Rebirth Year Nineteen (Part 2)

(July 2020 to December 2020)
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–Nightwing Vol. 4 #75 Part 2
It’s Wednesday (Joker War day six), and the main portion of the conflict has just ended. (There are still a ton of clown gangsters running amok, so the Joker War will technically continue for a couple more days.) Nightwing returns to his alternate costume, deciding he’s “not ready” to wear the blue-and-black yet (despite having spent the last day wearing it). Nightwing teams-up with Batgirl to clean the remaining clown gang members out of multiple Gotham neighborhoods. Batgirl refers to the clowns as “remnants,” although it is misspelled “remnats.” (Yes, this fucking miserable comic even has spelling errors.) On Thursday (Joker War day seven), KGBeast returns to Gotham. On Friday (Joker War day eight), Nightwing—still in his alternate costume—teams-up with Batman to take on more leftover clowns. Thus, the Joker War more-or-less finally ends. Having gotten one of Nightwing’s proper costumes, Batman leads his former sidekick to a location where it has been put on display. They talk about his time as “Ric” and Alfred’s death. (This scene is also shown verbatim via flashback from Nightwing Vol. 4 #76.) With hesitancy, Nightwing finally officially accepts his black-and-blue togs. On Saturday, Nightwing returns to Blüdhaven to retire the substitute Team Nightwing (Malcolm Hutch, Colleen Edwards, Zak Edwards, and Alphonse Sapienza), meet with Bea Bennett, and fight KGBeast.

–Flash #762
The “Finish Line” arc finishes as the Flash-Family (Flash, Kid Flash, Impulse, Avery Ho, Jay Garrick, Earth-2 Jay Garrick, Flash of the 853rd century, Kid Flash of the 853rd century, Earth-9 Flash, Dark Flash, Earth-22 Flash, Jai West, Iris “Irey” West, Jesse Quick, Max Mercury, Negative Flash, Krakkl, XS, Meena Dhawan, and Fuerza) puts an end to a sinister plot by Reverse-Flash (Eobard Thawne) and a bunch of Flash’s other rivals (from Heat Wave to Golden Glider to everyone in-between). (Note that Wally West and Linda Park’s seven-year-old twins, Jai and Irey West, are back! As seen in the recent Flash Forward #6, which occurs just prior to Flash #762, Wally absorbed the remaining power of Dr. Manhattan that had been leftover from the end of Doomsday Clock. Using this vast cosmic energy, Wally unblocked the memories of Jai and Irey, reuniting them with their mom Linda.) Rather than punish a defeated Thawne, Barry forgives him. Barry then undoes a bunch of damage that Thawne has done to the timestream. Afterward, Barry debriefs with the Justice League, filling them in on all that has occurred. Later, the entire Flash-Family (including Iris West, Linda Park, Joan Garrick, and Henry Allen) celebrates with a barbecue at Barry’s house. After that, Barry joins the JL for unspecified action.

–REFERENCE: In Harley Quinn Vol. 4 #6. Batman gives Catwoman a cache of emergency poison antidote, telling her to always keep some on her person at all times.

–Batman Vol. 3 #100 Epilogue
Nearly a week has passed since the end of the Joker War. Wayne Enterprises completely re-structures in the wake of all that has occurred. Punchline begins preparing for trial by sending out a public message denouncing Joker, citing that she too was a victim of his manipulation. (Punchline’s messy trial will start a few months from now in the Batman-less Punchline #1 and continue on in the also-Batman-less second features to The Joker Vol. 2.) Bruce, Babs, Dick, Jason, Tim, Stephanie, and Duke re-bury Alfred, holding a private second funeral for him. Batman then visits Harley Quinn in the hospital and is present when Harley Quinn awakes from her coma. They have a heartwarming discussion, during which Harley tells Batman that she believes in his mission to save Gotham. Batman tells Harley that he’s glad she is okay. Elsewhere, the Ghost-Maker, who has trained with many of the people Bruce trained with long ago, begins plans to become Gotham’s new primary protector. Later, Batman discovers the secret ID of Clownhunter, seventeen-year-old Bao Pham. Batman tells Dr. Leslie Thompkins about Bao, then visits him in person. But instead of shaking down Bao, Batman talks to him. They have a productive, progressive conversation, after which Batman gives him a card for Dr. Thompkins’ clinic. (This scene is also shown via flashback from the second feature to Batman Vol. 3 #112.) After Batman departs, Pham promises to himself that he’ll go to the clinic for therapy, but not before his vigilante mission is over. Note that this Batman #100 Epilogue has it’s own second Batman-less epilogue, which occurs a few weeks down the road. In this second epilogue, Joker will return, killing a random man at a restaurant.

–FLASHBACK: From Batman Vol. 3 #101. Batman visits Lucius Fox only to learn that he’s hired Grifter (Cole Cash) as his new bodyguard. (Batman has never met Grifter before, but he knows all about him.) Batman fights Grifter before Lucius breaks them up. Batman and Lucius discuss Punchline and Clownhunter, who is still active despite Batman’s recent chat with him. Lucius tells Batman that there will be a special emergency mayoral election. Officer Christopher Nakano will be running (he already has posters made), but he won’t officially throw his hat into the ring for a couple days (not until the end of ‘tec #1028). Lucius also tells Batman that the Wayne Enterprises Board of Directors wants to remove him (Bruce) from the Board and quietly pay him an annual salary while the corporation rebrands. Lucius also says that the Wayne Rebuild Program contracts have already been sold off piecemeal to other companies. (As mentioned in Batman Vol. 3 #108, this will leave the Wayne Rebuild Program in shambles, causing many of the buildings to remain unfinished.) Ultimately, Batman decides that it is best for Lucius to keep Bruce’s money and control of Wayne Enterprises. Lucius will acquire FoxTech and bring in Luke, Tam, and Timothy to work closely with him. There won’t be monetary liberality for Bat-operations anymore. (Despite being dispossessed of his funds, Bruce will still have more cash-on-hand than the average joe. And as Gotham’s number one son, he certainly doesn’t have to worry about becoming déclassé.) Before departing, Batman tells Grifter that he knows who he’s really working for: the Halo Corporation.

–Detective Comics #1028
Harvey Bullock is sworn back-in as police commissioner (he had thrown down his badge during the Joker War). Soon after, Officer Richard Gotis is killed. Bruce attends the funeral, which is also attended by Mayor Dunch, Commissioner Bullock, Officer Christopher Nakano, and the latter’s wife Koyuki Nakano. Bruce learns that Gotis had been decapitated. While Batman conducts his investigation, a judge gets decollated similarly across town. After a tertiary beheading, Batman follows the clues, tailing a corrupt cop to a horse stable. There, Batman listens-in as the killer confronts the bad cop. The killer reveals himself as Steven Holman, the son of a good cop that had been framed for corruption and then killed by Gotis and his crew. (Everyone he’s killed was a part of Gotis’ crew, and the man he’s confronting now is as well.) Batman chases after Holman on horseback, eventually bringing him to justice. Batman then delivers evidence that exonerates Holman’s father to journalist Cicely Dandridge at the Gotham Times. The next morning at Wayne Manor, Bruce reads the newspaper and watches TV. Christopher Nakano officially announces he is running for mayor on an anti-vigilante platform.

–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #1034. Batman faces off against the Party Crashers, a group of Joker’s former Joker War henchmen that utilize pilfered WayneTech gear to pull off clown-themed heists.

