Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities A Look Back: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-12

Crisis #5



A stunning cover, not only showcasing the a Who’s Who of DC characters but, with the overlapping Earths in the centre, highlighting exactly what’s at stake. That central column with Earth-1 and 2 counterparts is a lovely touch.

Last issue, Earth’s 1 & 2 faded into white, before smoky blackness filled the void (consistent with Earth 3 back in #1). Yet The Foe has not absorbed the energies from those universes. He hasn’t absorbed the energies of The Monitor either.

Back in issue #1 The Monitor mentioned that the energies from the positive universe flow through him. Despite being an opposite, The Foe absorbs those energies. You’d have thought an influx of positive energy would weaken a being controlling the energies of anti-matter. Likewise, The Foe was extending his energies into the spaces where positive universes existed, then that may tax his resources too. The reasoning is wonky either way.

He knows The Monitor is dead, presumably through his control of Harbinger. Although, previously she did have to report to him, so why do that, if he already knew everything that was going on?

The Psycho Pirate asks about the world he’s supposed to control the emotions of. Wolfman uses this to hint at why Tornado and Flash have been taken.

The Flash was taken as he can travel across dimensions unaided. Even if that’s the case without the use of a treadmill, it ignores all of the other stories where the likes of Superman travels all over the place.

Tornado is there because he can help control The Foe’s new universe. That’s not the first mention of this New Universe. We’ve seen the Anti-energies sweep across positive universes. The Psycho Pirate hasn’t been involved in controlling anything within those spaces (as we’ll see there are people in this anti-universe). So, this New Universe (could Marvel have…gasp…pinched this…) seems to be something else. Something else else he’s got planned that we don’t know about.

Later The Foe does try to have a new universe, but it’s an action he’s forced to take rather than it having anything to do with any plan we know about. So this may be foreshadowing for a plot move that should be unknown to the cast.

The lonely satellite in a field of white makes for a lovely opening panel after what happened last issue.

Pariah grieves over the body of The Monitor. Harbinger has returned to being Lyla. The Foe would know exactly what was going on had she remained Harbinger. While her change back may have been triggered by the trauma of her actions, it’s also handy for the plot.

She’s terribly upset at The Monitor’s death. But there were her lines in #1 where she wasn’t that enamoured with him, before her possession. I guess we don’t know what we have ‘till it’s gone. That’s easier than putting those #1 lines down to more faulty foreshadowing.

The Monitor spent a reasonable amount of time telling us that The Foe moved faster than he did; that his actions were slower as more Positive Universes were destroyed. Another reason for The Monitor not putting his plans in place were because he spent a lot of off panel time making Vlogs and telling everyone, except Lyla, what the future holds.

A message is triggered, telling Pariah and Lyla, that he knew what was going to happen and managed to use his death to convert his energies through the golden tuning fork towers we’d seen in the first few issues. It’s a shame he couldn’t activate the energy conversion himself, in something like Harbinger’s chamber. He had to rely on his assistant being possessed enough to want to kill him. Just as well, Lyla didn’t struggle more in the possession, or all the Earths would have been destroyed.

Back in issue #1 the collected characters were the ones who were supposed to activate the towers. It seems The Monitor could do it by remote all along, whether they were tuned or not. So, that would leave the characters as protectors of the towers. Which they weren’t, since the Shadow Demons came from the towers in the first place.

The Monitor goes on to give us an explanation of what’s just happened and the set up for the next phase of the plot. He’s created a netherverse, and moved the E1&2 universes into it. But the timestreams of both have begun to merge, and when they do, both shall be destroyed!


That’s the end of the message to Lyla. It’s fitting that he kept her in the dark after his death as much as he did when he was alive. How to save the worlds was something he chose to tell Alex Luthor. Alex appears fully grown now, and with the Monitor dead, steps into the panel space left behind.

Despite having aged to adulthood in 4 issues, Alex doesn’t age further throughout the rest of the series. An elderly Alex in his last scenes in the series might have been more fitting, and added a countdown to his ability to help.

The E1 & 2 universes are left to their own devices while the Crisis trio make preparations for The Monitor’s funeral. Alex calls him “the one who made the greatest sacrifice of all.” Before Space Jesus is launched from the satellite into… I’m not sure where the satellite is.

In a Lost Tale, a Superboy would retrieve The Monitor’s armour and use it to do good across the Multiverse.

As Ibby noted, the trio should really be a Crisis Quartet, but Lady Quark didn’t show up with Pariah as she should have done.

The Monitor has managed to control the emotions of the people in both universes, calming them as the merging occurs. The Crisis is one of emotion he said at the start, but it looks as though he didn’t really need Raven or Psycho Pirate at all, since his Plot Powers could take care of it.

The Foe does need Psycho Pirate, telling him that his emotion control powers will be used against the final three Earths. The Foe figures out what has happened (so not always quicker than The Monitor. The Foe doesn’t have the same planning skills.)

The Foe brings in the Flash so that Pirate can have a plaything for a while. The Flash would work against the Pirate’s control throughout, but it’s a shock to see him not fight back quickly from being cowering in terror here.

Incidentally, the back panels with white text was always suitably ominous for The Foe’s domain. Design points there.

Lang and Lane are our eyes as we see the affects of time merged Earths. The Monitor’s “All times are one!” doesn’t seem to have worked out that way, as Lana tells us that “Still the 20th century seems to prevail, with intermittent flashes of past and future.”

Like Doctor Light’s astronomy, historians are risking life and limb trying to find out everything they can about other eras. That would be lost later on, and comics could safely go back to the “gee, much information from the past has been lost.” Approach. Perez has fun drawing everything form giant dinosaurs to air shuttles with everyone involved wandering around with a shocked expression.

There’s a little disconnect as we switch to the Monitor’s satellite. Harbinger has summoned a large number of characters there. Elongated Man says that it was a moment between everything about to end and being on the satellite. But Batman and Nuklon are seen in the merged eras, indicating that all characters experienced some of the time merge before being summoned. Maybe Ralph was just connected the key events. Since no one is scared about their loved ones, it would seem that they know they are safe.

