Identity Crisis is a perfect example of what makes the comic book medium so great. To have these characters we've loved since childhood involved in this intriguing and somewhat mature themed murder mystery might sound insane to many, but it isn't insane, it's beautiful. Green Arrow, Batman and most of all Elongated Man come to life on these pages like old friends. Just like seeing an actor or actress you love in a movie you haven't seen before, experiencing these classic character in a bold new story adds to the excitement of the adventure. But Meltzer doesn't just cash in on our love of the most popular DC superheroes, he gives credibility and depth to characters many of us are not familiar with, or have forgotten. Dare I say it, this is truly a masterpiece.

Bottom line, comic book reader, not comic book reader, doesn't matter this book is undisputably awesome. I'm not going to say much about the book, but I was driven to write a review do to the person who wrote "How to ruin the DC Universe in 7 easy steps". It seems that he is both mistaken with the context and general plot of the book. First of all, Sue Dibney and the Elongated Man have not been "main charactors" for a long time, therefore as much as it sucks and how emotionally draining it is, Sue was the perfect charactor to kill off, it also makes it so we can understand the reactions more. The idea is to make more grey areas because if comics were the same as they were 50 years ago, they would really suck. This also launched the Elongated man back into the spotlight in 52. The rape was tragic, but done very eligantly, don't let this person fool you. It was neccessary to trigger the whole array of event in coundown to infinite crisis and of course infinite crisis. Also, they did not alter the minds of anybody but Dr. Light and Batman which caused Batman to make brother eye which made the OMAC project, which I also suggest to anybody who likes identity crisis. It wasn't the person that they thought it was from page 1??? Go figure, but if you look at the BIGGER picture and aren't so closed minded you see the THEMES associated with trust... it was never really about Dr. Light himself. And by the way, what is a story without conflict? Comics don't reach 800 issues by never encountering tough desicious, cuz you know what? thats life. Even the gods aren't perfect. And not everybody is a bad person, they just viewed things differently. Well written, well illustrated, 'nuff said!


Sorry about my rant, but this persons narrow minded look at the book was very upsetting. Besides, Amazon will probably take this down by tomarrow.

Brad Meltzer was uniquely qualified to write this epic story. He grew up reading comics (the first comic he ever bought was an issue of the Justice League) and has been a life long fan and reader. Since he's established himself as a fine writer of thrillers, at first it seemed odd for him to write comics, but it was something he has said that he had always wanted to do.

Lucky for the fans that he did. Identity Crisis created enormous buzz in the industry and was given the red carpet treatment that it frankly deserved. It's probably the greatest DC comics event of the decade with the arguable exception of "Batman: Hush."

Here though, instead of a straight superhero story, Meltzer brings his unique gifts into play as he explores the people behind the costumes and weaves a deft mystery into the plot as well. Meltzer said on NPR once that he was puzzled why there aren't more mysteries written into comics today. This is a valid statement. When a good mystery is written, fans come a flocking and the buzz is usually good. Look at Batman: The Long Halloween. Jeph Loeb wrote a first rate mystery and it became one of the more successful Batman projects of the 90's.

Well, here in Identity Crisis, the mystery is first rate and the reader is taken through numerous twists and turns in the plot and by the time the story is finished, the reader will be shocked by the final revelation. The result is an entertaining and satisfying read to be enjoyed by both regular and first time comic book readers of all ages.

There are people who aren't quite ready to deal with the realities of the human condition. Those people will be better off passing over this book.

However, if you do have a strong head and heart, and are ready for your comic book characters to appear a bit more human, come on in. This book is a heck of an emotional ride. I'll admit that the brutality of some of the acts in the story were very unsettling to me, but that's what Super heroes would have to deal with most of their lives. Seeing the violence touch their own familes is going to bring out some complex and disturbing thoughts and emotions. However, Brad Meltzer handles the events with the utmost care and we are presented with a much more human side to the people who are supposed to be 'super-human.'

I for one was glad for the honest approach that Meltzer took with this story. I was also wracking my brain to figure out how the crimes where commited, and I have to admit that the final answer was a revelation to me. Again, Batman wins the right to be called the world's greatest detective.

You may never look at your heroes the same, but don't forget that they are human too. I guess the fact that I know how I would react to a situation like this in my own family gives me the ability to sympathize with the characters of this story.

Oh, and I'd give this 6 stars too, for Rags Morales great artwork. I kept feeling like all of the characters looked familiar, and then I read his cast of characters appendix. Great work!

When it comes to comics featuring superheros the storys are slmost entirely character driven, focusing on what the characters are thinking. But in books like these where there are numerous characters the books become more meaningful, the plots and interactions become better and this book is about as good as you can get.
It contains the best fight in comics for the last decade: "Slade vs. the Justice League."
It contains one of the best opening scenes in comics, the death of Sue Dinby.
It has numerous great points of foreshadowing that sets up the entire Infinate Crises (something that fell short of this book.)
The only thing that fell short, and I'm certain many will agree with me here, was the ending. And that is because there was no way to end this correctly. Its like the movie "Seven" there is no way to end the movie that would be cooler than all the stuff that came before it, it can't deliver anymore, because there is nothing else to give. This book held nothing back for the end, which is in its own way a good thing.
This is as good as it gets.

Pros
-----
- great story line IMHO, sparked my interest in reading more comics
- surprised by the detail in the drawings, characters faces were pretty expressive


Cons
------
- as a first time reader, the way the comic book lays out the story was a bit confusing (compared to a novel, it reads like movie or cartoon script might be like), but I into the style quickly enough. Does take getting used to though.

Seriously, I cannot fathom that people gush over this book.

Essentially, what IDENTITY CRISIS was supposed to be was a 'whodunnit' for the DC Universe stable of characters. However, in a world of telepaths, sorcerers and men who shoot laser beams out of their eyes it falls embarrassingly flat on its face. Meltzer composes a story full of plot holes, bad characterization, and enough tired cliches to make any true fan of the genre wince.

Quite possibly the only good comment I could make is that the artist is quite talented... other than that, not a lot to recommend.

Just a great book. The storyline, the emotion in the characters, everything about this story rang true, brilliantly so. Rarely has a comic moved me to tears, or surprised me so well.

I'm not usually enamoured of the big event comics; they tend to skimp on real drama and just go for the big action and the big crossovers. This comic is a major exception. Deaths of minor characters in this book are explored thoughtfully, instead of being glossed over, spring cleaning moments like in Avengers: Disassembled.

Even though I wasn't really familiar with some of the characters murdered in this clever superhero mystery, I really cared about their deaths, their implications, and what they meant to their friends. The crossover and mystery elements are handled ably, making it an easy read.

The art is acceptable -- I'm not a huge Michael Turner fan, so the cover and publicity art didn't excite me, but there's nothing terrible here. A good all-around comic, which just happens to be a big summer event. A nice surprise.

