Crisis on Infinite Earths

Background DC Comics is an American comic book publisher best known for its superhero stories featuring characters including Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. The company debuted in February 1935 with New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine. Most of DC's comic books (as well as some published under its imprints Vertigo and Young Animal) take place within a shared universe called the DC Universe (DCU) allowing plot elements, characters, and settings to cross over with each other. The concept of the DCU has provided DC's writers some challenges in maintaining continuity, due to conflicting events within different comics that need to reflect the shared nature of the universe. The DC Multiverse concept was expanded in later years with the DCU having infinite Earths; for example, the Golden Age versions of DC heroes resided on Earth-Two, while DC's Silver Age heroes were from Earth-One. Over the years, various writers took liberties creating additional parallel Earths as plot devices and to house characters DC had acquired from other companies, making the DC Multiverse a "convoluted mess". According to ComicsAlliance journalist Chris Sims, "the [DC] multiverse . . . felt old-fashioned. . . . Marvel, on the other hand, felt contemporary and when you stack them up against each other, there's one difference that sticks out above anything else: Marvel feels unified." Writer Marv Wolfman became popular among DC's readers for his work on The New Teen Titans. In 1984, Pérez entered into an exclusive contract with DC, which was later extended one year. Although The New Teen Titans was a major success for DC, Wolfman pitched Crisis on Infinite Earths as The History of the DC Universe, seeing it as a way to simplify the DCU and attract new readers. The History of the DC Universes title was changed to Crisis on Infinite Earths because its premise, involving the destruction of entire worlds, sounded more like a crisis. "I knew up front, and they did too, how big this was going to be," he said. "But, no-one knew how well it would sell, or whether it would sell at all. It was a risk DC was willing to take, because my thoughts were that DC needed a lot of help at that time, and they did too." Wolfman also said he saw it as an attempt to improve DC's reputation for storytelling which many readers at the time saw as old-fashioned. In 1982, DC hired a researcher to go through their library and read every comic the company had published, a task that took two years. and again to 1985 when it was still not ready for 1983 As an event like Crisis on Infinite Earths had never happened before, those working on it met for around two hours a week, which was uncommon at the time. One of the greatest challenges for Wolfman and Giordano was coming up with a story. Wolfman cited making use of every DC character and creating a plot that was fun to read and as filled with surprises as difficulties, as the series needed to sell well; if it did not, it could have caused a disaster for DC. Plotting became easier once a beginning and an ending had been determined and when Pérez became involved. Crisis on Infinite Earths was DC's first mainstream maxiseries, which was still a relatively new concept. Wolfman wanted to make the series unforgettable; he said that many writers had expressed interest in simplifying DC's continuity and he wanted to be the one to do so. DC initially did not know Pérez would want to work on it. According to Pérez, he was motivated by the fact that DC did not know if the series was going to be a success. He also wanted "to draw everybody I could get my hands on" and called illustrating the series some of the most fun he ever had. Pérez was excited because not only did he get to draw the Teen Titans again, but also obscure characters he was not familiar with, saying he could possibly have never gotten another chance. Wolfman has said one panel in Crisis on Infinite Earths shows the Marvel Universe being destroyed. When Giordano (the series' initial inker) had difficulty meeting deadlines while continuing as DC vice president and executive editor, editorial coordinator Pat Bastienne reassigned the inking to Jerry Ordway despite Giordano's objections. The series began in January 1985 and lasted for twelve issues, ending in December 1985 (issues cover dated April 1985 through March 1986). Tie-ins . Elements to set up Crisis on Infinite Earths were put in DC's comics years before the crossover took place; The following comic book issues were labeled as part of the crossover; their covers contained a banner that read "Special Crisis Cross-Over", along with the logo for DC's fiftieth anniversary. • All-Star Squadron #50–56 • Amethyst (vol. 2) #13 • Blue Devil #17–18 • DC Comics Presents #86–88 • The Fury of Firestorm #41–42 • Green Lantern (vol. 2) #194–195; #198 • Infinity, Inc. #18–24; Annual #1 • Justice League of America #244–245; Annual #3 • JLA: Incarnations #5 (released in 2001) • Legion of Super-Heroes #18 • The Losers Special #1 • The New Teen Titans (vol. 2) #13–14 • The Omega Men #31 • Superman #414–415 • Swamp Thing #46 • Wonder Woman #327–329 • Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 (released in 1998) ==Collected editions==