Lyla in Harbinger form is no longer possessed. There’s no reason as to why this is.

She, Alex and Pariah share what they know to the assembled crowd. It’s a great scenes and one that would be widely imitated in anything resembling an event later on.

I would have immediately looked for JLD members, but there’s someone for everyone here from Easy company to the Legion. Perez also takes the time to show us the relationships between characters.

Star Spangled Kid and Thunderbolt; Starfire and Nightwing; Changeling and Cyborg; Scarab and Fury are all together. Previous issues are also noted, with GA Superman holding Dawnstar.

Perez makes full use of the double page spread, with Ralph, Plastic Man and Platinum stretch around the room while Harbinger, Alex and Pariah’s positions move the reader’s eye clockwise around it. Lovely stuff.

The big Legion point here is seeing Brainy and Supergirl together. They’re shown in multiple panels. This may be their last scene together and I’m not sure if it’s referred to in the main Legion book. It would have been a real hook to be used there.

Elsewhere, Jo and Tinya are near each other as are Chuck and Lu. I’d have expected to see Wildfire find out about Dawny. But it’s Dirk and Lar we see with her.

Firebrand accuses Harbinger of lying to them. Pariah goes off on a tangent instead of explaining what happened, but no one goes back to Firebrand’s point.

It does make an interesting change that the first concerted plan didn’t work out forcing the good guys to retreat.

The crowd don’t make a thing out of Harbinger having killed the Monitor either. Nor is there a murmur when Alex tells them that the solution to all this is for the universes to be properly merged together. They only have Alex’s word that the multiverse was supposed to be a single universe (this and earlier comments are a set up to something later). No one makes the point about this effectively wiping out a universe worth of people.

But then, The Monitor explained that he was controlling the emotions of everyone on the E1&2 universes. That would include this crowd too, supported by us seeing Bats and Nuklon on their Earth’s prior to being summoned.

Since Harbinger went through a lot of effort, and pages, to get the initial group together, it’s odd that they could just teleport whole crowds whenever they liked. Had they used that technology in the first place, Harbinger would never have been corrupted. Of course, then she wouldn’t have killed the Monitor and The Foe would have won.

There’s some character moments, that are a little clunky in a charming way as readers are remined of characters such as The Creeper, and we are reminded that there are two pairings of Hawks. Pariah makes a special plea for help to Vibe.

In the crowd, J’Emm is drawn in beside Martian Manhunter, the character he was effectively designed to replace. Ragman also appears and he was slated for changes in the Event that didn’t pan out.

With so much at stake and with experience of so many previous Earth-shattering Crises, a strike team is assembled and… actually not. Instead, all of the heroes feel the need to go back to their Earths and see the impact of the time merging for themselves. Despite having just been summoned from those Earths (Bats and Nuklon) and despite being in a satellite that monitors everything and that could show them anything they wanted.

Yet another lovely page of art shows them all transported back as we see clips from people out of time on the Earths.

Continued...

...continued

Crisis 5

We saw that the Guardians had been conveniently disabled by The Foe. As a result, Green Lantern rings stopped working (as John Stewart nicely reminded us earlier in the issue as a set up). Now, some Lanterns arrive in a ship on Oa to find out what has gone on. They are also enveloped in a blast of Plot Convenience. Another character who is often conveniently indisposed in such series is The Spectre. But Jim Corrigan appears on the satellite, left loose by The Foe. That would be a mistake.

Back on Earth Lois encounters the E2 Superman. Considering what would happen later, a look at E2 Lois would have been a nice touch to introduce her. With the two Starfires we’re reminded that politics is meaningless in the face of such a Crisis. A little message for us that’s still as relevant as ever. It turns out that the bear tribe lived in exactly the same spot as the caves under Wayne Manor in what has to be one of the most fun crossovers. This would be mined by Morrison later on.

That’s a themed grouping with Firestorm, Sun Boy and Firebrand along with Killer Frost and Polar Boy. The Dirk and Brek bromance gets its start here?

Perhaps its being in the Netherverse, but Pirate’s spell on Killer Frost wears off and she’s back to her lovable, threatening self.

The Red Tornado min series was supposed to change Reddy in fundamental ways. But it was never as far reaching as what happened to him in Crisis. The Foe taps into the primal forces that comprise The Red Tornado, separating them from the humanity he had just discovered.

The Flash sees every moment of “the dark storm to come.” Barry’s resistance to the Pirate is set up here. Charmingly, Wolfman has The Foe say “This change is irrevocable! Never again will he be the Red Tornado you once knew.” Little did he know about Events to come.

Back on the Earth’s 1 & 2 we get to see more of the merging and we get another thing that would change in futre.

Kara see the Legion HQ while she’s on Earth-2 and says “…but there’s no Legion on Earth-2.” So that’s you told, whoever was in charge at the end of v7.

Brainy is with Kara again. Could this be their last time together? They are in full mission mode, rather than the more personal moments they had in the satellite.

One of my favourite Crisis moments is the old couple seeing the Earth-1 equivalent of their daughter. On her Earth she’s wearing retro clothes. To her E-2 parents she’s just the same as when she died, and they are seeing her ghost.

As an aside, and since I know I pinch something from it for a Bits Crisis thing, Warren Ellis had a Planetary story where he hinted that a number of people underwent huge physical trauma at being slow-merged with their counterpart selves during Crisis.

Ibby will be pleased to know that The Legacy of Kole reaches into the 30th century, as Brin knows who she is. Sure, they might have met on the satellite, but look at the evidence! Brin mentions her with J’Onn J’Onzz and Ayla (who he was standing next to on the satellite. So no Ayla and Vi yet ) Ayla is a fellow member of the Legion, and we know form group shots, weddings and v4 that J’Onn also makes it into the 30th century.

Clearly there’s more from Kole to happen, and I’m reminded of the jewelled Amethyst crossover in v4 as well as Crystal Kid.

