Crime Syndicate is a miniseries is written by Andy Schmidt, with interior art by Kieran McKeown beginning in March of 2021. It centers around the titular villains after yet another Continuity Reboot following Dark Nights: Death Metal. This book is part of the DC Infinite Frontier line.
A paranoid titan (Ultraman), a narcissist (Superwoman), a nihilist (Owlman), a broken moral compass (Power Ring/Emerald Knight), a sociopath (Johnny Quick) and a sadist (Atomica). Does the world stand a chance? Spinning out of the pages of Dark Nights: Death Metal, the DC Multiverse is reborn, and with it a new Earth-3! Witness the true origins of the malevolent makers of mayhem known as the Crime Syndicate as a common foe unites them! But how long can alliances last between villains like these?
This version of the Crime Syndicate would later appear in following year's War for Earth-3 crossover with Teen Titans Academy, Suicide Squad (2021), and The Flash (Infinite Frontier).
The Miniseries contains examples of:
- 10-Minute Retirement: Luthor attempts to enforce one on Emerald Knight in response to his accidental murder of Johnny Quick. The Syndicate attacks before that goes anywhere.
- Abusive Parents:
- Ultraman turned out the way he did because his versions of Jonathan and Martha Kent used him to do all of the work around their farm while hypocritically complaining about "freeloaders". They tried to make their son dependent on them until he finally realized they were simply using him and thus destroyed his ability to trust people.
- Queen Hippolyta chides her daughter Donna for falling prey to Steve Trevor's manipulations, comparing her to her weak (and dead) sister Diana. Superwoman mentions she plans to head back to Demon's Island at some point and prove to her mother she's not weak by killing her.
- Johnny Quick's father beat him to an inch of his life in response to him trying to stop his folks' illegal dog-fighting scheme.
- Adaptational Badass: The previous Earth-3 counterpart of Harley Quinn (from Countdown to Final Crisis) was a mere stage manager who was unceremoniously killed as part of the Jokester's backstory. This version is a superhero in her own right and member of the Legion of Justice.
- Adaptational Heroism:
- The last time a version of Cat Grant was shown associated with the Crime Syndicate, she was a bitter hag who shamelessly ran a tabloid version of the Daily Planet. Here, Earth-3's Cat Grant runs the Daily Planet in protest of Ultraman and isn't afraid to call him a coward.
- The last incarnation of Owlman arranged the murder of his parents and brother, here he set out to avenge their deaths and was a vigilante before snapping.
- The previous version of Alexander Luthor was a Nominal Hero who was barely better than the Syndicate. The version shown in this comic appears to be genuinely well intentioned and good, but is also totally inept.
- The previous Power Ring was a Dirty Coward and the team Butt-Monkey. Here, the Emerald Knight's still on the side of justice (if a little extreme about it) and has quite a few people watching his every move... for precisely the wrong reasons.
- The last time Earth-3 had an Ultragirl, she was acting as a lackey in Monarch's army during Countdown To Infinite Crisis and was implied to be just as bad as the rest of the Crime Society. The Ultragirl introduced here is firmly heroic, having been working with Alexander Luthor and utterly disgusted by what a monster her cousin is.
- Previous iterations of Ultraman ranged from Jerkass to outright psychotic, with shades of Domestic Abuse and Control Freak throughout. This Ultraman (while still a villain) is nowhere near the frothing-at-the-mouth monster the others were - defined more by his apathy toward the destruction he causes than a need to cause it.
- Earth-3 as a whole is this. After the Antimatter Universe and New 52 Earth-3 had the entirety of Earth's population as evil, with even the "heroic" characters having a darker edge, this Earth now as a whole values justice and good, which makes them closer to pre-COIE Earth-3.
- Adaptational Wimp: Alexander Luthor severely lacks the skills and competence of his heroic Pre-Crisis and Antimatter Universe predecessors and the power-stealing abilities of his New 52 counterpart.
- Adaptation Name Change:
- Power Ring is now referred to as Emerald Knight. This is reversed in the War for Earth-3 crossover.
- The Joker's Good Counterpart is now called the Jester rather than the Jokester, likely influenced by Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.
- Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: Inverted with Ultraman, who feels that only he and not Atomica has the right to kill another Kryptonian.
