Story arc · 13 issues
The Elongated Man's wife, Sue Dibny, is murdered. The DC superheroes rally to find out who committed the crime.
Chapter One:Coffin The story opens with Elongated Man and Firehawk on stakeout while waiting for criminals to show up. Firehawk asks Elongated Man how he met his wife , prompting Elongated Man then tells the tale. Ralph mentions how for each of his upcoming birthdays, Sue would give him a surprise mystery which Ralph would have to solve. While in truth he was always able to solve every mystery, he pretended he couldn't to make his wife happy. Meanwhile, Sue is wrapping Ralph's birthday present; inside is a positive pregnancy test that shows she's positive. All of a sudden, she hears a noise and thinking its Ollie . She goes to inspect it. Back at the stakeout, the villain Bolt appears and a shoot out ensues between him and the sellers. Before Ralph and Firehawk can intervene, Ralph receives an emergency call from Sue and rushes home. Unfortunately, he is too late and finds Sue's burnt corpse in the rain. Ralph's body begins to slump as he holds his wife in his arms as he cries. An hour later, Green Arrow and his son Connor Hawke are having a sparring match while being coached by Justice Society -member Wildcat . Connor is able to land a punch on Ollie that was so fast Ollie could barely see it, making him proud of his son. The moment is interrupted by Conner's com link spreading the news of Sue's death. At the same time, Tim Drake returns from a mission as Robin and is greeted by his father Ralph holds his wife who tells Tim he was worried.The two then overhear the news that Sue Dibny has been murdered. Four hours later, Green Arrow arrives at the crime scene and discovers that Batman has already checked but found nothing. Ollie brings in other heroes to help investigate the area such as Mr.Miracle , Animal Man , the Atom and the Metal Men . 48 hours later, the superheroes gather at Sue Dibny's funeral. Ralph attempts to make a speech, but cannot bring himself to do it and literally cannot hold himself together. The next speaker is Diana and after she's done all the heroes leave to find somebody on a suspect list. After all the heroes have left, Green Arrow, Zatanna , Black Canary , Hawkman and the Atom meet with Ralph. Ralph turns to them with a face of great anger and says "Help me find Dr.Light!!". Chapter Two:House of Lies Nine minutes before the present time, Ray Palmer meets with his ex-wife Jean Loring , Ray gives Jean a crossbow that once belonged to Hawkman in order for her to protect herself after Sue Dibny's recent murder. Following where the heroes left of at the previous chapter, Ralph Dibny, aka Elongated Man, is getting ready with the others to capture Dr. Light , who is suspected for the murder of Sue Dibny. Before they can leave, Hawkman finds out that Kyle Rayner and Wally West are secretly listening to their conversation and the two heroes confront the others for their secrecy pertaining to Dr.Light. The heroes are reluctant to say anything until Wally threatens to bring in Batman and Superman . With this, Ralph tells Wally and Kyle as the heroes go in pursuit of Dr.Light that once, the villain Dr.Light had teleported into their Watchtower on the Moon while the Justice League was out fighting Hector Hammond . Instead of finding the League, Light found Sue Dibny and blinded her eyes with his powers and proceeded to rape her. The Justice League arrive and Barry is the first to attack Light, the other heroes attacking soon after. Light is taken down by Elongated Man who hits him with Hawkman's mace after seeing what he did to his wife. Upon hearing this story, Wally is shocked as Dr.Light always seemed a moron when fought during Wally's time as a Teen Titan . Green Arrow then reveals that there is a reason for that. Meanwhile, Merlyn arrives at a meeting point for the supervillains. All of a sudden, a frightened Dr.Light teleports in and begs to hire somebody. Elsewhere, Green Arrow reveals that the team took a vote to mindwipe Dr.Light, as he threatened that he would go after Sue again. Green Arrow, Hal Jordan , and Black Canary had voted against and Zatanna, Hawkman, and Atom voted for it. The vote came down to Barry Allen who voted for it, being a particularly sore subject as less than six months before, Iris had died. The story is interrupted by Dr.Light who teleports into the building. Ralph is the first to confront him, but is caught in an explosion caused by Dr.Light's hired