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Crisis on Infinite Earths (Collected Editions)
Crisis on Infinite Earths Companion Deluxe Edition Vol. 2
The DC Universe was dramatically altered in Crisis on Infinite Earths, an unforgettable and defining event in comics history that was the first company-wide crossover to make good on its promise of lasting change. Now, for the first time ever, the tie-in stories to this legendary event starring Batman, the New Teen Titans, Infinity, Inc., the Losers and more are presented in this Crisis on Infinite Earths Companion collection.
This historic second volume features many never-before-collected issues, brand-new essays by Crisis associate editor Robert Greenberger and Infinity, Inc. co-creator, editor and writer Roy Thomas and a chronological timeline for the event by Greenberger. Crisis on Infinite Earths Companion Deluxe Edition Vol. 2 collects DC Comics Presents #86, Swamp Thing #44, Losers Special #1, Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1, Infinity, Inc. #18-25, Infinity, Inc. Annual #1, Justice League of America #244-245, New Teen Titans (Series 2) #13-14 and a story from Detective Comics #558.
This historic second volume features many never-before-collected issues, brand-new essays by Crisis associate editor Robert Greenberger and Infinity, Inc. co-creator, editor and writer Roy Thomas and a chronological timeline for the event by Greenberger. Crisis on Infinite Earths Companion Deluxe Edition Vol. 2 collects DC Comics Presents #86, Swamp Thing #44, Losers Special #1, Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1, Infinity, Inc. #18-25, Infinity, Inc. Annual #1, Justice League of America #244-245, New Teen Titans (Series 2) #13-14 and a story from Detective Comics #558.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published May 14, 2019
14 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Marv Wolfman
2,304 books304 followersMarvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 9, 2020
As with all of these big compilations DC puts together, the books within can be a mixed bag and garbage and gold. That being said, I love that DC is collecting all of these Crisis crossovers and hope they continue to collect the rest of them. I also dig the little essays that appear before each comics included in the collection.
Detective Comics #558 by Doug Moench & Gene Colan - 2 Stars
Some of these Crisis tie-ins are just red skies. This is one of those. It's the tale end of a longer story about someone named Nocturna who just died and was some kind of surrogate mother for Jason Todd.
DC Comics Presents #86 by Paul Kupperberg & Rick Hoberg - 2 Stars
Superman and Supergirl head into space to investigate a possible cause of the Crisis. This actually picks up on a story from Supergirl's comic as a cosmic villain of hers returns.
Swamp Thing #44 by Alan Moore & Stephen R. Bissette - 4 Stars
A great issue focusing on the Boogeyman, a serial killer who has never been caught. The Crisis tie-in is two pages of John Constantine and Mento talking with Batman.
The Losers Special #1 by Robert Kanigher, Judith Hunt, & Sam Glanzman - 3 Stars
Doesn't really have anything to do with Crisis. It just details how all the Losers met and then died at the end of World War II saving Sgt. Rock and Easy Company.
Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 by Marv Wolfman & Paul Ryan - 3 Stars
This was pretty cool. Wolfman came back 15 years later to tell an untold chapter of Crisis where the Justice League went to Earth-D to try and stop the Anti-Monitor from destroying that universe. The difference in this earth is that all its heroes are minorities.
Infinity Inc #18-#25, Annual #1 by Roy Thomas & Todd McFarlane - 4 Stars
Justice League of America #244-#245 by Gerry Conway, Joe Staton, & Luke McDonnell - 4 Stars
This was the meat of the book and could be considered Volume 3 of the Infinity Inc. collections released back in 2012. I love what Roy Thomas did here with the kids of the Justice Society of America members. They form the basis of the last, annual JLA / JSA crossover before Crisis. Most of the issues serve as companion pieces to what's happening in Crisis and should be read in conjunction with those issues. This is some of Todd McFarlane's earliest work. It looks much different than his time at Marvel, but even here he couldn't meet a deadline. There are several issues where he only pencils 4 or 5 pages of the book.
