DC's Future State titles present plenty of dystopian societies. Although these future cities are shocking, they're not the first of DC's dystopian futures. Perhaps the most terrifying dystopia of the DC Universe can be found in "Rock of Ages." This ambitious storyline took place in JLA #10-15, by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, Gary Frank, Greg Land and John Dell. "

Rock of Ages" began as a fairly straightforward encounter between the Justice League and Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang. The two groups engaged in several battles of wits, attempting to use "corporate takeover" tactics to take each other down. The entire time, Luthor held the Philosopher's Stone, his secret weapon in the war with DC's heroes. Appearing to help the Justice League, Metron arrived to take Aquaman, The Flash and Green Lantern on a quest to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone.

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DC Comics' JLA Rock of Ages with Kyle Rayner, the Flash, and Aquaman in shock standing on a pile of corpses

This quest quickly turned into a wild goose chase, however, with Metron taking the Justice League across time and space without finding the stone. The Flash attempted to return Aquaman, Green Lantern and himself to their proper time, but they arrived 15 years too late. Once there, the Justice League was horrified to see an Earth ruled by Darkseid. Apparently, during their battle with the Injustice Gang, the Justice League had destroyed The Philosopher's Stone, leaving them defenseless against Darkseid's invasion.

Moreover, when they arrived in the future, the Justice League heroes were placed into their older bodies. Aquaman was past his prime, Green Lantern had become one of Darkseid's swarmtroopers and The Flash was cut off from the speed force. The only hope left in this future was a rag-tag Justice League, led by Wonder Woman. Superman had killed himself years earlier, and Batman was missing in action. In their place stood Connor Hawke as Green Arrow, the Atom, Amazo, Argent and a second Aztek.

The Justice League was happy to discover that Batman was alive, disguising himself as Desaad. The Dark Knight had beaten Darkseid's chief torturer in a game of wits, waiting until the right moment to reveal himself. With Batman back on the team, the Justice League took the fight to Darkseid. Wonder Woman and Batman perished fighting Darkseid, but not before Diana destroyed his Grandmother Box.

The rest of the team also demolished Darkseid's zombie factory, while Green Arrow and The Atom successfully killed Darkseid himself. Aquaman, Flash and Green Lantern used the Mobius Chair to return to the present, in order to avoid this nightmarish future. Arriving just in time, Green Lantern warned Superman not to destroy The Philosopher's Stone. Instead, the Justice League eventually handed the stone over to Metron, averting Darkseid's catastrophic invasion.

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Atom fries Darkseid from inside his brain in DC Comics

Much of Darkseid's dystopian future can be seen in the trailer for Zack Snyder's Justice League. Specifically, the scenes where Batman is standing in his "Knightmare" outfit in the center of a desolate wasteland. This "premonition" of Batman's is exactly the kind of future which the Justice League is trying to avoid. In "Rock of Ages," the Justice League experienced this horrific dystopia firsthand, filled with Darkseid's swarmtroopers and Parademons.

In the synopsis for Zack Snyder's Justice League, Desaad is also referenced. Desaad hasn't been featured in DC's films before, so this movie will set the precedent for his live-action adaptations, and it may even set up a repeat of their "Rock of Ages" game of wits.

Overall, "Rock of Ages" could be a blueprint for Justice League's action sequences, particularly battles against the hordes of Apokolips. With the JLA facing parademons, Grandmother Boxes and zombie factories in the comics, "Rock of Ages" features many possible links to the upcoming battles in Justice League.

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