give him a seizure.

* DeathIsCheap: Lampshaded when Superman sees the only ones attending Metamorpho's funeral are Sapphire Stagg, her and Rex's son Joseph, and Java with the priest pointing out this trope as to the low attendance. To hammer the point home that some people stay dead, statues of Hal Jordan, Barry Allen, Oliver Queen, and Ice were shown and the same issue saw the debut -- and death -- of Tomorrow Woman. History ultimately proved the priest right -- neither Metamorpho nor the other five stayed dead.