Justice League of America #77

Issue Details

Synopsis

SNAPPER CAR -- SUPER-TRAITOR! When Snapper Carr is recognized as a friend of the Justice League by a group of malcontents, they attack him in the street until he is saved by John Dough, who is proclaimed as "Mr. Normal" and is hailed as the "Most Normal Man in America." Dough manages to convince Snapper into joining his cause to make America "more normal" and help him in his campaign to get rid of super-human "freaks." Astonishingly, Snapper begins to believe in Mr. Dough's words and agrees to help him.   At Justice League headquarters, Green Arrow and Black Canary are on monitor duty when suddenly Snapper's distress signal goes off. Because Batman and the Atom are closest, Green Arrow has them sent out to check it out. There the two are betrayed by Snapper who gases Batman for Dough to take prisoner and leaving Atom. Dough has Batman tied up in a steel room filled with poisonous gas, but straps the Caped Crusader in a oxygen mask and forces him to watch a monitor that displays Dough's plot. Dough would then disguise himself as Batman and infiltrate JLA's headquarters telling the Justice League (after hearing the Atom's account of events) that Dough has invited them to see his rally and answer for themselves. Dough makes a mistake when he doesn't recognize Black Canary, as she hasn't been revealed as a member to the public yet.   During the rally, through secret micro-chips in the JLA's tickets and a special ray cannon, Dough manages to make the JLA go temporarily berserk during the rally, and Black Canary is the only one lucid to fight off the crowd. Meanwhile, Batman breaks free from his confines by breaking the TV monitor and using its wires to cause a spark which ignites his oxygen tank causing an explosion that blows open his trap before he can be effected by the poison gas. Realizing that he's been stashed in the Trump Satellite he deduces who John Dough really is and rushes off to stop him.   While at a congressional hearing, Dough is once more posing as Batman and telling those gathered that the JLA is planning to overthrow the government. Just then the real Batman bursts in and unmasks Dough who manages to escape the Justice League by tossing a grenade at the crowd, forcing the Justice League to save the crowd from harm. Green Arrow manages to nab Snapper Carr and they confront him with the fact that he betrayed the team. He reveals that he actually believes in John Dough's ideas and that he's quitting the Justice League to figure out who he really is.   Returning to their base to try and figure out how to track down John Dough, they are taken by surprise when they find out that he's been hiding out in their base the whole time. Armed with Kryptonite ray guns that can effect Superman, the Justice League are outgunned until the Black Canary manages to control her sonic powers enough to use them on Dough knocking him so the JLA can subdue him. After Batman briefs them on the clues of their adversary's identity, "John Dough" is unmasked, revealing Batman's old foe the Joker. With the secret location of their base now compromised, the JLA decides that it's time to find a new secret base.