Infinite Crisis

Release: 2005-2006
Length: 241 pages
Geoff Johns (Author), Phil Jimenez (Illustrator, Artist), George Perez (Illustrator)

OMAC robots are rampaging, magic is dying, villains are uniting, and a war is raging in space. And in the middle of it all, a critical moment has divided Earth's three greatest heroes: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. It's the DCU's darkest day, and long-lost heroes from the past have returned to make things right in the universe...at any cost. Heroes will live, heroes will die, and the DCU will never be the same again!

This exhaustive volume also contains every cover and variant produced for the project, annotations, character designs, excerpts from scripts, unused scenes, and much more.


I've never read this collection in its totality and I'm so glad I finally did!

Know that there will probably be spoilers sprinkled around in here so if you don't want that, click away. I enjoyed this crisis and I hope you did or will too.

Okay, so let's get down to it.

I was immediately surprised to see Supergirl because there was no explanation for how she was resurrected after Crisis on Infinite Earths. I guess we're just supposed to go along with it. My theory is that after the Universe was reset, her arrival on Earth happened like it did before and no one is supposed to be the wiser (except the audience, of course). I wish there was more of an explanation for instances such as this, but I guess I should be happy for whatever I get.

My question is: What about Barry Allen?

Yeah, I know he comes back in Rebirth, but they both sacrificed themselves during the previous Crisis. How did they make that choice?

Power Girl featured heavily in this collection, which I loved because she is one of my favorite female heroes. My heart broke for her and the Superman and Lois of Earth 2. Can you imagine being the sole survivors of an entire Earth?

Superboy-Prime was just as much of a jerk as I remembered. Dude had no freaking chill!!

I knew the truth about Alex, but watching his despicable actions in their fullness was hard to read. He was surprisingly worse than I remembered and I laughed SO HARD during his final scene with the Joker.

My beloved Superboy died (again for me because I already knew this part), but my consolation is that the Legion revives him in the future so although I'm heartbroken right now, it's more bittersweet than devastating.

There were so many appearances from familiar heroes such as Nightwing, Robin, Batman, Arrow, Black Canary, Mr. Terrific, Black Lightning, Wonder Girl, and the like and from those not so familiar. And there was so much death. Again, so many people died and I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone rebuilds the destruction featured in this collection.

I'm giving this FIVE STARS because I couldn't stop turning the pages. I laughed, I almost cried, I gasped, and I was excited. I was entertained exceptionally well and that is all that I can ask for.

You may or may not know this about me, but I'm obsessed with comics. I'm sure I'll get plenty of hate for this, but my favourite comics come from the DC Universe. There's just something about tortured heroes, truly psychotic villains, extraterrestrials, parallel Earths, doppelgangers, and everything in between that really gets me. Not to say I'm not a fan of Marvel, because I most definitely am... it's just DC (for me) has them beat.

Okay, so one of my favourite heroes of ALL TIME is The Flash/Barry Allen. His mother was murdered by a rival from the future, his father went to prison, his enemies were absolutely brutal... And yet this character always had a light to him that eased the pain. Of course, I love all of the speedsters (Garrick, Mercury, West, Allen, etc.), but Barry was the one I loved most. Imagine how devastated I was at the end of Crisis? And then imagine how thrilled I was at Rebirth?

So the other day, I did a rewatch of The Flash starring Grant Gustin (don't even get me started on how much I enjoyed the show and how much I will miss Gustin's portrayal of my fave) and decided to do a re-read of the most important events of The Flash's life. I chose Crisis and Flashpoint because they both did a great job of capturing not only this fan favourite, but all of the important characters who make up the DC Universe.


So here are my thoughts:



In this series, The Monitor searches through the Earths to gather their mightiest heroes to help him in his fight against the Anti-Monitor. If they don't beat the bad guy, the entire multiverse will be destroyed and replaced with an anti-matter universe, with the Anti-Monitor as everyone's lord and master. Not good.

Important characters, aside from The Monitor, are Harbinger and Alexander Luthor Jr. (the son of Earth-3s Lex Luthor and Lois Lane). I remember liking this Luthor until Infinite Crisis. I'll be reading and reviewing that one later.
There's a ton of lead up to the triumphant(?) end. Many people, including heroes, die. I'm talking about TONS OF PEOPLE!! Picture Supergirl and Superman's reaction *shocked gasp*

The Flash sacrifices his life to destroy the Anti-Monitor's antimatter cannon, leaving behind his tattered suit and ring, a legacy for Wally West. I was left heartbroken yet full of relief that his sacrifice wasn't in vain.

The only real drawback to this series was the many unnecessary scenes and dialogue. It didn't translate well to the modern age for me. The humor wasn't funny, the nostalgia missed the spot, and I was more annoyed than intrigued.

Overall, I give this a 4 out of 5 stars, loving the many moving parts to achieve one end.




If you could go back in time to prevent the most tragic and significant moment in your life, would you? Should you?

These questions are answered in Flashpoint. Kinda. It's not like Barry did it himself, but one change to his past led to catastrophic events in the present.

Aquaman and Wonder Woman are destroying the world in their bid to kill each other and rule the world. The Batman isn't Bruce, but his father. Cyborg is the new timeline's equivalent of Superman while Kalel is being held as a military lab experiment. So much has changed and Barry is the only one who can fix everything.

I was just happy to have Barry back, starring in such an incredible tale. I think my favourite scene is at the end, when he gives Bruce that letter from Thomas. AMAZING!!

This story gets 5 out of 5 stars from me. It will never get old (maybe it will in a few decades *shrug*) and I encourage fans to give it a re-read too!

As many of you know, I read this series with my children. All three girls had a different response or reaction to this intricate tale and none of them quite meshed with mine. So instead of writing a traditional review for a non-traditional read, I figured I'd do a little something different. So here's what we thought of The Promised Neverland, written by Kaiu Shirai and illustrated by Posuka Demizu, a story that follows a group of orphaned children in their plan to escape from their orphanage, after learning the dark truth behind their existence and the purpose of the orphanage.

Favorite character(s):

    Protagonist

            A - Ray
            J - Emma
            M - Ray
            Me - Ray & Norman

    Antagonist

            M - Sister Krone
            A, J & Me - Lewis

Favorite Scene or Arc:

            A - when they pick up the phone at Goldy Pond. It was heartbreaking.
            J - when Mister's back story was revealed, showing his parallel to Emma, Ray and Norman. It was a very emotional scene.
            M - the fire scene with Ray was awesome!
            Me - the very beginning, when Emma and Ray snuck out to find the truth and so much was revealed while they hid under a carriage. I found this part to be gutwrenching.

Least Favorite Scene:

Feelings on the world building:

How would you summarize this story?

Who would you recommend this series to?

Were you happy with the way it all ended?

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Overall, we obviously loved this manga series. It was thrilling and engaging and based on our differing points of view, it sparked a debate in my house. We give it 4 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys horror stories full of love, hope and family!