(An aside: I also read the 1999 Crisis On Infinite Earths novelization written by Marv Wolfman more or less concurrently with my rereading of the comics series. Actually, I read issues #1-7 first. Then I read the novelization up to the same point. I then switched back to the comics series for issues #8-12, and again followed that up by reading the rest of the novelization. You can read my comments on the novelization over on my Books Read Page.)

It's been many years since I last read Crisis straight through. It's possibly even been as long as back when the series first was released in 1985-86 (although I think I probably read it at least once since then although I have no idea when that would have been; I know I've gone back and looked at specific issues occasionally over the years).

This was the series created to simplify DC's super-hero "multiverse". Now, I'm not going to go here into the entire history of the multiverse or how it worked. Suffice it to say that most of DC's characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Justice League of America, the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the 30th century Legion of Super-Heroes, etc.) resided on "Earth-1". Residing in a parallel dimension on "Earth-2" were DC's Golden Age characters, including the original Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), and the Justice Society of America (not to mention versions of Superman, Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman nearly identical to their "Earth-1" counterparts with the exception that the "Earth-2" versions started their careers back in the late 1930s to 1940s rather than in the modern day). But that's not all. There were many other "Earths" out there. "Earth-3", a world where all of the counterparts to Superman, Batman, etc. were super-villains instead of super-heroes. "Earth-S", the world where the characters DC got from Fawcett Comics (primarily Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family) resided. "Earth-X", an Earth where the Nazis drug out World War II for decades longer than on the other Earths, and where the Earth-2 heroes the Freedom Fighters migrated to to help fight the Nazis (these characters were ones that DC had acquired from Quality Comics: Uncle Sam, the Black Condor, Phantom Lady, the Human Bomb, and the Ray). And so on.

There were some at the time who felt that this "multiverse" approach, while perhaps at first being an ingenious way to have the Golden Age and modern versions of these characters co-exist, had become so complicated and convoluted that new readers were confused by it. Worse yet, they felt that it might be a stumbling block for non DC readers giving DC's books a try. So, timed to coincide with DC Comics' 50th anniversary in 1985, DC decided to massively revamp their multiverse into one (hopefully) cohesive universe.

Okay. So that's the lead up. Here's my overview of the series itself. Crisis On Infinite Earths #1 begins with a massive wave of pure white antimatter destroying "Earth-3" (the world where the heroes are villains and the sole true hero is their version of Lex Luthor, ironically enough). We see the Crime Syndicate (with super-villain equivalent of the Earth-1 Justice League of America) die trying to stop the antimatter wave. Even the Superman-counterpart "Ultra Man" is simply consumed by the relentless wave. Before this Earth is completely destroyed, however, Alexander Luthor sends his and his wife's (Lois Lane) infant son in a ship designed to take the baby to Earth-1 (an obvious parallel to the well known origin of Superman). The rest of issue one deals with the mysterious alien character known only as the Monitor. He, aided by his assistant, Lyla (who when is also the super-powered Harbinger), gathers a handful of superheroes and villains from three different Earths (including, among others, the older Superman of Earth-2, Blue Beetle from "Earth-4" [the "Earth" DC decided to put the former Charlton Comics characters they'd just acquired], and Firestorm from Earth-1) to his satellite base.

Crisis On Infinite Earths #2 has the Monitor explaining why he has gathered the heroes and villains from across several different dimensions and time periods. He warns that a force is destroying all of the dimensions of the multiverse and that their own would soon be next. He needs this group to guard massive machines that he has strategically placed. Once there the heroes and villains are attacked by black shadow creatures sent by the Monitor's enemy to destroy the machines. Meanwhile, back on Earth-1, Batman is startled to see what appears to be a vision of the Flash (Barry Allen). The vision dies before his eyes. This will be important later. Also, the mysterious "Pariah" appears briefly on Earth-1. All that is known about Pariah at this point is that he is cursed to appear on the various Earths just as they are about to be destroyed. He is then whisked off, forced to witness the deaths of millions over and over again.

Issue #3 shows the destructive wave of antimatter arriving on Earth-1. Various heroes try to save as many civilians as they can. Meanwhile, the Monitor's chosen warriors continue to try to protect his machines in various time periods and on various Earths from the shadow creatures. And, in the far future of Earth-1, we see the Flash (Barry Allen) witness the arrival of the white wall of antimatter there (Flash has recently "relocated" to live in the future with his wife, Iris). He tries to return to the present to recruit the aid of the Justice League--not knowing that the wave of antimatter is there too, devouring Earth-1 in multiple time periods simultaneously--but once he gets there he is immediately taken away again by some unknown force. Batman (along with several other heroes) see him again before he disappears.

