Here at DC Histories, we try to make sense of the continuity that perplexes, befuddles, and intimidates. We discuss what worked and what didn't. This week, we’re talking about the reverse Justice League, the Crime Syndicate.
In 1964, the idea of the DC Multiverse was still in its infancy. In the summer of 1963, the heroes of the Justice League of America met the Justice Society of America for the first time. It had previously been established in The Flash that these two groups existed on different Earths. Earth-1, the League’s home, and Earth-2, the Society’s stomping grounds, existed in the same spot in space but on a different vibrational frequency. The pair could cross over, but it was tough. One year after the two groups first met, another Earth was found. Named Earth-3, this planet contained not a single super hero. The only super powered beings on this planet were villains to their core. This was the Crime Syndicate of America.
The Crime Syndicate was made up of mirror images of some of the members of the Justice League. There was Ultraman, who gained more superpowers whenever he was near Kryptonite, Owlman, a master strategic planner, Superwoman, the last surviving Amazon, Power Ring, granted a magic ring and its lantern by a mysterious monk, and Johnny Quick, a speedster with anger problems. When the League found themselves on Earth-3, they were quickly overpowered by their evil doppelgangers.
The Syndicate and the League discovered that while they were fighting on Earth-3, the Syndicate had a natural advantage. Random events seemed to favor them and they were quick to defeat their foes. It was only after the Syndicate traveled to the other Earths that they were finally defeated. A coalition of Justice League and Justice Society members finally took the Crime Syndicate down when the group lost its natural Earth-3 advantage and locked them in a Green Lantern energy bubble that floated on a vibrational plane between the various Earths.
The Syndicate was almost immediately forgotten about, just one more group of villains lost to the indignities of the dusty back issue. They didn't return to battle either the League or the Society for so long that it seemed as though everyone had forgotten them. For 14 years, the Syndicate floated in their nebulous world, not quite attached to any real place. Then, suddenly, they escaped.
When a group calling itself the Secret Society of Super-Villains jumped from their home on Earth-1 to another vibrational plane, they somehow disrupted the Green Lantern bubble that contained the Syndicate. Free for the first time in nearly a decade and a half, Superwoman, Power Ring, and Johnny Quick returned to Earth-3 to discover what had happened in their absence. Ultraman and Owlman remained imprisoned between worlds but these three villains were plenty powerfully enough on their own to terrify a hero named Captain Comet who was in pursuit of the Secret Society.
Somehow, Captain Comet was able to re-imprison the escaped Syndicate members back into the energy ball between worlds. He left them there, confident that they’d never again break out and wreck havoc in the Multiverse. He was, of course, wrong.
A few years later,a time-traveling, world-jumping, insane scientist named Per Degaton broke the Crime Syndicate out of their prison. This time, he made sure that Owlman and Ultraman were along for the ride. Per Degaton used the Syndicate as his henchmen, asking them to help him rain down terror upon the population of Earth-Prime, the world that was the closest in the DCU to our regular Earth. The Syndicate and Degaton traveled back to the Cuban Missile Crisis and used their powers to disrupt natural events. The Cuban Missile Crisis now ended with nuclear holocaust inflicted upon the people of Earth-Prime, all because Per Degaton wanted to use Russia’s missiles to blackmail Earth-1. The Syndicate was more than happy to help.
Luckily, the combined might of the Justice League, the Justice Society, and the All-Star Squadron from the 1940s were able to beat back Per Degaton and the Crime Syndicate’s plans but it was close.
By the mid-1980s, the DC editorial offices were in a bind. They felt that all the various Earths from Earth-1 to Earth-2 to Earths C, S, X, and more, were getting confusing to new readers. It was time to clean house. To that end, the Crisis on Infinite Earths was launched. By the end of that series, only a single Earth with a single history was left. The DCU was completely rewritten from the ground up. Extraneous characters were written out of existence. Among that number was the Crime Syndicate, whose Earth-3 world was among the first to be wiped away in the lead-up to the new continuity. They went out fighting, but they lost once again. Earth-3 was no more.
That could have been the end of the Crime Syndicate. The new edict at DC was no more alternate Earths and that was how things went.
Little by little, that rule was chiseled away. Over in the Superman books, the Man of Steel encountered a so-called “pocket universe” that contained other versions of him and his supporting cast. One of the major villains of the pre-Crisis Green Lantern books were the Qwardians, who existed in an antimatter universe. They, and their universe, survived the Crisis on Infinite Earths series. This indirectly allowed the Crime Syndicate to exist in this post-Crisis world.
During an adventure of the Justice League International, a group of super powered beings appeared. Hal Jordan, one of the original members of the Justice League of America, recognized these beings as being from Qward. He then set about explaining a retcon for that first Crime Syndicate appearance. The Syndicate wasn't from Earth-3. That would be silly as Earth-3 didn't exist. They were from Qward, the antimatter universe which did exist. Luckily, every other aspect of them was the same. It was a neat little band-aid by writer Mark Waid to fix the continuity problem.
