Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities A Look Back: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-12

The shadow demons have suffered from a terrible amount of 'villain decay'.

In Crisis they could pass through any barrier and kill pretty much anyone they made physical contact with, blasting their bodies apart. In later appearances, they are swarming all over people and just basically being annoying and not killing anyone.

I wonder if the shadow demons got more powerful after the anti-matter wave arrived on the more familiar Earths and into the Anti-Monitor's endgame? Y'all probably remember better than me and already presumably know that the inconsistencies still occur beyond that point, but it's a thought that trickled into my brain.

Crisis #1

Our cover shows the heroes and villains (several unfamiliar and inviting curiosity) of more than one Earth thrown about in the chaos of the shattering worlds behind them. Only Pariah and Harbinger are stationary. The former can only scream while the latter is calm, knowing more about what lies ahead than the others.

The Earth at the foreground has been shattered, leaving us in know doubt about the scale of the threat. But there’s a vast number of Earth’s behind it, stretching along to the back cover, and into a pint of infinity, where we see the fading face of the Monitor overseeing it all.

If all that wasn’t enough, Perez also gives us a starry background a la Legion World and takes the time to put in storm effects to not only highlight the chaos, but to split up the covers.

The point of the Crisis sets it’s stall out on the first page. Perez must have loved seeing the script asking for “the creation of the Multiverse.” In the captions we have “…and a multiverse that should have become one, became many.” There’s no explanation as to why that should have been the case. But it will arc its way to the end of issue 10, which was to be the proposed last issue of the story, allowing for the final two issues to be a History of the DCU.

The opening scene introduces us to Pariah, our eyes on the destruction of a multitude of Earths as the Crisis sweeps across the Multiverse. As each Earth dies, he is teleported away. He reaches to save a small boy, but is unable to do so. That last act is important as it shows that, after having gone through a number of these events, Pariah is now actively trying to save something.

The final scene in DC Comics Presents #78 shows the attention of the Monitor and Lyla turning to Earth-3, and it’s here we now see Power Ring and his colleagues in the Crime Syndicate trying to present a number of environmental disasters.

Ultra-Man, who gains a new ability every time he’s exposed to Kryptonite, is as powerful as pre Crisis characters got. He can see that the Earth is the only world remaining. That raises the question of why Earth is so important.

Owlman, looking on helplessly at the destruction, mentions Earth-3’s only super hero, Luthor. He’s a fitting hero in a world of moral role reversals. It’s also a nice way of seamlessly allowing us to segue to that hero as he watches Superwoman blink from existence trying to save her world. In the end the Crime Syndicate try to stop the disasters as best they can. Realising the end of his world is approaching, Luthor returns to his wife. He launches a rocket from his world across the dimensional boundaries. It’s a rocket send with hope and love. It’s also the origin of Superman, with an updated destination across universes. This version will have a twist to it, due to the anti-matter destroying the planet as it escapes.

The remaining members of the Crime Syndicate meet Pariah, who teleports away as the Earth, and its universe dies.

The Crime Syndicate were very powerful enemies of the Justice League. Here, they are surrogates for the League, to show us that the heroes who saved Earth from all the previously published Crises may not have the power to save us now.

In those previous Crises, the Justice league would get the call to help. They would undoubtedly get help form the Justice Society. For some time, other groups such as the Marvel Family, The All-Star Squadron or the Seven Soldiers would also be added to the cast. It’s to Wolman’s credit that he follows the same logic here.

Luthor sends the rocket containing his son to the Justice League satellite. Only, there’s no Justice League left there to greet it.

Aquaman had disbanded the JLA, as writer Gerry Conway looked to focus on the B-listers in order to develop characterisation and scripting freedom. The decision was made to only use characters that didn’t appear in other books. Unfortunately, that not only removed much of his cast, it also removed a number of characters who had back up strips or mini series in the pipeline. A number of other former Leaguers were having major personal issues and life changing events that also removed them from being active.

Since all that has an impact on how the characters appear during Crisis, here’s a quick summary. This was back in the days where there had only been 16 core members of the team, excluding the likes of Phantom Stranger and other honorary/ reserve members: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, Manhunter, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Atom, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Red Tornado, Zatanna, Elongated Man and Firestorm.

Batman had quit the JLA for the Outsiders; Aquaman was about to leave the JLA he had split, to search for his wife in an upcoming mini-series; The Atom was living with a miniature race in South America; Hal Jordan had quit as Green Lantern, being replaced by John Stewart; Hawkman and Hawkwoman were fighting a secret Shadow War that had moved them away from their previous crimefighting roles; The Flash was on trial for murder; The Green Arrow and Black Canary were active, but a life changing mini-series was being tabled as they appeared in the back up of Detective Comics; The Red Tornado’s mini had finally been published where he was forced to quit being a hero for a time.

Another satellite does see the arrival of Luthor’s capsule. It’s The Monitor and Lyla. The Monitor instructs Lyla that’s it’s time to gather the heroes and villains he has chosen. This is a little bit of a writing fudge. It’s was only during development that The Monitor’s role would change. To keep with his new role, an explanation for why he had been assisting villains against heroes had to be found. It works well here. It would work even better had the roles for some of them not also been altered too. Having multiple Supermen and Wonder Women across numerous universes would have made a lot of sense and could be something for Bits. Here, there’s a need to cater for one of the goals of the series; to make some of the characters form other Earth’s stand out; to showcase the DCU’s diversity of characters even as they are folded into the same world.

Lyla says “I’ll do as you ask… but I suggest you remember… we are equals. I will no longer tolerate being treated as your slave.” It’s an odd line. It’s meant to feed into Harbinger’s changing allegiances. But it’s too early in the story to have been the result of contact with The Monitor’s opponent.

So, it must be something that’s simmering in the background. There’s nothing in her previous appearances to suggest she and the Monitor were equals in power and nothing in her attitude once he’s gone to suggest this level of discontent. The line, on its own merits, makes me think of an orphaned child rescued by The Monitor. Instead of returning her to her people, he then essentially kidnaps her and treats her as a servant. It looks like it’s a line out of place in the plot. Perhaps Lyla has only recently been granted her Harbinger powers and they’ve gone right to her head.

As Harbinger looks for Arion, she fears for her failure. “The Monitor will be furious with me, and I’ll have no excuse for my failure.” Sure, the stakes are high, but these don’t paint The Monitor in a very heroic light. The heroes are saving the universe on behalf of a tool.

Lyla’s transformation involves the theme Wolfman used at the formation of the Multiverse. “The universe once divided into many parts…each one different, independent, yet somehow weaker than the whole. Now each part suffers for that weakness…”

Lyla generates alternate selves based on her contact with the separate realities. That weakness of the separate parts leads directly into what happens to her as well as reinforcing a goal of the series.
Ironically, Lyla also fears loss of control, giving of herself to independent forms. As DC moved into post Crisis it had an increasingly heavy-handed approach to the continuity of its books. The need to control arguably resulted in the loss of the diversity and whimsical, magical fun of decades before.

The Monitor tells Harbinger that he will retrieve Luthor’s pod. We don’t see it, but it’s one of the few times he gets off his own butt during the series. He presses a button and gives a command. But to who? There’s no one else there. Or is there?

Harbinger contacts a variety of characters:-

Solivar, sentencing a convict to conversion. It’s supposed to be more enlightened than the death penalty, but it is really the best an enlightened society can do?

Dawnstar being led by the nose across Metropolis. Her powers don’t work nearly as well on a planetary scale, yet that’s not apparent here. Recent issues of Tales had a Dawnstar subplot involves increased/altered tracking powers. That would have been a good introduction to her involvement here.

Firebrand is summoned from a war bond rally. In All Star Squadron #50 we learn that Harbinger’s appearance caused all sorts of other problems. The JSA had just been captured, and were transported to a variety of odd Golden Age locations. Roy Thomas does a sterling job in tying this into Harbinger’s access to the multiverse. I think Commander Steel is also transported to Earth-1, fulfilling his appearance in Justice League Detroit. The Blackhawks also possibly move over. It’s at this rally we learn that Harbinger is being watched by followers of The Foe who seemingly can also send agents across time and space.

A very Ditkoesque Blue Beetle gets to beat up crooks and wisecrack before being summoned.

As Harbinger looks to recruit Arion, she is intercepted by a shadowy form that seems to possess her. When she encounters her target, Arion nearly falls to his death before she snatches him away. We learn that there is a “he” controlling her.

