Everyone knows Batman as the Dark Knight who strikes terror into the hearts of criminals in Gotham City, but in the Justice League we discover another facet of this mysterious caped crusader. Not only is Batman the world’s greatest detective, but he also has one of the greatest scientific and analytical minds on Earth. Although he has no superpowers of his own, Batman is often the key to Justice League victories.

Backed by Bruce Wayne’s vast personal fortune and the scientific resources of Wayne Enterprises, Batman has access to all kinds of weapons and technology, from prototype hyper-drive vehicles to deep-space bat suits. But Batman is uncomfortable in the glare of the public spotlight. He prefers to work alone in the shadows, only joining a Justice League operation when absolutely necessary. When he does commit to helping the League, he brings to it the same fierce determination that he does to his own crusades against crime. Batman’s grim attitude often rubs his teammates the wrong way, but he earns their respect with his unwavering dedication to justice

J’onn J’onzz is the last survivor of an ancient Martian race. He is a telepath who can use his uncanny shape-shifting abilities to adapt and blend into any situation. By altering his physical density, he can also become immaterial and pass through solid objects. Because he comes from a cold barren planet, exposure to intense heat can weaken him.

J’onzz came to Earth to warn us of an invasion by the evil race that wiped out his own people on Mars. Although he was met with suspicion and hostility, J’onzz refused to give up, and helped to gather together a group of heroes who could repel the invaders. This group would become the Justice League.

After the invaders were defeated, J’onzz remained on Earth because as the last of his kind, he no longer had a home. The other members of the Justice League try to make him feel welcome, but he always remains aloof, detached and inscrutable.

As an outside observer, J’onzz is fascinated by contradictions of the human race. When he secretly walks among us, he is overwhelmed by the conflict between intellect and emotion he senses within every one of us. Often, it is too much for his alien mind to absorb, so he retreats to the orbiting Justice League Watchtower, where he spends most of his time. Although he is the heart of the Justice League, no one in the universe is more alone than J’onn J’onzz

Orphaned newsboy Billy Batson is beckoned into an abandoned subway tunnel by a mysterious figure. In the tunnel, Billy meets the ancient wizard Shazam! Shazam instucts Billy to repeat the wizard's name. As Billy utters the name "Shazam," a magic lightning bolt strikes him transforming him into the World's Mightiest Mortal -- Captain Marvel!

As Captain Marvel, Billy has super-strength and the power of flight. He also has the following gifts from the Gods:

Solomon Wisdom
Hercules Strength
Atlas Stamina
Zeus Power
Achilles Courage
Mercury Speed

Kent Nelson was born in 1928 to Sven Nelson, a noted archaeologist, and Celestine Babcock Nelson, a spiritual medium. Celestine Nelson died under unknown circumstances shortly after Kent's birth, and Kent became a tagalong for his globe-trotting father. In 1940, Sven and Kent were conducting a dig in the Valley of Ur in Mesopotamia when the younger Nelson stumbled upon an ancient sarcophagus containing the giant body of a stately being, Nabu the Wise. Upon opening the sarcophagus, Kent released poison gas which immediately slew his father. Nabu, a mystical Lord of Order originally from the planet Cilia, took pity on the boy and used his magic to block the grief from the young boy's mind. Over the intervening months, Nabu schooled Kent Nelson in the ways of mysticism, teaching him to cast spells and fly. During this time, Kent Nelson aged years instead of weeks; he had grown to adulthood by late summer. Nelson had grown fond of Nabu, but the Lord of Order required one last act of Kent Nelson: the death of his own body. Nelson hesitated but Nabu removed the inhibitions he had placed on Nelson's grief. In a rage, Nelson slew the old wizard. With his body destroyed, Nabu was revealed his true nature: an energy being, a millennia-old Lord of Order. Nabu presented Nelson with two gifts: a helm and an amulet. When Nelson wore the Helm, he was joined with Nabu who used his body as an agent against the Lords of Chaos

