Well, it’s another day and another post of the mega crossover event: Infinite Crisis. As I write this, it’s Friday, the 18. It looks like that I’ll be heading home this weekend with no plans whatsoever (will be having lunch with someone Monday though). Anyway, this issue marks the return of the Multiverse, so it’s going to be interesting. The creative team remains the same, with legendary writer/artist Jerry Ordway and artist Ivan Reis providing some nice pencils. The covers are also well done. Lee’s cover has two Wonder Women in the background, while Booster Gold, Batman, and some dude (lol) run toward the reader (So, get out of the way, Dang it!!). Perez’s cover shows Supes-2 punching out Superman. Perez’s cover is definitely cooler for me. So, let’s get to this good issue.Issue 5We start out with Ragman (green dude from Shadowpact) and Mr. Terrific talking about religion and faith at a big cathedral (Okay, there are aliens, angels, sprits, ninjas, and the dead “RISING FROM THE GRAVE!”in this universe and Mr. Terrific is still an atheist. Oh well…). The church is basically someplace for the superheroes to get breathing room away from all of the hell going on. The angelic superhero Zauriel gives the sermon, and Hal Jordan acts a fool and leaves mid-prayer (Come on, ya heathen!). Blue Devil is there praying…and on fire (The man’s on fire for the Lord ….yeah, I know, horrible pun). Thanks to some exposition from the talking chimp (Detective Chimp), we find out that Blue Devil is a human turned demon and he catches on fire while in churches. Okay, that really, really sucks. Suddenly, the heroes receive a message that bad stuff is happening, so the heroes set out to rescue people.
We then move to Keystone City…on Earth-2. Apparently, anyone who originated on Earth-2 Pre-COIE was transported to that Earth. The JSA are here, wondering what in the heck just happened. We then cut to Supes-2 and Lois-2 in Metropolis right in front of the Daily Star. It’s a nice moment, with the two embracing and realizing that they are in a real familiar place.
On Earth-1, Booster Gold is taking Jaime Reyes to the Batcave (Must be the back entrance). Anyway, they trip off an alarm and get trapped. Batman (as played by Christian Bale) comes to them and asks them what they’re doing here. BG introduces the cotton pickin’ Batman to Jaime, the new Blue Beetle (eh?). To prove this, BG shoves the kid against the wall, and all of the sudden the scarab reacts and a suit of cool armor envelops around Jaime (“WHOA” is right!). After seeing this, Batman releases them from the trap. BG tells Batman that he knows about the assault that Batman is planning on Brother Eye. He tells Batman that he has told everyone who is coming to come and that the new Blue Beetle is the only one who can see Brother Eye (Coming from the future with useful information is actually good this time).
I have to admit, this is a great costume.
We then check up on Conner Kent in Titans Tower following his fight with PRIME. He’s apparently getting the Luke Skywalker treatment. Lex Luthor comes over and feels some sympathy for his “son.” He then leaves, but not before he leaves a crystal shard from that hidden fortress in the Arctic.
We go back to Earth-2, where Lois and Supes-2 are enjoying the scenery. Suddenly Lois falls out. Superman picks her up and wonders what wrong. They’re back on Earth-2, so she should be fine. Unfortunately, lois-2 isn’t fine and she knows it. Supes-2 is telling Lois-2 to hold on, but it’s too late. Lois has passed from old age. A mournful Supes-2 lets out a powerful scream, which shatters all of the glass and ground around him (Iconic Image). The scream attracts the attention of Superman on Earth-1. He then takes off from Earth -1 and flies to Earth-2.
Meanwhile (Earth-1, by the way), Wonder Woman tries to stop a riot taking place in Boston. The people turn on her and treat her like crap because of that whole killer thing. The mob soon runs off when an invisible plane lands and Wonder Woman (?) comes out and tells our Wonder Woman that the universe is in trouble (Well! That’s new!).
On Earth-2, Superman finally finds Supes-2 and wonders what happened. Supes-2 (I’ll just call him Kal-L from now on) gets mad with grief and blames Superman for Lois-2’s death, saying that the corruption has now spread to his Earth. He then picks up a car and hits Superman with it (Another Iconic Image!!!). The two then begin to scuffle, as Alex Luthor watches them fight from his hidden fortress. Apparently, he knew that she would die and that there wasn’t anything they could do. According to Psycho Pirate, he has little sorrow for the deceased Mrs. Kent, as well as his cohort, PRIME.
