|
| |
   
Last Updated on
Monday, July 01, 2002
|
Zero Hour
Synopsis | Review
| Titles |
|
 |
|
"Fighting sky rifts that devour entire centuries
isn't exactly taught in Super-Heroics 101." |
|
ISSUES: |
|
5 issues, weekly, Sept.- Oct. 1994. |
|
WRITER(S): |
|
Dan Jurgens. |
|
ARTIST(S): |
|
Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway. |
|
MAJOR HEROES: |
|
Superman, Green Lantern, most major DC heroes. |
|
MAJOR VILLAINS: |
|
Extant; Parallax, formerly known as Hal Jordan
(a.k.a. Green Lantern). |
|
SUPPORTING CAST: |
|
The Time Trapper, an old foe of the Legion of
Super-Heroes; the New Gods; Waverider and Rip Hunter, two of
DC's time-traveling adventurers; the Spectre. |
|
THE PLOT: |
|
Parallax decides that the DC Universe needs to be
reshaped according to his own wishes, so he sets out to reset
time from the beginning. The DC heroes respectfully disagree. |
|
TRIVIA: |
|
The numbering for this series went from #4 (the
first issue) to #0 (the fifth issue). In October, 1994, each
regular DC title included a special "#0" issue that
retold the hero's origin. |
|
RECOMMENDED READING: |
|
Green Lantern (vol. 3) #46-50, which
chronicles Hal Jordan's transformation from a superhero to a
demigod. |
|
OTHER SITES: |
|
The
Zero Hour FAQ
Zero
Hour FAQ |
|
AT THE END OF TIME, we witness the defeat of
the Time Trapper at the hands of an unknown assailant. He declares
"the cosmos is in agony, and I'm the only one who knows how it
should be." And so the countdown to Zero Hour begins.
Gotham City, 29 hours ago: The Joker is running from his latest
caper, only to be captured by Batgirl. Trouble is, he put a bullet in
Batgirl's spine years ago, and neither he nor Batman know what to make
of this paradox.
One by one, the heroes discover that something is wrong with time.
Assisted by the new Green Lantern and the New God Metron, Superman
reaches all the heroes he can find to tell them that Earth's distant
future is dying.
Once assembled, the heroes learn what is happening from Waverider, a
being who can travel through time (he first appeared in
Armageddon
2001). According to him, the effects of the universal
crisis
never settled, and chronal shockwaves from that event are only now
causing disruptions in space-time. They realize later that someone is
behind those shockwaves -- a masked time-shifting villain called Extant,
who is later revealed to be a future version of Waverider himself.
While the remaining members of the Justice Society of America meet
defeat at the hands of Extant, our heroes try to fight the disastrous
effects of many time periods existing as one. When they face Extant and
seemingly defeat him, all seems to return to normal, but the rest is
only temporary. Time resumes its collapse, and Extant still exists. As
Superman is about to deal him the final blow, the heroes are shocked to
learn that Extant was only doing the bidding of Parallax, the onetime
Green Lantern, Hal Jordan.
It seems that his failure to prevent the destruction of Coast City,
his hometown, at the hands of an alien drove Jordan over the edge, and
he now wishes to make the entire universe right again. And after
absorbing all the power of the Guardians of the Universe, he has the
means to do it.
Jordan proceeds to wipe out the universe, allowing some heroes the
honor of watching the Creation. The other heroes, including Waverider,
retreat to a hidden rendezvous to figure out what to do next. They make
one last-ditch attempt to appeal to Jordan's humanity and ask him to
stop his pretensions of godhood, but Jordan is too far gone and will not
give up his plan to create a new universal paradise.
Enter the Spectre, arguably the DC Universe's most powerful entity.
Earlier in the series, he turns down the Jay Garrick Flash's plea for
help, but now he must avenge the trillions who died at Jordan's hand.
With Jordan's defeat and apparent death, the universe is indeed
re-created, but not by his hand.
The final issue's (#0) back cover folds out into a new and canonical
timeline of the DC Universe.
QUICK, TELL ME WHICH major DC mini-series I'm
describing:
- a near-omnipotent being is trying to reshape the universe.
- a huge white wall of nothingness is slowly consuming all of existence.
- time is out of joint and people are appearing in times where they
don't belong.
- the heroes unite to stop the threat to Everything That Is.
- the main bad guy travels back in time to the Big Bang to restart
space-time.
- the Barry Allen Flash disintegrates before our eyes as he heroically
tries to save the universe.
Call me crazy, but it almost seems like DC was trying to repeat the
success of Crisis
on Infinite Earths with this series. Unfortunately, they didn't
quite get there.
|
"Zero Hour fails as a story because every
event, action and assertion is built on a foundation of cloud,
candyfloss and thin air."
- The Slings and Arrows Comic Guide
|
I've read that Zero Hour was an attempt by DC to clean up some
of the loose threads left behind by the Crisis series ten years
before. If that's the case, then I'm stumped. I've read this mini-series
several times, and I still don't understand what's going on. Once again,
we're battling against a near-omnipotent being who wants to be a god,
and the heroes try to stop him -- am I missing something, or is that all
there is to this story? Not once does Zero Hour ever reach Crisis'
level in plot or suspense, and yet DC hypes the series as something
momentous. True, it's a good excuse to start and stop some titles, but
so what?
