Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!: Difference between revisions
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"'''Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!'''" is a [[comic book]] [[fictional crossover|crossover]] storyline published by [[DC Comics]] in [[1994 in comics|1994]], consisting of an eponymous five-issue central |
"'''Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!'''" is a [[comic book]] [[fictional crossover|crossover]] storyline published by [[DC Comics]] in [[1994 in comics|1994]], consisting of an eponymous five-issue central [[Limited series (comics)|limited series]] and a number of tie-in books. In it, the former hero [[Hal Jordan]], who had until then been a member of the intergalactic police force known as the [[Green Lantern Corps]], mad with grief after the destruction of his home town of [[Coast City]] (during the "[[Reign of the Supermen]]!" storyline) and having obtained immense power as [[Parallax (comics)|Parallax]], attempted to destroy and remake the [[DC Universe]]. The crossover involved almost every DC Universe monthly series published at the time. The issues of the series itself were numbered in reverse order, beginning with issue #4 and ending with #0. The series was written and penciled by [[Dan Jurgens]], with inks by [[Jerry Ordway]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cowsill |first1=Alan |last2=Wallace |first2=Daniel |editor1-last=Manning |editor1-first=Matthew K. |editor2-last=Dolan |editor2-first=Hannah |title=DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle |date=2010 |publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |isbn=9780756667429 |page=266 |chapter=1990s |quote=In DC's blockbuster ''Zero Hour'', writer/artist Dan Jurgens and finisher Jerry Ordway crafted a five-issue story that began with issue #4, and counted backward to zero.}}</ref> This series is noted for its [[Motif (visual arts)|motif]] of the DC Universe gradually "fading out" as events reached their climax. |
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==Background== |
==Background== |
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''Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!'' was the follow-up to the ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'' |
''Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!'' was the follow-up to the ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'' limited series. This event served as an opportunity to reconcile some of the continuity problems left unaddressed by ''Crisis'' and other problems that had been unintentionally caused by it. In particular, the revised characters of the post-''Crisis'' universe had been rolled out gradually, with DC continuing to feature the old versions until the new versions were launched. |
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==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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{{More plot|1=section|date=January 2013}} |
{{More plot|1=section|date=January 2013}} |
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The story begins when characters from [[Parallel universe (fiction)|alternate realities]] such as [[Alpha Centurion]], an alternate version of [[Barbara Gordon|Batgirl]], and [[Triumph (comics)|Triumph]] suddenly started appearing in the main DC Universe, to everybody's confusion; this happens because time is being somehow "compressed." Then a wave of "nothingness" is seen moving from the end of time to its beginning, erasing entire historical ages in the process |
The story begins when characters from [[Parallel universe (fiction)|alternate realities]] such as [[Alpha Centurion]], an alternate version of [[Barbara Gordon|Batgirl]], and [[Triumph (comics)|Triumph]] suddenly started appearing in the main DC Universe, to everybody's confusion; this happens because time is being somehow "compressed." Then a wave of "nothingness" is seen moving from the end of time to its beginning, erasing entire historical ages in the process. |
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The apparent villain of the story presented in the miniseries was a character named [[Hank Hall|Extant]], formerly Hawk of the duo [[Hawk and Dove]] (and a onetime [[Teen Titans|Teen Titan]]). Extant had acquired temporal powers, using them to unravel the DC Universe's timeline. In a confrontation with members of the [[Justice Society of America]], Extant aged several of them (removing the effect that had kept these heroes of the 1940s vital into the 1990s), leaving them either feeble or dead. However, the true power behind the destruction of the universe — caused by temporal rifts of entropy — turned out to be [[Hal Jordan]], who had been widely regarded as the most distinguished [[Green Lantern]] in history. Calling himself [[Parallax (comics)|Parallax]], Jordan had gone insane, and was now trying to remake the universe, undoing the events which had caused his breakdown and his own murderous actions following it. The collective efforts of the other superheroes managed to stop Jordan/Parallax from imposing his vision of a new universe, and the timeline was recreated anew, albeit with subtle differences compared to the previous one, after the young hero [[Damage (DC Comics)|Damage]], with help from the other heroes, triggered a new [[Big Bang]]. Although Jordan was severely weakened from using so much energy he managed to survive when [[Green Arrow]] shot an arrow into his heart. |
