Correct me if I’m wrong, but sometimes I think people have less respect for a comic writer than they do for many other positions in the creative industry (with the exception of assistant floor manager and head boy). In all seriousness though, until the 1980s, comic books were seen as cheap junk with their single use being ballast on ships. But, by the bronze age when comics begun exploring the social issues of the time such as civil rights and gun laws in America, their perception started to transform. This increased further into the 1980s when Alan Moore wrote his excellent run on Swamp Thing (vol 2), before other fellow Britons followed in their invasion of American comics. But, even then, after Moore, Morrison, Miller, Vertigo, and the dark age of the nineties, most comics were still seen as subsidiary fiction. Exceptions became known as graphic novels, with the likes of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and The Dark Knight Returns becoming revered as great works of literature. But something such as Mike Grell’s Green Arrow or John Ostrander’s Suicide Squad would barely get a look in, let alone Doug Moench’s Batman run with Kelley Jones. However, in 2002, there was a change. After filmmaker Kevin Smith finished his brief, yet memorable run on Green Arrow (vol 3), he was succeeded by a novelist, one who wrote a six-part story which ultimately ranks as one of the best comic books ever. It certainly does for me. That novelist was Brad Meltzer, a political thriller writer whose books were more than well received. Green Arrow: The Archer’s Quest received unanimous praise from fans, critics, and those from outside the comic book bubble. It became another of those graphic novels. And, due mainly to its huge success, Meltzer returned just two years later to write a miniseries of complex mystery, one which would forever change the DC Universe. Was this to be another of those graphic novels? The answer is unquestionably yes, but why not pose a rhetorical question?
Identity Crisis 1-7 was published from August 2004 to February 2005. It was written by Brad Meltzer with art by Rags Morales and Michael Bair. I’ve read the miniseries in its
trade paperback.
Before we kick this off, I have to say that I chose this story for the one-hundred and twenty-fifth review partly because it’s a good story, but also because I’m continuing the tradition of reviewing a universe-large stories for every milestone post. I guess that means that Final Crisis will be the one for the one-hundred and fiftieth. Sigh. But let’s not focus on that tripe just yet and let’s get into Identity Crisis, a story that may have the world “Crisis” in its title, but it’s totally dissimilar to other Crisis stories like Crisis on Infinite Earths or Infinite Crisis. You see, Identity Crisis is different because the multiverse doesn’t feature at all. But it’s more than a good old fashioned detective story. It’s a story that radically changes the heroes of the DC Universe. It begins with Elongated Man on a rooftop with Firehawk, both of whom are watching a mysterious crate in an alley while two gangsters wait by patiently. Elongated Man, really named Ralph Dibny, speaks about how today is his birthday and that he knows, like every year, that his wife Sue is planning to surprise him. He tells Firehawk about how he met Sue and thanks to Barry Allen, the now deceased Flash (I think anyway as the Flashes seem to duplicate every five minutes). Unlike many other of the spouses of heroes, Sue was in the spotlight much more, appearing in Keith Giffen’s Justice League Europe run as a main character and honorary member of the Justice League International. Meanwhile, as Ralph and Firehawk talk, a car pulls up nearby, driven by supervillain Bolt, who is in contact with Calculator, once a tacky and joke of a villain who learnt of Oracle and decided to become an enabler for supervillains. Calculator arranges the deal between Bolt and the two thugs guarding the crate, but just as a fight begins between them, Ralph and Firehawk learn of something far more troubling. In Ralph’s home, Sue is attacked and seemingly burnt to death. Ralph rushes home with Firehawk, but he is too late. He holds onto her corpse and as the rain begins, Ralph has lost his wife and his unborn child. Tragic. Good way to start a story though. Meanwhile in Gotham, Tim Drake returns home as Robin one week after his father has learnt that he is a superhero. They both learn of Sue’s death, as does everybody across the DC Universe. At the same time, The Atom, Ray Palmer finishes the paperwork for his divorce settlement with Jean Loring. Here is the novelist in Meltzer coming out. Here, I’ve only included about half of the scenes so far as there is so much to explore in the story that while it may not be linked directly to the main story, it adds depth to the cast and side characters. Meltzer is also clearly a fan as he knows how to write characters that are varied. This includes Tim Drake, who features heavily later, and also Black Lightning, a character who may be not hugely important here, but he certainly is in Meltzer’s Justice League of America (vol 2) stint. Some time later, Green Arrow heads to Ralph’s home to investigate the scene with other heroes, only to find no sign of a forced entry or security breach. The funeral follows and it is attended by many, but the heroes quickly turn their minds to justice. All the heroes head off in different directions to find villains such as Mirror Master, Heatwave, and Doctor Phosphorus. But Hawkman, Black Canary, Zatanna, and Green Arrow all stay behind and speak to Ralph. He demands that they begin their search for Doctor Light. Part One does start somewhat slow I feel, but once it gets going with Sue’s horrible death, the story really begins. In fact, I think Meltzer has selected the best character to be killed, as although it affects Ralph incredibly deeply, the whole universe is changed. Sue is a character that everybody seemed to like and was considered a friend by the Justice League. It’s on a similar scale to when Barbara Gordon was crippled by the Joker. It shows how the heroes put their loved ones on the lines and that there are often huge consequences for it.
