Retro Review: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-12 by Wolfman, Pérez, Ordway & Giordano For DC Comics

Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-12 (April 1985 – March 1986)

Written by Marv Wolfman

Co-plot by Marv Wolfman (#1), Len Wein (#1), Bob Greenberger (#1), George Pérez (#12)

Penciled by George Pérez

Inked by Dick Giordano (#1-3, 7), Mike DeCarlo (#3-4), Jerry Ordway (#5-12), George Pérez (#10)

Coloured by Tony Tollin (#1-5, 8-10), Tom Ziuko (#6-7, 12), Carl Gafford (#11)

Spoilers (from thirty-seven years ago)

I think I need to start this column with a confession – I’ve never actually read all of Crisis on Infinite Earths, the most important event miniseries ever published.  When it came out, I wasn’t all that interested.  I didn’t read many DC books back then, and part of the reason for that was exactly why this series was published – I found the DC multiverse to be a very confusing, and often uninteresting, place.  It was after Crisis rebooted things, culling the multiple worlds and versions of characters to single ones, integrating them or abandoning them, and some of my favourite creators at the time started to play in DC’s sandbox (like Frank Miller’s work with Batman or John Byrne taking over Superman), I started to get more interested in DC books.

After that, I did start to pick up issues of this series from back issue boxes, and I found it to be informative and often exciting.  The thing is, I was picking up issues out of order, and reading them that way as well.  My ten to twelve year old self was easily able to keep the threads of the story in my mind, and I always felt like I got the complete experience.

When George Pérez passed away recently, I thought that maybe it was time to sit down and finally read this series from start to finish, and appreciate the massive number of characters and situations he drew.  I’ve been reading (and writing about) Marv Wolfman and Pérez’s New Teen Titans run in trades, and recently got to the point of the Crisis, so that also made it feel like the right time.

When I excavated these issues from their longbox home, I was shocked to realize I was missing two of them!  Luckily, the store I shop at had them both in stock, and at low prices (it was issues 4 and 5, so not key ones, I guess).

So now, I’m finally ready to experience this full event (although I’m not looking at the tie-in issues, most of which I remember as being notable just for having red skies and a reference or two to what’s happening).  I’m excited.

Let’s track who turned up in the title (it’s a lot of people, so I only listed people who have a speaking role or are referred to.  After they’ve made the list, I continue to track their appearances, but not before that – for example, Fury showed up in the background a lot but never spoke or did anything until issue eleven, so that’s the first that I listed her):

Heroes

• Pariah (#1-2, 4-7, 9-12)
• Alexander Luthor Sr. (Earth-3; #1)
• Alexander Luthor Jr. (Earth-3; #1-7, 9-12)
• Monitor (#1-4)
• Harbinger (Lyla; #1-7, 9-12)
• Solivar (Gorilla City, Earth-1; #1-3, 11)
• Dawnstar (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #1-5, 8)
• Firebrand (Danette Reilly, All-Star Squadron, Earth-2; #1-5)
• Blue Beetle (Ted Kord, Earth-4; #1-3, 6-7, 10-12)
• Arion (Earth-1#1-2, 4-5)
• Firestorm (Ron Raymond and Martin Stein, Earth-1; #1-2, 4-5, 7-10, 12)
• Geo-Force (Brion Markov, Outsiders, Earth-1; #1-5, 9, 11-12)
• Cyborg (Vic Stone, Teen Titans, Earth-1; #1-5, 7-12)
• Superman (Clark Kent, Earth-2; #1-5, 7, 9-12)
• Obsidian (Infinity, Inc., Earth-2; #1-2, 4-5, 9, 11)
• Green Lantern (John Stewart, Earth-1; #1-3, 5, 8)
• Anthro (Earth-1; #2, 5, 10)
• Wildfire (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #2-3, 5, 7-8, 10)
• Phantom Girl (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #2, 5, 8, 10)
• Colossal Boy (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #2, 5, 8, 10)
• Lightning Lass (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #2-3, 5, 8, 10)
• Chameleon Boy (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #2, 5, 8, 10)
• Brainiac-5 (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #2-5, 7-8, 10)
• Batman (Bruce Wayne, Earth-1; #2-5, 8-12)
• Flash (Barry Allen, Earth-1; #2-3, 5-6, 8)
• Superman (Clark Kent, Earth-1; #2-5, 7, 9-12)
• Kamandi (Earth-1; #2-5)
• Metamorpho (Outsiders, Earth-1; #3-5, 9-10, 12)
• Nightwing (Teen Titans, Earth-1; #3-5, 9)
• Kole (Teen Titans affiliate, Earth-1; #3-7, 9-12)
• Katana (Outsiders, Earth-1; #3-7, 9)
• Starfire (Teen Titans, Earth-1; #3-7, 9)
• Changeling (Teen Titans, Earth-1; #3-7, 9-12)
• Black Lightning (Outsiders, Earth-1; #3-5, 10, 12)
• Wonder Girl (Teen Titans, Earth-1; #3-5, 9-11)
• Halo (Outsiders, Earth-1; #3-5, 9-10, 12)
• Jericho (Teen Titans, Earth-1; #3-5, 9)
• Lieutenant Jeb Stewart (Haunted Tank, Earth-1; #3, 9)
• General JEB Stewart (Haunted Tank, Earth-1; #3)
• Four-Eyes (Easy Company, Earth-1; #3-5)
• Bulldozer (Easy Company, Earth-1; #3-4)
• Sgt. Rock (Easy Company, Earth-1; #3-5, 9)
• Wildman (Easy Company, Earth-1; #3)
• Flower (Easy Company, Earth-1; #3)
• Captain Storm (Losers, Earth-1; #3)
• Johnny Cloud (Losers, Earth-1; #3)
• Jackie Johnson (Easy Company, Earth-1; #3)
• Gunner (Losers, Earth-1; #3)
• Sarge (Losers, Earth-1; #3)
• Bat Lash (Earth-1; #3-5)
• Scalphunter (Earth-1; #3-5)
• Jonah Hex (Earth-1; #3-5)
• Johnny Thunder (Western hero, Earth-1; #3-5)
• Nighthawk (Western hero, Earth-1; #3)
• Cosmic Boy (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #3, 5, 10)
• Sun Boy (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #3, 5, 8)
• Dream Girl (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #3, 5)
• Kid Psycho (Legion of Super-Heroes affiliate, Earth-1; #3)
• Element Lad (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #3, 5, 8, 10)
• Mon-El (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #3, 5, 7-8, 10)
• Supergirl (Kara/Linda Lee, Earth-1; #4-7)
• Batgirl (Barbara Gordon, Earth-1; #4-5, 7)
• Mento (Steve Dayton, Earth-1; #4, 9-10)
• John Constantine (Earth-1; #4)
• Lord Volt (Earth-6; #4)
• Lady Quark (Earth-6; #4-5, 7, 9-12)
• Liana (Volt and Quark’s daughter, Earth-6; #4)
• Red Tornado (Earth-1; #4-5)
• Shining Knight (Earth-2; #4-5)
• Dr. Light (Kimiyo Hoshi, Earth-1; #4-7, 10, 12)
• Wonder Woman (Diana, Earth-1; #4-7, 9-12)
• Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny, Earth-1; #5, 9-12)
• Tomahawk (Earth-1; #5)
• Warlord (Travis Morgan, Earth-1; #5, 12)
• Phantom Stranger (Earth-1; #5, 7, 10-12)
• Creeper (Earth-1; #5, 9-10)
• Swamp Thing (Earth-1; #5)
• Green Arrow (Ollie Queen, Earth-1; #5, 9)
• Hawkgirl (Shayera Carter, Earth-2; #5, 10)
• Atom (Ray Palmer, Earth-1; #5, 8-10)
• Adam Strange (Earth-1; #5, 10-12)
• Alanna Strange (Earth-1; #5)
• Silver Scarab (Infinity Inc., Earth-2; #5, 9)
• Green Lantern (Alan Scott, Earth-2; #5-7, 9, 11-12)
• Green Lantern (Arisia, Earth-1; #5, 8)
• Rip Hunter (Earth-1; #5, 9-12)
• Red Star (Earth-1; #5, 9, 12)
• Timber Wolf (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #5)
• Air Wave (Earth-1; #5)
• Doctor Fate (Earth-2; #5, 9-11)
• Power Girl (Earth-2; #5-7, 9-12)
• Wildcat (Ted Grant, Earth-2; #5-7)
• Zatanna (Earth-1; #5, 10-12)
• Johnny Thunder (Earth-2; #5, 9, 12)
• Thunderbolt (Earth-2; #5, 9-10, 12)
• Sargon the Sorcerer (Earth-2; #5, 9-10, 12)
• Flash (Jay Garrick, Earth-2; #5-6, 9-12)
• Johnny Quick (Earth-2; #5-6)
• Green Arrow (Earth-2; #5, 7, 9-10, 12)
• Atom (Al Pratt, Earth-2; #5-7, 9-10)
• Ultra Boy (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #5, 8, 10)
• Jade (Infinity Inc., Earth-2; #5, 7, 9-12)
• Liberty Belle (Earth-2; #5, 7)
• Martian Manhunter (Earth-1; #5-10, 12)
• Star-Spangled Kid (Infinity Inc., Earth-2; #5, 9-11)
• Hawkman (Carter Hall, Earth-2; #5-6, 9-10)
• Black Condor (Freedom Fighters, Earth-X; #5-6, 12)
• Uncle Sam (Freedom Fighters, Earth-X; #5-7, 9-12)
• Phantom Lady (Freedom Fighters, Earth-X; #5-7, 9-11)
• The Ray (Freedom Fighters, Earth-X; #5-7, 10, 12)
• The Human Bomb (Freedom Fighters, Earth-X; #5-7, 9, 12)
• Doll-Man (Freedom Fighters, Earth-X; #5-7)
• Steel (Hank Heywood, Earth-1; #6-7, 9)
• Azrael (Earth-1; #6)
• Blok (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #6-8, 10)
• Black Canary (Earth-1; #6-7, 9)
• Northwind (Norda, Infinity Inc., Earth-2; #6, 9-10)
• Captain Atom (Earth-4; #6-7, 9-10, 12)
• Nightshade (Earth-4; #6-7, 9)
• Peacemaker (Earth-4; #6-7, 10-12)
• Judo-Master (Earth-4; #6, 10, 12)
• Thunderbolt (Peter Cannon, Earth-4; #6-7, 10)
• The Question (Vic Sage, Earth-4; #6)
• Aquaman (Earth-1; #6, 9-12)
• Aqualad (Garth, Earth-1; #6-7, 9-10, 12)
• Aquagirl (Tula, Earth-1; #6-7, 9-10)
• Lori Lemaris (Earth-1; #6, 10, 12)
• Dolphin (Forgotten Heroes, Earth-1; #6, 11-12)
• Captain Marvel (Earth-S; #6-7, 10-12)
• Mary Marvel (Earth-S; #6-7, 10, 12)
• Captain Marvel, Jr. (Earth-S; #6-7, 10)
• Uncle Marvel (Earth-S; #6-7, 12)
• Wildcat II (Yolanda Montez, Earth-2; #6-7, 9-12)
• Deadman (Boston Brand, Earth-1; #7, 11-12)
• Spectre (Earth-2; #7-8, 10-12)
• Huntress (Helena Wayne, Earth-2; #7, 9-12)
• Firebrand (Rod Reilly, Earth-X; #7, 9)
• White Witch (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #8, 10)
• Lightning Lad (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #8, 10)
• Saturn Girl (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #8, 10)
• Shrinking Violet (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #8)
• Firehawk (Lorraine Reilly, Earth-1; #8-10, 12)
• Vixen (Mari McCabe, Justice League of America, Earth-1; #8, 10, 12)
• Blue Devil (Earth-1; #8, 10, 12)
• Doc (Omega Men, Earth-1; #8)
• Shlagen (Omega Men, Earth-1; #8)
• Rynoc (Omega Men, Earth-1; #8)
• Zirral (Omega Men, Earth-1; #8)
• Kid Flash (Wally West, Earth-1; #8-12)
• Prof (Challengers of the Unknown, Earth-1; #8, 11-12)
• Red (Challengers of the Unknown, Earth-1; #8, 12)
• June (Challengers of the Unknown, Earth-1; #8, 12)
• Ace (Challengers of the Unknown, Earth-1; #8, 12)
• Rocky (Challengers of the Unknown, Earth-1; #8, 12)
• Green Lantern (Guy Gardner, Earth-1; #9)
• Little Sure Shot (Easy Company, Earth-1; #9)
• Balloon Buster (Steve Savage, Earth-1; #9)
• Starman (Ted Knight, Earth-2; #9, 12)
• Nuklon (Infinity Inc., Earth-2; #9)
• Speedy (Roy Harper, Earth-1; #9)
• Tin (Metal Men, Earth-1; #9-10)
• Robotman (Doom Patrol, Earth-1; #9-10)
• Robin (Jason Todd, Earth-1; #9-12)
• Hawk (Hank Hall, Earth-1; #9, 12)
• Dove (Don Hall, Earth-1; #9-10, 12)
• Wonder Woman (Earth-2; #9-12)
• Mera (Earth-1; #9-10, 12)
• Tempest (Doom Patrol, Earth-1; #9-10)
• Negative Woman (Val Vostok, Doom Patrol, Earth-1; #9-10, 12)
• Vibe (Justice League of America, Earth-1; #9)
• Celsius (Doom Patrol, Earth-1; #10)
• Platinum (Metal Men, Earth-1; #10)
• Space Ranger (Earth-1; #10)
• Cryll (Earth-1; #10)
• Superboy (Clark Kent, Earth-Prime; #10-12)
• Sensor Girl (Legion of Super-Heroes, Earth-1; #10)
• Gold (Metal Men, Earth-1; #10)
• Zatarra (Earth-1; #10-12)
• Madame Xanadu (Earth-1; #10)
• Captain Comet (Earth-1 #11-12)
• Animal Man (Forgotten Heroes, Earth-1; #11-12)
• Atomic Knight (Forgotten Heroes, Earth-1; #11-12)
• Robin (Dick Grayson, Earth-2; #11-12)
• Johnny Double (New Earth; #11)
• Jonni Thunder (New Earth; #11)
• Etrigan the Demon (New Earth; #11-12)
• Amethyst (New Earth; #11)
• Dr. Occult (New Earth; #11-12)
• Fury (Earth-2; #11-12)
• Sam Simeon (New Earth; #11)
• Detective Chimp (New Earth; #11)
• Cave Carson (New Earth; #11-12)
• Sunburst (New Earth; #12)
• Rising Sun (Global Guardians; New Earth; #12)
• Jack O’Lantern (Global Guardians; New Earth; #12)
• Godiva (Global Guardians; New Earth; #12)
• Thunder (New Earth; #12)
• Lightning (New Earth; #12)
• Thunderlord (New Earth; #12)
• Green Fury (New Earth; #12)
• Dr. Mist (New Earth; #12)
• Prince Ra-Man (New Earth; #12)
• Shade the Changing Man (New Earth; #12)

