JLA/Avengers (Issues #2 and #4 titled Avengers/JLA) is a comic book limited series and crossover published in prestige format by DC Comics and Marvel Comics from September 2003 to May 2004. The series was written by Kurt Busiek, with art by George Pérez. The series features the two companies' teams of superheroes, DC Comics' Justice League of America and Marvel's Avengers.^[1]

Publication history[link]

In 1979, DC and Marvel agreed to co-publish a crossover series involving the two teams, to be written by Gerry Conway and drawn by George Pérez. The plot of the original crossover was a time travel story involving Marvel's Kang the Conqueror and DC's Lord of Time. Writer/editor Roy Thomas was hired to script the book, based on Conway's plot,^[2] and although work had begun on the series in 1981 (Pérez had penciled 21 pages by mid-1983) and it was scheduled for publication in May 1983,^[3] editorial disputes - reportedly instigated by Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter - prevented the story from being completed.^[4][5] The failure of the JLA/Avengers book also caused the cancellation of a planned sequel to the 1982 The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans crossover.^[5]

An agreement was reached between the two companies in 2002, with a new story to be written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by George Pérez. In a joint panel at WonderCon 2000, Busiek (then writer of the Avengers title) and Mark Waid (then writer of the JLA title) stated they had nearly come to an agreement to begin the crossover within the regular issues of the respective titles but the two companies could not come to a business arrangement. When the series was approved, however, Waid was unavailable due to an exclusive commitment with company CrossGen, and Busiek became the sole writer on the project.^[6] Perez also had an exclusive commitment with CrossGen, but had had a clause written into his contract allowing him to do the series if and when it was approved.

The series was reprinted by DC Comics in 2005 as a two-volume collector's edition hardcover (which included for the first time the original 1983 Pérez penciled pages), and then re-released as a trade paperback in November 2008.

Plot[link]

Krona, an exiled Oan, travels across and destroys universes seeking the truth of creation. When he arrives in the Marvel Universe, the Grandmaster, wanting to save his universe, proposes that they play a game. If Krona wins, the Grandmaster will lead him to a being (Galactus) in that universe who has witnessed creation. If he loses, Krona has to spare the Grandmaster’s universe. When summoning the players to participate in this game, Krona decides to swap champions, so the Grandmaster’s longtime adversaries, the Avengers, will represent Krona, and the Justice League, from Krona's home universe, will fight for the Grandmaster. This means that the Avengers must lose the game in order to save their universe.

The Grandmaster informs the Justice League that to save the universe they have to gather 12 items of power (The six DC items are the Spear of Destiny; the Book of Eternity; the Orb of Ra; the Psycho Pirate's Medusa Mask; the Bell, Jar and Wheel of the Demons Three; and the Green Lantern Power Battery of Kyle Rayner. The six Marvel items are the Ultimate Nullifier; the Evil Eye of Avalon; the Wand of Watoomb; the Casket of Ancient Winters; the Cosmic Cube; and the Infinity Gems.), while his ally Metron tells the Avengers that they have to stop the League to prevent the world being destroyed.

The Justice League travels to the Marvel Universe, and are dismayed by the Avengers' failure to improve their Earth's condition. When the Avengers visit the DC Universe, they are surprised by the "futuristic" architecture of its Earth's cities and the honors that the Justice League and other native heroes receive for their deeds, and believe that the Leaguers are fascists who demand that civilians worship them. Various Leaguers and Avengers travel across the two universes and fight each other to retrieve the artifacts of power. A final battle for the Cosmic Cube takes place in the Marvel Universe’s Savage Land, but Batman and Captain America—who together investigated the cause of the contest—arrive and stop the battle. The Grandmaster announces the Justice League as the victors, with the final score being 7-5, but Krona learns the identity of Galactus and summons him. The Grandmaster uses the power of the artifacts and merges both universes together.

Reality is altered such that the Justice League and Avengers are longtime allies, but the universes are incompatible and begin destroying each other. The Grandmaster explains to the heroes that he brought the universes together to imprison Krona using the 12 items, but Krona is merging the universes further to destroy them, hoping to create a new Big Bang, which he can survive and learn the secrets of. Before dying the Grandmaster asks the assembled heroes to stop Krona and restore order, and shows them various events that had taken place in the separate universes. Each team member witnesses the tragedies that had befallen them in their separate universes, such as the deaths of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen. Several heroes vote to leave the universes as they are to prevent the tragedies from happening, but Hal Jordan inspires everyone to work for the good of their worlds.

Krona has captured the universal avatars of Eternity and Kismet. Reality continues to change, and at Krona's base, Captain America leads every hero who has ever been a member of the Justice League or the Avengers; they battle every villain the teams have ever fought. The heroes succeed, and the universes are returned to normal with help from the Spectre, who is in fact Hal Jordan, returned to this state. Krona has imploded to form a cosmic egg, which is stored in the JLA Watchtower;^[7] Metron states that when the egg hatches, Krona will learn the secrets of its creation by being part of it. Metron and the Grandmaster discuss how Metron intentionally lured Krona to the Marvel universe. The Grandmaster says that this is the first game he played when all sides won.

See also[link]

• DC vs. Marvel

References[link]

External links[link]

• JLA/Avengers fansite
• A complete list of team membership

v t e Avengers Creators Stan Lee Jack Kirby Comic book titles Current The Avengers Avengers Academy New Avengers Secret Avengers Previous Avengers: The Initiative Dark Avengers Force Works The Mighty Avengers Solo Avengers West Coast Avengers Young Avengers Limited Avengers: Celestial Quest Avengers Forever Avengers Infinity Avengers vs. X-Men G.L.A. JLA/Avengers Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers Other continuities A-Next The Last Avengers Story Marvel Adventures: The Avengers The Ultimates Initial characters Ant-Man Captain America Hulk Iron Man Thor Wasp Members lists Avengers members A-Next members Great Lakes Avengers members New Avengers members Ultimates members West Coast Avengers members Enemies Baron Zemo Collector Count Nefaria Egghead Grandmaster Graviton Grim Reaper Immortus Kang Korvac Legion of the Unliving Lethal Legion Loki Master Pandemonium Masters of Evil Morgan le Fay Nebula Revengers Space Phantom Super-Adaptoid Supreme Intelligence Squadron Sinister Taskmaster Thanos Ultron Zodiac Headquarters Avengers Mansion Avengers Island Avengers Tower Storylines "Kree-Skrull War" "Acts of Vengeance" "Operation: Galactic Storm" "Bloodties" "Kang Dynasty" "Avengers Disassembled" In other media Television The Avengers: United They Stand The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Film Ultimate Avengers Ultimate Avengers 2 Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow The Avengers (soundtrack) Video games Captain America and The Avengers Avengers in Galactic Storm Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth Alternative versions Agents of Atlas A-Next Ultimates Book:The Avengers