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in: George Pérez/Cover Artist, Dick Giordano/Cover Artist, Alan Brennert/Writer,
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The Best of DC Vol 1 23

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"To Kill a Legend": This story is reprinted from Detective Comics #500.

The Best of DC #23 is an issue of the series Best of DC (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 1982.

Synopsis for "To Kill a Legend"

This story is reprinted from Detective Comics #500.

To allow Bruce Wayne to sooth his survivor's guilt about witnessing his parents' murder, the Phantom Stranger transports Batman and Robin to a parallel Earth where they must attempt to stop that world's Joe Chill from killing Thomas and Martha Wayne.

Once there, Batman and Robin encounter some criminals and defeat them easily in part by frightening them by their bizarre appearances. However, that engagement finds them confronted by Lieutenant James Gordon and police officers. Knowing that Gordon would never believe any explanation of why they are there while in their superhero personas, the Dynamic Duo are forced to escape by force.

Being only relatively inconvenienced by being wanted by the police, the Duo investigate the Waynes, and Robin is concerned that this Bruce Wayne is a spoiled brat in a troubled family. Regardless, Batman infiltrates the police department disguised as Gordon, only to find there is no file on Joe Chill. With that trail cold, the Duo seeks out and attacks Lew Moxon, the gangster who hired Chill to murder Thomas Wayne on Earth One. Unfortunately, Moxon had not hired Chill yet, and now frightened by the attention of these bizarre vigilantes questioning him, he decides to move up his timetable to kill Thomas Wayne and now Chill as well.

During their short time in that Earth, Batman and Robin have an ethical disagreement as it seems like that Earth doesn't have real heroes, or fictional ones for that matter. Robin believes that Batman should be allowed to exist, but Batman won't allow the Waynes to be murdered... again.

Despite the moral conflicts of the whole ordeal, Batman is unaware that his intervention causes the event in which the Waynes are killed to happen early, and that Chill is now not part of it. Meanwhile, determined to find Chill, Batman breaks into the GCPD's computer room to learn there is an interstate bulletin for Chill who is believed to be heading for Gotham. Unfortunately, Batman is discovered by Gordon, but the Dark Knight manages to persuade the police detective to help him. Batman shortly finds Chill, but he is dying by Moxon's thug. Realizing his mistake, Batman deduces the murder attempt on the Waynes would occur that night because the 20 year difference from his own parents' death does not accounted for five leap year days. As such, Batman races for Crime Alley.

Meanwhile, Robin is shadowing the Waynes and is still deeply conflicted that he would be robbing that Earth of its own Batman if he intervenes in the murder. However, when Moxon's goon appears to kill Thomas, Robin decides he cannot let innocent people die, but before he can strike, Batman saves the Waynes.

Their mission successful, the Phantom Stranger returns the heroes to their own world, with reassurances that not only Thomas and Martha would benefit. Indeed, the deed has changed the young Bruce Wayne's life, who, to the mystified delight of his parents, now changes his demeanour into one better behaved and more studious with new interests in physical exercise and in detective work with books on criminology and the stories of Sherlock Holmes. The reason for this change is that he wants to become the "Bat Creature" who saved them. Thus the Batman will exist, although this time is not because of vengeance, but for an inspired motivation in gratitude of the stranger who saved his family's lives.

Appearing in "To Kill a Legend"

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Synopsis for "Sivana's Nobel!"

This story is reprinted from World's Finest #273.

Sivana is the winner of the 1981 Physics Nobel Prize - very much to his disgust.

Appearing in "Sivana's Nobel!"

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Antagonists:

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Locations:

Items:

  • Aggression Ray
  • Space rocket

Synopsis for "The Dummy"

This story is reprinted from Sgt. Rock #349.

Exhausted and snapping at each other from combat fatigue, Rock and Easy Company are brightened up by the arrival of a new machine-gun rookie who carries a home-made ventriloquist dummy and is an expert at relieving tension.