The apparent villain of the story presented in the miniseries was a character named [[Hank Hall|Extant]], formerly Hawk of the duo [[Hawk and Dove]] (and a onetime [[Teen Titans|Teen Titan]]). Extant had acquired temporal powers, using them to unravel the DC Universe's timeline. In a confrontation with members of the [[Justice Society of America]], Extant aged several of them (removing the effect that had kept these heroes of the 1940s vital into the 1990s), leaving them either feeble or dead. However, the true power behind the destruction of the universe — caused by temporal rifts of entropy — turned out to be [[Hal Jordan]], who had been widely regarded as the most distinguished [[Green Lantern]] in history. Calling himself [[Parallax (comics)|Parallax]], Jordan had gone insane, and was now trying to remake the universe, undoing the events which had caused his breakdown and his own murderous actions following it. The collective efforts of the other superheroes managed to stop Jordan/Parallax from imposing his vision of a new universe, and the timeline was recreated anew, albeit with subtle differences compared to the previous one, after the young hero [[Damage (DC Comics)|Damage]], with help from the other heroes, triggered a new [[Big Bang]]. Although Jordan was severely weakened from using so much energy he managed to survive when [[Green Arrow]] shot an arrow into his heart. |
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==Aftermath== |
==Aftermath== |
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DC published a fold-out timeline inside the back cover of ''Zero Hour'' #0 which identified various events and key stories and when they occurred. Although fixed dates were given for the debut of historical characters such as the JSA, the debut of |
DC published a fold-out timeline inside the back cover of ''Zero Hour'' #0 which identified various events and key stories and when they occurred. Although fixed dates were given for the debut of historical characters such as the JSA, the debut of Superman was presented as "10 years ago" and subsequent dates were expressed the same way, keeping the calendar years of these events [[Floating timeline|fluid and relative to the present]] rather than fixed as a way to keep the characters at their present ages. |
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The ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' was completely [[Reboot (fiction)|rebooted]] following ''Zero Hour'', and the various Hawkman characters were merged into one. Each ongoing series at the time retold the origin of its heroes in a "#0" issue published in the subsequent weeks after the end of ''Zero Hour''. They resumed their previous numbering, or for new series went on to #1, the following month. |
The ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' was completely [[Reboot (fiction)|rebooted]] following ''Zero Hour'', and the various Hawkman characters were merged into one. Each ongoing series at the time retold the origin of its heroes in a "#0" issue published in the subsequent weeks after the end of ''Zero Hour''. They resumed their previous numbering, or for new series went on to #1, the following month. |
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DC later introduced a variation of the |
DC later introduced a variation of the pre-''Crisis'' [[Multiverse (DC Comics)|Multiverse]] concept in the form of [[Hypertime]]. In the end, this solution did not satisfy DC editors either, leading to the ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'' event in 2005, which eliminated the concept of Hypertime and brought back various pre-''Crisis'' concepts such as the Multiverse. |
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===Tie-in issues=== |
===Tie-in issues=== |
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===''Booster Gold'' #0 (2008)=== |
===''Booster Gold'' #0 (2008)=== |
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In 2008, fourteen years later, an issue of ''[[Booster Gold (comic book)|Booster Gold]]'' vol. 2 was published as "''Booster Gold'' #0", and was announced as an official ''Zero Hour'' [[tie-in]] by DC Comics. The issue used the same cover style as the previous tie-ins to the event, referring to the "''Crisis in Time''" and using the semi-metallic "fifth color" ink used on the original ''Zero Hour'' issues. Like the other tie-in issues, Booster's origin was explained as part of the adventure in the issue. The cover was a homage to ''Zero Hour'' #4, with [[Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)|Ted Kord]]'s mask replacing [[Wally West]]'s, alternate [[Blue Beetle]]s replacing the alternate Hawkmen, and the superheroes around the edges replaced by Booster in the center.<ref>''Booster Gold'' vol. 2 |
