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228 ratings, 3.75 average rating, 28 reviews
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published
January 1st 2001
(first published 1984)
by DC Comics
binding
Paperback, 368 pages
isbn
1563897504
(isbn13: 9781563897504)
description
This is the story that changed the DC Universe forever. A mysterious being known as the Anti-Monitor has begun a crusade across time to bring about th...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 275)
I now own the Alex Ross cover trade. It's an awesome reworking of Perez's original.
So, backstory. DC Comics was trying to scale down in 1985. Decades of hapless continuity, old, faded characters and a squeaky-clean image had made the company a laughing stock. So, Marv Wolfman and George Perez took up the challenge to make a 12-issue miniseries that completely obliterated all of the wacky worlds that writers had come up with since the 50's. Bizarro World? Gone. Earth-S? Gone. Earth 3? Gone. P...more
So, backstory. DC Comics was trying to scale down in 1985. Decades of hapless continuity, old, faded characters and a squeaky-clean image had made the company a laughing stock. So, Marv Wolfman and George Perez took up the challenge to make a 12-issue miniseries that completely obliterated all of the wacky worlds that writers had come up with since the 50's. Bizarro World? Gone. Earth-S? Gone. Earth 3? Gone. P...more
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Read in July, 2008
It's kind of embarrassing to even post that I read this, let alone put up a little review. But I should document stuff I read, right?
I'm between books, so I re-read this again the last couple of nights. DC's got a Final Crisis going on right now that's tangentially related to this "first" Crisis. (The "Crisis on <something> Earth[s:]" title was first used in some early Justice League stories.) I can already see that there's only some relation between the two....more
I'm between books, so I re-read this again the last couple of nights. DC's got a Final Crisis going on right now that's tangentially related to this "first" Crisis. (The "Crisis on <something> Earth[s:]" title was first used in some early Justice League stories.) I can already see that there's only some relation between the two....more
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This graphic novel was purported to be a monument in the DC universe, finally bringing together the multiple earths that confused readers for a long time. I guess it accomplishes this, but the writing is so poor and character development so thin that its not worth reading. The authors tried to give literally EVERY DC character some face time and it doesn't work. The plot line is filled with ludicrous twists and deus ex machina solutions explained by the reality warping abilities of some of the c...more
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Read in April, 2008
Entertaining enough and worth reading. However, when you think about the whole scope of what COULD have been done with an opportunity like this, the story seems really cliched and trite. If this series had been written 20 years later, I'm sure there would have been more room for an innovative and philosophical approach to the story ... as it is, the story did its best within the constraints of a very traditional "super hero story" (i.e., the bad guys lose because Superman gives them a ...more
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Read in February, 2008
Without warning, the multiverse is threatened by an all-destructive wave of antimatter, spawned by the evil Anti-Monitor. As universe after universe simply cease to exist, it is up to a rag-tag band of heroes and villains from every world in the DC universe, hand-chosen by the mysterious Monitor, to save all of existence. Starring nearly every character in DC (even if only for a panel,) Crisis on Infinite Earths was so huge its effects are still felt over twenty years later in the curre...more
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Read in January, 2001
recommended to Megan by:
the Lon, and Damenrecommends it for: uber-geeks and those familiar with DC continuity; except they've probably already read it.
I appreciate this book more in theory than I do in practicality. I'm just not familiar enough with DC continuity (either pre- or post- crisis) to follow everything that's going on in this book, and there's a hell of a lot going on. But nevertheless it is an exciting story and I did enjoy reading it. I would not recommend this book to the casual comic reader, though.
With Crisis, DC was trying to explain, among other things, the gap between the 'golden age' and 'silver age' heroes - some of ...more
With Crisis, DC was trying to explain, among other things, the gap between the 'golden age' and 'silver age' heroes - some of ...more
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recommends it for:
obsessive comic book fans
I (re)read this for background info on the DC Universe before I started reading Infinite Crisis, yet another entry in the increasingly tedious roster of superhero "event" series that promise to "change everything" by temporarily killing off iconic characters for a few months.