–DC: Love is a Battlefield #1 Part 1
Catwoman and Batman (disguised as Matches Malone) attend the yacht wedding of Maxie Zeus and his unnamed bride. After hobnobbing, planting tracers on everyone, and dancing the tango, our heroes our outed as being up to good. Catwoman and Batman (having switched to his fighting togs) fight against Riddler, Penguin, Ventriloquist (with Scarface), Mr. Camera, Eraser, Polka-Dot Man, Crazy Quilt, Ten-Eyed Man, Firefly, Ratcatcher, Killer Moth, Captain Stingaree, Signalman, King Tut, Condiment King, and Mad Hatter. As they fight, Catwoman sings an Alanis Morissette song. Nearly all the villains are busted, although Penguin and Riddler escape. Later, atop a Gotham skyscraper, Batman and Catwoman talk openly about their own failed wedding before kissing each other and swinging into the night.

–Batman Vol. 3 #101
Late July. A week has passed since Lucius Fox spoke to Batman, setting up the new Bat-status quo. Batman decides he will close up Wayne Manor and move into a downtown brownstone in Gotham’s gentrified Fort Graye neighborhood. As referenced in Detective Comics #1035, Bruce chooses Fort Graye because he learns there are myriad abandoned tunnels running crisscross underneath the entire neighborhood, and those tunnels connect to Gotham’s greater subway and sewer system. As referenced in Batman Vol. 3 #137, tight on funds, Bruce puts up Wayne Manor as collateral with Gotham National Bank in order to finance his move. In general, without deep pockets to draw from, most of Bruce’s contingencies and securities that protect the financial aspects of being Batman become inadequate. Moving forward, these protections will only grow weaker. Bruce also thinks long and hard about what to do about Selina, especially now that she is a target of the entire criminal underworld for her actions in aiding him during the Joker War. Soon after, Batman meets with Catwoman to tell her about his downtown move. They decide to take a one year break, giving each other space—so that he can figure out his new Bat-life and so she can get the criminal underworld off her back. Before parting ways, the lovers spend a romantic night together in the new (still empty) brownstone.

–Joker: The World Part 3
This item is meant to specifically occur at Germany’s Wacken Open Air Festival in August 2023. However, because Joker: The World Part 3 features Joker, whose appearances will be heavily curated in the coming years, the latest it can actually occur is right now. Joker and some new henchmen visit Germany when they learn about a German scientist that has just invented a weather-control device. When the scientist refuses to give over his tech, Joker kills him. Unable to figure out the device, Joker’s henchmen cause a localized storm over Wacken, just as the famous heavy metal music festival begins. Joker and his goons go to Wacken where we learn that Joker hates heavy metal (he prefers jazz). Batman shows up, busts Joker, and hauls him back to the States.

–Batman: The World Part 2
Bruce visits the Louvre in Paris to attend the unveiling of a painting restoration sponsored by Wayne Enterprises and check out the restaurant scene. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman is appointed as a special guest curator of a section of the Louvre as well. Knowing all of these coincidental facts, a devious Catwoman hatches a scheme and puts it into motion. Pretending to have stolen the restored painting, Catwoman causes a ruckus, which leads to her fighting Batman inside the museum. Naturally, this draws Wonder Woman’s attention as well. Catwoman seizes this opportunity to snatch the Lasso of Truth, using it to confirm that Batman will love her until the day he dies. Later, Bruce and Selina spend a lovely evening strolling the streets of Paris. Note that artist Thierry Martin takes (admittedly gorgeous) liberties with Catwoman’s costume, so she’s technically not wearing the correct duds.^[1]

–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #1032. Drawing from his remaining personal funds, Bruce makes an anonymous contribution to ophthalmologist Dr. Leigh on behalf of Christopher Nakano, paying for a high-tech prosthetic eyeball and the accompanying medical procedure to have it implanted. Nakano will blow off a few appointments related to this procedure in the near future, keeping his eye patch.

–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #1029. Batman creates a signal device that looks like a regular wristwatch, with which he can call certain Bat-Family members for assistance should an emergency arise while he is stuck in his civilian persona.

–REFERENCE: In Batgirls #13. John Constantine visits Bruce at Wayne Manor, specifically to peruse the vast collection of occult books in the library there. Constantine leaves a cigarette butt in a copy of Dante’s Inferno, prompting Bruce to ban his library privileges.

–Batgirl Vol. 5 #50 Part 1
Eighteen-year-old James Gordon Jr died while fighting Batgirl during the Joker War (as seen in Batgirl Vol. 4 #49). Babs and Jim attend James Jr’s quiet funeral and interment, after which they grab a meal at a diner. Jim, blaming Batgirl for James’ death, rails on Batgirl, calling her every obscenity in the book. Babs storms off in high dudgeon, soon joining an anti-gentrification protest at city hall. Babs then joins Jason Bard to chat with a homeless girl, who has been put out by rapid urban development. Later, Babs and Jason have a romantic dinner, during which Jason tells Babs that he’s fallen for her. They kiss passionately, but Babs departs upon getting a message from Batman. In the Batcave, Batman debriefs Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin (Tim Drake) about the post-Joker War status quo, saying that they’ll have less money to pump into their vigilantism, moving forward. Despite his financial situation, Babs asks Bruce to donate all he can toward helping those put out by predatory real estate companies in Gotham. Bruce says he’s always donated to (private) schools, police, hospitals, and museums, to which Babs responds correctly by saying that his largesses are to “obvious choices from the top down,” choices that ignore the needs of the lower and middle class. Convinced, Bruce sends an instant donation of $20,000 to a homeless fund. Babs, unhappy with some things that went down during the Joker War, chastises Nightwing, telling him that their relationship should remain strictly professional. Batgirl then heads out with a new focus on progressive values and social justice. She still busts the remnants of Joker’s clown gang, but she also helps folks in car accidents and fires, talks down would-be suicides, helps old ladies carry their groceries, and supports victims of sexual assault. Out of costume, Babs teaches a self-defense class for women and does philanthropic work for Congresswoman Luciana Alejo. Batgirl Vol. 5 #50 Part 2, which overlaps with the middle of Batgirl Vol. 5 #50 Part 1, starts now. In Part 2, Batgirl helps Batman take down Penguin; teams-up with Green Arrow; helps Nightwing defeat a plant monster; helps Flash best a giant robot; and responds to a Justice League alert only to have Supergirl take her place defending the Earth against an alien invasion. Batgirl then first becomes aware of the Virus, who begins causing chaos in Gotham by hacking into the city’s traffic light system, airport, and multiple construction sites. Batman radios Batgirl for assistance, but she’s too busy to respond. Instead, Batgirl teams-up with Man-Bat, then Flash, then Hal Jordan in rapid fire succession. During each team-up, Batgirl sees the symbol of the Virus, soon spotting the Virus herself at one of the hacking crime scenes. Robin asks Batgirl for assistance against Riddler, but she turns him down in order to team-up with Jason Bard to work the Virus case. Eventually, Batgirl busts the Virus in a scene that is also shown in Batgirl Vol. 5 #50 Part 1, thus bringing us back to the conclusion of the first part of the issue. Batgirl nurses her wounds before visiting Jason Bard to have a long overdue chat about their relationship. Babs then conveniently appears—right after Batgirl leaves—to have dinner with her new beau. The next day, Babs and Jason join Congresswoman Alejo and her assistant Izzy. Alejo ignores protestors that have gathered outside her office, demanding better representation. Undeterred, Alejo focuses on prepping for an expensive fundraising gala with Gotham’s elite, which has a speech by ex-commissioner Jim Gordon on the docket. Babs is able to convince Alejo to resile her plans and march with the people instead. Even Jim Gordon ditches the gala to join the march.

–REFERENCE: In Batman: Urban Legends #3 Part 2. Batman (in what appears to be some sort of armored costume) poses with Spoiler and Orphan for a smiling photo op. This photo is developed and winds up frames and in the ownership of Batman.

