DC Comics revolutionized superhero event comics with Crisis on Infinite Earths. This DC classic cleaned up the tangled continuity of the publisher, and since then DC has created the best event comics ever. However, one of DC’s events has become infamous with superhero fans. There are some who even call it the “comic that ruined comics” — Identity Crisis, by writer Brad Meltzer and artist Rags Morales. Identity Crisis was a superhero murder mystery that had huge consequences for the DC Universe of the mid ’00s. However, people don’t hate it because it’s bad, they hate it became of its treatment of a beloved DC character, Sue Dibny. Dibny was ‘fridged in the first issue, killed by a killer targeting the families of superheroes. Then, the second issue revealed the character that was most famous at the time for being in the hilarious Justice League International had been sexually assaulted by Doctor Light in the past. These two developments have made the book one of the most hated of the modern era.
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However, I would say that Identity Crisis is more than just those moments. Identity Crisis may have a lackluster murderer reveal, but there’s a lot to love about the story, starting with the brilliant art and extending to the characterization and plot. In fact, I would say that Identity Crisis is actually a good, not great, story that was extremely important to the evolution of the DC Universe in the ’00s. Identity Crisis is definitely problematic, but that doesn’t mean that it’s the terrible story that everyone says it is.
Identity Crisis Has a Lot of Great Ideas and Moments
There’s no denying that Identity Crisis is a problematic book, and one can’t ignore the first two issues and what happened in them, because they are important parts of the story. The “women in refrigerators” trope is one of superhero comics’ more problematic tropes, and Identity Crisis uses it right out the gate. It’s even more worse than usual for some people because the first issue is mostly about Elongated Man, Sue’s husband, talking to Firehawk about why he loves his wife so much. It was extremely emotional, and it was compounded in the second issue when her sexual assault was revealed. DC and Brad Meltzer should both be called out for this blatant emotionally manipulative tactic. However, for many, before this book Sue or Elongated Man weren’t characters fan really were passionate about. After, the loss was palpable. You can question whether it was necessary to go so far, but you can’t deny that it isn’t good writing.
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Throwing away Identity Crisis for killing a woman for emotional stakes also means throwing away something like Psycho, which does much the same thing, down to the sexual aspect. Identity Crisis is more than that, and it’s those moments that make me love the book. For example, Captain Boomerang’s attack on Jack Drake, father of then-Robin Tim Drake, is white knuckle suspense at its finest, made all the better because we just saw Boomerang meet and bond with his own son for the first time in years. We get the coolest Deathstroke fight ever in issue #3. And then there’s the Justice League mindwipes. This one idea is what makes Identity Crisis special. The morality of being a superhero has always been a question that we didn’t really try to answer. However, what do you do when your enemies find out your identity or take over your body? How do you protect the people you love? How far will you go? Members of the League mindwiping villains is one thing, but mindwiping Batman? One of the coolest DC moments ever. These are the core ideas of Identity Crisis, and they’re why Identity Crisis is still a story that’s worthwhile. It changed the Justice League for years to come and led to one of the best Justice League reboots since Morrison’s JLA, when Meltzer took over Justice League of America. There are definitely problems with the story, and we shouldn’t ignore those, but throwing the baby out with the bathwater in this case doesn’t feel right.
Identity Crisis Is More Than the Sum of Its Parts
Identity Crisis isn’t a perfect story. The reveal of Jean Loring, the Atom’s wife, as the murderer never really felt right, especially with all of the clues in the story. However, there’s a lot about Identity Crisis that does work. Say what you want about Meltzer, but he’s a legitimately great writer, and there are multiple examples of that throughout the book. Identity Crisis has lots of great ideas and moments — it made the Calculator into a serious villain for the first time ever and actually made people like Captain Boomerang after years of marginalization — as well as amazing art. Identity Crisis is much better than it gets credit for. I can’t tell anyone to ignore its problematic aspects, but there’s way more to love than the modern idea of Identity Crisis lets on.