Originally a sentient cyclone that terrorized the planet Rann, the Red Tornado became heroic under the influence of Rann's champion, Adam Strange. It was later infused into an android body created by T.O. Morrow, losing its memories in the process. Although Morrow sent the Red Tornado to destroy the Justice League of America, his heroic nature prevailed and he was accepted as a valuable JLA member. Adopting the guise of "John Smith", he sought to explore his human nature. He even fell in love, with a woman named Kathy Sutton, and together they adopted a daughter. But duty forced Red Tornado to sacrifice himself on several occasions. Each time, he reconstituted after a long period of dormancy. Ultimately, Red Tornado assumed the mantle of Air Elemental of Earth.

Wonder Woman was born Diana, Princess of Themyscira. The daughter of Hippolyta, Diana was blessed by the gods with amazing speed and strength. She also possesses the power of flight, silver bracelets that can deflect bullets, and an indestructible golden lasso spun from the girdle of the Earth Goddess Gaea.

Diana was raised among a fabled race of Amazons who trained her to be the ultimate Amazon warrior. Now, for the first time, she has ventured out into Man’s World. Her sheltered existence on Themyscira hardly prepared her for the greed, cruelty, and oppression that she finds among the human race.

Accustomed to being treated like royalty, Wonder Woman has the aristocratic bearing of a goddess. With her deep sense of honor, she is easily offended when she is not accorded the respect that she feels she deserves, and she does not suffer fools gladly. Yet beneath this imposing exterior, she has a sly sense of humor. She tends to view all men as inferior beings, with the notable exception of Superman

Aquaman, born as Orin to Queen Atlanna and the mysterious wizard Atlan, was abandoned on Mercy Reef as a baby because of his blond hair, which was seen by the superstitious Atlantean as a curse, The Mark of Kordax .Raised first by dolphins, then by a lighthouse keeper who gave him his own name, Arthur Curry, you could say he had an unusual childhood. Sometime in his teens he met and fell in love with an Inupiat named Kako. He left (was driven away) before he knew she was pregnant with his son.

He discovered his Atlantean heritage by dropping in on an oppressed Atlantis, and becoming a prisoner. He learned the language and who his mother was during that time, as well as forging a lasting friendship with Vulko, an Atlantean scientist.

Sometime later he was introduced to hero-hood by the Flash. He didn't like it much, but eventually learned to deal with it, as evidenced by his eventual leadership of the Justice League.

He also was able to claim his birthright as King of Atlantis, though he was surprised to discover that Vulko had led the overthrow of the oppressive religious regime, inspired by Aquaman. He met Aqualad, who became his friend and almost-son. He married Mera, a queen from another dimension, and had son with her. Life was going great!

Then, of course, came the bad times. He lost his son to a vindictive Manta, and lost the trust of Aqualad at the same time . After rocky times, starting with Aquaman's quest for revenge on Manta and ending with his absence when his city was attacked and conquered ,Mera left him for her own dimension. His people slowly lost faith in him, and too eagerly followed his son into disaster . And he even lost his hand, too.

In madness and grief, he was slowly brought back into the world of heroes by Dolphin and Aqualad. After learning the secret of Poseidonis, he fought off an alien invasion by uniting Earth's underwater heroes against them. He met his father, Atlan, and learned more about his mystical heritage.

And then he went mad after his dolphin mother was killed by a Japanese dolphin hunter seeking revenge. He lost control of his powers, which he learned were more formidable than he suspected. He endangered the world enough for the Earth Elemental, Swamp Thing, to step in and wake him up .

After finding himself again, he asked the sea life to forgive him, and accept him again as their King. In his insanity, though, the sea had fled to the protection of Poseidon, and he had to fight Poseidon's son Triton to regain his status. When he won, a ticked off Poseidon gave him the power of a god to show him that he can't handle it .

