As far as DC goes, the Crisis is the biggest event you can come by. The whole multiverse is equally affected by the actions taken in these events and they usually leave us with ground shattering changes. Originally, the crisis was a yearly event where the JLA and the JSA would meet up and team up, but in 1985, Crisis on Infinite Earths with Marv Wolfman and George Perez changed all that. In order to create a more consolidated DCU, they destroyed the Multiverse in one fell swoop, putting everyone together on one Earth and simplifying the origins of the DCU. 20 years later, Geoff Johns would revisit the events of the Crisis in a new book, Infinite Crisis, utilizing multiple artists (including George Perez). In this series, which acts somewhat as a direct sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths we saw the creation of a new Multiverse as well as the creation of New Earth. Finally, in 2008, Grant Morrison and multiple artists would once again revist the “Multiverse Saga”, this time with Final Crisis, the last chapter. All of the remaining Multiverses gathered together at the end, officially consolidating all continuity changes in one of the biggest bangs the DCU has ever faced.
…but which Crisis is best out of the Multiverse Saga? All of them clearly uphold the ideals that DC holds dear, but one really hits the marker home? Which one leaves you breathless by the end of it? Today, We3 will analyze each Crisis individually and present to you our reasoning for why our chosen Crisis is the best.
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David and Crisis On Infinite Earths
When comparing the three major crises in DC history (sorry Identity, but you don’t count in my book) to decide which is the best, you can’t simply state “a is better than b and c because of x” unless it is something you can corroborate with fact in my book. Sure, I’ll say my fair share of opinions here, but I will also support it with fact. The opinions will do their work to show you why I think these things, but the facts? These will show you why Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s Crisis on Infinite Earths wasn’t just the first Crisis but the best Crisis also.
– This was the first mega event that really had ramifications on its respective universe (sorry Secret Wars!)
While technically speaking, Crisis on Infinite Earths (COIE from here on out) was not the first crossover, it was the first one that really left a lasting impression on its respective universe. Secret Wars did end up giving Spider-Man his symbiote costume, but past that nothing really came from it. COIE was a necessary event to improve universal continuity and to really make the DC universe a viable and interesting one for new readers, as at the point of its release DC had painted itself into a corner with decades of continuity and variations of individual characters that did not fit together whatsoever. In just twelve issues, COIE resolved all of that and left the DCU with just one universe to fit all of their characters into and just one version of each character for their readers to get to know.
In many ways, it is the perfect crossover, as it took a very important problem and provided a solution for it that not only got the job done, but was incredibly entertaining to read. The fact that these changes stood until Geoff Johns’ Infinite Crisis is amazing in itself given how crossover crazy DC became after COIE, and really shows the power and dynamic of what Wolfman and Perez put together in this series.
-The villain wasn’t a petulant child or a viral marketing New God
Infinite Crisis gave us Alexander Luthor and Superboy Prime, two retreads from COIE who effectively were grumpy kids looking for a new home. Final Crisis gave us a reborn New God using viral marketing techniques to take over the world. COIE gave us a character who not only destroyed “infinite earths” but one who personally killed Supergirl and effectively shrugged off punches from Superman like he was annoyed by an insect. In fact, you could argue that this character, the Anti-Monitor, is the single most powerful character in the history of the DC universe. I mean come on, the guy was a massive villain who was effectively everything evil in the universe personified. He makes Darkseid look like a little girl pretty much, albeit one with a really nice helmet.
Continued below-When reading this series, you could never really tell what was going to happen and who was going to make it out
While you read COIE for the first time, it really is difficult to tell who is going to make it out alive and who isn’t. According to comic legend, even the creators were unsure as to who was going to make it out of the series unscathed (Kal-El…or Kal-L?). One of the most interesting dynamics of the whole event is the fact that DC was using this effectively as an exercise in house cleaning and to make their comics more new reader friendly. At the time, if you were reading along on a month-to-month basis, you would likely be openly wondering whether or not DC was just going to wipe out everything and start again.
It’s not very often that happens, and the fact that extreme change wasn’t just an idea of the writers but an editorial mandate is just completely awesome.
