Crime Syndicate of America

The Crime Syndicate are teams of supervillains from one of DC Comics' parallel universes where they are the evil counterparts of the Justice League. The original team was specifically known as the Crime Syndicate of America and is sometimes abbreviated as CSA. This first superpowered Crime Syndicate team appeared in ''Justice League of America'' #29 in August 1964. The primary successive incarnation, known as the Crime Syndicate of Amerika (with the variant spelling of America), first appeared in the 2000 '' JLA: Earth 2'' graphic novel.

A related successive group on Earth-3 is known as the Crime Society of America and first appeared in '' 52'' #52, and was later featured in ''Countdown to Final Crisis''. A "Golden Age" supervillain group, the Crime Society was to Earth-2 what the Anti-Matter Crime Syndicate of Amerika was to Earth-0, until it was removed from continuity following DC's 2011 '' Flashpoint'' storyline and ''The New 52'' company-wide reboot. Following this, a singular Crime Syndicate is the Earth-3 counterpart of the Earth-0 Justice League, first appearing in ''Justice League'' (vol. 2) #23 (October 2013), and the main focus of the company-wide crossover storyline ''Forever Evil''. The events of that storyline have far-reaching consequences for the DC Universe and for the Crime Syndicate characters who survived and that remained on Earth-0 in one form or another after its events.

Publication history

Crime Syndicate of America

As detailed in ''Justice League of America'' #29 (August 1964), the Crime Syndicate of America originally lived on Earth-Three, a world where history was "reversed" from the real world (e.g., Christopher Columbus discovered Europe, British colonists declared their independence from America, and President John Wilkes Booth was assassinated by an actor named Abraham Lincoln). It initially had no superheroes, only the supervillains of the Crime Syndicate, though this changed with the later introduction of the heroic Lex Luthor who used his vast intelligence for good.

In their first appearance, the Crime Syndicate, bored with the ease with which they were able to commit crimes on their Earth (and with no one to truly challenge them), discovered the existence of Earth-One and Earth-Two after Ultraman got "Ultra-Vision" from exposure to a large chunk of kryptonite and found he could peer between worlds. Intrigued by the existence of superheroes, they crossed the dimensional void and attacked the JLA and JSA. The villains were at first defeated but when they said the word "Volthoom", they sent themselves into Earth-Three thanks to a fail-safe created by Power Ring. The CSA was then able to capture the JSA by transporting them to Earth-Three and imprisoning them, intending to fight the JLA on Earth-2 to prove their superiority (the JLA had a natural advantage on Earth-1 and the CSA had a similar advantage on Earth-3, Earth-2 being chosen as a neutral environment where neither group would have an edge). However, the JLA defeated the CSA by tricking the members into unleashing more power than they could control, such as Ultraman acquiring so many powers he could not use any of them, Power Ring's ring generating constructs that were too large for him to control after Green Lantern gave it a boost, and Wonder Woman allowing Superwoman to 'steal' her Lasso of Truth, knowing that her opponent would not be able to use both of them. Following this defeat, the JLA freed the captured JSA heroes and imprisoned the CSA in an unbreakable bubble generated by Green Lantern's power ring that was placed in a "limbo" dimension between the Earths, where time has no meaning.

Over the ensuing years, the CSA or one of its members would occasionally escape and attempt to wreak havoc on Earth-One and/or Earth-Two. Power Ring, Johnny Quick, and Superwoman battled Captain Comet after being released by the Secret Society of Super Villains.

Ultraman once escaped and collaborated with Lex Luthor of Earth-One and Alexei Luthor of Earth-Two, but was defeated by Superman of Earth-One, Superman of Earth-Two, and Alexander Luthor Sr. of Earth-Three and was returned to his limbo prison.

On one occasion, the entire CSA were released by the time travelling villain Per Degaton when he was caught up in a time storm and stumbled upon their limbo prison. He freed them and they reluctantly agreed to help him take over his homeworld of Earth-Two in his present time of 1942 by stealing nuclear missiles from the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis of Earth-Prime. When they inevitably tried to double-cross him, a safety protocol he had created hurled the traitors uncontrollably into the time stream, where they landed coincidentally on the satellite headquarters of the JLA in the then-present day of 1982 (the year the story was published). An intricate tale then followed, involving the CSA escaping and the JLA traveling back in time to Earth-Two in 1942 and Earth-Prime in 1962 to prevent the CSA from helping Degaton. It was during the Earth-Two visit to the past that the JLA teamed up with America's superhero team of that era, the All-Star Squadron. The heroes succeeded in stopping Per Degaton and the CSA before their evil plan could be set in motion, effectively wiping these events from existence and everyone's memory.