- Asshole Victim: Johnny Quick murdered his folks and hid their corpses inside their own barn. They also bred puppies for dog-fighting and regularly beat their son, so who'll miss them?
- The Bad Guy Wins: The Legion of Justice is toppled and Ultragirl is killed, with Luthor also on death's door. With nobody left to oppose them, the Crime Syndicate declares full dominance over the planet.
- Bad Powers, Good People: Unlike the other members of the Syndicate, John Stewart starts off with a somewhat-good head on his shoulders. The ring he's wearing on his finger however is not good and doesn't want him to be, either.
- Bait-and-Switch: Near the end of Issue #4, Emerald Knight's Ring advises him to forge an alliance with "The Kryptonian, the Owl and The Amazon." Resigned, John Stewart flies off...to join the Legion of Justice instead. The issue ends with the Ring exclaiming You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!.
- Book Ends: Early in issue #1, a newspaper-seller and a customer are arguing about the current state of metahuman affairs, leading to a newspaper being spitefully incinerated by Ultraman's heat-vision. The final issue ends with the two arguing about the even-bleaker state of metahuman affairs...Cue a newspaper being incinerated.
- Broken Masquerade: Downplayed. People already know metahumans exist, (Ultraman's not exactly discreet) but the Starro invasion exposed just how many there really are across the globe.
- Byronic Hero: The Emerald Knight means well but his controlling nature has everyone scared of him and his weapon is constantly peer pressuring him into darker acts, which hasn't done his psyche any favors. By the end of the series, he embraces his darker nature and drops the "hero".
- Clue from Ed.: Parodied. There are several instances in the comic where the characters mention past events in a vague manner and a footnote appears to explain that the events were shown in a non-existent comic, with some snarking on how the reader can't possibly purchase and read the mentioned issues because of their non-existence.
- Composite Character:
- Superwoman now is the Earth-3 version of Donna Troy.
- Earth-3's Red Hood is Harleen Quinzel, known as Harley Quinn in the prime continuity.
- Luthor's female assistant/Bodyguard is based on Mercy Graves, who usually fills that role in the mainline continuity, but issue #5 reveals that she's secretly Ultragirl, the Earth-3 version of Supergirl.
- Savanna, the Earth-3 version of Cheetah, more closely resembles Pantha from the Teen Titans.
- Condescending Compassion: Thaal Sinestro tries his best to liberate John Stewart from the dark inclinations of his power ring, but does so by pressuring him to be a hero in the same vein the man's ring pressures him to be a villain. The final issue makes clear he sees John less as an equal and moreso as a victim to be saved. This, coupled with Superwoman's affirmation of John's controlling side when he murders a squad of hostile Amazons, contributes to his Face–Heel Turn.
- The Conscience: Sinestro is trying to be this to John Stewart, who's yet to fully become enthralled to his power ring. He fails.
- Continuity Reboot: For Earth 3, after the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal.
- The Corrupter: All Oan power rings are this to their wielders. Sinestro's the only one that's managed to curb his.
- Superwoman plans on being this to John Stewart in the hopes him joining their planned Syndicate will spare them from the wrath of the Overlords of Oa.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Atomica intends to painfully torture Alexander Luthor until he dies in retaliation for Johnny Quick's death.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Crime Syndicate absolutely wipe the floor with the Legion of Justice during their fight in the space station. The arrival of Ultraman's cousin Ultragirl is the only thing that doesn't get Luthor killed.
- Dark Secret: Johnny Quick murdered his brothers years ago and has kept their corpses in his family's barn. He'd been planning to tell Atomica, but she barely registers it at all when she finds out.
- Defeated and Trophified: Just like his original Earth-3 version, Owlman has nearly all of Gotham's would-be heroes as trophies in the Owlcave. Whether they're dead or in stasis isn't clear.
- Do You Want to Copulate?: Superwoman makes it no secret she wants an heir. Ultraman is all-too-quick to proposition her after they and Owlman buddy up.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite Johnny Quick and Atomica being a sociopath and a sadist respectively, they genuinely care for each other. Atomica angrily sheds tears as she smacks Ultraman for disrespecting Johnny after he gets killed.
- Despite all of the reasons Ultraman has to mistrust everyone around him, his reaction to his cousin Ultragirl is to attempt to talk her down, even hoping to look after her. Inversely, she wants little more than to wipe him off the face of the planet for what a monster he's been. Atomica does away with her first before she can.
