Superman Comic Books

ZERO HOUR FAQ

Frequently-Asked Questions about Zero Hour: Crisis in Time
Version 3.11 (February 2006)

INTRODUCTION:

This FAQ gives comic-book readers an introduction to the events surrounding Zero Hour: Crisis in Time. This FAQ tries to keep new readers from wondering about the background information. Many of the time-manipulations involved with Zero Hour are quite complex, and this FAQ only serves to provide an introduction and enough information for readers to better understand the stories. In contrast to the bedlam leading up to this Crisis in Time, DC tried to make the Zero Hour story itself easily understood by all readers. This FAQ, however, should help readers gain further appreciation for the many story elements brought together for this momentous occasion.

READING SUGGESTIONS:

Much of the time-travel and alternate realities leading up to Zero Hour can be quite confusing. New and casual comics readers may be baffled rather than enlightened by reading this entire FAQ. Thus, I suggest that newcomers to the DC Universe read the following questions first: Q1, Q19, Q26, Q27, and Q28. Skim the other questions and read them as the appropriate events and characters are mentioned in Zero Hour and related comics. Questions relevant to the first week of Zero Hour include Q3, Q6, Q13, Q15, Q21, and Q25. Additional questions relevant to week two include Q4, Q11 and Q12. Week three questions include Q17. Additional questions for week four include Q5, Q7, Q9, Q14, and Q16. Long-time DC readers are less likely to be confused by reading the entire FAQ. The following questions are likely to lead to confusion for new readers, though this confusion is representative of the need for the Crisis in Time: Q2 and Q20

TERMINOLOGY:

"Comic" means comic book. ALL CAPS are used in lieu of italics to indicate a title; a "title" is a series of comics under the same published title (e.g., ACTION COMICS). DCU is an acronym for "DC Universe."

LEGAL DISCLAIMER:

Most characters mentioned herein are trademarks of DC Comics. Mention of these characters in this document is without permission of DC Comics, but said use is not intended to challenge DC's trademark rights or copyrights. Readers who want to learn more about the characters and events described herein are encouraged to purchase the comic books. The author strongly suggests that this document be distributed free of charge.

AUTHORSHIP:

This FAQ was compiled by David T. Chappell. It is based primarily on his memory of DC stories with the assistance of various comics and books that he possesses. This FAQ also incorporates suggestions and passages by various readers. Comments, suggestions, and corrections may be sent via e-mail to Steve Younis. In addition, special thanks go to the following contributors:
Ken Arromdee
Doug Atkinson
Mark Billian
Andy Crispino
Daniel Cruz Ramirez
Richard F. Dutt
Thomas Y. Galloway
Chris M. Gumprich
Karsten A. Loepelmann
David Markowitz
Dave Schaumann
Aaron Michael Severson
Rik Spruitenburg
Peter John Williams

Portions of this FAQ are taken (with permission) from the Legion of Super-Heroes FAQ (by Doug Atkinson) and the rec.arts.comics FAQ (by Thomas Galloway). The r.a.c. FAQ is posted each month to rec.arts.comics.info as well as a weekly post to all r.a.c. newsgroups as to how to obtain it by FTP and e-mail. In addition to Zero Hour, it has much more information about other commonly asked questions, r.a.c. customs, and general nettiquette and comics net.resources.

AVAILABILITY:

This FAQ can be found on the World Wide Web at the Superman Homepage at http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/comics-zerohour.html. Permission is granted to distribute the FAQ in its entirety and without modification as long as such is done without charge. For other use beyond that appropriate for using other resource material, please contact the author for prior permission.

CONTENTS:


I. QUESTIONS (+ revised question, * new question since last version)


A. CRISIS BACKGROUND
Q1: What was the Crisis (Crisis on Infinite Earths) ?
+ Q2: What continuity problems were introduced by the Crisis?


B. CHARACTER BACKGROUNDS (in rough chronological order)
Q3: Who is Vandal Savage?
Q4: Who are the JSA (Justice Society of America) ?
Q5: Who is Hal Jordan (Parallax) ?
Q6: Who are the New Gods?
Q7: Who are the Time Foes?
Q8: Who is Rip Hunter?
Q9: Who is Booster Gold?
Q10: What was the Armageddon (Armageddon 2001) ?
Q11: Who is Monarch?
Q12: Is Monarch still alive?
Q13: Who is Waverider?
Q14: Who is Matthew Ryder?
Q15: Who are the Linear Men?
Q16: Who are the members of the Linear Men?
Q17: Who are the Team Titans?
+ Q18: Who is Valor?
Q19: Who are the Legion of Super-Heroes (LSH) ?
Q20: What are the various alternate realities according to the LSH?
Q21: Who is the Time Trapper?
Q22: Who is Glorith?
Q23: Who is Mordru?
Q24: Who is the Infinite Man?
Q25: Who is Abra Kadabra?
Q26: Who is Extant?


C. ZERO HOUR
Q27: What is Zero Hour (Crisis in Time) ?
Q28: What is Zero Month?
Q29: What are the parallels between the Crisis on Infinite Earths and the Crisis in Time?
+ Q30: What were the aftereffects of Zero Hour?


II. LIST OF MAJOR CHARACTER COMIC APPEARANCES


LINEAR MEN
MONARCH

III. OFFICIAL ZERO HOUR COMIC LIST


LEAD-IN STORIES
MINI-SERIES and TIE-IN ISSUES
ZERO MONTH
ZERO HOUR ìSEQUELî

************************** *** PART I: QUESTIONS *** **************************

The questions below are presented in rough "chronological" order.

CRISIS BACKGROUND

Q1: What was the Crisis? A1: The Crisis on Infinite Earths was a major event in DC stories. In 1985, the 50th anniversary of DC Comics was highlighted by a comic-book maxi-series, CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, which included all of DC's heroes and also had crossovers in most DC titles.
Prior to the Crisis, DC explained the existence of many heroes in different times by having multiple universes. On Earth-1, for example, all the major heroes were in their prime in modern times, whereas the Earth-2 heroes were in their prime during the 1940s. This explained how Superman stories from both WWII and today show him at roughly the same age.
In the Crisis on Infinite Earths, an evil force (the Anti-Monitor) tried to destroy the multiverse, but a good force (the Monitor) saved five universes while the major heroes battled the Anti-Monitor. During the Crisis, the skies turned red, and the Anti-Monitor's shadow demons followed his evil will. The Earths were in temporal flux as pockets of the past, present, and future crossed together. Dinosaurs roamed the 20th century, and humans from various eras found themselves transported through time. Finally, a time travel trip back to the dawn of time went wrong, and the "Big Bang" was altered, the multiverse never coming to be. Only one universe formed, affecting the flow of history from the dawn of time down to the modern day. Several heroes, including the second Flash (Barry Allen), lost their lives to defeat the Anti-Monitor.
Afterwards, everyone in the universe forgot about the events of the Crisis as they'd originally unfolded, a new version of the events now being remembered. From that point on, everything proceeded as though there had always been only one universe, one Earth. In the modern story, the one and only Superman arrived on Earth a few decades ago, and other heroes (mystery men) existed during WWII. The entire Crisis story is much more detailed than presented here, and interested readers are encouraged to read other Internet Crisis discussions or read the comic books. The Crisis affected some characters (e.g., Superman, Wonder Woman) strongly, while others (e.g., Batman) remained mostly unchanged.

