Random Thoughts On... DC's Identity Crisis

Next up for the month is a bit of a controversial one. If you’ve ever heard of this story, you’ll know why. It’s going to get a little serious since this story deals with something a little too dark for some. Just letting you know.

In 2004, DC Comics released Identity Crisis, a seven-issue event. Like most Crisis events, it changed a lot about the landscape of DC for years to come. Unlike events such as Zero Hour and Crisis on Infinite Earths, it didn’t go all-cosmic with it. It’s pretty much a murder mystery set in the DC Universe. It’s also a miniseries that scooped up a lot of controversy as it was released throughout 2004. It was written by Brad Meltzer, a novelist who started to enter into comics. He had previously wrote on Green Arrow and apparently did so good there someone wanted him to helm an event. Ralph “Rags” Morales, a guy who’s worked on many DC books, handled the pencils while Michael Blair handled the inks.

I first ran into this event right at the end. I made my first hike to the Outer Limits on Memorial Blvd. during November, I think. By the way, there’s no way I’d do it now since they’ve moved since then. I also remember I was going to a party later that night. Anyway, I picked up a few issues like New Avengers #1 and Identity Crisis #7. I ended up reading it sometime later. Then… I ended up throwing it away. If you think it was because of that ending, I don’t think it was that. I don’t know if it got ruined or ripped. With how this event was regarded, I bet I wasn’t the only one who threw it away.

 While his interior work was fine, the late Michael Turner turned in great covers.

A couple of years later, I perused through the trade at the Waldenbooks in Cool Springs. Since then, I’ve read some of the tie-ins as well as what spun out of it. A few weeks ago, I saw it at McKay’s and finally decided to check this story out. It's a story that folk either like or hate. I’ve seen folk like Linkara tear this story a new one. On the other end the spectrum, I’ve heard the father/daughter team on the Relatively Geeky Network give it a fair but positive review. So, now that I’ve read it in full, where do I stand? By the way, “there be spoilers here, arrrr!!!”

Yeah, I’m hyping myself up for the darkness that’s about to come.

Identity Crisis starts out like most mysteries start: someone dies. In this case, it was Sue Dibny, the wife of Ralph Dibny, aka the Elongated Man. She was found at her house burnt to death. Her murder sends shockwaves through the superhero community since the Dibnys were good, unassuming people. After her pretty big funeral, everyone sets out to find who murdered her. Heroes like Batman, Mr. Miracle, and Dr. Midnight go through the evidence that’s gathered. Others look at which villains could have done this.

Former JLA members (Elongated Man, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Atom, Black Canary, and Zatanna) split off from those heroes since they have an idea on who’s behind it: Doctor Light. Flash (Wally West) and Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) catch on that they’re not doing their assigned jobs. The younger heroes then find out that Doctor Light raped Sue on the JLA Satellite years ago. Because of Light’s actions, the JLA (sans Superman and Batman) voted to mindwipe him and adjust his personality. He also wasn’t the only villain they mindwiped either but Light was the only one who they really screwed with. The group eventually finds Doctor Light but he’s being protected by Deathstroke. During their pretty controversial fight, Light remembers what happened to him and escapes. It is revealed that Light wasn’t behind it later, so the unknown killer is still at large.

Later, Jean Loring, Ray Palmer’s (The Atom) ex-wife is assaulted. Luckily, Ray’s able to save her. The superhero community then start to crack down on since it looks like all of their loved ones are in danger. Lois Lane even gets a threatening letter. Then, the more horrible stuff happens: Jack Drake, the father of Tim Drake (Robin) gets assassinated by Captain Boomerang. During the heroes’ search for the killer, Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond) is killed by a villain. Wally also learns that Doctor Light wasn’t the only one mindwiped that day: the League also mindwiped Batman when he found out what they were doing to Light. He tried to attack them, but Zatanna knocked him out and erased the event from his mind.

While I'm mixed on mindwipes, this was a wrong call.

Later, Batman, Mr. Terrific, and Dr. Midnight find out that Sue was actually killed by someone using Atom’s technology. Ray finds out that it was actually Jean who killed Sue. She was also behind the notes and Jack Drake’s death. Jean basically went crazy and wanted to find a way to get back with Ray. She only meant to injure Sue, but things went out of hand. In the end, Jean is committed to Arkham Asylum and Ray disappears. Ralph has to get used to be a widower and Wally now has to keep a pretty dark secret. To quote Dave Chappelle, “Darkness everybody! Darkness is spreading!”

This skit will never grow old.

You know I had to end it on a light note. So, what do I think of this one? While I do like certain beats of the story and the art, I’m a little mixed on this one. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever read but it didn’t completely satisfy me either. This one also got me thinking a bit on certain things here, so I’m going to delve into most of the story’s moments.

The Deaths

We have a few deaths here in this not-so-line-wide event. Sue’s death is what starts all of this off. It’s the one you kind of don’t like but it’s also needed to get the ball rolling. While I’m one who didn’t know much about the Dibnys, I felt I got to learn a lot about Sue before her unfortunate demise. I also thought seeing Ralph go through the grieving process was well done. Then, there’s Captain Boomerang who gets shot by Jack Drake. It wasn’t a problem with me but it was sad since it seemed like Digger (yeah, he’s named Digger) was getting along with his son, Owen.  I gotta say that Jack was a nice shot, though.

Uh... yeah, excuse me while I wipe this water from my face.