–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #1000 Part 5 and Detective Comics #1000 Part 10. September 21. Batman, as he does every year on the anniversary of his parents’ murders, visits both Crime Alley (where his parents were killed) and the cemetery where his parents are buried.

–Batman: Black and White Vol. 5 #6 Part 5
Famous Batman photographer “Shutterbug” Dan Mora arranges for a meeting with Batman atop GCPD police HQ during Gotham’s tercentenary fireworks celebration. Mora wants to show Batman a collection of some of the photos he’s taken of the Dark Knight over the years. While waiting for Batman, Mora stumbles and falls off the roof. Batman saves his life. When Mora wakes up in his own bed later, he finds that Batman has returned the original print of his favorite photo (taken on the night the Bat-Signal was first activated) along with a certificate of ownership.

–FLASHBACK: From Batman Secret Files: The Signal #1. Batman preps for the next phase of the Signal’s Cursed Wheel training, giving access to the Hatch to Riko Sheridan and Izzy Ortiz. Batman then meets with the Signal to tell him that the second phase of his Cursed Wheel training (successfully working as an Outsider) is complete. The Dark Knight gives Duke a flash-drive containing all his journals and contingency plans from the past few years, ordering Duke to reopen the Hatch and return to his role as Gotham’s daytime protector, using Riko and Izzy as support staff. Batman also tells Duke to do a daily briefing in the Batcave at 7 PM each day, which will signify the end of his shift. We can presume that this briefing does indeed happen daily (if not in person, at least remotely) beginning now.

–REFERENCE: In Matthew Manning’s quasi-canonical Batman: The Multiverse of the Dark Knight. In the Batcave, Babs snaps a photo of Batman posing in front of a display of some of his old costumes.

–Detective Comics #1029-1031
Bruce packs up Wayne Manor, readying himself for the move to his Fort Graye brownstone. As the sun begins to set, Batman busts some crooks, but nearly gets taken out himself via a long range shot from newcomer The Mirror. As Batman delivers the crooks to the cops, a group of anti-vigilante protesters calls for the Dark Knight to unmask. Later, Bruce attends a fundraising gala for Christopher Nakano’s mayoral campaign aboard a yacht in one of Gotham’s harbors. When some thieves interrupt, Bruce signals for Nightwing’s assistance. Nightwing cleans house, but get no thanks from Nakano. Back in the Batcave, Bruce discovers that Damian has stolen the Black Casebook. (Note that Batman’s internal monologue mentions Damian as thirteen-years-old, an age retcon for Damian that will be cemented by numerous other titles after Death Metal.) Later, Batman meets with the Bat-Family (Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood, Orphan, and Signal) to discuss the grassroots anti-vigilante movement that has sprung up in Gotham, making their lives a living hell. The Mirror, along with an angry mob, attacks the Bat-Family. Meanwhile, Damian begins investigating the decades-old cold case involving the multiple attempts on Bruce’s life back when Bruce was a teen. (The Black Casebook has notes about this.) The Mirror, having come straight from his altercation with the Bat-Family, visits candidate Nakano, offering him a flash-drive with data that will ensure his victory in the election, which is said to be weeks away. (This is a continuity error, as we’ll see the election occur mere days from now.) Nakano tells the Mirror to piss off. Meanwhile, Batman breaks up two men fighting in the street about masked vigilantism. Across town, Damian visits Detective Podolsky, who was present at every assassination attempt on Bruce’s life back during his childhood. Damian has not only exposed her as Tommy Elliot’s half-sister Catherine Elliot, but also as having covered for his dad’s would-be killer (a young Tommy Elliot himself) from all those years ago. Damian leaves Catherine tied up for the police. Downtown, with live TV news cameras following, the Mirror leads a flash-mob of anti-vigilante protesters into a head-to-head confrontation with a large gathering assembled for a pro-superhero march. As the confrontation quickly devolves into a violent brawl, the Bat-Family intervenes. The Mirror, exclaiming martyrdom for his movement, leaps off a bridge and seemingly kills himself with a suicide bomb. An angry Batman disperses and addresses both sides of the crowd, publicly reaffirming the need for his vigilante mission. Meanwhile, Hush takes down and captures the entire Bat-Family.

–Detective Comics #1032-1033
Picking up directly from Detective Comics #1031, Hush gloats over his immobile captives, taking blood samples from each with devilish plans to harvest their organs for sale on the black market. Meanwhile, Batman tracks Damian to the old abandoned Gotham World’s Fairgrounds. The Dark Knight grabs some infra-red goggles (I guess he can’t afford to wear his built-in cowl night vision anymore) and the R patch from Damian’s costume, and rockets to Damian’s location. Father and son immediately begin fighting, but as before, Batman refuses to strike his child, performing only defensive maneuvers. Eventually, they form a truce. Across town, Christopher Nakano finally goes to get his new prosthetic eyeball inserted into his damaged ocular cavity, but when the doc accidentally blurts out that Bruce Wayne has paid for it, Nakano flips-out, smashes the eye, and storms off. Concurrently, Batman and Damian realize that Hush has captured their fam, so they team-up, confronting the villain head-on. With the Bat-Family rescued, Batman kayos Hush. Afterward, Bruce and Damian have a much needed father-son talk. Damian tells his dad that he blames himself for Alfred’s death. Bruce tries to give Damian his Robin patch back, but Damian refuses it. Remaining ever at odds with his dad, Damian says goodbye and swings off into the night alone. Meanwhile, election night looms over Gotham, and when the votes are tallied, Nakano has won! Bruce returns to the Batcave one final time to close up shop. He puts Damian’s R patch on display before finally packing up Alfred’s belongings. After one last moment at Alfred’s grave, Bruce loads all the Bat-pets (Bat-Cow, Ace, Titus, and Alfred the cat) into a car with a trailer. Leaving Wayne Manor in the rear view mirror, Bruce and his animal friends head toward their new life.

–REFERENCE: In Robin Vol. 3 #1 and Super-Pets Special: Bitedentity Crisis #1 Part 3. Picking up directly from the end of ‘tec #1033, Bruce drops the Bat-pets off at their new home just outside of Gotham—a farm known as the Upton Wildlife Refuge. Bruce and Damian will always have access to their animals, but the unnamed farm owners will see to their everyday care. Notably, Damian places his pet dragon Wiggles and pet turkey Jerry at the farm as well.

–REFERENCE: In Batman: Urban Legends #3 Part 2. Bruce finishes furnishing and decorating his brownstone. This includes adding a picture wall that centers around a large framed photo of Alfred. The picture wall also includes some photos of the Bat-Family in costume.

–REFERENCE: In Batman Vol. 3 #105. Batman begins working on designs for a new Batmobile model.

–FLASHBACK: From Batman Vol. 3 #103. Batman targets serial killer Denton Quill. Instead of busting him, Batman orders Orphan to secretly tail him in an effort to discover where the remaining bodies are hidden. Orphan will tail Quill for the next two weeks. Meanwhile, Batman begins building the fundament for a RICO case against Tiger Shark, who has several Gotham City judges under his thumb.

–FLASHBACK: From Batman Vol. 3 #103. Batman discovers that an illegal arms shipment is headed for Gotham from Santa Prisca. He replaces the shells with blanks and plans to take down the buyers, who are scheduled to receive shipment in six days.

