The real villain behind Infinite Crisis

In the recent Rann-Thanagar War - Infinite Crisis Special 01 (2006) the eternally befuddled Green Lantern Kyle Rayner and Starheart/Ion/Skank-power host Jade confront the giant mysterious energy hands that are emerging from a dimensional rift to destabilize the Rann/Thanagar planetary system and wreak havoc among hard science fiction aficionados.

Readers of the Infinite Crisis mini-series have probably concluded that the hands are an effect caused by Alex Luthor's manipulations of space-time as he reboots the universe to his specifications.

Well, I doubt it is that obvious. DC has a long history of flipping the McGuffin at the last second to fake out and annoy fans who puzzled out the climax of a major story arc event. In the 80's, after wags leaked that Captain Atom would be revealed as the science-villain Monarch, DC replaced the Captain with the character of the violent idiot-boy Hawk. In 2005, DC faked us out again by revealing that the new Eclipso would be the wife-killing Jean Loring, something so obvious and cliched that no one actually believed that it would actually occur!

Wanting to be the first to figure this mystery out, I have taken on the massive project of re-reading over the weekend very nearly every comic book DC has published in the last 60 years. My careful research has led me to believe that the true villain reaching through dimensions to twist reality into his own image is familiar to all of us comic fans. Sharp-eyed readers should have spotted him over the last several years as he has appeared occasionally in one title or another, often attached to a retcon or calamity of some kind.

THE BIG REVEAL
Hiding in plain sight, this supernaturally-powered villain has often re-ordered reality on a whim, played hero and villain against the other and mercilessly crushed all opposition to his goals of universal domination*.

Here he is...

Bet you didn't see that coming.

* Oh, yeah. I just made somebody's watch list.