JLA #3 (1998)

Batman did not perish in the Batplane as the Hyperclan believes. In fact, he counted on the Hyperclan's arrogance and willingness to dismiss him in order to infiltrate their citadel at Z'onn Z'orr. Having analyzed their powers, Batman now knows the true secret behind the Hyperclan's abilities. Elsewhere, the Flash continues to fight up against the villainous super-speedster, ZüM. They zip around from China to South Dakota, but Flash taps into the power of the Speed Force to edge him out. Pulling infinite mass from the field, he decks ZüM, knocking him clear across the country. Elsewhere, Green Lantern deals with the armored Armek. Armek believes that Kyle's Green Lantern Ring is vulnerable to the color yellow like other rings. Kyle's ring has no such restriction however and he demonstrates this by creating a Manga-inspired power armor to pummel Armek into the ground. Having polished off ZüM, the Flash races to help out Green Lantern. Although Armek is down, they now have to deal with the shield-slinging, Zenturion. Zenturion hurls his discus shield at the heroes, but the Flash catches it, sending it right back to him. The discus strikes Zenturion in the jaw, momentarily stunning him. Flash and Green Lantern race to Z'onn Z'orr where they discover that the rest of the League has been taken captive. Batman and the Martian Manhunter however, are nowhere to be found. Analyzing the Hyperclan's monitor chambers, they learn that an advance invasion fleet is perched just outside of Earth's atmosphere, but they are hidden in a pocket of hyperspace. This is how they were able to avoid satellite detection and ambush the previous Justice League at their headquarters. The Hyperclan soon find out where the Flash and Green Lantern are and take them out. All of the captured League members are placed inside of a Martian device known as the Flower of Wrath. Hyperclan member A-Mortal senses that something is amiss and goes off to investigate. In the lower levels of the citadel, he encounters Batman. When A-Mortal fails to report back to Protex, he sends the other Hyperclan members to find him. They locate Batman and surround him, but Batman knows the truth about the invaders now - they are actually Martians. Although they are incredibly powerful, they also have a great weakness - fire. Having already doused the room in gasoline, Batman strikes a match and sets the entire chamber alight. When Protex learns that a simple human has defeated his Hyperclan, he flies into a rage. He transmits a signal to the Martian armada tucked away in hyper-space, ordering them to begin their invasion of Earth.