Earth-Three and the original CSA were destroyed, along with the rest of DC's parallel worlds, in the 1985 12-issue maxiseries ''Crisis on Infinite Earths''. As shown in issue #1, Earth-Three and all of its inhabitants were obliterated by an anti-matter wave that was the catalyst for the story. The original Earth-Three Syndicate made a few Post-''Crisis'' appearances, when Ultraman and Power Ring appeared in the ''Animal Man'' series and then again in ''Infinite Crisis'', when Earth-Three was temporarily recreated and models of the Earth-Three Ultraman, Superwoman, and Alexander Luthor Sr. were briefly merged with the Superman and Wonder Woman of Earth-1 and the Superman of Earth-Two and Wonder Woman of Earth-Two.

During the ''Convergence'' storyline, the Crime Syndicate had accidentally killed the Earth-Three version of Bruno Mannheim where Superwoman was arrested and sentenced to death. Despite the dome being over their Metropolis, Ultraman, Owlman, Power Ring, and Johnny Quick worked to infiltrate the prison and free Superwoman. Due to the interference of the Rogue Hunters, the Crime Syndicate failed to save Superwoman as the electric chair was activated. As the Rogue Hunters placed the shackles on the Crime Syndicate members, the domes fall around the cities as the Crime Syndicate breaks free. The Crime Syndicate soon found themselves fighting against Justice Legion Alpha from the 853rd Century's Metropolis.

Crime Syndicate

A Post-''Crisis'' version of the team, simply known as the "Crime Syndicate" (not 'of America'), was eventually introduced. This Post-''Crisis'' version (revealed in 1992's ''Justice League Quarterly'' #8) was composed of Qwardians (residents of the antimatter counterpart of Oa) as well as being "more powerful than their counterparts", they are shown to be different from the Earth-Three incarnation by their enlarged eyes, resembling the Weaponers of Qward. They acted as Claire Montgomery's (Maxwell Lord's ex-wife) second Conglomerate team.

Following a further "soft" reboot of DC continuity in 1994's '' Zero Hour'' (1994) crossover, the Crime Syndicate was introduced once again, in 2000, in the '' JLA: Earth 2'' graphic novel by Grant Morrison, which combined the Pre-''Crisis'' parallel Earth idea with the Pre-''Zero Hour'' anti-matter universe concept. The Crime Syndicate's Post-''Zero Hour'' anti-matter Earth possesses a "reversed" history similar to Earth-Three's, but with a much darker tone to both the team and its world. ''JLA Secret Files and Origins 2004'' provided additional history of this team, showing that even though they did partially resemble the Earth-Three Syndicate, they were still easily identifiable from their Pre-''Crisis'' Earth-Three incarnation. Unlike the Crime Syndicate of Earth-Three, this Crime Syndicate of Amerika are able to rule their world (a change from their Pre-''Crisis'' counterparts, who were unsuccessful in conquering their world) though they allow governments to continue operating and honest people are able to continue operating in pockets such as Gotham City Police Commissioner Thomas Wayne Sr. (father to Owlman and counterpart of the murdered father of Batman).

Superman later encounters Ultraman, Superwoman and Owlman after a scared and out of control superpowered baby appears out of nowhere. Ultraman and Owlman come to believe the child is the offspring of Ultraman and Superwoman. Owlman wants to kill it out of jealousy, Ultraman wants to raise it as his demented protégé, and Superman tries to save it from them both. When Superwoman arrives on the scene, adamant that she has never given birth, it is revealed that the superpowered infant is actually a reborn Brainiac from the antimatter universe, defeated by Ultraman in the ''Earth-2'' story. Brainiac's sentience is eventually dispersed and the villains return home to sort out their differences.

The Crime Syndicate reappear and lay waste to the planet Qward out of boredom. During their decimation of the planet, the entire Anti-Matter universe undergoes a reboot which causes some immediate changes, the most obvious of which is the sudden replacement of the white Power Ring with a black counterpart to John Stewart, the then-current Green Lantern in the JLA. In the story, it is explained that the reboot the Syndicate experiences is direct fallout from the events of 2003's ''JLA/Avengers'' crossover event. Not knowing of these events, the Crime Syndicate journey to the matter universe to attack Earth, blaming the JLA in the mistaken belief that the heroes are responsible for the changes that they have endured. It is during this time that they discover that the reboot of the antimatter universe wiped out the previous 24-hour rule, so the plan is changed to secretly take over the planet instead. Meanwhile, the defeated Qwardians rally behind a dimension-destroying weapon called the Void Hound and pursue the Syndicate to the matter universe, laying waste to hundreds of planets along the way. Reluctantly, the CSA teamed up with the JLA, but the Void Hound proved too powerful. The heroes finally defeated the Void Hound by using a former JLA foe, the Construct, to remove the artificial intelligence of the massive weapon and render it powerless. With the Void Hound defeated and the CSA owing the JLA a favor for saving them, the villains are sent back to the antimatter universe, where they discover to their horror that the Qwardians have also invaded their Earth, dismantling their entire criminal organization and freeing many imprisoned superheroes and rival supervillains.

