Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 is an issue of the series Dark Crisis (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 2022. It was published on September 6, 2022.
Synopsis for "Chapter Four: Crossovers"
In John Stewart's Paradise World, the alternate versions of Kyle Rayner, Jason Todd and Natasha Irons capture and attempt to execute Hal Jordan, mistaking him for Parallax, but he is rescued by Barry Allen. Barry tells Hal that he has been exploring the paradise worlds and believes that Pariah is using the League to power something.
On Earth 0, Deathstroke and his forces haven't been seen for almost 24 hours and the combined forces of the Justice Society, Justice League, Titans and Bat-Family appear to have turned the tide, but Mister Terrific warns that he has detected dark energy at the edge of the Multiverse and Cyborg believes that the Dark Army are on their way to Earth 0. Nightwing hasn't left Beast Boy's bedside since the attack on Titans Academy but Alan Scott tells him that the heroes need him to lead them. Meanwhile, Black Adam attempts to convince the Legion of Doom to help him, but while they are arguing the Hall of Doom is attacked by the Secret Society, now fully under the control of the Darkness.
Barry carries Hal to Batman's paradise world, a clockpunk city. Barry admits he tried to talk to Bruce before but he wouldn't listen and simply attacked. Batman appears and attacks them again, throwing gears in place of Batarangs. Meanwhile Hal and Barry's actions are only accelerating the process Pariah is using to create a new Multiverse from the paradise worlds.
Alan Scott takes Nightwing, Jon Kent and Yara Flor to the Tower of Fate to speak with Justice League Dark. The Swamp Things; Alec Holland and Levi Kamei, tell them that the Great Darkness is an elemental force neither good nor evil, and with no desire to control people. The Darkness is not acting as it should, and they believe that it has been corrupted by something.
The Secret Society manages to put up a significant fight against the Legion of Doom, and Luthor realises that the lesser villains are much stronger than normal. His scans show that they are drawing power from elsewhere, and that Deathstroke is the conduit. Luthor attacks Deathstroke and attempts to kill him, but Prometheus infects Luthor and the rest of the Legion with the Darkness. The assembled villains charge Black Adam en masse.
In Mutiverse-2, the paradise worlds form a chain reaction, producing a new infinite Multiverse.
Appearing in "Chapter Four: Crossovers"
Featured Characters:
- Black Adam (Also in a vision)
- The Flash (Barry Allen)
- Green Lantern (Alan Scott)
- Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
- Nightwing
Supporting Characters:
- Bat-Family (Cameo)
- Green Lantern Corps
- Jon Kent's Justice League
- Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) (Cameo)
- Booster Gold (Cameo)
- Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi) (Cameo)
- Robin (Damian Wayne) (Cameo)
- Supergirl (Cameo)
- Superman (Jon Kent)
- Wonder Girl (Yara Flor) (Joins team)
- Justice League Dark
- Detective Chimp
- Doctor Fate (Khalid Nassour) (Cameo)
- John Constantine
- Swamp Thing (Alec Holland) (Flashback and main story)
- Swamp Thing (Levi Kamei)
- Justice Society of America
- Atom Smasher (Cameo)
- Doctor Mid-Nite (Beth Chapel) (Cameo)
- Hawkman (Carter Hall) (Cameo)
- Hawkwoman (Shayera Thal) (Cameo)
- Hourman (Rick Tyler) (Cameo)
- Jade (Cameo)
- Jakeem Thunder (Cameo)
- Mister Terrific (Michael Holt)
- Obsidian (Cameo)
- Power Girl (Kara Zor-L) (Cameo)
- Wildcat (Ted Grant) (Cameo)
- Wildcat (Yolanda Montez) (Cameo)
- Klarion the Witch Boy (Cameo)
- Madame Xanadu (Cameo)
- Titans (Cameo)
Antagonists:
- Green Lantern Corps (John Stewart's Paradise World)
- Pariah/Kell Mossa (Pre-Crisis)
- Great Darkness (Corrupted)
- King Deathstroke (Possessed) (Also in a vision)
- Secret Society of Super-Villains (Possessed)
- Legion of Doom (Possessed)
- Black Manta
- Captain Cold (Also in a vision)
- Cheetah
- Gorilla Grodd
- Lex Luthor (Also in a vision)
- Punchline
- Scarecrow
- Sinestro
- Vandal Savage
- Weather Wizard
- Shadow Demons (Antimatter Universe)
Other Characters:
- Alexander Luthor, Jr. (Earth-Three) (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Black Canary (Dinah Drake Lance) (Cameo)
- Enchantress (June Moone) (Cameo)
- Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) (Cameo)
- Martian Manhunter (Cameo)
- The Night/Batman (Bruce Wayne)
- Superman (Clark Kent) (Cameo)
- Wonder Woman (Diana of Themyscira) (Cameo)
- Zatanna (In picture only)
- Apex Predators (Mentioned only)
- The Anti-Monitor (Pre-Crisis) (Mentioned only)
