Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #0
"Crisis in Time, Part Five"
Story & Layout Art - Dan Jurgens
Ink Art - Jerry Ordway
Letters - Gaspar
Colors - Gregory Wright
Assistant Editor - Mike McAvennie
Editor - KC Carlson
Cover Price: $1.50
Well, that's what I call a white cover. I actually had to use an image online for this piece... as my own copy of Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #0 is about as yellowed as my old Super Nintendo. Okay, maybe not that bad.
Today's piece is going to be a bit more image-intense than usual. In addition to covering the issue in question, and engaging in our usual discussion... I'm also including a few pieces of Zero Hour-related ephemera. Wayyy down below I'm going to post the post-Zero Hour DC Universe timeline, and a few images from a "Top Secret" comic shop freebie. Below that will be the entirety of a Zero Month hype piece to prepare us for the unknown future into which we've been thrust.
I hope folks dug revisiting this event as much as I have.
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We open in the endless white of entropic space. Suddenly, a voice. Hal Jordan discusses where he's been up to this point... at one time an "errand boy", another a "God". He has taken it upon himself to remake the universe... or multiverse the way he sees fit. Calling forth Extant, Triumph, Warrior, Batgirl and the Alpha Centurion, he prepares to start things anew. The time-displaced characters appear to be a bit more receptive to Hal's plan... though Gardner ain't convinced.
Of interest... instead of simply silencing Gardner, Hal proceeds to attempt to "sell" him on his designs. He claims to be able to create life. He shares the story of how he discovered the flexibility of the timestream, and even calls back to when they fought the Anti-Monitor during the original Crisis. Psst... hey Hal, you (sorta famously) weren't part of that story... remember?
Meanwhile at Vanishing Point, Waverider, Superman and the rest are licking their wounds and trying to formulate a plan of their own. Of particular interest, the young hero Damage is present. Yeah, kid... I'm as surprised as you are! Ollie is there as well, and is as dour as ever.
Waverider holds court, and shares his intentions. If Parallax plans to recreate the universe, then by golly, they should plan to do the same themselves! It is pretty clear that the people present are vital in the success of this endeavor... they include quite a few heavy-hitters as it pertains to energy blasting prowess.
Back with Hal... he continues his sales pitch. It's pretty clear that heroes who, if things went back to "normal" were to no longer exist as really buying in. Batgirl and Alpha Centurion, who at this point, really just want to "be", appear cool with letting Parallax do his thang.
Before he can act, however, the Vanishing Point gang hits the scene. Hal is playing some heavy defense, though is clearly outnumbered. Extant appeals to the time-lost heroes... and Batgirl and Alpha Centurion immediately sign on. Triumph is conflicted... and doesn't act.
Hal is able to fight himself free... and is still quite confused that his former peers would stand against him. After all, he has everyone's best interest at heart. He offers Superman a Krypton that never went boom... Captain Atom a life without "missing years"... in short, he offers each individual hero their own personal paradise. The good guys don't get a chance to think about it because... here comes the Spectre!
Parallax turns his complete attention toward the Spectre, which gives the heroes a bit of a reprieve... and an opportunity to collect themselves. We've got Superman fighting the Centurion, and Ollie getting tackled by Babs. Spectre seeks vengeance for the many deaths caused by Hal... which is another thing Hal doesn't understand. He claims that everyone who perished will live again... in his new multiverse. Oh, and then he kills Hawkman.
Ollie and Batgirl are off to the side... with Arrow trying to talk some sense into Babs. Batgirl is adamant that salvation lay in Parallax's new world. Ollie posits that it's not Hal's choice. The world and universe are bigger than just one man... even one he once considered a "brother".
At the same time, Hal and the Spectre are still pummeling one another with blasts. Kyle Rayner gets involved to further distract the 'Lax. Darkstar, the Ray, and Captain Atom are absorbing the residual energies. Then, along with Superman's own heat-vision, they fire at Waverider... who, in turn channels it into Damage.
Hal's no fool... he knows what Waverider's plan is. He has no choice but to kill Damage before he has the opportunity to go mega-blast. He shakes free from Kyle's full-nelson, and takes aim. As he fires, Batgirl dives in the path of the blast... sacrificing herself so that Damage can fulfill his destiny.
Green Arrow, who has... I dunno, kind of inexplicably bonded with Babs... catches her smoldering body. Hal shakes it off... after all, in his new reality, Barbara Gordon will live again. It's here where we get, perhaps the defining face-off of this entire event, the Hard-Travelling Heroes... explode!
