- Secret Wars 2: Secret Wars 2 tries really hard to be Crisis on Infinite Earths. It's on that same scale. The Beyonder is probably a better defined villain than The Antimoderator. Plus-Marvel throws every book at it. Not just the usual suspects- The Avengers, Spider-Man, Daredevil and The X-Men. They include books nobody would admit to reading like Alpha Flight, Power Pack, Dazzler along with Power Man and Iron Fist. To beat even that, they threw in books they technically did not own like Rom Spaceknight. They even introduced a Transformers villain in Secret Wars 2 just so they would own the character. Even as The Beyonder evolves as a cosmic being- it doesn't make the crossover seem just a little too big and a little too disjointed. It is very nice effort though- one that doesn't quite click. Some of the tie ins are great.
- Crisis on Infinite Earths: This is the grand daddy of them all- though not necesarily the best. If some crossovers don't work because the tie ins aren't essential enough to the story, Crisis's major flaw is that some of them are too important. You almost have to read all the tie ins to understand the main event particularly the near the end. This can be a major hassle when reading the series in trade since many of those tie in titles have never been reprinted. While big events like the death of Supergirl and Flash are skimmed over in Crisis they're are covered in full elsewhere. It makes the series seem more like a clip show than a complete story unto itself. Still- it's what got the idea going. It's not a bad idea when used sparingly.
- DC: Invasion: In the 1980s, Keith Giffen's career was on fire. He'd been artist (and billed co-plotter) on Legion of Super Heroes. He was co-writing the Justice League titles. So it made sense that when given the plotting reins for the big event it would essentially take an abandoned Legion plot- how the mysterious Dominion were supposed to have conquered the Earth 1000 in the past (meaning the modern era) and playing it out. While almost forgotten today- this crossover was a really important one. It was also an early showcase for the works of Todd McFarlane. It was also one of the last time- up until recently- where Swamp Thing was having a major impact on the DC Universe. More importantly it set up the return- and popularization of Lobo.
- DC: Final Night: What makes Final Night interesting is that while the main story- about the Suneater coming to our solar system and almost destroying almost all life on the planet- most of the tie ins are non cosmic. The main event ties up loose ends from Teen Titans, Green Lantern and Legion of Super Heroes. Speaking of which- this is the era when the time lost Legion members arrive. The main story even puts Brainiac Five amongst the brain trust trying to stop the Suneater, along with Ray Palmer and Lex Luthor. The ties in on the other hand include Robin and Spoiler trying to stop a riot, Supergirl fighting Grodd, Hitman and his friends telling the story of their first kill, Flash and Linda Park hitting a relationship bump because she wants to use something he said in a new story and Ferro Lad almost committing suicide to stop the chaos. (Shades of the Silver Age.) That and the depowering of Superman set the stage for one of the Superbooks finest hours- Superman: The Wedding Album.
- Civil War: One of Marvel's greatest villains Tony Stark decides he wants to control the market on super heroes and forces people to register. The result is a massive rebellion. Some heroes think registration is good. It keeps untrained people from getting hurt or harming others. Other people- not so much. Logan aside, the X-men- thinking they have enough problems- try to remain neutral. It turned Captain America from a one title man into a franchise. It gave him the shot in the arm (and other places) that he needed. Though it did also spell horrible disasters for characters like Spider-Man and Speedball.
- Messiah Complex: I was iffy if I was going to do this one. It was completely confined to the X-Books. However at the time it happened there were at least five of them. Plus there were after effects that stretched outside the X-Books. So yeah, it qualifies. Not only that, but the story was really good. As always, while X-Factor tends to avoid crossovers, when it does go in, it goes in whole hog. Surprisingly- the comic that spends the most time pretending not to be an X-Title is probably the one with the most major changes to it. Rahne leaves the team. Madrox and Layla are missing and the team itself ends up on the brink of disbanding. As terrifying as that sounds the change is good. The other X-Books just go off from being 190 mutants holed away in a mansion/school to 190 some odd mutants holed away in a fortress. Still watching this also the first time we really see Cyclops just how much of a mental breakdown Jean's death really caused for Scott. That really hit the fan with last summer's Avengers vs. X-Men.
- Inferno: Okay- Madelyne Pryor has gone nuts and helped Ilyana's former pet demons escape from Hell and turned New York City into an odd mix of Dante Alighieri and Salvador Dali. While mainly thought of as an X-Book only event since most of what you need to know is Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, New Mutants, Excalibur, and The X-Terminators miniseries. Others were invited to the party: The Avengers, Spider-Man, Daredevil, The Fantastic Four, Cloak and Dagger, Damage Control and Power Pack. Because noting says child friendly like a story about demonic sacrifices. Yes, the main event is Madelyne finding out her true origin and the demon's conquering the Earth event. However a lot of the ties in have last effects on their titles. (Look at the changes to Hobgoblin.) Some of the crossovers-- particularly parts of the Excalibur issues and the Damage Control issue- are hysterical.
