10 Times The Justice League Were Utterly Destroyed

10. A “Crisis Of Conscience” Killed The Team

The Crisis of Conscience was a story arc that ran from JLA #115 to JLA #119 and was written by Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg and drawn by Chris Batista and Mark Farmer. It was a companion piece to the Identity Crisis miniseries featuring the murder of Sue Dibney and a conspiracy of secrecy by the “Satellite” Justice League.

Wally West gathered the members of the “League within the League” together to tell them that if they didn’t tell Batman about the time they mindwiped him, he would. An argument ensued and Martian Manhunter, who had just learned the truth, said that Bruce already knew and traveled to Gotham to see him. Also, the Secret Society of Super-Villains had reformed when their own mind wipes were reversed. The League and Society battled twice before discovering that Despero was behind restoring the Society's minds.

In a battle in the Batcave, half of the League members were controlled by Despero and battled the other half with deadly force. The return of Red Tornado and the intervention of Zatanna turned the tide. She chastised her team for nearly killing each other while using Despero as an excuse. Z used her magic to mindwipe the Society and fix Wayne Manor before quitting the team for good. All but four Leaguers left, and J’onn looked at new recruits when the Watchtower exploded.