Infinite Crisis: February 2006 Archives

Infinite Crisis spoilers ahead. Week 3 continues with another three heroes echoing through the multiverses...

This one, from Wonder Woman 226, is the most unique out of all the reverbs. The story was essentially a filler, killing time until the big reboot, but it included different stories from World's Finest magazine about Diana. This last page offers visions of Diana in various Elseworlds modes with Superman. In one of them, she kills Superman instead of Max Lord, and then in another, Superman kills Diana. That one featuring Superman dressed up in WW's costume really freaks me out. I hope Rucka didn't suggest that one.

The last page in Catwoman 52 is a good one, and the story itself has a pretty significant event in Gotham City. The second costume looks like the Silver Age, the third seems to be the Golden Age Bob Kane version. All the way in the background at the end, you see the purple skirted costume that was used in the 80s. Alan Davis really drew that one well in his brief Detective Comics run. No Jim Balent big-breasted unitard? Awwwww.

Batman 650 is my favorite One Year Later teaser this week. Batman's yelling "Jason!" because he threw a razor sharp batarang into Jason's chest, but I am betting we haven't seen the last of that troublemaker. The third one is the classic 70s Neal Adams era. The fourth one looks like Owlman from the evil Justice League. What's the second costume? Can't get that one right away, so help me out like you did last time! Nuff said.

See also:
Infinite Crisis: Reverberations of Earths Past 1
Infinite Crisis: Reverberations of Earths Past 2

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Infinite Crisis spoilers ahead. Week 2 continues with only three heroes echoing through the multiverses...

Jimmy Olsen shows up on the last page of Action Comics 836. Beside his current cool dude incarnation, we see the classic tweed-jacket Silver Age Jimmy, Jimmy as Elastic Lad, and even Bizarro Jimmy. Come to think of it, I've never really liked Jimmy Olsen since the Crisis 1 reboot in the 1980s. The Silver Age Jimmy was much more proactive. The current one limps around waiting for Superman to save his butt.

Birds of Prey 91 has a pretty weak story as Gail Simone took this month off. You do get to see the various forms of Huntress on the last page. The second one is the classic Joe Staton designed costume from her debut in DC Super-Stars #17. I can't really identify the third or fourth character. My guess is that the third one is the Golden Age villain called Huntress and the other one must be an Elseworlds character.

Green Arrow is in a pretty bad spot here, which is why I waited a week to show it. If you want to see how those arrows got lodged in his chest, pick up Green Arrow 59. Winick did a pretty good job of totally destroying Oliver's life in that one. We see the Silver Age Green Arrow beside him (the one who first joined the JLA). The third figure represents one of Mike Grell periods? Fourth is when Oliver was lost on an island and learned how to shoot arrows? Fifth is JLA:Elite covert-ops Ollie? Total guesses, fill me in if you know. Nuff said.

See also:
Infinite Crisis: Reverberations of Earths Past 1

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A lot of people who are reading Infinite Crisis are not hardcore DC fans; even if you are a DC fan, you may not have read the Flash for the past 20 years. What is the Speed Force and who were those guys in Infinite Crisis #4? To answer that, we are going to go back to the beginning-to Barry Allen, the Flash of the Silver Age of comic books.

Barry Allen always assumed that his origin was tied up with a bolt of lightning striking his laboratory. The chemicals that splashed over his body supposedly transformed him into the scarlet speedster. But in a flashback shown in Speed Force Special #1 (1997), we could see that Barry started to doubt this theory. After an encounter with a villain called Cobalt Blue, who seemed to withdraw the speed power from both Barry and Wally West (Kid Flash at that point), Barry suspected a greater force was at work.

Everyone knows by now that Barry Allen died in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths mini-series. He went out like a hero, running circles around the Anti-Monitor's machine in order to destroy it. However, what most new fans won't know is that this is only half of the story…

In 1988, DC published Flash Annual 2 (Vol. 2), featuring the Secret Origin of Barry Allen. It was written by a wonderful writer named Robert Loren Fleming and drawn by Flash's co-creator, Carmine Infantino. In this story, which actually covered most of Barry Allen's life, we see at the end that he transformed into a creature of pure energy…

…and eventually became a lightning bolt, going back in time and striking Barry's lab full of chemicals. In effect, he created himself. Who knows if DC's current generation of writers remembers this annual? Is it still canon? But I like it, only if I can say that the lightning bolt is not an endless, repeating loop, and that it eventually goes to the Speed Force. We would have to wait seven years to ask these questions...

