Across all of Darkseid's attempts to invade Earth, the New God has constantly been thwarted by the combined might of the Justice League repelling him and his armies back to their faraway world of Apokolips. However, Darkseid's first bid to conquer the DC Universe after the Crisis on Infinite Earths saw the God of Evil employing more insidious methods to subvert and supplant the Justice League themselves in an effort to pave the way for his attempted conquest. And in order to facilitate this, Darkseid turns to a strategy that the Justice League could have never anticipated: The media.
Taking place in the 1986 crossover event Legends -- written by John Ostrander and Len Wein, penciled by John Byrne, inked by Karl Kesel, colored by Tom Ziuko and lettered by Steve Haynie -- Darkseid made a wager with the Phantom Stranger: That the God of Evil could turn humanity against the very heroes that had dedicated their lives towards defending them. After an initial wave of monsters secretly sent by Darkseid caused widespread collateral damage around the world, the Lord of Apokolips exploited the festering resentment the general public was developing towards their saviors by unleashing his secret weapon: The New God Glorious Godfrey.
Taking on the civilian identity G. Gordon Godfrey, Darkseid's planted vassal becomes a popular political pundit on television and radio through his firebrand programming, quietly enhanced by his New God powers of mind control extending to his broadcasts, blaming the superhero community at large for the recent wave of attacks the planet had endured. This escalating hysteria is further fueled by Darkseid's forces defeat Justice League Detroit while Captain Marvel -- or Shazam, as he is now known -- is framed for the murder of the supervillain Macro-Man which Godfrey's vitriolic attacks capitalize on. An enraged mob injures Batman's current Robin Jason Todd, prompting official action from the highest office in the land.
In response to the growing public outcry and civil unrest against superheroes, President Ronald Reagan (!) declares martial law and effectively bans all superhero activity nationwide. This proves to be the last straw for Amanda Waller, who restarts Task Force X as a government program drafting imprisoned supervillains, effectively launching the modern iteration of the Suicide Squad. As Godfrey's followers march on Washington, D.C., Doctor Fate assembles the heroes to oppose him, with a young girl struck by Godfrey in confrontation. As Godfrey attempts to appeal to his shocked followers, he acquires Fate's Helm of Nabu and attempts to claim its powers for himself, only to be completely mind-wiped and sent away in the aftermath as his influence finally began to dissipate and Darkseid's wager ultimately resulted in his loss.
Legends was DC's first major crossover event following Crisis on Infinite Earths and it firmly established Darkseid as the most powerful supervillain in the reborn DC Universe at that time. The story saw the launch of the Suicide Squad, the creation of Justice League International and Captain Marvel woven into the wider fabric of the DCU and its superhero community as well as providing the post-Crisis introduction for the rebooted Wonder Woman published concurrently with Legends.
The heroes' standing with the general public was shaken to the core by Darkseid's little game but the community weathered the storm as their true quality shone through the adversity and negative buzz fueled by the media. While Darkseid would menace Earth moving forward, the evil god would employ more direct methods moving forward, often continuing his vendetta with the Justice League.