Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
Character name	Zatanna
Converted	y
Publisher	DC Comics/Vertigo
Debut	''Hawkman'' vol. 1 #4 (October–November, 1964)
Creators	Gardner FoxMurphy Anderson
Real name	Zatanna Zatara
Species	''Homo magi''
Homeworld
Alliances	Seven Soldiers of VictoryJustice LeagueSentinels of Magic
Aliases	Primak
Supports
Powers	Skilled and powerful user of magic
Cat	super
Subcat	DC Comics
Hero	y
Sortkey	Zatanna }}

Zatanna Zatara is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Murphy Anderson, Zatanna first appeared in ''Hawkman'' vol. 1 #4 (October–November 1964). The character, both a stage magician and a real magician like her father Giovanni Zatara, is known for her involvement with the Justice League, her retconned childhood association with Batman, and her crossing of the Vertigo line with characters such as romantic partner John Constantine and protegé Timothy Hunter.

Fictional character biography

Zatanna is the daughter of magician Giovanni Zatara (who appeared in Golden Age comic books) and Sindella, a member of the mystical “''Homo magi''” race. Her younger cousin, the teenager Zachary Zatara, is also a magician in the DCU.

The Vertigo series ''Madame Xanadu'' also has Zatanna's father as homo magi, and a descendant of Leonardo da Vinci. Zatara notes he met the Phantom Stranger as a child, and the Stranger gave him da Vinci's notebooks, written backwards. In time Zatara used this to focus his powers.

Zatanna makes her living as a stage illusionist prior to discovering her magical abilities while investigating the disappearance of her father. Zatanna's search for her father was the subject of a storyline which was featured in several titles edited by Julius Schwartz and in it, Zatanna interacts with Batman and Robin (in disguise as a witch and under the control of the villain The Outsider), Hawkman and Hawkwoman (''Hawkman'' Vol. 1, #4, Nov. 1964), the Atom (''The Atom''#19, May 1965), Green Lantern (''Green Lantern''Vol. 2, #42, Jan. 1966) and Elongated Man (''Detective Comics'' #355, Sept. 1966). The series culminated in ''Justice League of America'' #51 (Feb. 1967). This Justice League adventure took place during the Batman television craze where Batman was featured prominently on the cover. The premise that the witch in ''Detective'' #336 was Zatanna was perceived by many fans at the time as an attempt to get Batman participating in this issue of ''Justice League of America'' no matter how vague the connection to Zatanna's quest was.

Zatanna assists the Justice League of America on a number of cases before being elected to membership in ''Justice League of America'' #161 (Dec. 1978). During her tenure with the group, her power level diminishes, so that she can only control the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water; this limitation is reversed in ''World's Finest Comics'' #277 (Mar. 1982).

In the 1993 limited series ''Zatanna: Come Together'', Zatanna worries about her lack of focus in using magic. She decides that her father's style of magic is wrong for her, and explores her mother's mystical heritage. This has since been ignored by most writers.

In the 2004 limited series ''Identity Crisis'', Zatanna is a member of the Justice League at the time the villain Dr. Light brutally attacks and rapes the Elongated Man's wife, Sue Dibny. When apprehended, he threatens the JLA members' families. Although Zatanna is prepared to erase Light's memories of the incident (as she had done to other villains with dangerous knowledge to the League), tampering with Light's mind sparks a debate among the League members: should the villain's personality be transformed in order to prevent him from repeating his crime? Zatanna, Hawkman, and The Atom (Ray Palmer) vote for such action, while Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) vote against. The Flash (Barry Allen) breaks the tie. Zatanna mind-wipes Light, and the process results in his intellectual abilities being lowered. In the midst of the process, Batman appears and tries to stop it. Zatanna freezes him, and the members vote unanimously to erase Batman's memories of the incident as well.

Her working relationship to Batman sours after he discovers the alteration to his memory. When Zatanna helps Batman with reconnaissance at one of Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus Pits, she asks him why he came to her. "''I needed someone I could trust,''" Batman says. "''But I had to settle for you.''" However, after ''Infinite Crisis'', their relationship appears to have warmed; in ''Detective Comics'' #824 he calls her for information on a card-counter involved in scamming the Penguin. He makes no mention of their conflict, and casually calls her by her nickname, "Zee".

After departing from the League, Zatanna continues to appear on stage and to defend against mystical threats, joining the Sentinels of Magic.

Catwoman discovers that Zatanna's mind-wipe of Dr. Light in ''Identity Crisis'' is not an isolated occurrence; Catwoman's journey from villain to hero and her resulting efforts to lead a moral life are retconned as being the result of Zatanna's mental intervention. Catwoman comes to distrust her memories, motives, and the choices she has made since that incident. In retaliation, Catwoman covers Zatanna's mouth with a piece of duct tape and shoves her out a window.

A 2005 four-issue ''Zatanna'' limited series was published as part of Grant Morrison's ''Seven Soldiers of Victory'' event. In it, at a support group for superheroes, she recounts a failed magical ritual to search for her father's tomes, during which one of her past spells summons a shapeshifter named Gwydion, who kills her companions. This trauma, combined with her guilt from her former mind-wipes, robs her of her powers. With the help of her new apprentice, Misty Kilgore, she captures Gwydion to use as her own. She eventually regains her confidence and powers, and uses them to defeat Zor, a rogue Time Tailor who released the Sheeda as a plague to infect and degrade the entire universe. As a reward, the other Time Tailors allow her one last meeting with her father, who reveals that his books were written in her, his "''greatest spell and gift to the world.''" In the final battle against the Sheeda, Zatanna casts a spell to move time and space, retroactively positioning the Seven Soldiers to overthrow the Sheeda.

In ''Detective Comics'' #833 (August 2007), it is stated that Zatanna's father was a friend of Thomas Wayne. Zatara trained Bruce Wayne in the art of escape; and Bruce and Zatanna were childhood friends (although Batman believes that he has never met in her ''Justice League of America'' #51, and her only memory of meeting him is while she was disguised). Bruce helps Zatanna investigate the death of one of her former assistants; all clues point to a performer named Ivar Loxias. However, Loxias is revealed to be the Joker in disguise; he shoots Zatanna in the throat and incapacitates Batman. Zatanna is able to heal herself by writing a curing spell in her own blood, and she is instrumental in foiling the Joker's scheme. Bruce puts Zatanna's betrayal behind him, allowing the two to renew their friendship.

Zatanna, along with Phantom Stranger helps Superman defeat creatures of darkness sent by Arion, the magician.

Zatanna helps Catwoman, to whom she owes a favor, mind-wiping Angle Man and Film Freak, who had been subdued by Selina after the two discovered her secret identity and threatened her child.

Following the flooding of Earth-26, the Zoo Crew and other humanoid animal refugees escape, transformed into their animal counterparts and unable to speak, even though they retain their human-level intelligence. Zatanna encounters the group and takes Captain Carrot as a pet for use in her magic act, unaware of his true identity (''Captain Carrot and the Final Ark'' #3, February 2008). The Crew has their anthropomorphic forms and powers restored in ''Final Crisis'' #7 by Nix Uotan.

On the "Roll Call" of ''Justice League of America'' #22, Zatanna is listed as a part of the team. Called upon to help with Red Tornado's restoration in his android form, she aids the League when they are attacked by a new, powerful iteration of Amazo. During the battle, Zatanna has her mouth magically removed, and once again uses her blood to write out spells and restore it. However, she is silenced again after Amazo uses his power ring to create a gag for her mouth, rendering her useless for much of the fight. After Wonder Woman throws off Amazo's concentration and causes the gag to vanish, Zatanna defeats Amazo once and for all by using Red Tornado's soul. Following this battle, Zatanna rejoins the team.

Shortly before the mysterious disappearance of Batman and the ''Final Crisis'' events Zatanna is stalked and targeted by Hush, wanting to get his vengeance over Bruce Wayne using the people he loves most: Zatanna herself and Selina Kyle. Zatanna escapes Hush's wrath, and is able to provide help and relief to the wounded Catwoman.

In the ''Reign in Hell'' storyline, Blue Devil comes to her to seek assistance in reaching Hell. Both convene in recruiting Sargon the Sorcerer; Zatanna's motives to venture into the realm include helping the soul of her father, locked in the Gull, Hell's commercial province as a spy for the resistance. However, Lobo kills the soul of Zatara, making his retrieval impossible. Rather than allow himself to be rendered for the bricks and mortar of Hell, Zatara begs her to send him to the Abyss (soul death), the worst fate aside from rendering. Seeking revenge from Lobo for being forced to kill her father, she goes over her head and ultimately Sargon sacrifices himself to Lobo's mercy to allow all other heroes and anti-heroes to escape Hell altogether; Zatanna is left badly shaken from the whole ordeal.

Zatanna later accompanies Firestorm, Black Lightning, and Batman to Metropolis after they come to believe Kimiyo Hoshi has been kidnapped by agents of the covert metahuman team known as the Shadow Cabinet. After a brief conflict, Zatanna and the others are informed by teenaged superheroine Rocket that Kimiyo's perceived abduction was actually a misunderstanding caused by the Shadow Cabinet's mission to seek out her help in dealing with the cosmic vampire known as Starbreaker. With assistance from Hardware and Icon, Zatanna and her comrades are able to defeat Starbreaker in a massive battle in the Himalayas.

