Our Worlds at War explained

"Our Worlds at War" is a comic book storyline, published by DC Comics in mid-2001. OWAW was a crossover storyline that spanned several different books, including several books starring Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and a number of supporting characters and books. Creators involved in the crossover included writers Jeph Loeb, Joe Casey, Mark Schultz, Joe Kelly, Phil Jimenez, and Peter David, and artists that included Mike Wieringo, Ed McGuinness, Doug Mahnke, Ron Garney, and Leonard Kirk.

Plot

The Our Worlds at War storyline involves the heroes battling Imperiex, a cosmic entity who represents entropy and threatens to destroy the universe.

Thanks to the sacrifice of Strange Visitor and General Rock, Earth's forces crack Imperiex's armor, releasing his energy. However, Brainiac-13 appears with Warworld and absorbs the energy, vowing to use it to rule everything.

In a desperate gambit, Superman dives into the Sun, gaining a massive power boost. Realizing that Warworld cannot be destroyed without releasing Imperiex and triggering another Big Bang, Superman and Martian Manhunter transport Imperiex and Brainiac back in time to the Big Bang, destroying them both.

Characters

• The Flash
• Superman
• Krypto
• Wonder Woman (Diana Prince, Hippolyta)
• Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner)
• Martian Manhunter
• Aquaman
• The Justice League of America
• Young Justice
• Superboy
• Supergirl
• Imperiex
• Brainiac 13
• Darkseid
• Grayven
• Doomsday
• Lex Luthor
• Suicide Squad
• Manchester Black
• Strange Visitor
• Lois Lane
• Lena Luthor
• Sam Lane

Deaths

• Steel: killed,^[1] then returned with another suit.
• Guy Gardner:^[2] suggested by dialogue, later proved false.
• Hippolyta:^[3] perished while saving Greek citizens. Has since returned.^[4]
• Aquaman: presumed dead, Atlantis missing.^[2] Has since returned.^[5]
• Sam Lane: killed.^[6] Later turns up alive.^[7]
• Maxima: killed.^[8]
• Massacre: killed.
• Jonathan and Martha Kent: missing.^[9] Later appear alive.^[10]
• Strange Visitor: killed.

Publications

The story ran through the following issues:

• Action Comics #780-782
• Adventures of Superman #593-596
• Batman #593-594
• Batman: Our Worlds at War #1
• Flash: Our Worlds at War #1
• Green Lantern: Our Worlds at War #1
• Harley Quinn: Our Worlds at War #1
• Impulse #77
• JLA: Our Worlds at War #1
• JSA: Our Worlds at War #1
• Nightwing: Our Worlds at War #1
• Superboy #89-91
• Supergirl #59-61
• Superman #171-173
• Superman: Our Worlds at War Secret Files and Origins #1
• #115-117
• Wonder Woman #171-173
• Wonder Woman: Our Worlds at War #1
• World's Finest Comics: Our Worlds at War #1
• Young Justice #35-36
• Young Justice: Our Worlds at War #1
• Superman/Batman #64, #68-71 (a brief new direction of the Superman/Batman series at the start of 2010 that featured a story that took place in the aftermath of Our Worlds at War with #64 acting as a prologue and #68 through #71 being the story proper complete with the trade dress banner).

Collected editions

The story has been collected into trade paperbacks:

• SUPERMAN: OUR WORLDS AT WAR VOL. 1 | 256pg. | Color | Softcover |
• SUPERMAN: OUR WORLDS AT WAR VOL. 2 | 247pg. | Color | Softcover |
• SUPERMAN: OUR WORLDS AT WAR THE COMPLETE EDITION | 512pg. | Color | Softcover |

Notes and References

1. Superman: Man of Steel #116 (September 2001)
2. JLA: Our Worlds at War #1 (September 2001)
3. Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #172 (September 2001)
4. Wonder Woman (vol. 3) #8 (June 2007)
5. JLA: The Obsidian Age (September 2002)
6. Action Comics (vol. 1) #781 (September 2001)
7. Superman: New Krypton Special #1 (December 2008)
8. Superman: The Man of Steel #117 (October 2001)
9. Superman (vol. 1) #172 (September 2001)
10. Superman (vol. 1) #174 (November 2001)