Our Worlds at War

The next 3 months were an ambitious company-wide crossover called Our Worlds at War.  There was no stand-alone series for this crossover, the main story unfolded in the Superman books.  Some other series like Superboy, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman had tie-ins every month, but most of the other tie-ins were one shots, even if those characters had their own ongoing series at the time.

Superman #171

Professor Hamilton locates the missing planet Pluto, but when Superman flies to it he discovers it's been transformed into a new Warworld.  Superman is ambushed by the Fatal Five, a 31st Century team of antagonists to the Legion of Super-Heroes who he has never met before in post-Crisis continuity.  This Fatal Five turns out just to be hard light projections that dissipate when Superman takes them off-planet.  The Warworld Pluto comes fully online and then the planet self-destructs.  Though this doesn't lead to a crossover with the Legion, it does inspire a present-day Persuader a few months later.

At the White House, President Luthor is visited at night by his daughter, Lena, now an adult.  Lena warns Luthor of the war that is about to start, then she goes to Brainiac 13's side on another Warworld.  Our Worlds at War would have uncanny predictions to real world events a few months later, such as President George W. Bush ignoring warnings of an imminent attack, and then starting a war with misinformation.

In Green Lantern: Our Worlds at War #1, Kyle Reiner accompanies Superman on a different exploration of War World, where he meets a hard light apparition of Sinestro, who was dead at the time.

Adventures of Superman #593

Trying to find out where Mongul is being held, Lois Lane investigates some government-ordered transfers from Stryker's Island Prison and the trail leads to her father, who is now the Secretary of Defense.

A mysterious radio signal leads Superman to an abandoned government facility, where he's attacked by a new Suicide Squad consisting of Shrapnel, Plasmus, Chemo, and Manchester Black as field leader.  Like previous versions of the Suicide Squad, Manchester Black is being forced on missions or else a bomb in his brain will explode.  Manchester Black decided to field test his new team against the Man of Steel, but Superman easily defeats them.  

Superman follows the Squad's radio signals back to an underground bunker where he overhears that Luthor is planning to use Mongul for something next.  An angry Superman warns President Luthor that if anything goes wrong with this plan he'll expose it to the world.

With some unexpected help from Talia al Ghul, Batman sneaks into a secret government facility where Strange Visitor is under constant surveillance in Batman: Our Worlds at War #1.  Later, Bruce Wayne goes to the Daily Planet to find Superman and ask him if he knows anything about a project called the Doomsday Contingency.

The Linear Men draft Young Justice into the war between Imperiex and Brainiac 13 in Young Justice: Our Worlds at War #1.

Superman: The Man of Steel #115

Clark Kent wakes up to discover that he and the population of Metropolis have been abducted by aliens while they slept.  He directs Lois where to find Jimmy Olsen and Maggie Sawyer among the crowd, while he wanders away to explore the space ark they're all trapped on.  

He finds Maxima, Massacre, Grayven, and Mongal are behind the abduction, but he's more shocked to discover his fellow heroes Starfire and Adam Strange are working with these villains.  Maxima warns Superman that Imperiex is coming, but Superman is confused because he thought he had already beat Imperiex.  Adam Strange tries to assure Superman that they're doing what they must to save Metropolis, then he beams Superman back to Earth.  

The sound of a Boom Tube explodes in the skies, and Superman is horrified to see the planet Apokolips has come to Earth.  Superman thinks Darkseid is invading Earth, but Darkseid claims he is trying to save Metropolis, Earth, and the universe!

In Superboy #89, Superboy tries to rescue Strange Visitor from CADMUS, but she doesn't want to be rescued.

Action Comics #780

The JLA confronts Darkseid expecting a fight, but President Luthor welcomes the ruler of Apokolips as an ally that he has apparently been expecting.  To get Superman out of his plans, Luthor tells the Man of Steel that the General from Pokolistan is invading Berlin.  Reluctantly, Superman rushes to Berlin to exchange words and fists with the General.  Superman's adversary calls himself General Zod and, typical of the character, demands that Superman kneel before him.  As they fight in outer space, Superman dodges a missile, assuming it was sent by General Zod and he was the target.  A surprised Zod assures Superman the missile was not his, and Superman watches in horror as it hits Earth, obliterating Kansas in an atomic explosion.

Supergirl witnesses the destruction of Kansas on the ground in Supergirl #59.

In Wonder Woman #171, Diana's old friend Vanessa Kapatelis becomes the new Silver Swan, and a new male Cheetah joins the fight at the same time that Kansas is destroyed.

Superman: Our Words at War Secret Files #1 shows us the unseen events that led to the present situation.  The main feature shows us the wave of Imperiex's destruction across the universe that led to the uneasy alliance between Starfire, Maxima, Adam Strange, and Grayven.  The Biblical story of creation reads in reverse order as the story unfolds.  The next story stars DEO agent Cameron Chase seeing Amanda Waller assemble her new Suicide Squad.  The last story gives us an incoherent backstory for the new Zod.

The destruction of Kansas this month raised the gravity of this crossover, with fans already wondering the fate of Clark Kent's parents.  However, the deaths would really start to pile up next month, making this one of DC's bloodiest events ever, even if most of the deaths would be undone a year later.