Barry Lyga's Blog: The BLog, page 10

The fine folks at YA Books Central were kind enough to ask me questions about Unedited and Edited. Plus, they’re giving away copies of the books!

Go check it out!

If someone could write a story that self-referentially teaches the reader how to read it…couldn’t someone also write a story that teaches the reader how it was written?

Let me put that thought in context.

It’s 1992. Or maybe 1991.

I’m not sure. Work with me here, people. It’s been thirty-some years and I don’t have access to my college schedule at the moment.

Anyway, it’s somewhere in my junior year at Yale, and I’m an English major taking Lit120. My favorite professor (the estimable Fred C. Robinson, now, alas, deceased) once snorted with derision, “You can take four years of classes in that Literature major and never actually read any literature.”

He’s not wrong. See, in English, we read literature, but in “that Literature major” they study theory. So, yeah, you could probably spend four years reading and discussing theories about literature and never actually get around to reading any.

Not in Lit120, though. In Lit120, we read Oedipus Rex and Hoffman’s The Sandman (not to be confused with Neil Gaiman’s or Metallica’s) and many of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

It’s Conan Doyle’s work that leads us to this moment we’re sharing right now, you and I, wheels set in motion more than three decades previous.

You see, the Sherlock Holmes mysteries are mysteries, true, but they’re more than that. The stories do not simply teach the reader how to solve a mystery — they also teach the reader how to read a mystery story in the first place. This notion lodges in my young wannabe author’s brain, and the thought at the opening of this post occurs to me.

Is it possible to tell a story in such a way that the reader — upon finishing it — understands what it was like to write that story? And is it possible that I could be the person to do it?

I’m nineteen or twenty years old, but I decide I’m going to do it. I sit down and I write over a hundred pages of a novel titled Inframan over the next couple of years and then I graduate and then I need to get a job and then…

And then…

And then…

And then it’s only thirteen years ago, 2009, and I’ve never forgotten the idea, the premise, though Inframan remains unfinished on my hard drive. I decide on a new spin on the idea, a bigger, wilder book that will take readers deep into not only the story, but also the storyteller.

It took a long time to get here, to now, but here is the book. Or, more accurately, the books. Because Unedited — which, I hope, achieves my goal of putting you squarely in my head during its creation — was so long and so weird that my publisher had the idea to spin off a shorter variant, Edited. Both books are strange in their own, related ways. And each one will take you on a new sort of reading adventure.

If you’ve been with me from the beginning of my career — since The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy & Goth Girl — then you’ll see some old friends and enemies.

If you discovered me through I Hunt Killers, well, trust me — there is darkness aplenty in these books.

And if you’ve enjoyed my forays into the worlds of the Flash and Thanos, you’ll find many comic book tropes and references within.

In short, if you’ve ever enjoyed any of my books, there’s something (a lot of somethings!) in these books for you.

I can’t wait for you to dive in.

(And here are some links for you:)

Preorder UNEDITED:
Amazon | BN.com | Indiebound

Preorder EDITED:
Amazon | Apple Books | BN.com | Indiebound | Kobo

A little while back, I spent some time with Carol Anne Riddell of CUNY TV’s Book It with CA program, talking about writing, teens, and Time Will Tell. The interview is part of the episode below and starts at around 10:55.

Today would have been my paternal grandfather’s 100th birthday. When I wrote about my maternal grandfather’s century a few years ago, I decided at the time that it wouldn’t be a one-off, that I would write about all four of my grandparents on the day they would have turned 100. So here we are, nine days after I turned 51.

That picture up there is my grandfather as an “early adult.” Other than that text on the file, I have no idea when it was taken or how old he was, but I like that picture a lot. I like his smile. And you know how the past hits us — he could be sixteen in that photo, or he could be 26. No way to know.

My grandfather was 48 years old when I was born, which means that he would have been my current age at around the time I became aware of him. That…messes with me. Because by the time he was my age, my grandfather had raised two sons to adulthood and founded — and run — a number of successful businesses.