The new recruit is killed in action, and Easy Company wonders if the "Dummy" is a jinx that brings death to its owner.

Appearing in "The Dummy"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • German army

Locations:


Synopsis for "A Day in the Lives..."

This story is reprinted from New Teen Titans #8.

Donna Troy does a photo shoot for the Silver Fox Advertizing agency. An uncooperative model and an unrealistic client prove to most exasperating for her until her friend and teammate Koriand'r arrives at the shoot. Donna's client, Sergio Delevi, is immediately taken with the Tamaranean princess and wants her to be his next "Golden Jeans" girl. Donna and Kory leave for a lunch date and Donna introduces her to her new boyfriend Terry Long. After that pleasant meeting, Kory's revelrie is interrupted by a nearby carriage horse running wild and heading for a child in its path. Acting quickly, Kory quickly manuevers herself alongside the horse and stuns it with a low-power starbolt to stop it.

At Titans Tower I, Raven sits in her room and peruses a brochure for Manhattan College. She sends out her soul-self to fly across town and survey the college campus. Her soul-self witnesses a terrorist attack at the university and it quickly locates bombs planted throughout the campus. The soul-self absorbs the bombs into its dimensional matter and they disappear. Unfortunately, the emergency has separated Raven from her soul for too long and the results are catastrophic. Raven's mind plunges into a twisting panorama of spiritual torment. She steels herself however and resists the psychotropic effects, eventually overcoming them. A feeling of pride washes over her as she realizes that she has developed a sense of inner strength that not even the pacifists of Azarath could hope to acquire.

Elsewhere, Jeremy Thornton, a board member for Dayton Industries takes his grandson to a midtown toy shop. He tells the proprietor that he received a notice indicating that he was in receipt of one free toy. The proprietor tells him that only select citizens were sent invitations in order to promote the toy store's grand opening. He hands Jeremy's grandson a toy puppet. From a hidden location, the Puppeteer watches the incident with great interest. His plans are slowly coming together.

Meanwhile, Changeling visits Vic Stone. He asks if Vic is going to move out of his apartment now that he has inherited his father's money, but Vic decides to stay where he is. Gar receives a telephone call from his father's business manager Vernon Questor. Questor tells him that two board members for Dayton Industries have been assassinated.

While Gar leaves for Dayton Estates, Vic takes a walk to the brownstone of his old girlfriend Marcy Reynolds. This is the first time that Marcy has seen him since the accident that turned Vic Stone into a Cyborg. When Victor confronts Marcy about avoiding him, she is horrified to see what Victor has become and wails that Victor should have died instead. Heartbroken, but keeping the depth of his feelings to himself, Victor shrugs off her excuses that her parents forbid her from seeing him and leaves.

Brooding at this rejection, Victor strolls across Central Park when he is suddenly struck in the head by a baseball. A young boy runs over to retrieve it and Vic is concerned that his cybernetic enhancements will terrify the child. As it turns out however, the boy has a prosthetic limb of his own. He is not only not horrified by Victor, but is actually jealous that Vic's prosthetics are "shinier" than his own. The boy's teacher, Sarah Simms, walks over to them accompanied by several more children who are awestruck at Victor's impressive implants. She introduces herself and tells Vic that she is a teacher who helps handicapped children deal with their disabilities. When the kids plead for Victor to join their baseball game, Victor feels that has earned himself some long overdue fun and decides to play ball with the kids.

In Blue Valley, Nebraska, Wally West has dinner with his parents. Wally wants to start going to college, but he's not sure if he will be able to balance both his studies and his super-hero activities as Kid Flash. His parents are very supportive of him and are confident that Wally will make the best decision.

That evening, Jeremy Thornton tucks his grandson into bed. He sits down to do some reading when he hears a strange noise coming from the boy's room. When he gets up to investigate the disturbance, he sees his grandson's new puppet standing in front of him with a six-shooter. A shot rings out and Thornton falls to the floor. Maniacal laughter echoes throughout the house.