The New Teen Titans #13-#14 by Marv Wolfman & Eduardo Barreto - 3 Stars
There's a lot of subplots going on in this book. It's hard to follow out of the larger syntax of what's going on with the Teen Titans. You're better off reading these 2 issues as part of The New Teen Titans, Vol. 10.
Detective Comics #558 by Doug Moench & Gene Colan - 2 Stars
Some of these Crisis tie-ins are just red skies. This is one of those. It's the tale end of a longer story about someone named Nocturna who just died and was some kind of surrogate mother for Jason Todd.
DC Comics Presents #86 by Paul Kupperberg & Rick Hoberg - 2 Stars
Superman and Supergirl head into space to investigate a possible cause of the Crisis. This actually picks up on a story from Supergirl's comic as a cosmic villain of hers returns.
Swamp Thing #44 by Alan Moore & Stephen R. Bissette - 4 Stars
A great issue focusing on the Boogeyman, a serial killer who has never been caught. The Crisis tie-in is two pages of John Constantine and Mento talking with Batman.
The Losers Special #1 by Robert Kanigher, Judith Hunt, & Sam Glanzman - 3 Stars
Doesn't really have anything to do with Crisis. It just details how all the Losers met and then died at the end of World War II saving Sgt. Rock and Easy Company.
Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 by Marv Wolfman & Paul Ryan - 3 Stars
This was pretty cool. Wolfman came back 15 years later to tell an untold chapter of Crisis where the Justice League went to Earth-D to try and stop the Anti-Monitor from destroying that universe. The difference in this earth is that all its heroes are minorities.
Infinity Inc #18-#25, Annual #1 by Roy Thomas & Todd McFarlane - 4 Stars
Justice League of America #244-#245 by Gerry Conway, Joe Staton, & Luke McDonnell - 4 Stars
This was the meat of the book and could be considered Volume 3 of the Infinity Inc. collections released back in 2012. I love what Roy Thomas did here with the kids of the Justice Society of America members. They form the basis of the last, annual JLA / JSA crossover before Crisis. Most of the issues serve as companion pieces to what's happening in Crisis and should be read in conjunction with those issues. This is some of Todd McFarlane's earliest work. It looks much different than his time at Marvel, but even here he couldn't meet a deadline. There are several issues where he only pencils 4 or 5 pages of the book.
The New Teen Titans #13-#14 by Marv Wolfman & Eduardo Barreto - 3 Stars
There's a lot of subplots going on in this book. It's hard to follow out of the larger syntax of what's going on with the Teen Titans. You're better off reading these 2 issues as part of The New Teen Titans, Vol. 10.
June 24, 2019
This volume joyfully continues the long-lost Crisis on Infinite Earth tie-ins. However, it's weaker than its predecessor, because the stories are more scattered and the centerpiece of Infinity Inc. isn't as notable as the extraordinary All-Star Squadron stories in V1. Nonetheless, this is another great read.
Batman (Detective Comics #558). This is an extremely week Crisis tie-in, as it's mainly a tie-in because there's red rainy skies the whole time. It's also one of the more incoherent tie-ins, as it's the end of some longer story, and it's mainly everyone moaning over someone named Nocturna being dead. That all makes it a pretty unfortunate story to lead off V2. Yay for completeness? [2/5].
Supergirl (DCCP #86). It's somewhat charming having the Supers investigating a potential cause for all the Crisis problems, because it shows how little they know. And, this nicely continues a plotline from Supergirl's comic. With that said, it's not a particularly deep story and Supergirl's foreshadowings of doom are waaaay too on the nose [2+/5].
