Underworld Unleashed was a multi-title American comic book crossover event released by DC Comics in 1995 consisting of 3 main event issues, several tie-ins and four one-shot issues. The event mini-series was written by Mark Waid, with illustrations by Howard Porter, and inked by Dan Green and Dennis Janke. Editorial credits include Ruben Diaz, Alisande Morales (assistants) and Brian Augustyn.
The main gimmick of the story was Neron, new ruler of Hell, offering supervillains and superheroes alike various deals in exchange for their immortal souls. Neron ultimately gets defeated when Captain Marvel offers his own soul in exchange for Neron freeing Earth and all of the heroes, the trick being that after accepting the deal Neron discovers he can’t actually keep a pure soul being offered altruistically, making Neron break his own deal. It’s all a bit nonsensical really.
Although many of the deals were reversed as a result of the climax, many characters walked away with lasting consequences. Notably Lex Luthor regained and kept his health and youth (he had preciously forced to amputate and use an artificial hand as a side-effect of Kryptonite poisoning and later transferred his mind into a clone which eventually started to deteriorate due to a clone related illness). Blue Devil died and got resurrected as a real demon. Copperhead remains a man-snake hybrid and years later gets killed in that form off by Manhunter. Metallo was still shown to be able to morph his robot body and transfer his mind to other devices during the electric Superman era.
Thanks, ChatGPT.
Seriously. Wtf is the point of this thread?
I know, right?
It's weird that Waid said he doesn't like the rogues cause they're silly but his Trickster was so good.
The foreword he wrote for the collection of this actually has him say that he regretted it. That was written in 1998
Does he regret it for bringing the Rogues back? He actually did that later in a sequel in Flash.
The original concept for Underworld Unleashed was that Waid thought DC's silver age villains were too corny for the modern era so he was going to edge them up into serial killers and mass murderers. To research, he went back to his old issues and rediscovered that he actually loved these corny guys and pivoted to just giving power upgrades while keeping their essence the same. He killed off the rogues at the beginning knowing he was going to bring them back later in Flash more or less the same, just a bit surlier for the experience of having been in Hell.
Heroes and villains who accepted
- Abra Kadabra — Given true magical powers which replaced his futuristic science-based ones; became one of Neron's lieutenants.
- the Atomic Skull II — Given greater power so that he could impress the love of his life, "Zelda Wentworth".
- Black Manta — Transformed into a human/manta ray hybrid creature with superhuman powers; chronologically the first story in the crossover event, taking place before it even got started.[1]
- Blackguard — Given enhanced strength, intelligence and equipment.
- Blaze — Became one of Neron's lieutenants.
- Blockbuster II — Wanted to be smart instead of stupid; given a genius-level intellect.
- Blue Devil — Given a chance at fame and fortune.
- Bolt — Got a chance to carry out his "dream" assassination: the murder of a well-protected computer expert.
- Brimstone — Given greater power.
- the Buggmeister — Given an insectoid appearance and powers based on insects. Eaten alive by a giant stag beetle.
- Captain Boomerang — Manipulated by Abra Kadabra with the promise of greater glory for the Rogues.
- Captain Cold — Manipulated by Abra Kadabra with the promise of greater glory for the Rogues and also given cybernetic hands to replace his real ones, which had been previously shot off and thus severed by Deadshot during an earlier mission with the Suicide Squad.
- the Cheetah — Sold her soul in exchange for resurrecting a friend named Chuma from the dead; transformed into a human/cheetah hybrid creature with the mind of a savage beast and able to grow more savage the angrier she became.
- Chiller — Got a chance to carry out his "dream" assassination: the murder of a well-protected pop star
>Captain Cold — Manipulated by Abra Kadabra with the promise of greater glory for the Rogues and also given cybernetic hands to replace his real ones, which had been previously shot off and thus severed by Deadshot during an earlier mission with the Suicide Squad.
What the frick? Granted I havent' read the WML Flash run, but Cold was only on the Squad for one story (the rematch with Jihad) and didn't get his hands shot by Deadshot and have to have them amputated in that story....