In ''Gotham City Sirens'' Zatanna is visited and violently restrained by Poison Ivy, who interacts via a tree and asks her if her encounter with Catwoman changed Selina in any way.

Zatanna takes a leave of absence from the JLA, only to reappear during a battle with Despero. Once Despero is defeated, Zatanna informs the League of the apocalyptic events of the ''Blackest Night'' taking place across the globe. After taking the team to the Hall of Justice to find Firestorm, she is forced to fight the undead form of her father, continually pitting the black magic he wields against her own; it is implied she was successful in banishing the Black Lantern, but was left psychologically crushed from having to kill her father again (in a fashion). In the aftermath of Blackest Night, Kimiyo mentions that Zatanna is one of the members who has left the team.

In May 2010 Zatanna began starring in her own solo series, written by Paul Dini and with art from Stephane Roux (Dini has noted the uncanny resemblance of his own wife Misty Lee, a top-hatted magician and improvisationalist, to Zatanna). Now no longer an active member of the JLA, Zatanna is asked by officer Dale Colton to help her solve a murder case at a restaurant frequented by mobsters. Zatanna informs Dale that the murderer was a powerful sorcerer known as Brother Night, who rules the supernatural crime scene in San Francisco. After Zatanna shows up at Night's demonic nightclub and threatens him, he responds by calling upon a powerful demon for help in taking her down.

Relationships

Zatanna has had various romantic relationships with fellow DC characters, including John Constantine (with whom she practiced tantra) Zatanna also has a kindly semi-parental friendship with Timothy Hunter and also had a brief flirtational relationship with her fellow Justice Leaguer the Flash (Barry Allen) shortly after the death of his wife Iris.She also (currently) has a strong friendship with Batman due to their shared (retconned) pasts. In ''Detective Comics'' #843 and #844, Zatanna and Bruce briefly discuss the possibility of having a more meaningful relationship. Both later concede that Bruce is too devoted to his cause as Batman to give her the relationship she wishes for, but the pair reaffirm their bond as close friends.Catwoman, however, appears to consider Zatanna a more dangerous contender for Bruce's attentions than Jezebel Jet (his fiancée at the time). A pep talk between the two women confirms how Zatanna really meant, during the fateful discussion with Bruce, to explore the possibility of a true romance, but turned out quietly resigned to the role of best friend and confidante. Claiming to act on Bruce's best interest, she pushes Selina into confessing her feelings to Bruce, thus ''stealing'' him from Jezebel Jet before it's too late.

Zatanna has also a strong bond to Rose Psychic and Doctor Occult, who apparently acted as surrogate parents to her after Sindella's disappearance, with Rose distinctly remembering about how she ''used to bounce [Zatanna] on her knee''.

Powers and abilities

Zatanna is a powerful sorceress whose abilities are apparently genetic. As a tribute to her father and as a focal point, she usually casts spells by speaking verbal commands backwards. She has also proven capable on many occasions of casting spells by speaking normally, and, in rarer occasions, the ability to use magic for simple tasks without speaking. Like Black Canary, Zatanna's reliance on her voice often led to her being bound and gagged by villains in Silver Age stories, thus rendering her 'powerless'. On very rare occasions, Zatanna has cast spells by writing them in her own blood rather than speaking them aloud. As stated by herself and Batman, ''blood magic'' is far more powerful than spoken incantations. It's used as a last resort, only to heal from severe physical damage preventing her to speak, like having her larynx mangled by a bullet, or her mouth magically erased by her own powers. The only magic command issued in both cases, ''Heal me'', had to be spelled backwards, as she were speaking (''laeH em'').

Overuse of her magical powers can deplete them to the point that further use of them starts to put a considerable strain on her physical well-being: as with other magical users, the only way to restore her waning powers is an extended period of rest. Apparently, such a task does not require verbal incantations, spoken or written, at all, nor is it tied to a specific tarot deck.

The limits of her powers have never been clearly established. She is often depicted working alongside the most powerful magic-users on Earth, including Doctor Fate, Madame Xanadu, and Captain Marvel. She has used her powers to command elemental forces, heal, transmute and transmogrify objects, manipulate minds, and attack her opponents with energy blasts. She has resurrected the city of Metropolis from ruin, merged Aquaman's spirit with the entire ocean in the finale of the "Obsidian Age" story arc, and manipulated time and space. During a portion of her initial tenure with the Justice League, her powers were more limited, consisting in the manipulation of fire, air, water, and earth. Furthermore, her powers seems tied to her self-confidence, as the long series of blunders described in ''Seven Soldiers'' left her both emotionally and psychologically shattered, powerless, until she was able to restore her lost confidence.

Zatanna may be harmed by magic, even if her training makes her able to defend herself from most magic users. Along with Etrigan and the Phantom Stranger she was able to hold her own against a host-less Spectre, and was later able to single-handedly banish the god-empowered Mary Marvel from her home, but the current iteration of Amazo was able to employ her own powers to take away her voice, acting fast enough to leave her off guard and unable to defend herself.

Zatanna is a skilled illusionist, showgirl and stage magician even without resorting to her innate magical powers. In fact she considers part of her "training" exercising sleight of hand tricks, and she claims to have invented a variation of the three card shuffle game called the ''Zatara shuffle'', in which she's so fast and precise that, even without resorting to cheating, only skilled gamblers like Selina Kyle are able to follow the movements of her hands.

JLA: Another Nail

She appears in ''JLA: Another Nail'', which shows her teamed-up with Hawkwoman in Midway City. They appear to be close friends. Zatanna seems to have Eurasian features.

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the ''Flashpoint'' event, Zatanna is a member of the Secret Seven and also is a member of a motorcycle gang, her father Zatara was transformed into a motorcycle bike when Zatanna is riding on him.

.''Flashpoint: Secret Seven'' #3

Collected Editions

JLA: Zatanna's Search (Collects ''The Atom'' #19, ''Hawkman'' #4, ''Green Lantern'' #42, ''Detective Comics'' #335 and 355 and ''Justice League of America'' #51)

Zatanna: Everyday Magic (Original graphic novel)

Zatanna: Mistress of Magic (Collects #1-6)

Zatanna: Shades of the Past (Collects #7-12; to be released October 2011)

In other media

Television

Zatanna first appears in a ''Batman: The Animated Series'' episode "Zatanna" voiced by Julie Brown. She appears as an illusionist with no apparent magic powers. She developed a close relationship with Bruce Wayne (who was using the alias "John Smith") during the years in which Bruce was traveling the globe learning skills that later serve him as Batman. Zatanna later comes to Gotham City with her magic show, but finds herself being framed by a criminal magic debunker named Montague Kane. Her efforts to restore her name and stop the villain put her side-by-side with the Batman. During the course of the episode, Batman reveals his identity as "John Smith" to Zatanna.

Zatanna makes two appearances in the ''Gotham Girls'' flash animation episodes, voiced by Stacie Randall. In "A Little Night Magic", Zatanna walks home on her own after doing a magic show and has some adventures on the way: She turns a robber's gun into a snake, splits a truck in half when it almost runs her over, and turns some street thugs into toads after they take her hat. In "Hold the Tiger", Zatanna stops Catwoman from stealing the Cat's Eye Opals from a jewelry store. Zatanna does not arrest Catwoman but instead asks Catwoman for help in finding her white tiger.

Zatanna made a short appearance in ''Batman Beyond'' episode "Out of the Past" (season three, episode five) in a collection of pictures that Bruce is looking at on his computer of past loves, alongside Lois Lane, Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Barbara Gordon.

Zatanna appears in ''Justice League Unlimited'' episode "This Little Piggy" voiced by Jennifer Hale. She helps Batman search for the villainess Circe (who has turned Wonder Woman into a pig). Zatanna is apparently aware of Batman's true identity since her last appearance ("''Bruce! I haven't seen you for so long...''") and knows him well enough to perceive his romantic relationship with Wonder Woman. She seems to be very good friends with Batman, as they often banter ("''Don't get snippy with me!''"). In her ''JLU'' depictions, her spells are often cast backwards, but almost equally often cast without words, and on one occasion, speaking normally. She also appeared in the episode "The Balance" (voiced by an uncredited Juliet Landau) amongst the magic-based superheroes affected by the disturbance in the magical balance. In "Destroyer", Zatanna appears as one of many Justice League Members called to help fight the invading Apokoliptan forces. She transforms an entire flock of Parademons into doves, then transmutes them into explosive energy, and destroys several Apokoliptan battleships with them. DCAU writer Paul Dini wrote both of Zatanna's former and latter appearances described above, and apparently likes the character quite a lot. In 1998, Alan Burnett told ''Wizard Magazine'' "''Paul Dini wanted to use Zatanna because he’s secretly in love with her. It’s something we try not to talk about too much.''" Dini later married magician Misty Lee.

Two episodes of a Cartoon Monsoon contest entry feature Zatanna as a teenage hero who is a cross between ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'' and ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. This saw her match wits with Klarion the Witch Boy, and also featured her father (referred to only as "Zatara") as well as the new character of Zatanna's older, non-magic-wielding brother (named "Damon" in the second episode).