Blind, he stumbled onto Animal Man and helped him out . He learned how to control his sonar abilities and to reach into "The Clear" with Animal Man's help. He then returned to his home in time to greet his returning people, who had to get used to living on the surface of the ocean .

But Triton wasn't done with him. After killing Atlan and Poseidon, Triton killed Aquaman and took over the city. Aquaman, in the mythical underworld of Hades, saved Poseidon and returned to life, defeating Triton with Poseidon's help. Then Aquaman went off to another dimension to save Mera, returned and exiled his son Koryak, and had a birthday party.

John Stewart is a veteran member of the elite Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic peacekeeping force founded by the Guardians of Oa. The Guardians provide each Green Lantern with a power ring that must be recharged every 24 hours from a lantern-like power source. Acting as the ultimate defensive weapon, the ring responds to mere thought and can project powerful laser-like beams or impenetrable force fields. Its emerald aura also protects the wearer from the harsh environs of deep space.

Years ago, the Guardians of Oa recognized John Stewart’s potential for exceptional courage and heroism. Awarding him a power ring, they trained him to be the Green Lantern for Sector 2814, a quadrant of the galaxy that includes our own solar system. For more than ten years, John has patrolled the deepest reaches of space.

Now, he has returned home to protect Earth as a member of the Justice League. Unfortunately, the hard-nosed military attitude that makes John an ideal Green Lantern often creates friction with his fellow Justice Leaguers. Because he views himself as an authorized professional peacekeeper, he sometimes treats the others like well-meaning amateurs

Young, brash and impulsive, Wally West gained the power of super-speed during a freak electro-chemical accident. Now the fastest man alive, he can run at velocities approaching the speed of light. Even Superman has a hard time keeping up with him. Because of his super-fast metabolism, Wally is constantly hungry.

Also blessed with a quick wit, Wally takes a light-hearted view of saving the universe. He is the comedian of the group, a wisecracking, easy going slacker who relies on speed, not brains, to get him out of trouble. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work, and his flippant attitude annoys his teammates who take their jobs far more seriously. Often, this over-reliance on speed will get him in over his head, and his teammates will have to catch up to rescue him. For them, there is one thing the Flash cannot do fast enough—grow up

Patrick O'Brian was born in a small, low-rent apartment on the south side of Chicago, back in the days when Al Capone was warring in the streets with Chi-Town's finest. It wasn't the best life, but his father had a steady job. There was food on the table, clothing on his body, shoes on his feet. A lot of kids had it worse than Patrick.

Of course, a lot of kids had it better, too. Patrick's father was a stereotype: a drunken Irishman. And when he got drunk he got mean and took it out on his son. Cigarette burns don't heal so well, but they do teach quickly. Patrick learned to stay out of his father's way when the man was boozing. And the easiest way to do that was to get out of the cramped apartment.

On the streets, of course, there were other challenges to be faced. Young Patrick discovered that gangs of boys ruled the streets below waist height as sure has gangs of adults ruled the streets above it. Invisible to their over-eighteen counterparts, the boys had their own laws, their own territories. And if you were going to survive on the streets for a moment, you had to give yourself over to one of the gangs. So Patrick did.

It wasn't hard to decide which. The apartment building where he lived was hardly contested territory. A gang formed mostly of Irish and Polish boys ruled the neighborhood. The Jets, they called themselves. When Patrick joined their ranks he was only eight years old and beneath the notice of most of the boys, but he was small and slippery and could get into places where they mostly couldn't, so he quickly found himself a place in the gang, and a street name: Eel.

Of course, it was all downhill from there. It wasn't as though Eel got himself into serious mischief. Petty larceny. Vandalism. A few broken windows on 'enemy' turf (the Sharks got what was coming to them). But things built up, and as time went on it became easier and easier to convince himself that sliding just a little farther down the path to being a true baddie wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Which is how it came to pass that at the age of twenty, just before World War II, a twenty-one year old Eel O'Brian broke into the Crawford Chemical Works with a new gang. By this time he was an accomplished safe man, able to work his way through most locks, given time and light and such. As it happened, the CCW safe was right on the floor of the chemical plant. Once the safe was cracked, things turned surprisingly ugly. It seemed that the others didn't want to give Eel his cut of the loot. In fact, they didn't want to take the chance that Eel might squeal, so they shot him. Eel fell backwards into a vat of chemicals. and as he blacked out, the chemicals started to seep into his wounds.

