BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 141: Read “Crisis on Infinite Earths”

When I was a kid, I loved comic books. Problem was, where I lived, your comic book-buying opportunities were very limited. Aside from the local convenience store or grocery store, it was hard to find some titles, but you knew they existed because you’d see advertisements for them in the comics that you could buy. One heavily advertised comic book series that I’ve always wanted to read, but couldn't buy as a kid, was D.C. Comics’ “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”

This 12-part series was published between April 1985 and March 1986, and was highly promoted. The cover art for each issue was frequently used in the advertisements, which propelled these images to iconic status, especially in my young, impressionable mind. As the years rolled by, I’d see these images from time to time, and it always bugged me that I’d never read this complete series, which is why I added it to my bucket list a few years ago.

Nowadays, reading the complete, 12-issue run of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” is easy because it’s available in a single volume, trade paperback edition. Published in 2001, this 368-page paperback compilation is awesome. It contains introductory material and all the covers, and I devoured it over the span of a week recently.

This series was the brainchild of Marv Wolfman and George Perez, who saw the series as a way of simplifying DC’s complex continuity. The series included some of DC’s greatest heroes. You name them, they were probably in there – Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Supergirl, etc., etc. The series also included a host of villains like Lex Luthor, the Joker, Braniac and others.

Despite the numerous heroes and villains featured in the series, the story is pretty simple. A villain known as the Anti-Monitor is trying to destroy the universe, and he does to by trying to destroy the numerous versions of Earth found through the multiverse. Heroes and villains team up to fight the Anti-Monitor, and many of them die in the process.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading “Crisis on Infinite Earths” because it was a very satisfying trip down memory lane. I could almost tap into the mind of my nine-year-old self, and I really enjoyed reading something that has called to me over the span of almost three decades. The series still stands on its own, and it didn’t feel outdated or corny.

If you consider yourself a comic book fan and haven’t read this series, I highly recommend it. To say that it’s a seminal work within the genre would be an understatement, and you’re cheating yourself out of a great experience if you don’t take the time to read this complete series. If you’re like me, you’ll not only enjoy it, but you’ll also kick yourself for waiting so long to read it.

In the end, how many of you have read the complete “Crisis on Infinite Earth” comic book series? What did you think about it? Which other comic series would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.