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.