Infinite Crisis: Before and After

DC has now definitely stated the Infinite Crisis is a direct sequel to the 20-year-old Crisis on Infinite Earths. But how are they linked? In an awesome surprise announcement, Marv Wolfman will provide that answer.

Wolfman joins his Crisis collaborator George Perez on the Infinite Crisis team. Perez is providing alternate covers (with Jim Lee) for the 7-issue series. And Wolfman will explore the link between the crises in Infinite Crisis Secret Files, scheduled for February. Executive Editor Dan DiDio explains:

“It pulls the curtain back on the DCU and explains so much about what’s going on, as well as what’s been going on in the DCU since the original Crisis, and clearly shows how the two are connected. It’s also probably one of the most ambitious stories told in a Secret Files, ever. Not only does it address Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis, it also explains some of the anomalies in the DC Universe itself.”

With a page count of 40-48 pages, the Secret Files will utilize a number of artists, each depicting a different time period of the DCU's 20-year post-Crisis history.

With Wolfman showing what leads up to the Infinite Crisis, who's handling what comes after it?

The weekly series 52* will explore that "One Year Later" gap that happend in between issues of the Crisis and in all DCU titles afterward. The superstar writing team for this ambitious 52-issue weekly series is Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid -- and Keith Giffen.

Giffen, who popularized or created many of the characters getting treated so roughly in the events leading up to Infinite Crisis (Max Lord, Blue Beetle, Rocket Red), is the guy who will be providing the consistency between all 52 issues with plot and and breakdowns. A year-long weekly comic is extremely ambuitious, but Giffen says the team is up to the challenge:

I was a little concerned at first, filling 52 issues of a comic, which is basically about four years worth of monthly comic book time, that we might have a little bit of trouble. But after having sat down with this creative team, now my concern is, we might have to cut some stuff out!

I mean, you sit there and Grant Morrison alone cobbles up enough ideas to fill months and months and months of books and storylines, and you combine it with the other guys involved -- I mean, c'mon. It's astonishing that so many people are going, "aw, they'll never pull it off." Because I'm looking at the people involved and I'm saying, "how can we not pull this off? And how can it not be something incredible?"

J.G. Jones will be providing covers. Interior artists have not yet been announced, nor has the price of each weekly issue.

Infinite Issues!

As if an 80-page Countdown and 4 six-issue mini-series (not to mention a 4-issue mini within a mini, and a 4-issue JLA arc) were not enough set-up for the 7-issue Infinite Crisis, the stories told in those mini-series will continue in one-shot specials scheduled to appear throughout the run of Infinite Crisis.

As the recently concluded Days of Vengeance and The OMAC Project demonstrate, the stories didn’t exactly end with their final issues. Not only will they continue in Infinite Crisis, but DC has announced 32-page one-shots for each of the four mini-series that will not only resolve the storylines, but demonstrate exactly how they will tie into Infinite Crisis.

For readers who like to collect stories in trade format, this could present a problem. Trade paperbacks of all 4 mini-series have already been announced for November and December, so they will be out before these specials hit. So what does that mean? DiDio told Newsarama he isn't worrying about that:

"Yeah, the guys in Collected Editions want to kill me. Thing is, I’m approaching this story the same way we approached things before there were collected editions to worry about ... I’m worried about doing the best comics, and I figure it can be collected as things move forward. These are good problems to have though. I want to make sure that everyone is excited about what’s coming out at that moment, and we’ll make sure that everything of importance is collected somewhere down the line. Honestly, we did give this a lot of thought, but in the end, I didn’t want collected editions driving the way the story will be told.”

The OMAC Project trade paperback, will not only include the 6-issue main story, but also the 80-page Countdown to Infinite Crisis and the final part of the "Sacrifice' story from Wonder Woman, where the heroine killed Max Lord (a reprint of tht issue contained a brief recap of what happend in the first 3 parts of Sacrifice, and presumably what will be included as well.). For $14.99, this TPB, which appears in November, is a great deal.

But now, you learn that the story continues in another book -- where will that be collected -- as part of the Infinite Crisis collection?

Guess we'll have to see. Since I'm not patient enought to wait for trade on this massive story, i guess it;s irrleavant to me. I'll be buying the individual issues AND the eventual collections. DC has got me!

Here's the info on the TPBs of the other three series:

• Day of Vengeance
• Villains United
• Rann/Thanagar War

Crisis Counseling: One More Time

Adapted from reports on Comic Book Resources....