- The Batman Who Laughs (Earth -22) (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- The Dark Army (Multiverse) (Mentioned only)
- The Spectre (Mentioned only)
- Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson) (Mentioned only)
- The Flash (Wally West) (Mentioned only)
- Flying Graysons (Mentioned only)
- John Grayson (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- Mary Grayson (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- The Spectre (Jim Corrigan) (Mentioned only)
- Johnny Thunder (Mentioned only)
- Parallax (Mentioned only)
- Perpetua (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- The Presence/God (Mentioned only)
- Ravager (Rose Wilson) (Mentioned only)
- Respawn (Mentioned only)
- The Sandman (Wesley Dodds) (Mentioned only)
- The Totality (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Infinite Frontier/"Omniverse"
- Multiverse-1 (Also as an hologram)
- Earth 0
- Speed Force
- Earth Omega (Mentioned only)
- Multiverse-2
- Earth-AD (Unnamed) (In ruins)
- Earth-Batman/"Batman World" (Unnamed) (First full appearance)
- Earth-Black Canary.1 (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Earth-Green Arrow.1 (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Green Arrow and Black Canary's Paradise World (First appearance; unnamed) (Cameo)
- The Forest (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- John Stewart's Paradise World (Unnamed)
- Sector John Stewart
- New Earth (First appearance as New Earth)
- Sector John Stewart
- Martian Manhunter's Paradise World (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Earth (Cameo)
- Monitor's Satellite (Flashback only) (Cameo)
- Superman's Paradise World (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Wonder Woman's Paradise World (Unnamed) (Cameo)
- Themyscira (Cameo)
- Earth-Flash.1 (Mentioned only)
- Interdimensional Limbo (Mentioned only)
- Spirit World (Mentioned only)
- Pariah's Multiverse (First appearance) (Cameo)
- Multiverse-1 (Also as an hologram)
- Hypertime
- Timestream
- Dawn of Time (Mentioned only)
- Timestream
- Overvoid (Mentioned only)
Items:
- Batsuits
- Captain Cold's Cold Gun
- Deathstroke's Energy Lance
- Firefly's Flamethrower
- Green Lantern Ring
- Helmet of Fate (Cameo)
- Hourman's Hourglass
- Ikon Suit
- Lasso of Truth (Cameo)
- Lazarus Pits (Mentioned only)
- Lex Luthor's Warsuit
- Multiverse Map (On a TV or computer screen)
- The Night's Suit
- Nth Metal
- Pariah's Armor
- Starheart
- Steel's Armor
- Trick Arrows (Cameo)
- Wonder Girl's Tiara
- Yellow Lantern Ring
- Zatanna's Portrait (First appearance)
Events:
- Big Bang (Mentioned only)
- Crime Syndicate's Invasion (Mentioned only)
- Crisis on Infinite Earths (Flashback only)
- Death of the Justice League (Mentioned only)
- The Metal Wars (Mentioned only)
- The Truce between God and the Great Darkness (Mentioned only)
Concepts:
- Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum
- The Green
- The Light (Mentioned only)
- Magic
- Red Skies
Notes
- Barry Allen's story chronologically continues from the epilogue of The Flash #785.
- This issue marks the first time that the Justice Society Dark is ever referenced in any comic.
- The team is introduced into the timeline by the events of Flashpoint Beyond #6 that take place after the Dark Crisis. This may imply that these events are already set in the altered timeline.
- This issue is the first of the series to bear the full title on its first printing.
Trivia
- Lex Luthor's words about the idea of Omniverse being false are eventually revealed to be false in Flashpoint Beyond #5.
- Many past or recent events are referenced or shown in flashbacks in this issue, including:
- Pre-Crisis Swamp Thing meeting Earth-Three Alex Luthor in Swamp Thing (Volume 2) #46;
- Swamp Thing brokering the truce between God and the Great Darkness in Swamp Thing (Volume 2) #51;
- The supervillains of Earth banding together to fight the Crime Syndicate in Forever Evil;
- Lex Luthor smashing Vandal Savage's head with the Cosmic Doorknob in Justice League (Volume 4) #1;
- Lex Luthor becoming an Apex Predator under the control of Perpetua during the Justice/Doom War;
- Vandal Savage and Lex Luthor joining the Totality at the end of Dark Nights: Death Metal #7;
- Alan Scott fighting Darkseid's Army on Earth Omega in Justice League Incarnate #5;
- Levi Kamei becoming a new Avatar of the Green in The Swamp Thing (Volume 1);
- Wally West rescuing Barry from his Paradise World in The Flash #785.
- Pariah's words at the end of the issue recall the Pre-Crisis Monitor's monologue from the beginning of Crisis on Infinite Earths #1.
- The birth of Pariah's Multiverse mirrors the birth of the Last 52 Multiverse in the epilogue of Dark Nights: Death Metal #4.
See Also