Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths—Part One, on BluRay

It was the multiverse story to end all multiverse stories, but it was written before the multiverse was the thing to obsess over. For comic readers in the 1980s, it looked like DC’s attempt to copy the success of Marvel’s Secret Wars, but it promised to simplify their numerous universes. Since then, it has become a significant part of the DC universe lore. It was even adapted in multiple Arrowverse episodes. It now joins the DC Animated Tomorrowverse, when Jeff Wamester’s Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One [out of three] releases today on BluRay.

The Barry Allen edition of The Flash has become unstuck in time, super-charged on cosmic speed force. As he shifts between the various Earths, The Flash notices an ominous looking wave of anti-matter bearing down on each alternate planet. The ancient Monitor notices it too. Although he has vowed to never interfere in the human matters he scrupulously observes (sort of like Marvel What If’s The Watcher), the Monitor has made an exception, gathering the greatest heroes and scientists from multiple Earths to hatch a plan to stop the anti-matter wave.

Although The Question is skeptical, The Flash can confirm the Monitor’s story, because he has seen it for himself. He has also had to navigate multiple realities, including his wedding on one Earth and the belated formation of the Justice League on another. However, he is not prepared for the shock of the dystopian Earth-3, ruled by a gang of supervillains headed by the evil Superman analog Ultraman (not the Japanese Kyodai hero). It is quite telling how much this Ultraman looks, acts, and sounds like The Boys’ Homelander, but the DC character predates the caped psycho played by Anthony Starr, by about forty years.

DC Animated has regularly been producing better superhero movies than anything Marvel or DC has done recently in live-action. Crisis Part One is not as inventive as Superman: Red Sun or Batman Ninja, but it is still smartly executed film. In fact, the multiverse story is probably particularly suited to animation, because it can more easily depict The Flash careening between worlds.

One of the charms of the original comic was the assembly of so many heroes, both the iconic and the somewhat obscure. James Krieg’s adaptation of the Marv Wolfman/George Perez limited series still does that too, but it is definitely Flash-forward, so to speak. Matt Bomer’s voice-over performance as the Flash is far superior to Ezra Miller’s disastrous film turn. Likewise, Darren Criss and Jensen Ackles nicely differentiate the personalities of the various Supermen and Batmen (but they only voice the “good ones”).

David Kaye also sounds appropriately skeptical and sardonic as The Question, but it is disappointing the great Steve Ditko is not properly credited for inventing him. On the other hand, a dedication to the recently deceased Perez appears after the end credits, which is classy.

This is a messy story, but Krieg and Wamester present it with admirable clarity. It is also totally canonical within the DC Universe, except for the events and Earths that are undone by subsequent multiverse-shaking events. Arguably, they are still sort of canonical, even though they no longer happened, or whatever. Recommended for DC fans and especially for readers of the 1980s era comics, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One releases today (1/23) on DVD.