Appearing in "A Day in the Lives..."

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Barry Allen (Flashback only)
  • Trigon (As an illusion only)
  • Candy (a model)
  • Carl
  • Jeanie (a model)
  • Jeremy Thornton, Sr. (a board member for Dayton Industries) (Single appearance; dies)
  • Jeremy Thornton III (Jeremy Thornton's grandson)
  • Johnny (a handicapped boy)
  • Sandy (a model)
  • Sergio de Levi (a fashion designer)
  • Soren Winslow (Behind the scenes)

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Synopsis for "The Piper at the Gates of Hell"

This story is reprinted from House of Mystery #288.

Every twenty years in an idyllic community the residents hand over a simpleton to a demon posing as a skeletal piper in a tuxedo, to torment in exchange for keeping spiritual evils out of the general population.

The simpleton's brother refuses to accept such a sacrifice, or his mother's rationalization for such a diabolical bargain, and seeks out the piper to rescue his brother. He is successful, but the piper cackles that he expects that the simpleton will be returned to him soon.

Sure enough, the young men see what the Piper is referring to as the town explodes into total destructive chaos for abrogating the bargain. Their grandfather arrives to explain that his son, brain-damaged in a hunting accident, was similarly sacrificed to the Piper by the boys' own mother.

Together, the brothers and their grandfather leave the town, now going up in flames, praying for the moral strength to resist the temptation of such demonic pacts.

Appearing in "The Piper at the Gates of Hell"

Narrator:

Characters:

  • Adam Caufield
  • Mr. Caufield
  • Simple Joe

Locations:


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Vehicles:



Synopsis for "The Haunting"

This story is reprinted from Jonah Hex #53.

Jonah Hex escaped at the last second an explosion some goons set up. He hunts down the goons, killed Jason by hanging him up and saves Petey Foster. In the end, the boy's mother thanks him and reconsiders her opinion of Jonah.

He returns home and finds a note from Mei Ling saying that she left with the baby. In the meantime Mei Ling seeks a shelter in the house of Hiram and Ruth. Hex gets drunk and starts seeing illusions from ghosts of the past.

The next morning Jonah leaves town and goes back to bounty hunting.

Appearing in "The Haunting"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Frank (Single appearance)
  • Jason (Single appearance; dies)

Other Characters:

  • Mrs. Foster (Single appearance)
  • Petey Foster (Single appearance)
  • El Papagayo (As an illusion only)
  • Quentin Turnbull (As an illusion only)
  • Solomon (As an illusion only)
  • Woodson Hex (As an illusion only)
  • Chameleon (As an illusion only)

Locations:

Synopsis for "Triumph!"

This story is reprinted from Tales of the Green Lantern Corps #3.

The Green Lantern Corps recover of their defeat against Krona in Oa, physically and emotionally beaten. Hal Jordan refuses to lie down and watch the universe die, and his determination motivates the whole Corps in joining him in one final battle, even though they might die. The Green Lanterns arrive at the rift between dimensions, where the Guardians of the Universe are fighting Krona and Nekron (New Earth). Krona summons his army of undead to fight the Lanterns. One among them, Tylot, refuses to serve Nekron any further, so he saves Arisia from one of Krona's minions, and Hal Jordan welcomes him to the Green Lantern Corps, giving him the ring of a fallen Lantern.

In the middle of the battle, Tomar-Re sees the spirit of his father, summoned by Nekron to weaken him. This gives Hal and idea, a dire one at that. He enters through the rift to Nekron's domain. There, Hal sees the spirits of the fallen Green Lanterns, and he convinces them to rise against Nekron. With their master distracted, Krona and his minions now are pulled back and the Guardians close the rift. However, Hal Jordan is still in Nekron's dimension, and he knows that when his power ring shuts down, he will die. Right before passing out, Hal hears the voice of his predecessor, Abin Sur.

