Issue #1
The goddess Perpetua, who is destroying all realities to restart the Multiverse in her image, takes over Prime Earth. Her lieutenant, the Batman Who Laughs, aided by an army of evil Batmen from the Dark Multiverse, enforces her rule. All resistance has been crushed, and Earth's heroes have been impressed into her servitude. However, a mysterious prisoner awakens memories in Warden Wonder Woman, who rules over the Tartarus Pits of Hell (formerly Themyscira).
A meeting with the Batman Who Laughs' Justice League—consisting of Harley Quinn, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Mister Miracle, who are each paired with a Dark Knight of the Dark Multiverse—is interrupted by the main Batman. Wonder Woman argues with her former teammates, saying that they need to fix everything, not just what is left. Wonder Woman returns to the Tartarus Pits and discovers that the mysterious prisoner is Wally West. He retells Diana the story of Perpetua and how she covertly manipulated many previous Crises. Wonder Woman decides to create the first Anti-Crisis and is confronted by the Batman Who Laughs, whom she kills with the invisible Chainsaw of Truth. Though dead, the Dark Knights work to unleash the Batman Who Laughs' true plan of preparing the body of the final Bruce Wayne. In an underground bunker, Batman enlists the help of a severed Sgt. Rock.[11]
Issue #2
In the Hellscape (outside of what used to be Washington, D.C.), Wonder Woman, Wally West, and Swamp Thing go to Valhalla Cemetery, a secret graveyard guarded by the surviving members of the JSA: Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, Doctor Fate and Wildcat. There, Batman and Jonah Hex work to conscript an army from the tombs in the crypt, which include Atom, Black Condor, Dove, Johnny Quick, Phantom Lady, and Sandman, among others.
Batman plans take Castle Bat, a version of Bruce Wayne who became a living Gotham City, to forge a new Earth. Meanwhile, Diana plans to travel to the original Crises through the Dark Universe, steal the energy taken by Perpetua, and give it to Wally, who would then restart the Multiverse. Jay calls in Barry Allen, who takes Wonder Woman and Batman to New Apokolips, a prison that houses the remaining heroes, to save their friends. At Castle Bat, the Dark Knights secretly transfer the Batman Who Laughs' brain into an energy construct based on
Legends of the Dark Knights
Prior to events, the Batman Who Laughs recruited five new Dark Knight members:
In the middle of this, the Batman Who Laughs discovers the existence of Batmanhattan (the "final" Bruce Wayne), who replicated the formula of Doctor Manhattan's powers. The Batman Who Laughs incapacitated Manhattan to access his body and transform into the Darkest Knight.[12]
- The Robin King, a psychotic child version of Bruce Wayne who kills anyone, even his own family, to get what he wants.
- Batmansaurus Rex, a Batman who turned his body into a robot dinosaur.
- Castle Bat, a Batman who killed his son as part of a ritual to transfer his soul into Gotham City.
- Batmobeast, a Batman who transferred his soul into a cybernetic vehicle.
- Baby Batman, a Batman who made himself a cloned body in order to still live but who was reborn prematurely.
Issue #3
On New Apokolips, Wonder Woman's team defeats an army of Para-Robins, hybrids of Parademonss and various Robins. The planet's ruler, Darkfather, is a version of Batman who absorbed the powers of Darkseid. Batman works to free Superman from Darkfather's torture machine, but Darkfather shoots him. The gun, which was modified to erase Batman from history, has no effect. Superman breaks free with Batman's Black Lantern ring and punches Darkfather into space. They free the remaining heroes, and Wonder Woman relays her plan to save all reality.
The heroes use Jarro, the baby Starro, to avoid detection from the Dark Knights and re-enter the Dark Multiverse. Meanwhile, the Darkest Knight and the Robin King break into Valhalla Cemetery. Knowing that he is there to steal Wally's powers, Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West lead Darkest Knight into a chase. Lobo acquires the fifth and final box of "Death Metal" needed for his employer, Lex Luthor, who is planning to begin work on his own reality-warping plans.
Lex Luthor narrates the invasion of Earth by the Dark Knights, led by the Batman Who Laughs. The irradiated Western Coast split off and became the Arkham Wastelands, where Harley Quinn rules under Doctor Arkham. The East Coast becomes Megaopokalips, transformed by Darkfather. Gotham City split off into its own continent, where it replaces Canada and contains the Batman Who Laughs' headquarters, Castle Bat.
