LEGENDS crossover issues were helpfully numbered as Chapters to enforce a reading order. On several websites I’ve seen BATMAN #401 listed as preceding LEGENDS #1; however this can’t be because it features an appearance of G Gordon Godfrey who wasn’t sent to Earth until after Page 3 of LEGENDS #1. At the most, BATMAN #401 can be said to run concurrently with LEGENDS #1 and that’s how I’m treating it.
BATMAN #401
After a third Gotham socialite is killed by the Magpie so that she can steal a gemstone owned by the victim, Batman and Commissioner Gordon set a trap for her by organising a party including a display of Bruce Wayne’s family jewels, hoping that it will entice the Magpie.
As the party is underway, G Gordon Godfrey arrives, castigating Commissioner Gordon for his reliance upon Batman, and loudly proclaiming that superheroes are the enemy. When the Magpie releases a gas into the room, driving many people mad, Batman arrives and calms the situation, knocking out several guests and saving the life of a police detective. Gordon uses this to proclaim that Batman was behind the attack and that he is to blame, with some of the attendees starting to believe him.
While that is happening, Batman and Robin track the Magpie down to her lair and, escaping from the trap she sets for them, capture her.
DETECTIVE COMICS #568
G Gordon Godfrey holds a rally at Gotham University, attracting around a thousand students, all of whom appear to agree with his rallying cry that the superheroes are the real enemy as they are belittling the work done by the common man.
During the rally, one student is attacked by a giant peregrine falcon that has escaped from the nearby science lab where the Penguin is busy stealing several other falcons. Batman arrives and attempts to stop the robbery but, as the Penguin takes the scientist who bred the birds as a hostage, he has to let him go. Batman and Robin track the Penguin to his lair and, with the aid of the scientist, manage to capture the Penguin.
They relax in Wayne Manor, watching G Gordon Godfrey on television, still railing against superheroes.
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #207
Very much a red skies crossover issue, this issue tells of the return of Guy Gardner from his imprisonment on Maltus.
He returns to Earth and battles the rest of the Green Lantern Corps that are stationed there but escapes when the defeat his trap. Before taking him on again, Hal Jordan and others are met by Kari Limbo, Guy’s old girlfriend, who convinces them that while Guy is brain damaged and unpredictable, he is still a good man, just as the Guardians first perceived him to be.
Jordan agrees and Gardner is given leave to remain on Earth in the hopes that he will adjust to his new freedom and come to control his anger.
Crisis on Earth-Prime 