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The Society was created by Alexander Luthor of Earth-Three posing as Lex Luthor. The false Luthor gathered the massive army promising to make the world's heroes pay for the mindwipes done by the JLA.

History

Recruitment

Luthor assembled an inner circle comprised of himself, Talia al Ghul, Deathstroke, Dr. Psycho, Black Adam, and Calculator. The six then went around to various villains "asking" them to join. Deathstoke went to Gotham to recruit the newest crime lord, Black Mask, who accepted the offer and joined the team.[1] In return, Captain Nazi, Hyena, and Count Vertigo were sent to aid Black Mask on his war against Red Hood, only to be defeated by the combined forces of Red Hood and Batman.[2] Continuing the recruiting process, almost all other villains said yes, however, Bug and Byte got on Deathstroke's bad side and Catman refused to join after being visited by Psycho and Talia.

The Society then put their plans into motion. They kidnapped Firestorm (Jason Rusch) and Breach, placing Firestorm in a large machine located in a lab in South America. The Society also captured Pariah and Lady Quark, two heroes who were intergral players in the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" affair. At the same time this was going on, the real Luthor adopted the codename Mockingbird and gathered together six villains into a group called the Secret Six. The Six went to work disrupting the Society's schemes. However, the group was captured and tortured by Crime Doctor. One of the Six, Catman, broke free and in the battle that followed, Crime Doctor was rendered comatose, Captain Nazi was blinded, Weather Wizard had his arm broken, and Hyena was shot dead. In another encounter with the Society, the Six freed Firestorm from his imprisonment. The atomic hero destroyed the lab in which he was trapped, but not before Six operative Scandal found out about the scheme to mindwipe all the heroes of the world.

The Society then organized an all-out assault on the headquarters of the Six. Cheshire revealed to her teammates on the Six that she was a double agent. She then walked out to join the other villains but was apparently shot dead by Deathstroke. A brutal conflict followed which saw the death of Secret six member Parademon, and had Deathstroke and Deadshot seriously wound each other in a gun battle. Knockout revealed herself to be a double agent working for her lover Scandal. The battle was called off when Vandal Savage threatened the false Luthor.

Despite this setback, the Society continued their plans. Next came an ambush on the Freedom Fighters. The battle became a bloodbath with Freedom Fighters members Black Condor (Ryan Kendall), Phantom Lady (Dee Tyler), and Human Bomb (Roy Lincoln) all killed, while Damage was severely injured, Ray (Ray Terrill) was captured, and Uncle Sam disappeared after being gang beaten. The Society lost Dr. Polaris who was blown apart thanks to an attack by Human Bomb. As a message, the Society wrapped the bodies of the slain Freedom Fighters around the Washington Monument.

Psycho Pirate launched a plan to capture Power Girl. He teased her with the news that she was actually a native of a destroyed alternate Earth. Power Girl resisted Psycho Pirate who had a group of villains attack her. She was saved by the appearance of her cousin, the Superman of Earth-Two.

The Society had several water-based villains attack San Diego. Also, to add more power to a new machine, "Luthor" betrayed Black Adam. Recently, Deathstroke wanted to get revenge on Nightwing for infiltrating his operations. With "Luthor's" approval, he ordered the Brotherhood of Evil to drop Chemo on Bludhaven. The walking bioweapon exploded over Bludhaven, turning Nightwing's homebase into a radioactive wasteland.

The Joker attacked the Royal Flush Gang, angry that he has not been approached to join.

The Society launched its most ambitious plan yet when it staged a worldwide prison break from every prison/facility that held supervillains. Oracle and Martian Manhunter coordinated the Earth's superheroes as they tried to contain as many escapees as possible. In the meanwhile, Dr Psycho and Warp freed Doomsday from his prison at the center of the Earth. The Six reappeared and managed to question Scarecrow as to what the Society planned to do next. Scarecrow told them the Society was going to use the escaped villains to launch a massive assault on Metropolis as the first step towards world domination. The Six told Green Arrow who then told Oracle who then had the heroes of Earth gather in Metropolis to stop the Society's army.

The battle that followed was brutal with both sides suffering massive casualties; the hero Judomaster had his back broken by Bane, the Trigger Twins and the Madmen were shot by Wild Dog, Crimson Avenger, and Vigilante, Amazo was beheaded by Black Adam, Solomon Grundy and the Bloodpack were killed by Superboy-Prime. The fight turned in the heroes favor when several heroes that had been missing, including Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Batman, Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandmark), and Nightwing, arrived on the scene. Superman and the Superman of Earth-2 took down Doomsday. Alex Luthor attacked the heroes but his powers began to fade. Batman tried to kill him but was talked out of it by Wonder Woman. Just then a collapse of some debris separated Alex Luthor from the heroes. The battle then came to a close with the heroes triumphing and the Society facing heavy losses. A short time later, Alex Luthor was killed by Joker for not letting him join the Society.

Despite the defeat in Metropolis and the loss of Alex Luthor's leadership, the Society is apparently still active. A year after the battle of Metropolis, the Society sent a group of operatives known as the Nuclear Legion into the radioactive remains of Bludhaven.

One Year Later

The Society had been largely scattered to the winds after the Infinite Crisis, especially with most of its leaders gone. Although Doctor Psycho and the Calculator still operated using it, eventually the two of them dropped it as well, and the Society was considered finished. Later, during the events of "Salvation Run," the villain community as a whole would be devastated by deportations set into motion by Rick Flag and Amanda Waller. The villains of the world were rounded up by the Suicide Squad and transported by Boom Tube to an obscure planet billions of miles away from Earth, where it was thought they could never escape.

Libra and Final Crisis

After Salvation Run, the villains, back on planet Earth, were furious over their exile. The mysterious villain known only as "Libra" reappeared, and set up a meeting with the leading villains of the world. Although the villain community was skeptical at first, Libra promised them each their "heart's desire," and an "end to the age of heroes." He has since formed his own new Secret Society of Super-Villains, from the ashes of the previous Society and the Injustice League.

They began operating out of Central City, and have not only been organizing protests for "Super-Villain Rights," but have kidnapped, drugged, and murdered the Martian Manhunter.

Libra's inner cabinet seems to be composed of Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage, Talia al Ghul, Gorilla Grodd, Doctor Sivana, and the Ocean Master.

In a plot to create an anti-Justice League weapon, Cheetah, controlling her own branch of the organization, had scientists of the Society collect soil samples at various locations on Earth where acts of genocide occurred for 100 years. They combined those samples with Wonder Woman's own body pulled from the far future and use magic and scientific means to create a supervillain called Genocide.

With most of the Society, including Vandal Savage, behind him, Libra reveals his true self to Lex Luthor as the villain turns on the Human Flame by forcing a mind control helmet onto the villain's face, exposing him to the Anti-Life Equation and turning him into a mindless slave warrior known as a Justifier. Faced with the threat of being forced to become a Justifier himself, Luthor agrees to become Libra and Darkseid's servant, though with help from Doctor Sivana and Calculator, ultimately turns against Libra and forcing him to retreat. With Sivana's help, Luthor and the mind controlled legions of the Secret Society helped Superman in battle against the last remaining forces of Darkseid, the Fury Riders. Luthor and Sivana then proceed to help Superman build the Miracle Machine to save the Earth, though the two are only allowed to work on sections of the machine due to the risk of them stealing the designs for future villainous schemes.

Membership

Alexander Luthor's Society

Inner Circle

Known Membership

Libra's Society

Inner Circle


Known Membership

Cheetah's Society



See Also

Links and References

Footnotes


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