Heroes known to have been gone for the missing year were Aquaman, Batman, Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, Nightwing, Robin, Superman and Wonder Woman.
The story features a depowered Clark Kent who, having lost his powers in the climax of Infinite Crisis, uses his skills as a journalist to defend Metropolis from both organized crime and Lex Luthor, who is newly bankrupt and disgraced due to his actions in the series 52.
The storyline concerns Batman and Robin's return to Gotham City after a year-long absence, and their investigation of a mysterious group of vigilante-murdering low-rank supervillains.
(including the Ventriloquist and the KGBeast) These villains appear to be connected to Harvey Dent, who has reformed himself and has taken up battling crime on Batman's behalf during the latter's absence.
It is learned that Dent is not responsible for the killings; the mastermind is actually Great White Shark, who over the past year has established himself as Gotham's reigning crime boss.
Within the story it has been revealed that prior to her admission into the department, Diana was also photographed in the company of an Eastern mystic code-named I Ching, and that the World Court has dropped the charges against her for the killing of Maxwell Lord.
The Outsiders operated illegally and underground with all current members at the time (excluding Nightwing) presumed dead by the general public.
As well as this, the Chinese government has formed a superteam called the Great Ten in the intervening year, and is currently working on a supersoldier program.
Harvey Dent, believed cured of the multiple-personality disorder/psychosis issues that created his Two-Face persona, has been in charge of keeping Gotham safe as a result of a deal with Batman.
The character of Mon-El, the interior design of the Fortress of Solitude, Superman starting his career by being known as a "super-boy" (sans uniform), and his teenage membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes are all recognizable Silver Age components that were not included in continuity before Infinite Crisis.
The stories are also beginning to aesthetically resemble the Superman feature films by using the same exterior design for the Fortress of Solitude, as well as modeling Jor-El more after actor Marlon Brando.
These changes also bring current Superman stories more in line with the television series Smallville, which incorporates many of the same elements of classic comics and the feature films.
This has also led into a subplot in DC's weekly series Countdown to Final Crisis, where many heroes are shown to be actively searching for the Rogues that caused Allen's death.
The Green Lantern Corps members that were recovered from the Manhunter homeworld of Biot still despise Hal Jordan for actions Parallax committed while in control of him.