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I (and some others) have noticed a marked difference in how we view Crisis on Infinite Earths based on if we read it as it came out, or collected later. So, I'm curious to see how many are old-timers like me who picked issues up as they were published, or if you read the series collected as a trade. I expect a lot of comments and hope to see some lively conversation with the TV crossover and the current multi-versal shuffling in the comics.
I read it as it came out.
I admit I was confused by the ending. I thought that Psycho Pirate was the only one who remembered anything about the Crisis. I figured no one would remember Barry Allen, Supergirl, or anyone who died or was wiped out during the Crisis. Even after all these years, I still don't really understand it all.
I know the writer, Marv Wolfman, wanted everything to start over and the old history to be completely wiped out. He wanted a brand new DC Comics with every issue starting over at #1 and all the characters to start from scratch. I'm glad DC Comics decided not to do that.
Way back when
When I was still trying to get into comics
People and websites keep recommending me to read Crisis on Infinite Earths as a starting point to Post Crisis
So I read what it's about and laughed because it's 12 issues, there are way too many characters, most of them I never heard, most of them died and don't matter to Post Crisis itself.
It's like when websites keep recommending me to read A Death in The Family but never tell me where to read Jason Todd's story. How am I supposed to care about their deaths if I don't know how they lived?
I still haven't read it because it hasn't been relevant to my interest, which is still at the beginning to middle of the eras... and with Doomsday Clock saying everything is canon/preserved, there's basically no need to read it except for its historical value.
I read it when it was first released. I was 11 at the time.
It was easily the longest and most ambitious comic book that I'd read up to that stage. In fact, it was a little daunting at the time. Many of the numerous characters that appear throughout it's 12 issues the younger me had no familiarity with. I was also unaware of the gradual seeding of the Monitor in other DC comics in the build up.
It seemed extremely exciting at the time. I was probably at the right age also. I've only seen the first three episodes of the TV crossover. Here in the UK we really get a bum deal with these shows. In fact, I had to resort to certain, ahem, unethical means to watch it as not even those first three episodes have been officially broadcast over here yet. Overall, I've really enjoyed it so far.
A friend had a collected edition he wanted me to check out. The art was good. Actually, given the number of characters on some pages, it was pretty impressive. Other than that...I couldn’t get through an issue. The writing was just atrocious. I think trying to go back and read it without familiarity with the era was too tough for me. I skimmed it and again, the visuals weren’t bad. Just so many characters! The whole multiple Earth thing doesn’t appeal to me. It’s cool if they do the occasional story but I wouldn’t want to have it around monthly. I don’t know how you get invested in a story with so many characters. Maybe if I knew all the history going in they would mean something. I was overwhelmed. Today the story would probably take 2 years to complete but the characterizations would be better. Brutal lack of diversity but I realize it’s another era.
[QUOTE=caj;4786316]I read it as it came out.
I admit I was confused by the ending. I thought that Psycho Pirate was the only one who remembered anything about the Crisis. I figured no one would remember Barry Allen, Supergirl, or anyone who died or was wiped out during the Crisis. Even after all these years, I still don't really understand it all.
I know the writer, Marv Wolfman, wanted everything to start over and the old history to be completely wiped out. He wanted a brand new DC Comics with every issue starting over at #1 and all the characters to start from scratch. I'm glad DC Comics decided not to do that.[/QUOTE]
What was remembered after COIE was a weak point in DC's progression. It was easier for me as a reader to assume that everyone who died in the series never was, except for Barry. But whether or not there was a Crisis fought seems to be a never to be answered question. In the last two issues before the Anti-Monitor's last stand and after some heroes knowing there were multiple Earths and a Crisis was fought, that brief period of remembrance disappeared to be replaced by the final page and the Psycho-Pirate being the only one who remembered. I loved it at the time, but started to appreciate just how little planning was done compared with what was needed.
Well, I was 4 years old in 1985, so I read COIE as a collection many years after it's actual publication. I think it was the early-ish 00's before I got a hold of a copy. And by then I had been reading DC for over a decade and was well acquainted with the Crisis fallout and the online debates. Still, it was fun to finally get to read the story even though I already knew so much about it.
I read it . . . oh, maybe around 2001-2002 (whenever the trade came out in that range). Maybe a bit after when DC started the prelude to IC stuff? I'd been reading DC since 1991 or so and read Zero Hour more or less when it happened but never felt the need to track down COIE until it seemed more relevant.
I remember going into a Waldon’s Books at the mall on a Thursday and picking up two comics off the rack. The first was a Superman with a Klaus Janson cover where he’s fighting a masked wrestler. The other was Crisis 1. I LOVED the parallel worlds! Some of my first comics were the 1976 JLA / JSA / Earth S crossover. Anytime the Earth 2 characters showed up I was really into it. I saw that great Perez cover and snatched it up. I’d seen the ads for Crisis with the silhouetted Monitor leading up to the issue. It took about two issues before I realized “Oh this is something serious.”