Meanwhile, the two wonder women talk in the invisible plane. It turns out that the older woman is the Wonder Woman of Earth-2. When the Multiverse ended, she and her husband Steve Trevor were granted access into Mount Olympus by the gods. When the gods left because of the crisis, Steve used the last of his power to get her here to help. The older version tells Diana to do two things: try to reason with the two Supermen on Earth-2, and stop trying to be so perfect and to start by acting a little more human. Since the blessings of the gods are leaving, Wondy-2 will soon cease to exist. Before she ceases to exist, she drops Diana off by Earth-2. Wonder Woman appears before a devastated Metropolis on Earth-2, seeing that it's the fight between the two Supermen that's destroying it.
She then stops the fight by lassoing Kal-L and wanting for them all to talk. He stops and they talk…well, Kal-L mostly talks. He points out the mistakes/stuff that they’ve done. The JLA midewiped their villains, Batman created Brother Eye, Wonder Woman killed, and Superman could have stopped it all before it happened (don’t know about the last one). He tells them that they had the time to create the perfect Earth, but they screwed up. Superman then says the smartest thing ever, “If you’re FROM this Earth, it can’t be perfect because a perfect Earth doesn’t NEED a Superman.” Kal-L then has a quick epiphany, and he realizes that this is not his planet.
We then get pages with a lot of stuff happening. Alex is preparing for the return of the Multiverse, where he will use his machine to find and create the perfect Earth by using those Earths. In the Batcave, Batman has assembled his crew that he will take to face Brother Eye (Man, he even got Black Lightning! Cool!). Kal-L suddenly flies off to see Lois-2 again, and calls out Alex’s name. In space (wow, we haven’t been there all issue), Firestorm is well again and is about to join the fight against those big hands of Alex’s. As he recreates the Multiverse, we find out why Alex kept Kal-L alive and didn’t get rid of him. Apparently, EVERYTHING comes from Superman (I knew that fashion sense came from somewhere!). As the Multiverse is created, Kal-L….screams and slpits into different pieces:
WOAH. Weird.
Hmm... that doesn't look right.
And just like that, the Multiverse is back. We then move back to Earth-1. Nightwing is at Titans Tower trying to contact anyone who will listen. He tells everyone to gather at the Tower. Unfortunately, everyone is either busy with saving people or getting transported to their original Earth. Nightwing watches from the Tower as the multiple Earths appear in the sky, some of which are exploding. Connor, who’s back in action (as well as “got some action” just before he came here), shows up to help Nightwing take down Alex and his Earth-splitting machine, with the crystal given to him by his Lex that shows where the machine is located.
In Japan, Doctor Light (the female, hero version. Not the male, perverted version) is trying to save some people. Suddenly, the Flash (?) shows up to warn Dr. Light that PRIME has escaped and is now coming back to Earth. Oh ____!
He's back...yay.
… … … …
Well, that’s the end of the issue, and dang, that was a good one. Unlike what I said about issue four, this issue’s pacing was well done, with each part being beneficial. The writing and art was pretty good. We get not just one, but two iconic images well drawn by jerry Ordway. We finally get the mistake Superman made, and I still don’t get it. Oh well. Anyway, everything else in the issue was good. We get a new Blue Beetle, which is cool. The Golden Age Wonder Woman pays a visit, which I guess is cool. We have Lex Luthor actually helping the heroes instead of trying to kill them, which is nice. Of course, he was just helping out Conner, but still the act counts for something.
Lois-2’s death scene was well done. When I read the scene, even I felt a little sad. I mean, Kal-L is losing his wife, and there’s nothing he can do about it. When something (a book, movie, etc,) just tugs at ya, sometimes that means that the creator really put something into it, to me anyway. We finally get Kal-L (Supes-2) put in his place. Superman’s line makes a lot of sense. Even Kal-L realized that. What does a perfect Earth need with a Superman? Nothing. It’s perfect. The moment Kal-l realized that, I was like “Finally, he can shut up now!” (Okay, not really, but when someone constantly critiques something, it gets annoying). So let’s see, Superman has learned to take action (He already did that, but still he needs something to do), Batman has learned to stop being “a real douche,” and Wonder Woman has learned…well, what has she learned? I guess she has learned that even she can make mistakes.
Well, I’m at the end of my preachment. It looks like I’ll be going into how Conner got better and got that action next time. Until then, Peace, Love, and all that stuff.
NEXT TIME: THE REST OF LIFE AND DEATH!!!
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