WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Justice League #39, by Scott Snyder, Jorge Jimenez, Daniel Sampere, Juan Albarran, Alejandro Sanchez, Hi-Fi and Tom Napolitano, on sale now.
The DC Multiverse is currently going through the motions as Perpetua attempts to reshape it with her general, the Apex Predator Lex Luthor, and his Martian-human army attacking the Hall of Justice. However, the return of the Martian Manhunter rekindled hope. The hero decides to connect all of humanity in a last-ditch attempt to overpower the cosmic goddess, but despite his best efforts, DC's Infinity War ends in a resounding and humiliating defeat. In Justice League #39, Perpetua reveals she was toying with the heroes all along, including J'onn J'onzz.
J'onn's struggling with Perpetua's power as he tries to use his mental abilities to link every mind alive together. If they agree to stand on the side of justice as opposed to doom, he'll have the power to stop Perpetua. She's feeding off everyone's consciousness, and if they actually vote in her favor, she'd have all the power she needs to finish reshaping reality.
This is why J'onn makes one last plea to everyone to stand on the heroic side, and it seems they're winning for a while. However, their "Justice" sigil is blotted out and replaced by the "Doom" symbol shining as bright as ever. Perpetua then cackles over how she offered the heroes a glimmer of hope, when there wasn't even any to begin with. She had already calculated the people would vote for her, she just wanted the League to try so she could gloat in their failure.
Perpetua savors how so much of humanity prefers a reality ruled by her and not the League, and when J'onn and his allies learn it was always a foregone conclusion, they're left heartbroken. They can't believe mankind betrayed them and voted against the light. It's darkness they opted for, making this Perpetua's biggest win yet. We know there are evil souls living on Earth, so we can see them voting for her but one has to think there should have been more good souls ready to cancel them out.
Admittedly, people might have voted for her out of fear, which does speak to real-world politics, sometimes at least. She's a cosmic terrorist and after showing world after world what she could do, it is believable some people would cower, wanting to live on their knees and surviving under her through small acts of mercy. Still, the League is in disbelief as they placed their faith in the entire planet only to be disappointed.
Eventually, the ultimate nightmare comes to fruition with Perpetua's version of the Thanos' snap, which sends J'onn away to the moon to be reborn. Reality's reshaped at long last, although the League themselves are saved by the Quintessence -- guardians consisting of High Father, Ganthet, the Phantom Stranger, Hera, Shazam and the Spectre. Luckily, they grant Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Flash, Aquaman, J'onn and Green Lantern/John Stewart one last attempt to stop Perpetua's endgame, but one has to think this kind of deus ex machina might not be enough to truly undo the damage.
In fact, Perpetua might have already calculated this Hail Mary like she did the vote, which means the League may well be running head-first into another trap. Only time will tell, but after embarrassing the heroes, let's just say hope and faith may have dwindled to naught.
Justice League #40 releases Feb. 5 from DC Comics.