Kyle jumps in again with yet another full-nelson, and Ollie lets fly an arrow... right into Hal's heart. The Spectre calls "ballgame", Damage goes boom... Time begins again.
All around the heroes, time fills itself in... we travel from era to era. In order to stop Parallax's Zero Hour plot from reoccurring, Waverider merges the moment in which Hal took the arrow to the heart with the exact moment before he wiped out the timeline.
The heroes are able to return to present, albeit with a few changes. Guy Gardner is no longer wearing his gaudy armor, and is instead in full tattooed Warrior garb. Batman has returned to life too... whew, I was really nervous about that... ahem. Waverider breaks the news that the current generation's Flash and Green Lantern, Wally and Kyle, appear to both still be dead. Jay Garrick ain't too pleased to hear that noise... and makes some comments about death. As if on cue, Power Girl emerges holding her brand new bouncing baby boy.
Green Arrow then breaks away from the group. He heads toward a monument... and smashes his bow against the wall. I guess being forced to kill your best pal might just mess with your head. Then again, if Ollie's proven anything here, he's kind of a fan of the dramatic outburst.
We wrap up with a closing shot of a reborn Time Trapper.
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Welp, that's that.
Now, where to start? I guess we can start with the "big bang". I thought this was a pretty neat use of Damage's power... it really sets the kid up to be a "big time" player in the DC Universe moving forward. Of course, cruel hindsight tells us that's not necessarily in the cards. Sadly, for many... his "defining" story (for better or worse) is still a few years away. Not sure how one would write such a destructively-powerful character... at least for the long-term. I feel that would be quite the challenge.
Let's talk about the time-displaced heroes for a bit. I think their being conflicted about which side is right was some masterful storytelling. Because, really... is Hal completely in the wrong here? Ehh, we'll get to that. Back to Batgirl and the Alpha Centurion for a moment. There is a lot of unspoken ethical gymnastics going on here. Is one's own life worth re-imagining the entire universe? For some, that's an easy "yes" or "no", however, I believe for most of us... if we lived in such a universe wherein such possibilities actually existed... it may take a few moments of pondering.
Of the spoken bits... Batgirl just says that she wants to live. She simply wants to "be". Of course, she eventually comes around and renders the entire thing moot by sacrificing herself for Boom-Boy... but for a moment, she was completely on Parallax's side. It's great use of her character to see things in less black and white terms. The universe, to a character like her, is extremely unfair. I mean, she doesn't have a place here... until one man offers her one. It's a toughie...
Now she does get a talking to by... Green Arrow, who I gotta figure has the middle name of "drama" for this story. I'm not really sure how or why he and Babs bonded so quickly... why he took her death so hard. I mean, he's just seen everyone he's ever known "entropied"... but, it's Batgirl that seems to hit him hardest.
His display at the end of the story... eh, I suppose it makes sense. Ollie's a hot-head, and is often a victim to his own emotions. Him smashing his bow in light of killing Hal works. I just think, by then, I was so tired of his preciousness that it kind of lessened the impact of the act.
I always kind of glaze over when the Spectre gets involved with a story. It's kind of like when the Watcher shows up in Marvel books... if it warrants their attention, it makes things "seem" important. This isn't much different... at least to me. The Spectre shows up... and does his thing. Yawn. I think I'd have preferred it if the heroes outsmarted him... or even maybe overpowered him on their own. I get why he was here though...
Now, let's discuss Hal Jordan. The "villain" of the piece... but is he really all that bad? I mean, clearly, he's abusing his power... but, is he acting in a particularly evil way? Selfish... impulsive, perhaps... but evil? I'm not sure I can say. All he wanted to do was provide paradise... and not even as he defined it. He was offering very specific parameters for the multiverse which would be enjoyable for his former friends... is that a bad thing?
They say the best villains don't see themselves as that. Just in showing his surprise at the resistance to his ends, the story really illustrates that he feels what he is doing is righteous... altruistic, even! This characterization is perhaps the finest part of this story... even though Hal only appears toward the end.
For a lot of this "analysis" I'm playing devil's advocate... because this story was crafted in such a way as to allow it. Hal has his own goals here, that much is clear... this is an extension of his abuse of power during Emerald Twilight... but, he's also interested in "spreading the wealth" in a way. It's a bit of a shame that Batman wasn't part of the final battle... I think it would be interesting if Hal were to offer him a world in which Thomas and Martha Wayne weren't murdered. That would've been a great scene.
