Chapter Summaries

Ultraman killed President Slade Wilson after Wilson weakened him with a special knife, then escaped as Ross mourned her father. Waller persuaded Ross to use Wilson’s death to build political support, and the televised footage and her defiant speech helped her gain voters as a possible successor.

• Ultraman considered fleeing to Krypton for its abundant Kryptonite, then attacked Wilson and threatened Ross.
• Wilson stabbed Ultraman with a mineral-coated knife that weakened his powers, but Ultraman killed Wilson before Ross wounded him with a bullet.
• Ultraman escaped the White House grounds as his powers returned, leaving Ross with her father’s body.
• Waller urged Ross to turn Wilson’s death into a political campaign, and Ross reluctantly agreed after considering the stakes.
• Washington News broadcast footage of Wilson’s resistance and Ross’s speech, revealing that Ultraman could be hurt and drawing voters to Ross.

Dane traveled to Hell to investigate the demon curse, after first collecting and binding a versatile Nth Metal to his divine power. He arrived at a civilized-looking Hell, where two demons told him about Princess Shali’s hotel for redeeming demons before attacking him with guns.

• Dane learned that Sinestro had uncovered the demon curse’s secret and found a way to rewrite its code, then prepared to test it in Hell.
• Dane collected molten Nth Metal from Hephaestus and shaped it into bracelets that could change states and forms.
• Dane saturated the bracelets with his divine power, binding the Nth Metal to himself, and agreed to bring Hephaestus the souls of Demon Kings if he found any.
• Circe opened a Portal beneath Dane, and he entered a Hell filled with demons and neon signs.
• Dane seized two demons who had mistaken him for a newcomer, and they explained that Princess Shali ran a hotel meant to send demons to Heaven.
• The two demons pulled out modified automatic guns and fired at Dane.

Dane, calling himself Shazam, arrived in Hell and met Charley Morningstar, Lucifer’s daughter, at her hotel. As Charley explained Hell’s inhabitants and rules, Dane learned that sinners were confined to the Pride Ring and could not be permanently killed by ordinary means.

• Dane killed two imps who shot him, crushed their guns, and entered a hotel to seek information.
• Dane met Angel and Charley Morningstar, then told Charley that he and Lucifer were enemies.
• Charley explained that Hell’s technology came from sinners and described its Fallen Angels, Native Demons, and sinner-born demons.
• Charley explained that sinner demons could be grievously injured but not permanently killed by conventional means, and that they were confined to the Pride Ring.
• Charley described Hell’s seven rings and began listing their capitals, including the Pride, Wrath, Gluttony, and Greed Rings.

Dane found Lucifer in Pentagram City and attacked the Nightmare Nightclub with a Thunder Dragon, drawing the attention of Hell’s demons and Demon Lords. Lucifer emerged unharmed, and Dane confronted him over his suspected role in the Parasite incident.

• Charley explained Hell’s rings and their native demons to Dane, who asked about Lucifer and learned that he still ran a bar in the human world.
• Charley called her mother and discovered Lucifer was at the Nightmare Nightclub, but Dane found the club and vanished before she could stop him.
• Charley, Vicky, and Angel Dust set out for the club as Dane’s Thunder Dragon appeared over Pentagram City and terrified Hell’s demons.
• Dane directed the Thunder Dragon to destroy the Nightmare Nightclub, and Lucifer emerged from the flames unharmed.
• Dane confronted Lucifer about the trouble he had caused in another world and accused him of meddling in the Parasite incident.

Dane failed to claim Hell itself from Lucifer, but sought control of the Greed Ring instead as Lucifer explained the limits on Hell’s authority. Meanwhile, Ross faced a worsening public-relations battle over President Wilson’s death and turned to Waller for help, who suggested she seek the Justice League’s support.

• Dane and Lucifer clashed over ownership of Hell until a greater power’s will stopped Dane from claiming it.
• Dane asked for the Greed Ring, and Lucifer warned that Mammon ruled it and that killing him would not make the native demons submit.
• Lucifer offered to show Dane around Hell while Dane considered how to take control of the Greed Ring.
• Ross’s rivals, King of Understanding and Sleep King, fueled conspiracy theories accusing her of causing Wilson’s death to seize the presidency.
• Ross’s team struggled to answer public doubts about why Ultraman spared her and how Wilson injured him with a small knife.
• Ross asked Waller for help, and Waller advised her to gain the Justice League’s support.

After Ultraman killed President Slade Wilson, Queen Super attacked the Antarctic Crime Syndicate base and killed several members, but Ultraman was not there. She headed to Demon Island, where she found Zatanna with an unfamiliar woman.

