Syndicate Superheroes: Criminals No More

The Crime Syndicate were the prominent team of super-humans on Earth-Three, there world's version of the Justice League, Justice Society, Squadron of Justice and Sentinels of Justice. However, unlike those mightiest heroes of Earths One, Two, S and Four... the Syndicate weren't heroes. At least, that's not how they began, nor how they portrayed themselves throughout most of their existence on Earth-Three. They were a highly successful quintet of supervillains who plundered their planet, successfully defeating every threat who opposed them from their world. The Rogue Hunters, and perhaps other similarly stylized high-tech bounty hunters, provided them a challenge throughout the years. Still, only the League and Society were able to vanquish these felons, exiling them for years within interdimensional limbo.

When they eventually escaped their prison and returned home, they each met Earth-Three's first native born superhero, Alex Luthor. The genius inventor, armed with his technologically advanced suit of armor, was able to temporarily stave off the plans of the individual Syndicators. Nevertheless, the five villains were able to repeatedly build upon their ill-gotten gains. Yet something had seemingly changed.

Perhaps it was years of reflection, as to the admiration the League and Society earned by their Earth's inhabitants for their heroic exploits. Perhaps it was due to Alex Luthor's timeless persistent had opposing them. Or perhaps, it was the threat of their world ending during during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Regardless, by the time the anti-matter waves of destructive energy threated Earth-Three during the Crisis, it was the Syndicate who attempted to save as many lives as possible. As the Monitor mentioned, these five were now heroes which he planned to recruit in his strategy to defeat his arch-enemy, the Anti-Monitor... and save the Multiverse.

However, as each Syndicators as well as Alex and Lois Luthor perished with their universe, Monitor recruited replacements to take their place in his mission. Instead of Ultraman, it was his counterpart Superman of Earth-Two. In place of Power Ring, it was another emerald gladiator in the Green Lantern named John Stewart of Earth-One. Rather than the dark knight mental manipulator Owlman, it was the the emotional shadowcast Obsidan of Earth-Three. And substituting for Amazonian Super Woman and super-speedster Johnny Quick was Outsider Geo-Force and Teen Titan Cyborg.

A Rose is a Rose by Any Other Name: When Justice is Served!

While each Earth within the DC Multiverse has distinct features, many of them replicate the same core characters. Although certain worlds, such as Earth-S with their Squadron of Justice and Earth-Four with their Sentinels of Justice, have radically different templates for their superheroes, most worlds mirror those of Earths One and Two.

On those worlds, where the World's Greatest Heroes are the Justice League and Justice Society, they've often met others who had uncanny resemblance to their own membership. Each world has a Superman... or a Mister Might... or an evil version named Ultra-Man. The same is true for other members... each team has Amazonians, speedsters, caped crusaders, sidekicks, aliens of other worlds and crusaders from the depths below.

Earth-Three has the Crime Syndicate, Earth-Twelve has the Freedom Brigade, Earth-D has the Justice Alliance. And these are but a few examples, which illustrate that the original sole universe known as Earth-One... duplicates innumerable times following the incursion into time by the renegade Oan known as Krona... left its indelible mark in alternate realities.

And even in the aforementioned worlds of the Squadron and the Sentinels, they also have their own different yet slightly similar versions of these legendary superheroes. A prime example is their unique takes on Superman, in Captain Marvel and Captain Atom. And this same principal is true of other heroes and villians, besides those in their world's most powerful groups.

When we look at simple decisions each person and organization makes, we find fascinating forks in the proverbially road. We could illustrate this by the use of headquarters. The League throughout most of its history used a satellite headquarters orbiting Earth, the Society mostly used a brownstone building within a Gotham City, the Syndicate used a secluded citadel in the mountains outside Metropolis, the Alliance had a base of operations under the ocean.

While their histories each take different twists and turns, they all arrive at similar states of growth in their civilizations by the 20th century. And while not every person on each world having an exact, precise cosmic twin on other worlds... they each have an individual who is their closest equivalent on these other parallel planets. And therein lies the fascinating study we here explore.

Whatever Happened to the Secret Society of Super-Villains?