When he came to, he wasn't in the chemical plant anymore. The room was clean, white, bright. A man was nearby. Eel, it turned out, had been dumped into the river and left for dead. The man, a monk, had fished him from the river and brought him back to his monastery to heal.

At first Eel simply couldn't understand why the monk would help him this way. His life wasn't exactly full of kindness and consideration. Slowly, though, the monk won Eel over and Eel started to see that the side of law and good had points as well.

Leaving the monastery, Eel discovered that he had somehow gained the ability to stretch his body into whatever shape he wanted. It wasn't hard to figure out: the chemicals at the factory had changed him into a Plastic Man. Now charged with a willingness to do good, Eel went out to take down the betraying gangsters. He left them for the police, essentially gift wrapped and with a note: 'Best Wishes, Plastic Man.'

Plastic Man went on to join the All Star Squadron during World War II, fighting Axis forces around the world. Toward the end of the war he was recruited by the FBI, and he was an FBI agent as Eel O'Brian for the better part of six decades. He occasionally donned the red leotard during this time, but for the most part he focused on his career and kept his superhero activity to a minimum.

As an FBI agent, Eel encountered a man by the name of Woozy Winks, a communist spy. Though they fought at first, Eel managed to convince Woozy of the positive aspects of democracy and Woozy left the employ of the USSR. Woozy and Eel have been close friends ever since.

His years with the FBI gave Eel access to a great deal of training. He's a crack shot with a service pistol. His detecting skills are among the greatest in the world. And while he's more likely to use his powers to fight in a brawl, he's an accomplished martial artist. Eel owes a lot to his time as an FBI agent, and he still maintains a relationship with the Bureau.

But all things must come to an end. In his mid seventies, and still looking around thirty-five, Eel O'Brian hung up his service pistol and retired from the FBI with a full pension. He used his money to open a private detective agency in Chicago with Woozy Winks as his partner.

Around this time Eel met a lovely young woman named Angel McDunagh. Their affair was intense and, unfortunately, brief. The idea that a rubber man could get somebody pregnant was one that Eel hadn't seriously considered, and when Angel told him she was going to have a baby... well, he reacted badly. He ran. He ran fast and far (at least as far as his PI office) and didn't answer phone calls, didn't respond to messages. He's not proud of it. Later he felt very guilty about the way he treated Angel, and he saw his son, Luke, from afar. It became quickly clear that Luke had inherited his father's powers, and more: Luke can change color.

Nobody was more surprised than Eel when Batman mentioned the name of Plastic Man for inclusion in the recently formed JLA. Sure, he went to the JLA auditions, but everybody who was anybody did, and Eel was mostly doing it for a laugh. Or to try to get Batman to laugh. Or something like that. But Batman -did- finger Plastic Man for JLA membership, and Eel knew he'd hit the big time.

With the JLA, Plastic Man has fought some of the world's greatest threats: Prometheus, Julian September, the En'teran slavers who had enslaved the world of Adam Strange, the Ultramarines. When General Eiling in the body of the Shaggy Man teamed up with Prometheus, Zazzala (the Queen Bee), Lex Luthor and Mageddon, Plastic Man attempted to Zazzala, who was color-blind, by turning himself into a red can of aerosol insecticide. It would have worked, but he was stopped and rendered inable to press the attack before he could finish, so Steel defeated her instead, wrapped in his red cape.