In Flash #1 Vol.2 (1987), we see that Wally West is making good on his promise to become the Flash (which he stated at the end of Crisis). His speed power is nowhere near Barry's, as he can barely match the speed of sound. A trip across America to deliver vital supplies takes an hour and Wally's so exhausted at the end that he has to scarf down a ton of fast food to restore his energy.

Wally's quest to regain Barry's speed was a recurring theme in the new Flash's first 90 issues. When Mark Waid took over, Wally's scientist friends kept telling him that it wasn't possible for any human being to run as fast as Barry. After a trip through time, (courtesy of Zero Hour) Wally runs past the speed of light-but he pays a price. In Flash 95, Linda stumbles through a doorway to find that Wally is becoming a being of pure energy!

To make matters worse, Wally's seen a glimpse of the future-that he will die saving Linda-dissipating into pure energy. Despite all of Wally's best efforts to avoid his fate, it comes true at the hands of Kobra. In Flash 99, Kobra fires an energy weapon at Linda. In order to stop it, Wally must run faster than ever before. He saves Linda and explodes in a flash of light.

In Flash 100, Central City has a big problem. It is sealed off from the rest of the DC Universe, and Kobra's terrorist cell is in control. Linda Park proves she is no pushover and manages to survive on her own. Just as Kobra finally corners Linda and gets ready to kill her, Wally returns, surrounded by bolts of lightning. He defeats Kobra using speed powers we've never seen him wield.

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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Infinite Crisis Spoilers Ahead. OK, I see a theme building here: most of this month's DC Comics have a "One Year Later" last page, which features various incarnations from the character or group's history. I am going to spotlight some of them here, so avert your eyes if you don't want to see them. It really doesn't spoil anything major league and it's a trip down memory lane. Click on the pictures for larger images...

Hawkman 49: The winged version of Conan finally gets laid and fights a bunch of Psions. We see him and Hawkgirl in their myriad forms just as she gets ready to take over this series. I can't imagine Hawkman's dead from Infinite Crisis, they've played that hand too many times.

Superman 226: A nice view of all the Lois Lanes, including the black version of Lois (although she was never on a separate Earth).

Teen Titans 32: Garfield remembers all the versions of the Doom Patrol. Goodbye, John Byrne: you've just been retconned!

Nightwing 117: Dick comes clean on his various mistakes, and reunites with Barbara Gordon. I like this drawing, mushy and romantic, and we see them kissing as Robin and Batgirl. I always thought these two belonged together, ever since I read a Detective Comics that teamed them up together.

JLA 125: A sad ending for the series that Grant Morrison started. Just plain filler material until the big reboot with Brad Meltzer. We get this crappy drawing of the various JLA headquarters...my favorite one was always the JLA satellite.

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I was blown away by this week's issue of Superman. "This Is Your Life - Part I" is an Infinite Crisis crossover that is really worthwhile. We see "our" current generation Superman getting pummeled by another blue clad figure--who has to be Superman I. I am sure we will see the entire fight in Infinite Crisis #5, judging from the Jim Lee cover. With each blow, Superman receives memories and visions of the elder Superman's life on Earth 1. The way this is told by Joe Kelly, using various narrators (Ma Kent, Lois Lane, Clark Kent) is just marvelous. It's also a jam issue, artistically speaking, with Ed Benes, Tim Sale, Jerry Ordway, and Howard Chaykin.

You can understand Superman I's point of view more clearly through this story. He's part of the first generation of superheroes. He has lived through World War II and the McCarthy era that forced the JSA to step down. He see evil in very black and white terms because the villains he fought had no shades of gray. And he loves Lois Lane more than anything in the world. We see a lot of Superman's courtship of Lois in these flashbacks, drawn by Howard Chaykin, which gives a nostalgic, Cary Grant\Kathryn Hepburn quality to their relationship. Fans of the Justice Society and the All Star Squadron won't want to miss this one. Hopefully the remaining chapters will be just as good. Nuff said.

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