Now our enemies become our allies... those we fought against are now the very ones we fight alongside. The danger is to us all... but somehow we will survive. Somehow we will triumph. Somehow we will succeed even in the face of death! 
Crisis on Infinite Earths #10 is an issue of the series Crisis on Infinite Earths (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 1986.
Synopsis for "Death at the Dawn of Time!"
After destroying Brainiac's shell, Psimon turns his attention towards Lex Luthor. He plans on taking over the united villains after killing Luthor. What Psimon doesn't realize however is that Brainiac's consciousness is downloaded into the circuitry of his ship. He forges a new body for himself and blasts the top off of Psimon's crown with a beam of energy.
On Earth-One at the dawn of mankind, Anthro continues to see wild streaks of red lightning flashing across the sky. He ponders whether he should tell the rest of the tribe, but fears that they may find him crazy.
On Earth-Four, Chemo stands next to the ruins of the Statue of Liberty. All about him, the waters surrounding Manhattan island are bubbling with deadly poisonous fumes. Negative Woman flies about him, ensnaring the gigantic villain with bands of shadow energy. The bands constrict until they eventually succeed in destroying Chemo's artificial shell. In Manhattan, Black Adam fights up against Robotman and Dove. Kole of the New Teen Titans flies up behind him and turns his body into solid crystal. Robotman is prepared to shatter him, but Dove holds him back. Meanwhile, Cyborg and Celsius tackle Quakemaster.
Meanwhile, Aqualad races back to Atlantis carrying Aquagirl's body. He hands her over to the city's medical specialists, but there is nothing they can do. Aquagirl is dead.
In the frozen wastelands of Earth-S, Doctor Sivana, Doctor Cyber, Per Degaton, Houngan, Phobia, Despero, Deathbolt, Hector Hammond and Professor T.O. Morrow keep watch over the captured members of the Marvel Family. While Sivana is in the midst of gloating, the Martian Manhunter burrows through the ice and attacks them. He blasts at Deathbolt with his Martian vision. The Atom and Platinum of the Metal Men arrive to give him back-up. Phobia tries to use her powers on Platinum, but they fail, enabling the Atom enough time to loose the gag around Billy Batson's mouth. Billy shouts the magic word, "Shazam" and transforms into Captain Marvel.
On Earth-X , Batman and the original Atom fight up against Calendar Man while the Outsiders and Infinity, Inc. take on the Dummy. Hawkwoman and Tin fight Lightning Lord, and Firestorm and Vixen fight up against Captain Cold and Icicle. Green Arrow of Earth-Two assists Changeling and Mento in combating the Shaggy Man. Green Arrow defeats the Shaggy Man with an explosive-tipped arrow.
Suddenly, the Spectre makes his presence known across the five partially merged Earths. He warns all of the heroes that the Anti-Monitor is still alive and that he has retreated into the past to change the course of history at the dawn of time itself.
The heroes migrate to Earth-One to coordinate their efforts. They form their teams and develop a strategy using the time-traveling capabilities of the Time Masters, the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Lord of Time. Flash (Jay Garrick) and Kid Flash are outfitted with converter technology to help bridge the gap. With the aid of Magno Lad, Cosmic Boy and Gold, the team creates a large magnetic conductor, which shunts the assemblage backwards in time.
Meanwhile, Lex Luthor and his allies travel backwards in time ten billion years to the planet Oa. They arrive on the fateful day when the scientist Krona is destined to witness the hand of creation and inadvertently create the Multiverse. They burst into his laboratory, but Krona is ready for them. He kills Icicle, Mirror Master and Maaldor.
At the dawn of time, the heroes face the Anti-Monitor. They channel all of their energy into him, but this only serves to make the Anti-Monitor more powerful. He requires their energy so that when Krona opens the doorway between the positive matter universe and the antimatter universe, the Anti-Monitor will then be able to obliterate the positive matter universe entirely.
The Spectre appears before the Anti-Monitor, channeling all of the mystical energy of Earth's most powerful sorcerers. He attacks the Anti-Monitor directly and their fight unleashes an explosion of energy, which appears to consume all reality.
Appearing in "Death at the Dawn of Time!"
Featured Characters:
- All-Star Squadron/Justice Society of America
- Atom (Al Pratt)
- Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson)
- Doctor Mid-Nite (Charles McNider)
- Flash (Jay Garrick)
- Green Arrow (Earth-Two)
- Hawkman (Carter Hall)
- Hourman (Rex Tyler)
- Robin (Earth-Two)
- Sargon (John Sargent)
- Spectre (Jim Corrigan)
- Starman (Ted Knight)
- Superman (Earth-Two)
- Thunderbolt (Yz)
- Wonder Woman (Earth-Two)
- Doom Patrol
- Freedom Fighters
- Infinity, Inc.