- Circe — Given greater magical power.
- Chronos — Time travel, time manipulation and phasing powers, which caused accelerated aging that was partially averted by his creating a power glove which enabled him to transfer it to others.
- the Copperhead — Sold his soul in exchange for no longer being cosidered a joke; transformed into a human/venomous snake hybrid creature which was, however, vulnerable to cold temperatures as a real snake would be.
- Deadline — Got a chance to carry out his "dream" assassination: the murder of a Texas district attorney.
- Deadshot — Got a chance to carry out his "dream" assassination: the murder of an entire kindergarten class.
- Dr. Phosphorus — Given greater burning power and personal temperature control which allowed him to wear clothes without having them burn off of his body.
- Doctor Polaris — Restored sanity and the removal of his Neal Emerson persona.
- the Earthworm — Given superhuman powers, including a humanoid worm-like physiology, stretching powers, a vibrational drill power, and psionic control of sewer vermin.
- the Enforcer III — Given a yellow power glove that was similar to Sinestro's yellow power ring, enhanced superhuman strength, enhanced durability and flight powers.
Evil Star II — He became able to create dozens of his "Starling" spawn which were now more savage and vicious than his original four "Starlings;" however, they were no longer indestructible as said original four "Starlings" were
>Deadshot — Got a chance to carry out his "dream" assassination: the murder of an entire kindergarten class.
Huh, I thought he was an antihero?
This was after they dissolved Suicide Squad and Deadshot was back in full villain mode. And later on, Ostrander wholesale retconned the entire story in Secret Six by changing the nature of Deadshot's deal to being similar to Joker's where he got something basic b***h (in Deadshot's case, a huge amount of ammo to use for future capers).
Make sure you got the original softcover; the recent hardcover version was infamous for being fricked up (the mini used a special neon ink not normally used in comics for Neron's flame effect but the decimated Collections department at DC didn't know/bother to research it so the flame effect for the entire mini-series was printed as generic white and they pretty much refused to do a recall and replace deal).
It's interesting that the only thing out of Underworld Unleashed that stuck was Robinson using it for his Starman finale.
I kinda want to know the behind the scenes stuff about this event and how many writers just hated the whole idea of having to do a tie-in and if that’s why so many of these end up being a generic variation of “they get a power boost and/or turn into a monster”. Or if it was just a case of not giving a shit.
Because it’s pretty clear that only few writers seemed to actually put some real thought to what they could do with the premise.
>It's interesting that the only thing out of Underworld Unleashed that stuck was Robinson using it for his Starman finale.
Depends what you mean by "stuck". Neron became a recurring DC villain who has been featured in a bunch of stories since. A lot of the power upgrades and new looks stuck around for decades after, for example Killer Frost's new look and powers were used all the way up until New 52.
Some of them were dumped pretty quickly though. I don't think noire gumshoe Dr Phosphorus appeared outside of that Starman issue.
- the Faux-Azrael — Wished to survive his fall from the Ice Cathedral[2] and then be given another chance to kill Azrael; however, he accepted a counter-offer to be given the opportunity to kill Batman instead.
- Gorilla Grodd — The return of his psionic powers, genius-level intellect, and speech.
- the Harlequin – Restored youth and the power to create nightmares; her soul was won back and the deal undone by her husband Alan Scott at the cost of his own soul (see below).
- Hawkman – Given control of his Hawk avatars.
- Heat Wave – Manipulated by Abra Kadabra with the promise of greater glory for the Rogues.
- the Hellgrammite – Given enhanced power and his "Drone" offspring could no longer be converted back into humans by exposure to X-rays.
- the Ice Man – Given a completely new set of non-ice based weapons and enhanced strength. Killed by Neron as part of a later deal with Vril Dox II (see below).
- the Joker – Given a box of Cuban cigars and seemed to have accepted the offer simply for the sheer fun of it.
- Killer Frost II – Given greater cold power.
