Infinite Crisis 
asked by learner on November 15, 2006 6:50 PM
INFINITE CRISIS is the hardcover collection of the hottest story in comics: one that changes everything you know about the heroes and villains of the DC Universe.
Four heroes, trapped in limbo since the original CRISIS ON INFINTE EARTHS, are about to reveal themselves: one is dying, one wants to save her and restore an entire world that vanished and the other two seek unrivaled power. The plan they concoct is literally earth-shattering, and the world's greatest superheroes may not be enough to stop their attempt to alter the very nature of reality.
This special edition features artist sketches, a cover gallery and lots of behind-the-scenes information, making it the must-have collection of this soon-to-be-legendary event in comics history.
Reviews
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I'm a big fan of the Golden Age characters. If you enjoy these original heroes, and their continuing stories, you might not enjoy the last few surviving characters acting without good judgment. I'm one of the people that think the outcome of Crisis was poor. The multiverse was not so messy that we have to lose all our golden age characters. Earth 2 was a place where it was okay for heroes to age, retire, and train the next generation of heroes.
This book gives us northing original, it's boring, and abuses good characters to no good end. It uses the time tested gimmicks of having a "Hero Go Bad", "Bringing back characters that seemed forgotten", "involving everyone", "Wonder Woman kills someone(gasp...yawn)", and so on.
Been there, done that, have the bumper sticker, T-Shirt, coffee mug, snap shots, and the key chain.
This book gives us northing original, it's boring, and abuses good characters to no good end. It uses the time tested gimmicks of having a "Hero Go Bad", "Bringing back characters that seemed forgotten", "involving everyone", "Wonder Woman kills someone(gasp...yawn)", and so on.
Been there, done that, have the bumper sticker, T-Shirt, coffee mug, snap shots, and the key chain.
reviewed by geo on November 19, 2006 10:15 AM
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i thought it was really good. i didn't read any of the other mini series leading up, and it wasn't too hard to figure it out. reading countdown to crisis issue helped i guess. i thought this was great. not as good as identity crisis. i'm probably not as hardcore into comics as some of the other reviews(and honestly, i think the hardcore fan boys are the ones who don't like it). the characterization was fine i thought. way more on target than marvel's civil war
reviewed by jdog on November 27, 2006 8:42 PM
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Twenty years ago four paragons of virtue and bravery: the original Earth 2 Superman, Lois Lane, Alexander Luthor and Earth Prime Superboy disappeared into a heavenly light having saved the universe from complete destruction. Now they've returned and the current state of the DCU has left them decidedly nonplussed. Planets are at war, The Specter has destroyed all magic, OMAC's are killing metahuman's and Wonder Woman has committed murder. After witnessing the degradation of mankind and the heroes who protect them Superman, Superboy and Earth 3's Luthor decide it's time to set things straight and reorder the universe. It's said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. In this case the four heroes have paved the road wide and long. Infinite Crisis is considerably more tragic than the original Crisis on Infinite Earths because it involves the descent of some of DC comic's greatest heroes. None are more tragic than Superboy Prime who completely loses his soul in a misguided quest to restore order.
When I bought the original Crisis on Infinite Earths series it didn't make a huge impact on me. Before I went off to college I sold most of my collection and the 12 Crisis issues failed to make the cut of comics I kept. In all fairness Watchmen were sold too so my taste back then is rather suspect. My expectations for Infinite Crisis were pretty tempered but the series exceeded on almost every level. After a decade and a half off of comic book abstinence I just recently started getting back into things by purchasing some of the more popular graphic novels but this is the first book that really brought back the love of comic reading that I used to feel back in the 70's and 80's. It's not the greatest story ever told, in fact it's rather bloated and unwieldy. What it lacks in brevity and eloquence it more than makes up for in emotion and impact. If I have one complaint it's that Superboy Prime's fall is a bit too abrupt. The other issue is that the Crisis series requires a TON of back story knowledge and without that readers will be completely lost. To fully enjoy it I suggest starting with Crisis on Infinite Earths followed by Identity Crisis, Villains United and The O.M.A.C. project. It's a lot of required reading but Infinite Crisis ties all the stories together. If you love DC comics this one is a definite keeper.