In 2008, fourteen years later, an issue of ''[[Booster Gold (comic book)|Booster Gold]]'' vol. 2 was published as "''Booster Gold'' #0", and was announced as an official ''Zero Hour'' [[tie-in]] by DC Comics. The issue used the same cover style as the previous tie-ins to the event, referring to the "''Crisis in Time''" and using the semi-metallic "fifth color" ink used on the original ''Zero Hour'' issues. Like the other tie-in issues, Booster's origin was explained as part of the adventure in the issue. The cover was a homage to ''Zero Hour'' #4, with [[Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)|Ted Kord]]'s mask replacing [[Wally West]]'s, alternate [[Blue Beetle]]s replacing the alternate Hawkmen, and the superheroes around the edges replaced by Booster in the center.<ref>''Booster Gold'' (vol. 2) #0 (February 2008)</ref> |
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==Collected editions== |
==Collected editions== |
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The series was collected into a [[Trade paperback (comics)|trade paperback]] titled ''Zero Hour: Crisis in Time'', which collects ''Showcase '94'' #8–9 (1994) and ''Zero Hour: Crisis in Time'' #4–0 (1994), in 1994.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jurgens |first1=Dan |title=Zero Hour: Crisis in Time |date=1994 |publisher=[[DC Comics]] |isbn=1563891840}}</ref> A trade paperback collecting the Batman tie-in issues, titled ''Batman: Zero Hour'', was released on June 7, 2017.<ref>{{cite book |title=Batman: Zero Hour |date=June 7, 2017 |publisher=DC Comics |isbn=9781401272586}}</ref> A trade paperback collecting the Superman tie-in issues, titled ''Superman: Zero Hour'', was released on June 20, 2018.<ref>{{cite book |title=Superman: Zero Hour |date=June 20, 2018 |publisher=DC Comics |isbn=1401280536}}</ref> A hardcover collection, which collected ''Showcase '94'' #8–9 (1994), ''Zero Hour: Crisis in Time'' #4–0 (1994), the ''Zero Hour Sampler'' and included a new foreword by Dan Jurgens, was released on May 8, 2018.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jurgens |first1=Dan |title=Zero Hour: Crisis in Time |date=May 8, 2018 |publisher=[[DC Comics]] |isbn=1401278515 |edition=Hardcover}}</ref> A 25th Anniversary Omnibus edition collecting the limited series, the prelude issues and the tie-in issues and included a foreword by Dan Jurgens, an afterword by series editor KC Carlson, and promotional and behind-the-scenes material, was released on October 23, 2019.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jurgens |first1=Dan |title=Zero Hour: Crisis in Time 25th Anniversary Omnibus |date=October 23, 2019 |publisher=DC Comics |isbn=9781401294366}}</ref> |
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The series was collected into a [[Trade paperback (comics)|trade paperback]] titled ''Zero Hour: Crisis in Time'' ({{ISBN|1563891840}}), which collects ''Showcase '94'' #8–9 (1994) and ''Zero Hour: Crisis in Time'' #4–0 (1994). It was re-released with a third printing in 2006. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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[[Category:1994 comics debuts]] |
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[[Category:Comics by Dan Jurgens]] |
[[Category:Comics by Dan Jurgens]] |
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[[Category:Crossover comics]] |
[[Category:Crossover comics]] |
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[[Category:DC Comics limited series]] |
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[[Category:Green Lantern storylines]] |
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Revision as of 17:01, 26 December 2019
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2009) |
| Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cover of Zero Hour: Crisis in Time trade paperback Art by Dan Jurgens | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule | Weekly |
| Format | Limited series |
| Publication date | September 1994 |
| No. of issues | 5 |
| Main character(s) | DC Universe |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Dan Jurgens Jerry Ordway |
| Written by | Dan Jurgens |
| Penciller(s) | Dan Jurgens |
| Inker(s) | Jerry Ordway |
| Letterer(s) | Gaspar Saladino |
| Colorist(s) | Gregory Wright |
| Editor(s) | K.C. Carlson |
| Collected editions | |
| Zero Hour: Crisis in Time | ISBN 1-56389-184-0 |
"Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!" is a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics in 1994, consisting of an eponymous five-issue central limited series and a number of tie-in books. In it, the former hero Hal Jordan, who had until then been a member of the intergalactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps, mad with grief after the destruction of his home town of Coast City (during the "Reign of the Supermen!" storyline) and having obtained immense power as Parallax, attempted to destroy and remake the DC Universe. The crossover involved almost every DC Universe monthly series published at the time. The issues of the series itself were numbered in reverse order, beginning with issue #4 and ending with #0. The series was written and penciled by Dan Jurgens, with inks by Jerry Ordway.[1] This series is noted for its motif of the DC Universe gradually "fading out" as events reached their climax.