Q2: What continuity problems were introduced by the Crisis? A2: One major question is who remembers the Crisis. Immediately afterwards, all heroes from the battle at the Dawn of Time recalled the pre-Crisis universe, but they eventually forgot everything. In the end, the few characters who remember everything are the Psycho-Pirate, Pariah, and the Linear Men (see Q15).
[From the rec.arts.comics FAQ by Thomas Galloway:]
The "Crisis" effectively revamped the entire DC Universe by merging several universes (containing the various DC characters) into a single universe (whose history is still somewhat unclear in parts). The Crisis was used as an opportunity to change DC history retroactively, including the remaking of several main DC characters. Thus people refer to the "post- Crisis" Superman, Wonder Woman, etc., as distinct from the "pre-Crisis" versions who existed on "Earth-1" or "Earth-2."
The confusion *really* begins because the revamping and "retconning" didn't all take place in the Crisis limited series itself, nor in the comics immediately after then. If DC had simply started all their series over from scratch, thing would have been pretty straightforward. Instead, they declared the Pre-Crisis history to be implicitly intact, until and unless they could explicitly create the new, post-Crisis versions of characters and histories.
Thus, new changes are still being made in titles today, more than half a decade later. For example, the "old" Hawkman appeared in the "new" Justice League. Then Timothy Truman began writing HAWKWORLD, which retconned Hawkman's character; among other changes, Hawkman "now" arrived on Earth much later. *So*, the Hawkman who appeared in the new Justice League comic (call him the Silver Age Hawkman, or the pre-Crisis Hawkman) "now" (in real world time) "no longer exists, and never has" (within current DC continuity). Then the creators realized the problem, so they said that most of the Silver Age Hawkman appearances in JLA were actually by the Golden Age Hawkman, and a new Hawkman was created whose purpose was to satisfy those few JLA appearances made after the GA Hawkman was known to have been MIA.
Confused yet? Suffice it to say, the way DC handled the Crisis and its aftermath confuses *lots* of readers and provides a perennial topic of discussion on r.a.c.misc. Zero Hour (see Q27) is said to be an attempt to "fix" problems caused by Crisis.
Zero Hour is supposed to "fix" Crisis continuity problems, and writer Dan Jurgens announced that part of the McGuffin for Zero Hour is that Crisis actually didn't end, and all continuity problems since have been symptoms of this. It's yet another retcon, but it at least partially works.

CHARACTER BACKGROUNDS

Q3: Who is Vandal Savage? A3: Vandal Savage, the Immortal, is a recurrent villain with selfish, world- conquering motives. He was a barbarian born in prehistoric days. Exposure to a strange meteor granted him immortality. Over the thousands of years of his life, Vandal has often subtly influenced the history of mankind.
The TIME MASTERS series explained that Vandal formed a vast international conspiracy called the Illuminati. Rip Hunter (see Q8) became convinced that the Illuminati was responsible for a nuclear war in the mid- 21st century. Hunter set out to thwart the Illuminati's plans and assembled a team of volunteers to use his time travel methods, but they failed to stop Vandal and the Illuminati. Savage has also been a longtime foe of the JSA (see Q4) as well as various modern-age heroes.
Vandal Savage has appeared in multiple Zero Hour lead-in stories, and he plays a minor role in Zero Hour itself. While not directly involved in the space-time continuum, Vandal's immortality makes him a different sort of time traveler.

Q4: Who are the JSA? A4: The Justice Society of America is the first superhero team. They appeared in ALL-STAR COMICS in the Golden Age of comics and returned in the Silver Age as Earth-2 characters often appearing in Justice League crossovers. After the Crisis (see Q1), they were sent into limbo in the LAST DAYS OF THE JUSTICE SOCIETY Special; they came back in ARMAGEDDON: INFERNO #3 (see Q10). The JSA briefly returned to active duty in a 1991 mini-series and a short-lived 1992 regular series.
The Justice Society's history and continuity are intimately tied to the World War II era. Because comic book time passes slowly compared to real time, the start of the history of Silver Age and modern characters keeps getting pushed forward, while the JSA remains tied to the 1940s. By now, the JSA members, compared to newer characters, are so old that the age difference has become a continuity problem. A partial attempt to solve the age problem was made in ALL-STAR SQUADRON Annual #3 in the 1980s, which had the JSA "absorb time" from a villain in order to give them a slower aging rate.
Members of the JSA include the Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Dr. Fate (Kent Nelson), Hawkman and Hawkgirl (Carter & Shiera Hall), Wildcat (Ted Grant), Hourman (Rex Tyler), Johnny Thunder, Starman (Ted Knight), the Sandman (Wesley Dodds), Dr. Mid-Nite (Charles McNider), Atom (Al Pratt), and the Spectre (Jim Corrigan). In several cases, later Silver Age heroes took the names of the original JSA heroes
Zero Hour dealt with the JSA "with some degree of finality." Several heroes died battling Extant, and the rest at least semi-retired. The Atom, Hourman, and Dr. Midnight are "Fallen . . . but never forgotten." Jay Garrick continues to advise the modern Flash. Though Alan Scott's Green Lantern ring was destroyed in Zero Hour, he learned that the magic of the Starheart still flows within him, and he has taken on the title of Sentinel (SHOWCASE '95 #1, Jan 95). Dr. Fate was destroyed, but his power passed on to the new Fate (see FATE #0). The Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl were absorbed into the modern Hawkman. The Spectre is the only member of the JSA who is as active now as he was in the 1940s. Johnny Thunder has forgotten how to summon his thunderbolt, and the other heroes have retired permanently.

Q5: Who is Hal Jordan? A5: A former Green Lantern (GL) of Earth, Hal Jordan was one of the founding members of the Justice League of America. A dying alien named Abin Sur passed on his GL ring to test pilot Hal Jordan. After using the ring's powers to fight crime on Earth--especially in his hometown of Coast City, California--he learned of the Guardians of the Universe who had created the Green Lanterns to be intergalactic peace officers. For years, Hal served as the Green Lantern of sector 2814 and was eventually recognized as the greatest of the Green Lanterns.
After the destruction of Coast City in the "Reign of the Supermen" story line, things began to drastically change for Hal. He tried to use his GL ring to bring back the dead, but when the Guardians objected, Hal raced to their home planet of Oa to confront them. As revealed in the "Emerald Twilight" and "Emerald Fallout" stories (from GREEN LANTERN and GUY GARDNER: WARRIOR, respectively), the crazed Hal Jordan killed many Green Lanterns and the Guardians as well. Hal now possesses all the energy of the Guardians and the main power battery, and he has taken the name Parallax. His ultimate plan is to bring back Coast City by remaking the universe.

Q6: Who are the New Gods? A6: The New Gods are a race of super-human beings that are the virtual descendants of the Olympian ("old") gods. Highfather leads the "good" New Gods from the paradise planet New Genesis, and Darkseid rules the "evil" New Gods on the hellish world of Apokolips. Both worlds are in an alternate dimension accessible only via Boom Tubes and similar methods.
Darkseid is thoroughly evil and seeks conquest and the Anti-Life Equation. Metron of the New Gods observes events and studies time, but he occasionally intervenes on the cause of good. His chair can teleport him through time and space. Other good New Gods include Lightray and Orion, who is Highfather's adoptive son.
While Metron plays an important role in Zero Hour, the other New Gods play only cameo roles.

