Justice League of America

The Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics.

First appearing in The Brave and the Bold #28 (February/March 1960), the League originally appeared with a line-up that included Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter. However, the team roster has been rotated throughout the years with characters such as Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Black Canary, Zatanna, Captain Marvel, Plastic Man, the Elongated Man, Red Tornado, other Green Lanterns, and dozens of others. The team received its own comic book title in October 1960, when the first issue was published, and would continue to #261 in April 1987, which was the final issue. Throughout the years, various incarnations or subsections of the team have operated as Justice League America, Justice League Europe, Justice League International, Justice League Task Force, Justice League Elite, and Extreme Justice.

Various comic book series featuring the League have remained generally popular with fans since inception and in most incarnations, its roster includes DC's most popular characters. The League concept has also been adapted into various other entertainment media, including the classic Saturday morning Super Friends animated series (1973–1986), an unproduced Justice League of America live-action series, and most recently animated series Justice League (2001–2004) and Justice League Unlimited (2004–2006). A live-action film was in the works in 2008 before being shelved.

Publication History

Silver and Bronze Age / Justice League of America

Having successfully reintroduced a number of their Golden Age superhero characters (Flash, Green Lantern, etc.) during the late 1950s, DC Comics asked writer Gardner Fox to reintroduce the Justice Society of America. Fox, influenced by the popularity of the National Football League and Major League Baseball, decided to change the name of the team from Justice Society to Justice League.[1] The Justice League of America debuted in The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960), and quickly became one of the company's best-selling titles. Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky were the creative team for the title's first eight years. Sekowsky's last issue was #63 (June 1968) and Fox departed with #65 (September 1968).
The initial Justice League lineup included seven of the DC superheroes being published regularly at that time: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman. However, Superman and Batman barely featured in most of the stories, not even appearing on the cover most of the time. Three of DC's other surviving or revived characters (Green Arrow, Atom, and Hawkman) were added to the roster over the next four years, the latter two having been revamped by Gardner Fox himself. JLA's early success was indirectly responsible for the creation of the Fantastic Four. In his autobiography Stan Lee relates how, during a round of golf, DC publisher Jack Liebowitz mentioned to Marvel-Timely owner Martin Goodman how well DC's new book (Justice League) was selling. Later that day Goodman told Lee to come up with a team of superheroes for Marvel; Lee and Jack Kirby produced the Fantastic Four.
The Justice League operated from a secret cave outside of the small town of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. A teenager named Lucas "Snapper" Carr tagged along on missions, and he became both the team's mascot and an official member. Snapper, noted for speaking in beatnik dialect and snapping his fingers, helped the League to defeat giant space starfish Starro the Conqueror in the team's first appearance. In Justice League of America #77 (December 1969), Snapper was tricked into betraying the cave headquarters' secret location to the Joker, resulting in his resignation from the team. His resignation followed the resignations of two of the League's original members, Wonder Woman (in Justice League of America #69) and J'onn J'onzz (in Justice League of America #71).

Satellite Years

Justice League Satellite

First satellite
When the Justice League of America originally formed, its base of operations was the Secret Sanctuary, inside a cave in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. In Justice League of America # 77, honorary member Snapper Carr betrays the location of the Secret Sanctuary to the Joker. The League subsequently moves its base to a new secure headquarters, an orbiting satellite 22,300 miles above the Earth, in Justice League of America # 78 (February 1970).

The satellite would be the League's home for the next several years. Members are able to teleport to and from the satellite using teleportation centers located across the planet. League members took turns on watch duty, monitoring Earth from the satellite and dispatching the League as needed. This era of the Justice League (and its roster of heroes), is commonly referred to as the "Satellite League".

It is revealed in Identity Crisis that the satellite base was not quite as secure as the Justice League had hoped, as Dr. Light was able to use the satellite's transport system and break into the base. Finding Sue Dibny alone aboard the satellite, he raped her.

