Crisis on Infinite Earths FAQ

[Paul Newell]

1. What was the Crisis?


Crisis on Infinite Earths was a 12 issue mini-series released in 1985 by DC Comics. The series was written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by George Perez, inked by Dick Giordano and Jerry Ordway. The purpose of the series was to showcase the breadth and depth of the DC Universe while at the same time streamlining it.


2. Why did it need streamlining?

At that time DC’s titles showcased a “Multiverse” of Parallel Earths, with some Earths featuring doppelgangers of heroes. Editorial considered this to be too confusing and needed simplifying.


3. What were the different Earths?


Though not all were featured in Crisis, the list of Earths that existed at the time were:





Earth-One: Home of the Silver-Age DC heroes, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Justice League.
Earth-Two: Home of the Golden-Age DC Heroes, including the Justice Society, All-Star Squadron and Infinity Inc.
Earth-Three: Home of the Crime Syndicate.
Earth-Four: Home of the Charlton heroes, including Blue Beetle, Captain Atom and the Question.
Earth-Six: Home of Lady Quark.
Earth-S: Home of the Fawcett heroes, including the Shazam family.
Earth-X: Home of the Quality heroes, including the Freedom Fighters and Plastic Man.
Earth-12: The home of the Inferior Five.
Earth C: Home of Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew.
Earth-C-Minus: Home of the Justa Lotta Animals
Earth-Prime: Originally “our” Earth until the appearance of Ultraa and Superboy.
A further Earth was added by Marv Wolfman in the Adventures of the DCU Special (Crisis 4.5), Earth D, which was the home of a multicultural Justice League.
As well there are a few other Earths posited to exist. Among them Earth- B (Stories with inconsistent continuity that appeared in The Brave and the Bold and World’s Finest. The stories were primarily written by Bob Haney.), Crossover-Earth (Home of the DC/Marvel crossovers) and Earth-Quality (Where the Freedom Fighters never formed and WWII was won in 1945).

[Paul Newell]

4. How was this Multiverse changed?



Primarily it was “wiped out”. The story introduced readers to two near-omnipotent beings, the good "Monitor" and the evil "Anti-Monitor". The Monitor had made cameo appearances in various DC comic book series for two years preceding the publication of the series and at first appeared to be a new supervillain, but with the onset of the Crisis he was revealed to be working on a desperate plan to save the entire Multiverse from destruction at the hands of the Anti-Monitor. The Crisis series highlighted the efforts of the superheroes to stop the Anti-Monitor's. Under the initial guidance of the Monitor, a select group of heroes was assigned to protect massive "tuning forks" designed to hold off the antimatter that had already annihilated untold numbers of alternate Earths. Eventually the conflict grew and nearly every hero became involved in the battle.

The Monitor was murdered, but his death released enough energy to save the last five parallel Earths long enough for the heroes to lead an assault on the Anti-Monitor. The villain retreated, but at the cost of Supergirl's life. This lull in the war provided some breathing room for the heroes, but the various supervillains joined forces under Brainiac and Lex Luthor to attempt the conquest of the remaining Earths, while the second Flash died stopping the Anti-Monitor's back-up scheme of destruction. The Spectre halted the hero/villain conflict, warning that the Anti-Monitor was traveling to the beginning of time to prevent the Multiverse's creation. Heroes and villains joined forces in response with the heroes traveling to stop the Anti-Monitor, and the villains traveling to the planet Oa in antiquity to prevent the renegade scientist Krona from performing a historic experiment that would have allowed Anti-Monitor to succeed in his efforts.

The villains failed, and Krona proceeded with his experiment, while the heroes supported the Spectre, whose battle with the Anti-Monitor created an energy overload that literally shattered space and time. With that, a single universe was created and the surviving superheroes returned to a present-day reality where the various elements of the five Earths were fused into one. The Anti-Monitor then attacked this single universe but was defeated.


5. Surviving Heroes? Who died?

Many heroes and villains died or were wiped from existence during the storyline.

Those that died were:






The Crime Syndicate: Ultraman, Owlman, Superwoman, Johnny Quick II, and Power Ring
Luthor III
Lois Lane-Luthor
The Losers: Johnny Cloud, Gunner, Sarge, and Captain Storm
Farmer Boy of Easy Company (some sources claim that this is "Flower", a different, but identical-looking, member of Easy)
Nighthawk
Kid Psycho
Princess Fern
Lord Volt
The Justice Alliance of Earth-D (In the Adv.s of the DC Universe Special)
Supergirl
Flash II
Luthor I
Psimon
The Shaggy Man
Aquagirl
Icicle
Mirror Master
Maaldor the Darklord
Angle Man
Starman III
Immortal Man
Dove
Green Arrow I
Prince Ra-Man
Clayface II
Sunburst
Lori Lemaris
The Ten-Eyed Man
Bug-Eyed Bandit
Kole
Huntress II
Robin I
Wonder Woman II (Devolved in time)
Wiped from existence were:



Superman I
Lois Lane-Kent
Alexander Luthor
Earth-Prime Superboy
Wonder Woman I
Steve Trevor I
Some of the heroes that died also were wiped from the timeline, such as Robin I, Green Arrow I, Huntress II and Supergirl.


