Justice League #36

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE AMAZO VIRUS  CHAPTER ONE: QUARANTINE Metropolis is under quarantine, and most of its citizens have evacuated. In the aftermath of the infection, many criminals are taking the opportunity to loot the empty buildings and vehicles, at the risk of infecting themselves. Three such young men have been discovered by Batman and Superman, and though the victims are guilty of theft, the pair must remind themselves that they are there to help the infected. Unfortunately, one side-effect of the virus is the development of meta-human powers. Though they are prepared, the thugs' transformations come as a surprise, and two of them die before the third goes into stage three of the infection, and Batman is able to resuscitate him. The encounter leaves Batman with a cracked visor, and Superman warns that he can't keep coming into Metropolis like this if he puts himself at risk of infection as well. Batman insists that he is needed, because Patient Zero is still somewhere in Metropolis.   Lex Luthor, meanwhile, is busy looking after the other Leaguers who have been infected, worrying at their prognoses. He reports grimly that they will likely die within 24 hours. Wonder Woman accepts the news with equally stony resolve, warning that Steve Trevor has come for a debriefing, already aware that the virus originated in Lex's lab - though Lex reminds that it only escaped because someone broke into the lab and tried to kill him. Even so, she warns him to be truthful with Steve, lest she use her Lasso to ensure that he does.   More than 520 people have been infected since the outbreak, and the majority have been placed into induced comas for treatment. Lex admits openly that he created the Amazo virus, based on the same principles as Anthony Ivo's Amazo android. It was designed to suppress metahuman abilities - particularly those of metahuman criminals. The White House rejected the controversial and untested virus when he presented it, so it as shelved. It only affects humans, but several of the Justice League's members are humans. Only Wonder Woman and Superman are not.   When Neutron attacked LexCorp, he blew up the storage facility containing the virus, and Lex was only just able to get into his protective suit and rescue his own sister and Bruce Wayne from the virus' effects. The rest of the League wouldn't leave the city until the evacuation was complete, but they were ultimately infected as well. While the virus suppresses abilities in metahumans like the League, it has an unexpected effect on normal humans, having apparently mutated since it infected patient zero. It has gone airborne. In stage one of infection, victims present flu-like symptoms. In stage two, they seem to develop a metahuman power at random. Within 24 hours, they will enter stage three, in which the cells of their bodies begin to break down and they die. The only way for Lex to develop a vaccine and a cure will be to find patient zero first.   While Superman and Batman discover patient zero's location, Lex worries over his sister's safety and who might want to have him killed. Steve warns Wonder Woman that the outbreak is beginning to spread across the east coast toward the Midwest, and urges his superiors to trust in Luthor to find a cure. Meanwhile, the man who wants Lex dead hires yet another assassin to see him killed.