Friday, December 10, 2010

Secret Headquarter: JLA Secret Sanctuary

First appearance: Brave and the Bold #28

Clipped from www.cosmicteams.com:

The Justice League's "Secret Sanctuary" is located inside a mountain overlooking the ocean outside the town of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. Aquaman discovered the original cave while exploring underwater grottoes. He informed the other JLA members about it when they needed a place to store the Appellaxian aliens they captured during their first case. Shortly thereafter, one of the Appellaxians was abducted by the criminal organization called Locus, and the JLA adopted the cave as their permanent headquarters.

Financier Simon Carr provided the various facilities for the Secret Sanctuary, working at the anonymous (to the JLA) behest of millionaire Oliver Queen, otherwise known as the hero Green Arrow. Simon engaged the services of his nephew "Snapper" Carr as the mechanic and general handyman for the Secret Sanctuary. Snapper knows the systems of the Sanctuary better than anyone, and he spends much of his time repairing, maintaining, and upgrading them. The Sanctuary is carved out of the solid rock of a mountain.

The Sanctuary is arranged in five levels. Access from the main entrance to the upper and lower levels was provided by a single elevator and a single set of stairs.

LEVEL ONE The first level of the complex featured the fortress' hangar deck and communications center.

LEVEL TWO Level Two featured the Sanctuary's extensive library. Laid out along a vast balcony which looked down to Level Three, the library boasted books, magazines, microfilm, and microfiche facilities that contained information on almost every conceivable subject.

LEVEL THREE Level Three was the Sanctuary's main floor, and featured the Justice League's conference room, a lounge/kitchen, and the main entrance. The simple conference room held only a long table with a seat for each Justice Leaguer (each Leaguer's seat was delineated by a special symbol) and a single view- screen for presenting information fed from the communications center or the library.

LEVEL FOUR On Level Four, one could find the Justice League's famous souvenir room, the League's gymnasium, and the Sanctuary's laboratory. The souvenir room used to house all sorts of items that were connected with the League's past cases. Notable exhibits included the dormant body of Starro the Conqueror, the deactivated Amazo, and Professor Amos Fortune's Stimu-Luck machine.

LEVEL FIVE Level Five was entirely dedicated to the Sanctuary's power supply. Huge electric turbines here generated enough energy to power the entire facility. After the League moved out of the Secret Sanctuary, of course, Green Lantern and his some of his fellow Leaguers constructed the new Satellite.
Fun Fact: The JLA stopped using the Secret Sanctuary after the Joker tricked young Snapper Carr into revealing its whereabouts, (Justice League of America #77) although Aquaman's reformed version of the League temporarily reoccupied the Sanctuary for a while, (#250) and the Justice League later set up shop in the Sanctuary until the organization was officially recognized by the United Nations. (Justice League #1) After that, the Secret Sanctuary served as the headquarters for both the Doom Patrol and Young Justice. For a brief time, the time-lost members of the Legion of Suyper-Heroes used it to plan their return to the 30th century.

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