Zatanna is a recurring character in the final three seasons of ''Smallville'', portrayed by actress Serinda Swan. The character first appeared late in season eight, in the episode "Hex". She is described as the daughter of the deceased John Zatara, "the world's greatest magician." Zatanna is introduced at the Ace of Clubs, the scene of Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack)'s birthday party. To enliven things, Zatanna uses magic to make characters' inner desires come true — Chloe is physically transformed to resemble her cousin, Lois Lane (Erica Durance), for example, and Clark (Tom Welling) becomes "normal". Zatanna later approaches Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley) and offers him a deal: she will grant him a wish if he returns her father's magical book to her. Once she acquires the Book of Zatara from Green Arrow, whom she recognizes as Oliver, she reveals her aim is to use it to resurrect her father. Because Clark is vulnerable to magic, and Oliver lacks the power to stop her, Zatanna has to realize for herself that her father sacrificed himself so she could live. She later goes to Oliver to explain herself, and decides to help him if he encounters any supernatural foes along the way by leaving him her phone number. Swan reprises the role in the ninth season of ''Smallville'' in the episode, titled "Warrior". In season ten episodes which feature the government attempting to hunt down the Justice League, Zatanna's picture is shown among their targets. Although not portrayed by Swan, an actor in costume represents Zatanna in the episode "Icarus". In the episode "Fortune", Zatanna is used as a plot device; the episode establishes her as having sent an enchanted bottle of wine to Clark and Lois on the night of their engagement party, which sets the events of that episode in motion.

Zatanna appears in ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' in the teaser of "Chill of the Night!" Jennifer Hale reprises her role of Zatanna from ''Justice League Unlimited''. She and Batman stop Abra Kadabra from robbing a museum exhibit displaying the history of magicians. While Batman holds back the mind control slaves, Zatanna battles Kadabra, and traps him in her hat. She later pulls out a tiny bird cage with Kadabra in it, winning the magic battle. Though she relies primarily on vocal spells, she is also shown to be able to effectively wield Kadabra's magic wand after he binds her mouth closed. This version of Zatanna wears a slightly modified version of her original outfit, with her trademark fishnets replaced by purple tights.

Zatanna will be one of several new members who will join the team Young Justice in the Cartoon Network series in season two.

Film

In 2005 screenwriter Hadley Davis (''Ice Princess'') announced that she had written an action-comedy featuring a teenaged version of Zatanna. Nothing further was ever heard about this project, and it is presumed to have been abandoned.

An alternate version of Zatanna makes a brief cameo appearance in ''Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths'' as a member of the Crime Syndicate of America.

Video games

Zatanna is a playable character in the console videogame ''Justice League Heroes'' voiced by Kari Wahlgren.

Zatanna appears as a non-playable character in ''DC Universe Online'', voiced by Claire Hamilton.

Action figures

DC Direct released Zatanna on August 16, 2000, as part of the "Mystics, Mages & Magicians" series.

Zatanna was included several times in the ''JLU'' toyline.

Mattel released Zatanna in Wave 14 of DC Universe Classics in 2010. The line was a Walmart exclusive.

References

External links

Zatanna's secret origin on DC Comics.com

Zatanna at the DC Database Project

Index to Zee's Earth-1 adventures

Morrison's 7 Soldiers Part Five: Zatanna, Comicon, September 9, 2005

Seven Soldiers: Zatanna annotations at Barbelith

Zatanna: A Magic Story in Spanish.

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:Comics characters introduced in 1964 Category:1993 comic debuts Category:DC Comics witches Category:Fictional American people of Italian descent Category:Fictional stage magicians Category:DC Comics characters who use magic Category:Magic in comics Category:Vertigo titles Category:The Books of Magic Category:Smallville characters Category:Characters created by Gardner Fox

ca:Zatanna es:Zatanna fr:Zatanna it:Zatanna he:זטאנה nl:Zatanna ja:ザターナ pt:Zatanna sc:Zatanna fi:Zatanna tl:Zatanna tr:Zatanna

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
Team name	Justice League
Publisher	DC Comics
Debut	''The Brave and the Bold'' (vol. 1) #28 (February/March 1960)
Creators	Gardner Fox
Base	The Hall and the SatelliteWatchtowerThe RefugeJLI EmbassiesDetroit BunkerSatelliteSecret Sanctuary
Memberlist	List of Justice League members
Cat	teams
Subcat	DC Comics
Hero	y
Sortkey	Justice League }}

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, Captain Marvel, Black Canary, the Atom, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Plastic Man, Red Tornado, Firestorm, Zatanna, 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 the 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''

title	Justice League of America
schedule	Monthly
format	Ongoing
publisher	DC Comics
date	October 1960 – April 1987
issues	261
writers	Gardner FoxGerry Conway
pencillers	Mike SekowskyDick DillinGeorge Pérez
inkers	Sid GreeneDick GiordanoFrank McLaughlin
creators	Gardner FoxMike Sekowsky }}

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''. The Justice League of America debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (1960), and after two further appearances in that title, got their own series which 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

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, Phantom Stranger, 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, Steve Englehart and Gerry Conway, with Dick Dillin handling the art chores from issues #64-181, missing only one issue, #153 and did only a framing sequence for #157.

Len Wein wrote issues #100–114 wherein he and Dillin re-introduced the Seven Soldiers of Victory in issues #100-102 and the Freedom Fighters in issues #107-108. In the fall of 1972, Wein and writers Gerry Conway and Steve Englehart crafted a metafictional unofficial crossover spanning titles from both major comics companies. Each comic featured Englehart, Conway, and Wein, as well as Wein's first wife Glynis, interacting with Marvel or DC characters at the Rutland Halloween Parade in Rutland, Vermont. Beginning in ''Amazing Adventures'' #16 (by Englehart with art by Bob Brown and Frank McLaughlin), the story continued in ''Justice League of America'' #103 (by Wein, Dillin and Dick Giordano), and concluded in ''Thor'' #207 (by Conway and penciler John Buscema). As Englehart explained in 2010, "It certainly seemed like a radical concept and we knew that we had to be subtle (laughs) and each story had to stand on its own, but we really worked it out. It's really worthwhile to read those stories back to back to back — it didn't matter to us that one was at DC and two were at Marvel — I think it was us being creative, thinking what would be really cool to do." Libra, a supervillain created by Wein and Dillin in ''Justice League of America'' #111 (May-June 1974), would play a leading role in Grant Morrison's ''Final Crisis'' storyline in 2008.

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. The double-sized anniversary issue #200 (March 1982) was a "jam" featuring a story written by Conway, a framing sequence drawn by Pérez, and chapters drawn by Pat Broderick, Jim Aparo, Dick Giordano, Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino, Brian Bolland, and Joe Kubert. Bolland's chapter gave the artist his "first stab at drawing Batman." 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 initially consisted of Aquaman, Zatanna, Martian Manhunter, 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 to the series' new direction 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. Reader sentiment regarding this incarnation of the Justice League has since been metatextually reflected in the comics themselves. In volume 2 issue #31 the character of Zatanna says, "With our current line-up we couldn't beat Justice League Detroit!" to which Dr. Light responds, "Don't be ridiculous. Everybody can beat Detroit!" 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 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 (then known as the Global Guardians' Green Flame), Ice (then known as the Global Guardians' Icemaiden), and two Rocket Reds (one was a Manhunter spy, and one was Dimitri Pushkin). The Giffen/DeMatteis team worked on ''Justice League'' for five years and closed out their run with the "Breakdowns" storyline in 1991 and 1992. The series' humorous tone and high level of characterization proved very popular 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 and re-focused the team on America, resulting in the book being re-branded ''Justice League America''. 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''.

''JLA''

title	JLA
schedule	Monthly
format	Ongoing
publisher	DC Comics
date	January 1997 – February 2006
issues	125
writers	Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Joe Kelly, Denny O'Neil, Chuck Austen, Kurt Busiek, Geoff Johns, Allan Heinberg, Bob Harras
pencillers	Howard PorterBryan HitchDoug Mahnke
inkers	John DellPaul Neary
creators	Grant MorrisonHoward Porter }}

The low sales of the various Justice League spinoff books 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, which reunited the "Original Seven" of the League for the first time since Crisis on Infinite Earths. 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.

This series, in an attempt at a "back-to-basics" approach, used as its core the team's original seven members (or their successors): Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), and the Martian Manhunter. Additionally, the team received a new headquarters, the "Watchtower", based on the Moon. 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, Huntress, Barbara Gordon (Oracle), Steel (John Henry Irons), and Plastic Man. He also had temporaries as Aztek, Tomorrow Woman, and Green Arrow (Connor Hawke).

Under Morrison, the series pitted the League against a variety of enemies, ranging from murderous White Martians, renegade angels, a new incarnation of the Injustice Gang led by Lex Luthor, the Key awakened from a coma, to the villainy of new villain Prometheus, the alien species of existing JLA villain Starro the Conqueror (revamped as a monstrous creature known as "The Star Conquerer") and Captain Atom villain General Wade Eiling, who transformed a cadre of Marines into deformed super-powered beings known as "The Ultra-Marines" as well as put his mind into the body of the indestructible Shaggy Man, and a futuristic Darkseid. Morrison's run itself featured a myth-arc involving the New Gods preparing the Earth for battle against a creature known as "Maggedon", a super-sentient weapon of mass destruction that was approaching Earth, that culminated in the final Morrison arc "World War III".

The run also had its share of editorial problems, such as Morrison's need to adapt to Superman's changing powers, the death of Wonder Woman and the loss of Green Arrow Connor Hawke, due to plans for a Kevin Smith-penned ''Green Arrow'' series. Still, ''JLA'' quickly became DC's best-selling title, a position it enjoyed off and on for several years. Despite this, DC did not create continuing spinoff series as it had done before.