Bogeymen (Swamp Thing #44). It's kind of a shame that DC didn't include all of the Swamp Thing's American Gothic as a Crisis crossover, as it was really Alan Moore's own take on the concept. But, unlike so much in the Crisis Companions, American Gothic has been in print for decades, and it was pretty lightly connected to the "main" Crisis. Take this issue. It's a great story about a serial killer, but there are only two pages of Crisis, where John Constantine and Mento meet Batman under red skies. They're entirely charming pages, mind you, but not the main thrust of the story [4+/5].
Losers Special. There's really no Crisis content here either, despite it being a "Special" Crisis Crossover, but I guess that comes mainly from it being a momentous event: the death of the Losers. It's well done, highlighting who they were, as it details their final mission [4/5].
Earth-D (Legends Special 1). It's a treat getting to see this story, written 14 years later by Marv Wolfman. Here, Wolfman tries to add to the epic scope of the early Crisis issues by portraying the death of an alternate world. It's a good concept, albeit carried out at too much length, making it drag by the end [3+/5].
Infinity Inc. (#18-25 + Annual #1 + JLA #244-245). As in his All-Star Squadron comic, superstar Roy Thomas offers considerable space in Infinity Inc. to the Crisis, stepping through its major elements, from red skies to meetings aboard the satellite. After the tail-end of a Helix story, it's broken into several major parts:
First, We have the final JLA-JSA team-up. It's a good premise, bringing together Infinity Inc. with the Justice League Detroit, especially given some clever ties to All-Star Squadron, but it starts off with the tired super-heroes fight trope, and then has the heroes pretty much not team up. (Fortunately, this little arc also includes a Steel spotlight in JLA #245, which puts him in a distant time, potentially finding love, and it's one of the best Crisis tie-ins of all.)
Second, we have the revelation of Jade and Obsidian's parentage. This has pretty light Crisis connections, but it shows the depth of the Infinity Inc. comic, with its first look at heroes who have since become major parts of the DC Universe (and since been erased by the idiotic nu52).
Third, we have the appearance of the new Hourman, Dr. Midnight, and Wildcat. This very nicely dovetails into the Crisis, with the new heroes appearing while the old ones are called away, and also shows the strength of DC's legacy heroes (back when they had legacy heroes).
Fourth, we have some actual Crisis dangers, including time-lost dinosaurs and villains. They're a nice adjunct to Crisis, showing its real effects on the Earths, and also a good way to say farewell to a world that was rapidly fading. (And then we get a final farewell to Earth-2 in #25, the first step in weaning some of these Infinitors away from their Earth-2 origins.)
Overall, Roy Thomas' Infinity Inc./Crisis crossover isn't as great as his similar work for All-Star Squadron, because it's more obviously fragmented in time, but it's nonetheless another nice look at what the Crisis meant for an entire world [4/5].
The New Teen Titans (#13-14). Wolfman takes his first NTT issue to pretty much reflect the entirety of Crisis, but other than that these issues are so sub-plot heavy, running from Cyborg's love life to Brother Blood's plans to Starfire's flight into space to Gar's interaction with a crazy Mento who is somewhat at odds with the Mento in Swamp Thing, that the casual reader is totally lost [3+/5].
Batman (Detective Comics #558). This is an extremely week Crisis tie-in, as it's mainly a tie-in because there's red rainy skies the whole time. It's also one of the more incoherent tie-ins, as it's the end of some longer story, and it's mainly everyone moaning over someone named Nocturna being dead. That all makes it a pretty unfortunate story to lead off V2. Yay for completeness? [2/5].
Supergirl (DCCP #86). It's somewhat charming having the Supers investigating a potential cause for all the Crisis problems, because it shows how little they know. And, this nicely continues a plotline from Supergirl's comic. With that said, it's not a particularly deep story and Supergirl's foreshadowings of doom are waaaay too on the nose [2+/5].