Most recently R'as al Ghul attacked the JLA one at a time, using plans made by Batman to incapacitate them. Plastic Man was frozen and shattered, then placed in suspended animation until he could be rebuilt. After al Ghul's defeat and Plastic Man's reintegration, Plas, feeling betrayed, cast the deciding vote that removed Batman from the JLA.

Oliver Queen's early life would have two major influences. First, he was the only known son of a wealthy businessman, and for his entire youth, he was groomed to take over from his father one day. He was taught to dress, to behave, to be a natural in the jet set society. In short, he was made into a playboy, and one of those 'most eligible bachelors'. The second important thing during his formative years -- and one that would become very important indeed in his later life -- was his idolization of Robin Hood. His idolization was such that one Christmas, his father got him an archery set -- a real one, not one with suction cup arrows. Shortly thereafter, Oliver would use this archery set to accidentally kill a rabbit. This would teach him a very severe lesson that he would remember for decades to come, and which would always make him take death and killing extremely seriously.

During his early teens, Oliver was orphaned as his parents perished during a stampede on an African safari. Oliver's uncle would become his legal guardian, but would ship Oliver off to various prep schools. With little adult supervision, Oliver played the fast and loose life of an up-and-coming playboy. He took the family Porsches out for a spin, to cruise for chicks, and wasted his time in all kinds of shallow pursuits that teenagers -- especially rich ones -- are known for. He also wasted money on his Robin Hood idolization, by hiring the world-famous stuntman and bow hunter Howard Hill to teach him private archery lessons. It wasn't until his twenties that he started developing some mature aspects to himself.

These mature aspects would turn out to be his involvement in political activism. During his time as a student at Hudson University, Oliver started to participate in various kinds of demonstrations and rallies. He developed very liberal and anti-estabilishmentarian views, and radical extremist groups would frequently try to recruit him, to gain access to his fortune. Oliver refused these extremist pursuits every time, already showing a very solid moral core and an understanding of right and wrong. Also during his time at Hudson University, Oliver would meet a woman named Sandra "Moonday" Hawke, with whom he would conceive a child. This child would grow up to become Connor Hawke, Green Arrow II, but Oliver would not meet him, or be aware of him, for years to come.

After finishing his BA in Business Administration at Hudson, Oliver moved back to Star City where he worked on his Master's Thesis. At the same time, he would start taking over Queen Enterprises from the board that had been running it since his parents' death. This would be a very taxing time of his life, as he would work on his thesis, run a business, live the life of a playboy, and participate in a number of expensive hobbies all at the same time. It is little wonder that he developed a great amount of stress, and first started showing signs of self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy that would continue to plague him for the rest of his life. In this case, it would be his father that he felt that he couldn't measure up to. Not feeling that he could handle things, he tried to be very much like his father, and this sent him down a very treacherous path.

In trying to emulate his father, Oliver started to abandon the lofty ideals he had attached himself to during his university years. He would become more estabilishmentarian, would think less of the common man, and would treat his employees with arrogance. During these 'bad years', he would learn a lot of things, however -- perhaps most importantly practical experience in business administration, but also several things that would become very very useful later in his life: namely, his expensive hobbies that included aircraft, archery and martial arts.

During his 'bad years', Oliver would obtain an official pilot's license, he would continue his archery training and association with Howard Hill, and he would teach himself various martial arts such as boxing and judo. He would take to all of these extremely well -- especially archery -- but none of it was as good a comfort for his inadequacy as alcohol and women. This downwards spiral led to one fateful night...

...when he was on a cruise off the California coast, aboard Howard Hill's yacht. His brain soaked with gin, he fell overboard and washed out to a deserted island. On this island Oliver would run into the murderer Nicholas Kotero, who was similarly stranded. The two of them would scuffle and Oliver would escape off the island in a makeshift raft. Kotero would become his enemy for life, however.