Background
Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! was the follow-up to the Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series. This event served as an opportunity to reconcile some of the continuity problems left unaddressed by Crisis and other problems that had been unintentionally caused by it. In particular, the revised characters of the post-Crisis universe had been rolled out gradually, with DC continuing to feature the old versions until the new versions were launched.
Plot
 | This section needs an improved plot summary. (January 2013) |
The story begins when characters from alternate realities such as Alpha Centurion, an alternate version of Batgirl, and Triumph suddenly started appearing in the main DC Universe, to everybody's confusion; this happens because time is being somehow "compressed." Then a wave of "nothingness" is seen moving from the end of time to its beginning, erasing entire historical ages in the process.
The apparent villain of the story presented in the miniseries was a character named Extant, formerly Hawk of the duo Hawk and Dove (and a onetime Teen Titan). Extant had acquired temporal powers, using them to unravel the DC Universe's timeline. In a confrontation with members of the Justice Society of America, Extant aged several of them (removing the effect that had kept these heroes of the 1940s vital into the 1990s), leaving them either feeble or dead. However, the true power behind the destruction of the universe — caused by temporal rifts of entropy — turned out to be Hal Jordan, who had been widely regarded as the most distinguished Green Lantern in history. Calling himself Parallax, Jordan had gone insane, and was now trying to remake the universe, undoing the events which had caused his breakdown and his own murderous actions following it. The collective efforts of the other superheroes managed to stop Jordan/Parallax from imposing his vision of a new universe, and the timeline was recreated anew, albeit with subtle differences compared to the previous one, after the young hero Damage, with help from the other heroes, triggered a new Big Bang. Although Jordan was severely weakened from using so much energy he managed to survive when Green Arrow shot an arrow into his heart.
This "blanking out/recreation" of the DC Universe was reflected in many of the tie-in issues; near the end of several of the tie-ins, the world began to disappear, and the last page of the book (or in some cases, several pages) had been left blank.
Aftermath
DC published a fold-out timeline inside the back cover of Zero Hour #0 which identified various events and key stories and when they occurred. Although fixed dates were given for the debut of historical characters such as the JSA, the debut of Superman was presented as "10 years ago" and subsequent dates were expressed the same way, keeping the calendar years of these events fluid and relative to the present rather than fixed as a way to keep the characters at their present ages.
The Legion of Super-Heroes was completely rebooted following Zero Hour, and the various Hawkman characters were merged into one. Each ongoing series at the time retold the origin of its heroes in a "#0" issue published in the subsequent weeks after the end of Zero Hour. They resumed their previous numbering, or for new series went on to #1, the following month.
DC later introduced a variation of the pre-Crisis Multiverse concept in the form of Hypertime. In the end, this solution did not satisfy DC editors either, leading to the Infinite Crisis event in 2005, which eliminated the concept of Hypertime and brought back various pre-Crisis concepts such as the Multiverse.
Tie-in issues
- Action Comics #703
- Adventures of Superman #516
- Anima #7
- Batman #511
- Batman: Shadow of the Bat #31
- Catwoman vol. 2 #14
- Damage #6
- The Darkstars #24
- Detective Comics #678
- Flash vol. 2 #94
- Green Arrow vol. 2 #90
- Green Lantern vol. 3 #55
- Guy Gardner: Warrior #24
- Hawkman vol. 3 #13
- Justice League America #92
- Justice League International vol. 2 #68
- Justice League Task Force #16
- L.E.G.I.O.N. '94 #70
- Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 4 #61
- Legionnaires #18
- Outsiders vol. 2 #11
- Robin vol. 2 #10
- Showcase '94 #8-10 (prelude)
- Steel vol. 2 #8
- Superboy vol. 3 #8
- Superman vol. 2 #93
- Superman: The Man of Steel #37
- Team Titans #24
- Valor #23
- Comics Values Monthly #95
- Zero Hour Sampler
- Zero Hour: Crisis in Time Ashcan
- Zero: The Beginning of Tomorrow
Series ending with Zero Hour
- Team Titans (a spinoff of The New Titans)
- L.E.G.I.O.N. '94
- Valor
- Justice League International
Series rebooted during Zero Hour
- Legion of Super-Heroes and Legionnaires (after Zero Hour, both titles were treated as one bi-weekly series, much like the Superman books at the time)
Series launched following Zero Hour
- Extreme Justice
- Fate
- R.E.B.E.L.S. '94 (replacement for L.E.G.I.O.N. '94)
- Manhunter
- Primal Force
- Starman
- Xenobrood (miniseries)
Zero Month
"Zero Month" immediately followed with every DC Universe title published being numbered issue "#0", and featuring the slogan, "The Beginning of Tomorrow!".
