I.D.C.A.P.

The Interfaith Deity Council of Active Polytheistics

Following the defeat of Cronus, Zeus recommended that the deities of various pantheons band together. This was both for their own security, and for the prospect of rebuilding their base of worshippers. To defeat Cronus, Zeus had allied with the Hindu pantheon and Pax Dei (heavenly host). (Wonder Woman #147-150)

Soon the Interfaith Deity Council of Active Polytheistics (I.D.C.A.P.) was established. It wasn't long before the dark gods of several pantheons hatched a plan to subvert this council's purpose. Five gods (Morrigan, the War Bringer; Mixcoatl, the Stalking Death; Baal the Thundering Destroyer; Malik, Evil Incarnate; and Izanami, Queen of the Underworld) took mortal forms and appraoched Superman with an offer. They reasoned that Superman was a modern-day pagan success story: he had essentially fostered his own set of followers. They coveted his success and hoped he would agree to lead them to power.

As insurance, the dark gods kidnapped Lois Lane and transformed her into the Goddess of Integrity. Thus, Lois saw through their scheme and revealed their true forms. Superman defeated the dark gods with the potent use of iron, which inhibits their powers. Once subdued, the true members of I.D.C.A.P. (Zeus, Odin, Ale and Thoth) appeared to Superman. Zeus explained that because the domination of Imperiex had been halted, universal free will had spread and their worshippers had dwindled. They collected their dark brethren but also remarked that they were interested in Superman's success. (Superman: Man of Steel #126-127)

Superman: Man of Steel #126

Superman: Man of Steel #127

The Inferior Five

The Inferior 5 are a reluctant group of second-generation heroes. Their parents once formed the Freedom Brigade and, naturally, expected their children to continue in their footsteps. They are:

• Merryman (Myron Victor), the leader of the group is the son of Lady Liberty and the Patriot. He is brilliant, but powerless and weak

• Awkwardman (Leander Brent) is the son of Mister Might and The Mermaid. He has strength and sea powers.

• Blimp (Herman Cramer) is son of Captain Swift. He inherited the ability to fly, but needs a tailwind.

• Dumb Bunny (Athena Tremor) is the daughter of Princess Power and Steve Tremor. She has much power but (despite her name) no brains.

• White Feather's (William King) father is the Bowman. He has intense phobias.

This group and it's parents are a mish-mash parody of various legendary heores — both DC and Marvel. I assume it was never in-continuity, but wouldn't a revival be fun?

Showcase #62-63

Inferior Five,12 issues (1967-68)

Obscure > Inferior Five • Obscure > Freedom Brigade

Infinity, Inc.

Created by Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway

The original Infinity Inc.'s was a group formed by the children of the Justice Society. You can follow their history in the Justice Society Chronology.

Infinity Lite: The Everyman Program

Soon after declaring himself innocent of all his alleged crimes (pinning all blame on the dead body of Alexander Luthor), Lex Luthor announced that he had isolated the human metagene and would begin giving super-powers to everyday people. He called this the Everyman Program. (52 5#) True to form, this venture disguised a sinister agenda. What Luthor failed to mention was that he could revoke the powers as easily as he could grant them. He began his master plan by secretly infecting John Henry Irons (the former Steel) with his therapy. Just as Irons found himself able to transforming his body into stainless steel, his relationship with his niece, Natasha, worsened. When Natasha discovered his new powers, she was angered. She assumed that her uncle had denied her power so he could take it for himself. Natasha headed straight to Lexcorp headquarters to apply for Everyman therapy. When Lex noticed the girl, he saw his opportunity and immediately singled her out for special treatment. (#8)

Starlight	Everyman	Skyman II	Nuklon II	Trajectory	Matrix II	Jade II

Natasha's rebellion was successful; she was transformed. Her uncle burst in to protest at a press conference where Luthor had assembled his own group of six young super-heroes, Natasha included. (#9) Luthor used these teens merely as pawns and public relations vehicles. They were:

• Erik Storn (Fury III), who'd developed indestructible claws
• Eliza Harmon (Trajectory), super-speed
• Hannibal Bates (Everyman), who could morph his body into any form
• Gerome McKenna (Nuklon II), had super-strength
• Jacob Colby (Skyman II), the power of flight
• and Natasha Irons as Starlight, who now wielded light

