Infinite Crisis

Infinite Crisis, in many ways a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths and supposedly the penultimate crisis in the DC Universe, is centered around the original Superman and Lois Lane of Earth-2 as well as Alexander Luthor of Earth-3 and Superboy. Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, these three characters found themselves in a place they called "heaven", completely separated from the newly formed, singular earth. And it was from their heaven that they looked on and watched the progress of earth post Crisis.

In Infinite Crisis, the onlooking quartet has had enough: They have grown tired of watching the Earth carry on in the manner it has since the Crisis, a manner they find undeserving of the sacrifice they made to allow the singular earth to live. And perhaps more importantly, the original Superman is motivated by his Lois Lane, who is dying as a result of separation from Earth-2.

Again, this crisis follows the same structural pattern of the other crises and similarly leads to the deaths and rebirths of a handful of DC characters. But reading this comic when I did originally and even now, I find myself sufficiently enmeshed in DC continuity to see exactly what purpose this Crisis served in the DCU.

The most obvious goal of this event was to introduce Superboy Prime. Along with Superman, Lois Lane and Alexander Luthor, Prime found the current Earth undeserving of their sacrifice. But unlike Superman and Lois, Prime quickly becomes a great force for evil. And since Crisis, he has played in integral role in DC continuity, namely the Sinestro Corps War and Final Crisis.

In terms of thematic analysis, the most interesting relationship is not between the Trinity (Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman) who have a falling out following Wonder Woman's murder of Maxwell Lord, but rather, the relationship between Batman and Brother Eye.

Brother Eye is a satellite Batman created to monitor and "spy" on metahuman activity. Alexander Luthor gives the satellite sentience and in so doing creates a formidable enemy for the metahuman community. But through it all, Batman never really expresses any sincere regret for his actions. He simply takes action and seeks to end the threat that is Brother Eye. This portrayal, although in many ways fitting of Batman's traditionally cold nature, seems to be lacking and I would've liked to have seen a more developed conflict between not only Batman and Brother Eye, but the superhuman community at large.

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time

Zero Hour is the next major crisis in the DC Universe to follow after Crisis on Infinite Earths. In Zero Hour, Hal Jordan, once "the greatest lantern of them all", has gone mad and after slaying the entire Green Lantern corps and destroying the central power battery on OA, attempts to quite literally remake the DCU to his liking, under the moniker Parallax. At the conclusion of Zero Hour, Hal Jordan is believed dead, not to return to DC continuity in earnest until Geoff Johns' 2004 Green Lantern Rebirth.

This book is pretty standard fare for a DC Crisis and follows what seems to be the general structural pattern of the crises in the DCU:
- In the exposition, a new or rarely seen character (in this case Harbinger) is shown to have unique knowledge of an impending threat to the DCU.
- The heroes from various super teams are the gathered together and informed of the crisis / given tasks to perform in order to thwart it.
- The heroes emerge victorious and several DCU characters have either lost their lives or have been brought back to life.
- And most importantly, the skies turn an unnatural color and are filled with lightning.

But even though this story bears structural similarities to other crises in the DCU, it poses a profound moral dilemma through Parallax. Prior to the events of Zero Hour, Hal Jordan's home city, Coast City (this blog's namesake) was destroyed by the villain Mongul. Upon discovering his home destroyed, Jordan used all of his ring's energy to bring the city back to life -- until his ring ran out of energy. Hal Jordan was reprimanded by the Guardians of the Universe and ordered back to OA for disciplinary action. Jordan returned to OA, but en route he killed every fellow Green Lantern he encountered and ultimately destroyed the central power battery of the Green Lantern Corps. Upon destroying the central power battery, Hal Jordan became Parallax, counted among the most powerful beings in the DCU.

In Zero Hour, Parallax uses his seemingly endless power to remake reality as it was before the crisis. In Crisis on Infinite Earths, the many parallel versions of earth were folded into one and Parallax believes that by undoing this and restoring the multiverse, he will restore his home: Coast City. The whole conflict in Zero Hour is based around the fact that the heroes believe no one should have the power to change reality -- but isn't that exactly what they themselves did in Crisis on Infinite Earths?

Invasion!

Invasion! is the next major crisis in the DCU, following Crisis on Infinite Earths. An alien alliance, formed by most of the staple alien races in the DCU: the Khunds, the Gil Dishpan, the Okaarans, the Daxamites, the Thanagarians, the Durlans and the Citadelians are all united by the calculating Dominators to launch an attack on Earth, specifically targeted at Earth's metahuman population.

Keith Giffen, the mastermind behind this work, weaves in just about every major plotline and character in DC continuity in this work, moving seamlessly from storyline to storyline as our favorite heroes attempt to repel the alien invasion.