Hal then wakes up again surrounded by his comrades. With Nekron defeated, Tylot, being an undead, fades away, not without showing his gratitude toward his new friends and brothers. Back in Oa, the Guardians offer Hal Jordan a place as the Corps leader, but Hal declines, saying that he was just doing what any other Green Lantern would have done, and that he is just "one of the gang." Right afterward, the whole Green Lantern Corps recharge their rings at the reconstructed Central Power Battery, and they all recite Hal's oath in unison, showing their gratitude to the noblest Green Lantern among them.

Appearing in "Triumph!"

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Synopsis for "Whatever Happened to the Crimson Avenger?"

This story is reprinted from DC Comics Presents #38.

After being diagnosed with an incurable, deadly disease, Lee Travis feared he would die unremembered as a hero. Seeing a small boat in trouble in the harbor, he leapt into action. Saving a small boy on the way, the Crimson Avenger reached the ship, which was carrying some experimental chemicals, and was being hijacked by criminals. The ensuing battle caused a fire. After insisting the captain and crew leave, Travis piloted the ship out into the harbor, saving the city from the explosion. When asked what happened, the captain did not know who had saved him, so Travis' fear apparently coming true. But elsewhere in the City, the mother of the little boy he saved would remember, and so would the son, and his children.

Appearing in "Whatever Happened to the Crimson Avenger?"

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Synopsis for "The Pursuit of Joy"

This story is reprinted from Detective Comics #507.

A concert violinist lends a hand to a struggling street performer.

Appearing in "The Pursuit of Joy"

Featured Characters:

  • Rudolf Yanok (Single appearance)

Supporting Characters:

  • Leslie Fields(Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Leslie's Father (Single appearance)
  • Leslie's Mother (Single appearance)
  • Baldy (Single appearance)
  • Keith (Single appearance)

Locations:

Items:

  • Violin

Synopsis for "The Dying Day of Lois and Lana!"

This story is reprinted from Superman #363.

While attending a function at the Metropolis Museum, Clark, Lana and Lois are all exposed to a virulent alien virus that originated from one of Lewis Lang's artifacts. Clark's super-antibodies naturally make him immune to the virus, but Lana and Lois fall deathly ill. Analyzing the microbes with telescopic vision, Superman recognizes the virus as the same one that ultimately killed his adoptive parents, the Kents.

Superman rushes Lana and Lois to the Fortress of Solitude, but he is unable to find a cure. He contemplates sending them into the Phantom Zone for to forestall the effects of the virus, but the Phantom Zone criminals, ever observing Superman's activities, concentrate their will into a burst of psychic energy that destroys the Phantom Zone Projector. Though they cannot escape the Phantom Zone, they are satisfied that they have prevented Superman the means of saving Lana and Lois. Desperate, Superman even goes to the Metropolis State Penitentiary and tries to enlist the scientific expertise of Lex Luthor, but Luthor refuses to aid him.

Superman then travels to the 88th century in the hopes of finding a cure from the advanced scientific minds of Earth's future. These beings refuse to corrupt the timestream, but assure Superman that someone from his era will in fact find a cure.

Returning to the present, Superman realizes that since he was infected by the microbes as well, then his super-immune system might be able to save Lana and Lois. He gives them an immediate blood transfusion and they quickly recover.

Appearing in "The Dying Day of Lois and Lana!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • WGBS employees (Unnamed)
  • Pegleg Morgan (Dies in flashback)
  • Mrs. Nelson (Lana Lang's neighbor) (Single appearance)
  • Cats
    • Tabitha (Lana Lang's cat) (Mentioned only)
  • Warden (Unnamed) (Single appearance)
  • Three Scientists from the 88th Century (Unnamed) (Single appearance)

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • WGBS News Vans

Concepts:

Notes

JLA v.1 21
Multiversal Crossover
The events from this issue or series involve a Multiversal Crossover between Pre-Crisis worlds and characters. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Pre-Crisis Multiverse Crossover category.
See also Post-Crisis Multiverse Crossovers.



See Also

  • Cover gallery for the Best of DC series

Recommended Reading



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