INFINITE CRISIS

Genre: Superhero Comics

Publisher: DC Comics (January 16, 2008)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Length: 264 pages

My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Back when I was a kid, I remember being one of the few kids in my junior high who did not like the outcome of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Not that I didn’t enjoy the mini series, because I did, but I hated that all those unique, interesting, and bizarre worlds had been compressed down into just one. I mean, why do that when you can let creators tell all kinds of cool stories about different superheroes on different worlds with no concerns about continuity?

It seemed silly for DC Comics to willingly throw away all that creative flexibility in exchange for a self-inflicted continuity nightmare. But who was I to question the professional, so I rolled with the punches, learning to love Byrne’s Superman, Perez’s Wonder Woman, New/Hysterical Justice League, and all the other post-Crisis titles.

I mention my Crisis feelings, because when reading Infinite Crisis, I had similar feelings of disappointment. Sure the series was a beautifully drawn collection, breathtaking even, that compares favorably to the original Crisis. And, yes, the story was okay, filled with emotional moments and cool twists that set up some changes in the DCU of that time. But . . . (I mean, you knew the “but” was coming, right?) IC suffered from the same problems as the original Crisis in having too much going on, too many characters, sacrificing established capes for shock value, and then failing to reinstate the infinite earths. All of which led me to be pretty “meh” about it after finishing.

Am I sorry I read it? No, I guess not. I don’t really see where this Infinite Crisis was really as big of a deal as Crisis on Infinite Earths, but, at least, I can mark it off my to-be-read pile. So for that reason, I’m glad I read it, but otherwise, I’m not taking much away from this one.

Purchase the book at Amazon.