- Killer Moth – Sold his soul in exchange for being feared instead of being considered a joke; transformed into a carnivorous human/moth hybrid creature and called himself Charaxes (this name is based on an actual butterfly genus).
- Lex Luthor – Restored health and vitality.
Lobo – Rid himself of a miniature radio that had been implanted into his brain by having it transferred into Neron's brain instead
>the Harlequin – Restored youth and the power to create nightmares; her soul was won back and the deal undone by her husband Alan Scott at the cost of his own soul (see below).
wait I thought he was gay
>wait I thought he was gay
He was straight and married with two adult children until the New 52 gayged him out.
>Killer Moth – Sold his soul in exchange for being feared instead of being considered a joke; transformed into a carnivorous human/moth hybrid creature and called himself Charaxes
Thanks, I hate it.
Was the teen titans version inspired a bit by his underworld unleashed design?
>- the Joker – Given a box of Cuban cigars and seemed to have accepted the offer simply for the sheer fun of it.
This was the first comic I ever read
- Madame Xanadu — Given the power to command and control three demons named Bathopet, Maw and Atopeh in exchange for her soul when she died, thereby tricking Neron because she was immortal and therefore couldn't die. Neron, however, in a cruel twist, told her that he had only made the deal with her in order to prove that he could tempt those with "gray souls" as well as evil ones.
- Major Disaster — Sold his soul in exchange for no longer being considered a joke; given the magical ability to perceive probabilities and to locate the weak points in people and objects (but now also able to see only the worst in life) in exchange for killing Aquaman; kills Thanatos instead after mistakenly believing that he was Aquaman.
- Malcolm Merlyn the Dark Archer — Got a chance to carry out his "dream" assassination: the murder of Batman.
- Metallo — Given the power to morph his body into any mechanical shape that he could imagine, project his consciousness into any technological or metallic device and absorb any machinery he came into contact with in order to enhance his body.
- the Mirror Master III — Manipulated by Abra Kadabra with the promise of greater glory for the Rogues.
- the Mist — Restored sanity and the curing of his senility.
- Mister Freeze — Given natural cryokinetic powers and the ability to survive in warm climates without even having to wear his cryo-suit (but was then reverted back to what he was before he accepted the offer, thus possibly undoing the deal).
- the New Gods of Apokolips — Granny Goodness and Virman Vundabar were both given information about each others' schemes (so as to perpetuate their civil war with each other) and Doctor Bedlam made an unknown offer designed to cause chaos and death on New Apokolips, although Targa, a Hunger Dog, refused to make a deal even after Neron told him that he was destined to rule New Apokolips (however, in this case he may have been lying as usual). In exchange for all of this, Neron caused war and chaos on New Apokolips just for the sake of doing so
- the Ocean Master — Given a trident that gave him magical powers, but also caused him excruciating pain and hideously scarred his face when he was not actually, physically holding it.
- the Psycho-Pirate II — Restored sanity and being merged with his Medusa Mask, becoming a psychic vampire as a result of this who fed on the life force of others after his mask had fed on their emotions.
- Purgatory — A man who lost his legs and was given temporary legs by Green Lantern V; given real legs and a green flame power by Neron in exchange for killing Green Lantern V. Taken to Hell by Neron while he was still alive after he failed to do so after two attempts.
- the Ragdoll — Restored youth and health and enhanced flexibility.
- the Ray II — Convinced that Neron was a beautiful woman, mainly Circe, with a business deal. Did not fulfill the terms of his deal and so did not lose his soul nor benefit from the deal.
- Satanus — Leniency from Neron (in exchange for his sister Blaze); became one of Neron's lieutenants.
- Sentinel – A chance to save the soul of his wife Molly Mayne-Scott and undo her deal with Neron after she had already accepted his offer (see above).
- the Shadow Thief — Given a more powerful costume that possessed the ability to bring shadows to life and change other people and objects into evil shadows that were under his control.
- Shrapnel — Given greater power.
- Sledge — Given enhanced strength.
- the Spectre — Separation from Jim Corrigan, his human host.