In the Palmer household, despite the divorce tension between the two of them, Ray gives Jean a weapon to protect herself just in case. Then, using his sub-atomical powers The Atom heads back to Green Arrow and the others, only for Hawkman to spot The Flash and Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) spying on them. After an argument of sorts, Ralph lets the two young heroes help. Ralph tells a dark tale, one about how Doctor Light entered the JLA satellite when the heroes were out fighting Hector Hammond. Doctor Light found Sue. The twisted villain beat and raped her, only for him to be beaten and defeated when the heroes arrive back. The Flash questions why when he met Doctor Light back in the Teen Titans days, he seemed almost child-like. Ralph explains that Doctor Light kept swearing revenge on the heroes by threatening Sue. The League decided that Zatanna should wipe his memory. However, some believed that wasn’t enough and the heroes voted on lobotomising Doctor Light. The (continued)
Flash was the deciding vote and from there, Doctor Light became almost vegetable-like. Now, this reason for why his character changed in the 1960s is fine. In fact, I like it as it just makes more sense. However, what I don’t like is what he does to Sue. Of course, it makes him into a more threatening villain, but you have to remember that this is supposed to take place during the early bronze age era. By writing a flashback scene to a moment that’s meant to occur in that time period, the inclusion of rape just feels entirely out of place and unnecessary. I think the beating was as far as it should have gone as anything further ruins that happier and more just period of DC history. But, if it was Meltzer’s plan to make Doctor Light appear as one of the cruellest and most twisted villains ever, then he certainly achieved it. Meanwhile, on the abandoned JLA satellite, several villains use it as a hiding place of sorts, with the likes of ex-Suicide Squad members and Flash Rogue Gallery villains resorting there, a notable one being Captain Boomerang. Suddenly, Doctor Light appears in need of help, telling the villains that he was sent by the Calculator. Later, the heroes find a place where Doctor Light is seemingly hiding, but when they find him, he’s not alone. He is aided by Deathstroke. Elsewhere, before the second part ends, Doctor Mid-Nite conducts an autopsy on Sue, finding that it wasn’t the fire that killed her as her lungs are clean. He tells Oracle to tell the heroes that Doctor Light is not the killer. This is where things start to get really good as the mystery becomes all the more complex.
