DC Finest - Events: Zero Hour Part One

DC Finest - Events #1994

by Dan Jurgens

Don’t miss the first half of the incredible ZERO HOUR event, back in print as part of DC’s major new line of collected editions!

Welcome to DC Finest, a major new publishing initiative presenting comprehensive collections of the most in-demand and celebrated periods in DC Comics history, spanning genres, characters, and eras!

In 1985, DC Comics dramatically altered comics’ original universe with Crisis on Infinite Earths—an unforgettable, defining event in comics history that streamlined the DC Universe continuity. Nine years later, the heroes of the DC Universe found the temporal fabric of their new reality unraveling, and the biggest threat since the Crisis was about to be revealed in Zero Hour: Crisis in Time.

As part of the robust DC Finest line of collections, the first half of Zero Hour is now available in one comprehensive softcover collection! From comics legends including Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway, this is an iconic 1990s comic book event, featuring DC’s heroes throughout the timeline!


Written by Dan Jurgens, Louise Simonson, Doug Moench, and More Art by Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Jon Bogdanove, Mike Manley, and More From comics legends Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway comes Zero Hour: Crisis in Time. This first of two collections features Superman #93, The Flash #94, L.E.G.I.O.N. #70, Green Lantern #55, Superman: The Man of Steel #37, Team Titans #24, The Darkstars #24, Valor #23, Batman #511, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #31, Detective Comics #678, Legionnaires #18, Hawkman #13, Showcase ’94 #8-9, Steel #8, Superboy #8, Outsiders #11, and Zero Hour: Crisis in Time #3-4.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics

496 pages, Paperback

Published December 10, 2024

About the author

Dan Jurgens is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday, Hank Henshaw, and Booster Gold. Jurgens had a lengthy run on the Superman comic books including The Adventures of Superman, Superman vol. 2 and Action Comics. At Marvel, Jurgens worked on series such as Captain America, The Sensational Spider-Man and was the writer on Thor for six years. He also had a brief run as writer and artist on Solar for Valiant Comics in 1995.

Reviews

[Shannon Schmelzle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Checked this out of morbid curiosity.

Zero Hour was the first big DC event that came out when I started reading comics as a kid and I wanted to see how it aged.

And you know what? Better than I expected.

This collection only contains the first two issues of the core miniseries as well as a whole bunch of crossover issues.

I kind of really like the main series, thanks in large part to the duo of Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway on art. There isn't really enough of the story here to critique. Something is happening, time is screwed up.

But the meat of this is the crossovers and that is a very mixed bag. Across the board I found the art very underwhelming. A couple issues were stand outs, but even some artists who I am a big fan of today turned in some lackluster work here early in their careers. The stories are also a mixed bag. Some do some interesting stuff with the idea of all these alternate universe characters popping in and out. One stand out for me was an issue of Detective where Batman returns home to find his parents. There is also a Superman issue where he meets several different versions of Batman. And another issue where his parents show up on the Kents doorstep.

I think one of my favorite things in this is seeing all these kinda lame characters that would fade into complete obscurity.

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time is my favourite DC event, and so when this volume was included in the new line of DC Finest paperbacks, I knew I was going to pick it up. It was interesting to read how Zero Hour affected the wider DC Universe. The Superman, Batman, Flash and Green Lantern portions were the best while some of the other stories included were pretty weak or uninteresting but that could have been my interest level in them too. I two issues of the Zero Hour miniseries included were solid storytelling.

I appreciate being able to read the entire story and I eagerly anticipate Part Two.

[Jordi Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This first volume collects the September 1994 issue of many DC ongoing series that do not currently exist anymore. And some of them very deservedly, like Team Titans, Legionnaires or LEGION’94.

But it is also a good opportunity to enjoy the works of good artists like Paul Pelletier (with an ugly 90s style, though), Graham Nolan, an amazing Carlos Pacheco, Chris Batista, Dan Jurgens and Steve Lieber.

The plot has got good ideas but the final stories hardly fulfil the expectations. I hope the second volume improves this weak point of the first one.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Zero Hour back when it happened in the 90s, so I was really jazzed to see this complete collection and dove in head first. The concept is fantastic and some of these stories are incredibly fun (Batman, Superman, and Superboy were personal standouts), but there's also a ton of filler and shit that just didn't matter at all to the overall narrative, and I had forgotten how busy and thick-lined some of that 90s art could be. All in all, a good read, but not really a great one. Let's see how the second collected volume holds up...

[Matthew Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid first half to this event. It includes all of the tie-in issues giving a much fuller picture of what is going on. Some of the issues can be confusing as even though they are tie-ins to the main event, some of the issues are also part of their own multi-issue arcs which can leave you feeling a little lost sometimes if you aren’t familiar with the stories or characters. That isn’t a fault of this book though and I’m looking forward to reading the next volume.

[Jedi Master Nate Lightray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is for a very specific reader. I’m very happy it’s fully collected, though, and not just the “interesting” stories. Complete collections should be complete, warts and all. And it is fun going back through the old teams.

[Andrew Buttery · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent reprinted that brings me back to my younger days.
here's hoping DC will continue with this line

[Matt Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the start of an underrated DC event. While it can be a mixed bag with some of the crossovers the main storyline is really good though this is mostly setup so far. Covers 1994. 7/10

[Batusi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed but intriguing time capsule of an event lead-up that offers more curiosity than payoff at this stage.

Time anomalies ripple across the DC Universe, pulling heroes into fractured timelines as the mystery behind Extant and the coming crisis takes shape.

It's uneven but historically interesting, and it sets the table for what could be a memorable payoff.