- In the same issue, John tries to approach his daughter once more. Despite him having finally recovered from his mental instability, she refuses to acknowledge him as long as he wears the Power Ring.
- Face–Heel Turn: John Stewart finally embraces his darker nature in the last issue after Superwoman briefly separates him from the Ring and his mind becomes clear enough to assert control over it.
- Fantastic Drug: Kryptonite is basically steroids to Ultraman.
- Freudian Excuse: Each member of the Crime Syndicate is given a reason for why they turned out the way they did, rather than going with the standby "They're evil just because."
- For Ultraman, he was raised by a Lazy Bum couple who used him for labor and tried to ingrain into him that he needed them more than they needed him. He lost his ability to trust people once he realized they only cared about themselves while he had all the power and they didn't.
- Owlman dedicated his life to avenging his parents, believing that he could bring justice to an unjust world, only for the revelation that they were criminals to cause him to become a Straw Nihilist.
- Superwoman was taught she had to be able to use words and emotions as weapons after Steve Trevor tried to exploit her feelings for him and used her as a hostage to try and force Queen Hippolyta to send some of the Amazons to his world to fight the Crime Society.
- A failed attempt to save a bunch of dogs from his father's dog-fighting scheme gets a young Johnny Quick beaten bloody. This taught him that caring for others would get him killed and that it was okay to run from his problems.
- Much of the run is centered around John Stewart coming to terms with his own Knight Templar tendencies and rather than using them for good, embracing them.
- Atomica meanwhile averts this. She's direct about being a Sadist and doesn't try to hide the obvious thrill she gets out of others' suffering.
- The Generalissimo: The Earth 3 counterpart of John F. Kennedy certainly looks the part with approval ratings to match.
- Good Is Dumb: The Legion of Justice, with only a few exceptions, are made up of inept or unprepared heroes who are easily beaten by the Crime Syndicate.
- Hates Their Parent: John's daughter has declared him dead to her.
- Johnny Quick hated his folks so much, he burnt their house down before running away.
- Hero Antagonist: Alexander Luthor ends up becoming one, creating his own army of heroes in response to how many metahumans the Starro incident exposed to the world.
- Ultragirl (originally in disguise as Luthor's assistant) is this for the final issue.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: The Emerald Knight is known as Coast City's protector. He's policed it so well that everyone there's afraid of him - particularly his own daughter.
- I Fight for the Strongest Side!: The Power Ring invokes this trope in the last issue to justify John Stewart joining the Crime Syndicate, claiming he can protect more people as a member of the strongest meta-team.
- Immune to Mind Control: Superwoman is able to resist Starro's psychic attacks due to her long experience controlling her own emotions and manipulating the emotions of others.
- Incompetence, Inc.: Luthor's attempt to gather an army of heroes succeeds, but most of his candidates are dealing with their own trauma and his "psych evaluations" don't even begin to cover it; as pointed out by the Red Hood. The team's inability to unite gets it demolished by the Syndicate.
- Informed Flaw: The series frequently highlights Ultraman's innate paranoia, yet he's remarkably quick to work with Owlman and Superwoman for someone that sees "enemies at every corner."
- Irony: Despite Johnny's upbringing convincing him that caring for others would hurt him, he has a very strong friendship with Atomica.
- Jurisdiction Friction: Law enforcement aircraft in pursuit of Johnny Quick find themselves turned away from Coast City by Emerald Knight when the former secretly sneaks in. They attempt to explain themselves, but Knight banishes them instead of bothering to hear them out.
- Killed Off for Real: Johnny Quick is killed in #5 and doesn't come back.
- By the end of the final issue, Ultragirl is dead and it's made clear Luthor's about to be.
- Knight Templar: John Stewart.
- Lack of Empathy: Atomica notes this about Johnny Quick while reminiscing.
- Law Enforcement, Inc.: The Emerald Knights.
- Legacy Character: The series states that previous incarnations of Emerald Knight were active on Earth before Stewart, with Owlman having a Power Battery. Counterparts of Hal Jordan and other Green Lanterns appear in a flashback.
- Lighter and Softer: Earth 3 as shown in this series is pretty grim, but nowhere near as bad as the versions seen in Forever Evil and JLA: Earth-2.
