Rating:  -
Way back in 1985, the editors at DC Comics realized they had a bit of a problem. Since the the beginning of DC Comics, there had been a huge number of alternate multi-verses containing differing Earth's (Earth 1, Earth 2, Earth X, etc.) and different heroes and villians as well. Enter Marv Wolfman, the writer who would create the villian The Monitor who would destroy the countless universes and change the face of the DC universe for years. This entire huge 12 issue series is collected here and is an epic in every sense of the word. Here we witness the deaths of the original Supergirl and the Barry Allen Flash, along with countless other lesser known older age DC characters. George Perez' art is nicely done, but Wolfman's dialogue among the heroes and the storyline in general is just so cliche for a comic story (then again, I shouldn't expect anything different considering this is a major mainstream comic series) that some readers may be turned off. Not to mention the inclusion of many characters from the 1940's, 50's, and 60's are here as well, and younger comic fans will care less about what happens to them. All in all, Crisis on Infinite Earths is an epic collection that is essential for any DC fanboy, but that's just about it.
Rating:  -
Back in 1985, when there were hardly any crossovers, and devout readers were even passingly familiar with the hundreds of characters in the DC Universe, CRISIS must have seemed like a Godsend. But for the reader of 2003, who did not grow up with Power Girl, Wildcat, or Dr. Light, there are just too many random storylines and random characters that don't contribute to the greater story. Time and time again, this reader was forced to ask: "What's the point?"
There is, unquestionably, some fantastic art to be found in this work, which should not be downplayed. Furthermore, it is interesting to see the necessary consolidation of the DC Universe into one, single line of continuity (although, a single line with some major plot holes). Unfortunately, these interesting aspects hardly make for a worthwhile read for today's readers. To readers without a vast sense of the DCU's scope before 1985, CRISIS will almost surely boil down to a confusing and overly ambitious work, leaving the reader asking, "What's the point?"
Rating:  -
You can't talk about the DC Universe with anyone without referring to post-Crisis and pre-Crisis events.For these reasons alone, any DC Comics fan has to read the brilliant Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfan and George Perez. It is also unique in that it chronicles the deaths of several DC characters, most of whome have since remained dead. These include the deaths of Kara (the original Supergirl) and Barry Allen (the silver age Flash, who was the main Flash character for almost 30 years). These are some of the best deaths ever written in comics, especially the Flash's horific death against the story's antagonist the Anti-Monitor.
The Crisis is a massive, ambitious project which DC undertook in 1985 to simplify the DC Multiverse and turn it into a universe. The multiverse was too confusing with different versions of the same characters living in different parralel universes. The end result wasa single coherent universe in which different universes were merged into one. So it is obviously a very important story.
But that's not all because it also holds its own as a story. The Monitor is in a mission to save the positive universe from being devoured by the negative universe, ruled by the Anti-monitor. To do this, he gathers key heroes and villains from both the positive nad negative unverses to stop this.
The end result, as the advertisements of the time said, world lived, world died, but the unverse was never hte same again.
Like, say Lord of the Rings, Crisis has a main antagonist but does not seem to have a main character. In the beginning it seems that perhaps the Monitor and his helper the Harbinger are the main characters but at some points the focus shifts on other characters. There are literally hundreds of characters making appearances in this story and this is one of the things I like about it. In addition to the superheroes you would expect to see, characters like Swamp Thing, John Constantine, Jonah Hex, The Demon, Sgt Rock, Enemy Ace, Vandal Savage, Sam Simeon, Tomahawk, Johnny Double and others make appearances.
Although there are dozens of comics that crossover with the main Crisis story, its not necessary to read all of them to get the main storyline, which is good.
Unfortunately it seems that Crisi opened a Pandora's Box of crossover events, which now seem to be an almost annual occurance. Some have been good, such as Legends and Zero Hour, but others we could have done without (The Final Night for example).
A final note on the art. It is simply brilliant. Very few artists could have pulled this story off and I can't think ofanyone better than Perez. He is so good at drawing dozens of characters in single panels. He has an average about 10 or 11 panels on every page which makes for good storytelling, ideal for such a complex tale. In one page I counted 18 panels!!!
I bought the hardcover edition of this book... and I can tell you it was worth every cent. Its such a complex story that you can read it again every six months or a year and it still seems fresh because there is no way you can possibly remember all its intracacies. For me its best on the third reading.
There is also a brilliant cover by Alex Ross. Sometimes I like to just take out the book and pass time just by looking at the cover and trying to identify as many characters as I can.
Rating: -
Crisis on Infinite Earths is an interesting read; not so much because of what you're actually reading but because you're not sure what to think of it. The dialogue ranges from hokey to mind-numbingly stupid, and the plot-line is inconsistent at best. The art however is quite fantastic though is slightly docked due to the fact that the comic contains some very stupid and pointless characters who most people have never heard of. On the other hand it introduces some very interesting characters as well, the Psycho Pirate being one of them, who can control peoples emotions, but once he gets going he can't stop. Its an interesting concept, which also seems to summarize the story as a whole. Interesting concept which could have been pulled off much better. For what it's worth, I'm glad I read it, if for no other reason I am now better able to appreciate real epics like "Infinity Gauntlet" and "Watchmen" all the more. If you have already bought this and are feeling kinda' disappointed because you're half way through and not enjoying it like you feel you should be,... well you're not alone. However if you haven't bought it yet, than don't. There are much better epics out there to spend your money on. That is all.
Rating: -
There are three main reasons that the CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS 12 issues maxi-series was written: marketing publicity, a "youth movement" involving DC characters, and the "infinite earths" concept which (apparently somewhat inept) DC writers could not handle. In the case of the first, one cannot blame any publisher for attempting to publicize any publication and project (although in this case I think DC went a bit too far with a project that was unnecessary, and "unnecessary" elements included the deaths of various super-heroes). The second reason for CRISIS, the "de-aging" of sorts of its various characters and heroes, is also understandable to a degree. But, I'm not sure that a universal cataclysm was needed to accomplish that goal. As for the last reason, any "garbage" accumulated by the "infinite earths" concept -- which did NOT initiate as "infinite," but rather as MULTIPLE parallel earths -- could have been avoided by observant and detail-oriented writers and editors. In essence, DC supposedly felt the neccessity of correcting problems which NEVER should have existed.
As time had passed, and it's difficult to believe, various DC writers/editors sometimes became confused about which super-characters existed the various parallel earths. And, there often was criticism about the many "Super-" characters within the Superman Family of comics magazines. Following CRISIS, DC was revamped to but a single universe -- well, at least until the "parallel worlds" concept rears its head at some future date. And, the various "Super-" beings which spun off from Superman disappeared. Or, at least for a time they did, because a Supergirl and a Superboy are now back, albeit in somewhat different concepts!
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS is NOT a "terrible" series, rather an average and unnecessary one. To quote the famous Bard, CRISIS could be summed up as "Much Ado About Nothing." And, CRISIS will no doubt be outdated fairly soon. Many writers following CRISIS themselves had no clear idea of exactly what had occurred and was newly defined, and new "clutter" continues to be introduced into the newly-formed DC Universe. Whether the new guard of writers will simply ignore, or othewise cogently explain away such clutter -- either or both of what should have been done in lieu of CRISIS -- remains to be seen.
Art-wise CRISIS is a gem! It contains beautiful pencil art by the great George Perez, and the inking by Jerry Ordway is also exquisite. Add the book's new cover art by the team of Perez and the awesome Alex Ross and you have a breathtaking visual package, which somewhat atones for the lack of concept and writing.
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