Is Identity Crisis worth Buying?

[Zero Hunter]

It not my least favorite "Crisis" book if that says anything about it (that honor is still held by the mess that was Final Crisis). It is definitely polarizing in that love it or hate it kind of way.

[Agent Z]

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts on it. I did get it, I've read until after the Slade fight and I'll put my thoughts overall after it.

However- and from what I can tell by the reaction here might be unpopular- I did have an idea on how it could be brought back into continuity, using Slade. I was wondering if Slade's position on Protecting Light would have changed if he knew what happened to Sue, I suspect Current Slade would kill him for it or leave him to the League. So my idea was have Slade find out, send him after Light and have him kill Arthur for what he did to Sue off panel before we see the Dibny's at home where they recieve a Box containing Light's head as an apology from Slade.

Why would any version of Slade care about what happens to Sue? The man barely manages to avoid being a complete bastard to his own family.

[Carabas]

Ah this ol' question.

Beautiful art, technically decently written story but ghastly characterization and a really ugly, cynical take on superheroes that was made worse by its cynical, ugly impact on the DCU for years to come. I hate it.

It is not technically decently written.
It is a mystery story with a solution that does not make sense on any level at all.

[Flash Gordon]

What makes it more traumatizing than any of Alan Moore's work?

It's much more mean spirited.

[dancj]

I don't know . . . when you sayhow is Jean "written out of character"?

Honestly I don't know how out of character she was written as I think this is about the only place I've seen her. I was trusting previous anti-Identity Crisis rants that I've read on these boards. Certainly some people think she was, but if you don't then that's one less negative point on the lists.

and Deathstroke beats the whole Justice League because he's the most awesome guy ever and superheroes can never actually win anything

My memory is hazy, but I'm pretty sure he lost that fight - after humiliating a bunch of the JLA.

[ducklord]

Honestly I don't know how out of character she was written as I think this is about the only place I've seen her. I was trusting previous anti-Identity Crisis rants that I've read on these boards. Certainly some people think she was, but if you don't then that's one less negative point on the lists.

To be overly fair, Jean Loring has, in the past, had some mental stability issues. Of course, these were never directly referenced in IC (either before or after the reveal), so that's kind of lame, especially if you're trying to a write a "fair" murder mystery.

Also, even taking into account that "Jean is cray," there's some missing motivating events to her narrative. Jean split from Ray years before the story. She had an affair. As you can see from IC itself, Ray is amenable to a reconciliation. Is there anything in the story that indicates that Jean had TRIED to get back with Ray, only to be rebuffed? Something like that would, in a well-constructed story, "justify" a mentally-unbalanced person concocting a cuckoo-bananas plot to tap dance on Sue's brain to scare Ray into getting back together with her. And it wouldn't take much - a couple of lines between Ray and Jean in which he rebuffs a casual suggestion that they get a coffee some time or something. It could be done subtly, so that it feels like a foreshadowing of their murder-induced reconciliation, rather than a finger pointed towards the eventual killer.

But no. Instead we get a 0-to-60, "I wanted you back, so I attacked one of our best friends, 'cause I'm craaaaazy!"

Had she tried another tack first? We don't know, 'cause the story didn't give us anything.

I hate it when stories miss the simple stuff.

[Agent Z]

Honestly I don't know how out of character she was written as I think this is about the only place I've seen her. I was trusting previous anti-Identity Crisis rants that I've read on these boards. Certainly some people think she was, but if you don't then that's one less negative point on the lists.


My memory is hazy, but I'm pretty sure he lost that fight - after humiliating a bunch of the JLA.

It's how he did that that was the issue

[Carabas]

Well, there is a clue, but it's a little meta...

spoilers:

When Jean fakes her own attack while calling Ray, the panels that show the "attack" go out of their way to NOT show an attacker.

end of spoilers

The comic goes out of its way to not ever show the attacker, not just in that specific attack.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

It is not technically decently written.
It is a mystery story with a solution that does not make sense on any level at all.

