Identity Crisis [Paperback]

Brad Meltzer (Author), Rags Morales (Illustrator), Joss Whedon (Introduction), Michael Bair (Colorist)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 16, 2006

The most talked-about and successful DC Comics miniseries of 2004 is now available in a stunning hardcover volume!New York Times best-selling author Brad Meltzer delivers an all-too-human look into the lives of super-heroes and the terrible price they pay for doing good.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This seven-issue miniseries by bestselling author Meltzer (The Zero Game) was both wildly popular and reviled, and the collection shows that both views have merit. It does knock the rust off scores of DC characters while opening avenues to explore post-9/11 morality. On the other hand, it trashes the roles of characters whom readers have come to consider old friends and tampers outrageously with years' worth of continuity. The story begins shockingly when the wife of the minor super hero Elongated Man is brutally murdered. Things get increasingly serious as other members of the Justice League of America find that their loved ones are targets. The super villains are a lot nastier than they used to be; the heroes, meanwhile, are forced to admit that they could have been responsible for some of what's gone wrong when they started tampering with the minds of villains who deserved it or even fellow heroes who merely disapproved of the idea. This makes familiar heroes more morally ambiguous;more human;and the old, easy trust is lost, with long-term consequences still to be revealed in future DC story lines. In the meantime, Meltzer's script and Bair's inking of Morales's penciled art serves the realistic aspect of the characters very well, making this book a genuine comics landmark. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up–After the tragic death of Sue Debny, the wife of the Elongated Man, the members of the Justice League of America and most of the DC superheroes are brought together to investigate. Sues murder is unsettling for a couple of reasons: she was a friend, and whoever committed the crime knew enough personal information to be able to sneak past security. Even more troubling are the letters that the family members of other heroes receive, indicating that they are the next targets. The superheroes split into teams to follow the leads that they are most suited to solve. The novel asks: how far do you go to protect your loved ones? What if everything you stand for goes against your need to protect your family? The story moves quickly and the full-color artwork is splendid. Morales captures human emotion in such a way that he breathes life and authenticity into the characters. The coloring job is superb: the dark, somber tones perfectly set the mood. Some of the action occurs offscreen, such as the flashback to Sues rape, making what happens even more dramatic and powerful. Featuring a good mystery, great fight scenes, and good writing, Identity Crisis is an exciting read for fans of the DC universe.–Erin Dennington, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics; 1st edition (August 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401204589
• ISBN-13: 978-1401204587
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (103 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,038 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #89 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Mystery

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Looking at "Identity Crisis" Emotionally, September 29, 2005

By 

Stephanie Crawford (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Identity Crisis (Hardcover)

Up until recently I've been a very casual comic book reader. After reading various comics published by DC that mentioned "Identity Crisis" and finding it hard to avoid "spoilers" everywhere on the web I picked this up the day it was released to get caught up and find out what all the fuss was about. After closing the book, I was shocked about how much a "superhero book" could affect me emotionally. I had lost a very beloved family member a few days before reading this, and I'll admit it did affect the way I viewed this book. But in looking back at it "cold", I believe it stands incredibly well as a graphic novel, a tragic love story and a mystery.

The plot has already been gone over well, so I won't go there. Basically, it's what would be a fairly standard mystery except for that it surrounds the murder of the wife of someone named "The Elongated Man", has Wonder Woman deliver the eulogy, and a perplexing question is how a murderer could get around technology from places including Krypton. Typing it, it does sound like the book could have been a huge joke and misstep for DC- but in my opinion it was very effective.

I was not familiar with Sue Dibny, but I cried when her husband held her dead body in his arms (and saw the surprise present she gave him for his birthday) and the scenes at her funeral. My heart went out when another character lost a very close loved one, and I really felt the tension when the Justice League were at moral odds with one another. I will admit I was very unhappy when we were shown that Sue had been attacked before- by being raped by someone usually referred to as a fairly silly villian. This scene was the hardest for me to read. However it was done off panel, and we are basically shown reactions and some slurs from the rapist- it is not done graphically or sleazily but the very nature of it is harsh. Personally, I read comics for entertainment and as a break, but I did understand what this book was going for. I do not think sexual violence should have any place in 'superhero' comics and I do not believe it was needed in this story to give it more impact, but that's my own opinion.

