EVENT THEATER 1997
Genesis was an English rock band formed in 1967. Initially the lineup was keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford, and singer Peter Gabriel, then in 1971 they added drummer/singer Phil Collins and guitarist Steve Hackett. In the 1970s the band was among the pioneers of progressive rock. Gabriel left the group in 1974 and Collins took over as lead singer, and then Hackett left in 1977, leaving a trio of Banks, Rutherford, and Collins which became the band's longest-lasting line-up. In the 1980s the band moved to a more pop-oriented sound which was more commercially successful, until Collins left in 1996 and after a disappointing-selling final album, the band disbanded in 1997. I saw them twice, first in 1984 then in 1987.
Wait, wrong Genesis.
Genesis was a 1993 one-shot comic consisting of short stories, featuring Widowmaker, the Ex-Mutants, the Dinosaurs For Hire, and the Protectors. The purpose was to allow new readers to taste some of Malibu's stable of characters. There was another Genesis Ashcan in 1994.
Sorry, wrong Genesis again.
Let’s try again. “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth…”
Sigh. Too many Genesises. (Genesi?)
Nobody was interested in doing 4 episodes of this miniseries for Event Theater on the podcast, and after reading the stories, I agree, so I’ve condensed it into a couple of yada-yada episodes. This is Yada Yada #11 (after Karate Kid, Crisis on Infinite Arrowverse Earths, Timber Wolf, Eclipso, Valor, and most recently, The New Golden Age).
For the podcast, part 1 covers Genesis #1-3, plus quick recaps of what’s going on elsewhere, highlighting the Legion bits. The Legion has a page in issue 1, a couple of panels in issue 2, and a couple of non-speaking cameos in issue 3. Part 2 of the podcast will cover issue #4 plus the entirety of the Legion issue which is #97, plus the recaps of the other crossovers that week.
Preamble
The storyline revolves around the concept of the "Godwave", an interstellar phenomenon created by the Source that spread across the universe, creating gods on its first pass before reaching the edge of the universe and bouncing back, creating demigods and metahumans on its second pass.
The Godwave threatens reality when it reaches back to its starting point, altering or neutralizing the abilities of various metahumans and making ordinary humans feel like something is missing. The superheroes of Earth and the New Gods of New Genesis battle Darkseid to prevent him from accomplishing his plan to seize the power of the Godwave. Darkseid and his forces stage an invasion of Earth before travelling to the Source Wall where they are confronted by the heroes.
This phenomenon manifested itself in various ways, as a kind of grand unified theory tying together the Source, the Green Lanterns' power rings, the Speed Force, the power of Shazam, Kryptonian abilities, gifts from the Olympian gods, etc.
This Event Theater took over an issue of multiple titles in August 1997. Genesis #1-4 were later collected in The Fourth World By John Byrne Omnibus, published July 2021. There was also a free preview that came out and reprinted some pages from issue 3 which happened to have Legionnaires, but it wasn’t new material like the Final Night preview was, but if you’re a completest, you can track that down.
In Genesis, a four issue cosmic crossover event written by John Byrne and drawn by Ron Wagner, with covers by Alan Davis. All over the earth, Super heroes' powers were going haywire, and only the gods knew what was going on. The planet's heroes gathered to ponder their current situation, but found their world attacked by a panicking alien armada. Then, just as the violence was about to escalate, Highfather of the New Gods appeared before the assembled forces and explained the situation...
Genesis #1 (8/6/97)
Cover shows Martian Manhunter, Electric Blue Superman, GL Kyle, and Starman Jack falling from the sky.
Flash is chasing after some bank robber goons, who fire a surface to air missile to try to blow open the bank’s vault. But Flash finds himself losing speed as he chases the missile. Meanwhile, GL Kyle is over New York City fighting Sonar, who is a cyborg for some reason, but Kyle’s ring cuts out as Sonar’s powers grow. Meanwhile, out west in Gateway City, the police are trying to rappel down the side of a building to catch a guy who’s holding hostages, but the lead cop suddenly has a crisis of faith and loses his nerve and is overwhelmed by fear and doubt. In Fawcett City, Captain Marvel loses his powers of flight from Mercury. In Happy Harbor, five Legionnaires are helping to build a makeshift dam to hold back floodwaters, and while Ultra Boy says he’s suddenly bursting with power – he can now use multiple powers at once – Spark seems to have lost her electrical powers but gained the power to make things weightless. In Metropolis, Superman gets a surge of electromagnetic power which he uses to short out a robot he’s fighting. Later, back in the Daily Planet newsroom, Lois and Clark and the others read the wires and see that other heroes and villains are affected too.