Villains

• Power Ring (Crime Syndicate, Earth-3; #1)
• Ultraman (Crime Syndicate, Earth-3; #1)
• Owlman (Crime Syndicate, Earth-3; #1)
• Johnny Quick (Crime Syndicate, Earth-3; #1)
• Super-Woman (Crime Syndicate, Earth-3; #1)
• Killer Frost (Earth-1; #1-2, 4-5, 9)
• Psycho-Pirate (Roger Hayden, Earth-2; #1-8, 12)
• Psimon (Earth-1; #1-3, 9-10)
• Dr. Polaris (Earth-1; #1-5, 9-10)
• Shadow Demons (#1-4, 11-12)
• The Joker (Earth-1; #2, 8-9)
• Brainiac (Earth-1; #3, 6-7, 9-10, 12)
• Vandal Savage (Earth-2; #4)
• The Anti-Monitor (#5-8, 10-12)
• Lex Luthor (Earth-1; #6, 9-11)
• Black Manta (Earth-1; #6, 9)
• Ocean Master (Earth-1; #6, 9)
• Star Sapphire (Earth-1; #6, 9-10)
• Ibbac (Earth-S; #7)
• Sivana (Earth-S; #7, 9-10)
• Desaad (Apokolips; #8, 12)
• Darkseid (Apokolips; #8, 12)
• T.O. Morrow (Earth-1; #8-10)
• Lex Luthor (Earth-2; #9)
• The Trickster (Earth-1; #9)
• The Riddler (Earth-1; #9)
• Chemo (Earth-1; #9-10)
• Plasmus (Earth-1; #9-10)
• Warp (Earth-1; #9-10)
• Captain Cold (Earth-1; #9-10)
• Weather Wizard (Earth-1; #9)
• Poison Ivy (Earth-1; #9)
• Floronic Man (Earth-1; #9)
• Silver Ghost (Earth-X; #9)
• Mr. Mind (Earth-S; #9)
• Dr. Phosphorus (Earth-1; #9)
• Black Adam (Earth-S; #10)
• Dr. Cyber (Earth-1; #10)
• Phobia (Earth-1; #10)
• Houngan (Earth-1; #10)
• Hector Hammond (Earth-1; #10)
• Deathbolt (Earth-2; #10)
• Despero (Earth-1; #10)
• Shaggy Man (Earth-1; #10)
• Mammoth (Earth-1; #10)
• Shimmer (Earth-1; #10)
• Lord of Time (Earth-1; #10)
• Krona (Earth-1; #10)
• Maaldor (Earth-1; #10)
• Mirror Master (Earth-1; #10)
• Icicle (Earth-2; #10)
• Clayface (New Earth; #12)
• Bug-Eyed Bandit (New Earth; #12)

Guest Stars

• The Guardians of the Universe (Earth-1; #2, 5, 8-9)
• Hippolyta (Paradise Island, Earth-1; #4, 11)
• Captain Karras (Tamaran; #9)
• Taryia (Tamaran; #9)

Supporting Characters

• Lois Luthor (Earth-3; #1)
• Embra (Anthro’s wife, Earth-1; #2)
• Ne-Ahn (Anthro’s father, Earth-1; #2)
• Lart (Anthro’s brother, Earth-1; #2)
• Lady Chian (Atlantis, Earth-1; #2, 4)
• Lana Lang (Earth-1; #5, 7, 12)
• Lois Lane (Earth-1; #5, 7, 9, 11-12)
• Alfred Pennyworth (Earth-1; #5)
• Yolanda Montez (Earth-2; #5)
• Talky Tawny (Earth-S; #7)
• Dr. Klyburn (STAR Labs, Earth-1; #9)
• Dr. Will Magnus (Earth-1; #9)
• Dr. Darwin Jones (Earth-1; #9)
• Lois Lane (Earth-2; #10, 12)
• Perry White (New Earth; #11)
• Jimmy Olson (New Earth; #11)
• Joan Garrick (New Earth; #11)
• Harvey Bullock (New Earth; #11)

