Publication history of DC Comics crossover events

From Hey Kids Comics

During its 75 years of publication, DC Comics has produced many crossover stories combining characters from different series of comics. Some of these are set in the fictional DC Universe, or any number of settings within the DC Multiverse.

Publication history[edit | edit source]

Crossover Event Year Published Notes
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" 1985 The Anti-Monitor tries to destroy the DC Multiverse but succeeds only in merging it into a single universe; numerous characters die, including Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) and the Flash (Barry Allen). Series to spin out of event; Man of Steel, Green Lantern Corps.
"Legends" 1986 Darkseid and his servant Glorious Godfrey attempt to ruin humanity's faith in superheroes. First Post-Crisis appearance of Captain Marvel in normal continuity, and forms a new Justice League roster. Series to spin out of event; Suicide Squad, Justice League International.
"Millennium" 1988 After the Guardians and Zamarons exile themselves from this dimension, one of each remains and seeks out 12 Chosen to become the New Guardians. The robotic Manhunters aim to prevent this and several supporting characters were revealed to be Manhunters. Series to spin out of event; New Guardians.
Cosmic Odyssey 1988 Darkseid strives to gain the Anti-Life Equation. Series to spin out of event; New Gods.
"Invasion!" 1988–1989 The Dominators have put together an Alliance to invade Earth and eliminate the threat posed by their unpredictable "metahumans".
"Janus Directive" 1989 Suicide Squad leader Amanda Waller sends her agents on missions in the apparent pursuit of her own private agenda, the so-called Janus Directive.
"Armageddon 2001" 1991 Monarch threatens to destroy the future and Earth's superheroes must stop him.
War of the Gods 1991 Wonder Woman and the Amazons are caught in the middle of a war between the ancient Roman gods and the Olympian gods. Meanwhile, Circe frames Themyscira for crimes that leads to a war between America and the Wonder Woman's home.
"Eclipso: The Darkness Within" 1992 Earth's superheroes fight Eclipso and his Pawn Lar Gand.
"Trinity" 1993 The Green Lantern Corps, The L.E.G.I.O.N., and The Darkstars go up against the beings called "The Triarch".
"Bloodlines" 1993 The DC superheroes go up against alien parasites; new superheroes are created from some of their victims.
"Worlds Collide" 1994 The DC superheroes meet their Milestone Comics counterparts.
Panic in the Sky 1994 The Legion of Super-Heroes traverses multiple universes, and attempts to resolve some of the inconsistencies of the timeline of the DC Universe.
"Zero Hour" 1994 Extant and Parallax attempt to recreate the Multiverse; a new timeline emerges.
The Way of the Warrior 1995 The Tormock alien race invades Earth and Guy Gardner, Hawkman, Justice League America, Lobo, and former Green Lantern Probert battle to save the world.
"Underworld Unleashed" 1995 Neron a demon from Hell offers the DC universe villains an "upgrade" in exchange for their souls.
"The Final Night" 1996 A Sun-Eater threatens life on Earth by devouring the Sun. Hal Jordan sacrifices his life to destroy it
DC vs Marvel 1996 Two brothers who personify the DC and Marvel universes become aware of the other's existence, and challenge each other to a series of duels involving each universe's respective superheroes. The losing universe will cease to exist. The story has an out of universe component in that although there are eleven primary battles, the storyline does not show one side as being victorious. The "brothers" resolve the situation by temporarily creating a new universe, called the Amalgam universe, which is occupied by merged versions of many of the heroes. An inter-dimensional character called Access eventually manages to restore the universes to their normal state.
"Genesis" 1997 Darkseid battles Earth's heroes when the Genesis Wave strikes; many superbeings have their powers altered or negated.
"DC One Million" 1998 The Justice Legion Alpha of the 853rd century joins together with the present day Justice League to battle Solaris the Tyrant Sun.
"Day of Judgment" 1999 Demonic forces threaten the Earth; Hal Jordan becomes the Spectre.
Our Worlds at War 2001 Imperiex threatens the universe.
Joker: Last Laugh 2001-2002 While locked up in the Slab penitentiary, the Joker finds out he is suffering from a terminal brain tumor. Determined to go out with a bang, he uses a venom to "jokerize" other inmates, making them insane and changing their appearance, giving them white skin, green hair, and a wide smile.
Identity Crisis 2004 Sue Dibny, the wife of superhero Elongated Man, is murdered in their apartment. The DC superhero community rallies to find the murderer.
Countdown to Infinite Crisis 2005 Consists of the one-shot Countdown to Infinite Crisis and four miniseries which spin out of this comic: Day of Vengeance, in which Shadowpact is formed to defend magic from the Spectre; Rann-Thanagar War; Villains United, in which the Secret Six is formed to fight the Secret Society of Supervillains; and The OMAC Project, in which Batman's mistrust of his fellow heroes leads to the creation of an army of cyborgs.
"Infinite Crisis" 2005 Kal-L, the Superman of Earth-Two, and several other characters return to attempt to change the universe for the better. History is altered at the end of the series.
