Infinite Crisis #4

Homecoming

Geoff Johns – Writer
Phil Jimenez, George Pérez & Ivan Reis – Pencillers
Andy Lanning, Lary Stucker, George Pérez, Marc Campos, Oclair Albert, Jimmy Palmiotti & Drew Geraci – Inkers
Jeromy Cox & Guy Major – Colorists
Nick J. Napolitano – Letterer
Jeanine Schaefer – Asst. Editor
Eddie Berganza – Editor

Our cover by Jim Lee shows the Superboy we know and love — Conner, formerly Kon — battling the other Superboy, who had been watching him with disgust from a realm outside of reality. This is a great, dynamic cover. My only complaints are the glowing red angry eyes of anger that is all too common with the Superman-types, and Krypto's claws — he's a dog, not a cat!

My digital copy of this issue also includes the sketch variant. I don't think it's any better or worse than the finalized version. But it is kind of neat to see a bit of the process. This cover was clearly drawn on old-fashioned paper with pencil, and you can still see some of Lee's eraser marks.

Our variant cover by George Pérez once again has that more classic feel of a crisis event comic. Donna Troy and her hand-picked team are falling into a massive white hole in space, reminding me a lot of Zero Hour and, more specifically, Crisis on Infinite Earths. If you look closely, you can see two large gold hands pushing the hole wider. I also think it's interesting to see so many familiar faces with Donna here, including Cyborg, Starfire, Supergirl, the Green Lanterns, and our old Young Justice mentor, Red Tornado.

Our story begins with the Brain, Monsieur Mallah and several other villains working in conjunction with Deathstroke to drop a gigantic being of radiation called Chemo on Blüdhaven. We see that Blüdhaven is plagued by corrupt cops and politicians and prostitution, but it's still a haunting scene when Chemo hits the ground and creates a massive radioactive explosion that levels the entire city. Watching this with approval are Alexander Luthor and the other Superboy (we'll call him Superboy-Prime for clarity's sake).

Some quick background: Crisis on Infinite Earths ended with all the different Earths in the Multiverse being destroyed/merged into one Earth. As many heroes were disappearing and fading from existence, Alexander Luthor, son of a Lex Luthor that was a good guy on his planet, created a heavenly rift in reality. Joining him were the original Superman and Lois Lane, now an elderly couple, and Superboy-Prime, who was the only hero from his planet but had Superman comics to inspire him. And despite having spent years in this paradise dimension, Superboy-Prime still is a teenager physically, mentally and emotionally.

Currently, Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor are working on a large golden tower that includes the corpse of the Anti-Monitor (the main villain of Crisis on Infinite Earths) and has various other characters hooked up to it — Power Girl, Martian Manhunter, Black Adam and the Ray. All of them are asleep except for Power Girl, who knows that Alexander is trying to bring back the elder Superman's world, Earth-Two, and she offers to help with the aid of this Earth's heroes. But Alexander and Superboy-Prime won't entertain the idea of working with them, considering them corrupt beyond redemption.

Alexander explains that he and Superboy-Prime have been secretly sneaking out of the "heaven" he created, as the elder Superman was distracted with Lois' deteriorating health. Superboy-Prime retrieved the Anti-Monitor's corpse to form the basis of their tower, while Alexander came to this Earth, disguised as Lex Luthor with a hologram. He formed the Secret Society of Super-Villains primarily to collect individuals who contained the specific vibrational frequency needed to power his machine (the Ray inherited this frequency from his father, who had journeyed to Earth-X before the Crisis).

But Alexander needed fuel for his tower. So he recruited the Psycho-Pirate to manipulate Eclipso into seducing the Spectre into launching a war on magic itself. Once the Spectre killed the wizard Shazam, all the magic in the world became raw energy, unbound by order or chaos, enabling Alexander to harness it and use it as fuel. He also was the one who granted sentience to Brother Eye to use its programming abilities to remap the multiverse and direct the tower's energy, as well as control the army of OMACs. Superboy-Prime, meanwhile, used his nearly limitless strength to literally move planets around the galaxy, starting the Rann-Thanagar War, but more importantly, shifting Oa off the center of the universe to create a spot for Earth-Two.