Q7: Who are the Time Foes? A7: The Time Foes are four super-villains from the late 20th century: Clock King (William Tockman), Time Commander (John Starr), Calendar Man (Julian Day), and Chronos (David Clinton). While the other three villains simply had a time motif for their crimes, the Time Commander could actually control the flow of time. Chronos has also experienced time travel. The criminals' main enemies are: Clock King--Green Arrow; Time Commander--JLA; Calendar Man-- Batman; and Chronos--the Atom.
The four villains operated independently until a recent story in TEAM TITANS (#13-14). Under the auspices of mysterious employers referred to as "the committee," the Calendar Man broke the other three criminals out of prison. The group attempted to retrieve the Time Commander's hourglass and magic sand. They planned to use it to travel through time with the goal of world domination. The Team Titans (see Q17) stopped them, however, and the group was arrested. During the battle, there was some form of time distortion involving Chronos (#14, p.17).
A later issue (TEAM TITANS #19) revealed that Lazarium, a villain from the future, had hired the "2000 Committee," a group dedicated to ruling the world by the year 2000, to form the Time Foes. Lazarium had hoped to gain the Time Commander's hourglass so that he could use its time manipulating abilities, but the Team Titans defeated him.
The Time Foes play a role in a Zero Hour tie-in (SHOWCASE '94 #10).

Q8: Who is Rip Hunter? A8: Rip Hunter, Time Master, is a 20th century scientist who is an expert in time travel. Dr. Ripley "Rip" Hunter has long been fascinated with time travel. After receiving his Ph.D. in engineering from MIT, he took a job at the now-defunct Booster Gold Institute (BGI). There, he developed his first time machine. Rip Hunter created the time bubble as well as a backpack which can transport people though time.
While working for BGI, Dr. Hunter helped Booster Gold briefly return to the 25th Century. He has most recently been seen in TIME MASTERS. In these stories, it was established that any method of time travel could only be used once by each person. This stress on the body was just too much to handle for normal folks. This is why the Linear Men have artificial parts. At the end of the TIME MASTERS mini-series, Rip was stranded in the days of prehistoric man.
Since he is one of the Linear Men (see Q15, Q16), Hunter played a major role in Zero Hour. Even before he joined the Linear Men, Rip Hunter was a major time-related character in the DC Universe.

Q9: Who is Booster Gold? A9: Booster Gold is a self-made super-hero from Earth's 25th century (circa 2462 A.D.). He worked as a guard at a museum that held several items from the future, and he stole Rip Hunter's time bubble to travel back in time to the 20th century and make himself into a hero. For a while, Booster had his own comic series, and he is now a member of the Justice League.
The robot he brought along (Skeets) has acknowledged that history recorded a Booster Gold in the 20th century. The Linear Men have said Booster Gold is "actually essential to the evolution of man." A footnote implies that this is in reference to the Millennium. In the Zero Hour lead- in "Judgment Day" story line (see Part III), Booster recalls a major event in which he helped the Justice League save the Earth.

Q10: What was the Armageddon? A10: Armageddon 2001 was a story set in 1991 wherein a hero from 40 years in the future tried to change the time-stream. In an alternate future, a super- hero turned evil and became the tyrannical conqueror of Earth. Monarch (see Q11) conquered the world in 2001 by killing all other super-heroes. In the year 2030, scientists learned how to travel back in time. Matthew Ryder hoped to change history, and when he volunteered to be a time-travel subject, he turned into Waverider (see Q13), As Waverider, he returned to 1991 and scanned each hero's possible futures to find out which hero would eventually become Monarch. After the scientists in 2030 determined that Ryder survived the time travel, Monarch followed him into the time stream. At the end of the story, Hawk killed the future Monarch and was revealed to later become Monarch. Waverider apparently succeeded in his mission, and his future time- line apparently ceased to exist.
A stand-alone comic, ARMAGEDDON 2001 #1, set the stage for the main story. The DC annuals from 1991 all contain Waverider's encounters with each hero. ARMAGEDDON 2001 #2 then had the showdown with Monarch. The story continued in the mini-series ARMAGEDDON: THE ALIEN AGENDA, wherein Monarch and Captain Atom hopped through time trying to stop an alien invasion and each other.
The last issue (#4) of THE ALIEN AGENDA promised a new Captain Atom series that would continue the story with Monarch and the alien invaders, but the series never materialized. Capt. Atom rejoined the JLA and acted as if nothing had ever happened. We have not seen how the present-day Hawk/Monarch survived the nuclear blast.
A third Armageddon mini-series followed, but ARMAGEDDON: INFERNO included only Waverider and not Monarch. The story centered on an evil demon's attempt to conquer all of time and space after Waverider's initial time travel weakened the time stream. The only important result is that the Justice Society of America (JSA) returned to Earth afterwards (see Q4).

Q11: Who is Monarch? A11: Monarch is the conqueror of Earth in an alternate future. He was one of the world's greatest super-heroes in 1991, but by 2001 he had become evil and conquered Earth. In that future, Monarch was absolute ruler of the world and ushered in a dark time of imposed order.
ARMAGEDDON 2001 #2 revealed Monarch to be Hawk (Hank Hall). The story unveils a time loop wherein Hawk became Monarch only because of the actions of the future Monarch. After witnessing the murder of his partner Dove, Hawk grew angry, killed his future self, took the costume, and became Monarch himself. Incidentally, DC originally intended that Captain Atom be Monarch, but they made a last-minute change when someone leaked the story.
Monarch wears a set of black, gray, and yellow armor that covers his entire body so that only his eyes show through. His suit of armor can teleport him.

Q12: Is Monarch still alive? A12: Though Hawk killed Monarch (his future self) in ARMAGEDDON 2001 #2, Monarch is still alive. In SUPERMAN #61, Hunter admits that "Monarch is still ali--." Though the Linear Men exist outside of time, he is clearly meaning that Monarch exists even after the Armageddon events. In TEAM TITANS #20, it was revealed that Monarch does still exist and has been manipulating other time-streams to ensure that his potential enemies never come to power.
Meanwhile, the more "recent" Monarch (Hank from after the ARMAGEDDON: THE ALIEN AGENDA series) certainly still lives. The "Sum: Zero" story in SHOWCASE '94 #8-9 shows that he had been gaining knowledge of chronal technology and planning to recreate his future. When he realized the true extent of his powers, Monarch became Extant (see Q26).
Monarch has also made post-Zero Hour appearances in EXTREME JUSTICE.

Q13: Who is Waverider? A13: Waverider is the Matthew Ryder of a future that no longer exists. Once a brilliant human scientist, he is now a being of pure energy who can travel the time-stream at will. He sacrificed his humanity to an experiment and allowed his body to be transformed into sentient energy. Ryder became Waverider in an attempt to stop Monarch (see Q10, Q11) so that the future world would be free of his despotism.
Waverider has the ability to ride the currents of time and read the time stream. With a device he got from the Linear Men, he can now go to any point in time and freeze time completely.
Waverider manifests himself as a man clothed in yellow and black with flaming hair.

