Identity Crisis (New Edition)

When I first saw the promotional poster for "Identity Crisis," a few years ago, the visual of the classic JLA roster (minus `Green Lantern' Hal Jordan) in mourning as they surround a mysterious casket seemed like a perfect teaser for a superhero whodunit. Other than Batman's storylines, DC Comics had not attempted before a major murder mystery encompassing a vast array of heroes and villains. I became really excited about the concept. But who would be the ill-fated victim?It had to be someone expendable (at least for the foreseeable future). Could it be `Green Lantern' Kyle Rayner, as he is inexplicably missing from the promo art? Or the Martian Manhunter (who is also missing from the poster)? Or `Firestorm' Ronnie Raymond? Perhaps a sidekick? Or would it be a popular civilian character? My best guess was for Snapper Carr (the Silver Age JLA's teenage mascot, their version of Edd `Kookie' Byrnes), and that DC Comics would briefly reintroduce this guy into modern continuity before killing him off so some long lost JLA secret could never be exposed. Sounds promising, I thought.As I discovered reading Brad Meltzer's engrossing mystery, I was only right about the deep, dark secret. Instead, like virtually all other readers, I was shocked to witness the brutal (and, yes, unnecessarily exploitative) murder of `Elongated Man' Ralph Dibny's beloved wife, Sue, in their own home preparing for Ralph's birthday. The initial questions are: Who committed this diabolical crime? And, as in the classic `locked room' mysteries of the genre, how could the killer have infiltrated the various high-tech devices the JLA installed to prevent such a tragedy from occurring?At Sue's funeral, a grieving Ralph Dibny angrily reminds his teammates that he knows who the cold-blooded assassin is: it's Dr. Light. Readers then experience a controversial flashback to the JLA satellite where years ago Sue was sexually attacked by this same villain before he is subdued. The repercussions of this attack force the League to make a fateful decision splintering the team: they choose to erase Light's mind (a magical lobotomy, so to speak). Batman vehemently objects, and a reluctant Zatanna is forced to erase his memory as well of their morally dubious actions. It is hinted that Dr. Light wouldn't be the last villain the League wind-wipes to protect their secret identities.From that point on, other JLA loved ones begin receiving death threats: the Atom's ex-wife, Jean Loring; Robin's father, Jack Drake; and even Superman's own Lois Lane. Whoever the killer is knows the secret identities of the Justice League and is targeting their families. To author Brad Meltzer's credit, he offers several credible suspects ranging from the washed-up Captain Boomerang (a classic Flash rogue), the vengeance-seeking Dr. Light, the ultimate assassin-for-hire: Deathstroke; the conniving Calculator, among others.The JLA, meanwhile, is going in blind circles attempting to locate the elusive killer by rousting every conceivable suspect they can find. During this time, several important events affecting future DC storylines come into play: the death of a popular League member from the 1980's; a less-than-subtle tease of the upcoming "Green Lantern: Rebirth" storyline; the mind-wiping of Batman; the JLA's vicious street fight with Deathstroke; the introduction of the new Captain Boomerang; and more material to be later explored in the DC mega-event, "Infinite Crisis."Even the world's greatest detective, Batman, is nearly brought to his breaking point attempting to solve Sue's baffling murder, as more victims accumulate. Is there more than one assassin? Yet, as Batman points out, the end game of this story is this: `Who benefits?'In its conclusion, Meltzer, unfortunately, opts to go with the clichéd `mentally unstable' culprit whose motive seemingly comes out of nowhere. With all the intriguing sub-plots Meltzer gives, they become nothing more than red herrings, as the killer's illogical actions really don't make any sense when held up under critical scrutiny. I agree with another reviewer that, yes, Meltzer's story, intentionally or not, lifts a liberal dose from author Scott Turow's mystery thriller, "Presumed Innocent." Ultimately, it's a disappointing solution for an otherwise superb and haunting mystery. Meltzer at least makes up for this glaring flaw with an appropriately poignant epilogue.As artists Rag Morales and Michael Turner provide fantastic artwork and covers supporting Brad Meltzer's efforts, I highly recommend this book (minus the implausible culprit) to both comic book fans and mystery lovers alike.Overall Story Rating: 4 ****Overall Art Rating: 5 *****Overall Rating: 4 **** (one point, unfortunately, must be deducted for the contrived solution and a few too many red herrings).Side Note: I also highly recommend the excellent sequel, "JLA: Crisis of Conscience," by authors Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg, which explores the JLA's violent implosion, as other secret mind-wipes are revealed to backfire on the League.

