Alexander Luthor reveals to his captive Power Girl how he and Superboy Prime have been plotting behind Earth Two Superman's back to cause much of the chaos of the present Crisis, from organizing the Secret Society of Supervillains to igniting an intergalactic war by moving planets to shift the center of the universe.
The Brotherhood of Evil drops the villain Chemo on the city of Bludhaven, completely leveling Nightwing's home city that would be the subject of a post-Infinite Crisis mini-series: The Battle for Bludhaven. Murdered Gotham City detective Crispus Allen wakes up in the morgue and finds himself the new host for the Spectre, which would lead into its own aftermath mini-series.
Superboy Prime goes to Smallville to confront his counterpart, Conner Kent. Things don't go exactly as planned as he starts a fight, but things get worse when the Titans rally to help their teammate. Superboy Prime, who never really got to use his powers much before the first Crisis on Infinite Earths, accidentally kills and injures several lesser-known Titans who haven't been seen in action in years. Superboy Prime just complains that they're ruining him, or "making me like you."
Three generations of Flashes carry Superboy Prime into the Speed Force, where they get a glimpse of Silver Age Flash Barry Allen helping them, who hadn't been seen since his death 20 years before. When the dust settles, only the Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick is left and the Speed Force is gone. This month was also the final issue of the Flash's ongoing series that had relaunched after Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Before they can react to the loss, Luthor's machine is activated and successfully splits the Earth into Earths One and Two.
Superman #225
Superman still can't get over Batman's words from Infinite Crisis #1, that the last time he inspired anyone was when he was dead. Jimmy Olsen's plane is shot down near Los Angeles so the Man of Steel goes to save him, where he finds several fire-based super villains have started a wildfire. Inspired by Superman, a brave couple who saw the plane go down drive into the fire to try to help Jimmy too. Superman promises Scorch that the heroes will never wipe their enemies' minds again. She trusts Superman and orders her companions to stand down.
In Smallville, Conner Kent prefers to do his chores than get back into the trenches of the Crisis. In space, Supergirl takes a break from battle to think about her cousin who inspires her to do the right thing.
Adventures of Superman #648
In a silent Infinite Crisis tie-in with no dialogue narrated by Lois Lane, Superman arrives on the scene in Bludhaven after the city is destroyed. Superman finds Chemo re-formed and uses the villain to clean up his own toxic mess, then hurls him into the void of space.
The destruction of a city seems to have played a part in every crisis since the death of Superman, and this issue even reflects on the damage to Coast City in that story. DC hadn't destroyed a city since before 9/11, and while the narrative device of this issue is reminiscent of the stories from Our Worlds at War, the impact of this one feels more human and realistic than any that came before.
Action Comics #835
This issue was the comic book debut of Livewire, a villain who first appeared on Superman: The Animated Series. TV villains crossing over into comics had been popular ever since Harley Quinn and Mercy had made the jump a few years earlier, although none of the others would ever reach the popularity of Harley.
A popular young radio host gets fired for her criticism of Superman on the air. She seems to possess electrical powers already, but she climbs up to the radio tower and when it's struck by lightning she's transformed into Livewire. She immediately seeks out Superman, who's trying to find where Lois Lane is being held hostage by an admirer who has a disturbing prom fantasy. Lois' kidnapper is also Livewire's half-brother, although it's not really explained how she's involved in that plot. The people of Metropolis turn against Livewire, buying Superman enough time to stop a bullet shot at Lois.
Afterward, Superman keeps his promise to join Joseph for Shabbat. Keeping with the boyscout image of the time, they have to make it clear that Superman is just drinking grape juice, not alcohol. Joseph strangely just set up this elaborate dinner because he really just wanted to talk to Superman about his concerns for Jimmy Olsen's recklessness.
It seems fitting that John Byrne was around to conclude the post-Crisis era that he began 20 years earlier. But while his techniques were groundbreaking back in 1986, his art in this final arc seems more like a nostalgic sendoff to that period. Just like how the stories in the final pre-Crisis issues of Superman felt like they were from a different era even at the time, Byrne's final issues also seemed dated even when they first came out.
Next month would be a 3-part Infinite Crisis tie-in by guest writers and artists, so these issues were to be the finales for the regular creative teams.
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