Justice League Unlimited #6 (2025)

Grodd sees himself as misunderstood, not just by the humans who rule the Earth, but also by his fellow apes who insist on remaining hidden instead of conquering what he sees as their birthright. He is now imprisoned, but still bides his time so he can escape and restart his agenda to take over the world. The opportunity for that presents itself when Grodd suddenly gets infused by the mental powers of Martian Manhunter, which he had lost in his conflict with Amanda Waller. Needless to say, Grodd seizes the opportunity to escape. Grodd observes that the superheroes of Earth have become stronger and more united after rallying behind the banner of the Justice League Unlimited and is aware that attacking them on his own would be suicidal. That's why he needs help. He needs the Legion of Doom. Unfortunately for Grodd, most of fellow Legionnaires have either reformed, been degraded or otherwise fallen into obscurity. He formulates another plan, a plan that involves a spy. Grodd watches Superman invite the Air Wave to join the Justice League and after the Man of Steel takes his leave, he uses his telepathy on the young, unsuspecting hero. Under Grodd's thrall, Air Wave believes he is a fighting a supervillain in the International Space Station, but in reality, he still in Austin, Texas. Within the illusion, Grodd speaks to Air Wave and says that the Justice League are not heroes, but rather imperialist conquerors that want to rule over humanity, but Grodd and Air Wave can stop them. To further sell the lie, Grodd claims that Air Wave is dying and the Justice League didn't say anything. According to Grodd, temporal energy had infected Air Wave's bioelectric field. If Air Wave's condition isn't fixed, then not only will he die, the universe will forget he even existed. This is enough to convince Air Wave to join Grodd. To continue his plans, Grodd convinces Air Wave to bring him to a lonely asteroid infested with temporal gates, rifts in the timestream opened after Darkseid's death. Air Wave projects Grodd's consciousness to the past so he can talk to his fellow villains and inform them of the future, while Air Wave remains working as a mole within the Justice League, learning all he could and passing the information to Grodd. With the past Legion of Doom in the present, they worked in the shadows under the guise of Inferno to keep the Justice League occupied and spread it thin. Grodd reunites with the Legion at their headquarters and the lie is revealed: Air Wave was working for the wrong side all along. He is horrified and attempts to call for help, but his JL card will not work within the confines of the Legion's headquarters. He is now at the mercy of the Legion, and Grodd vaporizes him with a weapon that absorbs his energy. The Justice League has indeed tracked Air Wave's signal and found their headquarters, but the Legion is prepared for them. As soon as the heroes storm the Legion's castle, the villains freeze them in time.