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 a the mini-series ''Justice League Elite'', which featured Green Arrow, Flash, and several other Kelly created characters. The new format saw stories by John Byrne, Chuck Austen, and Kurt Busiek. Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg would take over the book with #115, which saw a multi-part storyline that dealt 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 would ultimately write the book's final storyline (''JLA'' #120-125) as Green Arrow struggled in vain to keep the League afloat.

''52''

In ''52'' Week 24, Firestorm recruits a group to reform the Justice League. It consists of Firehawk, Super-Chief, Bulleteer, and Ambush Bug. They fight a deranged Skeets who takes Super-Chief's powers and kills him as well as numerous people given powers by Lex Luthor's Everyman Project. Afterward, Firestorm breaks up the team.

Also in the series, Luthor's new Infinity, Inc. was informally referred to as a "Justice League" in solicitations and on covers.

''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2)

title	Justice League of America (vol. 2)
schedule	Monthly
format	Ongoing
publisher	DC Comics
date	August 2006 – August 2011
issues	60 (including #0) as of August 2011
writers	Brad MeltzerDwayne McDuffieLen WeinJames Robinson
pencillers	Ed BenesMark BagleyBrett Booth
creators	Brad MeltzerEd Benes }}

One year after the events of ''Infinite Crisis'', Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman reunite in the Batcave to re-form the League in ''Justice League of America'' #0, the kick-off for a new series by Brad Meltzer and Ed Benes. The series featured a roster which included Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Black Canary, Red Arrow (Green Arrow's former sidekick), Red Tornado, Vixen, Black Lightning, and Hawkgirl. The first arc of the series focused upon Red Tornado and pitted the team against a new intelligent incarnation of Solomon Grundy and the rebuilt Amazo. The new incarnation of the team has two main headquarters, linked by a transporter. The first site is The Hall, which in mainstream DC Universe is a refurnished version of the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron's former headquarters located in Washington, D.C. Black Canary is elected as the first official Chairperson after the fight against Amazo and Solomon Grundy, and led both the Justice League and Justice Society in a complex quest to reunite time-lost members of the pre-Crisis Legion of Super-Heroes, who had been sent back in time to free both Bart Allen and Flash from the other dimensional realm of the Speed Force. Meltzer left the series at the end of issue #12, with one of his subplots (Per Degaton, a pre-nuclear fire mutation version of Despero, and a circa 1948 version of the Ultra-Humanite gathering for an unknown plot) resolved in the pages of ''Booster Gold''.

Dwayne McDuffie took over the writing job with the ''Justice League Anniversary Special'' and the main book with issue #13. Due to DC Comics seeking to launch a spin-off Justice League book led by Hal Jordan, the character was removed from the main League series and replaced by John Stewart. Firestorm also joined the roster, with the series entering into a series of tie-in storylines towards ''Countdown to Final Crisis'', with the arrest of a large number of supervillains (gathered by Lex Luthor and Deathstroke to attack the League on the eve of the wedding of Black Canary and Green Arrow) setting up the ''Salvation Run'' tie-in miniseries. Also, roster members Red Tornado and Geo-Force were written out. McDuffie's initial issues received mixed reviews and experienced minor conroversy due to fan favorite Hal Jordan's removal in favor of Stewart. Jordan ended up being restored to the roster by issue #19 of the series, only to be removed once again by issue #31 once ''Justice League: Cry for Justice'' was completed and ready to be shipped.

Issue #21 saw the return of Libra and the Human Flame, setting up their appearances in ''Final Crisis''. Later issues would resolve issues involving Vixen's power level increase and see the integration of the Milestone Comics characters the Shadow Cabinet and Icon, who fought the Justice League over the remains of the villainous Doctor Light. The group suffered greater losses during ''Final Crisis'' with the deaths of Martian Manhunter and Batman, as well as the resignations of Superman and Wonder Woman, who could no longer devote themselves full-time to the League due to the events of the ''New Krypton'' and ''Rise of the Olympian'' storylines in their respective titles. Hal Jordan would also resign as well, clearing the way for John Stewart's return to the team. Black Canary (now team leader) found herself declaring the League no more, though the group would continue with Canary taking a secondary role in the group. Her last act as leader would be assigning John Stewart and Firestorm the task of hunting down the Human Flame, for his part in the murder of Martian Manhunter, as seen in the ''Final Crisis Aftermath: Run!'' miniseries.

Vixen would take over the team, with Plastic Man rejoining the group. Len Wein wrote a three-part fill-in story for ''Justice League of America'' that ran from #35 to #37. McDuffie was fired from the title before he could return, after discussion postings to the DC Comics message board, detailing behind-the-scenes creative decisions on his run, were republished in the rumor column "Lying In The Gutter". James Robinson was announced as the new ''Justice League of America'' writer.

Wein's fill-in run would be published as ''Justice League: Cry For Justice'' neared its conclusion, as Vixen and Black Canary's group (sans John Stewart) would confront Hal Jordan and Green Arrow's makeshift Justice League group, which had stumbled upon a plot by the villain Prometheus that had resulted in much death and carnage. During the confrontation over Jordan's group using torture to extract information from the villains being blackmailed into carrying out Prometheus' plan, both Roy Harper and Supergirl would discover that one of Jordan's heroes, Captain Marvel Jr., was really Prometheus in disguise. In the ensuing battle, the League would suffer horrible losses: Roy Harper was maimed and his daughter Lian and hundreds of thousands of people in Star City would be killed by a doomsday device Prometheus activated. Vixen would have her leg broken and Plastic Man would have his powers permanently scrambled, making him a slowly disintegrating puddle creature. To save other cities from being destroyed like Star City, the League reluctantly allowed Prometheus to go free. However, Green Arrow (with help from the Shade) would track down and kill Prometheus.

Following the events of "Blackest Night", Hal Jordan and Donna Troy begin the task of rebuilding the League, with Green Arrow, the Atom, Batman, Mon-El, Donna, Cyborg, Doctor Light, Starfire, Congorilla, and the Guardian.

At the end of issue #43, the majority of the new members leave for various reasons. Mon-El and the Guardian leave after Mon-El returns to the future, Black Canary returns to the Birds of Prey, Starfire leaves to join the R.E.B.E.L.S., Green Lantern leaves locate the other Lantern Corps Entities, and Green Arrow is forced to leave due to his fugitive status. James Robinson revealed this was due to him having second thoughts about his decision to use so many characters, and revealed that the team would have a different roster in the coming months. To replace the departed members, Jade and Jesse Quick were added to the team. Cyborg remained with the team in a reduced capacity, and was eventually given his own co-feature storyline for issues 48–50.

Under Robinson, the title experienced mixed reviews and lower (but stable) sales than under Meltzer and McDuffie, with negative fan respone being leveled at the series due to its usage of lesser known heroes instead of more popular Justice League members. DC eventually announced that Saint Walker of the Blue Lantern Corps would be joining the Justice League during a tie-in to the ''Reign of Doomsday'' crossover, but the character did not become a full member due to the cancellation of the title.

The series ended with issue #60 in August 2011, with the title being one of the numerous DC books cancelled after the ''Flashpoint'' crossover. The issue saw Batman disbanding the League due to most of the individual members becoming preoccupied with personal commitments.

''Justice League''

title	Justice League
Converted	y
schedule	Monthly
format	Ongoing
publisher	DC Comics
date	August 2011 – present
main char team	Justice League
writers	Geoff Johns
pencillers	Jim Lee
inkers	Scott Williams
colorists	Alex Sinclair
creators	Geoff JohnsJim Lee }}

In September 2011, following the "Flashpoint" storyline, all DC titles were canceled and relaunched with fifty-two new issue #1's, with DC continuity being rebooted again. ''Justice League of America'' was relaunched as ''Justice League'', written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee, and was the first of the new titles released, coming out the same day as the final issue of ''Flashpoint''. The first six issues were set five years previously and featured a brand new origin for the team, while issue 7 and beyond will take place in the present day.

The starting line-up of the team consists of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, the Flash (Barry Allen), and Cyborg, while the Atom (Ryan Choi), Hawkman (Carter Hall), Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond), Green Arrow (Oliver Queen), Aquaman's wife Mera, Deadman, recently created character Element Woman, and Lady Luck, a revamp of the Golden Age character, are set to join as additional members later on in the future.

In addition to this series, two other ''Justice League''-related titles were launched during the same month: a new ''Justice League International''; written by Dan Jurgens and drawn by Aaron Lopresti; featuring a roster consisting of Batman, Booster Gold, Rocket Red, Vixen, Green Lantern (Guy Gardner), Fire, Ice, August General in Iron, & Godiva, and ''Justice League Dark''; written by Peter Milligan and drawn by Mikel Janin; featuring a roster consisting of John Constantine, Shade, the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Zatanna, & new character Mindwarp.

Various origins of the Justice League

In a story told in flashback in 1963's ''Justice League of America'' #9, Earth was infiltrated by the Appelaxians. Competing alien warriors were sent to see who could conquer Earth first to determine who will become the new ruler of their home planet. The aliens' attacks drew the attentions of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter. While the superheroes individually defeated most of the invaders, the heroes fell prey to a single competitor's attack; only by working together were they able to defeat the competitor. For many years, the heroes heralded this adventure as the event that prompted them to agree to pool resources when confronted with similar menaces.

