Showcase #100

Showcase #100 is what might be considered the true origin of Crisis on Infinite Earths. The story is pretty simple: Alien threat, time displaced heroes, and the Spectre being a bad-ass and moving planets.

Why have I included this non-crisis issue as the first in the bind? It pre-dates COIE by almost 7 years and doesn't once multiverse. But the story is one in which a hundred characters are wedged into a cohesive plot and for one issue, they have to fight a universal evil.  Why are the heroes presented gathered? Well all of them were featured characters in previous issues of Showcase. As a result, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are absent.

So a bit about the cast of characters. There is a wide collection of odd ones rarely seen in the contemporary DC world. Of course the Metal Men, Sea Devils, and Teen Titans have their spots in the cast of hundreds, but Space Ranger, Tommy Tomorrow, Firehair, and the Inferior Five don't really catch people's attention these days. Probably even more importantly Lois Lane and Angel,  of Angel and the Ape, play a prominent role. And of course they share a slightly awkward pseudo-lebionic moment at the story's end.