Infinite Crisis

Having heard so much about Infinite Crisis, I wanted to read it, but I first had to read Crisis on Infinite Earths. Having finished that last month, I was elated to find a copy of the collection of the mini-series Infinite Crisis at Bishan Community Library.

Infinite Crisis is a vast improvement, in terms of storyline, over Crisis on Infinite Earths It is a lot more violent as well, with decapitations and dismemberments, which I rarely see in D.C. comics to this extent.

One definitely has to read Crisis on Infinite Earths before embarking on Infinite Crisis however, as the villains of Infinite Crisis are really the heroes of Crisis on Infinite Earths, namely, Earth-Two's Superman, Earth-Three's Alexander Luthor, and Earth Prime's Superboy.

As far as I can tell, Earth Prime is a world where the only superhero is Superboy. Earth Three is where Lex Luthor is the only superhero in a world of supervillains, and Alexander Luthor is his son saved from the end of the world in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Earth Two's Superman belongs in a purer world, compared to Earth-One, which is the world that existed for the 20 years between Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis. It is a more innocent world where the good guys are really good, and the good guys always win in the end.

After observing the years in between Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis, Alexander Luthor decides to create the perfect world and manipulates Earth-Two's Superman into believing that Earth-Two is the perfect world to be recreated.

This illusion is shattered only when Earth-One's Superman reveals a stunning truth: Any world belonging to a Superman is not perfect because a perfect world doesn't need a Superman.

A major part of the plot involves comparing the older, purer world before COIE and the newer, more violent, and darker world post-Crisis on Infinite Earths. It is a D.C.U. (D.C. Universe) which my parents frequently complain about - where the good guys are not really good, and the bad guys are not really bad, and the moral line between good and evil is blurred.

Infinite Crisis is a great read, especially for those who, like Earth-Two's Superman, long for the older, purer world.