Years later, however (as revealed in ''Justice League of America'' #144), Green Arrow uncovered inconsistencies in League records and extracted admissions from his colleagues that the seven founders had actually formed the League after the Martian Manhunter was rescued from Martian forces by the other six founders, along with several other heroes including Robin, Robotman, Congo Bill/Congorilla, Rex the Wonder Dog, and even Lois Lane. Green Lantern participated in this first adventure solely as Hal Jordan, due to the fact that he had yet to become the costumed hero at that time (the biggest inconsistency Arrow found, as they celebrated the earlier incident's date, while recounting only the later one's events). When the group formalized their agreement, they suppressed news of it because of anti-Martian hysteria (mirroring the real-world backdrop of Martian scares and anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s). Because the League members had not revealed their identities to each other at the time, they did not realize that Jordan and Green Lantern were one and the same when he turned up in costume during the event described in #9. While most subsequent accounts of the League have made little mention of this first adventure, the animated ''Justice League'' series adapted this tale as the origin of the League as well.

1989's ''Secret Origins'' #32 updated ''Justice League of America'' #9's origin for Post-Crisis continuity. Differences included the inclusion of the original Black Canary as a founding member and the absence of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman (the 1960s time frame was retained, but the post-Crisis versions of DC's three biggest stars were young and early in their careers in the late 1980s). Additionally, while Hal Jordan served as the public face of the Justice League, this iteration of the League's origin cast the Flash as the team's unofficial leader, since it was Allen who usually came up with the plans that best utilized everyone's powers. 1998's ''JLA: Year One'' limited series, by Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn, and Barry Kitson, further expanded upon the ''Secret Origins'' depiction, with the revelation that the group was secretly financed by Oliver Queen, a.k.a. the superhero Green Arrow. It also stated that Superman rejected membership into the group, leading to much animus between him and the other "founders" during the early years of the group.

In 1994's ''Justice League Task Force'' #16, during Zero Hour, an unknown superhuman named Triumph appeared. In a plotline never explored before, Triumph was revealed to have been a founding member of the Justice League and was their leader. On his first mission with the fledgling Justice League Triumph seemingly "saved the world" but was teleported into a dimensional limbo that also affected the timestream, resulting in no one having any memory of him. This explained how all the heroes ended up in Washington for their first meeting.

Further convolutions came with the issue of Batman's involvement with the League; during the 1990s, the editors of Batman sought to distance Batman from the Justice League, to the point of demanding that Batman's entire Justice League membership be removed from the group's canon. According to Christopher Priest, this "Batman was never in the Justice League" edict came down ironically after DC published ''Justice League America Annual'' #9, which featured Batman as a member of the League during its early days. The edict itself was largely haphazardly enforced; while Mark Waid had Batman proclaim to have never been a member of the League in ''Justice League Incarnations'' #7, other writers such as Grant Morrison and Keith Giffen took the stance that Batman had simply never joined the team until the Justice League International era. This edict was ultimately dropped by the early 2000s, as Batman's involvement with the League is now referenced heavily by later writers such as Brad Meltzer.

The convoluted change made to Hawkman's background in the wake of the launching of the Hawkworld ongoing series, in 1990, resulted in a retcon where the original Golden Age/Justice Society Golden Age Hawkman, Carter Hall was now a member of the team as opposed to Katar Hol (who would now not join the group until 1994's Justice League America #0). The details of how Carter Hall joined the team, would be revealed in the 2001 ''Justice League Incarnations'' #1, with the revelation that Carter joined the team to serve as a mentor for then-young heroes.

In 2006's ''Infinite Crisis'' #7, the formation of "New Earth" (the new name for the Post-Crisis Earth) resulted in the retcon that Wonder Woman was a founding member of the Justice League in the early days. In Brad Meltzer's ''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #0 (2006), it was also revealed that both Superman and Batman were founding members as well. ''52 - Week 51'' confirmed that the 1989 ''Secret Origins'' and ''JLA: Year One'' origins were still in canon at that time, with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman joining the team (consisting of Aquaman, Black Canary, Flash, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter) with founding members' status shortly after the group's formation. However, in various issues (particularly issue #12) of the 2006 ''Justice League of America'' series, the founding members of the Justice League are shown to be: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Flash (Barry Allen), Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter.

With much of DC's past history rebooted by the 2011 "Flashpoint" event, an entirely new origin for the League is introduced in the subsequent ''Justice League'' series which debuted in September 2011. Issue #1 portrays the first meeting between Batman and Hal Jordan, with the two encountering each other during a battle against a Parademon in Gotham City. After realizing the creature is extraterrestrial in origin, the two heroes head to Metropolis to seek out Superman (who is a known alien in the new continuity), and are attacked by him. Later, after a brief fight to which the Flash arrives and Batman convinces Superman they are on the same side, they move to an abandoned newspress building to work on analyzing the mysterious alien box, when it suddenly activates and more Parademons arrive.While fighting them off, the heroes notice them capture people for something. During this they meet two more heroes Aquaman and Wonder Woman who join them.

Related series

''Formerly Known as the Justice League''

In 2003, Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire returned with a separate limited series called ''Formerly Known as the Justice League'' with the same humor as their Justice League run, and featuring some of the same characters in a team called the "Super Buddies" (a parody of the ''Super Friends''). A follow-up limited series, entitled ''I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League'', soon was prepared, although it was delayed due to the events shown in the ''Identity Crisis'' limited series, but was eventually released as the second arc in ''JLA: Classified''. The Super Buddies consisted of Blue Beetle; Booster Gold; Captain Atom, Fire; Mary Marvel; the Elongated Man with his wife, Sue Dibny; Maxwell Lord; and L-Ron. The second story arc of ''JLA: Classified'' focuses on the Super Buddies in a humorous story that features Power Girl, Guy Gardner, and Doctor Fate.

''JLA/Avengers''

In 2003-2004, George Pérez and Kurt Busiek produced a ''JLA/Avengers'' crossover, an idea that had been delayed for 20 years for various reasons. In this limited series, the Justice League and the Avengers were forced to find key artifacts in one another's universe, as well as deal with the threats of villains Krona and the Grandmaster. A key moment in League history occurs in this series, when the Avenger Hawkeye becomes the first Marvel Comics character to be inducted into the Justice League.

''JLA: Classified''

title	JLA: Classified
schedule	Monthly
format	Ended
publisher	DC Comics
date	January 2005 - May 2008
issues	54
writers	various
artists	various
creators	Grant MorrisonEd McGuinness }}

In 2004, DC began an anthology series titled ''JLA: Classified'', which would feature rotating writers and artists producing self-contained story-arcs and aborted mini-series projects that were reappropriated for publication within the pages of the series, starring the JLA. While the bulk of the stories took place within the continuity of the series (circa ''JLA'' #76–113) some of the stories take place outside of regular DC Universe canon. The series was canceled as of issue #54 (May 2008).

''Justice''

In October 2005, DC began publishing the 12-issue miniseries ''Justice'' by writer Jim Krueger, writer/illustrator Alex Ross, and artist Doug Braithwaite. The story, which takes place outside regular DC continuity, has Lex Luthor assembling the Legion of Doom after he and several other villains begin to have nightmares about the end of the world and the failures of the Justice League to prevent said apocalypse. As the Legion begins engaging in unprecedented humanitarian deeds throughout the world, they also launch a series of attacks on the Justice League and their families. In the end however, the threat that the Legion was warned about destroying the Earth turns out to be caused by Brainiac, who seeks to destroy Earth during the chaos.

''Justice League: Cry for Justice''

Originally a planned ongoing title, ''Justice League: Cry For Justice'' is a mini-series written by James Robinson and drawn by Mauro Cascioli. The mini-series, set after the events of ''Final Crisis'', has Hal Jordan leaving the League following the deaths of Batman and Martian Manhunter, as their deaths have caused Hal to seek out a more proactive manner of dealing with super-villains. Hal, along with Green Arrow and later Supergirl, Captain Marvel Jr., and Batwoman are then recruited by Ray Palmer to investigate a murder of a former colleague carried out on orders from Prometheus. This ties into another string of murders, bringing Starman Mikaal Tomas and Congorilla together as their investigation of the murders of several European super-heroes are also revealed to be the work of Prometheus.

With help from the Hawkman villain I.Q., Prometheus plans on creating the ultimate weapon in mass murder, a massive doomsday device which he plans on using to destroy entire cities, as part of his revenge scheme against the JLA for lobotomizing him. Disguised as Captain Marvel Jr., Prometheus maims Roy Harper and brutally injuring JLA members Dr. Light II, Vixen, and Plastic Man while using the JLA Satellite to activate his doomsday device, which destroys Star City, killing 90,000 innocent civilians, including Roy Harper's young daughter Lian. Prometheus ultimately extorts his freedom from the League in exchange for the codes to shut down his weapon, much to the horror of the JLA members. However, afterwards, Green Arrow (with help from reformed villain the Shade), tracks Prometheus down and kills him by firing an arrow into his head.

The mini-series leads directly into the formation of a brand new JLA roster with Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Donna Troy, Dick Grayson as Batman, Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi), Mon-El, Cyborg, Starfire, Congorilla, Guardian, and Mikaal Tomas.