Q14: Who is Matthew Ryder? A14: There are two versions of Matthew Ryder from different time streams. Both Ryders earned doctorate degrees in quantum physics at Metropolis University. While Waverider worked for Monarch, the "other" Ryder did time- travel experiments for LexCorp. While Ryder was working with Dr. Hunter (see Q8), an experiment blew them out of the time stream, and they founded the Linear Men. That Ryder "is more important to time than" Waverider is. In an attempt to avoid confusion, this document refers to the Matthew Ryder who became Waverider as "Waverider" and the Ryder who leads the Linear Men as "Ryder."
Interestingly enough, recent events in Superman comics show that the history of Matthew Ryder is unlikely to occur as reported in SUPERMAN #73. That story shows him working for Lex Luthor, Jr., but the downfall of Luthor seems to have changed that history. Thus, both Ryders come from futures that no longer exist.
The Linear Man Ryder usually wears purple robes that almost resemble those of the Time Trapper.

Q15: Who are the Linear Men? A15: The Linear Men are a group of time-travelers who first appeared in Superman comics. All Linear Men have sworn a "linear oath" that includes vows of noninterference. The Linear Men must sacrifice parts of their bodies to travel through time, and cybernetic implants replace lost organic parts. The Linear Men originally meant to keep their existence secret, but Waverider, Superman, and Valor knew about them before Zero Hour. During the Crisis in Time, the Linear Men revealed their existence to many other heroes.
As explained by Matthew Ryder, the Linear Men are "dedicated to guarding the linear sanctity of the time stream. History is a sequential series of events that must fall perfectly in place...leading to 'the end.' To disturb that order is to invite the unimaginable. Above all else, achieving 'the end' is our concern" Later, he again states that "'the end' always justifies the means!" (SUPERMAN #61, Nov.91)
Waverider later explains that "the Linear Men seek only to protect the time-stream" He and the other Linear Men "exist outside the time-stream-- able to look into any moment through windows that access the ages. Time is our subject of study, its orderly flow our mandate. We are guardians of sorts, ensuring that time's passage shall never be disrupted." (DOOMSDAY #2)
Vanishing Point, the headquarters of the Linear Men, exists outside the time-stream. From there, the Linear Men can observe all points in time.

Q16: Who are the members of the Linear Men? A16: The original Linear Men include Dr. Matthew Ryder, Liri Lee, Dr. Hunter, and an unnamed "rogue member." Dr. Ryder and Dr. Hunter performed time experiments that led to the group's formation, and Liri is Dr. Ryder's wife. The "rogue member" died while ensuring that the Earth's moon would explode as recorded by history. Waverider later became a member.
According to the WHO'S WHO Vol.2, '93 Update #2 entry for the Linear Men, one former member was adventurer Travis O'Connell; he is apparently the "rogue member." The same Who's Who entry also confirms that "Ryder's former mentor Rip Hunter" (see Q8) is indeed a Linear Man.

Q17: Who are the Team Titans? A17: The Team Titans are a group of heroes from an alternate future. They first appeared in the NEW TITANS Annual #7 (1991). In that issue, Waverider looked into the future of the New Titans and found that only Nightwing was still alive, and he was part of a number of Titans teams. Unlike the other Armageddon stories, the events therein seemed to spawn an alternate future that had repercussions in the modern day.
In that future, Donna Troy's child had godlike powers, and he became the evil Lord Chaos who conquered the Earth. Lord Chaos practically enslaved the populace of the Earth, but a few brave heroes fought him. A mysterious figure known as "the leader" organized many independent groups of heroes under the name "Titans." The leader eventually discovered a method to travel through time, and in 2001 he sent many Titans teams into the past to try to kill Donna Troy before she gave birth to Lord Chaos.
When the Team Titans finally reached their goal, Lord Chaos followed them into the past. In this reality, however, Donna Troy's child did not have the powers of the Greek gods, and Lord Chaos was defeated. As the Team Titans continued to live in the 20th century, they slowly learned that other events differed between their history and the current time line. Acknowledging that they were misplaced in time, the Team Titans eventually tried to return to their future, but they could not since it no longer exists (TEAM TITANS #20, May 94).
The same issue reveals the true identity of the Team Titans' Leader on pages 24-25: "'600 young men and women [...] knew me simply as ... the Leader. [...] I sent the [...] Titans back into time, charged with disrupting the course of events that would lead to the birth of my great enemy, Lord Chaos. [...] I wait patiently, watching the waves erase an unmeasurable [sic] number of lifeforms, cultures, and events replacing them with an equal number of alternatives. The ripples of time crash down on me [...] But I will not be moved.'
"With a thought, he is gone, transcending the reality he has newly created, [...] he is pleased. The mission has been accomplished. The countdown to Zero Hour has begun."
The entity is none other than Monarch--last seen in the Armageddon stories (see Q8, Q11). This leads to the following conclusion: in the uncorrupted timestream, Lord Chaos comes to power, as evidenced in the futures of the Team Titans. Monarch, however, sends them back to prevent the birth of Lord Chaos. They succeed, and now it is Monarch who rises to power as shown in ARMAGEDDON 2001.
Since it had been previously stated that the leader was one of the original Titans, the revelation fits the idea that Hawk was Monarch. Because Monarch did not directly appear in the NEW TITANS Armageddon 2001 Annual, it is possible that the leader's identity had been planned all along. At face value, however, DC seems to have changed the leader's identity behind the scenes to fit the Zero Hour story.
Though their originally stated purpose was to fight Lord Chaos, Monarch clearly had other uses for his Titans. In ZERO HOUR #3, Extant (formerly Monarch, see Q26) summoned the Team Titans and controlled them to fight the good heroes. When one group of heroes succeeded in saving their future and destroying the Team Titans' future, the Titans faded since their past no longer existed.

Q18: Who is Valor? A18: Valor (real name Lar Gand) is a Daxamite hero who adopted Earth as his home. The natives of the planet Daxam gain super powers in a yellow-star system (similar to Superman) but suffer from a fatal allergy to lead. His father died in an effort to save Earth in the Invasion, and Valor decided to see what his father had sacrificed himself for. Lar Gand was an adventurer, and he decided to use his powers for good. After obtaining an antidote to his allergy to lead from L.E.G.I.O.N. leader Vril Dox II, Valor worked as a hero on Earth and elsewhere in the galaxy. He eventually freed many enslaved peoples from the Dominators (an alien race); they populated many worlds around Earth that later (30th century) formed the United Planets (LEGION OF SUPER- HEROES Vol.4 Annual #2--1991). Later, Valor's lead-poisoning antidote wore off, and he had to spend one thousand years in the Twilight Dimension before a permanent antidote was developed. Brainiac 5 of the Legion of Super-Heroes (see Q19) then cured Valor, and he joined the Legion.
Starting with VALOR #13, the series tied into the Zero Hour story. Young Valor's lead-poisoning serum wore off, and he died before fulfilling his destiny and entering the Twilight Dimension. Luckily, the Legionnaire Valor from the 30th century (see Q19) was present, and he is attempting to replace his younger self. The continuity problems caused by Valor's death seem to be leading directly into Zero Hour.
The primary story of Valor remains unchanged after Zero Hour, though his transition from the 20th to 30th centuries has a different reason (see Q30). In the post-Zero Hour 30th century, he is also revered for his good deeds in the 20th century.
Historical Note: The character Valor is the modern incarnation of the pre-Crisis Mon-El, and the pre-Zero Hour Twilight Dimension corresponds to the pre-Crisis Phantom Zone. The Twilight Dimension has also been known as the Bgztl Buffer Zone. Alternate versions of Valor's history are mentioned in Q20.

