WARNING! SPOILERS GALORE! THE HORROR! THE HORROR!


Title: Crisis Times Five, Part I
Release Date: April 1999
Writer: Grant Morrison
Penciller: Howard Porter
Inker: John Dell
JLA Members: Superman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Plastic Man, Huntress, and Zauriel.
Guest Stars: Captain Marvel, the Justice Society of America (the Flash (Jay Garrick), Sentinel, and Wildcat), Hourman, and J. J. Thunder.
Bad Guys: Lkz and Triumph.
Cameos: The Spectre.

So what happens?
Something weird is going on in Keystone City--the two Flashes, Wally West and his Golden Age mentor Jay Garrick, discover buildings getting twisted in knots, and thanks to a prediction by the Hourman of the future, the JLA suspects that they may be facing an invasion from the Fifth Dimension (that's where Superman's goofy tormentor Mr. Mxyzptlk comes from). Meanwhile, over in nearby Central City, people are reporting seeing pink lightning, which reminds Jay of the pet Thunderbolt of Golden Age hero Johnny Thunder. Batman quickly makes the deduction that the Thunderbolt is actually a Fifth Dimension imp, and Jay suggests calling in some members of the Justice Society, since they have experience working with the Thunderbolt--Wildcat and Sentinel (the Golden Age Green Lantern) quickly answer the call.

Elsewhere, Zauriel learns that someone has imprisoned the Spectre in a planet-sized chunk of rock. But is there any force that could lay such serious smackdown on the embodiment of the Wrath of God? If you're mouthing the words "Fifth Dimension Imps", you're catching on fast.

The JLA and the JSA get together in the Watchtower to plot strategy. Zauriel and Sentinel decide to try to free the Spectre, while most of the rest of the two teams make a trip to Central City to look for the Thunderbolt. Hourman predicts that Captain Marvel will soon be joining them...and that someone is gonna die...

Back on Earth, in Chicago, a washed-up, hard-luck ex-superhero named Triumph is trying to sell some old Justice League artifacts to a bunch of supervillains so he can get enough cash to cover the rent. (You've heard of Triumph, right? One of the greats, founder of the JLA, got erased from everyone's memories in a time travel accident, lost his powers, one humiliation after another after another...) The supervillains are going to kill him just for the hell of it, but Triumph gets in touch with a renegade Imp called Lkz, gets his powers back, and lets the Imp run loose, turning Central City into a chaotic nightmare...

Cool Quotes!
Captain Marvel, for no real reason I can tell: "Holy Moley. First time I've ever seen anyone scared of a derby hat."

One of the nameless supervillains, ticking off a list of Triumph's bad luck: "Amazo steals his powers and he never gets 'em back. Shrink ray hits him, the doctors restore almost all of his anatomy to normal size. His trophy blonde walks..."

Sentinel, reminiscing about the old days: "Our headquarters was in a concrete ball. I remember one point during the war when there must have been about a hundred of us in there."
Wildcat: "And then Liberty Belle blew one off and tried to blame it on Al Pratt? I used to sweat like crazy in that place."
Sentinel: "Ted...we noticed."

Wildcat berating Plastic Man (and reminding us that Plas is a lot older than he looks): "Shut yer yap, O'Brien. I remember Father Gilhooley chasing you down with a Bible in one hand and a shillelagh in the other. You were full of it then and you're full of it now."

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