Together, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Zatanna, Hawkman, The Flash and Green Lantern confront Deathstroke, who guards Doctor Light. The heroes fight Deathstroke, who is more than aware of all their flaws and weaknesses. He targets the heroes specifically in their weakest points and although it works, the heroes take him down with teamwork, which works especially after Green Arrow stabs the villain with an arrow in his blind eye. I don’t know why he didn’t do it with his sole functioning one, as that will make him completely blind. But I guess Meltzer was told that Deathstroke was a sacrifice too far. Anyway, as all the heroes dogpile on Deathstroke, Doctor Light’s memories return to him and as he screams, the area bursts with light. When vision returns, the heroes find Superman, with Doctor Light and Deathstroke gone. As The Flash explains that it was his idea to go after Doctor Light to help Ralph, Superman tells them that it couldn't have been Doctor Light. As he tells them about Doctor Mid-Nite’s autopsy, The Flash confronts Green Arrow, learning from him that Doctor Light wasn’t the only instance in which Zatanna’s powers were used to erase minds. Justice League of America (vol 1) 166-168 was a story by Gerry Conway in which The Secret Society of Supervillains switch bodies with the Justice League, only to learn of their secret identities. This was just one example of the heroes erasing the mind of supervillains. This is a good example of Meltzer using a bronze age story and linking to the present day. The mindwiping idea is a clever one for explaining some of the inconsistencies in comics during the 1970s, but it also brings up a moral dilemma within the Justice League and the feud between Hawkman and Green Arrow, both of whom disagreed passionately about what they did to Doctor Light. Once again, a nice explanation for why the two characters despised each other. Meanwhile, Calculator speaks with Captain Boomerang, who is struggling to find work in his old age. But Calculator tells it to him as it is and how he is no longer needed in his old age. At the same time, Robin arrives home, and his dad notices his minor injuries, hoping one day that his son won’t suffer anything worse. But, in Ivy Town, Jean Loring is hanged in her home until her body is lifeless.
However, the Atom arrives home just in time to save her, but, like before, Green Arrow (with Mister Miracle’s aid) finds no evidence of a security breach. But Superman examines the rope that Jean was hanged with, discovering that it was a bowline knot that might have been tied by Slipknot. We head down the tunnel of obscure villains once again, showing not just how much of a complex detective writer Meltzer is, but also showing that he knows characters from all levels of obscurity. Anyway, the hunch is flawed anyway as Wonder Woman uses her lasso to find that Slipknot knows nothing of the murder. But, because both Doctor Light and Slipknot were once Suicide Squad members, Superman believes that one of them must be the killer. Yep, that means about half of DC’s villains could be behind it. You would have thought that this would have been a great time for DC to roll out some tie-ins, such as an ultimately meaningless story where Immortal Man fights Punch and Jewelee, but I guess not. As most of the other supervillains who aren’t involved in the murders hide away from the heroes, Captain Boomerang is reunited with his son with the help of Calculator. Fortunately, they both discover that they are in love with boomerangs and killing people. Like father like son. But, at the same time, Batman works out that (continued)
the murderer can’t be anybody from the Suicide Squad as the team wouldn’t benefit anything from it, especially since they’re a government agency of sorts. Meanwhile, Green Arrow visits a graveyard and meets with the Spectre, specifically Hal Jordan’s Spectre. After the two reacquaint themselves and share memories from the times of old, Green Arrow learns that Hal cannot reveal who killed Sue as it is not in God’s mission to avenge her. That’s different from the Spectre I’m used to, but I guess if he was involved the story would be over in about half an issue. However, another mystery arises as when Lois Lane arrives at work, she finds a letter to her from somebody who knows that she is married to Superman, ending the fourth part and beginning one of the best.
It begins with the league doing what they do best: dog-pilling on top of supervillains, specifically Deadshot, Merlyn, and Monocle. Heroes across the universe do the same, not without casualties as Firestorm is cut open by the Shadow Thief (wielding the Shining Knight’s word), seconds before he explodes high above civilisation. At the same time, The Atom arrives home and effectively reunites with Jean and the two become lovers once again. Meanwhile, the two Captain Boomerangs train by, well, throwing boomerangs at each other. But, when the elder of the two is about to be killed by one of them, his son rushes towards him and saves him. Shocked, the two of them realise that he has the speed of the Flash. I don’t know if the new Captain Boomerang appears regularly in The Flash after this, but I hope so as because of his super-speed, it can make an interesting threat for the Flash to face against. But what am I talking about, we still have an old Captain Boomerang. For now anyway. As Tim Drake heads out on patrol once again, he leaves his father in his home alone. Jack Drake finds a package in his home and when he opens it, he simply finds a gun with a note attached saying, “defend yourself”. With that, Jack contacts his son and Batman and Robin head back home at high speed in the Batmobile. On their way there however, Jack tells Batman to look after his son as his murderer edges closer. Batman can only watch as Tim cries and the Batmobile fails to get to Jack in time. Jack Drake confronts his killer to find it is Captain Boomerang the elder. Although he manages to shoot Captain Boomerang, he manages to throw a final boomerang at Drake. With that, they both fall back on the floor, dead.
