Infinite Crisis #1 Annotations - SPOILERS
Peter Svensson
By Peter Svensson <sun1...@hotmail.com>
http://www.comicboards.com/dcb
This is the first of seven annotations of the 2005-06 DC miniseries,
Infinite Crisis. This will spoil previously published DC stories, but
will not include spoilers for future issues. Questions and comments are
appreciated.
Infinite Crisis #1
Written by Geoff Jones
Pencilled by Phil Jimenez
Inked by Andy Lanning
Colored by Jeremy Cox and Guy Major
Lettered by Nick J. Napolitano
Assistant Editor Jeanine Schaefer
Editor Eddie Berganza
Jim Lee Cover: Various OMACs, the ruins of the JLA Watchtower, Cheetah,
Deathstroke the Terminator, Dr. Light, the Spectre, Green Lantern (Kyle
Rayner), Hawkman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman.
George Perez Cover: The Omega Men's Spaceship, Green Lantern (Kyle
Rayner), Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Adam Strange, the ruins of the JLA
Watchtower, Superboy, Superman, Supergirl, Various OMACs, Wonder Girl,
Donna Troy, Wonder Woman, The Spectre, Batman, Nightwing, Robin,
Starfire, Dr. Polaris, Dr. Light, Black Adam, Deathstroke the
Terminator, Bizarro, Cheetah, Reverse Flash, Sinestro.
Page One. Panel 5 - The wreckage is of the JLA Watchtower, the
moon-based headquarters to the Justice League. It was destroyed by an
unknown person in JLA 119.
Pages Two/Three. Panel 2 - J'onn J'onz, the Martian Manhunter,
founding member of the Justice League, was the only JLA member in the
Watchtower when it was destroyed.
Pages Two/Three. Panel 4 - "That Satellite wasn't enough?"
refers to Brother Eye, a high tech spy satellite created by Batman to
keep track of Superhero and Supervillain activity. The satellite was
removed from Batman's control by the secret government agency known
as Checkmate, and has since become sentient and independent. Brother
Eye first appeared in Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1, and the story of
Brother Eye unfolded in The OMAC Project 1-6.
Pages Two/Three. Panel 10 - In the shadows is Mongul II, son of the
original Mongul (now deceased). Mongul II is an interstellar conqueror
who normally uses a planet-sized base called Warworld. He has faced
Superman on many occasions.
Page Four. Panel 1 - Maxwell Lord, telepath and former Justice League
administrator, became the Black King in charge of Checkmate, and used
Batman's satellite Brother Eye for his own purposes. Under Lord's
mental control, Superman almost murdered Batman. Wonder Woman killed
Maxwell Lord in order to break his control over Superman. The murder
occurred in Wonder Woman 219. Brother Eye broadcast this action to the
entire world as payback at the end of The OMAC Project 6.
Page Four. Panel 2 - Martha Kent and Conner (Superboy) Kent. Conner
is a clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, and a former member of the Teen
Titans. Recently, he quit the team after he was controlled by Luthor
and attacked his teammates. As seen in The Insiders: Teen Titans 24-25,
Outsiders 24-25.
Page Four. Panel 3 - The Teen Titans are fighting what appear to be
demons. Raven, Beast Boy and Wonder Girl are shown on screen. The
demons do not appear to be anything specific.
Page Four. Panel 5 - Robin is facing three OMAC Units. The OMACs are
human beings transformed unknowingly into armored warriors by nanobots
in their bloodstream. They are controlled by Brother Eye, who uses them
to kill heroes and villains. Once again, as seen in The OMAC Project
1-6, and all over the DC Universe.
Page Four. Panel 6 - As stated above, Superboy is a clone of Lex
Luthor.
Page Four. Panel 7 - Superboy's Teen Titans communicator is
flashing, indicating that his teammates are requesting his assistance.
Page Five Panel 3 - Lex Luthor, formerly the president of the United
States, has since become a fugitive once his career as a Supervillain
became public knowledge. (Superman/Batman 1-6, collected as
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies)
Page Five Panel 5 - First row, starting at the upper left corner:
Black Mask (A Green Lantern villain). A Green Lantern's Ring.
Aquaman. What appears to be Mongul's fist. Aquaman facing three
OMACs. The new Aquagirl.
Second row, starting at the middle left: Black Mask attacking an
unknown target. Hal Jordan, Green Lantern flying with US Air Force
planes behind him. Flash villain Heatwave. Connor Kent (Superboy). The
Flash(Wally West) facing his foe Weather Wizard at the Flash Museum in
Keystone City. The Flash.