The satellite is heavily damaged and rendered effectively inoperable just prior to Aquaman's decision to disband the team in Justice League of America Annual # 2. The League was in a time of transition, not only in its choice of headquarters, but also in its membership. The deepening detachment of members such as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman caused the three charter Justice League members to resign from active duty with the League. At the same time, the Flash left the team to confront his manslaughter trial and investigate the disappearance of his wife. The death of her mother led Black Canary to leave the team and move to Seattle with Green Arrow. Green Lantern had been temporarily expelled from the Green Lantern Corps and resigned from the League as well to sort out his life.

The satellite meets its final and complete destruction during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, when it is destroyed by a self-destructing Red Tornado that had been sabotaged and tampered with by the Anti-Monitor. It is never rebuilt, but the League would return to a spaceborne base of operations in the 1990s when it relocated to the Overmaster's orbiting base known as the Refuge.

Second Satellite
Following the gathering of the new team as seen in Justice League of America (vol.2) # 7 (April 2007), a new satellite is presented as headquarters.

The new satellite is an orbiting Watchtower working together with The Hall, a building located in Washington D.C. paid for by Batman and designed by Wonder Woman and John Stewart. Inside the Hall is an archway-type teleportation system, dubbed 'Slideways' in which a person merely need to walk through the archway to be transported to the League's new orbiting satellite headquarter 22,300 miles above Earth.

Jim Lee was called to design the new headquarters. Writer Brad Meltzer: "On the satellite, he did six different designs; some that resembled the old League satellite, [or] resembled the JLU satellite. We kind of took a little from Column A and B. I saw in one of his other designs, he also had these drones and I loved those, and I said, 'Can we put those on there as well? I really want to take that!'"

The satellite has a Danger Room-like training room nicknamed The Kitchen because "if you can't stand the heat...". Meltzer also explains that, for the first time, the satellite has defensive and offensive weaponry. Despite the defense systems, the Watchtower was damaged by the Sinestro Corps.

Appearance in other media

Super Friends
The JLA Satellite appeared in the Super Friends animated series, although it wasn't shown to be the headquarters of the Justice League. (At least not their regular headquarters, which was the Hall of Justice).

Justice League
In the Justice League animated series, Justice League headquarters is an orbiting satellite, although the headquarters is referred to as the Justice League Watchtower. This animated version of the Watchtower appears in several episodes of Justice League, as well as a two-part crossover episode of Static Shock[1]. The heroes use the Javelin-7 spaceplane to travel to Earth and back, in place of the comic book's transporter. The Watchtower is destroyed in the series finale episode, "Starcrossed", when Earth is attacked by invaders from the planet Thanagar.

Justice League Unlimited
In Justice League Unlimited, a new satellite Watchtower is introduced as a replacement for the original. The rebuilt satellite is substantially larger[citation needed], in order to accommodate the many new members of the expanded League, as well as its many non-superhero personnel. There are now several Javelins, a teleportation system for beaming personnel down to earth, and a powerful energy weapon capable of causing massive damage on Earth.

Smallville
On the online multimedia Smallville parallel story Justice and Doom, John Jones (the Martian Manhunter) used a Swann Communications satellite (a company owned by Dr. Virgil Swann, played by Christopher Reeve) for a base.

The Batman
Batman is introduced to the Justice League in a classic Hall of Justice version of the satellite, which floats above the earth on a massive asteroid. Although it is literally a "Justice League satellite," it hasn't yet been named as such.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC
A JL-operated space station in the game MK vs. DC. It's called the "U.N. Orbital Space Station". It's presumably owned by Bruce Wayne[citation needed].

Batman: The Brave and the Bold
The Satellite appears in a flashback in the episode "Sidekicks Assemble!", with the Justice League holding a meeting inside. The defunct Satellite is reactivated in "Darkseid Descending!", where it is used as the headquarters of the Justice League International.

