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[Johnny Quick III]
Occupation: Criminal Overlord
Base of Operations: The Antimatter Earth’s Moon
Group Membership: Crime Syndicate of Amerika
First Appearance: JLA: Earth Two (December 1999)
Created by: Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (based on the Gardner Fox/Mike Sekowsky character)
See Also: Johnny Quick (Crime Syndicate #1), Johnny Quick (Crime Society), Johnny Quick (Crisis on Two Earths)

In the antimatter universe, there is a parallel Earth on which evil always wins. An Earth dominated by corruption and greed, where colonial Britain’s break from its parent America has led to centuries of war, where injured astronaut Clark Kent, repaired by aliens, became the evil powerhouse Ultraman, banding together with other super beings to become the Crime Syndicate of Amerika, now acting as masters of the globe from their Panopticon headquarters on the moon.

Johnny Quick, in particular, “murdered his predecessor and extracted his blood to create a superspeed drug that he has to inject regularly.” (Grant Morrison in interview). Like most speedsters, he lacks patience, and he seems most comfortable in the Syndicate with Power Ring—the other second-generation member.

This Earth’s sole super-hero, Alexander Luthor, discovered a positive-matter universe, calling its Justice League of America in to free the world from the tyranny of evil. Unfortunately, the League was doomed to failure, and Luthor discovered he himself had been manipulated by Braniac, who sought to break down the barriers between worlds and enhance himself with the energy from the two Earths annihilating each other. The JLA realized they could not defeat Braniac, and abandoned him to the CSA, who savagely defeated him. Ultimately, the JLA succeeded only in stirring the pot to make things more interesting for the Crime Syndicate.

Text by Kelson Vibber. Do not copy without permission.

Top of Page Primary Sources

  • JLA: Earth 2 (December 1999), Grant Morrison
  • “Leaving JLA, Planning A Hypercrisis” - Another Universe.com interview with Grant Morrison (October 1999), Michael Doran

Art

  • JLA: Earth 2 (December 1999) - Frank Quitely

Profiles

  • JLA–Z #1 under Crime Syndicate (November 2003)
  • The DC Comics Encyclopedia under Crime Syndicate (2004)

Notes

The Crime Syndicate originally hailed not from an antimatter Earth, but a parallel “Earth-3,” and encountered the silver-age JLA with the original Johnny Quick and Power Ring. After the Crisis, their origin was amended to the antimatter world of Qward, but the story was not (to my knowledge) retold. “Earth Two” took the concept and characters and used them for a new story in current continuity. This version has appeared at least twice since then, including appearances in Superman and JLA (“Syndicate Rules”).

A new multiverse was created after Infinite Crisis, as revealed in 52 Week 52 (2007). The new Earth-3 is home to the Crime Society, sort of the Golden-Age Crime Syndicate.