The conflicting stories of the DCU are explained as a Multiverse, containing many parallel universes and alternate versions of the characters, with the primary DC continuity referred to as Earth-One. They were created after renegade scientist Krona built a machine and used it to look back into the beginning of time. A cosmic being from the beginning known as the Monitor catalogues these realities, but he has an evil counterpart, the Anti-Monitor, who comes from an antimatter universe. After Pariah causes an accident with antimatter in his universe, the Anti-Monitor is released and begins destroying many of the realities with a wave of antimatter, planning on becoming sole ruler of all realities. On Earth-Three, Alexander Luthor and Lois Lane teleport their son Alexander Luthor Jr. to another reality as Earth-Three is consumed by the antimatter wave. To combat this, the Monitor recruits heroes and villains from across time and space to set up five towers, to help merge the multiverse back into one to make it stronger. The Monitor dispatches a team of heroes across time and space to defend mysterious machines that could be the key to saving the remaining universes. Meanwhile, it is revealed that the Flash was transported to the future, and Pariah, constantly witnessing the destruction of worlds, arrives on the doomed Earth-1. Barry Allen of Earth-One encounters the antimatter wave before being captured by the Anti-Monitor. On Earth 1, various heroes attempt to save people from the approaching antimatter wave. During WWII, the Monitor's towers appear during a battle in which Sgt. Rock, Haunted Tank, and the Losers are fighting together against Nazis. The Monitor gives powers to Kimiyo Hoshi, turning her into Doctor Light. He is murdered by Harbinger, who is possessed by one of the Anti-Monitor's shadow demons. However, the Monitor knew this would happen and his death releases enough energy to project two of the last five parallel Earths into a protective limbo that nullifies the wave. The Anti-Monitor recruits Psycho-Pirate to his cause, infusing him with part of his power to manipulate the heroes of Earth-4, Earth-S and Earth-X against the rest; this fails when all five Earths enter the limbo universe. Harbinger then recruits heroes from the remaining Earths to lead an assault on the Anti-Monitor in the antimatter universe, using the powers of Alexander Luthor Jr., the last survivor of Earth-Three, to open a portal between the limbo and antimatter universes. Pariah tracks down the Anti-Monitor at his fortress, and the heroes destroy a converter, powered by stellar energy, used to destroy the last five Earths; the injured Anti-Monitor retreats and Supergirl dies from his attacks after a distraction from Hoshi. The Anti-Monitor creates a new body for himself and tries to use an antimatter cannon to penetrate the limbo universe and destroy the five partially merged Earths. The Flash dies stopping this attempt by using his speed to channel energy. During a lull in the war, the villains unite under Brainiac. He kills Earth-Two's Alexei Luthor while recruiting the Earth-One Lex Luthor to conquer the remaining Earths. A furious Anti-Monitor absorbs the energy of millions of worlds and vows to travel back through time to prevent the creation of the multiverse. The Spectre unites the heroes and villains by warning them about the Anti-Monitor's plan; the heroes travel back in time to stop the Anti-Monitor, while the villains travel back in time to the planet Oa to prevent Krona from creating the technology necessary for the Anti-Monitor's plan to succeed. The villains fail, and Krona continues his experiment. The Anti-Monitor waits for Alexander Luthor Jr. to reopen the portal between the positive and antimatter universes, capturing the heroes, but a magically empowered Spectre creates an energy overload which shatters space and time. The five Earths merge into a single shared universe, and the superheroes return to the present; only those present at the dawn of time remember the original realities. A cosmically empowered Anti-Monitor attacks again, transporting the new Earth to the antimatter universe and summoning a horde of shadow demons who kill Dove, Lori Lemaris, Green Arrow of Earth-Two, Prince Ra-Man, Clayface, Bug-Eyed Bandit, Kole, Huntress, Robin, Sunburst, and Ten-Eyed Man. He falls in a carefully-planned counterattack, culminating in a battle with Superboy of Earth-Prime, Kal-L, and Alexander Luthor Jr., with help from Darkseid. In this final battle, the Anti-Monitor, reduced to a flaming head, crashes into a star and is killed by Kal-L. Before the star explodes, Alex sends Kal-L, Earth-Two Lois Lane, Earth-Prime Superboy and himself to a pocket "paradise" dimension while Wonder Woman of Earth-Two is taken to Mount Olympus by Zeus. This leaves the heroes of the remaining Earth, none of whom remember the original past, to sort out the aftermath of this crisis. Only Psycho-Pirate, who is locked up in Arkham Asylum, remembers the multiverse. ==Alternate versions==