Me? I have kids in elementary school and have amassed a depressingly impressive number of comic books and Flash toys.

It’s a different time, of course, and I don’t actually compare myself to my grandfather on a regular basis. I do occasionally wonder, though, if his entrepreneurial spirit and restless drive were passed down to me in the form of a brain that just can’t stop creating, even at those times when the things it creates are useless or pointless or risible.

When I was a kid, my grandfather owned and ran a metal shop that he’d founded decades past. Here’s a picture of him in his high school yearbook in 1941:

Prime age to be drafted into World War II, right? Wrong. The government figured he was worth more to them running the metal shop, churning out parts for the war effort. (There isn’t much of a history of military service in my family, and I’m not sure how I feel about that, honestly.)

(BTW, I love the guy below him, Douglas, whose nickname of “Doug” had to be spelled out. Ah, 1941! He also looks a little bit like Agent Smith, doesn’t he? Oh, damn — have we been in the Matrix all this time?)

Anyway, Grandpa ran the metal shop, which I remember fondly because it was the seventies, but the place was computerized and had these massive printers that used gigantic sheets of paper, like this:

My grandparents would give me that stuff all day long, and I’d flip it over to the blank side and draw comic books until my pencils died.

(And yeah, Grandma helped run the factory, but we’ll get to her in about five years.)

My grandparents lived in an old house a stone’s throw from the shop. They walked less than five minutes to work each day. Eventually, they sold the shop and the house and built a frankly ridiculous mansion-y thing in another part of town. I don’t think I knew my grandparents “had money” until they built that house. By then, they were in their late fifties and I think they just figured they deserved a nice house.

The problem with writing about my grandfather is that there are million things to talk about. He was accomplished. He started and ran the metal shop. He financed and built entire housing developments. He was part-owner of a bank.

But that’s the stuff of obituaries, and this isn’t an obit.

What he really wanted in life was to be a farmer. He grew blueberries, lemons, and figs in the backyard, kept a greenhouse attached to his house, and then went full farmer when he decided not to sell a parcel of land he had. Instead, he rented it out with the proviso that he could use a section of the acreage to grow the stuff my grandmother wouldn’t let him steal backyard space for.

He also made his own wine. I was too young to try it, but I am reliably informed by my father that “King William” was absolutely terrible.

He was, I think, baffled by my choice of career. Mostly, I imagine, because he built things. And with a book, well, yes, there’s a book, but… Books are ephemeral, after all. I proudly sent him my first published novel, and then made the entire family swear an oath that they would never, ever tell him about Boy Toy.

Because he was old school. Hardcore Eastern Orthodox Catholic. Never heard a swear word come out of his mouth unless he was quoting someone, and even then I could see the pain in his eyes. He once told me that a friend of his had picked up my book from his coffee table, flipped through it, and then said, “Oh, Bill. I can’t read this book.”

She’d stumbled upon the word bullshit.

Grandpa gently suggested that if I moderate my language, I might not lose that reader. I replied that my books were written for today’s teens, not people who’d voted for Eisenhower.

He laughed, and allowed as how I might be right on that score.

Until I was about 15, my grandfather greeted me with a hug and a kiss, and said goodbye in the same way. Then that stopped — I went in for a hug and he kept his arms by his side, then, after a moment of reflection, offered his hand. We shook, like gentlemen.

Our greetings and farewells went on like this until I was somewhere in my late twenties, when suddenly he began to hug me fiercely, often weeping when it was time for us to part.

I got it immediately, even as a kid — my grandfather was Old World, old school. Men did not hug and kiss. Men shook hands. And as I progressed through teendom, I became more a man than not. It was fine. It never bothered me; I never saw it as a rejection or a withholding of affection because I knew he loved me and because I understood. I didn’t agree, but I understood, without words.

