Crisis on Infinite Earths Issue 4

## "And Thus Shall the World Die!"

"*My friend, we're not going to die, none of us -- not you, not me, certainly not this Earth.*"
―John Constantine

## Synopsis

### "And Thus Shall the World Die!"

The Monitor dies at the hands of Harbinger. Pariah cries. All but Earths 1 and 2 are consumed by the anti-matter cloud.

As Supergirl joins a despondent Batgirl on top of a city building on Earth-1, trying to encourage her before she is called to rescue a plane that falls apart approaching the anti-matter wave, Pariah arrives on Earth-6 where he confronts the royal superhero family of Lord Volt, Lady Quark, and Princess Fern as the anti-matter wave destroys their world as well. Lady Quark watches helplessly as both her husband and daughter are consumed in the wave while Pariah transports her safely out of the universe.

Meanwhile, the Monitor prepares to create a new hero to help him in his quest. By firing an ion-based energy ray into an unstable star in the Vegan system in the Earth-1 universe, he causes a powerful flare of solar energy to travel to Earth. It reaches the observatory of Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi, who berates her staff as she uses the telescope to observe the destructive phenomenon present. She screams as the flare strikes her and then mysteriously transports her out of the lab, leaving her fellow workers and her father wondering what happened to her.

In the dark place where the Psycho-Pirate is taken prisoner, the shadowy figure watches on the screen the Red Tornado in action and uses his power to teleport him to the same place.

On Earth-2 in the time of Camelot, Firestorm and Killer Frost (still under the love thrall of Psycho Pirate) get help from Shining Knight to protect the cosmic tuning fork planted there in that time period, as Vandal Savage watches from a window. The three heroes engage the Shadow Demons in battle, but it is all for naught as they merge and form a giant Shadow Demon. This also happens in the other time periods that the cosmic tuning forks and the Shadow Demons appear.

In the present time of Earth-1 in Metropolis, the superheroes see yet another cosmic tuning fork appear, though this time with a female in a costume similar to that of Dr. Light. She tries to warn the heroes approaching her to stay away from the tower, and blasts them away with a burst of light. Katana, who understands Japanese, realizes that this Dr. Light is not their enemy, but an ally. Superman, who is able to converse in Japanese, tells Dr. Light that he knows the situation they are in and they only want to help.

As the Monitor on board the satellite watches the heroes valiantly but vainly try to protect the cosmic tuning forks, Pariah emerges to find that the Monitor was expecting him. He reveals to Pariah that he was responsible for his survival when he should have died for his deeds, but before he could say anything more, Harbinger appears, obviously not in control of herself. She strikes the Monitor with a powerful blast that sends him hurtling down platforms until he finally lands dead. Pariah mourns as he realizes that with the death of the Monitor came the death of all hope.

At that moment, the heroes of both Earths 1 and 2 can only watch as their worlds, consumed by anti-matter, fade into nothingness.

## Appearances

### "And Thus Shall the World Die!"

#### Individuals

* Monitor ***(Final appearance)***
* All-Star Squadron/Justice Society of America
	+ Firebrand (Danette Reilly)
	+ Green Lantern (Alan Scott)
	+ Shining Knight (Justin Arthur)
	+ Superman (Earth-2)
	+ Starman (Ted Knight)
* Easy Company
	+ Bulldozer
	+ Sgt. Rock
* Infinity, Inc.
	+ Jade (Jennie-Lynn Hayden)
	+ Northwind
	+ Obsidian
* Justice League of America
	+ Firestorm
	+ Hawkman (Katar Hol)
	+ Hawkwoman (Shayera Hol)
	+ Red Tornado (John Smith)
	+ Superman (Earth-1)
	+ Wonder Woman (Earth-1)
	+ Zatanna
* Legion of Super-Heroes
	+ Brainiac 5
	+ Dawnstar
	+ Star Boy
	+ Ultra Boy
	+ Shrinking Violet
* New Teen Titans
	+ Changeling
	+ Cyborg (Victor Stone)
	+ Jericho
	+ Kole
	+ Nightwing (Dick Grayson)
	+ Starfire (Koriand'r)
	+ Wonder Girl (Donna Troy)
* Outsiders
	+ Black Lightning
	+ Geo-Force
	+ Halo
	+ Katana
	+ Metamorpho
	+ Batman (Earth-1)
* Anti-Monitor ***(Behind the scenes)***
* Harbinger
* Psycho-Pirate (Roger Hayden)
* Shadow-Demons
* Vandal Savage
* Air Wave (Hal Jordan)
* Alexander Luthor
* Amazons
* Arion
* Athena ***(Behind the scenes)***
* Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)
* Bat Lash
* Blue Devil
* Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi) ***(First Appearance)***
* Doctor Polaris
* Dolphin}
* Green Lantern (John Stewart)
* Jeb Stuart
* John Constantine
* Johnny Thunder (John Tane)
* Jonah Hex
* Kamandi
* Killer Frost (Louise Lincoln)
* Lady Chian
* Lady Quark ***(First Appearance)***
* Lord Volt ***(Final appearance)***
* Lori Lemaris
* Mento (Steve Dayton)
* Pariah
* Princess Fern ***(Final appearance)***
* Queen Hippolyta
* Ronal
* Scalphunter
* Swamp Thing
* Supergirl (Earth-1)
* Winged Victory
* Jiro Hoshi ***(Single Appearance)***
* Professor Tazu ***(Single Appearance)***

#### Locations

* Monitor's Satellite
* Earth-AD
* Earth-1
	+ Atlantis
	+ Gotham City
	+ Japan
	+ New York City
	+ Long Island
	+ The Hamptons
	+ Paradise Island
	+ Skartaris
	+ Coyote, Texas
* Earth-2
	+ England
	+ Camelot
* Earth-6 ***(Final appearance)***
* Vega

#### Items

* Anti-Matter wave
* Medusa Mask
* Trident of Lucifer

## Notes

* Includes a letters column with pin-up illustrations of the Monitor by George Pérez.
* In the five-part television adaptation of *Crisis on Infinite Earths*, the events of this issue, the death of the Monitor and the apparent destruction of the entire Multiverse, occurs in Part 3 (an episode of *The Flash*).

## Trivia

* In the original print version of this story, the caption to the right of panel 6 of page 4 reads, "After that, only four others remain." At this point in the story, Earth-1 is being attacked, and seeing that plans for using the Charlton Comics heroes of Earth-4 in the upcoming *Watchmen* mini-series were up in the air at that time, it is assumed that the "four others" means Earths 2, 6, S, and X. This has been changed in the collected versions of *Crisis on Infinite Earths* to correctly read, "After that, only *five* others remain".

## External links

* *Crisis on Infinite Earths* Issue 4 on DC Wiki
* *Crisis on Infinite Earths* Issue 4 on Comic Vine