- Batman #0
- Deathstroke: the Hunted #0
- Flash #0
- Legion of Super-Heroes #0
- Primal Force #0
- The Spectre #0
- Superboy #0
- Superman: The Man of Steel #0
- Wonder Woman #0
- Batman: Shadow of the Bat #0
- The Demon #0
- Green Lantern #0
- Hawkman #0
- Justice League America #0
- The New Titans #0
- Starman #0
- Superman #0
- Adventures of Superman #0
- Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #0
- Detective Comics #0
- Fate #0
- Gunfire #0
- Justice League Task Force #0
- Legionnaires #0
- Outsiders #0
- The Ray #0
- R.E.B.E.L.S.'94 #0
- Steel #0
- Xenobrood #0
- Action Comics #0
- Anima #0
- Aquaman #0
- Catwoman #0
- Damage #0
- The Darkstars #0
- Green Arrow #0
- Guy Gardner, Warrior #0
- Lobo #0
- Manhunter #0
- Robin #0
- Extreme Justice #0
- Booster Gold #0
Booster Gold #0 (2008)
In 2008, fourteen years later, an issue of Booster Gold vol. 2 was published as "Booster Gold #0", and was announced as an official Zero Hour tie-in by DC Comics. The issue used the same cover style as the previous tie-ins to the event, referring to the "Crisis in Time" and using the semi-metallic "fifth color" ink used on the original Zero Hour issues. Like the other tie-in issues, Booster's origin was explained as part of the adventure in the issue. The cover was a homage to Zero Hour #4, with Ted Kord's mask replacing Wally West's, alternate Blue Beetles replacing the alternate Hawkmen, and the superheroes around the edges replaced by Booster in the center.[2]
Collected editions
The series was collected into a trade paperback titled Zero Hour: Crisis in Time, which collects Showcase '94 #8–9 (1994) and Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #4–0 (1994), in 1994.[3] A trade paperback collecting the Batman tie-in issues, titled Batman: Zero Hour, was released on June 7, 2017.[4] A trade paperback collecting the Superman tie-in issues, titled Superman: Zero Hour, was released on June 20, 2018.[5] A hardcover collection, which collected Showcase '94 #8–9 (1994), Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #4–0 (1994), the Zero Hour Sampler and included a new foreword by Dan Jurgens, was released on May 8, 2018.[6] A 25th Anniversary Omnibus edition collecting the limited series, the prelude issues and the tie-in issues and included a foreword by Dan Jurgens, an afterword by series editor KC Carlson, and promotional and behind-the-scenes material, was released on October 23, 2019.[7]
References
- ^ Cowsill, Alan; Wallace, Daniel (2010). "1990s". In Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah (eds.). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 266. ISBN 9780756667429.
In DC's blockbuster Zero Hour, writer/artist Dan Jurgens and finisher Jerry Ordway crafted a five-issue story that began with issue #4, and counted backward to zero.
- ^ Booster Gold (vol. 2) #0 (February 2008)
- ^ Jurgens, Dan (1994). Zero Hour: Crisis in Time. DC Comics. ISBN 1563891840.
- ^ Batman: Zero Hour. DC Comics. June 7, 2017. ISBN 9781401272586.
- ^ Superman: Zero Hour. DC Comics. June 20, 2018. ISBN 1401280536.
- ^ Jurgens, Dan (May 8, 2018). Zero Hour: Crisis in Time (Hardcover ed.). DC Comics. ISBN 1401278515.
- ^ Jurgens, Dan (October 23, 2019). Zero Hour: Crisis in Time 25th Anniversary Omnibus. DC Comics. ISBN 9781401294366.