In their first mission, they did not bear special names, but successfully sprang into action against Kobra agents. (#17) When Luthor discovered that Eliza was injecting the drug called Sharp to keep her powers in check, he ejected her from the team. Natasha pled with Luthor to allow Eliza back on the team. Lex agreed, but secretly marked Eliza. The next time they appeared, they took their codenames, and a new team name: Infinity, Inc. It seems Lex had long since bought the copyright for the name from Sylvester Pemberton's estate. Luthor orchestrated a battle against the new Blockbuster in Las Vegas. He was in full control of the villain, and at a key moment, he caused Trajectory's death by revoking her powers. At Eliza's funeral, Natasha rejected her uncle's attempts to "enlighten" her. (#21)

Lex's own physiology was incompatible with the Everyman therapy, which only fueled his anger towards metahumans. But while he continued his "benevolent" work, Irons began compiling information from disgruntled Everyman customers. (#22) The Everyman program soon came under serious public scrutiny when dozens of its patients were slaughtered after entering a metahuman battle in Metropolis. (#24)

But Infinity continued their success, adding a replacement member, Matrix, who was a teleporter. They stopped Icicle and the Tigress in New York City. (#25)

 Team One: All-Star Squadron #25. Team Two: 52 #17

 New Teen Titans v.2 #38 • Outsiders Special #1 • 52 #17, 21, 25

Infinity, Inc., 53 issues (1984-88)

JSA > Who's Who > Infinity, Inc.
Newsarama / Pete Woods: To Infinity (9 January 2008)

Injustice Gang

This gang was originally organized by the mysterious Libra, who at the conclusion of their first case, became one with the universe. (JLofA #111) Undeterrerd, Poison Ivy soon regrouped with five others (Captain Boomerang, I.Q., Ocean Master, Plant Master, Shark) but quickly failed. (JLA 80-Page #2) The original team (Chronos, Mirror Master, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow & Shadow Thief) returned twice more in the name of injustice. These five had one unsuccessful encounter with the JLA on their own (JLofA #143), and one led by Abra Kadabra. (JLofA #158)

Libra	Poison Ivy	Tattooed Man	Scarecrow	Shadow Thief	Chronos

The name went unused until recently, when Lex Luthor formed his own answer to the seven "big guns." To give this team an edge, Luthor enslaved the telepathic Saturnian, Jemm. By freeing Jemm and bribing Mirror Master, this team was not so much defeated as stalemated. They escaped and Luthor recruited three new allies. (Afterwards, Jemm stayed briefly with J'onn J'onzz before returning to Saturn.) (JLA #10-15)

Lex Luthor	Joker	Dr. Light	Jemm	Circe	Mirror Master

Allied with the Queen Bee, Prometheus and the General, Luthor had the strength, cunning and knowledge needed to push Earth's heroes to their limit. With the added threat of Mageddon, the JLA turned to the last survivor of Wonderworld, Glimmer, who bestowed everyone on Earth with super powers. (JLA #36-41)

 Silver Age: Justice League of America #111. Modern: JLA #10

    Justice League of America #111, 143, 158 • JLA #10-15, 36-41 • JLA 80-Page Giant #2

Injustice League

+ Justice League Antarctica

The original Injustice League was the brainchild of the interplanetary conqueror, Agamemno. Bored of his dominion, he set out to conquer Earth and their champions, the Justice League. Aided by Kanjar Ro, Agamemno contacts Lex Luthor and they recruited eight other villains to their cause. (Silver Age: SFO) Agamemno then engineered a switch wherein the villains' minds switched with those of the JLA. In the true JLA's absence, other Silver Age heroes came to clash with the now seemingly evil heroes. (Silver Age #1) Eventually, Green Lantern used the power of the central power battery and the Absorbascon to reverse the mind-swap. (S.A.: Showcase) Having spent time in their enemies' bodies, the villains knew their heroic counterparts inside-out. To regain the edge, the JLA used the power of Robby Reed's alien H-Dial to transform themselves into totally different heroes. Then using his power ring through the Absorbascon, Green Lantern removed all knowledge of the heroes' secret identities from the villains' minds. (S.A.: 80-Page)

Major Disaster	Big Sir	Cluemaster	Clock King	Multi-Man

The second Injustice League was … quite different. They were:

• Major Disaster, the Injustice League's leader, asked scientists for devices to create disasters to allow him to rob, but those disasters eventually became part of him. He can create "natural" disasters (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc.).

• Born with a malfunctioning pituitary gland, Big Sir's body grew huge, but his mind is that of a child's. His deficiencies once seemed cured, but he soon lapsed back into a simple, gentle mind that blindly follows whoever befriends him. Big Sir could break through solid brick and bend steel pipes. He once had a power mace that could emit energy blasts and allow him to fly, but he lost it.