I think this story has polarized a lot of comic readers. Some would like this genre to stay more classic with pages of fights with supervillians- and that's an extremely valid point. Others are open to and even prefer more adult stories like this one, and the sales of this storyline and the amount of buzz surrounding this have shown it's brought many people back to comics- or even into them the first time. Neither view is wrong, but it makes books like this tricky. Personally I love classic superhero tales but Identity & Infinite Crisis have got me reading current "big title" books for the first time and I'm really enjoying them.

If you go into this story already judging it, and picking apart the mystery aspect and every character action- you'll probably be left dissapointed. It's very well-structured, but parts are manipulated to get things rolling in a different direction. If you're debating reading this, all I can do is recommend that you go in with an open mind and read this with your heart on your sleeve. In the end this is just a book about people, relationships, and the pain we automatically accept when we love and care about someone. If you're ready to believe a superhero, under the mask, can love and lose as much as yourself... then I believe you will get something out of Identity Crisis.

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good comic, but a great story, September 20, 2005

By 

riding shotgun (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Identity Crisis (Hardcover)

This story single-handedly led me to pay attention to DC's mainstream superhero fare after years of, justifiably, considering the publisher to be the stumbling dinosaur of the Marvel/DC dichotomy. Who cares about continuity when you've got a story this compelling that makes even the most dust-choked DC relics seem new and fresh and gives modern purpose to the most anachronistic of characters.
It's too early to say whether this represents a serious turning point for the publisher, but for seven edge-of-your-seat issues, Meltzer and Morales fleshed out a tale as entertaining and relevant as anything DC has ever produced.

17 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Murder, secrets, and the dark side of the DC universe, September 20, 2005

By 

N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Identity Crisis (Hardcover)

Best selling novelist and one time Green Arrow scribe Brad Meltzer weaves this best selling mini-series, which attempts to begin to turn the DC universe on it's ear. Identity Crisis focuses on the risks that one takes when they choose to become a costumed super hero, and the murder mystery that Meltzer weaves makes a majority of Identity Crisis a page turner. It begins with the murder of Sue Dibny, wife of Justice Leaguer Ralph Dibny AKA the Elongated Man. Soon enough, Ralph joins up with other Leaguers Green Arrow, Flash, Zatanna, Black Canary, Hawkman, the Atom, and Green Lantern to find Dr. Light, who he believes to be the killer because years ago, Light raped Sue. The reason nobody outside of this group knows this happened, is because through Zatanna's magic, Light was made to forget it ever happened, and in the process, his mind was changed forever from fearsome villain to laughable clown. This revelation opens up a floodgate of secrets and lies, including more murders, and the fact that the killer knows the real identities of the heroes, even those of Superman and Batman. You've got to give Meltzer credit where credit is due: no one has ever cared what's happend to a minor character like Sue Dibny before, and the murder mystery he weaves here is great to say the least. The fight between the aforementioned group and Deathstroke is just plain awesome, and it re-affirms the villain's place as the most deadly foe in the DC universe. However, by the time the final revelations are made, it almost betrays everything that came before it. Purist DC fans will either love it or hate it, but Identity Crisis only serves as a prelude for the upcoming Infinite Crisis in which the villains strike back (notice how it comes nearly 20 years after Crisis on Infinite Earths). The art by penciler Rags Morales and inker Mike Bair isn't anything real special, but it serves it's purpose trying to give the characters a realistic/less cartoony look. All in all, Identity Crisis is worth reading just because of it's premise and the promise it will shake up the DC universe (we've heard this before, but so far, so good), but for those who tuned out years ago when DC tried to be edgy by killing Superman, breaking Batman, and making Green Lantern Hal Jordan a mass murderer, this won't help how you feel.