Crisis on Infinite Earths

Crisis on Infinite Earths (title translated as Crisis on Infinite Earths in Spain and as Crisis on Infinite Earths in Latin America) is a limited series of 12 comic-books, published in 1985 by DC, with a script by Marv Wolfman and drawn by George Pérez, Dick Giordano and Jerry Ordway.

It was the first major crossover of the superhero genre, as it included practically all the characters that the publisher had until then. It was also so important, since it reorganized all the stories that DC had written and even changed the lives of many characters, which still has consequences in the continuity of the DC Universe, coming to distinguish the "pre- versions. Crisis" and "post-Crisis" Of the characters.

The series was a bestseller for DC and has been reviewed positively by comic book critics, who praised its ambition and dramatic events. The story is credited with popularizing the idea of a large-scale crossover in comics. "Crisis on Infinite Earths" It is the first installment of what became known as the Crisis trilogy; It was followed by Infinite Crisis (2005-2006) and Final Crisis (2008-2009). The story also serves as the inspiration for "Crisis on Infinite Earths," an Arrowverse crossover event consisting of one episode each of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman.

Infinite Earths

Prior to the Crisis, DC characters were spread across a series of Earths in parallel universes (see Multiverse).

The purpose of the saga was to unify all these Earths, grouping all the characters in the same universe (which would later be called the "DC Universe" or DCU). To do this, a cosmic catastrophe was produced that threatened to destroy all the universes, forcing the intervention of practically all of the editorial's characters.

Precedents

The first precedent was a classic story of the second Flash (Barry Allen) in which he traveled to a parallel universe where he met the original version of the character (Jay Garrick).

It was soon explained that all the characters that had been published by DC during the Golden Age of Comics (that is, before 1954), lived on the same parallel earth, which was called Earth-2, and characters published after that date lived on Earth-1 (where the second Flash lives). Since there were characters that had been published continuously since the Golden Age (such as Superman and Batman), the histories of these characters were divided, with everything that happened during the Golden Age being attributed to the Earth-2 versions, and what happened during the Silver Age to those of Earth-1.

The writers took advantage of the idea of parallel universes to create many more. Some for narrative reasons, like "Earth-III", where the classic heroes are instead supervillains, or "Earth-prime", which would refer to the real world through metafiction. Others were created to add characters acquired from other publishers, such as the "Earth-S" with Captain Marvel and his related characters (from Fawcett Publishing), the & # 34; Earth-X & # 34; with the Freedom Fighters (from the publisher Quality), etc. The resource of parallel universes was even used to justify continuity errors by saying that the stories that did not add up occurred in a parallel universe.

All of this caused the number of parallel Earths and duplicate characters between them to multiply, giving rise to the Multiverse. This made it more difficult for new readers to know what had happened to each character.

Finally, screenwriter Marv Wolfman and Len Wein proposed to Dick Giordano, vice president of DC Comics, to make a production titled "The History of DC Universe" ("The history of the DC Universe"), which will recount in a concise and orderly manner all the events in the history of the publisher's fictional universe. This, of course, ran into the problem of multiple parallel universes. This project later became one aimed at completely restructuring the DC Universe, in which all the other creatives of the publisher began to join. Its name changed to "DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths", and then what it was eventually used for.

History

The story begins on Earth-3, home of the Crime Syndicate, which is destroyed, along with its entire universe, by a gigantic wave of antimatter. In the midst of the destruction appears Pariah, a man who cannot die and who is transported against his will from one universe to another to see his destruction without being able to do anything about it. But in the midst of the chaos, Lex Luthor, who in this reality is a hero, and his wife Lois place their son Alexander in a prototype of a spaceship capable of traveling between dimensions, whereupon he survives the destruction of his world. These events establish a deliberate resemblance to the classic origin of Superman.

The destruction of Earth is seen from a distance by the Monitor and his assistant Lyla, who try to stop it. Following Monitor's instructions, Lyla transforms into Harbinger, splits her being into many parts, and begins to assemble various heroes and villains: Solovar, Dawnstar, Firebrand, Blue Beetle, Arion, Psycho-Pirate, Firestorm, Killer Frost (who is manipulated by Psycho-Pirate to love his enemy, Firestorm), Superman of Earth-2, Obsidian, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Psimon, Dr. Polaris, Cyborg, and Geoforce; and she assembles them on Monitor's satellite.

On Earth, meanwhile, time anomalies begin to take place, and Batman is shocked to see in the middle of a fight with the Joker a "ghost" Flash, who desperately calls for help and then disintegrates before his eyes.