Overall... I give this a high recommendation, though would not necessarily say it is "must reading". It's good-to-great, a far brisker read than I remember, and leaves me more-or-less satisfied. If you owned this trade paperback in a vacuum, I can't say for certain you would feel the same way. I'd say give it a shot if you haven't already. The individual issues are found quite easily in the cheap-o bin... you might just be able to get the whole shebang for a buck and a quarter!
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Top Secret:
One of the promotional pieces for Zero Hour was a "Top Secret" comic shop giveaway. It showed some images from this very issue, however, with the important and "spoilery" bits redacted. A very fun piece of DC ephemera... one of the reasons I'm glad to be such a terrible pack-rat.
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The New DC Timeline:
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A Look Ahead:
And another promotional freebie is the Zero Month Sampler. I was going to save this for it's own piece, but figured "what the hey"... I'll just add it here. This gives a prospective post-Zero Hour jumper-on a decent idea of what books they may be interested in sampling.
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Interesting Ads: (the only Sept.'94 ones I haven't used yet!)
Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #1 (September, 1994)
"Crisis in Time, Part Four"
Story and Art - Dan Jurgens
Finished Art - Jerry Ordway
Letters - Gaspar
Colors - Gregory Wright
Assistant Editor - Mike McAvennie
Editor - KC Carlson
Cover Price: $1.50
Hey, that's a lot more white on the cover, no? Wonder how they'll top this...
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Five Hours and forty-seven minutes after the events that closed out the previous issue we pick up with the quartet of Guy Gardner, Steel, Supergirl and Batgirl. This is following the events of Guy Gardner: Warrior #0, where the gang ran into Guy's old flame (who Hal tried to snag while Mr. Gardner was in a coma), Kari Limbo. They find themselves in the midst of entropy fissures... one of which, Steel gets pulled into. Elsewhere/elsewhen, Extant is looking on in surprise... these fissures aren't his doing. Well, no... they ain't. The new boss blasts Extant with some very green energy, lambasting his "underling" for going about things the "wrong" way. It is his goal to set things "right" again.
Fourteen minutes later we catch up with the Legion and the Time Trapper. The Legionnaires have the somber understanding that it is up to them to make the ultimate sacrifice. They fade into the entropy... and the Time Trapper is once again blasted, however, this time the beam is... well, very green.
Five minutes later Power Girl is about to pop. Wonder Woman has assumed the responsibility of attempting to deliver the child, and sends Captain Atom (who was just trying to help...) away. It would appear that her patience is running pretty thin at this point. Here is where some of our time-displaced heroes begin to fade away. Impulse and Booster Gold vanish... their respective eras are no more.
Thirteen minutes later, Jay Garrick is running through the ten-percent of Gotham City that still exists. He is pleased to find that the Justice Society headquarters is among the buildings that still stand. Inside, he is greeted by... the Spectre. Jay is rightly ticked off at Corrigan dragging his feet... and gives him the what-for. The Spectre agrees to intervene... and promises to avenge Jay's death. Jay's death? Yup, welcome to the entropy, pal.
Eleven minutes later, we check back in on New York. This is a weird series of panels. Batman tells Guy Gardner to "shut up", and Wonder Woman yells at Aquaman to "get to a doctor" to get his bloody arm-stump looked at. I mean, can Arthur check himself in to a hospital at this point? Hasn't that train left the station? Gotta wonder if Aquaman's just standing there, muttering about his lost hand under his breath... annoying his peers who are, ya know... just trying to save all time and existence. Ehh, who knows. Anyhoo, Metron produces a Mother Box and suggests the heroes head to Vanishing Point.
And so, five minutes later... Metron, along with Superman, Darkstar, Green Lantern, and the Atom arrive at the end of time. Metron sets to waking Linear Man, Matthew Ryder... ya know, Waverider, while Superman and Kyle head out to fetch a time-probe that Vril Dox sent out earlier in the series.
Ten minutes later we rejoin the surviving members of the Justice Society at the hospital. It is here that we meet Ted Knight's two sons, Jack and David. Ted hands over the mantle of Starman to David... much to Jack's relief. Just you wait, pal.
One minute later, Extant slaughters some folks at the Chamber of the Leymen. Then five-minutes and twenty-six seconds later we return to the heroes of New York as they try to steer the panicked populace into the subway, and away from the multiple fissures. Extant arrives to taunt them just as a fissure opens right where Batman stood. Uh oh.