Lady Quark has not been deemed worthy of being with Lyla, Alex and Pariah as prime Plot Movers. She’s in the Doctor Light category of having a role to play later on, and a bit of an arc to go with it. In the meantime, she’s been dumped on Earth-1 to recover from the trauma of her family being killed.

The other reason that the heroes go back to their Earth’s is to make another of the changes slated for the series: The introduction of a new Wildcat. Roy Thomas had been looking for the best opportunity to get a cat like character into DC for a while, never quite finding the right moment. The character changed over time too, and didn’t start off as a replacement Wildcat. Crisis was used to reinvigorate a few of the old JSA members such as Hourman and Doctor Midnite too.

With a new version coming in, the old has to go. They opted for not killing Ted Grant, but crippling him instead. The way they do this is have him hit by lightning during a giant storm, which is the result of a returning Red Tornado.

Jo Nah, who we all know primarily for his medical skills , tells the group that Grant will never walk again. Yolanda is introduced helping save a child dropped when Grant was hit. I think she might have already appeared as a supporting character in Infinity, as Jade seems to know her well enough.

There’s a nice Johnny Quick/ Flash team up as well as supernatural characters who counter the storm, and who will team up again later on too.

With the required reworkings done, the heroes on E1 & 2 all agree that things do indeed look bad, and that they should help. “This universe is imperilled. The new Justice League joins the battle,” says J’Onn. Behind him is Sgt Rock, and I wonder if J’Onn asked him if he’d be interested in joining.

Aquaman is properly kept apart form Mera, as his search for her was to be part of his stories elsewhere that were caught up in Crisis. Just one of the countless plates Wolfman had to juggle through all of this. He also keeps all of the non E1 & 2 characters safely away form mission teams and the satellite.
All the heroes have been given little communicators that The Monitor must have had lying around. It would have been a nice touch to have seen a couple of the first mission teams try and report back using them.

Even with this transformation, Red Tornado gets the short end of the stick. The Foe says that Tornado will be used to help him control a new universe. A whole universe. But then he appears as a storm and his robotic body thrown back down to Earth too. We’ll later see that body returned to the JLA satellite. Events there would certainly unleash a new Tornado, but not one that ever had any prominence in the DCU because they trapped him primal force as an environmentalist one, rather than going back to his sci fi roots. Wasted. So much for having the power to control a universe.
Instead of bringing up all of the heroes again, Alex brings up only a select number for another mission. While the decisions have been made on saving E1&2, there are still three others out there.
Alex tells this group that those three earths are also crux points for their universes. Only by saving those universes will they have enough power to resist The Foe. If that’s the case, it’s very odd that the Monitor only set up Golden Tuning Forks on E1 & 2. Perhaps he was hoping that by stopping The Foe on those two Earths that he would be defeated. But he managed to pop up a sixth tower easily enough in Metropolis, when things were looking to go wrong. Why not on the others? Perhaps it only in light of the Monitor’s death that the power from the other three is now needed.

Doctor Light is in the mission team (as is Steel yay!). She’s reluctant, but this is part of her arc. Perhaps The Monitor never told Alex how important she would be.

Alex is about to press the teleporter button (he’s not told them what they should do when they get there) that was completely ignored when Harbinger went character shopping in #1 and earlier this issue. But The Foe directly attacks the satellite. He says it will only delay the heroes. The Foe has always known where the satellite is. He’s sent Shadow Demons at it, and has the power to unleash universe devastating energies. I do wonder why he couldn’t just obliterate the thing back in #1 if he can use energies against it now.

Goaded by The Flash, the foe is revealed as The Monitor. Another one. It’s a very dramatic reveal and opens up all sorts of questions as intended. While it’s the real cliff-hanger of the issue, Wolfman has more to show us.

On the three surviving Earths the heroes are being drawn towards the white antimatter clouds. Uncle Sam tells us that Doll Man and the Human Bomb have tried a direct attack. From what we’ve seen of the clouds, that should have been fatal.
We’ll learn that this is the work of the Psycho Pirate. Since we’ve just seen him without a hint of enhanced powers, this scene could have been left to the next issue.

We get merging eras of time and parallel threats between five universes. So, it’s not an issue that lacks in scope. The art is Perez and Ordway this issue and for the remainder possibly. So it’s gorgeous stuff as all of Crisis is. There are huge inconsistencies in the capabilities of the various forces involved which undermines a lot beneath the broad plot strokes. But considering what those are, getting the next issue is a must.

Heh! That's one of the parts from Crisis that gave me solace. Even if Kole *sob* would die, she'd be remembered. It struck me then too, as Brin KNEW who she was, and Brin has never been gthe studious type!

This is not long after he split with Ayla. Maybe he's thinking "If Val could get a chick with crystal-like powers in this century, then maybe..."

COIE 5

As thoth points out, the cover is lovely! A very creative way of reminding us just how many characters there are. My fave is how the most famous counterparts are merged in the center line.

The Bad Guy exposits, showing us just why he needed Psycho Pirate (for his emotion controlling powers, though this is diminished by us seeing Red Tornado held in some sort of beam. Uh, kay, so is Pirate really controlling Reddy?)

Harbinger is back as Lyla, now wracked with guilt over the Monitor's death. As an aside, should this be a clue as to how powerful Harbinger is? She killed the Monitor after all. Later issues would put some perspective into this, as the Monitor had been greatly weakened by the destruction of so many positive matter universes. Lyla, Pariah and Alex Luthor form some sort of cabal, being the ones who know the Monitor's plans. These pages exonerate Lyla (she was under control! The Monitor anticipated what she'd do and used it for the greater good!)

Pirate demonstrates his use, as Wolfman might have anticipated us rolling our eyes. He scares Flash into submission.