• Ross asked Waller for advice, and Waller urged her to apologize to the Justice League for the unauthorized disclosure that had helped Ultraman escape.
• Ultraman returned to his childhood farm in Smallville and uncovered the hidden spacecraft beneath it to seek fresh Kryptonite.
• Gypsy woke from a precognitive dream and warned the Crime Syndicate that Ultraman would not return; after learning he had killed Slade Wilson, the group tried to flee.
• Queen Super arrived at the Antarctic base, killed Lobo and Gypsy, then killed Steel Man and Elastic Man while Breakdance drowned in the icy water.
• Queen Super searched the base for information about Ultraman, found none, and flew to Demon Island to seek Dane; there she saw Zatanna with an unfamiliar woman.

Queen Super learned that Ultraman had escaped and might have left Earth, while Dane remained in Hell. There, Dane toured Pentagram City with Lucifer and chose Happy Hotel as a base for his plans to seize the Greed Ring and connect Hell to other worlds.

• Zatanna told Queen Super that Dane had gone to Hell, then alerted the Justice League after learning Ultraman had escaped prison and killed the U.S. president.
• Batman told the Justice League that Ultraman was likely to flee Earth in his spaceship, and Queen Super feared he would return to Krypton and become stronger.
• Lucifer showed Dane around Pentagram City, explained the annual Great Purge, and helped him understand Hell's customs and rules.
• Dane told Lucifer he wanted a base that could connect Hell to other worlds, and Lucifer agreed to let him use Happy Hotel despite Charley's objections.
• Lucifer revealed that Angel Dust had resumed sex work, prompting Vicky and Charley to confront him about breaking Happy Hotel's rules.
• Lucifer introduced Dane to Charley as a god who could persuade demons to ascend, while Dane considered using Hell as a buffer between two Earths.

Dane established a magical contract with Charley to work together, then learned that Sinestro had destroyed Oa with a bomb. The blast sent a flood of newly dead souls into the Pride Ring, where Dane caught Sinestro and began explaining Hell to him.

• Dane agreed to help Charley improve the hotel and establish a liaison between worlds, then sealed their partnership with a magical contract.
• On Oa, Sinestro used Justice League constructs to hold off the Power Ring users while he set off Dane's bomb, destroying the planet and killing its inhabitants.
• Dane received word of Sinestro's death and warned Charley that a massive Demon Tide was coming.
• A rain of newly dead sinners fell through the Pride Ring's sky, and Dane's demonic eye absorbed some of them.
• Dane caught Sinestro among the fallen souls, and Sinestro asked whether he was Shazam.
• Dane told Sinestro that he had arrived in Hell and explained where good people and sinners went after death.

Dane restored Sinestro in Hell, returned his Power Ring, and assigned him responsibility for controlling the newly arrived sinners and guiding them toward atonement. After observing the chaos and learning more about Hell, Dane decided its demons were worth saving and sent Sinestro to end the fighting, where the former ring-bearers recognized him and turned on him.

• Dane revealed that Sinestro was dead, returned Sinestro's Power Ring, and told him to oversee the sinners from Oa and encourage them to atone.
• The newly arrived former Power Ring Corps, freed slaves, and local demons clashed across the Pride Ring as the former ring-bearers fought over their missing rings.
• Dane watched the fighting from the Happy Hotel while gathering information about Hell and discovered that Native Demons could show humanlike emotions and provide positive emotional power.
• Dane told Charley that the demons were worth saving and ordered Sinestro to bring the chaos under control.
• Sinestro descended into the battlefield, spreading fear with yellow light, and the former ring-bearers recognized him and turned their attacks toward him.

Sinestro used Hunger Demons to punish the unruly sinners and spread chaos through the Pride Ring, prompting Lucifer to warn Dane about the disorder. Three powerful Sin Lords then confronted Dane at the Happy Hotel, where his overwhelming power forced them to negotiate.

• Sinestro tore Sin Demons apart and fed them to Hunger Demons, turning Dane’s punishment into a chaotic campaign against demons across the Pride Ring.
• Lucifer objected to the devastation, but Dane said the sinners would soon learn they could not defy him.
• Zestir, Camilla, and Vox arrived at the Happy Hotel, where Zestir controlled Angel and searched his memories.
• Dane’s demonic power suppressed the three Sin Lords and brought them inside, where he demanded to know their business.
• Zestir challenged Dane over the rampage outside, explaining that the Sin Lords had come to address the threat to their territory and businesses.