Undoubtedly the most successful team of supervillains had to have been the Crime Syndicate of Earth-Three, due to a few key factors. First, they were a tight-knit band of felons bound by a common interest, that dealt decisively with any competition... be it criminals or other costumed characters. Second, there world only had one actual superhero... Alex Luthor. Third, the only other individuals that dared to oppose them were bounty hunters such as Johnny Quick's adversaries in the Rogues Hunters. As such, they were the longest lasting team of caped and cowled crooks, that proved unbeatable for years. However, the Crime Syndicate's dominance came to an end following a battle with the Justice League and Justice Society, leading to their banishment into interdimensional Limbo for an untold period of time, encaged in a globe created by their enemies. This green globe prevented the Syndicators from using their specific powers and skills to break free.

Yet perhaps none had as wide-spread a tyrannical grasp on villainy across various universes as had the Secret Society of Super-Villains. Originally created from behind the scenes by Darkseid of the extra-dimensional world known as Apokolips, several villains led this team on Earths One and Two throughout the decades, from Manhunter to Gorilla Grodd to Lex Luthor to the Wizard. After the Villains broke apart into two teams, one on each Earth, they disbanded. 

However, the last leader, Ultra-Humanite, assembled a new Society which nearly won before internal scabbles once more fractured the villains' once more. Ten members of the Society, from Earths One and Two, were then left in interdimensional Limbo. Prior to this, five former Society members under Wizard’s leadership also were trapped there when journeying from Earth-Two to Earth-One.

The Earth-One villains later led by Ultra returned to their world, to be sent to various prisons, while Society pulled the Earth-Two villains from the early 1980s into the 1940s for a battle with the All-Star Squadron, which they ultimately lost.

Those six remaining members were then sent back to Limbo... according to Johnny Quick... save for Ultra. Although later, only Brain Wave was shown as still there! Where were fellow members Mist, Monocle, Rag Doll, Psycho-Pirate and Vulcan when Ultra-Humanite and Brain Wave had a final battle in that realm? Well, recall that the Crime Syndicate was likewise trapped in Limbo. Logically, it seems that those five Secret Society cronies helped the Crime Syndicate escape their globe-prison, and the Syndicate returned the favor by returning all of them to their respective Earths. At least for a few years, until the Crisis on Infinite Earths pulled them all into a Multiversal conflict.

* For those who might say, “But the Crime Syndicate were still shown in their green bubble within Limbo in 1984, remember that time is meaningless there. And Luthor mentions having several battles with the Syndicate since 1982. Plus all points in the timestream of Earths One and Two were accessible to the "present" in Limbo as the Secret Society of the 80's traveled to the 40's, as one such example.

Hateful Helmets Hindering Heroes

While some superhuman abilities are caused by internalizing exposure to environmental conditions, that cause these metahuman gifts to be inherent in the hero or villain, sometimes the catalyst for such power originates from an outside source. Think the heroic Green Lantern's power ring... or the villianous Power Ring's power ring! In fact, it is that villain's teammates in the Crime Syndicate of Earth-Three who heavily relied on devices that harnessed energies that gave their owners amazing abilities.

Two such teammates developed helmets granted them such skills. Johnny Quick had two speed-helmets that embued him with a superspeed physique comparable with Barry Allen of Earth-One and Jay Garrick of Earth-Two, the Flash of Two Worlds. This helmet gave the speed of thought to its wearer, and was similar in principle to the helmets worn by Barry's foe Brain Storm and Jay's foe the Thinker.

Owlman's vast mental skills to manipulate the minds of others presumably originated from his own Owl-Cowl, and was similar to that worn by his counterpart Batman's foe Mister Esper and the foe of Earth-Two's Sandman and Sandy... as well as the versions word by Axel "Brain Storm" Storm of Earth-One and Clifford "Thinker" Devoe of Earth-Two. In each instances, Owlman's helmet and those of Earths One and Two were used to terrorize the Gotham City of three universes!

Menacing Men of Might: The Evil Supermen

Though most Supermen were noble, honorable, principled, good... not all were. Two Kryptonians that lived by the adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely" were Ultraman of Earth-Three and Overman of Earth-Seventeen. That said, when lives were at stake, one imitated is good brethren across the Multiverse and the other stayed insane.