NOTE: Some of these heroes and villains have re-appeared Post-Crisis.

[Paul Newell]

6. I heard that Marv Wolfman had a secret plot device to bring back the Barry Allen Flash. What was it?



From Marv wolfman’s Questions & Answers page (http://www.marvwolfman.com/Q&A.html):


So many people actually saw that comment I made in my forward and have asked me how I'd bring back the Flash, that I've finally gotten tired of explaining it. So that I don't ever have to explain it again, here it is now, once and for all. Please remember, this is a very comic booky answer and you can probably blow holes in it somehow (but then nobody really complained how an anti-matter villain could co-exist with a positive matter good guy, so maybe physics isn't anyone's strong suit). This is what I proposed to DC back in 1985. Please note that I didn't think it was a good idea to kill The Flash but those were my marching orders, so I did the best I could to make his death as moving as I could. Here is the given I worked from: Much of the reason the people in charge didn't care for Barry Allen was that he was considered dull. I felt if I could come up with a way of making him vital again while keeping him alive, then perhaps Barry would be given a second lease on life. I came up with the idea of Flash moving back through time, flashing into our dimension even as he was dying. So, thought I, what if Barry was plucked out of the time stream at one of those moments he appeared? What if that meant from this point on Barry knew that he was literally living on borrowed time, that at any moment the time stream could close in on him and take him to his inevitable death. What would this mean to Barry? 1: from now on the fastest man alive would literally be running for his life. 2: He knew he didn't have much time left and believed (as Barry would) that he had to devote it to helping others. 3: This meant Barry would become driven and desperate to help others with each passing tick of the clock. I felt this new revitalized attitude might be enough to make the formerly dull police scientist into someone who now had to push himself as he never had to before. I was hoping that this would make the character interesting enough to live. Earlier, I said my explanation was comic booky. In many ways it is because none of us knows when we are going to die. But this knowledge would haunt a man like Barry Allen and change him from an unassuming character into a driven hero. At least that was the plan!


7. Did Crisis cross over into other titles?

Yes it did. And The Monitor made many appearances in DC titles before the Crisis even started.

The timeline of Crisis tie-ins and crossovers goes something like this:




New Teen Titans #21 - First Appearance: Monitor. Watches Starfire & Raven save the New York Yankees from a bomb plot.
New Teen Titans Annual #2 – First Appearance: Lyla. Supplies super-powered mercenaries to a gangster. The mercenaries fight the Teen Titans.
Green Lantern #173, #176, #178. – At the request of a congressman, sends the Demolition Team against Green Lantern.
Flash #338, #339 - Behind the scenes in #338. Supply the Rogues with futuristic armour to create Big Sir.
Tales of the Teen Titans #47 – Records the defeat of H.I.V.E.
Blue Devil #5 – Watches the Blue Devil fight Nebiros.
Fury of Firestorm #28 – Supplies Slipknot to fight Firestorm and watches the battle.
Batman and the Outsiders #14, #15 – Supplies Maxie Zeus with the New Olympians to use against the Outsiders. Observes the battle.
Action Comics #560 – Gives John Doe a contact to get a super-villain costume and weapons.
Justice League of America #232 – Observes the final encounter between The Commander and the JLA/JSA, distracting the the villain so the heroes will win.
Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #317 – Time travel to the 30th Century to observe Dev-Em.
Wonder woman #321 – Watches the Huntress.
Infinity Inc. #8 – Ultra-Humanite reports to the Monitor.
All-Star Squadron #40 – Leader of the Phantom Empire contacts the Monitor for a replacement android.
DC Comics Presents #76 – Watches Superman and Wonder Woman clash with Christine Cade.
Superman #402 – Observes a visiting team of 40th Century doctors.
Saga of the Swamp Thing #30, #31 – Observes the climactic battle between Swamp Thing and Arcane.
Justice League of America #234 – Observes the new Justice League battling the Overmaster.
Vigilante #14 - Behind the scenes only. Supplies Mr. Hammer his shadow suit.
Superman #403 – Swaps information with the Thief-Master of Ramox.
World's Finest #311 – To test Superman and Batman, allows a hacker to tap into the computer at the Fortress of Solitude.
Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes #319, #320 – Provides Universo with the services of Magpie.
Amethyst #2 – Discovers and observes Amethyst.
G.I. Combat #275, #276 - First time the Monitors physical appearance isrevealed. Appears before the Haunted Tank.
Wonder Woman #323 – Manipulates events so that several villains fight an Amazon-powered Etta Candy.
Action Comics #564 – Gives the Master Jailer a device to use against Superman.
Warlord #91 – Gives a short history lesson on the Warlord and Skartaris
Jonah Hex #90 – Gives Jonah Hex a horse, while in disguise.
Batman #384 – Helps Dr. Fang’s gang hire the Calendar Man.
Detective Comics #551 - Behind the scenes only. Story continued from Batman #384.
Tales of the Teen Titans #58 - First chronological appearance of Harbinger. Brings Psimon aboard the Monitor’s satellite.
DC Comics Presents #78 - Last Pre-Crisis appearance of the Monitor and Lyla as they watch the destruction of Earth 3 begins.