Let’s take a look at what happened in these books, with some commentary as we go:

• Before the first issue even begins, there’s a text piece by Marv Wolfman that fills the inside of both covers.  In it, he talks about the origins of the DC Multiverse (when Barry Allen met Jay Garrick on what came to be called Earth-2), and how over time, it became so convoluted that it made continuity an active deterrent to understanding and enjoying DC comics.  He talks about how many years he, Len Wein, Bob Greenberger, and others worked to prepare for the series (including having someone make notes on every DC comic published to that time – how much harder life was before the internet and easy outsourcing to fans who do things like that for fun).  It promises massive changes, and it’s hard to not get a little excited when reading it.
• The series begins by showing us he bigbang, and how the new universe began vibrating on different frequencies, creating different versions of itself.  A wave of anti-matter, shown as white space with blue edges, begins to eat away at an Earth while Pariah floats above Manhattan giving a soliloquy about how he is cursed to appear at such moments of mass destruction and bear witness.  He wants to enter the wall of anti-matter and die, but is teleported away instead.  The story moves to Earth-3, home of the evil Crime Syndicate.  The same wave of anti-matter approaches their Earth, having eaten most of the rest of the universe.  Power Ring and Ultraman try to stave off volcanoes that are appearing in a major city, but they recognize that this is too big of a problem for them to solve.  Likewise, Owlman and Johnny Quick are hopeless in the face of what’s happening.  Their enemy, and the world’s sole hero, Alexander Luthor, watches as Super-Woman is absorbed into the energy.  Recognizing that nothing can be done, he flies home to his wife, Lois.  We see that they have an infant, and Luthor has a plan for him.  While Luthor explains that he can send his son to another Earth through a multi-dimensional top, echoing the origin of Superman leaving Krypton, we also see Pariah appear before Power Ring and Ultraman, crying for their world.  Ultraman flies into the energy while the top starts spinning.  We see it escape as Earth-3 disappears, and then it arrives in the world of Earth-1, landing on the Justice League’s satellite, which is abandoned and now unused.  The Monitor, in his own satellite, recognizes that it’s time to act.  He has an assistant, Lyla, whom he tells needs to go and summon certain heroes and villains from two different Earths.  She asks why not get more, but he is insistent on her following his instructions, and tells her to energize.  She makes a point of reminding him that she is to be treated as an equal, before powering up, becoming Harbinger, and sending replicants of herself to many places.  The Monitor keeps talking to himself about how he has seen his own death, and needs the Luthor child.  Harbinger travels to Gorilla City, where she approaches King Solovar to ask him for help.  He doesn’t want to go with her, but when he tries to touch her, he collapses, and they teleport away.  In the 30th century, Dawnstar of the Legion of Super-Heroes hears a voice and follows a light into the slums of Metropolis.  Harbinger reaches out to her through a door, and teleports away with her.  On Earth-2, in 1942, Dannette Reilly, Firebrand of the All-Star Squadron, prepares a cake for a bond rally when Harbinger freezes everyone around her and gets her to agree to come along with her.  A shadowy figure watches them depart.  Some bank robbers, holding a woman hostage on a roof, get attacked by the Blue Beetle, who then is approached by Harbinger.  He agrees to go with her.  In the distant past, Harbinger flies around looking for Arion (of Atlantis).  Somebody, who is kept completely in shadows, comes forward and touches her.  As she flies off, we see that her eyes have gone black.  On present day Earth-2, the same Harbinger who collected Firebrand goes to see Roger Hayden, the second Psycho-Pirate, in the asylum where he is kept.  He doesn’t want to help her, and makes it clear that his powers hurt him, but she gives him his Medusa mask and puts it on him before teleporting him away.  Arion stands looking at the glaciers that surround his home.  He walks across an ice bridge he built when Harbinger approaches him.  Assuming she’s a villain, he attacks.  His bridge is smashed and he falls, but Harbinger swoops down to catch him and teleport away with him.  Firestorm is on a mission for Harbinger (I assume that there’s a scene explaining this in Firestorm’s own book).  He flies into a building to free Killer Frost, his enemy, from an ice prison.  She immediately attacks him, but Harbinger and the Psycho-Pirate appear.  The Pirate uses his powers to make Frost love Firestorm, and she kisses him.  They agree to go with Harbinger.  Monitor talks to himself some more as Harbinger returns.  He tells us that he found her floating in the ocean and raised her for twenty years, but now he knows that she’s going to kill him.  We see all the people that Harbinger has gathered are standing around in a large room in the satellite.  Also with them are Geo-Force, Cyborg, and Green Lantern John Stewart from Earth-One, Superman and Obsidian from Earth-Two, and the villains Psimon and Dr. Polaris.  There is some small talk, and we see shadowy figures around the room.  Psimon tells them that they are about to be attacked, and that’s when the Shadow Demons swing into action.  The heroes and villains fight back, and Harbinger talks to herself about how she can’t help since she took too long to merge her replicants, and she’s very week.  The narration tells us that the altered replicant is going to change her.  The heroes and villains struggle to fight the shadows, until a blinding light makes them all flee.  The Monitor reveals himself to his guests, and tells them that their universes are about to die.
• In the prehistoric era, Anthro attempts to lead a group of migrating mammoths away from his village by riding the lead mammoth.  He’s able to turn them away at the last second, but then hits his head on a tree branch.  When he recovers, he sees a futuristic city he can’t understand, but none of his relatives see it.  He’s also the only one that notices that the ‘serpent-noses’ have vanished.  In the 30th century, a group of members of the Legion of Super-Heroes search Metropolis for the missing Dawnstar.  Brainiac 5 calls them to tell them of an emergency – a group of mammoths have appeared.  Phantom Girl, Wildfire, Lightning Lass, Colossal Boy, and Chameleon Boy prepare to manage them, but then the mammoths disappear.  Brainiac 5 studies his equipment and sees that anti-matter energy is approaching the Earth.  In the present, on Earth-1, the Joker has killed a film magnate.  Batman arrives, and the Joker covers him in adhesive.  The Joker is about to shoot Batman, but is stopped by the appearance of the Flash (Barry Allen).  Barry looks depleted and is surrounded by energy.  He’s asking for help, and doesn’t seem fully aware of his surroundings.  Batman stops the Joker from shooting him, and then tries to talk to Barry, who is yelling for his wife, Iris, and crumbles to dust in front of him.  The Monitor talks to the group of heroes and villains he assembled.  He explains that the anti-matter is destroying whole sections of the Multiverse.  Dr. Polaris and Firestorm bring up the fact that Monitor has been providing villains with weapons, and Psimon attacks him for having refused to help him before.  While Geo-Force tries to calm down Psimon, Harbinger worries that Monitor is weakened, and he tells her that his enemy is getting stronger.  Superman insists that everyone hear what the Monitor has to say.  The Monitor explains that he gets weaker with every world destroyed, and that he has a plan for the people he’s brought together.  Harbinger, now back in her costume, tells the group that there are five eras where the Monitor has placed devices that will stop the anti-matter, and that the heroes and villains need to travel there to defend them.  They are sent away in teams, and we see that Harbinger is not able to stop herself from updating the ‘other’ of what is happening.  On Oa, the Guardians of the Universe learn of the threat to reality.  They prepare to summon the Green Lantern Corps, but a voice tells them that they are too late, and it looks like the power battery blasts them all.  The Superman of Earth-1 meets up with Batman, and as they talk, Pariah appears to them, but disappears before he’s able to share any useful information.  Kamandi climbs a large technological tower that has appeared in his area.  A shadow-demon emerges from it, and he almost falls, but he’s rescued by Superman (Earth-2).  He’s there with Solovar and Dawnstar.  They fight some shadow demons, and notice how they look like the Monitor’s silhouette.  When the demons fly off, they choose to stay and defend the device.  Harbinger watches from a distance.  At the same time, she’s on Monitor’s satellite.  She goes to collect the Luthor baby for Monitor, and is shocked to see that he’s a small child now.  In ancient Atlantis, Arion, Obsidian, and Psycho Pirate see that the Monitor’s device is in the middle of the city (but I guess it didn’t crush anyone or anything?).  Arion warns the Pirate to not use his powers, and meets with some of the people of his city.  The Psycho Pirate slips away, contemplating using his powers.  Pariah appears to him, and then uses his Medusa Mask to make him happy.  Arion blasts Psycho Pirate, who then causes everyone to feel fear.  Obsidian protects Arion by bringing him into his darkness.  A beam appears from somewhere and teleports Psycho Pirate away.  We see him in utter darkness, where a voice insists that he start to work for him.  Threatening to take his face away completely, the voice secures the Pirate’s loyalty.  Monitor and Harbinger discuss having lost the Pirate, and the Monitor says it’s time to create the new Doctor Light.  Arion and Obsidian talk to Pariah, who explains that if he’s in that time, it means things are going to end, despite the Monitor’s device.  As anti-matter appears in the sky, Obsidian gets angry that the Monitor lied.  Harbinger points out the arrival of the anti-matter to the Monitor, who thinks to himself that he’s going to die or be killed soon.  Elsewhere, another aspect of Harbinger talks to the being that corrupted her, updating him on the Monitor’s plans.  We see that the Monitor knows what’s happened to Lyla, and that he hopes she’ll overcome it.

