Chapter Summaries

Dane and the others traced Deathstorm to Yellowstone Park, where the Wonder Family brought him the Quantum State Bomb and asked him to activate it. Deathstorm became absorbed in its quantum encryption, leaving the bomb’s fate unresolved.

• Dane told Ross that Deathstorm was at Yellowstone Park, and Wilson ordered Waller to seal off the area.
• The Wonder Family brought the Quantum State Bomb to Deathstorm because they could not disable its detonation sequence.
• Deathstorm examined the bomb and found its quantum encryption prevented him from observing its activation information.
• Deathstorm explained that his control over subatomic particles was limited by quantum uncertainty and the observer effect.
• A Captain Marvel asked Deathstorm whether he could solve the bomb’s activation problem.

Deathstorm learned the Quantum State Bomb could destroy Earth, escaped with it, and fought the Wonder Family until Dane intervened and calmed the Yellowstone supervolcano. After the Justice League captured the remaining attackers, Dane assigned the team to pursue other Crime Syndicate members and discussed the bomb and the threat from Oa.

• Deathstorm deciphered the Quantum State Bomb, refused to hand it over to the Wonder Family, and escaped their base with it.
• The Wonder Family pursued Deathstorm through Yellowstone, where their lightning attacks triggered an earthquake and threatened to awaken the supervolcano.
• Dane arrived with the Justice League and allies, rescued the young Captain Marvel from the crater, and cooled the magma while the others captured the Wonder Family and Deathstorm.
• Wonder Woman beheaded the old Captain Marvel after he continued resisting, and Dane returned after stabilizing the volcano.
• Zatanna told Dane that President Wilson had authorized the Justice League to act freely against the Crime Syndicate, so Dane sent the team to capture its members while Superwoman and Diana departed separately.
• Dane ordered Deathstorm and the two surviving Captain Marvels imprisoned, then showed Batman the shrunken, ten-ton Quantum State Bomb and raised the threat posed by Oa.

Dane and the Justice League planned to use Deathstorm’s Quantum State Bomb against Oa after scouting for civilians, while Waller confronted Martian’s defiance and weighed whether to hand the Crime Syndicate over to the League. Slade Joseph Wilson then visited Ultraman’s sunlit prison and began tormenting him over the eye he had lost.

• Red Hood failed to infiltrate the Quantum State Bomb, and Dane explained that Deathstorm had compressed its atoms to make the bomb nearly impenetrable.
• Dane, Batman, and Red Hood proposed taking the bomb to Oa, with Batman insisting they first confirm that no civilians or innocents were there; Dane said he would ask Sinestro, and Deathstorm woke as they offered him a job.
• Martian broke his restraints and taunted Waller, but he stayed inside his cell after she warned him the Justice League would come for him if he escaped.
• Waller concluded that the United States could not control the metahumans and struggled with whether to surrender the Crime Syndicate prisoners to the Justice League.
• Slade Joseph Wilson entered Ultraman’s sunlit prison, forced him to face the lights, and reminded him that Ultraman had cost him an eye.

Wilson beat Ultraman to weaken him and boost his own public standing, while the Justice League hunted down the Crime Syndicate’s remaining members. Dane captured Sea Overlord and returned to Demon Island, where he went to see Hephaestus about reforging his Nth Metal armor.

• Wilson had Ultraman beaten under sun lamps, recorded the assault, and planned to use the footage to secure another term as president.
• The Justice League and military captured supervillains left behind after the Crime Syndicate leaders were taken down.
• Dane searched Kandahar for magical records and the Rock of Eternity, then spotted Sea Overlord and knocked him unconscious.
• Dane brought Sea Overlord and his Golden Trident to Demon Island, ordering the Amazons to imprison him away from water.
• Dane entered Hephaestus’s Volcano Palace and challenged the god of craftsmen to reforge his Nth Metal armor.

Dane collected a reforged warhammer for Harley, then searched the Amazon library for a way into Hell and discovered Circe, whose soul had been trapped there for a thousand years. Circe showed him a ritual for reaching Hell that required sacrificing a living person, and Dane learned its success would be more certain if the victim were a holy servant guilty of heinous crimes.

• Hephaestus gave Dane the reforged warhammer made from Ares's battle axe, and Dane blessed it with lightning despite blasting a hole through the workshop's ceiling.
• Dane returned to Amazon Palace City and asked Hippolyta to take him to the library so he could find a way to reach Hell.
• Dane used his special vision to see Circe's soul, and she explained that Hera had trapped her in the library after her body was destroyed during the war of the gods.
• Circe warned Dane that his many powers were chaotic and could conflict, then confirmed she had read every book in the library.
• Circe showed Dane an incantation and ritual for entering Hell that required sacrificing a living life, with a holy servant guilty of heinous crimes offering the greatest chance of success.

