Page 45 Review by Stephen
Over the top and out of its mind, but dazzling eye candy, that's for sure.
Jimenez is the perfect successor to his idol George Pérez, the man who pencilled the original CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS and who should be very proud. As such the art is insanely detailed as well as as solid and as dramatic as you could hope for, as almost every DC superhero gets to hit someone or something as the cosmos goes to hell in a handbag.
Batman, Superman and Wonderwoman are at each other's throats following the revelations that the Justice League had brainwashed Bruce, Bruce had set up surveillance over his allies as well as his enemies, and Wonder Woman had no pragmatic recourse recently but to snap someone's neck. She was caught on camera doing so.
Here Johns sets the scene as the three of them survey the wreckage of the Justice League Watchtower where the Martian Manhunter was seemingly blown to pieces:
Superman: "What's that?"
Batman: "A black box. It's ghosted our security cameras and recorded everything on our monitor screens for the last two years. It should tell me who's responsible for this."
Superman: "More spying? That satellite wasn't enough?"
Batman: "Don't be naive, Clark. This is simple security."
Wonderwoman: "Nothing's simple."
Batman: "You don't belong here, Diana."
Wonderwoman: "None of us do, Bruce."
Batman: "People are scared."
Wonderwoman: "They should be. The world is going to hell."
Superman: "They're scared of us. They're scared because of you. They've been broadcasting those images non-stop, Diana. Don't you understand? They all watched you. They all watched you murder a man."
Well to be fair, that man was telepathically controlling you, mate, and you were about to do some serious damage. A little gratitude wouldn't be amiss.
Johns does his job: he skilfully sets the scene. Which is unfortunately required, this being not only the sequel to CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, but the finale to six more recent books leading into it. It's like arriving for the last drunken throws of a party, the pudding of a dinner, the punchline of a shaggy dog story or the final ejaculation after missing two full hours of slow and intimate sex.
So not really one for the ladies then, no.
Recap: DC's sequel to CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, this follows events from THE OMAC PROJECT (if you're going to read one of them, this is the key), VILLAINS UNITED, RANN-THANAGAR WAR, DAY OF VENGEANCE, INFINITE CRISIS: SUPERMAN and JLA VOL 18: CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE, all available in softcover.
Oh, and IDENTITY CRISIS too, which is thoroughly recommended in its own right and on another level altogether as a stunning, self-contained read.