Some recruits are taken to find others. Firebrand is taken on the trip to bring Psycho Pirate. She has managed to bring his Medusa Mask, which hopefully comes form a crossover book. Although we don’t see Firebrand in these scenes, she must have also accompanied Psycho Pirate and Harbinger to recruit Firestorm and Killer Frost. The latter is made to fall in love with Stormy, subverting the usual sheer hatred she has for her foes, or anyone really. This scene is also in Firestorm #41.

There’s a bit of a big reveal as The Monitor seems to already know that Harbinger will end up killing him. His speech indicates that he’s not had this knowledge for too long. Perhaps only as long as his preparations have taken over the last year of DC’s books. Perhaps only as the final Earth’s fall to his Foe.

It may also go some way to explaining Lyla’s attitude towards him. Knowing she is his killer may have placed some stony distance between them, and it’s alienated Lyla. While it still needs Harbinger to be possessed, the Monitor’s death is a little self-fulfilling As The Foe had something to latch onto.

I find this kind of foreshadowing reveal to be a little clumsy. It grants The Monitor powers of precognition (although he has monitored other eras) detracting from his desperate sacrifice later on.

I like Harbinger a lot. Orphaned background, interesting upbringing, niche in the DCU, very visual powers and an intricate design thanks to Perez. But her powers are very much of the Plot Powered variety. In this sequence alone, we have :-

Split into multiple forms, possibly one for each alternate reality; intangibility (comes with electrified aura); force field; teleportation; implant suggestion (lures Dawny across a city, forces Hayden to turn around – comes with glowing effect from her head); implant feeling (allows Hayden to use mask without pain, but not powerful enough to remove need for Hayden to control Killer Frost); flight at varying speeds (comes with glowing energy trail); force field (comes with sparkly effect); stop time; levitate; telekinesis (placing Hayden’s mask on him, shattering ice bridge under Arion).

Now that everyone has been summoned, let’s have a look at the split.
Earth-1 Past: Arion
Earth-1 Present: Solivar, Psimon (Tales of the Teen Titans #58), Geoforce, Cyborg (New Teen Titans #13), Firestorm, Killer Frost, Doctor Polaris, Green Lantern (GL #194)
Earth-1 Future: Dawnstar
Earth-2 Past: Firebrand,
Earth-2 Present: Obsidian (from Infinity Inc #18), Psycho Pirate, Superman
Earth-4 Present: Blue Beetle

These were supposed to be the initial line of troops, but it’s a bit lopsided in favour of some eras than others.

It does include popular books. The Titans, Outsiders, Infinity Inc and Legion are all represented. It also includes GA Superman. That’s important, not just because of the sales appeal of a big “S” on covers, but because he would become one of the central characters in the whole story, including the finale.

Someone in editorial must have pointed out that there hadn’t been a fight scene in the issue. They would have given Wolfman lots of DC points for having an ape in there, but you have to have a fight scene too. We have to also see the powers of our assembled cast.

So, as the heroes and villains begin to bicker, setting up Psion for something later on along the way, they are attacked by a number of the Shadow Beings we saw stalking Harbinger earlier. Like Harbinger, these are strictly Plot Powered. None of this variety possess anyone. In addition to being super strong, and intangible, they are impervious to all energies except The Monitor’s light switch. He uses this to make them scuttle away, and make a grand entrance. “I am The Monitor, and I have summoned you here because your universes are about to die!”

I imagine the shadow beings know where the satellite is through Harbinger’s corrupted splinter form. As the satellite fight continues Lyla tells us that she can’t become Harbinger for long (shades of Negative Woman/ Man) and that she has reintegrated them all into herself. That means the corrupted self will be affecting the rest of her form now. This is why having Lyla’s earlier diatribe against the Monitor would have worked better after this point.

This is one of the issues that Wolfman had plotted longest its strengths show as a result.

The threat is framed in the death of Earth-3 and in The Monitor’s final words. We, therefore get the strong opening scene and first issue cliffhanger so vital to this sort of story.
The threat also has a more personal, parallel plot. This means that the story isn’t just a lead up to a single big fight. Harbinger’s conversion means that there’s a threat from within too.
We’re introduced to our cast, their abilities and personalities very well. There’s no mistaking GA Superman’s heroism compared to Beetle’s humour or from Firestorm’s irreverence to Psimon’s power lust.

There’s no consistency in Harbinger’s power or those of her foes, which is going to undercut the shadow forms effectiveness later on. The selection of the cast is a little wonky if the Monitor is trying to convey a message to all affected Earths. But there will be more in that in the issues to come. For now, there’s good tension between heroes and villains and some potential for some of our cast to go rogue.

With only slight exceptions, such as Dawny’s powers, Wolfman has a handle on each character and Perez is simply the best man for the job.

Crisis #2

Perez sweeps the Shadow Creature from half way up the right-hand side of the cover, until it provides the background to the logo. Not only does this make the logo stand out, but it underlines the thread of The Foe to the multiple Earths that are part of the design.

The Shadow Creature has severed the rope a young man was using for purchase against a strange golden tower. Superman and Solivar look on, ticking two of the big DC cover sales boxes. Firebrand, Green Lantern and Fire storm provide some nice energy effects while Dawny provides an exotic winged presence. Like the first issue, Perez adds some cosmic lightning to break up the background. The statue of Liberty standing in a disaster area, gives readers a hint as to where the characters are.

A three page opening scene introduces us to Anthro. He’s the first boy of the DC Universe and he diverts a pack of mammoths from trampling his village. The dialogue “Anthro will lead you away from the village to the bear people,” occasionally made me think that the Bear People were the enemies of his tribe, and that he was leading the mammoths against them.

There’s fun dialogue between Anthro’s wife and father. While getting carried away with his success Anthro bumps his head and sees a vision of a shining city of the future. Perhaps its visions like this across Anthro’s time that give humanity the concepts to create them, giving DCU’s humanity a step up.

The city he sees is Metropolis of the 30th century. As the Legion look for the missing Dawnstar they are called to deal with the sudden appearance of a pack of mammoths. A Legion in a bright, shiny future drawn by Perez was new to me. As I was a newsstand reader this might have been my introduction to Ayla too, in her Orlando designed Lightning Lass costume.

I think that’s Officer Cusimano who wonders if Brainiac -5 picked anything up. He certainly did and this opening part ends with him telling his colleagues that the Anti-Matter he’s detecting has “enough energy to destroy not only us…. But the universe!”

It’s fitting that DC’s smartest character is the first main character to perceive the threat. The issue will look to bookend Anthro, DCs first boy, to Kamandi, its last. So it would have been nice to have those frame the issue, which doesn’t happen. The mystery of the disappearing mammoths is very well done, with Anthro’s brother wondering what happened as his tribe celebrate a near miss.
The switch is the first indication that the threat will affect all eras of the DCU and that time will become malleable. Later, time warps will be the result of the Monitor’s machinations, so I’m wondering if there’s ever an explanation as to why it happens here.

The Batman arrives too late to save the Joker’s latest victim. I’m not sure if the victim handed over his copyrights before being killed. Presumably, or it’s a wasted exercise on the Joker’s part. He’s in fine, insane mode here and he tricks Bats to sway the battle in his favour.

Bats needs seconds to reach a solvent in his bat-belt. Seconds he may not have. But the Joker is distracted by the arrival of an emaciated Flash. Barry is reaching out. The Batman tells us that Barry has been missing since the end of his trial, an outcome I may not have read at this point. The Joker fires four shots at The Flash but they seem to have no effect. There’s an energy surrounding Barry and he’s not interacting with those before him, but delivering a waring and a cry for help. As Batman reaches out to help, the Flash disintegrates before his eyes.

This links nicely with the first scene in that time continues to be malleable, although we’d not know that the Flash’s message comes form the future until later. Seeing once of DC’s biggest heroes reduced to a skeleton is very chilling. It’s almost matched by seeing Batman completely unable to help.

The credits roll (I thought they would after Brainy‘s warning) and we pick up form the last scene of issue #1 aboard the Monitor’s satellite.

The Monitor repeats his warning that their worlds are about to die. To emphasis the point he tells them that a thousand have already perished and shows them the end of Earth-3. The Monitor tells them that the storms and environmental effects are a precursor to the arrival of the antimatter waves. Nothing about time becoming warped too.