• Clock King neither had nor wanted special clock weapons. He became a crook because he thought he was terminally ill and wanted to provide for his now-dead sister. For a while, he tangled with Green Arrow. Clock King is obsessed with time and gets the shakes if he's late.

• Cluemaster has no special powers either, but on his chest is a whole slew of gimmicks: smoke bombs, tear gas, explosives, etc. He used to be a game show host. His primary nemesis was Batman. His daughter, Stephanie, has taken to heroing as the Spoiler.

• Multi-Man swallowed an ancient chemical called "liquid light," giving him the ability to reincarnate himself, gaining new powers each time he returned to life. But each resurrection had a traumatic effect: he learned he doesn't like dying. He used to use the telepathic powers he received from liquid light to fight the Challengers of the Unknown. Multi-Man suffers from frequent mood swings.

• The self-named Mighty Bruce was a two-bit crook who would knock over businesses and give the monies to charity, Bruce is simply misguided, but a whiz with machines of any kind.

1st mission (JLA #22-23) Next, the I.L. thought it would be easier to continue their career in Europe. However, the JLE had just opened its doors and the group inadvertendly enrolled in the same beginning French course as the Justice League! Afterwards they were deported from France. (JLE #6) Ever in search for the next big score, Disaster and Big Sir broke the bank in the casino of the newly formed "Club JLI," on the island of KooeyKooeyKooey. Before they could spend their winnings, the island itself got up and went! In face of tectonic chaos, Disaster was recruited by the JLA to help stabilize the island. Aquaman guided him beneath the waves, where he anchored the island to an underwater volcano. Instead of fleeing, Disaster chose to return topside and face justice. (JLA #34-35)

For a short time, the Injustice League reformed when they inadvertently stopped a terrorist attack. To keep them in check, Max set them up as "Justice League Antarctica" and they were joined by two other pests: G'nort and the Scarlet Skier. This embassy was quickly destroyed when Major Disaster defeated some killer penguins. (JLA Annual #4) They soon defaulted to crime as the Injustice League and attempted to steal from the cult of Minister Sun. In the end, their fruits were stolen from them as well. (JLQ #4) All but Mighty Bruce, G'nort and Scarlet Skier wound up in prison and were recruited by the Suicide Squad. Big Sir and Clock King perished (Multi-Man is immortal), and afterwards, Major Disaster stayed on with the Squad. (Suicide Squad, v.2 #1)

Team 1: Silver Age #1. Team 2: Justice League International #22 (January 1989)

Justice League America #22-23, 34-35, Annual #4 • Justice League Quarterly #4 • Justice League Europe #6 • Silver Age event books

Injustice Society

+ Injustice, Unlimited

The Injustice Society's history through the Silver Age is thoroughly covered at the Golden Age Villian Fact File.

The Wizard	Brain Wave	The Gambler	The Thinker	Vandal Savage

The Fiddler	Icicle	Huntress	The Shade	Solomon Grundy	Sportsmaster

When a group of the Justice Society's inheritors formed Infinity, Inc., the Wizard was inspired to reinvent Injustice Society as Injustice, Unlimited. Like Infinity, he recruited the sons and daughters of older villains, including

• Artemis II (Artemis Crock, now Tigress III), crossbow weilding daughter of the original Huntress and the Sportsmaster.

• Hazard (Rebecca Sharpe), granddaughter of the Gambler, who she mentions has recently committed suicide.

• Icicle II (Cameron Mahkent), bastard son of the original (and since reformed) Icicle.

Along with the Fiddler and the Shade, this new group kidnapped the new Hourman and blackmailed the Global Guardians into doing their dirty work. (Infinity, Inc. #34) Artemis parlayed this initial success into a plot to free her parents from prison. (#35) Oddly enough, it was a former Injustice Society member, Solomon Grundy, who helped defeat Injustice, Unlimited. This incarnation of Grundy had befriended the Infinitor, Jade (and would later aid the next Starman). At the conclusion of this case, the Wizard was apparently killed by Hourman. (#36)

Injustice, Unlimited returned once more, led by the Dummy instead. The Dummy exerted his own control over Solomon Grundy, and with the additional persuasion of their new member, the Harlequin III, they killed the Infinitor Skyman with Mr. Bones' cyanide touch. (#51) At the conclusion of this case, Hazard was apparently repentant. She has not been seen active in villainy since.