During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, as a wall of anti-matter waves blankets his universe, Ultraman attempted to save the citizens of his adopted world which he formerly stole from. After seeing the futility of this, he allowed this matter-crushing radiation to seemingly wipe him from existence. His teammate of the Crime Syndicate soon followed.

However, Ultraman along with fellow Syndicators Power Ring and Johnny Quick remained in a different type of Limbo from the interdimensional kind between universes... or perhaps it was the same Limbo they had been trapped within for years after battling the Justice League and Justice Society. Regardless, there Ultraman met an even darker, crueler version of himself in Overman, a government created pawn turned into a power-mad tyrant. Once more, Ultraman stood up to a dire threat in order to protect innocents, and Overman was... well... overcome!

Timelines of Injustice: Sinister Society's Successful Schemes

The Injustice Society may have ultimately proved a failure when battling their opposite number, the Justice Society, however two of their members succeeded beyond their wildest dreams in ruling the world. Of a kind.

Vandal Savage had the longest run of a rogue's reign, when he schemed to have Superman follow him back through the ages the detonate various time bombs that reset history. As a result, Earth-One was transformed into a perpetual kingdom was the Earth-Two Savage as its sole sovereign for centuries. Or at least for several days, though it seemed longer given how the time stream was altered. 

Vandal was known for pilfering the equipment of his fellow Socialites back when he worked with them in the late 1940's, and thus it would've been his ally Per Degaton's temporal technology that was instrumental in the immortal villain's victory. Although Superman figured this out and reverts history to how it was intended to be.

And speaking of Degaton, when he was a lowly lab assistant for Time Trust scientist Professor Malachi Zee, he gained access to temporal technology. In 1947, Per stole Zee's time cabinet and journeyed back in time with armies and 20th century weaponry in order to alter the course of the key Battle of Arbela in 331 BC which changed the course of history. As such, Earth-Two did not technologically advance past a medieval state, while Degaton secured his modern armaments in a chromium lined cave. Even into the late 1950's, this resulted in this tyrant having unmatched power which even the Justice Society could not overcome.

That is, until Green Lantern journeyed back in time with his teammates and tipped the Battle of Arbela back in favor of the true victors according to history. This led to time being reset, with Per's reign of tyranny ending. Although, the memory of his fleeting victory would remain and prompt him to pursue this path once more.

On his second attempt, Degaton stole atomic weapons from Earth-Prime,enlisting the aid of Earth-Three's Crime Syndicate in order to control Earth-Two. Apparently, this was the decisive step needed so that into the 1980's, Degaton's new history proved him master of his native world. In this reality, superheroes still existed however the Crime Syndicate members Ultraman, Superwoman, Owlman, Johnny Quick and Power Ring remained as his enforcers allowing them to subjugate this world. 

The combined efforts of the Justice Society, Justice League and All-Star Squadron were needed to thwart Degaton's determination for dominance. In the process, they changed back the altered timeline on Earth-Prime that had resulted from the Syndicate's theft of weaponry, when that world was reduced to a devastated landscape. With not atom bombs nor his Syndicate at his disposal, Degaton once more retreated to his native 1947 leaving all save him forgetting about this encounter. His desire would remain.

On Earth-One, Professor Ronson accidentally unleashed via his chronal transponder an energy wave that altered that planet's future causing its superheroes to be eliminated with only their alter egos remaining. Thankfully, the World's Finest Team from the future of Earths One and Two restored reality to its natural course.

Interestingly, the first chronological reset of history on Earth-One was actually the creation of a deviant planet and universe spawned by Earth-Two's Thunderbolt at the behest of the criminal Johnny Thunder who wanted the Justice League eliminated. Replacing them with his Lawless League, themselves counterparts to the Crime Syndicate that were displaced in the alternate timeline on Earth-Two, this quintet of crooks had fleeting careers before they were dispatched by the visiting Justice Society. Although this world exists somewhere within the Multiverse, as does the altered timelines we've considered, they've been folded back into non-existence from whence they came as far as we're concerned.

However, an interesting aside is one final artificially created timeline and universe in the form of Earth-Zero, which was made manifest when Mister Mxyztplk and the entity known as Aethyr destroyed the short-lived planet Aethyr in Earth-One's reality yet projected it and its Bizarro inhabitants into a pocket universe much like Earth-A or these timelines. With their own evil replicas of Justice League and Justice Society members, these worlds would only be liberated from such oppression (although the Bizarro's enjoyed it, given their warped nature living in reverse) when the champions of main-stream realities intervened.

