7 Greatest Moments From Crisis on Infinite Earths, Ranked

In 1985, DC Comics changed forever with the beginning of its greatest storyline of all time: Crisis on Infinite Earths. This twelve-issue masterpiece, created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, completely redefined DC Comics. In this spectacular event, an apparently all-powerful villain, the Anti-Monitor, emerges to eradicate the multiverse. With countless worlds being destroyed and all of existence in peril, the heroes from the surviving universes must band together to stop this genocidal maniac. Crisis on Infinite Earths completely reshaped the landscape of the comic book industry by perfecting the event format, offering a crossover of unparalleled proportions, featuring deaths with long-lasting repercussions, and rebooting DC Comics as a whole. These are the key moments that made this story legendary.

During the 1980s, DC Comics was in trouble, with the buildup of countless universes and continuity errors taking their toll on the franchise. It was hard for readers to keep the Golden Age and Silver Age universes separate. Add in the various characters that DC Comics had acquired from companies like Quality, Charlton, and Fawcett Comics, and things were just a complete mess. So, to clear the board and start fresh, DC created the Crisis on Infinite Earths to not only reboot the universe but also unite all its intellectual properties under one continuity. It was a risky gamble, but it more than paid off as it’s now widely regarded as one of the greatest triumphs in comic book history.

7) Destruction of Earth-3

The main threat in Crisis on Infinite Earths was that the multiverse and its countless universes were dying from unstoppable antimatter waves launched by the Anti-Monitor. To set the stakes immediately out of the gate, the first universe shown to be destroyed was Earth-3, home to the Justice League’s iconic evil doppelgängers, the Crime Syndicate. Despite their best efforts, these villains are all annihilated. Not only is it a haunting scene, but it also offers a rare moment when the Crime Syndicate acts like its main universe counterparts, fighting to the bitter end to save their world. The moment also pays a clever allusion to Superman’s origin, with Earth-3’s Alexander Luthor launching his son into space to spare him from his world’s destruction.

6) Heroes of the Multiverse Assemble

With the Anti-Monitor going on a multiversal rampage, his counterpart the Monitor assembles the heroes and villains of the remaining multiverse to stop him. In one of the most ambitious crossovers in comic book history, the Monitor brings together characters from the Golden Age, Silver Age, Charlton, Quality, and Fawcett Comics. And when time itself begins fluctuating with dinosaurs and cowboys appearing in the modern day, even more heroes are assembled by the Monitor’s apprentice, Harbinger. Practically every DC hero in history is present, from World War II’s Blackhawks to the Legion of Superheroes from the far future. We even get to see the Supermen of the Golden and Silver Ages interacting. The moment is nothing short of a love letter to DC Comics’ publication history.

5) The Death of the Anti-Monitor

It probably should go without saying that the Anti-Monitor, a being who can effortlessly erase universes, would be a tough villain to kill. Throughout the story, there were several moments where it seemed Anti-Monitor was dead, only for him to reappear and kill off more beloved characters. Even on the brink of death, the Anti-Monitor still tried to destroy the heroes. Weakened and facing the combined might of two Supermen, Superboy Prime, Alexander Luthor Jr., and Darkseid, the Anti-Monitor nonetheless attempted one last suicide attack. After all the deaths that had occurred because of the Anti-Monitor, the Golden Age Superman roared that he had had enough of him. With a universe-shaking punch, Golden Age Superman finally killed the Anti-Monitor.

4) Battle at the Beginning of Time

In DC Comics, the original multiverse began when the alien Krona peered into a machine to see the formation of the universe. When Krona saw a hand holding the cosmos, it caused an explosion that gave birth to the multiverse. In another plot to eradicate the multiverse, Anti-Monitor travelled back in time to be the hand holding the cosmos. The heroes and villains arrive to stop the Anti-Monitor in an epic battle of cosmic proportions. Things get even better when it seems like the Anti-Monitor had won, only for the Spectre to arrive to engage in the most high-stakes arm-wrestling contest ever. When Krona saw two hands instead of one at the dawn of creation, the multiverse was destroyed, and something entirely new took its place.

3) The Birth of New Earth

The moment the entire Crisis of Infinite Earths had been building toward, the multiverse was erased and, in its place, stood only one universe: New Earth. This universe was an amalgamation of the five worlds that Anti-Monitor’s anti-matter waves had previously spared: Earth-1 (Silver Age), Earth-2 (Golden Age), Earth-4 (Charlton Comics), Earth-5 (Fawcett Comics), and Earth-X (Quality Comics). Now, all that remained was one universe. The story does a tremendous job both introducing readers to this new world while also showing how some characters, like Earth-2’s Superman and Huntress, react to being displaced into a universe where they have no history and no place to call home. DC perfectly displays the gravity of this reboot through this scene.

2) The Death of Supergirl

Easily one of the most heartbreaking moments in Crisis on Infinite Earths was the tragic end of Supergirl. When engaging in another battle against the Anti-Monitor, the villain’s power proved to be so immense that the heroes had to retreat. To cover their escape, Supergirl valiantly charged and attacked the Anti-Monitor head-on and nearly beat him to death. However, when Supergirl looked to ensure that her friends were escaping, she accidentally let her guard down for a second. That moment was all the wounded Anti-Monitor needed to kill her with an energy blast and then to escape. It’s a powerful death scene made even more poignant by the grief everyone felt from her loss. Supergirl would remain dead for 19 years, and her death is one of the most memorable in comic book history.

1) Barry Allen’s Sacrifice

Of all the iconic moments in Crisis on Infinite Earths, none encapsulated the event more than the death of Barry Allen, aka the Flash. Throughout the event, Barry’s death was teased through visions of him withering to dust. This fate came to pass when the Anti-Monitor developed a cannon to annihilate the last five universes. To save these universes, Barry pushed himself to run faster than he ever had before, which allowed him to build up enough energy to destroy the cannon. However, his selfless act also caused Barry to die in the process. For the next 23 years, the Flash mantle would belong to Barry’s protégé, Wally West. As the hero who jump-started the Silver Age, Barry’s death was unbelievably tragic. And, it represented the new age of DC Comics.

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