Rating:  -
Originally issued in 12 installments back in 1985, Crisis On Infinite Earths is a comprehensive revision of the gigantic, sprawling, multileveled DC Universe. Marv Wolfman and George Perez took on the challenge of simplifying things with entertaining and relatively definitive results.
This epic tale is very much "old school", with Wolfman's dialogue and plot devices representing the traditional DC style of storytelling at the time. There's cliched dialogue, as well the heavy handed emphasis on true blue heroism. But then, that's pretty much what one would have expected from mainstream comics circa 1985. Perez does a great job cramming the panels full of the hundreds of heroes and villains. He obviously did his research, faithfully rendering everyone in great detail. He also manages to keep the plot moving despite being burdened with so many characters.
As a semi-regular follower of the DC Universe for the decade or so preceding Crisis, I was pleased with the multitudes of cameos from familiar, as well as unfamiliar, characters. This work brings virtually all of the existing DC characters together in a reasonably plausible tale. What else, but the end of everything, could result in such unification? Even the bad guys sign up to face this even greater evil. Sure, there are too many characters, and some of the characters' contributions to the overall plot becomes muddled at times, but the scope of this project is so huge that I can easily forgive Wolfman and Perez.
If you're looking for something ground breaking, look into Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, or Grant Morrison (to name a few). If you're looking for some old school DC action, a superhero tale of epic proportions, featuring virtually the entire DC Universe up to 1985, then get Crisis On Infinite Earths. Read it, then keep it on your shelf for later reference. Plus you may be intrigued enough to search for back issues of DC titles featuring the likes of The Phantom Stranger, Captain Atom, Deadman, Green Lantern Corps, Freedom Fighters, and on and on.
Rating:  -
Crisis on Infinite Earths was originally proposed as a way to simplify the convoluted multiple earths and realities and characters of the DC Universe (which also had to absorb the Charlton Comics characters like Blue Beetle). Wolfman and Perez were, at the time of this series, putting out great work on the New Teen Titans which crashed and burned when DC made the stupid mistake of turning that series into a prestige format series available only at direct outlets and thus alienating many fans. With Crisis though, Wolfman and Perez formulated a plan that would make the DC universe coherent and also entertain the socks off of comicbook afficionados. They suceeded with great style. Most of the characters who meet with tragic ends are unimportant bit players (obviously killing Batman permanently would make about as much sense as killing Spiderman or Superman) or characters with little appeal. It can be confusing to many people to see an elderly Superman, Superboy, and Superman or Green Lanterns of various types, but it all made sense in the old DC pre-Crisis universe! The cosmic battle between the Monitor and Anti-Monitor is interesting as are is the story of the Guardians of Green Lantern fame and how ancient they are in the universe. Wolfman's script ranging from dealing with cosmic infinity (and done far better than the laughably inept Secret Wars from Marvel) to dealing with regular people's lives. It's kind of cool when timelines start to overlap and you have dinosaurs and cowboys in one place. It's no secret that Barry Allen (the Flash before Wally West) and Supergirl die in this series and they die memorably (especially Supergirl). Perez's art is crisp and detailed and some of his best work. Wolfman and Perez treated all the characters as if they were legendary greats whether they were 2nd rate heroes or flagship characters and that added to the drama and importance of the story. I won't give anything away for new readers, but what enhances reading this series is checking out the History of the DC Universe also. This book is highly recommended for the young and young at heart.
Rating:  -
Why DC has decided to re-release Crisis on Infinite Earths 16 years after its original release is a mystery. Perhaps because they want a bite out of the wallets of gullible folks like myself. By 1985 I had "grown out" of comics, but I did hear about the Crisis storyline and I was intrigued--certainly not enough to follow a series through a year of comic books (I was getting a doctorate and had no inclination for such frivolity!), but enough to remember it. When I saw Crisis at the bookstore recently I thought I'd indulge in a little nostalgia and see how the universe of DC changed. In particular I was interested in how the single dimensional characters so poorly drawn in such flat colors became the more complex, better drawn and imagined characters I occasionally glimpse today. For instance, when I was young, Aquaman was a clean shaven Bruce Jenner-type in a silly orange top and green trunks, but now he's Poseidon with a flowing beard, Cap'n Hook hand and bad attitude. I imagined this transformation started, at least, with the Crisis.
If you've read it, you are no doubt snickering at my naivete. For, sure enough, for all the hype, very little changed forever with Crisis. Certainly it was not the stage for which DC's heroes became more complex and more visually interesting. The most significant things it contains are the death of the Flash (but he gets replaced with another Flash in the same costume) and Supergirl. Sure, other superheroes and supervillains die, but most of them are characters we hadn't seen or cared about in decades anyway. And therein lies the first of the two enormous problems with Crisis--in an attempt to incorporate literally every DC hero to date, the plot is convoluted and the characters watered down so that we simply don't care about any of their fates. Bat Lash? The Human Bomb? Why? And oddly, The Blue Beetle gets what appears to be a major role for the first several episodes, then gets dropped like a hot potato bug. Imagine a movie about the end of the universe in which every major actor in Hollywood in the last 50 years gets a cameo and only a cameo, and you'll have some sense of the scope of the problem. Writer Marv Wolfman isn't up to the challenge, but in fairness I'm not sure anyone would be.
The second problem is that, in spite of the affection many reviewers here obviously have for artist George Perez, he's not really that good. Look carefully at the pictures--sure, there are an awful lot of superheroes crammed into every panel, but the perspective and anatomy are often flawed. Especially where an object comes in front of another figure, often the line of the background figure does not come out where it ought. And although one reviewer recommends judging this book by its cover, I disagree. The quality of work on the cover, with its shading, is far superior to anything contained within, and not at all reflective of the book itself. Likewise, the detail of the pictures and the quality of the color I find lacking. For example, horrible shadow creatures plague the various Earths repeatedly, but they look so silly they can't be taken seriously. Perhaps I'm asking too much from a comic, but I think that Crisis set itself up to be taken seriously. And certainly the artwork and storylines of Marvel comics even 10 or more years earlier was of much higher quality. Remember the short lived New Gods, done at DC but by Jack Kirby, longtime Marvel artist? In fact, those characters return here--in particular Darkseid has an important role--and they are some of the most visually interesting in the lot.
In short, Crisis on Infinite Earths is only worth purchasing (and look at the price--it ain't cheap!) if you've already read the story and simply can't live without it. If you missed it first time around, do yourself a favor and avoid this Crisis altogether.
Rating: -
You Can tell a book by it's cover sometimes. For example, this graphic novel has tremendous art throughout the entire series. George Perez is the best there is at what he does, which is cramming in as many characters as humanly possible in a very small frame. However, the writing of Marv Wolfman could possibly have been better. It's hard to be too critical of him, though. It was a daunting task to clean up 60 years of convoluted DC history in twelve issues. What made this so enjoyable for me was the build up of this series before it ever hit the stands. The Monitor was pulling the strings of every hero and villain in the DCU for months, leaving everyone wondering "who is this guy?". It was also one of the first times in comic history when major characters were killed off and actually stayed dead. This is almost unthinkable to writers these days, who use death as a selling point for an issue and then, miraculously, they are somehow resurrected the next issue. Hats off to Marv Wolfman for writing it, and the bosses at DC for sticking with it.
Rating: -
In one years time, DC Comics killed off the original Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Silver Age Flash and Supergirl and it all made sense. Written by legendary scribe Marv Wolfman and pencil genius George Perez, Crisis is by far, one of the more important masterpieces of comic book literature.
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