Broken Frontier

So you’ve read Crisis on Infinite Earths? You say you know the story? Not like this you don’t.

And now for a review that is a little different...One year ago Marv Wolfman transformed his massive Crisis on Infinite Earths story into a prose novel. Now that book is available in paperback form. So, how does this seminal story hold up through the change from comic book to novel? Well, that is in the telling...

Many are doubtless familiar with this story – how multiple Earths are destroyed one by one as the being known as the Anti-Monitor seeks ultimate power. Arrayed against him are a host of heroes: The Monitor, Harbinger, Alex Luthor, Superman of Earth-1, Superman of Earth-2, and many more... Including the Flash, Barry Allen. In a surprise twist, Wolfman chooses to primarily narrate the story through Allen, who happens to be dead at the time. It is a move that works surprisingly well as Barry’s spirit passes through time and space, jumping in and out of the Speed Force to witness and, in some cases, influence events. The familiar Crisis is reinterpreted as the reader learns it is Barry’s spirit that enables some of the heroes’ victories.

There are no pictures here, no images to capture the eye, yet it is still easy to imagine and call to mind images from Perez’s amazing artwork from the original Crisis. Having to rely strictly on prose to tell the story, Wolfman manages to both expand upon the old tale and yet contract it as well. Readers familiar with the original work will find a great many characters, events, and battles have been purged from the story. What readers do find, however, are some deeper characterizations, particularly of Earth-2 Superman, Supergirl, and Barry Allen. Wolfman handles the story’s two most significant deaths with a perfect touch. To be honest, I had not read the original Crisis until last year, when I finally broke down and bought the trade paperback. Not being a longtime DC fan I appreciated the significance Crisis had on the comic book publishing world and I could understand the impact it must have had on fans at that time but, for me, the deaths therein had little emotional resonance. All that changed here. With just a few pages, Wolfman made these characters vital and their sacrifices touched chords. He even manages to give Barry Allen the pitch perfect send-off that DC probably should have given the character years ago.

With everything that is so right with this novel it is regrettable that it does have some flaws. First and foremost is the fact that it would be pretty incomprehensible to anyone who is not a comic book reader. To be honest, I think it would be pretty incomprehensible to anyone who is not familiar with the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. There is much that is not explained or described, and the narrative jumps around in time along with Barry Allen leaving the reader to fill in some of the blanks with their own knowledge of the story. Also, the tendency, particularly among the first chapters, for the story to skip through time can be confusing if one is not paying attention. Perseverance, however, does pay off as things eventually settle down to follow a more linear narrative.

So in the end, is it worth it? Although paperback, the book is of a slightly larger size known as Library Binding, which is also why it carries a slightly higher price tag. Still, at $12.95 it is cheaper than the hardcover version. Also, considering the recent news that publisher iBooks has declared bankruptcy, the fate of any future reprints is questionable. The story is a good, dense read, and Wolfman shows here that in the 20 years since he first penned Crisis his writing talents have grown stronger. One thing is certain; I can never read the original story in the same light again.

If you are a Barry Allen fan then this book is for you. If you are a Crisis on Infinite Earths fan then this book is for you. Go ahead and forgo a trade paperback for a month, or better yet, if you’ve still got one of those bookstore gift cards left over from Christmas or a birthday go ahead and spend it. Wrap yourself up in prose for a few days and remember that "Once, there was a Multiverse....."