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| Cover of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths (Hardcover) |
Score (out of 5 Capes)
Writing a direct sequel to the legendary 1980s crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths is a tall order, an ambitious undertaking. How can you hope to match the original's size, scope and impact on so many heroes and mythology and continuity?
Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere do a fantastic job in the face of this daunting challenge. They give us a very strong series, matching Crisis in sheer entertainment value and artistry, and coming surprisingly close to matching the original's scope and impact. Impressive!
My Review
1985's landmark Crisis on Infinite Earths was an amazing series. Heroes lived, Heroes died. A cluttered and unwieldy continuity was cleaned up. It established "Crisis" as the go-to word in DC Comics for grand events. It launched a bold new era with rewritten origin stories. It touched on literally hundreds of characters.
DC was not bound and weighed down in the same way by a chaotic and cluttered continuity in 2022 as in the mid-1980s, but a reset was needed. New life and energy; if not a passing of the torch, at least a graduation to the big leagues for some characters.
Writer Joshua Williamson and lead artist Daniel Sampere (I count at least ten artists in all who contributed to the series in some way) crafted a direct sequel to the original Crisis. This time, it is not a battle between the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor; rather, the heroes must band together to prevent Pariah - he who, due to his hubris in fiddling with forces beyond his understanding, was forced to repeatedly watch the widespread destruction in the first Crisis - from undoing the changes of the original Crisis.
He has teamed, or so he thinks, with a deeper, primeval Darkness. His quest is to restore the multitude of infinite earths, an infinite multiverse. But to accomplish his goal, he must use the help of the Darkness to grow an unbeatable army and prevent the prime Earth heroes from stopping him.
It is an ambitious undertaking. Williamson needs to weave together a dozen compelling subplots, reflecting the current iterations of beloved heroes and ones in alternate universes or timelines, all in line with the original Crisis source material. What he delivers is something admirable.
This book works on so many levels.
The rivalry between Nightwing and Slade is a central, driving force and our creative team captures the essence of each character and the very crux of their long-running battle.
It is also an opportunity for the emergence, almost graduation, of a younger generation of heroes. Jon Kent Superboy recognizes the need to step up and play a more grown-up role in the growing crisis, but is he ready? Can he find reliable mentors to guide him?
Green Lanterns of many eras also play central roles, none more so than Hal Jordan. He works with Barry Allen; he enters the heart of the Black Lantern; he is accosted as Parallax. So many historical threads coming together smoothly and beautifully into this tapestry.
Dark Crisis also succeeds in part because of what it manages to avoid. The story threatens right from the start to fall into the common crossover trap of pulling together a small group of heroes. President Superman of Earth-23 pulls together several heroes of the Justice League but, due to some lame limitation, can only grab a small subset of the Earth's corps of metahumans, never mind the ones throughout the known multiverse. It's a forced selection that, when used, makes for a more manageable scope for the writer but diminishes the scope of the conflict for the reader.
But Williamson only starts there; he quickly expands the circle, then expands it again. By the time the series title changed from Dark Crisis to Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, our roster of characters has exploded to include just about everyone fans might hope for.
Can Sampere and his stable of artists handle the demands of such a broad set of characters? In a style reminiscent of George Perez in the original Crisis, they do! Using a dozen or more spreads of giant battles, Sampere packs in countless characters in scenes with often clever nods to those heroes and villains and previous moments.
The original Crisis also famously rocked the DC Comics world by killing off both Supergirl and Barry Allen Flash in heroic self-sacrifices that brought a shocking feel of finality. Williamson does not quite overturn the cart in the same way. He has Pariah kill the entire Justice League in the very first chapter. Their death, while in a heroic battle, is abrupt and is portrayed as final for the first several chapters. But it is neither as dramatic nor as final since he ultimately backs off, and their death does not remain as long-lasting as Barry Allen Flash's was.