I will give them this, though; they had the guts to take one of the
marquee characters and twist him into a villain -- or at least a
severely misguided hero. We're not talking about a lame villain or a
one-shot wonder brought in just for this series, but Hal freakin'
Jordan, one of the DC's stable's most reliable workhorses. You have
to respect any company with the nerve to do that.
Still, despite the shock of Hal Jordan's actions and apparent death, Zero
Hour does not exactly go where no one has gone before. It's a
slugfest, and not a very coherent one, at that. It's less an homage to Crisis
than a blatant attempt to milk it, and Extant's character exists only to
delay the shock of Hal Jordan's appearance as the villain.
As for the #0 issues, most of them are all right, but I couldn't
shake the feeling that someone, somewhere, was using them as an excuse
to make me buy more comics than usual. I tell ya, am I paranoid, or
what? |
 |
Action Comics #703
|
|
Adventures of Superman #516
|
|
Anima #7
|
|
Batman #511
|
|
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #31
|
|
Catwoman #14
|
|
Damage #6
|
|
Darkstars #24
|
|
Detective Comics #678
|
|
Flash #94
|
|
Green Arrow #90
|
|
Green Lantern #55
|
|
Guy Gardner: Warrior #24
|
|
Hawkman #13
|
|
Justice League America #92 |
|
|
Justice League International #68
|
|
Justice League Task Force #16
|
|
L.E.G.I.O.N. '94 #70 (last issue of series)
|
|
Legion of Super-Heroes #60-61
|
|
Legionnaires #18
|
|
Outsiders #11
|
|
Robin #10
|
|
Showcase '94 #8, 9, 10 (#8 and #9 are preludes to Zero
Hour) |
|
Steel #8
|
|
Superboy #8
|
|
Superman #93
|
|
Superman: The Man of Steel #37
|
|
Team Titans #24 (last issue of series)
|
|
Valor #23 (last issue of series) |
|
|
Zero Month Titles
|
|
Action Comics #0
|
|
Adventures of Superman #0
|
|
Anima #0
|
|
Aquaman #0
|
|
Batman #0
|
|
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #0
|
|
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #0
|
|
Catwoman #0
|
|
Damage #0 (continuation from Zero Hour)
|
|
The Darkstars #0 (mention of Zero Hour)
|
|
Deathstroke: The Terminator #0
|
|
The Demon #0
|
|
Detective Comics #0
|
|
Extreme Justice #0
|
|
Fate #0 (mention of Zero Hour, New Series)
|
|
Flash #0 (continuation from Zero Hour)
|
|
Green Arrow #0
|
|
Green Lantern #0 (continuation from Zero Hour)
|
|
Gunfire #0
|
|
Guy Gardner: Warrior #0 |
|
|
Hawkman #0
|
|
Justice League America #0
|
|
Justice League Task Force #0
|
|
Legion of Super-Heroes #0
|
|
Legionnaires #0
|
|
Lobo #0
|
|
Manhunter #0 (New Series)
|
|
The New Titans #0
|
|
Outsiders #0
|
|
Primal Force #0 (New Series)
|
|
The Ray #0
|
|
R.E.B.E.L.S. #0 (New Series)
|
|
Robin #0
|
|
The Spectre #0
|
|
Starman #0 (New Series)
|
|
Steel #0
|
|
Superboy #0
|
|
Superman #0
|
|
Superman: The Man of Steel #0 (mention of Zero Hour)
|
|
Wonder Woman #0
|
|
Xenobrood #0 (New Series) |
|
| Spinoffs and Related Titles |
Starman
(1994-present)
Starman begins with a villain from the Golden Age
killing the son of the original Starman. Now, only Ted Knight's younger
and more rebellious son, Jack, remains to take on his father's mantle.
An excellent series with an obvious fondness for the Golden Age era. |
Manhunter
(13 issues, 1994-1995)
A musician unleashes an eldritch entity called the
Huntsman, and he can only control it by assuming its form. It's hard to
follow, and its stylistic art seems to be there only to hide the fact
we've seen all this before. |
Fate
(17 issues, 1994-1995)
Fate is born when soldier of fortune Jared Stevens comes
across the helmet of Doctor Fate. He forges it into a golden sword and
uses it to fight the arcane evils of the DC universe. Frankly, I don't
get it -- Fate, the real one, deserved better than this. |
Primal Force
(15 issues, 1994-1995)
Primal Force is the name of the team brought together by
the immortal Dr. Mist, who assembles the adventurers to battle the
arcane menace known as Cataclysm. Mythology and superstition plays a big
role in the series, but it never really found any true believers. |
R.E.B.E.L.S.
(17 issues, 1994-1996)
A spinoff of L.E.G.I.O.N., R.E.B.E.L.S. finds Vril Dox,
Lobo and fellow teammates on the run from the very organization they
founded. It's a sad sequel to the superior series that spawned it, and
the endless fight scenes get annoying after a while. |
Xenobrood
(7 issues, 1994-1995)
Four elementally powered superbeings spring full grown
from four mysterious crystals when a couple of anthropologists find the
crystals in a tomb. Still with me? It's a slim premise, and it doesn't
get any thicker the further you go in. |
|