Dane defeated the Sin Lords and forced Camilla to answer his questions about their reasons for coming, then asked what they would offer for their lives. Meanwhile, Sin Demon unrest spread to the Gethia Family’s territory, where Stella demanded that Stolas deal with it.

• Dane admitted responsibility for releasing the sinners, then swiftly beheaded Zestir, Vox, and Camilla when the Demon Lords prepared to fight.
• Lucifer appeared, and Dane destroyed Vox’s head after Vox offered to do anything to survive, then restored Camilla and demonstrated his control over the Sin Lords.
• Camilla identified herself, Zestir, and Vox, and explained that they had come to find the yellow Sin Demon’s superior and stop the disorder in the Pride Ring.
• Dane asked Camilla what price she would pay to live, while Zestir remained only a head and Vox’s body twitched without one.
• The riot spread into the Gethia Family’s territory, and Stella berated Stolas while Octavia played a video game nearby.
• Stolas suggested hiring assassins to clear out the Sin Demons, and Stella mocked his relationship with a little imp.

Stolas hired Blitz and Immediate Murder Inc. to clear the Sin Demons gathered outside the Gethia family castle, while Stella left in anger over Stolas’s relationship with Blitz. Blitz’s team discovered the size of the crowd and tried to devise a way to divert the demons without fighting them all.

• Stella condemned Stolas for hiring Blitz and accused him of disgracing her, then stormed away through a Portal.
• Stolas called Blitz and commissioned Immediate Murder Inc. to handle the Sin Demons outside the castle.
• Blitz summoned Moxxie, Millie, and Loona, revealed that they would face Sin Demons, and showed Moxxie and Millie genuine Angel weapons.
• Blitz led the team through a Portal to the castle, where Moxxie and Millie found more than a hundred Sin Demons waiting outside.
• Blitz admitted he had accepted the deposit and sent Moxxie and Millie into the crowd with poison gas grenades and gas masks while he withdrew to a nearby high-rise.

Moxxie and Millie helped clear the Sin Demons from Gethia Castle but were chased through the city, while Blitz tried to get them to safety. At Happy Hotel, Dane defended the chaos as necessary for changing Hell’s order, leaving Charley ashamed over her failed reform efforts.

• Moxxie and Millie used chili powder grenades to ambush the Sin Demons outside Gethia Castle, then fled when the attack was discovered.
• Blitz stole a sports car and rescued Moxxie and Millie, but Sin Demons pursued them as Loona struggled to open a Portal to their location.
• Loona’s Portal sliced off Blitz’s car door and split a pursuing motorcyclist, so Blitz drove toward Happy Hotel for refuge.
• Dane told Lucifer that the three Sin Lords had submitted, and Lucifer praised Dane’s magic for restoring the injured demons.
• Charley confronted Dane about the destruction across Pentagram City, and Dane argued that Hell needed a new order before pointing out her failure to reform Angel Dust.

Blitz, Moxxie, and Millie were brought before Dane after Camilla stopped their car and slaughtered the pursuing sinners. When Charley recognized Blitz’s circus mark and learned of his connection to Fizzarolli, Dane saw a possible way to challenge Mammon’s influence and asked Blitz to account for his attempted break-in.

• Dane sent Camilla to stop the approaching sinners and bring the three imps inside.
• Camilla sliced apart Blitz’s car, drove off the pursuing sinners, and ordered Blitz, Moxxie, and Millie into the hotel.
• Blitz introduced himself to Charley and Dane, then panicked when Dane’s power overwhelmed him.
• Charley recognized Blitz’s circus symbol and recalled that Fizzarolli had survived the circus fire and now worked for Mammon.
• Dane questioned Blitz about his relationship with Fizzarolli and learned they had grown up together but had become enemies.
• Dane released Blitz and asked whether he understood the crime he had committed by driving toward the hotel.

Dane forced Blitz and IMP Company to investigate Fizzarolli’s relationship with the lord of the Lust Ring, binding Blitz’s name with a curse to ensure he obeyed. After Sinestro captured the sinners on Oa and Dane ordered them burned with the Flame of Fear, Dane brought Faora to Hell to discuss the Kryptonian infants and his plans for the technologically advanced Pride Ring.

• Dane gave Blitz the choice of death or taking a job, then ordered IMP Company to investigate Fizzarolli and the lord of the Lust Ring.
• Dane cursed Blitz’s true name so that he would forget it and eventually be erased from everyone’s memories if he abandoned or failed the mission.
• Blitz left the hotel with Moxxie and Millie, and they agreed to investigate Fizzarolli before heading for the Greed Ring.
• Dane explained his strong-arm tactics to Charley, while Sinestro reported that he had captured all the sinners on Oa and Dane ordered them burned with the Flame of Fear for three days.
• Dane brought Faora to Hell, learned that the Kryptonian embryos were developing normally, and discussed conquering the Pride Ring and compensating for its lack of sunlight.

