In the enchanted streets of Fawcett City, homeless newsboy Billy Batson had been led to a hidden subway station by a mysterious stranger and brought to the secret lair of the old wizard Mamaragan, who bestowed upon Billy the ability to transform into Shazam, the World's Mightiest Mortal. Soon, Billy shared his power with others, including his crippled friend Freddie Freeman, who became Shazam Jr. and Billy's long-long sister, Lady Shazam. Together, they foiled the schemes of the mad scientist Sivana and Mamaragan's corrupt former protégé, Black Adam. Before long, Shazam had battled the evil Mr. Mind, and adopted a talking tiger, Tawny.

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen, became embroiled in the war between the New Gods of the Fourth World. The ruler of the hellish planet Apokolips, Darkseid, had broken his truce with Highfather and kidnapped one of the Forever People from the peaceful world of New Genesis to seek out the Anti-Life Equation on Earth. Meanwhile, Highfather's son, Scot, fled Apokolips to Earth and assumed the alias of Scott Free, otherwise known as Mister Miracle, the World's Greatest Escape Artist. Heeding the call of war, the warrior Orion and his cheerful companion Lightray joined the fray and learned the terrible secret of Orion's birthright. Allied with neither New Genesis nor Apokolips was the cosmic observer Metron, wandering time & space for greater knowledge in his Mobius Chair.

Cursed during the fall of Camelot more than a millennia ago, Jason Blood was transformed once more into The Demon to battle the forces of Morgaine Le Fey. In the Louisiana Bayou, murdered biologist Alec Holland was reborn as the monstrous Swamp Thing and foiled the evil schemes of mad scientist Anton Arcane. Meanwhile, criminals felt the wrath of The Spectre once again, the mysterious superhero known only as the Black Orchid first appeared, the enigmatic fortune teller Madame Xanadu revealed the unexpected destinies of all those who entered her parlor in Greenwich Village, and Iraq vet Rory Regan first donned the haunted suit of rags of his Jewish ancestors as Ragman.

Kate Spencer, Manhunter, had been resurrected by The Council, but turned against them once she uncovered her benefactor's true motives, and sacrificed her life to stop their plans for world domination. Not long afterwards, the ancient cult of The Manhunters recruited young public defender Mark Shaw into their ranks. Having convinced the deadly Lady Shiva that he wasn't her enemy, Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter, was soon forced to fight his friend, Bronze Tiger, who'd been brainwashed by Sensei of the League of Assassins.

Christopher Chance, master of disguise, became the Human Target to protect his clients. Framed for treason and sentenced to death in his home within the Meta Zone, Shade the Changing Man, fled to Earth in pursuit of fugitives from his dimension. Starman Mikaal Tomas defended the Earth from an invasion by his homeworld. Air Force pilot Travis Morgan entered the Lost World of Skartaris and fought for freedom as The Warlord. It was during this time that the Justice League would team up with other heroes to avert Crisis on Multiple Earths.

Wonder Woman first encountered Nubia, a rival from a tribe of Amazons under the thrall of the War God Mars. The Daily Planet's two best reporters, Lois Lane & Clark Kent, finally started dating and Captain Comet returned to Earth after decades in space to help foil the evil schemes of the Secret Society. Crusading high school teacher Jefferson Pierce adopted the super-heroic guise of Black Lightning to defend the Suicide Slums of Metropolis.

Teenager Jefferson Jackson and active hero Ronnie Raymond were transformed into the new Firestorm, the Nuclear Man. Meanwhile, super-heroes from across the world were united by the immortal Dr. Mist into the Global Guardians, and model Mari McCabe gained animal powers from her ancestral totem necklace as Vixen.

Banded together from across the galaxy by Lex Luthor & Brainiac, the most sinister villains of all time were manipulated with shared dreams of an impending apocalypse to form the Legion of Doom and challenge the Justice League of America. This unholy alliance of villains nearly succeeded in their conquest of the planet, but were defeated by the combined might of Earth's superheroes and their allies. However, this victory would be short-lived for some. The Flash's beloved wife, Iris, was attacked by TheReverse-Flash, and Aquaman's infant son was killed by Black Manta. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman's alter ego of Diana Prince became an agent of the American government's D.E.O alongside her boyfriend Steve Trevor. and Superman thwarted the latest schemes of Lex Luthor, whose plot to retrieve oil from the Middle East resulting in bombs being fired that had unleashed General Zod, Faora and Tor-An from their imprisonment within the Phantom Zone.

Martian Manhunter returned to Mars to fight his brother, Ma'alefa'ak. After Crystal Frost was killed in battle with Firestorm, Louise Lincoln transformed herself into the frigid Killer Frost to avenge her friend. The Atomic Skull became a known concern, created when Albert Michaels gained radioactive powers that burnt the flesh away. The mercenary known as Bloodsport became involved in white supremacist activities, quickly becoming a pariah amongst the supervillain community.

No longer the Boy Wonder of his youth, Dick Grayson reunited with Donna Troy and Wally West to mentor the next generation of teenaged superheroes. Together with the exiled alien princess Starfire, the mysterious sorceress Raven, the wise-cracking Changeling and the half-man/half-machine Cyborg, they became the New Teen Titans and established Titans Tower in New York City.

