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41-630: The low sales of the various Justice League spin-off books by the mid-1990s prompted DC to revamp the League as a single team (all the various branch teams were disbanded) on a single title. A Justice League of America formed in the September 1996 limited series Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare by Mark Waid and Fabian Nicieza . In 1997, DC Comics launched a new Justice League series titled JLA , written by Grant Morrison with art by Howard Porter and inker John Dell. Morrison stayed as writer for

82-402: A comic book series with a clear beginning, middle and end". Dark Horse Comics and DC Comics refer to limited series of two to eleven issues as miniseries and series of twelve issues or more as maxiseries, but other publishers alternate terms. A limited series can "vary widely in length, but often run from three to ten issues. They can usually be distinguished from ongoing series by having both

123-620: A founding member. One of the major plot threads — the breakdown of relationships within the Justice League of America — is examined in the storyline "Crisis of Conscience" in JLA #115-119 (August–December 2005). The mini-series is followed by the crossover event Infinite Crisis . Following the death of Elongated Man 's wife Sue Dibny , the superhero community rallies to find the murderer, with recurring villain Doctor Light being

164-458: A jerk, a victim or a pariah". Wilson also stated that the series was "a destructive comic", as it had a negative influence on subsequent comics, such as Marvel's 2006-2007 miniseries Civil War , which similarly depicted heroes in what Wilson thought was a questionable light. Greg Burgas of Comic Book Resources called the miniseries a "work of staggering genius". Burgas felt that the first six issues were interesting and bore great potential, but

205-513: A large number of miniseries and one-shots featuring the team were released. One spin-off team, the Justice League Elite was created following the events of JLA #100, but their miniseries was limited to 12 issues, and the team appeared only once after the miniseries ended its run. JLA' s popularity was also able to launch the critically acclaimed JSA series, which was relaunched as Justice Society of America to coincide with

246-599: A single creative team, but in cases where there are changes, it is usually the writer who remains constant throughout the run, while the artist(s) may change. The number of issues is usually determined by some combination of the writer's plotting and editorial mandate. In 1979, in the process of recovering from the DC Implosion , publisher DC Comics experimented with a new format in the World of Krypton "miniseries", as DC termed such short-run works. The new format allowed

287-437: A story intended to comment on the nature of heroism, Meltzer and DC did profound damage with their treatment of those characters, whose behavior in the story was decidedly not heroic. Dominic Organ, writing for Comics Bulletin , was critical of the series' artwork, stating it was "incredibly spotty in places", inconsistent and "at times it is downright ugly". Organ, however, was impressed with some of Morales work, in particular

328-446: Is finite and determined before production, and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues. The term is often used interchangeably with miniseries ( mini-series ) and maxiseries ( maxi-series ), usually depending on the length and number of issues. In Dark Horse Comics ' definition of a limited series, "this term primarily applies to a connected series of individual comic books. A limited series refers to

369-414: Is the killer. Loring claims she did not mean to kill Sue, and it was not her intention for Jack Drake to be killed, arguing that she sent the note and gun so he could protect himself. Loring states that she undertook the plan to bring Ray back into her life. Realizing that Loring is insane, he has her committed to Arkham Asylum before being wracked by guilt over his former wife's actions then disappeared. In

410-655: Is unable to describe her attacker. During the interrogation, Shadow Thief kills Firestorm ( Ronnie Raymond ) with Shining Knight 's sword. Meanwhile, the Calculator hires Captain Boomerang to assassinate Jack Drake , Tim Drake 's father, who kills him before dying. Wally West questions Green Arrow again after accidentally seeing a snapshot of the battle on the Satellite in Light's mind, which reveals that Batman

451-812: The Huntress , Barbara Gordon (the Oracle), Steel (John Henry Irons) , and Plastic Man . They also had Aztek , the Tomorrow Woman , and the Green Arrow (Connor Hawke) as temporaries. Under Morrison, the series pitted the League against a variety of enemies including the White Martians, renegade angels, a new incarnation of the Injustice Gang led by Lex Luthor , and the Key . Other foes were

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492-559: The Justice Society , reveals that she was killed by an infarction in her brain caused by an unidentified microscopic person. Batman, Mid-Nite, and Terrific realize that Sue was murdered by someone who has access to Ray Palmer's technology, which as the Atom, he uses to shrink himself to subatomic size. Almost simultaneously, Palmer learns that Jean is aware of the note sent to Jack Drake (which had been kept secret) and realizes she

533-544: The Legion of Super-Heroes , and the Green Lantern Corps . With the success of the miniseries format, DC followed by experimenting with longer stories and concepts outside their universe of superheroes. Debuting in 1982, Camelot 3000 was the first limited series to run to 12 issues. DC coined the term "maxiseries" as a promotional description for this. It did not take long for other publishers to begin using

574-429: The review aggregator website Comic Book Roundup, the lowest issue score going to #7, with 5.3, and the highest going to #1, with 8.7. Chris Sims of ComicsAlliance called the series "the comic that ruined comics". Sims' colleague, Matt D. Wilson, did not concur with that exact assessment, but felt that the miniseries did a disservice to its protagonists: "Virtually every hero comes out of Identity Crisis looking like