But then, suddenly, men did hug. My grandfather was getting older. Sentimental. It’s a cliché that this happens to men as they age, but most clichés have a grounding in reality. And I’ve inherited this sentimentality. If you ever want to see me cry, just run a video of a dad telling his son how much he loves him, and I will suddenly discover that the pollen is so bad today.

I learned from this behavior of his that it was OK to think something…and then realize maybe you were wrong and adjust your behavior accordingly. I think a lot of men out there (women, too, of course, but men in particular) get locked into a certain mode of behavior and then don’t know how to get out.1 And the thing is, it’s so easy — almost effortless — to get out. You just do it. You just make the choice and you hug your damn grandson.

Here’s a funny little anecdote: He didn’t know anything about Superman! I learned this in college, when I was spending a weekend with my grandparents (they were about an hour away from New Haven, so I visited when I could) and they invited friends over for dinner. Somehow the topic turned to movies and one of the friends began explaining Superman: The Movie to my grandfather.

“…and then this guy, this scientist, Bill, he puts the baby in a rocketship, see?”

I can still see it and hear it. My grandfather was nodding along. And of course he didn’t know jack about Superman — he was in high school when Action Comics #1 came out! He wasn’t scoping out the newsstands for comics in 1938!

But it blew my mind because Superman is so important to me and I’d just assumed everyone knew the origin. And my grandfather could not have cared less about Superman, but he sat there and politely listened and absorbed everything his friend told him.

I’m glad he lived to see me make my dreams come true because I think he worried about the life I would lead as a writer. And I’m even more glad that he lived to see me on the New York Times bestsellers list because even though I’d been making my living as a writer for years before that, I think that was a marker he understood. I think at that point, he could finally relax and say, “It’s OK. My grandson will be OK.”

Here’s a picture of him the year he died. I am obviously unable to be objective at all, but I think he looks good for ninety. I hope I do at that age, too.

There’s a lot more to say, but this isn’t a biography of Bill Lyga. This is just to say that damn do I miss him and sorry for swearing, Grandpa, but if you’re ghosting around me, you know I drop worse than that twenty times a day, without even thinking about it.

I don’t believe in heaven, but I also think anything is possible. And I know this: When Bill Lyga passed away, if he found out there was no afterlife, he for damn sure got to work building one.

The Book That Will Kill Me is finally coming.

And it’s brought a friend:

More soon…

The Book That Will Kill Me is finally coming.

And it’s brought a friend:

More soon…

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

For all its many faults as a story, I still think this Epilogue ties it together quite nicely. Join me now for the end of…

In the thirtieth century, the Legion’s lab has exploded in a ball of fire, sabotaged by Brainiac 5 before he fled to the twentieth century. As the Legion masses to contain the damage, they discover a dying Mon-El amid the wreckage. Saturn Girl plucks recent events from Mon-El’s short-term memory and Element Lad is easily able to reactivate the serum that keeps Mon-El alive.

Once Mon-El recovers, his post-hypnotic suggestion kicks in and he remembers what happened in the twentieth century…and also recites from memory a message Brainiac 5 implanted a thousand years ago.

MON-EL: I apologize to you all for my actions, and especially to Mon-El, not only for using him as I did in the twentieth century, but also for putting his life in danger in the thirtieth. I remain confident that no permanent harm will come to him, as any number of you are capable of assisting him. I am truly sorry for using you so, Mon-El. But I could not risk having the Legion follow me back through time. The Time Trapper’s attention is so focused on our era and our activities that I knew he would take advantage of the Crisis to attack if we gave him the chance.

I also knew that the most likely outcome of my adventure in the past would be that time travel would become more difficult, if not impossible. And our era needs the Legion too badly for any of you to be trapped in this primitive age with me.

Time travel is still possible…but I recommend against it. In fact, I insist that you not attempt to rescue me from the twentieth century. I am perfectly prepared to live out my days here, and though my people are long-lived, I will be long dead by the time you hear this message.

