DC Changed Its Continuity A Decade Before Crisis on Infinite Earths
A Justice League story first published in 1972 pointed the way towards enormous, universe-altering events such as the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
A Justice League comic saw DC Comics altering its continuity almost a decade before Crisis On Infinite Earths. That landmark mini-series, first published in 1985, redefined the DC Universe, attempting to make it more streamlined and inviting to new readers. However, a storyline running through 1972’s Justice League of America #100-102 presaged the universe-rattling hijinx of DC's first Crisis by almost a decade, telling the story of a Golden Age superhero team who saved the world—and then were erased from history.
Crisis on Infinite Earths was published to commemorate DC Comics’ 50th anniversary in 1985. Written by Marv Wolfman and illustrated by George Perez, the series saw the end of DC’s first multiverse, creating a single, unified Earth containing all of its characters. As a result of the Crisis, a number of characters were either killed, such as Barry Allen and Supergirl, or outright deleted from history, as if they never existed; the Golden Age Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman suffered this fate. It was the first time DC, or any publisher for that matter, had performed a major overhaul of its universe, but a three-part storyline published more than a decade before Crisis on Infinite Earths pointed the way to such future events. Titled, “The Hand that Shook the World,” the story was written by Len Wein, illustrated by Dick Dillin and inked by Dick Giordano and Joe Giella.
The issue opens on Earth-1. The Justice League is throwing a party to celebrate their 100th meeting, but even before they can cut the cake they are whisked away to Earth-2, home of the Justice Society. The Society has brought the League to Earth-2 to help them rid it of the Iron Hand, who is threatening to destroy the world in 48 hours. Doctor Fate attempted to find a solution, but all he got was a cryptic image of a tombstone commemorating the “Unknown Soldier of Victory.” Thanks to the intervention of the mysterious extra-dimensional entity known as Oracle, the League and the Society learn that the key to defeating the Iron Hand is to find the Seven Soldiers of Victory.
There is a slight problem, however: no one on Earth-2 (the native Earth of the Soldiers) remembers them. Oracle goes on to reveal that the Soldiers were deleted from history due to their final battle with the evil Nebula Man. The Soldiers were successful in defeating the Nebula Man, but as a result, the fabric of space-time was ripped, throwing the Soldiers back through history and erasing all memories of their existence from Earth-2. The Justice League and the Justice Society travel through time and space, bringing each Soldier back to the present day. Once the Iron Hand is vanquished and the Soldiers reunited, they are restored to their rightful place in history.
While this event did not have the major, long-lasting ramifications of Crisis on Infinite Earths or Flashpoint, it did point the way for those stories. The Seven Soldiers' victory over the Nebula Man erased all traces of them from Earth-2, foreshadowing how some characters from that Earth would be taken out of continuity a decade later in Crisis. “The Hand that Shook the World” united three different super teams from across two Earths against a common foe; Crisis on Infinite Earths involved every single hero, villain and supporting character in the company’s history, bringing them together against the Anti-Monitor. Crisis on Infinite Earths was also a celebration of DC’s history, and “The Hand that Shook the World” is as well, with the creators going as far as to thank the writers and artists who came before them.
The Crisis on Infinite Earths was a major event in DC Comics history, but a Justice League story foreshadowed the continuity-altering landmark over a decade before.