When I bought the original Crisis on Infinite Earths series it didn't make a huge impact on me. Before I went off to college I sold most of my collection and the 12 Crisis issues failed to make the cut of comics I kept. In all fairness Watchmen were sold too so my taste back then is rather suspect. My expectations for Infinite Crisis were pretty tempered but the series exceeded on almost every level. After a decade and a half off of comic book abstinence I just recently started getting back into things by purchasing some of the more popular graphic novels but this is the first book that really brought back the love of comic reading that I used to feel back in the 70's and 80's. It's not the greatest story ever told, in fact it's rather bloated and unwieldy. What it lacks in brevity and eloquence it more than makes up for in emotion and impact. If I have one complaint it's that Superboy Prime's fall is a bit too abrupt. The other issue is that the Crisis series requires a TON of back story knowledge and without that readers will be completely lost. To fully enjoy it I suggest starting with Crisis on Infinite Earths followed by Identity Crisis, Villains United and The O.M.A.C. project. It's a lot of required reading but Infinite Crisis ties all the stories together. If you love DC comics this one is a definite keeper.
reviewed by goonball on November 28, 2006 2:11 AM
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"Infinite Crisis" is one of those storylines that are supposed to delight the fan-boy types but anger old-timers like myself by messing with our long established views of the DC Universe. But what long-time fans like me (over 30 years!) have to realize that change has always been essential to the comic book world. This is basically what DC realized in the late 50's and early 60's when they conceived the updated versions of characters like The Flash, Green Lantern, The Atom, Hawkman, and others. Ironic since these updated versions are what led to the chaos of multiple worlds addressed in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline over twenty years ago.
Now, writer Geoff Johns is a very smart man. Johns uses Infinite Crisis both as a sequel to the first Crisis, but more importantly, to address a problem with superhero comics that has been festering for nearly two decades. Beginning with Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns in 1986, superheroes have become increasingly darker, fraying the line between good and evil. The 80's and 90's saw the rise of the anti-hero with characters such as The Punisher, Lobo, Guy Gardner, Wolverine, and The Ghost Rider enjoying enormous popularity among comic fans. Johns is clearly making his own feelings well known with Infinite Crisis. Frankly, superheroes these days just aren't that heroic. At the same time, I think Johns is also taking a clear shot at other modern day comic book writers (Bendis?) for the way they've handled superhero titles as their own personal amusement parks (Avengers Disassembled?). Johns is one modern comic writer who seems keenly aware that these characters will be around long after he is done writing their stories.
Thus, the plot of Infinite Crisis isn't quite as important as the motivation. As such, we can judge the story strictly on its merits alone, but I think it's more prudent that Infinite Crisis be judged a year or two down the road to see if things "stuck". As the story begins we learn that there were four survivors of the original Crisis, long thought dead. Superman and Lois Lane of Earth 2, Alexander Luthor of Earth 3, and Superboy of Earth Prime; these four have managed to survive in a pocket universe and have been observing the surviving Earth 1 all along. They are not happy by what they've seen! They've seen heroes actually kill or wipe the minds of their foes. They believe Earth 1 is infected and rotting from the inside, and it'd infecting the world's heroes and they intend to do something about it, namely bring Earth 2 back in existence which they believe should have been the one, true Earth all along.
As one might expect, Alexander Luthor has even darker designs and we find that it was his machinations that led to the events in the Infinite Crisis lead-ins "Day of Vengeance", "Villains United", "Rann-Thanagar War", "The OMAC Project" and the others. For his part, the Superman of Earth 2 plays the always hopeful yet hopelessly naive Boy Scout, duped by Luthor. Yes, the plot may be hokey and thoroughly improbably but it's a means to get to the end and the enema of the DC superhero landscape is what Johns is after. There are a lot of losses and some characters finally get the proper sendoff that they didn't get in Crisis on Infinite Earths. A lot of character's futures, notably the Spectre, Wally West, and Captain Marvel, are left up in the air.
Perhaps Johns can be accused of having an old-fashioned, Idyllic view of superheroes but what's wrong with that? The times we live in have enough doom and gloom, do we really need that to intrude on one of the few escapist pursuits we have left? I for one applaud Johns as well as artist Phil Jimenez. Job well done!