Every time travel action will now weaken the Trapper’s Iron Curtain of Time, making it more likely that he will someday break through our barrier and take his revenge. Therefore, time travel must be halted, voluntarily. I know that, given enough time, Rond can rebuild everything I’ve destroyed. I am asking him not to.

I believe that — mis-steps such as Computo and Omega aside — I have been an asset to the Legion. Computo1 can help you build a list of potential replacements from Coluan academies. You’ll want someone who is capable of functioning in the field as well as in the lab.

I have one final request. Please put the statue next to hers. Goodbye.

Later, Mon-El walks through the Hall of the Dead, past the statues of Ferro Lad, Invisible Kid, Chemical King, Karate Kid, and Triplicate Girl. At the end of the Hall is a statue of Supergirl, holding hands with a statue of Brainiac 5. Mon-El looks up at it, a tear in his eye, and says, “Goodnight, my friends.”

Cut to: a beach. Night time.

Lex Luthor opens his eyes.

Six months2 later, Lex is in a library. His inner monologue reveals to us that it has taken him this long to adapt to this new world and learn how to master and exploit its primitive technology. The librarian refers to him as “Dr. Thorul.”

Lex’s research turns up no references to a Dr. Thomas Wayne, nor to a Wayne Foundation. There is no STAR Labs. The only company worth mentioning in terms of advanced technology is an outfit called “Kord Omniversal Research and Development,” but it’s not that impressive. Captain Atom seems to be the only truly powerful super-hero…and Lex has already figured out half a dozen ways to eliminate him.

That night, Lex goes to a stellar telescope lab. His forged credentials make it easy for him to gain access. With hours on the telescope, he confirms that not only is there no Krypton in this universe, but that the solar system that housed Krypton doesn’t exist either. He spot-checks and finds that there is no Tamaran, no Daxam, no Rann, no Thanagar…

No Lexor.

What really persuades Lex, though, is that he goes to a newsstand and buys a Superman comic book, where everything is revealed: Clark Kent, the true origin. Everything. He realizes that Superman would never place his greatest enemy in this position…unless there was absolutely no way out.

LUTHOR: So, you’ve done it, old foe. You’ve done what I could never do: You eliminated yourself from the universe. A bit of a cheat, but well-played, I admit. Not only do you not exist here, but there’s no chance that you ever could.

So where does that leave me?

I suppose it’s time to stop thinking about what I’ve been…and start thinking about what I am and what I can be…

…just like everyone else.

The End!

Except…

There are a couple of additional notes at the end of the file. Apparently, sequel-itis infected me at a young age. Here you go…

Crisis on Qward: The Green Lantern Corps has franchised to other Earths and dimensions. The Earth-S Green Lantern is Mr. Tawky Tawny.

Crisis on Earth-4: (There are no notes as to exactly what this Crisis would be, but we would return to Earth-4 to learn that…) Luthor is wealthy and successful as Dr. Thorul. He has bought DC Comics and shut it down in order to kill Superman in that universe.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Last chapter was long — this one is short. And there’s an Epilogue to come that ties it all together…

The heroes at the End of Time battle the Time Trapper! But there’s no way in the world to win! With the End of Time sealed off from the rest of the timestream, the Trapper will eventually lose, but at the cost of dozens of superheroes, now stuck with the vengeful Trapper. Brainiac Five’s plan leads to a Pyrrhic victory, at best.

Meanwhile, Wally West — possessed by Deadman, speed-amped by the Thunderbolt — leads the remaining twentieth-century heroes to the Dawn of Time, then further back, around the circle of time to the End of Time…where he opens the portal “home” for those stuck with the Time Trapper! It’s a rescue mission, planned by Brainy and executed to perfection by Batman.2

Now, the Time Trapper can’t go back in time because his Iron Curtain of Time is locked in place…and he can’t go forward to circle around to the past because he’s never been able to do that. So he’s stuck here. The Time Trapper is trapped.