The next island Ollie ended up on, Starfish Island, was totally devoid of other humans, and for 11 weeks, he had to survive in the wild with nothing but his wits, and what he could make of his environment with said wits. He learned to make bows and arrows, he learned to stalk and hunt the animals of the island and he learned rudimentary first aid and cooking skills. Finally, after 11 weeks, two other humans would come to the island -- a pair of potheads whom Oliver captured while they were smoking and helpless. With their boat, Oliver returned to civilization and gave the potheads to the authorities, without sticking around to identify himselves. Papers would embellish the story and make it seem as if there had been tons of well-armed drug smugglers that this 'modern day Robin Hood' had defeated and captured.

The aforementioned events would not make Oliver decide to become Green Arrow, however. That would come when he was attending a costume party, dressed as Robin Hood. The costume party would be crashed by a mugger called 'Greedy the Gooch' (I'm not making this up), whom Oliver would stop with his first ever trick arrow -- an arrow that accidentally had a golf ball stuck at the tip. Again, the papers would be very excited about this "green, arrow guy". The paper, together with the recent debut of Superman and a lot of other costumed heroes, would inspire Oliver to name himself Green Arrow, and become a crimefighter.

Soon after his debut, Oliver would be joined by thirteen-year-old Roy Harper who hero worshipped Green Arrow. Roy's navajo guardian Brave Bow would arrange for Roy's guardianship to be transferred to Oliver, as Brave Bow was dying of liver cancer. As Roy became Oliver's youthful ward, he also became Green Arrow's first sidekick, Speedy. The pair would operate out of an "Arrow Cave", and utilize vehicles such as the "Arrow Car" and "Arrowplane".

The "Battling Bowmen" would occasionally team up with other archers as well, such as Queen Arrow, and Miss Arrowette. The latter -- Bonnie King -- would briefly date Oliver, then marry a local reporter by the name of Bernard "Bowstring" Jones, and give birth to a child named Cissie. Some have theorized that Cissie, possessing uncanny aim, may be Oliver's child instead of Bernard's. Over a decade later, Cissie would follow in her mother Bonnie's footsteps, and assume the superheroic nom de plume Arrowette as a member of Young Justice.

Around the same time, Oliver as Green Arrow would become the first non-founding member of the Justice League of America. He would also become the financier of the team, and begin to become romantically involved with fellow leaguer Dinah Lance, the Black Canary. This relationship would become Oliver's longest, most important and most steady relationship for the rest of his life.

After some time, Oliver would be framed by a business rival for mishandling municipal bonds. The false accusations would prevail, and Oliver would lose his entire fortune, including Queen Enterprises, the Queen Estate (which had been severely damaged anyway in a recent JLA fundraiser), and his charity organization, the Queen Fund. He would become completely and utterly broke. Oliver's social activism would heat up as his financial ruin brought him closer to

Soon after Oliver lost his fortune, he and fellow leaguer Hal Jordan would go on a road trip together, to discover America. The two would become fast friends during this time, and run into many conflicts in which Oliver often argued the grassroots liberalist viewpoint against the more naive and estabilishmentarian Hal. Despite the ceaseless arguments and conflicts, both Ollie and Hal would come to reminisce very fondly of this time, and this friendship, in their later years.

Around this time Oliver's romance with Dinah Lance became more and more serious, and Roy Harper, feeling abandoned by his mentor, becomes a heroin addict. Dinah would be instrumental in helping to wean Roy off drugs. Oliver would soon afterwards accidentally kill a sniper, and this would have very serious repercussions as it would be the first time he'd killed since the rabbit in his childhood. Though it had been an accident brought on by his being injured at the time, he would nonetheless break his bow, give up the identity of Green Arrow, crash the Arrowplane into a mountain, and make his way to a monastery in Napa Valley, California. All of this at a time when Roy could have really used him.

At the Ashram Monastery, under the spiritual guidance of Master Jansen, Oliver would eventually get over his breakdown. Returning to the identity of Green Arrow, he re-took his place in the JLA alongside Hal and Dinah. He was unable to eliminate the bad blood between himself and Roy, however, and the dynamic duo broke up, going their separate ways.