Dane freed Circe from Hera’s power so she could help him with a ritual, while Vixen and Kimiyo defeated their Crime Syndicate counterparts. As news of the Crime Syndicate’s fall drove fugitives into hiding, Diana confronted Ross over the announcement.

• Dane removed Hera’s divine power from Circe, freeing her to leave the library and offer her magic to help him.
• Vixen defeated Fox Girl by countering her animal transformations, while Kimiyo overcame Light Girl with a surge of light energy.
• The Justice League captured more Crime Syndicate members, but reports that the organization had fallen prompted others to flee and avoid capture.
• Federal interests secretly spread the news to let some criminals escape, while President Wilson supported the announcement to boost his campaign.
• Diana angrily questioned Ross at the White House for announcing the Crime Syndicate’s fall before the remaining criminals had been caught.

Diana confronted Rose over President Wilson’s premature release of information, while the remaining Crime Syndicate members planned to rescue Ultraman. Dane, Zatanna, and Circe continued studying a Hell ritual, and the Flash and Plastic Man accepted help from the Rogues in tracking fugitives.

• Diana accused Rose of authorizing the leak, but Rose defended her father’s decision and urged the Justice League to focus on the remaining criminals.
• The Crime Syndicate survivors regrouped in Antarctica and chose to rescue Ultraman, using Kryptonite and information gleaned from Wilson’s video to locate him.
• Dane, Zatanna, and Circe studied a ritual that could locate Hell, but its use required a sacrifice and risked severe magical retaliation.
• Zatanna returned Pandora’s Box to Demon Island, leaving the Justice League with weaker communications and mobility as it hunted fugitives.
• Captain Cold and the Rogues helped the Flash and Plastic Man locate criminals, while Barry wondered whether he should arrest the Rogues afterward.

After Joker's Gang split into rival factions, Red Hood and Dick tracked Penguin to his theater hideout. Red Hood subdued Penguin but stopped when Penguin's allies threatened Dick in a hall filled with explosive sleeping gas.

• Penguin split from Bane's anarchist faction and formed the Penguin Gang, while Catwoman's neutral group failed to reconcile the sides.
• Red Hood shot a knife-wielding attacker, then learned from Dick that Penguin's forces were hunting him and wanted Batman to leave Gotham.
• Red Hood and Dick went after Penguin at the Voxhall Opera Chamber Music Center, where Penguin watched The Count of Monte Cristo.
• Red Hood choked Penguin while Dick discovered too late that the theater was filled with sleeping gas.
• Penguin's ally threatened Dick's life, so Red Hood released Penguin after his suit identified the gas as highly flammable and explosive.

Red Hood accepted Penguin’s offer to help destroy the Cobblepot family and planned to infiltrate their gathering in three days, while Batman rejected Thomas Wayne Jr.’s attempt to recruit him to remake Gotham. The chapter then shifted to Sector 0, where Sinestro watched Oa and considered the Anti-Matter Universe’s history of civilizations destroyed by civil war.

• Penguin proposed working with Red Hood to destroy the Cobblepot family, and Red Hood agreed to attend their gathering in three days.
• Red Hood left the theater with Dick, and Penguin burned the opera house to kill the witnesses to their conversation.
• Red Hood decided Penguin would die at the gathering and planned to use Thomas Wayne Jr. to get inside.
• Batman refused Thomas Wayne Jr.’s attempt to persuade him to join his plan, saying that although they were alike, they were different.
• Sinestro watched Oa from Sector 0 and learned that most Power Ring wielders had no interest in joining its campaign.
• The narration described how civil wars had destroyed Krypton and many other civilizations in the Anti-Matter Universe.

Sinestro told Shazam how Oa’s Power Ring Corps had destroyed his family and homeworld, and revealed his plan to lure the remaining rings back to Oa with Hal Jordan’s recharge-free ring before destroying the planet. He asked Dane for the Quantum State Bomb, and Dane demanded to know why as Sinestro began explaining his grudge.

• Sinestro recalled how Oa’s Power Ring Corps had killed his wife and daughter, tortured him, and prompted him to attack the Guardians and escape with the ring-manufacturing method.
• Sinestro planned to use Hal Jordan’s Supreme Power Ring as bait to gather the Power Rings on Oa, then destroy the planet with the Quantum State Bomb.
• Sinestro traveled to Earth and asked Dane for the bomb, saying he wanted to blow up Oa.
• Dane remembered that Batman had opposed having him carry out the mission and had considered other candidates, including Queen Super and Sinestro.
• Dane asked Sinestro why he wanted to destroy Oa, and Sinestro began revealing the memories behind his hatred.

