DC Universe Vol 1 0

"Let There Be Lightning"

Cover
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"Let There Be Lightning"

Letterers

Nick J. Napolitano

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Countdown to Final Crisis #1	Final Crisis #1

I'm the only one who knows there was a war in heaven. And evil won.

— Narrator

DC Universe #0 is an issue of the series Countdown (Volume 1) with a cover date of June, 2008.

Synopsis for "Let There Be Lightning"

An unidentified narrator, who identifies himself with the entirety of the Universe, tells of the recent events of Countdown, as well as additional threats, including:

Superman: Even in the 31st Century, people will look to the sky for Superman. He is shown battling Tyr, while Brainiac 5 and White Witch make contact with the unknown. The narrator remembers that Superman always asked him to call him "Clark".
Batman: The Joker is visited by Batman in Arkham, where he deals cards (A Dead Man's Hand), as Batman asks him about a person or organization called The Black Glove. The Joker tells him that "Some very, very bad people have decided to hurt you. Hurt you so bad you'll never recover... Because they can. Because they think you deserve it ... The Dead Man's Hand [as he deals the cards, red and black] is missing a finger. That last fatal card [Ace of Spades]." Batman is unintimidated and tells the Joker to "let them come"
Wonder Woman: Apollo plots against Wonder Woman from the shadows, saying that "Our fate cannot be left to Wonder Woman and the Amazons. It is time to recognize what you and I have both known for centuries. Changin the world is not a job for women -- it is a job for men." An army of Greek warriors is revealed. At the same time, various mad scientists collect dirt from places where genocide occured, planning to make a weapon to destroy Wonder Woman and the Amazons.
Green Lantern: Hal Jordan investigates the scene of Black Hand's explosion. He tries to use his ring to track down Black Hand, but the ring is unable to track him.
Black Hand: He is shown wandering a barren landscape while scenes from each of the new Lantern Corps are revealed. He says, to nobody visible, "I hear you". A Black Lantern Power Battery is shown.
Spectre: The narrator hopes the Spectre will recognize his powers beyond mere Vengeance.
Libra: Libra meets with various super-villains in Central City, saying he is here to balance the books. He claims that "... there is a God. There is a New God in whose name the bad men can offer up their prayers and he will answer! And here is his book!^[1] And I am the prophet of his new age! Here is the great news! All who follow me in his name will be granted their heart's desire!"
The Narrator: Appears to fall to Earth, on fire, saying "The Light. The Shadow. I'm the only one who can see the shadow. This gigantic shadow cast across the Multiverse. Falling over everything. I'm the only one who knows there was a war in Heaven. And Evil won. The Multiverse takes a single breath ... like a runner poised on the line ... and it's my breath. There is a sound. A sound like the crack of doom. Like a starter's pistol ... and this is me. And now I remember." At that moment, a crack of lightning strikes just above Twisters Strip Tease.

Appearing in "Let There Be Lightning"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Darkseid (Behind the scenes)
Genocide (First appearance)
Joker
Doctor Poison
Black Hand
The Guardian of Death (Behind the scenes)
Libra
Minotaur
Mongul II
Agent Orange (First appearance)
Red Volcano (First appearance)

Other Characters:

Gods of Olympus
- Apollo
- Zeus
Gargareans (First appearance)

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Notes

Batman's section of this issue (pages 8-10) is reprinted in Batman R.I.P.. The original pencils of this section is also reprinted in Batman R.I.P. Unwrapped.
The last section of this issue (pages 20-24) is reprinted in Final Crisis New Edition.
DC Comics solicitation reads: This is it! The greatest DC characters! Your favorite writers and artists! Everything leading to Final Crisis and beyond starts here for just 50¢! Take a journey through the past and present of the DCU, and witness the emergence of the greatest evil in the universe — and the stunning return of a force for good! You dare not miss DC Universe: Zero!
This issue is a bridge between the events of Countdown and Final Crisis.
Dan DiDio: Originally, we were going to do Countdown to Final Crisis #0 - that's what Countdown has been counting down to: 51 to 0 – 52 issues in total, a year's worth of work. Ultimately though, what happened was that when we were looking at how #0 was being created, we realized that in collecting Countdown to Final Crisis, it would be hard to collect the #0 issue, because it would leave us on a cliffhanger at the end of the book. We felt that probably wasn't the best way to end a book, so we decided to end all the Countdown stories with #1, and therefore make the #0 issue separate. That's when it became Final Crisis #0. Then, Grant was involved in the writing of Final Crisis #0 of course, and Grant wanted Geoff to co-write it with him. But as we were building the book, we realized that the story wasn't contained to the stories that were flowing into Final Crisis, involving New Gods and Monitors, but really touched upon so many major events going on throughout the DCU including: more hints to the Black Lanterns story, what's coming up in the Batman storylines, Superman's upcoming stories and Wonder Woman as well. Because it started to expand outside of Final Crisis, we repositioned the book one more time, and now it's called DC Universe #0. ^[2]
Parts of the Black Hand section are used on the cover to Blackest Night #0.

Recommended Reading

Final Crisis Crossover

The events from this issue or series are related to Final Crisis, the "Day Evil Won". This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the Final Crisis Crossover category.

Core Issues