| "Millennium" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Cover ofMillennium #5 (February 1988), art byJoe Staton and Bruce D. Patterson. | |||
| Publisher | DC Comics | ||
| Publication date | January – February1988 | ||
| Genre | |||
| |||
| Main character(s) | Justice League International Green Lantern Corps New Guardians Manhunters | ||
| Creative team | |||
| Writer(s) | Steve Englehart | ||
| Penciller(s) | Joe Staton | ||
| Inker(s) | Ian Gibson | ||
| Letterer(s) | Bob Lappan | ||
| Colorist(s) | Carl Gafford | ||
| Editor(s) | Andy Helfer | ||
| Softcover | ISBN 978-1-4012-2065-5 | ||
"Millennium" was acomic bookcrossover story line that ran through an eight-issue, self-titled,limited series and various other titles cover dated January and February 1988 byDC Comics. The limited series was published weekly,[1] which was a departure for an American series. It was written bySteve Englehart, and with art byJoe Staton andIan Gibson.[2]
The story took place at a time when theGuardians of the Universe had left Earth's dimension along with their mates, theZamarons. However, one Guardian, Herupa Hando Hu, and his Zamaron mate, Nadia Safir, traveled to Earth and announced to the world that they would select 10 persons who would become thenew Guardians of the Universe, and give birth to a new race of immortals. They gathered Earth's superheroes and sent them to find the chosen persons, who came from various parts of the world. One of them turned out to beHal Jordan's friend,Thomas Kalmaku, while another was the former villain known as theFloronic Man.
Unknown to everyone, the robotic cult known as theManhunters (whom theJustice League believed had been destroyed years before) had found a sphere thatHarbinger had used to storeall the information she had gathered about the universe afterCrisis on Infinite Earths. Because of it, they knew the secret identities of Earth's heroes, and had planted their agents close to them (in other words, many of the supporting characters featured in the heroes' own comic titles were revealed to be Manhunters). On finding out about the search for The Chosen, the Manhunters decided to prevent it, and had their agents reveal themselves and attack Earth’s heroes. The heroes, joined by Harbinger, defeated the Manhunter agents and then attacked their home planet, defeating the cult again.
The Heroes managed to gather most of the Chosen, but two were killed over the course of the series, one (Terra of theTeen Titans) was already dead before it started, and one was senile. Another Chosen, a white supremacist from South Africa named Janwillem Kroef, eventually left the group because it contained non-white members. The Guardian and the Zamaron then died activating the latent powers of the remaining Chosen. They became a new superhero group, TheNew Guardians, which had its own comic book series afterwards, also by Englehart and Staton. The new series only lasted 12 issues.
The spirits of Haru and Safir later reappeared and explained that alternate plans had also been put in motion, and that a group of beings created by Kroef would be the true Chosen. The New Guardians later disbanded. The current status of the second Chosen is unknown. The Manhunters are apparently active again.
Millennium an eight-part miniseries, written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Joe Staton [was] delivered in weekly installments.