Tales from the Dark Multiverse After the Anti-Monitor's defeat, it was the Justice League who were forever trapped fighting in Ragnarok. The Justice Society/All-Star Squadron came in to rescue the team but were outmatched by Surtur. Alan Scott then sacrificed himself by becoming the pawn of Surtur known as the Dread Lantern, leading Surtur to other worlds in exchange for his promise that he will always spare Earth. ==Reception==

Despite relatively limited marketing Fellow IGN writer Jesse Schedeen named Crisis on Infinite Earths one of the best DC crossovers, agreeing it was unprecedented and dramatic. Marc Buxton of Comic Book Resources named "Crisis on Infinite Earths" the greatest comic book crossover ever, saying that no crossover has been bigger or as ambitious: "where some events seem hesitant to actually leave a mark on their respective universes, Crisis did it with aplomb". He praised the series for exploring the entire DCU and felt it was a fitting event for DC's fiftieth anniversary. Nerdist News noted that many of the series' central events—such as the deaths of Supergirl and Barry Allen—have become iconic moments in DC's history. Not all reviewers have been as positive. Chris Sims wrote the series was messy and built awkwardly, describing it as "a textbook definition of style over substance". Sims said it was far from the best work of Wolfman and Pérez; however, he still thought it was groundbreaking, saying, "It's the first time in comics history that EVERYTHING was in danger". ==Merchandise==

A novelization of Crisis on Infinite Earths was written by Wolfman and published by iBooks in 2005, with cover art by Pérez and Alex Ross. The book follows the events of the original series; most of the story is presented from Barry Allen's point of view, while parts where he is not present are told from a third-person perspective. It also added some details, including internal monologue and updates to make the story more modern, such as characters having cell phones. In 2008, WizKids issued a toy pack centered around the Anti-Monitor as a part of its DC HeroClix toy line. The pack came with a large Anti-Monitor figure with LED-lit eyes, several smaller figures, and a map. An exclusive variant, based on the Sinestro Corps, was available at San Diego Comic-Con and Gen Con Indy conventions that year. DC Collectibles (then called DC Direct) released three series of action figures between 2005 and 2006. Based on the George Pérez artwork, the figures had a base with the logo of the series and certain figures included an accessory. The first series included Earth 2 Robin, Harbinger, Monitor, Psycho-Pirate, and Supergirl. Later series included the Anti-Monitor, Earth 2 Superman, Flash, Battle Armor Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Earth 1 Batman, Doctor Light, Earth Prime Superboy, Earth 2 Huntress, and one of the Weaponers of Qward. ==Legacy==