Still, even though an explanation for the return of the Crime Syndicate was now in the hands of DC’s writers and editors, no one did anything with the Syndicate. Perhaps they still smacked a little too much of the DC Multiverse and DC was still reluctant to bring that idea back.
That all changed in 2000. By that time, writer Grant Morrison had brought a renewed energy to a flagging Justice League franchise. While the main JLA title hummed along, Morrison worked with artist Frank Quitely on a standalone graphic novel titled JLA: Earth 2. In the pages of that story, readers were introduced to the Crime Syndicate of Amerika, still operating in an antimatter universe though it was now unofficially known as “Earth 2.”
This Crime Syndicate of Amerika was darker than its pre-Crisis counterpart. Johnny Quick shot up to achieve his superspeed. Owlman was really Thomas Wayne, Jr. who hated his still-alive father with a burning passion. Ultraman was married to Superwoman, who was this universe’s Lois Lane, but he was aware of Superwoman and Owlman’s ongoing affair. It was one messed up group.
When this new Syndicate came to blows with the League, it was a first for everyone. All of their previous battles had been erased from continuity and this was their debut. Their battle raged across both the League’s Earth and the Syndicate’s antimatter world. In the end, the League remained on their Earth and the Syndicate stayed on theirs. It was a stalemate.
The Syndicate didn't stay away for long. A few years later, they arrived on the League’s Earth to once again cause havoc. Things had changed since the last time they’d set foot in the primary DCU. First, Power Ring had mysteriously changed to someone who looked more like John Stewart, the current Green Lantern in the League. Also, the weird quirk of fate that kept the Syndicate from defeating the League on their home turf was gone. The primary DCU was up for grabs.
However, the Syndicate had bigger problems back home. As they attempted to take over the League’s Earth, the Qwardians attempted to take over their world. Eventually, the League and the Syndicate worked together to repel the Qwardians and restore order to both worlds. The two groups worked together, but both held their noses while doing so. In the end, the Syndicate’s operations were disrupted on their home world and they returned to try and restore their brand of order.
Appearances by members of the Crime Syndicate slowly became more and more common. During a retelling of the very first meeting between Superman and Batman, Ultraman, Owlman, and Superwoman were added into the mix. Also there was Deathstroke and a weird Deadpool-esque character, but this article isn’t about them. The story was mostly played for laughs and in-jokes, but it was an interesting take on a Silver Age tale.
A year later, a bombshell was dropped on the DCU. The Multiverse, the thing that was so abhorrent to the DC editors in 1985 that they reset their entire line of books continuity to erase, was back. Apparently, the events of Infinite Crisis, another in a long line of Crisis-es that the heroes of the DCU have overcome over the years, resulted in the Multiverse restarting itself. Among those worlds that was restored was Earth-3, complete with a Crime Syndicate with a slightly different look.
To further complicate matters, another Owlman was launched a few years later. No, this wasn’t the Owlman from Earth-3 or the antimatter universe. This Owlman was Roy Raymond Jr., a private detective who Batman really admired. In the event of his death, Batman had put together a list of people he wanted to fight crime in his absence. Among them was Roy. After Batman appeared to die in Final Crisis, another of those darn Crisis-es, his final will was read. Alfred Pennyworth gave Roy a bunch of old Owlman equipment per Bruce’s instructions and told him to go be a costumed hero. Roy agreed for some reason. Now there was an Owlman hanging out with a group called the Outsiders who had no connection to Earth-3 or the Crime Syndicate. However, he did look exactly like the guy who did hang out with the Crime Syndicate. This made things super confusing for readers.
Batman’s supposed death brought new wrinkles to other corners of the DCU. For one thing, it left a hole in the Justice League. A new League formed soon afterwards consisting of brand new members. Dick Grayson, the former Robin, now took the role of Batman. Donna Troy, the former Wonder Girl, was now in the League. Jade, daughter of the Golden Age Green Lantern, was in the League. Jessie Quick, daughter of the Golden Age Johnny Quick (not the Crime Syndicate guy but another Johnny Quick) joined in on a few cases. It was against this new, largely untrained League that the once-again Earth-3 Crime Syndicate struck next.
Once again, it was only when the League and the Syndicate came briefly together to combat an even greater threat that everything managed to settle down. Of course, this new League knew enough not to trust the Crime Syndicate and the villains were returned to Earth-3 before they could do any permanent damage to the standard DCU’s Earth.
Soon afterwards, Flashpoint hit and afterwards the New 52 status quo was established. All of those previous appearances by the Crime Syndicate were again no longer in continuity. Their arrival at the end of the major Justice League crossover named “Trinity War” began the biggest event yet in the New 52 titled Forever Evil. The Syndicate now sported brand-new members like Atomica, Deathstorm, and the Grid.
The Crime Syndicate appears to have destroyed all of the Justice Leagues. Where are the Leagues’ members? Are any in their ranks actually dead? How will the New 52 Earth look after the Crime Syndicate has their way with it? Only time will tell. As Forever Evil is only just gearing up, everything will be revealed eventually. We’ll all just have to wait and see what happens next.
Jeff Reid is happy to be back writing another in the line of DC Histories. He’ll be talking about how great it is to be back to writing these over on Twitter.