- Mirror Universe: As usual the heroes are villains and the villains are heroes on Earth-3, though there are some exceptions. Unlike previous versions however this one actually tries to make most of the characters similar to their main universe counterparts, such as Emerald Knight getting his ring from the Overlords of Oa instead of it being magical and Ultraman being a Kryptonian raised by the Kents.
- More than Mind Control: Sinestro implies all power rings dispersed by the Overlords of Oa mentally break their wielders into obedience over time. He's the only one that's broken free so far. John is freed from his own in the final issue thanks to Superwoman separating him from it briefly and saving his mind. It prompts his final Face–Heel Turn.
- Mythology Gag:
- The origin of the Crime Syndicate (teaming up to fight Starro) matches the original origin of the Justice League from back in 1960.
- The Earth 3 counterpart of Doctor Fate, sports the color scheme of Dr Chaos.
- Ultraman's attack on the Daily Planet is to the cover that first featured Superman.
- The third issue mentions a Crime Society #0 during Superwoman's origin story in the 1940s. Previously, the post-52 Earth-3 had a Crime Society instead of a Syndicate by stating the Crime Society were meant to be the evil version of Earth-2's Justice Society (since the Antimatter Crime Syndicate still existed).
- President Oliver Queen sports a blue bow and arrow, a nod to the Blue Bowman from the Mirror Universe episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
- Emerald Knight's uniform looks like Hal Jordan's old Parallax costume.
- The name of Poison Ivy's heroic counterpart, Venus, appears to be a subtle reference to Batman & Robin referencing the movie Blonde Venus when Ivy revealed herself at the Gotham charity gala.
- #5 has the Legion of Justice logo superimposed on the regular logo, similar to the Legion of Doom issues of Justice League (2018).
- #6 reveals that Owlman has multiple Talons under his command akin to the Court of Owls.
- Speaking of Owlman, his butler Alfred's appearance is also a dead-ringer for The Outsider.
- Also in a literal sense - Every issue has loads of editor's notes popping reference to variants and spin-offs never to be.
- Narcissist: Superwoman is described as this.
- Nervous Wreck: Power Tower becomes this upon discovering the corpses in Johnny's barn, sabotaging the Legion's stealth-plan in the process.
- Not the Intended Use: Sinestro attempts to help free John Stewart from his power ring in the hopes of turning him into a hero. In the last issue, Superwoman does free Stewart from the ring, but his clearer mind only inspires him to embrace villainy instead.
- Obliviously Evil: Thinking he's protecting people, John Stewart has Coast City isolated from the rest of the world. While this does protect the city, it also makes everyone afraid of him; His daughter basically considering him dead to her. When Sinestro tries to explains this to him, John thinks he's Twisting the Words. In the final issue, Superwoman separates him from the voice of the ring and saves his mind, giving him the conviction to fully embrace his Knight Templar nature.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: One of the last few pages of #6 has Ultraman calling Atomica out for killing Ultragirl, feeling that only he was allowed to do it.
- Origins Episode: Each issue has a back up story featuring the origin story for one of the villains, with the first issue focusing on Ultraman.
- Our Presidents Are Different: Oliver Queen, who gives away state secrets to Superwoman under the influence of her lasso of submission and fights out Starros with a bow and arrow.
- Parents as People: John Stewart very clearly loves his daughter. He's also a Knight Templar whose Ring makes him an unstable hero she's absolutely terrified of. Being liberated from said Ring's darker influence does not stop him from being Power Ring, which is the cause of their schism in the first place.
- Pointy-Haired Boss: Alexander Luthor is as rich as his primary counterpart but has the leadership skills of a used sponge.
- Protagonist Journey to Villain: While the rest of the Syndicate are already stone-cold evil, John is initially well-meaning if overprotective. The Ring of Oa is constantly goading John into increasing darker acts and Sinestro worries this will only get worse. John's aggressive tactics result in Johnny Quick's death, alienating him from the heroes Sinestro tried to get him to work with while Superwoman's emotional manipulation (and liberation of Stewart from the Ring's voice) saves him from the Ring's influence; ultimately convincing John to embrace his controlling side and join the Syndicate.
