Books : Infinite Crisis (DC Comics)

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- quite good
First, these are some of the great artists and writers in the comic book world. It almost doesn't get any better than these men.

Now, you had to know this was coming. There's no way DC could let those 'alternate' characters just continue to live in exile, especially since one of them is a Luthor. It had some weak moments and flaws, but overall, a welcome addition to the DC lore. Let's just hope they don't screw it up from here.

Rating:

- How did they mess this up??!!
Identity Crisis, Superman: sacrifice, The Omac Project, Villains United. The hard part was done! They successfully built an excellent crisis story line coming from powerfully different angles and when it came time to wrap it all up they ruin all that hard work by trying to throw a curve ball and surprise their audience.

Bringing back the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" rejects was a disaster. Personally Im not a fan of that story line, it may have been good for its time but today's comic fan expects more.

This should have been an epic book with Wonder Woman crossing that line, the villains successfully unifying, and Brother Eye diploying an army of Omacs to end meta-human life. Heroes have never faced such turmoil. Politics, morality, and conspiracy was the true Infinite Crisis not some whiny retreads from a book written in the museum of science for a 15 yr old audience.

Rating:

- Another Colossal DC Mistake.
The original Crisis in 1985 ruined the DC Universe. It lead down a path to darker and darker, more miserable storylines, in an attempt at "realism" in comics. It effective drove away a generation of readers. I know the horrific series made me buy each and every issue, but I thought by the end, that things would be repaired. They were not. They were damaged beyond recognition or in most cases, destroyed.

Infinite Crisis HAD the opportunity to RIGHT the wrong done 20 years before. It did not. It heaped on MORE misery. The original superhero that stared the entire GENRE, dead. In such a meaningless fashion. Superboy, relegated to being an insane mass murderer. Shame DC. Shame. You've crapped all over everyone's youth and fond memories. I waited 20+ years for a retraction of the MESS that destroyed my favorite comic company. You can bet I'm pretty ticked it didn't happen.

Do not waste more money on this collection. Write DC and tell them to reverse 22 years of the WRONG universe and bring BACK the Multiverse.

I for one WANT to see the Golden Age Superman, fighting BESIDE his latter day counterpart, the JLA and JSA teaming up, Barry Allen and Jay Garrick running together and all the other wonderful little suprises that came from the multiple realities that crossed into each other on occassion.

If everyone write in, they'll HAVE to change their minds.

Rating:

- A good history lesson
I reccomend this book for those looking for a history into the DC universe. Start with Crisis on infinite earths, move on to this, then read the series 52 and you'll be ready for final crisis which is on the way. I put this "Crisis" on the lowest rung of all the DC events,but still think it is a good read for those wanting to get to know the DC universe better.
This book sets up several events that lead to BIG plots going on right now in the DC comic line. (Superboy Prime getting locked up on OA and now has broken out in Green Lantern Corps for one, Superman losing his power, Batman going paranoid bonkers and Wonder Woman killing a man leading to 52, a year without the big three is another) You don't need the infinite crisis companion for this, but it wouldn't hurt if you want to get the best picture possible of what all is going on.
All in all I would say it's a good buy if you never read it before. If you have, use Wikipedia for a refresher on the plot if you get rusty and save your money for Final Crisis, my hunch is...it's gonna be GOOD.

Rating:

- Superboy Punch!
This series is oft-mocked by Marvel execs and comic fans for the "Superboy punch" that brought dead characters back to life (such as Robin II aka Jason Todd) and slightly altered Batman's origin (I think...it was never really directly addressed in the Batman books). This "punch" was supposed to "fix" incongruities in DC continuity, but if you're worried about continuity then that probably means that you're taking super-hero comics just a little too seriously.

And that's the main problem here--this series buckles under the weight of seriousness. "Infinite Crisis" started off with a bullet-in-the-head of Blue Beetle (not included in this collection!), and ended with a bullet-in-the-head of one of the major villains. In between, other characters were killed in similarly brutal fashion...and for what? The art is gorgeous, but the storyline became too convoluted to follow as the series progressed.

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