"Identity Crisis" is one of the best comic book events of the decade. It's a powerful mix of sadness, shock and suspense that will leave you guessing "Who benefits?" all the way to the last page. With absoloutely gorgeous artwork from Rags Morales and lights out writing by Meltzer, this book is truly a modern classic.

The plot is fairly simple. Someone's targeting the families of super heroes and after the wife of one of their own is brutally murdered, the super community is out for justice. A pretty simple whodunnit plot on the surface, but throughout the seven chapters, this story sereves to humanize the characters in a way no other book has. The line between good and evil is blurred even more by the actions of the Justice Leauge in this book, and it sets the tone nicely for the new DCU. No other comic has ever left images this memorable engrained in my mind. The image of a soaking wet Ralph Dibney craddling his wife in his arms is absoloutely heartbreaking, and the shot of Batman holding Robin is equally as painful.

All in all I can't give this book a higher recommendation. It's a nice way to kill a few hours and it might change your opinion of comic books totally. This story proves that much like it's audience, comics have grown up.

This graphic novel really blew me away! I went into it with no real expectations other than the fact that Joss Whedon did the introduction and I am a big lover of Joss Whedon (not in the "He's my lover!" way but I love his work). Anyway, as a Marvel guy (and trash me now, I know) I really wasn't sure if DC mainstream story lines could get into the nitty-gritty like Marvel lines can. Man, was I wrong! Wow, did Meltzer deliver! Wow, is this an awesome comic book!

For the longest time, if I was a fan of any DC character, it was Batman. Supes just never did it for me. Too Boy Scout for my tastes. But comics like this and the recent All Star Superman have been changing my mind. Add into that Green Arrow (wow, does this guy kick a$$), Elongated Man (thought he was going to be a Plastic Man knock-off - wrong again!), Zantana (what a babe), and all the rest and damn this was an amazing cast of characters. God, Tim Drake was amazing. I was reading Batman when Tim became Robin (Bregfoyle rules!) but he was never as dynamic and cool as this.

I've been staying away from all the Infinity Crisis stuff but maybe I was wrong to do so. Maybe DC Comics is capable of even more in-depth, character-changing writing than I thought they were. I used to say Make Mine Marvel. Maybe I'm a little wrong...

Identity Crisis was horrible. And I don't mean the quality, I mean it was appalling. The critics who liked this story would have you believe that this story makes superheroes more human, which is what they said about Watchmen. I've read Watchmen, and Identity Crisis isn't even close. It doesn't deconstruck superheroes, it destroys them utterly. It is violent and negative, and there isn't one redeeming quality given to any character, so there isn't one redeeming quality to the entire book.

If, like me, you read any DC books in 2005, then even if you didn't read Identity Crisis, you probably have some idea of what happened. So this will contain spoilers for anyone who hasn't heard of this before.

It begins with the death of Sue Dibny, the wife of Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man. Neither character has been making appearances of late, but the Elongated Man was a member of at least two versions of the Justice League, and Sue was always right there with him. The Dibny's were a rarity when I started reading comics. A superhero was married, and his identity was public. Sue was the heart of the team, keeping them down-to-earth.

Sue Dibny was what made the team more human.

Writers often kill off the main characters' love interest because they think it makes the character more vulnerable, or just as a way of shaking things up: The love interest is expendable, the hero is not. To my mind this makes the hero less human. Now they're back to being a superhero because of noble reasons, abstract reasons like "doing what's right" which is hard to pull off in this cynical society. But saving the world because you have loved ones living on said world makes a lot more sense to the average person.

Then, in a flashback sequence, it's revealed that the old Justice League villain Dr. Light had raped Sue Dibny. So not only did they (the creative team) kill the person who used to be the heart and soul of the team, they raped her too.

This starts a cascade effect in which it's revealed that B-List members of the Justice League tried to use Zatanna's magic to restructure the personalities of villains, to change their behavior. Green Arrow shows obvious signs of guilt over what "had to be done" but they just kept violating people's minds arbitrarily, the way a villain would. It turns out this is why, when a villain first show up they're a threat, but after they keep getting beaten time after time for ten years, the villain is a joke.

The mystery continues, another hero's family member dies, a lot of side characters are introduced and followed who add absolutley nothing to the story other than taking up space.

In the end the mystery is solved, and it turns out it wasn't a mind-altered villain at all! So the whole revelation about the heroes' mind altering spells had nothing to do with the actual story of who killed Sue Dibny! And the reason why the person did what they did was the absolute lamest excuse I've ever heared in any murder mystery. EVER!!!

Oh, and the technique writer Brad Meltzer used to hide who the villain was through the piece . . . Jeph Loeb already used it twice, in Batman: the Long Halloween, and in Batman: Hush. And it's not like he was the first to use it either.

At the end of the story the heroes have been knocked down more pegs than I can count. The revelations get worse and worse, making them look less and less heroic, and less and less like people with a sense of morality. And there are no redeeming features. There's nothing in the story to make you feel like the members of that Justice League team are anything other than power-mad scum.

There are no heroes, everyone's a bad person, the end.

For fans of DC super-hero comic books, this is a "must read" comic.

It helps if you have a love for certain characters in this book, and it helps more or less if you are a fan of DC's silver and bronze age more than the more modern age, I feel.

The beginning is incredible. There are few scenes in comics more powerful than the viewing scene. I don't want to give any details to those who have not read this book or comic series, but you will be floored.

The end, as others have said, is just this far from being a cheat. (I made a little "inch" motion with my forefinger and thumb as I typed that. All without a typo, too!)

I can't help but think there was not a better way to end this book/story.

Still, the ride is great and the art is some of DC's best.



Still, it helps if you have some pe

Let me start off by saying that I'm not much of a DC fan. I may be wrong, but the company has always seemed to ride big events to big sales and then hand over writing and art duties to second stringers until sales slump to a point when they need to put the big names on projects again. Around the time of Identity Crisis, this seemed to change.
Identity Crisis takes the heroes of the DC Universe and has them scrambling to find out who knows their identities. A true mystery which isn't solved until the final issue (or end of the TPB). Every hero reacted in their own way and some of the characters who meet their end will surprise you (even if you thought they were pointless characters). Brad Meltzer did an amazing job of not necessarily re-inventing, but thinking about how each character would react to the situations they encounter. If you hate the DC Universe, give this a shot, it might point you towards a company who appears to be putting their best foot forward again. If you're interested in the storyline, continue on to Villains United, the OMAC Project, and then Infinite Crisis (the other limited series which ran concurrently to Villains and OMAC weren't as good in my opinion and you don't miss anything by avoiding them). Enjoy!

