Prelude to Infinite Crisis

    (DC, 2005)
™ and © DC Comics, Inc.

By the time DC’s Infinite Crisis debuted, it was clear that something had been building for quite some time. In the pages of Superman/Batman, a defeated Lex Luthor indicated that a crisis was coming, and as villains were recruited by the mysterious Society, the JSA’s Power Girl began experiencing inconsistencies in her powers, and the Teen Titans witnessed a dark future for the DC Universe. Bad moon rising? For the super-heroes of the DCU, certainly; for fans, a sign of good things to come.

Designed to bring both casual readers and complete newbies up to speed, this trade paperback collects full stories from Superman Secret Files 2004, Flash (2nd Series) #219, and Wonder Woman (2nd Series) #214, as well as panels and pages from almost two dozen mainstream DC monthlies and limited series, including the controversial Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day and the rip-roaring Adam Strange (2nd Series). As a primer, Prelude to Infinite Crisis truly serves its purpose: readers see that the villains are, indeed, organizing like never before; magic is coming undone; an enigmatic entity is corrupting the cyber-realm; and planetary forces are colliding—all of which adds up to the epic follow-up to Crisis on Infinite Earths that will redefine the DCU for the next twenty or so years.

— Thomas Moudry

From the Comic Buyer’s Guide:

As far as pennies per page go, Prelude to Infinite Crisis is a bargain. Being virtually ad-free (except for four house ads), it gives readers almost 100 story pages for the price of two new comics. That’s not a bad deal, no matter how you slice it. But the volume’s connection to the impending Infinite Crisis is greatly overstated.

The book is a collection of snippets from various comics that have some relationship, in varying degrees, to the greater Infinite Crisis storyline. But it makes choppy reading. The largest consecutive section is a crossover between Flash and Wonder Woman, as they take on the combined villainy of Zoom and The Cheetah. It’s not a bad arc but its entire link to Infinite Crisis occurs in the last three panels. That’s hardly indispensable reading.

During Crisis on Infinite Earths, we called these “red sky” stories. Characters pretty much went about their daily business, occasionally pausing to look up and comment on how red the skies were because of the Crisis. DC will make it clear when something is must reading. This one isn’t.

— Jack Abramowitz
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#1

June, 2005
Cover Price: $5.99
9 copies available from $0.99 		Judd Winick, Geoff Johns, Jeremy Irons, Greg Rucka, Bill WillinghamIan Churchill, Norm Rapmund, Alé Garza, Trevor Scott, Marlo Alquiza, Jim Fern, Matthew Clark, Andy Lanning, Mike McKone, Don Kramer, Keith Champagne, Damion Scott, Sandra Hope, Carlos D’Anda, Justiniano, Drew Johnson