One of the most interesting spins on the Justice League of America is their own mirror-image, the Crime Syndicate of America. Beating up on a goody-two-shoes Lex Luthor (shocker!) on a daily basis for kicks and giggles, look inside for some assembled evil!

After the original team was wiped out by the first Crisis, the ever-so-masterful Grant Morrison breathed new life back into the CSA in his "JLA: Earth 2" story arc. There, the evil Justice League, so to speak, upholds a "favor bank" by which their "economy" is based upon. Narcissistic, self-centered, and bigoted egomaniacs, the CSA bicker with each other as often as they fight actual superheroes.

Read more about their exploits here: The Crime Syndicate of America.


I've always thought that the Black Kryptonite Superman in Morrison's All-Star Superman run was exactly what Ultraman was supposed to be and Morrison doesn't disappoint with his version in Earth 2: a self-centered egomaniac who wouldn't stop at anything to get what he wants, be it money, sex, or another planet and a bunch of superheroes to destroy, ULTRAMAN:

lg089 U Ultraman
Team: Crime Syndicate
Range: 8
Points: 242
Keywords: Brute, Crime Syndicate

12 11 16 5

12 10 16 5

10 10 15 4

9 9 15 4

8 9 17 4

10 8 16 3

9 8 16 3

8 7 15 3

7 6 15 2

7 5 14 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Filling in the role of main turret, you're going to want to keep Ultraman on that top dial where he can cover at least 14 squares of the map and smack you for 5. Then from his prone position, he can torch you for 7, especially with an above average AV of 11 before he nosedives with 10s and 9s with a dial full of Super Strength so pack that Tombstone to help his low Defense. Coming off topdial, Ultraman can still lay down the hurt with Charge coming in with an object and cleaning up with Close Combat Expert which also fills out the rest of his dial. Alongside with tons of damage reducers, Ultraman will definitely pull his own weight on this team, forcing the opposition's focus on him allowing the rest of the CSA to smash around. Just don't forget his TA and use it to reroll against successful attacks against the Tombstone.


The "beautiful and deadly" monkier would be fitting for Earth 2's Lois Lane, who fills in the role of Ultraman's better and worse half and, on several occasions, a "friend" of Owlman's, SUPERWOMAN:

lg048 V Superwoman
Team: Crime Syndicate
Range: 0
Points: 141
Keywords: Amazon, Crime Syndicate, Metropolis

10 11 17 4

8 10 17 4

8 10 16 3

8 9 16 3

7 9 15 3

7 8 15 3

7 8 15 2

6 8 14 2

6 7 14 2

6 7 14 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

A standard flying brick with built in PC, Superwoman will lay down the hurt just as well as her better half does. There's no real finesse towards playing her; just steer her towards a target and clunk them over the head with an object and having PC doesn't hurt to ensure the hit lands. However, back-dial, one begins to wonder where the range for her eye-beams (as shown in the picture for DC's sake!) to complement her Incapacitate. I mean, they could've given her Battle Fury to start with then dropping it when Incap showed up...oh, well. It's also when her damage reducers give way to Willpower, so watch out for that one little big hit that'll drop her for good.


Instead of watching his parents be gunned down by a thug, Thomas Wayne, Jr. witnessed a policeman gun down his younger brother, Bruce, and his mother. Vowing vengeance upon law enforcement was OWLMAN:

cd094 U Owlman
Team: Crime Syndicate
Range: 6
Points: 87
Keywords: Crime Syndicate, Gotham City, Martial Artist

8 10 17 3

8 10 16 3

7 9 16 2

7 8 15 1

7 8 15 2

7 10 15 2

6 9 15 2

6 8 14 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

As one would expect from a character emulating Batman, this figure plays just exactly like Batman...without the Stealth. The staple LC/Outwit/6-range dual-target Incap shows up here and in very good form with 10AV and 17DV backing it up; just park him in hindering and it's going to take some effort taking this piece down. Owlman picks up WP/CCE mid-dial before giving way to EW and Stealth so bail out of there and turn into the CSA's main PCer.


Juicing up heavily on "Speed Juice," this speedster epitomizes the meaning of hit and run, JOHNNY QUICK:

or092 U Johnny Quick
Team: Crime Syndicate
Range: 0
Points: 77
Keywords: Crime Syndicate

10 9 16 3

10 9 16 2

4 7 15 1

10 9 16 2

10 10 17 3

9 10 16 2

8 9 15 3

7 8 14 2

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

Yet another straight up representation of a Leaguer, this Flash rip-off carries a little more punch than either Barry/Wally did, thanks to the numerous clicks of 3 damage on the dial. Zipping about with ES/D making him a headache to pin down at range, capitalize on using Johnny Quick early game to soften up targets. Just mind click 3 where he needs a boost of his Speed Juice. After juicing up again, he gets a click of Charge/BCF to represent his return into the speed force. You can stay on this or push back onto HSS with better attack values before giving way to Flurry. All in all, a nasty piece of harassment that you should use at every chance possible.


An agent wielding a power ring from the Anti-Matter universe of Qward, this Green Lantern wanna-be is the CSA's weakest link, despite his awesome-sounding name, POWER RING:

jl050 U Power Ring
Team: Crime Syndicate
Range: 8
Points: 90
Keywords: Crime Syndicate, Mystical

8 9 15 1

7 9 15 2

7 8 15 2

7 8 14 1

8 7 15 2

9 7 16 1

10 6 17 1

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

KO KO KO KO

(Damage) Curse of Volthoom: Power Ring can use Perplex. When he uses Perplex, roll 2d6; on a result of 2-4 immediately deal Power Ring 1 unavoidable damage.