- the Spellbinder III — Given the power to create actual, physical illusions that her victims would believe were real; however, this power only worked if her eyes were uncovered.
- Star Sapphire II — Carol Ferris was offered a normal life without both Star Sapphire II's spirit and her child (the latter of whom was actually the child of both Star Sapphire II and the Predator (who were the two aspects (female and male, respectively) of Carol's own personality)); separated from both Star Sapphire II and the Predator, after which both of them were killed by Neron, who then quietly took the child away in his arms (the exact reason why Neron wanted the child in the first place was never revealed and the entire incident was never referred to or even mentioned again; later, the DC crossover event Infinite Crisis erased it from history).
- Tezcatlipoca — Transformed into a human/jaguar hybrid.
- the Trickster — The chance to become an A-list villain (although he actually never accepted the offer).
- Vril Dox II — Offered up the soul of his son, Lyrl Dox, in exchange for control of L.E.G.I.O.N.Later had the Ice Man killed (see above) (actually, he asked for him to "no longer be a problem," but was happy with the result).
- the Warrior — Offered the restoration of both Coast City and his loved ones in exchange for killing John Stewart. Reneged on the deal and thus saved his soul.
- the Weather Wizard — Manipulated by Abra Kadabra with the promise of greater glory for the Rogues.
Got the details wrong on Vril Dox; he didn't sell his son's soul but that of an unnamed ancestor a thousand years in the future in exchange for information for how to stop his son's reign of terror (which ended up being Vril being told that his son could be lobotomized/stripped of his genius level intelligence by exploiting the part of his DNA that was his mother, Stealth's DNA as she was from a race of shape shifting monsters who's male children take the form of the male species that their mother mates with).
While never officially confirmed, it's all but outright stated that the ancestor of Vril's who got fricked over/lost their soul was Brainiac 5's mom; who was born a full-on sociopath who was incapable of empathy and who was obsessed with death and harming others through science, to the point that Brainy had to be taken out of her custody because she kept abusing, torturing, attempting to mutilate her son when he was born and later, formed the Dark Circle to try and start a space war that would have killed millions.
Heroes who refused
- Batman — The resurrection of Jason Todd.
- Captain Atom — Unknown offer.
- Damage — Unknown offer.
- the Flash III — The resurrection of Barry Allen.
- Green Lantern V — The resurrection of Alexandra DeWitt.
- Max Mercury — Unknown offer.
Mystek — Unknown offer.
- the Oracle — Was approached by Neron, but not in the same way as the other heroes were. For her, she would regain the use of her legs and be given super-powers that woulld rival even those of Superman if she would become his librarian. Her soul, however, was hers to keep. She refused, knowing that she would lose her soul anyway no matter what Neron had promised her.
- the Silver Swan II — Among the villains assembled in Hell by Neron in issue #1, but by this time she was no longer a villain, but had reformed and become an active hero in the earlier DC crossover event War of the Gods.
- Superboy — Offered the chance to become Superman.
- Triumph — Was offered his lost 10 years back, and thus the opportunity to become a major super-hero and lead Justice League America, if he simply opened a box containing one of Neron's candles.
>- Triumph — Was offered his lost 10 years back, and thus the opportunity to become a major super-hero and lead Justice League America, if he simply opened a box containing one of Neron's candles.
who?
Basically 90s version of the Sentry except not as OP. His gimmick was that he was the original founding member and leader of the Justice League that everyone forgot because on their first mission together Triumph does something that sends him to limbo and it also affected the timeline in a way that erased everyone’s awareness of him. His deal was that after he returns he was pissy about the fact that he was meant to be the greatest hero in the world and he annoys everyone around him with his behaviour. Later he turns evil and dies.
at the end of justice league task force gypsy lit triumph's candle without knowing it was important, so he did get the 10 years back and was still a failure, which was why he became a villain in JLA
Villains who refused
- Airstryke — Unknown offer.
- the Fiddler — The only one of the villains assembled in Hell who recognized Neron as the devil right from the beginning.
