Is Identity Crisis worth Buying?

[Carabas]

It's also a murder mystery that cheats. There are no clues in the book that point even remotely to the killer.

[KoriandrJean]

No.

Not even for free.

[Shadowedeyes]

Well, it tried to be a murder mystery, but kinda failed on that front given that the "solution" didn't make sense. It contained the rather ridiculous Deathstroke vs Justice League fight. In the long run, Identity Crisis' aftermath left quite a few characters worse off than when it began. It was, as another poster put it, kinda rapey, which was made worse by the fact it was for an unnecessary shock moment. Ultimately, there are people who enjoyed it, but I did not.

[jb681131]

I've literally read everything since Rebirth, I read almost DC's entire line. Havent read the Flash of Two Workds though.

That's because it's the first story that fits in the DC Crisis list. It's from the Silver Age. In this story the current Flash, comes across the Golden age Flahs (whose on another timeline/earth/univers). It is the first story that establishes the DC Multivers. And it is an interresting story.

[jb681131]

I'll go against the grain here, because I loved that story. And I know several people who became comic fans because of it, for what that's worth.

It's not a Crisis in your typical "the whole of reality is ending!" sort of way. Its a murder mystery that plays around with a lot of C-list characters that everyone had stopped caring about....right up until this story brought them back. It's a personal story about loss and desperation and how those things affect the individual and their community. It's not about a big bad villain trying to eat the world.

Easiest way I can think to sum it up is; this is as close to Game of Thrones as DC has ever gotten. As far as character dynamics are concerned, I mean. No one is fighting over a throne here.

Meltzer toys around with the innate silliness of the Silver Age, and puts some of those ridiculous elements into a modern context with some pretty twisted stuff. If you have a great amount of nostalgia for the Silver Age, you'll hate seeing certain events in this new light. If you're open to more layers being unveiled, you may enjoy it. But just to forewarn you; it does not treat all the heroes like flawless paragons of righteousness; in fact some of the things you'll see are quite cruel and unusual. But in a lot of ways, all it's doing is looking at hairline cracks that were always there, and pulling them open to find out why they existed in the first place.

And of course, some of the characters don't make it out intact. Some of them don't make it out at all, and several leave with some pretty horrible scars, both literally and figuratively. You'll walk away from the story feeling a little queasy and violated.....and that's the point. That's the emotional gut punch reaction you're meant to have. Some will say it's not a story that should have been told. I respectfully disagree, and it made me far more interested in certain characters than I had ever been beforehand.

If you like murder mysteries where the line between good and evil is blurred, where good people do bad things for both good and for selfish reasons, and evil people are sometimes the victims, you'll enjoy Identity Crisis. If you prefer your superheroes with a more binary, clean-cut morality where heroes always act heroically and villains are always in the wrong, or you cannot stand to see Silver Age characters make major mistakes that'll come back to haunt them and their loved ones, it's best if you ignore it.

There's also a few things in the writing that're just plain questionable (a thing with Deathstroke chief among them) but I don't think those are any worse than what you see in any comic.

I agree, it is a very good story. Not like many other say. It's not a story with a Flat ending or so twisted plot, or the solution given at the begining of the story like many, many, many others.

[Shadowedeyes]

I agree, it is a very good story. Not like many other say. It's not a story with a Flat ending or so twisted plot, or the solution given at the begining of the story like many, many, many others.

It would be hard to guess the mystery, given how it doesn't make any sense.

[Doctor Bifrost]

If you really like Ralph & Sue Dibny . . . you might be better off avoiding it like the plague.

If you like rapes; murdered pregnant women; and adding more dead parents for superheroes, then go for it.

spoilers:

Also, if you like the mystery depending on the fact that Jean Loring "brought a flame thrower just in case ('cause she's crazy which means we can have her do any random thing we want); that has the JLA assuming that somebody burned to death by a flame thrower must have been attacked by Dr. Light (who is not actually Heat Wave); that has Batman not bothering to check phone records to see who called Sue Dibny moments before she was killed; and many similar details besides - this is the story for you!

end of spoilers

[Pohzee]

It's really not popular here, but it is generally well recieved. It is pretty much the opposite of a normal DC Crisis. It is a character driven story that doesn't have the fate of the world in the balance. For that alone, it's already ahead of the rest of them IMO.

[Tupiaz]

Never read it but is is probably one of the most divided comic books out there. Either you love it or you hate it. My advice would be if you think it sounds interesting then pick it up if not leave it. There seams to be no middelgrund there.

