WANTED: Earth-Two's Most Dangerous Super-Villains
The Crime Syndicate of America
Known Members of the Crime Syndicate of America of Earth-Three
Ultraman - Kryptonian who is empowered by Kryptonite rather than weakened be it.
Owlman - No inherent super-powers but a super-genius intellect and knowledge of extensive scientific, technological and philosophical disciplines.
Super Woman - "Renegade Amazon" with a magic lasso, super-strength and super-speed.
Johnny Quick- Super-Speedster with powers of unknown origin. It appears his helm may be somehow linked as a "token of power" but the nature of this is unknown.
Power Ring - Given a magical power ring by the Buddist Monk Volthoom, this ring-slinger is probably more analagous to an evil Alan Scott than an evil Hal Jordan, tho he physically resemebles the latter.
Earth-Three is first known to have made contact with other
worlds of the multiverse in the mid 1960’s when Ultra-Man, whose powers expand
with each exposure to kryptonite, developed extra-dimensional Avision.
In his first use, he observed the actions of the Justice League of
Earth-One, where he was astonished to see them use their powers to advance just
and the law, whereas Earth-Three was characterized by a dominance of evil
intentions. Sharing this news with his
fellow members of the Crime Syndicate, the narcissistic super-humans were
excited at the thought of genuine competition, as they had grown complacent
with their virtual dominance over the non-superpowered law enforcement of
Earth-Three. Confident their lack of
scruples would lead them to victory, they attacked Earth-One during the next
meeting of the Justice League and lured them into battle. Expecting the heroes to attack their counter
parts (i.e. Superman vs. Ultraman), the produce misleading messages causing the
Leaguers to encounter unexpected adversaries.
Despite this disadvantage, the heroes overcome the members of the
Syndicate who say the word “Volthoom” upon realizing defeat is imminent. The word activates a special vibration
invented by Owlman that transports them to Earth-Three, where the heroes are
quickly defeated.
Realizing that the Justice League was dominant on Earth-One and the Syndicate on Earth-Three, a true battle for supremacy would need a neutral playing field. Again using his extradimensional vision, Ultraman targeted Earth-Two and leaving the League captive in their headquarters, departed to engage the Justice Society. On Earth-Two, Dr. Fate had detected the probing eyes of Ultraman and made contact with the captured Justice League. Informed of the Volthoom maneuver, the Society readied to battle the Syndicate. Invading JSA headquarters, the Crime Syndicate is again defeated but has planted a different vibrational trap, drawing the Justice Society to defeat on Earth-Three. Leaving the JSA in a trapped cage, the Syndicate and the Justice League travel to Earth-Two where, after an epic battle, the Syndicate is finally defeated. In the ensuing discussion on where to put them, the Syndicate is alarmed at the prospect of imprisonment on either Earth-One or –Two, causing the JLA to realize something is wrong. Indeed, the trap containing the JSA is designed to unleash enormous energy destroy the two other Earths in the event the Syndicate was defeated. The resolution – leaving the Crime Syndicate in a timeless bubble between worlds – is determined and the JLA defuses the trap containing the JSA. The Syndicate is thought to be gone for good (Justice League of America Vol. 1 #29-30).
The Syndicate is thought to have been largely inactive for
several years, trapped in limbo outside of the normal flow of time. An image revealed in 1970 suggested an
undisclosed encounter with a different roster of JLA and JSA members but the
details of this case are unrevealed and may be apocryphal (Justice League of
America #82). The first documented case of escaping their
prison occurred in 1978. When the
Injustice Society of the World sent the Wizard to Earth-One to recruit fresh
blood, their return path inadvertently caused the Wizard to damage their prison
globe and he sought to escape the temporal maelstrom between worlds. As a result, the Secret Society was sent to
Earth-Three rather than Earth-Two and Power Ring, Owlman and Superwoman
escaped. When the Society realized
their error, the sought to finish the trip to Earth-Two but were attacked by
the three Syndicate escapees. After a stalemated battle, the two camps
retreated and with study, the Wizard realized he could finish the trip if he
the helm of Johnny Quick, Power Ring’s ring and Superwoman’s magic lasso.
After defeating the three syndicate members,
the Secret Society is escaped, leaving Captain Comet alone on Earth-Three when
the angry Syndicate members arrived.
They thrashed Comet and set off in pursuit of their artifacts. Their efforts were stalled however when Power
Ring, who had pulled his power battery out of storage to substitute for his
ring, began to contaminate everyone around him as the battery was leaking toxic
energies. After defeating Superwoman and
Johnny Quick and a number of mutated humans, Comet confronted Power Ring and
defeated him, repairing the battery enough to cleanse the local populace and
send the Syndicate members to their prison (Secret Society of Super-Villains
#13-14).
At this point, it seems the Syndicate members began to
escape more often. In 1982, Owlamn and Superwoman are observed free on
Earth-Three by the Adjudicator as he seeks female champions throughout the
multiverse. (Wonder Woman #292). Ultraman had also escape at the some point
since 1978 and encounters the Luthors of Earth-One and Earth-Two in their plot
to defeat their respective Supermen. The
trio join forces but are undone by the arrival of a new hero, Alexander Luthor
of Earth-Three, who turns the tide against them. The defeated Ultraman is returned to the
prison bubble in Limbo (DC Comics Presents Annual #1).