CONT.

[Paul Newell]

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #1

All-Star Squadron #50 – Harbinger meets Firebrand and takes her to the Monitors Satellite. Their passage through time pulls Mr. Mind to Earth 2 where he creates a “Monster Society of Evil”.
Fury of Firestorm #41 – Harbinger and Psycho Pirate recruit Firestorm.
Green Lantern #194 – John Stewart is recruited and the Anti-Monitor strikes down the Guardians.
Infinity Inc. #18 – Harbinger recruits Obsidian.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #2


All-Star Squadron #51 - 52 – Some members fight the Monster Society of Evil, while others travel to Earth S and fight Shadow Demons with Captain Marvel.
Detective Comics #558 – Batman gets a call that the Joker is on the loose.
New Teen Titans #13 – The teen Titans team up with the Outsiders.
Saga of the Swamp Thing #44 – John Constantine and Steve Dayton meet Batman.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #3


Green Lantern #195 – Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner are transported to Oa.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #4


DC Comics Presents #86 – Supergirl and Superman team up to investigate the Crisis.
Legends of the DCU: COIE Special – Traveling back in time to find the JLA, the Flash is transported to Earth-D. With the help of Pariah and Lady Quark, he brings members of Earth-1 to help Earth-D's Justice Alliance of America in a vain attempt to save their world from destruction.
Infinity Inc. #19 – Infinity Inc. and the JLA team up. Mekanique, a robot from the future, is introduced.
Justice League of America #244 – The JLA and Infinity Inc. team up.
Infinity Inc. #20 – Infinity Inc. and the JSA battle Crisis-spawned storms.
Infinity Inc. Annual #1 –Obsidian is returned to Earth Two.
Wonder Woman #327 – Wonder Woman battles the mad god Tezcatupoca.
Wonder Woman #328 – Wonder Woman and the Amazons battle the Anti-Monitors shadow demons.
Infinity Inc. #21 – Harbinger transports the Earth Two heroes to the Monitors satellite.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #5


All-Star Squadron #53 – Members of the All-star Squadron appear at the gathering on the Monitors satellite. Later, some members battle the Red Tornado.
Infinity Inc. #22 – The heroes gather at the Monitors satellite.
Swamp Thing #46 – Swamp Thing aboard the Monitors satellite.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #6


All-Star Squadron #54 - #55 – Members of the All-star Squadron battle the Ultra-Humanite at Cape Canaveral.
Superman #413 – Lex luthor is abducted by Brainiac during a battle with Superman.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #7


DC Comics Presents #95 – Superman teams up with Hawkman.
DC Comics Presents #87 – Superman meets the Earth-Prime Superboy.
All-Star Squadron #56 – A Seven Solders of Victory story.
Infinity Inc. #23 – Wildcat II is introduced.
Infinity Inc. #24 – The Earth Two heroes discuss the Crisis.
Legion of Super-Heroes #16 – Brainiac 5 deals with the death of Supergirl.
Legion of Super-Heroes #18 – The Legion battle the Infinite Man and the effects of the Crisis begin to take hold.
Superman #414 – Superman returns Supergirls body to New Krypton.
Superman #415 – Superman meets Supergirls ex-husband.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #8


Blue Devil #17 – John Stewart takes Blue Devil to the JLA satellite to help repair Red Tornado.
Omega Men #31 – The Omega Men pilot their ship into a spacewarp.
Blue Devil #18 - #19 – Blue Devil and the Omega Men end up in a parallel universe.
Justice League of America Annual #3 – The JLA battle the Red Tornado.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #9


DC Comics Presents #88 – Superman teams up with the Creeper.
Fury of Firestorm #42 – Wonder Girl and Firehawk search Manhattan for Terry Long.
Green Lantern #196 – Guy Gardner is given a ring and becomes a Green Lantern.
Justice League of America #245 – Steel is transported to the far future.
New Teen Titans #14 – Nightwing and Starfire travel to Tamaran.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #10


