Geoff Johns basically set the DC Universe on fire back in 2015. Most comic fans remember the Justice League Darkseid War as that massive, sprawling event that closed out the New 52 era, but honestly, it’s a lot weirder and more impactful than people give it credit for today. It wasn't just another "big bad hits Earth" story. It was a cosmic car crash between the two most dangerous entities in the multiverse: Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor.
The scale was stupidly big.
When you look back at Justice League issues #41 through #50, you aren't just seeing a fight. You're seeing the core members of the League—Batman, Superman, Flash—literally becoming Gods. It changed the status quo so hard that DC had to launch "Rebirth" just to pick up the pieces. If you've ever wondered why Batman once sat on a glowing chair and knew everything, or why Joker’s identity became such a mess, this is where it all started.
The Absolute Chaos of the Darkseid War Plot
Everything kicks off with Grail. She’s the daughter of Darkseid and an Amazon named Myrina Black, and she’s essentially the catalyst for the entire war. Grail hates her dad. Like, "summoning a multiversal destroyer to kill him" kind of hate. She brings the Anti-Monitor (the guy who ate universes in Crisis on Infinite Earths) into the main DC timeline to square off against Darkseid.
Earth just happened to be the designated wrestling ring.
The Justice League gets caught in the middle, and it doesn't go well for their humanity. Instead of just punching their way out, the heroes get infused with the "Godhood" of the New Gods. This is the stuff of legend. Batman takes the Mobius Chair from Metron and becomes the God of Knowledge. Imagine Batman with literally zero mysteries left to solve. He doesn't just stop crimes; he prevents them before they happen, becoming a cold, detached version of himself that honestly scared the hell out of the rest of the team.
Superman? He gets dipped in the fire pits of Apokolips. He becomes the God of Strength, but his skin turns grey and his personality turns into a nightmare. He's aggressive, arrogant, and basically loses the "Man of Tomorrow" vibe entirely. It was a fascinating look at what happens when these icons lose their human tethers.
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Flash gets bonded with the Black Racer—the New Gods' personification of Death. Think about that for a second. The fastest man alive becomes the literal embodiment of the end of all things. It’s heavy stuff, and Jason Fabok’s art made every single one of these transformations look like a Renaissance painting.
Why the Anti-Monitor Matters Here
The Anti-Monitor isn't just a big blue guy in this run. He’s revealed to be Mobius. He wants to be free of the Anti-Life Equation. The lore gets pretty dense here, but essentially, the war isn't just about territory; it’s about the fundamental laws of the DC multiverse shifting.
When Darkseid actually dies—yeah, he dies pretty early on—it creates a power vacuum that threatens to suck the entire universe into a black hole of divinity. The "Darkseid War" isn't just a title. It’s a literal description of the aftermath of a god’s death. Without a Darkseid to balance the scales, the universe starts breaking.
The Three Jokers Bombshell
You can't talk about Justice League Darkseid War without mentioning the Mobius Chair scene. When Batman first sits in the chair, he asks it two questions. First, "Who killed my parents?" The chair says Joe Chill. Easy.
Then he asks the big one: "What is the Joker's real name?"
The chair’s answer broke the internet for years. It told Bruce that there isn't just one Joker. There are three. This single plot point, dropped in the heat of a cosmic war, led to years of speculation and eventually its own dedicated miniseries. It showed that even in a story about gods and cosmic entities, Johns was still interested in the psychological torture of Batman.
Lex Luthor: The Unlikely "Hero" of Apokolips
Lex Luthor’s arc in this story is underrated. He spends a good chunk of the war trying to prove he’s better than Superman, which is classic Lex, but he actually ends up becoming the God of Apokolips. He gets the Omega Effect. For a brief moment, the greatest villain on Earth becomes the ruler of the most hellish planet in existence.
It was a weirdly fitting end for that version of the character. He finally got the power he always thought he deserved, only to realize that being a god is a massive, soul-crushing burden. He eventually returns to Earth with a Superman-inspired suit, kicking off his "hero" phase in the subsequent comics, but the seeds were all sown here in the trenches of the Darkseid War.
Wonder Woman as the Emotional Anchor
While the guys are all busy becoming power-mad gods, Diana is the one keeping the story grounded. Since Grail is an Amazon, this becomes a very personal story for Wonder Woman. She has to lead a League that is literally falling apart into divinity.
The story uses her as the narrator for a reason. She understands the cost of godhood better than anyone else because she’s lived on the edge of it her whole life. While Superman is shouting and Batman is being a robot on a chair, Diana is the one trying to figure out how to kill a god without becoming one herself.
The New God Status Quo
By the time the dust settles, Darkseid is reborn as a baby (comics are weird, just roll with it), the Anti-Monitor is gone, and the League members are mostly back to their "mortal" selves. But they aren't unchanged. The trauma of holding that much power stayed with them.
The story also introduced the concept of the "Trio of Mother Boxes" and deepened the lore of the Black Racer. It basically paved the way for everything Scott Snyder and others would do later with the Metal events and the Justice League runs that followed.
How to Read Justice League Darkseid War Today
If you’re looking to dive into this, don't just grab the main trade paperback. You really want the "Justice League: Darkseid War - Power of the Gods" tie-ins. Those are the individual issues that show exactly how Batman, Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Lex Luthor, and Shazam dealt with their new powers.
Without those, the main story feels a bit rushed. The tie-ins provide the character depth that makes the ending hit so much harder.
- Start with Justice League #40. It's the prologue and sets the stage for the New 52's grand finale.
- Read the main event (#41-#50).
- Don't skip the "Power of the Gods" one-shots. They are crucial for seeing the psychological toll of the war.
- Finish with DC Universe: Rebirth #1. It picks up the Joker mystery and the fallout of the war immediately.
The biggest takeaway from this whole event is that power, at that level, isn't a gift. It's a curse. The Justice League won the war, sure, but they lost a bit of their humanity in the process. It remains one of the most ambitious stories DC has ever told, proving that even after 80 years, these characters can still be put through the wringer in ways that feel fresh and genuinely dangerous.
If you want to understand the modern DC landscape, you have to understand the Darkseid War. It’s the bridge between the old New 52 cynicism and the more hopeful, legacy-focused era that followed. Plus, seeing Batman as a literal God of Knowledge is just cool. No two ways about it.
To get the full experience, track down the Omnibus or the two-volume trade set. Pay attention to the art by Jason Fabok; the guy puts a level of detail into the characters' expressions that makes the cosmic stakes feel incredibly intimate. After you finish, look into the Three Jokers limited series to see how that specific cliffhanger finally resolved—or didn't, depending on who you ask.