A weakened Monitor struggles to maintain control, but he can click a Plot Shield together to fend of Psimon’s attack easily. It’s the Plot Shield he’ll completely fail to use in a couple of issue’s time to fend off Harbinger. The Monitor asks for Harbinger to aid him, and Lyla goes off. She’s burning with hatred for the Monitor as a result of being infected by The Foe’s shadow demon last issue. Since this seems to be a new thing, I think her resentment before that incident is a plotting error.

Interestingly, some heroes want to leave as well as some of the villains, giving the group a good mix of reactions. The Monitor tells them that “you are my initial force… others will be summoned as their abilities are required.” This was part of the original plot line that would see fallen characters replaced. Things changed, and in the story it’s reflected by events overtaking The Monitor as The Foe becomes increasingly stronger, as he weakens. Having plans that don’t work out adds a nice level of depth to the book.

Harbinger arrives to tell the group that they are to protect and then activate devices that have been placed in five different eras. These eras coincide with eras of heroism, and we’re told that the existence of such heroism acts as an aid to the energies being harnessed. It suggests there’s a lot more going on in the DCU, than people tipping chemicals over themselves to get powers. There are energies that shape or feed into heroic ages.

Harbinger is very direct, partly due to her concern over her mentor, partly because of the lack of remaining time, and possibly because of the darkness spreading within her. The difference is something Arion certainly something Arion picks up on. Since he’s only met her when she’s been partly taken over, it must show that it’s a growing thing.

We don’t see the group move to a device to travel across the multiverse. Harbinger simply activates her glowing helmet and they are gone.

Having a universe full of cosmic powered beings means that Events inevitably involves trying to explain why all of them don’t get involved. Later events would eventually have them form a club that prevented any of them getting involved for fear of tipping some made up cosmic balance. Here, Wolfman has plans for the history of the Green Lantern Corps. It’s an arc that will run through the series, and picks up on the scale of the Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Mini series a few years before.

Skipping past the bit where Oa sits on a remarkably quiet, universe powering singularity, one good point is that the Guardians did sense the approaching energies. Like Marvel, everyone and their cosmic grandmother (presumably not all Granny Goodness) has viewers that can pick up everything. The interesting thing here, is that they didn’t act on this information. Had this been left in isolation, it would have been a bit of a plot hole. But it won’t be. What isn’t so great is some mystery force that blasts the Guardians form within their own central power battery. This is going to be a disappointingly recurring event for the Guardians over the series. It also begs the question that, if this is The Foe, behind the attack, why doesn’t he just blow up lots of things he doesn’t like, whenever he wants.

Our next linking scene has an excellent panel of Superman flying across Metropolis to met Batman at the Daily Planet. Typically, Batman stays in the shadows, but the two are old colleagues and share concern about The Flash. Influenced by The Dark Knight returns, DC would try to get more tension into the relationship post crisis. But, with the formation of Batman and the Outsiders there was already tension there that could have been capitalised on further if needed. It was heightened because of their long relationship.

Pariah appears to the World’s Finest team. He has moments to warn them, before he is whisked away. We’ve seen what happened to Earth-3, so Pariah’s presence means that the end is nigh. Batman picks up on the warning being the same as the one the Flash gave. It’s a tiny throwaway, but adds a lot of chills to the scene. Pariah knows of Superman and Batman, and it’s the first hope he’s had in a very long time. Later on, I got the feeling that Pariah had been cursed for a long time. But if he knows of Supes and Bats, events must have started a lot more recently.

We return to our main plot as the first group arrives at the time of the Great Disaster. Just one of the many good things in Crisis was taking the reader to places outside the main DCU books, enjoying their diversity and concepts. It’s a shame we have to be told about Kamandi’s time through captions rather than getting to see a scene where the cast interact with it. The statue of liberty acts as a sign and I guess they hoped that Planet of the Apes might work as a fill in for the rest.

Like Anthro, Kamandi is experiencing something new to his environment. Both happen in areas they know well, and add a haunting, ghostly quality to their discoveries. As he investigates the shining , new golden tower, a Shadow Demon appears from it, severing his vine rope as per the cover. GA Superman is on hand to save the boy, and it turns out Kamandi has met his Earth-1 counterpart. There’ slot of nice continuity nods in the series that don’t get in the way of the plot. Kamandi worries that Solivar might be one of his enemies. One of the touching things about the time spent in the disaster era is how close the tow would become.

Introductions made, more Shadow Demons appear. The heroes are there to protect the towers from the Shadow Demons. But the Shadow demons come from the machines. Why couldn’t they just stay inside the machines and destroy them from within? This version of Shadow Demon is weaker than the ones on the Monitor’s satellite, but come with a burning touch.

The extent of the touch is variable, and a lot has to be taken from the text rather than the visuals I think. Kamandi is “just touched” on the shoulder, although we see him firmly grasped. Dawnstar and Solivar touch the demons with bare flesh. Superman’s heat vision seems to destroy one, and that’s enough to drive them off. They don’t go far, as if baiting the heroes to desert the tower. Since the Demons have already had ample opportunity to disrupt the device, their work should already be done.

Nearby, the battle has been watched by Harbinger. It looks as though she has sent one of her forms with the group. So, I’d expect to see Harbinger forms with the others.

The plot has the hallmarks of a Gardner Fox approach. Gather the heroes, split them up into smaller groups to achieve connected goals and then presumably return to face the larger foe at the end. The Monitor summoned fifteen characters, there are five eras to protect, and this first group had three characters in it.

The composition of each group should be interesting too, as they are characters that won’t have interacted often. That’s why having so many from present day Earth-1 might have reduced the fun of this a little. Like #1, having GA Superman in the first group shown is an important statement to make in the plot. His story is an important part of the book, not to mention his key influence.

As mentioned last issue, Dawnstar was originally supposed to find the spot for the device to be constructed, then activated. Solivar was there due to the advanced simian society at the time of the Great Disaster. The Monitor perhaps thought that this would be the most likely group the characters would encounter. Superman is their as the team’s powerhouse.

I’m used to Levitz putting in subplots between moments. Wolfman is happy to intersect near simultaneous events with the, perhaps it takes some groups longer to reach their tower than others.
Harbinger has been tasked with bringing Luthor to the Monitor. Again, it’s an important part of the plotting not to let any of the key events slip away. The capsule was discovered last issue, so this issue shows the next step etc. Soon, there are a lot of plot plates to juggle in something this big, and only so much space to fit them all in. Not to mention logistical nightmares of any rewrites. It’s something to bear in mind for any obvious plot holes later on.

Harbinger sees that the Luthor child ahs not only grown, but seems to be composed of more than one form of matter. We’re told that Harbinger has now been taken over fully by The Foe. Perhaps she was from the moment she rejoined her selves. We’ve already seen her report to The Foe as the teams left the satellite. The corrupting Shadow Form must have been trained in how to set up comms and given a trans-universe number (if the Monitor looks weak now, wait until he sees his phone bill!). It won’t be long before news of Luthor is fed back.

The next group arrive overlooking Atlantis before it sank. I guess they had a big central park area, as the giant golden tower takes up a lot of space within the city walls. Arion is the perfect character to have on hand, as he knows everyone there. Complications arise when Obsidian can’t find the Psycho Pirate. The villain didn’t follow them into the city. He’s in the huff after being warned about using his powers. But he needs to feed on emotions, rather than change them. Conveniently, Pariah appears and becomes a victim of the Pirate’s. As the others confront the villain, it takes the combined efforts of Obsidian and Arion just to hold him at bay. As the Pirate pushes his advantage, he is teleported away in a big beam of light.

Pirate is brought into the presence of The Foe. Pirate is told that he is needed and has his face temporarily removed as a way of ensuring his cooperation. There’s a feeling that The Foe will look to use the Pirate for the same reasons as the Monitor was going to use him. “The menace we deal with is one of emotion,” The Monitor tells Harbinger. Harbinger mentions Raven, who has vanished following the launch of the Titans Baxter series. We came close to having The Foe fight Trigon in Crisis.

Without a comparable being, The Monitor looks to create another character; a new Dr Light. Since he’s happy to deal with the likes of the Psycho Pirate and Psimon, I’m wondering why he can’t use the old Doctor Light.

The scenes also show the changing of the plot. The Foe has been happy somehow sending waves of Anti Matter across universe, destroying them utterly. He’s not stopped to manipulate anyone. So, using Psycho Pirate at all is out of place from what we’ve seen. Arguably, he’s using Harbinger to deal a final blow to his foe. But he’s confident of victory regardless.

