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Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceJustice League of America vol. 1 #111 (June 1974)
Created byLen Wein (script)
Dick Dillin (art)
In-story information
Alter egoJustin Ballantine
Team affiliationsInjustice Gang
The Society
Notable aliasesEquinox
AbilitiesSuperpower absorption

Publication historyEdit

Libra's only major appearance, prior to his appearance in Final Crisis, was in Justice League of America #111–112, in 1974. In 2004, he made a brief cameo in the JLA/Avengers crossover (#4) by Kurt Busiek and George Pérez.





Fictional character biographyEdit




At this point, Lex Luthor tries to kill Libra, having concluded that Libra's effectiveness makes him too dangerous to be left alive, but the newer villain instead surrounds him with more Justifiers. He offers Luthor a choice to either swear an oath to the God of Evil (Darkseid) or become a mindless slave. At the time Libra is leading the Secret Society of Super-Villains at a public execution. Some savant with access to the Society's computers has been breaking codes for the Resistance, and Libra has condemned Calculator for the action. Lex Luthor is silent on the matter, but has been picked to lead the rearguard action against the heroes at Blüdhaven. He assumes it is an honor, but he does not look very pleased. A hole in the sky opens over the hanging, and as Libra tells the Society of the "night of anguish that lasts forever", Darkseid gains the fullness of his power. Libra, having discovered, at this time, that Lex Luthor was the actual mole, attempts to kill him only to have Doctor Sivana use a device to disable the Justifiers. Luthor blasts Libra, seemingly killing him. Lex Luthor reveals that Libra was a living embodiment of the Anti-Life Equation. [5]

In Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge, Libra is shocked when he hears that the Rogues declined membership into his Secret Society. Many times and in many ways he attempts to recruit them, including threats against their families and revealing that Barry Allen had returned from the dead, but failed. As they walk away, Libra shouts that evil will win. [6]

In Final Crisis: Revelations, Libra is confronted by Crispus Allen, the third Spectre, who has come to judge him for the murder of the Martian Manhunter. Not only was the Spectre unable to learn Libra's real identity, but the villain was able to fight off the Spirit of Vengeance and drive him away. [7] [8]

In other mediaEdit


  • In the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold, there is a character called Equinox (voiced by Oded Fehr) with similarities to Libra including the interest in "balance". An orphan boy raised from birth by the Lords of Chaos and Order (similar to Marvel Comics' In-Betweener), Equinox was granted powers by both, and charged with the task of supporting the balance between good and evil. However, this proved too much of a burden; he left the masters and sought his ideal balance, opposing Batman, but occasionally aiding him. He first appears in the teaser of the episode "Mystery in Space!", when he tries to eliminate Gorilla Grodd (an agent of evil) and the Question (an agent of justice) at the same time to keep balance. But Batman intervenes and Equinox faces him for the first time. He evades Batman and the Question and promises they will meet again. In the episode "When OMAC Attacks!", he appears as the mastermind of a terrorist plot: a village was destroyed in another country due to the actions of a peace-keeping organization. To keep everything in balance, he plans to destroy the city where the organization is based by overloading a nuclear power plant using Shrapnel. However he is distracted by Buddy Blank while Batman stops his plan. In the end, however, he saves Batman's life by healing him after he nearly dies of radiation exposure from shutting down the nuclear reactor, for Batman's death would be an imbalance. He then escapes. In "The Fate of Equinox!", Equinox's origins are revealed after he tricks Batman into ensuring the villain's ascent to godhood with the intent to unmake the universe and create it anew, taking his masters' powers to do so and becoming Equinox-Prime. Doctor Fate borrows the powers from a number of heroes and gives them to Batman in an attempt to stop him, Plastic Man dubbing the new being Bat-Monolith. When Equinox' new powers prove too strong even for the combined might of Batman and his allies, Batman turns the tables by presenting to Equinox the revelation that he himself is unbalanced as he hates the Lords of Order and Chaos, which disillusions the villain long enough for Batman to send him to oblivion by knocking him into a vortex he had begun to create to destroy the universe so he could re-make it in balance. In "Time Out for Vengeance!", it was revealed that his consciousness was shattered into a dozen fragments and scattered throughout time and space. Each aspect embodied a part of Equinox-Prime's mind. His hate arrives in the far future and enters a computer which it uses to create and animate a group of robots to form a Batman Revenge Squad, sending them to erase the Batmen from the Time-Space Continuum. Rip Hunter discovers this and alerts the Justice League International who split into pairs. Once the Batman Revenge Squad robots are defeated, the Justice League International arrive in the future where Equinox is, having captured a robot Batman. Equinox' consciousness merges some of the remaining robots into one giant robot that Equinox' mind can inhabit. But the captured robot Batman frees himself from Equinox's control and summons three Batmen from other times to help him fight Equinox. The four Batmen neutralize Equinox and the Batman of the present returns to existence, but it is implied that Equinox will return.


  1. ^ McAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1970s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Through the words of scripter Len Wein and the art of Dick Dillin, the masked menace of Libra established himself as a grave threat to the World's Greatest Heroes.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b "ALL STAR GRANT MORRISON I: Final Crisis", Comic Book Resources, 15 April 2008.
  3. ^ Eason, Brian K. (5 June 2008). "Final Crisis Flashback: Libra & Human Flame". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  4. ^ "A Brief History (because that's all there is) of Libra" Archived 2009-08-22 at the Wayback Machine, Newsarama, 1 May 2008.
  5. ^ Final Crisis #6
  6. ^ Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #1
  7. ^ Final Crisis: Revelations #4
  8. ^ Final Crisis: Revelations #5

External linksEdit