In need of a new secure headquarters, the Justice League moved into an orbiting satellite headquarters in Justice League of America #78 (February 1970). Black Canary, Elongated Man, Red Tornado, Hawkwoman, Zatanna and Firestorm all joined the team during this period, and Wonder Woman returned. In the first two thirds or so of this era, the team was sometimes said to have a twelve-member limit and/or a "no duplication of powers" policy; this was formally rescinded in Justice League of America #146, allowing Hawkgirl to join.
Those involved in producing the Justice League of America comic during the 1970s include writers Denny O'Neil, Mike Friedrich, Len Wein, Elliot S! Maggin, Cary Bates, E. Nelson Bridwell, and Steve Englehart, with Dick Dillin handling the art chores from issues #64-181, missing only one issue, #153. Writer Gerry Conway had a lengthy association with the title as well. His first JLA story appeared in issue #125 (December 1975) and he became the series' regular writer with issue #151 (February 1978). With a few exceptions, Conway would write the team's adventures until issue #255 (October 1986). After Dick Dillin's death, George Pérez, Don Heck, and Rich Buckler would rotate as artist on the title. Pérez would leave the title as of issue #200 to concentrate on The New Teen Titans although he would contribute covers to the JLA through issue #220 (November 1983).

Detroit

Seeking to capitalize on the popularity of their other team books, which focused upon heroes in their late teens/early 20s, Gerry Conway and artist Chuck Patton revamped the Justice League series. After most of the original heroes failed to arrive in order to help the team fend off an invasion of Martians, Aquaman dissolved the League and reformatted its charter to only allow heroes who would devote their full time to the roster.

The new team consisted of Aquaman, Zatanna, Martian Manhunter, the Elongated Man, the Vixen, and a trio of teenage heroes Gypsy, Steel, and Vibe. Aquaman would leave the team after a year and was replaced as leader by the Martian Manhunter. Because of his own edict of only wanting full-time heroes in the League, Aquaman's estranged wife Mera gave him an ultimatum to stay with either the group or with her to salvage their marriage. Fan response was largely negative and even the return of Batman to the team in Justice League of America #250 could not halt the decline of the series.
The final storyline for the original Justice League of America series (#258-261) by writer J. M. DeMatteis and artist Luke McDonnell, culminated a story-arc involving long-time Justice League enemy Professor Ivo's murders of Vibe and Steel (and the resignations of Vixen, Gypsy, and the Elongated Man) during the events of DC's Legends mini-series, which saw the team disband.

Modern incarnations

Justice League International

The 1986 company-wide crossover Legends featured the formation of a new Justice League. The new team was dubbed "Justice League" then "Justice League International" (JLI) and was given a mandate with less of an American focus. The new series, written by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis with art by Kevin Maguire (and later Adam Hughes), added quirky humor to the team's stories. In this incarnation, the membership consisted partly of heroes from Earths that, prior to their merging in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, were separate. The initial team included Batman, Black Canary, Blue Beetle, Captain Marvel, Doctor Light (a new Japanese female character, emerging from the Crisis of Infinite Earths, not the supervillain who had appeared previously), Doctor Fate, Martian Manhunter, Mister Miracle, and Guy Gardner; and soon after inception, added Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Fire (formerly known as the Global Guardians' Green Flame), Ice (formerly known as the Global Guardians' Ice Maiden), and two Rocket Reds (one was a Manhunter spy, and one was Dimitri Pushkin). The series' humorous tone and high level of characterization proved very popular initially, but writers following Giffen and DeMatteis were unable to maintain the same balance of humor and heroics, resulting in the decline of the series' popularity. New writers gave the storylines a more serious tone. By the mid- to late-1990s, with the series' commercial success fading, it was eventually canceled, along with spinoffs Justice League Europe, Extreme Justice, and Justice League Task Force.

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Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes hear the word, certainly is not foreign to our ears all. These cartoons are being produced in the 1930s and until now still can be said to exist. in this post, we will provide little information about the Looney Tunes to you.

Just, good read.

Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and is WB's first animated theatrical series. The regular Warner Bros. animation cast also became known as the "Looney Tunes" (often misspelled, intentionally or not, as "Looney Toons"). The name Looney Tunes is a variation on Silly Symphonies, the name of Walt Disney's concurrent series of music-based cartoon shorts. Looney Tunes originally showcased Warner-owned musical compositions through the adventures of cartoon characters such as Bosko and Buddy. Later Looney Tunes shorts featured popular characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester, Speedy Gonzales, Tweety, Marvin the Martian, Taz, Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Pepé Le Pew, Gossamer and many others. Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Looney Tunes were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944, and the newly renamed Warner Bros. Cartoons continued production until 1963.

Looney Tunes were outsourced to DePatie-Freleng Enterprises from 1964 to 1967, and Warner Bros. Cartoons re-assumed production for the series' final two years. From 1942 until 1969, Looney Tunes was the most popular short cartoon series in theaters, even exceeding Disney and other popular competitors.Starting in 1960 the cartoons were repackaged into several different TV programs that remained popular for several decades before being purchased by Turner Broadcasting Systems. Turner's Cartoon Network reran cartoons for 12 years, from their start on October 1, 1992 until October 3, 2004. The cartoons were aired on Cartoon Network, then later shifted to sister channel Boomerang, which specializes in "Classic Animation". Gradually, they disappeared from the schedule altogether, including the annual June Bugs showing of all Bugs Bunny shorts in alphabetical order. In November 2009, Cartoon Network brought back reruns of Looney Tunes cartoons, but stopped airing them in early 2010. As of March 14, 2011, Cartoon Network have again started showing the original shorts in the run-up to the new "Looney Tunes Show" that'll air on May 2, 2011. Many of the cartoons are available on DVDs marketed by Time Warner.

The term Looney Tunes is often used as a collective reference to all Warner Bros. animation and characters, and is a registered trademark of Warner Bros.

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ThunderCats

ThunderCats is an American animated television series that was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions (the same that created the SilverHawks, TigerSharks, and The Comic Strip) debuting in 1984, based on the characters created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf. The series, for which Leonard Starr was the head writer, follows the adventures of a group of cat-like humanoid aliens. The animation was provided by Pacific Animation Corporation. Season 1 of the show aired in 1985 (65 episodes), followed by a TV movie entitled ThunderCats - HO! in 1986. Seasons 2, 3, and 4 followed a new format of twenty episodes each, starting with a five-part story.

The series was originally distributed by Rankin-Bass Productions' then-parent company Telepictures Corporation, which would later merge with Lorimar Productions in 1986. In 1989, Lorimar-Telepictures was purchased by and folded into Warner Bros., whose television syndication arm would eventually assume distribution of the show; Warner Bros. have had the rights to the series (and all Lorimar-Telepictures programming) from that point on.

There were also several comic book series produced: Marvel Comics' version (currently owned by Warner Bros. rival Disney), 1984 to 1988; and five series by Wildstorm, an imprint of DC Comics (Warner Bros.' corporate sibling), beginning in 2003. Items of clothing featuring the ThunderCats logo and DVD boxsets of the original series have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years as nostalgia for the former children's favorite has grown.

It was announced on June 5, 2007, that Aurelio Jaro is making a CGI-animated feature film of ThunderCats, based on a script written by Paul Sopocy. In October 2007, Variety magazine revealed that Jerry O'Flaherty, veteran video game art director, had signed on to direct. The film is being produced by Spring Creek Productions. It was originally set for a summer 2010 release, but it has since been reported that the movie is on hold. Concept art for the film has also been leaked online.

In June 2010, a press release revealed that a new animated series by Warner Bros. Animation was in production for Cartoon Network with animation provided by Studio 4°C.