-When they killed someone, they really killed someone
While they brought both Barry Allen and Supergirl back eventually, the fact is both of them stayed dead for two decades. In comic talk, that’s an infinite amount of years. While I’ve been typing this, Marvel has brought back Jean Grey three times. But when Barry Allen sacrificed himself to destroy the Anti-Monitor’s anti-matter cannon — it meant something. When you’re reading COIE it feels like this is the death of a hero, not some sort of ploy to sell more comics by DC. For twenty three years, it was true. Look at Marvel’s Civil War and even Infinite Crisis. How long were Cap and Connor Kent dead? Two years? Hell, in Final Crisis, Morrison didn’t even kill Batman. He just sent him off to the past to embrace his inner caveman.
Having two major deaths within its pages that actually stood up to scrutiny for two decades isn’t just shocking. It had never been done before, and likely will never happen again.
-Every issue had George Perez drawing it
Hey there, Infinite Crisis had Phil Jiminez drawing it. Well…sort of, as he fell so far behind that each of the last few issues were essentially patchwork productions, with teams of artists penciling each issue.
But Final Crisis had JG Jones, and he is one of the best, right? Yeah, he really is…when he has time to do his work. Each issue was coming out so late, Jones would rush his work until you’d have what could be best described as a solid impression of JG Jones (when Carlos Pacheco or Doug Mahnke weren’t doing the art that is).
COIE though…every issue was penciled by the incomparable George Perez. The man is a living legend, providing some of the most detailed art out there month in and month out on this series. His work can only be described as iconic, as his work with DCU characters (especially Superman) are in my opinion some of the most definitive works in the history of the universe. He did it all, and he did it all extremely well.
-Every issue came out on time
Oh my god. An event comic that came out on time?! That isn’t possible! If you collected Final Crisis or Infinite Crisis in issue form, you wouldn’t think so. But COIE started April 1985 and it finished one year later in March 1986. 12 issues…12 months. Just a completely foreign concept. I’m fairly certain comic readers today would die of shock.
-You could only read the series standalone and it would work perfectly fine
To get the best enjoyment out of Infinite Crisis, don’t you dare not read the 80 page “Countdown to Infinite Crisis” special or the four Countdown mini-series. And please, please, do not forget to read the complete trainwreck “Countdown to Final Crisis” before Final Crisis, and remember, please consult Grant Morrison’s suggested reading over of Final Crisis before reading it. Strangely enough, while it is a seven issue series, Morrison himself suggests to read an additional five comics in very specific order between the main series.
Meanwhile, COIE was twelve issues in sequential order. You didn’t need a map to read it, you don’t need indices. It doesn’t come with a teacher’s manual. It was just twelve consecutive comics that combined to be the single best Crisis that DC has come up with, and likely ever will.
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Gil and Infinite Crisis
When it comes to Comic Events, there is a way it should be done, in my opinion. It needs to build off of what’s been going on in the universe, alter the status quo, and more importantly, be easy to follow so it flows easily, making it easier to attract new readers. And in my opinion, the only one that does it adequately is Infinite Crisis.
There had been a lot of tension building in the DCU for years. The universe was…broken. Soon after the “big fix” 20 years prior, Batman’s partner, Jason Todd, the second Robin, was brutally murdered by The Joker. This started a chain of events that irrevocably altered the course of history for the universe at large. Heroes, before considered nearly immortal, could die horrible deaths. This even applied to the most powerful of them all, Superman. Just a few years after Robin met his grisly end, Superman fell (albeit temporarily) to the nearly unstoppable monster known as Doomsday. But no, it doesn’t just stop at deaths. Hal Jordan, considered to be a “Natural Born Hero,” was corrupted by fear and the yellow energy to which his powers were vulnerable. Now one of the world’s most despicable villains, he even tried to play the role of God, altering the timeline to HIS liking. And that’s not all. Batman was literally broken in half. More heroes died. More heroes crossed lines we thought they’d never breach. Even while doing what they felt was right, they violated their enemies in ways only seen in nightmares, and even did the same to their own ALLIES. Yes, the Justice League took a short cut, and it cost them one of their greatest friends, Bruce Wayne, also known as Batman. Batman, in turn, decided that his becoming Big Brother for the meta-human community would benefit the world. Wonder Woman killed. Superman faltered, failing to be the inspiration he was supposed to be. LEX LUTHOR BECAME PRESIDENT. These examples, and others, are all indicative of an Earth that…needed fixing. This Crisis felt organic to what was going on. I don’t think the others were as successful at it, personally.
