Hawkmen & Shadow-Thieves of Thanagar and Ragnor

The existence of planet Thanagar, orbiting the star sun Polaris, was first revealed to humanity when its law enforcement officers Katar & Shayera Hol journeyed to Earth-One. Their task was to learn from the police of this third world from the sun, which would benefit their people. Adopting the aliases of Hawkman and Hawkgirl using anti-gravity metal to fly, the Hols defended Midway City and their adopted world as a crime-fighting duo, and later as members of the Justice League of America. One of their first foes was Carl Sands, a criminal inventor who became the Shadow-Thief, using his Dimensiometer to become a living shadow.

The invading alien queen Hyathis had saved the Thanagarians from an Equalizing Plague which stymied their civilization, and demanded to be acknowledged as their sovereign. She then recruited Sands, enlisting him into creating a Shadow Squad, with devices like his own. These shadow men, along with the legion of Wingmen, subjugated this once free world under her authoritarian rule. Hyathis was opposed by the Halls, who were then exiled from the planet of their birth until they liberated it some time after. 

However, given the loss of scientific knowledge during the plague, the Wingmen were replaced by the remaining Shadow Squad, which launched a Shadow War on Earth-One. Their goal, to steal both the anti-gravity and other technology now lost to them, which Hawkman and Hawkgirl once more opposed.

The inhabitants of Thanagar's dimensional twin planet Ragnor ventured to Earth-Two over a thousand years before this, founding a city in the Sahara Desert near Egypt named after their homeworld. These birdmen brought with them Nth metal which had anti-gravitational properties allowing them to glide in the air. They also brought with them shadow-based technology. Their queen eventually tried to conquer first England and then the world, and so challenged its greatest hero of the time known as the Silent Knight to battle her hawkmen. 

The Knight triumphed over them, and later his descendant Carter Hall rediscovered Nth Metal, first acquired by their earlier ancestor Prince Khufu of Egypt from the Ragnor city outpost. As Hawkman, he and his girlfriend Shiera aka Hawkgirl battled Ian Karkull. Karkull had purloined the shadow transforming technology from the city of Ragnor, transforming his minions and himself into shadows and later contacting Ragnorians via the shadow dimension. Despite attempts to plunge America into chaos, the Hawks along with their allies of the Justice Society of America defeated Karkull and the Ragnorians, some of whom merged with the Society members granting them extended lives!

Greedy Green Gordanians Goad Global Guardians

The rogue reptilian Gordanian of planet Karna were known throughout the Vega star system as slavers of various worlds, at times working alongside the Citadel empire. Eventually, their conflict spilled over into the Terran  system, where their forces met Earth's heroes.

On Earth-One, the  invading Gordanians were in pursuit of Tamaran Princess Koriand'r, aka Starfire. This brought them into conflict with the recently assembled New Teen Titans, of whom Starfire joined. A later encounter was led her sister Blackfire aka Komand'r, which likewise led to their defeat. Their other foes were the Omega Men, led by Primus of planet Euophiox.

Residents of Euophiox's cosmic twin planet Tora were oppressed by their reality's version of the Gordanians. Seeking assistance, the leader of Tora known as Beran lured several humans of Earth-Two including Batman and Robin to his world via a rocket ship disguised as a tourist attraction. On Tora, the Dynamic Duo and their Terran and Toran allies allied with the former jailers of the Gordanians, capturing their forces and liberating the planet. We know that this tale, in 1958, took place on Earth-Two and not on Earth-One, as Robin's counterpart did not recognize nor acknowledge the Gordanians when they first battled his Titans.

Space & Sub Men - Omega Opponents & Mole Men

The Omega Men were a team of rebels hailing from the Vegan planetary system, consisting of twenty-five habitable planets, which had been ruled for millenia by the Citadelians. Among their members were: Primus, Kalista, Auron, Shlagen, Tigorr, Broot, Nimbus, Harpis, Demonia, Felicity, Doc, and various other newer recruits who joined their ranks over time.

These freedom fighters journeyed to Earth-One and joined forces with Green Lantern, Superman, and the New Teen Titans. During their initial encounter with Superman, the Omega Men battled the Mole and his gang. The villain and his henchmen had stolen a version of the subterranean vessel known as the Mighty Mole, which had been designed by explorer Cave Carson. The former assistant to Carson turned crimelord, the Mole captured a depowered Superman and nearly executed him, until the Omega Men's timely intervention.

During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, these Omega Men protected their own solar system while continuing their fight against their alien overlords. One adversary of their's the mutated galactic-level threat known as X-Hal, merged the world Kuraq of Earth-One's universe with its parallel planets in the four remaining alternate universes of Earth-Two, Earth-S, Earth-Four and Earth-X. There, she ensnared her foe Nimbus, who merged his conscientiousness with this planet. It is unknown how stable this new composite Kuraq would be, at the conjunction of five distinct cosmic realms.

In one of those other universes, the aliens in Vegan planetary system remained separate, although one species with the blended appearance of Demonia, Tigorr and Green Man's people apparently ventured to Earth-Two. These became the ancestors of a race of beings living below the surface, creepy crawly creatures discovered during the 20th century by the Ultra-Humanite. Ultra had  been drawn to their underground lair using her subterranean drilling vehicle (similar to the Mighty Mole) in order to escape her arch-enemy Superman.

These creatures, which Ultra's named the Sub-Men, were obedient to her due to their now reduced mental capacity and the loss of their females from their species. They battled Green Lantern, Superman, Liberty Belle and the All-Star Squadron on a few occasions in 1942. Then, as her sinister schemes seemed near completion, Ultra had her henchman Deathbolt execute those Sub-Men in her presence. Whether anymore survived is unknown.

Crisis on Finitie Earths - One and Two - and their Cosmic Energies

Prior to the Crisis on Infinite Earths, there were other incidents were Earths One and Two were very nearly eliminated. Two such occasions were in 1978 on Earth-One and 1972 on Earth-Two, involving temporal displacement.

An unknown alien entity sought to use Earth-One as a projectile aimed at the world of its race's enemies. With the combined efforts of the Justice League, Teen Titans, Metal Men and various other heroes including the visiting Inferior Five of Earth-Twelve, the heroes loosened the grip of the alien's massive ship, with assorted historical allies restored to their native eras.

