Comic Book Review: Infinite Crisis #7

Infinite Crisis #7. Wow, it is finally here. The Revolution has been waiting for this comic with plenty of excitement. Once this comic was delivered to the Bunker, I pushed Tenzil out of the way and grabbed the issue so I could read it first. Plus, he tends to nibble on the pages when he reads comics. Annoying. Dammit, Tenzil, eat normal snacks like the rest of us!

Creative Team
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Phil Jimenez, George Perez, Ivan Reis, Joe Bennett, Andy Lanning, Jerry Ordway, Sean Parsons & Art Thibert

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10.
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Total Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: The issue starts with Wonder Woman, both Supermen and Wonder Girl around Superboy’s body. Batman says they must learn from this and never let it happen again. Robin shows up and breaks down. We then cut right to where Villains United left off with all of the super-villains who have been broken out of jail attacking Metropolis. And with a two page splash shot of the action it is officially a braaaaaawwl! We see some C-list characters getting killed. Superboy Prime continues to show his disgust for C-list characters by offing a few more.

Alexander Luthor explains to Superboy Prime that this is no longer Earth-One. It is now New Earth because it has been altered again. Wonder Woman helped found the JLA, Batman’s parents’ killer was caught and Superman was Superboy before he came to Metropolis. Luthor continues by saying “And that is jus the beginning.” (Hmmm, interesting.)

Then Doomsday shows up. And that leads to a two page splash (second one already) shot of both Supermen attacking Doomsday and whipping his butt. (Wow, took him out really fast, huh?) During the brawl, Wildcat recognizes his Earth 2 Superman. Then we continue to watch the super heroes beat up the super villains. Suddenly, Flash shows back up and attacks Superboy Prime. It is Bart Allen. (Groan. Why not Wally or even Barry?) Bart has aged several years since we last saw him.

Superboy Prime then decides to fly off to Oa and destroy it and thereby causing a new big bang and everything will restart. All the super heroes with flight ability take off after Superboy Prime. And during the fight Captain Atom suddenly appears! (That explains how he returned and is seen in Battle For Bludhaven.) Superboy Prime breaks free from our heroes and outraces all of them into deep space. Hal Jordan alerts Guy Gardner about Superboy Prime heading his way.

We then cut to Batman finishing kicking Deathstroke the Terminator’s butt. Alexander Luthor then tries to blast Batman, but Nightwing jumps in front of the blast. Batman says that no one else dies because of Alexander.

We then shift to Superboy Prime locking horns with the Green Lanterns who have been waiting for him. And cue a two page splash shot of the “thin green line versus Superboy Prime. (wow, third two page splash shot.) Superboy Prime proceeds to kill a bunch of no-name Green Lanterns. Suddenly Hal Jordan, Power Girl, Martian Manhunter and both Supermen appear. The two Supermen tackle Superboy Prime and carry him off.

We then shift back to Batman kicking butt on Alexander Luthor. Batman then grabs a gun and puts it to Alexander’s head. Wonder Woman then appears and throws down her sword and tells Batman that it isn’t worth it. Batman agrees and throws down the gun. Alexander Luthor then escapes. (Oh nice going, guys!)

We then shift back to the two Supermen carrying Superboy Prime through where Krypton exploded. Superboy Prime mocks them that since this Kryptonite isn’t from his universe it won’t hurt him. But, it will hurt Superman. The two Supermen then fly Superboy Prime through a sun and then all three fall back to Mogo.

Superboy’s power enhancing armor has been burned off but that doesn’t stop this slugfest. Superboy dukes it out with the two Supermen while ranting about how he is the only one who can rescue this messed up universe. Our Superman then tears the “S” off Superboy Prime’s chest and pounds him into the ground. Then our Superman passes out amid all of the Kryptonite. The Green Lanterns then combine their power rings to create a cell capable of holding Superboy Prime. Cue death scene of the Earth 2 Superman as he passes away in Power Girl’s arms.

We then cut to the aftermath of the Crisis in a little one page montage. We see Booster talking to Skeets that it is time they start to change history. We see the Specter asking who he is. We see Power Girl and Wonder Girl and the cemetery. We see two boys on a beach where the “Tangent” Green Lantern’s lantern washes ashore. Lastly, we see Bart telling Jay that Wally disappeared with Linda and the twins (lame) and that Bart is not fast anymore and that without the speed force, only Jay is still fast due to his metahuman gene. Jay can now only run up to the speed of sound. (Again, I say lame). Jay is now the new Flash.

We then shift to Gotham City where Alexander Luthor is in an alley vowing to make this world a brighter perfect place. Suddenly he is jumped by the Joker. The Joker sprays acid in Alexander’s face and then blasts him with his “joy shocker.” Lex Luthor is also there and he tells Alexander that he underestimated Superman, Superboy and Lex. But, his biggest mistake was not letting the Joker play. And with that the Joker puts a bullet in Alexander’s head. (ookay. That was just weird.)

