We love superhero fights. We love em' to death. Take two of your favorite superheroes and let them just tear each other apart. While most iconic comic book scuffles like "Civil War" and the Batman/Superman fight in "The Dark Knight Strikes Again" spur out of some argument over the ethics of crime fighting, modern day superhero fights could be as plain and simple as "Hey, I don't know you! Let's fight". To remedy this I wanted to pitch a "What If" scenario that could combine a catchy name with a power-house group of characters. So let me ask you guys this: What If The Justice League had a Civil War?
I've had this idea for a long time. I always figured if Marvel Comics could highlight the importance of responsibility with their characters, what would be DC Comic's equivalent? What concept is worth fighting over? Murder. You don't think about it often, but The X-Men, The Avengers, and The Guardians of The Galaxy all kill bad-guys on occasion. Some of them like to (Drax), but others do it as a last resort (Captain America). But DC Comics is very different. In the DCU the subject of murder isn't grey, it's black and white. Some characters kill. Some characters don't. And I'm amazed DC has never tried to bring this social conflict to the forefront. The subject of murdering criminals could be a division point for the superhero community. But what would spark such anger? What event could hit the hearts of our heroes? The Death of Superman. Yes, what I'm pitching here is an alternate version of the iconic Superman event in which Doomsday "kills" Superman. With some big changes.
First of all: Superman actually dies. No healing coma. Superman would try to prevent infighting as much as possible and-you know, because he's Superman-everyone would be effected by his death. Second, Doomsday was unleashed by Lex Luthor in this version. I also skimmed through all members of the Justice League up to 1992 (the time the story was written) and picked a good collection of characters to include. After Doomsday and Superman kill each other, Batman would use his investigative mind to find and beat the crap out of Lex Luthor. But before Batman could arrest Luthor for orchestrating the death of Superman, "snap". Wonder Woman kills Luthor barehanded. The two argue over her actions and we see what this war will be fought over. Wonder Woman believes if The Justice League were open to killing criminals Superman wouldn't be dead. Batman believes they should honor Superman by upholding his morals about murder. Civil War!
As you can see I put together a display of which members each League would include. Batman's League or "The Defenders of The S" includes The Flash/Wally West, The Green Lantern/Guy Gardner, Green Arrow, Black Canary, The Elongated Man, Vibe, Gypsy, The Martian Manhunter, The Atom/Ray Palmer, Shazam, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle/Ted Kord, and Steel as Batman's second-in-command. Wonder Woman's League or "The Avengers of The S" includes Aquaman, The Green Lantern/Hal Jordan, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Zatanna, Doctor Fate, Firestorm, Red Tornado, Captain Atom, Vixen, Fire, Ice, and Maxima as Wonder Woman's second-in-command. I selected these teams based on who would agree with Batman and/or Wonder Woman's methods, for the second-in-command members I selected characters Batman and Wonder Woman would see reflections of Superman in. Steel is an engineer-turned-superhero who was inspired by Superman, and Maxima is an alien who fell in love with Superman. I don't know how Lois Lane, Jimmy Olson, or Supergirl could fit into the story quite yet, but these two Leagues would have constant conflict over the appearances of Superman villains. Parasite, Metallo, and General Zod could all appear to test the two Leagues. Cyborg Superman could reveal himself and throw both Leagues for a loop. But the main element would be watching two groups-longtime friends-fighting over what should have been done. Watching people across the world support the "S With Bat Wings" or "The S With Bird Wings". Seeing how supporting characters and even villains react to a war between heroes.
As the story would go on you'd see more and more heroes flake out of their respective groups until it's only Batman and Wonder Woman at odds once again. And maybe it's a cop-out ending, but have Batman win. Not because he's Batman, not because he's right, but because Wonder Woman is Wonder Woman. Her people-The Amazons-are warriors by nature, but guardians at heart. Have her realize the errors of her ways, submit to the ideals of Superman and Batman. She and her side will face judgement, lives were still taken. But these are heroes, they must take responsibility for their actions, choices, and mistakes. Batman is no more satisfied than he was before, but now he knows the fight is over. And fighting the people he sees as his friends was the hardest battle he'd ever fought. Though some Leaguers are banished, arrested, or missing, Batman can still visit Wonder Woman in prison. And it is there they look over the files and proclaim "We need to build a better League".
Thanks for reading!
First of all: Superman actually dies. No healing coma. Superman would try to prevent infighting as much as possible and-you know, because he's Superman-everyone would be effected by his death. Second, Doomsday was unleashed by Lex Luthor in this version. I also skimmed through all members of the Justice League up to 1992 (the time the story was written) and picked a good collection of characters to include. After Doomsday and Superman kill each other, Batman would use his investigative mind to find and beat the crap out of Lex Luthor. But before Batman could arrest Luthor for orchestrating the death of Superman, "snap". Wonder Woman kills Luthor barehanded. The two argue over her actions and we see what this war will be fought over. Wonder Woman believes if The Justice League were open to killing criminals Superman wouldn't be dead. Batman believes they should honor Superman by upholding his morals about murder. Civil War!
As you can see I put together a display of which members each League would include. Batman's League or "The Defenders of The S" includes The Flash/Wally West, The Green Lantern/Guy Gardner, Green Arrow, Black Canary, The Elongated Man, Vibe, Gypsy, The Martian Manhunter, The Atom/Ray Palmer, Shazam, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle/Ted Kord, and Steel as Batman's second-in-command. Wonder Woman's League or "The Avengers of The S" includes Aquaman, The Green Lantern/Hal Jordan, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Zatanna, Doctor Fate, Firestorm, Red Tornado, Captain Atom, Vixen, Fire, Ice, and Maxima as Wonder Woman's second-in-command. I selected these teams based on who would agree with Batman and/or Wonder Woman's methods, for the second-in-command members I selected characters Batman and Wonder Woman would see reflections of Superman in. Steel is an engineer-turned-superhero who was inspired by Superman, and Maxima is an alien who fell in love with Superman. I don't know how Lois Lane, Jimmy Olson, or Supergirl could fit into the story quite yet, but these two Leagues would have constant conflict over the appearances of Superman villains. Parasite, Metallo, and General Zod could all appear to test the two Leagues. Cyborg Superman could reveal himself and throw both Leagues for a loop. But the main element would be watching two groups-longtime friends-fighting over what should have been done. Watching people across the world support the "S With Bat Wings" or "The S With Bird Wings". Seeing how supporting characters and even villains react to a war between heroes.
As the story would go on you'd see more and more heroes flake out of their respective groups until it's only Batman and Wonder Woman at odds once again. And maybe it's a cop-out ending, but have Batman win. Not because he's Batman, not because he's right, but because Wonder Woman is Wonder Woman. Her people-The Amazons-are warriors by nature, but guardians at heart. Have her realize the errors of her ways, submit to the ideals of Superman and Batman. She and her side will face judgement, lives were still taken. But these are heroes, they must take responsibility for their actions, choices, and mistakes. Batman is no more satisfied than he was before, but now he knows the fight is over. And fighting the people he sees as his friends was the hardest battle he'd ever fought. Though some Leaguers are banished, arrested, or missing, Batman can still visit Wonder Woman in prison. And it is there they look over the files and proclaim "We need to build a better League".
Thanks for reading!
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