Then, there are the ones that I wasn’t a fan of. Firestorm’s death felt so random. It’s like he shows up and says “I’m dead, y’all. Bye (BOOM)!” I thought that was handled pretty weird. Then, there’s Jack Drake’s death. Unlike the previous Robins, Tim’s situation was different in that he still had a living parent and he was around for a long time until this event. I think he had just found out Tim’s identity as Robin. It’s a death that doesn’t feel right to me since it set Tim apart from Dick and Jason. Still, the scenes between Jack, Tim, and Batman during that time were well done.

Tim… Man, DC was doing him wrong at this time!

The Incident and Mindwipes

Well, it’s time to quickly browse over what Doctor Light did to Sue on the Satellite. All I can say is this: was it really necessary? It feels like the rape was done for shock value and little else since it never gets brought up again. Fans complained about this retcon and I can’t blame them. It hurt Sue and made Dr. Light into a much more disgusting dude. It was another thing about the event that felt weird and rape is already a pretty touchy subject. While Morales doesn’t show much in the artwork, those pages still leave an uncomfortable feeling.

Then, we get to the mindwipes. I’m not as bothered by those since you can at least look at something with them. While it could make the ones involved less heroic, you could definitely debate whether the mindwipes on villains were good or bad. It shows that the JLA is full of men and women, not perfect gods. Heck, if you knew anything about Greek mythology, then you’d know the Greek Pantheon was a group of a-holes. I’m kind of 50/50 on the mindwipes since I wouldn’t want someone like Doctor Light to be doing what he was doing on the Satellite. What they did to Batman was pretty twisted, though.

The Mystery and the Murderer

The Mystery behind Sue’s death was set up well. I liked how everyone was pulled in to find out who was behind it. While it might have been an excuse to have Morales draw every DC hero, at least it was a good excuse. You get the red herrings and the plot twists in every issue. The stakes get brought up with more threats and a couple of more deaths. Then, Bats and the others figure out who did it… and the great domino structure falls to pieces.

Jean Loring being the killer was pretty lackluster. Her reasons for doing all her actions were pretty silly considering she divorced Ray. Yeah, I know she’s crazy but come on! She slips up, Ray figures it out immediately, and she’s then thrown into Arkham Asylum which is weird. This was another character who fans felt got crapped on. I wondered if Ray was supposed to be the killer and something got changed at the last minute. That would have sucked for Atom fans but I felt it would have made a little more sense for it to be him. I can’t really connect the dots with Jean and when I do, it comes off weird.

Deathstroke’s fight and Villains’ Network

One thing folk bring up on this event is Deathstroke’s fight with the former JLA. While seeing Deathstroke kick butt was cool, he did seem a little too overpowered here. Now, he did lose the fight, so it wasn’t a complete decimation. The heroes were really the ones who got the short shrift. Most notably, the big ones were Flash, GL, and Zatanna. You’d think these heroes would use their powers effectively, but NO. I especially got to throw looks at Kyle “I’m gonna punch you” Rayner. I get Meltzer was trying to it all set up so Light could remember again, but you can’t make your heroes look like complete idiots!

Kyle, I like you, but you got a ring that can do anything! Why punch the dude?

Now, one thing I did like was the villains’ network the Calculator had. The whole idea of the villains just hanging out was quite cool. I know villain teams have always been a thing but it was cool to see ones like Deadshot and Meryln just shooting the breeze. Their community pretty much mirrored the Superhero community with Oracle handling the network. I also liked how that tied into the overall story.

Overall Opinion

So, where do I stand on all of this? While I like the story, it does have its issues. I did think that the writing for certain characters was pretty good. I also liked the angle of showing the relationships between everyone here. We saw Clark with his family, Ollie with his son and Dinah, Tim Drake with his dad, and Ralph with Sue (in flashbacks). While the story wasn’t heavy on action, it was heavy on drama and it was good for the most part.  The secrets revealed (while not all liked) made for some interesting reading.

The artwork from Morales and the rest was really good here. Even if you don’t like the story, you gotta admit that the artwork is top notch. All of the dramatic moments work here. Sue’s funeral looked good as well as heartbreaking. What action we get is good and makes up for the fact that the story’s low on it. Whatever you think about Deathstroke’s fight, it looked pretty awesome. While you did have some wonkiness here and there with the artwork, it all worked for me. Okay, I will say that Connor Hawke’s hairdo was horrible. Morales, were you trying to draw Moe or something?

So... where are Larry and Curly at?

As I said above, I did take issue with some things here. I thought Sue’s rape was unnecessary. There was really no reason for it to be done. I also wasn’t a fan of the how the murder mystery was all wrapped up.  It’s like Meltzer ran out of room, so he had to wrap things up with Jean quickly. Then, I didn’t like how some heroes were characterized. Some either felt a little out of character or seemed inept with their jobs. I’m looking you, Kyle Rayner. Other than these and a couple of other nitpicks, I do think this story isn’t a bad one.

Overall, Identity Crisis was a decent event that tried to add some edginess into the DCU. While I did take issue with a number of things, it wasn’t all bad. In fact, it was good in places. The event also springboarded stories for the next few years like Infinite Crisis and 52. It also had the effect on how certain stories were told and there was good and bad to be had with that. Well, that ends that. Next time will be a much lighter post with the team. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and watch yourself out there.

Also, here’s a funny pic from this story. Hey, it made me laugh.

So, how does Flash do that?