''JLA/The 99''

Launching in October 2010, ''JLA/The 99'' was a crossover mini-series featuring the Justice League teaming up with the heroes of Teshkeel Comics' ''The 99'' series. The JLA consisted of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (John Stewart), the Flash (Barry Allen), the Atom (Ray Palmer), Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi), Hawkman, and Firestorm (Jason Rusch).

Awards

The original ''Justice League of America'' series has won:

1961 Alley Awards for ''Best Comic Book''

1961 Alley Awards for ''Best Adventure-Hero Group''

1963 Alley Awards for ''Favorite Novel'' ("Crisis on Earth-One/Crisis on Earth-Two" in ''Justice League of America'' #21-22 by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky)

1963 Alley Awards for ''Strip that Should Be Improved''

1963 Alley Awards for ''Artist Preferred on Justice League of America'' (Murphy Anderson)

1973 Shazam Awards for ''Best Inker (Dramatic Division)'' (Dick Giordano)

Collected editions

Silver Age ''Justice League of America''

This series has been collected in the following: {|class="wikitable" |- ! # !! Title !! Material collected |- |1 |''Justice League of America Archives'' volume 1 |''The Brave and the Bold'' #28-30, ''Justice League of America'' #1-6 |- |2 |''Justice League of America Archives'' volume 2 |''Justice League of America'' #7-14 |- |3 |''Justice League of America Archives'' volume 3 |''Justice League of America'' #15-22 |- |4 |''Justice League of America Archives'' volume 4 |''Justice League of America'' #23-30 |- |5 |''Justice League of America Archives'' volume 5 |''Justice League of America'' #31-38, #40* |- |6 |''Justice League of America Archives'' volume 6 |''Justice League of America'' #41-47, #49-50* |- |7 |''Justice League of America Archives'' volume 7 |''Justice League of America'' #51-57, #59-60* |- |8 |''Justice League of America Archives'' volume 8 |''Justice League of America'' #61-66, #68-70* |- |9 |''Justice League of America Archives'' volume 9 |''Justice League of America'' #71-80 |- |10 |''Justice League of America Archives'' volume 10 |''Justice League of America'' #81-93 |}

omitted issues featured reprints of material from earlier Archives.

''Justice League/Justice League International/Justice League America'' (1987–1996)

This series has been collected in the following hardcover collections:

! # !! Title !! Material collected
1	''Justice League International'' Volume 1	''Justice League'' #1-6, ''Justice League International'' (vol. 1) #7
2	''Justice League International'' Volume 2	''Justice League International'' (vol. 1) #8-14, ''Justice League'' Annual #1
3	''Justice League International'' Volume 3	''Justice League International'' (vol. 1) #15-22
4	''Justice League International'' Volume 4	''Justice League International'' (vol. 1) #23-25, ''Justice League America'' #26-30
5	''Justice League International'' Volume 5	''Justice League International Annual'' #2-3, ''Justice League Europe'' #1-6
6	''Justice League International'' Volume 6	''Justice League America'' #31-35, ''Justice League Europe'' #7-11

''JLA'' (January 1997 – February 2006)

This series has been collected in the following trade paperbacks:

! # !! Title !! Material collected
''1''	''New World Order''	''JLA'' #1-4
''2''	''American Dreams''	''JLA'' #5-9
''3''	''Rock of Ages''	''JLA'' #10-15
''4''	''Strength in Numbers''	''JLA'' #16-23, ''JLA Secret Files'' #2, ''Prometheus'' (one-shot)
''5''	''Justice For All''	''JLA'' #24-33
''6''		''JLA'' #34-41
''7''		''JLA'' #42-46, ''JLA Secret Files'' #3, ''JLA 80-Page Giant'' #1
''8''	''Divided We Fall''	''JLA'' #47-54
''9''	''Terror Incognita''	''JLA'' #55-60
''10''	''Golden Perfect''	''JLA'' #61-65
''11''	''The Obsidian Age'' (Book 1)	''JLA'' #66-71
''12''	''The Obsidian Age'' (Book 2)	''JLA'' #72-76
''13''	''Rules of Engagement''	''JLA'' #77-82
''14''	''Trial By Fire''	''JLA'' #84-89
''15''	''The Tenth Circle''	''JLA'' #94-99
''16''		''JLA'' #101-106
''17''	''Syndicate Rules''	''JLA'' #107-114, and a story from ''JLA Secret Files'' 2004
''18''	''Crisis of Conscience''	''JLA'' #115-119
''19''	''World Without a Justice League''	''JLA'' #120-125

This series has been collected in the following hardcover collections:

! # !! Title !! Material collected
''1''	''JLA: The Deluxe Edition'' Vol. 1	''JLA'' #1-9, plus a story included in ''JLA: Secret Files and Origins'' #1
''2''	''JLA: The Deluxe Edition'' Vol. 2	''JLA'' #10-17, ''Prometheus'' (one-shot), plus ''JLA/WILDCATS''
''3''	''JLA: The Deluxe Edition'' Vol. 3	''JLA'' #22-26, 28-31 and 1,000,000''
''4''	''JLA: The Deluxe Edition'' Vol. 4	''JLA'' #34, 36-41, ''JLA: Classified'' #1-3, ''JLA: Earth II''

''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) (August 2006 – August 2011)

This series has been collected in the following hardcover collections:

! # !! Title !! Material collected
''1''	''The Tornado's Path''	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #1-7
''2''	''The Lightning Saga''	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #0, #8-12; ''Justice Society of America'' (vol. 3) #5-6
''3''	''The Injustice League''	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #13-16; ''JLA Wedding Special'' #1
''4''	''Sanctuary''	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #17-21
''5''	''The Second Coming''	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #22-26
''6''	''When Worlds Collide''	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #27-28, #30-34
''7''	''Team History''	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #38-43
''8''	''The Dark Things''	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #44-48; ''Justice Society of America'' (vol. 3) #41-42
''9''	''Omega''	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #49-53
'' 10	''The Rise of Eclipso''	''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #54-60

Miscellaneous reprints

These trades don't reprint the series in a coherent fashion, but reprint themed issues. {|class="wikitable" |- ! # !! Title !! Material collected |- |1 |''Justice League of America Hereby Elects'' |''Justice League of America'' #4, 75, 105-106, 146, 161, and 173-174 |- |2 |''JLA: The Greatest Stories Ever Told'' |''Justice League of America'' #19, 77, 122 and 166-168, Justice League #1, JLA Secret Files #1 and JLA #61 |- |3 |''Crisis on Multiple Earths'' volume 1 |''Justice League of America'' ##21-22, 29-30, 37-38 and 46-47 |- |4 |''Crisis on Multiple Earths'' volume 2 |''Justice League of America'' #55-56, 64-65, 73-74 and 82-83 |- |5 |''Crisis on Multiple Earths'' volume 3 |''Justice League of America'' #91-92, 100-102, 107-108 and 113 |- |6 |''Crisis on Multiple Earths'' volume 4 |''Justice League of America'' #123-124, 135-137 and 147-148 |- |7 |''Crisis on Multiple Earths'' volume 5 |''Justice League of America'' #159-160, 171-172 and 183-185 |}

In other media

See also

Justice Society of America

Spin-off groups

Extreme Justice

Justice Leagues

Justice League Antarctica

Justice League Elite

Justice League Europe

Justice League International

Justice League Task Force

Super Buddies

References

External links

Justice League of America at DC Comics.com

The Origin Story of the Justice League of America at DC Comics.com

Justice League of America at Toonopedia

''Justice League Unlimited'' at Cartoon Network "A Monumental Move" (April 5, 2007) WizardUniverse.com - Writer Brad Meltzer discusses the origins and implications of the JLA's new HQ

The Justice League Library

"Super-Exiles of Earth" (''JLA'' #19, May 1963)

Category:1960 introductions Category:1960 comic debuts Category:1997 comic debuts Category:2006 comic debuts Category:DC Comics titles Category:Justice League Category:Characters created by Gardner Fox

bg:Лигата на справедливостта de:Gerechtigkeitsliga es:Liga de la Justicia fr:Ligue de justice d'Amérique id:Justice League of America it:Justice League of America he:ליגת הצדק hu:Igazságliga nl:Justice League ja:ジャスティス・リーグ pl:Justice League pt:Liga da Justiça ru:Лига Справедливости simple:The Justice League fi:Oikeuden Puolustajat sv:Justice League of America tl:Justice League tr:Justice League of America uk:Ліга Справедливості zh:正義聯盟

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	Serinda Swan
birth date	July 11, 1984
birth place	West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
occupation	Actress, Model, and Poker spokeswoman
yearsactive	2005–present
spouse	}}

Serinda Swan (born July 11, 1984) is a Canadian actress and model. She stars in the new series ''Breakout Kings'' as Erica Reed.

Life and career

Swan was born in West Vancouver, British Columbia.

She appeared twice on the television series ''Smallville'' (in the episodes "Hex" and "Warrior") as Zatanna Zatara. She appeared in ''Psych'' as the head cheerleader wife of football quarterback and captain in the episode "Murder? … Anyone? … Anyone? … Bueller?", and in ''Supernatural'' season 6, in the episode "You Can't Handle the Truth" as the pagan god of truth, Veritas. She was a primary character in the movie Desperate Escape (2006) as the character Melissa. She also had a brief cameo appearance in the throne room of Mount Olympus as Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty in the film: ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief''. In 2008, Swan appeared in Theory of a Deadman's music video for their hit single, "So Happy."