Perez is at his finest in the next few pages, showing us the merging of timelines with dinosaurs alongside futuristic spacecraft. Then we get a glorious, gorgeous two page spread with almost every important DC character - superhero, supervillain, army heroes, characters with their own books, etc. Easy Company manages to all be together, and a bunch of Air Force pilots, as do Lu and Chuck (holding each other!), Spectre and Phantom Stranger, Batman and Jason Todd Robin, E2 Superman holding Dawnstar with Sun Boy nearby, Lightning Lass and Timber Wolf, Firestorm and Killer Frost, Starfire and Nightwing, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, Fury and Silver Scarab, Supergirl and Brainiac 5, the Sea Devils, Cyborg and Changeling, Hawkgirl and Hawkman, Dr. Fate and Power Girl. Aqualad and Aquagirl support Lori Lemaris. Dream Girl, Element Lad, Blok and Shrinking Violet are all in a cluster too. Their body language generally makes it clear they're together. Star-Spangled Kid is holding his arms out weridly, as if he wants to hug either Wonder Girl Donna or Jonni Thunder. As thoth pointed out, Plastic Man, Elongated Man and Mercury are all stretched out to add drama while Harbinger and Pariah and Shining Knight fly.

Exposition time again, as the Three narrate what we know so far. It's effective, as Wolfman and Perez have our heroes react. Some oddities: Doctor Light (Kimiyo) begins questioning why she was brought here, ven though in issue 4 she seemed to KNOW what the tuning forks were and what her role was! Um, what? Luckily, Katana is there to translate, as they seem to have become friends in the meantime. Superman and Wonder Woman are used early on to help encourage the crowd to listen, reinforcing their status. Tomahowk is inexplicably with Lois Lane, instead of being with the gathering in the satellite. Grxx of Ceti Alpha 6 name drops the Legion and Lois Lane's legacy. We get a panel full of villains (including Validus) to reinforce that everyone has a stake in this. Jade and Obsidian are together, too.

The Warlord is the one who questions the merging. Phantom Stranger admonishes him; Creeper says he popped out of nowhere, but Stranger is definitely in the two-page spread. Creeper is right though, that Stranger was nowhere near Creeper earlier. For some reason, Creeper is creeped out that Stranger knows his name; but is it really that surprising? What an odd statement. Swamp Thing also calls the Earth dark and corrupt, which is weird and irrelevant.

Adam Strange and Alanna are used to show that the entire universe is affected. Green Arrow and Atom (Earth-1) are used to show that the Earth-1 and Earth-2 Hawks are very different.

For some reason, many of the gathered remain skeptical. Wolfman and Perez use this to show many characters who normally wouldn't interact together. We cut to the Green Lanterns investigating why their rings won't work, showing us that John Stewart isn't the only affected. The GLs highlight how powerful the Bad Guy is by exclaiming that the Guardians are trapped. More scenes showing how severe the Crisis is: Rip Hunter and crew can't exit the timestream, Batman and several connected heroes (Huntress, daughter of E-2 counterpart; a few Outsiders( plus villains see cavemen; fire and ice motif as many fire/ice powered characters meet Red Star (whose dialogue indicates he wasn't on the Monitor's satellite, which is VERY WEIRD as so many others were!).

Red Tornado is transformed, and the build-up from the Bad Guy is impressive. Sadly, this will fizzle out soon.

To drive the effects of the Crisis home, we see David and Phyllis Gerrold in shock at seeing the E-1 counterpart of deceased daughter Michele, the way she looked when she died. I was fooled at first into thinking the Gerrolds were prominent characters, but it seems like they were created just for Crisis! A nice touch though, letting us see how everyone is affected.

More heroes, including more than half a dozen Legionnaires. As thoth said, I'm pleased that Kole is apparently famous in the 30th century Brainiac 5 shows his chops by deducing why the Earths are visible from each other. Ayla and Brin's relationship is alluded two, with them touching hands from separate worlds. Mon-El and Shadow Lass appear together too.

The Red Tornado wreaks havoc, and dialogue makes it clear his storm is unnatural. Reddy does tons of damage, though I'm left skeptical as to why Reddy was so important. Yes, it was a powerful storm, but it hardly seemed like it was so crucial. As thoth mentions, it was meant to tie in to Reddy's series, but it fell short of expectations. The magical heroes step in, and only through the teamwork of at least four does the storm stop - possible foreshadowing that the magical heroes won't be as effective against the Bad Guy. Dr. Fate's "together we can stop the winds now!" acts as some magic word, for suddenly they succeed. Mon-El also suddenly appears with this group despite being with Shadow Lass etc. last page in Earth-2. Did he cross a dimensional barrier too?

Wildcat is injured, opening the way for Yolanda Montez to take the Wildcat mantle. At the risk of sounding un-PC, diversity wins: a white man is sidelined for a female Latina. Black Lightning (or is it Cheetah?)'s line "I've never heard of him" re Wildcat is extremely insensitive, and I can just imagine E2 Atom defending Wildcat in a rude tone. I would, in that situation. Funny thing about Ultra Boy being the "doctor" for Wildcat here. Is there any 30th century tech that can heal Wildcat? There probably is, but we need Wildcat sidelined so Jo wouldn't think of it.

Various heroes say they'll help the Monitor. Yet, only 15 are chosen to visit the 3 Earths that still need to be saved. I guess Alex Luthor and company made the machines more effective now, as we're only sending 5 heroes (and no villains so far!) to each Earth. Maybe they realized the villains aren't trustworthy enough, despite going to all the trouble to scare the beejeeesus out of them with all the time shenanigans. And despite seeing some super-villains (and some of the Wild West heroes) saying YES to Alex Luthor last page.

A curious collection so far; Starfire and Doctor Light are both solar-powered, and E2 Hawkman and Northwind not only have basically the same powerset, but are sort of related. Even more curious, Doctor Light again doesn't want to get involved. Yet just last issue, she was yelling at Superman and company about being stupid re the tuning fork, and how only SHE could save them. Uh, what happened? Did she get amnesia all of a sudden?

Cliffhanger time: the Monitor's Satellite is being destroyed with our Trio and the 15 heroes on board. Pirate sneaks in a mention of Apokolips, further crowding an already-crowded story.

And the bad guy is revealed to be... the Anti-Monitor (I think this should have been the last page instead, to be more dramatic!)