The rest of the heroes start piling on ol' Extant... including, much to his surprise, the reborn Waverider! The Atom attempts to do the old "climbing into a bad guy's ear" trick... only to find that Extant is composed of "pure, chronal energy". This causes the Atom's physiology to change... moments later, he is reduced to about 18-years old. What a titanic thing to occur to this teen?
Superman sees this as an opportunity to get the jump on Extant, however, before he can... he is struck by a powerful right hand. The heroes are shocked.
With one minute to go, our villain is finally revealed. It is Hal Jordan... former Green Lantern, current... Parallax.
He gleefully informs his former peers that the universe, long out of whack, is about to be set right... and there's not a damn thing they can do about it. The time is come... well, make that, time is over. The universe fades to white as Hal walks into the entropy. The universe will be remade... and, hell... maybe there's room for more than one.
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A whole lotta stuff happens here... the overall theme of this issue, and perhaps the series up to this point, is entropy (in DC terms). People, places, and things are all victimized by the endless white... in this chapter alone we lost well over a dozen heroes to it. We'll comment on a few in a bit.
For the story, I was a bit annoyed that we were dropped in with Guy Gardner and the gang, without even a footnote as to where they came from. I mean, we can assume they last appeared in Guy's book... or Steel's book... or a Super or Bat book... but, a footnote would've made things a bit easier. Perhaps a silly thing to complain about a hundred years later, but it did bug me a tad.
Some of the dialogue... especially on that page I mentioned during the synopsis... just a bit weird, right? I get that Gardner's kind of a putz, so I can allow him referring to Batman as "Bat-brain"... it's just the way he is. Batman snapping at him to shut up felt a bit much. Also, poor one-handed Aquaman... I'd expect more from Wonder Woman than to simply dismiss him. I guess given the circumstances, folks are a bit on edge. Maybe I'm just picking nits to buy myself some time before we talk about... him.
Well, it's about time you showed up Hal...
Even though I was only following this peripherally at the time, this was still a pretty huge deal around the shop. When Hal turned at the end of Emerald Twilight, he almost ascended into becoming a God-like figure... every time he became "involved" in a story, it was pretty Earth shattering. There's that old saying that we can't miss someone that refuses to go away... but Hal? Hal's different. His appearance lends a tremendous amount of gravity to a given situation... at least in my view.
For the scene in question... the first time I actually read this I was a pretty big mark for Hal. I thought it was pretty dang cool that he could knock Superman off his feet with a single punch... albeit a cheap shot... still thought it was neat. His dismissal of his former peers was pretty neat too. I've seen it mentioned that he's gone mad with power... which, I'm not sure I agree with. There's a thought that any behavior that is goal-oriented is, at least theoretically speaking, rational. Hal is undeniably working toward an ultimate goal here... and it's not entirely self-serving.
He, in essence, sells his plan to the heroes. He sees the universe as being flawed. Flawed in ways that he can fix... this will be explored deeper next issue, and we will discuss it much deeper then too... however, I feel it's worth mentioning that Hal really and truly appears to believe he is working in everyone's best interests. We can go into whether villains ever think they're "in the wrong" or "evil"... but that's probably another conversation for tomorrow.
I did find it strange that Ollie referred to his former best friend as "Green Lantern" rather than Hal. Seems a bit too formal, right? Especially for a dude like Ollie!
The end here was pretty inspired. Such good use of white space... though, if I were to pick nits... and that's one'a the things I do, I would have placed the Zero Hour logo-button-thingie on the bottom of the completely blank page. I feel this would have given the two-page spread a bit of continuity... and not make it seem like they just added a blank page after the story ended. The idea here is pretty great though.
Let's pick up on the folks we seemingly lost here. Early on, we lost Steel. In the far-flung future we lost Legion-folk Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, and the Time Trapper. In the present we lost our time-displaced pals, Booster Gold and Impulse. Also in the present, we lost our Golden Agers... Flash, Wildcat, Green Lantern, Starman (along with Jack and David Knight). Extant killed the Leymen... whoever they are. Finally, we lost Batman.
I thought it was great to take out Booster and Impulse the way they did. I still question how the heroes can remember folks who, for all intents and purposes, never existed. I'm probably thinking too hard... but with "forgotten" characters like Triumph introduced during this story, this feels a bit like it's playing fast and loose.
The poor Knight brothers kick it on their very first day! Gotta wonder if that might be a trend for, er, one of them. The Legion folk have always confused me... losing them doesn't really affect me all that much. It feels like they get rebooted or limbo'd a bit too often for me to become engaged. We briefly touched on losing JSA members last issue, this was a table-clearing measure... at least one would assume.