assassin Deathstroke , the Terminator. Elsewhere, Dr. Midnight is finished with the autopsy of Sue Dibny and concludes that the murderer was not Dr. Light. Chapter Three:Serial Killer The heroes' plan to capture Dr.Light has become more difficult as Light has hired Deathstroke to protect him. Flash is the first to attack Deathstroke, but the assassin activates bombs planted around him forcing Flash to attack him from behind. Deathstroke sees this coming and stabs the speedster, twisting the blade, so Flash is to wounded to get up. Protected by the Terminator Deathstroke then attacks Zatanna by hitting her below her ribcage causing her to continuously vomit and prevent her from casting any spells. Hawkman is next to attack Deathstroke, but Deathstroke simply back flips over him, cutting off his wingstraps causing Hawkman to hit the ground hard. Green Arrow takes his shot at Deathstroke, but the assassain deflects the arrows with his sword and cuts the tips of the remaining arrows, making Green Arrow's arsenal useless. Black Canary attempts to use her sonic scream, but Deathstroke performs another flip over her as he wraps a bag over her head so that she cannot open her mouth or breath. Ollie attempts to help her while Deathstroke uses a laser pointer to hit a shrunken Atom. The pointers protons and electrons force him to grow back to normal and collide with a recovering Hawkman. Kyle Rayner is the last one standing, but before he can attack, Deathstroke breaks his fingers and attempts to use the ring for himself, but fails. Ollie, who doesn't want to take the chance, jumps behind Deathstroke and stabs him in his eye socket. Deathstroke loses his temper and punches Ollie, only to be jumped by the rest of the League. Upon seeing this brawl, Dr.Light is hit by a memory that reminds him of the mindwipe. In a fit of rage stemming from what he remembered, Light creates a big flash and gets away along with Deathstroke. After the battle is over, Superman arrives and asks what has happened, to which they tell him the lie that Ralph just wanted the first shot at Light. Meanwhile, Captain Boomerang talks to the Calculator in order to find a job. The Calculator tells him that no one is willing to hire him anymore, since he became more and more of a joke. Simultaneously, Tim Drake returns to his home and his father sees the bruise on his face. As he goes to get some ice, he leaves Tim feeling guilty over the worry he puts his father through. Meanwhile, Jean Loring is attacked by an unknown assailant who ties a rope around her neck to hang her. Chapter Four: Who Benefits Jean Loring is being hung from her door. As she screams for help her ex-husband Ray Palmer, aka the Atom, arrives just in time to save her by riding through the phone lines and breaking the rope at microscopic size. As Jean lays unconscious, Ray, who is not a religious man, prays for the first time in a long time for Jean to be safe. Jean wakes up and opens her eyes to him saying "Just like the old days". Green Arrow, Mr.Miracle and Superman arrive at the apartment to investigate and Superman finds that the rope was tied in bowline knot. Oracle investigates previous villains with that M.O and finds a villain named Slipknot who is currently in prison. Soon after, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow go to see Slipknot who is now part of the Kobra Organization. Wonder Woman uses her magic lasso on him, only to find out that he doesn't know anything. Green Arrow and Black Canary call Superman who is at his parents farm in Smallville . Superman and Ollie get into an argument due to Superman wanting to follow a lead whereas Ollie thinks its just a waste of time. Elsewhere, a bunch of villains meet up to play Risk. The villains including Deadshot and Merlyn tell the rest how the Murder of Sue Dibny will seriously effect them and the way they do things. Meanwhile, Digger Harkness aka Captain Boomerang gets the Calculator to find Diggers son whom he had never met before. As Digger waits outside, his son who had just come home from work sees him. Meeting his father for the first time, Owen Mercer tells him that there's not alot to do with a boomerang in which his father says "theres a lot, you just need the right teacher". At the Batcave , Alfred brings Batman tea and tells him that the others are going after the Suicide Squad in which Batman disagrees saying the real answer is to "who benefits". Meanwhile, Green Arrow goes to the graveyard to meet Hal Jordan who is