Q19: Who are the Legion of Super-Heroes? A19 The Legion of Super-Heroes (LSH) is a band of super-heroes in the 30th century. Legion members come from various planets around the galaxy, and each has a unique super power. They have time machines that enable them to visit other eras, though their records of 20th-century history are incomplete.
The original Legion members were young heroes who were inspired by Valor (see Q18) from the 20th century. The three founding members were Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy (Rokk Krinn). The people Valor had freed from the Dominators were the ancestors of the Legion members, and Valor is thus crucial to the current "history" of the 30th century. Eventually, Brainiac 5 (Querl Dox) cured Valor of his crippling allergy and allowed him to escape the Twilight Dimension and join the LSH.
In the past few years, there have been two distinct groups of Legion members. The regular Legion contains long-standing, adult members of the team. A second group, often called the Legionnaires, consists of younger members who were only recently "discovered." The Legionnaires are time- displaced versions of the Legion members created by the Time Trapper (see Q21).
Following Zero Hour, Legion history was erased and the heroes were "rebooted" similar to the famous post-Crisis revamps of Superman and Wonder Woman. Pre-Zero Hour stories never happened, and the two titles now relate the stories of the LSH starting from square one.
Historical Note: Due in part to their already being set in our future, the Legion has probably had more time travel stories and time-oriented foes than any other team of heroes.

Q20: What are the various alternate futures (realities) according to the LSH? A20: In the years leading up to Zero Hour, various stories in the Legion of Super-Heroes (see Q19) involved the destruction of various time-controlling beings and subsequent retroactive changes to the universe. The net results of all these changes are that the original inspiration for the Legion was Valor (see Q18) rather than Superboy and Glorith (see Q22) replaced the Time Trapper (see Q21). The following description is taken from the Legion of Super-Heroes FAQ by Doug Atkinson (used with permission).
To give a post-Crisis account for Superboy appearing in Legion stories, the creative teams of Superman and Legion concocted the Pocket Universe. Essentially, it was discovered that the Time Trapper had created (or saved) an Earth and Krypton, which he kept in a small, separate universe. All the pre- Crisis Superboy stories occurred there, and (with a few exceptions) all LSH time journeys to the past went to that world. However, Cosmic Boy discovered that the true 20th century was different from Superboy's, leading to a crossover that resulted in the death of Superboy to save the pocket Earth. (The pocket Earth was later destroyed in SUPERMAN.) This story, though cobbled together, served to preserve LSH continuity. (This story appeared in SUPERMAN #8, ACTION #591, and LSH Vol.3 #37-38.)
An edict was sent down to the creative team to eliminate the Pocket Universe. This involved then-dead Mon-El reviving and being found to house the remains of the Time Trapper (apparently destroyed in LSH Vol.3 #50). Mon- El was discovered to be from the Pocket Universe as well (a logical development, since his origin was intimately tied to Superboy). He wound up seemingly destroying the Time Trapper and eliminating the Pocket Universe (and thus the inspiration for the LSH) from history altogether (LSH Vol.4 #4). However, it had been revealed at some point that the Trapper had engineered the creation of the LSH. Their purpose was to defeat Mordru, who would otherwise have come to rule the galaxy with no opposition. With the Trapper, the Pocket Universe, and the LSH gone, Mordru ruled supreme (in what has come to be known as the "Mordruverse").
To restore the lost continuity, the writers brought back an obscure villainess named Glorith, who had previously appeared in ADVENTURE #338 as a stooge of the Trapper (and died in that issue). With the Trapper gone, she still lived as First Wife of Mordru. However, she (and others, including Mordru) realized that the LSH was missing. She sought to restore it, casting a magical ritual that left her in the role of Time Trapper.
Because Superboy was gone, she chose Lar Gand (formerly Mon-El, now Valor) as the inspiration for the LSH. She brought R. J. Brande (a Durlan member of L.E.G.I.O.N.) to the 30th century to become the team's financier, and she re-engineered Valor as Superboy's replacement. Continuity had been patched over again.
The Time Trapper was revealed to still be alive and hiding in the remains of the Pocket Universe; Glorith consumed his essence, taking on the remainder of his power and his memories. Zero Hour showed that the Trapper still existed, though.
The Pocket Universe was later restored to LSH history (re-created by Glorith), but Superboy played a much smaller role, existing for only two weeks. This fact was not explained in the comic, however; Superboy made only a one-panel cameo in an annual. However, the Superman crossover series "Time and Time Again" had Superman meeting the current LSH, with all parties remembering Superboy...much to the confusion of the reader. The situation was not made clear until the LSH Sourcebook was released.
The continuity involving the Pocket Universe has recently changed again. In LSH Vol.4 #53, the history of the LSH is told to Glorith by an unknown party with time powers (possibly the Time Trapper). According to him (or her, or it, or them) the LSH did travel to the Pocket Universe to meet Superboy, which weakened its stability. Superboy still died fighting the Time Trapper, but Glorith destroyed Daxam as well. (This combines both old and new continuity.) She absorbed the Time Trapper, and the Legion stories after Vol.4 #13 occurred as written.
Following Zero Hour, all alternate futures from the LSH have been erased, and there is only a single future related in the LSH and LEGIONNAIRES titles.

Q21: Who is the Time Trapper? A21: The Time Trapper is a malignant being that rules the end of the universe. He represents the force of entropy which will eventually destroy the universe. At the end of time lies the Time Trapper's domain, and he has often worked to extend his domain to earlier times (thus destroying the universe earlier than otherwise). For years, he was the Legion of Super- Heroes' arch-nemesis (see Q19).
In recent time-messing stories of the Legion, the Time Trapper was apparently destroyed, and his role was taken by Glorith (see Q20, Q22). The Time Trapper still existed, however, and Zero Hour has revealed his origin: During Zero Hour, Glorith and Mordru captured Rokk Krinn (Cosmic Boy of the LSH) on account of a prophecy, but he escaped into the Library of Time, where he read the entire library and became the Time Trapper. Though the Trapper intended to help the LSH, he went insane and only regained his sanity in time to help them guard against the Crisis in Time.
The Trapper can be recognized by his purple robes. His face was never seen beneath the hood until Zero Hour. The Time Trapper played a major role in Zero Hour (especially "End of an Era").
Historical Note: The Time Trapper played a larger role in Legion history in the pre-Crisis days when time travel was much easier for the LSH. The Trapper's true identity seems especially appropriate in consideration of the longtime animosity between Cosmic Boy and the Time Trapper.

Q22: Who is Glorith? A20: Glorith is an evil enchantress from the 30th century who has time- manipulating powers. She is a foe of the Legion of Super-Heroes (see Q19). Glorith is originally from the planet Baaldur. She has been a constant suitor to Valor, though he has rejected her. It was as a result of his scorn that Glorith exiled Valor to the Twilight Dimension. Glorith played a role in Zero Hour (notably "End of an Era").