• The Monitor is surprised to see that the Luthor child continues to grow rapidly, having reached early adolescence.  He studies him to try to figure out how this is happening, and discovers that he is made of both positive and negative matter.  Harbinger suspects that the Monitor knows she’s switched sides, and goes to see her new master, who remains in shadows (to the extent that his text is hard to read).  This enemy is with Psycho-Pirate, and he orders Harbinger to kill the Luthor child; after she leaves, he tells the Pirate that she’ll also kill the Monitor soon.  The Flash is in the future, in the time he and Iris moved to, and he’s running around trying to help when volcanoes erupt in Central City.  He sees the anti-matter wave coming towards him, and vibrates to escape it.  In New York, the combined Teen Titans and Outsiders respond to a slow moving anti-matter wave which has reached the Empire State Building.  They work to rescue people from some buildings that are crumbling, each pitching in to help.  Wonder Girl is on top of a building when another taller building collapses on her.  She’s saved by Superman, who swoops in to protect her.  Superman doesn’t know what’s going on.  Batman is with him, and he approaches the others.  Starfire starts shooting her energy beams at the wave, but Superman stops her.  That’s when the Flash appears, telling them that something is happening in the future.  Batman tries to talk to him, but Flash feels strange.  Batman attempts to pull him out of the yellow aura that surrounds him, but Jericho senses something and pulls Batman away.  They all watch as the Flash appears to get stretched and disappears.  In space, the villain Brainiac flies his ship away from an anti-matter wave. He recognizes that he needs the help of Lex Luthor, and sets a course for Earth.  In Markovia, in 1944, the Monitor’s device is located in the middle of a big fight between Nazi occupiers and American forces, made up of Sgt. Rock’s Easy Company, the Losers, and the Haunted Tank.  Blue Beetle’s ship arrives, bringing Geo-Force and Dr. Polaris.  There’s a lot of chaos as the two powered members of Monitor’s crew take on the Nazis, and the Beetle starts to examine the device.  As they rout the Nazis, shadow demons emerge from the device and attack the Losers, killing them.  They all start to fight the demons, but only Geo-Force and Polaris have any luck.  When they come at the Blue Beetle, he learns that the scarab he received from the first Blue Beetle can kill them, but they have to touch him first, which hurts.  The Beetle is pushed off the device, and as he falls, the Monitor decides to save him, recognizing that he is of no help.  He teleports him away.  Earth-2 Superman’s crew watches the red skies in Kamandi’s time (this is the first appearance of the red skies).  Kamandi thanks Solovar for saving him, and learns that he’s dying from his injuries.  It looks like the Monitor teleports Solovar away too.  In 1879, the Western hero Bat Lash gets kicked out of a Coyote, Texas saloon for hitting on the proprietor’s daughter.  He’s there because Scalphunter sent him a telegram asking him to come.  One of the Monitor’s devices has appeared running through an old mine, and Scalphunter has gathered some other heroes of that era – Jonah Hex, Johnny Thunder, and Nighthawk to investigate.  As they talk, one of the Monitor’s crews – Psimon, Cyborg, John Stewart, and Firebrand – arrives.  After a very brief attack, they start talking.  Shadow demons attack them, and the heroes do pretty well against them, but Green Lantern’s ring stops working.  The mine starts to cave in, and Nighthawk gets on his horse and flees.  As he moves towards the town, he sees the anti-matter wave.  He washes over him.  In the 30th century, the Legion tries to fight the wave in Metropolis, but their powers do nothing.  Dream Girl wonders why she didn’t foresee any of this happening.  In London, honorary Legionnaire Kid Psycho gets caught in a building collapse, and then the wave hits him.  The Monitor watches this happen in each era, and realizes that his enemy is moving quicker than he expected.  He’s about to put his plan in place when Harbinger confronts him, saying it’s time for him to die.
• Supergirl flies to meet with her friend Batgirl.  We can see the anti-matter wave approaching, and the two heroes talk about what’s going on.  Barbara feels helpless, while Linda doesn’t want to give up the fight.  She spots a small airplane in trouble, and goes to rescue the pilot, which somehow makes Barbara feel even worse.  Steve Dayton has a drink with John Constantine, who feels very sure that the world’s not going to end.  Pariah finds himself on Earth-6, one of only five remaining Earths.  Earth-6 is very different from the other Earths, and Pariah’s appearance there gains the attention of the world’s ruling family, Lord Volt, Lady Quark, and their daughter Liana.  Volt attacks Pariah, who tries to explain that he wants to help.  Liana gets caught in the anti-matter wave, and then so does Volt. As Pariah is pulled away, he wraps his cloak around Lady Quark, saying he can save her.  We see Earth-6 fully consumed.  On the Monitor’s satellite, he worries that his enemy is moving ever quicker, and decides it’s time to bring his new warrior into play.  He fires ion energy towards the Vegan system.  In Japan, Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi, who works at some kind of astronomy facility, is rude to her colleagues, whom she dismisses as weak for wanting to go home to be with their loved ones.  She insists on studying the skies, and notices light coming from Vega directly towards her telescope.  She disappears when the light hits her.  The Monitor watches this, while Harbinger watches the Monitor, thinking about killing him (much of this issue must take place before the end of the last one), while Alexander Luthor watches her.  Young Luthor knows that Lyla’s mission to kill the Monitor is actually what he wants.  Elsewhere, the Monitor’s enemy stands with Psycho-Pirate, watching video of the Red Tornado.  He summons the android Leaguer, and tells him that he has to help him destroy the universe.  Firestorm and Killer Frost arrive on Earth-2 during the medieval period, where the Monitor’s machine has appeared next to King Arthur’s castle.  Their arrival is watched by Vandal Savage.  They are also noticed by the Shining Knight, who flies on a winged horse.  He assumes they are evil wizards, until shadow demons emerge from the machine and attack.  The Knight assists the others, and it looks like they are successful, until the shadow demons begin to merge into a giant shadow demon.  We see this happening at each of the machines, in all the different eras.  One of the Monitor’s machines appears right where the Teen Titans, Outsiders, Batman, and Superman are still talking.  They approach the device, and the new Doctor Light, Kimiyo Hoshi, yells at them to stay away, but because she’s speaking Japanese, they don’t understand.  Light blasts Starfire and Halo.  Katana tries to translate, but no one listens.  Superman goes to talk to her (he speaks Japanese), and she tells him about how many Earths have been lost, and how only she can save this one.  On Paradise Island, Wonder Woman is saddened that her mother won’t let the Amazons get involved in what’s happening, and worries that they’ll never reconcile their personal differences.  The Monitor sees that things are happening too quickly.  Pariah appears to him, and they talk about how it’s the Monitor who saved Pariah, but also gave him the curse to constantly appear before catastrophic events.  They watch as Firestorm and his crew do poorly in their fight against the giant shadow being.  He explains that his devices are designed to merge Earths 1 and 2, since he believes there was only ever meant to be one, stronger Earth.  Pariah doesn’t think it will help.  Monitor thinks it’s all he can do, as his enemy is stronger and faster than him now.  He tells Pariah to not hurt ‘her’, and that’s when Lyla finally comes to kill him.  She makes it clear she’s not entirely in control when she blasts him, and then falls into the satellite and disappears.  Pariah turns to the Monitor, who is dead.  He looks at the screens and screams.  We watch as Earth-1 and Earth-2 are consumed by anti-matter.  We see a long chain of planets get overtaken by anti-matter, and on the last page of the issue, see an all-white panel get corrupted by shadows, until it becomes all black.