Though it was not the first large-scale comic book crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths is generally credited with popularizing the idea. Comics historian Matthew K. Manning wrote that Crisis on Infinite Earths paved way for all future crossovers of similar scale, The second part of one of DC's later crossovers, Convergence (2015), heavily references the series and sees DC's superheroes travel back to its era. The writers of Convergence all had fun writing stories set during Crisis on Infinite Earths, calling the series an exciting time for DC. The series had an immediate effect on DC, dividing the company's history into two eras: "Pre-Crisis" and "Post-Crisis". Many of DC's characters had their histories rebooted. Wonder Woman's comic was relaunched entirely by Pérez, Wein, and Greg Potter. Superman was first re-envisioned in the limited series The Man of Steel by John Byrne; his comic was retitled The Adventures of Superman to make way for a new Superman series. The practice of re-envisioning characters in the new DCU lasted well into 1989, with properties such as Green Lantern, Hawkman, Black Orchid, and the Suicide Squad all being rebooted. The Man of Steel #1 was the bestselling comic book issue of 1986. Crisis on Infinite Earths has been referenced several times in the various television series that comprise the Arrowverse, starting with the first episode of The Flash which aired in October 2014. It features a newspaper from 2024 that reads "Flash Missing, Vanishes in Crisis". Grant Gustin, who plays the Flash on the show, has said he thinks the goal of the series is to reach "Crisis on Infinite Earths": "Obviously we'd have to go, I think 10 years to reach that, so there's a possibility for sure. It'll be fun to get there." The concept of a multiverse has been explored several times throughout the history of the franchise. The storyline inspired the 2019 Arrowverse crossover, also titled "Crisis on Infinite Earths", with the original date seen in the pilot episode of The Flash having been moved up by five years as a side effect of time travel. ==Sequels==

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! is a follow-up to Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Identity Crisis also adheres to the continuity changes of Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!. Crisis on Infinite Earths is the first installment in what became known as the Crisis trilogy. In the series, Kal-L, Alexander Luthor, and Superboy-Prime escape from the pocket dimension they were left in at the end of the original series; Luthor, having gone insane, attempts to recreate the multiverse using the Anti-Monitor's remains as a generator. Meanwhile, Superboy-Prime, having become disillusioned with the surviving Earth, engages in a destructive rampage after confronting the modern Superboy, Connor Kent. The battle culminates in the two Superboys colliding with Luthor's multiverse generator, restoring the Earth (with slight alterations to continuity) and recreating the lost multiverse. The conclusion to the trilogy, Final Crisis, The series was written by Grant Morrison, with art by J. G. Jones, Carlos Pacheco, Marco Rudy, and Doug Mahnke. In Final Crisis, Darkseid arrives on Earth and begins a conquest to overthrow reality, as part of a plan by Libra to conquer the Multiverse. The Justice League and Green Lantern Corps join forces in a desperate attempt to stop the upcoming onslaught. In 2022, a new DC Comics Crisis event occurred, named Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths which began in June 2022 and ended in December 2022. This series was written by Joshua Williamson and art by Daniel Sampere and Alejandro Sanchez. Following the death of the Justice League in issue #75 Pariah has tasked Deathstroke and the Secret Society of Supervillains to start a Crisis Event, and using the crisis energy which would form, restart and bring back the infinite earths lost in the original Crisis. Nightwing and the Titans work to protect the world from the Secret Society, while Hal Jordan investigates the deaths of the Justice League. ==Adaptations==

• The comic book series was adapted as a novel by the original writer, Marv Wolfman. This novelization was then performed as an audio drama marketed as a "Movie in Your Mind" by publisher GraphicAudio. • The story serves as inspiration for "Crisis on Infinite Earths", an Arrowverse crossover event consisting of an episode each of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, and Batwoman between December 2019 and January 2020. • In Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too! while being chased by Solomon Grundy, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy climb on Flash's Cosmic Treadmill which briefly travels them, along with Solomon Grundy, through many alternate timelines, with one of those being inspired by the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" storyline. • An animated film adaptation, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths, was released in three parts during 2024, beginning with Part One on January 9. ==Notes==