Nearing the end, finally. This series probably should have been four issues. Seven is stretching it, especially since many of the “surprises” are already known. However, there are still some interesting bits. Plot-wise, we’ve got a few different threads going on. Batman and his team are taking out OMAC. Donna Troy’s team is working on whatever they are working on, Nightwing and Superboy are infiltrating Alex Luthor’s base, and Superman and Superman find some common understanding.
Some interesting stuff does happen: Alex is using all the alternate Earths as a mixing bowl, a little of this Earth, a little of this one, merging them together. Interesting cameos on Earth-462 (see the full panel over on Focused Totality): it’s the Cathy Lee Crosby Wonder Woman and the Debra Winger Wonder Girl. Unfortunately, this interlude is too short.
For most of the comic, it’s just chaos. I’m not sure what Nightwing’s role is in this whole comic. He punches Alex a couple of times, but for the most part, he just stands around. At one point, it looks like he might have a chance to take down Superboy-Prime, but that’s aborted for yet another Superboy-Superboy slugfest. And Superboy loses (both of them, I guess). But a new Earth is created.
If we take the page with the new Earth creation literally, it appears that on the new Earth, Superman as Superboy existed (with a Krypto of some sort), three Phantom Zone criminals exist, and Joe Chill was the killer of Bruce Wayne’s parents and was brought to justice (assuming that all the crystals are part of the new Earth’s history). It will be interesting to see how all this plays out.
Overall, though, this issue was disappointing. Perhaps my attention span has been reached, or maybe that there isn’t anything really new happening this issue, but I keep feeling that the creative team is just treading water at this point. In the original Crisis, the death of characters like Supergirl and Barry Allen had some resonance to it. In this issue, the death of Superboy just comes across as stupid: you mean to tell me that Power Girl, Black Adam, martian Manhunter, Ray, Breach, Lady Quark and Nightshade can’t take out Superboy-Prime, but the significantly weaker Kon-El can? I guess we can at least be thankful that they didn’t rip off the “Superman holding Supergirl” Perez cover motif with this death.
Just one more issue to go. Of course, by the time it comes out, we’ll already be a few months into the “One Year Later” books, anyhow.
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Responses to “Infinite Crisis #6”
Great find on the WOnder Women!
April 6th, 2006 at 5:36 pm |
I don’t know how to react to the idea that other people besides me actually recognized the Cathy Lee Crosby Wonder Woman.
Also, I interpreted that “New Earth” creation scene in exactly the opposite way to your reading: my assumption was that these were bits of the past being shed, breaking away, rather than being incorporated into the new thing. Mind you, even that small observation makes it sound like I’m more impressed than I actually am: I’m already on record as predicting that a few years from now we’ll see another company-wide crossover billed with the subtitle “The One Where We Fix Everything and Make Comics Good Again But This Time We’ll Do It Right, And This Time We Really Mean It.”
I won’t buy that one either, but I’ll enjoy reading other people’s comments about it on blogs.
April 6th, 2006 at 8:45 pm |
I think that they should get Cathy Lee Crosby and Reb Brown to do a Wonder Woman/Captain America television event! I’d watch that.
Your interpretation seems just as valid: it will be interesting to see which way it goes. But you are absolutely right: every 7-10 years, they’ll kick off another of these events (as the past has shown us). I do get tired of the same formula, though: kill off minor characters, replace them with new version that no one likes, return to the status quo, rinse and repeat.
April 7th, 2006 at 7:18 am |
I noticed the TV Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl, too — although I could have sworn Cathy Lee Crosby’s uniform was red instead of blue… so I never would have picked her out except for the Debra Winger Wonder Girl in the background. (Frumpiest. Wonder Girl costume. Ever.) If those little scenes of the new history for the newly smashed-together Earth are to be believed, then they also reinstated Wonder Woman as a founding member of the JLA. That’d be fine by me — not that I give a rat’s ass either way, mind you. But the idea that they might give us a Clark Kent Superboy again after all this time galls me a little, considering his editorially-mandated removal from continuity is what started the reboot avalanche that repeatedly screwed over the Legion of Super-Heroes. All that mess and then twenty years later it’s like, “Oh, forget we ever said anything!” Gah! *fumes for a minute, then shrugs* Oh, well. That’s comics for ya!
April 8th, 2006 at 5:43 pm |