Well, to clarify, Alexander isn't necessarily concerned about Earth-Two, so much as he wants to find the perfect Earth. Earth-Two is just a stop along the way on his crusade. Power Girl blames him for Wonder Woman killing Maxwell Lord, Batman's paranoia and Superman's ineffectiveness. But Alexander says they all did those things on their own, proving to him that they were incapable of protecting their Earth. Kara says that the old Superman will stop him, but Alexander has crystals keeping his tower invisible to even Superman's enhanced senses. When Kara cries out that he's supposed to be Superman's friend, Alexander says he is, but after studying all the universes for countless years, he has learned that whenever a Luthor stands next to a Superman, they will always be at odds. Power Girl then tries to appeal to Superboy-Prime, but Alexander puts her to sleep with a kiss. Superboy-Prime impatiently asks for Alexander to fulfill his promise and let him go talk to someone, and Alexander complies.

Batman finds Nightwing on the outskirts of Blüdhaven. Luckily, Nightwing was in New York when Chemo hit, but now he wants to get back in the city and help Superman look for survivors. But Batman holds him back, saying he needs Dick's help with something else.

At the Fortress of Solitude, the old Lois Lane is very frail and essentially lying in her deathbed. Alexander is tending to her when the old Superman returns from his failed encounter with Batman. He tells Alexander that he was right about this Earth's Batman being unwilling to help restore Earth-Two, but Batman did say something that caught Superman's attention. Not everyone on this Earth is a worse version of themselves. For example, Dick Grayson, who is good, strong and even has grown beyond the role of Robin. Alexander insists that Dick is an exception to the rule, and given time, he would be corrupted like the others. He then turns Superman's attention to Lois, claiming she will die unless Earth-Two returns.

To no one's surprise, the person Superboy-Prime wanted to talk to was our version of Superboy. He visits the Kent farm in Smallville, catching the Kents talking about how Conner should be helping with the chores. Prime tells them he knows they tried their best with Conner, but he won't be a bother anymore. When Conner steps outside, Prime introduces himself as Conner's replacement. He tells the Kents he doesn't blame them for this world's problems, but he does blame people like Conner. Naturally, Conner doesn't take this too kindly and he tells Prime he needs to back off. Prime begins mumbling and stuttering before finally getting out that he wants Conner to admit that he gave up and it's time for a Superboy who knows what right and wrong are. Prime claims he's the Superboy the world needs, but Conner finds all this preposterous, mocks Prime's outfit and tells him again to back off. This puts Superboy-Prime over the edge, and he attacks Conner, shouting, "You're not Superboy!"

We quickly cut to El Paso to see that Booster Gold has discovered that the Blue Beetle scarab has bonded to the spine of a young man named Jaime Reyes. Back in Smallville, the Superboy fight has been carried over to the downtown area. Prime is having his way with Conner, calling him a weak imitation. Krypto comes to Conner's aid and bites Prime's shoulder. This distresses Prime, who believes Krypto isn't supposed to fight him, and he savagely kicks the dog down the street. This fuels Conner with an intense anger, and he prepares to take the fight up a notch.

Batman has taken Nightwing to the Batcave to explain his theory that the Blüdhaven attack was a coordinated distraction to cover up for the alternate Superman's mission to replace this Earth with his. Batman reports that Martian Manhunter was attacked by an alternate Superboy, who was seen talking to an alternate Luthor. Dick finds this insane, especially the part of a Superman being so willing to risk the lives of an entire planet. Batman explains this by saying Superman is trying to save someone he loves. Bruce wants Dick to present this information to the other heroes because they still trust him, as he has put an importance on keeping relationships that Bruce has neglected. Dick knows Bruce does care about relationships, but just chooses to let everyone think different. Noting that the string of recent disasters has shut down communications on the East Coast, Nightwing says he'll fly to Titans Tower to try to get a message out to everybody. Batman stays behind, saying he has a computer problem he still needs to fix, but before Dick leaves, he asks him if the early years were good for him. Dick says with a smile they were the best, then takes off.

