Customer Reviews

Crisis on Multiple Earths - VOL 04

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Containing stories written by Cary Bates & Elliot S. Maggin, E. Nelson Bridwell, and Martin Pasko & Paul Levitz, with art by the great Dick Dillin & Frank McLaughlin, CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOLUME 4 continues the interdimensional team-ups that were a staple of DC Comics up to the time of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. This volume collects Justice League of America #123- 124, 135-137, and 147-148. These stories feature 3-way team ups, with the JLA of Earth-1 and JSA of Earth-2 meeting the heroes of Earth-S (Captain Marvel, Bulletman and Bulletgirl, Ibis, Spy Smasher, and Mr. Scarlet and Pinky), the Legion of Super Heroes, and even the aforementioned writers Bates and Maggin (of Earth-Prime, of course)! A beautiful cover by series regular Alex Ross ties the stories together and lets you know exactly what guests to expect.

Okay, now the bad part... I'll admit it: while I enjoyed reading the various multiple Earths crossovers of the `60s and `70s when I was a kiddo, it was mostly because I had no knowledge of DC's golden age characters and was fascinated with these odd-looking doppelgangers of my beloved JLA. Hawkman with a hood? Flash with a dinner plate on his head? Superman with gray hair? What the heck??? I didn't pay much attention to the stories back then, and after reading up through the 4th volume of CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS, plus one volume of THE TEAM-UPS, I can say that while these stories certainly do have nostalgic value, the majority lack a coherent storyline. In fact, volume 4 really serves as a testament to the sorry state of DC's writing stable in the late `60s and early `70s. Story premises are as thin as the paper they're printed on, plot shifts come out of nowhere, and writers throw in everything but the kitchen sink, possibly hoping the reader will be so overwhelmed that they won't notice how bad the stories are. Bates and Maggin's encounter with the JLA and JSA is an exercise in ego that deserves a big raspberry, and Bridwell's story with the Earth-S heroes is so unfocused and convoluted that I eventually had to write it off. Luckily, the final Pasko/Levitz-penned story with the LOSH saves this book from being a total waste of time. So back to that Alex Ross cover... yes, it's much better than the selection of stories contained within.

Think that as the years pass and we get closer to the eighties these stories will get better? Sorry, still a lot of hit and miss. This volume is a good example of more miss then hit, too.

Where on Earth Am I?/Avenging Ghosts Of The Justice Society
This is the first JLA/JSA crossover event to feature Earth-Prime, the `real world'. No superboy here though, instead the writers make themselves the stars. Sorry, I just can't think of a single positive thing to say about this story. The dialog is aweful, the plot stinks like a toilet in the public facilities of a train station, the art is mediocre even for the time period, there's not a drop of good. Skip it, else your life will physically be lessened with the burden of this crossover.

Crisis In Eternity/Crisis on Earth-S/Crisis in Tomorrow
The cover promises an encounter between Superman and Captain Marvel, hope you didn't expect anything memorable. It does serve as a good introduction to Earth-S, home of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family. Here you get to meet another superhero team in the DC Multiverse that would crowd the cramped pages of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. The God Mercury joins the Flashes to make a speedster trio, and the Golden Age Batman and Robin team up for the last time ever as Bruce Wayne comes out of retirement for one last time. And you get to meet the Suadron of Justice. Otherwise it's another big superhero slobber knocker to stop another interdimensional baddie doing...well, bad things. In the end it looks like The Blue Boyscout and the Big Red Cheese are going to duke it out, and it's over in a flash of lightning, literally.

Crisis in the 30th Century/Crisis in triplicate
The Justice League, the Justice Society, and the Legion of Super-Heroes team up against the powerful Mordru. Powergirl gets in on this one as well, making her coursin-from-another-dimension very uncomfortable with her advances. This one goes all over the place, in more ways then one. Probably a good read for a Legion fan, or for someone not familiar with the legion seeking to straighten out the mess that is the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

The first story is not by the regular JLA writers, so for some reason Cary Bates and Elliot Maggin included themselves into what seems to be a poorly-conceived plot. The JLA/JSA characters help to make up for this. The next story has the Marvel family and Earth-S characters. Again, the plot is stretched a bit, but we get to meet fun additions to the DC universe. The last story involves the Legion of Super Heroes. It had the potential of being great, but came out pretty good for fitting so many heroes, Mordru, and the Demons Three into two issues of the comic.