A captured villain, Trident, is under the control of a Starro drone. Batman performs a DNA scan and discovers that he is Karate Kid of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Karate Kid awakens and fights Batman until Black Lightning steps in. Meanwhile, Starman reveals to the JSA that he is also from the future.
Batman, Sandman, and Geo-Force visit Arkham Asylum, where Doctor Destiny is manipulating Dream Girl into creating horrific illusions. Starman frees her by saying "Lightning Lad" in Interlac. Dream Girl then reveals that there are other Legionnaires in the present, and the JSA and JLA decide to work together to find them.
Superman, Stargirl, Cyclone, and Red Tornado go to the Fortress of Solitude and free Wildfire, who has been frozen among statues of various Legion members. At the Batcave, Batman, Starman, and Black Lightning talk to Karate Kid, who insists that he is a member of the Trident Guild until Starman restores his memory.
The JSA and JLA converge at the old Secret Society of Super Villains base in Slaughter Swamp to find the final Legionnaire and are attacked by Computo. Despite the Society and League's efforts, the Legion enacts their plan, retrieving Wally West, Linda Park, and their two children from the Speed Force. Karate Kid is chosen to be sacrificed, but survives. The Legionnaires return to the future, with Starman, Karate Kid, and Triplicate Girl remaining in the 21st century. A close-up of Karate Kid's lightning rod shows it to have someone trapped inside.
Aftermath
The Lightning Saga contains a subplot in which the Ultra-Humanite's brain is transferred to a second albino ape body. These events are continued in The All-New Booster Gold (vol. 2), where Ultra-Humanite, Despero, and Per Degaton plot to erase the heroes of the present by tampering with the past.
The All-Flash one-shot reveals that the Rogues killed Bart Allen during The Lightning Saga.[2] He is later resurrected in Final Crisis.[3]
Karate Kid and Triplicate Girl's exploits in the 21st century are detailed in Countdown to Final Crisis.
Collected editions
The Lightning Saga and three issues of Justice League of America (#0, 11–12) were collected in the hardcover volume Justice League of America Volume 2: The Lightning Saga (ISBN1-4012-1652-8), which was released in 2008. The collection features a written introduction by actor and comedian Patton Oswalt.[4]
The story has since been republished in a deluxe edition hardcover collecting all of Meltzer's run on Justice League of America,[5] as well as the third volume of the JSA Omnibus, which collects all of Johns' JSA issues through 2009.[6]
