- The universe is a continuum: light follows darkness. Life follows death. So wouldn't the End of Time-- be followed by a new beginning?
Justice League Dark #36 is an issue of the series Justice League Dark (Volume 1) with a cover date of January, 2015. It was published on November 26, 2014.
Synopsis for "The Amber of the Moment, Part Two: Long After Tomorrow"
The Justice League Dark discovers with discomfort that the House of Wonders' destruction sent them billions of years into the future, to the end of time. They stand upon a fragment of Earth, at the precipice of an abyss, beyond which they can tell that time itself ceases to be. Without any plant life left, the Green is absent, and Swamp Thing cannot survive. Hurriedly, Nightmare Nurse casts a stabilizing enchantment, but Andrew Bennett warns that they will all die if they can't escape this place soon.
Andrew goes on ahead to scout, leaving the others behind, hearing strange sounds that serve as a brief warning before they are attacked by horrible creatures bearing the face of Felix Faust. Faust gets hold of Swamp Thing and warns the others that there is nothing left in all the universe except this slab of rock and its conqueror - him. He plans to consume them for what magic of theirs remains, but after swallowing Nightmare Nurse, she bursts out of him, spreading guts everywhere. Unfortunately, the air is getting thinner as what remains of the physical universe is consumed by non-time. Weakly, Faust promises that he can provide them with air to breath if Nightmare Nurse will return his form to him. Reluctantly she agrees, and to her surprise, he keeps his word.
He explains then, how he spent his years searching for the lost Book of Tithonus, and its key to immortality. He achieved a life never-ending, but had to change and evolve in order to survive in the changing environment of the Earth. He has since become very lonely.
Zatanna, meanwhile, has been stuck in an illusory world of her past, trying to find her way to her friends, but only finding loneliness. Still, she insists that she will keep trying until she locates them.
Faust admits that he had only tried to consume the Justice League Dark in order to find some sense of companionship. Despite their hopes, he warns that there is no time left to move through. He cannot cast any spell to send them to where they belong. Sadly, they resign themselves to their inevitable deaths, as Nightmare Nurse confirms that her stability spell is failing to keep Swamp Thing alive. Faust insists that hope is not lost for the elemental yet, leading them to a single rose, which contains the entirety of the Green. As Alec is restored, the flower dies, and with it, the last rays of light on this scorched earth.
Wondering, Nightmare Nurse supposes that perhaps they could escape death by leaping into the void, beyond the edge of time. The universe, she says, is a continuum, and they may finda new beginning if they can enter the void protected by magic. They may survive to see the rebirth of the universe - or float eternally in nothingness.
Suddenly, another Felix Faust bursts out of the ground and threatens to destroy them all, obviously even more crazy than the one they had met earlier. This was the real Faust. Their earlier companion had simply been a piece of this one. Fortunately, the younger of the two has the presence of mind to sacrifice himself so that they can escape into the void.
Nightmare Nurse conjures a ship of magic, which they board, and float out into the darkness. As they push off from the remaining sliver of Earth, it is swallowed up into the darkness, and gone forever.
Meanwhile, Deadman, Black Orchid and Madame Xanadu float in that same void, wondering where the rest of their team is.
Appearing in "The Amber of the Moment, Part Two: Long After Tomorrow"
Featured Characters:
- Justice League Dark
- Andrew Bennett
- Black Orchid (Also in a vision)
- Deadman (Also in a vision)
- Frankenstein
- Madame Xanadu (Also in a vision)
- Nightmare Nurse
- Swamp Thing
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- The Faust-Thing/Felix Faust (Unknown Future) (Single appearance) (Erased)
- The Other-Selves (Unknown Future) (Single appearance) (Erased)
Other Characters:
- Apollo (Mentioned only)
- Asclepius (Mentioned only)
- God (Mentioned only)
- House of Wonders (Destroyed) (Mentioned only)
- Nick Necro (Deceased) (Mentioned only)
- Panacea (Mentioned only)
- Vampires (Mentioned only)
- Victor Frankenstein (Mentioned only)
- Tithonus (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Omniverse (Unnamed) (Behind the scenes)
- Hypertime
- Timestream
- Six Billion Years Ago
- End of Time
- Earth (In ruins) (Erased)
- Zone of Colliding Moments (First appearance; unnamed) (Cameo)
- Alternate Prime Earth Future (Felix Faust becomes immortal and turns himself into a monster by the End of Time) (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Timestream
- The Void/"Ocean of Darkness"/"The Sea of Non-Time"/"Ocean of Non-Time"
- Post-Flashpoint Multiverse (Mentioned only)
- Prime Earth (Mentioned only)
- "The New Beginning" (The DC Universe that follows on the End of the Post-Flashpoint Multiverse) (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- Hypertime
Items:
- Lost Book of Tithonus (Mentioned only)
- Rod of Asclepius
Vehicles:
- Spell of Protection vessel (First appearance) (Construct)
Concepts:
- The Green
- Magic
- Thaumaton Project (Mentioned only)
- Time Travel
Trivia
- Swamp Thing reminisces having been displaced through time due to the destruction of the House of Wonders in Justice League Dark Annual #2.
See Also