Like the Shadow Forms attacking the satellite, why doesn’t The Foe teleport others away. Why doesn’t he teleport The Monitor away? The Foe’s ability to change The Pirate’s face is a Plot Power that doesn’t reappear. After all, when his fortress is attacked later, he could just have removed the faces of the attackers.
Pariah’s very appearance in Atlantis is odd. What made it more dangerous there than where the other towers are? If the towers are the focal points of danger, why did he appear to Superman and Batman?

In Atlantis, Pariah points to the sky where the waves of antimatter can now be seen. Against Pariah’s predictions, Obsidian shouts “The Monitor lied! He lied!” Neither Obsidian or Arion have been seen near the golden tower. The significance of those towers in the plot is worth watching. Clearly, Obsidian has forgotten that they’re supposed to provide a way of saving them.

Obsidian’s outburst would have made a decent cliffhanger.

Instead, there’s a few more pages to fill. We get a couple more scenes with the Monitor and Harbinger and Harbinger and the Foe. They repeat previous ideas that The Monitor grows ever weaker as The Foe becomes stronger. There’s the seed of something in The Monitor’s mind that will pay off in a couple of issues; a way of thwarting the Foe. His precognition is shakier here. Before, he knew that Harbinger was destined to kill him. Here, he wonders if such an event will happen.

In the Harbinger/ Foe scene we see that The Foe is humanoid and has a human arm. I don’t remember speculating on who this might have been. I imagine fans wondering if it was Darkseid or Nekron. It’s Class A villain maniacal confidence in his speech.

The final page shows a big image of Harbinger. The text around her headshot is less about the conflict within her than bragging by The Foe and a message of hope by the Monitor. At least the latter mentions her.

“How many worlds do I now control? How many lives are now mine?” says the foe. The answer is none, as they have all been destroyed by the Anti-Matter. Perhaps there’s a parallel Crisis where all those worlds are just moved into an Anti-Matter Multiverse. That would certainly solve a lot of Post-Crisis issues. But it’s not this story.

This issue sees the first of the missions that might save the remaining Multiverse. We see the growing darkness in Harbinger and the possibilities in Luthor. The Monitor may have a plan as The Foe becomes more of a known quantity and increases in power. The Anti-matter comes to Earth-1.

It’s only issue #2 and there are hints of some issues. The Plot Powers of some of the cast such as The Foe and his Shadow Demons. The former has shown a variety of abilities to bring this Crisis to an early end, but doesn’t use them; Pariah being whisked around without any reason; The need for Psycho Pirate by The Foe; The appearance of time warps before their narrative place (although being time warps…) In the issues to come, we’re going to see a lot of Harbinger on the verge of killing her Mentor. She’s already waiting for the signal here.

Since Crisis # 2 was on the stands the same time as Flash # 345 (according to my "Comics Survey" rankings), no one had read it at this point. The Flash (and its terminally long trial) ended with # 350. Interesting bit of foreshadowing.

True dat. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Not every character needs a back story, mini-series, new group to join, ad nauseum. Sometimes characters are best when they fit a certain context. Less is more. and more is, well, gluttony.

Comments



I think I read a letter not long after Crisis that was from a reader who wasn’t going to continue with the books. The feeling he had was that the books, and characters, he grew up with were no more. It wasn’t that he hated the Post-Crisis as such, he simply didn’t have anywhere near the same level of investment in it.

I was happily picking up Byrne’s Superman and was engaged in a number of solo heroes that I hadn’t enjoyed as much before like Wonder Woman and the Flash.

Since the various relaunches, I wonder if I feel the same way as that guy did.







Good point on the tone. Wolfman was able to add some lighter touches with the growing threat. There’s quite a bit of craft in being able to start issues at a slower pace but lead into a threat that has to also get bigger and darker each issue. The scene transitions are also well executed. I wonder how many others would be able to combine Anthro and the Legion so seamlessly.



The Legion’s appearances and specifically their slick, Perez look made an impact on li’l thoth. Their 2 page spread in History of the DCU was another great image.

One thing about Crisis was the thrill in seeing your favourites get a little bit of the spotlight. With me, that would primarily have been the Justice League (mainly Detroit) and The Flash. But the Legion and Titans also provided little boosts every time they appeared.



I’m not sure the Legion crossover issues dealt with it particularly well. I seem to recall Brainy thinking that he should have know it was all going to happen. Also, like All Star Squadron, there was a force preventing the full sweep of the Crisis. But science isn’t Levitz’s strong suit (Lar will bring a white dwarf star to Earth later on). I think of it the way you suggest. That the threat impacted the universe across all it’s time simultaneously.


There’s little that’s going to engage a reader more than when the characters come across as genuinely horrified and fearful.



I completely agree. It’s something that has been replicated a lot since and was a very effective way of introducing the series.



That’s interesting. I hadn’t been giving thought to the way the cast was collected. I agree that the variety Wolman uses puts it above any others I can think of. He also had the bonus of having crossover books where some of the Harbinger encounters appeared too.



Since Harbinger brought Psycho Pirate on purpose, her goal must have been to mind control Frost all along. That’s premeditated creepiness. I enjoyed it at the time and now more for Stormy’s reactions than a love struck Killer Frost.

Seeing Harbinger corrupted rings more alarm bells on gender for me now than the Frost scene.



I loved the variety and never felt it was too crowded. Had Wolfman launches all five missions in this issue, then things might have been different. But he new to space them out to give each time to breathe. I might have read or not been far away from reading the JLA on Apokalips story and the JLA/ Degaton story and those had similarly large casts. That aspect of Crisis has it’s roots firmly in those JLA in Crisis stories.



Our mileage varies on that one. I liked the growing resentment of Harbinger and felt it could have resulted in an attack through her thought bubbles in the series, without the need for the Monitor to outright tell us what was going to happen.

As an alternative to the Monitor becoming precognitive, it might have been something he learned through the probability analysis that was constantly running on the satellite’s computers. But we never saw much of that.



The Perez/ Giordano team rates among my all time favourites.



You can see where he picked some of his cast from. And also why he picked them. Wolman had written Green Lantern, so John Stewart and Polaris come from there. As there’s a solid Guardians subplot, then Stewart is a reminder of that. GA Superman is arguably the essence of super heroism across the series, and in DCU’s history. From Wolfman’s work on the Titans we have Cyborg and Psimon. We have the characters with familiarity with the regions – Geo Force, Arion, Solivar (sort of). From the older plots, Dawnstar and Polaris play a tracking roles. As the devices were originally still to be built and activated, scientifically minded characters were also important, so that brought in the likes of Beetle and Solivar again.



While issue 12 has them return to victim destroying glory who can forget the slump in #6 when the Shadow Demons would move people’s odd socks to Earth-4 for kicks.



Thanks for checking.



Yup. Some variation in the longevity/ usefulness of characters is fine. Look at all the failed spin offs in Events following Crisis. I would argue that said characters are utter Plot Ponies, pulling the rest of the cast around too much, in the Crisis itself though. A little less, even in the book that introduced them might have been nice.

I definitely felt the same after Flashpoint. I was like, why even bother having to learn the new continuity all over again?

When the Reboot was destroyed for the Threeboot, I somehow stuck with the Threeboot until issue 35... Still not sure how The only Legionnaire I've loathed as much as Threeboot Ultra Boy was Atmos, and Atmos was only a Gap member.

Like Paladin and possibly yourself from what I read, it wasn't because I hated any particular move, such as a reboot. I gave loads of DC books a fresh chance to impress me, and practically none of them did. There was a decent gap between the end of #10 of Crisis and the relaunch of many of the books. No doubt I'll moan about it. But that time, gave them the chance to ensure a certain level of quality. Perhaps that was one of the issues in the more recent relaunches.

That was definitely my thinking after Infinite Crisis and again after Final Crisis. By the time Flashpoint rolled around I was so jaded that my threshold for new series was at a low.

I did try the new JL International. Then after the first story arc, half the team was sidelined and that did it for me

Two in one review of CoIE #3 and #4 coming later tonight.

Double your pleasure, double your fun...

REVIEW: CoIE #3 and #4

Writer/Editor: Marv Wolfman
Penciller: George Perez
Inkers: Dick Giordano, Jerry Ordway, Mike DeCarlo
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Anthony Tollin
Associate Editor: Robert Greenberger
Consulting Editor: Len Wein

This is a double issue review as much for the sake of expediency and maintaining the thread's momentum, as because I feel that these two issues are very similar to each other.