–Batman Vol. 3 #102-105 (“GHOST STORIES”)
With Babs now acting as both Oracle and Batgirl, she guides Batman into battle as the former. Batman takes down some Grinners and enters the Smile Bar only to find that every Joker loyalist inside has been viciously slaughtered by the Ghost-Maker. The next day, Clownhunter spies on Harley Quinn, who moves into a new apartment. The Ghost-Maker tries to assault Clownhunter, but Batman appears, challenging the Ghost-Maker to a winner-take-all duel. As they fight, the Ghost-Maker tells Batman he’s already taken down a bunch of criminals in Gotham, including Denton Quill, Tiger Shark’s corrupt judges, and Santa Priscan arms traders. Meanwhile, Clownhunter tries to take down Harley, but she easily defeats him. The Ghost-Maker and Batman crash into Harley’s apartment, and the Ghost-Maker knocks-out Harley. Batman tells the Ghost-Maker that his anti-crime actions have upended long-term sting operations already in progress by the Bat-Family. The Ghost-Maker shrugs off his mistakes and tranquilizes Batman, taking him captive along with Harley and Clownhunter in Arkham Asylum. Oracle sends the self-proclaimed “Batgirls” (Spoiler and Orphan) to investigate Harley’s apartment, just as more news of the Ghost-Maker’s handiwork becomes public. Brutalized mobsters have turned themselves in, Professor Pyg (who had been running free for the past eight months—or so we are told) has been busted, gangs have left town, and Penguin has gone into hiding. En route back to Gotham from Blüdhaven, Nightwing tells Oracle all he knows about the Ghost-Maker. In Arkham Asylum, the Ghost-Maker stitches up Batman before departing. Clownhunter comes-to and immediately returns to his attempt to execute Harley. However, he hesitates, allowing Harley to talk some sense into him. Batman sword-duels the Ghost-Maker to a draw as Harley, Nightwing, Spoiler, and Orphan watch. Batman then asks the Ghost-Maker to stay in Gotham as a superhero and a friend. Surprisingly, the Ghost-Maker turns face, joining Batman’s side! They depart together to take down the Circus of Strange.

–REFERENCE: In Batman Vol. 3 #106, Detective Comics #1034, Batman: Urban Legends #4 Part 3, and Detective Comics #1046. Bruce adjusts to home life in his new brownstone, meeting some of the Fort Graye neighbors, who mostly all despise Bruce and the never-ending swarm of paparazzi that constantly hover about. Bruce’s neighbors Edmund Potter and Deb Donovan are particularly hostile to Bruce and the pesky tabloid journalists. On the other hand, his neighbor Lydia Warren has a crush on Bruce and loves having him around. Bruce meets and studies up on Lydia and his other neighbors—Sam Tern, Sarah Worth, and Deb Donovan. Bruce also sets up a partially-equipped “Batcave” in his garage—essentially the Bat-Garage. Knowing this won’t be good enough, Batman begins prioritizing his various alternate Batcaves, safe houses, stash houses, and remote facilities, referring to them collectively as his “Mini-Caves” or “Micro-Caves.” Batman also adds new Mini and Micro-Caves, all of which have various hidden access points, usually through the sewers. He will work on building these caves and stocking them for months to come. Batman also constructs a single larger base known as “The Cave.” Notably, Batman moves alternate costumes, bizarre Hiro Okamura-designed bots, still-unfinished model suits reflecting designs from Batman Beyond and the Batman: Arkham Knight video game, and many other gadgets into both his Micro-Caves and the Cave. (The Cave is initially meant to be temporary, but it’ll wind up sticking.) Bruce also shows his allies his new home. They will visit from time-to-time. Every Bat-Family member will have access to the Micro-Caves and the Cave as well.

–REFERENCE: In Batman Vol. 3 #106. Batman begins building his new Batmobile. He will work on this for weeks to come, likely with some metahuman assistance.

–Batman: Black and White Vol. 5 #1 Part 1
Batman fights a handful of League of Assassins ninjas.

–Batman: Black and White Vol. 5 #1 Part 4
The inner psyche and dark soul of Batman is viewed through writer/artist Emma Rios’ surrealistic, totemic, and mythical analysis of the Dark Knight. Yes, that’s the synopsis in full! This is a weird one.

–REFERENCE: In Justice League: Endless Winter #1. Batman designs and tailors a new cold weather costume.

–REFERENCE: In Batman Vol. 3 #118. The Club of Heroes reforms with a lineup featuring Batman, Man-of-Bats, the Hood, Bat-Man (of China), el Gaucho, and Dark Ranger! The team goes on an unspecified mission together. Moving ahead, they will work a few more cases, all of which will be unlisted on our timeline.

–Red Hood: Outlaw #52
Jason has just returned to his childhood neighborhood (The Hill) and reconnected with his old friend Dana Harlowe, who moonlights as a superhero called Strike. When haute couture super-villain Tommy Misell aka Tommy Maxx (aligned with newly gangster-styled Killer Croc, who is currently released from Arkham Asylum) blows up Demitrius Korlee Jr‘s GodMode sneaker store in the Hill, Red Hood is on the case. The next morning, Jason gets breakfast with Dana and chats with Dana’s family, including her sister, TV newscaster Denise Harlowe. As night falls, Maxx’s gang escalates their profile by capturing and executing a bunch of Black Mask’s False Facers. Maxx and Croc continue to escalate things by blowing up a tanker and then fighting Red Hood, Strike, and Strike’s crime-fighting partners Kish (aka Block) and Sophia (aka Edge). (Collectively, their group is known as The Watch.) When Maxx kidnaps Denise, Red Hood and Strike rescue her and take down the rookie villain. With Maxx heading to Arkham Asylum, Croc sells the rest of Maxx’s weapons to Grand Imperial Gang members Gudda and The Tricksters—Karim (aka Grimm) and Tiwa (aka Glee). The next day, Jason decides to stay in the Hill for good, renting an apartment. Batman leaves a housewarming gift for Jason, brining a smile to both their faces.

–REFERENCE: In Red Hood: The Hill #4. Batman looks into the business affairs of Demitrius Korlee Jr, seeing that he ostensibly is nothing like his father. Batman will keep some tabs on Demitrius Jr, moving forward, continuously believing that he’s a stand-up citizen. Unknown to Batman, the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. Demitrius is simply good (and will remain good) at hiding his criminality. In fact, Batman notes that much of Demitrius’ business is co-funded by Wayne Foundation grant money, which technically makes Bruce a major donor to his causes.

–FLASHBACK: From Batman vs Robin #4. Together, Batman and Talia secretly watch their son Damian as he wallops Black Spider.

–Batman: Black and White Vol. 5 #2 Part 1
Batman saves some kids from a burning cathedral, but is unable to pull a moribund priest from the burning rubble. Batman unmasks and sits with the priest, providing him comfort until he passes on.^[2]

—^[3]

–Truth and Justice #12
Red Hood fights Scarecrow, hoping to avenge the death of a close friend that was killed by the villain. Scarecrow doses Red Hood with Fear Gas, causing him to hallucinate. Batman shows up in time to witness Red Hood come out of the drug-induced fog and take down Scarecrow with a rubber bullet. Batman commends Red Hood for using non-lethal methods, saying that he trusts him and always will. It is revealed (to the reader) that Talia al Ghul had manipulated events in hopes that Red Hood would undergo psychological trauma and then murder Scarecrow. This is the continuation of a many-years-long plan to position Jason Todd as possible heir to Ra’s al Ghul’s League of Assassins throne.

–REFERENCE: In Justice League Vol. 4 #61. Batman and Superman take on Talia al Ghul and Riddler, during which the villains cause Superman to lose control of his powers.

–REFERENCE: In the second feature to Justice League Vol. 4 #60. The Justice League gets debriefed by the Justice League Dark following the latter’s recent victory over the Upside-Down Man (as seen in Justice League Dark Vol. 2 #28). Sadly, the JLD reports that Dr. Fate (Kent Nelson) was killed while fighting the Upside-Down Man.