The resolution of Green Arrow's sub-plot draws the closest parallel to Flash's self-sacrifice in original Crisis. After a moving speech, Green Arrow is left behind or otherwise lost in the transition back to life of the Justice Leaguers. The speech is moving, the sacrifice noble, if not quite so impactful as in the original.
These are small nits, though. Williamson and Sampere rise to the challenge and make Dark Crisis a worthy sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths. It bridges the nearly forty-year gap between the books will intelligence and verve, delivers eye-popping visuals and profound character development. It definitely rises above your average cross-over.
The Free Comic Book Day tie-in, included as a separator between the Justice League #75 first chapter and the core Dark Crisis series itself, is also a delight. In a world with no more Justice League, what is to stop a shapeshifter like Clayface from infiltrating the Hall of Justice and stealing powerful artifacts? If the Flash can't stop him, maybe the group of middle-schoolers on tour can!
Check out the gorgeous hard-cover edition, too. It is well worth the extra dollars for a beautiful and long-lasting printing. It includes loads of extras too, such as all the alternate covers for the series. It also includes a stunning George Perez tribute page with characters drawn by so many different artists. The dust jacket is handsome on its own but be sure to take it off too and appreciate the glossy interior cover, definitely worth the look.
What I loved
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| One of many battle royales in this series |
If a crossover event purports to touch the whole planet, the whole universe or, in this case, the whole multiverse, the reader can rightly expect lots of grand melees, packed with chaos and a myriad of details. And in those details, lots of artistic freedom for Easter Eggs or other clever references.
It is a technique that the artist on the original Crisis on Infinite Earths series, George Perez, mastered in his career. And this series has many such moments, all of which beg the reader to slow down and scan around the image, taking it all in. Kudos to lead artist Daniel Sampere and his team for all of these dazzling spreads. And for the beautiful Perez tribute spread included in the extras section of this book!
I chose this excerpt of one such grand battle for its nod to an earlier moment in DC Comics history. In his first appearance, leading to the classic Death of Superman story, Doomsday soundly defeated the Justice League of the day, including laying a brutal beatdown on the brave but non-metahuman Ted Kord Blue Beetle. The obvious mismatch shows through this image, with Dark Army Doomsday batting aside and barely noticing the comparatively puny Blue Beetle. Nice touch!
What I didn't love
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| Black Canary is teleported away while Green Arrow watches from inches away |
As I wrote in the main review above, this book works on so many levels. Finding it hard to identify something I did not like is a nice problem to have. I chose this panel from one of the first pages of the book because it captures two of the few disappointing elements in one place.
First, the story threatens right from the start to fall into the common crossover trap of pulling together a small group of heroes. Often, the group has little in common; at least here, they are all tied to the classic Justice League roster, at least a little. But the forced and selective nature of the gathering is shown most strongly here: two heroes with JL ties, standing inches apart, but somehow only one is teleported? Why? A tepid explanation is given a couple pages later, but cannot overcome the fact that these two heroes were in the same place.
This selectivity is made all the worse because Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow grabs hold of his lover and is swept away with her. Since they both ultimately made their way to the gathered group, the weak explanation is even more nonsensical.
Yes, it is necessary because of the significant subplot awaiting Ollie. But that leads me to my second issue connected with this panel (spoiler alert) - the resolution of Green Arrow's sub-plot leaves him lost; no one knows exactly where or when. What should be yet another dramatic impact of this event remains as nonsensical as the explanation why "we can only teleport a few" and disappoints.
Related Reviews
Crisis on Infinite Earths - the prequel to this book
The Convergence series of crossovers also played with merging and cleaning up multiple continuities
Infinite Crisis - DC Comics really cornered the market on the word "Crisis" - and this is one of their strongest events
Quick Reference Details
Writers: Joshua Williamson
Artists: Daniel Sampere
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: June 27, 2023
Parental Rating: Teen
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| Back Cover of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths (Hardcover) |
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