Infinite Crisis: The Novel

By Thomas Tan
November 20, 2007

In 1986, DC Comics realized that they needed to clean house. Having long enjoyed the conceit of having multiple versions of their iconic heroes spread out across multiple earths, the head honchos at the company realized that everything was getting too complicated. Thus, they tabbed writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez to create what would become the quintessential comic event: Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Crisis did its job, getting rid of all the multiple earths and presenting us with one unifying timestream, but its success also meant that the big two (Marvel and DC) would spend the next few decades or so trying to recapture its magic by giving their readers more and more event series. Some would be successful artistically and financially and others would make readers want to junk comics all together. But they have become a part of the landscape, and we must accept that.

In 2005, DC finally gave us a sequel to Crisis with Infinite Crisis. Written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Perez, and Jerry Ordway, the seven issue miniseries saw the return of several characters who disappeared in 1986 and are determined to resurrect the multiverse. The story was exciting, charting the highs and lows of heroism and nobility, contrasting that with the tragedy of misguided ideals and evil manipulation. It was a piercing look at the nature of the modern superhero and his place in the modern comic world, and an indictment of the psychological darkness that heroes like Superman and Batman had found themselves in since the late 90's.

It was also, if you weren't a die-hard DC fan, extremely confusing.

Along with the seven issue miniseries, Infinite Crisis spawned a plethora of tie-ins... miniseries, one-shots, and cross-overs that came out both before and during the event itself. Infinite Crisis doesn't even start in the miniseries itself, instead the beginning is found in the 2003 miniseries The Death of Donna Troy. Infinite Crisis closed off plot threads begun many years previously in nearly every major title in the DCU, from Superman to The Rann-Thanagar War. Simply put, if you haven't kept up, don't bother knocking.

Enter, Greg Cox.

In 2006, DC, through Ace Books, tabbed bestselling author Greg Cox (Star Trek) to gather up all the plot threads and weave them together into a cohesive narrative, conveniently packaged in one affordable novel sporting a beautiful Daniel Acuna cover.

The resulting novelization is truly an exceptional adaptation. Cox stripped away several confounding and unnecessary bits from the miniseries and its sundry tie-ins and distilled the overall story to its main thematic core: what is heroism in the modern DC Universe and, by extension, comics as a whole.

The house cleaning stuff is still there, of course. A bit with the Spectre and the Marvel Family changes the way magic works in the DCU, while the Rann-Thanagar war re-establishes its science-fiction aspects. New heroes are given their spotlights, as Blue Beetle and Firestorm are thrust to the fore. An epic war rages between Lex Luthor's secret society of villains and pretty much every hero in the multiverse. But all that takes a backseat to the real show.

The main strength of the original comic series was its exploration of that theme and how it pertains to the big trio of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Cox retains this and expands it even more, taking us into the minds and psyches of these characters in ways only novels can.

In Batman, the darkest of the three, we see what it's like to be an ordinary man capable of extraordinary things, and yet still be betrayed by those around him. We see, through a complicated plot dealing with cybernetic nanotechnology, how the loss of trust leads to dire things.

In Wonder Woman, we see what it's like to be a being of nobility thrust into a world where good intentions lead to terrible ramifications. When she takes drastic measures to erase evil from the world and save her friends, we see how misconceptions and misguided intentions can shatter faith and sow doubt throughout the world.

And in Superman, the Saviour, we see what it's like to be the most powerful being in the universe, and still be rendered helpless to stop a world that has lost sight of its ideals. A universe desperate for inspiration... an inspiration the Man of Steel can no longer give.

These, and pretty much every hero in the DCU, are flawed creatures... as human as they are superhuman, as vulnerable as they are indestructible. Infinite Crisis challenges our views on the nature of superheroics, holding the modern age up to a mirror by giving us remnants of a simpler age: the original Superman (from the old Earth-2) and Superboy (Earth Prime), and powerhouse figures of the 50's and 60's who embody a time where black and white existed with no shades of grey. With the help of Alexander Luthor (from Earth-3), old Superman and old Superboy work to restore the multiverse and resurrect the golden age's moral code.

But although Infinite Crisis makes for dark reading, it is nonetheless, in the end, a cathartic celebration of modern age superheroism. I won't go into story details here, but Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman did not earn the title of "The Big Three" for nothing. They face the darkness that they have fallen into... the tragedy of postmodernism... and arise anew with the burning conviction of moral clarity.

Beneath the heat vision and the magical thunderbolts, beneath the magic lassos and the Thanagarian maces, beneath the batarangs and the rings of willpower, Infinite Crisis is a stirring morality play of truth, justice, and, well, you know. It is an epic of multiuniverseal proportions that is as exciting to read as any novel of action I've read in recent times.

Unfortunately, it still has the same problem as the comics. Greg Cox does a good job of containing the story, but the tale is so weighted down by continuity that to fully enjoy it, one really must be a DC fan. For example, right from the get-go, we're told that the old Blue Beetle died at the hands of Maxwell Lord. Wonder Woman killed Maxwell Lord so that Superman may survive. This makes Wonder Woman a pariah, and leads to a confrontation between Superman, Batman, and herself in the Justice League headquarters on the moon.

Now, to me, all of that made sense. But to the average reader? I can imagine a whole slew of raised eyebrows and questions. Who else but DC fans would know how tragic it is that Max killed Beetle, considering they were part of the "comedy" Justice League in the 80's? Who else but DC fans would know that Wonder Woman had to kill Max because he was secretly a powerful telepath who controlled Superman to go on a murderous rampage? And I can just hear people asking "What the heck? A Justice League base on the moon? Huh?"

The casual reader can still enjoy the story to some extent, as it is a great tale. But I have a feeling that they would be missing out on so much more with regards to character. If that were the case, they would be better off reading something else.

So, yeah. Same caveat applies here. If you want to read an exceptionally written and well plotted out morality play about the nature of heroism, look no further. Pick up a copy of Infinite Crisis, put on the Superman soundtrack, and read on.

If, and only if, you are a DC fan.

Publisher: Ace Books
Writer: Greg Cox