Justice League of America – Volume 3 – 6

Synopsis

For centuries, The Question has been seeking answers to questions. Foremost in his mind is the question of who he really is. He believes that if, one day, he answers enough questions, the answer to that question will be given to him. Until then, though, he is the man without a face. For now, though, he must answer a different question: “Who is the evil behind the evil?”

Meanwhile, in Kahndaq, the Justice League of America stands in disbelief having just watched as Superman killed Dr. Light, their newest member. Hurriedly, Steve Trevor warns that the need to neutralise the rest of the Justice League, then deal with Superman. Unfortunately, neither side is particularly enamoured with the idea of fighting the other, but they are compelled to do so, whether in self-defence or in service of their country. As the battle becomes more heated, Superman himself struggles to keep his eyes shut to prevent further bursts of uncontrollable heat-vision, begging everyone to stop fighting and just lock him up. Finally, everyone stands around him silently, until Trevor decides that it’s time to bring Superman in.

Later, Trevor returns to A.R.G.U.S. to report back to Director Waller, who still doubts that Superman would kill a man, despite the fact that her entire team saw it. Still, she sees Superman’s loss of control as an opportunity for the JLA. If Superman cannot be controlled, then the Justice League cannot be controlled, and it will be up to the JLA to take them all down. Warily, Steve worries that Waller might have orchestrated this scenario.

In the A.R.G.U.S. medical wing, both teams are receiving required medical attention, and nobody really believes that Superman killed Dr. Light on purpose. Meanwhile, Shazam is eager to leave, given that he is a member of neither league. The Atom’s guilt at her betrayal fills her with a need to come clean about what she did, but Batman is too busy to listen. Amanda Waller offers her ear, after she has a word with Firestorm. Taking him aside, she asks him if he can make Kryptonite.

Meanwhile, Steve leads Wonder Woman to see Superman, explaining that Waller wants to keep him there while they run tests. Diana is not impressed with Steve’s involvement with the other Justice League. She hoped that if they were still friends, he might have told her about it, rather than revealing the JLA through a press conference. She notes that a man is dead because Steve and his government could not trust the Justice League enough to talk to them. And Superman will never forgive himself for that mistake.

Batman stands watch over Superman, who has been locked down in a super-power suppressing device. Superman hasn’t stopped coughing since they arrived, and Batman is unsure whether it is a physical or psychological ailment. Clark begs to know who he killed. Bruce explains that Dr. Light was a scientist at A.R.G.U.S. until an accident gave him the ability to manipulate energy. At the time of their encounter, Light had not fully learned to control his abilities, and because of Superman’s physiological dependency on solar energy, their proximity could have accidentally triggered a release of that energy. The Martian Manhunter and Cyborg have been allowed to preside over the autopsy together, to see what they can learn about the incident. Clark is more concerned about whether Arthur Light had a family. Reluctantly, Bruce admits that he had a wife and three daughters. Clark bites his lip.

Arriving, Diana angrily demands to know why Bruce would tell him something that would hurt him like that. She ignore’s his non-response and explains that what happened had nothing to do with Dr. Light and everything to do with the encounter they had with Pandora’s Box earlier. Bruce doesn’t believe in the myth of Pandora’s Box, believing that man chooses to be evil, and insists that they pursue this all scientifically. Diana is sure that she is right, and decides to pursue her angle only.

Wonder Woman seeks out her cousin Hephaestus, the blacksmith god, and wrapping her lasso ’round his neck, she demands to know just what Pandora’s box really is, and what it does. Despite his having been a friend to her in the past, Diana insists that right now, she needs the truth, and she needs it immediately. She knows he forged the box. He responds, however, under the influence of the lasso, that he did not forge it – and that it is not what she thinks it is. He explains that there are other magics in the world, beyond those of the Gods of Olympus. When they had tried to control the box, they had used Pandora to open it, because they were scared of it. As she leaves, he warns her that she would do best to destroy the box, rather than trying to unravel its mysteries. Finding not much help from either Gods or science, Diana turns to magic itself; she turns to the Justice League Dark.

At A.R.G.U.S. Headquarters, Superman is freed of his restraints by a man who resembles Steve Trevor. Superman protests that it is not safe to free him, but the man responds that he knows Superman is not a killer, and reveals that he is not Steve Trevor. He is the Question, and he hopes to help Superman find out who really killed Dr. Light.