Third Row: Starting at bottom Left: Green Lantern flying towards the
destruction caused by Black Mask, presumably occurring at a US Air
Force base. Kid Flash (Bart Allen) running. The new Captain Boomerang,
son of the original Flash villain. Captain Cold, yet another Flash
villain.
Page Six. Panel 1 - Bludhaven is a city close to Gotham which
Nightwing calls home. On the building are Nightwing (Dick Grayson,
formerly the original Robin), Donna Troy (Wonder Woman's adopted
sister), Starfire (Koriand'r, of the dead planet Tamarean) The three
are all former Teen Titans. And Supergirl, (Kara Zor-El from Krypton).
The "Kory" refered to is Starfire. "Vic" is Victor Stone, the
Teen Titan known as Cyborg.
Page Six. Panel 3. - Donna had been presumed dead for several months
after being killed by a Superman robot in Titans/Young Justice:
Graduation Day #3. She returned in DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy
1-4.
Page Six. Panel 4 - The story Donna relates was told in Return of
Donna Troy #4. Behind Donna are the Titans of Myth.
Page Six. Panel 6 - During their stint as Teen Titans, Nightwing and
Starfire were lovers, and at one point were to be wed. Their
relationship has since deteriorated.
Page Six. Panel 9 - New Cronus is the planet/home of the Titans of
Myth, now the base of Donna Troy since the Titans of Myth have left
this reality. The Orb is from Harbinger, who died in Superman/Batman:
Supergirl, and was passed on to Donna Troy in Return of Donna Troy 4.
Among other things, the Orb contains a complete history of the
universe.
Page Seven. Panel 3 - The lettering we see is the tell-tale sign of
an OMAC in operation. Millions of people were infected with the OMAC
nano-virus which was placed in various vaccines. This homeless man
apparently was one of them.
Page Seven. Panel 5 - The OMAC is facing The Ratcatcher, a Batman
villain who controls Rats. The OMACs rate targets on how potentially
deadly they are on a Greek Scale. Ratcatcher being a "Gamma" as
opposed to the "Alpha" that Wonder Woman and Superman rate.
Page Ten/Eleven Splash - The cosmic rift seen here first appeared in
"The Rann/Thanagar War 6". Its cause remains unknown. There are a
lot of ships in this shot, from many many alien races. The horseshoe
shaped ship of The Omega Men being the only specific one I can
recognize.
On the left, are Hawkman and Hawkgirl. The figure in blue is Prince
Gayvn, the Starman of an alien world. The red and white garbed men are
various warriors from Planet Rann, wearing the armor usually associated
with Rann's premiere hero Adam Strange. Green Lanterns Kilowog and
Kyle Rayner are present. As is what appears to be a miscolored Captain
Comet. (His hair is white, not the black that the figure behind Kyle
Rayner appears to be, but the costume seems to be that of Captain
Comet.) Various Wingmen from planet Thanagar are also visible.
Page Twelve Panel One - Sardath is the head scientist and leader of
Rann, and the father of Adam Strange's wife Alanna. Adam Strange is a
human archeologist who is now the primary champion of Rann. Rann's
technology being referred to is their Zeta Beam, which allows for
incredibly powerful teleportation. Rann and Thanagar are currently at
war, due to a rogue Thanagarian's teleporting Rann into Thanagar's
solar system. (Teleportation of Rann occurred in Adam Strange 8, the
war between Rann and Thanagar began in The Rann/Thanagar War 1-6)
Page Twelve Panel 3 - The ship of Vril Dox, (AKA Brainiac II) who is
the head of L.E.G.I.O.N. an interstellar police operation that operates
on a mercenary basis. The Green Lantern Corps traditionally protect the
Galaxy at no cost, leading to an inevitable conflict between the two
organizations.
Page Twelve Panel 6 - The "Guardians" referred to are The
Guardians of the Universe, one of the first races to achieve sentience,
who created the Green Lantern Corps to maintain order in the universe.
They are headquartered on Planet Oa. The Rann/Thanagar war has lead to
interstellar conflict as the allies of each world have been pulled into
the conflict.
Page Twelve Panel 8 - Though traditionally all the Guardians were
male, recent events have led to the creation of female Guardians.
Page Thirteen. Panel 1 - The Rock of Eternity, mystic home of the
ancient wizard Shazam. Normally, the Rock of Eternity exists in another
dimension, but events in "Day of Vengeance 6" have lead toward its
manifestation above Gotham City. Thunder is associated with the power
of Shazam.