Swan began her big-screen acting career in 2009 in the rom-com ''The Break-Up Artist''. As well as appearing as a secondary character in the Disney film ''Tron: Legacy'' (2010), Swan is currently portraying the character Erica Reed in television series, ''Breakout Kings''. She will also play the lead female role in the supernatural thriller ''Jinn''. She also models for many magazines and has been rated Top 100 most beautiful women by "Sports Illustrated".

Serinda has been dating True Blood actor Mehcad Brooks for several years.

Filmography

+ Film
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2005	''Neal 'n' Nikki''	Amanda
2009	''The Break-Up Artist''	Ashley
2010	''Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief''	Aphrodite
2010	''Tron: Legacy''	Siren #2
2011		Emily	completed
2011		Jasmine	post-production
2012	''The Baytown Disco''		post-production

+ Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
2006		Hospital Receptionist	Episode "Salvation"
2007		Henry's hookup (credited as "Pretty Young Woman")	Episode "Heart of Ice"
2007	''Exes and Ohs''	Lucianne	Episode "What Goes Around''
2008	''Beyond Loch Ness''	Caroleena	TV Movie
2008		Eileen Mazwell	Episode "Murder?...Anyone?...Anyone?...Bueller?"
2009		Melissa	TV Movie
2009		Hot Patron	Episode "Business Casualty"
2010		Ashley Frank/Veritas	Episode "You Can't Handle the Truth"
2009		Amanda Manville	TV Movie
2009		Tiffany	TV movie
2009-10	''Smallville''		Episodes "Hex" (Season 8, Episode 17) and "Warrior" (Season 9, Episode 12)
2011	''Hawaii Five-0''	Alana	Episode "Ho'ohuli Na'au" (Season 1, Episode 22)
2011 - Present	''Breakout Kings''	Erica Reed	Main Role

References

External links

Category:1984 births Category:Canadian film actors Category:Canadian television actors Category:Living people Category:People from Vancouver Category:People from West Vancouver

fa:سریندا سوان nl:Serinda Swan ja:セリンダ・スワン pt:Serinda Swan ru:Суон, Серинда

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
background	group_or_band
name	78violet
alias	Aly & AJ (2002–2009)
origin	Torrance, California, United States
instrument	Vocals, Guitars, Pianos
genre	Pop rockTeen popAdult alternative
years active	2002–present
associated acts	Miley CyrusAshley Tisdale
label	Hollywood (2002-2010)
website	Official website
current members	Alyson MichalkaAmanda Michalka

78violet (formerly Aly & AJ) is a pop rock band consisting of sisters Alyson and Amanda Michalka. They were born in Torrance, California, but spent part of their childhood in Seattle, Washington. They are both actresses, singer-songwriters, and guitarists. They signed a record deal with the Disney-owned label, Hollywood Records in 2004. They released their debut studio album ''Into the Rush'' on August 17, 2005. The album debuted at number thirty six in the United States, selling over 24,000 copies in its first week and was later certified Platinum by the RIAA. ''Into the Rush'' earned them the "Contemporary Inspirational Artists of the Year" nomination at the 2006 American Music Awards. ''Into the Rush'' later sold over one million records worldwide.

Their second studio album ''Insomniatic'' debuted at number fifteen in the United States, selling over 39,000 copies in its first week on the Billboard 200; this is their highest debut to date. Their second album's lead single "Potential Breakup Song" is their most successful single to date, it was certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales over 1,000,000 copies. The duo said that once they were done filming their separate movies, they plan to get back to working on their third studio album for a release in 2009. On September 30, 2009, 78violet announced their third release date for the upcoming self-titled 78violet album is going to be in early 2010 instead. With many rumors going around of the band changing their name, the duo announced that they will be changing their name to 78violet. The duo have also launched a franchise line which includes a doll series and book series.

On February 19, 2010, 78violet announced on their official Facebook page that they were "no longer a part of Hollywood Records" and that the album they recorded for Hollywood Records probably won't be released. However, they are "continuing to write and record new songs".

History

2005–06: ''Into the Rush'' and ''Acoustic Hearts of Winter''

Aly & AJ's debut studio album, ''Into the Rush'', was released on August 16, 2005 and certified Gold by the RIAA in March 2006. One of the album's singles, "No One" was featured in the Walt Disney Pictures feature film, ''Ice Princess'' and its soundtrack. The song "Do You Believe In Magic", written and originally recorded by The Lovin' Spoonful, added a rock edge. This cover was used in the soundtrack of the made-for-TV Disney Channel original movie, ''Now You See It...'', in which Aly had a starring role as Allyson Henlen. "Do You Believe in Magic" became their first single to enter the top twenty of the Canadian Hot 100 chart, peaking at #23 and peaked at #2 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Singles Sales. ''Into the Rush'' had sold 808,000 copies by December 2007, and over 1,000,000 copies worldwide.

The album received mixed reviews from critics. Fran Grauman from About.com gave the album a 4 star rating, praising Aly and AJ's "ton of talent" and "experience." Allmusic gave the album a mixed review, saying it "doesn't venture further than offering a few empowering ballads", to hand them 2.5 stars after. AMG does praise them for having a real singing ability, citing "Aly & AJ can actually sing — their vocals have more way personality than prefab Disney hopefuls like Hayden Panettiere or Caleigh Peters — and the arrangements are slick without resorting to flashily empty pap". The review finishes with "''Into the Rush'' is listenable, likeable, and more about being memorable than being Disney product." The album became the 112th best-selling album in the United States in 2006, earning it a place as #112 on the Billboard 200 end of year chart of 2006.

They have been involved in various Walt Disney Records projects. The "Aly & AJ Concert" took place on July 24, 2005 at the Henry Fonda theater in Hollywood, California. The aired concert was cut to five songs and interviews. The concert included songs from ''Into the Rush''. The band has also opened for The Cheetah Girls in December 2005 on the girls' Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour. The album was re-released in August 2006 with three new songs, including the hit, "Chemicals React", and two new versions of "Collapsed" and "Something More"; it was also released in the UK. Their first Christmas themed album, ''Acoustic Hearts of Winter'' was released on September 26, 2006. On the album, Aly & AJ recorded traditional Christmas songs. In late 2007, the band had recorded three more Christmas originals. ''Acoustic Hearts of Winter'' debuted at #78 on the ''Billboard Hot 100'', selling over 19,000 copies in its first week. The album also topped the U.S. ''Billboard'' Top Holiday Albums debuting at #14. The holiday album later sold over 136,000 copies in the United States.

2007–08: ''Insomniatic''

The duo's second studio album, ''Insomniatic'' was released on July 10, 2007. The album features a more electropop, electronic rock and dance-pop influenced sound different from their debut with the use of synthesizers, synth-rock guitars, vocoder, and electronic instruments. The album peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200, selling over 39,000 copies in its first week and becoming Aly & AJ's highest debut to date. By early December 2007, the album had sold over 215,000 copies in the United States. The album's electropop lead single, "Potential Breakup Song" preceded their second studio album ''Insomniatic'' which was written by them, was released on June 25, 2007. "Potential Breakup Song" peaked at number 17 at ''Billboard'''s Hot 100, becoming their first top 20 single in the United States. The single was later also certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales surpassing 1,000,000 copies.

In October 2007, both the single and the album were released in the United Kingdom; "Potential Breakup Song" reached a peak position of #22 in the United Kingdom, and #16 in Ireland. The girls toured for a short while in the UK, opening for McFly twice and performing at several television shows and nightclubs. ''Time'' magazine named "Potential Breakup Song" one of the 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #9. Writer Josh Tyrangiel praised the authenticity of its having been written by the teenage sisters who sing it. The track also went to chart solely on digital download in several countries like the Netherlands, Norway and Canada.

Subsequently after the success of the album's first single, ''Insomniatic'' was praised by numerous music critics. The United States publication ''USA Today'' wrote "for Insomniatic, the sisters had a hand in writing every song. The single Potential Breakup Song sounds somewhat like Del Shannon's "Runaway" run through a processor, but there's a lot more going musically than on your average teen-pop album." Hollywood Records general manager Abbey Konowitch said, "they write their material; they play their instruments. They aren't in any way manufactured. That's very important." Fraser McAlpine of BBC Radio stated, "Aly and AJ's previous album was rock-pop, some of it light and bubbly, some of it bordering on heaviness. Staccato, often angry pop but still definitely pop. Their second offering, 'Insomniatic,' with this as the lead single seems to have kept the staccato and the venom but added more layers of pop, to create something that sounds like My Chemical Romance going through a blender with some soft-hearted Angry Girl Music." adding, "Don't let the tango at the start fool you, even as the synths and the vocoder cut in, this is a rock song playing with electronics. Chirpy keyboards flag up the growl of their voices as they deliver self-conscious lines like 'it took too long, it took too long, it took too long for you to call back and normally I would just forget that, except for the fact it was my birthday, my stupid birthday', kicking a guy to the curb for being a forgetful loser amid a glorious barrage of seething rhythms, clicky noises and general madness, as the Michalka sisters swing between honeyed murmurs and psychosis, making for the most danceable mental breakdown I've heard in quite some time."

In December 2007, the news revealed that the band would be replacing the Jonas Brothers as the opening act for the extension of the Hannah Montana's Best of Both Worlds Tour from January 11 – January 24. The band also confirmed their second single "Like Whoa", which reached number 63 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and charted later in Australia and Canada. In early January 2008, Aly & AJ performed a cover of KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on Yahoo's Pepsi Smash video site. The cover is also featured on the Japanese re-release of ''Insomniatic'', recorded at Abbey Road. Also, the girls covered the song "We're an American Band" for Randy Jackson's ''Music Club, Vol. 1'', serving as a bonus track.

