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One of the original comic series that brought me into reading comics "seriously" was Crisis on Infinite Earths. I was there for the end, and the beginning, so to speak. It was an incredible story and a great time to be someone new to the world of comics. Everything was now at a point where you could "jump on" and grow with a title or character. From there I went to Legends, Justice League, Flash and Captain Atom. As time went on I entered my "fanboy" stage and primarily ready Marvel titles and only occasionally reading a DC title. Of course, as time went on my tastes changed and I was reading mostly DC and reading only a few Marvel titles and avoiding all things "X" from Marvel. As luck would have it that later time would be twenty years after the original Crisis and the occurrence of the next.
Infinite Crisis was a pretty gutsy move in my eyes. Playing with something that had been such a huge shakeup in the world of comics twenty years prior was a dangerous thing to do. While the post-Crisis universe was full of complications and problems due to some wanting things to return to the way things "were" and others wanting to continue on the path of forward and working on things as they happened. Still, the decision for the second Crisis to happen was made.
While the title wasn't perfect, Infinite Crisis did what it was supposed to do in my eyes. It shook things up in the DC universe once again and tried to set things up for the next great stage of heroes and stories in the DC universe. Yet, we were told early on that there would be a third and "final" chapter in the crises that the DC universe had to deal with. Enter what would be in my mind a great letdown, Final Crisis.
The unfortunate truth, to me, is that Final Crisis was just too convoluted. Sure, the previous stories had a number of crossovers and offshoot stores, but for the most part they were readable as self-contained titles. Final Crisis was barely passable as readable as a self-contained story in my eyes. Perhaps it's because I simply don't care much about the New Gods. I never have. I've enjoyed their participation in elements and stories of the DC Universe (such as Legends and the original Crisis), but for the story to center so much on them made me lose interest quickly. I didn't realize until recently that I hadn't even read the last issue. Yes, months after it had come out I realized that I had flipped through the pages, but I had not actually read the issue. I felt no more satisfied after reading it. So, what was I to do with the "empty" feeling I had? How would I deal with this feeling that the story was not complete? Enter Geoff Johns (as he so often enters to save things or take them to new heights).
During the events of Infinite Crisis Geoff Johns told the story of the Sinestro Corps War in the pages of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps titles. A major piece of this war was that it included the presence of a major character from the first Crisis, that character being the Anti-Monitor. While Infinite Crisis was a good series and it included the "survivors" of the original Crisis a true continuation of the story had to include the Anti-Monitor. In the pages of the Green Lantern titles the Anti-Monitor was again able to attack the universe (and planet) that had stopped his grand scheme so long before. Yet, once again the Anti-Monitor would be defeated. The Sinestro Corps War, when combined with the events of Infinite Crisis, creates a much more "true" continuation of the story from the original Crisis. Yet, we were given Final Crisis as our final chapter to the overall Crisis story. I am not accepting this. In fact, I do not see Final Crisis connecting to the original Crisis in any way except one, which is Barry Allen. However, hope is not lost.
In my eyes we do have a likely TRUE "Infinite Heir" in an upcoming story, that story being "The Blackest Night" and as so many times before, Geoff Johns will be at the helm of this story. While The Blackest Night is going to be the third part to an overall series of Green Lantern tales I think it also has a better chance of doing what Final Crisis could not, and that is bring closure to the events (especially the characters) that moved forward from the original Crisis. Be they alive or dead, many characters will be returning for The Blackest Night. The Anti-Monitor will play a role in the events of that story as a willing or unwilling participant (perhaps there is even some question of his corporeal involvement). Plus, it seems fitting that the events of the original Crisis come to a close in the pages of a Green Lantern title (regular or temporary) as the events of the original Crisis could not have happened if it had not been for Krona, an Oan.
Due to Krona's choice the multiverse came to be. Due to Krona's choice the Anti-Monitor came into existence. Due to Krona's choice the Oans chose to become the Guardians of the Universe, and they created the Green Lantern Corps. I believe there is a nice symmetry to the Green Lantern Corps being a major force in closing the events of the original Crisis. Again, while the Anti-Monitor's direct involvement in the upcoming events of The Blackest Night may be uncertain his connection will, I believe, allow there to finally be a true heir to Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis. Perhaps now we will find and ending that includes some (if not all) of the unique characters that still exist from those events. One can hope, but as Geoff Johns wrote, "Hope needs will." I think if anyone has the will to pull this off, it's Geoff Johns.
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