Meanwhile, over in the Fourth World, Apokolips has been fused with New Genesis for some reason that you’d understand if you were reading Byrne’s “New Gods” title (which I was not). Takion and Orion discuss the situation with Highfather, and Takion says that even the Source itself is troubled. Since Highfather created Takion to be linked to the Source, if Takion doesn’t know what’s going on, it must be something that Darkseid did. In the JLA Watchtower on the moon, Batman and Aquaman say they have not been affected, while Martian Manhunter, Flash, GL, and Superman say they have. Batman ponders the situation: why was GL’s power ring affected, as well as aliens Superman and Martian Manhunter, but not Aquaman’s mutant powers?
Elsewhere: some members of the Young Heroes find enhanced powers; In Opal City, Starman’s cosmic rod fails but Shade is there to back him up; and in Manchester AL, Impulse now vibrates and Max Mercury has lost his link to the Speed Force while Jesse Quick is unaffected. Other non-powered heroes pick up some of the slack, such as Huntress, Azrael, Robin, Nightwing, and Arsenal, while Guy Gardner (Warrior) is unaffected. Takion does some recon on the Apokolips side of the planet and Darkseid and his minions are missing. Donna Troy tries to visit Kyle Rayner but he’s not there, and she admits to a terrible feeling of foreboding.
Back in the Watchtower, more heroes have joined: Guy Gardner, Steel, Captain Marvel, Ray, Superboy, Captain Atom, and Supergirl. Martian Manhunter has telepathically scanned them all but can’t find anything useful. Kitty Faulkner calls them from STAR Labs and says they’ve found a sharp decline in the level of the Kurtzberg Field (which of course we know is named after Jack Kirby’s original surname), which is a very low-level background radiation that until now has always been constant and stable, as discovered by Kurtzberg in 1939. Her hypothesis is that a wave of radiation passed over Earth 40,000 years ago, and then again about 1000 years ago, and the current situation is a resonance or interference pattern. Batman announces that he thinks the reason Supergirl is unaffected is because she’s from a different universe, which apparently others did not know about her. Batman has something else that he discovers, but he’s interrupted by – wouldn’t you know it! – an alien armada headed for Earth.
Books coming out this week expand on some scenes that we saw in #1:
- Green Lantern Vol. 3 #91 – Kyle is captured and tortured by Desaad, then released
- Power of Shazam! #31 – Billy and Mary have erratic powers, Ibis is unpowered, and the Wizard is missing; Billy gets the call to go to the Watchtower
- Starman Vol. 2 #35 – Starman’s Cosmic Rod and Sentinel’s powers cut out while trying to stop a bomber, but Shade takes over
- Steel Vol. 2 #43 – John is having a crisis of faith, and meets Superman who’s going to the Watchtower
- Superman: Man of Steel #72 – Superman fights a one-shot computer themed villain group, various friends and foes are getting power upgrades, Superman leaves to fight that robot.
Genesis #2 (8/13/97)
Cover shows Highfather directing a bunch of heroes, including Superman, GL, Supergirl, Metron, Captain Atom, Starman, Takion, Warrior, Artemis, Lightray, Flash, and others.
