Armageddon 2001

Last Updated on Monday, July 01, 2002

Armageddon 2001: Earth's heroes have been dead for 10 years, betrayed by one of their own, Hawk (aka Hank Hall), who later becomes the last remaining superbeing, Lord Havok.

Armageddon 2001
Synopsis | Review | Titles

"Whatever else is against me, in the end... I have time."

ISSUES:

2 issues (May and Sept., 1991).

WRITER(S):

Archie Goodwin.

ARTIST(S):

Dan Jurgens, Dick Giordano.

MAJOR HEROES:

Superman, Batman, most major DC heroes of 1991.

MAJOR VILLAINS:

Monarch, an armored despot who rules the world in the year 2030.

SUPPORTING CAST:

Waverider.

THE PLOT:

Monarch, a masked despot, rules the world, but one man is determined to stop him by going back in time and stopping him before he becomes powerful. His only clue is that Monarch was once one of Earth's superheroes. As Waverider touches each hero (who can't see or hear him), we see the hero's possible future.

TRIVIA:

Armageddon 2001 #1 marks the first appearance of Waverider, who would later have an important role in Zero Hour.

RECOMMENDED READING:

None.

Synopsis

THE YEAR IS 2030, and Matthew Ryder is a troubled man. His world is peaceful, but it's ruled without mercy by Monarch, a mysterious masked figure whose statues and billboards are everywhere. A promising scientist, Ryder's only "unhealthy preoccupation" is a fascination with the heroes of recent history, an area of knowledge that is expressly forbidden in this new world. When an old man is gunned down for the crime of selling used computer disks with forbidden information about the past, Ryder realizes that Monarch has to be stopped.

As part of a time-travel project, Ryder is aware of Monarch's failed attempts to master the timestream, and so he manipulates events in order to become the next test subject to be thrown into time. Despite the dangers -- the test subjects before him failed to come back -- Ryder arrives in 1991, but as something far different than what he was before. The experiment turns him into a "Waverider" -- a being of temporal energy who can take any shape or form, make himself invisible, and can "see" a person's future simply by touching them.

After testing his newfound powers on a would-be mugger, Waverider sets out on his mission: to find the person who will become the tyrant Monarch in the year 2001 and stop him at any cost. His only clue is that he or she is one of Earth's superheroes, and so he sets off to meet as many heroes as he can, searching for the one who will betray the rest.

Review

ARMAGEDDON 2001 ILLUSTRATES PERFECTLY the problem with most crossovers. While the story has to be momentous enough to involve a large cast of characters (and a large number of books), the end result can't disrupt things too much. For the benefit of those who haven't read the story yet, I won't reveal who the turncoat hero turns out to be, but it's a safe bet that it isn't one of the heroes on DC's A-list -- or B-list, for that matter (legend has it that Captain Atom was DC's original choice, but a last-minute change had to be made when word got out to the fans). So who cares?

"The final revelation hardly rocks the DC Universe to the core, and leaves too many threads for the inevitable sequel."
- The Slings and Arrows Comic Guide

No, the real purpose of this storyline is to give us a convenient setup to a lot of interesting "What If...?" type stories. And give us it does. The two Armageddon books are nothing spectacular, and certainly hold nothing that will have any lasting repercussions, but the annuals are worth a look if you ever find them in the bargain bin at the comic shop.

As for the Monarch and Waverider characters, they appeared again in Zero Hour, and Waverider bounced around the DC Universe for a while, but they now seem to have disappeared into that void where all lame characters tend to go. It's probably just as well.

Armageddon 2001 spawned two tepid mini-series: Alien Agenda and Inferno. Avoid.

Titles

	Action Comics Annual #3
	Adventures of Superman Annual #3
	Batman Annual #15
	Detective Comics Annual #4
	Flash Annual #4
	Hawk and Dove Annual #2
	Hawkworld Annual #2

	Justice League America Annual #5
	Justice League Europe Annual #2
	L.E.G.I.O.N. Annual #2
	New Titans Annual #7
	Superman Annual #3
	Superman #61 (epilogue)

Spinoffs and Related Titles

Armageddon: The Alien Agenda
(4 issues, 1991-1992)
Monarch, Captain Atom and a bunch of aliens beat each other up while traveling through time. Oh, and the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. Whatever.

Armageddon: Inferno
(4 issues, 1992)
Once more we go where we've gone too many times before. This time, Waverider recruits a bunch of heroes from different points in time to save the time continuum from a nasty fellow called Abraxis. Despite the input of veterans John Ostrander and Walt Simonson, it's just another slugfest.