Omega Men #33 – The Omega Men discover the fate of Nimbus.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #11


Amethyst #13 – Dr. Fate takes a blind Amethyst back to Gemworld.
Wonder Woman #329 – The Anti-Monitor allies himself with Hades.Wonder Woman is married to Steve Trevor before leaving for the final battle against the Anti-Monitor.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #12


Green Lantern #198 – Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps battle Guy Gardner in the Anti-Matter Universe.
Infinity Inc. #25 – The final fate of the Earth 2 Wonder Woman.
DC Comics Presents #94 – Superman teams up with Harbinger, Lady Quark and Pariah.
All-Star Squadron #57 - #60 – The All-Star Squadron helps Mekanique to change history. The robot allows the history altering effects of the Crisis to take hold.
Losers Special #1 – The true fate of the Losers is revealed.

[Paul Newell]

8. I ‘ve heard the term “Red Sky Issue”. What does that mean?



Not all the tie in issues were relevant to the Crisis storyline. Some would just have acknowledgement of the red skies that appeared Earth as the Crisis was happening. The term came to mean an issue that was an “officially” tied in that actually had very little to do with the crossover in general.




9. What’s the deal with All-Star Squadron changing history?


During the revamps of Superman and Wonder Woman an edict came down that aspects of the DC Universe that were no longer relevant to the new DCU would no longer appear, or something to that order.


Examples included things like the characters that were at the beginning of time remembering the Multiverse, as well as the characters that existed like the Golden Age Superman, Superboy, Supergirl and the Golden Age Wonder Woman.

There was a period where they were still remembered and would "appear". Things like the All-Star Squadron and Infinity Inc. remembering the Earth 2 heroes that no longer existed, Huntress was still considered a member of Infinity Inc., The Legion of Super-Heroes had a statue of Supergirl in their memorial room, Superman remembering the Earth Prime Superboy, etc. The new Earth, at this point, was a mixture of the Pre-Crisis histories, but all situated on one Earth.

After the edict was handed down, all these little details disappeared and to explain the situation there was a story in All-Star Squadron where a robot from the future called Meckanique was using her powers to hold back the "full effects" of the Crisis

After Meckanique stopped doing this, the “final effects” of the Crisis were presumed to have "taken hold". The results were that reality was changed and all characters except the Psycho-Pirate lost their memories of the pre-Crisis history. The Earth-2 Aquaman, Batman, Green Arrow, Huntress, Robin, Speedy, and Wonder Woman, the Golden Age Captain Marvel and Marvel Family, the Earth-Prime Superboy and Earth-1's Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman ceased to exist, along with all memory of their existence.

[Paul Newell]

10. Does anyone remember the Crisis?

As mentioned, The Psycho-Pirate retained his memories of the Crisis. It’s also been shown, to some extent that the Guardians, The Spectre and Parallax knew of the Crisis. It was shown in the prologue to Zero Hour that the Linear Men had a record of the Crisis.

11. So the Crisis never happened?

The Crisis did happen...But the nature of it was changed.

For years afterwards, the Crisis was mentioned in comic books, but its nature was never revealed until the JLA: Incarnations mini-series which had, in issue #4, the Anti-Monitor destroying different time era's with his anti-matter, causing time to compress and merge, rather than destroying alternate Earths.

12. What were some of the inconsistencies created?




Superboy and Supergirl were wiped from existence which affected the Legion of Super-Heroes, as the former was its inspiration and appeared in many of the Legion stories. The latter was romantically attached to Brainiac 5, invalidating more stories.
Wonder Woman was no longer a charter member of the Justice League of America as she now didn’t appear in the DCU until well after the Crisis. She was replaced by Black Canary. This move also invalidated Wonder Girls origin.
Hawkman didn’t arrive on Earth until much later which invalidated the stories the character appeared in. He was replaced by the Golden Age Hawkman and a “Thanagarian spy”.
Power Girl was no longer Superman’s cousin.
13. Where can I learn more?

Here's two excellent sites for more details on the Crisis:

The Annotated Crisis on Infinite Earths (http://www.io.com/~woodward/chroma/crisis.html)

Alan Kistler's guide to The Crisis (http://www.io.com/~woodward/chroma/crisis.html)

[Calamas]

Out of curiosity, Why did you skip Earth-3, the original home of the Crime Syndicate, when cataloging the various Earths that existed preceding the events of CoIE? Particularly as you acknowledge it in your recap of DC Comics Presents #78.

[Paul Newell]

OOPS! Heh, thanks Calamas....I missed it when re-typing stuff out. :o

[ExoKnight]

Having just read through CoIE FAQ, what is the connection between Animal Men(Morrision run) and CoIE? Having heard that during the Animal Men run their was a mini-crisis with Psycho Pirate, can someone explain what happened?

