Who was the Extreme Justice team?

Extreme Justice team

Who were… Extreme Justice?

In the 1990’s, the Justice League split into several teams. There was the Justice League of America, led by Wonder Woman, Justice League Task Force, commanded by the Martian Manhunter, and then there was Extreme Justice. Frustrated by the restrictions he saw being placed on the heroes by their association with the United Nations, Captain Atom split off from the League to form his own team. They were supposed to be a harder edged, “proactive” team, like Marvel’s Force Works in roughly the same time frame, or the current group being featured in “Cry For Justice.” Captain Atom founded the team with Amazing Man II, Maxima, and oddly, Blue Beetle II and Booster Gold, frequently looked on as the jokes of the JLA. Odd choice for a hard core team by the Captain. Later, they added Firestorm, Captain Atom’s wife Plastique, and still later, Zan and Jayna, the Wonder Twins from the old Super Friends TV show, in what I believe was their first comic appearance in the DC Universe proper. The team was based out of Thunder Mountain, Colorado, a base refitted using Beetle’s often over looked scientific genius, and some of Maxima’s extra-terrestrial technology. The title ran for roughly a year and a half, ending when all Justice League books were canceled and replaced with a single JLA title.

Looking back, the team fared poorly over the years. Blue Beetle II, Amazing Man II, Maxima, and Firestorm are all dead. Captain Atom has been reported dead, returned, gone evil, destroyed worlds, and allegedly recovered. Plastique has become a villain again. Booster is still looked on as a joke, and the Wonder Twins have appeared a few other places, notably Young Justice, but looked and acted a bit different. Overall, Extreme Justice was a short lived piece of JLA history that is largely forgotten- it’s not even brought up as a joke, as such references are frequently made about the so-called Justice League Detroit.