• Issue five has so many characters appearing in it that I can’t imagine it taking less than three months for Pérez to draw it.  When listing appearances at the top of this column, I’m limiting it to speaking roles and people whose appearances have already been established.  The issue opens with the enemy talking to the Psycho-Pirate again; he’s upset that he didn’t receive any energy from Earths 1 and 2, nor from the death of the Monitor.  He intends to go forward with his plans, which involves using the Red Tornado and his other ‘guest’.  Pariah stands over the Monitor’s body when Lyla, not in her Harbinger guise, enters and realizes that she actually did kill the man she thought of as her father.  The Monitor appears on a monitor, with a recorded message.  He explains that he knew Lyla would kill him, and that he used that energy to power his machines to create a ‘netherverse’ to preserves the two Earths.  He explains that he wasn’t ready, so time has become one on the Earths, and when the two Earths move into sync with one another, they will be destroyed.  (It’s confusing to know when he recorded this, as he talks about things that happened after he died that he didn’t predict, but we’ll leave that).  Alex Luthor, fully grown and finally clothed comes into the room, revealing that the Monitor told him a lot of things.  Alex jettisons the Monitor’s body from the satellite, and they say their goodbyes to him.  The enemy figures out what happened, and tells the Pirate he can play with the Flash’s emotions; he scares him.  Lana Lang reports that futuristic things have appeared alongside ancient and prehistoric things (we learn that the Monitor psychically calmed the worlds down, so people aren’t freaking out all that much).  Off-panel, Harbinger and her allies have gathered over one hundred heroes and villains from the two Earths, and they all stand around in the satellite waiting to hear from their hosts.  It’s wild that none of the characters are getting into fights.  Pariah, Harbinger, and Alex explain that the Monitor is dead, that he saved their worlds, but that they and their entire universes are still at risk of being destroyed.  Luthor wants the worlds to merge properly, the way the cosmos was meant to exist.  There is some pushback from some heroes.  To help convince them, Luthor shows Rann under attack by prehistoric beasts.  Because some heroes are still skeptical, Luthor decides to send them all home to see for themselves; Earth-2 Superman makes promises on behalf of everyone before they head home.  A dozen members of the Green Lantern Corps arrive on Oa to find the Guardians held in a stasis beam.  As they approach, there is an explosion.  Earth-2 Superman saves Lois Lane from a sabretooth tiger, and he and Earth-1 Superman start to explain to her.  Rip Hunter’s time sphere is stuck in the timestream.  At Wayne Manor (on which Earth?), Alfred reveals that Anthro and his people have turned up inside the house.  Weirdly, Batman is accompanied by members of the Outsiders and Infinity Inc., as well as Earth-2’s Robin, and a number of villains from both Earths, and you have to wonder why he’d take them to his home.  A group of heroes (Starfire, Firestorm, Killer Frost, Firebrand, Polar Boy, and Sun Boy) help Red Star fight off a dinosaur in the Soviet Union.  Red Star appreciates their help and pledges to help out with the Crisis.  The Psycho-Pirate’s spell wears off Killer Frost, and she’s icey towards Firestorm.  The enemy makes changes to the Red Tornado, telling the Pirate that he is a primal force, and sending him somewhere.  A random older couple see a blueish image of their daughter, who has been dead for years (this is seen as proof that the Earths are starting to combine).  Likewise, a group of heroes, mostly from the Legion of Super-Heroes, are flying on Earth-2 and see the Legion headquarters start to appear.  They can see some other heroes who are on Earth-1.  A huge storm appears over a city on Earth-1, and a number of All-Star Squadron types jump in to try to save people who are caught up in it.  Wildcat is hurt trying to help a woman.  Zatanna, Johnny Thunder, Sargon the Sorcerer, and Doctor Fate combine their powers to try to stop the storm, and when they are successful, they find the Red Tornado was the cause of it.  This helps the heroes present decide that they will help Harbinger, and we see many heroes use communicators to talk to the people on Monitor’s satellite and pledge their support.  Luthor talks to a select squad of heroes – Steel, Doctor Light, Starfire, Earth-2 Hawkman, and Northwind – about a special mission they are needed for.  Just as Luthor is about to send them, something happens to the satellite, and it starts to fall apart.  The enemy is watching this on his monitor, and explains to Psycho-Pirate that he’s ready to stop his foes.  The Flash challenges him to show himself, and we see our first glimpse of the Anti-Monitor, although he says he should be called Monitor.  On Earth X, the Freedom Fighters don’t know how to fight off the anti-matter wave that has appeared.  Uncle Sam leads the heroes right into it.
• The Anti-Monitor, as he’s named on the cover, brags to the Psycho-Pirate while the Flash feels the Pirate’s control over him starting to slip.  The Anti-Monitor gives the Psycho-Pirate the three remaining Earths to mess with, so that his own victory will come quicker.  The heroes on the Monitor’s satellite struggle to save one another, while Harbinger realizes it’s down to her to save everyone.  Pariah is called away somewhere.  Alexander wants to use his energies to save everyone, but Harbinger won’t let him, knocking him out so she can do it herself.  She merges with her ‘earthly body’ (I wish her abilities would just be clearly explained) and does something.  The satellite explodes.  On Earth-2, The Atom (Al Pratt) tends to Ted Grant, Wildcat, whose legs have been shattered.  Ted feels useless and helpless.  Outside the window, Yolanda Montez watches and thinks about how much she respects Ted, and how she has special powers she never told him about; she has the idea of becoming the next Wildcat.  Lex Luthor finds himself transported to Brainiac’s vessel, although apparently they don’t know one another.  Brainiac has a plan to take over and wants Luthor to help him.  Harbinger has sent a group of heroes (from Earth-1, Steel, Dr. Light, and Starfire, and from Earth-2, Hawkman and Northwind) to Earth-X, where they can see a large image of Harbinger in the anti-matter wave.  They notice that the people are all angry and out of control.  The Freedom Fighters attack, and while our heroes try to get through to them, Hawkman figures out that they are being controlled.  Psycho-Pirate tells the Anti-Monitor that it’s hurting him to control the emotions of so many people.  On Earth-4, another group of heroes (Earth-1: Azrael, Blok, Katana, and the Martian Manhunter; Earth-2: Flash) see Harbinger in the anti-matter wave as well.  The heroes of that planet, Captain Atom, Nightshade, Peacemaker, Thunderbolt, and Judo-Master attack.  Blue Beetle figures out that this has to do with the Monitor (it’s not clear how he got back to this Earth, just like it wasn’t clear that he was from here before).  Our heroes mostly stop them, while Beetle talks to the Question, and they realize that something is making them afraid.  On Earth-1, various versions of Atlantis are changing, confusing Aquaman’s family, and Lori Lemaris.  Aquaman goes looking for Mera, not knowing that Black Manta and Ocean Master are watching him.  Dolphin is watching them, and sees them teleported away.  On Earth-S, yet another group of heroes arrive (Earth-1: Black Canary, Changeling, Supergirl, Kole, and Wonder Woman) and end up fighting Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family.  Supergirl tries to stop the fighting, but the Psycho-Pirate has control over them.  Kole notices Harbinger in the anti-matter wave.  Black Canary uses her powers to bring the Marvels down, and Wonder Woman notices that Harbinger is doing something.  On Earth-X, Steel is fighting Uncle Sam when he sees what Harbinger is up to.  Likewise, J’onn and Blok figure out that Psycho-Pirate is behind their problems.  Harbinger manages to draw these three worlds through her into the same space as Earth-1 and Earth-2.  This burns her out, and she turns back into Lyla.  She sits on an asteroid with Alexander, and they talk about how now there are five worlds that are about to collide with one another and be destroyed.  All they’ve been able to do is buy some time, and they don’t even know how to get off their rock.  On Earth-2, Power Girl, Green Lantern (Alan Scott) and Johnny Quick notice that three villains disappear.  As Ted Grant sleeps, Yolanda comes to see him, and then moves across the rooftops in her new Wildcat costume.