The first three pages of #3 are more of the dreary holding-pattern gruel involving specially-created-for-this-event characters I could not care less about. But page 4...holy shotz! We finally see Barry Allen in "real time," as the future literally crumbles around him. Perez really does a good job on that page, I have to say.

And then Perez actually tops himself by breathtaking leaps and bounds on each of the next five pages, showing the Titans, the Outsiders (both sentimental favorite teams of mine, especially the Outsiders,) and, before long, Earth-1 Superman, doing their very best to contain the collateral damage, even as they realize their best will never be enough. That, my friends, is some of the most *true-to-life heroism* ever seen in a DC superhero comic! Additional kudos to Wolfman, who once again shows how good he can be when he's working to his strengths as a writer.

Robo-Brainiac (great design, zero personality) soliloquizing, whatever. Let's move on.

Geo-Force (SQUEE) ,Blue Beetle (YAY) ,and Doctor Polaris (BOO, HISS) in World War 2, defending the big tuning fork, along with Sgt Rock, the Haunted Tank, and lotsa other DC war-comic warhorses. Even though I'm no more than a casual fan of the war stuff (more for the art by Kubert, Heath, et al, though the writing was refreshingly earthy for its time) yet I find this all problematic, especially since Rock & Easy Company's creator, Robert Kanigher, had always insisted that their ultimate fate should remain ambiguous while hinting that they didn't survive to the end of the war. It's not as vomit-inducingly offensive as Rick Veitch's time-travel crapola from his last few issues of Swamp Thing, but I'm not OK with it.


Then, Kamandi, Firebrand, Solovar, and Earth-2 Superman defending another tuning fork in the Old West, and DC's Western heroes and anti-heroes showing up. Predictable but fun, allowing Wolfman to get in some nice character bits, especially with Bat Lash (Fun Fact: he was co-created by none other than Sergio Aragones!) I found Solovar's death affecting in previous CoIE reads, but that whole conversion thing was a deal-breaker with me.

Finally, an absolutely *gorgeous* page of the Legion failing to save Kid Psycho, and then, back full circle to the boredom aboard the Monitor's satellite...no, wait! Harbinger's gone homicidal! Not a bad cliffhanger at all, and overall this is, no question, my favorite issue of CoIE so far.

Review of #4 coming in a little while.

Et voila, CoIE #4.

Okay, I'll come out and say it -- Barbara Gordon, the Pre-Crisis version, would never act like such a gloomy quitter. Meanwhile, Supergirl gets built up as some kind of borderline-impeccable near-deity just so she can...well, we all know what's coming for Kara, but I won't spoil it. We also all know what's coming for Babs, and here I have to digress -- I've done some recent research on that abomination of a graphic novel, "The Killing Joke," and my deep respect for Alan Moore's talent has taken a *big* hit. Brian Bolland confirmed that those notorious "deleted scenes" of Babs and the Joker *were in Moore's script.* I also have come to suspect that while it may indeed have been Len Wein who okayed Babs's horrible fate (TKJ was so long in the making that, by the time it was published, Denny O'Neil had replaced Wein as editor of the Bat-franchise) but I strongly doubt that Wein's exact words were,



My theory is that Moore has kept a grudge against Wein (we all know that when Moore holds a grudge, he *holds one*) because Wein called Moore out on the lameness of the ending of "Watchmen," and when Moore acted the diva, Wein walked off the project (and, whaddayer know, most readers ended up concurring with Wein's view.)

Sorry. I know the above is barely tangential in its relevance to CoIE, but it's become a real sore spot with me.

Hmmm...badly written Constantine, that damn Pariah again, Lady Quark losing her husband and daughter *way too soon after readers are introduced to them all*…where in blinkin' blue blazes is the follow-up to the Harbinger/Monitor cliffhanger? Ah, here we go...no, bait and switch, this actually takes place *before* the cliffhanger. This is about the Monitor moving ahead with his plan to create a new, heroic Dr. Light out of unapologetically feisty Japanese scientist Kimiyo Hoshi (I am definitely a fan of hers, but this is still clumsy writing on Wolfman's part)

Yawn...more buildup to the cliffhanger...hey, where the hell did Red Tornado come from? HEY, no fair, Wolfman, cutting away to the last tuning fork! Sure, it's always nice to see the Shining Knight drawn by Perez, but the scene loses extra points for Vandal Savage acting like such a wimp.

Back to the present-day tuning fork, and the Outsiders and Titans encounter the newly transformed, powered-up Kimiyo, and Halo can't understand her...

HANG ON A BLOODY, BLASTED MINUTE!

Halo's adoptive mother, Katana, is Japanese! How the hell can Halo not understand Kimiyo? Then Katana herself screams, "Has everyone forgotten I speak Japanese?" Awkward? Yeah, a little. Lame? Yeah, totally!

Quick cuts to Paradise island, the Monitor's satellite, the medieval times tuning fork, Monitor and Pariah blabbing to the point where you wish Harbinger would just...

AHHHHH! *Finally.* The Monitor is toast. I only wish Harbinger had killed Pariah, too.

And...uh...apparently, it's all been for naught. Perez really excels with those last couple pages depicting the montage of the various grouping of DCU characters and the complete & utter (?) destruction of all that is, but there were too many things about this issue that annoyed me. I actually dislike it even more than #1!

Ah, COIE 3. My first introduction to this incarnation of the Titans - and to Kole.

She acted so competently and confidently here that I was surprised to find out later, she was a newcomer to the team. Here she is acting like a boss, forming a crystal barrier to give the heroes space. Then she creates crystal slides to save dozens!

I chalked up Metamorpho’s “You’re Kole, right?” line to her being kind of new or to him not meeting all the Titans yet.

Kole actes and felt like she belonged. I was super surprised when I read the Titans issues around that time, and saw her unsure and weepy and looking for her place in the world. No hints of that here!

so her powers, personality and unique look all combined to make her an instant fave.

few characters can move me to post like this. And in fact, it says a lot that i’m waxing poetic over Kole and not Kimiyo!
***

Which reminds me:

As for Kimiyo,I first encountered her in the post-Breakdowns JLE/JLI. So I got used to her being patient, thoughtful, calm and cooperative: all traits that I was raised to prize. It's very East Asian, valuing the group and harmony above the individual. As a plus, she was a scientist; she earned her standing as a hero, I thought. Again, a very East Asian value. Work hard and you will be rewarded.

Looking back, she first caught my attention because I felt represented by her. As an East Asian myself, it made me feel good to relate to someone on a deeper level than the typical "teenage hero with teenage problems" hook. This was in the late 80s/early 90s, so Asian heroes were relatively rare then.

So imagine my surprise when I picked up Crisis and saw that Kimiyo was originally mean, arrogant, and borderline abusive. Yikes! Well, some Asian parents speak to their kids like that, but Kimiyo's dad makes it clear he didn't raise her that way. I almost thought she was a different character altogether, or at least a different version from the Kimiyo I knew.

On the plus side, her Crisis appearances show her as much more powerful than her JLE/JLI self did. So I was still rooting for her, at the same time wondering why she wasn't written as such a power player in the League.

COIE 3

Alex Luthor has grown, and this unexpected event is a boon for the Monitor. Even the "immortals" could use some luck! Though does anyone else find it a tad creepy that Alex Luthor isn't at least given some underwear? Ah well, the starry bits cover his bits, so... Tension between Harbinger and Monitor. It's vague as to how much free will Harbinger has here. She can obviously think for herself. But act? And it's weird: Mysterious Bad Guy can control Harbi well enough. Why Pirate? Ah, but the dialogue makes it clear that MBG can't do exactly what Pirate does.

Flash again! This page makes it clear we're seeing a Flash before the Batman appearance. That closes that time loop.

One of my favorite scenes: the horror of the Crisis reaches Earth-1! Titans and Outsiders to the rescue. I have to gush for Kole again, who (with Metamorpho) saves more civilians than anyone else here. Her powers are so useful! Nightwing gets points for taking charge and encouraging Katana: "even if your sword isn't useful here, YOU are!" Spoken like a true leader. Nice couple of pages showing everyone contributing something, reminding us once again that everyone has a role to play. We get some personality for each too. I especially liked Halo saving the little girl. Whatever did happen to her mommy though? I hope the poor woman didn't search for her in a panic. But Halo is written confidently here, and I have no doubt she'll find the girl's mom.