–REFERENCE: In Detective Comics #1066. Batman hears about the legendary werewolf warrior Gael Tenclaw (aka The Wolf of Bezadjehanne), who resides in the European nation of Svatrstal. He learns all he can about him.

–FLASHBACK: From Multiversity: Harley Screws Up the DCU #1. The Justice League thwarts Starro the Conqueror, after which they pose heroically.

–Batman: The Brave and the Bold Vol. 2 #14 Part 3
This item has an editorial note that places this item prior to Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. This is definitely true, but, due to Poison Ivy’s appearance, it actually must go way earlier—prior to Dark Nights: Death Metal. Flash (Barry Allen) helps Superman deal with an apartment fire in Metropolis, after which he busts the villain team-up of Gorilla Grodd and Poison Ivy at the Gotham City Zoo. Flash takes down the bad guys just before an annoyed Batman arrives. Flash then returns to Central City to quickly punch-out Reverse-Flash (Eobard Thawne) and join his Iris for coffee.

–Aquaman Vol. 8 #65
On the day of Aquaman and Mera’s wedding (technically a wedding vow renewal ceremony), Ocean Master—backed by an army of warriors from each of the undersea kingdoms—usurps Aquaman’s throne. With the aid of confused water elemental Lernaea, Ocean Master has captured Mera and subjugated Aquaman. Utilizing the powers of the sea goddess Caille, the Aquaman calls for help. Caille brings the Justice League, Aqualad (Jackson Hyde), Mecha Manta, Dolphin, Pilot, Tula, Tempest, Murk, Nereus (King of Xebel), the sea gods of the Kwakwaka’wakw and Nuxalk pantheons (Amanikable, Atabey, Chalchiuhtlicue, Kumungwe, Manannán mac Lir, Repun, Tangaroa, Tlaloc, Varuna, Master Agwé), the old sea god Mother Shark, a ton of aquatic life, and more. Defeated, Ocean Master and his troops stand down. All the kingdoms of the oceans are unified in peace. Soon afterward, Aquaman throws a surprise wedding for Mera aboard a yacht. All of their friends are present, including the Justice League, the sea gods, Captain Tristram Maurer, Dr. Thnita, Madame Giahnz, Erika Watson, Dwayne Fradon, Salty the Aquadog, and many more.

ENDLESS WINTER
————————––Justice League: Endless Winter #1
————————––Flash #767
————————––Justice League Vol. 4 #58^[4] 
Mid December. On Mathali Island in the Arabian Sea, the Justice League defeats Icicle Jr, Multiplex, Rampage, and Catman. During the fight, Aquaman mentions his recent marriage to Mera. Meanwhile, in the Arctic Circle, Sebastian Stagg—now in charge of Stagg Industries ever since his father’s death (Simon Stagg died in The Terrifics #28)—leads an expedition to salvage the remains of Superman’s old Fortress of Solitude. Back in the States, Flash visits Jefferson Pierce and his daughters Anissa and Jennifer Pierce, who are decorating their Christmas tree. (Both Anissa and Jennifer are drawn way too young-looking. Anissa aka Thunder should be at least twenty-one-years-old while Jennifer aka Lightning should be in her late teens.) When Stagg’s ship is attacked by ice creatures, the JL intervenes—including Batman, who dons his special cold weather gear. Soon, the Big Bad—the immemorial Frost King (Edwald Olafsson), accidentally revived by Stagg and powered-up by leftover Kryptonian crystals—attacks our heroes as well. The Frost King mistakes the JL for those that last defeated and imprisoned him way back in the 10th century: Black Adam, Hippolyta, Swamp Thing, and Viking Prince. Using all his might, the Frost King unleashes wintery weather across the globe before vanishing without a trace. The heroes immediately spread out across the globe to take on various ice beasts. Batman cobbles together a new sonic weapon that can shatter ice and, as referenced in Justice League: Endless Winter #2, he begins secretly monitoring Stagg Industries’ actions. Black Adam addresses the UN, stating that Kahndaq is open for refugees. Shortly thereafter, Flash goes on a diplomatic mission to Kahndaq but he gets kayoed by some ice monsters. Black Adam and a throng of super-villains—including Catman, Silver Banshee, and others—rescue Flash. Flash then returns home to Central City to save Iris from another ice monster. John Stewart helps with the storm rescue effort in Michigan before meeting with Detective chimp at the Hall of Justice. Detective Chimp reports that the ice beasts are not only attacking metahumans all over the planet, but they are targeting STAR Labs, Stagg Industries, and Dayton Industries. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Stewart then defeat a Frost King doppelgänger before debriefing in the Hall of Justice with Detective Chimp.

ENDLESS WINTER Continued…
————————––Justice League Dark Vol. 2 #29
————————––Black Adam: Endless Winter Special #1
————————––Justice League: Endless Winter #2
Mid December. At the Oblivion Bar, Hippolyta tells the Justice League Dark and Flash the origin story of the Frost King. Meanwhile, Frost King doppelgängers appear all over the globe. Batman and John Stewart fight one in Rome. Nightwing, Cyborg, and Starfire fight one in Coast City. Hawkgirl and Lady Flash fight one in Moscow. And Black Adam fights one in Kahndaq. With Swamp Thing having recently fallen in battle (as seen in the Batman-less Justice League Dark Vol. 2 #28), the JLD decides that they must search for/revive him if they are going to be able to defeat the Frost King. Thus, they travel to Swamp Thing’s last known location—the mystical realm of New Myrra (home to the magick of the Nightmaster). Wonder Woman quickly finds Swamp Thing alive and well, although he says he is bound to New Myrra and cannot leave. However, he gives a small part of his body to Wonder Woman, who returns to the Oblivion Bar to find that her mother has summoned (via seance) the spirit of the Viking Prince. Wonder Woman adheres the piece of Swamp Thing’s body to the ghost Norseman, creating a hybrid Viking Swamp Thing. Meanwhile, at Stagg Industries, Sebastian Stagg’s team begins the arduous process of thawing out the Frost King’s miraculously-preserved 10th century family (wife Astrid Olafsson, son Magnus Olafsson, and unnamed daughter). Black Adam leads Rampage, Multiplex, Catman, Icicle Jr, and Silver Banshee in an all out attack upon Stagg Industries, destroying super-robot Staggatron Alpha in the process. Black Adam confronts Staff, blaming him for having released the Frost King. The real Frost King enters and begins fighting everyone. While the Frost King dukes it out with Black Adam, Stagg uses a robot drone to blast the ancient warrior with Kryptonite crystal energy. The desired effect is to destroy the Frost King, but it only makes him larger and more powerful. When all hope seems lost, the Justice League shows up and chases away the Frost King, who absconds with his frozen family to Greenland. Soon after, the JL, Viking Swamp Thing, Hippolyta, and Black Adam fight the Frost King again. While the heavy-hitters slug it out atop a glacier, Batman and Hippolyta discover that the Frost King is merely just another ice avatar—the original 10th century host of the Frost King, Edwald Olafsson, has been causing all the global chaos despite being completely frozen frozen at the center of the glacier. When Black Adam attempts to assassinate Olafsson, Superman begins fighting the Kahndaqi antihero. Aquaman arrives with a brigade of fire trolls to aid in the struggle versus the Frost King. Hippolyta and Wonder Woman are able to appeal to Olafsson’s humanness, which causes all of his ice avatars to melt, ending the wintry weather everywhere. Back at the Hall of Justice, the Viking Prince is exorcised from Swamp Thing. Detective Chimp, Barry Allen, and Jefferson Pierce decorate the Hall of Justice Xmas tree. On live TV, Black Adam rails against the superheroes, calling them dangerous and claiming that their time will soon come to an end. Meanwhile, Superman rebuilds his Arctic Fortress of Solitude from scratch. Batman, Wonder Woman, and Olafsson meet at the new Fortress where the latter undergoes several physical and mental lab tests. The Trinity vows to find a way to unfreeze Olafsson’s family, but until then Olafsson volunteers to go into cryo-freeze alongside of them.