now the Spectre . Hal reveals that he knows who's behind this but can't tell Ollie due to the powers he has to answer to. Hal then makes Ollie promise that he'll find who's responsible and make them pay. Hal also reveals that he's working on coming back. At the Daily Bugle , Lois Lane arrives at her desk to find a letter saying "I know who your husband is, you're next!". Chapter Five:Fathers Day Green Arrow runs through the halls of an abandoned building with his bow and arrows ready. He breaks down the door to find Deadshot, Merlyn and Monocle already ready for him but before they can attack, they are ambushed by the other JLA-members who bust in surprising them. Hawkman is the first to attack, smacking Monocle in the eye with his mace, defeating him. Merlyn is defeated by the Flash who simply takes all his arrows away. Kyle Rayner traps Deadshot in a cube but Deadshot shoots nonetheless, causing the bullet to ricochet and shooting right through his neck. Kyle panics and lets his guard down, allowing Deadshot the chance to shoot him and run away only to run into Superman. Green Arrow then interogates Merlyn on what he knows about Sue Dibnys murder and the same thing is happening everywhere with all the other heroes. Unfortunately, one teams attempt to capture Shadow Thief ends up in failure as grabs Sir Justin's sword and stab Firestorm , causing him to sacrifice him self by blowing up high in the sky. Ray Palmer visits his ex-wife Jean Loring who had previously been attacked. Jean reveals that she heared Ray pray and the two reconcile their relationship. Meanwhile, Captain Boomerang and his son Owen are practicing with boomerangs and Owen is revealed to have super-speed. Later that night, Tim Drake suits up to get ready to go out as Robin but his father tries to convince him to stay. Tim tells his dad that he can help people out there but he'll stay if his father wants him too. Jack Drake lets his son go and as Tim leaps out the window, Jack tells him: "I'm proud of you son". Jack walks into the kitchen to find a note with a gun that says "Protect yourself". Jack, who is scared, calls Oracle through a number, Tim gave him for emergencies. Oracle connects Tim to his father just as Tim arrives at the Batmobile . Batman tries to get a hold of Wally but can't and drives as fast as he can towards Tim's house saying to himself "not again". Jack tells Tim over the intercom that the assassin is in the house and coming closer. Tim begs Batman to save his father with tears in his eyes. As the door slowly opens, Jack tells Tim that if he doesn't get back in time it's not his fault. He then tells Bruce to take care of his boy and that everything he does as Robin is worth it. The door slams open and the assassin is revealed to be Captain Boomerang. Jack quickly shoots Boomer but not enough to stop him from throwing a razor boomerang that ends up stabbing Jack Drake in the heart. Both men then lie dead on the floor covered in blood. Chapter Six:Husbands and Wives Tim arrives at his house and removes his Robin costume as he runs up the stairs to find his father dead. Despite knowing what little it would do, Robin struggles to remove the boomerang from his fathers heart. Batman arrives not soon after and sees Tim struggling to remove the boomerang. With that, Batman hugs a grieving Tim Drake saying "its okay,I've got you". Moments later the police arrive followed by Owen Mercer, Captain Boomerangs son. Owen demands to see his father but the Broken Tim police do not give him permission to disturb the crime scene. Owen sees Batman investigating and picking up the note that Jack Drake found telling him "Protect yourself". Owen tells the police about this but they claim they don't see anyone. Later, upon discovering the news of Jack Drakes death, Green Arrow hugs his son Connor and reminisces about the loss, the life of a hero brings. Superman goes home to be with his wife Lois. Deadshot, Merlyn and Monocle, who were captured earlier have been released due to Deadshot's ties with Amanda Waller . Dr.Light sits on his chair brooding thinking about what was done to him. He later smiles as the remembering the mindwipe let him gain back his edge that he lost before restoring him as a deadly villain again. Elsewhere, Owen Mercer visits his fathers grave to show him that the murder put him on the front page. Owen later is approached by Captain Cold to offer him the mantle of Captain Boomerang which he accepts. Green Arrow is on patrol when he sees