I'll go against the grain here, because I loved that story. And I know several people who became comic fans because of it, for what that's worth.

It's not a Crisis in your typical "the whole of reality is ending!" sort of way. Its a murder mystery that plays around with a lot of C-list characters that everyone had stopped caring about....right up until this story brought them back. It's a personal story about loss and desperation and how those things affect the individual and their community. It's not about a big bad villain trying to eat the world.

Easiest way I can think to sum it up is; this is as close to Game of Thrones as DC has ever gotten. As far as character dynamics are concerned, I mean. No one is fighting over a throne here.

Meltzer toys around with the innate silliness of the Silver Age, and puts some of those ridiculous elements into a modern context with some pretty twisted stuff. If you have a great amount of nostalgia for the Silver Age, you'll hate seeing certain events in this new light. If you're open to more layers being unveiled, you may enjoy it. But just to forewarn you; it does not treat all the heroes like flawless paragons of righteousness; in fact some of the things you'll see are quite cruel and unusual. But in a lot of ways, all it's doing is looking at hairline cracks that were always there, and pulling them open to find out why they existed in the first place.

And of course, some of the characters don't make it out intact. Some of them don't make it out at all, and several leave with some pretty horrible scars, both literally and figuratively. You'll walk away from the story feeling a little queasy and violated.....and that's the point. That's the emotional gut punch reaction you're meant to have. Some will say it's not a story that should have been told. I respectfully disagree, and it made me far more interested in certain characters than I had ever been beforehand.

If you like murder mysteries where the line between good and evil is blurred, where good people do bad things for both good and for selfish reasons, and evil people are sometimes the victims, you'll enjoy Identity Crisis. If you prefer your superheroes with a more binary, clean-cut morality where heroes always act heroically and villains are always in the wrong, or you cannot stand to see Silver Age characters make major mistakes that'll come back to haunt them and their loved ones, it's best if you ignore it.

There's also a few things in the writing that're just plain questionable (a thing with Deathstroke chief among them) but I don't think those are any worse than what you see in any comic.

That description sounded like Watchmen to me.

[dancj]

It's a very good book with some flaws.

The flaws as I can see them are:

The final solution to the mystery has a few holes in it.
A character no-one has seen in 30+ years is written out of character.
The Deathstroke fight did require a fair dose of plot-induced-stupidity to work.

also, some people find the rape distasteful.

Honestly though, none of these things bothered me. The story stays emotional and interesting from beginning to end. The Deathstroke fight is kind of awesome despite its PIS. Rags Morales does a cracking job on the art. Over all, it's one of the better big crossovers for my tastes.

[TruthAndJustice]

If you really like Ralph & Sue Dibny . . . you might be better off avoiding it like the plague.

If you like rapes; murdered pregnant women; and adding more dead parents for superheroes, then go for it.

Exactly. It's a story that I really wish had never been written. It was really inappropriate for a canonical story with all-ages characters.

Brad Meltzer needs to stay far, far away from superhero comics.

That said, Rags Morales's art is great.

[Ascended]

Exactly. It's a story that I really wish had never been written. It was really inappropriate for a canonical story with all-ages characters.

I'd agree if kids were still part of the target demographic. They're not, so I don't have a problem with it.

That kids are no longer part of the industry's primary demographic is a problem all on its own.....but a topic for another thread.

[Ascended]

That description sounded like Watchmen to me.

Not surprising. Like Watchmen, Identity Crisis was a deconstructionist approach to superheroes with a very dark plotline and a heavy focus on character dynamics and development.

Obviously its not anywhere near the caliber of Watchmen, but its cut from a similar cloth.

[MajorHoy]

. . . A character no-one has seen in 30+ years is written out of character.

Which one hadn't been seen "in 30+ years"?

The first issue of Identity Crisis was cover-dated August 2004, and thirty years before that was 1974. So that rules out Jean Loring, since she and Ray were married in 1978 (Justice League of America #157) and then separated during 1983's Sword of the Atom mini-series.

[Coin Biter]

I don’t think it’s very good, personally. As has been observed, it’s not a particularly ingenious murder mystery, and the deconstructionist elements actually felt to me to be rather stale, written as it was a fair few years after some of the great works of the 80s.

I didn’t hate it, though. The world is full of comics that aren’t exactly brilliant. And, well, it did have some nice art.