When Tim arrives home, he finds his father dead from the boomerang and although
he tries to save him, he knows he is too late. Batman can only hold onto him tightly, as both he and Robin are now orphans. In some ways, possibly because I’m a Batman fan, I find the storyline with Tim Drake and his father’s death to be one of the most intriguing and enjoyable parts of the story. Tim Drake already lost his mother in Detective Comics 621 (by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle) and in his early years as Robin, he had to hide his superhero antics from his father. It worked effectively because, unlike Dick Grayson or Jason Todd, Tim Drake actually had a family that were there for him and now that his father is gone, there is no Tim Drake. All there is now is Robin, as with what happened to Bruce Wayne when his parents were killed. Bruce no longer exists. There is only Batman. Also, the splash page in which Batman holds onto Robin as he finds Jack dead is one of the most powerful from the miniseries and Morales’s art depicts the emotional moment brilliantly. Sometime afterwards at the crime scene, the new Captain Boomerang attempts to see his father’s body, but he isn’t let in by the police. At the same time, Oliver Queen reads about Jack Drake’s death before he hugs Connor, remembering his death which left Connor the new Green Arrow. Coincidence for obvious reasons. While everybody is in mourning for recent deaths and the reminder of deaths from years ago (such as Aquababy’s death), the courts find Deadshot, Monocle, and Merlyn not guilty because of their Suicide Squad membership. Meanwhile, on a rooftop nearby, Green Arrow meets with the Flash, who once again demands answers after working from Oliver’s story earlier featuring Doctor Light that Batman wasn’t mentioned. Once again, the Flash gets his answers when he threatens to get Batman and Superman to force the answers out of him. I don’t remember Wally being this petty all the time and quite frankly, it’s getting annoying. Anyway, Green Arrow reveals that when Zatanna was lobotomising Doctor Light, Batman tried to intervene. However, the heroes unanimously decided to wipe Batman’s mind, otherwise the whole league would have collapsed in on itself. Wally reacts in anger to this revelation, telling Oliver that Batman would never do this to the league. Once again, I guess everybody is forgetting about Tower of Babel. In fact, with these revelations, it just proves that the league is just as bad as Batman, and it gives him all the more reason to create those contingency plans. The league, on all sides, isn’t based on truth. It's based on buried lies and huge mistrust between all its members. Meanwhile, the Dark Knight himself searches for Calculator in the sewers after discovering the note sent to Jack Drake. But Calculator states that he wasn’t the one who sent the note, but he was the one who gave Captain Boomerang the job from a mysterious caller who wanted Drake dead. Meanwhile, Doctor Mid-Nite concludes his autopsy of Sue Dibny, finding that she died from a blockage in her brain. Doctor Mid-Nite points to tiny footprints on the surface of Sue’s brain. Upon hearing the news, Batman demands Martian Manhunter find Ray Palmer, seemingly the new suspect, concluding the penultimate part.