–the second feature to Detective Comics #1057-1058 (“SHADOWS OF THE BAT: HOUSE OF GOTHAM” Conclusion)^[5]
When Batman’s tripwire alarm goes off at the Gotham Light and Power Offices, the Dark Knight pays a visit to review the security cam footage, seeing accounting department employee Elliot Strummer (now going by the name Elliot Maslow) breaking in and out of the building with a mystery person that looks like Joker but is actually a masquerading Clayface III (Preston Payne). Batman tasks Red Hood with reconnoitering Maslow’s home overnight. In the morning, Batman meets with Red Hood, who tells him that Maslow is actually Strummer, former teen delinquent but now family man. Batman criticizes Red Hood for drinking coffee, but Batman has definitely guzzled the stuff before. Maybe he’s recently gone off caffeine (at least temporarily)? Good for him! Convinced Joker is inside the apartment, Batman smashes through the window to find Maslow having breakfast with his wife and daughter. Maslow says he’s not helping Joker. Later, Batman, Red Hood, Nightwing, and Robin (Tim) travel through the a water main tunnel only to be ambushed by Killer Croc, Clayface III, and Scarecrow. Batman is restrained and placed next to a bloody and beaten Joker, who has also been kidnapped by the villains. The ringleader of this episode (the man that was orphaned by Joker way back in Year One) enters, revealing his new super-villain identity of “The Forgotten.” He explains that Maslow was working for him, and he’s now taking revenge upon Joker for killing his parents and upon the Bat-Family for their failures. Batman is able to talk down the Forgotten, who ends his quest for vengeance. Batman then lets the Forgotten go, telling him he can be a force of good in the world. Inspired, the Forgotten departs with a new lease on life. Unfortunately, he quickly runs into his old rival Penguin, who shoots him dead.

–Nightwing Vol. 4 #77
December 24-25. On Christmas Eve, Batman invites his boys to attend a family Christmas celebration at his downtown brownstone. When Dick hasn’t RSVP’d, Batman patrols with Nightwing in an effort to convince him to join. After a chat, they split up, with Nightwing working a case at Dexiturn Technology and Batman taking care of an Arkham Asylum revolt. The Arkham situation is a colossal continuity cluster fuck, featuring Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Clayface III, and Penguin. Penguin’s inclusion here is a big error that must be ignored. He hasn’t been in Arkham for a long time. At Dexiturn, Nightwing searches for a thieving hacker, but the culprit escapes, disguised as Santa Claus. Nightwing eventually catches up with the thief, exposing her as a homeless woman named Clarissa, who had been previously laid off and financially screwed over by Dexiturn. After returning Dexiturn’s stolen money, Nightwing arranges for Bruce to help out Clarissa. On Christmas morning, Bruce gives Clarissa, her daughter, and all their homeless friends rent free apartments in a building that he still owns. (Bruce says he owns it, but maybe Lucius Fox actually owns it.) Bruce also convinces Lucius to purchase Dexiturn and re-hire all the laid-off staff, including Clarissa. Later that night, Dick joins Bruce, Babs, Tim, Ace, and who appears to be Damian. While this comic is already a disaster in terms of continuity, it doesn’t really make sense for Damian to be here. It should be Jason instead. I guess we could fanwank that Damian has set aside all the drama that he and his father have shared over the past year in order to have one peaceful evening of goodwill, but it does fly in the face of Damian’s recent estrangement from the group. While unfortunately mired by negligent authorship on the part of Dan Jurgens and Ronan Cliquet, this gathering is a lovely Bat-Family moment.

–REFERENCE: In The Joker Vol. 2 #1. Unwilling to continue working with Mayor Nakano, Harvey Bullock officially resigns as commissioner of police. Rather than appoint a new commissioner, Nakano begins running the police himself.

–Justice League Vol. 4 #30-32 (“JUSTICE/DOOM WAR”)
Starman shows his fellow Justice Leaguers what he believes to be the undeniable future—a vision of the Legion of Doom killing all the heroes in three days’ time. Wonder Woman tells all that the Great Darkness will soon rise again. (We last saw a form of the Great Darkness two years ago in Bryan Hitch’s Justice League Vol. 3, but the Great Darkness proper will return next year in Justice League vs The Legion of Super-Heroes.) With the threat looming, the JL invites nearly every single hero they can think of for a meeting, officially deputizing them into the JL army. This gathering includes all branches of the JL, the Terrifics, the Titans, an unknown person in an Ikon suit, and many others. (The guy in the Ikon suit might be included in error—artist Jorge Jimenez accidentally drawing Jericho in both the hero gathering and villain gathering. Although, I guess Jericho could conceivably zip on over to appear at both meetings. Standing before the gathering of heroes, Starman reviews the six known Dark Forces (and their oppositional Positive Forces) and displays the Cosmic Rod.^[6] Starman tells all that they must travel to specific points in the past and future of Hypertime in order to collect the Positive Forces, with which they can create a Justice Totality to wield against Lex Luthor’s Doom Totality. Unknown to all, there is a mystery spy in their midst, who watches with keen interest. (Spoiler: It’s Aquaman!) At the Hall of Doom, Luthor briefs hundreds of super-villains, all powered-up thanks to his many gifts, who comprise the deputized new LOD army. Featured among these villains are Harley Quinn, Jericho, William Cobb, Heat Wave, Papa Midnite, the Oracle robot, Earth-29 aka Bizarroworld’s The Terribles (Bizarro #1, Mr. Terrible, Disposable Man, Figment Girl, and Change-O-Shape-O), Red Hood, Ra’s al Ghul, Catwoman, and many more. (I’m not sure that Catwoman’s appearance should be canon here, but who really knows. Also, Black Manta is shown in his sentient Mecha Manta suit, but I’m not sure that he’d still have it by this point.) In the Hall of Justice, the World Forger and the Monitor open Hypertime portals. Batman preps for departure, telling Jarro to listen to Mera while he’s gone. Flash and John Stewart pass through the “past portal” while Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman pass through the “future portal.” Unfortunately, the mystery spy (Aquaman) has tampered with both portals, and he hops through, sealing the heroes off with no means of return or way to communicate. (Are these portals simple time machines that will take them to the past and future of Earth-0’s primary timeline? Or are they gateways to alternate universe timelines i.e. Hypertimelines where our heroes will meet alternate versions of characters? At first glance, it seems as though Scott Snyder has regarded the portals as straightforward time machines. However, Snyder muddies the water by tweeting, “The version of Kamandi that we’re using here [in “Justice/Doom War”] is taken directly from his classic timeline, but what you might see in Brian [Michael Bendis’ Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium] is something that could happen after the events of our story are concluded and his narrative goes a different way. […] You might see two different versions of Kamandi in existence. So, in that way, we’re looking to make everything fit, everything part of one über-story. Same thing with JSA with Geoff [Johns in Doomsday Clock].” This seems to imply that the Kamandi, Legion of Super-Heroes, and JSA in “Justice/Doom War” are alternate versions of the legit Earth-0 characters. Very confusing! In any case, Snyder’s later usage “fragments of Hypertime” seems to cement that we are dealing with alternate realities.) In some distant possible future alt-Hypertimeline (71st century), the Trinity finds a dystopia with Doom-symbols everywhere. There, they are approached by alt-versions of Kamandi, Dr. Canus, and Tuftan, who help them fight against Brainiac cyborgs. (Snyder has already shown us the Kamandi and Canus of the primary Universe-0 timeline, but despite this, these seem to be alternate versions from Hypertime.) Batman interfaces with one of the downed cyborgs, learning that Brainiac has captured fragments of Hypertime—literal chunks of possible alt-futures. The JL heroes and Kamandi then leave the alt-71st century and travel to one of Brainiac’s bottled Hypertime slivers, specifically a version of the 853rd century, joining an alt-Justice Legion-A (Aquaman, Batman, Superman, Flash, Owlwoman, Hourman, Starman, and Wonder Woman). Concurrently, in some possible alt-Hypertimeline (January 7, 1941), Flash and John Stewart find themselves before an alt-Justice Society of America (Atom, Green Lantern Alan Ladd-Scott, Flash Jay Garrick, Dr. Fate, Hourman, Sandman, Starman, Hawkman, and Wildcat)! After a discussion of how there is no JSA on the primary Earth-0 timeline (due to a cosmic collective memory block), introductions are made. Flash (Barry) mentions that he feels some echoes of a shared history with Jay Garrick, but it’s been erased somehow. (Since Barry recently shared an adventure with the returning Jay Garrick in Flash #759-762, this is either a continuity peccadillo or Barry’s memories have been manipulated/blocked yet again.) The present day heroes also wonder why their Hawkman in the 21st century, despite being the same guy here in the 1940s, has no recollection of his own past with the JSA.^[7] Arriving at Pearl Harbor, Barry and John worry whether the LOD would mess with something as sacred as WWII history. As they speak, Grodd, Cheetah, and Sinestro pilot Imperial Japanese dive-bombers along with the rest of the soon-to-attack phalanx. Meanwhile, Starman, Shayne J’onzz, Hawkgirl, the Monitor, and the World Forger determine the best course of action is to seek out the Anti-Monitor on the edge of the universe where the Source Wall used to be. They depart immediately. Shayne senses that Luthor and Perpetua are also headed towards the edge of the universe. At the edge of the universe, Aquaman joins the Anti-Monitor, having pledged allegiance to him. As Luthor and Perpetua reach the Promethean Galaxy, Hawkwoman (Shayera Hol) and her Thanagarian armada attack, but fail miserably. Meanawhile, the heroes fight a war on both Hypertime fronts. In the future, Brainiac upgrades himself to a towering “Brainiac One Million.” 83rd century Hourman crashes and burns, but not before handing over the Worlogog from within his body. The Worlogog, as it turns out, not only contains a part of the Source, but also embodies the Totality for which our heroes are searching. The Worlogog is given to Kamandi for safekeeping. In the past, Aquaman returns, helping his friends to both collect another chunk of Totality and deal with the Pearl Harbor situation. At the edge of the Promethean Galaxy, Luthor and Perpetua arrive to greet the Anti-Monitor, but he’s sided with the heroes against them. (Note that the sequence of Aquaman returning here written as if it is his first appearance since his “death” in “Drowned Earth.” However, “Cold War”—along with numerous other stories—establishes his return prior to this, creating a bad continuity error that must unfortunately be ignored.)

