Last Days of the Justice Society of America #1 (1986)

The Last Days of the Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America has gathered to bury two of their own that died during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. They have decided that with the new world, and all the heroes on it, they are redundant and it is time for them to disband. Just as Hawkman is officially pronouncing that dissolution, they are interrupted by the Spectre, who is horribly injured. He passes information on to Dr. Fate, before disappearing for good. The message he leaves behind him is literally apocalyptic. The earth ended in 1945, just after the burial of President Roosevelt. Hitler has decided that if he can not survive, the German people can not either. He uses the Spear of Destiny to call down destruction on the entire world. The JSA is shown what happened, the sky opening up, their attempt to get to Berlin, their deaths at the hands of German soldiers, and the final end of not only the earth, but the entire universe. They wonder how they can be there if the world ended, but suddenly, the sky opens up, just as in their vision. The end of the universe has been traveling through time and has arrived in the present. Dr. Fate quickly gathers the heroes up in a spell, and they travel back in time, to the day things ended in 1945. He keeps them intangible, so they are unable to affect what happens to their earlier selves, but he has a different plan. When Hitler starts to use the Spear, the JSA follows along with it, to another world. There, they find the Norse gods are about to experience Ragnorok, the end of their lives. Hitler has managed to drain power from the Spectre and tied the existence of the universe itself into the fate of Asgard. Fate uses spells to merge the JSA members with various Asgardian gods, with their added power helping the gods. Even so, many of them meet their destinies as written, until only a few are left standing. Then Surtur the fire giant arrives, more powerful than any of the gods and determined to wipe the earth clean of life. Dr. Fate then finishes his plan, casting a spell that creates a time loop and bringing the dead JSA members back to life to defeat Surtur, and start the entire battle over again. He explains to Star-Spangled Kid and Power Girl that the JSA must remain there battling forever in order to keep the universe from ending. Then he sends them back to the real world, before joining his comrades, only to be confronted by the fading remnants of the Spectre. The Spectre sends Fate back to the real world also, where the 3 remaining members of the JSA are left to explain to Infinity, Inc. what has happened to their parents and mentors.
Release Date: 1986