Q23: Who is Mordru? A23: Mordru is an evil wizard from the 30th century and an enemy of the Legion of Super-Heroes (see Q19). Mordru comes from Sorcerer's World (a.k.a. Gemworld or Zerox), a planet of wizards. Mordru was formerly called Wrynn, and he was originally from the 20th century. He was buried alive and only escaped and came to great power in the 30th century. In one alternate future with no Time Trapper and no LSH, Mordru ruled the universe in what was known as the Mordruverse (see Q20). Mordru played a role in Zero Hour (notably "End of an Era").

Q24: Who is the Infinite Man? A24: The Infinite Man is a foe of the Legion of Super-Heroes (see Q19). The Infinite Man is Professor Jaxon Rugarth, a scientist in the 30th century. He volunteered to help Rond Vidar test temporal theory. The modified Time Bubble used to send him forward in time, however, was too powerful and caused Rugarth's mind to snap. He accumulated energy and knowledge and formed into the Infinite Man. He has been described as "the living embodiment of the time-space continuum" (LSH #60, Aug 94).
In contrast to the Time Trapper (see Q21) who held power at the "end" of time, the Infinite Man gained his strength on the principle that time was an infinite loop. These two theories clashed in LSH Vol.3 #50 as a band of Legionnaires used the Infinite Man to battle the Time Trapper. The Time Trapper was seemingly defeated in that book, thus giving credence to the theory that time is an infinite loop. The Legion thought that he was gone forever, but he reappeared in "End of an Era" (see Part III).
The Infinite Man played a role in the events leading up to Zero Hour (notably "End of an Era"), and he has been a major time-related character in the DC Universe.

Q25: Who is Abra Kadabra? A25: Abra Kadabra is a professional criminal from the far future. As a stage magician in the 64th century, Kadabra found that science made his magic tricks seem trite. Thus, he journeyed through time to the 20th century, where his futuristic technology allowed him to achieve the fame he craved. He became an enemy of the second Flash (Barry Allen) and is also a foe of the modern Flash (Wally West). Abra Kadabra played a minor role in Zero Hour.

Q26: Who is Extant? A26: Extant is the major evil power in Zero Hour. He is a villain who stands outside of space and time, trying to manipulate the timestream to create the future of his choosing. Extant was formerly known as Monarch (see Q11, Q12); he changed his identity when he learned the truth of his origin. When Hawk saw his partner die, Dove's essence entered Hank Hall's body; thus, Monarch had the combined powers of the offspring of the Lords of Chaos and Order. He stole Waverider's time bracelet to gain the ability to travel though, and thus change, the timestream. The Extant later (ZERO HOUR #2) stole Waverider's life energy and thus gained his powers (see Q13).
Extant is pictured as a figure dressed in red, black, and purple.
Nomenclature Note: The term "extant" means standing out, currently existing, or not destroyed.

ZERO HOUR

Q27: What is Zero Hour? A27: "Zero Hour: Crisis in Time" is an attempt to patch all of the time problems in the DC Universe. In some ways, it is the sequel to the Crisis on Infinite Earths. The main purpose of Zero Hour is to smooth out continuity, which many of the time travel stories and revamps described herein have messed up. Dan Jurgens is the written and penciller for the main series, and Jerry Ordway is the inker.
The following further material was taken from the r.a.c. FAQ by Thomas Galloway:
ZERO HOUR is a major DC crossover series which came out each week from July 12 through August 9, 1994. It came out as #4, #3, #2, #1, #0 in that order. The subtitle is "Crisis in Time," and there is a new villain called Extant (see Q26). During the first four weeks, there are a number of tie-in issues where odd things happen in terms of continuity...in fact, writers inserted what seem to be continuity problems in their books months in advance. Series writer/artist Dan Jurgens has stated that his viewpoint is that Crisis on Infinite Earths (see Q1) never quite ended, explaining the continuity confusion that has existed over characters like Hawkman (see Q2).
Zero Hour was intended to clean up DC continuity problems, particularly those resulting from either time travel or the phasing in of Crisis results (see Q2).

Q28: What is Zero Month? A28: DC comic books cover-dated October 1994 comprise "Zero Month." For the four weeks starting 16 August 1994, all mainstream DC Universe books were #0 issues detailing the post-Zero Hour status of the characters. All such issues are numbered as #0 and help define the characters' past and present in the redefined DC Universe. "Zero issues" provide a recap of the heroes' official history and/or add to their characterization. The next month following "Zero Month," the numbering schedules of all comics picked up where they left off before Zero Hour (or started with #1 for the new series). New books coming out of Zero Hour were STARMAN, FATE, PRIMAL FORCE, MANHUNTER and R.E.B.E.L.S. (the last replacing L.E.G.I.O.N.). Canceled were VALOR and TEAM TITANS. (See also Part III)

Q29: What are the parallels between the Crisis on Infinite Earths and the Crisis in Time? A29: There are many parallels, most of which were intended by the writer of Zero Hour. Here are the more obvious ones:
Major villain wants to remake DCU by destroying it
Major villain not revealed at first--mystery
Wave of white destroying everything in its path
Time anomalies, displacements, achronisms
All major Earth heroes play a role, few aliens involved despite the
universal scope of the Crisis
A Flash races at/beyond speed of light in attempt to save universe & winds up turning to lightning
Connected to a major shake-up of the Green Lantern Corps
Battle at the Dawn of Time
Spectre plays a major role at the end (Battle at Dawn of Time)
Universe remade from scratch retroactively
Led to restart of several major DC heroes
Connected to cancellation of some titles and beginning of new series

Q30: What were the aftereffects of Zero Hour? A30: ZH changed the JSA (see Q4). Dr. Fate was destroyed during ZH, and a new Fate character started his career afterwards. ZH led to the Flash (Wally West) uncovering the secret behind super-speed (FLASH #100, Apr 95). All former Hawkmen combined into one modern version. The Atom (Ray Palmer) was de-aged to become a teenager. The rest of the DCU learned that Hal Jordan (see Q5) had gone insane. Dr. Mist and his Leymen were destroyed during ZH, and the Primal Force was formed to replace them afterwards. Zero Hour caused Queen Hipplyte to have prophetic visions of Wonder Woman dying, and she thereafter arranged for the selection of another Amazon to replace her daughter Diana as Wonder Woman (WONDER WOMAN #99, EJul 95).
There were also numerous retcons in various books. Guy Gardner gained a new costume. The Legion of Super-Heroes (see Q19) was completely rebooted, starting in Zero Month (see Q28). Just as his death helped lead to Zero Hour, Valor (see Q18) was affected by the Crisis in Time. While his 20th-century story is basically unchanged, his transition to the 30th century is now different. Glorith is not involved with the new story, but instead the wearing-off of the lead-poisoning antidote led to Valor's being placed into a stasis zone (SUPERBOY #19, Sep.95).
The future of the Team Titans (see Q17) was destroyed, and thus the team (and the title) no longer exists. Two of the Team Titans (Terra and Mirage) were not destroyed in Zero Hour because they were traveling through time when their future was destroyed. They now have origins connected to the 20th century (THE NEW TITANS Annual #11, 1995).
The Batman family underwent several subtle personal changes. In the new continuity, Batman never caught his parents' killer nor does he know who the murderer was. Batman was never a member of the Justice League. Finally, Talia (daughter of Ras al Ghul) never had Bruce's baby. Bruce Wayne legally adopted Dick Grayson. During his days as Robin, Dick Grayson had a traumatic failure during a confrontation with Two-Face. Catwoman's origin was also largely revamped (CATWOMAN #0).
Contrary to rumors, Zero Hour did NOT cause the rebuilding of Metropolis (ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #522, Apr 95). Dan Jurgens and the superteam creators have insisted that the entire post-Crisis Superman history is unchanged by Zero Hour. However, Zero Month provided an opportunity to retroactively introduce the character of Kenny Braverman (a.k.a. Conduit).
In the pre-Zero Hour timeline, Doomsday was left at the end of time and his body was destroyed by entropy. In the post-Zero Hour timeline, Doomsdayís body was taken from the end of time by a Coluan (SUPERMAN: THE DOMSDAY WARS #2).
The Linear Men (see Q15, Q16) have also been greatly changed. Rip Hunter died during Zero Hour. Extant (see Q26) destroyed the original Waverider (see Q13), and the other Matthew Ryder (see Q14) became the new Waverider. Liri Lee is the only Linear Man who escaped unscathed.