As the heroes flee around the curve of Time itself to escape the End of Time, Brainy explains to the enraged Trapper exactly where his plans went awry. For his trouble, the Trapper blasts him with a tremendous wave of chronal energy just as Superman grabs Brainy and pulls him to safety.

When Brainy wakes up, safe and sound back in 1986, he finds that the Trapper’s blast aged him tremendously — he’s the aged Coluan in the old picture found in the future.3

SUPERMAN: You just had to stay and taunt him, didn’t you?

BRAINIAC 5: I wasn’t taunting him. I was lecturing him. It’s important for people to understand where their theories are wrong.

The heroes begin to settle in, mopping up the last of the Time Trapper’s soldiers, fixing what’s been broken, etc. Somewhere in there, according to my notes, “Superman (and Clark, obviously) turns 30. This is a key scene. Symbolic. Time is advancing and moving on from the Bronze Age…”4

As the issue wraps up, Superman and Batman meet to discuss everything that has happened. Superman can’t stop thinking about Lex, and what they did to him.

SUPERMAN: Did we do the right thing, Bruce?

BATMAN: I’ll tell you a secret, old friend. There’s no right. There’s no wrong. There’s justice and there’s injustice. There’s love and there’s hate. That’s it. What we did was just. What you have with Lana — what I have a chance for with Silver — that’s love. Everything else is details.

SUPERMAN: But we gambled… And we’ll never know if that gamble—

BATMAN: Your parents gambled when they put you into that rocket and fired you into the void, but that turned out all right, didn’t it?

One more tiny bit as a tag: Brainy preps Mon-El to return to the Phantom Zone, including — as promised — post-hypnotic suggestions. When the time comes to return, Mon asks, “How much longer will I have to wait?”

And Brainy effortlessly lies and says, “Not long.”

End Chapter 5

Still to come: The Epilogue

(The only glory I will ever get for this thing that I’ve carried in my brain since childhood is people looking at it. So if you have friends you think might get a kick out of it, please point them in this direction! Teen Barry thanks you, and so do I.)

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Settle in, folks. This one is long. It should really be two issues, in my opinion, but I guess Young Barry didn’t let a little thing like page count get in the way of his enthusiasm. Join me now for the next chapter in…

(So, look, before we get started here, it’s important to remember that Brainy has been insane and dangerous in the past. Has his grief at Supergirl’s death made him lose it again? The story thus far hasn’t done a good job at drawing this out, but it’s the main impetus for Batman’s distrust. And the reader should be worried…)

We pick up where we left off last issue — Batman leaping at Brainiac Five, who is activating some Phantom Zone equipment.

Turns out Brainy is not releasing the Phantom Zone criminals — he’s releasing Mon-El! Well, that’s one solution to the problem of “not enough power!”

Superman is surprised by this move because he doesn’t even know that Brainy knows Mon-El. He doesn’t remember that Mon was a member of the Legion or that Brainy knows of him.1

Now he learns that he will fail Mon-El and as a result Mon will spend a thousand years in the Phantom Zone. Yikes.

(One little bit in the notes that I like: Mon-El keeps asking everyone, “Why do you keep calling me Mon-El? My name is Lar Gand. I was only Mon-El for a week.”)

Brainiac Five casually mentions that he’ll wipe Mon’s memory after the battle, so as not to mess with history. Superman’s worried that Mon might die, which would really screw up history!

BRAINIAC 5: If things go that badly, then it won’t matter anymore.

SUPERMAN: This is a hell of a risk, Brainy. Are things really this bad?

BRAINIAC 5: If I thought I could gather them in time, I’d re-form the Legion of Super-Pets, that’s how bad things are.2

Batman’s job is to stay at the Fortress and “coordinate things.” He’s not happy about this, but he’s outvoted. Brainiac Five gives him a telepathic plug “so that we can stay in touch,” but Batman doesn’t even put it in — he sticks it in a pouch in his utility belt.