52 2006 The "missing year" between Infinite Crisis & One Year Later where the world is without Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The series establishes the existence of a new Multiverse.
"One Year Later" 2006 All DC comics jump forward in time to one year after the end of Infinite Crisis. Diana has a secret identity of Diana Prince and reclaims the Wonder Woman mantle, Bruce Wayne resumes as Batman, and Clark Kent gets his powers back and returns as Superman.
Amazons Attack 2007 Lead up with Wonder Woman v3 #6-8, Circe manipulates the Department of Metahuman Affairs and the Amazons after bringing Queen Hippolyta, Wonder Woman's mother, back from the dead that leads the Amazons to fight America and the country's heroes. The only way Wonder Woman could end this war, besides defeating Circe, is fighting her own mother.
Countdown (to Final Crisis) 2007 A weekly series that started a week following the end of 52, Countdown acts as the "spine" to the DC Universe that, as the name suggests, counts down to a new event for 2008. The series crosses over with certain titles and deals with Jimmy Olsen getting super powers, Mary Marvel trying to get her powers back, and a plot with the Monitors that involves the new Multiverse and the three characters that were supposed to die in Infinite Crisis: Jason Todd, Donna Troy, & Kyle Rayner.
"Final Crisis" 2008 The event that started at the conclusion of Countdown. Started May 2008. Batman is apparently killed by Darkseid in this event. In reality, he is trapped in the past, where he witnessed Anthro's death. The Martian Manhunter is murdered by Libra and the new Secret Society of Supervillains. Barry Allen, who died in Crisis on Infinite Earths, returns to life in this event.
"Blackest Night" 2009 An all out war between the living heroes and villains and the Black Lantern Corps and the DC Universe stemming from the war of light.
"Brightest Day" 2010 The events immediately following the final moments of the Blackest Night.
"Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne" 2010 Bruce Wayne returns to present-day Gotham City after the events of Final Crisis.
"Flashpoint" 2011 When the The Flash attempts to change time and save his mother from death, he alters history dramatically. When the events are corrected, universes are joined together (one being the Wildstorm universe/imprint) in order to repair the damage, leading to The New 52.
"Night of the Owls" 2012 Batman must call upon the Bat family Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Catwoman etc. For the shadowy group "The Court of Owls" are vying to keep their century-long control over Gotham City.
"The Culling" 2012 The Teen Titans along with the help of the Legion Of Superheroes face off against the meta human capturing group, N.O.W.H.E.R.E . Just as N.O.W.H.E.R.E`s leader, Harvest sets his long-awaited plan in motion.
"Rise of the Vampires" 2012 In the pages of I, Vampire, the death and revival of Andrew Bennett ensues while the Justice League Dark fights the supernatural threats of Cain and the Queen of Blood.
"Rise of the Third Army" 2012-2013 Absolute power corrupts absolutely—and the Guardians time is finally here. The Guardians, believing that the universe would be better off without free will and emotions create the Third Army. The Third Army assimilates all they come in contact with into transformed members of the Third Army. This crossover is mainly contained within the Green Lantern family of books: Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern: The New Guardians and The Red Lanterns. This storyline will lead into the Wrath of the First Lantern storyline.
"Rotworld" 2012-2013 The avatars of The Green (Swamp Thing) and The Red (Animal Man) must stop The Rot or the world will end in this epic crossover.
"Death of the Family" 2012-2013 After having his face cut off, the Joker returns and begins to target the Bat Family.
"Hawkman: Wanted" 2012-2013 Being chased by the Thanagarians, after recovering his memories, Hawkman cross the paths of Green Arrow and Deathstroke.
"H'El on Earth" 2012-2013 A New 52 Superman crossover where Superman, Superboy and Supergirl go head to head with a powerful Kryptonian being known as H'el.
"Throne of Atlantis" 2012-2013 A vengeful Ocean Master returns and the war for Atlantis triggers a battle between Aquaman and Justice League.
"Requiem" 2013 A series of issues consisting of the Bat Family reacting to the death of Damian Wayne.
"Wrath of the First Lantern" 2013 In the outcome of the Rise of the Third Army, the mysterious First Lantern is unleashed against the Green Lantern Corps.
"Batman: Zero Year" 2013-2014 Witness The New 52 origin of The Dark Knight.
"Trinity War" 2013 The Justice League, Justice League of America and Justice League Dark will take it to the next level! And so are DC's Trinity; Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman!
"Psi-War" 2013 A crossover that involves Superman and Superboy, it erupts as Hector Hammond tries to take control of H.I.V.E.[1]
"Forever Evil" 2013-2014 The outcome of "Trinity War", what will happen when the heroes of the DC Universe fall and there’s nobody left to stop the villains from taking over? [2]
"Lights Out" 2013 A crossover that involves the Green Lantern books, to be published in October.[3]

References[edit | edit source]