Bogeymen (Swamp Thing #44). It's kind of a shame that DC didn't include all of the Swamp Thing's American Gothic as a Crisis crossover, as it was really Alan Moore's own take on the concept. But, unlike so much in the Crisis Companions, American Gothic has been in print for decades, and it was pretty lightly connected to the "main" Crisis. Take this issue. It's a great story about a serial killer, but there are only two pages of Crisis, where John Constantine and Mento meet Batman under red skies. They're entirely charming pages, mind you, but not the main thrust of the story [4+/5].
Losers Special. There's really no Crisis content here either, despite it being a "Special" Crisis Crossover, but I guess that comes mainly from it being a momentous event: the death of the Losers. It's well done, highlighting who they were, as it details their final mission [4/5].
Earth-D (Legends Special 1). It's a treat getting to see this story, written 14 years later by Marv Wolfman. Here, Wolfman tries to add to the epic scope of the early Crisis issues by portraying the death of an alternate world. It's a good concept, albeit carried out at too much length, making it drag by the end [3+/5].
Infinity Inc. (#18-25 + Annual #1 + JLA #244-245). As in his All-Star Squadron comic, superstar Roy Thomas offers considerable space in Infinity Inc. to the Crisis, stepping through its major elements, from red skies to meetings aboard the satellite. After the tail-end of a Helix story, it's broken into several major parts:
First, We have the final JLA-JSA team-up. It's a good premise, bringing together Infinity Inc. with the Justice League Detroit, especially given some clever ties to All-Star Squadron, but it starts off with the tired super-heroes fight trope, and then has the heroes pretty much not team up. (Fortunately, this little arc also includes a Steel spotlight in JLA #245, which puts him in a distant time, potentially finding love, and it's one of the best Crisis tie-ins of all.)
Second, we have the revelation of Jade and Obsidian's parentage. This has pretty light Crisis connections, but it shows the depth of the Infinity Inc. comic, with its first look at heroes who have since become major parts of the DC Universe (and since been erased by the idiotic nu52).
Third, we have the appearance of the new Hourman, Dr. Midnight, and Wildcat. This very nicely dovetails into the Crisis, with the new heroes appearing while the old ones are called away, and also shows the strength of DC's legacy heroes (back when they had legacy heroes).
Fourth, we have some actual Crisis dangers, including time-lost dinosaurs and villains. They're a nice adjunct to Crisis, showing its real effects on the Earths, and also a good way to say farewell to a world that was rapidly fading. (And then we get a final farewell to Earth-2 in #25, the first step in weaning some of these Infinitors away from their Earth-2 origins.)
Overall, Roy Thomas' Infinity Inc./Crisis crossover isn't as great as his similar work for All-Star Squadron, because it's more obviously fragmented in time, but it's nonetheless another nice look at what the Crisis meant for an entire world [4/5].
The New Teen Titans (#13-14). Wolfman takes his first NTT issue to pretty much reflect the entirety of Crisis, but other than that these issues are so sub-plot heavy, running from Cyborg's love life to Brother Blood's plans to Starfire's flight into space to Gar's interaction with a crazy Mento who is somewhat at odds with the Mento in Swamp Thing, that the casual reader is totally lost [3+/5].
July 27, 2023
Crisis on Infinite Earths Companion Deluxe Vol. 2
As the skies turn red, the various superheroes of many parallel worlds see themselves called to a higher purpose. Not only to save their loved ones, or their homes, but establish a new beacon of hope for a new tomorrow.
The 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' storyline was brave, bold and required a lot of setting up. Wolfman and the other writers attempt to make this work by filling in all the details across DC's many titles. The artwork is great and the many plot threads are handled better than could have been expected in this mammoth experiment.
As the skies turn red, the various superheroes of many parallel worlds see themselves called to a higher purpose. Not only to save their loved ones, or their homes, but establish a new beacon of hope for a new tomorrow.
The 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' storyline was brave, bold and required a lot of setting up. Wolfman and the other writers attempt to make this work by filling in all the details across DC's many titles. The artwork is great and the many plot threads are handled better than could have been expected in this mammoth experiment.