- Identity Crisis: This one has a lot going for it. It's a mystery. It has betrayals. It's got almost every corner of the DC universe involved eventually. It had a very small number of actual direct tie-ins. There were crossovers in Robin and Flash for obvious reason. There was an epilogue of sorts in Justice Leauge. It was also a spin off point for Andreyko Manhunter series which was an amazing read even if you weren't following Identity Crisis. The impact was profound and spread across the DCU like wildfire until the New 52.
- Secret Wars: This story may be light on plot- an unknown force gathers most of the heroes and villains from across the galaxy and dumps them on a planet in deep space and makes them fight. It handles ties in a nice way. The Beyonder took each of the heroes from their own books and returned with a huge time gap. A lot of books used this to their advantage. Spider-Man worked in the new black costume storyline. The X-Men went through a line up change as well breaking up a couple that had caused controversy in the letter pages. Fantastic Four used it as an excuse to give the greatest of the four his own title and temporarily fill his spot with the newly revamped She-Hulk. The Avengers got a new roster. It was a great chance to settle some debates about who would win in a fight and it gave a quick facelift to the whole Marvel universe.
- DC - One Million: The crossover has a lot of things going for it. The main story is Grant Morrison being very high concept and very fun. He presents a lot of loose details for the 583rd century and clearly enjoyed allowing the writers of the tie ins to build upon it. Which is another thing- a lot of crossovers have tie ins being a mere afterthought. Which admittedly- 1,000,000 does have its fair share of, but there are key events that play out across a lot of the tie ins that come right back to the main event. While some series use the crossover as 'an alternate future- it doesn't really matter' type story some titles like Chronos, Ressurection Man and Starman use it to foreshadow or move along the ongoing arcs. Other titles like the much beloved Chase and Young Heroes in Love both present nice codas to the series. There is also one tie in that really stands out-- see the top ten list below.
- Superboy (Volume 2) #8 (Zero Hour): Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett love Silver Age comics. So this time twisting tale of two Superboys tells not only a story interesting in an of itself but also contains quite a few jokes that are pay homage to the old days. Some are brilliant- like the meeting of Silver Age Superboy and the Modern Age Lana Lang. Or Superboy (the clone guy) meeting up with the Silver Age Ma and Pa Kent. Or even the bits with Krypto. Most impressive of all is how seemless it is. Unlike many of the other teams up turning this crossover, this one didn't seemed forced at all. It seems almost like Kesel would have done a story very similar to this even if Zero Hour hadn't been on the drawing board, He just took the idea and ran with it.
- Legion of Super Heroes Volume 3 #16 (Crisis on Infinite Earths): This book has two great themes running through it: life and death. Life because it is a story about the baptism of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad's twins. Death because it deals with how Supergirl's death affected Brainiac Five. People often mistake Brainiac Five for a soulless machine. He may pretend to be and even convinces some of his teammates but this issue proves he is anything but mechanical. It is great to see that type of development for Brainiac Five. It was great to see the Legion honor its roots as a Supertitle. It is even better to see the Legion have a goodbye for a character- especially because for a long time afterwards they were the only ones who remembered she ever existed.
- Swamp Thing #44-#46 (Crisis on Infinite Earths): This was around the time when Alan Moore's Swamp Thing was near its height. He was beginning to discover The Green. He was just meeting John Constantine-- oh yeah-- and he got roped into helping defend the multiverse. Now instead of ignoring the crossover Moore uses it to point out how odd the idea of a universe with something as dark and creepy as Swamp Thing being in the world with Superman and his dog really is. In the real world that kind of thing does happen-- but consistent fiction can be a little less flexible. It does all these things humorously without really breaking the dark tone the series had been carrying in a way that only Moore could accomplish.
- Damage Control Volume 2 #1-4 (Acts of Vengeance): Okay-- this series isn't quite a super hero book. Sure, they are in it are sometimes even protagonists. Usually they are people in distress or just a nuisance as Damage Control tries to clean up their mess. However- here in Acts of Vengeance you have one of Marvel's greatest actually being fairly helpful. Heroes like She-Hulk, Captain America, Thor and Speedball, The Masked Marvel. The series may not contribute much to the main event but they are pretty damn funny. Damage Control tries to keep things together during crisis while also fighting to break even during a massive union dispute.