Reviewed by Tim Janson
Now, writer Geoff Johns is a very smart man. Johns uses Infinite Crisis both as a sequel to the first Crisis, but more importantly, to address a problem with superhero comics that has been festering for nearly two decades. Beginning with Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns in 1986, superheroes have become increasingly darker, fraying the line between good and evil. The 80's and 90's saw the rise of the anti-hero with characters such as The Punisher, Lobo, Guy Gardner, Wolverine, and The Ghost Rider enjoying enormous popularity among comic fans. Johns is clearly making his own feelings well known with Infinite Crisis. Frankly, superheroes these days just aren't that heroic. At the same time, I think Johns is also taking a clear shot at other modern day comic book writers (Bendis?) for the way they've handled superhero titles as their own personal amusement parks (Avengers Disassembled?). Johns is one modern comic writer who seems keenly aware that these characters will be around long after he is done writing their stories.
Thus, the plot of Infinite Crisis isn't quite as important as the motivation. As such, we can judge the story strictly on its merits alone, but I think it's more prudent that Infinite Crisis be judged a year or two down the road to see if things "stuck". As the story begins we learn that there were four survivors of the original Crisis, long thought dead. Superman and Lois Lane of Earth 2, Alexander Luthor of Earth 3, and Superboy of Earth Prime; these four have managed to survive in a pocket universe and have been observing the surviving Earth 1 all along. They are not happy by what they've seen! They've seen heroes actually kill or wipe the minds of their foes. They believe Earth 1 is infected and rotting from the inside, and it'd infecting the world's heroes and they intend to do something about it, namely bring Earth 2 back in existence which they believe should have been the one, true Earth all along.
As one might expect, Alexander Luthor has even darker designs and we find that it was his machinations that led to the events in the Infinite Crisis lead-ins "Day of Vengeance", "Villains United", "Rann-Thanagar War", "The OMAC Project" and the others. For his part, the Superman of Earth 2 plays the always hopeful yet hopelessly naive Boy Scout, duped by Luthor. Yes, the plot may be hokey and thoroughly improbably but it's a means to get to the end and the enema of the DC superhero landscape is what Johns is after. There are a lot of losses and some characters finally get the proper sendoff that they didn't get in Crisis on Infinite Earths. A lot of character's futures, notably the Spectre, Wally West, and Captain Marvel, are left up in the air.
Perhaps Johns can be accused of having an old-fashioned, Idyllic view of superheroes but what's wrong with that? The times we live in have enough doom and gloom, do we really need that to intrude on one of the few escapist pursuits we have left? I for one applaud Johns as well as artist Phil Jimenez. Job well done!
Reviewed by Tim Janson
reviewed by iread on November 29, 2006 1:23 AM
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I hated the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. It was too long, too convulated, the conversations bordered on cheesiness etc...the only redeeming factor in my opinion was that it cleaned out the multivese and set foundations for a more coherent continuity. Fast forward 20+ years and the Crisis has returned. This book has a lot going for it and has foundations based on many previous events. The plot is not simple but I will try my best to provide a synopsis.
After the original Crisis, the four surviving memebers were Superman and Lois Lane of Earth 2 (from The Golden Age type comics ); Superboy from Earth Prime (the Superboy from the early Superboy stories) and Alexander Luthor of Earth 3 (son of Lex Luthor who is actually a good guy amongst the CSA which has evil versions of the JLA, Owlman, Ultraman, etc). After surviving and playing pivotal roles in the original crisis, these folks have been on a self-imposed exile in "paradise" and have been watching Earth 1 (this is the Earth with our regular characters). But much to their disappointment, despite their sacrifices, the heroes of Earth 1 have lost their ways...i.e. Batman being mindwiped, JLA is disbanded, Superman can't lead, Wonder Woman kills Maxwell Lord, Batman's Brother I satellite turning on the superheros etc.). They decided to break out and return to Earth 1 to teach the Earth 1 heroes what it means to be heroes...at least that's what Earth 2 Superman wants. Superboy Prime simply misses his old world, his parents, his girl and wants to return home. The real culprit here is Alex Luthor who channels these emotions as a fuel to get what he wants....a perfect Earth.
We also find out that Alex has been impersonating the real Lex Luthor and creating the Society of Villains to round up heroes such as Powergirl, Black Adam, Martian Manhunter to fuel a tower he is building to restore the multiverse and then pick and choose the Earths he wants and combine them to form the perfect Earth.