Brainy is supposed to give a big rah-rah speech before they head off to fight the Time Trapper. He starts but he can’t do it. He says stuff like, “I know you’ll all do well. Because you’ll all do what I tell you to do.” He looks at Superman helplessly: “This isn’t me, Kal-El.” So Superman gives the speech.

He talks about joining the Legion, about being a kid and joining the Legion. He talks about how amazing the Legion is and how Brainy is such a big part of that. And some of it is that they are a thousand years in the future…

SUPERMAN: A thousand-year advantage. A thousand years of spiritual, social, technological, psychological growth. But here’s something I want you all to remember: This group that is so impressive, this Legion that we hold—appropriately—in awe… They were inspired by us. And now it’s time for us to live up to that inspiration.3

Brainy has a secret plan to knock Superman out with a red sun burst and leave him behind so that Superman won’t be at risk during the fight, but Superman figures it out and avoids the burst.

SUPERMAN: I’m not falling for that trick, Brainy. Andy got me that way once. I learn from my mistakes, especially when my friends die from them.4

Brainy brings very specific people on the strike team, including Rip Hunter in his Time Sphere. Leaves behind some puzzlers, like Flash, etc. Why? He refuses to answer. “I have a twelfth-level intellect and I don’t have time to explain my thinking to you.” Plus, he knows the Time Trapper could be watching, so he can’t get into details without giving away the plan.

Batman is even more suspicious now.

Just before the strike team leaves, Mxyzptlk shows up to bedevil Superman.

SUPERMAN (angry, eyes glowing red): Not. Now.

MXYZPTLK (quavering): Kuh- kuh- Kltpzyxm!5

The heroes that Brainy has assembled head to the End of Time to fight the Time Trapper. At the very last second, as the heroes break through the Iron Curtain of Time, Brainy does something to Rip Hunter’s Time Sphere and it ends up trapped on the safe side of the Curtain.

But then the heroes break through and the Time Trapper re-seals the Curtain…which is Rip’s signal to activate Brainy’s device6, strengthening the Curtain and making it as strong as the barrier that now separates Earth-4…and locking the heroes at the End of Time.

Shocked, Superman says, “What is the plan, Brainy?” and Brainy just grins. He’s sealed the world’s most powerful heroes at the End of Time and it looks like maybe Brainy is insane or evil at this point…

Back in the present, the four earths are suddenly under attack! With the most powerful heroes trapped at the End of Time, the Time Trapper is free to unleash his forces on the present.

Batman is stuck at the Fortress with Robin, coordinating the present-day response.

The skies have gone red.7

Nightwing radios to Batman that they’re all in deep. “We need to take this to the next level.”8 Bruce says, “Negative.” The enemies are all from different points in the time stream. “We have to be careful.”

NIGHTWING: With all due respect, Bruce, pretty soon there may not be a time stream to worry about. And again with all due respect, you’re not the one fighting out here.

Batman thinks: Exactly? Why leave me here? Why do this to me? Can we really trust your friend, Kal?

Things get worse and then…

BATMAN: Attention all team leaders on all Earths. This is Batman broadcasting on the open pandimensional channel. This is officially a Crisis-level event. You may take any action necessary according to the dictates of your consciences.

SOMEONE: What the hell does that mean?9

BATMAN: Lethal force is approved.

Dick calls in Kory, but Donna reports Kory went lethal five minutes ago.10

BATMAN: Nightwing, come in.

NIGHTWING: Yeah?

BATMAN: I need you to do something. It’s very important.

NIGHTWING: The Titans and I have New York locked down, but the red skies are freaking people out. And I gotta tell you, they don’t make me feel all that great, either. The Crisis was just a few months ago. We buried Kole—

BATMAN: Dick, I need you to find Silver.

NIGHTWING: What? What did you just say?