• Issue seven is a double-sized one with an iconic cover (that gives away the ending of the issue).  It starts with Pariah, Lyla, and Alex floating in space.  They agree it’s time to explain things to one another, and to representatives of each of the five remaining Earths.  On Earth-S, Captain Marvel is about to apprehend Sivana and Ibbac, but they disappear.  We see that they’ve been taken to Brainiac’s ship.  Lyla comes to explain that the Psycho-Pirate was influencing everyone on Earth-S, and that she’s going to take Captain Marvel to represent his Earth.  On Earth-2, the new Wildcat is about to reveal herself to Liberty Belle, the Atom, and Green Arrow, but she hears them talking and decides she has to prove herself first.  On Earth-4, Pariah meets with the heroes of that Earth and the ones he sent there, and Blue Beetle agrees to come to their meeting.  On Earth-X, Starfire appeals to Uncle Sam for help, and he agrees.  Lady Quark watches firemen put out a fire, while we see other temporal anomalies on Earth-1.  The two Supermen talk to Alex, and agree to come with him.  The chosen heroes assemble on a rock in space and talk with the Monitor’s people.  Lyla recounts the story of Oa, and how the scientist Krona, in exploring the beginning of the universe, causes the creation of the anti-matter universe, the planet Qward, and the positive matter multiverse.  He was punished, and then the Oans created the Manhunters, and eventually the Green Lantern Corps.  Some Oans split, and became the Controllers.  The moons of Oa and Qward each gave birth to the Monitor and Anti-Monitor, respectively.  The Anti-Monitor created the Thunderers of Qward, and turned some of them into his shadow demons.  Once he realized there was a positive-matter universe, he entered a distant and unseen war with the Monitor.  They knocked each other out for nine billion years.  Pariah explains that it was his own experiments with learning about the origin of the universe, that was forbidden on his world too, that caused the first anti-matter wave and destroyed his world.  It also alerted the Anti-Monitor to the existence of positive matter, and how destruction there feeds strength to him.  The Monitor became aware of this, and started to fight back, but with each world destroyed, he became weaker.  Lyla explains that the Monitor found her as a child, adrift at sea, and raised her.  Lady Quark wants to kill Pariah, but Uncle Sam calms things down.  We check in on different Earths, and see Spectre and Phantom Stranger explain to Deadman that their powers won’t work against Anti-Matter.  Huntress gives Power Girl a pep talk.  The first Firebrand talks to some of the other Freedom Fighters, revealing that there’s a chosen group of heroes taking the fight to the Anti-Monitor’s home.  Peacemaker feels he should have gone on this mission instead of Captain Atom.  The chosen group of heroes – Lady Quark, Mon-El, Captain Atom, Captain Marvel, Jade, Wonder Woman, Ray, Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, Wildfire, Green Lantern (Scott), Dr. Light, Supergirl, and the two Supermen – prepare to enter a portal opened by Alex Luthor, led by Pariah.  The heroes pass through to the anti-matter universe, and come upon the massive fortress of the Anti-Monitor.  He’s aware that they are coming, and is angry that the Psycho-Pirate is not better prepared to take them on, but after influencing three entire planets, he’s tapped out.  The heroes split into teams of two or three and start to make their way into the fortress.  Soon they are attacked by stone creatures coming out of the walls, and find that their powers aren’t universally effective against them.  Earth-2 Superman finds himself weakened and bleeding.  Whenever a creature is destroyed, it reforms itself and renews the attack.  Pariah and Doctor Light (who can now understand English, thanks to the Monitor – I think I forgot to mention that before) get furthest into the fortress, but a pillar of rock appears to have crushed Pariah.  Light wants revenge, and Earth-1 Superman follows her.  They discover a massive device that converts starlight into energy, and is what is slowing the vibrations of the surviving Earths, putting them in danger.  Superman wants to destroy that machine, while Light wants to study it.  Something attacks Superman.  Supergirl hears him scream, and rushes towards him.  It’s the Anti-Monitor fighting him, and he seems stronger.  Kara continues to rush past her comrades, while Anti-Monitor beats on Superman.  Kara arrives and smashes into the Anti-Monitor, while thinking about how much Kal-El means to her.  As Supergirl pounds on Anti-Monitor, she starts to destroy his ‘life-shell’, causing his energies to start leaking away.  Kara tells Light to get Superman out of there, and flies into Anti-Monitor again, beating on him mercilessly.  Light distracts Kara briefly, and the Anti-Monitor blasts her in the chest.  He flees in a spaceship, and after he goes, the fortress starts to crumble around the other heroes.  Wildfire tells Alan Scott that the machines were destroyed, but that Kara was badly injured.  As Superman holds her, she tells him how much she loves him, and then she dies.  The heroes leave as the fortress is destroyed.  Now the five universes that remain have stopped slowing, and are only partially merged.  We learn that the time distortions are fading as well.  Lana Lang and Lois Lane report on the funeral service for Supergirl, and we hear Batgirl’s eulogy while Brainiac 5 mourns the love of his life.  Superman talks to Kara’s body outside his Fortress of Solitude, before lifting her into space (where it’s suggested he places her body on the Sun).
• On the Anti-Monitor’s spaceship, the Psycho-Pirate worries that his boss is going to kill him, and he speaks of it to the Flash, who is stuck against a wall.  The Anti-Monitor appears, wearing a new suit and looking different.  On Apokolips, Desaad asks Darkseid why they aren’t doing anything about the Anti-Monitor, but Darkseid prefers to sit things out, figuring that if the Anti-Monitor prevails, he’ll attack him when he’s tired from his victory.  On Oa, the Green Lanterns see that the Guardians have been freed from their stasis once the Earths stopped merging.  It’s clear there is discord among the Guardians.  In the 30th century, the Legion of Super-Heroes monitors the merging, and they worry about Braniac 5, who is mourning Supergirl.  Firehawk flies around Pittsburgh looking for Firestorm, but once she finds him, he’s summoned to the Justice League satellite by Vixen.  He takes Firehawk with him, having first gone to pick up Vixen, who herself has T.O. Morrow with her.  They join the Martian Manhunter, Cyborg, and the Atom (Ray Palmer) who are hoping to fix the Red Tornado.  Ray is inside him, and reveals that he’s been rebuilt differently from how Morrow originally constructed him.  John Stewart flies to LA to pick up Blue Devil and take him to the satellite, hoping his experience with his bio-suit might make him qualified to help out.  When Morrow goes to remove the Tornado’s head, it triggers something, and Atom is barely able to get out in time before it explodes.  The heroes move to protect one another from the flames (Firehawk’s costume is destroyed but she uses her powers to make a new one).  Blue Devil chases after Morrow, who runs away, and sees him disappear into a portal.  Blue Devil jumps in too, while the rest of the heroes prepare to leave the satellite.  Blue Devil finds himself on a ship belonging to the Omega Men.  Their ship starts to disintegrate because of the warp portal, and they blame the Devil for it.  The Anti-Monitor arrives on Qward, where his Thunderers are building him an anti-matter cannon that he can use to destroy the remaining five Earths.  The Psycho-Pirate goes to check on the Flash, who is still a prisoner.  Barry vibrates out of his sticky bonds, hits the Pirate, and knocks out the Thunderer guard.  He starts beating on the Pirate, saying he’s not afraid to kill him.  Barry promises to spare his life if he’ll follow his plan.  He runs the Pirate around the construction site, having him use his powers to turn the Thunderers against the Anti-Monitor.  This creates some chaos, and Barry, after having knocked out the Pirate, uses the confusion to get into the inside of the cannon.  He realizes that it’s powered by anti-matter, and can feel it drawing power from him.  He figures that he has to run around it over and over as a way to destroy it, even though he can feel it drawing away his life energy.  The cannon starts to destablilize, and the Anti-Monitor can tell it’s happening.  Barry causes the energy to pour out of it, and as he runs, he feels the Anti-Monitor opening temporal portals to stop him.  He gets glimpses of Kid Flash, the Joker, and Batman, before he disintegrates.  The Anti-Monitor is furious that his plans have been stopped again, and decides to absorb all of the anti-matter energy in his universe to turn it against the remains of the positive universes.  On Earth-1, the Challengers of the Unknown hear what sounds like the universe screaming.  Outside of the five Earths, we see the Spectre yelling into the void.

• On Oa, the group of Guardians who want to be more proactive give Guy Gardner a ring (there was a time when he didn’t have one?).  Just after he accepts it, there’s an explosion caused by anti-matter, and all but one of the Guardians is killed.  Guy takes his oath and flies off to avenge the dead.  On Brainiac’s ship, T.O. Morrow appears in front of a massive collection of villains for mostly Earth-1, but there are some from Earths -2 and -S as well.  Brainiac and Lex Luthor address the villains, saying that with the Crisis having passed, it’s time for them to take over.  The Lex Luthor of Earth-2 disagrees, and is killed.  Starfire, Nightwing, and Jericho depart Earth to go to Tamaran, in a storyline that is picked up in New Teen Titans.  On Earth, we learn that there’s a ‘warp zone’ in Greenwich Village where time is still a little crazy.  Cyborg and Firehawk join Kole, Changeling, and Wonder Girl just outside the zone.  Donna is worried about her husband, who is somewhere inside.  Firehawk offers to go with her to look for him.  Clark Kent announces that there’s a big UN meeting taking place, where Alexander Luthor is going to address the leaders of all five Earths.  During World War II, Sgt. Rock and Lt. Stuart both see a flash of light in the sky.  That same light happens across all the Earths, and we see through a quick succession of images that Brainiac’s forces have managed to invade and take control of Earth-4, Earth-X, and Earth-S.  That same light carries across all the Earths while this happens.  At the UN, Alex, Pariah, and Lyla speak, explaining that they believe that the crisis is over, and that everyone will have to learn to co-exist with the newly-linked worlds.  Lady Quark watches on TV with Wonder Woman, and is still angry with Pariah.  As an ambassador complains, Pariah disappears, called to some danger.  Just then, Brainiac’s head appears floating above the chamber.  He lets them know that he’s conquered three Earths.  Lex Luthor appears to explain what he wants from Earths-1 and -2.  He wants all nations to surrender or they will destroy the other Earths, giving them fifteen minutes to decide.  Superman slips away, as does Jack Ryder.  In 1917, a hero named Steve Savage (the internet tells me he’s also known as Balloon Buster) sees the flash in the sky.  Heroes from Earth-2 attempt to get through the barrier between their world and Earth-4, but can’t.  The Flash from Earth-2 goes to see Wally West, the retired Kid Flash, with Lyla.  They convince him to come out of retirement to help.  Wally and Jay build a giant version of Barry’s cosmic treadmill, and link it to platforms filled with other heroes, including some teams, like the Metal Men and Doom Patrol, that haven’t appeared in this book yet.  They start to run, and disappear.  Brainiac tells Lex what’s happened, and the two reveal that they don’t care if they lose their own troops, so long as they are victorious in the end.  We see someone watching them in the shadows.  On Earth-4, some heroes attack, but their early victory is marred when Chemo releases pollution into the rivers around Manhattan and kills Aquagirl.  On Earth-S there’s more fighting.  When Vibe saves Steel from Plasmus, Warp attacks Steel, sending him away somewhere.  The villains maintain control of that Earth, with Weather Wizard making things even harder for the heroes.  On Earth-X, Poison Ivy, Floronic Man, the Joker, and Silver Ghost hold the Freedom Fighters prisoner.  Mr. Mind tells them that the Justice Society, Infinity Inc., and Outsiders are coming for them.  In the fight, Dr. Phosphorus jumps onto Hawkman’s back,and Northwind worries that he’s killing him.  Lex sees that the battles remain pretty even, but isn’t worried about their prospects.  He is surprised, however, when Brainiac explodes.  Psimon is the one who has been watching them, and he’s ready to make his move against Luthor.
• Issue ten has a strip running across the bottom fifth of each page, penciled and inked by Pérez, shown in zip-toned beige (it’s only a shade darker than the yellowed paper of this comic – I’d be curious to see how it looks in newer collected editions).  In it, Lyla looks at the Monitor’s tapes and updates them to tell us what’s happened to numerous pocket realities and side characters that never fit into mainstream DC continuity.  For the most part, they are all small tales of death and destruction, as Wolfman culled places like the planet Kuraq, Starman’s world, Gemworld, and an older Olympus.  She also talks about some characters, like the Immortal Man, Swamp Thing, and the Forever People, while finishing declaring that she’ll continues the Monitor’s work.  In the main story, Psion’s plans to kill Luthor are ruined when Brainiac, who transferred to a new body, shoots the villain in the head, apparently killing him.  In Anthro’s time, he sees the fire in the sky that seems to be moving through all eras.  On Earth-4, Negative Woman attacks Chemo, and he explodes.  Aqualad rushes the dying Tula to Atlantis.  Kole turns Black Adam into crystal, and Dove stops Robotman from smashing him.  On Earth-S, Dr. Cyber, Sivana, and some other villains have Billy Batson and his family captured.  Martian Manhunter distracts the villains with Platinum while Ray Palmer frees Billy, allowing him to say his magic word and become Captain Marvel.  On Earth-X, the heroes keep fighting the villains, leading Luthor and Brainiac to realize that their less-coordinated forces are vulnerable.  The fighting everywhere is interrupted when the Spectre appears on all worlds, informing everyone that the Anti-Monitor still lives, hiding at the dawn of time.  He tells them that he’s intending to change the flow of all of history, and that they all need to work together to stop him.  Luthor and Brainiac agree to a temporary truce.  Later, more than a hundred heroes and villains have gathered in Death Valley, Earth-1, to put their plan into action.  They have time bubbles from the Legion and Rip Hunter’s time sphere.  The Earth-2 version of Lois Lane is there too, to say goodbye to her Clark.  As they embrace, Alex Luthor watches from behind some rocks.  The Flashes put on converters, and just before everyone can leave, the Superboy of Earth-Prime appears, wanting to join the fight.  Superman knows him from a recent issue of DC Comics Presents, and young Clark explains he doesn’t know how he got there, but as the last survivor of his Earth, he wants to help.  Uncle Sam gives a speech about how everyone can agree on the importance of freedom.  The heroes and villains gather on the different time machines or platforms, and Gold prepares to channel the energy of various electricity conductors and people with magnetic powers.  The ship full of villains is sent through time to ten billion years before, so they can stop Krona from viewing the dawn of time (which is what birthed the multiverse).  The heroes need the Flashes to lead them to the beginning of time, and Wally reminds readers that using his powers is killing him.  Superman and Alex fly ahead, so that he can open a portal.  Brainiac, who has stayed in the present, calculates the chances of this plan succeeding as infinitesimal.  Aqualad learns that Tula has died, and is comforted by Mera.  Superman and Alex make it through, and the heroes arrive in a large white space where the Anti-Monitor is waiting for them.  Pariah is there too, and he warns them to turn around, and then tells them to destroy him (I guess he can’t make up his mind).  The Anti-Monitor reveals that Pariah wasn’t the one that destroyed his world, that it was really him.  Superman gives the order to attack, and dozens of heroes open up on him at the same time (Robin wonders why he and Batman are there, and that seems legit to me).  On Ancient Oa, Lex leads the attack, but the Oans react weirdly, talking about their property and fighting back.  Maaldor (who?), Icicle, and Mirror Master make it to Krona’s lab, but they are stopped before they can destroy his viewscreen.  As the heroes pour on their power, the Anti-Monitor uses their energy to open a hole in the wall of creation.  He shows that it was his hand that Krona saw, and the Anti-Monitor claims he can now change the flow of history to make it all anti-matter.  Pariah realizes they are powerless to stop him, but the Spectre, growing to a huge size, grabs the Anti-Monitor’s hand to stop him.  We see that he’s backed up by a number of magical heroes, who are feeding him their power.  A woman I don’t know (Amethyst, perhaps?) sees Krona’s screen appearing in the whiteness.  The Anti-Monitor yells to get Krona’s attention, but the Spectre refuses to accept that they’ve lost, and calls for more power.  It’s not clear what happens next, as we see reality fracture and fall apart, revealing only whiteness.