Although, Wonder Girl and her lasso rescue make me think: wow, civilians on Earth-1 are uncommonly fit! Even with Donna holding them up like that, they have enough body strength to climb down a rope with no gloves? My hands would be so red after a five minutes... Ah, Superman and Batman arrive! One of the things I like about crossovers is we get to see varied heroes interact, heroes we don't normally see together. It's done well here. I do hope Donna didn't drop her rope though... Oh dear... well, no reaction scenes, so either she held on or someone caught the people who went bungee jumping all of a sudden. Kory's emotional again; I'm trying to remember if she acted like this in the Titans books. I mean, I know she often went all righteous-fury, but crying in frustration? Superman hugs here to restrain her, but taken out of context he could be misconstrued as creepy.

Flash bounces back here! Hey, Barry! Batman tries to free Flash before the bad thing happens; sadly, or perhaps happily, Jericho stops him. Later issues would make it clear it was the right move; but the Batman of a future age would have taken this against Jericho, blacklisting him from Justice League membership and superhero parties forever. I mean, look what he did to the Helena Bertinelli Huntress.

One page with Brainiac, highlighting the scale of the Crisis. If even Brainiac is afraid... yikes.

Monitor's All-Stars Team 3 shows up! Ah, so that's why Geo-force; home court advantage. And why Dr. Polaris; perfect weapon against normal soldiers with their bullets and tanks. I like Geo-force thinking about WWII's impact on Markovia. I'm not even royal family, but if I went back in time to the Philippines in WWII I'd think similar things. I like how the Losers and Easy Company get their turns to shine; as others have commented, this Crisis is all-encompassing, and it's good to see the war heroes get a seat at the table. The Losers' death really hit me hard here, as they are the first DC heroes to fall from Earth-1. But do they fall from the Shadow Demons or from the Anti-Matter Wall? The art confuses me a tad. Looks painful, though. RIP, Losers and Flower.

Nice teamwork from Geo-force and Dr. Polaris. Shows that a) the bad guys are affected too; b) cooperation may be necessary to survive. Geo-force realizes what the Shadow Demons are doing, but it begs the question: why not just attack the Monitor's team directly like they're doing with Blue Beetle? Killing them would separate them from the machine. Geo-force's comment doesn't make quite so much sense now. Poor Blue Beetle tries to do his job, but fails. Back to safety for you, showing the Monitor cares.

Monitor mentions another wounded one; we see it's Solovar. He wasn't injured last issue, so perhaps we missed a fight. Poor Solovar goes, leaving heartbroken Kamandi. Dawnstar and E-2 Superman bond, and this line will become ominous. Poor Superman later on. Nice to see Dawnstar be less aloof than she often comes across in the Legion books.

Ah, the Wild West. Bat Lash is written well here, but he always annoys me. Mrs. Gofooey is a peach, and methinks Bat Lash would benefit from having a less damn-purty face Take his ego down a notch. The Wild Western heroes have their own team-up. Johnny Thunder seems the most boring of the bunch; even his name is generic. How many Johnny (or Johnni) Thunders does DC have?? Nighthawk is before his time, having a mask.

The Monitor sends a pretty powerful team here. Green Lantern, Firebrand, Cyborg, Psimon. Cyborg makes the typical overly macho heroic arrival announcement. Way to go, Cyborg, insulting your allies as soon as you meet them. "Colored man," a sign of the times. But Jonah Hex doesn't seem to mean it in a bad way. Psimon explains his power of psionics, which makes me think ill-defined reality warper. Powerful, but not enough to save him as he seemingly dies. He was more effective on the Monitor's satellite, unlike almost everyone else so far. Cyborg and Firebrand do pretty well. Poor GL is disarmed suddenly, but at least he survives. And the Anti-matter is here: poor Nighthawk and several townspeople (including Mrs. and Ms. Gofooey, aww) die.

Back in the Legion's time. Yay! Second scene already (third if you count Dawnstar's recruitment). Careful Marv, other heroes might accuse you of playing favorites. Poor Kid Psycho is the one who bites it; this seemed like a major thing when I was reading, as I hadn't known that Kid Psycho was basically an obscure one-note character. But not knowing gave the scene more impact.

Harbinger ends on a cliffhanger. I'm torn between suspense and "get it over with already"; though at the time, I felt like the Monitor was the wise savior/mentor type so of course I didn't want him to die!

COIE 4

Supergirl and Batgirl. Like Fanfie mentioned,I was surprised at how self-pitying Batgirl was here. I understand her being scared, and respect her for articulating it. But then she goes playing the "I have no powers card". At least she is self-aware enough to know she is. Looking back, could this emotional turmoil be a symptom of the Crisis? Supergirl, on the other hand, comes across well here; she's almost as inspirational as Superman. Marv Wolfman really knows how to build these heroes up before they, you know.

Steve Dayton and John Constantine. I'm annoyed by this scene. In a rather tightly-plottted book so far, this is the first scene that goes absolutely nowhere and adds little to the story. We are given no context for why these two characters are important; for all we know, they could be random characters created just for this. So Steve Dayton is extremely rich; so what? We already know everyone's scared. And this scene, this conversation, will never be revisited again in the entire COIE (unlike other scenes we've seen). What a waste of a page.

Pariah appears again! Wow, this is a weird Earth all right. It looks more like the 30th century. Could Pariah have ended up in a different time? The "ruling family" seems pretty powerful. Sadly there is an obligatory fight sequence, though to be fair Lord Volt threatened first before attacking. I feel for poor Lady Quark, losing daughter and husband in a snap. At least she is saved, but the poor woman looks like she would rather die. An oddity: hers is the only real name unrevealed among her whole family. Done on purpose perhaps, to reduce her identity and make her easier to write later on?

Enter Kimiyo Hoshi. As mentioned above, I was surprised to find her so different here. The meek, polite Kimiyo is the one I'm used to. When she disappears, I hardly feel sorry considering how mean she was. I feel more for her dad and for the random scientists thrown to the ground.

The Monitor/Harbinger subplot crawls forward again.

Mysterious Bad Guy steals Red Tornado away this time. Oh no. I had already known Reddy was a Justice Leaguer, but the introduction here tells us all we need to know.

Firestorm and Killer Frost finally reveal where they ended up. Camelot! Shining Knight and Vandal Savage make their obligatory appearances. Shiny makes an impressive contribution to the battle.

Giant shadow demons everywhere! Nice use of panels here, updating us on the Wild West team and showing the simultaneous appearance across six affected eras. Ah, so that's why the present was unrepresented among the "great tuning fork eras". Because the new Doctor Light is here. Well, Kimiyo has powers and a costume, and also seems to have been briefed by the Monitor. She knows exactly what she needs to do (watch this space: she'll forget next issue!) Her powers are impressive, Starfire and Halo being chosen to demonstrate how much so. It's done well though, as even without knowing exactly how powerful Starfire and Halo are, their dialogue makes it clear that they're thrown for a loop.

Katana reminds everyone she speaks Japanese. I barely have time to wonder how loudly Kimiyo is talking, for someone on the ground to hear her. Superman also speaks Japanese, a hallmark of his pre-Crisis self and his super-speed learning. I like that he takes a peaceful approach. As Changeling says, the "big probs kinda go poof when ol' red S is around".

Wonder Woman makes her appearance, helping showcase the extent of the Crisis again. This scene isn't quite so annoying as the Dayton/Constantine one, but Wonder Woman's thinking of her mother problems adds little to the story.

Pariah finally shows up to where the Monitor is, giving me a feeling that things are finally gathering. But where's Lady Quark? I have little time to wonder, as we see how bad the Crisis is: Earth-2 is affected too. Nice two-page spread showing tons of other characters and settings, including a few making their first appearance in the story.

Finally, Harbinger shows up and kills the Monitor. I saw finally because it's been building up for a while, but like Pariah I'm distraught. If the Monitor is dead, how will the heroes survive? I find myself shocked as the universes fade away, eager to turn the next page and find out what happens.

On the Original 15
By issue 4, a lot of our questions on "why these 15??" have been answered by in-story reasons (though the pacing and storytelling have been quite good, that I didn't find myself wondering too much about that question while reading!) One especially good thing is that many of these reasons were implied, Wolfman doesn't insult our intelligence by having someone say "oh, that's why I'm here!" for each of them

Kamandi's time: Solovar for trust, Superman E-2 for familiarity. Dawnstar remains unknown, and sadly little is done to indicate why her
Atlantis: Arion for being local, Psycho Pirate because "this menace is one of emotion", Obsidian to counter Pirate. Pirate makes the least sense here, in fact! But he's here so Anti-Monitor can steal him away.
World War II in Markovia: Geo-force again for being local, Dr. Polaris makes a great weapon against soldiers, and Blue Beetle for the scarab
Wild West: none really, except perhaps power. Psimon, for all his power, is seemingly killed! Firebrand perhaps because Monitor knew Bat Lash was such a horndog. Sigh. Those types of characters, I have a hard time liking.