Page Thirteen. Panel 2 - The Riddler, long time Batman foe taunts the
police with riddles. Scarface, a puppet gangster, also a Batman
villain. It appears that the Body Doubles, a duo of female mercenaries
are the ones firing the guns.
Page Thirteen. Panel 3 - The Fisherman.
Page Thirteen. Panel 4 - Red Panzer, and Murmur. Murmur being the one
with a mouth sewn shut.
Page Thirteen Panel 5 - In the car are Gotham PD members Renee
Montoya and Cris. They are referring to Jim Corrigan, a Gotham PD
member who has been causing trouble within the department by breaking
rules.
Page Thirteen Panel 9 - As seen in Day of Vengeance 6, the Rock of
Eternity explodes in a large blast of mystic darkness.
Page Fourteen Panel 1 - "Shazam" is the name of the wizard who
empowers young Billy Batson allowing him to transform into the heroic
Captain Marvel. In DoV 6, Billy was plummeting from the sky after being
defeated by the Spectre.
Page Fourteen Panel 2 - And here is Captain Marvel.
Page Fourteen Panel 5 - And to reiterate, the Spectre killed the
wizard Shazam in Day of Vengeance 6 as part of his crusade to destroy
all magic.
Page Fifteen Panel 1 - The Spectre, divine spirit of vengeance.
Events in Day of Vengeance have twisted his normal mission into a war
against all magicians. The Spectre is one of the most powerful entities
in the universe.
Amongst the crowd are the Seven Deadly Sins, demons that were bound by
Shazam in statues found in the Rock of Eternity. With his death, and
the destruction of the Rock of Eternity, the Seven Deadly Sins have
been released.
A building on the left has a sign that reads "Garza" which appears
to be a reference to Ale Garza, who drew Titans/Young Justice:
Graduation Day, which was one of the first comics to truly begin
setting up Infinite Crisis.
The Gotham Police are very adverse to shining the Bat Signal, viewing
it as a symbol that they can't handle the city on their own. Thus the
symbol being on is a very big sign that the Gotham PD is overwhelmed.
Page Sixteen. Panel 1 - The sign says "Stagg Industries"
referring to Simon Stagg, a great scientist and one of the wealthiest
men on Earth. He was inadvertently responsible for the transformation
of soldier for hire Rex Mason into the element shifting Metamorpho
Page Sixteen. Panel 2 - The current incarnation of The Freedom
Fighters. The Freedom Fighters were a superhero team originally
established in World War II, and a new incarnation of them was recently
established. From left to right: The Human Bomb, Roy Lincoln, a member
of the original Freedom Fighters and has to wear a protective suit to
prevent his explosive powers from going out of control. Phantom Lady
II, Dee Tyler, the second woman to bear the name with weapons that
allow her to turn invisible. Her namesake was an original member of the
Freedom Fighters. Uncle Sam, the mystic incarnation of the Spirit of
America, who founded both the original and modern Freedom Fighters.
Black Condor II, Ryan Kendall, unrelated to the original Freedom
Fighter of the same name, who can fly and is an expert knife thrower.
The Ray II, Ray Terrill, son of the original Freedom Fighter, with
power over light. And Damage, Grant Emerson, with enhanced strength and
speed with the power to cause explosions.
Page Sixteen. Panel 3 - Mirror Master is a Flash villain with various
high-tech mirror related gadgets allowing for teleportation, hologram
creating and much more. Silver Ghost is another supervillain.
The Society referred to is an army of Supervillains, which the heroes
are unaware is organized by Lex Luthor.
Page Sixteen. Panel 4 - The atomic hero Firestorm was kidnapped by
the Society in order to power a Society base. As seen in Firestorm
16-17 and Villains United 4.
Page Sixteen. Panel 5 - The Brass refers to the US Government, as the
Freedom Fighters are the official US Superteam.
Page Eighteen/Nineteen - From left to right: Dr. Light, light
manipulating villain who has faced both the Justice League and the Teen
Titans. Dr. Polaris, the magnetic powered Green Lantern Villain. Zoom,
the new Reverse Flash, formerly police profiler Hunter Zolomon, with
time-manipulation based speed allowing him to appear in many places at
once. Slade Wilson AKA Deathstroke the Terminator, a top notch assassin
with incredible reflexes and healing capacity. Black Adam, former
champion of Shazam and now the legal ruler of the nation of Khandaq
with all the powers of Captain Marvel. Psycho-Pirate, with powers to
manipulate emotions, and who was a key player in the original Crisis on
Infinite Earths. Sinestro, former Green Lantern of Korugar with a
yellow ring. Bizarro, mysterious backwards copy of Superman. And
Cheetah, Barbara Minerva, empowered with agility, strength and speed by
the dark god Urzkartaga.