The days of fighting campy villains were over, and the Joker returned to Gotham on his latest killing spree, promptly titled "the Killing Joke." The Joker shot Batgirl and raped Commissioner Gordon. Following this, Dick Grayson left Batman over disagreements on how to handle the Joker, and became Nightwing. Batman soon encountered a young boy called Jason Todd, who managed to remove a wheel from the batmobile. With training, Batman decided to have Jason become the new Robin.

Tales of The GLC spread throughout the cosmos. Soon after thwarting an invasion of the universe by the Weaponers of Qward, the renegade Oan Krona returned leading the undead armies of Nekron, the dark embodiment of death. Emerging from these cosmic wars victorious, Hal Jordan refused leadership of the Corps to remain on Earth. However, the Guardians soon exiled Jordan to space for neglecting the other worlds of Sector 2814. Across the galaxy in the Vegan System, the Omega Men overthrew the tyrannical rule of The Citadel and began to rebuild while, in another star system, Prince Gavyn was exiled by a usurper and began secretly defending Throneworld as Starman.

Following a brutal attack upon Sue Dibny, a secret pact within the ranks of the Justice League to protect their secret identities using mind-wipes led to a single act of betrayal with far-reaching consequences. With his trust in the League steadily decreasing, Batman formed a group of Outsiders which operated out of the small European nation of Markovia. Meanwhile, Ray Palmer left Ivy Town and began a new life in the Amazon Jungle after his wife Jean Loring divorced him.

With most of his team-mates gone, Aquaman disbanded the old Justice League of America and formed a new incarnation in Detroit with the Martian Manhunter, Zatanna and the Elongated Man and began training young heroes Gypsy, the indestructible Steel, the breakdancing Vibe and animal empowered Vixen. Meanwhile, the teleporting, fourth wall-breaking nuisance known as Ambush Bug first appeared to annoy the living $#!+ out of everyone from Superman to Darkseid. Power Girl and The Star-Spangled Kid joined protégés and offspring of the JSA to form their own team in Los Angeles called Infinity Inc. Their members would include Alan Scott's twin children Jade & Obsidian, Scythian Torvill and Kendra Munoz's son Silver Scarab, Hippolyta's foster daughter Fury and Al Pratt's godson Nuklon. Meanwhile, Hollywood stuntman and special effects wizard Daniel Cassidy was transformed by a demon from Hell into Blue Devil.

Chief amongst the New Teen Titans' adversaries was cunning mercenary Slade Wilson, who used a 13 year old super-heroine called Terra to infiltrate the Titans. Not long afterwards, Slade's mute son, Jericho and the crystal-spinning Kole joined the Titans. District attorney Adrian Chase avenged his family's murder in the costumed identity of Vigilante in the streets of New York City. While his friends faced the terror of Trigon, Dick Grayson investigated his most person mystery yet: Who is Donna Troy?

Just as Superman faced a dangerous new foe in the diabolical alien tyrant Mongul, his old archenemies, Lex Luthor and Brainiac, returned deadlier than ever to plague the Man of Steel. Meanwhile, the super powers of Earth's heroes and villains were tested when the forces of Apokolips threatened the planet once again.

The Flash killed The Reverse-Flash to stop him from murdering the woman he loved and was put on trial for manslaughter in Central City. Upon Hal Jordan's return from space, he gave up his ring for Carol Ferris. In his place, architect John Stewart became the new Green Lantern of Sector 2814 while Hal Jordan watched helplessly as Carol Ferris was transformed by a mysterious stalker, The Predator, into his old enemy-Star Sapphire!

The realm of magic and the occult grew restless as a growing darkness spread across the Earth, seen only by the blind Mister E. To battle these supernatural threats, enigmatic Baron Winters assembled his chosen team, known as Night Force. Although Andrew Bennett struggled to be as human as you or I...Vampire blood flowed through his immortal body. 13 year old Amy Winston discovered she was actually Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. Swamp Thing discovered the truth of his origins and met a cynical and manipulative rogue named John Constantine, who began preparing him for an imminent crisis that would shatter the very fabric of reality itself.

The growing temporal instabilities that had plagued Earth's heroes for decades finally culminated in the cataclysmic cosmic event known as the Crisis on Infinite Earths. From his hidden satellite above Earth, The Monitor tasked his protege Harbinger to gather heroes and villains from across history to stop his evil counterpart from the Anti-Matter Universe, The Anti-Monitor.

Amidst the red skies and desperate battles with Shadow Demons, a faction of Guardians on Oa revived and empowered the brash mentally unstable Guy Gardner to act as their Green Lantern, and young prodigy Alexander Luthor rose up to help save the universe. After an explosion activated her powers, Kimiyo Hoshi joined the heroes battle against the Anti-Monitor as a heroic Dr. Light. Meanwhile, the being known as Pariah was dragged through the universe and forced to watch the worlds die.

Victory in the Crisis would come at a high price. Barry Allen sacrificed his life running around the Anti-Monitor's cannon, while Supergirl died after a direct assault on the Anti-Monitor. During the battle with the Shadow Demons, Wonder Woman, Dove, Giovanni Zatara, Kole, Tula, Lori Lemaris, Mirror Master and countless others were killed.

Furthermore, the Justice Society of America had disappeared into Limbo to prevent the coming of Ragnarok. Alexander Luthor also left this plane of existence, taking with him three fellow refugees of extinct parallel timelines, the elder Superman Kal-L, his wife Lois Lane of Earth-2, and the young Superboy-Prime. Meanwhile, the elder Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-L, became stranded on this Earth, her true origins unclear to even herself.