DC One Million

"DC One Million"

Cover of DC One Million  (1999), trade paperback collected edition. Art by Val Semeiks.
Publisher DC Comics
Publication date November 1998
Genre
Main character(s) Justice League of America
Justice Legion Alpha
Solaris
Vandal Savage
Creative team
Writer(s) Grant Morrison
Penciller(s) Val Semeiks
Inker(s) Prentis Rollins
Jeff Albrecht
Del Barras
Colorist(s) Pat Garrahy (Heroic Age)
DC One Million ISBN 1-56389-525-0

"DC One Million" was a crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled, weekly limited series and through special issues of almost all "DCU" titles published by DC Comics in November 1998. It featured a vision of the DC Universe in the 853rd century (85,201–85,300 AD), chosen because that is the century in which DC Comics would publish issue one million of their comics if they maintained a regular publishing schedule. The mini-series was written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Val Semeiks.

Setup

The core of the event was a four-issue mini-series, in which the 20th-century Justice League of America and the 853rd-century Justice Legion Alpha co-operate to defeat a plot by the supervillain Vandal Savage (who, being practically immortal, exists in both centuries as well as all the ones in between) and future Superman nemesis Solaris, the Living Sun. Thirty-four other series then being published by DC also put out a single issue numbered #1,000,000, which either showed its characters' involvement in the central plot or gave a glimpse of what its characters' descendants/successors would be doing in the 853rd century. Hitman #1,000,000 was essentially a parody of the entire storyline. A trade paperback collection was subsequently published, consisting of the four-issue mini-series, and tie-in issues necessary to follow the main plot. The series was then followed by a one-shot titled DC One Million 80-Page Giant #1,000,000 (1999), which was a collection of further adventures in the life of the future heroes.

Plot details

In the 853rd century the original Superman ("Superman-Prime") still lives, but has spent over fifteen thousand years in a self-imposed exile in his Fortress of Solitude in the heart of the Sun in order to keep it alive, during which, everyone he knew and loved died. One of his descendants is "Kal Kent", the Superman of the 853rd century.

The galaxy is protected by the Justice Legions, which were inspired by the 20th-century Justice League and the 31st-century Legion of Super-Heroes, among others. Justice Legion Alpha, which protects the solar system, includes Kal Kent and future analogues of Wonder Woman, Hourman, Starman, Aquaman, The Flash and Batman. Advanced terraforming processes have made all the Solar System's planets habitable, with the ones most distant from the Sun being warmed by Solaris, a "star computer" which was once a villain but was reprogrammed by one of Superman's descendants.

Superman Prime announces that he will soon return to humanity and, to celebrate, Justice Legion Alpha travels back in time to the late 20th century to meet Superman's original teammates in the JLA, and bring them and Superman to the future to participate in games and displays of power as part of the celebration.

Meanwhile, in Russia, Vandal Savage single-handedly defeats the Titans (Arsenal, Tempest, Jesse Quick and Supergirl) when they attempt to stop him purchasing nuclear-powered Rocket Red suits. He then launches four Rocket Red suits (with a Titan trapped inside each of the four) in a nuclear strike on Washington D.C., Metropolis, Brussels and Singapore.

Unfortunately one member of the Justice Legion (the future Starman) has been bribed into betraying his teammates by Solaris, who has returned to his old habits. Before the original heroes can be returned to their own time the future Hourman, an android, collapses and releases a virus programmed by Solaris to attack machines and humans.

The virus affects the guidance systems of the Rocket Red suits and causes one of them to instead detonate over Montevideo, killing over a million people. Tempest (the Titan inside) had escaped long before the suit exploded by using the ice that formed on the suit at high altitude, although he subsequently blacked out and fell into the sea. The virus also drives humans insane, causing an increase in anger and paranoia worldwide. Believing this was deliberately planned by the JLA to stop him, Savage launches an all out war on superhumans using "blitz engines" he had created and hidden while allied with Hitler during World War II. The paranoia caused by the virus also leads the Justice Legion Alpha and the contemporary heroes to attack each other, although the Justice Legion Alpha manage to coordinate themselves enough to stop the other Rocket Red suits from hitting their targets.