I've have been a comic reader and collector for the past 25 years. Idenity Crisis is one of the best graphic novels I've ever read. This is a story that shakes up the status quo of DC Comic and all that we have come to believe about heroes. This a mature version of comics that will make your think about the cooncept of right and wrong and does the ends really justify the means. A very thought provoking story

This is a real quality story. Brad Meltzer is a good mystery writer with a love of comic heroes, and he incorporates both worlds with wonderful results. This is a true mystery story, not some superhero battle with the story serving as a set up for each fight. The story involves the murder of Elongated Man's wife. Not only does it deal with the heroes trying to solve the mystery, it also deals with the fallout from past events which the heroes took part in. The story really revitalizes some characters, and is a great introduction to the DC universe. You don't have to have read any current DC comics to pick up this story and enjoy it. You will recognize Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, etc. While this is not a Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns, it is one of the best comics I have read in years. Pick this one up, it may spark a new love of comics all over again.

After the "big changes" in comics brought about by mega-crossovers like Marvel's "Secret Wars" and DC's "Crisis on Infinite Earths", the phrase in my review's title became almost a cliche as the publishers felt a marketing imperative to try and shake things up as years went by.
Usually these "events" include such things as rebooting Time, a villain gaining control of the Whatchamacallit of Awesome Cosmic Power, and, of course, killing Superman (who, to paraphrase Monty Python, and to no fan's surprise, got better). But while pieces were rearranged, removed, or returned to the board, nothing really changed.
Until Identity Crisis. Meltzer has crafted a rare thing here. In "going small" instead of big, he has changed everything. With a few deaths - what one might almost call "little deaths" given the characters' minor status in the DC universe - Meltzer has introduced a powerful dynamic of complication into the cape-and-cowl set. His characterization is powerful and dead-on. One can feel the frustration of the heroes as their leads pan out. We're reminded that the villains, too, are human, and gain insight into their underground. It is, in short, a cracking good yarn.
Some fans are hissing about it. That's certainly their right. But for my money Identity Crisis was one of 2005's best reads in comics, if not for anything else but the acknowledgement that the world is a lot more complicated than just "heroes versus villains".

The only reason why i dont give this book a five star is beacuse i'm upset with the writer for showing me a darker side of the heroes that i had come to know and love. That they could do what they did, especially to batman, is unbelievable. But on the otherhand the story is very realistic and keeps you turning the pages for more. I recommend it for anyone interested in mysteries and shocking endings.

Many successful adult fiction authors try their hand at writing children's books. Some such as Dean Koontz with books such as Santa's Twin do it very well. Others such as James Patterson with Santa Kid fail miserably. Brad Meltzer who has conquered the thriller fiction market has also tried his hand at this genre with Identity Crisis.

Actually I ordered this book from my library thinking it would be another thick Meltzer masterpiece novel like his sensational The First Council, The Tenth Justice and Dead Even. So I was a bit surprised when Meltzer's next piece of work turned out to be a comic book. It is not a bad read and all the big superheros are here together in the one book. To be honest comic books are not my thing, so maybe pay more attention to the ratings of regular readers of that genre, but I can realise quality when I see it. If I was looking for a gift for a kid or an adult who never grew out of comics then this would be at the top of my list.

When I first heard about Identity Crisis I wondered how the death of a character as minor as Sue Dibny could possibly be the setup for such an important mini-series but the story turned out to be one of the most emotional comics I've read in the last five years. Unless future writers decide to bury or ignore the events of the story this could have a major impact on the DCU for years to come. It turns out that the Justice League has a very dark secret that could split the team in two. It's actually a very interesting revelation that explains a lot particularly the various times in the past where villains have discovered secrets about the JLA only to have the revelations ignored in future stories.

`Identity Crisis' is one of the more realistic stories portraying some of the older villains as a bit paunchy, a bit more grey and in the case of Captain Boomerang desperate for work. The reader is also presented with a glimpse at the various members of the Secret Society of Super Villains in their off hours; sitting around the old JLA satellite shooting the breeze. I wish more writers would take the time to include characterization on the villains. For instance, Chronos is apparently now capable of seeing into the near future which makes him a pain at poker games. There isn't a tremendous amount of action throughout the series yet it remains tense and intriguing. I made the mistake of discovering the ending before reading the book but still found the story difficult to put down.

Of the various lead-ins to Infinite Crisis `Identity Crisis' and `The OMAC Project' are the two best mini-series and I recommend picking up both. `Villains United' is good but not quite as compelling and `Day of Vengeance' is average at best. I didn't even bother with the `Thannagar-Rann War' because of the abysmal reviews.

Reading the other reviews you know how the story goes. The base of the story is outstanding and hypes up the ending to be something great, but the ending is average at best. It's kind of like a great boxing match ending with a tie.

Someone knows the superheros identities, and is targeting the family members of the heros. First to die is Elongated Man's wife. It is a classic 'locked door' mystery. Next is the attempted murder of Atomic Man's ex-wife, then threats against Lois Lane and Robin (Tim Drake's) father. The Justice League has put all their resources to the mystery, but Flash and Green Lantern discover that the series of brutal crimes have their root in something that some of the JLA reserve members did years ago.

The main theme in this series of comics is what price you pay for the bad decisions in the past. There is also the distrust of family. I liked that this comic brought out the so-called 'reserve members', I didn't really know muct about Atom man, or even that an Elongaded Man existed. It also let me get more familier with Green Arrow, Zatanna, Captian Boomarang, and Mirror Master. The solution to the mystery seems a little bit streined for me, especially how the crimes brought out the guilt of what some of the JLA members did. But a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things.

In the collectors edition of the book is commentery by the writers and artist about their favotrite scenes of the series. Especially interesting is who they modeled all the heros off of (like Nightwing/Dick Greyson is supposed to look like Johnny Depp, or Flash/Wally West is modeled on Brad Pitt). Joss Whedon also writes an introduction for the book. Very cool.

SUE DIBNY (ELONGATED MANS WIFE) ... RAPED & MURDERD !
SUPER-HEROES HUNT SUSPECTS LIKE LINCH MOBS (THEY BEAT THE $HIT OUT OF ALMOST RANDOM VILLIANS LOOKING FOR DR.LIGHT WHO RAPPED HER YEARS BEFORE HER MURDER)
ROBIN'S DAD WAS KILLED BY CAPTAIN BOOMERANG AND THE HEROES PLAY WITH THE MINDS OF VILLIANS AND CHANGE THEM ... BUT DON'T MAKE THEM BEHAVE OR BECOME HEROES (ODD ISN'T IT?) .
THIS BOOK IS A MODERN CLASSIC !

