- Plotter: John Ostrander
- Scripter: Len Wein
- Penciller: John Byrne
- Inker: Karl Kesel
- Colorist: Tom Ziuko
- Letterer: Steve Haynie
- Cover Artist: John Byrne
- Editor: Mike Gold
Cover: Front and centre is Superman; working clockwise from him we have Batman on the left; Blue Beetle with his back to us at the top; and Green Lantern Guy Gardner on the right. All of them are surrounded by an angry mob.
Page 1: The burnt and blackened body of Macro-Man lays where it fell in the previous issue, apparently having been killed by Captain Marvel. As an aside, a caption claims he fell “from a battle-torn rooftop” when we clearly saw him falling through a window.
The caption asking “what is the sound of the end of the world?” and its answers will be repeated as a motif throughout this issue.
Page 2 – Panel 1: Gwyneth Tate, a reporter for WHIZ-TV, the same station for which Billy Batson reports. Note her use of the term “so-called super-hero” to describe Captain Marvel.
Page 2 – Panel 2: Tate introduces G Gordon Godfrey and describes him as a “noted psychologist” and an author of a “bestselling” book. This apparent problem of whether Godfrey has been on Earth long enough to become both noted and an author could be solved by claiming Godfrey’s hypnotic powers are making people believe his backstory.
Page 2 – Panel 3: Godfrey has been protesting superheroes “for some time now” – we’ve seen him railing against them in the previous issue, as well as in BATMAN #401 and DETECTIVE COMICS #568, both of which are dealt with in Crossovers Part 1.
Page 2 – Panels 5 and 6: We move to a suburban family watching the TV. These are the Suttons, and the daughter Lisa will come to play a larger part in the story as it continues.
Page 3 – Panel 1: Back at the interview with Godfrey, he continues to stir up the crowd, for the first time in the main series pressing for both the government to intervene, and also threatening that the public will rise up against the heroes. Worryingly, many in the crowd seem to agree with him.
Page 3 – Panel 2: The worried looking boy is Billy Batson, alter-ego of Captain Marvel.
Page 3 – Panel 3: The crowd are clearly in agreement with Godfrey which sends Batson running.
Page 3 – Panel 5: Batson is reduced to tears as he considers himself to be a murderer as we get a recap of the events of the previous issue.
Page 4: All the details on this page are a recap of issue #1 of LEGENDS which explains why Batson is convinced he killed Macro-Man.
Page 5 – Panel 1: And here’s the return of the “What is the sound of the end of the world?” question.
Page 5 – Panel 2: Here we are on Apokolips where Darkseid watches and revels in Batson’s despair.
Page 5 – Panel 3: Behind Darkseid is Granny Goodness; the figures entering in the background are more clearly seen in the next panel.
Page 5 – Panel 4: From right to left, the newcomers are Desaad; an unnamed servant; an animate; and another servant.
Page 5 – Panels 5 to 7: The animate that has just arrived is one of a collection of androids that are possessed by Dr Bedlam whom we last saw in the previous issue being sent to Earth. Here, he returns to Apokolips and screams in pain.
Page 6 – Panel 1: Darkseid explains that Captain Marvel was not responsible for the death of Macro-Man as he was nothing more than a being possessed by Dr Bedlam who, it appears, has suffered the death throes of his creation. The “friend” to whom Darkseid speaks is . . .
Page 6 – Panel 4: . . . the Phantom Stranger who disagrees with Darkseid’s perceptions of life and the heroic ideal.
Page 7 – Panel 2: Darkseid draws the Stranger’s attention back to Earth where the second part of his plan is about to unfold.
Page 7 – Panel 3: We’re back with Brimstone who, towards the end of the previous issue, had just defeated Cosmic Boy and was about to be challenged by the Justice League of America. In the bottom left of the picture, just above Brimstone’s foot, is a movie theatre the marquee of which is advertising “Brother Power – The Geek The Movie!” Brother Power is without doubt one of the strangest characters published by DC – a sort of Frankenstein’s monster crossed with the 1960s hippy movement.
Page 8 – Panel 1: Speaking of which, in the sky being uncharacteristically spontaneous is the Martian Manhunter; below him, shouting, is Elongated Man; the rest of the JLA from left to right are Vixen; Vibe; Steel; Gypsy in front of him; Cosmic Boy; and Firestorm behind him.
Page 8 – Panel 2: The Martian Manhunter has to be reminded of his own weakness to flame; again, uncharacteristic.
Page 8 – Panels 3 and 4: Vibe uses his powers to topple Brimstone . . .
Page 9 – Panels 1 and 2: . . . but Brimstone uses a flaming sword that he manifests from nowhere to bring down an entire building on the League.
Page 9 – Panels 3 and 4: The rubble from the building proves too much for any of the League, or Cosmic Boy, to handle and the heroes are buried beneath it.
Page 9 – Panel 5: Another “What is the sound of the end of the world?” question as Brimstone laughs.
Page 10 – Panel 1: Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot in prison following his arrest by the Flash in the previous issue.
Page 10 – Panel 2: From left to right are Ben Turner aka Bronze Tiger and Colonel Rick Flag whom we met in the previous issue as he signed up to lead the newly re-formed Task Force X. The last man is probably the warden of the prison.
