Category: dc comics

Underworld Unleashed (1995)
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Howard Porter

Flash rogue Abra Kadabra has gone about recruiting the villains of the DC Universe to serve under Neron, a lord of the underworld. Neron offers these villains new powers and their greatest fantasies if they only give him their souls. Suddenly Metropolis, Gotham, and other cities are beset by villains with an immense level of power. Neron eventually turns his gaze to Belle Reve, the prison for super powered criminals. The Justice Leaguer Blue Devil goes it alone deep into the bowels of Hell to stop this villain and is transformed forever. Eventually, it is up to a group of Earth’s heroes to follow his path and take on Neron.

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Zero Hour: Crisis in Time (1994)
Written by Dan Jurgens
Art by Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway

Monarch is no more! He has been transformed into a new villain, Extant, with seemingly infinite power to erase all of reality. Fragments of other timelines begin bleeding into the main DC Universe. These come in the form of Barbara Gordon still operating as Batgirl, and a variation on Superman called Alpha Centurion. Waverider investigates and finds that the people of the DC Universe have forgotten events from their past, specifically the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Heroes like the Justice Society of America end up unfortunate casualties in the battle while the Team Titans are revealed as sleeper agents of Extant (somehow?!). But the real villain is hiding in the shadows, letting Extant play until he reveals himself.

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Armageddon 2001 (1991)
Written by Denny O’Neill, Archie Goodwin, & Dan Jurgens
Art by Dan Jurgens

In the year 2031, the despot Monarch rules Earth with an iron fist, focused on defeating any possible heroism from his sedate populace. One citizen, Matthew Ryder cannot abide the drudgery of life and lack of human nobility he sees absent in the world. Ryder has a strange memory from his childhood of being rescued by one of Earth’s long deceased heroes but cannot recall which one. He also wants to find out who Monarch truly is and is willing to use experimental time travel to achieve this purpose. Monarch becomes aware of Ryder’s plans and ends up tossed through time. Ryder is transformed into Waverider, a being who can touch another and see through the possible timelines at their futures. Using this power, Waverider plans on discovering who Monarch is and stop him.

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Invasion! (1989)
Written by Keith Giffen & Bill Mantlo
Art by Todd McFarlane, Keith Giffen, and Bart Sears

On the distant homeworld of the despotic Dominators, a plan is being hatched. They have been abducting humans and subjecting them to experiments to uncover why Earth is home to the majority of the galaxy’s super-powered beings. A tenuous alliance is formed after the discovery of the metagene. This invasion force consists of The Dominators, the Khunds, Daxamites, Durlans, and other alien races. Their goal is to conquer Earth and harvest these metagenes for their purposes. A surprise attack is launched, and the superbeings of the planet form a defense force to resist these invaders.

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Cosmic Odyssey (1988)
Written by Jim Starlin
Art by Mike Mignola

For eons, Darkseid has searched for the Anti-Life Equation, a manifestation of ultimate power that would allow him to conquer all of reality. It turns out that Anti-Life is a living entity and it has sent four essences into the positive matter universe with the goal of destroying a chain of solar systems that would affect the gravity of the galaxy so drastically it would obliterate it all. A tenuous alliance is made between Darkseid and Highfather of New Genesis to prevent this from occurring. They gather a group of Earth’s greatest heroes (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Starfire) and a mysterious old man named Jason Blood to help stop Anti-Life’s plans. But of course, with Darkseid, not everything is as it seems.

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Legends (1987)
Written by John Ostrander & Len Wein
Art by John Byrne

On the planet Apokolips, the god Darkseid makes a wager with the Phantom Stranger that he will turn humanity against their most celebrated heroes. Darkseid accomplishes this by sending Glorious Godfrey, a supernaturally powered svengali to sway the general public. He also dispatches the psychic terror Dr. Bedlam in the form of a manufactured villain Macro-Man and the fiery acolyte Brimstone. The first target is the bastion of goodness Captain Marvel, and he is the first of many heroes to fall. Along the way, the Justice League of America crumbles, and Batman is driven from his cape and cowl when given orders by the Gotham City PD. However, this is the beginning of a new era in DC Comics with the introductions of Blue Beetle and Captain Marvel into the DC Universe as well as the reintroduction of Wonder Woman.

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The Flash by Mark Waid Book Four
Written by Mark Waid and Michael Jan Friedman
Art by Salvador Larroca, Carlos Pacheco, and Oscar Jimenez

In the wake of the Zero Hour, Wally West has transcended space and time, becoming a being of pure speed. This ascendant journey leads Wally down his own timeline and to a revelation about a critical moment in his past. Once the universe settles itself post-Zero Hour, the Flash must face down Kobra’s infiltration of Keystone City. He gathers together speedsters young and old: Impulse, The Golden Age Flash, Johnny Quick, Max Mercury, and Jesse Quick. What he doesn’t reveal until it becomes too late is that he is searching for a successor as his body cannot handle the speeds he is regularly approaching.

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The Flash by Mark Waid Book Three
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Mike Wieringo

After Professor Zoom’s defeat, Wally has cemented his place as The Flash and has a renewed confidence in this role. Right off the bat, he’s reunited with former lover and Titans’ ally, Magenta. As he tries to navigate helping her despite the protestations of his girlfriend, Linda Park. Former Titans’ teammates Nightwing and Starfire stop by Keystone City to help battle the organized crime syndicate The Combine. In a series of one-off stories, The Flash takes on Abra Kadabra, new villain Razer, and the terroristic cult Kobra. The most significant change in Wally’s life occurs with the arrival of Bart Allen, his nephew from the 30th Century. Bart is brought to 20th century Keystone City by Iris Allen, the widow of Barry and the aunt to Wally. Max Mercury lingers in the background and shows up to deliver a life-changing message to Wally.

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The Flash by Mark Waid Book Two
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Greg LaRocque

Wally West has finally found his footing as The Flash when out of nowhere the long-thought-dead Barry Allen has returned from the dead. Barry returns to his role as The Flash running alongside Wally and the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick. However, something is wrong with Wally’s resurrected mentor, and he feels himself being pushed away. It will take some speedster allies to help get to the truth behind Barry’s return. There are also brief ventures to Gorilla City with a Green Lantern team-up as well as a handful of one-off stories, but the main draw here is the year-long Barry Allen story.

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