Rating:  -
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.
Rating:  -
This book is an important book to the DC universe, sort of ties up all these multiple characters and loose ends. And as a story it isn't bad (though the art is a bit dull), but the cast was too big, and those that got the most page time were not the most interesting. I get why they did it, and it is necessary to read it (especially now with the Infinite Crisis that happened) but I didn't enjoy it that much.
Rating: -
When you create a big mess, it's nice if you make an effort to clean it up. By the mid-1980s, the DC Universe was more than a little messy: with all sorts of alternate realities - known as Earth 1, Earth 2, etc. - and characters leaping back and forth between them, things were just too complicated and efforts to maintain continuity floundered. The effort to tidy things up was a 12-issue series by Marv Wolfman and George Perez called Crisis on Infinite Earths.
The story for Crisis begins with the destruction of the various realities already beginning, the result of a vastly powerful entity called The Anti-Monitor who comes from an anti-matter universe and intends to destroy all "positive" realities. His opposite number is the Monitor, who uses his assistant, Harbinger, to start uniting the heroes of various realities to save the remaining Earths. Even most of the villains - even they want to survive - get involved.
By the end of the story, both major and minor superheroes will die and the number of different Earths will be pared down to a more manageable level. It is a saga with both its pluses and minuses.
On the negative side of the ledger is the fact that the story is almost too grand: there are literally hundreds of characters and the story gets muddled in places. Very few of the characters have a big enough role to really involve the reader. On the plus side, the art - by the always reliable George Perez - is great, and given the scale of the story, Wolfman keeps things from getting too out of hand.
As DC fans know, the clean-up would be temporary and incomplete, eventually requiring other clean-up sagas (such as Zero Hour) to set things on course again. If you're a fan of the DC Universe, this is a must-read despite its problems: it is the bridge between the "classic" DC Universe and the modern one. If, on the other hand, you're interested in a great graphic novel, this one does not qualify.
Rating: -
DC Comics thought that their universe was perhaps too complex for new readers. An idea by a couple of their staff was circulated, and the
Crisis was born. This was obviously hugely successful, and has now led
the major comic companies to be obsessed with creating high profile and
publicity events such as this, as temporary sales boosts.
It is still dubious whether or not comic readers, or readers at all are put off by complex storylines, or histories.
That being said, this story of cataclysm, tragedy, and heroism is very good.
Rating:  -
I recieved the novel promptly with all professional documents. I bought it to read not to collect, ere go; the minor crease on the rear cover did not bother me. A decent comic book, very 80's plot, It was definitely revoluionary for it's time and age, not the best I've ever read but will be appreciated by anyone who wants to understand sequential art history.
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