Dean Poling
OK, this is confusing, so hang tight. Twenty years ago, DC Comics wanted to streamline the continuity of its titles by putting an end to the numerous parallel worlds and alternate universes it had created for its characters. This streamlining occurred through a storyline called "Crisis on Infinite Earths." Now, DC is re-tooling again with the "Infinite Crisis" mega-series taking place in a title of its own with repercussions spilling into almost every DC title. Here, we learn more about the alternate-reality Superman who was allowed to survive the original "Crisis" as the earths were compressed into one new reality as well as new origins and starts for main DC characters such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. This alt-Superman is aged with graying hair and is supposed to be the Superman of the 1930s, '40, and '50s comics, when he and his fellow heroes were far more clean-cut and upstanding than today. This alt-Superman is not happy with the way things have been going. He notes that his world and other Earths were sacrificed to create one, better world, but he doesn't see anything better about this new world. What's intriguing is the things he sees as bad about the new world are the biggest storylines in DC Comics from the past 20 years: Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday; Batman's back-breaking defeat to Bane; the death of the second Robin at the hands of the Joker though truly at the hands of "Batman" readers who voted to kill him off; and Wonder Woman's recent murder to stop Maxwell Lord from mind-controlling the "real-world" Superman. "Infinite Crisis" is expected to introduce massive changes in the DC Universe, potentially as groundbreaking and storyline altering as the "Infinite Earths" mega-series two decades ago, but it's interesting that "Infinite Crisis" is, at least through alt-Superman, indicting everything that has come since "Infinite Earths." These mega-series are often tough to follow. Readers need to purchase almost every issue of every title to follow the storyline, while the actual monthly title of the mega-series contains snippets of what's happening in the other titles, with some of the other titles' on-going action being concluded or starting in the mega-series main title. See, confusing.