We begin with a romantic story of how elongated man meet his wife Sue, it almost brought tears to my eyes! And then, without warning somebody is threatning his wife. From our hero's end, it may have sounded like she was having a stroke, but no she is being attacked and as you may have guess, she doesn't make it! Well, the question is, who done it? The answer is clear, it has to be one of the many villians looking for revenge, but which one! Dr. Aruther Light, he's the guilty man, your honor, send him to jail! Why the reject? well it appears that some time ago, a select group of heroes within the JLA kindof ... kick him out of the mensa group he belonged to! Yeah, that is putting it nicely! In the battal with Dr. Light he somehow rememebers everything that happens to him and is very pissed off, you would be too, MENSA doesn't accept just anybody ;-) Okay if it isn't Dr. Light who else? Would you believe a super villian w/o super powers who just throws a bomagrang around I believe he's called Captain WTF!!! anyway, WTF manages to make Tim Drake, the current Robin an orphan, it's about damn time DC decided to do something about that. Don't get me wrong, when Drake cried I cried but a Robin with parents! I know things have to change but Batman is suppose to be the father figure to Robin and I know change is good but lets leave some things the way they are suppose to be! Batman and Robin Forever, as it is damnit! Anyway, this killer comes into Batman's world and he going to use his detective skills to figure out who the killer is. Which is the guy, Green Arrow should have called in, in the first place instead of those B rate super heros. Wait, he didn't need to call him, he got there before anyone else! (That's what I love and hate about Batman)anyway, he solves the crime, as if you didn't know! Which to my dismay leads to one of my favorite superhero! Before the last chapter, I keep saying to myself! "NOT HIM! NOT MOTHER ******* HIM!" So, the killer turned out to be Ato .... Nope, telling you here would be wrong.

This book well-written as it is leads to prelude to infinite crisis and sets the stage for a book called "Lights OUT!" I think is the title, With Dr. Light vs all the figging Teen Titans past and present. After this book, Dr. Light is no joke and he's gunning for Green Arrow and the Titans. So if you're getting into the DC universe in 2006 this book and inifinte crisis, prelude not the actual inifinte crisis, are the places to start so you can know what is going on right now! I can't wait to see how it ends.

I never thought a comic would make me cry. More than once.

The extreme violence involving characters that traditionally were untouchable support characters through the decades is very upsetting to a lot of fans; but I don't think a death for someone like Sue could be done better.

Batman is done brilliantly. He's not just a character, he's a presence, unseen, but watching and thinking. He dosen't appear until after 100 pages plus, but his messages and his effect on those around him are very loud and clear. He dosen't attend the funeral; too busy working in the Cave to solve the murder.

Read this book. If not for the touching moments, for the perfect rendering of the characters. Never underestimate the supporting cast.

I grew up reading comics and my interests have waxed and waned until I only bought DC Comics. Well I'm not buying them anymore because of Identity Crisis - a story that stinks. This story stinks because Barry Allen, the second Flash, was the deciding vote to mindwipe Dr. Light and then other villains. This is not what Barry would have done in the old days because when the Reverse Flash murdered his wife Iris (although her parents transplanted her mind into another body), he did not kill him then. He killed him later, but he agonized about it what he did and he was found not guilty. Under any circumstance, Barry would not have voted to mindwipe any villain and the fact that later he mindwiped the Top into a do-gooder who mindwiped other villains, including the Trickster not only makes Barry and the other Justice Leaguers who mindwiped villains no better than the villains themselves and also undercuts the Trickster's earnest efforts to reform not only so that he doesn't meet the demon Neron in Hell, but also undercuts his relation with his son.
Further, I don't think the JSA will want to team up with the JLA anymore when they find out what happened and I've always
looked forward to JLA-JSA teamups, nor were any of the deaths in IC necessary. Overall, this is a story that DC should have looked at in great detail and rejected as utterly stupid, but then, DC has done this in the past after Crisis On Infinite Earths with continuity-screwing stories like Hawkworld which led to Zero Hour and now they've done it again.
I have been castigated for my views on this before and I don't care because DC has put out a stinker of a story that has turned me off completely and I refuse to buy any more of their comics.

DC Comics' Identity Crisis has been acclaimed by critics and fans. The rationale for its success can be attributed to the following main reasons;

1) an engrossing plot line that is skilfully written
2) beautiful art work
3) a gripping story that has impact on the characters

This is why Identity Crisis will also be considered a standard twenty years from now.

The pacing is over-the-top while the passion of the characters is felt with emotions running high in their search for the culprit(s). Meltzer makes us care about Elongated Man's pain, Robin's intense reaction to his inability in rescuing the most important person of his life as well as The Atom's poignant reaction towards the murderer.

While the script contains strong elements, it is Meltzer's ability to manipulate the reader with the heroes and villains' characterization that makes him capture our imagination. After battering our senses with death and tragedy, Meltzer hits it out of the ballpark with the final act. Life and the human sprit endure for our heroes despite the loss of their loved ones. They all come to terms with it in their own time and manner with the aftermath of the situation. The interaction between Superman and his mother, Nightwing attempting to reach out to Robin in his hour of need or Elongated Man coping with his grief gives the story the proper closure that makes this series an instant classic.

A powerful script does not make a great comic. There....

....I said it and am glad that I did because it is the truth point blank. Many argue that visual is not important or secondary to which I have to wonder why they bother with comic books instead of a novel in the first place. While Meltzer's ability as a comic book writer is the revelation, it is Rags Morales' artwork for Identity Crisis that has now propelled him as one of the top tier pencillers of the industry. With inspired styling from the likes of Neal Adams and John Buscema, Morales has developed his own that breathes life and authenticity to the characters. Every range of the human expression is to be found here and his realistic rendering is as much to be credited for the series' success as Meltzer's writing.

The events that transpire within the story leaves a permanent mark in the DC Universe and have consequences for years to come. Identity Crisis is the best super-hero saga since the cancellation of James Robinson and Tony Harris' Starman. This is not about the fancy costumes or gimmicks but rather the brave men and women who wear them. Specifically, the possible dangers, consequences and regrets that await for committing themselves to be noble with their gifts.

Review by Brian Grindrod

As a kid, I was into comic books big time. Every week I blew my entire allowance on comics...both Marvel and DC. Over time, it became too hard for me to continue collecting (part of which I blame on DC's lackluster performance in the late 90s and Marvel's super over-kill of X-titles)...and while I love comics, I eventually fell out of it all.
Ocasionally, I drop in to the local comic shops to pick up some trade paper backs... Garth Ennis' Punisher and Preacher primarily my main vices, along w/ titles like Kingdom Come, Sin City and The Dark Knight Returns Pt 2.
Last week, I made the occasional trip to the comic store. The friendly clerk at the store happened to pass by and asked if I needed any help. Intimidated by the wall of new comics in front of me, I told him how I've become a casual reader, and how daunting all these new titles and the fear of trying to jump into continuities that I know nothing about, was hounding me. This clerk was passionate about comics, and began to tell me about the 2 current major events: House of M (Marvel) and Infinite Crisis (DC). His synopsis of these titles, and the energetic spark that flowed in his words had me hooked. His passion rubbed off on me, and it made me want to read these titles. He told me if I wanted to read Inifinte Crisis, I should start with Identity Crisis, and follow through with the Countdown to Infinite Crisis books. I bought both Idenity Crisis and the OMAC Prjoect right there and then.

Having finished both books, I can say this: I want to collect comic books again.