Injustice, Revisited

Not long after the Justice Society officially reformed, the Injustice Society proper reformed as well. This time they were led by the strange and enigmatic Johnny Sorrow. Johnny Sorrow was a one-time JSA foe who was defeated by the Spectre in 1944. (JSA #18) Sorrow had found his way back from oblivion and recruited an unlikely bunch of new villains: Geomancer, Count Vertigo, Blackbriar Thorn and the Killer Wasp, as well as the returning Icicle and Tigress. (JSA #9)

Johnny Sorrow	Tigress III	Icicle II	Killer Wasp	Geomancer	Rival

They broke into JSA headquarters and, despite Wildcat's sole triumph against them, Sorrow stole an old artifact — the King of Tears. (#10) Soon Sorrow added considerable strenght to their ranks: Black Adam, Shiv, Rival and the Thinker, who was reborn as a hologram from within the JSA's computers. Sentinel was critically injured in this confrontation, and Sorrow was one step closer to using the King of Tears to destroy the world. (#16)

The JSA regrouped and dispatched the remainder of the Injustice Society, but Johnny Sorrow apparently killed Dr. Mid-Nite and the Scarab. (#17) He went on to use the Scarab as a vessel to bring the King of Tears to Earth. (#18) But due to his blindness, Dr. Mid-Nite survived Sorrow's death gaze. The mastermind was ultimately defeated once again by the Spectre. (Black Adam had apparently reformed and leds the new Spectre to the JSA's aid.) Once again, the King of Tears was used to dispatch Sorrow to a hellish limbo. (#19-20)

While Sorrow was gone, the Wizard resurfaced and led another Injustice Society (now with Rag Doll and Kestrel) to capture the senior JSA members. The Wizard captured and impersonated the Spectre and charged the remaining JSAers with facing their past traumas in order to save their comrades. (JSA: All-Stars #1) After t he JSA regrouped, they were able to free the Spectre used the Helm of Nabu to reveal the Wizard. The Spirit of Vengeance meted out final justice — the Wizard was banished to Purgatory for the murder of his own sister, Shannon. (#8)

The likes of the Wizard and Johnny Sorrow can not be kept down for long. After the destruction of his physical form, Sorrow met Despero on the "Abyssal Plane." The two of them engineered a plot to destroy the JLA and JSA, beginning by freeing the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man from the Rock of Eternity. (JLA/JSA Secret Files #1) The Deadly Enemies overtook the bodies of seven heroes and destroyed JSA headquarters. Eventually, the heroes freed each other one by one reawakened the wizard Shazam, who rechained the Deadly Enemies. (JLA/JSA: Virtue & Vice)

Like Sorrow, the Wizard managed to free himself in time to become Sorrow's pawn. Sorrow began tormenting the Wizard to free him from his other-dimensional prison. To accomplish this, the Wizard reassembled the Injustice Society with Icicle, Tigress, the Thinker, Solomon Grundy, Rag Doll and for the first time, the Gentleman Ghost. To succeed in ending the Wizard's torment, they needed Prometheus' Cosmic Key from JSA headquarters. (Prometheus had placed the Key there for his own reasons.) By this time, the Injustice Society was a well-oiled machine. They worked well together, gathering supplies and waiting until the JSA were busy to strike. Secretly, the Wizard knew the plan would require a sacrifice. He suspected that Rag Doll would betray them, so he is set him up to take the fall. (JSA Classified #5)

Midway throught the mission, the Gentleman Ghost verified for them that Sorrow was the one they were attempting to free. They all knew how "influential" Sorrow was, and tried unsuccessfully to call in help from the Society. Instead, the Society sent in Talia and Nyssa al Ghul, who sought to claim the Cosmic Key for the Society. (#6) In the melee, Rag Doll stole the Key as expected and was killed when it activated. The Key brought Johnny Sorrow back to Earth and the IJ teleported away to Prometheus' other-dimensional Crooked House.

Whatever their plans following this mission, the IJ members were strong-armed by Sorrow into staying. During this mission, a romantic relationship between the Icicle and Tigress was revealed. They had hoped to finish the mission and go away together, but Johnny Sorrow had other plans. (#7)

  Team 1: All-Star Comics #37. Team 2: All-Star Comics #41. Injustice, Unlimited: Infinity, Inc. #34. Team 3: JSA #9

All-Star Comics #37, 41, 63-66 • Infinity, Inc. #34-35, 51-53 • JSA #9-10, 16-20 • JSA Classified #5-7 • Justice League of America #123-124, 183-185

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