PART II: COMIC LISTS

TITLE ABBREVIATIONS: The following abbreviations are used within the list to indicate the title of the various comic books.

Abbreviation Title:

ACTION ACTION COMICS
ADVENTURES THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN
ALIEN ARMAGEDDON: THE ALIEN AGENDA
ARMAGEDDON ARMAGEDDON 2001
DOOMSDAY SUPERMAN/DOOMSDAY: HUNTER/PREY
JLA JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA
JLI JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL
JLTF JUSTICE LEAGUE TASK FORCE
LEGACY THE LEGACY OF SUPERMAN
LSH LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES (Vol.4)
SHOWCASE SHOWCASE '94
SUPERMAN SUPERMAN (Volume 2)
TEAM TITANS TEAM TITANS
VALOR VALOR
ZERO HOUR ZERO HOUR

* LINEAR MEN *

REGULAR SERIES: Shown below are all comic appearances of the Linear Men through Zero Hour and beyond. They are listed in chronological order. The Linear Men first appeared in scattered scenes throughout "Time and Time Again."

Story/Event Title Issue Date
==============================================================================
Time and Time Again -- Superman travels through time to future and past
Phase I -- first appearance Linear Men ADVENTURES 476 Mar 91
Phase II ACTION 663 Mar 91
Phase IV ADVENTURES 477 Apr 91
Phase VII ADVENTURES 478 May 91
Superman's Fiancee Lois Lane -- scene on Mount Fuji SUPERMAN 59 Sep 91
Time and Time Again Again -- Waverider & Linear Men SUPERMAN 61 Nov 91
Time Ryders -- Waverider joins the Linear Men SUPERMAN 73 Nov 92
The Legacy of Superman -- various Metropolis events LEGACY 1 1993
Superman/Doomsday -- Waverider helps Superman fight Doomsday
Book One DOOMSDAY 1 (May 94
Book Two DOOMSDAY 2 (Jun 94
Book Three DOOMSDAY 3 (Jul 94
D.O.A. Aftermath -- Linear Men observe Valor VALOR 18 Apr 94
Deadline -- Linear Men must fix history with Valor VALOR 19 May 94
Sudden Death Overtime
Part One: Ahead of His Time VALOR 20 Jun 94
Part Two: Two-Minute Warning VALOR 21 Jul 94
Sum: Zero -- Waverider & Hunter battle Monarch
Part One SHOWCASE 8 July94
Part Two SHOWCASE 9 Aug 94
Zero Hour
Part One -- Extant defeats the Linear Men ZERO HOUR 4 Sept94
Part Two -- Waverider helps heroes ZERO HOUR 3 Sept94
Part Three -- Extant absorbs Waverider ZERO HOUR 2 Sept94
Part Four -- Linear Men freed; new Waverider ZERO HOUR 1 Sept94
Liri Lee summons Superman ACTION 703 Sept94
Part Five -- Ryder & Liri oversee new universe ZERO HOUR 0 Sept94
The Kingdom -- introduction of Hypertime KINGDOM 1-2 Feb 99
Help! -- Linear Men face destruction at Warworld SUPERMAN 165 Feb 01
World Without Superman -- Liri Lee shows Supes future MAN O'STEEL 109 Feb 01

TRADE PAPERBACKS: The trade paperbacks listed below reprint existing comics into collected form. They contain no new material.

Title Story
==============================================================================
SUPERMAN: TIME & TIME AGAIN Time and Time Again + Linear Men
(includes ACTION COMICS #663-665, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #476-478, and
SUPERMAN #54, 55, 61, 73)
ZERO HOUR: CRISIS IN TIME Zero Hour
(includes SHOWCASE '94 #8-9 and ZERO HOUR #4-0)

* MONARCH *

REGULAR SERIES: Shown below are all comic appearances of Monarch. They are listed in chronological order (following his personal timeline) from the creation of Monarch to his future selves.

Story/Event Title Issue Date
==============================================================================
Hank Hall becomes Monarch ARMAGEDDON 2 1991
Armageddon 1991 ACTION 670 Oct 91
Armageddon: The Alien Agenda ALIEN AGENDA 1 Nov 91
ALIEN AGENDA 2 Dec 91
ALIEN AGENDA 3 Jan 92
ALIEN AGENDA 4 Feb 92 Sum: Zero -- Waverider & Hunter battle Monarch
Part One SHOWCASE 8 July94
Part Two -- Monarch becomes Extant SHOWCASE 9 Aug 94 Alternate futures; both timelines have been destroyed
Monarch as conqueror of Earth ARMAGEDDON 1 May 91
Monarch as Leader of the Team Titans TEAM TITANS 20 May 94
" " TEAM TITANS 24 Sept94

TRADE PAPERBACKS: The trade paperback listed below reprints existing comics into collected form. It contains no new material.

Title Story
==============================================================================
ZERO HOUR: CRISIS IN TIME Zero Hour
(includes SHOWCASE '94 #8-9 and ZERO HOUR #4-0)

PART III: ZERO HOUR COMICS

* LEAD-IN STORIES *

The stories in the following alphabetical list all lead into Zero Hour in some way or another. Some (e.g., VALOR, TEAM TITANS) are more important than others (e.g., HAWKMAN).


