Crisis On Infinite Earths Paperback – Illustrated, January 1, 2001

The Crisis on Infinite Earths 35th anniversary deluxe edition hardcover is a great way to get into DC comics or if you’ve never read the groundbreaking event that was the start to all the crisis then, you should definitely give it a go! This event completely reworked the DC continuity back in the 80s, but it also changed how comic events were handled in the future leading to even bigger events down the road such as, Infinite Crisis. This deluxe edition also includes some extras such as art sketches of characters and scenes as well as much information about some of the player characters from the event. I love how detailed the slipcase and the hardcover itself are. The Crisis on Infinite Earths event is a super important event and is very well known by comic enthusiasts and pop culture fans alike. While I will say that it is a great and well known event, in this day and age some things about the story are a bit confusing and I think most people would agree with that statement. I get it, it was the 80s and DC was trying out new things but I have to say, there are a lot of different storylines going on around the same time and their are so many characters just like the cover. A lot of important things happen during the event and a lot of characters die as well. Here’s some wise words if you’re a fairly new to DC comics. This event, this book sets a huge foundation for not just the DC universe but also it’s readers so, if you’re just getting started with DC comics, then you should most definitely start right here with Crisis on Infinite Earths! It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand everything because it can be a bit confusing sometimes. Just keep reading until the end and you’ll eventually get it just like I did. The deluxe edition is good but if you want an even better story, I would recommend reading it in Absolute format. It’s bigger and better! I believe there’s an Absolute edition coming out in 2026? Once you’re done with Crisis on Infinite Earths, you should read something a little more modern such as the Flashpoint Omnibus or the Infinite Crisis Omnibus. Both of these massive events kind of piggyback off of the ideas set in Crisis on Infinite Earths. After those, I would recommend the Justice League The New 52 Omnibus vol 1&2 as well as Batman: The court of Owls saga Absolute edition!

When writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez initiated DC Comics' grandly entertaining 50th anniversary saga, "Crisis on Infinite Earths," in 1985, I remember being stunned at how exciting each of the dozen installments were, especially the unforgettable finale. As a pre-teen, I certainly never expected to see the Silver Age Flash and Supergirl killed off, or that Wonder Woman would be erased from existence (albeit temporarily). Even more so, the elimination of several Golden Age counterparts of DC's top super heroes seemed utterly amazing at the time. Yet, I very much understood the sheer magnitude of the changes DC Comics unleashed in order to correct itself (for sheer simplicity's sake) for future generations.Before proceeding further, let me say that Silver Age writer Gardner Fox came up with a brilliant concept about fifty years ago in comics: the parallel world. By introducing Earth-2 as the home of the legendary Justice Society of America, and then later crossing worlds by having the original Flash meet his Silver Age counterpart, Fox set into motion a gold mine of nearly thirty years worth of imminently entertaining stories for DC Comics to take advantage of. Of course, DC's mishandling of its own convoluted continuity eventually led to the need of a seemingly final, world-shattering `crisis' to fix all of the self-inflicted headaches once and for all. By doing so, the idea of retroactive continuity (`retcon') first came into play on a grand scale by wiping out all unwanted stories and characters that would not longer fit into DC's revamped game plan.The premise was undeniably simple: where there were once numerous Earths (and various alternate futures) in the DC Universe, there would now only be one by the story's end. In this story, several (mostly B or C-list) characters, both heroes and villains, bit the dust as a result of the villainous Anti-Monitor's monstrous scheme to destroy all the countless positive matter universes to reign omnipotent in his own anti-matter kingdom. Neither Superman nor even the Justice League alone could handle this mega-threat: it really becomes 50 years of the DC Universe vs. the Anti-Monitor. Classic heroes, such as Capt. Marvel and the Marvel Family return here, and more obscure ones like Capt. Atom and Blue Beetle are re-introduced to modern audiences, as they are woven into the cataclysmic storyline. In classic cliffhanger tradition, Wolfman makes you wait through twelve self-contained installments before revealing how the DC Universe would at last survive this cosmic armageddon.By any era's standards, for the most part, Wolfman's poignant handling of `retcon' was simply brilliant. He did a first-class job of what doing needed to be done w/o any illogical missteps (in other words, avoided creating controversy simply for the sake of controversy). By managing to confine all of DC's heroes and villains to one world, he literally accomplished an impossible task. Over time, DC Comics, unfortunately, slowly unraveled all of his hard work by resurrecting deceased characters w/ little or no logical explanation (i.e. re-introducing Supergirl multiple times), and perhaps the worst decisions to undo "Crisis," were 2005's disappointing 20th anniversary sequel: "Infinite Crisis," and the much worse 2008-09 "Final Crisis."Yet, after nearly 25 years, the massive ripple effect from the original "Crisis," still resonates today at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. No subsequent comics mega-event, in my assessment, has equaled or even come close to Wolfman's masterful storytelling or Perez's inspired artwork. Sure, there have been numerous inferior imitations in recent years, in which graphic violence and cheap plot twists are substituted for intelligent, provocative storytelling. However, if you wish to read the granddaddy of all super hero mega-events, w/o having to plow through numerous (and often confusing and/or unnecessary) tie-ins, this one book will hold you simply spellbound for hours.I couldn't recommend it more highly.Rating: 5/5 (for ages 11 and up).