As I said before, there was a “fix” 20 years prior (I do believe David covered that one). It altered the status quo quite a bit, and a lot for the better. But some things were fixed TOO much. The Multiverse was destroyed. There was only one timeline. Clark Kent, previously active as Superboy when he was a teenager, now became started his career as an adult in Metropolis. No big deal, but no Superboy means the Legion of Super-Heroes never existed. What’s that, you say? The Legion never existed? They received inspiration from the exploits of the teenage Superboy. If Superboy never existed, neither did they. There were many of these ret-cons that took effect, but did not “fit” with the rest of the universe. Infinite Crisis brought back the Multiverse, but held it back at a level that can be managed and understood. No more Earth-85qfht445727-Z (one of my favorites), but there is an Earth-0 (or “New” Earth) through Earth-51, thus making 52 separate universes with their own histories and different takes on the characters we know and love. And that’s just the tip of the ice berg. Heroes had heroic deaths; other “heroes” learned they were no heroes at all. The DC Trinity also learned what it was to be a hero, and decided to “re-learn” how to live up to that ideal, since they had fallen short in recent years. This even let other heroes stand in the spotlight, which led to one of the best titles DC has put out in years, 52. And while I think the first Crisis did too much to alter the status quo, the Final Crisis didn’t change it enough. Since there was little actually DONE in the core series (the biggest stuff seemed to be done outside of the main series, like the return of two young heroes, one of whom died in IC.)
One thing I like about events is that while they’re big, and all-encompassing, you don’t have to read every little bit of minutiae to get what’s going on. If I want to read, Secret Invasion, but don’t want to read Secret Invasion: X-Men or Secret Invasion: Hercules, I DON’T HAVE TO. Also, I don’t have to know 50+ years of continuity. While going into IC completely fresh isn’t the best idea, I won’t be completely lost if I just read Infinite Crisis. What I can do is jump on with the One Year Later jumping on point that all the books followed, and even read 52 to see what happened in the mean time. This title respects continuity, without being enslaved by it. It doesn’t require a PhD. in Comics to understand.
Continued belowI think of the various crises like the Star Wars Trilogy. You have the original, which was good, and rightfully a classic, but there’s something missing. . You have the third act, which was pretty to look at, but inconsistent, and had Muppets. But then, right there in the middle, you have the one that changes your whole understanding of the universe as you see it
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Matt and Final Crisis
Final Crisis was, by far and large, the most disputed Crisis out of the three major ones. The reason for this is because for the large part, most fans found the experience to be rather polarizing and nonsensical. Add to the fact that there were frequent delays due to the artwork and a large amount of tie-ins that just felt useless, most people would tell you that they thought Final Crisis was just an absolute mess.
I am not one of those people.
I will go on record that I think Final Crisis is the best Crisis, and I will gladly accept any and all awkward looks, raised eyebrows, and opposing arguments. Why do I think Final Crisis is the best? Well, Final Crisis takes everything that previously existed and puts a nice bookend at the end of it, as if to say “Ok, Multiverse. Enough with the drama. Let’s frak everything up and then call it a day.” I recently re-read the entire mini from beginning to end in one sitting and found the trip to be so incredibly satisfying, I was literally breathless with anticipation to turn the page at points even though I had read it all before. There are very few comics that I feel get better and better with every read, but the more I inevitably learn about the DCU, the more I appreciate Final Crisis. Final Crisis has so many little references in there that it becomes the most concise Crisis to date and actually reads as if it were 100% a tribute to DC fans all across the globe. There are references that date all the way back to the original Crisis’ of the JLA and JSA as well as quiet references to a large array of modern stories. Final Crisis also features the most glorious comeback of all time, and of course I am referring to the return of Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew.
Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew, however, are a prime example of what I think really works about Final Crisis. The thing about Grant Morrison’s writing style is that he assumes everyone who reads his Marvel/DC books has read every story ever from Marvel/DC concerning the topic/title. Since a Crisis is a large scale crossover spanning the multiverse, it stands to reason that it should reference all aspects of DC. What people may not know is that in 2007, Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew and other survivors of Earth-26 landed on New Earth as regular animals as opposed to super powered animals. Earth-26 ended up being uninhabitable, so Captain Carrot loaded as many animals as he could onto a ship and escaped. Upon their less then spectacular arrival, Zatanna took Captain Carrot as her new stage show rabbit. In actuality, most people probably didn’t read that, so having Captain Carrot appear at the end of Final Crisis as one of the Supermen must have seemed quite odd, but it makes 100% sense for him to show up. That’s my favorite part of Final Crisis. No matter how weird it may seem, no matter how odd and irrelevant something might come off as, it all has a point that is central to the whole spirit of a Crisis.
I could comprise a list of books you must read before you read Final Crisis that would make it all seem so much clearer, but I feel that’s one of the big negatives people place against the book. As with the aforementioned Captain Carrot and the Final Ark! book, certain elements are very off putting. If you didn’t read Seven Soldiers, you probably didn’t understand what the Omega Sanction was that killed Batman. You probably had no idea who Mister Miracle was and what he was talking about with his various cheating death commentary. If you didn’t read Death of the New Gods, the whole beginning of Final Crisis might have seemed to come out of nowhere. A lot of people don’t appreciate that. I say, however, that isn’t this the case with any event? With Blackest Night (currently on-going), if you didn’t read any of the previous Crisis stories then at least half the returning characters who appear as Black Lanterns must seem quite peculiar. Heck, if you didn’t read Final Crisis before Blackest Night, you might not even know that Batman died. If you read Sinestro Corps War before you read Infinite Crisis, or if you read Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds before you read Sinestro Corps War and Infinite Crisis and Superman And The Legion Of Super-Heroes, a lot of the core action that takes place in the books might make no sense whatsoever. The point is that all DC events are under the assumption that you are a DC fan, and if you don’t take the time to follow the universe or at least do a little research, of course things are going to come out awkward and confusing.
Continued belowIn reading articles with Morrison about the book, I find that there really is more reasons to love the book than to hate it. Morrison really tried to push the limit of what was OK, and through this we have the concept of total destruction created by the villains. They’ve teamed up in the past and brought devastation, but not like this. Darkseid and Libra truly bring the absolute worst of destruction in this book, and the skies never cease to be red. There is one scene at the end of Final Crisis where Darkseid finally regains his full power on the human plane of existance and takes over all the people who had been brainwashed with the Anti-Life equation, and I’d dare say that it is one of the coolest scenes I’ve ever read. The pacing panel to panel is so excellently framed that it truly shows you the epic scope of devastation that Darkseid brings. Again, with the end of Final Crisis, it presumes that you took the time to read all of the tie-ins. When Mandrakk shows up at the end, unless you read Final Crisis: Superman Beyond it probably seemed very random and confusing. However, I feel that Grant Morrison’s writing is perfect for a big event like this due to how he shapes things. Placing major scenes in a tie-in book allows us to flesh out the events in seperate fields and thus make a much bigger storyline. When you take a step back and look at the scope that Final Crisis manages to achieve, it’s really quite awe inspiring.
From the very first panel with Anthro creating fire to the very last panel of Anthro dieing of old age, Final Crisis is, to yours truly, the best Crisis out there. Final Crisis is clearly the Crisis for people who aren’t casual readers, and I am defintely not a casual reader. While I understand that it can seem polarizing and a bit unrelatable, I feel like for those that take the time to truly love comic books as much as I do are in for the event of a lifetime with this series. I would humbly suggest that, if you are interested, go back and give Final Crisis a read through from beginning to end in one sitting. With the knowledge you have by the end of it to the knowledge you will certainly gain due to Googling all those references you don’t understand, you’ll end up with one of the most satisfying reads of last year.
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So now that you’ve read our opinions, what do you think? Agree? Disagree? Do you think Identity Crisis is better? Let us know.
