#No Arions were hurt in the making of this comic.

[muppenthings]

The area's merfolk are aware of Cetus' existence and instruct their younglings to stay away from this particular area of the bay.

This trio (the third was dragged there by peer pressure tbh) wanted to sneak a peek at the enclosure of this "giant mer with a condition that the humans are in charge of and we've been told to stay away from". Arion there got a lot more than he bargained for because he wanted to look cool (and also did not know Cetus was that big or close by. xD)

It might not be very clear from the drawing but that's a "fence" of batteries anchored to chains. Similar to how shark deterrents work. Very effective in keeping Cetus in.

Also keep in mind, the mers are speaking Mer so Cetus has no idea what's being said. Language barrier on top whoop whoop!

[thecomicsnexus]

The Summoning

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #1 APRIL 1985 BY MARV WOLFMAN, LEN WEIN, ROBERT GREENBERGER, GEORGE PEREZ, DICK GIORDANO, TOM MCCRAW (RE-COLORED VERSION) AND ANTHONY TOLLIN

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

At the beginning of time, the Big Bang occurred, forming the universe. However, where there should have been one universe, there were many, each one a replication of the first, with their own separate histories.

At the present time, a great white wall of pure anti-matter energy stretches out across the cosmos. It pervades the Multiverse, consuming entire galaxies. On an unknown parallel world, a being named Pariah arrives. He is forced to witness the death of multiple worlds in multiple dimensions. He disappears as he is transported to the parallel world known as Earth-Three. On that world, the Crime Syndicate, in a rare demonstration of heroism, strives to save their beleaguered planet. However, even their combined might cannot prevent their deaths at the anti-matter wall.

The planet's sole hero, Lex Luthor, retreats to his home where his wife, Lois, holds their infant son, Alexander, in her hands. Luthor places Alexander into an experimental rocket capsule and launches him from the planet Earth. As Earth-Three dies, Alexander's capsule pierces the vibrational wall separating dimensions. It lands on the abandoned Justice League Satellite orbiting Earth-One.

On board another satellite, a being called the Monitor summons his assistant Harbinger. He instructs her to travel to various alternate Earths and bring together a select group of super-powered beings. Harbinger uses her power to create replicant versions of herself and sends them to the various Earths. The Monitor meanwhile, prepares to gather Alexander Luthor's space capsule.

The first of Harbinger's replicants travels to Earth-One and gathers King Solivar from Gorilla City. Another travels to Earth of the 30th century and summons Dawnstar of the Legion of Super-Heroes to her cause. A third replicant journeys to Earth-Two of the year 1942 to enlist the aid of Firebrand. One version gathers the Blue Beetle from Chicago. Another version of Harbinger collects the Psycho-Pirate from Earth-Two's present timeline. She brings him to Earth-One where they encounter Firestorm and Killer Frost. The Psycho-Pirate uses his Medusa Mask to make Killer Frost fall in love with Firestorm. Another replicant travels to Pre-Cataclysmic Atlantis to find Arion the Sorcerer. However, a Demon-Shadow attacks her and takes possession of Harbinger. The possessed replicant finds Arion and brings him back to the Monitor's satellite.

When they arrive, they find a room full of heroes and villains from alternate realities. Before the assemblage has a chance to acclimate itself to their foreign environment, a horde of Demon-Shadows attacks them. They fight them off until the Monitor arrives. He casts a brilliant burst of light, which dispels the shadows. Introducing himself, he tells the impatient gathering that the Multiverse may soon be destroyed.

EDITORIAL

NOTORIOUS DEATHS IN THIS ISSUE

Ultraman

Owlman

Super-woman

Power Ring

Johnny Quick

Alexander Luthor Sr.

Lois Luthor

Earth-3

FIRST APPEARANCES IN THIS ISSUE

Alexander Luthor Jr

Pariah

Blue Beetle (Ted Kord, first appearance on Earth-4)

REVIEW

Do you know why Crisis on Infinite Earths is the best comic book event of all time? It took 3 years of research to start with. It didn’t matter who they were killing (for the most part) because they were restarting the whole thing, so they managed to do proper endings for some characters. And most importantly, it mattered. Up to these days, even with Flashpoint in the middle, the Crisis is still a milestone in the DC Metaverse. Whatever came next would be cool, but in the end wouldn’t be as important as the first crisis.

In Crisis, you have memorable dialogues, a lot of heroic sacrifices, and some characters changed forever (or until DiDio came along). Marv Wolfman’s idea was very simple. Do whatever you need to do, and every ten years, restart the whole universe. That way, the whole line remains accessible for new readers. They didn’t listen to him (although, ten years later, DC would go through a soft reboot), but if they had, I don’t know, some things would have worked better. But to be honest, Marvel never needed to reboot and they are the best selling company. Still, there was a time after Crisis, that DC really shined bright. That’s a period of time that gave us some of the most iconic stories and characters that we can read even now. The Vertigo line was one of those things that came out of this period. And while continuity wasn’t perfect, it was pretty tight.