A massive cosmic hand, consisting of nebulous energy, gripped Earth-Two while threatening its survival. Its creator, the Iron Hand, demanded absolute rulership of her world as payment for its salvation. With the combined efforts of the Justice Society, Seven Soldiers of Victory... also known as Law's Legionnaires, and the visiting Justice League of Earth-One... the heroes were able to destroy this hand after retrieving those Legionnaires scattered throughout history. 

The means of doing this was the construction of a Nebula Rod, a type of "lightning rod" device that could be used against entities or objects composed of Nebuloid energies. Decades earlier, the Seven Soldiers originally designed the Nebula Rod for use against the extraterrestrial threat named Nebula Man. Through some undisclosed means, the heroes were able to ascertain the creature's origins and nature of its being. However, due to the volitile nature of this energy, both Nebula Man and the Legionnaire equipped with the rod would be destroyed. While that person, Wing, gave his life to save Earth-Two, the spacial displacement of Nebuloid energy sent his teammates through time and space... until the Society and League retrieved them years later.

A comparable type of energy on the Justice League's Earth were Zeta-Beams, which could bend time and space. While the true nature of the stasis field used by the mystery alien in 1978 wasn't identified, interestingly this conflict pulled Adam Strange into the battle. Strange had been exposed multiple times throughout the years to Zeta-Beams, which teleported him to the planet Rann-One and back to Earth-One on several occasions. This Zeta energy was also known to allow those riding its waves to travel through time as well.

With no record of Zeta-Beams existing in Earth-Two's universe, and no Nebulous energy existing in Earth-One's universe, it seems likely due to varying physics of these parallel realities, these were divergent manifestations of the same teleportational effect.

The Brave and the Bold: Bronze Tiger and Blackwing

The legend of Gotham's Dark Knight Detectice spawned a legacy known as the Batman Family.  Robin was the first, followed by Batwoman, Bat-Girl, and later others.

On Earth-One, Kathy Kane retired her Batwoman alter ego, purchasing a traveling circus instead. Due to her connection with Batman, his old foe Ra's Al Ghul marked her as an important target of his League of Assassins. Led by martial artist Benjamin Turner, now the Bronze Tiger, it was his henchmen that slayed her. Objecting to such murders, Bronze Tiger and Batman defeated the assembled assassins.

On Earth-Two, Kathy Kane retired, with Helena Wayne aka the Huntress taking up the mantle of the Batman after his death. She nearly lost her own life at the hands of crimelord Boa and his minions, until she was saved by her fellow attorney turned masked manhunter Charley Bullock, also known as Blackwing.

Benjamin Turner was trained alongside best friend Richard Dragon by O-Sensei, while Charles Bullock by Ted "Wildcat" Grant. After several adventures with Dragon as agents of the organization known as G.O.O.D., Turner became the target of his girlfriend's crooked father and then brainwashed by Professor Ojo to become Bronze Tiger. Thanks to Richard's assistance, Ben was able to get psychological treatment to reverse this effect. Charley fashioned his Blackwing persona based on the Huntress, who ultimately helped him to regain his courage. Both retired their masked aliases soon after adopting them.

Conscientious Coaches Crave Colossal Cosmic Capabilities

Both Guy Gardner of Earth-One and Joe  Morgan of Earth-Two were originally physical fitness instructors, with Guy specializing in school age children and Joe focusing on amateur wrestlers. Both were adept trainers of young men, until their meetings with Hal Jordan and Al Pratt changed them into something more.

Guy was one of two candidates to be successors to Abin Sur as the Green Lantern of Sector 2814. When the other, Hal, came to meet Guy... the two struck up a friendship. After a near fatal bus accident, Guy's opportunity to become a backup Lantern was placed on hold until his recovery. Eventually, Guy was enlisted into service, only to fall victim to a damaged power battery sending him into the Phantom Zone. There, the Kryptonian criminals  manipulated him into becoming their pawn, then leaving him comatose. He would recover during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, although his gentle demeanor transformed into a lust for power granted him by some of the Guardians of the Universe.

Joe was the personal trainer of college student Al Pratt, though after several months this lad adopted the alter ego of the Atom. The two men lived together for the next few months, with Joe becoming a confidant for both Al and the Atom, Soon, Joe fell prey to a foreign female spy who drugged him into stealing secret plans for a new cruiser. After the Atom tracked the spy and her allies, then capturing them while revealing they're victimization of Morgan, Joe was freed from jail. He then started an athletic camp, although his scattered psyche due to the drug's after-effects caused Joe to create the alias of Nat Milligan. Nat's prize pupil was Jim Harper, who became the masked Guardian rather than a wrestler as Joe/Nat had intended. This led to Joe's submission towards an evil globe's offer of  power, originating with the Guardians of the Universe.

These tragic twin tales highlight that not all noble men end up becoming heroes, as perplexing problems... predatorial persons... and probable power can motivate them into turning to evil. Still, both men showed the good dispositions in the end, siding with the Green Lanterns of two Earths against threats to their respective universes.

Mighty Mites Meet Maids Marion

Edward Thayer was a good man on Earth-One, and a wicked man on Earth-Two. The former was an old friend of Ray “Atom” Palmer, the latter a one-time foe of Carter “Hawkman” Hall. The Earth-One Ed ended up marrying a woman named Alice nee Morse, who was a near lookalike of Ray’s fiancée Jean Loring. Shortly after they wed, Ed and Alice Thayer visited Ray and Jean in Ivy Town, where they discovered that Alice’s ex-fiancée was entomologist Bertram Larvan. 

Their engagement had been dissolved by Alice as Larvan was to obsessed with his work developing robotic pest control insects. Since Bertram couldn’t secure financing for his creations without a model, he decided to use them to rob financial institutions. This brought him in conflict with the Atom, who confronted and defeated Larvan in his Bug-Eyed Bandit alias.

A short time later over in Calvin City on Earth-Two, a couple of Al Pratt’s friend set him up on a blind date with Marion Thayer. Could she have been the granddaughter of Elwin Thayer, the man who was murdered by a disembodied synthetic hand, the creation of Elwin’s brother Edward? Edward himself stole from his brother a valuable emerald for his girlfriend Sandra.

Instead of showing gratitude, Sandra showed greed as she slayed Edward, then herself was brought to justice by Hawkman and the artificial hand.

