Monthly Archives: September 2009

There has been a hardening of international relations over the issue of meta-humans in the DC Universe. It could be argued that this caused by the Black Adam/World War III incident, but it pre-dates that with the Freedom of Power treaty. This goes back to 52 and the One Year Later storylines. The Freedom of Power Treaty was an international agreement between certain countries that limited the scope of foreign superheroes, read American superheroes, to work within their borders. Black Adam’s Kahndaq, North Korea, Myanmar, China, Russia and others signed the accord before Intergang’s attack on Kahndaq. Despite Adam’s fall the Treaty survived and was a plot point in the first One Year Later Green Lantern storyline.

Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman – indeed the Justice League itself – was absent whilst the Treaty was negotiated. So it was in the post-Freedom of Power Treaty political climate that the League reorganised. I would now argue that the Justice League is now more closely aligned with the US Government that ever. During the old Satellite and JLI eras the Justice League was sponsored and recognised by the United Nations. It was never that closely tied to the American government. By contrast its predecessor, the JSA , was actually drafted by the WWII era government into the All-Star Squadron and had very close early collaborations with the FBI. That relationship eventually broke down with the Communist era witch hunts.

The League started taking an interest in the White House during the Lex Luthor Presidency. It was Lex Luthor who tried to tie the League to Washington by using Federal money to fund their activities and it was two Justice Leaguers, Superman and Batman, who were responsible for an effective coup d’état. The League also had two moles inside the Luthor White House (Martian Manhunter and Black Lightning). The next League reformation after Luthor’s removal saw the League’s headquarters move to Washington DC, to the site of the old All-Star Squadron headquarters – the old Government sanctioned/controlled superhero team.

Nationally, this is a massive political signal. The Justice League dethroned one President and has now moved itself threateningly close to the next. Also remember that Supergirl, the cousin of the JLA’s leader, attacked Air-Force One whilst the Amazons, a people ruled by another Leaguer’s mother, were laying siege to Washington. Internationally the ramifications of the Washington/JLA power play is more disturbing. Despite the “of America” in its title, the League had claim to be an independent or UN backed peace keeping force. That can no longer be considered the case. The move to muscle into Washington signs that the League is more “OF AMERICA” than it has ever been and that will make other countries nervous.

The Global Guardians reformed in an attempt to oppose the Freedom of Power Treaty, they wanted to prove that a superhero group that was independent of national control could still work. However, its Checkmate, an organisation primarily of non-metahumans, who has taken over much of what might have traditionally been through of as the Justice League or the Global Guardians’ international duties and has filled the void that was left by the collapse of Justice League International. The death of the Martian Manhunter has removed the Southern Hemisphere’s most prominent hero. Prometheus’s attack on the Freedom Beast and various member of the Global Guardians has further depleted the stock of independent non-American superheroes. Japan’s own national superhero group is defunct with the Rising Sun’s alcoholism, Doctor Light living in Metropolis, and Young Super Team have left for a PR tour of the USA.

This collapse in the independent international superhero community is balanced by the renaissance of local superteams in the countries who signed  the Freedom of Power Treaty – in particular Russia’s Rocket Red Brigade and the launch of China’s The Great Ten. The League’s move to Washington parallels this. We are effectively watching the nationalisation of the superhero. Surprisingly the only group that appears to be running against this trend are the Justice Society. Their close ties to Checkmate and their work against international terrorists like Kobra make them seem far more internationally balanced than other comparable teams.

I don’t really know where this trend will end up or even if it will be acknowledged by the DCU writers. There is a lot of story telling potential there, but nowadays DC seems more interested in interstellar or inter-dimensional stories than international ones.