The Superboy fight has now reached Keystone City, and Superboy-Prime has quickly regained the upper hand, throwing cars at Conner, and accusing him of fooling everyone into believing he was Superboy. Prime even chastises Conner for not wearing a cape. But when he's bruised, broken and bleeding, Conner surprises Prime with a smile. He had his Titans communicator in his pocket and has sent out a distress call. And boy, was that call answered.

The two Superboys are quickly surrounded by almost every current and former Teen Titan, as well as the Doom Patrol and Justice Society of America. Beast Boy takes the form of a dinosaur and cries out "Titans together!" Wonder Girl wraps her lasso around Conner and quickly pulls him to safety. Prime, however, is shocked to see so many heroes wanting to fight him, yelling that he's not a bad guy.

In Gotham City, we see that the Spectre has been placed inside the recently murdered Detective Crispsus Allen. The Spectre does not like this one bit, pleading for forgiveness and repentance, saying he was seduced and fooled. But his pleas go unanswered.

In Keystone, the more our heroes try to restrain Superboy-Prime, the more wild and erratic he becomes, injuring those around him. He begs everyone to stop hitting him, saying he just wanted to talk to Superboy. But he also claims this whole fight is everyone else's fault. One of our old friends from the New Titans, Pantha, takes this comment as evidence that Prime is just a stupid kid. But Prime doesn't like being called stupid, and when he hits Pantha, he inadvertently hits her a little too hard and ends up decapitating her.

With blood on his hands and tears in his eyes, Superboy-Prime weakly says he didn't mean to do that. But he's attacked hard by Pantha's family, Red Star and Wildebeest. Despite feeling awful for his actions, Prime can't stop himself from fighting back. He blasts a hole through Wildebeest's gut with his heat vision and freezes Red Star with his arctic breath. While complaining that these heroes are making him do this and are ruining him by making him like them, Prime continues the onslaught. He rips off Risk's arm, blasts Bushido in half, and probably would have killed Beast Boy next if he wasn't suddenly swept away by a rush of lightning and the words, "Wegothimguys."

Bart, Wally and Jay have decided Superboy-Prime is too dangerous to mess with anymore, and are taking him to the Speed Force. Of course, Prime isn't going quietly, and he tries to blast off Wally's head with his heat vision. Jay manages to catch the blast with his helmet, but he has to tap out, as his tendons are tearing at this speed. Wally tells him not to worry, since they just needed Jay to help them get a running start. But shortly after Jay falls away, Wally is pulled away against his will, calling out to Bart to not stop running.

Wally suddenly appears before Linda and his twins in his apartment, realizing that Linda has always been his lightning rod. He tells her he loves her more than anything, but he has to keep running right now. Linda asks if he's running to the Speed Force, but Wally says it feels like he's going someplace else and he has to let go of everything he loves. Linda refuses to accept this, and she grabs hold of Wally's head and tells him wherever he goes, his family is coming with him. As Linda kisses Wally, the twins' eyes light up with lightning, and the entire family vanishes in a large bolt of lightning.

Bart understandably is panicking right now, saying he can't do this alone. Superboy-Prime begins to mock him, saying he's been watching Bart and knows he's weaker than the rest and has always been stupid. Bart angrily begins punching Prime, shouting that he's not stupid, while still racing him toward the Speed Force. Suddenly, Barry Allen appears behind Superboy-Prime and wraps his arms around his neck. He tells Bart he's not alone, and is soon joined by Johnny Quick and Max Mercury, who each grab one of Prime's arms.