An interesting twist on the power representing the power ring of Power Ring, we get this distraction piece for the CSA. Designed to do little other than blaze through the enemy lines and distract the foes long enough to set up Ultraman's 7-damage torching RCE, Superwoman's 4 +HO Charge, Johnny Quick's 3-damage drive-bys, all the while being supported by Owlman's bounding Outwit. Mid-dial Barrier will stall the inevitable but it's a stall tactic, nonetheless. His self-damaging Perplex isn't all that too bad, with what only 2-4 hurting him, so use that Perplex for all it's worth as well.


After the CSA calls in a few favors and rounds up a few of their hapless citizens for some grunt work, we get this:

U Ultraman w/ Damage Shield + Lunge 242 + 10 + 5
V Superwoman 141
U Owlman 87
U Johnny Quick w/ Nanobots 77 + 10
U Power Ring w/ Double-Time 90 + 5
BY Security Guard 6
BY Metropolis Transit Driver 3
BY Businesswoman 3
BY Paperboy 3
BY Politician 3
BY Reporter 3
BY Movie Star 3
BY Deli Worker 3
BY Scientist 3
BY Professor 2
BY Lian Harper 1
------------------------------------
700 points.

The generic Bystander pogs from the Marvel & DC Bystanders Sets, respectively, serve very well to fill in the roles as the Earth-2's hapless citizens and as token-dogs for the CSA TA's built in PC...alongside with the fact they riled the JLA and Red Arrow with the kidnapping of Lian Harper!!!

As for the CSA, use the Double-Time on Power Ring to get in behind enemy lines with Johnny Quick where he can wreak havok with hit-and-run tactics, retreating deep behind cover and juicing up through Nanobots. Owlman will remain on the skirts of the battlefield, Outwitting what he deems apt to be Outwitted, engaging only when the chance arises. The bulk of the battle will be left upon Ultraman sitting in hindering and torching for 7, depending on his trusty Tombstone while his better half smacks around the opposition on the interior. Damage Shield on Ultraman deters the foes from engaging him in close combat and Lunge keeps him mobile with his dial full of CCE. Be sure to set up your bystander tokens for tie-up and LOF blocking opportunities and especially for the CSA PC tokens. Keep in mind, those bystander tokens don't need to be within LOF for the PC but the CSA characters do. They basically have the PC power on their dial but the same restrictions apply. This team may be a throwback but played well, those pieces are engines of destruction.

Check back in two weeks for yet another installment of COMIC ACCURATE: DC EDITION!

The team seems interesting although I'd have to make a few pog switches since I don't have some of them but I wouldn't mind trying this sometime and tinkering with it a bit using this article as a base.

Yeah, basically pogs are a pre-req for this team as using their own members for PC tokens ties them up combat-wise. So, basically, any combination of bystanders serve well. If you've ever read that specific storyline, that many pogs aren't even out of line

You should see what the CSA does on a day they're bored...

I love the Crime Syndicate but I don't have Ultraman and the only Superwoman I have is the rookie version. Much harder to use them as a team without Ultraman as a heavy hitter. Maybe they could re-release him in a newer set like they did with Bizarro...

I thought Earth-2 had the Silver Age Superman? (Golden Age Superman being the one who can't fly).
Ultraman is that world's version of Superman (even though he's a human astronaut who gained powers from a radioactive meteorite), and Luthor is among the only heroes, so how can the Crime Syndicate be from Earth-2 if Earth-2 Superman is from Earth-2?

I highly recommend the team even without Ultraman. I played a 400 point version of the team and beat a 500 point opposing team. I recommend Legendary Day so the pogs hiding in the back don't even strain to death when they take the tokens.

After two DC Crisis-es (Crisii?), I honestly don't know any more.

Upon reading the Wiki entry, it isn't all that clear either, other than that this CSA was patterned after the E-3 CSA which was wiped out in the original Crisis. And seemingly in the recent Crisis, a new CSA appeared.

Color me interested...but confused

Earth-2 was the designation of the Anti-Matter Earth before the Multiverse came back, but after it was destroyed. Kinda confusing, I know.

To make matters worse, there is a seperate CSA on the new Earth-3. And, on another note, the Earth-2 Superman was the Golden Age Superman- he learned to fly.

Good article, owlman and superwoman still hold up. Back in the day Ultraman was a power house, nowadays he is too many points for his low defense numbers. He will be the subject of yet another outwit and destroy effort.

In JLA: E2 The JLA come up with a brilliant strategy that involves impersonating The Crime Syndicate and letting the villain E2 Brainiac win. The reasoning behind the decision to paraprase Superman (dressed as Ultraman) "good has no chance in this word evil will alway win so by being evil this time WE WIN" how friggin epic is that. Ultraman is always impersonating Clark when he's in our reality so I don't think anyone would mind if you used Superman as an Utraman Substitute or used Wonder Woman in place of Super Woman.

I love the CSA. Hopefully we'll eventually get more members from their world. I just watched my "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths" DVD, and it left me wanting more characters from that world in Heroclix, along with an updated Ultraman.

The army's still entirely viable without Ultraman. He's just a turret, after all, and the others... well, they're pretty darn good, too.

Please don't destroy me with your death ray eyes, lord Ultraman...

gonna have to give this team a try for sure! great article.

cool idea with all the pogs