Also, with Psycho Pirate being the only person who remembers Crisis, what has been his history since 86? Does he mention Crisis? Everyone just consider him a crazy nut talking BS?

[CaptMagellan]

Not enough coffee yet to give a coherent synopsis but if you want to pick up the issues in question, they've been collected in the three Animal Man trades...

Animal Man
Animal Man: Origin of the Species
Animal Man: Deus Ex Machina

They're great.

[Dan Cassidy]

Actually Psycho-Pirate just reappeared to do screw with Power Girl in JSA Classified.

[Hellpop]

Not enough coffee yet to give a coherent synopsis but if you want to pick up the issues in question, they've been collected in the three Animal Man trades...

Animal Man
Animal Man: Origin of the Species
Animal Man: Deus Ex Machina

They're great.

I second that. Animal Man may be the most unsynopsisable comic imaginable. It's not really a continity thing, it didn't effect the DCU... It's just good, Dammit! I dunno what else to say about it.

[davros42]

Having just read through CoIE FAQ, what is the connection between Animal Men(Morrision run) and CoIE?

OK, I just read through these issues, so here goes: (keep in mind, I'm sure to miss something out. You should definitely go and track down these issues in particular if not the entire series, it's good)

*deep breath*

It stars with a minor character, James Highwater. He is having issues with the nature of reality and recieves a note "Ask the Psycho-Pirate".

A few issues later we see Psycho-Pirate in his cell babbling to himself basicly. Yes, everyone thinks he's a nutter. Highwater visits him. Amongst other things he keeps mumbling "Worlds will Live. Worlds will Die" over and over (tagline for the Crisis, right?) and "one and two and ess and ex and three and four and prime" (the primary Earths featured in the Crisis were 1, 2, S, X, 3, 4, and Prime) also he says "Did the Wolfman give you my name? ...How can I sleep? If I go to sleep they might decide to remove me from the continuity and then I'll never wake up." The Wolfman is Marv Wolfman, author of the Crisis.

A few issues later, Animal Man finds some cave drawings depicting what appears to be the (true) Crisis (five earth-like spheres coming together to form one) and another "Crisis" (a stick figure man with spheres eminating from his head).

In Issue #20, more from the Psycho-Pirate's cell "They're coming! All of them! Coming back! They're all coming back!"

Two issues later, objects start materialising out of the Psycho-Pirate's head, starting with Flash #123, the Flash of Two Worlds, the debut of Earth-2 and the Infinite Earths idea.

By the next issue, people are coming out of PP's head, notably the Crime Syndicate, Streaky the Supercat, Bug-Eyed Bandit, Psimon, Ten-Eyed Man, Maaldor the Darklord, Prince Ra-Man, and Aquagirl, all characters who died in or were retconned out of existance by the Crisis. There are other original characters too, who's Earths were destroyed (presumably) in the Crisis.

Overman (the Superman of Earth 17) and Animal Man battle as more characters and more objects continue to flow out of the head of the Psycho Pirate. Animal Man wins (of course). Power Ring (the Green Lantern of Earth 3) mourns the lack of "fun" in this brave new post-Crisis world and he and Ultraman vanish... Eventually all the returned characters and objects vanish, even the Psycho Pirate. However, a butterfly from Earth 14 is noted to have survived. There are references to something called Purification Day when all the inconsistancies will be removed from the continuum. In the end, Highwater becomes the keeper of the Medusa Mask, and takes up the mantle of being the only person to remember the pre-Crisis world.

*phew* I think that's the important points. And while none of this had a BIG impact on continuity (might even be outside of continuity for all intents and purposes) the reappeared Psycho Pirate seems to have similar abilities to the ones he displayed here (he's pulled an out of continuity version of the Legion as well as Jimmy Olsen out of thin air). Add that to the fact that Grant Morrison is part of the planning crew for Infinite Crisis, and that he's part of the cleanup crew post IC, and you might see some of these themes revisited.

[Adam Crocker]

Add that to the fact that Grant Morrison is part of the planning crew for Infinite Crisis, and that he's part of the cleanup crew post IC, and you might see some of these themes revisited.

Well no evidence he's on the planning crew, but definitely the clean-up crew.

[Paul Newell]

Not enough coffee yet to give a coherent synopsis but if you want to pick up the issues in question, they've been collected in the three Animal Man trades...

Animal Man
Animal Man: Origin of the Species
Animal Man: Deus Ex Machina

They're great.
Of the three trade paperbacks, which is the one focusing on the "Crisis II" story? I wouldn't mind picking it up.