Identity Crisis has injected a new twist, a new outlook on the DC Universe that has me begging for more. I won't go into a synopsis, or my opinions on the writing or art work. You can read other member's reviews for that.

The new DCU is rife with re-evaluated relationships...where B and C level superheroes are looked down upon by A list heroes, just as fans see them. Where trust has been broken between heroes... where paranoia and friction exist. A new unvierse where everyone, even the immortal Superman, is vulnerable. The world, the real world, is not perfect. The new DCU reflects this...showing that not all the heroes are so chummy all the time. And rather than 're-invent' the silver age of DC... it's used and remembered just as how the events happened, but revelations of what occured behind the scenes throw an interesting twist and new outlook of those light-hearted and sometimes goofy stories.

Identity Crisis is the perfect jumping point into this new, dynamic universe. I see it like this: Battlestar Galactica fans are upset over the latest re-invention of the series...while noobs like me are hooked on each and every episode of the new series. Watch an old episode of Battlestar, and it's damn cheesy. Watch a new episode, and it's intense and gritty. Give me new any day. Screw tradition.

Even if you have no intention of reading Infinite Crisis, Identity Crisis is a self-contained mystery that will satisfy you when you finish that last page. You don't have to read anymore after that if you don't want to...it's only the sub-plot elements from this book that continue into Infinite Crisis.

For the long-term fans who are dis-satisfied with what DC is doing to it's heroes...perhaps you should do as I had 10 years ago...and quit. Then maybe, in 10 years, you will find something new that excites you, and like me, will be drawn back in.

I really think that Amazon needs to give us the option of using half-star ratings so that I could give this a 4-and-a-half-star rating. This is a very intriguing story that, despite a few minor flaws here and there, keeps the reader very interested in what's going to happen next.
I should first say that a good knowledge of the DC universe is very helpful for this story, seeing as how a lot of backstory is brought up. Fortunately for me, while I don't have as good a knowledge of DC as I do for Marvel (although I do know a good amount about Batman), my roommates are comic experts and were able to fill in the gaps for me.
After the tragic death of Sue Debny, wife of the Ralph Debny, who is the secret identity-less Elongated Man, the members of the Justice League of America as well as pretty much every other superhero team in the DC universe is brought together to investigate. For one thing, Sue was a friend to nearly every member, and (perhaps more importantly) the murderer presents a personal risk to each and every one of them. Even though the public knew Elongated Man's identity, the killer was still able to seamlessly enter the house of a JLA member, kill his wife, and get away. Any wife, husband, parent, or child of the heroes could be next.
Different heroes follow different leads. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman (DC's big three) all pursue different targets, while Oliver "Ollie" Queene (the Green Arrow), Zatanna, Hawkman, Ray Palmer (the Atom), and Black Canary. Turns out that the five of them (along with Barry "The Flash" Allen and Hal "Green Lantern" Jordan) did something to the villain Dr. Light a few years back, and they believe that he wants revenge. The only problem is that they don't want the other members of the League to know about what they did, especially Batman and Superman.
As the mystery unfolds, the new Flash and Green Lantern learn about the misdeeds of their predecessors, and the heroes are forced to come to grips with the mortality of their loved ones and the consequences of having secret identities. While the ending is definitely unexpected, it is slightly weak, and could have been done a little better. Also, a few plot points feel a little forced (especially one involving Batman), but overall, the story is great.
While the death of Elongated Man's wife is the story's catalyst and Batman has a very important part towards the end, this is essentially the Green Arrow's book. The most time is devoted to him, and he provides most of the book's narration. Most of the big DC characters get their own scenes (with the notable exception of Wonder Woman), and the ones involving Tim Drake (the newest kid who has taken on the mantle of Robin) are especially important, but the Green Arrow is the main character here. I'm not saying that this is a good or bad thing, but just to say who the focus is in this story.
Featuring a good mystery, great fight scenes, especially one involving Deathstroke, and good writing, Identity Crisis is a good read for most fans of the DC universe.

I grew up reading Marvel Comics and I never found myself ever reading or enjoying the DC Universe titles. As I grew up my taste in comics matured and some of the comics changed with me to reflect that. The best examples are books like Alias, Powers and Supreme Power: but none of those books really did anything to the mainstream comics. Instead they took the second rate characters or just created new ones. DC decided to take the next step with Identity Crisis.

I could not put this book down.

I have recently been reading DC Comics and had some knowledge of who the characters were, but I don't think I would have needed that knowledge to enjoy this book as much as I did. It was beautiful, edgy and so very real. It drove spikes into my heart and made me love and hate so many characters.

This book has made a believer out of me. From now on my comic book stack will now have both Marvel and DC titles in it.

This is probably a work best enjoyed by readers with a casual acquaintance with the characters and history of the DC Universe. Total neophytes, for instance, would likely be wondering who Zatanna, Dr. Light, Firestorm, the Calculator, and Deathstroke are. Longtime fans will know all the nuances of the backstories of every hero and villain, all the way through all of the revisions, reboots, retcons, and assorted Crises, and they may find the treatment of some of the protagonists to be clumsy, illogical, or even a betrayal of their characters. So if you have enough of a grounding to know who all of these costumed men and women are without being able to name the issue numbers of their first appearances, you're probably the best target audience.

In origin, the story seems to have blossomed from Meltzer's musing about how the superheroes have been able to keep their civilian identities hidden for so many years. It's been shown on a number of occasions that assorted criminal scum have figured out who they are, and yet nothing ever seems to come of that knowledge. To this germ of an idea he adds two additional speculations: why are Zatanna and Dr. Light so ineffective? The former is the leading sorceress of the DCU and she can accomplish practically anything just by willing it to be so (and speaking her commands sdrawkcab). And Dr. Light should be far more powerful, but he's regularly been a punching bag for the Teen Titans and is one of the jokes of the supervillain community. (And, perhaps not coincidentally, another infamous joke of the fraternity of evildoers, Captain Boomerang, plays a major role in this tale.)

From his speculations, Meltzer puts together a tale in which the heroes have to face a major issue: how far do you go to protect your loved ones from vengeance? What if your ideals and ethics are in direct contradiction to your need to safeguard your family? What rights do vile homicidal criminal scum have? And what happens if your own colleagues take a stand against your efforts? There are no clear-cut right answers. But it's certain that the consequences of decisions made years ago in secret by a minority of the League of Superheroes begin to reverberate in the present of this tale, and indeed are even now currently playing out across the DCU, most lately in the just-launched Infinite Crisis.

This is a well-told tale with a number of twists and reversals and revelations, and it gives leading roles to two lesser lights of the DC world, the Atom (who, subsequent to this story, is on semi-permanent hiatus) and the Elongated Man, plus very significant screen time to DC's social conscience, Green Arrow. There are also recurring cameos from the Calculator, Merlyn, and various B-grade villains. (And on the do-gooder side, we even see Firehawk, Animal Man, and the Metal Men.) The set piece battle with Deathstroke is extremely well done and (arguably) makes sense, given his ability and the fact that he spends his time sitting around thinking of nothing else other than how to defeat them with a thousand contingency tactics. The art and coloring are excellent, particularly Sue Dibny's funeral scene.