Aside from tying up a few storylines and eliminating several players from the DCU, this story makes an interesting comment on the relationship between Earth and its government and the metahuman population. At the onset of the invasion, the Dominators demand Earth's metahuman population in exchange for Earth's safety. The leaders of the U.N. surprisingly refuse and Superman leads an attack on the alien alliance. The notion that the United Nations would not exchange its metahuman population for the safety of the entire planet bears examination.

So often in the DCU and beyond we are privy to the interactions between human and metahuman, but most of the time their is a certain amount of resentment for metahumans. Most recently, Marvel's Secret Invasion and Civil War titles explore this notion. But it is rare to see metahumans receiving sympathy from their human counterparts.

Crisis on Infinite Earths

Crisis on Infinite Earths is truly a remarkable piece of sequential art. Marv Wolfmann's brilliant writing and George Perez's truly spectacular art aside, this work symbolizes a singularly unique moment in DC continuity: The first instance of admitted recognition of discontinuity and DC's attempt to rectify the situation.

Prior to Crisis, the DCU was a hodgepodge of various stories and timelines. Multiple stories, often with contradictory elements, would be written of a single character irregardless of contributing to a singular thread of continuity. Recognizing this nearly forty years into their existence, DC sought to rectify this dilemma and did so quite ingeniously: By creating a multiverse, DC was able to explain away the various conflicting storylines as actually taking place in alternate universes. Using Crisis, DC sought to destroy all the other newly created universes, leaving a single, unified timeline. And this is achieved in Crisis on Infinite Earths, but a better question might be how long it really lasted.

Continuity and meta-achievements aside, this book is truly remarkable as a piece of sequential art. To begin with Marv Wolfmann's writing, there is simply no one better. And it's not just his history with the DCU and his intimate knowledge of each character, but what really shines is his ability to narrate so authoritatively, so omnisciently that the story really takes on an almost filmic quality.

And his writing is certainly equalled if not surpassed by George Perez's unbelievable art. Perez can render the classic comic book superhero perfectly, that's a given. But what he really does so brilliantly in this piece are panels. The movement and style of his breakdowns are so awe inspiring that they really complement the apocalyptic grandeur of this piece, elevating it to a scale of cosmic proportions.

For anyone who hasn't read this piece, don't be discouraged by its age, this piece stands alone strongly enough that even a first time reader would get a kick out of it and hopefully be encouraged to pick up more DC.

History of the DC Universe

History of the DC Universe provides a nuts and bolts rundown of the DCU, from creation to the age of heroes. The brainchild of Marv Wolfmann and George Perez, this piece, which actually followed Crisis On Infinite Earths is narrated by Harbinger, a central figure in Crisis.

Beginning with the oldest race in existence, the Oans, the first book traces the development of their species through the Gods of Earth's myhtology and ultimately the New Gods of DC's own invention. This book spins a fascinating tale of what is really less the history and more the underlying mythology behind the DCU.

Marv Wolfman and George Perez are perhaps the most prolific duo in DC History. Their most famous work, Crisis on Infinite Earths was the first of DC's many crises and truly raised the bar for comic book continuity. This book was no different. Wolfman's almost prophetic writing is complemented elegantly by Perez's traditional pencils, masterfully illustrating what is in many ways the holy scripture of the DC Universe.

Will Eisner's Comics and Sequential Art

Will Eisner's Comics and Sequential Art is hands down the most comprehensive, insightful and intellectually stimulating guide I have read on illustrated literature to date. Eisner focuses on the inner workings of imagery, timing, the frame, expressive anatomy and the creative process in his book; specifically, the way they work together in tandem to drive sequential art. Each chapter is superbly researched and presented eloquently, replete with illustrative examples.

In his chapter on imagery, Eisner describes letters as images. Tracing back the origins of writing to pictographs, he illustrates this point with examples from ancient Chinese and Egyptian as well as his own work, presenting a temporally sound argument that spans thousands of years.

But words are not necessarily more important than images, according to Eisner. He makes the fascinating assertion that "The absence of any dialogue to reinforce action serves to determine the viability of images drawn from common experience", bolstering this claim is his premise that the image takes primacy over text in a piece of sequential art.

In his chapter on timing, Eisner explains "Critical to the success of a visual narrative is the ability to convey time". Although I whole-heartedly agree with this claim, I would modify it slightly: Critical to the success of understanding a visual narrative is the ability to convey time. And Eisner explains quite thoroughly how time can be conveyed in sequential art through frames, text, splashes and myriad other devices.

Perhaps the least interesting chapter in Eisner's book, although highly informative and illustrative nonetheless, is his focus on frames. His description, although helpful to the first time reader, seemed a bit rudimentary. Especially in comparison to his later and quite brilliant explanation of power points within frames and the geometry of emphasis.

On the whole, I found this book to be inspiring. Eisner is as eloquent in his didactic ability as he is talented. For anyone seeking to understand sequential art at a higher level, this is a must read.