Two weeks ago, Wizard held its first WizardWorld convention in Boston. While not a major event in terms of news or announcements, a few tidbits about DC, Infinite Crisis, and what happens next were revealed. DC Executive VP Dan DiDio called the convention his “last chance to be vague, lie, and beat around the bush” before Infinite Crisis #1 hit stores.

Here’s a round-up of some of the noteworthy comments from a few different panels:

• Infinite Crisis is not a reboot; it will not restart continuity
• Infinite Crisis is a direct sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Marv Wolfman, writer of the original Crisis is writing a Secret Files special that will show exactly how they are connected, explaining some of the inconsistencies that have cropped up in continuity in the last 20 years
• The origins of Jason Todd’s return are related to Infinite Crisis, but will be dealt with in Batman, rather than in the mini-series.
• Infinite Crisis is about what happens when the pillars of the DCU – Superman, Batman, and Wonder woman—stop holding the universe up
• “You can’t have a Crisis without a Psycho Pirate or a dead Flash” This quote from DiDio has been interpreted as meaning that either Barry Allen (a dead Flash) will be appearing or that one of the currently alive Flashes (Wally West, Jay Garrick or Kid Flash Bart Allen) will die. Psycho Pirate, a major character from the original Crisis is currently appearing in the JSA: Classified arc dealing with Power Girl’s origin. The Pirate’s words and action in that story reference the original Crisis.
• DiDio would not comment on whether the new Crisis will see a return to multiple earths, though many recent storylines seem to be hinting at that, most prominently, the aforementioned JSA: Classified arc.
• In reference to writer Mark Waid’s recent comment that the DCU, including Batman, will “lightening up” after the Crisis, DiDio said that Batman is a central part of the events up to and including Infinite Crisis. As a result, Batman would be doing a lot of self-examination before he'll be able to move forward.
• After the series, there will be new series, cancelled series, new costumes and new characters. When write Greg Rucka commented that anything can and will be changed, DiDio responded: "It's as though these characters all exist on multiple Earths!"

For more on what DiDio, Rucka and others from DC had to say in Boston click here, here, and here

Zod for President

General Zod for President

Looking Back on "Identity Crisis"

This Wednesday, DC's long-awaited Infinite Crisis #1 hits comic shops. While the plans for this mega-crossover, considered a sequel to 1985-86's Crisis on Infinite Earths, were in the works for months and even years, the first sign that things were changing in the DCU that readers saw was last year's Identity Crisis.

Identity Crisis was not always supposed to be the start of the countdown to Infinite Crisis, as author Brad Meltzer recalls in a recent interview conducted to coincide with the hardcover release of the controversial seven-part story where the JLA reveals a secret past.

"When I started Identity Crisis, it was supposed to be a small, emotional story. That's it," Meltzer says. "Those were literally the words they said to me. And the key word (was) small."

It wasn't until Meltzer was done writing the story and shared the scripts with DC Vice President/Executive Editor Dan DiDio and Infinite Crisis writer Geoff Johns that Identity Crisis became part of a much larger storyline. Meltzer recalls how excited DiDio was when he read the scripts, and how eager he was to use various elements-- the JLA's decision to erase Batman's memories, the resurgence of certain villains-- in the other titles.

References to the events of Identity Crisis were reflected in most DCU titles, and dealt with directly in Flash and JLA, both of which were written by Infinite Crisis writer Geoff Johns (JLA was co-written by OC scribe Allan Heinberg).

Some of the books directly setting up Infinite Crisis also reference those events, such as the 80-page Countdown to Infinite Crisis, the mini-series The OMAC Project (revealing the depth of Batman's paranoia, more relevant now that we know the reason for it) and Villains United, which reveals the super-villain community organizing for protection now the the JLA's secret of mind-wiping villains has been revealed). Even Days of Vengeance, the magic-based mini-series, has the mystery killer from Identity Crisis as the catalyst of that story.

But Meltzer notes one important thing in his interview that sets his book apart from what has come since -- it's the only story that's completely self-contained. I don't completely agree with that.

While the mystery from issue 1 is resolved by the end, there are several plot points that are NOT wrapped up in the book, most notably, how much do Batman and Superman now know about the JLA's secret and who is Captain Boomerang's son's mother? The answers are revealed, but not within the pages of Identity Crisis. You have to read subsequent issues of Batman, Adventures of Superman, JLA and Flash to learn those answers (and I haven't read all of them yet myself).

That said, however, Identity Crisis is a great read for DC superhero fans and worth the $25 price tag for the hardcover (a cheaper softcover version is likely at least a year away). In additon to great art by penciller Rags Morales and inker Michael Bair, it offers mysteries, secrets and a look at super-heroes' real weaknesses. And it ain't kryptonite.