All-Star Comics #35

Issue Details

Synopsis

THE DAY THAT DROPPED OUT OF TIME The Justice Society of America convene at their headquarters only to find a mysterious shield inscribed with a message of thanks to the team in Macedonian. The curious thing is, none of the members ever recall having seen it, nor recall why or even how they got it. Wonder Woman uses the Amazon’s Magic Sphere to examine the shield. The sphere then shows them the story of a mission that they do not remember.  The Sphere begins the story with "the change": an event that caused all technology to revert back to the middle ages. The change was caused when Per Degaton, a lowly lab technician, stole the time machine of his employer, Professor Zee, shooting him in the process. Degaton traveled back to 331 B.C., where he supplied the Persians with modern weaponry, enabling them to defeat Alexander the Great in the Battle of Arbela, which in turn caused all modern inventions to vanish from the 20th Century. Degaton, who had been hiding in an arsenal outside of the changed timeline, managed to conquer America handily.   Meanwhile, it was revealed that Degaton only injured Prof. Zee, and didn’t kill him. Zee got to a hospital, and then summoned the Justice Society to his bedside. He explained what happened, but as he was about to reveal the historical event he believed Degaton altered, the professor was shot again! At that point, several members set out to determine Degaton's origins and intentions, while Johnny Thunder, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern stayed behind to stand guard over the still barely alive Professor Zee.   The Flash visited a time capsule to see if he could recover some penicillin protected from the change. He stumbled onto Degaton and his secret arsenal. Degaton escaped, but Flash returned to the hospital with the penicillin for the Professor.   The Atom searched for Degaton to see if he could find out what historical event was changed. He found Degaton's army in the midst of looting homes and got the drop on them. By chance, he overheard that Degaton changed the outcome of a particularly crucial battle in history to effect the change, only to be knocked out by Degaton's henchmen. After regaining consciousness, he escaped and returned to report what he knew.