EDIT: Nevermind...Just saw the Dues Ex Machina contains issues 18-26. :)

[Expletive Deleted]

Of the three trade paperbacks, which is the one focusing on the "Crisis II" story? I wouldn't mind picking it up.It's in third one, DEUS EX MACHINA. But the seeds are sown in the second one, ORIGIN OF SPECIES.

Here (http://www.io.com/~woodward/chroma/crtanimal.html) is a nicely thorough annotations site for the specific, Crisis-centric details.

[davros42]

Well no evidence he's on the planning crew, but definitely the clean-up crew.

Oops. My mistake. I thought I read that somewhere but in afterthought I think I read it on these very boards... So not the most authoritative source to be sure. Sorry for that.

[Paul Newell]

It's in third one, DEUS EX MACHINA. But the seeds are sown in the second one, ORIGIN OF SPECIES.

Here (http://www.io.com/~woodward/chroma/crtanimal.html) is a nicely thorough annotations site for the specific, Crisis-centric details.
Thanks ED, I used to have the issues, once upon a time, but my memory isn't what it was. :)

[CaptMagellan]

Actually, I think the first, very subtle seeds, are in some of the early issues which are in the first trade (I may be wrong though).

I see the whole run as one big story, with elements from even the first stories having thematic bearing on the later issues. The 'Wile. E Coyote' story from the first trade definitely sets the ground work (thematically if not with plot specifics).

Anyway, that's all just a long winded way of saying "get them all they're all really really good and you won't be sorry." ;)

[Andy S.]

Who exactly are Psycho-Pirate and Harbinger and what were their roles in Crisis?

Why is it a big deal that they are back now for IC?

[Paul Newell]

Who exactly are Psycho-Pirate and Harbinger and what were their roles in Crisis?

Why is it a big deal that they are back now for IC?

The Psycho Pirate was an old Silver Age villain who was the "successor" of a Golden Age villain who fought the JSA. In the early issues of COIE he is captured by the Anti-Monitor and became his first servant. When the heroes takes down the Anti-Monitor in the final issue, he's rescued and is one of the few who remembers the Multiverse and the original nature of the Crisis.

Harbinger was the Monitor's first ally. She was possessed by the Anti-Monitor and killed the Monitor. She too remembers the Multiverse and the original Crisis.

The only big deal is that we know, so far, is having them back solidifies Infinite Crisis' reputation as the first Crisis' sequel. So Harbinger is back from the dead?

[astronato]

Excellent run down on Crisis on Infinite Earths. Thanks for catching me up to speed. I am going to have to pull out my old issues and reread them.

I'm a recently returned long time lapsed fan, has anyone seen Harbringer in the books? She's supposedly dead?

[Scott Shaw!]

Not that anyone's dying to know this, but the first Crisis transformed Earth-C from another dimension to the interior "world" of a comic book published within the DC universe. Earth-C-Minus remained the comic book drawn by Rodney Rabbit (AKA Captain Carrot), but no longer a parallel world to Earth-C.

That said, I should mention that Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew will be returning in the pages of TEEN TITANS No.'s 30 and 31, courtesy of Geoff Johns and myself. Leapin' lettuce! I, for one, am excited!

Aloha,

Scott!

[Super Monkey]

That said, I should mention that Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew will be returning in the pages of TEEN TITANS No.'s 30 and 31, courtesy of Geoff Johns and myself. Leapin' lettuce! I, for one, am excited!

Just promise not to make them dark and grim like everyone else these days, ok? ;)

[Kistler]

Excellent run down on Crisis on Infinite Earths. Thanks for catching me up to speed. I am going to have to pull out my old issues and reread them.

I'm a recently returned long time lapsed fan, has anyone seen Harbringer in the books? She's supposedly dead?


Harbinger became librarian of Themyscira and then died during an issue of BATMAN/SUPERMAN when Darkseid had the island invaded to capture Supergirl. After the invasion, they found Harbinger's body. However, remember Harbinger could create replicates of herself, so it's entirely possible she escaped and only a replicate of hers died. Or maybe the Harbinger who became a librarian was a replicate to begin with.

[Hellpop]

I read an interview with George Perez years ago (in Comics Interview, I think) in which he was asked about rumors that Marv Wolfman had slipped in a joke panel in which he destroys the Marvel Universe. Perez didn't know anything about this; does anyone. I've scoured the series and I've never found a panel that seems likely.

[pennywisdom]

4. How was this Multiverse changed?

Primarily it was “wiped out”. The story introduced readers to two near-omnipotent beings, the good "Monitor" and the evil "Anti-Monitor". The Monitor had made cameo appearances in various DC comic book series for two years preceding the publication of the series and at first appeared to be a new supervillain, but with the onset of the Crisis he was revealed to be working on a desperate plan to save the entire Multiverse from destruction at the hands of the Anti-Monitor. The Crisis series highlighted the efforts of the superheroes to stop the Anti-Monitor's. Under the initial guidance of the Monitor, a select group of heroes was assigned to protect massive "tuning forks" designed to hold off the antimatter that had already annihilated untold numbers of alternate Earths. Eventually the conflict grew and nearly every hero became involved in the battle.
What was the Anti-Monitor's motivation for destroying the multi-verse in the first place?