So while history cannot be changed in the universes of the Multiverse, it can be branched off into timelines or universes distinct and different from each individual universe. Although due to the nature of time and the fluidity of their states of being, such existence is transient to say the least!

Twice-Told-Tales: Majestic Multiverse Myths

The Multiverse holds various Twice-Told-Tales, some chronicled, many left to the imagination. And all tied in to the nature of the cosmos in the DC Universe. This is only natural considering that they all originated from the Earth-One cosmos, when the Malthusian known as Krona unleashed cosmic forces while attempting to view the dawn of creation. As a result, his universe was cloned an infinite number of times to become with countless positive matter and one Anti-Matter Universe of Qward. Undoubtedly the main universe that mirror Krona's own was Earth-Two which seemed to be twenty years ahead of Earth-One due to exhibiting a slower vibratory rate. This may be due to the fact that Earth-One existed for untold eons prior to the other universes, and as such this is a way for all universes to stay in sync.

From Earth-One's universe was spawned the imperfect clones that would become the Bizarro race migrated to a world that Superman remodeled into a square planet at its inhabitants' decree. Several years after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, when the Multiverse was transformed into a single matter and anti-matter universe, another Crisis reignited the Multiverse due to the machinations of Alex Luthor from Earth-Three. Not only was his world recreated, but so was Earth-Zero which mirror the Bizarro Earth of Htrae, alluding to the possibility that the planet which the Bizarros migrated to was actually not in their own universe but a parallel one, accessed by a wormhole Superman used when he first ventured there. This world had a twisted nature, wherein the Bizarro League mirrored the evil sensibilities of the Lawless League from Earth-A and that of Earth-Three with its Crime Syndicate, with sinister counterparts of superheroes.

Then there were the seemingly peripheral planets that didn't seem to resemble Earth-One's Justice League of America and Earth-Two's Justice Society of America, yet had heroes of equal measure. There was, for example, Earth-S that like Earth-Two debuted superheroes in the golden age of the 1940's, and Earth-Four that for the most part had their superhero explosion in the modern age like Earth-One. Then there was the initially hero-less worlds such as Earth-Prime and Earth-X, although they eventually would have their own versions of costumed crusaders. And, lest we forget, just as their was a heroic Justice Alliance of America on Earth-D there was also a Freedom Brigade on Earth-Twelve that were also erstwhile imitators of the League and Society that were more well known. This doesn't even include Earth-666 where Marvel's mightiest reign, nor Earth-MLJ that are published elsewhere....

Bizarre Baddies - Creepy Clones - Demented Duplicates

One of the core staples of comics is an opposite number or evil twin. In the late 1950's DC Comics hit upon this theme and developed an entire planet of these type of creatures with a catch, they were the imperfect duplicates of established characters. Only this wasn't a new concept, it was already explored previously and would be once more years later, as we shall see.

On Earth-One, Professor Dalton developed a duplicator ray which created a distorted doppleganger of Superboy, soon after destroyed. Years later, Lex Luthor recreated this device and spawned the pale jagged-skinned Bizarro, and from this template derived a whole civilization. Originally mirrored after this Bizarro Superman #1 and his mate Bizarro Lois Lane #1, after creating several of their own duplicates the original decided to build his own copies of some of Superman's closest friends like Jimmy Olsen and Perry White, and bitterest foes. Htrae was a square shaped world otherwise resembling Earth which Superman created as an act of penance on one occasion. He even went so far as to create a Bizarro Justice League with a Batman, Hawkman, Aquaman, Flash aka "Hero", and Yellow Lantern... as well as some of Superman's greatest enemies including Lex Luthor, the Joker, Kltpzym and Amazo. These beings were not carbon-based life forms yet had sentience based on perverse reverse logic, deriving their matter from another reality. Earth-Two analogues would be Flying Tiger, a Fairy Tale Batman, Secret City Flash clones, Grundy Lantern, and various others. On Earth-Two, there were also non-living animated “proxies” of Alexei Luthor, Mister Mxyztplk, and Prankster as well as a faux-Lois Lane

