JLA #114 (July 2005)

"Syndicate Rules Conclusion: Enemies and Enemies and Enemies" (22-pages)

Credits

Character Appearances

Featuring

Villains

Guest Stars

Other Characters

  • Metron (one of the New Gods; the god of science)
  • Strategoes & Tacticos (attendroids - floating head-shaped robotic aids to the supreme leader of Qward)

Groups and Henchmen

  • Thunderers of Qward (The army of Qward; long-time opponents of the Green Lantern Corps)
  • Weaponers of Qward (The technicians and engineers of Qward; designers of Sinestro’s yellow power ring)

Story Details

Continuity

Aquaman’s mirror analogue is called Barracuda, the Teen Titans analogue is the Young Offenders, and the JSA analogue is the Crime Lodge. Metron is monitoring Krona’s egg.

Synopsis

Erdammeru The Void Hound - the monstrous Qwardian space juggernaut - ravishes the anti-matter Earth. Mountain ranges are torn apart and vast trenches are carved across entire countries. The Crime Syndicate are powerless to stop the onslaught as its machine-mind instantly analyses and compensates for their tactics. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern quickly arrive from the positive-matter universe to help stop the Void Hound, which they had narrowly deflected from their own Earth. Yet the JLA do not instantly assist the Syndicate and on advice from the Martian Manhunter’s forward team they force the CSA to ask for their help. In doing so they snare the CSA with the favour bank (see JLA #108 (Jan 2005)) and ensure that the villains are honour bound to repay the League’s assistance.

To disrupt the Void Hound’s tactical analysis the League and Syndicate switch costumes. The deception is simple, but is enough to carry them past the machine’s outer defences. Once onboard they press towards the seat of the Hound’s machine intelligence, a construct-like entity that had evolved around Qward’s electromagnetic web before being captured and enslaved by the ancient Weaponeers. It was this intelligence that the mini-constructs from the Electromagnetic Plane had sensed. One of them rides in Green Lantern’s ring and attempts to make peaceful contact with Erdammeru, but after spending aeons in isolation it is too homicidal to communicate with. Green Lantern uses the channel that the mini-construct opened with the machine-mind to forcibly download it into his ring. Deprived of its controlling intelligence Void Hound starts to breakdown and the Qwardians are forced to withdrawal back to Qward.

A tense stand off between the League and the Syndicate is ended when Owlman uses Brainiac’s cosmic balance device to eject them from the anti-matter universe. The Martian Manhunter’s forward team return shortly afterwards by using the reversal gate in the Syndicate’s Panopticon, but not before breaking the Justice Underground and other Syndicate prisoners out of their Stasis Tubes. The Syndicate’s request for aid from the League was broadcast across international TV and is seen as a sign of weakness. Their allies have publicly severed allegiance to them, anti-syndicate riots and rebellions are breaking out like wildfire around the world, and to top it off the Qwardians have sent a conventional attack fleet to attack the anti-matter Earth. The Syndicate will be too busy to bother the positive-matter universe for quite some time.

Afterwards the League double-checks their readings on the cosmic eye that contains Krona’s essence, but they appear unchanged. Unbeknownst to them Metron of the New Gods has sabotaged the sensors so that the egg’s development will proceed with out their interference.

Review

See JLA #107 for a complete review of this story arc.

(7/10)

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