Some time later, Oliver would be asked to run for the mayor of Star City. Agreeing, he gave a good race, but eventually was beat out by his opponent who was secretly backed by criminal families. Subsequently he would find employ in a Star City newspaper, writing a column named "Queen's Gambit". He would flounder in and out of the JLA, his inadequacies surfacing again, making him wonder if he had anything to give in such a powerful team.

After quite a while as a crimefighting duo, Oliver and Dinah decide to move from Star City to Seattle. Oliver changes his costume to a thicker, hooded one due to the colder weather, and abandons trick arrows, using only razor-tipped ones from then on. He also develops his midlife crisis, wanting to start a family. He proposes to Dinah, but she refuses due to not wanting to make children who would become orphans. Soon after, Dinah is captured by criminals she was pursuing, and tortured by them, losing her sonic cry and ability to have children in the process. In exacting revenge, Oliver would learn to kill. He would also meet the Japanese archer Shado.

Shado would become more important to Oliver very soon after the previous incident. A CIA operative would blackmail Oliver to track down Shado, but when he found her, she shot him with an arrow before realizing who Oliver was. Shado nursed Oliver back to health, and conceived a child with him. Shado would name the child Robert Tomonaga.

Oliver would then become embroiled in some government conspiracies and frame-ups, for some time becoming a wanted fugitive. After clearing his name, he would work as a stuntman in Canada for some time, and then travel the world, spending a particularly long stretch of time traveling in and getting acquainted with Africa. He would also travel to Japan and learn that he had fathered a son with Shado.

Eventually Oliver and Dinah's relationship crashed and burned. One of the reasons was Shado's child, another was the girl Marianne, who had helped Oliver during his time as a fugitive and in return been given a job at Sherwood Florist (Oliver and Dinah's little shop). For quite some time, Dinah had been suspecting Oliver of having an affair with Marianne, and became convinced of this when she saw Marianne kissing Oliver. As it happens, she was wrong, but the relationship was over none the less.

When Hal Jordan went insane, and tried to remake the universe into a better place, Oliver had to stop him by firing an arrow into his dear friend's heart. Greatly distraught in the aftermath, Oliver once more retreated to the Ashram Monastery for soul-searching. This time he met there a young man by the name of Connor Hawke. Connor -- Ollie's first son -- idolized Green Arrow, and Ollie -- without realizing Connor's connection to him -- told Connor a lot of things about his world view. The two became fast friends, and when Ollie returned to the outside world, Connor joined him. The two became a crimefighting duo.

After some time, however, Ollie learned of Connor's being his son. He was greatly suspicious and angered because he didn't understand why Connor hadn't told him this. The resultant conflict led to the duo parting ways. Oliver would go on to infiltrate a terrorist faction, having a deal with the government that in exchange all his outstanding warrants would be erased. Oliver would then die in a plane above Metropolis, stopping the terrorist faction from destroying the city.

This was not, however, the end of Oliver Queen. He would be resurrected by Hal Jordan, who would bring his body back to life, while his soul refused to leave Heaven. Ollie's body wandered the world for quite some time as an amnesiac drifter, until being taken in by a man named Stanley Dover. Stanley was, in fact, a serial killer dubbed the Star City Slayer, who sought just such a soul-less body as Ollie was, to possess and take over. Oliver's body convinced his soul to leave Heaven and re-merge with him, to prevent Dover from gaining access to their body. Dover was killed in the resultant scuffle, and Oliver is now reunited, body and soul.

Dover had transferred all his possessions to Ollie's name in anticipation of his plan's success, so Oliver now has access to Dover's house and wealth, the latter which he has used to purchase the Star City Youth Center. He has also taken in a young street kid called Mia Dearden, who wants Ollie to train her as the new Speedy. So far, he has refused.

At the moment, Oliver is working to re-estabilish himself in Star City, as the city's prime hero and protector, as well as working with the city's youth to keep them out of trouble. He is also trying to rebuild his relationships with Dinah Lance, Roy Harper and Connor Hawke, as well as keep an eye on Mia Dearden.

