Early in their career, the Justice League International faced the Gray Man, a villain whose darkness contrasted the lighter tone of the team.
Between foes like Darkseid and the Legion of Doom, the Justice League has no shortage of powerful enemies. The Justice League International, however, is one of the lighter incarnations of the team, known more for its comedic elements than its powerful foes. One of the JLI’s most overlooked threats, however, was their powerful foe, the Gray Man.
The Gray Man made a brief appearance in 1987’s Justice League #2, by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, Al Gordon, Gene D’Angelo and Bob Lappan, before making his first full appearance in Justice League #5. There, it was revealed that the Gray Man used to be a sorcerer, who pierced the barrier between dimensions and stumbled upon the Lords of Order.
Upon seeing this, the Lords of Order deemed that the sorcerer had gone too far, transforming him into their new servant, the Gray Man. As the Gray Man, the sorcerer was isolated on a barren, gray isle, never to sleep or dream again. Even so, it was the Gray Man’s job to collect the dream-essence from the dead and return it to the realm of order.
In order to physically collect these dream-essences, the Gray Man was given the power to create duplicates of himself that were fully under his control. Clearly, the Gray Man had a great deal of power already. The Gray Man then elected to use the power he had gathered to break free from his punishment and turn against the Lords of Order.
In an impressive display, the Gray Man held Doctor Fate captive, while drawing the dream essence of the living into himself to increase his power. As a result, the town of Stone Ridge, Vermont, was drained of its energy. Further demonstrating his awesome might, the Gray Man took over Captain Marvel’s mind, turning him against the rest of the team.
This was no small feat, considering that Captain Marvel was one of the few heavy-hitters on the JLI at the time. Turning Marvel against his teammates, the Gray Man was nearly able to defeat the powerful Martian Manhunter. Even after Captain Marvel was incapacitated and Doctor Fate broke free, the Gray Man held his own against the rest of the team.
The Gray Man’s duplicates drained each Justice Leaguer’s energy just by touching them, leaving the Gray Man and Doctor Fate as the last ones standing. Eventually, however, Doctor Fate brought the Gray Man before the Lords of Order, who killed him for abusing his gifts.
A new Gray Man was chosen, first appearing in 1989’s Justice League America #31, by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Adam Hughes, Joe Rubinstein, Gene D’Angelo and Albert DeGuzman. This Gray Man was just as powerful as his predecessor, absorbing the dream-essence and the souls of the dead, which enabled him to grow to an immense size.
This Gray Man was also defeated by the League with the help of the Lords of Order and Chaos. Both incarnations of the Gray Man were clearly very dangerous threats that required immense power to defeat. This threat was even more palpable, considering the Gray Man was one of the Justice League International’s first foes, when they were just becoming a team. The team barely escaped with their lives, and Doctor Fate had to call in the Lords of Order to save everyone.
Even heavy-hitters like Captain Marvel and the Martian Manhunter couldn’t do much against the Gray Man. Additionally, the Gray Man added a bit of darkness to the lighter tone established by the JLI. This team was generally defined by its more comedic sensibilities, yet a villain like the Gray Man was quite dark in nature.
The sleepless, dreamless existence of the Gray Man, defined by his power to drain the dream essence from humanity, was a stark contrast to the antics of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. The Gray Man’s existence was a good reminder that, even though the Justice League International might have been a more lighthearted group, they still faced some very dangerous opponents in their time.
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