| Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds | |
|---|---|
.png) Cover ofFinal Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds collected edition (October 2010), art byGeorge Pérez. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule | Irregular |
| Format | Limited series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | August 2008 – September 2009 |
| No. of issues | 5 |
| Main character(s) | Superman Legion of Super-Heroes Superboy-Prime Time Trapper Legion of Super-Villains Sodam Yat Kid Flash (Bart Allen) Superboy (Kon-El) |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Geoff Johns |
| Penciller | George Pérez |
| Inker | Scott Koblish |
| Letterer | Nick Napolitano |
| Colorist | Hi-Fi Colour |
| Editor(s) | Eddie Berganza Adam Schlagman |
| Collected editions | |
| Hardcover | ISBN 1-4012-2324-9 |
| Paperback | ISBN 1401223257 |
Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds is a five-issue2008limited series produced byDC Comics. The series is a tie-in toFinal Crisis. It is scripted byGeoff Johns,[1][2] and drawn byGeorge Pérez.
The story featuresSuperman and thepost-Infinite Crisis version of theLegion of Super-Heroes, uniting them with the team's1994 and2004 counterparts to battle theTime Trapper and a new incarnation of theLegion of Super-Villains (led bySuperboy-Prime).
This series is the finale of DC's three year reinvention of the Legion, coming after the "Lightning Saga" story arc from theJustice League of America andJustice Society of America series, and the "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" story arc fromAction Comics.
The term "Legion of 3 Worlds" was previously used by Superman during "The Lightning Saga" story arc,[3] describing "one of the Legion's greatest adventures". He stated that the full story of this event went undocumented because none of the Legionnaires remembered exactly what had occurred.Brainiac 5 later mentions that the adventure involved the Tornado Twins.[4] The LegionnaireStar Boy (Thom Kallor, then a present-day member of theJustice Society of America under the nameStarman) alludes to this encounter, saying that he met "another Thom and another Thom", and briefly mentions the post-Zero Hour speedsterXS, stating that she harbored a crush on Superman.[5]
Geoff Johns revealed in an interview that XS would be appearing inLegion of 3 Worlds and made it clear that this series, andThe Flash: Rebirth mini-series, which he wrote withEthan Van Sciver on art duties, would pick up threads left hanging in "The Lightning Saga": "Obviously, one of the big things in 'Lightning Saga' that we still haven't addressed is the lightning rod and what that's all about. That will be a central focus of the series".[6]
InAction Comics #864,Batman references the appearances of the different Legions in the present (the original version,[7]1994 version,[8] and2004 version[9]), and believes that the future is always changing.
TheTime Trapper, after several unsuccessful attempts to removeSuperman from history, retrieves a time-lostSuperboy-Prime and sends him to 31st-centurySmallville. Superboy-Prime is enraged to learn of his minimal impact on history, whileSuperman remains a highly influential figure 1000 years later. Breaking virtually all of theLegion of Super-Heroes' enemies out of the space prisonTakron-Galtos, Superboy-Prime leads them as a new version of theLegion of Super-Villains in a bid to destroy everything that Superman inspired, including the Legion and theUnited Planets. The villains travel toZerox to recruitMordru before continuing to Earth, killing Rond Vidar (former Legionnaire and the lastGreen Lantern) in the process. Meanwhile, the Time Trapper observes the assassination of Legion financierR. J. Brande.
The Legion of Super-Heroes, who are at half-strength and devastated by Brande's death, learn of the destruction of Takron-Galtos, so they summon Superman to their time for help. While Superman leads the Legion into battle against the villains, Brainiac 5 (who was forewarned of Superboy-Prime's invasion by one ofDream Girl's premonitions) sets in motion a master contingency plan against Superboy-Prime that involves recruiting three of Prime's biggest foes.
First, Brainiac 5 sendsMon-El andShadow Lass to take Rond's body to Oa and recruit Prime's nemesis, the immortalSodam Yat (the lastGuardian of the Universe), into the war. Brainiac 5 also sends three Legionnaires back to 20th-century Smallville to retrieve a strand of hair from a youngLex Luthor and asksStarman to recover a body from a grave in the 21st century. Brainiac 5 himself ventures to theJustice League's original headquarters and uses their crystal ball to summon the Legions of two parallel universes, Universe-247 (the home reality of the1994 Legion) and Universe-Prime (the home reality of the2004 Legion), and recruit them to fight against the Legion of Super-Villains.
Next, Brainiac 5, with the help of his counterparts, uses the lightning rod empowered during the "Lightning Saga" story arc plusXS running on a Cosmic Treadmill powered by the various incarnations of the Ranzz twins (Garth andAyla) to resurrect XS' cousinBart Allen (Kid Flash) from within theSpeed Force. Brainiac 5 explains that the team of Legionnaires recently sent back in time during the "Lightning Saga" story arc used the lightning rod to "bottle up" Bart's essence before his death at the hands of theRogues.
While Kid Flash joins the battle against Superboy-Prime, Brainiac 5 and his team travel to Superman'sFortress of Solitude for the final phase of his plan. They retrieve aKryptonian healing chrysalis that was buried under the ice for 1000 years, placed there by Starman in the 21st century. The strand of Luthor's hair is placed in the chrysalis and the device resurrectsConner Kent, a.k.a. Superboy, who attacks his murderer, Superboy-Prime.
Meantime, Superman and the three Legion founders (Cosmic Boy,Saturn Girl andLightning Lad) are forcefully taken to the End of Time by the Time Trapper, who is revealed as an aged Superboy-Prime. The older Superboy-Prime reveals that after being shunted into theMultiverse by theGuardians of the Universe, he became an anomaly that could not be killed and later became the sole survivor of all creation. The founding Legionnaires use the Time Trapper's time portals to summon multiple Legions from across the Multiverse, who manage to knock the Trapper out.
The founding Legionnaires and Superman return to the 31st century with the Time Trapper, who faces his younger self. Refusing to believe that the new arrival is his future self, Superboy-Prime punches his future self, which causes both of them to vanish. The three Brainiacs reveal that the Time Trapper the Legion knew no longer exists as the future was reset when Superboy-Prime punched his elder self.
After the battle is over, the 1994 Legion, whose universe was lost in thesecond Crisis, decide to travel the Multiverse looking for other lost survivors, withFerro naming the groupthe Wanderers. XS andGates decide to stay behind and join the original Legion. Brainiac 5 reveals to the 2004 Legion that they are fromEarth-Prime (Superboy-Prime's homeworld) after Universe-Prime was recreated in the second Crisis. The two Legions depart while Superman returns to the 21st century with Superboy and Kid Flash.
Meanwhile, a powerless Superboy-Prime wakes up on the reborn Earth-Prime, an analogue of the real world, and is reunited with his parents and his girlfriend Lori, who are all horrified by his actions. Superboy-Prime moves into his parents' basement while reading the last issue ofLegion of 3 Worlds. He then turns and talks to the readers, insisting they knew he was meant to be Superboy before Conner. He proceeds to troll the official DC Comics message board on the Internet, remarking: "They'll never get rid of me. I always survive".[10]
The series has been collected into a singlevolume:
