JLA: The Nail series

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JLA: The Nail
Cover for JLA: The Nail #1 (Aug. 1998), by Alan Davis.
Publication information
Publisher	Elseworlds (DC Comics)
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Limited series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	August – October 1998
No. of issues	3
Main character(s)	ISBN 1840230649

JLA: The Nail is a three-issue comic book mini-series published by DC Comics in 1998 under its Elseworlds imprint. The story, written and drawn by Alan Davis, is set in a parallel universe where Jonathan and Martha Kent's truck experiences a flat tire caused by a nail, which stops them from discovering a Kryptonian spaceship outside Smallville containing the baby Kal-El, negating Superman. It was later followed by a sequel, JLA: Another Nail, a three-issue mini-series published in 2004 which wrapped up several loose ends from the original mini-series, such as the war between the New Gods and the Green Lantern Corps and Oliver Queen's public betrayal of the Justice League.

The story's theme is set in the first paragraph:

For want of a nail

the shoe was lost,
for want of a shoe the horse was lost,
for want of a horse the knight was lost,
for want of a knight the battle was lost.
So it was a kingdom was lost – all for want of a nail.

Plot

The Nail

Twenty-four years ago, farmers Jonathan and Martha Kent experience a flat tire on their truck caused by a nail, which stops them from discovering a Kryptonian spaceship containing the baby Kal-El. In the present day, the Justice League consists of Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash, Hawkwoman, the Atom, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern.

Journalist

Metamorpho is brainwashed into killing the Thinker and Perry White and dies while trying to tell Martian Manhunter what happened. Green Lantern encounters the orbiting corpse of Adam Strange and discovers a force field around Earth that prevents anything from leaving the planet. The Flash saves Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins from an attack by Amazo while seeking the mastermind behind all of these events.

Wonder Woman is framed for the destruction of the

community. As Jimmy is about to kill Batman, he is stopped by a farmer who tries to reason with him; Jimmy unsuccessfully tries to incinerate the farmer with his heat vision.

The farmer is revealed to be Kal-El, who was found as a baby by an Amish couple and raised as their son. Jimmy attempts to persuade Kal to join him while his adoptive parents try to persuade him from getting involved in worldly affairs, but Kal refuses both of them, unable to ignore his conscience. Jimmy then kills Kal's adoptive parents in front of him with his heat vision and engages Kal in a fight. Despite the two of them being evenly matched, the stress of the fight causes Jimmy’s DNA graft to fail and his body to disintegrate. With Jimmy and the Liberators defeated, the Justice League (without Batman, who resigns from the League after he is acquitted of the Joker's murder) regains public confidence with the help of its newest member: Superman.

Another Nail

JLA: Another Nail
Cover for JLA: Another Nail #1 (May 2004), by Alan Davis.
Publication information
Publisher	Elseworlds (DC Comics)
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Limited series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	May – July 2004
Main character(s)	ISBN 1840239441

A year earlier, Apokolips goes to war with New Genesis, and the Green Lantern Corps is dispatched to stem the loss of life. One Green Lantern is killed, and her power ring selects Big Barda as its new host. Barda and Mister Miracle manage to reverse the effects of a device designed to vaporize all matter within millions of light years, causing Darkseid to disintegrate into nothingness and be scattered across the universe instead. Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) reveals to the Justice League that the Central Power Battery on Oa is weakening. Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) is dying from injuries caused by Amazo in the same fight that claimed Hawkman's life.

Kal-El is adjusting to his new life as Superman, devoting himself full-time to heroics with little rest. During a mission in Peru with the Martian Manhunter, Superman's strength begins to fade as he tries to save a village from an attack by Despero and Evil Star. Kal takes a sabbatical and bonds with Jonathan and Martha Kent, as well as Lois Lane, as they create a new secret identity for him.

The members of the Justice League investigate various disturbances in

Using the resources of New Genesis and the Green Lantern Corps, Barda and Mr. Miracle discover that the disturbances are coming from an entity known as the Limbo Cell, an organism that feeds on all matter and energy. Superman attempts to fly a bomb into the cell's nucleus, but is left helpless when the cell absorbs his energy. As he is about to die, Kal is rescued and revitalized by Amazo, now equipped with Oliver Queen's brain. Queen sacrifices his life to detonate the bomb in the cell's nucleus. With the Limbo Cell destroyed, reality heals and the disturbances in space and time are repaired.

Batman descends into Hell and drags the Joker with him. As they fall into the abyss, the Joker is swept away by an unseen force while Batman is rescued by the spirits of Robin and Batgirl. Batman is able to put the past behind him and rejoins the Justice League.

Collected editions

The three issues of JLA: The Nail were collected into a

In October 2017, DC Comics released JLA: The Nail/Another Nail: Deluxe Edition, which reprinted both miniseries in one book.[5]

Awards

In 1999, JLA: The Nail was nominated for an

• Bullet Points (comics)
• Butterfly effect
• Camel's nose

References