In issue #4, the wave of antimatter seemingly destroys Earth-1. And Lyla/Harbinger, being controlled by the Monitor's enemy, kills the Monitor. (What? You expected that high a level of detail for every issue? What, do you think I've got all day? It's gonna be really general, from here on, folks.)

Momentary digression. In 1999, fourteen years after the original release of the Crisis limited series, DC did a special "lost story" in a one-shot titled Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis On Infinite Earths (Legends of the DC Universe was a regular monthly series that ran from 1998 to 2001; it was an anthology series, featuring different lead characters for each multi-issue story arc). This new story takes place concurrently with the events of Crisis On Infinite Earths #4. In it we see a few of the same events again from Crisis #4, including the Flash's leaving his home in the 30th century. However, now we learn via this story that he did not immediately appear back in the present day on Earth-1. Instead, he appeared on another Earth altogether, "Earth-6" as it is called in this issue. Earth-6, a more light-hearted, Silver Age of comics style world, is the next Earth to be destroyed by the wave of antimatter. The Flash tries to aid the heroes of this Earth, and they are soon joined by Pariah who brings a force of Earth-1 heroes with him (including Superman, Batman, Supergirl, and several members of the Teen Titans) in hopes of preventing this Earth's loss. (It is a bit unclear exactly when these heroes were taken from immediately before appearing on Earth-6, however. I mean, it must have been prior to the antimatter wave's arrival on Earth-1, right? They wouldn't have willingly left to help out Earth-6 while their own Earth was being destroyed. And it couldn't have been after the antimatter wave destroyed Earth-1 in Crisis #4--even though the end of this issue makes it seem as if they return following this story to the original Crisis story just as Crisis #5 is beginning, aboard the Monitor's satellite--because they sure look calm for a group of folks who just saw the end of everything when they show up here on Earth-6. Anyway, long summary short, they work with and interact with their Earth-6 counterparts but are unable to prevent the antimatter wave from destroying Earth-6. The Earth-1 heroes are transported back to their own Earth just before the end arrives on Earth-6 (only, the Earth-1 heroes appear instead on the Monitor's satellite). And the Earth-1 Flash (Barry Allen), is whisked away by the Monitor's enemy, just as he was in Crisis #4 (although, again, it's unclear how these two totally different scenes work together, the Flash making it to Earth-1 and seeing Batman and company before being taken away and the scene of him being taken from Earth-6). One other comment regarding the Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis special. If one reads it in it's supposed chronological order as I have here, the reader sees the Monitor's enemy (the Anti-Monitor) before his dramatic revealing shot in Crisis #5, robbing that scene of its impact.

Back to Crisis On Infinite Earths. Issue #5 begins where the previous issue left off. Earth-1 has just seemingly been destroyed. In reality, however, the Monitor's death was all part of his elaborate plan to transport Earth-1 and Earth-2 to a limbo dimension, temporarily safe from the Anti-Monitor's attacks. Lyla/Harbinger, Pariah, and Alexander Luthor, Jr. (the infant having aged at a highly accelerated speed to adulthood) explain to the gathered heroes of the two Earths that they must band together to fight the Anti-Monitor or all is lost. They are briefly returned to their homes to witness the turmoil their Earths, now partially merged with each other, are undergoing before unanimously agreeing to join Harbinger and Luthor.

In Crisis On Infinite Earths #6, groups of heroes from Earths 1 and 2 are sent to the three remaining other Earths (Earth-X, Earth-S, and Earth-4) in hopes of preventing their destructions. The heroes of those Earths have been taken control of by the Anti-Monitor, however, and fight the Earth-1 and Earth-2 heroes. In the end, however, Earths X, S, and 4 are saved, at least temporarily, and are transported to the limbo dimension and partially merged with Earths 1 and 2.

Crisis On Infinite Earths #7. I still remember the impact of that issue upon me when I first bought it back in fall of 1985 (I was 13 years old). The cover of a crying Superman holding the dead body of Supergirl just floored me. And all these years later it still does. It was the first "big" death of the series. And there would be more to come. The heroes now go on the offensive, taking the battle to the Anti-Monitor's fortress in the antimatter universe. There, they battle his creatures. Some of them, such as the Earth-1 and Earth-2 Supermans and Supergirl, discover that they are not invulnerable in the antimatter universe. They can be hurt. Their mission is to destroy the Anti-Monitor's machines which are speeding up the merging of the five surviving worlds. Once completely merged, they will destroy each other. The battle ends up between Supergirl, protecting her cousin Superman, and the Anti-Monitor. And while she succeeds in saving Superman and destroying the machines, well, as the cover shows she does not survive the fight.

