Jackson Free Press

Comic fans are used to company-wide crossovers interrupting the usual plotlines in favor of an ill-contrived tie-in. The main characters take a break from the action of the special event to check their answering-machine messages, or the big battle is viewed in the distance from a window. These crossovers typically occur once a year or every other year for the big two comic producers, DC and Marvel. However, DC has taken a radical approach to their upcoming summer event, "Infinite Crisis."

This event is the product of years of planning. Instead of one creative team developing the plot and informing the writers of the regular comic books that they have to tie in the event somehow, this event was introduced to other creative teams in the beginning for input as to how the plot lines in their books might be able to tie in. Thus, meticulous planning gives us what has proved to already be an interesting lead-in to a new era in the DC universe.

A one-part special "Countdown to Infinite Crisis" and four mini-series are kicking off this massive event as well as numerous tie-ins through monthly comics such as "Superman," "Teen Titans" and "Wonder Woman," to name a few. The four miniseries (all of which have sold out and are currently on their second or third printings) are the "OMAC Project," the "Rann/Thanagar War," "Villains United" and "Day of Vengeance." All four are of different genres ("OMAC" alluding to the espionage motif, "Rann/Thanagar" being a space thriller, "Villains United" examining the flip side of the good/evil coin and "Day of Vengeance" delving into the mystical realms of the DC universe) and feature different characters.

This loose threading of connection between the four allows readers to either stick with the comic that best fits their preferred genre or involves their favorite characters without fear of missing something important in the other books or collecting all four miniseries to get the full effect.

So what does this all mean if you're a comic reader who just wants to stick to their favorite monthly and not get bogged down in some new event? In the short run, not much. Though nearly every monthly will eventually have at least one tie-in to the Infinite Crisis event, thus far it has proved to be well-woven into the existing storylines, and readers have not been required to have bought any other comic to understand what was going on in their favorite.

But DC has promised that this event will have long-reaching effects in the overall feel of the DC universe. Heroes are being exposed as not being perfect. Villains are shown as occasionally being noble. The black and white, good vs. evil days of comics is coming to an end, and gray areas abound. A new era is dawning, one in which comics are becoming a respected literary medium with well-developed characters and intricate plot lines.

Jerry Landry is a new comic reviewer for the JFP. He is a graduate of Millsaps College and is working on his first novel.