On Earth-X, we see the familiar white wall, with the Freedom Fighters rushing at it. Doll Man and the Human Bomb attacked it directly; what? Doll Man can shrink, how can he attack it directly without being dissolved? Bomb I can understand, but yeesh. Should have been the Ray, who instead tried to analyze the white wall with Phantom Lady. Ah well. Wolfman tried to name all the Fighters, but he should have switched Doll Man and Ray.

This issue moves the plot along much faster than the first 4 issues did, almost. Whew, sure ups the ante!

Ruined by Brin and Ayla touching hands in the next panel

They're just testing the strength of the barrier. After that it's "What happens in an alternate universe, stays in an alternate universe.

Except Brin and Kole were on different Earths

Clearly we must write this story, where Kole returns from her (apparent?) death and goes on to have legendary adventures that are remembered in the 30th century!

Don't tempt me! I was toying with Kole popping up in the 30th century and meeting the Legion, but I realized that's wish fulfillment and will also be incredibly difficult to write as fanfic!

Well, we just have to establish (make up) some connection between Kole and Crystal Kid, to start.

Tying it somehow to Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld, would just be crazy and so *must* happen.

Since we're already bringing Amethyst and Gemworld into it, we can expand - Amethyst has ties to Zerox and Mysa; we could loop in Trom and Element Lad too

Crisis #5

"All time has become one." - The Monitor

Brin is looking through a barrier to Ayla, Jacque, J'Onn, Nura? and Kole. That group is flying in front of the Legion HQ. So, Kole is already in the 30th century, where she has met the Legion. Getting her there isn't a problem.

Since warp zones have popped up merging eras, Kole could easily have had adventures earlier in the 30th century (Crystal Kid's powers come from Dominator acquired Kole DNA) or centuries earlier (Kole becomes part of the ancestry of one of the houses in the Amethyst book, before they departed Earth.) She has all of time to play with. There's room within the narrative timeline of Crisis for an adventure, as they go back to time-warped Earth to see the damage before backing Harbinger's plan.

As there are echoes of a Crisis in the post-Crisis world, the effects of Kole's adventures could still be in place.

As I alluded to earlier, I really enjoyed Crisis #5! I think it comes down to this being another issue that was FUN and while simultaneously keeping the foot on the gas, also kind of took its time to revel in the coolness of the scenario it finds itself in.

Primarily, I speak of how Earths 1 and 2 are overlapping in time and space as a result of the Monitor's desperate move to save these worlds from the antimatter bath they were about to get. Marv and George take their time here to show a number of really fun scenes that illustrate the chaotic nature of it all. From people crossing paths with long-dead relatives because they're alive on the parallel Earth to a cool dinosaur punch-out to just a lot of characters interacting with each other that we normally don't see. I found myself wishing that this was one of the double-size issues, so that we could have seen even more of these kinds of scenes and interactions play out. (I've read really hardly any Crisis crossover issues with other titles, but the set-up in this issue alone would have made for some classic tie-ins. I wonder if any of those played with this?) But I loved what we got.

Every panel was just packed with information and characters! Now, I can see why that might be a turn-off for some, possibly citing spectacle over storytelling, but it all worked for me. George is the master of this sort of thing. There's so much detail put into all of the characters and their expressions and reactions that I enjoyed all of it. The situation here called for great spectacle, and I'm glad we had our boy George here to show us all of it with his considerable skill.

But even with the considerable spectacle on display this issue, the plot didn't just suddenly grind to a halt. We learned more of the Monitor's plan and of how Alexander Luthor may be key to it. We saw the characters confronted with a choice to help save the worlds. We come face-to-face with our bad guy in what I feel is a strong Perez design. And we are set up with a date to one of the iconic parallel Earths as yet unseen: Earth-X.

And the carnage was kept to a minimum! I don't think we lost anyone this issue, did we? So, really, it was a fun sort of "breather" issue, but we were given a lot to enjoy and learn in the process. Seems that successive attempts to come up with huge "event" series across the Big Two in the decades since Crisis only really took the lessons of carnage and spectacle from the monster success of this forerunner and pretty much always forget that they should be fun at the same time. At least Crisis itself didn't forget in this fan's opinion.

My special thanks to Lardy and Thoth for their reviews of CoIE #5. I will add a few thoughts of my own later today, followed by a review of CoIE #6.

yay! *gets Crisis collection out*

Agreed. By far the best CoIE cover up to this point.



Yup. Even Science-Ignorant Me can tell that's questionable science.



I'll take the 2nd option, because I'm a bad, nasty person. And because I think writers tend to be their own worst editors.







Oh, Marv...



Marv?



MARRRRV...



Marvin...



M...ilked this joke dry. M...oving on...



Someone should've quipped, "Two hard-boiled eggs." (2nd Marx Brothers reference today -- Cramey made the first one, in her latest Legion Re-Reads review. Check it out, LW-ers.)



GREENBERGERRRRRR...

LOL



Yolanda had indeed already appeared in Infinity Inc, and she was presented as already knowing Ted. GREENBERGERRRRR!

I have a love/hate thing with Yolanda as presented by Roy in I.I., but as presented here by Marv, it's pure unadulterated hate. However, in an effort to be fair, I will add that Marv was far from being the only writer who thought that Latin Americans spoke in a lumpy porridge of English and Spanish words mashed together to cringe-worthy effect.



AHA! So that's where the Bierbaums got their evil ideas for Jo Gary Stu Nah! Another thing to blame Crisis for!







Questions such as -- "Is that really your face, or did you get a big piece of almond bark stuck on your nose?" ,and, "How is it that you're even more of a fashion victim than the other guy?"



Except for Giordano doing partial inks on CoIE #7, it is indeed Ordway on inks the rest of the way.



IT BETTER BE!

Eh, I have no one to blame but myself -- I'm the one who started this thread!

LOL














As a female Latina, I'd call it a pyrrhic victory. I personally prefer a whitebread hero to an annoying stereotype (again, though, I add the caveat that she was much better-written by her creator, Roy Thomas.)