FLASH #92-94 ("Reckless Youth"): Iris West returns from the 30th century with Barry Allen's super-fast grandson, Bart (a.k.a. Impulse). However, in her future there is no Legion of Super-Heroes.
"Emerald Twilight" (GREEN LANTERN #48-50): After the destruction of Coast City, Green Lantern Hal Jordan goes crazy and fights his way to Oa, where he destroys the Guardians of the Universe.
"Emerald Fallout" (GUY GARDNER: WARRIOR #18-21): Guy and the Justice League go to Oa to fight Hal Jordan, but Hal defeats them.
GREEN LANTERN #54: A future Los Angeles blinks into existence, and Kyle Rayner (the new GL) must rescue its inhabitants from a major earthquake.
HAWKMAN #9-13 ("Godspawn"): Hawkman, Katar Hol, Hawkgod, and the origin of the Hawkmen. Guest-stars the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl and includes other temporal problems.
"Judgment Day" (JLA #89-90, JLTF #13-14, JLI #65-66): The Justice League fights Overmaster, who intends to destroy the Earth. Booster Gold remembers this as past history (he's from the 25th century) and also remembers that he helped lead the victory. Booster charges in and gets killed. Time is NOT running smoothly here. To add insult to injury, Overmaster doesn't want any hassles while he's preparing to destroy the Earth, so he stops births and deaths from occurring. Hence, Booster has no pulse but is walking around.
Part 1: JLA #89 Part 4: JLA #90
Part 2: JLTF #13 Part 5: JLTF #14
Part 3: JLI #65 Part 6: JLI #66
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #37: The thirtieth-century Legionnaire Valor travels into the past--only to reappear in time to view his own death in VALOR #17.
"End of an Era" (LEGIONNAIRES #16-18, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #59-61, VALOR #21-23): Another Zero Hour lead-in that has the above teams battling temporal disruptions in the 30th century as Glorith, Mordru, and the Time Trapper battle for control. The 30th century becomes unstable as reality shifts and temporal upheavals threaten to unravel the time stream.
Preludes: VALOR #21 Part 3: LSH #60
LEGIONNAIRES #16 Part 4: LEGIONNAIRES #18
LSH #59 Part 5: VALOR #23
Part 1: LEGIONNAIRES #17 Part 6: LSH #61
Part 2: VALOR #22
L.E.G.I.O.N. '94 #68-70: Jo Nah (Ultra Boy from the LSH) returns from the future to find Phase (thought to be Phantom Girl from the LSH) and take her back to the 30th century.
OUTSIDERS #10-11 ("Final Blood"): The Outsiders encounter a strange time-rift effect.
SHOWCASE '94 #8-9 ("Sum: Zero"): Waverider chases after Monarch through the time stream and battles him to prevent Monarch from changing it. The story reveals secrets about Monarch, and he gains more power and becomes Extant.
STEEL #8: A young John Henry appears in modern D.C. and saves his older self. The older, modern Steel remembers the incident as a youngster.
TEAM TITANS #17-20 ("You Can't Go Home Again"): Having succeeded in their mission against Lord Chaos, ALL Titans Teams from various points in time converge to attempt to return to their own time (the year 2001)--only to learn that they can not go home because their future no longer exists. Furthermore, TEAM TITANS #20 reveals the Leader to be Monarch (see Q17).
TEAM TITANS #21-23: The Titan Teams agree to work for the U. S. government. Under orders from the U. S., the Titans uncover secrets in Qurac.
VALOR #12-17 ("D.O.A."): Valor dies in the 20th century due to lead poisoning. This is at odds with the fact that he seeded the planets that would become the homeworlds of the LSH, and then survived in the Buffer Zone until the 30th Century. Without his achievements, the Legion of Superheroes couldn't exist. Instant temporal paradox.
VALOR #18 ("D.O.A. Aftermath"): Legionnaires attempt to help fix the space-time continuum.
VALOR #19 ("Deadline"): Linear Men must fix history with Valor. Fortunately, the SW6 Valor (see LSH FAQ for explanation) arrives in the 20th century, and he reluctantly agrees to do again what he did before to repair the timestream. Linear men and Waverider guest star.
VALOR #20-21 ("Sudden Death Overtime"): The SW6 Valor continues to attempt to patch the timestream as strange time effects start to spread.

* ZERO HOUR MINI-SERIES and TIE-IN ISSUES *

Comic books are listed in the reading order suggested by David Chappell.


IV. FOURTH HOUR

FLASH #94 (Reckless Youth: Part 3 of 3)
OUTSIDERS #11 (Final Blood: Part 2 of 2)
ZERO HOUR: CRISIS IN TIME #4
BATMAN #511
SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #37
GREEN LANTERN #55
LEGIONNAIRES #18 (End of an Era: Part 4 of 6)
VALOR #23 (End of an Era: Part 5 of 6) Last Issue of Series
SUPERBOY #8


III. THIRD HOUR

SUPERMAN #93
HAWKMAN #13
STEEL #8
ZERO HOUR: CRISIS IN TIME #3
BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #31
JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #92 (Return of the Hero: Part 1 of 3)
L.E.G.I.O.N. '94 #70 Last Issue of Series


II. SECOND HOUR

JUSTICE LEAGUE TASK FORCE #16 (Return of the Hero: Part 2 of 3)
DETECTIVE COMICS #678
TEAM TITANS #24 Last Issue of Series
ZERO HOUR: CRISIS IN TIME #2
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #516


I. LAST HOUR

GREEN ARROW #90
GUY GARDNER: WARRIOR #24
ZERO HOUR: CRISIS IN TIME #1
THE DARKSTARS #24
THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #61 (End of an Era: Part 6 of 6)
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #68 (Return of the Hero: Part 3 of 3) Last Issue
DAMAGE #6
ANIMA #7
ROBIN #10
ACTION COMICS #703
CATWOMAN #14
SHOWCASE '94 #10


0. ZERO HOUR

ZERO HOUR: CRISIS IN TIME #0

* ZERO MONTH *

Shipped August 16:
BATMAN #0
DEATHSTROKE: THE TERMINATOR #0
FLASH #0 -- continuation from Zero Hour
THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #0
PRIMAL FORCE #0 New Series
THE SPECTRE #0
SUPERBOY #0
SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #0 -- mention of Zero Hour
WONDER WOMAN #0

Shipped August 23:
BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #0
THE DEMON #0
GREEN LANTERN #0 -- continuation from Zero Hour
HAWKMAN #0
JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #0
THE NEW TITANS #0
STARMAN #0 New Series
SUPERMAN #0

Shipped August 30:
ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #0
BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #0
DETECTIVE COMICS #0
FATE #0 -- mention of Zero Hour New Series
GUNFIRE #0
JUSTICE LEAGUE TASK FORCE #0
LEGIONNAIRES #0
OUTSIDERS #0
THE RAY #0
R.E.B.E.L.S. #0 New Series
STEEL #0
XENOBROOD #0 New Mini-Series

Shipped September 6:
ACTION COMICS #0
ANIMA #0
AQUAMAN #0
CATWOMAN #0
DAMAGE #0 -- continuation from Zero Hour
THE DARKSTARS #0 -- mention of Zero Hour
GREEN ARROW #0
GUY GARDNER: WARRIOR #0
LOBO #0
MANHUNTER #0 New Series
ROBIN #0

* ZERO HOUR "SEQUELS" *

After Zero Hour, two different stories revisited Extant and his attempts to reshape the multiverse.

[1] The one-shot comic book IMPULSE: BART SAVES THE UNIVERSE (1999) is an unexpected sequel to Zero Hour. In it, Extant tries to re-do Zero Hour by manipulating the past so that Hal Jordan never became Green Lantern, and thus Parallax could never get in Extant's way during Zero Hour. Extant's plan was to then reshape the universe in his own image. Only Impulse stood in Extant's way. Things didn't look good for the universe.

[2] In JSA #11-15 (Jun-Oct 00), Extant forged his own universe. Extant had been a prisoner of the Linear Men, but his entropic nature allowed him to escape. Extant stole Metron's Moebius chair and Hourman's worlogog, and with them he designed the universe anew. The JSA traveled to Extant's universe and set up a scheme to stop him and restore the world they knew.

(end)