(My gosh, this is going to end up being my longest comics blog entry of all time! Still, I wanted to cover the whole series in one entry, so here goes...)

Crisis #8, amongst several peripheral things happening, focuses mainly on the second major death of the series, that of the Flash of Earth-1 (Barry Allen). Having been held captive by the Anti-Monitor this whole time--because the Flash can naturally traverse the various dimensions of the multiverse--the Flash realizes what he must do to destroy the Anti-Monitor's great source of antimatter power. Doing so, however, requires his giving the greatest sacrifice. While running at light speed, just before dieing, the Flash finds himself being propelled through time, explaining his brief "image" appearances in various issues of the series (one even occurs in issue #12, after Barry's death).

Crisis #9 sees the super-villains of the various surviving Earths banding together to take control of Earths X, S, and 4 while the heroes are away. The heroes must then retake the three Earths. Many pages of crowds of heroes vs. villains commence.

This continues into Crisis #10 until the Spectre brings an abrupt end to all the fighting. He tells everyone that the Anti-Monitor still lives and will soon renew his attack on the remaining five Earths. A plan is devised (too complicated for me to go into right now besides me just saying that a group of heroes will travel through time to the point in time before the creation of the universe while a group of super-villains will be sent on another mission to the exact point in time when the universe was split into the multiverse). Upon arriving, the heroes find the Anti-Monitor waiting for them. They do battle with the Anti-Monitor. With the help of the Spectre, they seem to drive him back. The villains, however, fail in their task and, once again, everything seems to go up in one big burst of white light. (Also in this issue, running along the bottom of the pages, is a second story entitled "The Monitor Tapes". In it, Lyla continues the Monitor's taped recordings of various events that have occurred since the Monitor's death.)

Crisis #11 opens with the Earth-2 Superman waking up and going to work. He thinks everything that's been happening has been a dream. He discovers upon arriving at work, however, that he is not on Earth-2. It's not quite Earth-1, however, either. The heroes who were at the battle at the dawn of time, remembering everything, find that they are on a newly created single "Earth", and that the multiverse is no more. Some of them have histories on this new Earth (including heroes previously native to Earths 2, X, 4, and S such as Jay Garrick/Flash, Alan Scott/Green Lantern, the Freedom Fighters, the Charlton characters, and Captain Marvel and Marvel Family), while others (such as the Earth-2 Superman, Robin, and Huntress) do not, much to their distress. Lyla/Harbinger appears and explains to them what has happened and furthermore that the Anti-Monitor is still alive and a threat. Indeed, at the issue's end the Anti-Monitor transports this newly formed Earth into his antimatter universe to destroy it and all of its inhabitants there.

And, finally, Crisis On Infinite Earths #12 gives us the final battle between the heroes of the various Earths--some now part of this new combined Earth's history--and the forces of the Anti-Monitor. Many are killed, including the Earth-2 Robin and Huntress. Wonder Woman is seemingly killed but is later revealed to have been devolved back into the magical clay that the Greek gods originally gave her life from. Darkseid, by the way, who has only been seen briefly up to this point, plays a vital role in the defeat of the Anti-Monitor. And in the end, the Earth-2 Superman and his wife, Lois, and the "Earth-Prime" Superboy (don't ask; I'm too close to wrapping this entry up to go through that right now) join Alexander Luthor, Jr. of Earth-3 off in some other dimension, never to be seen again supposedly. And Kid Flash (Wally West) takes upon himself his uncle Barry's mantle as the Flash. And the DC universe is from this point on indeed one single universe rather than a multiverse.

Whew! Hopefully I've been able to convey the magnitude of this series' impact on DC's line of superhero comics. It completely changed the landscape of their tales, basically starting things over. Now, it is very much debatable if the series achieved what it was setting out to do which was to simplify things. Yes, it succeeded in setting the stage for a more simplified DC universe. Unfortunately, the careful long-term planning that went into the creation of the Crisis On Infinite Earths series was not repeated across the board of DC's many titles in the years and decades following Crisis. Before long there were many inconsistencies and contradictions in this new post-Crisis continuity. But we'll get to those soon enough as I make my way through that part of my collection. And, one can hardly blame those people behind the Crisis On Infinite Earths series--including writer Marv Wolfman and famed artist George Pérez, who got his reputation for drawing huge crowd scenes of super-heroes (see his later work on The Avengers and the massive JLA/Avengers crossover limited series between DC and Marvel)--for the mistakes of later writers and editors on the books that followed.

Comic Book Artist (magazine) #18 (2002)