JLA: The Nail series

The Nail

Twenty-four years ago, farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent experience a flat tire on their truck caused by a nail, which results in them missing the arrival of a Kryptonian spaceship and discovering the baby Kal-El. In the present day, the Justice League consists of Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash, Hawkwoman, the Atom, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern.

Journalist Perry White conducts an anti-metahuman propaganda campaign along with mayor of Metropolis Lex Luthor and deputy mayor Jimmy Olsen. After a battle with Amazo which resulted in the death of Hawkman, Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) became a bitter paraplegic who claims that the Justice League are aliens who are conspiring against humanity. Metahumans are eliminated or captured one by one: first the supervillains and then teams such as the Doom Patrol and the Outsiders.

The Joker liberates the prisoners in Arkham Asylum with energy-generating gauntlets which he uses to trap Batman and kill Robin and Batgirl. Catwoman attacks the Joker and frees Batman, who then damages the Joker's gauntlets and snaps his neck on live television as Arkham explodes. Batman retreats to the Batcave with Catwoman while the Joker's murder tarnishes the Justice League's reputation.

Metamorpho is brainwashed into killing the Thinker and Perry White and dies while trying to tell Martian Manhunter what happened. Green Lantern discovers a force field around Earth that prevents anything from leaving the planet. The Flash saves Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins from an attack by Amazo while seeking the mastermind behind all of these events.

Wonder Woman is framed for the destruction of the White House. Riots erupt soon afterwards and Luthor takes control of the United States, using flying masked robots called the Liberators to enforce the law. The members of the Justice League are captured by the Liberators (who are shown to be Bizarro-like clones of Kal-El) until only Batman, the Flash and the Atom are left.

Lois Lane, a journalist investigating the anti-metahuman propaganda campaign, suspects a conspiracy. At a metahuman research facility, Lois meets Dr. Lana Lang, who sends her to Smallville where the Kents help shelter escaped metahumans. Lois confronts Jimmy, who reveals that LexCorp discovered Kal-El's empty spaceship and found traces of his DNA within it. Luthor used the alien DNA to create Bizarro clones and turn Jimmy into a Kryptonian-human hybrid. Metahumans have been imprisoned and harvested for their DNA in order to convert humans into Kryptonians and create a Kryptonian society ruled by Jimmy.

Batman, Batwoman (formerly Catwoman), the Atom, and the Flash free the captive Justice League members and destroy the Liberators, only to be confronted by a super-powered Jimmy. Jimmy defeats the League due to their inexperience with Kryptonian powers as the fight spreads to an Amish community. As Jimmy is about to kill Batman, he is stopped by a farmer who tries to reason with him; Jimmy unsuccessfully tries to incinerate the farmer with his heat vision.

The farmer is revealed to be Kal-El, who was found as a baby by an Amish couple and raised as their son. Jimmy attempts to persuade Kal-El to join him but Kal refuses, unable to ignore his conscience. Jimmy kills Kal-El's adoptive parents in front of him with his heat vision and engages Kal in a fight. Despite the two of them being evenly matched, the stress of the fight causes Jimmy’s DNA graft to fail and his body to disintegrate. With Jimmy and the Liberators defeated, the Justice League (without Batman, who resigns from the League after he is acquitted of the Joker's murder) regains public confidence with the help of its newest member: Superman.

Another Nail

JLA: Another Nail
Cover for JLA: Another Nail #1 (May 2004), by Alan Davis.
Publication information
Publisher	Elseworlds (DC Comics)
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Limited series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	May – July 2004
Main character(s)	Aquaman Atom Batman Flash Green Arrow Green Lantern Hawkgirl Martian Manhunter Superman Wonder Woman
Creative team
Created by	Alan Davis Mark Farmer
Written by	Alan Davis
Penciller(s)	Alan Davis
Inker(s)	Mark Farmer
Collected editions
JLA: Another Nail (US edition)	ISBN 1401202659
JLA: Another Nail (UK Edition)	ISBN 1840239441

The story begins with a flashback to a year earlier, with details about the war between New Genesis and Apokolips mentioned in The Nail. The consequences of this war threaten to destroy millions of lives on adjacent planets, and the Green Lantern Corps is dispatched to stem the loss of life. One Green Lantern gets killed, and his power ring selects Big Barda as its new host. Using the ring in combination with a Mother Box, Barda and Mister Miracle (who had transferred his consciousness to Barda's armor circuitry and Power Ring via the Mother Box) shut down a destructive device designed to vaporize all matter within millions of light years, causing Darkseid to disintegrate into dust and be scattered across the universe. The flashback is shown by Green Lantern to the Justice League. Hal reveals that the Central Power Battery on Oa is weakening. The Guardians of the Universe and Big Barda investigate but are unsuccessful.

Oliver Queen, formerly Green Arrow, is dying from injuries by Amazo in the same fight that claimed Hawkman's life. His former lover, Black Canary (Dinah Lance) is torn; she wants to help him, but he rejects her and wishes to only die in peace.

Kal-El is adjusting to his new life as Superman. He is unfamiliar with his powers and limitations, devoting himself to heroics with little rest. During a mission in Peru with the Martian Manhunter, Superman's strength begins to fade as he tries to save a village from Evil Star's attack. Manhunter advises him to rest and reconnect with humanity. During his sabbatical, Kal-El bonds with Jonathan and Martha Kent and Lois Lane, as they create a new identity for him.

Wonder Woman and Aquaman encounter some of Darkseid's former minions hidden on Earth. Hawkwoman teams with Zatanna; Green Lantern investigates the energy loss on Oa by questioning various superheroes, and Flash (Barry Allen) and the Atom note chronological fluctuations. Batman and Batwoman (a reformed Catwoman) continue to fight crime separately from the League. Batman is still haunted by nightmares of the Joker killing Robin and Batgirl a year before Batman killed him. After a battle with Poison Ivy, Batman follows maniacal laughter heard in the distance and encounters Deadman, who reveals a disturbance in the dimensional planes of reality. Demons invade the human dimension and even the Spectre is helpless. Flash and the Atom accidentally enter another universe and are captured by the Crime Syndicate of America.

Batman learns that the Joker has literally been haunting him. Back from hell because of the dimensional shift, Joker attacks Batman with demonic powers while legions of demons watch in amusement. With the Joker already dead, Batman can only cause him pain.

As disturbances in dimensions, time and reality unfold, heroes and villains are helpless in the ensuing chaos. Barda and Mr. Miracle use the resources of New Genesis and the Green Lanterns to discover that the disturbances are from a single entity: the Limbo Cell. A massive organism, many times the size of the Solar System, the Limbo Cell feeds on energy, matter and hyperspace, causing dimensional disturbances across multiple realities. Superman tries to fly a bomb into the cell's nucleus, but his energy ebbs and he is left helpless. As Kal-El is about to die, he is rescued and revitalized by Amazo (now equipped with the brain of Oliver Queen). Queen fights the Limbo Cell's energy-siphoning with Amazo's powers and sacrifices his life to deliver the bomb to its nucleus. With the Limbo Cell destroyed, reality heals and the disturbances in time and space are repaired.

Batman descends into hell, dragging the Joker with him. As they fight, Batman is prepared to spend an eternity in hell, knowing that his sacrifice prevents the Joker from harming anyone else ever. As they fall into the abyss, the Joker, screaming, is swept away by an unseen force. A hand reaches out to Batman pulling him from the darkness. His rescuers, the spirits of Robin and Batgirl, enable Batman to put the past behind him and rejoin the Justice League.