[Paul Newell]

What was the Anti-Monitor's motivation for destroying the multi-verse in the first place?

He gained power from the energies of the destroyed universes. And the anti-matter replaced the void that was left expanding his domain.

[Ullar]

sorry not alot of time to read posts. But i need background on the guys in Infinite Crisis Secret Files thanxs!

[jadegiant77]

[QUOTE=Paul Newell]6. I heard that Marv Wolfman had a secret plot device to bring back the Barry Allen Flash. What was it?



From Marv wolfman’s Questions & Answers page (http://www.marvwolfman.com/Q&A.html):

I like this idea. That would be a kick-ass way to bring back Barry without invalidating his sacrifice during the Crisis.

[ke99]

How come we dont see more than one batman in the ordeal. We see more than one wonder woman, etc., but whule there is definitely more than one batman, we dont see him. Also, why was there only a Superboy represented from Earth Prime, who had an extremely short existence prior? What about the original Superboy? Lastly, how does one tell in Pre-COIE stories if one is reading about Batman or Superman from Earth 1, 2 etc.? And shouldnt the Superman from Earth 1 have no knowledge of Supergirl until COIE? She ostensably only appeared in the original superman continuity.

[Paul Newell]

How come we dont see more than one batman in the ordeal. We see more than one wonder woman, etc., but whule there is definitely more than one batman, we dont see him.
The Batman of Earth-2 was dead at the time of COIE. At one point he appears in a view screen in the background, along with other characters who were dead at the time.
Also, why was there only a Superboy represented from Earth Prime, who had an extremely short existence prior? What about the original Superboy?
Well the original Superboy was the Earth-1 Superman. I presume they thought that introducing the Earth-Prime Superboy was a way of including the character of Superboy without having a time paradox.
Lastly, how does one tell in Pre-COIE stories if one is reading about Batman or Superman from Earth 1, 2 etc.?
They usually were pretty clearly marked when stories happened on Earth-2.
And shouldnt the Superman from Earth 1 have no knowledge of Supergirl until COIE? She ostensably only appeared in the original superman continuity.
She appeared in the Earth-1 continuity, not the original Earth-2 continuity.

[Lorendiac]

Lastly, how does one tell in Pre-COIE stories if one is reading about Batman or Superman from Earth 1, 2 etc.?
They usually were pretty clearly marked when stories happened on Earth-2.

I just want to elaborate on that a bit with some rules of thumb:

1. If the story you are reading was originally published before the late 1950s, then it's usually safe to assume it was set in the world of the "original" Golden Age versions of DC's heroes, meaning the Earth-2 continuity.

2. If it was published just about any time from 1956 onward (the year of the first appearance of Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash), and particularly if it was published after the story "Flash of Two Worlds" in 1961 that first formally introduced the concepts of Earth-1 and Earth-2, then it was usually safe to assume it was set, by default, in the Earth-1 continuity where the "Silver Age" superheroes were the first heroes running around in fancy costumes and attracting public attention.

3. Once Earth-1 had been established as the "default" modern setting for comic books of the 60s, 70s, and early 80s, it was DC's responsibility to specifically warn us in the text if a particular story was actually set on Earth-2, or any other parallel Earth, instead of the "usual" place: Earth-1.

Now, having said that, I have to admit it wasn't always that simple! One of the reasons that COIE seemed like a good idea at the time was that there were all sorts of weird little exceptions and possible contradictions to confuse the issue. For instance, stories about "Superboy" started being published in the late 1940s, but were much later retroactively declared to have all happened on Earth-1. We were told there had never been a costumed crimefighter called "Superboy" in Earth-2 continuity. And some of the stories from the Earth-2 Batman's Golden Age continuity were later referred to as having apparently also happened in the past to the Earth-1 Batman, exactly the same way they happened to his "predecessor" a generation earlier, by sheer coincidence. Greg Saunders, the cowboy-themed hero called the Vigilante in the original Seven Soldiers of Victory in the Golden Age comics, logically should have been born, and raised, and eventually became a WWII-era superhero, on Earth-2. But in a story published in 1980 the Earth-1 Batman met a young superhero called the Swashbuckler (real name: Michael Carter) who claimed to be Greg's nephew. If Greg was born and raised on Earth-2, why was his nephew living in Houston, Texas, on Earth-1? No explanation was offered at the time. (Maybe the writer had forgotten that Greg's nephew would logically only exist on Earth-2, or maybe he just plain didn't care.)