Monitor placed various towers in various worlds and times, sending those he recruited to protect them. Superman, Solovar, and Dawnstar defend the tower located in the future that Kamandi inhabits. Arion, Obsidian and Psycho-Pirate one in Arion's Atlantis. Geoforce, Dr. Polaris and Blue Beetle are in charge of the one located in Markovia, during the Second World War. Cyborg, Green Lantern, Psimon and Firebrand have their own in a cave in the Wild West. Firestorm and Killer Frost defend another in the Middle Ages. All the towers are attacked by mysterious shadows.

Psycho-Pirate suddenly disappears from Atlantis, kidnapped by the Anti-Monitor. Flash is also kidnapped by him. Harbinger, with his personality dominated by one of the shadows and helplessly enslaved to Anti-Monitor, waits for orders to kill Monitor, unaware that Monitor is well aware of what is happening to him. Monitor rescued Alexander Luthor, who by his passage through vibrational space was transformed into a single being composed of both matter and antimatter; and which also experienced accelerated growth.

The universe-destroying wall of antimatter soon appears everywhere with the towers, and almost everywhere else on Earth-1 and Earth-2 as well. He even appears on Earth-6, a universe without duplicates, where Pariah arrives and saves one of its inhabitants, Lady Quark.

Monitor creates a new Doctor Light, and welcomes the arrival of Pariah, who sees him leading a form of resistance against antimatter. But just then Harbinger murders Monitor. However, Monitor already knew what would happen and had arranged things so that her death would create a provisional universe, which would contain the lands within it. To these are added 3 more, Earth-S, Earth-X and Earth-4.

Harbinger, Luthor and Pariah gather the two Supermans, Captain Marvel, Uncle Sam, Blue Beetle (representatives of the 5 earths) and Lady Quark (from an already destroyed earth) and explain the origin of the crisis. Anti-Monitor would have been accidentally created by Krona, an Oano who tried to envision the beginning of creation but with his actions would have given rise to the Multiverse and the universe of negative matter. Along with Anti-Monitor, Monitor was also born, and both faced and defeated each other. Anti-Monitor was awakened (and in doing so, so was Monitor) by Pariah, who, seeking the same thing as Krona, accidentally destroyed his universe, whose place was taken by the negative. Anti-Monitor thus discovered that by destroying positive universes his power increased.

A cast of the mightiest heroes are recruited: both Supermans, Wonder Woman (from Earth-1), Supergirl, Firestorm, the Martian Manhunter, Captain Marvel, Lady Quark, Captain Atom, Lightning, Jade, Green Lantern of Earth-2, Mon-El, Wildfire and Dr. Light, with whom they enter the negative universe. There they destroy Anti-Monitor's machines, although Supergirl dies when she heroically confronts him.

Then, Flash manages to free himself from his captivity and with his speed he takes Psychopirate before all of Anti-Monitor's lightning bolts, generating in all of them a desire to attack their master. This allows Flash to keep him busy and enter the Antimatter cannon that the Anti-Monitor was building, which he manages to destroy with his speed. In doing so, he runs so fast that he moves through time and briefly manifests in other places, eventually disintegrating.

Believing the Anti-Monitor defeated, Brainiac and Lex Luthor assemble all existing supervillains and conquer the lands. The heroes battle them everywhere, until the Specter manifests and announces to everyone that the Anti-Monitor still lives and that he seeks to destroy reality at the beginning of time. The super villains travel to Oa in the past to stop Krona's experiment, and the heroes travel to the beginning of time to confront the Anti-Monitor. There, the Specter begins his fight with him until the Big Bang, which finally gives rise not to the Multiverse but to a single universe.

This universe combines aspects of all lands, and has its own history. With the rebirth of the universe, all the events of the Crisis were erased from history, known only to those who were at the beginning of time, outside of said restructuring. Even many of them, like Superman or Robin from the old Earth-2, become paradoxes, since they never existed on the new earth.

Anti-Monitor strikes once more, trapping Earth within the negative universe. Her shadows attack the entire planet at once, and some heroes face them while the most powerful come to Qward to face Anti-Monitor. After defeating him they move the earth back to the positive universe, but while doing so Anti-Monitor awakens once more. Only Superman of Earth-2, Superboy, and Alexander Luthor remain to face him, and between the three of them and a help from afar from Darkseid they finally destroy him completely. Alexander reveals to Superman that he knew how the earths would be restructured, and that he preserved Earth-2's Lois Lane in a pocket dimension before leaving at the beginning of time. The 4 then go to that dimension, while the Psychopirate is locked up in a madhouse raving about the Multiverse; being so, this character the only being in this new universe, who still remembered the existence of the Multiverse.