From there, we get into the inevitably disappointing finale. As I said, it’s inevitable because when you write a story as complex and huge as this one, an ending that takes place in just twenty pages often goes against your hopes and wishes for the ending. Regardless, after that shocking cliff-hanger ending to the sixth part, Batman works out that the killer isn’t Ray Palmer. Meanwhile, Ray is about to go to sleep when Jean asks about the note sent to Jack Drake. Before Ray answers, he realises that he never told her about that. From there, Ray confronts her and works out that she was the one who sent the gun using one of his old Atom suits in order to cloak any physical evidence at the scene. Jean then reveals that she was the one who killed Sue, unintentionally. She wanted to make her faint so Ralph would come home to help her and somehow, she hoped that because of that, Ray would come home to see if she was alright. But her plan failed as she increased her atomic mass ever so slightly, causing Sue to suffer a seizure and die. In order to hide what she did, Jean panicked and burnt Sue’s body. Jean’s plan then worked when she tried to kill herself and make it appear that somebody was attempting to kill her. As the Atom came running back to her and the two fell in love once again, her plan was a success. However, in order to hide the fact that she was a killer, she contacted Calculator about the contract to take Drake out. Calculator hired Captain Boomerang, but in order to end the case, she gave Drake the gun so Captain Boomerang could be killed. Yeah, it’s certainly clever, but I have to admit that this ending ruins it. Throughout the story, the drama is incredibly interesting because you don’t know who the killer is and as there are hundreds of villains out there, it could be any of them. However, when it’s revealed to be Jean attempting to just get her husband back, it really ruins the build up to that final moment. Of course, Jean Loring is insane, but the solution to the story just doesn’t fit the murders. It would have made more sense if it was a villain, or perhaps even a hero turned villain like the Atom. That would have worked much better actually. Instead, this complex and excellent detective story has a solution and climax which is very disappointing and to some degree, ruins some of the story’s excellent moments earlier on. Anyway, Jean is locked away in Arkham Asylum and although the Flash has more questions for Green Arrow, he decides that more than enough has been revealed for now. I think the last storyline of the JLA title heavily features Green Arrow and more about the mindwiping storyline. Anyway, the story ends with a nice epilogue of Ralph in bed alone, speaking to Sue and telling her a funny story. Although there’s nobody there, he knows that she can hear him. It's a sweet ending to a very (continued)
dark story and although what follows in many respects is far darker (particularly with Ralph), it's a reminder to the heroes and us that they don't wear the masks for themselves. They hide their identities to conceal their families and friends from villains and Identity Crisis, like The Killing Joke and Grant Morrison's Animal Man, is a classic example of what happens when heroes fail to protect those they love. It is because of that and the huge impact on the heroes here that Identity Crisis is one of the most important stories of the DC Universe. I do understand why it is considered to be very controversial and there are many critics out there who dislike this story passionately. While I do find myself agreeing with many of their criticisms, particularly over Doctor Light and what he did to Sue, I think the ending is the main flaw of the story. I think it ruins the terrific build up to the conclusion. But, the journey from the start to the penultimate issue is great and Meltzer reveals so much about the Justice League that you'd want him to do a run on it. Oh wait, he does. I'll be getting to that eventually.
Choosing an artist for a story as complex and dramatic as this one is something that must be thought about deeply. The penciller’s storytelling needs to mesh with the writer’s knack for drama in detective stories and very particular inclusion of small details. Rags Morales was almost certainly the right choice as his panels convey Meltzer’s tale brilliantly while also making it appear genuinely impressive. It contains a sense of realism in that the sense of detail is very good, but it is also very creative in how the story is told. Michael Bair’s inks work well with Morales’s pencils as he appears to be a penciller who requires some skill to ink successfully in order to fully embellish his complex art. It also doesn’t look of its time, which is certainly a plus in my books as most of the art from that mid-2000s period is very much a progression of some of the awful character designs and appearances from the 1990s. Morales’s art is not typical of the period and Sinclair’s bright and retro, yet often gloomy, colouring works effectively. Overall, Morales knows how to tell a complex story such as this one and there wouldn’t be many other artists of the time who would be able to pull it off in the way that he could so skilfully do.
VERDICT
Overall, Identity Crisis is a controversial story for reasons that are clear and I've already mentioned. I repeat once again that the biggest disappointment has to be the ending and while it's nearly impossible to ignore it, pretty much everything else in the story is excellent. I think the novelist in Meltzer really shines here as he constructs a complex, yet gripping plot that few other writers could achieve. He understands all the characters here and most of them have their own moments of glory. Nobody really feels forced in here either, meaning that every character has a purpose. Identity Crisis may have some problems, but I would be lying if I said that it was a typical comic book. It's not a graphic novel. Nothing is. That's just a marketing term. But, what it is is a unique miniseries written by somebody who knows how to write an engaging detective story with fantastic characters. At the end of the day, that is all I need and Meltzer certainly delivers on that.
Story: 8.5/10
Art: 9/10
Next Week: Green Arrow: Hate Crimes (Green Arrow (vol 2) 121-127, Green Lantern (vol 3) 92). Written by Chuck Dixon and Ron Marz with art by William Rosado, Robert Campanella, James Francis, Sal Buscema, Jim Aparo, Klaus Janson, Doug Braithwaite, Robin Riggs, Darryl Banks, and Terry Austin.
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