Millennium #1-8 is an
eight-issue comic book crossover limited series published by DC Comics. Though cover-dated January and February 1988, the books hit shelves weekly in late 1987. It was written by
Steve Englehart and illustrated by the team of
Joe Staton and Ian Gibson.
The event was structurally unique at the time because the core limited series was published weekly, making it a high-speed focal point for a massive, company-wide crossover that spilled into dozens of ongoing titles.
Plot Overview
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The Cosmic Decree: The Guardians of the Universe (the immortal founders of the Green Lantern Corps) announce that they are leaving Earth's dimension. Before departing, they select ten ordinary humans from around the world to become the "Chosen Ones"—the next step in human evolution who will guide humanity into a new millennium.
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The Robotic Infiltration: The Manhunters, an ancient and corrupt robotic cult originally built by the Guardians billions of years ago, launch an all-out assault to execute the Chosen Ones before they can evolve.
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The Deep-State Betrayal: The core twist of the series is that the Manhunters have spent centuries planting sleeper cells on Earth. Major supporting characters and close friends of Earth's superheroes (such as Flash/Wally West's father) are shocking revealed to be disguised android agents or brainwashed human sycophants.
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The New Gods: Driven out of hiding, Earth's heroes rally to defend the Chosen Ones. The crossover culminates in the birth of The New Guardians, a brand-new super-team formed by the surviving evolved humans to protect the universe.
Key Features & Impact
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Rigid Crossover Framework: The series is famous—and sometimes infamous—for how tightly it integrated with DC's ongoing titles. Each weekly issue of Millennium dictated exact character placements that ongoing books like Superman, Batman, The Flash, and Justice League Internationalhad to instantly react to in their respective tie-in issues that same month.
- The Legacy of the Manhunters: This series significantly revamped the Manhunters from obscure Golden/Silver Age relics into one of the premier, deeply rooted cosmic threats in the DC Universe, a legacy that heavily affected subsequent Green Lantern lore.