That's as far as I am going to go with the synopsis, since I felt that this was the ultimate motivation for Infinite Crisis going off the ground.
There's many more stories going on. You have Superboy prime vs. everybody, Superman Earth 1 vs. Superman Earth 2, Supermen of both Earth 1 & 2 vs. Superboy Prime, Batman vs. Bother Eye, Alex Luthor takes on the Titans...it's basically an epic battle where every DC characters are thown into. There are also changes that occur as a result of the Crisis. The big three, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are taken back to their roots. I can go on but there's too much stuff and trust me that it's well worth the read.
The story is very well done. As someone who was not very familiar with the original Crisis, Geoff Johns does an excellent job of filling in new readers on the stuff that has gone on before. And he manages to tie up almost all the loose ends from The Omac Project, JLA: Crisis of Conscience, etc. This is not an easy task to do but Geoff manages to do it and excels at it.
And let's not forget the art. Phil Jimenez and George Perez are masters at drawing small panels featuring hordes of superheroes in action and they are pushed to the limit. I also love that the had Jerry Ordway for the Supermen vs. Superboy sequences. I have heard complaints with the art when it was originally issued in the monthly format but the editors went back and corrected and added a lot of new art work to make the story flow smoothly.
If you managed to read thorough all of this and are still here....go get this book. "Add to shopping cart" right now and read an excellent epic story with excellent art. Highly recommended.
After the original Crisis, the four surviving memebers were Superman and Lois Lane of Earth 2 (from The Golden Age type comics ); Superboy from Earth Prime (the Superboy from the early Superboy stories) and Alexander Luthor of Earth 3 (son of Lex Luthor who is actually a good guy amongst the CSA which has evil versions of the JLA, Owlman, Ultraman, etc). After surviving and playing pivotal roles in the original crisis, these folks have been on a self-imposed exile in "paradise" and have been watching Earth 1 (this is the Earth with our regular characters). But much to their disappointment, despite their sacrifices, the heroes of Earth 1 have lost their ways...i.e. Batman being mindwiped, JLA is disbanded, Superman can't lead, Wonder Woman kills Maxwell Lord, Batman's Brother I satellite turning on the superheros etc.). They decided to break out and return to Earth 1 to teach the Earth 1 heroes what it means to be heroes...at least that's what Earth 2 Superman wants. Superboy Prime simply misses his old world, his parents, his girl and wants to return home. The real culprit here is Alex Luthor who channels these emotions as a fuel to get what he wants....a perfect Earth.
We also find out that Alex has been impersonating the real Lex Luthor and creating the Society of Villains to round up heroes such as Powergirl, Black Adam, Martian Manhunter to fuel a tower he is building to restore the multiverse and then pick and choose the Earths he wants and combine them to form the perfect Earth.
That's as far as I am going to go with the synopsis, since I felt that this was the ultimate motivation for Infinite Crisis going off the ground.
There's many more stories going on. You have Superboy prime vs. everybody, Superman Earth 1 vs. Superman Earth 2, Supermen of both Earth 1 & 2 vs. Superboy Prime, Batman vs. Bother Eye, Alex Luthor takes on the Titans...it's basically an epic battle where every DC characters are thown into. There are also changes that occur as a result of the Crisis. The big three, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are taken back to their roots. I can go on but there's too much stuff and trust me that it's well worth the read.
The story is very well done. As someone who was not very familiar with the original Crisis, Geoff Johns does an excellent job of filling in new readers on the stuff that has gone on before. And he manages to tie up almost all the loose ends from The Omac Project, JLA: Crisis of Conscience, etc. This is not an easy task to do but Geoff manages to do it and excels at it.
And let's not forget the art. Phil Jimenez and George Perez are masters at drawing small panels featuring hordes of superheroes in action and they are pushed to the limit. I also love that the had Jerry Ordway for the Supermen vs. Superboy sequences. I have heard complaints with the art when it was originally issued in the monthly format but the editors went back and corrected and added a lot of new art work to make the story flow smoothly.
If you managed to read thorough all of this and are still here....go get this book. "Add to shopping cart" right now and read an excellent epic story with excellent art. Highly recommended.
reviewed by work on November 29, 2006 3:21 AM