BATMAN: Find Silver St. Cloud.

NIGHTWING: But— Catwoman… Nocturna…

BATMAN: It’s Silver. It’s always been Silver. If the universe ends now, I want her to know how I feel. I can’t leave here now, and you’re the only one I trust with this.11

Then, out of nowhere… a voice says “Hello, Batman.”

Which is weird because Batman and Robin are the only people in the Fortress. Batman turns to Robin and says, “Did you hear that?” and Jason says, “Hear what?”

Turns out it’s the telepathic plug Brainy gave him. Brainy tweaked it to work if it’s anywhere near Batman because he figures Batman wouldn’t trust him and would take it out. So at first, there’s just a voice that says “Hello, Batman.” And then…

BRAINIAC 5: Batman, this is Brainiac 5 transmitting from the telepathic plug I gave you. If you haven’t done so already, I suggest you insert it into your ear for the full effect.

He does so. It’s a recording of Brainiac Five…12

BRAINIAC 5: Hello, Mr. Wayne. I apologize for the last minute nature of this notice and my request, but I’m confident that you’ll be able to handle it. That’s why I left you in the twentieth century. I couldn’t tell you this before because I could never be sure if the Time Trapper was eavesdropping or not. But this message is keyed to go off when Dr. Hunter’s time sphere returns to the twentieth century, so by now the Trapper is secure behind our reinforced Iron Curtain of Time. The plan you’re about to hear has a 99.82744% chance of working. As to the remaining X%, you’ll have to improvise, but that’s what you’re best at.13

Problem: Batman is stuck in the Fortress at the North Pole! He goes running through the Fortress, Robin chasing after him.

BATMAN: Come on, Kal, tell me you still have it… He has to have it. The man never throws anything away — he has the Titanic hanging from his ceiling, for God’s sake.

They look into a room. Panel of Batman scowling, then he grins as Robin looks over his shoulder.14

ROBIN: Oh, you gotta be kidding me.

Next panel: Batman and Robin leaving the Fortress in the Supermobile!15

Now it’s Batman’s turn to contribute—Brainy could only trust Batman to pull off this last, impossible task, the crucial second half of the plan. Batman has to gather up the super-speedsters and the electro-magnetic heroes, repair the Cosmic Treadmill, and head to the past. To the Dawn of Time.

WALLY: Didn’t we just do this?16

At this point, the heroes don’t know who to trust any more. Batman has gathered them, but everything around them is falling apart and they’re just supposed to risk everything for another time travel jaunt? There’s serious resistance to Batman’s orders. Fortunately, he’s prepared for this with his secret weapons: Jericho and Deadman.

FLASH: I won’t run. What are you going to do about that?

BATMAN: Boston.

FLASH: Boston? Boston what?

And then he’s possessed by Deadman.

Meanwhile, Jericho is in Batman and Bats knocks out Johnny Thunder. Joey possesses Thunder and says, “Say, you, Thunderbolt! Listen to Batman until I say otherwise!” And the T-bolt says, “OK!”

Now Batman has two key elements needed. Hopefully, Brainy’s plan will work. Time to run.

End Chapter 4

Next: The Grand Finale!

(The only glory I will ever get for this thing that I’ve carried in my brain since childhood is people looking at it. So if you have friends you think might get a kick out of it, please point them in this direction! Teen Barry thanks you, and so do I.)

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Superboy wants to go to Earth-4.1

Earth-1, it turns out, is too unfamiliar and alien to him, while Earth-4 — with its relative lack of cosmic heroes and villains — is closer to his own Earth-Prime. Since Earth-4 has Superman comic books, he’ll take on a new identity with a disguise, the whole nine yards. The heroes of Earth-4 agree to help him.

This dovetails perfectly with Brainy’s plan, which is to cut off Earth-4 from the other Earths. It’s the best thing for the people there, he argues, and will also prove the efficacy of the mystery technology he’s developed to fight the Time Trapper. Brainy pitches in to help young Clark with his disguise. Superman asks if this is the best use of Brainy’s time, all things considered.

