| Justice League Watchtower | |
|---|---|
 The JLA Watchtower. From Green Lantern: Rebirth #1. Art by Ethan Van Sciver. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| In story information | |
| Type | Base of operations |
The Watchtower is the name of various bases used by the Justice League of America in DC Comics and various other media. It has been portrayed, in DC comics as a building on the moon and as a space-station in orbit, in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon.[1]
The Watchtower debuted in JLA # 4 during Grant Morrison's run on the title. It is constructed of promethium and used highly advanced Martian, Thanagarian, Kryptonian, and Earth technology.[1] The arrival of Orion and Big Barda added the technology of New Genesis and Apokolips to the systems within.
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Areas within the Watchtower
Areas of the Watchtower were shown in JLA # 16 when super-villain Prometheus made his debut and downloaded the Watchtower blueprints. Among them:
- "The Hall of Justice" - housed atop the Watchtowers' peak is the conference hall where the League meets and plots strategy, assigns duties and engages in open discussion. At its center is a round table, a nod to Camelot's Knights of the Round Table. There are 12 seats, 7 or 8 of which are reserved for the core members with their respective insignia. The JLA symbol itself is prominently placed in the center of the table.
- Promenade - a large area devoted for ceremonies (as seen when Aztek was inaugurated as a member) as well as a place to assemble a large contingent of superheroes in cases of extreme necessity.
- Monitor Womb - the heart of the Watchtower, stretching the entire center of the complex. It houses the Leagues' vast computer/communications/sensor network.[1] All crisis points are detected through this circular chamber with multiple holographic displays. Although monitor duty is assigned in a revolving system, Martian Manhunter often volunteers for this as his great telepathic powers are uniquely attuned to the Martian technology.
- Trophy room - various memorabilia from the League's past cases as well as sculptures/tributes to fallen heroes. Some notable memorabilia include Green Arrow's trick arrows, Booster Gold's armor, Kanjar Ro's Gamma Gong, various alien weapons/gadgets, a container of Kirby Dots and galleries of past League rosters.
- Armory/Hangar - adjacent to one another, this area houses a variety of specialized equipment the League or its allies may need depending on the mission as well as space-worthy ships capable of intergalactic travel.
- Hydroponics - this area houses a variety of alien flora which has greatly efficient photosynthesis compared to terran plants, serving as the Watchtower's source of oxygen.
- Aquarium - serves as Aquaman's private quarters as well as housing marine life from other worlds.
- Private quarters - each core member has a specific private quarters for extended stays. Individual quarters are personalized for the members' tastes and lifestyle (such as Wonder Woman's Greek-themed quarters or Martian Manhunter's meditation chamber). Additional guest quarters are available as well.
- Other areas: Power Core, Recreation area, Holographic training room, Laboratories, Med-lab, Technology/Engineering Workshops, Containment Cells.
Getting to the Watchtower and around the various areas is facilitated by teleportation tubes placed for easy access in the event of an emergency.
The Watchtower was destroyed by Superboy-Prime in JLA #120, and superseded by the The Hall, based on Earth, and Satellite Watchtower on space.
Second Watchtower
Following the gathering of the new team as seen in Justice League of America (vol.2) # 7 (April 2007), a new satellite is presented as headquarters.
The new satellite is an orbiting Watchtower working together with The Hall, a building located in Washington D.C. paid for by Batman and designed by Wonder Woman and John Stewart. Inside the Hall is an archway-type teleportation system, dubbed 'Slideways' in which a person merely need to walk through the archway to be transported to the League's new orbiting satellite headquarter 22,300 miles above Earth.
Jim Lee was called to design the new headquarters. Writer Brad Meltzer: "On the satellite, he did six different designs; some that resembled the old League satellite, [or] resembled the JLU satellite. We kind of took a little from Column A and B. I saw in one of his other designs, he also had these drones and I loved those, and I said, 'Can we put those on there as well? I really want to take that!'"
The satellite has a Danger Room-like training room nicknamed The Kitchen because "if you can't stand the heat...". Meltzer also explains that, for the first time, the satellite has defensive and offensive weaponry. Despite the defense systems, the Watchtower was damaged by the Sinestro Corps. In addition to this, the satellite's teleportation system was hacked into by Hardware after he infiltrated the Hall of Justice disguised as a tourist.