Page Twenty Panel 1- Themyscira being the Amazon's name for their
island home, otherwise known as Paradise Island.
Page Twenty Panel 7 - Despero, long team Justice League villain, had
begun an attack on the Justice League prior to the destruction of the
Watchtower. The League barely managed to defeat him. Despero's attack
however managed to further divide the troubled league, causing most of
the members to quit. (JLA: Crisis of Conscience, issues 115-119)
Page Twenty-Three. Panel 5 - Human Bomb's tearing of his
containment suit will cause great destruction as his explosive energies
won't be controlled.
Page Twenty-Four. Bizarro's speech pattern has him either saying the
reverse of what he means, or merely speaking as if he were a child. It
appears likely that he means that he dislikes Human Bomb, and that he
hates pretty lights.
Page Twenty-Six. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are on bad terms due
to Diana's killing of Maxwell Lord. Wonder Woman is willing to kill
where Superman and Batman aren't, leading to a fundamental difference
that seems irreconcilable.
Page Twenty-Eight/Twenty Nine. Panel 8. The mindwipes referred to are
at the core of the league's troubles. Years ago, the villain Dr.
Light raped Sue Dibny, wife of the Elongated Man and the JLA's
resident computer expert. A group of leaguers - Green Lantern(Hal
Jordan), Flash (Barry Allen), Hawkman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, the
Atom and Zatanna - decided to not only erase his memories of the
event, but to have Zatanna alter his mind to make him less likely to do
it again. When Batman walked in on this and tried to interrupt, they
erased his memories of the event. Batman later learned of this, which
made it difficult for him to trust anyone.
Page Thirty. Panel 5 - Superman died some years ago at the hands of
the alien monster known as Doomsday, in Superman #75, though it later
appears that it was more of an extended near-death experience. He soon
returned back to life.
Page Thirty-One. Panel One. Top Left: Mongul. The rift in space. The
Spectre over Gotham. Bottom Left: Nightwing facing the OMACs. The dead
Uncle Sam. Superboy. Superman and Batman facing off.
Page Thirty-Two. And so the narrator of this issue is revealed to be
the original Superman. With him are Alexander Luthor, the Superboy of
Earth-Prime, and the original Lois Lane, who have been sealed in a
heavenly place since Crisis on Infinite Earths #12.
In short, Superman and Lois are from Earth-2, the alternate world that
more or less corresponded to the DC comics published from 1930-1950.
Alexander Luthor is the son of the Lois Lane and heroic Lex Luthor of
Earth-3, who gained cosmic powers after having been teleported though
Anti-Matter. Superboy is from Earth-Prime, an alternate world that more
or less corresponds to the "real world" where Superheroes are
fictional. Except for him that is.
In the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths, in which time was
rewritten so that there never were alternate Earths, just one unified
Earth, Earth-2, Earth-3, Earth-Prime and many many others ceased to
be(or rather, never were.) Alexander Luthor allowed the Superman and
Lois of Earth-2 and the Superboy of Earth-Prime to escape destruction
by entering a beautiful place. They have been there ever since.
This page is done in homage to an earlier piece by Jose Luis Garcia
Lopez, inked by Dick Giordano. I am unaware of what that piece may be.
End of Issue One
Peter Svensson
ReGen...@aol.com
burn in my heart.
Join me my brothers. I can be old Elvis, you can be young Elvis.
disgusted, -Derik
Aaron F. Bourque
Oh, you're just a whining crybaby, and this was DiDio's plan all along!
Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque
Jakanapes
It should read ...
"The justifiable homicide occurred in Wonder Woman 219"
murder is clearly a typo..
Glennsim
> This page is done in homage to an earlier piece by Jose Luis Garcia
> Lopez, inked by Dick Giordano. I am unaware of what that piece may be.
>
I believe I recognize it. It wasn't from a comic per se, but from a
series of drawings they did for DC to use when licensing the characters
for products. So if someone was going to make some Superman tennis
shoes, they would provide this image to them to put on the shoes. There
were several for each of their main characters.
The images did appear in comics, in subscription ads in the 80's or
90's, I believe. I think they were used heavily in the old Mayfair DC
Role-playing game materials too.
Desscribe
Black Mask (A Green Lantern villain).
Actually, that's Black Hand. Black Mask is a completely unrelated
Batman foe.