Cheers, Lardy. Times like this, I can't believe that I'm a few years YOUNGER than you, and yet I'm so much more jaded! Gods bless you, my friend.



Created, I think it is worth mentioning, by Marv's friend Len Wein, in one of my favorite JLA stories of all time, issues 107-108, the JLA/JSA/Freedom Fighters team-up. Highly recommended reading, LW-ers.



No we didn't, and that's a good point well taken. Score one for Marv and Friends.



Oh, I dunno about that...I'd still place some of the early-90s Marvel events head & shoulders above Crisis...not to mention my beloved Armageddon, which, flaws and all, will always have a special place in my heart as it was my introduction to the DCU...

Hey! Maybe that could be the next big discussion in your Roundtable thread!

On CoIE #6:

I find this installment to be a real hotch-potch of the sublime and the ridiculous.

Something else else I like: Marv & George's expert choreography of the plentiful action sequences. I am particularly impressed by Captain Atom's forceful attack, one of the best portrayals of his powers I've ever seen. And even though he is shown with his old Ditko look instead of the metal-coating look he will display in his soon-to-launch solo book, this doesn't hamper George's estimable efforts one bit.

Something else else I don't like: When this issue was published, Marvel was a few months away from its 25th Anniversary. Shouldn't Marv and Friends have taken that as a hint that heroes getting belligerent and violent with each other was kind of...old-hat? Especially when these hero-on-hero fights take up the majority of the issue? I get what they were going for, and I laughed out loud at the payoff of the Anti-Monitor's deliciously sarcastic response to Psycho Pirate not being able to handle so much telepathic intensity all at once. But overall, I personally feel that the wall-to-wall brawling gets stale and tired very fast.

Something else else I like: Harbinger, Kole, Black Canary, and Supergirl each getting an impressive power display. That they all do it of their own initiative makes it even sweeter.

Something else else I don't like: I still don't understand why Yolanda gets so blasted much panel-time. Maybe Roy was playing hardball with Marv to get promotion for his book? If so, such egomania makes for poor teamwork. Meh.

Something else else I like: Perez and Ordway (the latter of whose busy, nervy, yet still clean and elegant ink lines work particularly well at this stage of the story) really excel at the contemplative outer-space scene with a spent yet still alive Harbinger and a hale and hearty Alex Luthor.

Something else else I don't like Marv still doesn't give readers a clue exactly where this starry-skied neutral zone actually is; he also undermines the poignancy of the Harbinger/Alex Luthor scene with a dumb quip from Alex (which has obviously been lettered by someone other than John Costanza. Very weird.)

Crisis 6:

Well, the Anti-Monitor looks creepy on the cover. Kudos!

Title is 3 Earths, 3 Deaths. Who were the Deaths? Harbinger's selves?

Anti-Monny, Psycho Pirate and Flash all give us some quick exposition. Gasp, the Monitor is dead! The Satellite is destroyed! Pirate is here to play with emotions! He's the one keeping Barry from acting!

Anti-Monitor has no time to search for a replacement. Yet he specifically mentions Raven and Phobia. And he seems to have picked up Pirate, Red Tornado and Barry pretty easily, so what's keeping him from doing the same? As thoth has pointed out many times, the inconsistencies in the powers and abilities of the Anti-Monitor continue to pile up. I would have preferred a "Phobia would have been okay, but your powers are more versatile!" line, which would have made wayyyy more sense. Especially as Anti-Monny immediately boosts Pirate's powers - enough to control the populations of 3 Earths!

Now, is it just the Earths, or other planets in the universes too? Cause that's magnitudes of power greater. But I'm OK with it being just the Earths, as much has been said about Earth being a nexus. Can't remember at this point if Crisis itself has said that yet, but I remember it being pointed out at least once in the series.

Also still not sure how exactly Anti-Monny gets more power. Now he says he will be more powerful once the Monitor's lingering energies disappear. Is it because those energies are keeping Earths 1 and 2 from being destroyed? Or simply because he can fill the void? Ah, well.

We see the rest of the assembled heroes. Harbinger steps up, saving Alex Luthor from potentially killing himself, and transporting all the heroes to where they need to go. Some good characterization of the heroes in this scene: Kimiyo is still snitty and arrogant; Changeling keeps making girl-crazy jokes; and poor Blok is as bewildered as I remember him from the Legion books.

Main plot:

The three battles on the 3 Earths flow really well, though I am a little miffed that Nightshade and Peacemaker; and Phantom Lady, Human Bomb and Dollman, don't get much to do. And if I'm right, neither Nightshade nor Phantom Lady ever display their powers through the whole series, despite getting their share of lines.

I also like how all "our" heroes try to talk as much as they can. Supergirl with Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman with Mary Marvel, Northwind with the Earth-X civilians. Even those who attack (like Starfire and J'Onn) make it clear they're only doing so as a defense. It's a refreshing change from the tired "all superheroes must fight immediately at first meeting" trope.

Earth-X: Northwind, E-2 Hawkman, the new Doctor Light, Starfire, Steel. Versus the Freedom Fighters and a panicked populace, all due to Psycho Pirate. It's a bit brilliant, make everyone nuts so they won't try to save themselves, hastening their world's demise. I try not to think too hard about the lineup: why do we need two solar-casters in Kimiyo and Starfire, and two flying people in Northwind and Hawkman? Poor Northwind does the decent thing and tries to stop the innocents, but stands no chance against Ray. Black Condor, whom I usually discount for really only being able to fly, is surprisingly strong, hurling Hawkman away. Starfire takes out Condor, but misses Ray, who hits Doctor Light. Oh well. Light uses her powers well here, blocking the anti-matter wall. But for how long? She also shows contempt for the panicked people; not quite heroic, but not villainous either. She will let them die, but she won't kill them. Got it. Hawkman saves her AGAIN, but she still doesn't thank him. And poor Northwind is still in a bad spot, though Steel saves gim. Kimiyo suddenly speaks and understands English, and our heroes intelligently don't waste time figuring out why. A good move from either Harbinger or Alex Luthor, though why they didn't do it earlier, I don't know.