June 20, 2019
This book continues collecting Crisis on Infinite Earths tie-ins.
Detective Comics #558 drops us in the middle of a lot of stuff going on with Batman with not a whole lot of forward momentum.
DC Comics Presents #86: Features a Superman/Supergirl team-up as Supergirl tries to find out what's behind the crisis and we get some foreshadowing of her fate in Crisis.
Swamp Thing #44: Not quite as confusing as Batman, but still off doing its own thing with the Crisis element being relatively small.
The Losers Special #1: We learn the fate ofWorld War II-level heroes in a solid war comic, we get a look at the end of three World War II war story heroes.
Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 was probably the most surprising story in the book. It was written by Wolfman in the 1990s to introduce Earth-D where his idea of a more diverse identity for the DCU was in place with a Black Superman, Native American Wonder Woman, and a different take on Batman. The heroes from Earth 1 arrive to try and stop the crisis. It's a very moving story and quite well-done.
The bulk of the book is Infinity, Inc. #18-25 and Annual #1 and Justice League of America #244 and #245. Infinity Inc. is pretty good, but I don't think its as good as All-Star Squadron in the previous book. It focuses on the second generation of heroes in Earth 2, many of who were rejected for the Justice Society. There was a lot of good stuff, including the wedding of the Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott and the introduction of a new Doctor Midnight and Hourman. There's also a team up with Solomon Grundy in the middle of the crisis. On the other hand, some of this is over-angsty. The final JLA-JSA crossover is pretty lame. Add to that, that this run begins in the middle of one story and ends with a cliffhanger for another, and this is good but not great reading.
New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #13 and #14 concludes the book and its pretty good. There's a lot of stuff that's been going on, but like a good soap opera, it draws you in. The highlight of this may be seeing the Crisis affect another planet.
Overall, while I liked this a little less than the first volume and I think the Detective Comics and Swamp Thing books feel tangential, this is a worthwhile read for fans of 1980s comics and Crisis on Infinite Earts.
Detective Comics #558 drops us in the middle of a lot of stuff going on with Batman with not a whole lot of forward momentum.
DC Comics Presents #86: Features a Superman/Supergirl team-up as Supergirl tries to find out what's behind the crisis and we get some foreshadowing of her fate in Crisis.
Swamp Thing #44: Not quite as confusing as Batman, but still off doing its own thing with the Crisis element being relatively small.
The Losers Special #1: We learn the fate ofWorld War II-level heroes in a solid war comic, we get a look at the end of three World War II war story heroes.
Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 was probably the most surprising story in the book. It was written by Wolfman in the 1990s to introduce Earth-D where his idea of a more diverse identity for the DCU was in place with a Black Superman, Native American Wonder Woman, and a different take on Batman. The heroes from Earth 1 arrive to try and stop the crisis. It's a very moving story and quite well-done.
The bulk of the book is Infinity, Inc. #18-25 and Annual #1 and Justice League of America #244 and #245. Infinity Inc. is pretty good, but I don't think its as good as All-Star Squadron in the previous book. It focuses on the second generation of heroes in Earth 2, many of who were rejected for the Justice Society. There was a lot of good stuff, including the wedding of the Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott and the introduction of a new Doctor Midnight and Hourman. There's also a team up with Solomon Grundy in the middle of the crisis. On the other hand, some of this is over-angsty. The final JLA-JSA crossover is pretty lame. Add to that, that this run begins in the middle of one story and ends with a cliffhanger for another, and this is good but not great reading.
New Teen Titans Vol. 2 #13 and #14 concludes the book and its pretty good. There's a lot of stuff that's been going on, but like a good soap opera, it draws you in. The highlight of this may be seeing the Crisis affect another planet.
Overall, while I liked this a little less than the first volume and I think the Detective Comics and Swamp Thing books feel tangential, this is a worthwhile read for fans of 1980s comics and Crisis on Infinite Earts.