Ultimately, if you think too much about it, there are some serious structural and logical problems, particularly in the events following the climax, and a number of "But why didn't Captain So-And-So do this?" moments. And, given that the story jumps back and forth across a span of years, there are inevitable continuity problems involving certain characters who had retroactively been written out of one or another incarnation of the League. And the actual denouement doesn't quite play out right, to my way of thinking. It involves a cliched slip of the tongue on the part of the villain, and is dropped in so leadenly that it's as if the antagonist simply wanted to be caught.

Bonus material for this volume includes a forward by Joss Whedon, alternate covers from the second, third, and fourth printing of the original issues, and commentary at the end by the creative team on what they were trying to do, how they did it, and what their favorite parts were.

Brad Meltzer said he wrote this collected seven-issue miniseries as a "love letter" to Silver Age DC Comics, and the result is a very beautifully detailed and highly powerful account of the Justice League's involvement in solving the murder of the beloved wife of one of its members, the Elongated Man. The fan reaction to the product has been enormously mixed, and I would have to echo it: although the finished product is beautiful, no one really wanted to see Sue Dibny (the murder victim) killed, given that she was one of the few Silver Age supporting characters still left around anyway, and that her murderer is unveiled as one of the few remaining others. The loss of these two characters seems almost willfully melodramatic, as does Meltzer's habit of wildly overdramatizing (even by comic book standards) every revelation or confrontation in the book. Still, the art by Rags Morales is splendid, and the coloring work by Alex Sinclair is nothing short of sensational, adding much to Morales's beautiful linework. Some of the sequences are so beautifully done by this team that they carry almost all before it: of special note are Sue's memorial service in the Central City Cathedral, the flashback to Sue's rape, and the creepy haunting scene of the villains gathered in the decaying empty satellite. Notice, though, that I say "almost all": the biggest faults of this miniseries (other than the needless loss of the two characters) are in the plotting, and it has an incredible number of holes in it which almost defy explanation. Why couldn't the world's greatest detectives solve this murder faster given their command in this miniseries of so many sophisticated alien technologies? How can the Atom perform his "phone trick" through cell phones when it has always been dependent on moving through actual phone wires? Why did the murderer (who has twice had nervous breakdowns before in comics history) go suddenly from being simply neurotic and unhappy for over forty years to suddenly being in this miniseries a psychotic murderer? Why was the murder plot and the revelation of it stolen almost entirely from Scott Turow's PRESUMED INNOCENT? And why would the murderer be placed finally in the world's worst and most dangerous insane asylum (in a different city entirely from where she lives or from where she committed the crime) if her partner truly cared for her? And why was she just happening to be carrying that flamethrower, anyway?

Many many years ago I got hooked on a DC superhero series: Jim Shooter's Legion of Superheroes, then appearing in Adventure and the back of Action Comics. Here were kids just a few years older than me having adventures, but with the beginnings of real personalities and real emotion. Four heroes scared to death and fleeing through time from a fantasically powerful sorcerer Mordru. Teenage romance -- ah! Even heroes with flaws, as Timber Wolf fought drug addiction and Matter-Eater Lad struggled with his father's alcoholism.

For the next ten years I read almost every comic that I could lay hands on, but as the overall quality took a nosedive in the seventies I gradually quit. By the eighties the only thing I was reading was the New Teen Titans, with scripts by Marvelous Marv Wolfman and exquisite George Perez art. Again, what I found compelling was a group of kids, this time about my own age despite the misleading label "Teen" Titans, who had real emotions and real personalities. Dick Grayson was the leader I always wanted to be -- fighting his own inner demons. His alien girlfriend Koriand'r, the most wonderful woman in the history of literature. I think I loved her more than Dick did. Gar Logan, the youngest of the lot, covering up a mountain of pain with his wisecracks and girl-craziness. Wonderful, solid, always reliable Donna Troy. It wasn't just a superhero team. The Titans were family. When Tara died as a traitor I felt like I'd been eviscerated, and I slowly drifted away from the Titans -- and comics.

Finally I read Crisis on Infinite Earths, and if I loved Wolfman and Perez on Titans, I hated them now. Fifty years of DC continuity -- down the tubes. Everything starts over. Zero Hour was more of the same but worse. I never wanted to see another comic again. I took up serious literature. OK, that's not entirely right. I took up mysteries, thrillers, and Grisham novels.

Brad Meltzer. Good plotter, sometimes the endings are a little weak and require a lot of suspension of disbelief, but so what. I read all his stuff anyway. So, to my utter astonishment, I find . . . Brad Meltzer is writing comics???
About heroes I've heard of?

Seriously though, this is good stuff. This is what superheroes would be like if they really existed and wore costumes. Powerful, but like you and me they ache when they lose a loved one, and they get over-protective and they get angry.

And they face serious moral dilemmas that they try to solve the best they can, and sometimes they do the right thing and sometimes they don't and sometimes they have to worry, and worry, and wonder for years if what they did will someday blow up in their faces.

In "Identity Crisis" a BIG moral dilemma blows up in the faces of heroes you've known for years. The murder mystery itself is good, but typical Meltzer -- resolved a little too quickly and just a little too far fetched to be great. There were some things I didn't quite understand, probably from being away from comics for 20 years, and there were some loose ends that didn't get tied up, and not a little bit of foreshadowing for what lies ahead. I've even heard rumors that "Identity Crisis" is the springboard for another enormous change in the DC universe, perhaps even more sweeping, if that is possible, than "Crisis on Infinite Earths." All I know is, Meltzer has got me interested in comics again.

Shooter gave us heroes with personalities. Wolfman gave us heroes we care about as family. Meltzer doesn't give us heroes -- he even calls them, rather derisively, "capes" -- he gives us people. With ethical struggles. Just like the rest of us.

Good job.

"Identity Crisis", for better or worse, signalled the death of the DC Universe as everyone knew it. Whether the new DC is an improvement is a matter of opionion, but certain objective conclusions can be drawn. For one, it now seems that stories are event-driven. For another, it no longer seems important to DC that characters are written true to themselves.

"Identity Crisis" was not a reality-altering cosmic story like the legendary "Crisis on Infinite Earths" or its current sequel "Infinite Crisis", but nonetheless, it reshaped the DCU as much or more than the original Crisis by completely altering the way that DC stories are told, by changing the very underpinnings of the classic characters. Although the results of these changes can be dramatic and even compelling at times, the problem is that many of the characters are an ill fit for this kind of storytelling. They simply weren't designed for it.

It's akin to using the wrong tool for a job. You can use pliars as a makeshift hammer in a pinch, but you're liable to ruin the pliars. Similarly, putting classic silver age characters into a Meltzer whodunit strains the characters and threatens to ruin them. For some, it did ruin them.