Deathstrokes reflection but when he turns around finds a note telling him that they´re not finished. Wally arrives to talk to Ollie revealing that during the fight with Light and Deathstroke he saw lights visions that involved the presence of Batman as well when Batman wasn't mentioned before this. Green Arrow reveals that Batman caught their mindwipe of Dr.Light and was outraged by this. Having no choice, the seven voted to mindwipe Batman as well. Wally upon hearing this is outraged and asks if Bruce knows this to which Ollie responds that "Batman is a detective, he always has a clue". Meanwhile, Batman tracks down the Calculator as he suspects that the Calculator sent Jack Drake the note. The Calculator reveals to Merlyn over the com that he did not send Captain Boomerang to his death but he doesn't know who did either and that he was played as well. Batman who discovers this then returns to the Batcave to piece it all together. He then solves it and tells the Martian Manhunter to find Ray Palmer's location. Elsewhere, Dr.Midnight discovers that the cause of Sue Dibnys death was tiny foot prints made in her brain by somebody who could shrink to subatomic size. It dawns on Batman who the only suspect capable of doing this and tries to get a hold of Ray. At that moment, Ray is with his ex-wife Jean Loring who have rekindled their relationship. As Jean smiles at him, Ray turns off the lights. Chapter Seven:The Hero's Life Dr. Midnight leaves the examining room where he tells Wildcat that he thinks Ray Palmer killed Sue Dibny, but Batman disagrees. Ray Palmer is with his wife Jean where the two are reliving their relationship. All of a sudden, Jean asks Ray if they found out who wrote that "Protect yourself" note to Jack Drake. Ray tells her that he doesnt know when it occurs to him that the information about the note was never revealed, meaning Jean couldn't have possibly known that there was a note. Ray begins to yell at Jean asking her how she knew about it in which she says she must have heared it on the news. Ray tells her he knows that she´s lying because Batman removed the note before anyone had even seen it. Ray then figures out what had happened. Jean used one of his old Atom costumes that he put away and used the power it contained to shrink down to subatomic size, explaining why there was no sign of any entry or clues as Jean Entered through the phone line. She then entered through the phone, into Sue's ear and into her brain Jean revealed what really happened. She goes on to explain that she wasn't sure of how to use the suit and increased her size too much causing an infarction, killing Sue. Jean was scared and didn't want to go A mad Jean to jail so she burned Sue down with a flamethrower she had shrunk just in case. She explained that she did not intend to kill her but scare everyone into thinking that someone was going after the heroes' loved ones and that Ray would come back to her. Jean later on used the suit to shrink down and hang herself to throw off suspicion which also led Ray to save her, which she was hoping for. Jean later revealed that killing Jack Drake was an accident. She hired a scrub assassin like Boomerang thinking that he would easily fail. She then sent Jack the gun hoping that he would kill Boomerang and the crime would be solved. Jean continues to defend her actions saying it was out of love for Ray and her wanting it to be "like the old days". Seeing Jeans face Ray realizes she is crazy and thus brings her to Arkham Asylum . After admitting Jean, Ray shrinks down until he disappears as he cannot deal with the fact that he indirectly played a part in the murder of Sue Dibny and Jack Drake. The next few weeks continue as the heroes attempt to move on. Nobody has heard from Ray, Tim Drake has also disappeared as he is crying in bed over the loss of his father, Firehawk tells her father that she has quit being a superhero and Ollie tells Ralph that it helps if he talks to Sue because "she can hear every word." Ollie later meets with Wally, where Wally tells him he is still disturbed about them mindwiping Batman. Despite this, Wally tells Ollie that he would like to have dinner with him and Clark just like they used to do with Barry Allen in which Ollie agrees with a smile. The story then closes with Ralph who is about to go to bed, and talking to his wife as Ollie suggested. Ralph then turns of the lights and says "Goodnight Sue....I love you too." 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