This is one of the first and most influential of these kinds of series, one that would probably not even be in print any more if corporate entities like DC Comics were not so obsessive about keeping...more
This is one of the first and most influential of these kinds of series, one that would probably not even be in print any more if corporate entities like DC Comics were not so obsessive about keeping...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who has an appreciation for the DCU
What makes this book so unprecedented is the grandeur of what it seek to do and ultimately accomplishes, which is the unification of a very diverse panoply of mythological characters and personas. The DC Universe and its characters had snowballed into a very vast and diverse scene over a fifty-five year period. What this did was give an enema to the whole thing and create a crisis, so large, so catastrophic, so all encompassing, that every character who even graced one panel of a DC comic was p...more
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The three stars I am giving this go toward the fantastic art and color schemes throughout the series. Visually, this was excellent. And I really dug the introduction of Pariah, an immortal cursed to witness all tragedies of the multiverse.
But the story, for the most part, reads like an episode of Dragonball Z. DC heroes and villains team up to fight the extremely powerful Anti-Monitor and each of the ten gazillion times they think they've finally killed the bastard, he comes back more power...more
But the story, for the most part, reads like an episode of Dragonball Z. DC heroes and villains team up to fight the extremely powerful Anti-Monitor and each of the ten gazillion times they think they've finally killed the bastard, he comes back more power...more
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Read in January, 1997
This one always made my head spin. I may have to give it another try someday.
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Read in August, 2008
Bluh. I knew this was gonna be hard, but I wasn't prepared for the fact that it really kind of sucks. I understand why it was important, and all, but as a drastic simplifying measure it's incredibly cluttered and dense. What on earth is the point of introducing new characters only to kill them? It's really text-heavy and long, and there's too much going on to do anything but the most cursory character work. I can only imagine how frustrating it would be if you a were a committed fan at the time....more
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DC thought their characters origins had become confusing not only to readers but to the writers as well so CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS was written to straighten out the mess. As a comic series itself it was very well written albeit a little bit confusing especially to the new reader. Perez's crowded artwork doesn't help either. He likes to stuff just about everything in a panel. Good thing he can draw beautifully or this would have been a spectacular failure.
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Read in January, 1989
recommends it for:
probably only if you can get your geek level up to 11
i love it. blew my mind when i was 10 sitting in the back of the family car on a summer vacation. the art and the death and the excitement was almost too much to handle. like the first time you get to look at porn. well... maybe not quite.
i think you have to be a certain level of fanboy to get into it. especially 20+ years later.
still holds up for me. and imitations since then are crap. utter crap.
i think you have to be a certain level of fanboy to get into it. especially 20+ years later.
still holds up for me. and imitations since then are crap. utter crap.
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I had to do my dork homework and finally read this. Important, and fun at times, but also a perfect example of WHY this event had to happen... shit's so convoluted, confused, and quite a bit behind where most other comics were by 1985 in many ways that it feels kinda like an enjoyable antique. Maybe it just didn't age too well, I dunno. Still fun though, in its way.
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4 comments
Read in January, 2007
I bought this one mainly because its cover was one of Alex Ross' masterpieces as all DC characters were included somewhere somehow in the cover. But I found the storyline to be slightly confusing and difficult, I wasn't sure whether it was the story or I wasn't in the right condition while finishing this one.
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Read in October, 2008
I'm actually reading the entire continuity, from the Pre-Crisis Monitor appearances, through the Crisis proper, and then continuing to Zero Hour, Parallax Saga, and the Infinite Crisis/Aftermath. I'm reading in individual issues, so I'm just approximating this in the TPBs for Goodreads.
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Christ! What an amazing narrative to tie together the infinite storylines in the DC universe.
The Anti-Monitor!! The metaverse!! Anti-matter!!
I'm surprised how good this really is. Wolfman takes many superheroes with god powers, and gives them an enemy worth fighting.
The Anti-Monitor!! The metaverse!! Anti-matter!!
I'm surprised how good this really is. Wolfman takes many superheroes with god powers, and gives them an enemy worth fighting.
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Comic geeks
Crisis is the basis for the modern (1986-present) DC universe. If you read DC stuff and you haven't read it, you'll find yourself in for a treat. A history lesson with a gut stomping, nerve wracking pace that will have you panting in a pool of nervous sweat until the very end.
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It was horrid. An insane person got powers and tried to take over the universe, which resulted in the deaths of Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) and Barry Allen (Silver Age Flash.)
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Read in August, 2007
Such horrible, horrible writing. And who knew DC had such boring characters...and everyone's superhero alias seems to end in "man" or "girl."
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