2009–present: Name change, departure from Hollywood Records, and new music

In early 2008, ''Billboard'' confirmed that the girls are working on a third studio album which was due to be released in late 2009. They mentioned in an interview on Radio Disney on April 23, 2008 that they are going for a rockier sound, and this time they want to sing separately, not harmonizing their voices as they did on their previous albums, to let fans identify who is singing. On October 7, 2008, the up-to-then-yet-untitled album had been confirmed for a April 2009 release by a Hollywood Records representative, however, a month later, the duo revealed in an interview that the album had been delayed until the summer of 2009. In later interviews though, the duo mentioned a release date of fall 2009, and lastly, on September 30, 2009, the duo claims an early 2010 release of the record.

The duo wrote a song (later confirmed to be titled "The Next Worst Thing") with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. The girls also worked with Chris Lord-Alge (Green Day, AFI, Sum 41) and Rob Cavallo (Green Day, The Goo Goo Dolls, Paramore), both producers in the rock genre. Throughout 2009, various songtitles were added to the database of Broadcast Music Incorporated, written by the duo, and co-written with Daniel James and Leah Haywood. Rumors of Aly & AJ touring in the summer of 2009 surfaced the internet, but were later denied by Aly Michalka on their official website. They stated that they were finalizing the record and wanted to focus on that at the moment. They also revealed that they wanted to tour in early 2010 to promote the new album.

On July 8, 2009, the duo announced that they changed their name to 78violet. A week later, on July 16, 78violet announced that their third album will be self-titled. On February 19, 2010, 78violet announced on their official Facebook page that they had officially parted ways with Hollywood Records, and their new self-titled album, ''78violet'' probably will not be released. However, the duo stated that they are continuing to write and record for a new album.

On December 1, 2010 78violet's first song under the name of 78violet was released with the ''Hellcats'' soundtrack EP. 78violet recorded the theme song to ''Hellcats'' entitled "Belong Here". On January 24, 2011 a video of 78violet in the studio was released where a clip of a new song "Suspended" was played. 78violet tweeted on June 2, 2011 "18 songs deep into the writing for this record. A few more to go and we will officially start production" Some of the titles for 78violets third album will be ''8 Hours '' and ''53rd floor''

Other work

Acting

Aly also had a role in Disney's ''Phil of the Future''. Before acting in films separately, the duo were featured in two made-for-television films; the Disney Channel original movie ''Cow Belles'' (2006) and the MTV special ''Super Sweet 16: The Movie'' (2007). Before this, Aly Michalka also fulfilled a main role in the 2005 Disney Channel original movie ''Now You See It...'', alongside Johnny Pacar. Aly has made an acting career for herself in the new CW hit drama ''Hellcats'', and starring alongside Vanessa Hudgens in the movie ''Bandslam'', as well as playing Rhiannon in the movie ''Easy A'' - released in 2010. With regard to AJ’s acting career, in 2009 she had a role in ''The Lovely Bones'', a film by Peter Jackson with Mark Wahlberg and Saoirse Ronan, in which AJ played the best friend of the main character Susie Salmon. In 2010 Amanda appeared as Kate Tweedy in ''Secretariat'', a film from a true story about the horse which won the Triple Crown in 1973. Next AJ has been chosen for the new film by J.J. Abrams, ''Super 8'', which was released on June 10, 2011. AJ has been tapped for a recurring role on ''Hellcats'', where Aly works as one of the principal characters. AJ's first appearance took place on the 18th episode called "Woke Up Dead", of the first season. Her name in the show is Deidre. She plays a girl who works in a music store near the Lancer University, where Aly goes to learn more about her dad. In the 20th episode "Warped Sisters", Deidre and Aly's character, revealed to be half-sisters, sing together.

Merchandise

Huckleberry Toys released Limited Edition Hello Kitty Aly & AJ dolls to selected Target stores. Toys R Us is currently selling a line of the dolls which have been available since November 15, 2007. On November 20, 2007, ''The Aly & AJ Adventure'' game was brought out, for use on the Nintendo DS. In the game, the player plays their assistant, helping them record songs, direct music video etc.

As of June 12, 2008, the duo started releasing their own paperback adventure books, called ''Aly & AJ's Rock 'n' Roll Mysteries'', each part describing Aly & AJ on tour, every book describing a mystery in a different city. The drawings in the books were done by Aly. The first two (''First Stop, New York'' and ''Mayhem in Miami'') were released on June 12, the third installment (''Singing in Seattle'') on September 2, and the last (''Nashville Nights'') went to stores on October 4, 2008.

Performance Designed Products released Aly & AJ-designed guitars on November 10, 2008. Aly's guitar features a heart-and-crossbones print in pink (PlayStation 2) and AJ's guitar is in the shape of the Aly & AJ heart logo featuring bright pink and purple zebra print (Wii, PS2). The duo launched the guitars on October 11, 2008 during event at Universal Studios CityWalk in California. The duo also have clothing, accessories, jewelry and cosmetics lines. According to ''Forbes'' and AOL, they are one of Hollywood's highest earning singers under the age of 30.

Charity work

The duo are the spokeswomen for Samsung's Hope for Education, which provides technology products to needy schools, and are the co-chairpersons for the Children's Advisory Board of the AmberWatch Foundation, and have performed at a benefit concert to raise money for the charity. The song "I Am One of Them", which was featured the in the debut album ''Into the Rush'' is dedicated to work with AmberWatch. The duo also walked a fashion show for the Race to Erase MS show in early May 2008, showing their support.

Stalking incidents

On June 26, 2008, an Ohio man named Rex Mettler was arrested for stalking the duo. The Lancaster man "obtained contact information for the acting and singing duo and made threats online, by phone and handwritten notes" as stated by the police. The duo was scheduled to perform June 27, 2008 in Cincinnati, where the man was present, after which the police couldn't confirm that any of the threats involved the Ohio show. The police later stated that "the charge against Mettler stems from incidents that began Dec. 15 [2007]" and that "Rex displayed a pattern of activity over that time that reflected multiple attempts, if not numerous attempts, at stalking these females."

Two years later, on June 17, 2010, Caesar Brantley (25), was arrested on suspicion of stalking the duo. He pleaded not guilty. Aly claimed Brantley is an "obsessed fan" who is determined to marry her "no matter what" in filings for the restraining order. Another court hearing was scheduled on June 30.

Religion

Along with making music for the mainstream audience, Aly & AJ, who are both very open about their faith, have become significant in the Christian music rock scene. "Never Far Behind" was only released on Christian rock radio. It went to #1 on Radio & Records (R&R;) Christian CHR. Although Aly and AJ are both very open about their Christian faith, they do not want to be labeled as Christian music artists. In an interview with ''Blender'' magazine in June 2006, the girls said that their music comes from a Christian perspective. "We don't ever wanna preach or shove anything down people's throats, but we want our music to be inspiring." AJ added, “If we have a Muslim fan or an atheist fan, that’s their thing — I’m gonna love them no matter what.”

In an interview with ''Blender'' magazine, the two expressed their denial of evolution, with the interviewer asking what their thoughts were. When asked if they accepted evolution, AJ responded, "No," and Aly responded, "Are they teaching that in schools now?" When told that it had been taught for the better part of a century, she replied, "I think that's kind of disrespectful, anything that has to do with anybody's beliefs on religion, that should stay out of the classroom. I mean, I think people should be able to pray in school, if people were into that. Everybody should just do their own gig", and AJ added "Evolution is silly. Monkeys? Um, no."

In 2010, Aly Milchalka stated in an interview with ''Seventeen'' magazine, "My faith is definitely a big part of my life, but not part of my career. It is something that guides me. But I feel like when you make a declaration of your religion, people automatically go after you when that purity ring comes off. So I don't want to set myself up for that kind of judgment."

Discography

''Into the Rush'' (2005)

''Acoustic Hearts of Winter'' (2006)

''Insomniatic'' (2007)

''78violet'' (2011)

Tours

; Main

2005: ''Mini Mall Tour''

2006: ''Living Room Tour''

2006: ''Holiday Season Tour''

2008: ''Insomniatic Tour''

2008: ''Mini Summer Tour''

; Supporting

2005: ''The Cheetah Girls Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour''

2008: ''Best of Both Worlds Tour''

Awards and nominations

+ 78violet (a.k.a Aly & AJ)
! Year !! Award !! Category !! Nominated work !! Result
2005			Aly Michalka as Keely Teslow in ''Phil of the Future''
2006			''Into the Rush''

References

External links

Official site

Category:American people of German descent Category:American pop music groups Category:Family musical groups Category:Girl groups Category:Hollywood Records artists Category:Musical groups from Los Angeles, California Category:Sibling musical duos

da:Aly & AJ de:78violet et:Aly & AJ es:78violet fr:Aly & AJ id:78violet it:78violet lv:78violet nl:78violet ja:Aly & AJ no:78violet pl:78violet pt:78violet ru:78violet simple:78violet sl:78violet fi:Aly & AJ sv:Aly & AJ th:อัลลี แอนด์ เอเจ tr:78violet uk:Aly & AJ vi:Aly & AJ zh:78violet