615-681: The Crisis, it fell on the Oracle and the Martian Manhunter to contact and deputize seemingly every active or once active hero in the DC Universe as Justice League members, effective immediately, to form a last line of defense for the city. The new approach worked, and JLA quickly became DC's best-selling title, a position it enjoyed on and off for several years, as reflected in the following advance sales figures for months in which JLA

656-629: The Flash ( Wally West ), Green Lantern ( Kyle Rayner ), and the Martian Manhunter. Additionally, the team received a new headquarters, the " Watchtower ", based on the Moon . JLA quickly became DC's best-selling title, a position it enjoyed on and off for several years. Morrison introduced the idea of the JLA allegorically representing a pantheon of gods, with their different powers and personalities, incorporating such characters as Zauriel , Big Barda , Orion ,

697-567: The League's comic book, however. Morrison departed with issue #41, after which the book saw runs by Mark Waid and Joe Kelly . Subsequent to this, the series switched to a series of rotating writers with issue #91 while Kelly (via JLA #100) was given the miniseries Justice League Elite #1-12, which featured the Green Arrow, the Flash, and several other characters. The new format saw stories by John Byrne , Chuck Austen , and Kurt Busiek . Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg would take over

738-522: The book with #115, which saw a multi-part storyline dealing with the aftermath of Identity Crisis , and served as a lead-in to the events of " Infinite Crisis ", as Superboy-Prime destroyed the Watchtower at the end of issue #119. Bob Harras wrote the book's final storyline ( JLA #120–125) as the Green Arrow struggled in vain to keep the League afloat. Despite all of this, DC did not create continuing spin-off series as it had done before. Instead,

779-457: The company to tell stories that may not have fit into an ongoing series and to showcase characters in a short story without the risk and obligations of an ongoing monthly. In 1980, DC followed World of Krypton with the three-issue series The Untold Legend of the Batman , by Len Wein , John Byrne , and Jim Aparo . DC produced three more limited series in 1981, featuring another Krypton series,

820-699: The conclusion of the Infinite Crisis storyline, ended with issue #125. As depicted in the Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special and the final issue of Infinite Crisis itself, preparations for the defense of Metropolis against an army of organized supervillains required a brief and temporary expansion of the Justice League to its largest roster to date. The main defensive teams of the JLA, JSA, Teen Titans and Outsiders already being occupied elsewhere by

861-520: The continuity changes introduced by Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! , as heroine Wonder Woman was retconned out of the pre-Crisis JLA. In all further references to the JLA's pre-Crisis adventures, including its origin story and the Secret Society incident, Wonder Woman is replaced by Black Canary . Following Infinite Crisis , however, Wonder Woman is restored as

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902-405: The current issue number and total issue number on the cover and/or in the indicia ". The limited series has a single story to tell. It follows the standard plot set-up of beginning, middle and end. Usually, all plot points are covered by the end of the series. There have been limited series done in an anthology format, but only a few of these have been produced. Limited series are often done by

943-464: The enraged spirit of the Earth itself. In addition, because almost all of the members had their own comics, the stories were almost always self-contained, with all chapters occurring within JLA itself and very rarely affecting events outside of that series. Developments from a hero's own title (such as the new costume and electric-based powers temporarily adopted by Superman in 1997–1998) were reflected in

984-489: The events in question at some point afterwards, which explains his paranoia against both heroes and villains that led him to create the Brother MK I satellite to monitor superhumans, which is an important factor in the 2005–2006 crossover storyline Infinite Crisis . It is revealed in that storyline that the Justice League's mind manipulation, Jean Loring's turn to villainy, and Sue Dibny's rape by Dr. Light were three of

1025-437: The final scene with the Justice League, Wally West is awkward in the presence of Batman, who is suspicious of his behavior. The ramifications of Identity Crisis are depicted in the title Flash , as his Rogues Gallery villains band together at the funeral of Boomerang; the one-shot Countdown to Infinite Crisis , as well as one of its tie-ins, The OMAC Project ; and the title JLA , which reveals that Batman remembered

1066-470: The focus of the stories changed. The League now dealt only with Earth-shattering, highest-priority threats which could challenge their tremendous combined power. Enemies faced by this new JLA included an invading army of aliens, a malfunctioning war machine from the future, a horde of renegade angels, a newly reformed coalition of villains as a counter-league, mercenaries armed with individualized take-down strategies for each superhero, various cosmic threats, and

1107-542: The idea of a major event affecting the Marvel Universe; crossovers were introduced in limited series form before the concept of multi-title crossovers was even conceived. This would be taken further with the 12-issue Secret Wars saga in 1984 and by DC's saga Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985-1986. Identity Crisis (DC Comics) Identity Crisis is a seven-issue comic book limited series published by DC Comics from June to December in 2004. It

1148-624: The limited series format. In 1982, Marvel Comics published its first limited series, Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions , followed shortly thereafter by miniseries' featuring the X-Men 's Wolverine and the Avengers ' Hercules , and then The Vision and the Scarlet Witch . At first, Marvel used the limited series format to feature popular characters from team titles and put them in solo adventures. Contest of Champions brought forth