So Crisis on infinite earths has a special place in the hearts of comic book fans of the modern age. It doesn’t hurt that George Perez (and Jerry Ordway) made an excellent job with the amount of characters DC had to use.

In this issue, we finally meet the Monitor. This characters has been hinted as early as July 1982. Appearing everywhere, even the 19th and 30th centuries. Well, the mystery is over, after three years of suspense, we finally see the monitor, and we already know he is going to be killed by Lyla.

Marv Wolfman once said that the reason he opened the series with the death of the Crime Syndicate, was to show the readers that even powerful beings that look pretty much like the classic Justice League, can die. And another thing he made sure of, was to not show the main trinity of earth one right away, as to show new readers how big the DCU was.

The debut of Blue Beetle in this issue was one of the reasons Alan Moore had to change the characters in the upcoming Watchmen. DC had plans for the Charlton characters after Crisis and Moore’s approach would have left them... unusable.

You get the feeling that something really extraordinary is happening. A whole (known) universe dies in the first few pages. And before you ask, Lois Lane was married to Alexander Luthor, yes... Super-Woman was an amazon in the pre-crisis Earth-3. It does look confusing for modern fans as it seems like Super-woman should be Lois as well.

I am not going to score the individual issues, as this story is better scored as a whole. I will score the tie-ins, though.

[sebeth]

Crisis On Infinite Earths #1

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

  I loathe reboots. That said, Crisis on Infinite Earths is my all-time favorite “big event” comic book series. The art, the writing, the character moments, the long term-impact - no other “big event” from any company has come close to achieving the levels of success of Crisis.

I re-read this series annually.  And I continue to love it.  Each re-read seems to add more detail to the story.

Let’s dive into DC’s original Multiverse.

We begin with a recap of the creation of the Mutliverse: “In the beginning there was only one. A single black infinitude. But the light grew, and the infinitude shuddered and the darkness finally screamed, as much in pain as in relief. For in that instant, a Multiverse was born. A Multiverse of worlds vibrating and replicating…and a Multiverse that should have been one, became many.”

We switch to Pariah - possibly the most emo, pessimistic character in comics.

“How longer must I suffer for my sins…before I may be spared the witnessing of these horrors?”  - You were an extremely naughty boy if your punishment is to witness death and destruction over and over.

Earth-3, the home of the Crime Syndicate, is in its final death throes.  The Crime Syndicate, despite being villains, are doing their best to halt the destruction.  

Ultraman is fierce in these pages: “I’ve changed the course of mighty oceans, don’t tell me my super-strength can’t save my adopted planet.”

The above-quote proves that while Ultraman may be a villain, he is still a Superman.

Alexander Luthor, the sole super hero on this planet, is also attempting to save the planet.  Alexander witnesses the death of Superwoman. Luthor heads home to spend his final moments with Lois Lane.  

Lois: “Alexander, I think I can die peacefully, knowing I’m with you. But our son is so young. He’s been cheated of living and knowing love. Alex, must he perish too?”

Luthor and Lois send their infant son to Earth-1.   The Luthor baby’s ship is very similar in appearance to the rocket that transported baby Kal-El to earth.

“This is a prototype, large enough for only one. We will die, but our son shall live.”

Power Ring and Ultraman are the final remaining members of the Crime Syndicate. The duo realizes there is nothing left to do.  

Ultraman goes out like a boss: “What I have done all my life.  I fight to the very end!”

Once again proof that, at his core, Ultraman was a Superman.

Lois and Alexander share a final embrace: “Lois, our time together has been all too brief, but you’ve given me a love this old scientist never thought he’d know.”

“And you’ve given me more love than I had any right to expect. My husband. I love you!”

 Luthor’s son lands on the abandoned satellite headquarters of the Justice League.

The Monitor wants the Luthor child.  Good thing Alexander sent him to Earth-1 instead of letting him die on Earth-3.

The Monitor sends the Harbinger to assemble his team:  King Solovar of Earth-1′s Gorilla City, Dawnstar from the 30th century, Firebrand from 1940′s Earth 2, Blue Beetle from the Charlton Earth, Psycho-Pirate from present day Earth 2, Arion of Atlantis from 45,000 years ago, and Firestorm and Killer Frost from present day Earth 1.    

An few notes during the search:

The Harbinger duplicate searching for Arion is possessed by a shadowy figure.

Harbinger approaches Roger Hayden, the current Psycho-Pirate, in an asylum: Hayden urges Harbinger to “Find Halstead – the first Psycho-Pirate. He was better’n me. He knew how to handle all those emotions…Why don’t you just leave me alone? I don’t want to. You’ll give me those headaches all over again. You don’t know what it’s like, do you? The psycho-pirate affects emotions in others but those emotions hurt me. Please, go away…I’m not well.”