- X-Factor Volume 3 #8-#9 - (Civil War): You know what I love about the Peter David school of crossover issues? He just lets the story he was going to tell anyway play out amongst the backdrop of the event. Yes, this issue deals with a SHIELD agent named Jamie Madrox coming to recruit X-Factor (led by Jamie Madrox) into signing the support documents related to the super human registration act in triplicate. It is also about the aftermath of a night of partying celebrating one of X-Factor's victories. One of Madrox's dupes gets a little frisky and well-- let's just say he finds a really interesting use to the ability to me in more than one place at the same time. The results have a long term effect on the plot of the series that goes on for years. What I'm saying is-- this would have been a good story regardless of the crossover. The crossover just meant more people would be buying (and hopefully reading) a really good story and maybe stick around for a bit. That's what a crossover issue should do.
- Secret Origins Volume 2 #10 (Legends): The Phantom Stranger- a character who up until recently had no real origin because it was thought he was better off without one. Given such a concept- how do you tell the Secret Origin of a man without a background? Simple- you get some of the biggest names in comics have them all write origins and then make sure that all of those origins are contradictory. Is he a guy off the ancient street who somehow pissed God off? Is he Issac the wanderer? Is he a survivor of the Pre-Crisis Multiverse? Or was he a conscientious objector during the war between Heaven and Hell? How does this tie into Legends at all? Only vaguely- as Phantom Stranger was being reintroduced and gathering heroes to help fight Darkseid.
- Justice League International Volume 1 #22-23 (Invasion): Usually the books writer or co-written by the writer of the main event book are the best. (There are rare exceptions.) However Keith Giffen took a rather serious co-plotting style for this event. Seeing the Justice League treating the event so tongue and cheek is-- well-- it's a bit surprising. Especially since much of the team is busy in the main book leaving a lot of the world saving to be done by Oberon, little person, circus performer and sidekick to Mr. Miracle. Be amazed as the Justice League fights almost every species that has ever produced a member of the Legion of Super Heroes. You'll never think about cookware the same way again.
- Uncanny X-Men #196: Usually mega event tie ins don't go out of their way to tell a good story, just a middling albeit entertaining one. That is not the case with this issue. The Beyonder story is just background noise to a great mystery that is not exactly a whodunit but more of a who's gonna do it. It also does what the X-Men do best- act as a metaphor for racial equality. Some people are shocked by some of the language Claremont used- particularly coming out of the mouth of a 15 year old girl. There are times when using offensive language is appropriate. Racism is a very real and very hurtful thing; however art can be a powerful tool to fight it. It is impossible to comment on racism in fiction without having at least one character behave in a racist fashion. Here the context is clearly laced with a degree of sarcasm in order to point out the racist tendencies of some of Kitty's classmates. While it may lack subtly, it can be placed in the same category as Lenny Bruce, Mark Twain and Kurt Vonnegut.
- Supergirl #59-#61 (Our Worlds At War): Okay-- the plot of Peter David's Supergirl is too complicated to summarize. Long story short- Linda Danvers is traveling along with her demonic ex-boyfriend Buzz to try to find the end of the Chaos Stream where this big villain is supposed to reside. Only that quest got interrupted by the Imperiex invasion. Buzz, who has no soul, still attempts to help people. He breaks up a gang rape and due to the woman being half conscious at the time- he has the only face she can remember. Worst of all- Linda wasn't there to see what happened and believes he is completely capable of it and leaves him to rot. Then she goes on to deal with her own problems. Eventually Buzz's innocence is discovered and she actually feels bad about it. Almost. Pretty heavy stuff for a big crossover story. As an added bonus- assuming you read these issues in their original printings and not in the Our Worlds at War trades, there is a letter column which includes a missive by somebody whose name should seem rather familar to our regular readers.
- Hitman #1,000,000: Tommy Monaghaun is as far from being a super hero as you can get. Only the 853rd century remembers him a lot differently. They don't quite see him as a hired killer but more like a slightly more hair triggered Dirty Harry. His sidekick Nat the Hat gets quite a few changes in legend as well- more resembling Beyounce than Ice Cube. A group of fans of the legends pull Tommy out of time to help them with a little trouble. All hell breaks loose when he tries to explain he's not the type of guy they think he is and he has his own stuff to do. Which might be Garth Ennis commenting on the fact that he literally had to interupt an ongoing arc to write this issue. The only problem is if Tommy doesn't help them he has no way back. So he deals with things his way. And his fans aren't too happy with the results. The reader on the other hand couldn't be happier.
Next: Happy Holidays and A HREF="Comics2.html">Another Big Surprise -- this very issue.
