The JLA decides the time has come to tell Batman that they stole part of his memory. But, the League is attacked by the Secret Society of Super-Villains - out for vengeance now that their own memories are restored.

Villains in The Secret Society of Super-Villains have regained their memories and are attacking members of the Justice League of America in revenge, while Martian Manhunter fights Despero, an alien who has been helping the villains.

Collects the sequel to Identity Crisis from JLA #115-119.
Cover by Rags Morales.

Paperback: 126 pages
Publisher: DC Comics

Crisis of Conscience is another one of the many prequel lead-in stories for DC's massive Infinite Crisis event. Crisis of Conscience actually acts as a bridge between Infinite Crisis and the proceeding Identity Crisis: the controversial story in which Elongated Man's wife is murdered and it is revealed that the JLA has been mind wiping super villains for years. The team even went so far as to wipe the mind of Batman when he discovered what they had been doing. In this book, Batman has recovered his lost memories and distanced himself from the main team. Meanwhile, an unknown entity begins using telepathic powers to restore all the memories of the villains who were mind wiped. The JLA finds themselves under assault by the Secret Society (an old school team including the Wizard, Chronos, and Star Sapphire). The best material from the story is the emotional conflicts between the team members as they clash over their past actions and try to decide how to handle the Secret Society once again being able to target the heroes' loved ones. The standout of the book, though, is Despero in one of his best appearances. The mind controlling alien despot is the culprit who has been restoring the villains' memories and his big reveal is an awesome moment, as is his throw down with the JLA. Overall, a great read although you'll definitely need to have a working knowledge of Infinite Crisis and its prequels (the book references the main plot near the end and makes a few references to the events of the OMAC Project prequel) and you'll definitely need to have read Identity Crisis.

The cover is incredible - very gritty and somber: a definite foreshadowing.

The characters are imbued with a seriousness as they wrangle with the debate over the memory-wiping of certain supervillains. It's all about "choosing the harder right over the easier wrong," and teammember Zatanna grows up in many ways throughout these stories. The Flash remains a morally pivotal character as he did in "Identity Crisis," forcing many of the Leaguers to confront their pasts.

Hawkman is hardcore in this book, and his character has become more solid and a powerhouse again.

If you want to understand more about Batman's psyche - get this book. It also sheds light on the already tense yet loose relations between the Justice Leaguers as they get into "Infinite Crisis." A solid recommendation.

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