Story: "Paradox Play" (22 Pages)

Credits: Geoff Johns and David Goyer (plot, script)
Leonard Kirk (pencils)
Keith Champagne (inks)
Ken Lopez (letters)
John Kalisz (colors)
Heroic Age (color separations)
Peter Tomasi (edits)

Feature Characters:

Mister Terrific II
Hawkgirl II
Captain Marvel
Doctor Fate IV

Guest Stars: Mister Terrific I
Uncle Sam
Ray I
Red Bee II?, Black Condor I
Human Bomb
Phantom Lady I
Doll Man
Firebrand I
Miss America (latter nine as the Freedom Fighters; all in April 1944)

Villains: Black Barax
Flaw
Child (disguised as Cutter)
Vandal Savage
Ahk-Ton (the Metamorph, first appearance)

Comment: Story continues in the next issue

Synopsis:

Inside the time cube of Black Barax, JSA members Hawkgirl and Mister Terrific watch Captain Marvel disappear - Hawkgirl believes he has been sent to ancient Egypt. They encounter the original Mister Terrific, discovering that they are in 1944, travelling with the Golden Age hero to Washington DC, where the Freedom Fighters are battling Black Barax. Baraz wants the Human Bomb, a power source which could provide energy for his time cube, but the two Mister Terrifics call his bluff - the original tells him that he is one of Barax's ancestors and threatens to kill himself, ensuring that Barax could hence never be born. Faced with this prospect, the villain retreats to his own time, while Hawkgirl and Mister Terrific seek out Captain Marvel in the past, where they encounter a familiar, and most unwelcome face: Vandal Savage.