–Justice League Vol. 4 #33-35 (“JUSTICE/DOOM WAR” Continued…)
At the edge of the Promethean Galaxy, Starman fuses the Monitor, Anti-Monitor, and World Forger into one Ultra-Monitor. An enraged Hawkgirl goes off script, unleashing her full power upon Lex Luthor. In 1941, Aquaman guides Flash, John Stewart, and the JSA to Atlantis. There, they find the Legion of Doom allied with Vandal Savage and his Legionnaires Club, lording over a captive Poseidon. After a chat with Stewart, the Legionnaires switch sides, joining the JSA in the fight against the LOD. In the future, the JLA, JL-A, and Kamandi struggle against the might of Brainiac One Million. When all hope seems lost, Earth-12’s Justice League Unlimited (Earth-12 Batman, Aquagirl, Earth-12 Big Barda, Earth-12 Flash, Earth-12 Kai-Ro, Earth-12 Micron, Earth-12 Superman, and Earth-12 Warhawk) arrive. As do Superboy (Jon Kent) and Karate Kid from the 31st century. Not long after that, many of the collected heroes of the 53 universes show up, including a bunch of Earth-0 heroes, Earth-2 Batman, Earth-2 Hourman, Earth-6 Wonder Woman, Earth-16’s Dr. Midnite, the Earth-22 Justice League (including Fate), Earth-22’s Silent Cavalry (including Nightstar and Earth-22 Jade), Earth-23’s President Superman, Earth-30’s Soviet Superman, and more. Some heroes from alt-Hypertimelines show up too: Hunter Prince and a resurrected Old Man Aquaman (from “Legacy”), Old Lady Harley, Damian Wayne Batman and Cyborg 2.0 (from the Titans Tomorrow/666 timeline), Blue Scarab (from Justice League: Generation Lost #14), the Dark Multiverse Deathstroke (from “Deathstroke RIP”/”Deathstroke Rebirth”), Supergirl (from Injustice: Gods Among Us), Flash (from “Out of Time”), Flash (modeled after the adult Bart Allen from Young Justice: Sins of Youth), Captain Marvel (an alt-Shazam), an alternate universe Thom Kallor (Starman), an alternate universe Martian Manhunter, and many more. The alt-universe and Hypertime heroes form a gigantic army to combat Brainiac. Powered from past by the JSA Starman, Will Payton and another alt-Starman open time portals. Stewart, Flash, Jay Garrick, Alan Ladd-Scott, and Aquaman return to the present. As do Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Kamandi, and the alt-Starman. However, at the edge of the universe, Hawkgirl and the Ultra-Monitor are defeated by Luthor and Perpetua. The seventh Dark Force is unleashed and the multiverse succumbs to the power of the Doom Totality. Perpetua grows to giant size as the Doom Totality symbol burns brightly behind her. She crushes Payton like a bug. The Doom Totality symbol shines brightly above Earth, surprising civilians and heroes alike. (Again, despite the surprise at seeing the Doom Totality symbol, this cannot be the first instance of it appearing in the sky. We’ve already seen it in dozens of other comics.) In the Hall of Justice, a mass gathering of heroes—including the JL, alt-JSA, alt-JL-A, Titans, alt-Kamandi, Jarro, and more—tries to regroup. The Doom Totality symbol burns in the skies above the Ghost Sector, Thanagar, Oa, Earth-3, the bowels of the Dark Multiverse where Barbatos is held captive, the World Orrery at the center of the multiverse, and Earth-19. It is on Earth-19 (aka “Gotham By Gaslight Earth”) where Perpetua strikes first. There, Bat Man and Inspector James Gordon are helpless as Perpetua destroys the entirety of Universe-19 in an instant. With a subservient Ultra-Monitor now kneeling before his mother’s side, Perpetua tells Luthor that they will re-create the entire multiverse in any way they see fit. From the Hall of Justice, Batman long-range radios Hawkgirl and Shayne, beckoning them home. They attempt to jump into light speed aboard the Javelin, but Perpetua causes them to crash.