Themyscira turned into the Tartarus Pits governed by Wonder Woman, and Gemworld became part of the new Hell. Mexico is replaced by Skartaris. The Rock of Eternity fell into Fawcett City, freeing the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man. Bathomet gave Aquaman control of Earth's ocean and the mechanical Black Fleet. Afterward, Lex hired Lobo to help him rescue the Legion of Doom.[13]
Trinity Crisis
Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman travel back to the three great Crises to stop Perpetua's manipulation. On the way, they encounter Barbatos, who taunts them for needing a Crisis to mend their failures. The trinity rejects their idea and continues on: Batman visits the original Crisis, Wonder Woman visits the Infinite Crisis, and Superman visits the Final Crisis. However, they are confronted by a victorious Anti-Monitor, Superboy-Prime, and Darkseid, respectively. Superboy taunts Wonder Woman, claiming that Perpetua has already changed the outcome of these events.[14]
Nightwing, along with a band of allies, including Hawkgirl and a reluctant Detective Chimp, is tasked by Lex Luthor to rescue the Legion of Doom.[15]
Barry, Wally, and Jay team up with Kid Flash and the rest of the Flash family to outrun the Darkest Knight and his army of Dark Multiverse Flashes in order to reach the Mobius Chair.[16]
Multiverse's End
The Green Lantern Corps and the Justice Incarnate unite against the remaining Earths that have sworn loyalty to Perpetua: Earth-3, Earth-10, Earth-29, Earth-43, and Earth-50. Meanwhile, John Stewart tries to convince a reluctant Owlman to betray Perpetua and rise against the destruction of the Multiverse. He does so and uses a special gun made on Qward to kill Ultraman and Superwoman.[17]
Issue #4
Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are trapped in Dark versions of the original Crisis Trilogy, where the main villains have won. Across Gotham, the Flash family burn up the Speed Force to outpace the Darkest Knight. Wally contacts Jarro, who is trying to stop Harley Quinn from killing the Robin King after he murdered Hex. Wonder Woman learns how Superboy-Prime killed Alexander Luthor Jr. and holds her responsible. Superboy-Prime prepares to direct all Crisis energy into Darkest Knight. Wonder Woman convinces Superboy-Prime to reconsider, and he shatters the Crisis worlds, saving Batman and Superman, while also directing the energy to Wally. However, their plan fails, as Darkest Knight has rigged the Mobius Chair to always direct the power to himself.[18]
Starfire and Cyborg are fresh from their return to Earth and unite with Nightwing's team, where they come face-to-face with a valley of Starros. Meanwhile, the Martian Manhunter matches wits with the Dark Knight equivalent of himself called the Mindhunter.[19]
Lex Luthor and Nightwing help the others escape the valley, which is revealed to be a giant Starro. Lex constructs a vessel,, which he names after Lana Lang, to continue the journey to Brimstone Bay. However, Detective Chimp is disheartened by the whole experience, and Hawkgirl is more prioritized with saving Martian Manhunter.[20]
Robin King
The Robin King recounts how the Batman Who Laughs recruited him into his Robin army. He is confronted by the Red Tornado, Animal Man, and Blue Beetle, but he kills all three. Meanwhile, Signal along with Spoiler, Orphan, and Red Robin battle against Quietus, a Dark Knight that is a fusion of Batman, Ra's al Ghul, and Duke Thomas.[21]
Rise of the New God
Chronicler views the DC Universe through the eyes of Psycho-Pirate and Vril Dox while resurrecting the New God Metron. After Multiverse's End, John Stewart considers recruiting more members into the Green Lantern Corps.[22]
Perpetua's Omega Knight prepares to annihilate Nightwing's team when Detective Chimp comes to the rescue. Simultaneously, Hawkgirl saves Martian Manhunter from the Mindhunter. Regrouped, the team worked together to both distract the Omega Knight and destroy the throne tower holding the Legion of Doom captive.[20]
Infinite Hour Exxxtreme!
Lobo narrates how Lex Luthor hired him to receive the Death Metal while on the run from a Batman/Lobo mashup known as The Batman Who Frags.[23]
The crew frees the Legion of Doom and defeats the Omega Knight. Soon after, they join the other heroes in their fight against the Darkest Knight.[24]
Issue #5
Now with god-like powers, the Darkest Knight orders Castle Bat, which has turned into a colossal Batman, to attack the heroes. Castle Bat gains the upperhand before it is shot down by the Hall of Doom, piloted by Lex Luthor. Meanwhile, the Darkest Knight and Perpetua battle as the latter begins her attack on Earth-49. Luthor reveals that he is making a machine that allows them to peer into the heart of reality. Using this machine, they can obtain the Anti-Crisis energy needed to fight the Darkest Knight. Batman reveals that he has been using the Black Lantern ring because he has already died, and Superman knows that there is no stopping his transformation into Darkseid.