- Knockout — Offered "power, prestige, anything you could dream of".
- Mongul I — Killed by Neron after refusing his offer and then attacking him because he thought that Neron had insulted him by saying that all of the villains assembled in Hell - including him - were all failures before Neron had come into their lives.
- Poison Ivy — Unknown offer.
- the Prankster — Unknown offer.
- the Riddler — Unknown offer.
- the Scarecrow — Claimed to have dealt with Neron while battling Hawkman, but privately revealed he was bluffing and hadn't accepted the offer after all.
- the Spellbinder — Refused Neron's offer, then was immediately shot and killed by his girlfriend Fay Moffit, who then took the deal for herself and became the Spellbinder III as a result of this.
- the Shade — Refused Neron's offer, even going so far to tell Neron when the demon told him that he was forming an army of villains, "Go peddle your wares with them". Furious at this refusal and vowing revenge on the Shade for said refusal, Neron subsequently indirectly organized a later large attack on Opal City and used the Shade's arch-enemy, Simon Culp, to try to harm him.
- Terra-Man — Unknown offer.
- Vandal Savage — Offered his soul willingly and without being asked if he even wanted to make a deal, but this time Neron himself absolutely refused it as Savage's soul was, in Neron's own words, "black and tasteless" instead of innocent. Because of this, Neron did not want it at all under any circumstances.
Waid sucks.
There should be more consequences and long term developments played out from this. Selling your soul should be a big deal.
But it kinda did have consequences. Blue Devil was stuck being an actual demon and as a devout catholic couldn’t go to church anymore. Some of the villains who made the deal and turned into monsters never got it turned back to humans, such as Copperhead and Killer Moth.
More. That's piss all.
Killer Moth actually did, sort of. They wholesale retconned the Killer Moth from Underworld Unleashed that became a moth monster as a fake who stole the real Killer Moth's costume and ended up getting the candle as a result.
Weird they would go out of their way to retcon that and not just have him revert back to human the same way someone like Black Manta did. Especially since it’s fricking Killer Moth, who was dying to specifically do more human Moth stories at this point?
Wait, was this why Killer Moth became an actual weird mothman in Dixon's Robin?
Underworld Unleashed is also pretty special as an event because it’s the only major crossover event that I can think of where Superman isn’t involved with the story at all. In-story explanation is that he’s in space dealing with his own book’s storyline. Couple of Superman titles do technically take part but they show just Superman involved with his space story, and then it switches to Earth where Lex, Superboy, Maggie Sawyer etc. are actually dealing with Neron related stuff.
that's kino
Nope.
Yes
Nah.
One of my favorite characters traits was that only Billy Bastion had a pure soul. Eclipso was able to corrupt Superman but he couldn't corrupt Captain Marvel.
I picked up a used copy of this a few months ago. It was alright, not really big or impactful but a decent little story. At least now I can lend it to a friend after they read my Starman compendiums to help teach them that you don't need to read every single comic that gets referenced by every other comic, and that that sort of thinking is just bullshit memed up by turbo-weebs.
I love it when comics use a C-list character as a POV to focus on a larger event like they did with Trickster here. Wish more events did it as it gives you a real reason to have a nontraditional story that's not just another Superman or Spider-man arc. Probably the best part of 52 was viewing this massive conflict through the pespectives of Booster, Steel, Montoya, and Ralph Dibney of all people.
ez half off
I thought it was weak.
I'm legitimately happy to have this thread. Underworld Unleashed was one of my favorite "events." DC is always at its most interesting when telling stories of magic and the afterlife in particular.
Part of me wishes that dc adapted It into one of there animated films
There’s so little story that it would actually translate easily to a 70 minute movie. Trouble is it’s not exactly well or fondly
remembered by people, and the central characters wouldn’t really help sell it, so it has no real chance of being adapted. Final Night is more likelihood because it’s actually memorable even if it has no real great hook and or villain
>even if it has no real great hook
Tim/Steph are cute in it.
It gave us the iconic Killer Frost look.