Harbinger slaps the Medusa Mask on Hayden and spirits him out of the institution.

All of Harbinger’s “recruitment” scenes were essentially abductions but the Psycho-Pirate’s is noteworthy because you have a mentally ill man being kidnapped over his protests.

One last note of the recruitment scenes – Firestorm and Killer Frost are enemies. The Psycho-Pirate uses his abilities to cause Killer Frost to fall in love with Firestorm so she will accompany the group: “You feel love now, Killer Frost, don’t you? Love for man, love for earth, and especially love for your enemy.”

Firestorm is uncomfortable with the situation. Me too.

We go to the Monitor’s headquarters where the above-mentioned figures are waiting.  Also in residence are Earth 1′s Geo-Force, Cyborg, Psimon, Doctor Polaris, Green Lantern (John Stewart) along with present day Earth-2′s Superman and Obsidian.  I’m assuming these guys were recruited during “Crisis” tie-in issues.

This is a very odd group. It’s easy to see why some were chosen - Arion, Superman, Green Lantern, and Firestorm are obvious for their power levels, Dawnstar is the best tracker in the DC Universe, and Obsidian’s abilities give him an edge against the Anti-Monitor’s shadow demons.  The others are not so obvious at first glance.  

Monitor ruminates to himself: “Already another Earth has perished and five heroes I needed are gone. Thus I’ve dispatched your replicants to seek out others as replacements.”

We’re never told the name of the Earth or of the five deceased heroes.  There is no editor’s footnote telling us to check out “issue #” so I don’t think it happened in a tie-in.  Crisis happened in the 1980’s and editors were all over footnotes urging you to buy “Issue # of Title X” to discover the full details of an event.

The five deceased heroes remain a mystery – who died and who were the replacements?

I’m fairly confident in stating Dawnstar was an original intended recipient – the depth and scope of her tracking abilities is unique in the DC universe. As for the others…who knows?

The heroes and villains await on the station.  Most are keeping to themselves with a few exceptions. Killer Frost is lovey-dovey with Firestorm much to his dismay. Geo-Force and Cyborg are standing next to each other.

Superman and Obsidian are conversing. Both heroes are from the same Earth. Firebrand is also from Earth 2 but originates in the World War II era: “I know Obsidian. The Squadron recently met him and his friends but Superman looks so old, hardly the Man of Steel I know so well. Well, I guess everybody ages.”

I love Obsidian staying close to Superman. Not only is Clark from Obsidian’s home planet, but Clark began his heroic career shortly before World War II and has worked for decades with Obsidian’s father, the original Green Lantern. It makes logical sense for Obsidian to be glued to Superman’s side.

Psimon attempts a truce with his “dear friends” Cyborg and Geo-Force. Cyborg tells him to shove it.

King Solivar keeps to himself: “The humans stare at me then turn away. My presence here is uncomforting to them. Unlike us apes, they have not yet learned to look beyond the form to the soul that lives inside.”

Solivar’s must be feeling insecure. Dawnstar is from the 31st century and John Stewart is a Green Lantern – diverse life forms are nothing new to them. Superman’s been around the block and seen many unusual life forms. Cyborg has a teammate that can turn into any alien form so I don’t see Victor being phased by a sentient ape.

Psimon warns of an impending attack – cue the shadow demons and a big fight at the Monitor’s base.  A few heroes have a bit of luck against the demons but are on the ropes until the Monitor releases an extremely intense light burst.  

Solivar saves Dawnstar and Dawny responds with “You’re an ape, but you can talk!”

This is the one bit that felt out of character.  Dawnstar wouldn’t be fazed by a talking ape. 31st Century people – she’s seen way more unusual things than a talking ape.

“And now, let me properly introduce myself.  I am…the Monitor.  And I have summoned you here because your universes are about to die!” - What a drama queen!

Final thoughts:

Nice set-up issue.  It achieved what would take 3 to 6 issues in modern times.

Gorgeous art by George Perez.

Pariah is annoying.

I loved that the Crime Syndicate (of all people) went out as heroes.

Harbinger was much more powerful in her debut.  Compare this to the Superman/Batman issue where she’s killed off-panel by a Doomsday clone.

Considering light is the Shadow Demon’s main weakness, I’m surprised the Monitor didn’t recruit the first Dr. Light.  Light is scum but that didn’t stop the Monitor from recruiting Psimon, Killer Frost, the Psycho-Pirate and Doctor Polaris.

I really miss pre-New 52 DC. Firebrand!  All-Star Squadron!  Obsidian!  Older Earth-2 Superman!\

Rest In Peace:

Earth-3

The Crime Syndicate

Alexander Luthor

Lois Lane Luthor