On Earth-Two, a criminal known only as Funny Face replicated a bio-ray projector original created by Professor Anderson which Batman encountered previously, a projector which was capable of creating pseudo three-dimensional life to imaginary characters illustrated by others Utilizing this to create a gang consisting of fictional felons Torgo, Machine-Gun Mike, the Black Rider, Goola and the Viper who all plundered Metropolis. Each was confronted by Superman, and each time the malevolent mastermind's gigantic Funny Face clones appeared to torment the hero. Meanwhile, reporter Lois Lane tracked down the culprit behind these creatures, a disgruntled failure of a cartoonist who nevertheless had exceptional genius in devising the device behind these deviants. Eventually tipping Superman off as to Funny Faces' location, and that of his captured girlfriend, the Man of Steel was confronted by all five menaces. Helping her hero once more, Lois turned the projector on the same newspaper pages to bring to life these criminals' arch-enemies in Prince Peril, Detective Craig, Solitary Rider, Streak Dugan and Happy Daze which defeated their foes. While Lane was transformed by Face into an image on a page, she was revived much as Bizarro-Lois came to "life" decades later a universe away.

A decade later, Funny Face returned with an animated illustrated depiction of Superman's criminal alter ego, Flying Tiger. This was an alias used by the Metropolis Marvel to discover the source of the underworld's Kryptonite, and as such several staged thefts over the new few weeks until he earned the trust of the mysterious kingpin known as Mister K. After the disguised Clark and Lois Kent turned the tables on the crimelord, the pair thought that Flying Tiger's crooked career had concluded. However, when shortly thereafter the faux-Tiger continued in his predecessor's steps, the Bizarro of Earth-Two was born! As before, Funny Face was defeated as was his Superman-clone, who was susceptible to green Kryptonite, and like its "brothers" was returned to the newspaper from whence it came.  Although, as before, Lois was transformed into a two-dimensional creature before being revived.

Similarly, not to many years after the Bizarros were created, Mr. Mxyzptlk returned to Earth-One's universe and merged with an entity known as Aethyr. These two proceeded to devastate Htrae while destroying all Bizarros as well. However, there was apparently a pre-Crisis Earth-Zero that replicated Htrae with the same Bizarro inhabitants residing on it. It is quite possible and most probable that Mxyzptlk/Aethyr used its inter-dimensional abilities of the Phantom Zone to recreate these creatures in this pocket reality, in much the same way Earth-Two's Thunderbolt spawned the Lawless League of Earth-A. This Lawless team was a twisted mirror image of Earth-One's Justice league, whom the Justice Society battled. And both Bizarro and Lawless Leagues would be counterparts to Earth-Three's criminal Crime Syndicate, as well, wherein good was replaced with evil and evil with good.

Earth-Three Tour de Force: A World No More

The Crisis on Infinite Earths effected all adjacent universes with the same eventuality (with the exception of Earths One, Two, Four, X and S... which in one timeline merged as one and in their individual timelines managed to escape their eradication through undisclosed means). An anti-matter wave of energy from the Anti-Matter universe had consumed each of these, including Earth-Three. On this occasion, the Crime Syndicate displayed for the first (and last) time true heroic mettle as its individual members had attempted to save humanity from the wake of destruction caused by this wave.

While Owlman and Johnny Quick seem terrified at the powerless situation they were faced with, the fellow three Syndicators Ultraman, Power Ring and Superwoman each did their best to save innocents caused in the path of this destructive anti-matter. With the dimension-traveller known as Pariah watching helplessly, each member of the Syndicate was wiped from existence in an instant. 

And while admiring his former foes' tenacity toward aiding their fellow man in this time of Crisis, Alex Luthor recognized the futility of such efforts. And, in an event mirroring that which sent an infant Kal-El and Kal-L from their doomed planet Krypton to Earth, Alex sent his son the Earth-One in a rocketship. Little did Luthor know how instrumental his son would be in saving the remaining universe while on board the Multiverse traveling satellite of the Monitor!

