Crisis in Eternity is a DC Comics story, co-written by E. Nelson Bridwell and Martin Pasko, running through Justice League of America issues #135 to #137 from October to December 1976, and was the fourteenth of DC's then-annual team-ups between the JLA and the Justice Society of America.
On Earth-S, the villain King Kull, last of the race of Sub-Men, desires vengeance on humanity for wiping out his kind. With his genius, he has built a means that allows him to take over the Rock of Eternity and hold the gods themselves captive, as well as the wizard Shazam, patron of the Marvel Family, the mightiest heroes of their world. However, Kull overlooks the god Mercury, who with Shazam's guidance escapes to Earth-1, where he begins assembling all the heroes he can to thwart Kull's monstrous scheme.
Note that "Crisis in Eternity" is the name for the first issue. Part two is "Crisis on Earth-S" and part three is "Crisis in Tomorrow".
Tropes:
- Avengers Assemble: The Justice Society, Justice League and the Squadron of Justice gather together to fight Kull's schemes.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Hawkgirl's Thanagarian physique means she can endure temperatures that would be lethal to humans, which is good when the fight at Yellowstone has her hit with a geyser.
- The Cavalry: The Marvel family are out of action for the first two parts. Once Johnny Thunder is able to help them transform, they fly right to the Rock and thwart Kull's plan in an instant.
- Crazy-Prepared:
- Weeper tries escaping via Smoke Out, but Earth-2 Robin has nose plugs and contacts at the ready, and knocks him out.
- Hawkman, having realised the Shade was involved, brings special Thanagarian contact lenses that let him see in the dark, allowing him to case the shadow-casting villain when he tries escaping.
- Deadpan Snarker: There's a lot of sarcasm going around.
- Didn't Think This Through: Queen Clea tries controlling Superman with a Venus Girdle. However, it makes the wearer obey any command given to them, regardless of who's giving it. So Wonder Woman just gets him to stop, then punches Clea out and tells her how stupid this was.
- Evil Laugh:
- Kull has his own "Ha Hoo Haa!"
- The Penguin has his distinctive "waugh waugh waugh".
- Fighting from the Inside: Superman is fitted with a Venus Girdle by Clea, which makes him obey any command given. He tries fighting it off.
- Flowery Elizabethan English: Mercury speaks like this.
- Forced Transformation: In part 2, Kull's scheme has people all across Earth-S start turning into various things; stone, ice, diamond. Fortunately it isn't permanent.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Kull's a smart one. He starts the story by having built a spaceship that can hop across dimensions, a ray that paralyzes gods, and sets up a device to sink continents.
- Gravity Screw: Kull's plan for Earth-1, using a machine fuelled by the Flashes' speed to mess with Earth's rotational pull.
- Hell Is That Noise: The narration's description of Mr. Atom speaking.A sound like rusted gears groaning a lament - a grotesque parody of human speech, as... Mr. Atom speaks.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Mr. Atom tries to do this to Ibis, by stealing his Ibisstick and zapping him with it. Turns out Ibis was prepared for this, and the wand is designed so if anyone tries turning it on him, it turns the spell back on them.
- I Shall Taunt You: Captain Marvel manages to get a Red Kryptonite enraged Superman's attention by insulting him.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In part 3, as the Green Lanterns engage in a bit of As You Know, Ibis the Invincible tells them to knock it off with the exposition.Ibis: Gentlemen, you sound like bad actors struggling with purely expositional dialogue.
- Legion of Doom: Kull gets Queen Clea (an old Wonder Woman villain), Penguin, Ibac, Blockbuster, the Earth-2 Joker, the Weeper, the Shade, Doctor Light, Mr. Atom and Brainiac to assist him in his plan.
- No-Sell: In part 3, the Green Lanterns try using their rings to immobilze Superman (since, per pre-Crisis rules, Green Lantern rings could simulate the effects of Kryptonite). No dice, since Superman's already been dosed with Red Kryptonite.
- Omnicidal Maniac: With his people having long ago been wiped out by early man, Kull plans to use the Rock of Eternity to gain access to all worlds and wipe out all humans everywhere.
- Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny: Issue #137 finally gives what readers had been wondering about since the 1930s; Superman vs Captain Marvel. And then promptly messes with expectations. Marvel zaps Superman with the magic lightning, fight over.
- Underestimating Badassery: Superman thinks Blockbuster, who has recently been in the care of Wayne Industries doctors, will be easy to deal with and flies in ahead. He gets walloped (though Blockbuster does hurt his hand in the process).
