JLA #113 (June 2005)

"Syndicate Rules Part Seven: Worlds in the Balance"

Credits

Character Appearances

Featuring

Villains

Guest Stars

Other Characters

  • Strategoes & Tacticos (attendroids - floating head-shaped robotic aids to the supreme leader of Qward)

Cameoes

  • Krona (image shown to the Qwardians by Batman)

Groups and Henchmen

  • Thunderers of Qward (The army of Qward; long-time opponents of the Green Lantern Corps)
  • Weaponeers of Qward (The technicians and engineers of Qward; designers of Sinestro’s yellow power ring)

Story Details

Locations

  • The Electromagnetic Plane (A naturally occurring cyberspace like domain; home of the Construct’s intelligence)
  • Near Earth Space (the battle with the Void Hound)
  • JLA Watchtower

Continuity

After the splitting of the Construct in JLA #107 (Dec 2004) the many mini-constructs began to recognise other intelligent lifeforms and started evolving a mutual society at a fantastic rate. When the Flash visits them mere days later they’ve already assembled a highly-advanced society that recognises the League as their saviours and gods.

Comments

The paper stock changes from matte to glossy from this issue.

Synopsis

The Qwardians and the Crime Syndicate have separately invaded the positive-matter universe seeking the person responsible for imperfectly recreating their own anti-matter universe. To match them the Justice League and their allies have split into three groups - one in space fighting the Qwardians, one on Earth fighting the Syndicate and one sent to the anti-matter Earth searching for intelligence on the Syndicate. Meanwhile, the Flash has been alerted to activities on the Electromagnetic Plane. He enters the Plane expecting to find the Construct reborn (see JLA #107 (Dec 2004)), but instead he finds an entire civilisation of benevolent mini-constructs which have organised itself in the short time since the League shattered the single malevolent Construct. They have drawn him there to warn the League of the approach of another construct intelligence.

On Earth Aquaman and the Elite clean up the mess left by their encounter with the CSA, but the villains have since retreated to enjoy watching the Justice League get torn apart fighting the Qwardians’ Void Hound. Aboard the monstrous machine Diataria Lysis finally makes a move to end the conflict. She contacts the Martian Manhunter and explains that she will see that Earth is spared if they help her bring sanity back to the Qwardian Highlord. He has been mentally-linked with the Void Hound’s animistic machine-intelligence, but it is pushing him further and further towards homicidal madness. The Manhunter agrees and supplies Lysis with information about the mad Oan Krona and his tampering with the anti-matter universe. She is forced to use violence against Highlord Roval to get his attention, but once Roval sees the evidence he agrees to leave the Earth and the League in peace. However, he is less tolerant of the CSA, who had directly attacked Qward just before the current crisis started. They are shocked by Roval’s challenge to defend their own Earth from his onslaught. The Void Hound then jumps back to the anti-matter universe with the Crime Syndicate hot on its tail.

Throughout the incident in space the Manhunter had actually been Batman in disguise - a ploy against the Syndicate’s anti-telepath strategies. The League have no intention of just letting the Qwardians attack another Earth, but this way they force the Syndicate to become their allies and boost their chance of winning against the Void Hound. As the League returns to the Watchtower they meet the Flash returning from the Electromagnetic Plane with one of the mini-constructs and a plan on how to end the entire conflict.

Review

See JLA #107 for a complete review of this story arc.

(6/10)

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