JLA. PRIMEVAL - DC COMICS (1999)

In a Dallas hospital, a madman with ape-like features brutally kills several medical professionals. He screams his theories about the power of symbols to the corpses and uses their blood to draw the insignias of the JLA on the walls before he teleports away.

Soon after, the League investigates extreme weather off the coast of Russia and the tattooed man appears again in the center of the storm. He points a walking stick at the heroes and blasts them with some that has no clear effect and then disappears again. Batman arrives on the scene just afterward and discovers that the water is filled with ancient paramecia that have been extinct for millennia.

He strikes again in the Middle East, causing volcanic activity at an oil field. Big Barda manages to briefly grab him but he dematerializes in lava, leaving her holding a husk. As he disappears, the catastrophes subside.

Batman's research confirms that he is The Disciple and is on an apocalyptic mission of some sort. Another cyclone appears in Singapore and when the JLA appears there, Zauriel realizes that the magic he is using is so ancient as to be older than Hell itself. They are unable to stop him from vanishing again.

Oracle and Batman investigate and find that The Disciple is causing some kind of primordial regression in places where he appears. Heroes exposed to his magic have begun regressing as organisms: becoming more aggressive and fearful and unable to control their powers. Wonder Woman's skin is flaking like clay and Martian Manhunter can't hold his shape. Superman resembles a beast and Batman forgets how to read.

Oracle's research finds that The Disciple is a man named Jerome Cox who is allergic to modern life: he has severe asthma, cannot touch plastics, and he has become obsessed with pre-historic medicine and culture as a cure for his condition, including the radical step of trepanation. The League teleports to Dallas, where he has begun a mystic ritual to call elder gods to Earth and destroy all modern civilization.

The ancient chaotic beings imbue Disciple with their power and once they do, he uses it to close the portal between Earth and the realm they now inhabit: he was fooling them to steal their abilities and bring havoc to the Earth in vengeance. As Superman becomes a bloodthirsty ape-creature, Wonder Woman dematerializes entirely into a spirit. She drifts to Green Lantern who is struggling with his Power Ring but she helps him to believe and imagine her, thereby giving her a form with the abilities of the ring.

As the two travel together, Hal falls into a trap and Diana is bound by her Lasso of Truth, realizing their hunter is Batman who has become like a caveman. She calls on him.to believe in her and makes him regain his memories using her lasso. The three then restrain and make Aquaman, who has turned into a swamp monster. She then does the same to Zauriel who has reverted to a playful cherub, Big Barda who has become a human, Martian Manhunter who has become like a slime. Manhunter traps Flash inside him and she is thus able to make him remember as well.

She and Batman then search for Superman. He attacks them but she is able to calm him down and tells him to believe in her, using her lasso to make him remmeber. By believing in her and the power of truth, all her teammates revert to their proper beings before it's too late. They go on the offensive and Superman manages to snap Disciple's walking stick, severing his link to the chaotic old gods' power. Once he does, a tendril emerges from a dark portal, snatching up Disciple's body and disappearing into a fog. The mist vanishes and civilization reemerges.