''Superman/Batman'' Annual #1 (2006) details Superman and Batman's first encounter with Ultraman and Owlman. Set years before Superman and Batman knew each other's secret identities, a vacationing Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, and Lois Lane meet Ultraman, Owlman, and Superwoman when the villains appear on a cruise ship. This story also features the first appearance of Deathstroke's unnamed antimatter doppelganger. The Ultraman, Owlman, and Superwoman presented in the story have the same costumes as the antimatter universe version of the Syndicate. This tale however is being told by Mister Mxyzptlk and, as such, may ''not'' actually be canonical.

After the events of ''Infinite Crisis'', the original Pre-''Crisis'' Ultraman appears in the bottle city of Kandor posing as Kal-El (Superman). It is also revealed that Saturn Queen, last seen in " Absolute Power", survived the reboot of the universe in ''Infinite Crisis'' and through flashbacks we learn that she has used her telepathic abilities to convince Ultraman that he is Kal-El and that she is his mother. His original personality seems intact, however, as he is portrayed as being as sadistic and self-centered as ever. Saturn Queen further manipulates events to place him in charge of Kandor and mind controls Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) into marrying him. Kara eventually breaks free and in a blind rage beats him to a pulp (at this point in time, Supergirl was portrayed as being slightly more powerful than Superman). Ultraman is saved when Saturn Queen provides information to Supergirl about her lost home of Argo City in exchange for sparing his life. From this point on, neither the Pre-''Crisis'' Ultraman nor Saturn Queen are seen again and their fates were unknown at the time the universe was rebooted again during 2011's '' Flashpoint''.

Meanwhile, the antimatter CSA made their next appearance in ''Trinity''. Here, it is revealed that the Syndicate have gained control of their Earth again and have been abducting people from throughout all of the individual 52 universes in the current positive matter Multiverse to use as slave labor to repair their damaged Earth. After the hyper-powered Trinity heroes of the story defeat and imprison the Syndicate and free the slaves, the antimatter Earth falls into chaos.

In ''Justice League of America'' (vol. 2) #43, Doctor Impossible and his cohorts use extra-dimensional superhero the Blue Jay to open up a gateway to the Multiverse. Owlman, Ultraman, and Superwoman are briefly seen standing atop a building, with shadows obscuring most of their identifying marks, thus making it unclear which versions they are. The full Crime Syndicate members later appear with the original Pre-''Crisis'' iterations of Power Ring and Johnny Quick replacing their contemporary counterparts as a mirror to the events of '' Green Lantern: Rebirth'' and '' Flash: Rebirth''. After arriving on New Earth following the destruction of their world at the hands of Alexander Luthor (who had built a weapon of mass destruction that detonated following his demise), the Syndicate attacks the Hall of Justice, where Luthor's corpse was interred after his murder at the hands of Joker during the finale of ''Infinite Crisis''. It is revealed that the Syndicate members were working with Doctor Impossible in order to create a machine that could resurrect the dead, hoping that they could revive Luthor and force him to undo the damage he had dealt to the Crime Syndicate's world. Just as the machine is to be activated, Doctor Impossible double-crosses the Syndicate and attempts to resurrect Darkseid rather than Luthor, but the machine malfunctions and instead creates an immensely powerful villain called the Omega Man.

In the ensuing storyline, Power Ring is killed and the members of the Justice League and the Crime Syndicate are forced to work together to stop the Omega Man. Realizing that the situation is hopeless, Owlman betrays the League and turns them over to the Omega Man, figuring that the Syndicate could take over the League's Earth after the Omega Man kills off most of the heroes. At the last second, Batman reveals that he anticipated the Syndicate's betrayal, and used the Tangent Universe's version of Green Lantern to resurrect Luthor behind the Syndicate's back. Though his resurrection is short-lived, Luthor builds a machine that ultimately sends the Syndicate back to their own ravaged world and seemingly destroys the Omega Man.

Crime Society of America

In '' 52'' #52, an alternate version of Earth-Three is shown as a part of the new Multiverse. In the depiction are characters that are altered versions of the original Justice League of America, plus the Martian Manhunter. The names of the characters and the team are not mentioned in the two panels in which they appear.

Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the Pre-''Crisis'' Earth-Three, making these new characters unrelated to previous versions. In ''Countdown'' #31, the name of this team is revealed to be the Crime Society of America. The Society are said to be evil doppelgangers of the heroes of Earth-2, and make their first solo appearance in ''Countdown Presents The Search for Ray Palmer - Crime Society'' #1 written by Sean McKeever and illustrated by Jamal Igle

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