[Paul Newell]

Just to let you know, there was an Earth-1 Vigilante. Off the top of my head, I remember seeing him appear in Justice League of America #144.

[ke99]

thanks a ton for the help everyone, I am trying to get all of this striaght in my head before moving on to reading Infinite crisis start to finish (gulp).
[Edit] I just realized a great deal of my confusion stemmed from my post- crisis continuity understanding.

[InvinciBill]

Eventually I plan on reading COIE, but I have a question. Only using TPBs, would this be the best way to go:

The History of the DC Universe
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 1
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 2
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 3
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 4
Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups Vol. 1
Crisis on Infinite Earths

Are these in the correct order? Are there any TPBs that I'm missing that I should include in this list?

[Paul Newell]

Eventually I plan on reading COIE, but I have a question. Only using TPBs, would this be the best way to go:

The History of the DC Universe
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 1
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 2
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 3
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 4
Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups Vol. 1
Crisis on Infinite Earths

Are these in the correct order? Are there any TPBs that I'm missing that I should include in this list?
I like to read them in this order:

Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups Vol. 1
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 1
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 2
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 3
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 4
Crisis on Infinite Earths
The History of the DC Universe

The team ups volume contains the first Silver Age appearances and the History is the Post-Crisis version of events.

[InvinciBill]

I like to read them in this order:

Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups Vol. 1
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 1
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 2
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 3
Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 4
Crisis on Infinite Earths
The History of the DC Universe

The team ups volume contains the first Silver Age appearances and the History is the Post-Crisis version of events.

Cool - Thanks.

Is there any TPBs I can add to this list?

[Paul Newell]

Cool - Thanks.

Is there any TPBs I can add to this list?
Not that I can think of.

The Crisis on Multiple Earths books are really just background. But enjoyable background. :)

[ke99]

The Batman of Earth-2 was dead at the time of COIE.

Any idea of where when this happened, ie what issues refer to this, or show it happening?

Also, whats the deal with the 3 lex luthors in COIE? I thought there were only the one from golden age and the one from modern superman?

[Green Goblin]

What was the Anti-Monitor's motivation for destroying the multi-verse in the first place?

belive or the Guradians of Owa were responabile for reating him because they wouldn't let him see the start of creation which lead them to forming the manhunters then later the Green Lantern Corp they were also later spilt into faction one faction didn't want anything to do while the other faction want a more direct confrontation with evil and piked kyle ranyer to be the new green latern at the time hope that helps a bit

[DoctorDoom]

Just read this, thanks for the info. And now I know!

[Kara Zor El]

[I]
Also, whats the deal with the 3 lex luthors in COIE? I thought there were only the one from golden age and the one from modern superman?

The other Luthor was from Earth 3 and was a hero married to Lois Lane, he fought the Crime Syndicate. He dies at the begining of COIE but his son Alexander Luthor is sent to the Monitor, and helps defeat the Anti-Monitor, he is also the main badguy in Infinite Crisis and is written to be the doppleganger of Lex Luthor in that story. Which has anoyed many fans but strengthened the story.

[whitey museum]

WONDER WOMAN question:

Ok, so I carefully went through all the questions in this FAQ thread. I'm pretty sure this hasn't already been asked so here goes...

How did the DCU get a Wonder Woman back following COIE? I mean Wonder Woman I was wiped from existence by the Anti-Monitor, while Wonder Woman II was devolved back to clay form.

So in what book, or story arc, in what comic does Wonder Woman get written back into existence, and how?

[Paul Newell]

In Wonder Woman v2 #1 by George Perez. She starts as a cmpletely new character in issue #1.

[belldl]

The Batman of Earth-2 was dead at the time of COIE.

Any idea of where when this happened, ie what issues refer to this, or show it happening?

Also, whats the deal with the 3 lex luthors in COIE? I thought there were only the one from golden age and the one from modern superman?

You can see the death of Earth-2 Batman in this:
http://www.amazon.com/Justice-Society-Vol-Paul-Levitz/dp/1401211941/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-0808023-2180726?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177346691&sr=8-1

[The Valeyard]

1. What was the Crisis?


Crisis on Infinite Earths was a 12 issue mini-series released in 1986 by DC Comics. The series was written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by George Perez, inked by Dick Giordano and Jerry Ordway. The purpose of the series was to showcase the breadth and depth of the DC Universe while at the same time streamlining it.

It was 1985.

[Paul Newell]

It was 1985.
Heh. Good catch! Talk about the stupidest typo. :)

[The Valeyard]

Heh. Good catch! Talk about the stupidest typo. :)


After all the work put into the FAQ, I think you're forgiven for a single typo.

Good work. The original Crisis is still my favorite storyline.