A review by dawnwarrior
Underworld Unleashed by Dennis Janke, Howard Porter, Mick Gray, Mark Waid, J.H. Williams III, Scott Peterson, Dan Green, John Stokes, Phil Jimenez

4.0

It was Mark Waid's name that caught my eye when I found this in the $5 bin. I'd heard of this forgotten mid-90's crossover but never read it (I wasn't reading much at that time), so what the hell. (Heh, Hell indeed.) Underworld Unleashed is a standard boilerplate crossover that centers on Neron (basically DC's Satan, or Mephisto if we're doing Marvel comparisons), who's offering new powers and wishes come true to the baddest villains in DC in exchange for their souls, all as part of his complex plan to plunge the world into unending evil (y'know, standard stuff). Mark Waid is one of the most revered writers in the industry, especially for his DC work, and he does not disappoint, while Howard Porter's art makes for an excellent warm-up for when he took the reigns on the JLA book a couple years later.

This collection is three large issues, plus an extra one-shot 'Underworld Unleshed: Abyss' (set between part 2 and 3) centering on Alan Scott (formerly the Golden Age Green Lantern, then known as Sentinel) as he assembles a team of sorcerers to confront Neron in order to save his wife's soul. The 'Unleashed' storyline comprised many other crossover issues and one-shots that are not included, but don't detract from the story.