While Wonder Woman leads an army of cloned Lobos into the Rock of Eternity, Superman frees several villains and recruits the remaining Supermen, Lantern Corps, and Black Adam to destabilize Prime Earth and stop the Darkest Knight from siphoning any more Crisis energy. Weakened, the Darkest Knight is unable to free himself from Perpetua. As a result, he deploys his evil Earths to kill the united army of heroes and villains. Batman uses the Black Lantern Ring to revive several deceased heroes, including Ultraman and Johnny Quick.[25]
The Multiverse Who Laughs
The Robin King tells stories in the New Dark Multiverse to the Groblins:
- Zsasz in "Feeding the Beast" -
- The Super-Pets in "The Super-Threats" -
- Green Arrow and Green Lantern in "Hard-Traveled" -
- Steel in "The Fear Index" - [26]
The Last Stories of the DC Universe
The heroes of the DC Universe spend their last moments together before they prepare for their final battle against The Batman Who Laughs and his new Dark Multiverse:
- The Titans in "Together Pt. 1" -
- Green Lantern in "Last Knights" -
- Wonder Woman in "The Question" -
- Green Arrow and Black Canary in "Dust of a Distant Storm" -
- Aquaman in "Whale Fall" -
- The Bat-Family in "We Fight for Love" -
- Superman in "Man of Tomorrow" -
- The Titans in "Together Pt. 2" - [27]
Issue #6
Earth begins a large battle with the Darkest Knight's "Last 52" Earths. Batman uses his Black Lantern Ring to get the Batman Who Laughs' corpse to fight alongside them. Elsewhere, Perpetua and the Darkest Knight continue fighting, and Perpetua tells the Darkest Knight that she is protecting the Multiverse from her own kind. The Darkest Knight traps Perpetua in the fragments of the Source Wall and kills her, realigning Prime Earth and continuing to absorb Crisis Energy. He revives members of the Dark Knights and deploys them against Earth. On Earth, Wonder Woman falls into the World Forge and is confronted by Darkseid and the baby Anti-Monitor. Diana dips her Lasso of Truth into the World Forge, realizing that it is needed to create Luthor's machine. A golden-clad Wonder Woman erupts from the ground and confronts the Darkest Knight.[28]
The Secret Origin
Remembering his past with his beloved Laurie, his run-ins with the Superman Family, and his changing throughout the Crisis, Superboy-Prime takes his anger out on the Darkest Knight. The Darkest Knight offers to bring back Superboy-Prime's Earth, but is felled by a powerful onslaught of punches. The resulting explosion kills Superboy-Prime, who wakes up back in his world, where he is reading about this very story. Laurie visits him, and they go for a walk. Superboy-Prime saves a kid from getting hit by a car, revealing he still has his powers.[29]
The Last 52: War of the Multiverses
The final battle rages on:
- Fight - Wonder Woman faces off against the Darkest Knight.
- First & Last Men - The Superman Family and their enemies battle with the "Superiors of the Ancient House of El" (consisting of the Last Sun, the Saint, the Savior, and the Shepherd).
- The Batmen Who Laugh - Batman finds himself under attack by the corpse of the Batman Who Laughs.
- Unstable Atoms - Ryan Choi overcomes his own shortcomings to help Mister Terrific and Will Magnus remake the Metal Men.
- No More Superheroes - Lois Lane comes face-to-face her own dark counterpart.
- Falling Through the Cracks - Raven saves the Teen Titans from her own evil counterpart.
- Apicus - The Penguin undergoes a hideous transformation.
- Armageddon Blues - Two John Constantines have one last drink before the end.
Issue #7
The golden Wonder Woman and Darkest Knight engage in a fight that spans time and space. She is brought to the birth of creation, where the Darkest Knight reveals that Perpetua's people (referred to as "the Hands") will erase the universe, killing half of her friends. She is given two choices: continue fighting and lose, or surrender to the Darkest Knight and use their combined power to kill the Hands. However, Wonder Woman strikes him, punching him forward through time and into the dying embers of Earth's sun.
The Hands arrive, and Wonder Woman imagines a young Universe. She shoves the Darkest Knight into the Death Sun, killing him. She awakens in a white void and meets one of the Hands in the form of her Golden Age counterpart. The Hand tells Wonder Woman that her actions have allowed them to rethink their methods and that the Multiverse will be completely restored without walls or boundaries. In exchange, Wonder is ascended to assist the Hands to stop any looming threat.
On Earth, the Hall of Justice holds a large celebration featuring every hero and villain who helped defeat the Darkest Knight. Barry reveals to Wally "the Totality", a shield protecting the world from future threats. Lex Luthor refers to the new Multiverse as the "Omniverse", an Infinite Frontier of possibilities. Prime Earth is no longer the center of the Multiverse, as it is one of two sources of energy in the Multiverse, the other being the Absolute Universe. In 1941, Sgt. Rock finishes writing his experience in Carter Hall's journal as he leads the Justice Society of America into battle.[31]