No, sure, that's true. But I do think it is a decently put together story regardless, even with its many, many flaws. I just think that any technical weaknesses in story structure and the more technical aspects of writing are the least of this terrible comic's sins.

[titanfan]

To be overly fair, Jean Loring has, in the past, had some mental stability issues. Of course, these were never directly referenced in IC (either before or after the reveal), so that's kind of lame, especially if you're trying to a write a "fair" murder mystery.

If we're using those Silver Age stories as "evidence", then so does Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Steve Trevor, and Carol Ferris. And nearly every significant other of every super hero has had an insanity/possession/etc. story as it was a common plot point.

When we last saw the couple, she was choosing to divorce Ray, who wanted her back. Even if she was crazy, she wasn't crazy enough to the point to where she couldn't have realized she didn't want him back.

It's fine if circumstances changed or whatever, but as many have said the murder mystery cheated.

In any case, I'm going to say go ahead and get it. Because it was a controversial work that is a part of the history of the DCU for good and bad. There were some very good character pieces within the book. If Meltzer wanted to write a book where characters are just hanging out and talking I would give it a try but no way would I get a murder mystery by him ever again.

[Calvinr]

It’s decent imo, but certain character aspects may leave a sour taste, I know it’s been mentioned already but one particular scene involving Deathstroke leaves many scratching heads, but it has great call backs to eras gone by and also gives the likes of Green Arrow, Ralph Dibny, Canary and Hawkman among others more like limelight than usual.
For me, It’s solid overall and worth a read.

[Alan2099]

No, sure, that's true. But I do think it is a decently put together story regardless, even with its many, many flaws. I just think that any technical weaknesses in story structure and the more technical aspects of writing are the least of this terrible comic's sins.

What part of it is well put together?

The story revolves around the villain having a motive that doesn't make sense, the heroes not really investigating, a plot that heavily needs to retcon Dr. Light for no reason because he actually isn't important to the plot, the death of Robin's dad which otherwise doesn't seem important to the plot, likewise the death of Firestorm, changes the history of the Justice League just to make them MORE jerks, and has a scene where Jean, who's supposedly working alone, somehow manages to blinddfold, gag, and tier herself up so she couldn't get free without help.

[Dr. Ellingham]

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

Me as well.

I like the story. It was a risky thing to retcon / adultify the Silver Age DC mythos. The result made for an interesting story, but it sure didn't make the DCU a more fertile ground for complex storytelling. The DCU just became darker, noisier, more controversial - though that may have been the goal.

Separating that out, it's a love letter (of sorts) to the Satellite JLA, with Green Arrow as the moral conscience of the League, trying to set things right. The funeral scene is heartbreaking.

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.

Exactly.

People who were DC fans in the late 90s / early 2000s DC tend to really *hate* this story. It was the beginning of "the end" for them. But I'm guessing most fans of that era who were pissed off enough gave up on DC a long time ago...

[Lee Stone]

Identity Crisis = Good idea on paper, poor execution. Nice art, bad story, and a waste of a novel use of the phrase 'Identity Crisis' for a DC event.

Some parts of the mini seem more like fanfic with certain characters unbelievably amped up in ability, some characters being made more over-the-top diabolical to redeem them from being considered a joke, some characters being utterly ruined and treated terribly, and it's is awash with an overall embarrassment of DC's Silver and Bronze Age comics.

And fair warning: if it was a movie, it would get an R rating at the very least, as it's obviously intended for mature readers, even though it was marketed as a mainstream JLA and Crisis title and didn't carry a Mature Readers tag.

[regg215]

I thought Identity Crisis was excellent. The art is amazing and the story is pretty unique for a superhero book in my opinion. However I completely get where it has it's critics. At this point I would imagine you could pick up identity crisis for a pretty low price and whether you like it or hate it I think it is something that is worth a read.