I recently picked these up because I heard they had a tie-in with “Seven Soldiers,” and since I’ve never read a single DC title ever, I have some questions.
This team featured in the title - the team that lived in the tiny, square universe - is that a team that has their own book, or did Morrisson create them specifically for JLA: Classified?
What about these characters - the giant ape, the weird “Knight and Squire” characters - are they pre-existing? If so, where can I read about them?
Morrison created the Ultramarines during his previous run as JLA writer and pitched the idea for another international superhero series based aboard Superbia that never quite materialized. No other writer did anything with the ideas nce Morrison left and they never had their own book or mini-series; Morrison’s first priority was to destroy his own idea and scuttle the remaining members of the Ultramarines into that other dimension. Knight and Squire sound faintly familiar – I’m not sure where else “The English Batman” may have appeared.
The giant ape is Gorilla Grodd, who has a long and distinguished place as one of the Flash’s deadlier opponents. He appears in the DCU from time to time, as well as the JL animated series.
Thanks for the info. That’s too bad about the Ultramarines - they were the first thing ever from DC that inspired me enough that I’d want to go out and buy a monthly book involving them.
Knight and Squire were old DC charactes. IIRC, they were published in The Brave & The Bold before it became a team up book.
To fill in the details:
The core Ultramarines were actually US Marines who were given powers in experiments by a dying general who was looking for a way to cheat death. Once the general found it, he sent the Ultramarines (as well as a batallion or so of normal military) against the JLA as a distraction (the general gained to power to tarnsfer his mind, and used the distraction to dig up a powerfula nd practically immortal monster to jump into). After they found out they were used, the Ultramarines quit the military and set up Superbia using their powers over the ruins of Montevideo (which had been nuked by Vandal Savage earlier that year). They also recruited some other international heroes (like Jack O’Lantern and Knight) from DC’s C-list and set up their own international, more extreme, crime-fighting team.
Gorilla Grodd and his troops are from Gorilla City. They were normal Gorillas until passing aliens boosted their intelligence and gave Grodd and the peace-loving Solivar psychic powers. Most of the gorillas are peaceful, if a bit Xenophobic, but not Grodd. Once Gorilla city was discovered by the Flash, Grodd set out to conquer the world using his powers, physical might, and advanced gorilla technology. One of DC’s best, and nastiest.
God I love comics!
Many of the Ultramarines were revamps of an old DC team called the Global Guardians, but basically there’s little history there except for the Superbia stuff.
–Cliffy
Heh. If you can find 'em, the original Ultramarians/Global Gaurdians formation can be found in issues 24-26 of JLA. They’re also included in the trade collection JLA: Justice For All (Vol. 5)