Dane helped Sinestro secure Hal's cooperation with his plan to destroy Oa, while the Crime Syndicate's remnants launched a prison break to free Ultraman. Ultraman regained his strength with Kryptonite, and Red Arrow began to fear the rescue had been a mistake.

• Dane questioned Sinestro about his plan to lure the Power Rings to Oa and destroy the Central Power Battery, then arranged for Hal to give Sinestro the Supreme Power Ring.
• Dane told Zatanna and Circe that they needed to hurry because they might soon need Hell.
• Red Arrow and Black Canary coordinated the remnants' prison break while Halo and Black Canary's counterpart distracted Green Lantern; Hal discovered Halo's light powers could be reflected back at her.
• The remnants attacked the super-prison, and Gypsy passed through Ultraman's cell door with Kryptonite.
• Ultraman crushed and inhaled the Kryptonite, regained his strength, and destroyed the prison's sun lamps; Red Arrow then admitted he had a bad feeling about their choice.

Ultraman killed Red Arrow, forced the Crime Syndicate to slaughter everyone in the super-prison, and headed for Antarctica to recover and plan against Shazam. In Central City, Barry defeated Observer and rushed to Iris, who had already figured out that he was The Flash because the Confusion Spell had stopped working.

• Ultraman emerged from his cell, killed Red Arrow with Heat Vision, and ordered the Crime Syndicate to enslave mortals and kill their opponents.
• Lobo and the other Crime Syndicate members agreed to Ultraman’s new policy, then killed everyone in the prison and left for Antarctica.
• The Flash encountered Observer, whose power briefly made him want to help her, but Kid Flash broke her hold by calling Iris.
• Barry regained control, taped Observer up, and left her in a prison cell before racing to Iris’s home.
• Iris suspected Barry was The Flash after noticing the marks from his sudden arrival, and Barry agreed when Kid Flash prompted him.
• The chapter revealed that the Confusion Spell had failed, allowing Iris to deduce Barry’s identity from his lateness and The Flash’s appearances.

Barry kept his secret from Iris while Green Lantern fought Halo and Black Canary, then discovered the super-prison had been emptied and its guards killed. Sinestro took Dane’s bomb to destroy Oa, forgetting to report Ultraman’s escape, while President Wilson ordered Waller to conceal the escape until after the election.

• Iris understood that Barry was The Flash, helped protect his identity, and secretly enjoyed his excuses for arriving late.
• Green Lantern defeated Halo and Black Canary, brought them to the super-prison, and found the prisoners and guards dead; Waller warned him that Ultraman had escaped.
• Sinestro retrieved the Power Ring from Hal and received Dane’s Quantum State Bomb and detonator, while Dane linked Sinestro’s Yellow Ring to a Green Lantern Ring.
• Sinestro flew toward space to attack Oa, then remembered he had forgotten to tell Dane that Ultraman had escaped.
• Waller told President Wilson about Ultraman’s escape, and Wilson ordered her to suppress the news until after the election.
• Waller agreed to Wilson’s demand and cursed him furiously after ending the call.

Waller considered how the government could contain Ultraman while he remained weakened. In Gotham, Jason Todd and Dick attended Penguin’s succession banquet, where Penguin revealed his plan to seize power and the hall plunged into darkness as Red Hood prepared to attack.

• Waller reasoned that the Justice League and Shazam would monitor Ultraman, and she planned to keep him from finding Kryptonite while warning President Wilson and Ross to stay alert.
• Jason attended the Cobblepot banquet as Thomas Wayne Jr.’s adopted son, while Dick posed as Thomas and heard that the Elliot family’s Thomas had become Hush.
• Old Cobblepot signed the succession papers and named Penguin the new head of the Cobblepot family despite the family members’ open hostility.
• Penguin locked the banquet hall and declared that Gotham’s ruling families had held power long enough, then concealed security personnel surrounded him.
• The lights went out, and Red Hood used his combat suit’s infrared vision to spot men shielding themselves with female companions before Jason fired at one of them.

Red Hood and Talon slaughtered the capitalists gathered at the venue, while Penguin tried to use the police to escape being killed. Batman stopped Red Hood from shooting Penguin, and the chapter revealed that Penguin’s gang and Riddler had attacked the mercenaries outside.

• Red Hood and Talon killed the armed guests and guards as the venue erupted into gunfire.
• Penguin admitted his revenge against the Cobblepots and shot at one of them with his umbrella.
• Red Hood captured a suspicious man carrying a pinhole camera and continued killing the targets on the list.
• Red Hood and Talon confronted Penguin, but armed police stormed in before Red Hood could shoot him.
• Batman cut Red Hood’s gun in half with a batarang and said Penguin and his accomplices would go to prison.
• Earlier, Penguin’s gang had ambushed the mercenaries outside while Riddler triggered explosions in their cars.