Shortly after 1982, Per Degaton, traveling from 1947, was drawn to the prison bubble of the Crime Syndicate. There he made a Faustian bargain with them, their freedom for their assistance in stealing a set of nuclear missiles from Cuba on Earth-Prime in 1962. The theft resulting in a nuclear war between the United States and Soviet Union, ultimately destroying civilization on Earth-Prime. As Degaton secretly anticipated, the Syndicate would attempt to steal the weapons for themselves and when they made their move, he send then to Earth-One, 1982 on the JLA Satellite. The Crime Syndicate over-powered the JLA who had been waited for the JSA for their annual meeting and began a crime spree on Earth-One. Seeking the JSA, the found an altered Earth-Two ruled by Degaton as he had used the nukes to conquer Earth-Two in 1942. Traveling backing in time, the JLA, the JSA and the All-Star Squadron ultimately defeated Degaton and intercepting the Crime Syndicate on Earth-Prime in 1962, preventing the entire chain of events to begin with. As the timeline corrected itself, the Crime Syndicate was returned to their prison bubble with no recollection of these event as they had functionally never happened (Justice League of America #207-207, All-Star Squadron #14-15).
At some point after this, the Crime Syndicate fully escaped and was active on Earth-Three in 1984. Whether they ever encountered their JSA counterparts as depicted below is simply speculative. As the Crisis on Infinite Earth's began, Earth-Three was among the world's swept up in and ultimately destroyed. Whether this is was the true Earth-Three or a simple replica is unknown and whether Earth-Three remains out there somewhere in some form is unrevealed (Crisis on Infinite Earths #1).
Multiversity
In the timeline immediately followed after Crisis, no version of Earth-Three was accessible. Instead a version of the Crime Syndicate evolved on an anti-matter version of Earth formed in the dimension of Qward. This Crime Syndicate was markedly different from the Earth-Three version, In this dimension, Ultra-Man is astronaut Clark Kent, experimented on by aliens and Superman is Lois Lane with Amazonian powers. Owlman was an elder brother of Bruce Wayne, who became a nihilistic sociopath when he saw his brother and parents murdered. They were first known when their version of Lex Luthor attempted to defeat them by breaching the dimensions between the normal and anti-matter universes. While they engaged in pitched battle with the Justice League, they became convinced that idea from the new universe might infect Qwardian Earth and they retreated to defend it (JLA:Earth-2). Their earth is later attacked by Qwardia force and severely damaged, resulting in greater control and eventually theft of other populations to re-populate it (JLA #108-114, Trinity #40-52). Their current fate is unknown
After the 52, Flashpoint and Dark Metal events, several varingly unstable versions of Earth-3 have been created and seemingly destroyed. These versions bear more similarity to the original Earth-Three versions and some details may be analagous, though origins vary. Key components:
Ultra-Man is a Kryptonian named Kal-Il who is empowered by Kryptonite. He may be older than his peers, having assassinated JFK in 1963. He has no secret identity.
Owlman is Thomas Wayne who is alternatively the survivor of his family murder or the cause of it. He may or may not be the lover of Superwoman.
Superwoman may be Lois Lane or may be an Amazon from Demon Island named Donna Troy.
Power Ring is a cast of the Emerald Knights, the second of Earth employed by the autocratic overloads of Oa
Lex Luthor is either a freedom fighter organizing super-powered individuals or a megalomaniac himself stealing the power of Shazam.
Additional members that may or may not also be present on Earth-Three include Atomica, Grid, Sea King and Deathstorm
(The Crime Syndicate #1-6, Forever Evil #1-6).
Appearances
|
Issue |
Comment |
Reprinted in |
| 1st appearance, vs. the Justice League and the Justice Society |
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 1 TPB, DC 100-Page Spectacular #6, Greatest Team-Up Stories Ever Told, Justice League of America Archives #3, Showcase Presents: The Justice League of America #2, Justice League of America: The Silver Age Omnibus #1, Justice Society, A Celebration of 75 years |
|
|
Cameo Only |
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 2 TPB, Justice League of America Archives #10, Showcase Presents: The Justice League of America #4, Justice League of America: The Bronze Age Omnibus #1, Justice League of America: Last Survivors of Earth TPB |
|
|
Secret Society of Super-Villains #13-14 |
Power
Ring, Johnny Quick and Superwoman only, vs. Captain Comet and the Secret Society of Super-Villains |
Secret Society of Super-Villains HC #2 |
|
Wonder Woman #292 |
Superwoman and Owlman Cameo only |
|
|
Ultra Man only, With Luthors of Earth-One and Two vs. Superman of Earth-One and Earth-Two and Luthor of Earth-Three |
Showcase Presents: Superman – The Team Ups #1, DC Through the 80’s: An End of Eras |
|
|
As allies of Degaton, story erased when Timeline corrects |
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 6 TPB, Showcase Presents All-Star Squadron #1 |
|
|
As allies of Degaton, story erased when Timeline corrects |
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 6 TPB |
|
|
Possible Deaths |
Crisis on Infinite Earths HC, Crisis on Infinite Earths TPB, Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths HC, Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths HC |