Dark Crisis is the latest in a long list of Crisis mega-events which have embroiled the heroes of the DC Universe and spanned multiple worlds, and an upcoming issue features a variant cover homaging the first story that kicked off this grand tradition.
Rafael Sarmento (Action Comics) draws the Justice League seated around a crystal ball as a wispy smoke cloud forms above them in his variant cover for Dark Crisis #2. As Batman, Superman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter join hands in a seance, they are greeted by the faces of the Justice Society of America - Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Black Canary, the original Green Lantern, Hourman and Atom.
Sarmento's art is a modernized take on the classic cover for 1963's Justice League of America #21. Originally drawn by Ira Schnapp, Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson, the issue's trade press boldly advertised the story within -- "Crisis on Earth-One," the first team-up between the Justice League and the Justice Society.
"Crisis on Earth-One" retains a pivotal position in DC history, not only for kicking off a line of stories with the word "Crisis" in the title but also by popularizing the idea that the Justice League was facing a threat so huge that it would change the DC status quo. Over the course of the story, which was penned by Gardner Fox and penciled by Sekowsky, these heroes found themselves outclassed by the Crime Champions, a variety of villains from both Earth-One -- which was classified in then-current continuity as the home of the Justice League -- and Earth-Two, home to the Justice Society.
After the Justice League became imprisoned, the Flash -- one of the few heroes to have previously traveled between Earths in The Flash #123's "The Flash of Two Worlds" -- urged his comrades to contact their Earth-Two counterparts. A mashup of DC's two biggest teams resulted, and the story spilled over into the following issue, Justice League of America #22's "Crisis on Earth-Two."
DC spun off other Crisis stories with meetups between the Justice League and the Justice Society throughout the 1960s, '70s and early '80s. These tales were eventually homaged in 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths, a limited series that destroyed the DC Multiverse and condensed all Earths into one. The Multiverse would return in time and further crises would follow -- the largest of which were 2005's Infinite Crisis, 2008's Final Crisis, and now Dark Crisis.
Dark Crisis #2 goes on sale July 5.
Source: DC