COMIC BOOK COVER OF THE WEEK

COMIC BOOK COVER OF THE WEEK 


Hey, kids!  A new feature that we're going to feature on this blog will be a weekly cover of a comic book that had some impact or reverence during the history of the industry.  I'll give you the breakdown of who was responsible for said issue, a little synopsis, and a little bit about the issue from MY unique perspective.  So, I hope you enjoy this portion of the blog, and hope it will spark your imaginations, and offer me suggestions by commenting below this feature---and you can subscribe as well!  So, I thought that with the beginning of this feature, we'll start off with the cover of the series that changed the DC Universe, and in honor of the 6th Crossover Event for the CW shows Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, and Black Lightning.



CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #1

Tagline:  Worlds will live.  Worlds will die.  And the DC Universe will NEVER be the same!

COVER ARTIST:  George Perez
WRITER: Marv Wolfman (Len Wein & Robert Greenberger - Co-Plotters)
ARTIST: George Perez
INKER:  Dick Giordano
COLORS:  Anthony Tollin
LETTERER:  John Costanza
EDITOR:  Marv Wolfman, Dick Giordano, Robert Greenberger, Paul Levitz
PUBLISHER:  Jenette Kahn, DC Comics 
COVER DATE:  April 1985

Crisis On Infinite Earths was a MAJOR paradigm shift for DC Comics.  A company that was celebrating it's 50th year as a comics publication, writer Marv Wolfman went to Publisher Jenette Kahn and Managing Editor Paul Levitz with the idea of a huge series that would be the "History of the DC Universe" as he would put it, and was the original idea.  And for that idea to be to make the DC Universe more streamlined, by eliminating the Multiverse (which had been created back in the early days of the Silver Age of Comics with the creations of "Earth-1" and "Earth-2", and ended up expanding over the course of the years.  This would make DC Comics and their books more easily accessible to old and new readers.  This meant taking 50 years worth of continuity, and chucking out a lot of unnecessary baggage, which meant quite a few characters would be erased from the pantheon of DC, and it would give a boost to their top star characters.  This series would also lead to DC doing quite a bit of "overhauling" of their main characters, and freshening them up for the modern age.  This was also the first maxi-series that ended up setting the standard for limited series' runs in the future, as well as tie-ins to their main titles.  It also allowed DC to incorporate characters from Charlton Comics, which they had just acquired not too long before.  Thus characters like the Blue Beetle, The Question, Captain Atom, Peacemaker, Nightshade, and others became integrated into the modern DC Universe with this series.  It is one of the most legendary series to ever hit comic book stands in the history of the medium.  

THE STORY:  There are a plethora of Earths making up the Multiverse.  And a man named Pariah has become the being responsible for going from Earth to Earth...to witness a wave of anti-matter consume each universe, with no way of stopping it.  It begins on Earth 3, where that hero, Alexander Luthor, is helpless to save it, as well as his arch enemies, the Crime Syndicate (which are evil dopplegangers of the Justice League).  Alexander and his wife Lois send off his infant son to safety.  Meanwhile, the sentient being known as The Monitor sends his assistant, Lyla, to become The Harbinger, and gather as many heroes and villains she can to aid in the salvation of the universe.  They are attacked by mysterious shadow demons until The Monitor banishes them away, and the fight can begin.

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This issue gives us a grand scope of the threat immediately.  It's massive, utterly destructive, and we don't know the reason behind this wave of anti-matter, nor do we know the person responsible...as yet.  Wolfman sets the tone brilliantly in the opening quote that had been borrowed from The Flash #123 - when Barry Allen met Jay Garrick in person.  The first line of dialogue or text was:  In the beginning there was only one.  It gives you an ominous sense quickly, because you KNOW something huge is about to happen.  Perez had his work cut out for him, having to illustrate about 36 pages, and be able to give you the scope of how massive this new threat is, and fitting as many DC characters from those worlds that he can think of.  Having to balance that with Wolfman's writing, and dialogue, it's beautiful work.  Perez was really hitting his stride as an artist on this series.  The minute details, the Kirby-esque cosmic magnitude that he illustrated...it was almost movie like.  I've always enjoyed John Costanza's lettering, because he can make things seem more intense with the way he puts words to paper.  Empshasizing with italics and large, bold letters brought the emotion through on each page.  This series was a massive undertaking, and the crew involved with bringing this story to life did an excellent job kicking it into gear quickly, and getting you engaged.  

Those of you paying attention to what's going to happen in the Arrowverse, will understand the gravity of what this series was trying to do.  I hope that those of you who watch the crossover, and haven't read this series....please do so.  Otherwise, you'll be missing out.