Dane returned from Hell to Earth with Zatanna and Circe, leaving Diana behind to train the Amazons. He learned that nearly seven months had passed in their world and that Lois was pregnant, while Cortana reported recent trouble involving Starro and Lex Luthor.

• Dane assigned Faora to train newly arrived sinners in Hell and returned to Earth after hearing that Wilson was dead and Ultraman had escaped with the loot.
• Diana chose to stay on Demon Island and train the Amazons, while Zatanna and Circe accompanied Dane back through Pandora’s Box; Diana bound and carried off Queen Super when she tried to leave too.
• Dane, Zatanna, and Circe arrived at Justice Hall, where Cortana reported that the Birds of Prey and Suicide Squad had dealt with an incident in South America and Superman had stopped Lex Luthor from threatening Lois and her child.
• Dane learned that Lex was being held in an A.R.G.U.S. prison and that nearly seven months had passed since they left, much longer than the time that had passed in the other world.

Dane retrieved the Kryptonite Damian had taken from the Justice League and encountered a Barry Allen from another world in the Batcave. The Flash warned him about Superman and revealed that Lois’s death had driven Superman to tyranny, but Dane’s question about the Joker remained unanswered.

• Dane learned Lois was close to giving birth and discovered Damian had taken 500 grams of Kryptonite after learning of her pregnancy.
• Dane went to Wayne Manor, retrieved the Kryptonite from the Batcave, and began investigating Batman’s computer.
• A space-time disturbance brought an unfamiliar Barry Allen into the Batcave, and Dane used Pandora’s Box to keep him there.
• Barry warned Dane to beware of Superman and said Lois had died at the Joker’s hands.
• Barry revealed that Superman had accidentally killed Lois and their unborn child after the Joker used Scarecrow’s fear toxin to make him hallucinate.
• Dane asked what had happened to the Joker.

Dane learned that Darkseid had likely used the Anti-Life Equation to control Superman, while the Flash returned to his own world with news of a parallel Justice League. Batman considered asking them for help, but Superman’s approach forced the team to flee.

• Dane deduced that Darkseid had likely used the Anti-Life Equation to control Superman and make him more violent, and learned that Superman had killed Billy Batson.
• The Flash was swept back to his world and told Bruce Wayne that he had met Shazam and Dane in a parallel world.
• Barry suggested that the parallel Justice League might help save their world, while Bruce weighed the idea and the Joker mocked their plan.
• Cyborg warned Bruce and the Flash that Superman was coming, so Bruce ordered Barry to evacuate the Joker first.
• The Flash sped away with the Joker and returned, reporting that the Joker was vomiting nonstop.

Superman discovered evidence that Batman was trying to reach a parallel world and ordered his forces to find Batman and The Flash, hoping to find another Lois. Back in Dane’s world, Dane reunited with Harley, Poison Ivy, and Mera, giving gifts to the first two and promising to stay with Mera.

• The Flash evacuated Batman and Cyborg from the Batcave, destroyed its machinery, and escaped before Clark Kent arrived with Parademons.
• Superman recognized a fragment as a space-time stabilizer and concluded that Batman might be able to open a path to a parallel world where Lois was alive.
• Superman ordered the Parademons and Superman Guard Army to find Batman and The Flash alive as Apokolips forces ravaged Earth.
• Dane returned to Harley and Poison Ivy, gave Harley a hammer and Poison Ivy unfamiliar plant seeds, and spent three days with them.
• Dane traveled to Xebel, where Mera welcomed him, and he promised he would stay until she grew tired of him.

Lois dreamed of a ruined Metropolis and a grieving, hostile version of Superman mourning at a monument bearing her name, and Cortana determined the vision came from a parallel world. Lois chose to pursue the mystery despite Clark’s concerns, while Clark resolved to ask Dane whether the connection was safe.

• Dane gave Mera the Golden Trident, and its divine power merged with her magic.
• Lois dreamed she was a ghost in a devastated Metropolis, where a different Superman mourned beside a monument bearing her name and another name she could not read.
• Clark summoned Cortana, who examined Lois’s recent memories and confirmed the vision was not an ordinary dream but likely involved a parallel world.
• Cortana suggested the connection might be a quantum effect between counterparts and offered to sever it, but Lois refused because she wanted to uncover the truth.
• Clark worried about Lois and their baby and decided to consult Dane, while Cortana had already informed Dane about the incident.