I liked all the Bruce Timm works growing up, Batman, Superman, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited...But that was all I really knew of comic books, and this was before shows like Arrow or Smallville...so I *liked* DC comics, and wanted to read them...but where do you begin? There's so much lore and backstory...even with the new 52, you have to be up to date on so many things in history....Then a friend handed me Identity Crisis.I read through it, with wikipedia at my side to explain concepts I didn't understand, which surprisingly, were very few considering.From Identity Crisis, I fell in love with The Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman, Elongated Man...I grew to respect the deeper lore and characteristics of Superman and Batman.From there I went backwards, read Crisis on Infinite Earths, then onto Infinite Crisis, then onto 52 (not to be confused with "the new 52"), and then Final Crisis and Blackest Night. I owe my knowledge and love of comics to this single special event, thank you Identity Crisis, for showing me the world of DC is deeper and darker than I thought, and so greatly worth exploring.

A book I find myself very torn reviewing.On the positive side, we have some fantastic and innovative art here. At times, characters are a bit off-model. But a series of iconic and breath-taking panels more than make up for any qualms I had with the art.We also get some fantastic set-up and a great overview of lesser-known DC characters. For a short story that moves from character-to-character very quickly, Meltzer manages to quickly shed a new light on characters with whom I was already familiar as well as to make me fall in love with characters with whom I was unfamiliar.Characterization, for the most part, is great. And the handling of heroes making a controversial decision was refreshing, if a little melodramatic.But on the negative side, I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of misogyny while reading. I'm not of the opinion that (SPOILERS) killing off a female character as the inciting incident automatically makes a work misogynistic. But the way that the other heroes talk about the death, as well as the handling of other female characters throughout the comic really rubbed me the wrong way.Building from that complaint, the resolution of the mystery was both contrived and disappointing.The impact of the (SPOILERS) first death seemed to be remarkably exaggerated. I can understand other heroes being shaken, and many even being destroyed by the event. But the fact that nearly every hero was portrayed as having a close, personal relationship with the deceased just felt out of place, given that the character has never seemed to be THAT important in the past.And lastly, I felt that several plot points were tacked on, underdeveloped, and/or inconsistent with other interpretations. Captain Boomerang's role comes to mind as an example.Overall, we have an flawed-but-iconic story here. Definitely worth reading and discussing.

Excelente.Esta historia me lo recomendaron y no tenia expectativa alguna, sin embargo, ahora es uno de mis comics favoritos, especialmente porque no se centra en la trinidad de la liga de la justicia, si no que toma los otros personajes y sobre ellos construye una muy buena historia "detectivesca"varios giros a la trama, un villano que no te esperabas, y con repercusiones en otros comics y eventos de DC, super recomendable y te deja con muchas ganas de conocer de todos los personajes

とある人物の殺人事件に端を発する連続殺人事件とそれに関与する者達の悲劇。明らかになる、ヒーローたちの知るべきではなかった行い。その真犯人の正体とエピローグ…。どこをとっても救いはなく、しかし目が離せない逸品。幾多の伏線をちりばめた物語とそれを盛り上げる演出は非常に凝っており、読了後も再読したくなる出来栄え。(メインのオチはややアンフェアだと思いますが…)ただ、こんな救いのない話をエルスワールドでもない正史でやられても…とも強く感じる。この作品がその後のDCユニバースに与えた影響も甚大で、「なかったこと」にも出来ないのがもどかしい。まあ現在では大半の事件は後始末がついているようですが…。個人的には「非常に面白いし、一読の価値はあるが好きとは言えない作品」。…あのキャラとかあのキャラとか人によっては設定の一切まで変わって可哀想過ぎるんですよ、ええ。

Disfruté mucho leerlo.

６０年以上の歴史を持つＤＣコミックスでなぜ悪人達は性懲りも無く銀行強盗などを繰り返すのか？なぜ正義の味方は正体が悪人にバレナイのか？そして、変化自在の体を持つイロンゲンテッドマンことラルフ、彼の愛する妻を密室で無残に殺したのは誰か？犯人に目星をつけた中流ヒーロー達５名はラルフと後輩２名らに告白したそれは数多くの悪人達に去勢手術を繰り返していたことを！これまでＳＦ（サイエンスフィクション）をテーマにした長編を多く出し続けたＤＣコミックスだったが本作異色のサスペンススリラーによって見方が大きく変わってしまった。

Brad Meltzer logró una de las más impactantes historias en los cómics donde el villano son las verdaderas identidades de todos los personajes. Una historia que desmitifica a los superhéroes, muy necesaria en su tiempo. Totalmente recomendable, diría que es obligada en cualquier colección.