Earth-Three Tour de Force: Luthors Versus Earths

We discussed earlier the meeting between the two greatest geniuses of their parallel planets, now lets dissect their meticulous and maddening manipulations versus the Men of Steel. Lex Luthor learned of the existence of Earth-Two, and traveled there to meet and exchange places with his counterpart Alexei Luthor. While Lex bedeviled the original Superman, Alexie dueled with Earth-One's Superman, neither permently vanquishing their new foes. Left in the limbo between universes, Lex proved the master strategist, providing a way out of their predicament by transporting them both to Earth-Three to renew their attack on the Kryptonians.

And yet, appearences can be deceiving, for upon arriving on Earth-Three Lex was surprised with Alexei's access to advanced equipment. Turns out that Alexei had visited this Earth months prior, planting such devices as his ion tractor beam with the intent of destroying both Earths One and Two by merging them together. Why he didn't proceed with this plan, and instead resumed his personal grudge against Superman, shows how truely insane Alexei was at this point in his life. Evidently, senility had begun to creep in despite his considerable intellect (earlier in this tale, when he met Earth-One's Lois Lane he said he had met her before, when in fact it was his world's Lois whom he had known for decades). So while Alexei had formented his scheme on Earth-Three, around the same time Lex had visited Earth-S and attempted to assist Mister Mind in defeating Captain Marvel, which proved fruitless. So had this plan, as the Supermen both defeated the Luthors and prevented their adopted worlds from merging and exploding.

Earth-Three Tour de Force: Meet Ultraman's Father!

For the first time, anywhere, we present to you the father of Earth-Three's Man of Steel, Ultraman! Previously we had considered how Krypton-Three had not exploded, yet Ultraman did not live with his people who undoubtedly rejected his sinister disposition, which he apparently inherited from his father Jur-Ll. Jur-Ll had been the malevolent Crime-Lord of Kandor who repeatedly clashed with its resident heroes, Nightwing and Flamebird. It would seem that this criminal scientist had been banished in his own version of the Phantom Zone, and found his way into Earth-One's universe prior to the City of Kandor having been shrunken and placed in a bottled form by the evil Brainiac.

Now, an aged Jur-Ll sought to free himself of the prison he now found himself in, along with seven million Kandorians. Using the Sun-Stone, instead of the synthetic Kryptonite which his son consumed to revitalize his powers, the elder Ll had the goal of destroying the city in his enlarged state and conquering his new universe. Instead, he perished when consumed by the Sun-Stone's energies. As for how Jur-Ll's presence on Earth-One would be compensated in other universes, such as his own and on Krypton-Two where Jor-L perished, can be explained by the presence of the criminal Mala who survived the destruction of Krypton-Two with his two brothers of the "Evil Three"... and of Mala's Earth-Three counterpart surviving with the rest of Krypton-Three.

Earth-Three Tour de Force: Krypton... and Kryptonite

A curious statement expressed by the dim-witted Ultraman of Earth-Three when he, alongside his fellow Crime Syndicators, encounted Earth-Two's Per Degaon in interdimensional limbo. He said "I'm from a Krypton which didn't explode as it did in some other universes". And yet, this is the element that gave him additional abilities!

It was on this occasion wherein Ultraman revealed to Degaton that he also had been freed from their bubble-prison in limbo as had Superwoman, Johnny Quick and Power Ring (poor Owlman, he never had his opportunity to return to his homeworld until just prior to the Crisis on Infinite Earths, which had destroyed it!).  Bathed in Kryptonite radiation from Lex Luthor's power-glove, Ultraman was strengthened, and it was this same residual radiation that weakened both the golden and silver age Supermen who were visiting his world and engaged him in battle.  So the obvious question we need to ask is this: If Ultraman's homeworld of Krypton-Three hadn't blown up, why has he encountered Kryptonite since it is formed from fragments of the exploding planet itself! A supplemental question might well be how it was he ended up on Earth-Three, leaving behind his fellow residents of Krypton-Three? The latter question is easily answered... he is a malcontent and criminal... and their form of punishment was exiling such individuals in space as had been on the other two known Kryptons.

