Infinite Crisis #1

Geoff Johns Writer
Phil Jimenez Penciller
Andy Lanning Inker
Jeromy Cox & Guy Major Colorists
Nick J. Napolitano Letterer
Jeanine Schaefer Asst. Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor
Special thanks to Greg Rucka
And eternal gratitude to Marv Wolfman and George Pérez for building the foundation that all super-hero epics have come from.

Our main cover is by Jim Lee, and it was also the cover chosen for my trade paperback copy of Infinite Crisis. And honestly? I'm a little disappointed. Batman and Superman both look a little off. And the arrangement of villains in the sky just doesn't work for me. Why make Doctor Light front and center? This is DC's biggest event in a decade, involving every single character in their universe. And to me, this cover does not say that.

Our variant cover is by George Pérez, and this feels more like a massive company-wide event. I love how Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman each have their two current proteges in their shadows — Supergirl and Superboy, Donna Troy and Wonder Girl, Nightwing and Robin. Plus, there's so much detail that is clear and easy to see. At the top is the Rann-Thanagar War, at bottom left, the OMACs, and bottom right, all the united super villains. It's awesome. It's dynamic. It should have been the cover for the trade paperback.

Our story begins with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman meeting at the ruins of the JLA Watchtower on the moon, trying to figure out what destroyed it. They're all mad at each other for different reasons — Batman for the Brother Eye fiasco, Wonder Woman for murdering Maxwell Lord, and Superman for not being a strong enough leader during all these catastrophes.

We cut to Smallville, where Superboy is watching Beast Boy, Raven and Wonder Girl battle demons in Los Angeles (we'll get to that in Teen Titans #30) and Robin is elsewhere fighting OMACs (probably Blüdhaven). Ma Kent tells Conner to go help his friends, but he's still worried about Lex Luthor's programming. She tells him he gets to choose his own fate and the world needs a Superboy right now. So Conner stands up and starts to take off his shirt, revealing the black Superman T-shirt underneath. But he pauses when the TV reports that Luthor was spotted in Anchorage, Alaska, having apparently killed a pilot and stolen his plane. This spooks Conner enough to put his shirt back on and sit back down.

Four mysterious figures are watching all this from a different plane of reality. A young man is particularly disgusted by Conner's inaction, but an older woman is more sympathetic, taking into account all he's gone through and believes he will eventually step forward. An older man, however, believes Superboy will fail to make a difference, just like all the others, and he says it's time for them to intervene. The woman is worried they'd make things worse if they did get involved, but the man says if they don't, there'll be no Earth to worry about. While they're having this discussion, they're watching all the chaos going on around the world, including Flash fighting the Rogues and Aquaman fighting some OMACs. And this is our only glimpse of Kid Flash in the issue.

We head to Blüdhaven, where Donna Troy, Starfire and Supergirl are saying goodbye to Nightwing before leaving to recruit some more heroes to attempt Donna's secret plan to save the universe. But as soon as they leave, Blüdhaven is attacked by a massive swarm of OMACs. Nightwing frantically calls for Donna to return, but to no avail.

Out in space, the Rann-Thanagar War has become complicated by the appearance of a tear in reality that has swallowed up a neighboring galaxy. The Guardians of the Universe report that the very fabric of existence has shifted and for the first time in history, Oa is no longer the center of the universe.

The Rock of Eternity has appeared over Gotham City, which is under siege by tons of villains, including the Riddler, Scarface and Murmur. The Rock suddenly explodes, and Captain Marvel comes crashing down on the ground, weakly telling the nearby detectives that the Spectre has killed the Wizard. The Spectre then looms large over the city, while the embodiments of the Seven Deadly Sins of Man run amok through the streets.

Twenty miles south of Metropolis, Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters are hunting down the Secret Society of Super-Villains. His team includes two familiar names — Damage and the Ray, who complains that they've been awake for 48 hours straight on this mission. Damage wonders why the Justice League isn't doing this, and the Human Bomb says they're probably busy dealing with the destruction of the Watchtower. The good news is the Freedom Fighters find the Society's hideout. The bad news is Doctor Polaris, Doctor Light, Deathstroke, Black Adam, Psycho Pirate, Sinestro, Bizarro, Cheetah and Zoom are all inside the hideout, just waiting for a fight.

Back on the Watchtower, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are ambushed by Mongul. Meanwhile, the Freedom Fighters are getting their butts kicked. Doctor Light steals Ray's powers, and Zoom overwhelms Damage, while telling him they'll become stronger heroes ... if they survive. Deathstroke impales the Phantom Lady, saying it's just business. The Human Bomb snaps at this and rips open his protective suit, exposing his explosive skin. This knocks away most the villains, but Bizarro is able to withstand the blasts, and he beats the Human Bomb to death.

The Psycho Pirate puts Ray in a happy mood and drags him away, saying Luthor needs him alive. The last hero standing is Uncle Sam, who is surrounded and brutally murdered by the villains. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman manage to chase Mongul away, but that doesn't stop their argument. They yell at each other for a while before bitterly taking off in separate ways.

We return to the four mysterious watchers, who now feel like Superman has given up. They continue their debate on whether they should, or even could, save this world. The debate, however, is settled when one of the young men whispers into the old man's ear: "We can even save her. I'm certain of it." At this prompting, Superman punches through the wall of reality, freeing himself, Lois Lane, Superboy and Alexander Luthor.




This is a big, bombastic, awesome story. It has weight and scope. It honors the past and looks toward the future. Geoff Johns was one of the very few writers who could have pulled this off, and Phil Jimenez was one of the very few artists who could have drawn this many characters so well. Perhaps the best element of this story is the point of reference — heroes from a forgotten time, who remember how things used to be, how things should be. They, like many readers, grow frustrated to see Earth's most powerful heroes squabbling over minor details while the planet below them is being torn apart. Like many readers, these older heroes long for a return to the simpler, more optimistic time of the DC Universe.

It's not particularly easy to just jump right into this story, though. DC spent three years building up to it, so you'd need at least a basic understanding of what happened during that time, including Identity Crisis and the four separate mini series leading into Infinite Crisis. You'd also need a basic understanding of Crisis on Infinite Earths, which came out 20 years before this story, and explains where this other Superman and Superboy came from. On one hand, a story that depends so much on other stories can turn away new readers. On the other hand, it is nice to occasionally reward longtime readers for the time they've put into the universe. Plus, if this story is good enough, it'll inspire new readers to check out those other stories that were mentioned.

Kid Flash isn't too involved in the first half of Infinite Crisis, but he'll get some things to do as the story progresses. But before we get there, we'll have our Year in Review for 2005.