That is, of course, until they "killed" Batman. I think up until now, we might think that some of these characters were "dead" or at least "on the shelf". When you take out Batman, however... that's when we know these deaths ain't gonna stick.
Overall, still enjoying my time with this epic event. If you're interested in checking it out... definitely do not start with this issue. Even though it's a "#1", this ain't where you wanna come in. We'll wrap this bugger up tomorrow... hope folks have been enjoying!
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(Not the) Letters Page:
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Interesting Ads:
Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #2 (September, 1994)
"Crisis in Time, Part Three"
Story & Pencil Art - Dan Jurgens
Ink Art - Jerry Ordway
Letterer - Gaspar
Colorist - Gregory Wright
Assistant Editor - Mike McAvennie
Editor - KC Carlson
Cover Price: $1.50
We're rapidly approaching zero, and we're getting more and more white space on the cover, I wonder if that's going to be a theme...
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Two minutes have passed since the ending of last issue, which makes me wonder if the two Waveriders just spent the last 120 seconds staring and seething. I hope so! They eventually fight for a bit... with Alan Scott on the periphery. It's brief, as Extant-rider has a pressing engagement elsewhere in the timestream... speaking of elsewhere, he IS elsewhere... at the same time. Stick with me here... it would appear that Extant (we'll call him Extant-Prime) is watching a version of himself fight with Waverider. After watching, Extant-Prime activates his "agents of destruction", whoever they might be.
Two minutes later, back in New York the heroes watch as a city from the far-flung future begins to descend upon the city of the present. They are all at a loss, however, Metron posits that his Mobius Chair may be of use. And so, he opens a Boom Tube... while the heroes pummel it with force beams. Captain Atom is called upon to create a "gravity well" to draw the future city into the star gate. Badda-bing, badda-boom... the world is saved... for now.
With a few moments to regroup, the focus shifts to the re-aged members of the Justice Society of America. Martian Manhunter and Amazing Man lift up a chunk of Earth under the old guard and prepare to fly them to a hospital. At this point, Ted Knight, Alan Scott and Jay Garrick decide that, though they still live (and Alan still has his youth), they are done in the heroing game. Alan expresses exhaustion... though he may appear young, he feels so old. He hands his ring over to Kyle Rayner... now the only Green Lantern.
It's restated that time is burning from both ends. The remaining heroes decide to split up into three groups. One group, will head to the 30th Century, one will head to the distant past, and the third will remain in the present. Two hours and twenty-eight minutes later, we head to the future. This team is being led by Superman, and they arrive just in time to meet the rift. They also meet Extant's agents of destruction... the Team Titans?
Forty-nine minutes later we check in with the immortal Dr. Mist... immortality ain't all it's cracked up to be when the universe is hit with an entropy wave, lemme tell ya what. Five-minutes after that, we join Alan and Jay at the hospital where they are informed that Wildcat and Sandman should survive, however Mid-Nite didn't make it. Garrick is rather ticked off that this crisis is being ignored by their old teammate, and all around jerk-ass, the Spectre. He intends to fix that.
Fifty minutes later (in the present), Power Girl appears to be going into labor... the baby is somehow able to protect her with a forcefield, as though it knew there was an attack on the horizon. Thirteen minutes after that, Extant-Prime razzes the Linear Men a bit.
We next go back in time, one hour and fifty-seven minutes back... and we are in Earth's distant past. This crew, of mostly younger heroes like Nightwing, Superboy, and Kyle Rayner, is being led by Waverider. They battle the rift, and Nightwing is pleased to see that reinforcements have arrived... in the form of the Team Titans. Well, knowing what we know about the Teamsters (besides how lame they are), this ain't a good deal for the good guys.
Not only are the Team Titans here... we've also got Extant! He takes aim at Darkstar (Donna Troy) however, Kyle Rayner dives in front of the blast. Waverider pops in to even up the odds, which leads to Extant unmasking... and, hey... it's just Hank Hall! Fearing the worst, Waverider sends the heroes back to the present. Elsewhere, Extant-Prime looks on, and he appears to be pleased. Hawk grabs Waverider and absorbs his energy... drawing it into himself... even taking the form of Waverider, facially. It's starting to become a bit more clear... kinda... I guess... anyone still with me?
The entropy wave wipes everything out, sans Extant... and... and... a mysterious figure in the foreground. When Kyle Rayner became lost to entropy Alan Scott's ring was left behind. Our mystery man picks up the Golden-Age Green Lantern ring as Extant quantum leaps out.