Evidently, we have to surmise one of two hypothesis. The first is that the Kryptonite that ended up in Earth-Three's universe is originally from either Krypton-One and Two, somehow crossing the dimensional gulf and ending up where Ultraman could siphon its energy. This is highly enlikely given the amount of such substance necessary to empower Ultraman for years would necessitate a large quantity of this element, not to mention to drastic cosmic imbalance that that loss of such mass in one universe would have without some compensatory mass in exchange. The second hypothesis, which is more likely, is that it was synthesized much like that in laboratories on Earths One and Two. Since Ultraman himself did not posses the shear intellect to create such an anomaly, as evidenced by his demeanor versus the Supermen and Luthors, evidently a scientist on either his adopted world or Krypton-Three had created this. And since Synthetic Kryptonite was based on the original substance that could come only from the mass of a planet Krypton, this scientist would have had to have been a resident of Krypton-Three (logically, this would have been Ultraman's father Jur-Ll whom we'll consider next). This would indicate that there were potentially millions of superhuman beings, just like there had been on Krypton-Two although able to do more than simply leap tall buildings as had those Kryptonians... albeit not on Earth-Three but Krypton-Three!

Earth-Three Tour de Force: Objects of Power Corrupts

Power corrupts... and absolute power corrupts absolutely as our heroes today learned! While the good guys in other universes forsook  this temptation, using their powers and abilities for justice, on Earth-Three this hadn't been the case (until Alex Luthor donned a uniform and become his world's first native-born hero). The ambitious antagonists of humanity on that world were the Crime Syndicate of America (although two of their number, Ultraman the Kryptonian and Superwoman the Amazonian, were not Americans). 

While Ultraman relied on Kryptonite to power him, and Owlman mysteriously had mental abilities his doppelgängers the Batmen had not possessed, the other three Syndicators were equipped with devices giving them tremendous might.

Similar to the speed force of each Flash, the power rings of the Green Lanterns, and the golden lassos of the Wonder Women... these three items of power were distinct in their own right. For instance, Johnny Quick's superspeed was derived from a helmet (reminiscent of Jay Garrick’s Flash helmet). Superwoman's lasso transform into animal forms such as a winged serpent. Power Ring's ring functioned similar to Green Lanterns Hal and Alan's only its effects could prove toxic to himself and others over time.

Just as these devices ended up on Earth-Two, which the Secret Society of Earth-One used to travel to that world from Earth-Three (long story), duplicate of the power ring, the lasso, and a red-skull cap (with speed enhanced thought and reactions) was wielded by the android Amazo versus the Justice League. What became of the Syndicate’s facsimile weapons once on Earth-Two is unknown… although Amazo’s Earth-Two analogue Akhet never came into possession of them, relying upon the mental energies of others to empower him.

Earth-Three Tour de Force: Similar yet Different

A veritable treasure trove of information was gleaned about Earth-Three, from the latter two appearances of the Crime Syndicate, when they battled the Secret Society of Super-Villains and later as they encountered the Justice League, Justice Society and All-Star Squadron (these Syndicators weren't modest in the appraisal of their powers, given the number of foes they encountered at any one time!) For instance, when five felons of the Secret Society arrived on the Syndicator's world, they quickly learned that while Power Ring had the appearance of Earth-One's Green Lantern aka Hal Jordan, he had the weakness of Earth-Two's Green Lantern aka Alan Scott. Specifically, a vulernability to wood, as illustsrated by the Floronic Man's tree shield which the emerald beam should've been able to cut through. Could Power Ring's power battery, originating in Asia like Scott's, have originated from that universe's Green Flame of Life in the form a a green meteorite? 

Remember, Earth-S had its own version of the meteorite originating from the Starheart just like that found on Earth-Two. Given the similar nature of the energy, defying scientific laws like Alan's ring and the same weakness, it seems likely that this is in fact true. That Power Ring used his alien energy for evil which was not permitted on Earth-Two can be explained away given the reverse logistics of good and evil found in Earth-Three's universe, a trait it shared with the Anti-Matter Universe wherein evil reigned supreme instead of good as in other positive matter universes.

Additional facts revealed from the heroic Captain Comets visit to Earth-Three, in pursuit of the Society, was how this planet's history was dramatically reversed from that of his own (and our's). With America as the dominant imperial power of this world instead of Great Britain and a President John Wilkes Booth instead of Abraham Lincoln, it seemed that each counterpart on this world had a dyametrically different view on world affairs from that of their cosmic twin on Earths One and Two. With the except being the aforementioned (in an earlier post) Lois Lane, who was a heroic reporter on Earth-Three as she was elsewhere.  The curious factoid is that no heroes, prior to Luthor, appeared on this world. Such individuals would have corresponded with the Secret Society of Super-Villains and other devious despots.