Earth-4: Martian Manhunter, Katana, Azrael, Blok, E-2 Flash. Unlike the two other teams, there's nobody here with powers that can block the anti-matter wall. Good thing they're in the middle of nowhere, then. Another character with basically only wings and flight: Azrael. What gives? At least Dawnstar had tracking abilities. Maybe Marv and George like wings. Captain Atom goes for overkill here, taking out Azrael: please, Blue Beetle could have done it. Some nice bits here, as our heroes quickly engage the Earth-4 native heroes. Of course, Flash is faster than the Peter Cannon Thunderbolt! J'Onn and Katana get in some good hits too, but poor Blok does little. And Azrael's contribution is spotting a speeding Thunderbolt? Sure.

Earth-S (or 5?): I always assumed it was S for Shazam, but the lettering is a bit vague. At least here, we jump right into the action: having them appear and talk again would have been repetitive. Supergirl, Kole, Black Canary, Changeling and Wonder Woman face probably the toughest defenders in the Marvel family. Kole is the barrier warrior here, while the rest do their part in stopping the powerful Marvels. I laughed at Uncle Marvel, poor thing.

Harbinger finally finishes what she needs to do, and saves the 3 universes. But she loses her amazing deus ex machina powers, oops. Ah well, it's for the best story-wise, as it would have been tempting to let her do anything with them. Not out of the woods yet though, as the merging continues. Incidentally, here it looks like four of the worlds are converging on a fifth: later we'll see the worlds arranged in a row. How that happened, I don't know.

Lyla and Alex Luthor show a disturbing inconsistency in knowledge again. Earlier, both seemed to know exactly what to do. Now, they're lost and stuck again. Maybe the Monitor left detailed instructions on the Satellite, which they were following bit by bit? And they never downloadeda copy? Maybe Marv was making things up as he went along? Or, you know, we just need some suspense,and it would be boring if the good guys had a detailed plan of action until the last issue.

Interludes:

One page of Ted Grant being placed in bed, while Yolanda Montez comes in. She finally takes on the Wildcat mantle at the end. Like Fanfie said: the mix of Spanish and English is a bit odd. I have many Spanish-speaking colleagues from Latin America who speak in straight English: they don't use American slang, and sometimes they struggle for certain words, but they can do English. I don't mind it too much, but I can see how a native Spanish speaker with decent English could find it annoying. And Yolanda does seem to be getting a lot of screentime, for little payoff within the series.Ah well, they have to plug Infinity Inc.

Luthor is saved from certain doom in a tornado by Brainiac. Uh oh, evil afoot. Luthor's ego is so big he sees fit to make threats to Brainiac despite having been saved. Classic. We don't need to know how Luthor ended up in the tornado, so I'm glad they didn't make this segment overblown.

Aquaman's plight continues, as he still can't find Mera. Namedrops come hard and fast: Aquagirl, Aqualad, Lori Lemaris, Dolphin, Black Manta, Oceanmaster. First hints of something nefarious afoot, as the villains disappear.

More villains disappear, as some of our Earth-2 heroes find their Earth-2 villains gone.

Overall, a good issue: plenty happens; despite the continued merging of worlds it feels like a victory for the good guys (for now). Again, a few inconsistencies, though I find they don't bother me too much if I don't think too hard

Art is gorgeous all throughout. Pirate's face when his powers are increased, Barry's fear, that lovely spread of the faces of the 15 heroes + Alex Luthor while Harbinger saves them, the fight scenes (as Fanfie mentioned). All sublime. The poses are better here too, not like the cover of issue 1 (has Power Ring's spine snapped yet?) On page 4, we see Black Canary's body rigid, like she's doing a gymnastics workout. Given her skillset, that's fine.

Crisis #6



His identity revealed, we get a massive head shot of Anti Monitor (AM) on the cover of #6. For those familiar with the Monitor, form either here or the crossovers, then this should be a bit of a shock.

Inside, we pick up form the end of #4 and retread a lot of ground covered in #5. Behind the scenes, Perez had stepped into help co plot after the Harbinger about to kill the Monitor appeared at the end of two consecutive issues. The opening here suggests that there was more of the same going on.

“The Monitor is dead!” exclaims the AM, just as he did at the start of #5. Psycho Pirate mentions that he’s been promised a world to control “time and again” as it’s come up frequently in the plot retracing. The Flash still lies at their feet. He’s still terrified, but can feel Pirate’s power wearing off.

The AM is confident in the defeat of the heroes as he’s attacked their satellite. The attack started on page 22 of the last issue and continues early on here. That’s fine, but our villain has equipment that can annihilate universes. Yet, he can’t destroy the satellite. It would be an improvement if we at least knew that it could be the Monitor’s defences keeping him at bay.

AM trots out the line, again, that Raven or Phobia could have replaced Pirate had there been time. But He grabbed Pirate in an instant, so Phobia would be no problem in getting. Also, Pirate was grabbed from an ancient time, so Pre-Baxter Raven could have been taken just as easily. Heck, AM using the power he used to take Pirate, AM could capture any opponent that attacked his fortress next issue, before they had a chance to think about joining against him. That one is a big plot/rabbit hole.

AM is sure that he’s about to kill the Monitor’s champions. “Now his satellite headquarters and his superpowered champions shall die with him.” Yet, he also gives Pirate power to control worlds to combat the same champions he’s so sure of killing. Last issue, he felt that the satellite attack would delay the heroes and not kill them. So, he’s a bit confused.

AM also says here that his powers are increasing, but last issue complained that the opposite was the case. There’s the sense that he’s going to wait until the Monitor’s powers, used to save E1 &2 are going to drain into him to attain “The Ultimate Power.” The details of that power are left vague, but seems to just be the removal of positive matter universes.

Since the AM has spent a lot of time obliterated universes, why does he need the Pirate to control three that remain? There’s been no indication that they have any way of defending themselves.

There’s a lot of needless overlap between the opening of the two issues, and the plotting becomes confused and just about keeps some momentum. We’re only two pages in.