One hour and fifty-seven minutes later, we return to the 30th Century. The heroes have beaten the turned Team Titans, and have captured Mirage and Terra... the only two who, for better or worse, would be sticking around. At Metron's request, Superman hurls the Mobius Chair into the rift. The heroes pour energy into the portal while Captain Atom does his mojo jojo... bada-bing, the rift is closed.
But now, how do these folks return home? Well, I'm glad you asked... enter Rokk Krinn and the Time Trapper who's all "no bigs", and sends the crew back to the 20th century. It only takes one minute for them to arrive, where they find their peers, led by Batman taking out the last of the turned Team Titans. Guy Gardner decides he wants a gun... and so, his body produces one. He says it's painful... I say it's gross.
At this point the Team Titans vanish... kind of the same way Vandal Savage did earlier. It's as though they never existed, because their timeline(s) have been erased. Don't think too hard about it... just be happy they're gone. Mirage and Terra survive, and it is suggested that they did so because they were in the timestream when things "corrected"... which is fair enough. Gardner makes a mental note of this, and again considers the potential of this flexy-time... maybe the Corps can rise again.
At Vanishing Point we see the Extant from the Distant Past return and merge with Extant-Prime. Now we know how and why he appeared to be Waverider. We move ahead nine minutes, where our mystery man arrives in the 30th Century. He's disappointed that the heroes closed the rift... so, get this... he reopens it. Please tell me the Team Titans don't come back! He then drops the Golden-Age Green Lantern ring to the ground... and stomps on it. Is it becoming clearer who this guy is? Would it help if I mentioned that when he "beamed in" he was illuminated in a green glow?
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This is definitely one of those issues where I wish I had proper context the first time I was reading it. Growing up so far removed from the Golden-Age (and DC Comics especially) the Flash and Green Lantern were only recognizable in their Hal and Barry/Wally versions. This high-collared blonde Lantern and Flash with a hubcap-helmet were completely unknown to me. That being said, their "retirements" here did precious little to move me way back when. Reading this today, I have a better appreciation for the gravity of the situation. Alan handing his ring over to Kyle is a momentous event... one that was completely lost on me the first go-round. I see this as the big "beat" for this issue. It's an attempt to shift our focus from yesterday, with a mindfulness toward the present and future.
We've also got them horrendous Team Titans being "activated" to attack the heroes. Fair enough, I always thought they were terrible. I think this was a fine idea, as DC was doing away with the book as well as the characters, because really now, where are they gonna stick all of these geeks? It's been awhile since I fought my way through the Team Titans book, so I cannot say with any certainty if any hints were dropped throughout... if I were a betting man, I'd say "probably not". It would've been cool had there been a mention of the Titans being betrayed from within in the past... especially since one of the Teamsters bears the same name as their original Judas.
Time travel gets a bit nutty here. We've got folks zipping too and fro, and hell... we even get Extant watching versions of himself throughout time. I wish I could get back into my own head the first time I read this... I'm sure there was steam coming outta my ears by this point in the story. Even reading it today, I gotta say... I was a bit lost. Had to reread a few pages here, which is not an indictment on the story... more so my own density.
The ending (with our mysterious figure... whoever that might be) kind of, I dunno, undid the entire issue, right? I mean, we've got the heroes struggling to close off the rift at the end of the timeline... and then, our mysterious figure tsk-tsks and opens it up again! It's done with so little ceremony too! It's just "Better open the rift again". Weird, and filler-y... gotta wonder if this was originally intended to be a four-part story before they decided to end it with a #0.
There isn't all that much in the way of confirming comic shop scuttlebutt... outside of a thought balloon from the newly weaponized Guy Gardner in relation to bringing back the Corps.
We've got two (or three, if you like) deaths here, including Dr. Mist, Dr. Mid-Nite, and apparently Waverider. Dr. Mist has only been in cameo bits here, which I'm not sure merited mention. He's an immortal, however, entropy is without prejudice. Mid-Nite is a JSA casualty, which isn't much of a surprise... the "old guard" were little more than cannon fodder here. Waverider... is a weird one. Being an entity who can zip through time, ya gotta figure he's still out there somewhere... especially as earlier we saw Waverider and Matthew Ryder in the same panel, right?
Another good, if not filler-y, chapter of Zero Hour. Definitely not the one to start with if you're interested in checking this story out. We're rapidly approaching zero... hope everyone is enjoying our trip through time.
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(Not the) Letters Page:
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Interesting Ads:
