The Lead Up To Infinite Crisis ^ I haven't read the other tie in books to countdown to infinite crisis but they actually seem like tie ins to this event. This book has the main part of the other story where Superman and Wonder Woman fight. They mention the other books like the war with thangar and the society of villains but they aren't expanded on. I enjoyed the book a lot and my only real problem with it is that I don't understand why Batman was keeping track of the other heroes, even though I don't know a lot about him I really liked Blue Beetle and surprisingly Booster Gold (The only other story I read with him was 52 where he was a jerk) Another problem is that the little intro makes it seemed like you missed something important like you walk in a hour to a movie and you kind of have to catch up to what has happened. This is a very thick book and despite my nitpicks its really good.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one ^ Batman is "the man", not the only "the man" in the DCU, but a "the man". He kind of goes nutty after coming to the realization in Identity Crisis that he had part of his mind wiped and builds a police state setup where an orbital AI satellite named "Brother Eye" basically watches over Gotham and himself. Brother Eye has the ability to direct the OMACs to help keep order in a way. Checkmate is an organization of assassin like characters run by Maxwell Lord that ends up trying to take over. Without giving the plot and twists away, this is the story that turns most of the bigger heroes against Wonder Woman for a short period of time even though I still maintain she made the right choice. Anyway, the story's main characters if my memory serves me right are Booster Gold, Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, Maxwell Lord, some Green Lantern action(Guy I think), a new Blue Beetle and a bunch of characters from Checkmate all packed into a great story line with a few twists.
A fairly short read and definitely worth the money!
Aftermath of Identity Crisis ^ The genesis of this storyline was borne from the repercussions of the infamous mindwipe incident from Identity Crisis and the mistrust that arose in Batman towards his fellow superheroes, and specifically superior in power teammates, because of it. Brother eye was his creation and hopeful solution to the potential problem of metahumans out of control, a fear that is a common theme in comics, especially ones involving Superman. Unfortunately Batman's device, designed strictly along the lines of a vigilant oracle, has been abducted and had its' original programming corrupted by Max Lord for his own personal crusade against metas. Fateful circumstances lead Blue Beetle to Max's doorstep, with the resulting dire finale something that BB fans will never forget. Many controversial events do transpire, including the final dispositions of both BB and Max, and a quite shocking incident involving Wonder Woman. The first half of the story and its' focus on the mystery and human elements is the more compelling, setting the stage for the myriad scenarios taking place in this major event, with the latter half focusing more on action involving the enigmatic OMACs. Greg Rucka's script is solid, although the constant and mostly unnecessary computerized discourse detracts from it and eventually becomes annoying. This was during the peak of Batman's paranoia period, coming right on the heels of IC and being a legacy of that, and while it may not be a direction universally approved by fans, it was probably inevitable and the flip side of the coin to the Tower of Babel storyline. This mini was one of four that lead directly into Infinite Crisis, and while the OMAC issue may not have been completely resolved, it still stands on its' own as a substantial self contained story.
Must read before Infinite Crisis but.. ^ but unfortunately isnt done justice when it comes to wrapping this all up in Infinite Crisis. I shouldve just stopped at this book and given it an ending in my head.
The OMAC Project- Countdown to Infinite Crisis Series ^ This was a very cool trade paperback/collection of comics. One of the top ten comics i've read and you don't have to read Infinite Crisis if you don't want to..
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