Page 10 – Panel 5: This is a rare instance where a character appears without either a caption or dialogue naming them.
Page 11 – Panel 6: “In a word — it’s suicide!” is, of course, a reference to Task Force X’s colloquial name of the Suicide Squad.
Page 11 – Panel 1: We head to Gotham where a hostage situation is taking place.
Page 11 – Panel 3: Hardly needing an introduction, but here’s Batman swinging in to action.
Page 11 – Panel 4: And Robin, of course.
Page 12 – Panels 1 to 3: Batman disarms one of the hostage takers.
Page 12 – Panel 4: The Gotham Police arrive only to find the situation is dealt with.
Page 12 – Panel 5: The police captain is unhappy with Batman’s interference though Commissioner Jim Gordon (on the right hand side) tries to defend him.
Page 13 – Panels 1 and 2: The crowd, already infected with G Gordon Godfrey’s hatred of costumed heroes, takes the side of the police captain and, as a mob, attack Robin. While we’ve seen the public angry before now, this is the first time it’s spilled over into violence against a hero.
Page 13 – Panels 3 to 5: Batman is blinded by a bottle of perfume, presumably thrown by someone in the mob.
Page 14 – Panels 1 and 2: As Commissioner Gordon helps Batman to safety, he says that his men will help Robin. With the obvious contempt exhibited by the police captain, I can understand Batman’s reluctance to trust the police.
Page 14 – Panel 3: And in the time it’s taken to get Batman out of the mall, the riot has spread outside and the Batmobile is both on fire and being tipped over.
Page 14 – Panel 5: And even the police are siding with Godfrey.
Page 15 – Panel 1: The caption claims that we’re in Chicago, “a thousand miles due west” of Gotham City. It’s difficult to place where Gotham is in the DCU at any one time but around this time, there was a DC Heroes role playing game that came with a fairly detailed map of the USA; in that, Gotham is clearly placed within New Jersey and, with a quick look at Google Maps, it’s approximately 650 miles from there to Chicago. You put a figure on something like that, and nerds like me will check it.
The arm on the right hand of the panel belongs to . . .
Page 15 – Panel 2: . . . Blue Beetle, Chicago’s resident hero.
Page 15 – Panel 3: The blue structure in the right of the panel is The Bug, Blue Beetle’s flying craft that’s hovering above the scene as the police arrive.
Page 15 – Panels 4 and 5: Bad enough that Beetle interrupts a surveillance operation, but the criminal then claims Beetle is his connection, turning the police against him.
Page 16: Nothing much to add here as the Beetle escapes from the all-too-easily enraged police. His mention of rethinking his adventures as Blue Beetle refers to him being a relative novice at the hero game at this point; it’s still recently post-Crisis and Beetle still isn’t convinced he should continue.
Page 17 – Panel 3: Green Lantern Guy Gardner flies in to save a damaged airplane. He returned to Earth in GREEN LANTERN CORPS #207 as seen in Crossovers Part 1.
Page 17 – Panels 4 and 5: As Gardner says, his ring cannot protect against anything yellow due to an impurity in the power ring. Of course, why an engine part would be yellow is another question.
Page 18: As questionable as his attitude can be, Gardner’s willpower cannot be questioned and he rallies to make an impressive save, placing the airplane down on a nearby freeway.
Page 19 – Panel 1: Gardner considers himself to be the best of the Green Lanterns.
Page 19 – Panel 2: The crowd, like that in Gotham, are quick to anger.
Page 19 – Panel 3: Someone in the crowd mentions that “G Gordon Godfrey is right“, showing the influence the man has had on the public.
Page 19 – Panels 4 and 5: Gardner uses his ring to push the people back and flies off.
Page 20 – Panel 1: These captions are doing my job for me; Titans Tower in New York, home of the Teen Titans. The speaker is Changeling.
Page 20 – Panel 2: Right to left are Changeling, the Flash, and Cosmic Boy. The former pair were last seen in the previous issue, while Cosmic Boy was defeated back on Page 9 with the Justice League who, he says, were gone by the time he got out of the rubble.
Page 20 – Panels 3 and 4: None of the heroes have anything more to say about Brimstone or where he is.
Page 20 – Panel 5: Cosmic Boy leaves the Titans Tower to search for Night Girl. His departure is captured by a news crew, the pictures from which are seen by . . .
Page 20 – Panel 6: . . . Professor Anthony Ivo, a long time Justice League villain. Cosmic Boy and Professor Ivo will next be seen in Crossovers Part 2.
Page 21 – Panel 1: The White House, home of the President of the United States . . .
Page 21 – Panel 2: . . . Ronald Reagan, who stands watching screens showing riots and G Gordon Godfrey.
Page 21 – Panel 3: With the President is Superman.
Page 21 – Panel 5: Superman is able to see that Godfrey is the cause of the troubles, though President Reagan is unmoved. Behind Reagan is Vice President George Bush.
Page 22 – Panel 1: Reagan orders that all costumed heroes are to cease activities, including Superman.
Page 22 – Panel 3: Back in Gotham, the police finally find the battered and beaten body of Robin.
Crisis on Earth-Prime 