Crisis on Infinite Earths #1

[history79]

"While writing Green Lantern I received a letter from a fan asking about a mixup in DC continuity. In my reply I said, “One day we (meaning the DC editorial we) will probably straighten up what is in the DC Universe ... and what is outside.” At this point in its history DC Comics had Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Three, Earth-B, etc. There were super-heroes on each Earth and though old-time readers had no problem understanding DC continuity, it proved off-putting to new readers who suddenly discovered there was not one but three Supermans, Wonder Womans, Batmans, etc."

- Marv Wolfman




10.66 pages of 32

Comments

[zylly]

It's a beautifully drawn series, with some truly amazing moments of writing, and it operates on a scale never seen before.

But I have never bought the idea that they needed to simplify the universe because it was "too confusing."

Even as a youngster, reading my dad's old comics, the idea of there being more than one Superman or characters like Hourman or Doctor Fate who only existed on one Earth wasn't confusing. And besides, any time a parallel Earth did show up, there were a couple of panels explaining it.

And even weird stuff like the occasional appearance of an Earth-One Wildcat, or characters like Zatanna and Air Wave being the kids of what were ostensibly Earth-Two characters didn't bother me.

Consolidating the Earths did turn DC (eventually) into a universe defined by Legacy, which generated some amazing stories. But I don't buy for a second that "confusion" was the reason it needed doing.

[scorntx]

They don't mean the confusion of fans.
They mean their confusion.

They were making it easier for them to understand.

[zylly]

Now that's an angle I hadn't considered before...

[wizardru]

I think it was more a recognition that you had depression-era heroes running around side-by-side with heroes who had been introduced after the end of the Vietnam war and nobody was talking about how or why Wonder Woman and Batman and Superman still appeared to be functionally 30-ish and how their supporting casts also hadn't aged. The glaring social and technological differences were noticeable and only slated to get MORE noticeable. While I didn't have a problem with it, it did make for some odd story issues, with characters and story elements solidly bound to a time/place that receded into the past while the characters didn't. Some fans were hyper-sensitive about that stuff and Marvel's relatively tight narrative control reflected badly on DC, for some.

So it's not surprising that on their 50th anniversary, after years of flagging sales (and losing their top spot), DC would do something drastic. The story of how that happened and what happened is about as interesting as the comic itself, IMHO.

[zylly]

Now that's a point too. DC had resorted to various explanations to explain the JSA on their parallel Earth alone (such as various rejuvenations to outright saying that time didn't pass on the different Earths on a one to one basis). And the different stances on just how long any one character had been around were broadly inconsistent.

None of which bothered or bothers me, but Marvel was certainly a very different place at the time.

Which, of course, has been the problem ever since the FF debuted, in that DC wants to be Marvel oh so badly.