1189-540: The many indirect changes effected by Alexander Luthor Jr. and Superboy-Prime when they caused overlaps of parallel timelines ( Hypertime ) from their pocket universe since after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths . The miniseries was selected by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)'s 2007 recommended list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens. The overall crossover holds an average score of 7.3 out of 10 at

1230-433: The mercenary Deathstroke to protect him. During the ensuing battle, Light regains his memory and escapes. Although questioned by Superman, Wally West continues to protect the heroes and their secrets, but Superman has learned them after eavesdropping on the conversations between him and Green Arrow. Atom finds his estranged ex-wife Jean Loring hanging from a door, blindfolded and gagged, and revives her just in time, but she

1271-514: The new Justice League of America book. In 2005, a story arc by Geoff Johns and Alan Heinberg called "Crisis of Conscience" ( JLA #115–119) depicted the dissolution of the Justice League of America as the breakdown of trust shown in the 2004 limited series Identity Crisis reached its zenith. At the end of the arc, Superboy-Prime destroyed the Justice League Watchtower . JLA , one of several titles to be cancelled at

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1312-687: The new villain Prometheus , the existing JLA villain Starro the Conqueror , "the Ultra-Marines", and a futuristic Darkseid . Morrison's run culminated in an arc titled "World War III", which involves the New Gods preparing the Earth for battle against a creature known as "Mageddon", a super-sentient weapon of mass destruction. Since this new League included most of DC's most powerful heroes,

1353-458: The panel of Batman racing back to Tim's apartment, which prompted Organ to note: "The fear is palpable and all over Batman's face, a single panel that will stick with me for some time I am sure". Organ also praised the story, claiming that the stand-out was "the human tragedy of it all". In 2009, ComicsAlliance named it one of the 15 Worst Comics of the Decade, stating it was "the embodiment of all

1394-902: The prime suspect. Green Arrow reveals to the Flash ( Wally West ) and Green Lantern ( Kyle Rayner ) that Light previously raped Sue, with Zatanna wiping his memories in response. Further discussion reveals that a mind wipe was also done on at least one other occasion to prevent the Secret Society of Super Villains (the Wizard , Floronic Man , Star Sapphire , Reverse-Flash , and Blockbuster ) from retaining their knowledge of League members Superman , Batman , Flash, Green Lantern ( Hal Jordan ), Zatanna, and Black Canary. Green Arrow's words also imply that they have done this on other occasions when their secret identities were threatened by magic or other means. The heroes locate Light, who has hired

1435-480: The series through issue #41, though several issues had fill-in writers. JLA #18-#21 and #33 were written by Mark Waid . Mark Millar , Devin Grayson and Mark Waid, and J.M. DeMatteis wrote issues #27, 32 and 35, respectively. This series, in an attempt at a "back-to-basics" approach, used as its core the team's original and most famous seven members (or their successors): Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman,

1476-423: The story was not a good murder mystery, as it was ruined by the abrupt revelation of Jean Loring's guilt, which did not naturally follow the establishing of any evidence pointing to her throughout the course of the story, and that both her motive and the aftermath of her confession were implausible. Burgas also felt that Sue Dibny's rape was cheapened by the fact that Meltzer used it not to deal with how Sue dealt with

1517-400: The trauma, but how it affected her mostly male friends. Burgas also questioned Meltzer's stated motive of using the mindwipe to addressing the "goofiness" with which Dr. Light behaved in the comics that Meltzer read as a child, as Burgas felt that children's literature is often intended to convey such a tone, and does not require updating. Burgas also felt that by using established superheroes in

1558-556: The worst aspects of current super-hero comics". DC Comics reprinted the Identity Crisis mini-series in April 2005 with recolored covers. A hardcover collection ( ISBN   1-4012-0688-3 ) was printed in September 2005, with bonus features including a commentary by Meltzer and Morales; the creative team citing favorite moments, and a look at Morales' sketchbook . A paperback collection ( ISBN   1-4012-0458-9 )

1599-463: Was DC's best-selling title: JLA was collected in a series of trade paperbacks : There is also a Deluxe Edition series: Limited series (comics) In the field of comic books , and particularly in the United States , a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues

1640-539: Was also present. Green Arrow confesses that Batman had left immediately after the battle, but unexpectedly returned just as the mind wipe was taking place. He disapproved of this and nearly attacked the other heroes; he was magically restrained and his memory of the incident was repressed. Batman locates the Calculator's hideout, but discovers the villain anticipated this and abandoned it. The autopsy of Sue Dibny's body by Doctor Mid-Nite and Mister Terrific , members of

1681-536: Was created by writer Brad Meltzer and the artistic team of penciler Rags Morales and inker Michael Bair . One of DC's top-selling series, the first issue was released in June 2004 and was ranked first in comic book sales for that period with pre-order sales of 163,111. The second issue saw a decline in sales and ranked third in comic book sales in July period with pre-order sales of 129,852. The story also adheres to

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