- Justice League of America / Justice League Detroit
- Legion of Super-Heroes
- Marvel Family
- Captain Marvel
- Captain Marvel, Jr. (Cameo)
- Fat Marvel (Cameo)
- Hill Marvel (Cameo)
- Mary Marvel
- Tall Marvel (Cameo)
- Uncle Marvel (Cameo)
- Tawky Tawny (Cameo)
- Metal Men
- New Teen Titans
- Outsiders
- Time Masters
Supporting Characters:
- Adam Strange
- Alexander Luthor
- Animal Man
- Amethyst
- Anthro
- Atomic Knight
- Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
- Blue Devil
- Captain Atom
- Captain Comet
- Chris KL-99
- Creeper (Jack Ryder)
- Cryll
- Dale Gunn
- Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi)
- Dolphin
- Firehawk
- Harlequin (Molly Mayne)
- Immortal Man
- Jemm
- Judomaster
- Kamandi
- Lady Quark
- Lightning
- Lois Lane (Earth-Two)
- Lori Lemaris (Earth-One)
- Madame Xanadu
- Magnetic Kid
- Magno Lad
- Mento
- Mera
- Nimbus
- Peacemaker
- Phantom Stranger
- Robin (Jason Todd)
- Sgt. Rock
- Space Ranger
- Starman (Prince Gavyn)
- Superboy (Earth-Prime)
- Swamp Thing
- Thunderbolt (Peter Cannon) (Cameo)
- Tommy Tomorrow
- Wildcat (Yolanda Montez)
- Will Magnus
- Zatara (John Zatara)
- Forever People
Antagonists:
- Anti-Monitor
- Black Adam
- Blockbuster (Mark Desmond)
- Bolt
- Brainiac (Earth-One)
- Calendar Man
- Captain Cold
- Chameleon Chief
- Chemo (final Earth-One appearance)
- Clayface (Matt Hagen)
- Cosmic King
- Deadshot
- Deathbolt
- Despero
- Doctor Cyber
- Doctor Destiny
- Doctor Double X
- Doctor Polaris
- Doctor Regulus
- Doctor Sivana
- Doctor Spectro
- Dummy
- Electrocutioner
- Enforcer
- Esper Lass
- Faceless Hunter
- Ghost
- Hector Hammond
- Huntress (Paula Brooks Crock)
- Icicle (Joar Mahkent) (Dies)
- Insect Queen
- Kanjar Ro
- Krona
- Lex Luthor (Earth-One)
- Lightning Lord
- Lord of Time
- Satanis
- Maaldor (Dies)
- Mirror Master (Sam Scudder) (Dies)
- Multiplex
- Per Degaton
- Radiation Roy
- Rainbow Raider
- Shaggy Man
- Silver Ghost
- Silver Slasher
- Sinestro
- Star Sapphire (Carol Ferris)
- Sun Emperor
- Quakemaster
- Time Trapper
- T.O. Morrow
- Typhoon
- Tyr
- Ultra-Humanite
- Brotherhood of Evil
- Fatal Five
- Fearsome Five
Other Characters:
- Amazons (Flashback only)
- Halk
- Harbinger (Cameo)
- Jennifer Morgan
- Jero
- Pariah
- Ronal
- Titania
- Vulko
- X'Hal
- Losers (Cameo) (Flashback only)
Locations:
- Big Bang
- Multiverse (Destroyed)
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Monitor Tapes..."
Appearing in "The Monitor Tapes..."
Featured Characters:
- Harbinger
- Immortal Man
- Kamandi
- Lady Quark
- Alexander Luthor
- Monitor (Flashback only)
- Pariah
- Superboy (Earth-Prime)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Thanagar (Cameo)
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This issue is reprinted in the Crisis on Infinite Earths trade paperback, as well as the hardcover edition and Absolute slipcase edition.
- A presentation of the Monitor's recordings is displayed along the bottom of each page.
- This issue reveals that Pariah is not responsible for the destruction of Lady Quark's home world as he previously believed. He merely opened the doorway, which enabled the Anti-Monitor to unleash his antimatter wave.
- Post-Crisis recordings about the "War of the Villains" (this issue and prior) are unclear. For example, Brainiac only began his criminal career after Crisis and the version of Brainiac seen here was deleted from existence; Luthor is a mega-entrepreneur in the Post-Crisis, not a public criminal, and according to Crisis #11 he has no memories of having participated. Most likely, Psimon led the battle, and was betrayed and killed by his villainous cohorts. Chemo, destroyed by Negative Woman in this issue, would revive in Action Comics Vol 1 590, and Aquagirl would remain dead.
Trivia
- Green Arrow (Earth-Two) is accidentally colored like Speedy in one panel of this issue.
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Crisis on Infinite Earths series
- Images from Crisis on Infinite Earths Vol 1 10
