View source for Underworld Unleashed

{{Short description|1995 DC Comics multi-title comic book crossover event}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Notability|date=April 2020}}
{{Original research|date=April 2020}}
{{Primary sources|date=April 2020}}
{{All plot|date=April 2023}}
}}
{{Infobox comic book title <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
| image               = Uwu01.jpg
| caption             = Cover of ''Underworld Unleashed'' #1 (November 1995) featuring Neron (top), Doctor Polaris I, Lex Luthor, the Joker, Circe I and Abra Kadabra (bottom, left to right), art by Howard Porter.
| schedule            = 
| format              = [[Limited series (comics)|Miniseries]]
| publisher           = [[DC Comics]]
| date                = November 1995 – late December 1995
| genre               = [[Superhero comics|Superhero]]<br>[[Crossover (fiction)#Comics|Crossover]]
| issues              = 3, plus several [[tie-in]] issues and four one-shot issues
| main_char_team      = [[Justice League International#Expansion|Justice League America]]<br>[[Neron (DC Comics)|Neron]]<br>the [[Trickster (comics)|Trickster]] I
| writers             = Mark Waid
| editors             = [[Brian Augustyn]] (editor)<br/>Stephen Wacker (assistant editor)
| artists             = Howard Porter<br/>[[Dan Green (artist)|Dan Green]]<br/>[[Chris Eliopoulos]]<br/>[[Dennis Janke]]<br/>John Nyberg<br/>Rick Taylor<br/>Heroic Age (a.k.a. Pat Garrahy)
| pencillers          = Howard Porter
| inkers              = Dan Green (issues #1–2)<br/>Dennis Janke (issue #3)<br/>John Nyberg (issue #3)
| letterers           = Chris Eliopoulos
| colorists           = Rick Taylor (colorist)<br/>Heroic Age (a.k.a. Pat Garrahy; color separator)
| creative_team_month = November
| creative_team_year  = 1995
| creators            = [[Mark Waid]]<br/>[[Howard Porter (artist)|Howard Porter]]
| italic title        = yes
}}
'''''Underworld Unleashed''''' was a multi-title [[American comic book]] [[Crossover (fiction)#Comics|crossover event]] released by [[DC Comics]] in 1995.

The main theme of ''Underworld Unleashed'' involved the new ruler of [[Hell (DC Comics)|Hell]], a demon-lord named [[Neron (character)|Neron]], offering first many of the DC Universe [[supervillain]]s and then a number of the DC Universe [[superhero]]es various deals in exchange for their souls.<ref>''Underworld Unleashed'' trade paperback (DC Comics, March 1998 ({{ISBN|1-56389-447-5}}) and hardcover ''25th Anniversary Edition'' (DC Comics, November 2020 ({{ISBN|978-1779505781}}))</ref>

== Plot ==
{{more plot|date=July 2024}}
Neron dupes five of the [[Rogues (comics)|Rogues]] who typically battle the [[Flash (DC Comics character)|Flash]]: [[Captain Boomerang]] I, [[Captain Cold]], [[Heat Wave (character)|Heat Wave]] I, the [[Mirror Master#Evan McCulloch|Mirror Master]] II, and the [[Weather Wizard]]. He promises them a chance to go down in history as five of the greatest villains if they each engage in a specific destructive act. He does not tell them that it will cost them their lives and unleash him onto the Earth. [[Lex Luthor#Post-Crisis|Lex Luthor]], the [[Joker (character)|Joker]], [[Circe (character)#Expanded horizons|Circe]] I, [[Doctor Polaris#Neal Emerson|Doctor Polaris]] I and [[Abra Kadabra (character)|Abra Kadabra]] become his Inner Council.

Neron sends magical candles to many supervillains. When they are all lit, they transport the villains to Neron's underworld realm. Many villains accept his offer, but some do not. The newly empowered villains are sent back to Earth to wreak havoc while Neron turns his attention to the superheroes. Along the way, the [[Trickster (comics)|Trickster]] I comes to Neron, but does not make a deal with him. Instead, he helps Neron betray his Inner Council.

When the heroes come to Neron's realm looking to defeat him, they are corrupted by the influences of that realm. Trickster works out how Neron can be stopped, and instructs [[Captain Marvel (DC Comics)|Captain Marvel]] to beat Neron at his own game by offering the demon his soul for purely selfless reasons. Unable to even touch the offer, Neron's work is reversed: breaking that one deal also broke all his others.

== Collected editions ==
* The three-issue miniseries ''Underworld Unleashed'', together with the one-shot issue ''Underworld Unleashed: Abyss - Hell's Sentinel'' #1, was collected as a [[Trade paperback (comics)|trade paperback]] called ''Underworld Unleashed'' (DC Comics, March 1998, 158 pages, {{ISBN|1-56389-447-5}}).
* In 2020, a new hardcover [[graphic novel]], ''Underworld Unleashed: The 25th Anniversary Edition'', was published, containing the three-issue miniseries plus the four one-shot issues ''Underworld Unleashed: Abyss - Hell's Sentinel'' #1, ''Underworld Unleashed: Apokolips - Dark Uprising'' #1, ''Underworld Unleashed: Batman - Devil's Asylum'' #1 and ''Underworld Unleashed: Patterns of Fear'' #1 (DC Comics, November 2020, 304 pp., {{ISBN|978-1779505781}})).

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Underworld_Unleashed Underworld Unleashed] at DC Wiki
* [http://dcuguide.com/w/Underworld_Unleashed_Chronology Underworld Unleashed] at DCU Guide

{{DC events}}

[[Category:1995 comics debuts]]
[[Category:DC Comics limited series]]
[[Category:DC Comics titles]]
[[Category:Comics by Mark Waid]]