Marion and other women in Calvin City began to experience strange effects with their aging due to cosmic radiation emitted from devices operating on both Earths One and Two. The twin Atom, Palmer and Pratt, were able to rectify this problem and reverse the effects. Following this, Al and Marion Thayer finally and their date, although they ultimately wouldn't last as a couple, as Al’s heart still belonged to his estranged ex-girlfriend Mary James whom he later married.

Determined Dimensional Damsels Face Fleet Footed Foes

The 7th Dimensional worlds known as Alkomar and Star Sapphire were the homes of a pair of bun-haired brunettes*, bringing with them dire consequences for entering the 3rd dimension of twin Earths.

Dorolla Kon was a benevolent scientist, Star Sapphire a malevolent monarch. Dorolla possessed superhuman speed while visiting Earth-One, Sapphire projected reality altering effects while invading Earth-Two. One sought knowledge, the other conquest, yet both threatened the realities of each Earth, when they met the Flash!

While Kim’s visit to Earth-One was merely to explore a new plane of existence, she noticed two strange effects. First, she gained super speed in the third dimension, Yet when she slowed down a shimmering effect occurred causing explosions. After developing a friendship with Flash and his alter ego Barry Allen, she parted ways with him when the diagnosed the problem. She would return later while tracking a criminal genius from Alkomar who stole speed from others. Together with Flash, she was able to apprehend the rogue.

As for Star’s visit to Earth-Two, this was with the intent of subjugating the women under her rulership while removing men from that world. Her reality altering effects were various, although much stronger in her dimensional plane. With the assistance of fellow scientist of Jay Garrick, Maria Flura, the Flash banished Sapphire. She would soon return, once more failing in her goals and vanishing indefinitely.

This Star Sappire was, like her counterpart Remoni-Notra who joined the Secret Society of Super-Villians of Earth-One, was a powerful femme fatale. Unlike her, however, this original version seem isolated from her people...where were the inhabitants of her seventh dimensional world? Did they flee following her tyranny, or had she wiped them out like she attempted doing to those on Earth-Two? Regardless, her desolote world was a pale reflection of the vibrant society that was on Alkomar, a universe away!

And then, there was another bun-headed beauty, a princess in a galaxy far... far away. But her tale is one to be told, on another day.

* Also allegedly originating from the 7th dimension is the matter transmuter named Roma, who pursued Jimmy Olsen during her two visits to Earth-One. Whether she was actually a native of that dimension is speculative, as she was a criminal whom the Interdimensional Patrol tracked down after she committed multiple homicides across four dimensions.

Mental Madmen Menace Green Gladiators

The "Headstrong Heads" of other worlds, as they were known, were only brief footnotes in the costumed careers of Hal Jordan and Alan Scott, when they individually faced the Headmen and the Schizoids (and unfortunate name in another era). However, each Green Lantern found these fearsome foes formidable, as they possessed superior technology to that found on the heroes' native worlds.

When old family friends of Hal invited them to their home for a surprise, he learned that Sally and Steve Davis were scheming to play matchmakers with the test pilot and a lady named Dorine Clay. After a lackluster blind date, Jordan tracked Dorine down, and discovered she was an alien agent from the planet Garon-One, where she fleed from the overlords known as the Headmen. These Headmen kept the population in submission using their Cerebro-Ray on each person at birth. However, Onu Murtu... Lorine's real name... was immune to the effect and devised the means of countering this ray with one of her own. However, she needed seclusion from the Headmen, and so traveled to Earth-One. There, she unwittingly found an ally to her cause in Green Lantern.

When Alan and his friend Doiby Dickles are mentally controlled then transported onto a space ship, the pair find themselves on Garon-Two. There they met their kidnapper Karr-Alpha, a two-headed man... as all men are on that world... who sought Green Lantern's using their wave-energy machine to combat their evil alter egos, the Betas!

During his brief stay on Garon-Two, Alan Lantern was able to assist the Alpha's in conquering their corrupt cranium counterparts, as the Beta's were susceptible to loud sounds made by Doiby's screams. The vibrations from this loud pitch caused the Beta's to become comatose. As for the Headmen, unfortunately Hal only was able to chase the invading aliens away from Earth-One. However, years later while on Garon-One, Hal Lantern and the Omega Men were able to overpower the Headmen once and for... styming their plans to join the Citadel Empire.

Secret Origin of the Silicon Sentients

On Earth-Two, a secondary life-form  existed alongside yet in total seclusion from carbon-based humanity, the Sandmen of the Gobi Desert! Where did these silicon creatures come from, and why were they so eerily similar to that which was once Sandy the Golden Boy? Today, the tale can now be told from the chronicles of the Justice League of America, who found their genesis with both their creator the Sandman present… and with an alternate universe version of these beings in Metamorpho!

In early 1946, Wesley Dodds sought to improve upon the crime effectiveness of he and his sidekick, and so developed the silicoid gun. However, while testing it, the gun exploding, dousing Sandy in its experimental compounds. This mixture transformed the Golden Boy into the Silicon Creature, temporarily driven insane, causing Dodds' to keep the lad sedated for decades within his subterranean lair. When earthquakes began to expose a dangerous fault line underneath York City, Sandy was awoken and used his powers to save it. Years later, Wes restored Sandy to normal, although with residual abilities.

Between 1946 and Sandy's revival in 1974, Wesley resumed his Sandman costumed career and rejoined the Justice Society. Using a modified version of the silicon gun in 1966, Sandman was able to transform sand into a variety of shapes, formed with into a hardened glassy substance. Years later, while with his Justice Society allies accompanied by the Justice League in order to locate members of Law's Legionnaires to help them save the world. Sandman traveled with the Earth-One Superman and Metamorpho to the era of Genghis Khan.*

Faced with the hordes of Khan's followers thirsty for conquest in the ancient Gobi Desert, Metamorpho used his elemental body to transform into a tank, equipped to disperse the chemical compound used by Sandman to disable the militant troops. The mutagenic effects of this concoction had an enduring effect on some of Khan's Mongul minions, as time would reveal.

In fact, it was in 1946 (yes, the same year that Sandman invented his silicoid technology) that Jay "Flash" Garrick uncovered an ancient civilization of "Sandmen". These creatures led by Ben Otan lived in the Gobi Desert, and had the appearance and abilities that Sandy would soon manifest. Evidentally, these silicon creatures were a small portion of the men whom Sandman and his colleagues faced hundreds of years in the past when Genghis led them.