October 15, 2024
As the Crisis rages on, this second Companion volume of COIE tie-ins focuses mainly on another Earth-2 entity, Infinity Inc.. This was one of my favorite titles and I just loved the art by Todd McFarlane, pre-Spawn. He always had very inventive layouts to his pages. What is interesting reading these Crisis stories now is that Infinity Inc. is poised to make a comeback in DC's All In initiative in the pages of their new JSA title. Will the be Infinity Inc. or JSA? I'm hoping they won't forget about Lyta Trevor and can work her back into DC continuity. We also get a few New Teen Titan issues with art by Eduardo Barreto. He was one of my favorite Titan artists outside of George Perez. Raven, one of my favorite Titan, characters makes an appearance in the pages, following her disappearance after the defeat of Trigon, her father. These are great reads at a great time during DC Comics history. I'm so glad DC has really laid into reprinting their past. Recommended!
March 29, 2025
Welcome to Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Subpar Todd McFarlane Era
So a large chunk of this is Infinity Inc, which I was largely unfamiliar with and had no idea that this is early Todd McFarlane artwork. Sadly, it's also not very good. I think I've heard team books aren't his bag, and I can agree. He grew immensely between this and Spider-Man. Also, the issues just aren't that good.
Then we have a couple issues of Teen Titans and Justice League Detroit which are all...meh.
Then a couple random issues thrown in for good measure. The Losers special is probably the best thing in here, though what has it to do with Crisis? No idea. Swamp Thing was a bizarre issue as well.
The only thing in here that really is good to read from a Crisis standpoint is the DC Comics Presents issue. It is a nice little Superman/Supergirl story that forshadows what is to come for her in the main Crossover.
Otherwise this is sadly pretty skippable.
So a large chunk of this is Infinity Inc, which I was largely unfamiliar with and had no idea that this is early Todd McFarlane artwork. Sadly, it's also not very good. I think I've heard team books aren't his bag, and I can agree. He grew immensely between this and Spider-Man. Also, the issues just aren't that good.
Then we have a couple issues of Teen Titans and Justice League Detroit which are all...meh.
Then a couple random issues thrown in for good measure. The Losers special is probably the best thing in here, though what has it to do with Crisis? No idea. Swamp Thing was a bizarre issue as well.
The only thing in here that really is good to read from a Crisis standpoint is the DC Comics Presents issue. It is a nice little Superman/Supergirl story that forshadows what is to come for her in the main Crossover.
Otherwise this is sadly pretty skippable.
November 11, 2020
Sin duda, uno de los volúmenes más imprescindibles en relación con la Crisis en Tierras Infinitas. Destacan dos joyas: el Legends of the DCU: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 que 20 años después nos contó (con retranca) un capítulo desconocido de la saga, y el New Teen Titans #13, en el que Wolfman y Barreto equilibran lo cósmico con lo humano.
July 24, 2021
I really like this compilation less for the quality of some of the clunky, expository writing by Roy Thomas (and, frankly, terrible early artwork from Todd McFarlane) in this heavy on the Infinity, Inc. issues Crisis collection and more for the nostalgic thrill of seeing all of these wonderful characters going through their paces during what is still DC's best crossover series ever! :)
October 30, 2024
[30/10/24] 5.5/10
Millemila personaggi DC (sconosciuti, a meno che non leggiate fumetti degli anni 60') che tentano di fermare il piano malefico dell'Anti-Monitor e la distruzione dei millemila universi.
Muoiono un sacco di super... ma francamente chissene.
Millemila personaggi DC (sconosciuti, a meno che non leggiate fumetti degli anni 60') che tentano di fermare il piano malefico dell'Anti-Monitor e la distruzione dei millemila universi.
Muoiono un sacco di super... ma francamente chissene.
October 29, 2019
Some stories were better than others, but it was a lot of fun to take this particular trip down memory lane
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews