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Rich Johnston's Lying in the Gutters column is out today, and he makes an interesting comment about Infinite Crisis #6 in a section titled "State of the Industry". It's mostly analysis with a little rumor thrown in, but I think the analysis part is right on target. DC and Marvel can't afford to throw away aging fanboys with lots of disposable income. Identity Crisis, Countdown, and Infinite Crisis are homing in on our wallets like heat seaking missiles. If what Rich says is true, DC is making plans for the multiverse to return, since we responded so well to Earth-2's return.
Why did the multiverse ever go away? The thought in the 1985 was that so many parallel DC Universes were confusing, as well as alienating, younger readers. Now it seems like you can't get younger readers back at all, but if they do come back, parallel universes will entice them rather than repel. The main competition to comic books are video games, and going to multiple universe is nothing compared to visiting different worlds or regions. It wasn't a big deal to see the alternate universe version of Buffy where Willow and Xander were evil.
I see the whole multiverse complaint during the 80s as one of many excuses: Superman doesn't sell because he's too powerful and there are too many Kryptonians. Flash doesn't sell because he runs too fast. Bullshit. If the multiverse is confusing, you didn't explain it well. Just look at well they did it Infinite Crisis. If Superman's too powerful, come up with a villain that plays mind games. If there are too many Kryptonians, put them in the Phantom Zone until you have a story. If Flash runs too fast, maybe you should invent a villain who runs faster, like Savitar. Nuff said.
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