Batman defeated the Penguin Gang outside the venue and arrived in time to arrest Penguin after the battle inside. Red Hood and Dick uncovered that their captive was Tim Drake, whose past and ties to Owlman drew Batman’s attention.

• Deadshot spotted Batman outside the venue and shot at him, but Batman leaped into the Penguin Gang and swiftly incapacitated Riddler, Two-Face, Deadshot, Scarecrow, and the other gunmen.
• Batman confirmed the outside was clear, returned to the venue, and watched Penguin surrender to the police while warning him that he was not indispensable.
• Batman confronted Red Hood over the headless corpses, but Red Hood ignored him and brought forward the man he had captured.
• Dick identified the captive’s invitation as forged, and Batman found records naming him Timothy Jackson Drake, a private detective; Tim introduced himself as Tim Drake and recognized Dick as a Talon.
• Tim provoked Red Hood by identifying him as Dick’s adopted brother, and Red Hood threatened him before Batman sent the officers away.
• Batman recognized Tim as a brave, perceptive young man who had been an alternate target for Owlman and learned that Tim’s parents had later been killed after witnessing the Court of Owls at work.

Sinestro used the Supreme Power Ring to launch an attack on Oa, hoping to destroy the Central Power Battery and force the scattered Power Ring wielders to return. He slaughtered the defenders and faced a growing swarm of reinforcements, who feared his reputation.

• Sinestro decided that destroying Oa’s Central Power Battery would draw Power Ring wielders back from across the universe.
• Sinestro put on the Supreme Power Ring, whose green energy overwhelmed his Yellow Power Ring, and flew toward Oa.
• Sinestro killed the guarding Power Ring wielders and destroyed a captured ring as the survivors raised the alarm and fled.
• Sinestro manifested creatures from Korugar to slaughter fleeing wielders and their reinforcements.
• More Power Ring wielders poured out of Oa, and the older ones recognized Sinestro while the newcomers panicked at his notorious reputation.

Sinestro destroyed Oa’s Central Power Battery and revealed that he possessed the Supreme Power Ring, prompting the Power Rings to return and prepare to fight him. On Earth, Ultraman recovered his strength and decided to free Night Owl so they could use his knowledge to travel to another universe.

• Sinestro used the Supreme Power Ring to overwhelm Kilowog, destroy the Central Power Battery, and leave Oa while warning the Power Rings that he would return.
• Kilowog told the gathered Power Rings about Sinestro’s two rings, and they recognized the second as the Supreme Power Ring.
• Kilowog persuaded the Power Rings to return to Oa, both to confront Sinestro and to seek a way to preserve their power and the planet.
• Sinestro watched the Power Rings gather on Oa, pleased that his plan was drawing them together.
• Ultraman used the Antarctic base’s Kryptonite supplies to regain much of his strength and decided to escape to the Justice League’s universe.
• Ultraman saw that Night Owl was under house arrest at Wayne Manor and chose to rescue him, believing he needed Night Owl’s help to travel between universes.

Ultraman broke into Wayne Manor to recruit Night Owl and proposed invading the Justice League’s world, but Batman ambushed him with hidden sun lamps and drove him off. Batman drugged Night Owl and planned to move him to a private prison, while Ultraman fled seeking more Kryptonite.

• Ultraman left the Antarctic base and broke into Wayne Manor, where he freed Night Owl from his room.
• Ultraman proposed invading the Justice League’s world, and Night Owl explained that they needed Pandora’s Box and would have no safe return route while the League possessed it.
• Batman arrived after his warning system alerted him to the intrusion, activated disguised sun lamps, and attacked Ultraman in a White Bat suit.
• Ultraman secretly inhaled Kryptonite but fled through the ceiling instead of continuing to fight Batman.
• Night Owl explained that Ultraman always ran from danger, and Batman drugged him before arranging to transfer him to a Wayne family prison.
• Ultraman escaped into the sky and decided to find the Kryptonite Wilson had hidden.

Ultraman attacked the White House to force Slade Wilson to reveal where the confiscated Kryptonite was. Rose told him it was on Demon Island, leaving Ultraman with no clear way to reach the island or defeat Shazam.

• Ultraman waited until night, then flew to Washington after using the last of his Kryptonite powder to restore his strength.
• As Wilson’s approval ratings collapsed over rumors that Ultraman had escaped, his staff reused old footage, worsening the public backlash.
• Ultraman cut power to the White House, broke through its dome, and confronted Wilson while protesters fled.
• Ultraman crushed Wilson’s jaw and killed or gravely injured the guards when they tried to intervene.
• Ultraman threatened Rose, and she revealed that Shazam had taken the Kryptonite to Demon Island.
• Ultraman realized he could neither locate Demon Island nor defeat Shazam, and recalled considering using Queen Super’s Lasso of Submission against him.