–Justice League Vol. 4 #36-37 (“JUSTICE/DOOM WAR” Continued…)
Perpetua gathers the primary members of the Legion of Doom aboard her ship. She transforms Brainiac into her living throne and captures the rest, except for Lex Luthor, into strange tubes. Using these devices, Perpetua drains the villains’ powers and syphons them into her chosen number one son, Luthor. Meanwhile, with the Doom Totality symbol now burning permanently in the sky, the Trinity gathers their army of heroes for one last pep talk. Notably, Damian, Tim, Spoiler, and Orphan are present. Orphan is shown wearing her old costume, which is a continuity error. Jessica Cruz is also present, but she should be off on her Justice League Odyssey escapade in the Ghost Sector at this juncture, so this is another continuity error too. While the heroes prep for more battle, John Stewart gets ready for a ride in the Flashmobile. In deep space, Hawkgirl and Shayne J’onzz are attacked by the Ultra-Monitor. Simultaneously, an army of Perpetua’s human/Martian hybrid warriors, led by Luthor, who pilots the spidery floating LOD HQ, marches toward Washington DC. The heroes make their stand against Perpetua’s army. Batman activates the Hall of Justice’s final defense mode, turning the entire building into a gigantic flying fortress. As the war erupts into bedlam, several heroes begin psychically forming a Justice Totality. John Stewart drives the Flashmobile to the other end of the universe, crashing right into the Ultra-Monitor, splitting him up into the three separate cosmic brothers once again. Meanwhile, Perpetua destroys Earth-44, killing Dr. Will Tornado and his Metal League (Iron Batman, Mercury Flash, and Gold Superman). Using it as a weapon, she hurls the dead planet towards John Stewart, Hawkgirl, Shayne, and the brothers. The World Forger bats it away like a baseball with his hammer, simultaneously teleporting John Stewart, Shayne, and Hawkgirl back to the Hall of Justice. There, they join the heroes to create a Justice Totality, which shines a sigil that replaces the Doom Totality symbol in the sky above them.

–Justice League Vol. 4 #38-39 (“JUSTICE/DOOM WAR” Conclusion)
Luthor wields the full power of the Doom Totality against the heroes of Earth. His specific combat against Batman is also shown via flashback from Batman Vol. 3 #119. When the Trinity teams-up to knock Luthor on his ass, Perpetua has seen enough. She finally appears on Earth-0 to confront the heroes. As Perpetua and her army thrash the heroes, Shayne enters Luthor’s mind and finds a remnant of Martian Manhunter inside (in the form of a memory). Shayne offers the ultimate sacrifice, permanently swapping places with Martian Manhunter in order to resurrect the latter and unleash him from within Luthor. Martian Manhunter telepathically speaks to everyone on Earth, imploring them to abandon their connection with Perpetua. But more humans on Earth want to be iniquitous than good, and they reject J’onn’s supplication, further empowering Perpetua, who re-writes the timeline so that the JL are no longer Earth’s heroes. The Quintessence (Izaya, Hera, wizard Shazam, the Spectre, Phantom Stranger, and Ganthet) are able to save the JL, placing them upon the Moon. The Quintessence explains that they had already augured Perpetua’s inexorable victory, even across multiple hitherto unseen fronts. Creators Scott Snyder, Daniel Sampere, and Juan Albarran pair Ganthet’s monologue with images from Event Leviathan, The Terrifics, Young Justice Vol. 3, and Doomsday Clock! The dialogue attached to these images is extremely vague, but does speak of them in the past tense, definitively placing them in the past. This is wild, especially since the main action of “Justice/Doom War” hints at Doomsday Clock as not only canon but having not yet occurred as well. However, the dialogue overlaying the Doomsday Clock image says specifically, “events that unfolded outside your purview. Some disconnected from your reality altogether but still deeply felt and impactful.” Doomsday Clock has indeed happened but its effect has been blocked by the Batman Who Laughs. More on that later, though. The Quintessence offers one final solution to undo what Perpetua has done. They show the JL a magickal square-framed doorway, through which the heroes can travel and unleash “everything” (i.e. all the Connective Energy of history aka Dr. Manhattan’s power), which should be able to thwart Perpetua for good. The heroes open the mystic door and go through. (The heroes entering the portal is also shown via flashback from Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #4 and Dark Nights: Death Metal Guidebook #1 Part 1.) This takes the JL en route straight to Dark Nights: Death Metal.

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<<< Rebirth Era Year 19 (Part 1) <<< ||| >>> Infinite Frontier Era Year 20 (Part 1) >>>

1. ^[1]COLLIN COLSHER: Batman: The World Part 1 is non-canon, part of Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo’s own special “Azzarello/Bermejo-verse” that dates as far back as the Modern Age. It includes Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, Joker, Batman/Deathblow, Batman: Noël, Batman: Damned (the first ever Black Label title, infamous for showing Batman’s penis), Batman: The World Part 1, and Batman: Dear Detective.↩
2. ^[2]COLLIN COLSHER: Batman: Black and White Vol. 5 #2 Parts 2 through 4 are canon (although Part 4 is questionable in terms of its canonicity), all occurring earlier on our timeline, during Batman’s final days wearing his old yellow oval costume. David Aja’s Part 5, the final tale in Batman: Black and White Vol. 5 #2, is a beautiful mock daily news strip tale featuring a 1940s-styled Batman, who works with Captain James Gordon to take down the cult-leading evil commissioner of the GCPD. Naturally, this story, while awesome, is non-canon.↩
3. ^[3]COLLIN COLSHER: John Ridley and Olivier Coipel’s Batman: Black and White Vol. 5 #3 Part 1 (reprinted in DC Power: A Celebration #1) is non-canon, part of the “Future State” timeline, featuring Tim “Jace” Fox as Batman and his sister Tiffany Fox as Robin. Bilquis Evely’s Batman: Black and White Vol. 5 #3 Part 2 is non-canon, featuring a medieval era Batman.↩
4. ^[4]COLLIN COLSHER: Note that Justice League Vol. 4 goes wildly out of numerical order starting here, with Justice League Vol. 4 #58. Justice League Vol. 4 #30-39 (“Justice/Doom War”) comes next, and then Justice League Vol. 4 #53-57 (“Doom Metal”), a part of Dark Nights: Death Metal, follows.↩
5. ^[5]COLLIN COLSHER / DYLAN ROBINSON: This item goes here because it features Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, Scarecrow, and Penguin all in costumes and characterizations that go prior to Death Metal. Furthermore, the very appearance of Scarecrow places it prior to A-Day, meaning prior to Death Metal and Infinite Frontier #0.↩
6. ^[6]COLLIN COLSHER: Here are the Dark Forces and their oppositional Positive Forces in Scott Snyder’s overly Manichaean narrative that pits the Doom Totality against the Justice Totality. At this point in the story, the 7th Dark Force/Positive Force hasn’t yet been revealed.

   1. Still Force vs Speed Force
   2. Ultraviolet Spectrum vs Emotional Visible Light Spectrum
   3. Tear of Extinction/Death Force vs Life Force
   4. Void Wind vs Sphere of the Gods
   5. Black Apple vs Collective Unconscious
   6. Sixth Dimension vs Dimensional Superstructure

   As revealed in Flash Vol. 5 #80, the Still Force and the Speed Force are also “Cosmic Forces” (aka “energy fields”) that are linked to the other energy fields known as the Strength Force, Sage Force, and Forever Force. How (or if) these latter three energy fields fit into the Justice/Doom Totality remains to be seen.↩

7. ^[7]COLLIN COLSHER: In the recent Hawkman Vol. 5 #26-29, Hawkman and Hawkwoman (Shayera Hol) time-traveled by quantum leaping into their 1940s incarnations to assist in a JSA scuffle against the Injustice Society and fight a Khufu-possessed Anton Hastor. We must assume, due to Doomsday Clock/Flash Forward retcons and revelations here in “Justice/Doom War,” that even when someone time-travels and physically engages with the JSA, their memory gets blocked as soon as they return to the present.↩