Later as a new epilogue, in the Animal Man series written by Grant Morrison, this Saga would be honored, telling the subsequent story of Psychopirate in the asylum. Place where he would temporarily bring back memories of him, and give new life to some characters from the extinct Multiverse, who would remain in a place known as the Limbo of forgotten DC characters. Being this place where the Psychopirate would finally go.

Consequences

• New characters were created and many others died, highlighting the deaths of the second Flash (Barry Allen) and the original Supergirl. However, several of the dead characters created new versions in the new universe.
• It remained a single universe based primarily on the top five. The others were completely erased.
• Although some characters had minimal changes others completely changed, even coming to rewrite their story completely.
• Commercially it was an enormous task of renewing and updating ideas, arguments and characters, closing the gap that since the 1960s separated the editorial from its main rival, the Marvel; to a large extent assuming the innovations that had placed it at the head of the market: the humanization of the hero through more realistic proposals – people with weaknesses – that made it possible to identify more with the readers.

Post-Crisis Universe

The DC Universe was largely rewritten, with many characters being recast. Among the most notable changes, in addition to the existence of a single universe, the following can be mentioned:

• Superman becomes the only survivor of planet Krypton.
• Superman and Wonder Woman are no longer considered founding members of the Justice League.
• Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are not considered to have existed as superheroes during World War II.
• The role of Flash becomes occupied by Wally West, until then Kid Flash, due to the death of Barry Allen.
• The Society of Justice, instead of heroes of a parallel universe, becomes a group of heroes older than others.
• The origin of Jason Todd (the second Robin) is altered: instead of an orphan of a circus becomes the son of a bully killed by Dos Caras.

Continuity errors

The series also generated a large number of continuity errors, most of them consisting of appearances of pre-Crisis characters after it, or mentions of events left out of continuity by it. Likewise, despite the situation raised in numbers 11 and 12 of the series, in the subsequent continuity it is stated that no character, not even those present at the beginning of time, remembered the Crisis.

In addition, other errors that were generated were, for example:

• Since Superman starts his career as an adult, he would not have existed Superboy. But by not doing so, the origin of the Legion of Super Heroes is affected. This was resolved by saying that the journeys to the Legion's past occurred in a pocket universe created by the Lord of Time, something that the Legionaries had not realized.
• There are no more Krypton survivors than the Superman himself, nor is the existence explained in the centuryXXX of Andromeda (Laurel Kent) of kryptonian blood. Although before the Infinite Crisis, it was briefly explained (after unnoticed) that Laurel Kent, was "created" in the CenturyXX., result of a multiplication of Superman genes, who feared that he could not have children with Lois Lane, but from Superman's "disappearance" in What happened to Morning Man?, in the centuryXXX the members of the Superhero Legion found the Fortress of Solitude to her (in embryonic state), and it was revealed that Superman wanted to have a daughter.
• Barry Allen died without having left offspring, but in the centuryXXX There were the Tornado Twins (Don and Dawn) descendants of the Allen family. But in Flash: Past crisis, it was revealed that Iris West was already pregnant at the time of Crisis in the Infinite Lands.

New characters

• Antimonitor
• Pariah
• Lady Quark
• Dr. Light (Dr Light IV - Kimiyo)
• Wildcat II (as superheroin)
• Princess Fern and Lord Volt
• In addition, several of the heroes of other companies first appeared in DC comics.

Characters without continuity

• Superwoman
• Ow!
• Johnny Quick
• Ultraman
• Power ring
• Lex Luthor (Earth-3)
• Lois Luthor (Earth-3)
• Losers
• Flower (of Easy Company)
• Nighthawk
• Kid Psycho
• Lord Volt and Princess Fern
• Monitor
• Supergirl
• Flash (Barry Allen)
• Luthor (Earth-2)
• Cheetah (Priscilla Rich)
• Cheetah (Deborah Domaine)
• Starman 2 (Prince Gavin of Earth-1)
• Aquagirl
• Immortal man
• Master of Mirrors
• Icicle
• Maaldor
• Shaggy Man
• Anglo man
• Lieutenants Marvel (his death is debated)
• Paloma
• Green Arrow (Earth-2)
• Prince Ra-man
• Clayface 2
• Vandal Savage
• Kole
• Hunter (Earth-2)
• Robin (Earth-2)
• Lori Lemaris
• Men of the 10 Eyes (Ten-Eyed Man)
• Sunburst
• Antimonitor

Note: after the Crisis, the deaths of several characters were ignored as most of them have reappeared.