We then shift to Gotham City the next day. Bruce, Clark and Diana are all walking on a pier to Bruce’s ship. Clark has no powers. Diana says it is time for her to find out who she really is. Bruce says he is going to retrace the steps he first took when he left Gotham so he can rebuild the Batman. But, this time he is taking Tim Drake and Dick Grayson who are both waiting on the ship for Bruce. Bruce gets on the ship. Diana hops into her invisible jet. (Whoa! Been a long time since we have seen that!) Clark kisses Lois and tells her until Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman are back, the world will be in good hands. And we have a fourth two page splash shot of all the other DC heroes in action poses. End of issue.

Comments

The Good: Whew!! Well, Infinite Crisis is finally over. I’m sure there will be plenty of fanboy critics of this mini-series and this final issue. I will not be one of them. I thought that Geoff Johns did a nice job with this final issue. I’m not saying it was the best comic. Nor am I saying that the story was amazing. But, Johns managed to further lots of character development for this New Earth in the DC Universe. And that was the main point of Infinite Crisis.

I liked the scene in the beginning with the big three: Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman all standing over Superboy’s body realizing what their mistakes have brought on them. Robin’s reaction was heartbreaking. Between Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis, Robin has suffered more than any other character. I don’t know how he has not snapped.

Of course, the big bomb was Alexander’s conversation with Superboy Prime. That this is no longer Earth-One. It is now New Earth. That our history has changed once again. Wonder Woman helped found the JLA. I like that change. Batman’s parents’ killer was caught. Eh, I could care less one way or the other. And Superman was Superboy before he came to Metropolis. I absolutely LOVE that change. I always hated that they took away Superman’s past as Superboy. Then Alexander says the cryptic “And that’s just the beginning.” Well hot damn! Sign me up! I can’t wait to see what else has changed in this New Earth. I hope most of the changes are going to be for the better. Maybe fix some of the mistakes from the first Crisis. I imagine we will find out in the upcoming “52” series. And it was cool that Wildcat recognized the Earth-Two Superman. It seems that the JSA members will regain their memories of their Earth-Two existence.

I really liked the Batman/Alexander scene. It illustrated how the Batman and the big guns of the DC universe need to try harder to be better heroes than they were before. It was a nice symbolic scene for the direction that DC wants their heroes to head.

The Superman/Superboy Prime fight on Oa was well done. I’m no fan of the big red “S”, but he is the icon for truth and justice and it was fitting that Superman show what a true hero will sacrifice to defeat evil.

Earth-Two Superman’s passing in Power Girl’s arms was well done and rather touching.

In the montage at the end, it is interesting that the lantern from the “Tangent” Green Lantern was found on a beach. I talked to Tenzil about that and he suggested that it may hint that some of the Elseworlds comics may now be a part of the New Earth DC continuity. Intriguing. We will have to wait and see.

I also loved that Bruce Wayne is taking his trip with both Tim Drake and Dick Grayson. Very cool idea.

I have to say that Crisis delivered on its job to greatly further character development and to help clean up some of the problems that the first Crisis left behind.

I think that Geoff Johns did a nice job with this final issue.

I liked the art. I’m not usually thrilled when numerous artists work on a single issue. It tends to give the comic a schizophrenic look. However, when your artists are Perez, Jimenez, Reis and Bennett, you will get no complaints from me.

The Bad: The fight scene at Metropolis felt way to rushed and sloppy. It was so hurried that it didn’t read very well. And the Doomsday fight was just terrible. Here is this big bad monster that killed Superman and he gets taken out in a two page splash shot. I mean, I know it was two Supermen, but still. It just furthered the horribly rushed and hurried pace of the Metropolis fight scene.

I was not thrilled with Bart returning as the Flash instead of Barry or Wally. I have never found Bart to be interesting. As far as the new Flash is concerned, I have no problems with Jay being the new Flash. However, DC has already said that the first Flash is not going to be the regular new Flash. So that brings us back to Bart as our new Flash. Uggggh. No thanks. Plus, I don’t like the de-powered Flash. They did this when Wally took over for Barry after the first Crisis. Wally could only run at the speed of sound. Now, Jay can only run at the speed of sound. Snore. Boring. I like my Flashes fast. I mean really fast. Vibrating through walls. Throwing a Rubick’s cube into the air, running across town, read some files, running back and catching the Rubick’s cube in his hand fast! Speed of sound is horridly boring.

I also didn’t like the Joker killing Alexander Luthor. It was just weird. It didn’t feel right. Maybe because it was unnecessarily violent. Maybe because I think the Joker is kind of a loser. I mean seriously, the Joker always gets his ass kicked by the Batman big time. Maybe it is just me, but that scene really did not work for me. Plus, having Alexander Luthor running around the DC universe could have made for some cool stories in the future.