WARNING: The following contains spoilers for War for Earth-3 #1, now on sale from DC Comics.
As a morally-inverted counterpart of the prime Earth, Earth-3 is inhabited by villainous analogs of DC’s iconic heroes who use their abilities to rule the world as the Crime Syndicate, a twisted reflection of the Justice League. However, while the Pre-Crisis incarnations of the various members of the Crime Syndicate were pure evil, the newest versions of the characters are much more morally-complex individuals who were pushed towards villainy by the twisted nature of their world. Perhaps the most notable example of this more-nuanced take on the Crime Syndicate is Owlman, the Earth-Three counterpart of Batman.
Since his introduction, Owlman has consistently been portrayed as one of the more morally-conflicted members of the Crime Syndicate, and War for Earth-3 #1 (by Robbie Thompson, Dennis Hopeless, Steve Pugh, Dexter Soy, Brent Peeples, Matt Herms, Josh Reed, Travis Lanham, and Simon Boland) has given him a unique opportunity to redeem himself. During a battle against Amanda Waller’s newest Suicide Squad, Owlman is put in a position eerily similar to the one that his heroic Prime Earth counterpart found himself in during the“Knightfall” storyline, and his brush with death could give him a chance to become a more heroic character.
While previous versions of Owlman were ruthless criminals willing to do anything to acquire wealth and power, the Infinite Frontier-era version of the character was originally a heroic figure who dedicated his life to battling crime after his parents and younger brother were killed by Harvey Bullock. Unfortunately, Owlman’s belief in justice was shattered after he discovered that his parents were criminals themselves, and things only got worse for him after he joined the Crime Syndicate and became drawn into a toxic love triangle with Ultraman and Superwoman. When the Suicide Squad launched an invasion of Earth-3, Owlman was forced to lead the Crime Syndicate’s counter-attack, and his frazzled state of mind led to his swift defeat at the hands of Siren and Superboy. After the Suicide Squad’s victory, Waller convinced Ultraman to concede control of Earth-3 to her, ordering Talon to break Owlman’s back to prove that she had what it takes to rule the villainous world.
Talon’s brutal crippling of Owlman is a direct reference to the infamous “Knightfall” storyline, which saw Bane do the same thing to Batman. Like Owlman, Batman had been reduced to a deeply fragile state of mind long before Bane dealt the crippling blow that led to him temporarily handing the mantle of the Bat to Jean-Paul Valley. Unfortunately, Valley proved to be unfit to be Gotham’s protector, and the increasingly violent methods he used against the city’s criminals eventually drove Batman to speed up his recovery by entering a Lazarus Pit, which cured his paralysis and allowed him to reclaim his heroic identity.
Although Bane’s attack on Batman would become one of the lowest points in Batman’s life, he ultimately found a way to turn that tragedy into a triumph, returning even better than he had been before. While Owlman’s paralysis is cured by the end of War for Earth-3 #1 through a small dose of Lazarus resin, the experience still has the potential to be just as transformative for him as a person. Since joining the Crime Syndicate, Owlman has been manipulated and psychologically abused by both Ultraman and Superwoman, shaking his confidence in himself and driving him to resort to increasingly extravagant acts of violence and villainy to prove his worth to both himself and his teammates. Unfortunately, these actions have only put him into an even worse state of mind, and his encounter with Talon could finally convince him to abandon villainy altogether and return to his more heroic roots.
Before uncovering the terrible truth about his parentst, Owlman spent almost a decade protecting the people of Gotham, proving that there is at least some degree of good inside of him. Having seen just how little Ultraman and Superwoman care about him during their negotiation with Waller, the changes that the Suicide Squad’s director plans to bring to Earth-Three could give Owlman a chance to cut ties with the Crime Syndicate and rebuild his confidence.
While serving as a member of the Crime Syndicate, Owlman committed many horrible crimes, but his new alliance with the Suicide Squad could allow him to atone for his crimes and become a hero once again. Like his counterpart on Prime Earth, Owlman’s injury had the potential to ruin his life, but he could follow in his heroic counterparts’ footsteps by using this traumatic experience to rebuild his body and mind and become a better person than he was previously.
About The Author