Specifically, I'm talking about the Elongated Man and the Atom, two characters forever altered by Identity Crisis. Let's look at who these heroes are.

Ralph Digby, the Elongated Man, came to comics during the late silver age in a series of classic stories in Detective Comics. Countering the darker late sixties/early seventies Batman stories at the front of the book, his 8-page backups were lighter fare, providing both mystery and humor. He and his wife Sue were a modern-day Nick and Nora Charles, wealthy world-travelers who solved mysteries in their spare time. Only, Ralph happened to be a stretchable superhero to boot. The stories are considered classics, and need to be collected in an Archives Edition, by the way. The bottom line is that Ralph and Sue are characters who exist to bring a smile to your face.

Ray Palmer, the Atom, began earlier in the silver age than Ralph. He was a part of the early sixties "second wave" of revivals following the creation of a new Flash, Green Lantern, etc. Ray was an adventurer-at-heart who lived a scientist's life until he developed his shrinking powers. Ever a thinking man's superhero, Ray also had a unique motivation for heroing. He got into it to help his girlfriend lawyer, Jean, prove herself in her career so she would then marry him. The Atom's early stories have been collected in two Archive Editions thus far. It's great stuff with legendary art by Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson. But for my purposes here, the important thing is that the Atom is an optimistic hero who exemplifies the silver age ideal of endless possibilities. He's the kind of guy who believes he can overcome any obstacle, and because of that belief, he does. For her part, Jean is hard-driven and ambitious, but kind-hearted to a fault. Even in stories up through the eighties when she cheats on Ray and divorces him, they remained friends and had a healthy relationship.

None of these characters belong in a story like Identity Crisis. To be sure, there are DC characters who do fit into it, but it seems illogical to pound square pegs like Ralph, Ray, Sue and Jean into the round holes that Meltzer's story required. The results don't ring true, because these wonderful characters are no longer recognizable.

Not recommended.

Up until recently I've been a very casual comic book reader. After reading various comics published by DC that mentioned "Identity Crisis" and finding it hard to avoid "spoilers" everywhere on the web I picked this up the day it was released to get caught up and find out what all the fuss was about. After closing the book, I was shocked about how much a "superhero book" could affect me emotionally. I had lost a very beloved family member a few days before reading this, and I'll admit it did affect the way I viewed this book. But in looking back at it "cold", I believe it stands incredibly well as a graphic novel, a tragic love story and a mystery.

The plot has already been gone over well, so I won't go there. Basically, it's what would be a fairly standard mystery except for that it surrounds the murder of the wife of someone named "The Elongated Man", has Wonder Woman deliver the eulogy, and a perplexing question is how a murderer could get around technology from places including Krypton. Typing it, it does sound like the book could have been a huge joke and misstep for DC- but in my opinion it was very effective.

I was not familiar with Sue Dibny, but I cried when her husband held her dead body in his arms (and saw the surprise present she gave him for his birthday) and the scenes at her funeral. My heart went out when another character lost a very close loved one, and I really felt the tension when the Justice League were at moral odds with one another. I will admit I was very unhappy when we were shown that Sue had been attacked before- by being raped by someone usually referred to as a fairly silly villian. This scene was the hardest for me to read. However it was done off panel, and we are basically shown reactions and some slurs from the rapist- it is not done graphically or sleazily but the very nature of it is harsh. Personally, I read comics for entertainment and as a break, but I did understand what this book was going for. I do not think sexual violence should have any place in 'superhero' comics and I do not believe it was needed in this story to give it more impact, but that's my own opinion.

I think this story has polarized a lot of comic readers. Some would like this genre to stay more classic with pages of fights with supervillians- and that's an extremely valid point. Others are open to and even prefer more adult stories like this one, and the sales of this storyline and the amount of buzz surrounding this have shown it's brought many people back to comics- or even into them the first time. Neither view is wrong, but it makes books like this tricky. Personally I love classic superhero tales but Identity & Infinite Crisis have got me reading current "big title" books for the first time and I'm really enjoying them.

If you go into this story already judging it, and picking apart the mystery aspect and every character action- you'll probably be left dissapointed. It's very well-structured, but parts are manipulated to get things rolling in a different direction. If you're debating reading this, all I can do is recommend that you go in with an open mind and read this with your heart on your sleeve. In the end this is just a book about people, relationships, and the pain we automatically accept when we love and care about someone. If you're ready to believe a superhero, under the mask, can love and lose as much as yourself... then I believe you will get something out of Identity Crisis.

I do not know what kind of garbage Meltzer and the DC editors are doing, but it reeks of very poor taste. Brutal murder, a JLA that mind wipes it's own members, tearing apart what is supposed to make heroes good and noble, and in the end a murder mystery that has a clutz ending. This was just a shock experiment on DC's part. If anyone in the comics industry thought thie was a great idea, then they are truely sick. This is suposed to be a Comic Book Universe, not the sad patheic world that we see every night on the 6pm news. There are ways to make heroes human without doing a tasteless story like this. DC Comics has crossed a line that they can never take back. Both the editors, Meltzer, and the quack writer that wrote a front line commentery for this book should now be seen for the tasteless people they are. You will never want to read a DC book again.

I do not know what kind of garbage Meltzer and the DC editors are doing, but it reeks of very poor taste. Brutal murder, a JLA that mind wipes it's own members, tearing apart what is supposed to make heroes good and noble, and in the end a murder mystery that has a clutz ending. This was just a shock experiment on DC's part. If anyone in the comics industry thought thie was a great idea, then they are truely sick. This is suposed to be a Comic Book Universe, not the sad patheic world that we see every night on the 6pm news. There are ways to make heroes human without doing a tasteless story like this. DC Comics has crossed a line that they can never take back. Both the editors, Meltzer, and the quack writer that wrote a front line commentery for this book should now be seen for the tasteless people they are.

The monumental seven issue limited series "Identity Crisis" is finally collected into one large hardcover volume and loaded with extras. This series, which sparked controversy among long time fans of the Justice League, casts the moralistic league in a new, and rather dark light. In many ways Identity Crisis serves to out do Marvel Comics at its own game of showing the frailty of superheroes, long their trademark.

As the story unfolds, Sue Dibney, the wife of the Elongated Man has been murdered, and her body badly burned. The Didney's home was outfitted with the most advanced security systems available and yet the killer got in and left without a single clue. Even the combined abilities of Mister Miracle, The Atom, The Ray, The Metal Men, and Animal Man cannot find even the slightest trace of a clue.

After the funeral, attended by most of the heroes of the DC universe, teams are formed to track down villains who use fire as a power and soon the Teen Titans, The Outsiders, The JSA, the old JLI, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle, and others are hot on the trail of the suspects. But another group meets in secret...a group including Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Canary, Zatanna, Atom, and the Elongated Man. When The Flash sneaks in on the meeting he learns of a startling revelation. Years earlier, in the League's satellite headquarters, Sue Dibney was alone stargazing when she was attacked and sexually assaulted by Doctor Light. The maniacal Light then threatened the wives of the other members so this group, without the knowledge of Superman or Batman, had Zatanna perform a magical lobotomy on Doctor Light, but only after a divided vote among the members with The Flash (Barry Allen) providing the deciding vote.

