Zero Hour

The beginning of tomorrow starts with the end of today.

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! is a landmark 1994 crossover storyline from DC Comics, crafted by Dan Jurgens. It features a five-issue limited series where the issues were numbered in reverse order, starting at #4 and concluding with #0. The event was designed to address continuity errors left by the earlier Crisis on Infinite Earths, particularly regarding characters who had been gradually updated over time. The narrative spans almost every monthly DC Universe series published at the time, creating a massive universe-wide crisis that threatened to erase history itself.

Quick Facts

Main antagonist: Parallax (Hal Jordan)
Publication year: 1994
Creative lead: Dan Jurgens

Facts from the source article.

Background

The story begins when characters from alternate realities, such as Alpha Centurion and Triumph, suddenly appear in the main DC Universe. A wave of entropy then sweeps from the end of time toward the beginning, erasing entire historical ages. The initial villain is Extant, formerly Hawk of the duo Hawk and Dove, who uses acquired temporal powers to unravel the timeline. In a brutal confrontation with the Justice Society of America, Extant ages several members, stripping away the effects that kept them young since the 1940s, leaving them feeble or dead.

However, the true architect of this destruction is revealed to be Hal Jordan. Once a member of the Green Lantern Corps, Jordan went mad with grief after the destruction of his home town, Coast City, during the 'Reign of the Supermen!' storyline. Adopting the name Parallax, he obtained immense power and sought to destroy and remake the DC Universe to undo the events that caused his breakdown.

Did You Know?

Hal Jordan survived being shot through the heart by Green Arrow after the timeline reset.
In 2008, a Booster Gold #0 issue was published as an official Zero Hour tie-in, featuring alternate versions of Blue Beetles and Hawkmen on the cover.