- Psychotic Love Triangle: Downplayed but based on Atomica's thoughts about Superwoman and the panels showing her interacting with Ultraman and Owlman, she believes the Amazon needs to choose one of them eventually and can't keep both of their loyalty. While a love triangle hasn't been confirmed their previous incarnations have had Superwoman cheating on Ultraman with Owlman, and as Ultraman noted earlier Owlman was strangely on a first name basis with Superwoman after they defeat Starro.
- Race Lift:
- Alexander Luthor on this world is a Black man.
- Power Tower, the Good Counterpart of Giganta (usually depicted as a white redhead), comes from the Philippines here.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: The Crime Syndicate has done away with Luthor and Ultragirl, leaving them with no real obstacles to global domination. However, there are still underground forces that seem intent on standing up to them and it's very clear the Syndicate's alliance is destined for turbulence.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Emerald Knight's power ring does this to him at basically all times, belittling him constantly for not taking his powers as far as they can go.
- Sadist: Atomica, continuing from the last version.
- Safety in Indifference: Johnny Quick's Freudian Excuse. The abuse he suffered at the hands of his folks taught him that he shouldn't care about anything and to run from his problems.
- Satellite Character: Atomica is motivated solely by her connection to Johnny Quick. Even after Johnny dies, everything Atomica does is based around his death.
- Self-Serving Memory: Ultraman reinterpretes everything to convince himself that he never needs help and the rest of the Syndicate are dependent on him. After all, if they aren't the freeloaders...
- A Sinister Clue: The Emerald Knights wear their power rings on their left hands, unlike the Green Lanterns who wear them on the right.
- The Sociopath: Johnny Quick continues to be this from his New 52 version.
- The Starscream: Invoked repeatedly and openly. Superwoman lays bare her motive to help Owlman and Ultraman win the "metahuman arms-race," then use them to amass an army to murder her mother and conquer her island. Emerald Knight's ring meanwhile pesters him about an alliance with the others so he can cull other threats then usurp the Syndicate per his mission from the Overlords of Oa.
- Star-Spangled Spandex: Power Ring has points of light resembling stars in the shadows on his outfit.
- Straw Nihilist: Owlman turns into this after learning the Awful Truth about his parents, likely inspired by the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths version of the character.
- Super Serum: Atomica got her powers from drinking one, according to her backstory.
- Tomato in the Mirror: Ultraman's Start of Darkness came when he learned his origin. He felt betrayed and resolved to never let anyone hurt him again.
- Owlman started off as a well-meaning vigilante that stopped criminals. Then he discovered his folks were criminals themselves and he didn't take it well.
- Two Girls to a Team: Superwoman and Atomica are the two females of the team.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Ultraman doesn't even appear to care when Owlman and Superwoman break into his Fortress of Solitude.
- Subverted when Atomica is more grossed out about having landed in a pile of corpses than the fact that they were Johnny's brothers and he killed them. Yet she doesn't seem to know they're Johnny's family as he tries to explain who they were.
- Villainous Friendship: Johnny Quick and Atomica are genuine friends who worry about each other during the Starro invasion. Owlman and Superwoman also seem to be this by the end of the comic.
- Villain Protagonist: It's kind of in the title.
- Villains With Good Publicity: The Syndicate are hailed as heroes by the people of Earth 3 when they defeat the Starros, despite the massive collateral damage and civilians deaths they caused in the process.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Johnny Quick doesn't wear a shirt this time.
- We ARE Struggling Together: Lampshaded. Atomica's narration at the end of the final issue implies this to be the destiny of the Syndicate - their various insecurities potentially leading to infighting.
- We Can Rule Together: Ultraman attempts to talk Ultragirl into joining him, wanting to look after her. She'd rather die. And she does.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: John Stewart protects Coast City from all threats by isolating it from basically everyone at all times and swatting away any aircraft that approach. Starro is also this in this version, as its goal is instead to create an army to free the universe from the Overlord of Oa and their Emerald Knights instead of simple conquest.
- We Used to Be Friends: Power Tower used to be close friends with Atomica, but their relationship ended after she realized Atomica was a murderous sociopath.
- Wham Shot: The ending of issue 5 features Luthor's secretary revealing herself as Ultragirl, Ultraman's cousin.
- What the Hell, Hero?: The Legion of Justice is disgusted by Emerald Knight's (accidental) murder of Johnny Quick.
