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October 12, 2005
A True Sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths; HoM Fizzles in a Flash
I suppose in the Internet Age, you can’t keep secrets any more. For months, there’s been massive speculation on both House of M from Marvel and Infinite Crisis from DC. In both cases, critical elements of the story were leaked. I am going to discuss both HoM #7 and Infinite Crisis #1, both of which went on sale today—SPOILERS ahead!
House of M #7 proves that the rumors about Marvel’s mutant population getting drastically reduced are true. By the end of the issue, it appears to happen, I won’t say how or who. Speculators were also correct that Pietro (Quicksilver) had as much to do with the alternate reality being created as Wanda did. I just don’t see how they can ever undo the damage to the Scarlet Witch. They’ve ruined her horribly. BTW, House of M is a very brisk read. It reminds of me of a Reader’s Digest story that you can finish in couple of bowel movements. Great art, nice dialogue, but the predictable plot and execution make it breezy.
Infinite Crisis was the big enchilada that everyone’s been waiting for—there’s even an article in today’s New York Times about it. It’s not a fast read—there’s lots of story and the detailed artwork by Phil Jimenez will give you reasons to read it many times. 
I disciplined myself to read Villains United #6 before IC #1. As I predicted, VU had a much better conclusion that the other mini-series leading up to IC. In Villains United, we learned that Luthor was Mockingbird, the secret leader of the Six who attacked the Secret Society of Super-Villains. But wait, you say…isn’t Luthor also the leader of the SSOSV? Yeah, that’s the secret. There are two Luthors in existence. The Luthor with the SSOSV is the one we’ve known and loved for twenty years. The Luthor behind the Six appears to be the Luthor from pre-Crisis Earth-2!
For years, the older fans have mourned the loss of the alternate Earths. In the pre-Crisis days, we had Earth-1, home of the Golden Age heroes. Earth-2 was the home of the Silver Age heroes. Earth-S was where Captain Marvel lived, while Earth-X was a world where the Allies lost World War 2. There was no problem keeping all these Earths separate, even though it produced two versions of the same hero. DC felt that this concept led to declining sales, so the Crisis on Infinite Earths destroyed all the alternate versions, leaving one Earth with a mish-mash of heroes and villains. In the last pages of the Crisis, we saw the Golden Age Superman, his wife Lois Lane, a version of Superboy, and a good-hearted version of Luthor—pass into a void as the universes died. Presumably, they died as well.
We’ve heard a lot of strange rumors about Infinite Crisis. Mostly about what will happen when it’s over. Will the Flash die and be replaced by Kid Flash? Will Dick Grayson become Batman? Does Barbara Gordon become Batwoman now that she can use her legs? I’d always hoped that DC would return to the alternate Earth concept. I’ve always liked it; I think it makes their stories cleaner. Captain Marvel really doesn’t belong in the same world as Superman. I had hoped that Infinite Crisis would spin off multiple universes again—the title of the series is the inverse of Crisis on Infinite Earths, so why not?
I just didn’t think DC had the guts.
I may be wrong. The last page of IC #1 gives me hope. I sure as heck didn’t expect to be surprised in either VU #6 or IC #1. They pulled off a miracle. My favorite line in IC#1 comes from Batman: “Let’s face it, ‘Superman’…the last time you really inspired anyone was when you were dead.” Nuff said.
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