Now hating humanity, these Sandmen developed technology that would eliminate mankind, leaving them the sole dominant beings on Earth-Two. Thankfully, Flash was able to reverse their attack, as the Sandmen fell prey to their own death dealing device.

While there were more than half a dozen known Sandmen, including Sandy as well as Ben Otan and his comrades, there were also scant numbers of the corresponding Metamorphs on Earth-One** Beside soldier-of-fortune Rex Mason aka Metamorpho, there was architect Edifice Bulwalk and secret agent Urania Blackwell aka Element Girl. The oldest Metamorph was a Roman soldier named Algon who, like his love Queen Jezeba of the Ma-Phoor nation, was immortal. Then there was the similar beings of the neighboring Quarrm dimension… “Sand Superman” and a like being impersonating a Chinese warrior statue. In the end, only one Metamorph… Mason… remained as all these others ceased to exist one-by-one.

* Genghis Khan was one of the the aliases used throughout history by the immortal Vandal Savage.

** Differing physics in the two universes, as well as latent effects of Earth-One's Orb of Ra and Earth-Two's Hammer of Thor, played some part in Simon Stagg's transformation of Rex Mason and of Sandman's technology effecting Sandy Hawkins.

The Mysterious Earth of the Anti-Matter Universe

When the rogue scientist from Malthus, Krona, unleashed a wave of energy across his universe, an infinite number of additional positive matte universes and a single anti-matter universe were formed. Just as that sole realm had the planet Qward in the center of it, so too existed planet Oa, where some of Krona’s fellow Maltusians became the Guardians of the Universe.

Elsewhere in the anti-matter universe of Qward, there existed a corresponding Earth, only there instead of just humans, a different life form existed on that world… Stone Giants! After six scientist giants detonated a cobalt bomb simultaneous to humans on Earth-One detonating a nuclear bomb, the fabric of realty began to tear between both universes. To prevent the twin Earths from merging, the stone giants took seemingly destructive action against cities like Central City, Brasilia and Tokyo, the Justice League intervened. 

Eventually the League and the "untouchable aliens" (a side effect the giants experienced from the radiation exposure) communicated and together prevented their parallel planets from merging. Both teams returned to their native dimensions, never again to meet despite League members encountering the Thunderers of Qward time and time again in the future. Unlike the residents of their center-most world, the residents of anti-matter Earth were not intrinsically evil merely inquisitive.

This makes some sense, however, as the majority of their counterparts in the positive matter universes were inherently malicious towards humanity. This was certainly true of the Sand-Beings on Earth-Two, who were a minority who opposed to mankind by creating a destructive weapon against them. Then there were the inhuman variants on Earth-One known as the Metamorphs and the inter-dimensional sand creatures of Quarrm. Of these, only Earth-One's Metamorpho and Earth-Two's Sandy the Silicon Creature had heroic dispositions.

It could be surmised that the unseen men of the anti-matter Earth were evil, shown by the Stone Giants’ aggressive nature towards the human Leaguers.

Mischievous Mature Madames Manhandle Manhunters

Lola Barnett was hired by publisher Morgan Edge to be the Daily Planet's gossip columnist, as well as to host a tabloid show following the WGBS-TV evening news broadcast. This led to a budding rivalry with  WGBS anchorman, Clark Kent. Initially, there was a cordial  relationship between the two,  as Clark "asked" the Earth-One Superman to assist her in locating her missing twin brother, whom she had a telepathic link with in times of crisis.

Wealthy investor and amateur actor Richard Stanton sought to locate his missing daughter, whom he had been raising by himself after his wife died. Seeking to find an edge against crime, Stanton used his thespian skills to don the guise of the elderly "woman" known as Madame Fatal. On one occasion, Fatal met costumed crook the Jester, helping him abandon his life as a thief to become a hero instead.

Over time, Lola sought to usurp Kent's reign as Metropolis' most popular journalist, and left WGBS for a position at competing network UBC. There, she promoted that channel's resident superhero, Blackrock... who turned out to be a number of brainwashed men enlisted to expand UBC audience. Later, Lola attempted to expose Superman's dual identity, suspecting that he was actually Clark Kent. Despite being disguised as an older woman, she was unable to find evidence linking the two men as one-in-the-same. She faded into obscurity, as did Madame Fatal.

Untold Tale of the Justice Society: Mission in Space!

In late summer of 1975, the Greatest Superheroes of Twin Earths were called away to other worlds, facing ancient adversaries that threatened parallel planets. In both instances, each team defeated these foes one by one, until the true malevolent mastermind was revealed behind-the scenes, powered by a stellar stick in a ploy to lure these champions to their doom using fin-head spacemen.

On Earth-One, members of the Justice League were transported to Rann-One by the scientist named Sardath using his Zeta Plus Beam, in order to assist his future son-in-law Adam Strange in battling old gigantic enemies in the form of: a ray-gun, the bird Kalulla, the metallic Borg, and the Cloud Creature. All of these creatures were manufactured by Kanjar Ro, a villain who battled both Strange and the League in the past. 

On Earth-Two, members of the Justice Society were teleported via celestrial energies at the Mount Pride Observatory* while tracking down missing member Starman. On another world in space, most likely Rann-Two, the Society members battled stellar beings designed by their immortal adversary Vandal Savage** to resemble constellations Andromeda and a giant winged horse, Orion and a giant dog, and Sagittarius and a giant eagle (and later, characters modeled after those on Earth’s broadcast television airwaves). Savage accomplished this by utilzing Starman's old Gravity Rod. With these stellar beings, Vandal built green Kryptonite suns for the planet Colu-Two to orbit.***

While the space mission of the Justice Society was accomplished without any serious threat to life, such was not the case with the Justice League. For a time, it seemed as if Leaguers Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Black Canary and Elongated Man had perished, until Adam Strange noticed that they had been transformed into black spheres. Using Kanjar Ro's Energi-Rod to reverse the process, the five heroes along with their fellow members and Strange were able to defeat Kanjar Ro, removing the threat he and his minions posed.

During to the Society's own mission in space, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and Starman were likewise able to outmanuever Savage, when Starman used his prototype Cosmic Rod to overpower Vandal's stolen stick. Concurrent to this, six other members of the Society were dealing with a threat posed by the Injustice Society of the World and their minion, the empowered Cary Bates. Bates, a comicbook writer on Earth-Prime, accidentally ended up on Earth-Two when he used the Earth-One Flash's Cosmic Threadmill left behind on Cary's world. Seeing the potential to create sinister scenarios using his creative storytelling techniques, Bates was manipulated by the Wizard into leading the Justice Society into a trap while battling their Injustice adversaries. Mentally controlling Wonder Woman, Doctor Mid-Nite, Hourman, Johnny Thunder, Wildcat and Robin, Bates had each hero pose as a member of the Injustice Society. Then, when Bates' coworker and fellow writer Elliott S. Maggin journeyed to Earth-One with six members of the Justice League. he found his former friend now a vile villain. The League defeated those whom they thought were the Injustice Society, seemingly killing them.

The Leaguers remained on Earth-Two**** to protect it until the remaining Society members returned from space. As for those six seemingly deceased heroes, they were  in fact all comatose under the effects of Cary Bates, a process reversed by the Spectre, visiting his homeworld after having previously migrated to Earth-One. Together, the League and Society defeated the supervillains, and Bates with Maggin returned to Earth-Prime (a similar battle between the Justice League and Injustice Gang later took place on Earth-One).

* While this tale initially was told in a post-Crisis Earth, during the period of the early 1950s, it has been witnessed that tales on that composite world had a basis in adventures on Earths One and Two. As there were two fin-headed heroes involved (Adam Strange and Starman), various energy beings used as pawns (Strange's old inhuman adversaries in the cloud etc. and the 3 constellation entities), spawned by evil old enemies (Kanjar Ro and Vandal Savage) using stellar sticks (the Energi-Rod and Gravity Rod), with teleporation to and from Earth to other parts of the universe (via Zeta Plus Beams from Sardath's laboratory and cosmic rays from Starman's Mount Pride Observatory), involving remaining members of the Society (Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and Starman) not present during the Injustice Society case... it seems logical that this is the untold tale of the Justice Society in space in 1975. 

**Just prior to this tale, Vandal Savage attempted to restore his immortality while visiting Earth-One. When this failed, he made this planet…. probably Rann-Two... as a staging ground to build Colu-Two and its two suns a year later. After this, he lured Superman and the Justice Society to Colu-Two via ancient Camelot! 

***Undoubtedly, the stellar beings which Vandal enlisted into service on Rann-Two as constellations were the Sun-Thrivers, whom he forced to build for him Colu-Two’s twin green Kryptonite suns.

**** Of those remaining members of the  Justice Society during these contemporaneous tales of Savage on Rann-Two and the Injustice Society, six heroes were present on Earth-Two though not active at this time. Atom was recovering from injuries in a previous crossover, Sandman had self-imposed amnesia as to his dual identity (in order to deal with the trauma of his sidekick Sandy's current condition), Mister Terrific was focusing on his career as a Gateway City college professor,  Superman and Batman were busy raising a cousin and daughter respectively. As for Doctor Fate, he was dealing with his old foe Khalis' return in the city of Boston.

Space Sectors of Green Lantern Corps Meet Council of Living Suns

The Guardians of the Universe partitioned and designated 3600 Space Sectors for their Green Lantern Corps, with the goal of combatting evil throughout their reality. This was due to the wave of evil unleashed by one of their own, Krona, which spawned the Multiverse. Throughout countless centuries, generation after generation of these power-ring protectors would monitor their section of the universe, of which the first official Corps member from Earth-One was Hal Jordan. He was tasked with guarding sector 2814, and as Green Lantern inspired others such as Guy Gardner, John Stewart and Charlie Vicker to likewise assume this identity at various times.

In fact, Charlie was assigned sector 3319, although he eventually returned to his homeworld. The renegade Green Lantern known as Sinestro had been given stewartship over sector 1417. Tragically, the Green Lantern of sector 2813 Tomar-Re was unable to save a prominent world there, Krypton-One, from exploding due to internal pressures whose origin was a mystery for years. These are but a few examples, as several other sectors have been identified progressively over the years, made more widely known by their Green Lanterns interactions with Hal Jordan over time.

On a parallel dimensional plane, the Guardians released a portion of their energy into that other universe, spawning the Starheart. For a time it would be alone, as a sentient star. Eventually, it would find fellowship in similar cosmically imbued sentient beings within  stellar bodies throughout their universe’s numerous galaxies.

In fact, both Krypton-One and Krypton-Two were designed by the Sun-Thrivers, gaseous beings whose existence had depended on their encasing themselves within an artificial sun. However, the sun needed a counter-balance to maintain its internal gravity, and so pulled together enough mass to form a large planet within that red sun's orbit. Given the nature of its creation, each Krypton was prone to be doomed eventually. With the aid of Kal-El, the Superman now of Earth-One, they were able to develop an orange sun to sustain them.

Kal-L, aka the Superman now of Earth-Two, likewise encountered twin Kryptonite powered green suns orbiting Colu-Two. Utlizing his universe's Sun-Thrivers technology  to create them, the immortal villain Vandal Savage used these green suns to siphon off energy from Superman and Power Girl. When he failed and escaped capture with help from mystery beings (probably Savage’s allies in the Injustice Society) the twin suns remained. Over the centuries, since its creation in the 6th century, the Sun-Thriver within one of these two Kryptonite suns turned insane. Known as Aquarius, now a member with other sentient suns of the self-titled Council of Living Suns, it was stripped of power and banned for its insidious actions. After briefly regaining power through Starman's Cosmic Rod before being defeated by the Supermen and their allies in the Justice League and Justice Society, Aquarius was no more.

The remaining members of the Council of Living Suns, each inhabited by a Sun-Thriver and imbued with power like that of the Starheart, took a more active role in policing their reality than had their counterparts. They assumed the role of intergalactic protectors for sections of their universe... as had the Green Lantern Corps!

Malevolent Moon Men Menaces

Unbeknownst to humanity below, the satellite orbiting their blue planet had reclusive civilizations, distant relatives of man possessing tremendous power. One sought to usurp their larger cousin, the other sought to control savage forces from within. On the moon of Earth-One, these people were known as the Lunarians and on Earth-Two's moon they are named the Selenites. While each race resembles humans, they have distinct differences, with the Lunarians having a brightly yellow skin hue, and with some... though not all... Selenites possessing only one eye!

The first indication of life on the moon was in the summer of 1942, when Superman and Wonder Woman of Earth-Two ventured there in order to resolve a conflict between them regarding whether America had the right to control the destructive power of the atom. Before battling one another, the pair of Justice Society members noticed grand architecture left behind by a mysterious people no longer present. Then a year later, while battling the 30th century villain Rajak, Green Lantern and his pal Doiby Dickles followed him to the moon. There, the peaceful Selenites King Shel-Don welcomed the visiting terrans to his underground city... and were later attacked by the rival Core-Men who opposed the Selenites. By vaniquishing Shel-Don's foe, the King gave Lantern the Moon Stone, although Raakj temporarily stole it. Later, Green Lantern and Doiby were pulled back to the moon during an eclipse, and met a different faction of Selenites who were former Atlanteans!

On Earth-One, Superman first encountered the Lunarians when natural disasters plagued the globe, originating from the moon. Kidnapped by agents of their Queen, Primor Trena, Superman was intended to be her King after he was led into battle with the current King. Meanwhile, all superheroes on Earth temporarily forgot about their costumed alter egos, leaving Earth-One unprotected. Superman was able to convince the Lunarians to leave the moon for an artificial planet he created rather than take over Earth.

Sinister Supermen’s Strange Situation

When the Justice Society first encountered the hostile invading alien known as Aquarius, they were initially overwhelmed by the creatures power, which he projected through Starman's purloined Cosmic Rod. Finally tiring of these human adversaries. Aquarius seemingly wiped the entirety of Earth-Two of existence, save for those Society members present protected by Doctor Fate. Over the next two weeks, those heroes would be held captive in fear of an opponent who could erase them... and with them all memories of their beloved home.

After two weeks, the android Red Tornado returned from Earth-One with the Justice League, whom they sent him to recruit to assist them. Seeing the potential of these next enemies, Aquarius used his powers of persuasion to motivate the Justice Society towards unleashing their inner evil. This caused those Society members to attack their former friends in the League. 

A side effect of this excessive radiation internalized within each Socialite was an increase of power. This was especially evident in the Earth-Two Superman, who due to the nature of his superpowers (originating from Krypton-Two where all residents had superhuman physical abilities, rather than those of Krypton-One who gained more powerful superhuman abilities due to the yellow sun radiation of Earth) was able to match blow-for-blow with his Earth-One counterpart. Regrettably, this first meeting of the Men of Steel left both unconscious, succumbing to each others tremendous might.

Thankfully, the League as a whole subdued the Society, restoring their sanity, and together the twin teams battled Aquarius together. Luring the creature into the Negative, or Anti-Matter, Universe... Aquarius was destroyed and his influence removed as Earth-Two was restored to normal.

However, the Justice League soon found on their return trip to Earth-One that they also internalized some of Aquarius' radiation, unleashing their own evil sides. However, these sinister versions materialized as energy beings for all members... except for Superman! Apparently the physics differ between both universes, on Earth-Two evil is like a parasitic energy field and on Earth-One it is a projected energy field. What though was the reason as to no evil Earth-One Superman?

As an infant rocketing from Krypton-One, baby Kal-El and his vessel encountered an alien satellite with a duplicating machine aboard. This collision spawned an evil energy replica of the child, who like the original arrived on Earth-One. Raised on that world by criminals "Wolf" Derek and his wife Bonnie, the lad grew to become Super-Brat then Super-Bully before reaching adulthood as Super-Menace (similar to Wonder Boy, the Kal-L of planet Viro from another universe, who crash landed on Earth-Two instead of Earth-X in 1940). This corrupt creature battled the now grown Kal-El aka Superman, and nearly killed him with Kryptonite meteors. However, this evil version repented, saving his heroic twin while extinguishing his own psuedo-life as a result.

From this experience, Superman knew how to motivate his Justice League teammate into battling and overcoming their own evil energized copies. This finally rid them of Aquarius' influence, a week after they likewise helped eliminate the evil Justice Society.

Ominous Orbs’ Outer-Space Origins

Many objects of power seemingly proliferate around and upon the Earths of the DC Multiverse. Among the oldest and most potentially powerful were the glowing globes known as the Orb of Ra and the Hammer of Thor, each tied to heroes of the 20th century.

The Orb of Ra was originally fabricated from a meteorite that crash landed in ancient Egypt on Earth-One, crafted by a Pharoah and his chief priest which could transmute elements. Left buried in a pyramid for thousands of years, it as recovered by soldier-of-fortune Rex Mason, who was exposed to its radiation when left unconscious by treacherous associate Java. Mutated into the inhuman Metamorpho, it allowed the so-called Element Man to transform his body into myriad of shapes and sizes, a reluctant but brave hero in service to the amoral businessman Simon Stagg. 

At times, Stagg used the Orb to attempt to reverse Mason's physical condition. At other times, he would use the Orb to weaken Rex, when the two came into conflict. Java, jealous of Rex’s relationship to Stagg’s daughter Sapphire, once used it against Metamorpho. 

Eventually, Stagg’s soldiers used a few replicas on Mason, when Rex tried to reunite with Sapphire, rendering Mason inert. His Outsiders allies traveled back to ancient Egypt to help revive Rex, and defeat the priest Akh-Ton who was behind Mason’s transformation. The original Orb was once more secured safely when Mason and Simon reconciled, with Rex marrying Sapphire.

The Hammer of Thor arrived on ancient Earth-Two, once in the possession of a space-traveling elder race who left it behind. In the mid 20th century, it would be uncovered by a Norwegian archaeologist and given to Carter Hall, the heir to an ancient Egyptian Prince tied to alien artifacts. Hall used the Hammer as a blunt-force weapon in his masked alter ego of Hawkman while battling the evil Mazda the Great. During this tale, the Winged Warrior misplaced the hammer in a volcano, which was extracted by a renowned college professor and metallurgist turned criminal mastermind Fairytales Fenton.

Fenton had previously led a gang of crooks disguised as Vikings, while he appeared as Thor of legends. Using a replica of alien alloy Hammer, Fenton battled New York City police and the city’s resident masked men Sandman and Sandy, the Golden Boy. Empowered by his hammer’s electromagnetic generating mallet, Fairytale rendered Sandy unconscious. 

After his defeat at the hands of Sandman, Fenton was liberated from a lengthy prison sentence by the Ultra-Humanite, sending the malevolent metallurgist to retrieve the original Hammer***. Once in its possession, the energies emitted from it turned Fenton insane, leading him into battle with the All-Star Squadron and Tarantula… whom Fenton mistook for Sandman himself. Ultra through her agent Cyclotron recovered the Hammer, which she used once more versus the All-Stars. When Cyclotron betrayed Ultra and exploded, seemingly killing both, the Hammer seemed to vaporize. Or did it? Given its properties, this is highly unlikely.

In an alternate timeline, Prince Khufu of Earth-Two, connected to the Hammer of Thor through Hawkman, battled the Earth-One Priest Ahk-Ton in a proto-Metamorpho form using the Orb of Ra. This was shortly after Rex, Sapphire and the Outsiders journeyed to that era when Metamorpho was temporary under Ahk-Ton's control.

Metamorpho was shown to be connected to silicon-based creatures, mirroring the Silicon Creature formerly known as Sandy, and the other silicon men whom the golden age Flash faced in the present day. This became evideht when the Egyptian Elemental Ahk-Ton's new master Vandal Savage used thr Orb to create and army of literal sandmen.

***Cyclotron’s electro-generator powered by the Hammer of Thor was utilized by the Ultra-Humanite into transforming Olympic athlete Will Everett into the Amazing-Man. As a result, Everett gained the power to alter his body chemistry to mimic any substance he touched, similar to Mason’s abilities. 

Since an electro-magnetic belt worn by Will’s counterpart Jefferson Pierce only gave him electricity based powers rather than those displayed by Everett, this apparent derivation in superhuman attributes must have been derived from the extra-terrestrial influence of the hammer itself. Latent similar effects were caused by Fenton’s replica hammer as energy he was imbued with an afflicted upon Sandy Hawkins transformed that lad into his matter-mutating sand based form when coupled with exposure to Wesley “Sandman” Dodds experimental silicon gun that irradiated Sandy.

Thanagar: From Planetary Protectors to Interstellar Invaders

The planet Thanagar-One orbited the star Polaris in the Alpha-Centari System, a world that reached the pinnacle of peace for over two hundred years. No longer in need of a monarch or sole-authoritarian, this world was ruled by a benevolent council, and guarded by their Wingmen. These flying foot-soldiers were tasked with dealing first with invading Man-Hawks from outer space, and later thrill thieves. 

One of these, the criminal known as Byth, was followed to Earth-One by a pair of Wingmen... Katar and Shayera Hol. Assuming the masked idenities of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, aided in their winged flight by the anti-gravity metal discovered by Katar's father Paran, the pair captured the shape-shifting Byth and remained on Earth to study its crimefighting techniques.

During their time on Earth-One, Hawkman joined the Justice League of America and the married winged warriors made friends with fellow superheroes as well as residents of Midway City, where they made a home as museum curator Carter Hall along with his assistant Shiera. Meanwhile, the political climate was gradually changing on Thanagar, due to various factors which hardened its citizens. 

This began when the Thanagarian fleet and its Wingmen expanded across the galaxy and came into conflict with the Infinite Empire. This alien armada decisively defeated the Thanagarians, and false evidence indicates that Katar has betrayed his peoples’ location to the Empire. Although revealing the true betrayer and helping locate the means to neutralized the Empire, Katar and Shayera found a permanent rift between they and their fellow Wingmen. This would be exploited later when alien Empress Hyathis cured the Thanagarians from an Equalizing Plague which crippled them, turning their planet into her dictatorship.

Since the Carter Hall native to Earth-Two developed the nth metal (his universe’s version of anti-gravity metal) belt with wings concept, the residents of Thanagar-Two did not form a Wingmen force. However, there was a corresponding society of winged warriors originating from the hidden Greenland city of Feithera. There, human-bird hybrids led by Worla of various types co-existed in harmony with one another, and welcomed Hawkman and Hawkgirl as honorary citizens. 

There was a small city of underground birdmen on Earth-One whom Gorilla Grodd temporarily controlled, but they were limited in number and only of one type of hybrid compared to the Feitherans. It was indicated that Worla’s people originated from the Egyptian area centuries ago as had the ancestors of Carter and Shiera Hall. Later tales allude to an ancient Thanagarian having in fact crash landed on Earth-Two, and may have introduced Egyptian Prince Khufu to nth metal which his descendant Carter rediscovered in the 20th century.

Crimson Creatures Creating Chaos

Ungara-One was famous for being home to the Green Lantern of Space Sector 2814, Abin Sur. When their hero died on a mission close to Earth-One, where he crash-landed, a replacement was selected by Sur himself. Test pilot Hal Jordan proved a worthy successor, and early in his career saved the planet of his predecessor from the destructive path of a comet. 

However, news of their champion Sur’s death left their society fragmented. This led to a world-wide civil war, with one side developing a deadly orbiting plasma satellite and the other attempting to defuse it. Instead, they inadvertently activated it, causing it to unleash its destructive energies which causes ovee one hundred million deaths as well as causing its planetsry orbit to shift radically. This turned Ungara-One into a frigid polar planet.

Ungara-Two did not have the noble legacy of the Green Lantern Corps to draw strength from, and so adopted their more destructive tendencies earlier than their counterparts. Developing deadly globe-beings sent to Earth-Two, these caused that world to become a frigid polar planet. Doctor Fate tracked the origin of the globe beings to the shifting orbital world of Ungara-Two, where  he quickly destroyed it an all its inhabitants!!! 

As for Hal Jordan, he was more merciful, using his great power with help from fellow Green Lantern Arisia, to restore Ungara-One’s climate to normal. A key question remains. What caused Doctor Fate to be jjudge, jury and executioner of an entire globe?

Hidden Hemispheres of Hyperspace

Hyperspace is defined as four or more dimensions folded upon itself, creating a multi-dimensional universal plane of existence. 

On one occasion, four Krptonian prisoners of the Phantom Zone discovered the means to reach a planet with unusual properties in an adjacent dimension they also labeled an "alternate universe"*. From this world, they launched deadly robotic Anachroids to wreak havok in space and time, until the Superman and Flash of Earth-One tracked them to their source and defeated these creatures and their masters. 

This world had a counterpart in an "alternate universe"* of Earth-Two, a psuedo-Pluto which the Spectre had been exiled to, wherein the inhabitants spoke a language derived from that of the Andromedan Galaxy.. the same galaxy where Krypton once resided! Could these have been long lost Kryptonian refugees? After quelling a civil war, Spectre later returned to this world, exiling Nazi agents there, no doubt out of revenge for their treatment of he and his Justice Society allies.

In face, six of his Justice Society colleagues had been simultaneously captured and also exiled into hyperspace via experimental rocketships by enemy Nazi agents. Hawkman was sent to a Saturn-like world named Arkania, a militant people like those of the extra-dimensional world Llorth, whom the Earth-One Hawkman once encountered. Later, the younger Hawkman traveled on twice through another dimensional warp to the world of Illoral, a mirror image of the Wingworld that Wonder Woman of the Justice Society visited more than once. Queen Desira and her daughter Princess Eve of Wingworld had counterparts in Dyanna Ral of Llorth and Queen Maya of Floria.

The Atom of Earth-One and Doctor Mid-Nite of Earth-Two likewise visited other-dimensional worlds in Floria and Faux-Neptune (the Atom of Earth-Two visited a hyperspacial version of Mars like that of Mars II settled by the Martian Manhunter and his people in Earth-One's universe). 

Fellow Justice Society members Starman and Sandman visited worlds resembling Jupiter and Uranus with strange substance sentients as had the Metal Men of Earth-One , such as the alien Robot-spider Queen and minions of Metalus 5. Jimmy Olsen of Earth-One and Johnny Thunder of Earth-Two likewise ventured to alien dimensions on the same occasions as their peers Superman and Spectre above.

* The term "alternate universe" used for worlds visited by the individual Justice Leaguers and Justice Socialites as mentioned is different from that of planets in a "parallel universe". The alternate universe simply means an adjacent dimension attached to either the Earth-One or Earth-Two universe, respectively.

Hawkman Hijacked in Hyperspace!

Katar and Carter were high-flying heroes on their respective Earths as the Hawkmen. The Earth-One Katar was native to the extra-terrestrial world known as Polaris, his counterpart Carter was native to Earth-Two. While the former traveled through space much more than had the latter, they both were adept at voyages throughout their galaxy and into other realms.

Katar and his wife Shayera possessed at Star-Cruiser, able to travel the expanse between their home and adopted worlds with relative ease. Carter had been gifted at various points in his career with space craft, first while captured and hijacked by Nazis, inexplicably sending him to space, and later when his old friend Elwood Napier gave Hawkman and his Justice Society allies a gravity-motor spaceship.

In order to travel to and fro among the stars, Katar's craft was outfitted with a drive allowing it to access hyperspace. And during Carter's first voyage throughout his solar system, his craft likewise entered hyperspace which led him to an alternate dimension version of Saturn. While it had been said that this was an "alternate universe" version of the planet, the physics of hyperspace in both Earth-One and Earth-Two's universe meant that in fact he arrived at another world within his own universe resembling Earth-Two's Saturn. 

Apparently, just as the extra-dimensional planet Bgztl was in the same physical space as Earth-One and the planet Duomal is in the same physical space as Earth-Two… both worlds are in their universes’ 4th dimension. It appears the worlds the Justice Society members visited during their hyperspace adventure were the other planets in Duomal’s 4th dimension solar system. 

We know these were in an adjacent dimension as Wonder Woman and the “hyperspace” Venusians led by Queen Desira frequently visited each other’s world with relative ease, while traveling between universes could only occur specific times of the year or with devices not invented until decades later.

Masked Manhunters Meet Mighty Mites' Miniature Metropolises

The Dynamic Duo had numerous adventures with the Metropolis Marvel, Superman, and his pal Jimmy Olsen... in both of their cities and across Earth-One... even in space! However, the first time that Superman brought Batman and Robin to his homeworld's last city, Kandor... was a memorable occasion.

During a case together, a bullet ricochetted off the chest of Superman and into his best friend. After an emergency surgery extracting the bullet, Batman physically recovered from his ordeal yet psychologically was traumatized. Thinking he wasn't a worthy partner to Superman, the Dark Knight announced his retirement. In order to help Batman regain his senses and his courage, Superman hatched a scheme with his friend, the Kandorian administrator Than-Ar. 

While bringing Batman, Robin and Jimmy to his Fortress of Solitude on a false pretense, Superman asked for their assistance in tracking down a menace that had reappeared, the Metalloids. An ancient science that transformed men into invulnerable metal while its human host wears a force-radiating instrument, it now terrorized the Kryptonian city which had been shrunken by the alien android known as Brainiac.

After encountering an exceptionally violent Metalloid which threatened the now-powerless* Superman's life, Batman learned this was a ploy by his friend to help him regain his confidence since they were both normal within Kandor's controlled bottle environment.  Although a brief rift formed between the two heroes, they batched up their differences when they combined their efforts to bring the Metalloid Kandorians and their leader, Than-Ar's brother, Jhan-Ar, to justice. 

There was no surviving city of Kandor on Earth-Two, aside from the virtual version contained within the artificial conscience of Kara "Power Girl" Zor-L's Symbioship which brought her to her new home world. However, just as there were a generation of Kandorians born and raised all their lives in a shrunken state within the Bottled City of Kandor a universe away, so to there was a generation of humans likewise miniaturized within the small city known as Midget Town. 

While a chemical formula was used by Darrell Dane to transform into the 6 foot tall Doll Man, in the early 1940s the malevolent mastermind known as Brain Wave developed a purple ray which accomplished this feat. A variation of these treatments was later used on a village by another criminal scientist named Doctor Vargo. Doll Man became aware of these tiny folk, causing them to turn on their creator Thinking this town was destroyed, Dane never revisited it, as it developed into the more civilized Midget Town within a few short years.

When full-sized criminals led by Moose Miller raid the defenseless town, one of its inhabitants named Johnny Wister sought to bring those crooks to justice. This led him into a meeting with Batman and Robin, who along with Johnny and other residents of Midget Town (including Mayor Hawkins and his daughter Carol) accompany the Dynamic Duo back to Gotham City. Together, they track down the hoodlums and capture them.