Page 1 recaps what happened in issue 1. The alien armada surrounds Earth, while Highfather gathers the New Gods, where Takion reveals he can no longer sense the Source. An old man named Arzaz reveals himself to be an Old One, one of the First Gods, who warns of the end of the Fourth World and the coming of the Fifth. Meanwhile, in Gateway City, Wonder Woman has been injured and may not survive, so Artemis arrives in her place. Apparently the departure of the gods has caused the Amazons on Paradise Island to return to clay. The newest incarnation of the Challengers of the Unknown arrive in West Virginia to investigate a high suicide rate. The Ravers come to Hawaii to see Superboy, but they are teleported away. Robin, Huntress, and Catwoman patrol Gotham. Superman talks to President Clinton about leading a delegation to talk to the aliens. Darkseid’s minions and parademons begin to attack Earth, including trying to hijack the Teen Titans’ jet. In Happy Harbor, the Legionnaires find themselves fighting Mantis, and Cos wonders if Apokolips is using the alien fleet as cover, or if the alien invasion is part of some greater scheme by Darkseid. Aquaman fights some parademons underwater. The delegation to the armada (Superman, Martian Manhunter, GL, and Supergirl) is told that Earth is being attacked, and Martian Manhunter slips into a ship that happens to hold the Darkstars and Omega Men. The Darkstars mention tracking something to Earth and will take whatever steps necessary to stop it, even if it means destroying the solar system, but then Highfather appears. He is actually talking to everyone now: the New Gods, the JLA, the Ravers, the Legion, and more. Highfather explains that the Source is being attacked and begins to explain the premise of the series: ages ago a planet exploded, releasing a wave of energy called the Godwave, which seeded all worlds with divinity and created the gods. The Godwave expanded to the limits of the universe and bounced back, and this second wave created the potential for power in mortals in the form of the Speed Force, the Quantum Field, the GL power of the Guardians. But now the Godwave is contracting, causing a resonance which is affecting everyone touched on its first two passes and causing powers to fail and mortals to lose their faith. The Godwave will then explode outwards again, wiping everything clean and bringing on the Fifth World. Darkseid means to use this moment to seize power. New Genesis has created some upgraded Mother Boxes which will allow the heroes to keep their powers, but they will have to penetrate the collapsing Godwave which could cause changed powers or even death.
Books coming out this week expand on some scenes that we saw in #2:
- Azrael #34 – Azrael faces a Parademon
- Batman #547 – Batman and Oracle try to help people who are so despaired that they are considering suicide
- Impulse #30 – Bart has to go solo while Max is missing, and he explores his new powers of explosive touch and the ability to shrink to the size of an atom
- Sovereign Seven #27 – Cascade and her mother Maitresse switch places, while Power Girl and the other Sovereigns battle the Female Furies
- Supergirl Vol. 4 #14 – After meeting with the JLA to discuss heroes' fluctuating powers, Supergirl rushes home, certain that the mass depression and hysteria that has swept the globe must be causing riots in Leesburg as well, but the town seems immune.
- Superman Vol. 2 #128 – Superman encounters the Cyborg Superman at the Source Wall
- Jack Kirby’s Fourth World #8 – The Forever People try to help the people of Earth, while Highfather joins Zeus, Jove, Odin, and Ares to go to the Source Wall, but Ares betrays them and kills Zeus.
Genesis #3 (8/20/97)
Cover: A giant Darkseid grabs a handful of heroes (including some Legionnaires).
The heroes arrive at the Source Wall and are attacked by Darkseid’s minions and there’s a big cosmic fight. Darkseid explains that he has built a platform to harness the powers of the Godwave’s third advance, and he will stop at nothing to partake of it. But Metron realizes the full truth, they must penetrate the Source and deal with it there. Takion and Metron pull the heroes out to talk to them, and explain that they will have to use their special Mother Boxes to go inside the Source, and Takion says that the Source wants them to help. The heroes find the wizard Shazam here, he had been missing for a while, he journeyed here to try to help as well. Back on Earth, Robin, Huntress, and Catwoman try to figure out what to do. At the Source, there’s lots more fighting. The heroes (including Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl) fight Darkseid’s minions, but then the Spectre confronts Darkseid, and says that he has come to warn Darkseid not to underestimate his opponents, then leaves. Spectre then enters the Source ahead of the Godwave. All across the universe, people feel that. An Old God, Arzaz’s opposite number, appears before Darkseid and offers his help. The Source screams, which is felt across the universe as well: the Godwave has nearly reached the point of ultimate contraction. The Source then expels those who are trying to help (aka the heroes), and Takion lies dead. Superman says they might have just heard the death scream of the Source. Then the Wall starts breaking apart.
Books coming out this week expand on some scenes that we saw in #3:
- Adventures of Superman #551 – Superman finishes fighting Cyborg Superman at the Source Wall, then comes back to Earth. Cosmic Boy and Ferro have non-speaking cameos in the group scene when Superman returns.
- Aquaman Vol. 5 #37 – Aquaman, Garth, and Dolphin protect Atlantis from a squad of Parademons.
- Lobo vol. 2 #44 – Lobo joins a party bus going to celebrate the end of the universe at the Source Wall
- Resurrection Man #6 – The Body Doubles have to fend off rival bounty hunters and a swarm of Parademons to deliver the powerless Mitch Shelley to Mr. Fancy.
- Young Heroes in Love #5 – Their powers are super-enhanced, and so is the drama.
Coming soon: Part 2, with Genesis #4, LSH v4 #97, and the other books in week 4.
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