Truculence in Triplicate!

Reviews of CoIE 5, 6, and 7, coming tonight from your embittered and egomaniacal ever-so-humble hostess! :grim:

Not directly related to Crisis, but I'm re-reading the JLA/JSA/A-SS Crossover at the moment, and Superman of Earth-1 is explaining parallel Earths, and mentions that there are seven that they know of for certain.

So that's Earth-Prime, Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Three, Earth-S, Earth-X, and... ???

They hadn't encountered Earth-Four, so what would they be counting as the seventh Earth?

I mean... there's tons of possibilities, but it seems like it ought to be obvious.

Superman and Captain Carrot in a DC Presents story on Earth-C?

I thought of that, but it seemed a bit odd for an inclusion. Then again... Roy Thomas wrote Captain Carrot...

Crisis #3

Like previous covers, Perez adds in some cosmic lighting, this time to split up action scenes under the watchful eye and hands of The Monitor. It looks to be an all action issue across the past present and future of the DCU. There’s no Superman on this one, but Batman is there. Oddly he’s in the background perhaps illustrating the prominence of the likes of the Titans and The Legion at the time.

We open with The Monitor testing the child Luthor. I prefer to call him Kid Highfather as Levitz has already done the trick of bringing a Miracle Baby into a recent DC plot. The kid doesn’t seem to have had much of a life. He can speak, so there may be computerised educational systems on the satellite. That’s possible as Harbinger also had to grow up there. With The Monitor focusing on Luthor, he seemingly ignores Harbinger. She takes this badly, wondering if her mentor suspects she’s now the pawn of The Foe.

She leaves the satellite and goes to visit The Foe. I wonder why The Monitor didn’t just track her, and then send in the assembled heroes. In the same way, The Foe knows exactly where The Monitor is after sending Shadow Demons there in #1. Instead of sending more, he wants Harbinger to do it. Perhaps, it signifies that there’s an element of personal revenge at play.

With The Foe is the Psycho Pirate. He seems to be thinking that he’s going to get a new Earth to play with. One, where he can play with people’s emotions. This hints at an earlier plot, and a bit of confusion in this one. Originally The Foe would accelerate the expansion of the positive multiverse, taxing it to destruction. His anti-matter universe would then take up that space. Early in this Crisis we see the Anti Matter sweep across the universes, but no real sign of what comes with it. The idea is that there are worlds in an expanding AM universe, but it’s not shown.

Harbinger is commanded to kill the Luthor child and we switch to the Flash. He’s in the 30th century, and gets caught up in an environmental disaster. He vibrates in an effort to escape. It’s something Johnny Quick on Earth-3 didn’t have the experience to try. I wonder why the others in the Crime Syndicate didn’t try to get away either, by jumping universes. If he’s anywhere near Iris, she might also be a casualty.

I do remember reading this before Flash #350 was out, wondering if I’d missed something.

Back in the present, the AM wave sits just above tall buildings, so we may have lost a lot of passengers on planes. The Titans and Outsiders work really well together to protect people from crumbling buildings. Black Lighting shows us that one of The Foes’ terrible plots is to steal the “g” from the end of words used by black characters. Fiend!

Kole gets some good panel time here. I would have only known her from this series for quite a while. She looks interesting and useful on the Titans (into the usual account for your fee Ibby! ) One of the civilians has a “belly dancers do it better” T-shirt as a Perez in joke.

Wonder Girl is about to be crushed by a wall, but is saved by E1 Superman. I used to think she would have survived such a thing. Batman is there with the Outsiders and the dynamic duo are briefly reunited. As are the world’s finest team after Superman calms down a distraught Starfire, who fears for her homeworld.

The Flash appears to all of them. Batman is rattled having seen Harryhausen Flash earlier on, before realising that this is a Flash he can interact with. A Flash he can save.

The Flash is teleported away, even as Jericho stops Batman touching the energy field that surrounds him. In another universe (when the multiverse is brought back) Batman succeeds in reaching The Flash and the two of them kick The Foe’s butt ending the series early.

The ways Flash is pulled apart as he’s teleported made me think that he had died. Perez absolutely packs this scene with panels and reaction shots.

Elsewhere, Wolfman continues to show the reactions of those powerful enough to have perceived the threat. This time it’s Brainiac. Looking to survive the Crisis, he begins a journey to Earth and Luthor’s help. We’re told that for the first time since his conversion to his robotic form, he feels fear.

We now pick up on the missions being carried out by the Monitors summoned heroes back in #1. This scene involves DC’s war books like Sgt Rock and the Haunted Tank. The Monitor’s team is Geo-Force for local knowledge and Blue Beetle for scientific ability and because the Monitor thinks that his scarab is more powerful than the shard that Ted Kord has actually been left with. The last member is Doctor Polaris presumably because his head looks like the tower and might act as a decoy for the Shadow Demons.

Geo-Force’s country was invaded in WWII and he’s looking for pay back. He knows when he is. Maybe he’ll stop and realise that he can prevent/ hinder the invasion on a larger scale. It would have been an opportunity for Geo-Force to defect from the team. It looks as though he’s not holding back. Does he kill here and will that be considered by DC to push him to a more villainous role after the story? Polaris certainly seems to be his partner, far more than Beetle. Is the killing justified since it’s a war zone? Lots of questions and no answers here. It is always good to see the Bug hovering over a scene.

The Losers all die as they kill some Germans on the way to investigating the golden tower. Shadow Demons burst forth from the tower taking them by surprise. As before, since the Shadow Demons are there to destroy the towers, what are they doing originating from it? Their touch burns, but the machine is unscathed. The Demons are trying to take the heroes away form the machines, but there’s no reason why in this version of the plot, other than preventing the machines form activating when required later on.

The Beetle is wounded and has to jump to what initially seemed to be his death, before he’s whisked away by The Monitor. Likewise, Solivar, who has been injured by something we’ve not seen, is taken back to Gorilla City. Kamandi’s distress at the loss of Solivar is touching.

If The Monitor can teleport anyone back and forth, why did he need Harbinger to do it all in #1?

Replacement characters were supposed to come into the plot, including Lighting Lord and Doctor Fate, to replace injured characters. The Monitor said as much in #1. But Wolfman finds no room for that in the final version.

We switch to the Wild West, where a Golden Tower has appeared over a mine. We’re introduced to it by Batlash as he gets there having had some problems with the locals in a nearby town. Their introduction is a nice set up.

It takes The Foe a while to get around to attacking this one. Scalphunter had to come across it. Then he had to travel to the nearest telegraph office to send a message to Batlash. Batlash had to travel to the area, get involved with the locals, and then travel out to the mine. There’s a suggestion that some force compelled Nighthawk and Scalphunter to call the others. It never comes up anywhere else, so it’s a loose plot thread.

Johnny Thunder tells the others that shadows have been seen moving across it. Again, it seems that the towers generate The Shadow Demons, rather than being a target of them.

The team sent to protect this tower is Green Lantern, Psimon, Cyborg and Firebrand. Hex remembers a Green Lantern costume form the JLA crossover story. Hex will find keeping up with future fashions useful in his later comics career.

As they’ve been sitting around waiting for telegrams, the Shadow Demons appear from elsewhere in the mine to attack. Psimon is seemingly killed. Cyborg is very sure that his white decibel sound attack will work, which is odd because he was stunned to find out that it didn’t against the Shadow Demons on the Monitor’s satellite.

Green Lantern finds out the hard way that The Foe’s attack on the Guardians last issue has removed the power from his ring. It must have been quite sudden as he flew down to meet Hex and the others as well as forming a force shield.

Outside at the time of the attack, Nighthawk sees the arrival of the antimatter cloud. It sweeps through the town Batlash visited killing everyone there, before Nighthawk is also killed, possibly due to his name’s similarity to a Marvel character. As we cut away, you’d have to think that it also killed everyone in the mine too.