• Issue eleven opens with a view of the singular universe and the singular Earth.  Kal-L (Earth-2 Superman) wakes up in his bed, thinking he’d dreamt of a battle at the dawn of time.  He notices that his apartment looks different than he remembers, and wonders where Lois is, before heading off to his job, not noticing changes.  Perry White questions why he’s sitting in his chair, and he realizes that he’s on Earth-1.  Earth-1 Clark Kent comes to make excuses, claiming he’s his absent-minded uncle, and they head to the roof to talk in their Superman costumes.  Clark-1 tells Clark-2 he’ll accompany him to the warp zone in New York so he can go home.  When they get there, a police officer doesn’t know what they’re talking about.  They decide to go see the Flash in Central City so they can borrow his cosmic treadmill.  They notice a sign referring to the twin cities of Central and Keystone Cities.  They see Jay Garrick’s place, but Joan doesn’t know Kal-L, only Kal-El, causing more confusion.  Jay knows them both, and takes them to his lab where Wally is already working on the treadmill.  Jay is also generally confused, having figured out that not all of his memories are shared by others now.  All four heroes board the treadmill, hoping to go to Earth-2, but find only blackness where the multiverse should be.  Jay realizes that there’s only one Earth now, and this causes suicidal ideation in Kal-L, who wants to dive into the void.  Kal-El has to wrestle him back onto the platform, and when they return, the device is destroyed.  Wally suggests they gather all the heroes.  Rip Hunter is in his time sphere with the Forgotten Heroes, Adam Strange, and Captain Comet.  They see that time has realigned, and come across Brainiac’s ship, floating derelict.  They board it and believe that Brainiac is dead.  Heroes gather at Titans’ Tower, trying to figure out what’s happened.  They all come to the realization that there’s now only one Earth.  Harbinger, her powers restored, explains that there is still danger facing the New Earth they are on.  Huntress shares her story of discovering that Helena Wayne, and her father, the Earth-2 Batman never existed.  Earth-2’s Robin explains that he’s come to realize that the only Dick Grayson is nineteen years old (these heroes are pretty free with their secret identities).  Lyla explains the general history of the Earth (with an outsized focus on America), mentioning that many heroes fought with Uncle Sam during the Second World War, and explains that there was only ever one Superman (and Krypton), and one Batman.  Kal-L takes this badly, and flies off, with Kal-El going after him.  In some shadowy place, the Phantom Stranger and Deadman look over the Spectre, who is in something like a coma.  In Nevada, at a convention for detectives, Harvey Bullock, Johnny Double, Jonni Thunder, and some others (like the Human Target) come across the body of Angle Man, one of Wonder Woman’s villains.  In Salem, Doctor Fate and the Demon watch through a portal as townspeople somewhere chase Amethyst.  Dr. Occult appears to save her from the crowd that thinks she’s a witch, but they are attacked by shadow demons (the sky is turning red again).  Fate and Etrigan go to intervene, and Fate sees something in Amethyst’s eyes that scares him.  He opens a portal to Gemworld and takes her there.  Kal-El catches up to Kal-L, who is mourning for Lois and his world, and doesn’t want to live.  Back at the Tower, Wonder Girl talks about how she and Wonder Woman went to Paradise Island and found the Earth-2 Wonder Woman and Fury there.  Hippolyta didn’t know who they were.  Power Girl wonders how both she and Supergirl are known on this New Earth.  Batman turns up with Robin and Alexander Luthor.  They talk about going to see Lex Luthor in jail, who had no memories of the fight with the Anti-Monitor.  This is taken as proof that only the people who were present at the dawn of time can remember what happened before.  Gar notices that the skies are turning colour again.  In Gorilla City, shadow demons attack, while doctors try to figure out how King Solivar was injured.  Cave Carson leads a team under a mountain in Peru, following up on reports from the Challengers of the Unknown of strange readings.  He discovers a swirling maelstrom of pure energy.  Lightning streaks across the sky everywhere, and Pariah feels evil, but doesn’t teleport away.  Alex’s body is surrounded by anti-matter again, and the Earth shakes and then moves into the anti-matter universe.  The Anti-Monitor’s image appears above the two Supermen, warning of their doom.

