Identity Crisis
By Brad Meltzer (W) and Rags Morales (A)
Published by DC Comics. Cover price $14.99/24.99 (softcover/hardcover). Originally printed as Identity Crisis 1-7.
The Plot: Long-kept secrets of the Justice League are revealed when Sue Dibny, the wife of the Elongated Man, is murdered, and the superheroes of the DC Universe race to find the person responsible before they go after another hero’s family.
The Positives: Identity Crisis is a really good murder mystery. There are plenty of clues along the way as to who committed the crimes, although you never really have enough information to figure it out on your own. There are plenty of red herrings along the way that bridge into other interesting stories and build anticipation for when the red herrings eventually stop and the killer is revealed. When you find out who did it, all the clues fall into place and the actions and motives of the killer make perfect sense. Well, perfect sense for a crazy person.
Over the course of the story, Brad Meltzer introduces a number of interesting concepts to the DC Universe. Of course, first and foremost are the mind wipes, which would help divide the Justice League during Infinite Crisis. Identity Crisis also set up the Calculator as the anti-Oracle, a character who has been put to very good use since then. The story also revitalized Dr. Light as a major villain and set up a Green Arrow/Deathstroke feud that would continue past One Year Later. All of these ideas would make for great stories…
The Negatives: …but Meltzer doesn’t follow up on any of them. Nor, I think, did he ever have any intention to follow up on them. It seems like those plot points were left dangling specifically so other writers would pick them up, so as to make Identity Crisis seem more important for influencing other stories. But these extra plot points actually hurt the enjoyment of Identity Crisis as a stand-alone story. Two issues probably could have been cut out to tell a better-paced, more concise mystery if everything with the mind wipes was just left out.
Meltzer also has a nasty habit of having things happen for no reason, or giving a very poor explanation as to why something happened. Did the ret-conned rape of Sue Dibny really need to be brought into the story? Did that make the story better? I don’t think it did. And why was Firestorm killed off, only to have everyone in the story ignore his death? The most annoying part was how the Flash found out about the “Secret League” mind-wiping Batman: he saw Dr. Light’s memories. That’s the best Meltzer could come up with? How does the Flash even see someone’s memories? Wouldn’t it have just made more sense to have one of the seven JLAers involved slip up a little and mention something about Batman being there? Did the Flash even need to find out that Batman had been mind-wiped? I don’t recall it ever being brought up again until Batman himself remembered. All of these questions were rattling around in the head when I was reading the story, when the only questions I should have been asking were “Who did it?” and “Why?”
The Neutral: The art provided by Rags Morales in the book, while always acceptable, is never spectacular. He’s a great example of one of DC’s stable of artists who are reasonably talented and can keep a deadline, as opposed to the bulk of Marvel’s artists who generally produce better work at a much slower rate. Morales’ art doesn’t take away from the story, but it doesn’t add anything either, which is a real shame.
The Grade: C+. Stripped to its core, Identity Crisis is a great whodunit. The story works better if you’re new to the DC Universe, which I was the first time I read it. After immersing myself in the DC Universe for two years, the liberties Meltzer took with certain characters and events stand out and lessen the story. And quite frankly it’s hard for any story to shine amidst the brightness of Infinite Crisis.
You should probably qualify your dismissal of Rags Morales with your belief that Mark Bagley is like the greatest picture drawer alive. And that John Cassaday, Darwyn Cooke and Carlos Pacheco are undeniably among the most talented artists around.
This might also be the first time I’ve ever seen something get criticized for actually contributing more storyline possibilities for the rest of its fictional universe. Shame on you, Brad Meltzer!
I think Mark Bagley is often spectacular. That wasn’t a dis on Rags or any of DC’s stabel of stable artists. I just don’t think Rags brought anything to the table . In retrospect I probably shouldn’t have listed it as a negative, and it probably doesn’t even need to be in the review. I’m just now remembering that I put it in there to lead into a post about the DC artists compared to the Marvel artists, but I wrote this like 2 weeks ago and have just now got around to posting it. I can’t quite tell if you’re saying those last three artists invalidate my position on Rags because I think they’re talented and you disagree or because they all work for DC. If it was the latter, I would have addressed that in the post I would have written if I remembered that I had intended to write it two weeks ago when I first wrote this. Aargh…brain…hurts….
As for your second point, I asked myself this question: Did the added elements improve the story? I felt they did not. If this story was supposed to be a huge crossover like Civil War or Infinite Crisis, adding those elements probably would have improved the overall story. But Identity Crisis wasn’t a crossover. It’s purpose wasn’t to shake the foundation of the entire universe. It was a self-contained mini-series. Loose ends shouldn’t be left dangling after the last issue of a self-contained story.
Man, you and I just aren’t getting along today, are we?
Let it not be about the personal, but about the product.
Didn’t Identity Crisis have tie-ins? And I guess I disagree about what a mini-series can and can’t do. DC promoted it as a big event in the DC universe, and as such, I have no problem with it getting other balls rolling.
Maybe I need some clarification – what plot points are you specifically referring to?
I thought Identity Crisis was perfect because of how naturally it fit as a leading in point for Infinite Crisis, specifically because it opened many cans of worms that then led directly into such a great event.
I didn’t like the rape, but I’m not sure that it wasn’t necessary. It took something horrific to make the heroes opt for such a drastic measure as a mind wipe.
And I like Rags Morales. He more than made up for the Michael Turner covers (though, as far as Michael Turner covers go, those weren’t terrible).
Jim: Two things that come to mind as completely unnecessary for the story of Identity Crisis is the death of Firestorm and the revelation that Batman was mind-wiped. Neither of those points had anything to do with the actually story.
I don’t claim to be a Firestorm fan, but if you going to kill the guy, shouldn’t it matter for the fans of his that are out there? Don’t just kill him and have one panel of Vixen (I think it was Vixen) saying “We’ll miss you Firestorm” and then not mention it again. If they wanted to “reboot” (i.e. make him a minority) Firestorm and where going to give him his own series anyway, why not leave the original guys sacrificial death for that series?
And Batman is in, what, 20 books a month? Could they not cover him being mind-wiped in one of those? They certainly could have come up with something better than “Flash saw Dr. Light’s 3rd person perspective memories,” right?
And I think there’s plenty of things that Dr. Light could have done to Sue Dibny. Not that I think about that sort of thing a lot.
Oh, and explain to me why Merlyn narrated a good chunk of the story despite having absolutely nothing to do with the plot?
What liberties were taken with certain characters? What the hell are you babbling about? Identity Crisis is great.
Yes, I am curious about Doom Delouise’s question as well.
Dude, this is old news. We’re arguing about how my opinion of Civil War is wrong now