After some time, another story was published, Zero Hour, which again altered the continuity of the characters, although its consequences were not as drastic.

Years later, DC decided to recover the parallel universes, for which Mark Waid devised the so-called Hypertime (set of all possible Multiverses) in which both the current DC Universe and the DC Multiverse prior to are included. Crisis (which would never really have been destroyed this way, just hidden). According to statements by those in charge of the publisher at that time, the loss of parallel universes was excessive, and they considered the Crisis unnecessary.

The return of the multiverse

Two decades managed to survive the single Universe emerged from the original Crisis. Twenty years during which it experienced an evident process of degradation -in terms of its internal cohesion-, from the initial supremacy of the rules imposed in the new DC continuity until its collapse during the second Crisis and the saga 52. Its questioned hegemony was increasingly fractured, as if its badly closed seams were ripping to reveal the Multiverse hidden within.

The “sabotage” to the post-Crisis Universe came both from authors who were nostalgic –or lacking in ideas- towards characters and plots that died out in 1985, and from an incoherent editorial line obsessed with increasing sales through macro-crossovers that entangled more and more the skein. This is wrapped in a growing aura of mythical longing for the Multiverse extended among part of the readers.

Officially valid until the first decade of the XXI century, the post-Crisis Universe progressively ceased to be unique –if The taboo concept of the Multiverse was well avoided with ingenious euphemisms such as Hypertime - and, although from its birth it suffered from important continuity fractures that they tried to correct afterwards, its incoherence grew until it annulled what should be its main function: to establish an orderly and accessible map of the DC continuity.

The official and definitive return of the Multiverse finally occurred in two rounds: the series Infinite Crisis and 52, although, as is logical, this has not meant a return to the pre-Crisis situation, but a redefinition of that incorporating the important editorial baggage of the last two decades.

Infinite Crisis

Miniseries published in 2006 as a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the original Crisis. In it Alexander Luthor of Earth-3 and Superboy of Earth-Prime, with the complicity of a deceived Superman of Earth-2 (the three isolated together with Lois Lane of Earth-2 in an indeterminate limbo since the outcome of Crisis), disappointed in the heroes of the post-Crisis land for what they saw as a decline in the utopian values they should have represented, they decided to create a perfect land. For this, they unfolded the only universe into a new Multiverse from which they intended to extract different elements from each world to combine them in their new Earth.

Frustrated the conspiracy by the intervention of various superheroes, the fleeting Multiverse collapsed, dying Superman of Earth-2 in heroic combat against Superboy Prime (imprisoned and guarded by the Green Lantern Corps) and Alex Luthor being killed by the Joker.

52

The new Multiverse apparently disappeared at the end of Infinite Crisis, giving rise to a new Universe with an altered Earth -"New Earth"-, but a year later in the series 52 it was revealed that the Multiverse had indeed survived. According to the explanation given, the energy of the Multiverse created by Alexander Luthor was too much to be contained in a single Universe, so in an act of "cosmic preservation" the New Earth multiplied in equal copies creating a new Multiverse with 52 equal worlds.

Within the same series a villain named Mr. Mind, who could only feed on time and space, traveled the new Multiverse eating pieces of history from different lands until he was stopped by Booster Gold, Rip Hunter and Daniel Carter. The Multiverse was saved, but the pieces of history that Mr. Mind stole from each world changed on each new earth, giving rise to 52 different Earths.

This renewed Multiverse was featured in the weekly series Countdown, as well as in the miniseries The Search for Ray Palmer and Countdown: Arena, being able to know in them several of the new Earths. Some are similar to those existing before the original Crisis, others reproduce the imagined realities under the title Elseworlds, and others are brand new. In this way, the new reality would come to merge ideas and concepts from the pre- and post-Crisis periods, seeking, as in the 1980s, an orderly continuity that is easier to understand and manipulate.

This confirms two characteristics of the world created by DC: the relevance of the Multiverse concept –in the long run surviving any attempt at destruction- and the cyclical processes of reinitialization –although never really since zero-.

In short, Crisis on Infinite Earths represents a transcendental milestone in the history of the Publishing House, both for the redefinition it introduced for the previous evolution of its Universe and for the long shadow it has cast in its later development, prolonged to the present day.