I loved the entire series! Marvel’s Secret Wars had completed maybe a year earlier but it looked so small time compared to the scale of Crisis. Some of the most amazing art I’d ever seen, especially the Perez & Ordway combo. Absolutely no complaints about the writing but then I was accustomed to that style. I’d never seen major characters killed in comics so I can’t describe the impact of losing the Flash & Supergirl. I was 15 at the time and it was gut wrenching. Had to understand today probably. The local news even did a story on the characters deaths which I thought was pretty eerie. I remember by the time issue 12 came out, I’d found my first comic store. There was a delay with that issue as I remember.
My only problem was DC finally did a story that realized the potential of their extensive history but then got rid of it. However, there was such an energy to the books following Crisis. Everything was dramatically different but I was at an age where I accepted it and appreciated the freshness. Superman, Flash, & Justice League we’re so stale prior to Crisis. I thoroughly loved the years that followed. By the late 90’s however, I felt DC had lost some steam and stories like Kingdom Come made me nostalgic for the pre-Crisis days. Still, it was an amazing achievement. I don’t know if modern readers can appreciate it because comics were much different but it’s one of the highlights of my comic buying years.
Read it as it came out, and my mind was blown with each issue.
The wait for #11 and #12 was excruciating. Not because they were late, but because so much was a stake.
Line wide reboots weren't a thing then, so the disbelief that they'd actually do it was exciting.
Once the series wrapped up, I was the saddest about the loss of the Golden Age trinity and resultingly E2 Robin, Huntress, Power Girl and Fury. I was heavily invested in All Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc so was on pins and needles waiting to see how everything would play out.
The Byrne reboot of Superman and Perez reboot of Wonder Woman were also great fun to see play out.
As someone mentioned, the execution was bumpy over time. The (former) Earth 2 books took too long to acknowledge Crisis even happened, although they did within a few months. The trinity titles and JLA caught up almost immediately. The secondary characters took the hardest hit, and that's where the execution faltered (origins of Donna Troy and Power Girl, and the Hawkman history).
One good thing DC did at the time was quickly publish the History of the DCU graphic novels, which held the new history together at least for a while. (Many have derided DC for not adhering to it's own revised history, but I'd argue this book at least gave them a road map and glued things together for at least a while).
Got it as a birthday present one year. It was my first real exposure to the Earth 2 characters. Who, of course, were killed off during it.
[QUOTE=astro@work;4786514]Read it as it came out, and my mind was blown with each issue.
The wait for #11 and #12 was excruciating. Not because they were late, but because so much was a stake.
Line wide reboots weren't a thing then, so the disbelief that they'd actually do it was exciting.
Once the series wrapped up, I was the saddest about the loss of the Golden Age trinity and resultingly E2 Robin, Huntress, Power Girl and Fury. I was heavily invested in All Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc so was on pins and needles waiting to see how everything would play out.
[/QUOTE]
I was 14 at the time and I loved it all, right up until the killed off Robin and Huntress. When I realized they were not only dead but would not be remembered (after reading Infinity Inc. and the Last Days of the JSA) I still held out hope that since no bodies were found, they would return and be explained that Kole had somehow transported them away at the last second. Decades later, that still bothers me. I was hopeful Doomsday Clock would somehow return the JSA to their own Earth and reestablish their Bat Family legacy but it appears I will still be waiting...
My first exposure was the 90s as single issues from a long box sale
I started reading comics like 12 years ago. Everyone says Crisis is a great starting point and also a mega master piece, so I got a copy . I'm from Chile, but I was living in the US at the time so it was super easy to find one on ebay. Getting comics here back then was a lot harder because nobody imported them in english (It became more common with the New 52 actually). We got the Spanish translations made in Spain, which for us in South-america sound they way Old English sounds to Americans... and they even translated the names all wrong! so they were awful. It would have been an awful read and i wanted it to be great. That said...
Didn't like it at all LOL Too many characters I didn't know and basically too much shit going on. It is NOT a great starting point. It's the complete opposite. It was a clean-up job, for god sakes. One of the things you are NOT aware at all as a new reader is editorial bullshit and continuity extravaganza (it takes a couple of years and a few bucks wasted on Countdown to Final Crisis to learn that), and COIE is ALL ABOUT THAT. With my copy of Crisis I also got Kingdom Come... Alex Ross and Mark Waid? Dude. I was blow away. In comparison, COIE was just too 80s for me.
Up to this day, I cannot begin to like George Perez' art, but hey, I'm a child of the 90s. I can't even look at his new titans stuff.
A couple of years ago I tried to re-read it, but I found issue #1 awful. Characterization and dialog were just terrible.
So yeah haha
That was my experience with Crisis on Infinite Earths. I did like the Tv crossover tho. It had some awesome moments, but you have to not think about it too hard in order too enjoy it.
I was 18 when it came out and had been reading comics for around ten years.
