Justice League of America #80

Issue Details

Synopsis

NIGHT OF THE SOUL-STEALER While on monitor duty in the JLA Satellite, the Flash is having a conference call with his wife Iris when the alarms go off. He spots Hawkgirl's body floating in space. After recovering her, he calls in the JLA and Batman, The Atom, Black Canary, Green Arrow and Superman come to answer the call. Atom is upset by the finding of Hawkgirl as when he last saw her she was taking his fiancée Jean Loring (who had gone insane) to Thanagar with Hawkman to get her better treatment. When Hawkgirl revives they find that her mind is a blank slate and she is non-responsive to their questions.   The JLA decide to try and find Hawkman's ship. However, before they can begin an alarm sounds sending the Flash and Atom down to Earth to prevent a group of mesmerized Boy Scouts from walking off a cliff. They are told by the Scout Leader about a man supposedly flying on a broomstick. While in Midway City, Batman and Green Arrow arrive at the museum to check for clues for where Hawkman may have gone. There they are attacked by the man on the "broomstick" (really a rocket), it is a rogue alien from Thanagar named Norch Lor. Norch Lor believes that the universe is coming to an end and is collecting souls in his Ghenna Box to try and "save" people and succeeds in defeating Batman and Green Arrow. However he cannot collect their souls because the Box has been damaged and he has to flee to repair it.   Meanwhile in space, Superman is out searching for Hawkman's ship and finds it in deep space. After a hard effort of keeping it from heading into a star, Superman is then attacked by a mysterious foe. Back aboard the JLA Satellite, Black Canary is practicing the use of her canary scream when Batman and Green Arrow return. Scanning a swath of Norch Lor's uniform in a scanner reveals that it originates from Thanagar. Just then Norch Lor breaks into the JLA Satellite, bursting through the wall exposing the inside of the satellite to the vacuum of space. After the heroes scramble to seal the hole, they are left open to have their souls stolen by Norch Lor's Ghenna Box leaving their bodies mindless vessels.   While on the planet Oa, Green Lantern is meeting with the Guardians of the Universe who reveal that Tomar-Re has subdued Superman by mistake because he was checking out the Thanagarian ship as well. Joining up with his fellow Green Lantern, Hal takes the unconscious Superman inside the ship where they find both Hawkman and Jean Loring unconscious inside in the same state as Hawkgirl. They watch the ship's logs and learn about Norch Lor and his Ghenna Box.   Back aboard the JLA Satellite, Black Canary revives realizing that somehow her sonic powers saved her from the same fate as Batman and Green Arrow. She attacks Lor when his guard is down and soon Flash and Atom arrive and and help her battle Norch Lor. During the fight the Ghenna Box is knocked outside an air lock, the Atom goes out after it unprotected, risking his life to get the box back and manages to get back inside the Satellite before his body is effected by the vacuum of space.   With Norch Lor defeated, the Justice League restores everyone effected by the Ghenna Box to normal and Superman destroys the device.