The Forgotten Comic That Turned DC’s Justice League Into Western Heroes

You mostly know DC Comics for their superhero books, but they’ve published a fair share of Western comics too: “All-Star Western,” “Weird Western Tales,” etc. Scarred gunslinger Jonah Hex sometimes crosses over with DC superheroes too. But one 1997 comic went even further out West and turned the Justice League into cowboys: “Justice Riders,” scripted by Chuck Dixon and drawn by J. H. Williams III.

In the frontier town of Paradise, the outlaw Felix Faust pulls a daring escape that destroys the town and kills deputy Oberon. Sheriff Diana Prince sets out for revenge and gathers up a posse to bring justice: Kid Flash, Hawkman, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, and Martian Manhunter.

Wait, why these characters? Because it’s based on the contemporary Justice League line-up. In the late 80s through the mid-90s, “Justice League” mostly starred more obscure characters. That worked out great for J. M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, and Keith Giffen’s 1987 “Justice League: International” relaunch. It was still a superhero book, but it dialed back the spectacle for more focus on comedy and characterization.

In 1993, Wonder Woman became leader of the Justice League, hence her being the star of “Justice Riders” too. Maxwell Lord, a rich CEO and the Justice League International’s sponsor, is reimagined in “Justice Riders” as a robber baron industrialist, a la real railroad magnate E. H. Harriman.

Later in 1997, Grant Morrison and Howard Porter relaunched the Justice League in “JLA” with the classic line-up. This turned the book back into the home of DC’s A-list characters and teed up the soon-to-come “Justice League” cartoon series. “Justice Riders” was one of the last gasps of the Justice League as a place for B-listers to star.

The leads in “Justice Riders” are all recognizable. The costumes may be remade from 19th century materials, but there’s no confusing who is who. Diana still has her red, blue, and golden eagle corset. Kid Flash wears an old-time leather jacket, but a red one with a lightning bolt insignia. Blue Beetle wears a goggled pilot’s mask with antennae attached, claiming the negative ionization boosts his brain power.

The characters’ backstories are also reworked into Western archetypes. As Kid Flash, Wally West is the frontier’s fastest gunslinger rather than the fastest man alive. He’s also on the run for murdering Marshal Barry Allen of Abilene, Kansas. His pursuer is a Pinkerton detective, Guy Gardner/Kid Baltimore. The Green Lanterns are basically space cops, so naturally, the Lantern in this story is a pinkerton.

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Hawkman is a Native American shaman, Booster Gold is a gambling gunslinger, and Blue Beetle is an inventor. John Jones is a mysterious lawman hunting Lord for his own reasons. When he first appears he’s in shadow, lit only by a campfire, and you can’t tell if his skin is truly green or just lit that way.

At the end of the comic, it turns out Blue Beetle was telling the tale to dime novelist Clark Kent, author of “Colonel Kent’s Wild West Bravados.” The one part of the story Kent disbelieves is that Maxwell Lord had an alien accomplice. A “strange visitor from another planet… it’s just too fantastic.”

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The comic ultimately leans on the fantastical steampunk side of Westerns. Lord has an army of androids, the clockwork men, and his goal is a fully automated railroad with no need for profit-sharing to workers. What makes this stand out, though, is that Williams’ art otherwise leans into the visual language of Westerns. The panel of Diana burying Oberon (above) is right out of Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven.”

“Justice Riders” is a one-shot comic, but it was part of a larger DC meta-series: Elseworlds. Similar to Marvel’s “What If…?”, Elseworlds would take DC characters and stick them in unfamiliar settings or genres. 

The first Elseworlds story, or at least the brand’s proof of concept, is often considered to be “Batman: Gotham by Gaslight.” Written by Brian Augustyn and drawn by Mike Mignola (who used his experience drawing Batman to create Hellboy), the comic depicts Bruce Wayne becoming Batman in 19th century Gotham City.

“Justice Riders” is packaged in the collected edition: “DC Elseworlds: Justice League” Volume 1. The books opening page succinctly explains the premise of Elseworlds:

“In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places. Some that have existed, or might have existed, and others that can’t, couldn’t or shouldn’t exist. The result: stories that make characters who are as familiar as yesterday seem as fresh as tomorrow.”

The other stories included in the volume include “Elseworld’s Finest” (where Batman and Superman are 1920s pulp heroes), “Wonder Woman: Amazonia” (where Diana becomes a hero in Victorian London), “League of Justice” (where the superheroes live in a high fantasy world), and more.

At the ending of “Justice Riders,” Blue Beetle sadly tells Kent that the team rode together only on that one adventure. If they’re to be remembered, it’ll be as myths. DC hasn’t ever published a full-on “Justice Riders” ongoing series, but there’s been occasional nods to the comic. Grant Morrison’s “Multiversity” catalogues the Justice Riders as existing on Earth-18. The season 1 finale of “Justice League Unlimited,” titled “The Once and Future Thing,’ also features Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern being thrown back in time to the Old West. While there, they saddle up as cowboys.

I wouldn’t expect to see a “Justice Riders” movie coming out of James Gunn’s DC Studios, but it’s a fun little comic with a nifty premise. If you can dig it up, I’d encourage you to do so.