Topic: Earth 2 Justice League (Interest Check)

[jacobjon]

Five years ago, the people of earth thought they were doomed when the sky started to burn and boom tubes opened all over the globe. Darkseid's parademons struck at every corner of the earth, creating fire pits and abducting humans to be used as genetic material for the great war engine. When hope seemed lost, heroes banded together to maintain order. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hal Jordan, and a host of others attacked the boom tubes, forced the parademons back, and even confronted Darkseid himself. Their actions inspired the earth and gave it a second wind. Unfortunately, most of them gave their lives in the final battle.

In the present day, earth is still recovering from the damage Darkseid did. More importantly, they are learning to cope with their losses. Five years has given the criminal element plenty of time to adapt to the way of things. They know there is no longer a caped crusader or man of steel to stop them, and they have become far more bold. Worse, everyone knows that Darkseid isn't truly gone. He will rise again, and when he does, this time he will find earth lacking the most vital part of its defense.

The time has come for new heroes to rise.

*****

This is an idea lifted from DC's current Earth 2 run. If you aren't familiar with the book, it covers a new group of superheroes struggling to protect a world that has lost its champions. Many of the heroes pay homage to fallen idols by taking up their mantles, but they are not perfect copies of the originals. For example, in the book, the new Superman is a second kryptonian survivor, but one who has sworn himself to pacifism. He protects the earth, but will not use violence. Some heroes are completely new. In the book, Lois Lane's mind has been uploaded into an android body, and she is now Red Tornado. I don't want to copy the Earth 2 book too much, so I'm just using these as examples. Some characters might be grown up sidekicks like Robin or Kid Flash who are ready to take on the mantle of their mentors. Others might be completely new characters who are ready to take up existing titles, or perhaps create their own.

If there is enough interest for this to work, I would probably play as a new Dr. Fate and use him as a catalyst to bring the group together.

[NubianLegend]

I'm tentatively interested. I want to try something a little bit different, instead of the typical superhero group thing. I want to arrange a group of "by any means necessary" types composed of anti-heroes/villains/rogues, etc. Not necessarily the suicide squad, but something similar. Would I be able to do something like that in your roleplay? Also, if I'm allowed to. I'd like to call dibs on the son of black manta, he's a good enough hero but he's far more interesting as a morally dark greyish type of character who gives the heroes a run for their money.

[jacobjon]

I think there is a certain degree of room for that, to be sure. One of the themes I wanted to explore was how the world would change if Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman were suddenly pulled away. That moral center of the DC universe that tells heroes not to kill would suddenly be voiceless. I wouldn't want every character to be a serial killer, but it would make sense for Black Manta's son to cross certain lines that others would not.

I had also toyed with the idea of a previously villainous character might be inspired to take on a more heroic approach. For example, if the Flash had died saving someone like Captain Cold, perhaps the captain would evaluate his life to some degree. I wouldn't want a whole team of reformed criminals necessarily, but there are a lot of options.

[Divine Tenacity]

Hmm, this is tempting to try out.... and possibly bring in a more adult Irey West Impulse/Kid Flash. Maybe she becomes the new Flash, perhaps?

[mia h]

How close to the current Earth-2 were you thinking of running things? Earth-2 is really a modernized version of the postwar JSA, both fought fascists (Hitler & Darkseid) and helped rebuild afterwards. Earth-2 has a different feel and language to it than nu-Earth, all the characters are updated Golden Age heroes but they're aren't "Heroes" they are "Wonders"; there is a World Army if not a World Government; super villians appear to be almost nonexistent because they've all been put in cold storage; there are fire-pits where some major cities used to be etc.

[jacobjon]

I LOVE the book, but I don't want to follow it too closely. This would mostly be an original setting that takes a few of the Earth 2 ideas as jumping off points. The world government would still be as fragmented as it is today, and there would be no shortage of villains. I'm picturing more than just the trinity being lost in the final battle, though I don't want to close the door to someone who wanted to play a slightly older survivor of the original league. People could absolutely reimagine a JSA character if they so desired, but I'm mostly interested in an original setting where the heroes we've always counted on are gone, and new people are starting to pick up where they left off.

There would certainly be some issues from the book that would likely come up though. I could imagine government crackdowns on people with powers being an issue, the theme of rebuilding the postwar earth would be present, and the fear of Darkseid's return would be ever present.

[BarbaraGordon]

Throwing in my hat.