Earth-Three Tour de Force: Malevolent Mutants

There has been a long held belief that the pre-Crisis Earth-Three had only six costumed crusaders and/or criminals.. the five Crime Syndicate members known as Ultraman, Superwoman, Owlman, Johnny Quick and Power Rig as well as their arch-foe Alex Luthor. And that would be correct. However, there were other metahumans who menaced that world's population, albeit only briefly.

During his brief freedom from their limbo dimension prison, the Syndicator Power Ring's power battery infected various humans with a radiation plague granting them incredible power. Only the timely intervention and treatment administered by Earth-One's Captain Comet* saved this planet from further chaos at the hands of malevolent malcontents!

Curiously, while the infected power battery gifted him by his former master Volthoom was removed by Comet from Earth-Three, lingering affects remained within Power Ring's... power ring! This is evident when the time traveling tyrant known as Per Degaton of Earth-Two recruited the Crime Syndicate, bringing them to Earth-Prime in 1962 to abscond with intercontinental ballistic missiles from Cuba. While the resulting Cuban Missile Crisis played out differently than in normal history, with most of Earth-Prime left devastated, those few exposed to radiation from Power Ring's ring caused a similar superhuman mutation. With the intervention of the Justice Society, Justice League and All-Star Squadron, the heroes were able to change history back to normal, resulting in these mutants no longer existing in the restored timeline.

Back on Earth-Three, it was thought that Captain Comet reversed the mutation process on those effect in Metropolis using the radioactive power battery, although given the sheer number of those affected this seems unlikely. What became of these creatures is unknown, although they as with all humanity in that universe found an untimely end during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

* Oh, and that woman in the first panel is Earth-Three's Lois Lane, who would quickly become smitten with her globe's first record superhero, the Captain himself. It would be his inspiration that led to the creation of that Earth's first native-born champion of justice, Alex Luthor, in a few years.

Earth-Three Tour De Force: Heinous Headquarters

Although alluded to in their first appearence, the Eyrie of Evil was first named and shown in somewhat detail during the Secret Society of Supervillains' invasion of Earth-Three. The  headquarters of that world's most powerful organization of metahumans, it had long been abaonded due the imprionment of its occupants the Crime Syndicate after the Syndicate's battles and defeat at the hands of the Justice League and Society of Earths One and Two. A mountain retreat secluded from the eyes of public, it was a haven for the heinous. When they were free, that is.

Migrants of Multiple Earths: Emerald Energies

The year was 1978, a significant period in the Multiverse as there was numerous incursions into adjacent universes by superheroes and villains alike. For example, Earth-Two's Wizard drew four of his cronies in the Secret Society of Supervillains (and his new foe Captain Comet) first to Earth-Three before finally arriving at the world of his birth. In order to get there, he had to purloin items of power possessed by the  Crime Syndicate of America, which led the Society and Comet in direct confrontation versus CSA. After discovering the cause of a mutant plague afflicting Earth-Three, originating from Power Ring's own battery, the Captain used Power Ring's power battery to transport him to Earth-Two where he would "destroy it". Whether that was done or not, this green lantern given to Power Ring by the evil Volthoom was transferred to Earth-Two's universe.

Wizard and his Secret Society also on this occasion stole Power Ring's ring of power, Superwoman's lasso and Johnny Quick's speed helmet... which he used to transport himself and his team to Earth-Two from Earth-Three. When they arrived on Earth-Two, these devices had disappeared from Earth-Three but had not reappeared there. These three items were replicated on Earth-One by the adversarial android Amazo, a foe of the Justice League! The Syndicators apparently retrieved them on Earth-Two after they’d been freed from their Limbo prison by Per Degaton during his “Crisis on Earth-Prime” caper.

As for Earth-Three's power battery containing its former owner Volthoom‘s consciousness, this correlated in Earth-Two's universe with the dimensional deviant from the Limbo dimension known as Antithesis. This energy entity resided within the Justice League’s computer. How it was pulled from into the Earth-One universe from the same Limbo realm which the Volthoom battery and his possessor traversed is unknown. What is known is that both these sinister sentiments fed on the evil wills of those whom they controlled.