The anti matter cloud is also affecting the 30th century. Wildlfire, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lass and Sun Boy all try to fire blasts into it. as Starfire had done, to no effect. Elsewhere Brainy monitors the threat, while Wolfman has Dream Girl wonder why she didn’t see it coming. Nura doesn’t foresee all events, although something of this magnitude…

In England, Mon-EL, Element Lad and Kid Psycho help with evacuations. Kid Psycho refers to “the rest of the Legion.” I thought that he was a character how was going to join the team between the newsstand and Baxter versions. This would have been before I’d read the issues hinting at the Legion try outs set for #14. I remember thinking the name was a little odd, but I can’t remember if I thought the Legion had just recruited the descendant of Anthony Perkins.

Where Kole was Wolfman’s sacrificial lamb to Crisis, Kid Psycho was Levitz’s. He turned out to have been a very minor character to have been used in this way. Perhaps Levitz was looking at the Kryptonian losses he was about to have and didn’t want to lose anyone else. Offering up characters for the death list was (ahem) executed inconsistently.

The Monitor watches the cloud begin to impact all eras. He’s says that the Earths are doomed but then says that he can begin his plan. Contradiction or a hint of something deeper he’s got in mind?
His attention is taken from the screens by a voice behind him. Harbinger has arrived to kill him.

The Monitor hearing Harbinger’s voice right behind him turns out to have been a mistake. He’s supposed to be watching her through a monitor. But the whole thing doesn’t work as apparently intended and would continue to cause problems next issue. As white appeared in the sky in some of the eras last issue, it sweeps across a lot of it during this. Why it penetrates atmospheres down to the tops of buildings without destroying whole planets is a complete mystery. We’ll find out it stopped right outside the mine too next issue.

We saw The Great Disaster and Atlantis last issue, and this time we get WWII and the Wild West. There’s still one to go.

I didn’t mind not seeing how Solivar got injured. He thumped a Shadow Demon with his bare feet last issue, and that had to hurt. The plot should move forward across all the missions in line with the growing threat beyond.

I do find the Luthor kid irritating for plot and character issues. Wien and Gibbons built solid foundations for John Stewart in Green Lantern. The Crisis could have been a series for him to shine on a much larger stage. But he’s been stripped of his powers already. I read that he was supposed to have been one of the injured too.

Both The Monitor and The Foe can see anything across the Multiverse, but choose not to act directly. The Harbinger plot seems a little pointless considering the ability of both characters to act and move agents around.

The Foe requiring Harbinger as well as Psycho Pirate as agents doesn’t fit with what we’ve seen and is a holdover from a previous plot. This part is only going to get worse when Flash and Red Tornado are also taken.

The Shadow Demons appearing from within the machines doesn’t fit. The heroes questioning why they are there, when they’ve supposedly been shown how to activate the machine. They have to wait for the order.

Does the Flash need a Cosmic Treadmill to travel through time? He just vibrates through it here.

The absence of Harbinger anywhere in the West or WWII plots, when she hung around The Great Disaster for some reason.

While appearing around the machine to protect it, the heroes didn’t bother explaining anything to the local forces, such as the Losers who then died.

Psimon really looks to have died. He doesn’t appear in the issue after that panel, but he strangely gets better.

The letter column says that there will be specials such as The Losers one that will pick up on events this issue. It doesn’t when it comes out. Several other specials were supposedly in the work, but I wonder how many we saw in the end.

Really? Kinda hoping to put more focus on issue 7 when we get there. Kind of a big one, isn't it?



Don't know. I suppose there's Earth-B, where some supposed Earth-1 stories took place with some sketchy continuity that was later explained by fandom as a separate Earth.

Another remote possibility is Earth-D where the (much-later-published, like in '98) Legends of the DCU Crisis Special takes place. Though it didn't appear before, fuzzy memory tells me it's a story Marv had in mind during CoIE but never had the room to tell then. Or maybe he just invented it for that special.

Earth-C's as good an explanation as any, I guess? :shrug;

To take this a step further, I do generally favor taking this look back one issue at a time. I think jumping ahead as actually slowedmomentum, judging by comparative responses, more than the intended, expressed effect of keeping it going..

I'm thinking Earth-C makes the most sense, but it kind of reads like it should be something that was encountered by the JLA rather than just Superman solo.

Man, I'm surprised Roy never got around to having the Terrific Whatzit cross over with the All-Star Squadron!

Now that you mention it, Lardy, you've got it exactly right. Thanks for seeing the forest that I was missing out on for the trees. I will put those reviews on hold for a while. And, Thoth, I greatly appreciate you posting your review of CoIE 3. Hopefully that'll give the thread a bit of an energy infusion...

So, I read # 2 and # 3 . . .

I continue to appreciate the craft Wolfman, Perez, and their collaborators put into making this story, but, three issues in, I'm bored. I don't think Crisis has aged well. Unlike most of the Legion re-reads, where there has always been something new and surprising--even in issues I haven't enjoyed--Crisis is a by-the-books number, filling the needs of marketing and restructuring (though it's the characters who get "restructured," not DC employees), rather than telling a unique and compelling story for its own sake. Re-reading this series now, I am not struck by any sense of discovery--which should happen with a well-told story, even one that is repeated (that's the value of repeating stories--to discover or experience something new). I feel like I'm being forced to sit through a movie where the moral is predetermined--see kids, this is why God created languages, because people were bad and wanted to build a tower to heaven. In this case, the people only want to preserve their lives and universe, but they are at the mercy of beings they do not know and cannot understand. So, the heroes do what heroes do: They save lives, fight against the white force, and sometimes die. Yawn.

Ironically, the characters I care most about are the ones Annfie doesn't care about at all--The Monitor, Harbinger, and the Luthor child. They exercise the most agency, although even that agency is limited. The Monitor knows he is going to die but makes an effort to stop the villain anyway. He reminds me of a Greek tragedy, where the characters believe they cannot change fate but try anyway. I would really like to know more about The Monitor--what motivates him to do what he does, and why he believes he can win even though he knows he will die. So far, we've gotten only a glimpse into who he is--and he's about to leave us!

Harbinger also provides only glimpses into her personality. Clearly, it bothers her when she thinks The Monitor is ignoring her; earlier, she claimed to be his equal (even though there is little evidence of this). I would rather have seen Harbi turn to the dark side willingly than be "corrupted" by the Foe. When someone is confused over allegiances and what's right, it makes for much more compelling drama than someone who is corrupted from outside.

In his brief appearances, the Luthor child demonstrates agency by arguing with The Monitor and getting him to see other possibilities. Luthor does so while trapped in an oversized test tube without even any clothes (!), showing as much bravery as anyone else in the story.

In a series overrun with heroes, little time is spent developing personalities and relationships. The heroes behave pretty much as we expect/want them to, and exaggerations and broad strokes are common--such as Starfire shooting starbolts pointlessly at the white space while crying out for her family. The other heroes have families, too, but they stay focused. Lashing out this way is apparently the only room Wolfman has to show us her personality.

The series also suffers from a common problem of such events--the need to give every character something to say or do. Thus, Jericho--who otherwise has nothing else to contribute--prevents Batman from touching The Flash, even though there's no indication that something bad would happen to Batman if he had--or how Joey knew something bad would happen when no one else apparently did.

Because the focus must remain on the heroes--and every hero must be given something to do--the villains are reduced to literal shadows that do whatever the plot requires them to do. Thoth has already dissected the inconsistencies in how the shadow figures are depicted. Oh, we also get our main villain, who will turn out to be



To his credit, Wolfman tries to make us care about some characters with whom we might not be familiar, such as Flower, who blasts a German soldier for threatening a civilian. and Kamandi, who initially distrusts Solovar but then becomes distraught when the ape king is injured and vanishes. Wolfman also strives to be true to the tone of characters' series (at least I assume he does, since I'm not familiar with Anthro or Bat Lash). In another story, such characters and relationships could be played up and expanded over the course of several pages or issues, but here Wolfman only gives us what we need to know because there is so much else we need to know. Reading this story feels like midnight cramming for an exam in contemporary heroic literature--and just as fun.

Re-reading Crisis is like reading a CEO's explanation of corporate downsizing: these characters have to go, these worlds have to be eliminated or combined, change is painful but will make the company stronger, etc. etc. Wolfman does what he can to keep it moving and keep us engaged, and the Perez art is always a delight to look at. But all this "big picture" stuff loses sight of what I feel are the most important qualities in any story: a character's journey, what the character learns, and what the journey reveals about us as human beings. Crisis is about the company, not the characters.