It was awesome for that time in my life.
Read it as it came out as a kid. The era was exciting - new stuff was popping up everywhere, and the sheer scale of COIE was new. It was just...heavy.
But the changes Crisis wrought made the DCU purposefully smaller, and my interest in comics died a year or so later. Came back to a very different, more interesting DCU in the mid-90s.
Read it in a collected edition years later - had no idea what was going on or who a lot of the people were in it. The only thing i got out of it was to help explain the last issues of grant Morrisons animal man run.
[QUOTE=astro@work;4786514]Read it as it came out, and my mind was blown with each issue.
The wait for #11 and #12 was excruciating. Not because they were late, but because so much was a stake.
Line wide reboots weren't a thing then, so the disbelief that they'd actually do it was exciting.
Once the series wrapped up, I was the saddest about the loss of the Golden Age trinity and resultingly E2 Robin, Huntress, Power Girl and Fury. I was heavily invested in All Star Squadron and Infinity, Inc so was on pins and needles waiting to see how everything would play out.
The Byrne reboot of Superman and Perez reboot of Wonder Woman were also great fun to see play out.
As someone mentioned, the execution was bumpy over time. The (former) Earth 2 books took too long to acknowledge Crisis even happened, although they did within a few months. The trinity titles and JLA caught up almost immediately. The secondary characters took the hardest hit, and that's where the execution faltered (origins of Donna Troy and Power Girl, and the Hawkman history).
One good thing DC did at the time was quickly publish the History of the DCU graphic novels, which held the new history together at least for a while. (Many have derided DC for not adhering to it's own revised history, but I'd argue this book at least gave them a road map and glued things together for at least a while).[/QUOTE]
Nice post. You summed it up nicely and I agree with most everything you said.
I need to read COIE, especially because the French publishers have put out a really great Omnibus of it. I'm just too lazy to have done so yet, but I know the general outline.
I read it when it came out, and was blown away with how epic it was.
Only when the dust cleared, did *lots of things* go sour for me, from little weensy stuff like how characters I really loved, like Earth 2 Robin, Helena Wayne and Kole snuffed it, while utter trash like Azrael fluttered through it unscathed, somehow, to bigger things like how it gutted the Earth 2 Justice Society and, especially, Legion of Super-Heroes books / concepts for just, ages, and neither has ever really recovered.
Over the years, just about everything 'big' about Crisis got undone anyway.
Supergirl was back, in various forms, in a couple of years. The 'multiverse' wasn't back, per se, but kludges like Hypertime and AU books kept happening anyway, until, finally, the multiverse was back anyway. Barry Allen finally returned, and Wally West got shoved violently into the nearest closet, only to be dragged out to be violently character assassinated by *another' (Heroes in) Crisis. Interesting new characters like Dr. (Kimiyo) Light or Quantum Queen went a big fat nowhere, and the seemingly big potential development push of Psycho Pirate fizzled out. There were multiple appearances by variations on the Crime Syndicate, the TRUE HEROES OF CRISIS, who went down fighting for their universe, rather than skate off to become refugees on Earth 1 as the *billions* of people on their own worlds died screaming, with no heroes willing to stand with them (looking at you, Captain Marvel and Dr. Fate! Love you guys, but really?). :)
All in all, the blush of my excitement for this event came off that rose pretty darn hard.
There's no box for "read it afterwards after hunting down the individual issues in comic book stores."
I was a Marvel kid when "Crisis" came out. I could tell it was a big deal and I had a passing knowledge of DC, but I wasn't really interested. Then my older brother picked up "Batman: The Dark Knight" which was amazing of course, but I wondered why Batman was still young in the comics I saw on the racks. And I saw "Legends" and wondered who the heck this Green Lantern was and what happened to the guy who was my favorite on "Superfriends?" That lead to the new Justice League, yada yada.... that lead to buying some DC, then having to go back and find "Crisis."
[QUOTE=j9ac9k;4789660]There's no box for "read it afterwards after hunting down the individual issues in comic book stores."
I was a Marvel kid when "Crisis" came out. I could tell it was a big deal and I had a passing knowledge of DC, but I wasn't really interested. Then my older brother picked up "Batman: The Dark Knight" which was amazing of course, but I wondered why Batman was still young in the comics I saw on the racks. And I saw "Legends" and wondered who the heck this Green Lantern was and what happened to the guy who was my favorite on "Superfriends?" That lead to the new Justice League, yada yada.... that lead to buying some DC, then having to go back and find "Crisis."[/QUOTE]
The idea was to separate the feeling of seeing what happened month by month vs. reading it when the event had already occurred. I'd put you in the "Read COIE collected late on" group as you seem to be soemone who was looking for what happened as opposed to someone who was following the story issue by issue while it was happening.
Read when it came out.
I had only been reading comics for a few years, so Crisis (and its sister title, Who's Who) was my introduction to all of DC that wasn't currently being published outside of comic shops.