Chapter 2: "Friendly Persuasion"

The next four superhumans to show are the remaining members of Cloud Nine; Lux, Voltage, Spook and Mandala. See their individual entries for details.

Chapter 3: "A Separate Reality"

This is where it starts to go crazy, with the first of the big crowd scenes. Just before the first of these ensemble shots, we are introduced to 93 Mantra, another member of Black Flag from Alternative 88. Then we get our first glimpse of the gathered heroes.

From left to right these folks are:

Cat Girl - originally the star of the Sally and Tammy comic books. She travels with Zenith's group to Earth 666, where her identity is confirmed when the Leopard from Lime Street calls out her name just after Mr Why kills her during Chapter 11.

Chatting to her is:

Fishboy - aquatic hero from the Buster comic. Never named in the story, but his identity is confirmed by Steve Yeowell in the introduction to the collected Book Four. (a.k.a. Phase Three Part 1). He is killed by the possessed Mr Why in a derelict Tube train in Chapter 11.

Then it's:

Thunderbolt Jaxon. He travelled to Earth 257 as part of Hotspur's group of superhumans. Wyvern murders him in Chapter 15, when his mystic belt fails to activate because it is not being used in the service of right and justice.

After Jaxon is Meta Maid, who is an original Grant Morrison creation.

I haven't been able to identify the guy being chatted up by Meta Maid. He doesn't seem to reappear later in the story, which doesn't help. I'm hazarding a guess he might be Superboyo, but if anyone has a better idea, let me know. Another possibility occurs to me - is this TNT Tom, a little bit older? Dennis Ray suggests Jack Magic, though the suit seems out of place for that possibility.

I had though this one might be Johnny Future, as I know he's meant to be in Phase 3, but the resemblance in costumes is minimal. Dennis Ray suggests Maxwell the Mighty. On examination, I think he's probably correct.

After two unknowns, the next person in line is Streamline. He proves to be a traitor, working for Maxi-Man and the Lloigor. Following interrogation, DJ Chill freezes him to death.

I think this unnamed guy is Captain Magnet. We only see him in the background in a few crowd scenes.

Next up is Tri-Man. He is one of the survivors of the war, returning to his own dimension at the end.

Another mystery. He turns up in a lot of the crowd scenes, and is visible amongst the survivors in the last Chapter. I had originally wondered if he is meant to be Litening. The symbol on his chest does look a bit like a lightning bolt. However Adrian Kermode has come up with another theory - "I know this might seem a bit obvious but have you considered that this character could be exactly who he looks like - Fawcett's Captain Marvel? The Captain Marvel comics were widely distributed in the UK before the lawsuit with DC led to their replacement by Mick Anglo's Marvelman..." On balance, I reckon Adrian has the right of it. Of course, as Michael Norwitz points out, it could also be Electroman, who turns up later in the story, while Dennis Ray wonders if it is Mr. Apollo.

Finally in this panel, we have Ace Hart. He starts the story as one of the heroes, but is taken over by the Lloigor before the end, and is finally killed by the combined force of the remaining good guys.

And that's only one panel! Ten characters introduced. The next panel moves in closer, so we get a better look at some of the above, and also see a few new people. But that's on the next page.

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