Final Crisis

When the Multiverse returned, this saga complemented a trilogy of events that have harbored the threat of the Post Crisis Multiverse, since in this saga the role of the Monitor is returned to, which is now made up of a society of Monitors who watch over the dangers of v, and that allows to highlight the end of the New Gods to go to the Fifth World.

Timeline of Crisis of the Multiverse stories (1962 - Present)

• The Flash #123, The Flash of Two Worlds
• Multiple Earth Crisis

  Justice League of America (vol. 1) # 21 Earth crisis 1

  Justice League of America (vol. 1) # 22 Land crisis 2

  Justice League of America (vol. 1) #29 Land crisis 3

  Justice League of America (vol. 1) # 30 The Dangerous Land of All

  Justice League of America (vol. 1) #37 and 38 Land crisis A

  Justice League of America (vol. 1) #46 and 47 Land crisis 1-2

  Justice League of America (vol. 1) #55 and 56 The bridge between Earths

• Crisis in Infinite Lands
• Time Zero
• Identity crisis

• Crisis of Consciousness (JLA: Crisis of Consciousness JLA #115, 116)

• Regressive Account to the Infinite Crisis

• Project OMAC
• Revenge Day
• Villains Unidos
• The Rann-Thanagar War

• Infinite crisis # 1 to 6

• Special OMAC Project: Lazarus Protocol #1
• Special Revenge Day #1
• Villains United Special #1
• The Rann-Thanagar Special War #1

• Consequences of the Infinite Crisis: The Spectrum

• 52

• 52: Third World War

• Consequences of 52: The Four Horsemen
• Black Adam: The Dark Age

• 52: The Bible of Crime
• A Year After

• The Battle for Blüdhaven
• Infinity Inc.
• Metal Men
• Seven Soldiers of Victory
• Lead to Salvation
• The Death of the New Gods
• The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive
• War of the Sinestro Corps
• Gotham Underground
• The Sacred War of Rann-Thanagar
• ION: Guardian of the Universe
• DC Universe: A New World

• DC Universe: A New World - Fredoom Fighters
• DC Universe: A New World Shazam Tests!
• DC Universe: A New World - OMAC
• DC Universe: A New World - Detective Marciano

• Countdown to the Final Crisis

• Return to Adventure Account
• Arena Regressive Cuet
• Regressive Cuet: In Search of Ray Palmer
• Regressive Cuet: Lord Havok and extremists
• Regressive Cuet for the Mystery

• Captain Zanahoria and the Final Ark

• Final crisis

• DC Universe
• DC Universe: Last Will and Testament
• Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1-5
• Final Crisis: The fury of the Red Linens (one-shot)
• Final Crisis: Requiem (one-shot)
• Final Crisis: Resistance (one-shot)
• Final Crisis: Revelations # 1-5 [13]
• Final Crisis: Revenge of the Rogues # 1-3 [14]
• Final Crisis: Secret Archives (one-shot)
• Final Crisis: Sketchbook (one-shot)
• Financial crisis: submission (one-shot)
• Final Crisis: Beyond Superman
• League of Justice of America (vol. 2) # 21
• Superman/Batman # 76
• Club Lado Oscuro Includes:

• Birds of Prey #118
• The Flash #240 (Vol. 2)
• Infinity Inc. #11-12 (Vol. 2)
• Teen Titans #59-60 (Vol. 3)
• Terror Titans #1-6

• Batman R.I.P. (Batman # 682-683, 701-702)

• The Darkest Night
• Return of Bruce Wayne
• Time Masters: Vanishing Point
• The Brightest Day
• Flashpoint (New 52/Review of the DC Universe)

In other media

Crisis on Infinite Earths has been mentioned several times in the Arrowverse. The first episode of The Flash introduces a newspaper from the future that says "Flash Missing, Vanishes in Crisis" (Flash Disappears during crisis). Grant Gustin, who plays Flash on the show, said he thinks the goal of the series is to get to Crisis on Infinite Earths: "Obviously, we'd have to go, I think 10 years to get to that, so there's the possibility of insurance. It will be fun to get there'. The concept of a multiverse has been explored multiple times throughout the franchise's history. Speaking in 2014, Geoff Johns, when discussing the difference between the DC Extended Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, said: "We see it as the multiverse. We have our TV universe and our movie universe, but they all coexist. For us creatively, it's about enabling everyone to make a Product the best it can be, to tell the best story, to make a better world. Everyone has a vision and they really want to let the visions shine... It's just a different approach'. The story will inspire 2019's Arrowverse crossover, also titled " Crisis on Infinite Earths ".