We switch to the satellite where the heroes, who were about to be sent to the three earths, struggle against their disintegrating surroundings. Steel is concerned about himself; Doctor Light is rude to an annoying “obviously2 E2 Hawkman while Blok’s fight ring malfunctions (It’s happening a lot to Brainy, who will hopefully add the element Plot-onium to keep them functional in future)

Page 4 shows the satellite torn apart, but it doesn’t actually explode until page 6. There, it is “forever destroyed!” just in case writers were already hoping to bring it back or the JLD were looking to set up home in it. That’s because there’s some work still to be done inside it. We can’t have AM destroying it until the next plot point is reached. Alex Luthor looks to use his powers of matter/anti-matter handwavium to in conjunction with a device that makes his perm. Was that device seen before in use by the monitor? Um…no. It’s just something that’s sitting conveniently around. He’s blasted by Harbinger, with the suggestion that she will sacrifice her life as he intended to do. Since he seems to know everything that happens, it’s odd that AM doesn’t notice Harbinger on each of the Earths. There’s no reason at all for him to wait until she spirits the universes away.

Unfortunately, she also seems to have destroyed the hair care device. As we’ve frequently seen, she has random plot powers of her own. She also has a device we have seen. She returned to the place where Lyla waits to be made whole again. Previously, this action would just produce Lyla. This time, for unknown reasons, it looks to have blown up the satellite. Actually, she managed to project her presence to each of the three earths. But there’s no connection from anything we’ve seen to her producing this effect. We are told that her power is one of the mind, so presumably she combines the monitor’s E1/E2 saving equipment with her own duplication/ world crossing psionic powers.

In #5 Alex was just going to press a button to send the heroes to the other earths. They still get to their destinations as planned (perhaps Harbinger got to press it, while she projected herself). But last issue, there was no suggestion that Harbinger would have to project herself anywhere. Perhaps Alex and Lyla would have had to perform such an action later. But by blowing up the satellite, the AM has actually caused the action from Harbinger that would thwart him in this issue. If he’d either obliterated the satellite or just left it alone, he might have won here.

With Crisis being new territory, not all teams on other books realised the impact the book could have on sales, despite being told about the success of Secret Wars. Links into and form the main Crisis series tended to come as it became obvious what a success it was. This could partly be a reason why issues around this time included so much of Roy Thomas’ crossovers. While not exactly enamoured with the whole idea, Thomas was an early adopter. So we get a lot of panel time for the new Wildcat. First, we get her visit to Ted Grant and in the issue’s finale, we see her in her new costume and get a hint of her powers. Was she key to the resolution of Crisis or any of its subplots? She didn’t really take off after Crisis either, becoming part of the Infinity Inc supporting cast. Still, such things were new and she couldn’t have asked for a bigger showcase (well, outside of Showcase )

Wolfman does get points for layering in the next Crisis story arc, even as this one gets underway. As heroes try to save worlds, the villains begin to disappear. Crossover links become more frequent; from Superman and into JLA and an upcoming Aquaman mini. Wolman makes an attempt to clear up various versions of Atlantis and other cities along the way here. Brainiac rescues Luthor and tells him of a plan to rule the universe. For as long as that lasts.

On Earths 4, S and X our champions encounter crowds of people walking towards anti matter walls, much as they were doing at the end of last issue. As the heroes try and save them, they are fought by controlled heroes of those worlds, who also have a death wish. It’s a great set up for battles against the Freedom Fighters, Action Heroes and Marvel Family. Each of the groups shows plenty of character and power during the encounters. None of the scenes is overlong, focusing on a single location. These characters will all merge into a single universe, and this is an excellent introduction to them. There’s a reminder that Beetle has already been involved, but that the message has been skewed under the power of the Psycho Pirate. Our heroes including Steel, Supergirl, Black Canary and Kole all have good panels. Towering above each battleground is an image of Harbinger, keeping the anti-matter walls at bay.

As the fights continue (Kory must have taught Kimiyo her kissing-absorbs-language trick in a deleted panel), Harbinger pulls the 3 earths into the netherverse where the Monitor saved E1 & E2. Lyla expected to be killed by this, but it’s simply that Harbinger is no more. Note that she’s not “Forever no more” like the satellite. She sits with Alex on a handy rock that must have been near the satellite when it was destroyed. Pariah vanished before it was destroyed, so perhaps he’ll be back (which would be odd since there must be more dangerous places than that to be drawn to).

Harbinger reveals that the Monitor spent even more time telling everyone about their futures rather than saving Earths. This time he told her that Alex Luthor had a destiny. Not what it was or anything useful. Just vague (and annoying) Plot Precognition.

It won’t be clearer until next issue what the mission of the heroes was on those three earths. They certainly wouldn’t have been able to save the Earths themselves. I guess that the satellite contained the technology to do that (without the tuning forks that were so important earlier on in the story). When that failed either Luthor or Harbinger had to intervene more directly.

Although the three Earths have been saved, they are still all merging with E1 & E2. In an alternate plot, the five tuning forks would have been placed on the five Earths in the first issue, saving us this huge plot detour.

It’s a stunningly illustrated drawing, and I’m just pawing through the original issue here. The later, glossier versions are even nicer. Great panel composition, fight choreography, weather effects and attention to detail really raise the book.

On the writing sides, an odd mix of heroes fighting the controlled champions of three worlds is well worth an issue.

The reasons why only make sense in the immediate plot, and not in the overall story. The plot of the last couple of issues has overlapped poorly and there are any number of holes in it. That’s mainly down to the plot have shifted so much since it’s earlier conception that the logic to certain parts has almost broken down.

We start with a retread of last issue and we end with the situation exactly as it was, but with a shuffled cast and 3 extra Earths.

Another big reveal this issue is more on Azrael! It looks as though he has enhanced vision and he has an aversion to scarabs. Could that mean an Egyptian-like origin? Could it be tied into the legacy of E2 Hawkman?

Heh.We need to be careful, thoth. Both of us have been exposing the plot holes in the writing!