By: Marv Wolfman, George Perez Publisher: DC Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: DC Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 368 Publication Date: January 01, 2001 Release Date: January 01, 2001
Crisis on Infinite Earths: Still a Masterpiece 23 Years Later When writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez initiated DC Comics' grandly entertaining 50th anniversary saga, "Crisis on Infinite Earths," in 1985, I remember being stunned at how exciting each of the dozen installments were, especially the unforgettable finale. As a pre-teen, I certainly never expected to see the Silver Age Flash and Supergirl killed off, or that Wonder Woman would be erased from existence (albeit temporarily). Yet, I very much understood the sheer magnitude of the changes DC Comics unleashed in order to correct itself (for simplicity's sake) for future generations.
Before proceeding further, let me say that Silver Age writer Gardner Fox came up with a brilliant concept about fifty years ago in comics: the parallel world. By introducing Earth-2 as the home of the legendary Justice Society and then later crossing worlds by having the original Flash meet his Silver Age counterpart, Fox set into motion a gold mine of nearly thirty years worth of imminently entertaining stories for DC Comics to take advantage of. Of course, DC's mishandling of its convoluted continuity eventually led to the need of a literally world-shattering `crisis' to fix all of the self-inflicted problems seemingly once and for all. By doing so, the idea of retroactive continuity (`retcon') first came into play on a grand scale by wiping out all unwanted stories and characters that would not fit into DC's revamped game plan.
The premise was undeniably simple: where there were once numerous Earths (and various alternate futures) in the DC Universe, there would be only one by the story's end. In this story, several (mostly B or C-list) characters, both heroes and villains, bit the dust as a result of the villainous Anti-Monitor's monstrous scheme to destroy all the positive matter universes to reign omnipotent in his own anti-matter kingdom. Neither Superman nor even the Justice League alone could handle this threat: it becomes really 50 years of the DC Universe itself vs. the Anti-Monitor. Classic characters such as Capt. Marvel and the Marvel Family return here, and more obscure ones like Capt. Atom and Blue Beetle are re-introduced to modern audiences, as they are woven into the cataclysmic storyline. In classic cliffhanger tradition, Wolfman makes you wait through twelve self-contained installments before revealing how the DC Universe would at last survive this cosmic armageddon.
By today's standards, Wolfman's poignant handling of `retcon' was simply brilliant. He did a first-class job of what doing needed to be done w/o any illogical missteps (in other words, avoided creating controversy simply for the sake of controversy). By managing to confine all of DC's heroes and villains to one world, he literally accomplished an impossible task. Over time, DC Comics, unfortunately, slowly unraveled all of his hard work by resurrecting deceased characters w/ little or no logical explanation (i.e. reintroducing Supergirl multiple times), and perhaps the worst decision to undo "Crisis," was 2005's mostly sub-standard 20th anniversary sequel: "Infinite Crisis."
Suffice to say, Wolfman's original "Crisis," opened the floodgates for both DC and Marvel Comics to liberally use the `retcon' trend as a means of forcing comics fans to swallow whatever new continuity DC or Marvel wants to push for now. While first-rate projects like Geoff Johns' "Green Lantern: Rebirth," adapt Wolfman's blueprint for smartly making retroactive changes, too often other high-profile attempts fail miserably in terms of insulting long-time fans. For instance, the most recent example would be this year's Spider-Man debacle, "One More Day / Brand New Day." I suspect there is far more `retcon' still to come later this year with the upcoming "Final Crisis," (officially, it is the fourth major "Crisis," so far) and Marvel's body-snatching "Secret Invasion," already in progress.
After nearly 25 years, the massive ripple effect from the original "Crisis," still resonates today at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics, but no subsequent comics mega-event, in my assessment, has equaled or even come close to Wolfman's masterful storytelling or Perez's inspired artwork. Sure, there have been numerous inferior imitations in recent years, in which graphic violence and nonsensical plot twists (or plot holes) are substituted for original storytelling, but if you wish to read the granddaddy of all comics mega-events, w/o having to plow through numerous tie-ins, this one will hold you simply spellbound for hours.
I couldn't recommend it more highly.
Rating: 5/5 (for ages 11 and up).
I, for one, believe it lives up to its hype Most readers know the point of this DC "event": over the years the DC universe had become increasingly cluttered with multiple earths and alternate universes. Apart from the Flash (the various incarnations of whom could vibrate into one or another) these universes were for the most part cut off from one another. The decision was made to stage a monumental event to consolidate the various worlds and . . . well . . . just make everything simpler.
I'm confused by the wide range of reactions to the story here. I have nothing to say to those who find it too confusing. I did not, so either they weren't trying hard enough or their attention spans are deficient. Others find the story to be lacking. I will concede that the story isn't quite as compelling as many of the Marvel or DC or Vertigo stories that have come in its wake, but people need to remember the historical context. Well, 1985 wasn't all that long a time ago, but in the world of contemporary comics it is a small eternity. Think of how the work of Frank Miller and Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman changed the comic landscape after the CRISIS. In fact, without the CRISIS the work of Miller and Mark Waid and others would have been undertaken in a completely different context.
So, while I think that this is a very good work completely on its own merits, I think it improves knowing its context. Also, the even set up other events in the future. Like it or not, it was clearly by far the most successful big event the comics had ever seen to this point. Without it DC would not have had its other big events nor would we have seen things like the Marvel Civil War series. CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS did more than merely clean up the mess that the DC universe had become: it provided a new template for the growth that was about to take place in the comic industry. In fact, one could argue that this is one of the great transition works in comics.
I personally think this is a great work completely on its own merits. But even if you decide to diss it, it has an historical importance that few other comics possess. It is, therefore, regardless of your like or dislike of it, one of the few comic works that falls into the "essential" category.
Whirr. Clank. Thud. Given the commercial difficulties that necessitated the writing of this series of comics (i.e. the need to streamline the DC universe and cure writers of their growing obsession with complicated questions of continuity) it really would have been something if CRISIS had turned out to be even a moderately good story. It isn't, sadly - the whole thing reads like a giant engineering problem. Some nice cover art, though.
The risis continues... I love comics, I love DC comics best of all, but I didn't much like this book.
"Crisis on Infinite Earths" was a huge, complex, sweeping re-write of DC comics history. When it was originally being published, I tried to keep up with all the cross-over, cross-ties, and side effects that were being spawned by this huge ...... mess .... When I saw this book being published I thought "Ah Ha! Now it'll all make sense!" Uh-uh; nope; not a bit.
This book is an overview of the Crisis, told from the perspective of Barry Allen, the Flash. It is just as muddled, illogical, and confused as the original sources.
Most disappointing, I didn't even find it to be a "good read."
Great great great... The graphic novel that brought all of the DC worlds together and stopped most of the confusion that multiple universes created. If you are new in the DC universe and don't plan to delve into the stories in the past...start here but keep Wikipedia open to reference all of the characters you don't know right off the bat like Superman and the Flash. The story is well written and to see all of the characters we've all known for years come together and meet each other, some for the first time, is really cool. Of course there will be some hardcore fans that will say this was a "nihilistic" approach that DC took to overcome yadda yadda yadda. The fact is, if you take a minute to listen to the writers over at DC and let them explain to you why they did this you'll see that it was a very intelligent and interesting approach that revived the company from a long time slump where only the extremist fanboys of DC would dare to dwell.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