Barry tells Bart that Wally's waiting for him, and Max encourages him to not be afraid. Bart tells Max he's not afraid, and gives Superboy-Prime one final push into the swirling light. Prime begs the speedsters to stop, crying out, "They made me do it!" He says they can't get rid of him because when he grows up, he's going to be Superman. As he whines and begs, Bart keeps pushing, the others keep pulling, and eventually they all disappear in an explosion of light. We return to Jay Garrick, who oddly feels like the Speed Force is gone.

At the Fortress of Solitude, Alexander has again taken advantage of the old Superman being distracted by Lois' health. He summons all the OMACs to form a perimeter around his tower, then has Psycho-Pirate manipulate Black Adam into calling down his lightning to fuel the machine.

In Space Sector 2814, the vast storm is growing bigger. Donna Troy and her team are desperately trying to save all the spaceships around them, but they're pretty ineffectual, and some of them even die. Alexander rises to the top of his tower, is surrounded by pink energy, and creates massive replicas of his gold hands out in space, pushing that hole out even wider. Alexander is strained by the effort, but he rejoices in having the chance to "fix everything." In Keystone City, the Titans, Doom Patrol and JSA are licking their wounds when about half of them and a bunch of buildings suddenly disappear in a flash of blue light. We then see that Alexander has successfully created a second Earth, right beside our Earth. The old Superman and Lois also disappear in the blue light and reappear in front of the Daily Star building. Superman happily exclaims that they're home.




This. Was. Awesome. I haven't been this excited by a comic since Young Justice got cancelled. Even though this issue had three pencillers and seven inkers, the artwork remained remarkably consistent and high-quality throughout. These artists truly are the cream of the crop. And it's so refreshing, and necessary, to have such stellar artwork for a story like this. All the buildup, all the miniseries and crossovers built up to this moment. The great reveal that all these separate stories were connected and parts of a bigger whole. But let's set aside all the fascinating side stories of this comic and focus on the main event: Superboy-Prime vs. the Flash family.

Superboy-Prime is a compelling villain. He once truly was a hero. But years of being locked away, forced to helplessly watch the world move on without him eventually drove him insane. In fact, you could make the same argument for Alexander Luthor and the old Superman, who refuses to let his wife die of old age. But Superboy-Prime had it especially rough, as he was forever stuck as an emotional teenager. Throughout Infinite Crisis, we constantly saw Alexander and Superman have to calm Superboy-Prime down, keep his temper under control. But once he got out on his own, there was no one to hold him back, and he caused one of the biggest disasters in DC history. At least three heroes killed, dozens wounded, Superboy beaten to an inch of his life, and, more importantly, the Flash and Kid Flash have gone missing, and have apparently taken the entire Speed Force with them.

I wish The Flash #230 would have been a crossover to Infinite Crisis and given us more detail and background on Wally's disappearance. It was emotional and beautiful. Every time we've seen Wally run into the Speed Force, he's always been able to come back because of his lightning rod, Linda. In this case, it almost seemed he reflexively was drawn back to Linda, but obviously something else was going on here. In any case, I loved how Linda refused to say goodbye this time and actively chose to journey off to who-knows-where with her husband.

And then there's Bart. What a courageous, heroic moment for him. Jay falls away. Wally is torn away. But Bart keeps going. Keeps pushing Superboy-Prime into the Speed Force while punching him repeatedly in the face. And just when it seems like he can't go any further, Bart gets help from the other side. The artwork made Barry Allen the big reveal, but for me, it was Max Mercury. I actually teared up a little bit. It has been far too long since Max disappeared and everybody pretty much stopped talking about him. Now here he is, at this most crucial moment, giving Bart the encouragement and help he needs to put away this unstable, unstoppable threat. This isn't the end of Bart Allen, but in a way, it is the end of Kid Flash. And it's a beautiful, heroic end.

Next time, we'll take a look at the aftermath of Blüdhaven's destruction in Adventures of Superman #648.