In other media
Batman Beyond
In the animated series Batman Beyond, the headquarters of the Justice League of the future is called the Watchtower, and is located in Metropolis. It has a training room, plus a tank for Aquagirl. It first appeared in the season three episode "The Call: Part One."
Justice League
Two different versions of the Watchtower appear in the cartoons Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Both are space stations, similar to the Justice League Satellite. Both were built and financed by Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne.
The original Watchtower was introduced in the first episode of the Justice League series, "Secret Origins." It had a meeting room, hangar, kitchen and medical facilities, as well as living quarters. Access to the Watchtower was primarily via the "Javelin-7", a form of personal spacecraft.
This station made its last appearance in the season two finale, "Starcrossed." When the Thanagarians attempted to build a hyperspace bypass on Earth (activating the generator would have destroyed the planet and everything on it), Batman knocked the Watchtower out of orbit, and dropped it on the hyperspace generator. Both the generator and the Watchtower were destroyed (Batman was rescued at the last second by Superman).
When the series resumed under its new title, Justice League Unlimited, a new, much larger Watchtower was unveiled. Designed to accommodate a large number of support staff and the expanded roster of League, the new Watchtower was depicted as a paramilitary base in orbit, surrounded by a network of subsidiary space stations. The Watchtower now has a larger kitchen, meeting, and medical facilities, and it is strongly implied that some members of the League live on the station full time.
Access to the station is primarily via a Star Trek-style teleporter, which is used by Watchtower employees who, it is implied, work there as regular day jobs. In one episode a group of employees are shown going to a remote farmer's field in order to be transported up to the station, suggesting involvement in the Watchtower is veiled in secrecy.
The second Watchtower also had extensive weaponry, most notably a binary fusion cannon pointing down at the Earth, which leads to conflict between the League and the American government. This weapon is dismantled after Lex Luthor hijacks it and uses it to fire upon an unsuspecting city.
Justice League of America
The Watchtower (not named as such) also appears in the 1997 Justice League of America live action film. It seems to be a J'onn J'onzz's spaceship docked underwater and it is reached via an elevator from under a bridge in New Metro City.
Smallville
In the season 6 episode 11, "Justice", of the television series, Smallville; Impulse, Green Arrow, Cyborg, Aquaman, and Clark Kent work to destroy a secret metahuman research facility owned by Lex Luthor. Chloe Sullivan provides directions and schematics from Oliver Queen's loft, and is given the codename "Watchtower".
In the multimedia Smallville parallel story, Justice and Doom, John Jones/The Martian Manhunter uses Swann Communications to build himself a large orbital satellite to use as a base. (Dr. Virgil Swann, the founder of Swann Communications, had been played by Christopher Reeve.)
In the season 8 episode 17 entitled "Hex", Chloe Sullivan is at Isis Foundation and Oliver Queen arrives. He asks her if she's ready to give up her life as a reporter, and she confidently answers yes. She hands him a headset and takes one for herself. The Justice League members, Black Canary, Aquaman, Cyborg and Impulse, come online one by one on the monitors surrounding Chloe in the control room. Oliver announces "Arrow online", and the shot comes to Chloe as she says "Watchtower is officially online".
In the season 8 season finale, Jimmy Olsen reveals his wedding gift to his ex-wife Chloe. It is a large clock tower building located in the heart of Metropolis. After Jimmy's death, Chloe returns to the tower and tells Clark that she plans to use the building as a base - or "as a watchtower"- for the Justice League. In the 9th season premiere, the tower is equiped the advanced computer systems and funded by Oliver Queen.
The Batman
On the two part episode of The Batman animated series entitled "The Joining," the Watchtower is seen at the end, resembling the Hall of Justice on an asteroid.
Mortal Kombat vs. DC
A Watchtower-like space station appears in the game MK vs. DC. It is called the "U.N. Orbital Space Station".
References
- ^ a b c Jimenez, Phil (2008), "JLA Watchtower", in Dougall, Alastair, The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 132, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5, OCLC 213309017
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