• The Forgotten Heroes group, still on Brainiac’s ship, realize he’s not dead.  Brainiac does not remember what’s happened, but they fill him in and he takes them to get help.  The Anti-Monitor speaks to all of New Earth, talking about how this planet is the first to ever defeat him or stand in his way, and mentions that he’s killed Supergirl and the Flash, and now will destroy the rest of the world so he can replace all matter with anti-matter.  This is the first that the heroes have learned about Barry’s death, and Wally is stunned.  The world is engulfed in blackness.  The two Supermen can hear everyone’s fear, but they aren’t too pleased to see Harbinger come to them.  She takes their hands.  At the same time (she can split herself into other bodies again, without the Monitor’s machines) she goes to collect Doctor Light, who is training with a Japanese hero named Sunburst.  Light has changed, becoming more heroic, and willingly goes with Lyla.  The Challengers of the Unknown realize that the blackness surrounding the planet is actually the bodies of a legion of shadow demons that attack all over the Earth.  Whoever they touch is killed, and we see them killing people in many locations.  Heroes rise up against them everywhere, as do some villains.  Phantom Stranger and Dr. Mist try to revive the Spectre, while Harbingers group of collected heroes gather below them.  Jade mentions that Alan Scott is working with the other mystics.  Alex opens a small gap in the forceshield that keeps the Earth separate from its anti-matter surroundings, and as the heroes travel, Deadman notices someone slip in with the others.  Brainiac’s ship arrives in orbit around Apokolips.  He teleports the Forgotten Heroes to the surface, where they are met by Darkseid.  Various reporters broadcast coverage of the heroes fighting shadow demons.  We see Dove get killed while rescuing a child.  Johnny Thunder watches as Dr. Occult and Green Lantern (Alan Scott) channel the powers of the other mystics.  The away team arrives on Qward, but they aren’t sure how to get to the Anti-Monitor.  Jade realizes that Kid Flash came with them, and Wally explains that he came to avenge Barry.  He sees an image of Barry and tries to follow it.  He, and the heroes that follow him, discover the Psycho-Pirate, who has lost his mind and is talking to Barry’s empty uniform.  Pariah sense the Anti-Monitor, but given that he’s massive and approaching them, I guess they didn’t need him.  A shadow demon kills Lori Lemaris after she saves Mera outside Atlantis.  In Chicago, the Earth-2 Green Arrow is killed, in New Orleans it’s Prince Ra-Man, and in Gotham, they get Clayface and the Bug-Eyed Bandit.  In New York, Huntress is caught in a building collapse.  Kole creates a shield around her and Earth-2 Robin, but the demons get all three of them.  The mystics use their combined powers to gather the shadow demons across the Earth, and bind them into a sphere of energy.  Superman leads the attack on the Anti-Monitor, which is designed to keep him distracted.  Harbinger can tell that the Anti-Monitor is drawing his power from a local star, and has Dr. Light start absorbing it, which weakens him.  Alex starts blasting at him with his powers, drawing away his anti-matter energy.  Negative Woman is up next, and she wraps herself around the Anti-Monitor.  All the energy casters start blasting away at him with whatever they’ve got, and then Dr. Light turns the full force of the sun on him.  He collapses onto Qward, and looks dead.  Alex tells them that he should be able to open up a portal big enough to move the Earth back where it belongs.  The heroes gather and prepare to return, bringing the Psycho-Pirate with them, but as they move, we see light rekindle in the Anti-Monitor’s eye.  Firehawk notices that the cage of shadow demons is being drawn towards Qward.  The Anti-Monitor absorbs them and is restored.  He blasts at them, hitting Wonder Woman.  Earth-1 Superman tells the others to go, and he’ll deal with the Anti-Monitor.  Lady Quark insists on staying with him, but Earth-2 Superman hits them both and has Superboy fly them away.  Kal-L says that without Lois, he has nothing to live for, and wants to finish this himself.  The Anti-Monitor feels pain – the mystic heroes had tainted the shadow demons’ energy in an attempt to poison him.  Superboy decides he needs to help Kal-L, and tosses Kal-El and Quark through the portal.  Alex yells at him to hurry up, as the portal is closing, but Superboy says he’s going to stay too.  We learn that Alex also has to stay behind to close the portal.  Kal-L throws massive asteroids at the Anti-Monitor.  Darkseid is able to watch all of this through Alex’s eyes (something about him being a conduit).  Kal-L keeps up his assault, and it looks like the Anti-Monitor is staying down finally.  Kal-L goes to check on Superboy, but the Anti-Monitor rallies once again and blasts them, absorbing all the energy in the universe to do it.  He manages to grab the two Clarks, and this is when Darkseid strikes, sending power through Alexander to blast the Anti-Monitor.  He goes flying into the nearby star.  Darkseid kicks the Forgotten Heroes off of Apokolips.  Alex is explaining to Kal-L and Superboy that they are stuck, but the Anti-Monitor, now just a ball of angry energy, comes at them again.  Kal-L goes and punches him, dispersing his energy.  The sun explodes, and Alex can tell that everything within a million miles will be destroyed, including them.  The two Clarks make peace with dying, and that’s when Alex reveals that he’s kept Earth-2’s Lois inside a dimension within him.  He knew that the Earths would merge, and decided to save her (in a way, she is his mother after all).  He tells them that they can go back to this realm, and they all leave as the shockwave hits the rock they were standing on.  As the series wraps up, we read from Lyla’s records.  We learn that when Wonder Woman was hit, she went back in time, reverting to the clay she was born from, and the Amazons were returned to Themyscira, not Paradise Island.  We also learn that the Wonder Woman from Earth-2 went to Mount Olympus and was given a place to live there among the gods (which was summarily retconned away when Pérez relaunched Wonder Woman’s title).  We see some of the funerals for the heroes that were lost.  Wally tells Jay that he’s going to take on the mantle of The Flash, and we learn that he is no longer dying from the use of his powers.  There’s a brief attempt to clarify the future of the New Earth, mentioning Kamandi and Jonah Hex, but avoiding the question of the Legion of Super-Heroes completely.  Lyla mentions that the Guardians are split amongst themselves.  Pariah and Quark come to ask Lyla to accompany them in exploring the new world.  The epilogue shows us that Psycho-Pirate, who is institutionalized, is the only person who remembers the multiverse (something that Grant Morrison would use later in Animal Man).

Reading this series in order like this, and in a short span of time, I’m blown away by what an accomplishment it is, on many different levels.  I can’t think of another series that was as ambitious in scope and scale, and was able to pull it off like this series did.  It took nearly seven pages to just list the speaking characters in this series (there are dozens of others who were essentially extras), and the amount of coordination that would have taken to make these appearances fit with the other titles in the line is staggering.

Marv Wolfman, as both writer and editor of this book pulled off something incredible, because in addition to being this world-defining reimagining of the DCU, it was also a pretty readable story that was emotionally very effective in many places.  Yes, I could easily argue that a lot of the scenes that only existed to lead into a character’s own title were annoying, and that a lot of the subplots weren’t resolved, or that characters just stopped showing up at some point (John Stewart is the first to come to mind), all of that is secondary to the strength of the main story.

Wolfman was respectful of the Golden Age characters who were being altered the most, and I liked the idea that he was going to give Kal-L and Lois the chance to live together forever (and thus leave the door open for Geoff Johns to bring them and Superboy back one day).  

The death of Supergirl was very effective, as we saw Superman’s grief and disbelief play out.  The Flash’s death was not as impactful as I remembered it being, and I thought it was odd that it took so long for the other heroes to learn of it.  

As a big-time Legion fan, I was happy to see them used so prominently at the beginning of the event, going so far as having Blok represent the team on one of the bigger missions.  I thought it was very interesting, though, that by the time Superboy came from Earth-Prime, the Legion were back in their own time.  Crisis was particularly impactful for the Legion, as the team was based on the ideal and model of Superboy.  Once he was erased from continuity, that was a problem.  Of course, these issues led to some of the greatest stories in Legion history, with Paul Levitz and John Byrne inventing the Time Trapper’s pocket universe, and then later, after the Five Year Gap, Keith Giffen and Tom and Mary Bierbaum effectively reinventing the Legion’s history for the greatest run in that series’s history (see my Legion columns in the archive link at the end of this column to learn more).

This series really did a great job of closing the door on the “old” DCU, and ushered in a great era.  Superman was depowered and made so much more interesting in John Byrne’s hands.  Wonder Woman was rebooted by George Pérez in a much-loved run.  Wally West had to grow into his mentor’s shoes.  Green Arrow became dark and gritty.  Likewise, the Question.  Batman: Year One happened.  The Justice League incorporated some of the heroes from Earth-S and Earth-4, and became irreverent and funny.  The Suicide Squad got its launch.  Titles that weren’t rebooted had to scramble to figure some things out (I’m pretty sure even Wolfman struggled to figure out what to do with Donna Troy in the wake of the Crisis, damaging that character for decades).  

All of this change provided a perfect jumping-on point for young me, who started to read a lot of DC titles after this moment, and therefore never really had to worry about figuring out what Earth things were happening on.  I think it’s pretty easy to draw a line from just about anything that happened in the DCU in the late 80s and early 90s through this event, and I think it gave the entire company a creative shot in the arm.

It did have its issues though.  The inclusion of most of the villains felt forced and awkward, and I don’t understand how even fifty supervillains could “take over” an entire Earth by attacking only its alternate version of America.  The one thing that I could not get past had to do with the chronology of things.  If the anti-matter waves were happening in each era simultaneously, doesn’t that mean that they’ve always been happening?  Like, if the wave is hitting Superman’s Metropolis in 1985, and it’s hitting the Legion’s Metropolis in 2985, wouldn’t it just have always been there?  This is a common issue with time travel stories, when characters continue to interact chronologically, but it really bothered me here.

You can’t talk about this book without recognizing the incredible work of George Pérez.  He drew hundreds of unique characters in this series, and got all their details right.  He also played around with layout and storytelling, squeezing such a massive story into the confines of a single panel or page as needed, and the book was never late (based on the cover dates).  Yes, it was clear that some pages were handled more by his inkers, especially after Jerry Ordway came on, as the faces didn’t always have that trademark Pérez look to them, but he did a mountain of work for this comic, and made it very effective.  The inkers, Ordway and Dick Giordano, likewise did an incredible job, as there were just so many characters on some pages that it must have been difficult to make them all recognizable.

I’m really glad that I finally tackled this series.  I know I’ve only scratched the surface in my discussion here, but there is too much to talk about, really.  When compared to every large-scale crossover that’s come since, it remains the gold standard.  The fact that Dark Crisis is happening right now, and is such a contrast to it, is notable.

I’m sticking to shorter series for the summer, and looking into a little-known independent title for my next column.  It’s a book that came to mind when one of its creators passed away recently, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to read again.

If you’d like to see the archives of all of my retro review columns, click here.