Justice Volume One (2006)

Hawkman and Hawkgirl fell blazing from the sky, wings afire like Icarus...

Alex Ross may be able to paint some pretty pictures, but he's also a manchild stuck in the Bronze Age, constantly re-staging the same apocalyptic fantasy fictions. In the Justice maxi-series, where he dolled up Dougie Braithwaite's pencils and had his indentured scripter Jim Krueger on bass, the world once again went kablooey because of super-heroes with feet of clay. Of course, it's only a prophetic dream, just like in Kingdom Come, but at least the (unseen) Ray Palmer got a nice nod within...

"The Atom survives the day, I think. He becomes smaller than the flame, seeking an infinity of possibility between the molecules of the material world. Perhaps in him, perhaps in the Atom, humanity will live on. But that may give him too much credit. To survive, he must become next to nothing."

Yeah yeah, but don't forget the part where every other hero for sure bites it! Well, except Superman, but I guess that's a hell of a lot better than Ray's usual ranking in the super-hero hierarchy! Anywho, there's a surprisingly untiny Tiny Titan appearance in a double page spread group shot from the issue, courtesy of forced perspective. It looks like the Mighty Mite is evading Plastic Man's oncoming cranium...



From the Justice League Satellite, Red Tornado monitored the Earth. The android was alerted that his teammate Aquaman had gone missing, and passed the word along to Batman. The Dark Knight was occupied by a case involving the Riddler, who had stolen sensitive League data from the Batcomputer. Batman suggested Red Tornado contact the Martian Manhunter to investigate the Sea King’s disappearance until his own time freed up. The Tornado complied, returning to watching news reports of known super-villains turned humanitarian benefactors, offering extraordinary breakthroughs to the citizens of the world…

The entirety of the Justice League Satellite’s surveillance technology was unable to locate Aquaman. Red Tornado, as part of his duty as monitor, deployed the Manhunter from Mars to investigate. In the course of his search, the Sleuth from Outer Space also vanished, prompting the Tornado to rise to his artificial feet. “J’Onn? J’ONN? First Aquaman, now Martian Manhunter. Not a… Computer? Enhance southern South America.” Red Tornado followed up on reports from marine ships of unusual sea life migration patterns. Off the coast of Argentina, a pattern emerged—crosshairs that pinpointed the Sea King’s location. “You’re a clever man, Arthur.”



A figure had arrived through the teleportation tubes while this was going on, and made its way to Red Tornado, who anticipated the arrival. “I’m glad you’re here. I found Aquaman. He’s trapped in Argentina. Must be nice to have a psychic rapport with two-thirds of all life on Earth. I didn’t expect to be relieved for another two hours. What’s…?”

Suddenly, Red Tornado rose up from his seat and wrapped his own fingers around his neck. “What’s happening? Help me! I don’t know what’s… you need to shut me down!” The Tornado ripped his own head off, then continued tearing his body apart with his mechanical hands. “Someone’s controlling my motor functions! HELP ME! Why won’t you help me?!” Red Tornado’s bits and pieces lay on the monitor room floor, sitting in his internal fluids.

From his home in Ivy Town, Ray Palmer watched conservative commentator Jack Ryder on television, discussing “more reports of acts of miraculous and surprising philanthropy” from the world’s super-villain community…



The Legion of Doom began truly knocking down dominoes, claiming Earth's super friends had abandoned her, while covertly attempting to murder their alter egos.

At the Midway Museum, curators Carter and Shiera dodged the potentially lethal fire of replica prop planes. Making their way toward maces, the Hawks smashed the tiny aircraft. Above their heads, a giant Toyman marionette hovered...

A woman in sunglasses wearing camouflage carried a bag with her on a rooftop adjacent an Ivy University science building. The woman constructed a sniper rifle, then aimed it at a room where Professor Ray Palmer was working on a computer. The distraction of a phone call caused Palmer to shift his body just in time to avoid his brains spilling across the monitor, but the bullet wound in his right shoulder left a mess all its own. While Palmer bled out on the floor, the anxious voice at the other end of the phone line asked, “Ray? Is something wrong? Ray?”

“Call… ambulance. Call Carter.”

Tearfully, Jean Loring dialed another number on her cell phone. 22,800 miles above the Earth, Red Tornado’s severed head sat on a counter, teleportation technology at the Justice League Satellite disengaged…

"Justice, Vol. 1," collecting the first four issues of the 2005 mini-series, was plotted and painted by Alex Ross. The script was provided by Jim Krueger, and the penciled layouts by Doug Braithwaite.