Living up to being the legendary Superman would be a burden for most men, but Clark Kent’s shoulders are more than broad enough to carry the load. While his incredible physical strength comes from his home planet of Krypton, his moral strength comes from his simple Kansas upbringing. But he’s no longer the farm boy from Smallville. After seeing more of the universe than any of us can imagine, he maintains a firm sense of right and wrong. He is more complex than his reputation as a big blue Boy Scout. When he talks about Truth, Justice and Freedom, everyone senses his deep commitment to these ideals. The natural leader of the Justice League, Superman leads by example and steadies this volatile group. With so many super-egos involved, there are often major clashes in style. And when clashes inevitably occur, he is often the peacemaker

Carter Hall, an independently wealthy archaeologist, had recently obtained an ancient Egyptian knife. As a result he realised that he was the reincarnation of the ancient Egyptian Prince Khufu. Khufu had been murdered in his first life by a priest of Hath-Set, but vowed that he would avenged his death upon his murderer in another life. Dazed and confused by this realisation, Carter wandered the streets of the city. As he passed the subway he noticed a large number of people fleeing what had apparently been some sort of rail disaster. It was there that he met Shiera Sanders, the reincarnation of Khufu's sweetheart. The two investigated the subway only to discover that some one had sent an extremely high voltage of electricity through the tracks, thus causing the deaths of several passengers on the subway trains.

Determined to learn the culprit in this act of terrorism, Carter Hall put on a hawk's head mask, a pair of wings, and a belt made of Nth metal, a discovery Carter had made which could defy gravity. Eventually Hawkman learned that the man behind the subway killings was Dr. Anton Hastor, the reincarnation of Khufu's murderer. Hawkman attempted to apprehend Hastor, though the villain escaped. Hastor vowed that he would have his revenge on Hawkman for his interference

Hawkman returned home only to find Shiera missing. He grabbed a cloak made of Nth metal for Shiera to use, then returned to Anton's castle hideout. There Dr. Hastor was about to sacrifice Shiera to Anubis. Hawkman threw the cloak of Nth metal over Shiera to protect her and proceeded to do battle with Dr. Hastor once more. In the process they knocked over much of the equipment in Hastor's lab, setting the castle ablaze. At last Hawkman ended Dr. Hastor's life with a crossbow. He rescued Shiera and fled the burning castle.

The Black Canary's origin appears to have been undocumented in the Golden Age. In her first adventure, however, she impersonated a petty thief in order to gain the trust of more important criminals. In doing so she crossed paths with Johnny Thunder, who (presumably like most male readers) immediately fell in love with her. Even though The Black Canary's feelings for Johnny were strictly platonic, the two often pursued cases together. The Black Canary even accompanied Johnny to Justice Society of America meetings. Eventually The Black Canary and Harlequin rescued the Justice Society from the new Injustice Society of the World winning her a membership in that organisation

Born in the 30th century, Bart Allen is the grandson of Barry Allen, the second Flash, and the greatest one ever. Born with the powers and abilities of the Allen family, his metabolism was working at superspeed as well. The Allen's knew there was a serious problem when, at the age of two, he had the body of a fourteen year old. So, for the first 2 years of his life, little Bart was raised in a Virtual Reality environment. In VR, everything functioned at super-speed, so Bart could be more comfortable. Very soon, it became clear that unless his metabolism slowed down, he would die. With that, Iris Allen, Bart's grandmother, sent Bart back to the 20th century so the Flash could help him. Bart remained in the 20th century under the care of Max Mercury, the ZEN master of speed. Bart was given the superhero name Impulse. This was a very fitting name, because he always leaps before he looks and can sometimes get him in serious trouble. After spending a brief time with the New Titans, he joined and formed "Young Justice" a crime fighting team located in Rhode Island, made up of him, Superboy, and Robin.