Plot

ThunderCats follows the adventures of the eponymous team of heroes, cat-like humanoid aliens from a planet called Thundera. The series pilot begins with the dying planet Thundera meeting its end, forcing the ThunderCats (a sort of Thunderean nobility) to flee their homeworld. The fleet is attacked by the Thundereans' enemies, the Mutants of Plun-Darr, who destroy most of the starships in the "ThunderFleet," but spare the flagship hoping to capture the legendary mystic Sword of Omens they believe is on board. The sword holds the Eye of Thundera, the source of the ThunderCats' power, which is embedded in the hilt. Though the Mutants damage the flagship, the power of the Eye drives them back. The damage to the ship means the journey to their original destination is not possible, instead having to journey to "Third Earth"; which will take much longer than they had anticipated. The eldest of the ThunderCats, Jaga, volunteers to pilot the ship while the others sleep in capsules; however, he dies of old age in the process, but not before ensuring they will reach their destination safely. The flagship contains the young Lord of the ThunderCats, Lion-O, as well as the ThunderCats Cheetara, Panthro, Tygra, WilyKit and WilyKat, and Snarf.

When the ThunderCats awake from their suspended animation on Third Earth, Lion-O discovers that his suspension capsule has slowed, rather than stopped, his aging, and he is now a child in the body of an adult. Together, the ThunderCats and the friendly natives of Third Earth construct the "Cat's Lair," their new home and headquarters, but before long, the Mutants have tracked them down to Third Earth. The intrusion of these two alien races upon the world does not go unnoticed, however - a demonic, mummified sorcerer calling himself Mumm-Ra recruits the Mutants to aid him in his campaign to acquire the Eye of Thundera and destroy the ThunderCats so that his evil may continue to hold sway over Third Earth.

According to the first chapter of Wildstorm’s comic ThunderCats Origins: Heroes and Villains, the Third Earth is actually our Earth in the future; the present day is "First Earth." Mumm-Ra originates from ancient Egypt, where he first enslaved himself to the Ancient Spirits of Evil in exchange for his tremendous powers and knowledge of the Universe. He is – seemingly – the one responsible for destroying the human race, after he broke free from the onyx pyramid’s burial chamber, inside which a Pharaoh's son had imprisoned him.

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Perman

Perman (パーマン, Pāman?), by Fujiko Fujio, is a Japanese manga and anime about a clumsy boy, Mitsuo Suwa, who is chosen as an apprentice of Superman. The name "Perman" is based on "Superman" without the "Su". However, due to copyright concerns, the name of Mitsuo's boss was later changed from "Superman" to "Birdman".

The first series was serialized in Shōnen Sunday and other magazines from 1967 to 1968, and the second was serialized in CoroCoro Comic from 1983 to 1986. The first anime series was first produced in black and white in 1967. It was remade in color in 1983 and films were released in 1983, 1984, 1985, 2003 and 2004 along with Doraemon films.

Story

Superman (later "Birdman") gives a clumsy human boy, Mitsuo Suwa, four items to help him as Perman, Superman/Birdman's apprentice:

    * A helmet which multiplies the wearer's physical strength by 6600,
    * A cape that allows the wearer to fly at a speed of 119 km/h,
    * A badge which enables the wearer to communicate with other Perman and to breathe underwater,
    * Night vision to see objects in dark.

In addition, he gives him a copy-robot which transforms into an identical clone to help him keep his secret identity during missions. However, if his secret identity becomes known to others, his brain will be destroyed for betraying the secret of Perman. This penalty is reduced to being turned into an animal in later chapters and in the anime.

Mitsuo begins by rescuing people who are victims of crimes or disasters, so as Perman he is admired. He is, however, often troubled by his dual life as a both brilliant superhero and as an unrewarded ordinary boy. He wishes to abandon his role as Perman, but he continues to be Perman out of a desire to help people caught in disasters.

Soon, he meets other Permen and teams with them. The other Permen are:

    * Perman 2: A monkey named Booby
    * Perman 3: A girl named Pako/Sumire Hosino/Sumire-chan
    * Perman 4: A boy named Payan
    * Perman 5: A baby boy named Kōichi

In the end of the original story, he achieves the status of Superman and leaves to a planet for Supermen to become a superhero. He returns shortly later. In the TV series, he stays on earth his whole life.

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