Geoff Johns' latest Justice League epic, "Darkseid War," kicks off this week in Justice League #41. Johns, ever DC’s go-to writer for massive events, has built up to this story since he launched Justice League #1 way back in 2011. Naturally, a lot has happened since then, both Johns’ Justice League and the greater DC Universe. With heroes changing, worlds dying, and just about every other comics twist thrown in since Justice League's debut, you’d be forgiven for scratching your head while reading Darkseid War’s opening chapter.

Fortunately, ComicBook.com is here with a handy guide to all things Darkseid War. Consider it you personal Mother Box as the worlds of the New Gods, Justice League, and a certain Multiverse destroyer explode for DC’s titanic storyline.

And be sure to check out ComicBook.com's Darkseid War preview interview with Johns and series artist Jason Fabok!



The Justice League Vs Darkseid: Round 2



"Darkseid War" is the rematch of the century between the Justice League and Darkseid’s Apocalyptic forces. The Justice League initially formed in response to Darkseid’s initial invasion of Earth and defeated him by tossing him through a Boom Tube activated by Cyborg’s powers. This fight will probably be even more savage than last time, which left Green Lantern with a broken arm and Superman severely beaten. And don’t forget that Cyborg also has a personal stake in this fight since it was Darkseid’s invasion that destroyed his body and led to him becoming half machine.

The Justice League…Plus One



The Justice League’s current roster consists of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Shazam, the Flash, Aquaman and Lex Luthor. Yup, you read that correctly, Lex Luthor has been a member of the Justice League ever since he helped stop the Crime Syndicate of America’s takeover of the world during Forever Evil. Lex joined the Justice League after learning about a potential bigger threat heading to Earth and his genius and intellect might just be the trump card the Justice League needs to beat Darkseid.

The Justice League’s other secret weapon is Jessica Cruz. Cruz came into possession of the Ring of Volthoom, an alternate universe version of Green Lantern’s power ring…only more evil and nasty. Cruz has struggled to control the Ring of Volthoom so far, but the Flash has asked Green Lantern to return to Earth and teach her.



The Anti-Monitor is Coming



The multiverse-destroying Anti-Monitor made his first New 52 appearance last year, laying waste to Earth 3, the former home of the Crime Syndicate. The Anti-Monitor wants to kill Darkseid to make up for some mysterious past transgression and he knows about the Justice League’s Earth because of Jessica Cruz’s power ring (which originally came from Earth 3). If comics have taught us one thing, it’s that the Anti-Monitor brings red skies and lots of death with him…along with lots of people using the word ‘crisis’ over and over.

If the Anti-Monitor isn’t bad enough, he also has a surprising ally in his war against Darkseid…

Darkseid Has a Daughter

Readers first learned about Darkseid’s daughter way back in Justice League #6, when Darkseid revealed that he invaded the Justice League’s earth in search of his daughter, Grail. Born on the same day as Wonder Woman, Grail is the daughter of an Amazonian assassin and is prophesized as a harbinger of great destruction on behalf of the Anti-Monitor. Although ARGUS held Grail captive at one point (as shown in the underrated and now cancelled Vibe series), she broke out and joined up with the Anti-Monitor sometime before the events of Forever Evil.

Grail’s mother, the Amazon assassin Myrina, is also searching for Darkseid, hoping to kill him and protect her daughter.

The New Gods Enter The Fray



You can’t have a good Darkseid story without the New Gods. The New Gods have made occasional appearances throughout the DC Universe in books like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Infinity Man and the Forever People and Earth 2. Highfather, the leader of the New Gods, recently tried to siphon the emotional spectrum energy used by the Green Lanterns and other corps to make his own super soldiers for his war against Darkseid. He also allowed Darkseid to invade Earth 2 in exchange for stopping his invasions on other universes, so maybe Highfather’s not as good a guy as we might think. It also appears that the Anti-Monitor was once a New God named Mobius, who created the Mobius Chair that Metron now uses to travel across time and space.

Now that you're up to speed, how excited are you for The Darkseid War? Let us know in the comments!