BRAINY: Did you really think I would sever Earth-4 from us and leave it completely defenseless? The heroes there are nowhere near as powerful as here, and while young Clark’s powers are not yet fully developed, in time he’ll be as powerful as you. At least there will be one champion in that universe who is truly a force to reckon with.

While all of this is going on, we learn that Batman doesn’t trust Brainy. Superman tries to explain that Brainy doesn’t mean to be mysterious and non-forthcoming; he’s just so far advanced that he can’t help it. Brainy, meanwhile, pretty much treats Batman like dirt, since Batman is useless for his purposes.2

BATMAN: You trust him?

SUPERMAN: He’s more brilliant than any million people on the planet, including you and me.

BATMAN: I know he’s intelligent. I’m asking if he’s trustworthy.

SUPERMAN: He’s probably saved my life as often as you have.

BATMAN: And put it at risk as well, if I remember the stories you’ve told about him.

SUPERMAN: You’ve met the Legion. You’ve worked with them.

BATMAN: Yes, and I’ve even been to their perfect, shining future. And I know that I don’t trust anything that perfect.

The heroes are still gathered at the Fortress, making plans, developing strategies. Brainy plans to build something that will punch right through the Time Trapper’s Iron Curtain of Time, bringing the fight to him. In the meantime, Superman makes a decision—he will deal with Lex Luthor once and for all. So he and Batman break into Luthor’s cell.

LUTHOR: To what do I owe the honor, old foe?

SUPERMAN: I wanted to tell you something.

LUTHOR: Unless you plan to shoot yourself with a kryptonite bullet, I don’t want to hear it.

SUPERMAN: I miss you, Lex. I miss having you as my friend. When we were kids, you were the only person I could talk to, the only person I could trust. My only equal.

LUTHOR: And how did you repay that trust? By scarring me for life! By destroying my work! And now you come here with a sob story, and I’m supposed to buy it? Am I supposed to weep with you and feel sorry for you and become good? Am I supposed to forget what you did to me?

SUPERMAN (sadly): No, Lex. I just came to say goodbye.

LUTHOR: Goodbye?

SUPERMAN: Bruce, could you…

LUTHOR: Bruce? [Batman advances] Bruce Wayne of course it makes sense oh my God. Oh my God. You’re going to do it. You’re finally going to kill me. And you can’t even do it yourself, you coward! You have to have your lackey do it for you! Look at me! Damn you, you alien freak, look at me while he kills me! At least have the decency to watch your own handiwork!

But Superman only looks away as Batman approaches Luthor…and Luthor screams.3

Back at the Fortress, Brainy has gathered his tech. He’s ready for his test run and he fires up the tuning forks, modified with the tech he stole from Brainiac. It works! The universes are separated…and Earth-4 is permanently disconnected from the rest of the multiverse.

That night, Superman goes to Lana.

SUPERMAN: Someday…someday I’ll tell you everything. I’ll tell you about today. But not now. I just can’t…

Later, he goes to his diary in a secluded, private area of the Fortress and uses his heat vision to write: “Lex is no longer an issue.” And then he puts his face in his hands and sits alone.

Meanwhile, when no one is watching, Brainiac 5 slips into the Phantom Zone Viewing Chamber and begins cannibalizing Superman’s Phantom Zone equipment…

He presses a button and Batman suddenly leaps from the shadows! He was right — he couldn‘t trust Brainiac Five, who is now ready to unleash the horrors of the Phantom Zone on an unsuspecting Earth…unless Batman can stop him!

End Chapter 3

More soon!

(The only glory I will ever get for this thing that I’ve carried in my brain since childhood is people looking at it. So if you have friends you think might get a kick out of it, please point them in this direction! Teen Barry thanks you, and so do I.)