The remnants of the JLA that stayed in the present and the Justice Legion Alpha overcome their paranoia when the future Superman and Steel realize the significance of the symbol they both wear; as Huntress had pointed out to Steel earlier, wearing the 'S' means that he has to make the hard choices. The two JLAs are eventually able to stop the virus when it is discovered that it is a complex computer program looking for appropriate hardware. To provide this hardware, the heroes are forced to build the body of Solaris (including in it a DNA sample of Superman's wife Lois Lane) and the virus flees from the Earth to this body, bringing Solaris to life. In a final act of repentance, the future Starman sacrifices himself to banish Solaris from the solar system. The future Superman forces himself through time using confiscated time-travel technology he finds in the Watchtower, almost dying in the process due to the drain on his powers.

Meanwhile, in the 853rd century, the original JLA are fighting an alliance between Solaris and Vandal Savage. Savage has found a sample of kryptonite on Mars (where it was left by the future Starman back in the 20th century), which he gives to Solaris. Savage has also hired Walker Gabriel to steal the time-travel gauntlets of the 853rd century Flash (John Fox) to ensure the Justice Legion remains trapped in the past. However, he ultimately doublecrosses Gabriel.

Solaris, in a final attack, slaughters thousands of superhumans so he can fire the kryptonite into the sun and kill Superman Prime before he emerges. The JLA's Green Lantern — a hero who uses a power that Solaris has never encountered before — causes Solaris to go supernova and he and the 853rd century Superman contain the resulting blast — but not before the kryptonite is released.

The future Vandal Savage teleports from Mars to Earth using the stolen Time-Gauntlets. It turns out, however, that Walker Gabriel and Mitch Shelley, the Resurrection Man (an immortal who had become Savage's greatest foe through the millennia), had sabotaged the Gauntlets so that Savage, instead of travelling only in space, also travels through time, arriving in Montevideo moments before the nuclear blast he caused centuries earlier, finally bringing his life to an end.

It is then revealed that a secret conspiracy—forewarned by the trouble in the 20th century, mainly in that Huntress, inspired by the time capsules which students in her class were currently making, realized they had centuries to foil the plot—has spent the intervening centuries coming up with a foolproof plan for stopping Solaris. Their actions included replacing the hidden kryptonite with a disguised Green Lantern ring, with which the original Superman emerges from the sun and finishes Solaris.

In the aftermath, the original Superman and the future Hourman use the DNA sample to recreate Lois Lane, complete with superpowers. Superman then also recreates Krypton, along with all its deceased inhabitants in Earth's Sol system. Lois and Superman apparently live happily ever after.

Crossovers

Alongside the main DC One Million miniseries and the accompanying 80-Page Giant issue, the following ongoing DC Comics books also partook in the event:

The Justice Legions

There are twenty-four Justice Legions. each based on 20th and 30th Century superhero teams. Those featured include:

Other characters

Several other futuristic versions appeared in the crossover, including:

Later references

In 2008, ten years after the crossover, an issue of Booster Gold (vol. 2) was published as "Booster Gold #1,000,000", and was announced as an official DC One Million tie-in by DC Comics. This comic introduced Peter Platinum, the Booster Gold of the 853rd century.

Grant Morrison's All-Star Superman limited series made several references to the DC One Million mini-series. The Superman from One Million makes an appearance and the series ends with Superman becoming an energy being who resides in the Sun after his body has been supercharged with yellow solar energy (similar in appearance to Superman Prime), and Solaris makes an appearance as well.

Morrison's Batman #700 also briefly shows the One Million-era Batman and his sidekick—Robin, the Toy Wonder—alongside a number of future iterations of Batman.

The One Million Batman, Robin and Superman play a significant role in Superman/Batman #79–80, in which Epoch battles Batmen and Supermen from various time periods.

By signing into your WBID account in-game, a One Million Version of Batman will be unlocked as a character skin in the video game Batman: Arkham Origins.

Collected editions

Awards

The original mini-series was a top vote-getter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Limited Series for 1999. The storyline was a top vote-getter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Story for 1999.

References

  1. ↑ DC One Million Omnibus at DCComics.com. Accessed 13 March 2017.
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