The Flash is outraged but reluctantly joins the group in their search for Light. Meanwhile Jean Loring, the ex-wife of Ray Palmer (The Atom) is attacked and hung but survives. Again no clues can be found. Now all of the heroes with family are on edge. Someone is targeting their loved ones. Is it Doctor Light, or another villain?

Identity Crisis presents a divided league and one were not uses to seeing. Wally cannot believe that Barry Allen would have voted to mess with Light's mind. What's interesting is how the members are more afraid of Batman finding out about what they did than Superman. Some fans may look at this as tainting the reputation of the JLA but on the other hand this is not the 1960's anymore. It's a harsh world we live in and writer Brad Meltzer has reflected this among the JLA members.

The art by Rags Morales and Michael Bair is just gorgeous. The battle with Deathstroke was among the most dynamic I've seen in years. Bair has been a favorite of mine since his days on the Young All-Stars. He's an extremely underrated talent. The book features an introduction by Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon and also features commentary by Meltzer and Morales on specific scenes such as why Batman was not in attendance at Sues funeral, the seating arrangement of the heroes at the funeral, and the science involved in the battle with Deathstroke. They also discuss the scene where Sue is sexually assaulted by Doctor Light and how the colors by Alex Sinclair show the cold tragedy of the scene. This commentary truly helps the reader understand the story in greater depth. Finally there's also a cover gallery of the various variant covers that were produced.

Identity Crisis in many ways is an even more important series than the namesake Crisis on Infinite Earths from the 1980's. While that series ultimately generated little change to the DC universe outside of the Death of Barry Allen, Identity Crisis is a story that could have lingering effects for years to come.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

In age of great storytelling in the graphic medium we get Identity Crisis which must be good because it has a writer from outside comics who has done some big work elsewhere. Unfortunately, writer-hype and tail-wagging-the-dog foreshadowing of a another yawn-inducing universe shake-up do not a gripping story make.

The "shocking revelation" of the story, might be shocking if similar subjects hadn't been broached before (see original Squadron Supreme) or if it wasn't predicated on characters being complete idiots and/or acting in ways radically different from how they had been presented before. The revelation of the murder might have some emotional impact if it didn't come from left field (a good mystery is suppose to have clues a reader can figure out) and if it didn't fall into old (negative) portrayals of women so common in comics.

Identity Crisis is not badly written when taken as individual issues, its only that there are no rewards waiting--other than the sad lesson that all too often hype is only hype.

Best selling novelist and one time Green Arrow scribe Brad Meltzer weaves this best selling mini-series, which attempts to begin to turn the DC universe on it's ear. Identity Crisis focuses on the risks that one takes when they choose to become a costumed super hero, and the murder mystery that Meltzer weaves makes a majority of Identity Crisis a page turner. It begins with the murder of Sue Dibny, wife of Justice Leaguer Ralph Dibny AKA the Elongated Man. Soon enough, Ralph joins up with other Leaguers Green Arrow, Flash, Zatanna, Black Canary, Hawkman, the Atom, and Green Lantern to find Dr. Light, who he believes to be the killer because years ago, Light raped Sue. The reason nobody outside of this group knows this happened, is because through Zatanna's magic, Light was made to forget it ever happened, and in the process, his mind was changed forever from fearsome villain to laughable clown. This revelation opens up a floodgate of secrets and lies, including more murders, and the fact that the killer knows the real identities of the heroes, even those of Superman and Batman. You've got to give Meltzer credit where credit is due: no one has ever cared what's happend to a minor character like Sue Dibny before, and the murder mystery he weaves here is great to say the least. The fight between the aforementioned group and Deathstroke is just plain awesome, and it re-affirms the villain's place as the most deadly foe in the DC universe. However, by the time the final revelations are made, it almost betrays everything that came before it. Purist DC fans will either love it or hate it, but Identity Crisis only serves as a prelude for the upcoming Infinite Crisis in which the villains strike back (notice how it comes nearly 20 years after Crisis on Infinite Earths). The art by penciler Rags Morales and inker Mike Bair isn't anything real special, but it serves it's purpose trying to give the characters a realistic/less cartoony look. All in all, Identity Crisis is worth reading just because of it's premise and the promise it will shake up the DC universe (we've heard this before, but so far, so good), but for those who tuned out years ago when DC tried to be edgy by killing Superman, breaking Batman, and making Green Lantern Hal Jordan a mass murderer, this won't help how you feel.

This pretentious and sorry excuse of a graphic novel should be relegated to the rubbish heap where it belongs. It heralds DC Comic's year-long spiral into a miasma of grim-and-grittiness not seen in the comics industry since the 1980s, and does so in such an clumsy manner it deserves all the contempt it received from many comic fans. Brad Meltzer may fancy himself a hotshot bestselling author, but Identity Crisis shows him up for what he truly is - a hack writer unafraid to use gratuitous and misogynistic violence and death in the place of intelligent story-telling. Since Identity Crisis is so bad, I will have no qualms about revealing major plot points in this review. Readers, beware. Avoid reading further if you do not want any spoilers. Identity Crisis begins with a murder - Sue Dibny, beloved wife of Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man, is brutally murdered in their home. The murderer seemingly got into the house despite an impenetrable web of high-tech security devices of both Earthly and alien origins. Furniture had been trashed and the body of Sue badly burnt. The Justice League immediately assembles a forensics team of their top scientists to study the crime scene for clues. A small cadre of Justice League members (Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Green Arrow, the Atom, Black Canary and Zatanna) suspects that the villainous Dr Light might be the perpetrator - Dr Light's powers include the ability to teleport and to generate intense light and heat, and he apparently teleported into the Justice League satellite and brutally raped Sue under similar circumstances years ago. Zatanna wiped the memory of the rape from Sue's mind to spare her the trauma, and then proceeded to lobotomize Dr Light, turning his evil villainy into harmless incompetence. Apparently the gang had been mind-wiping villains and keeping it secret from other Justice League members like Superman and the Batman who would have disapproved of such extreme measures. Caught by the Batman in the act of lobotomizing Dr Light, the group panicked and mind-wiped the Batman as well. Have secrets of years gone by finally come back to haunt the Justice League? While the above synopsis may sound like the beginnings of a tantalising mystery, don't let that fool you. Identity Crisis is so full of continuity errors, inconsistencies, plot-holes, red herrings and bad characterisation that had it been a novel, it would have been roundly trashed by any self-respecting book critic. Fortunately, it is merely a graphic novel, and everyone knows comic book readers can't be very intelligent or discerning, right? For example, Meltzer would have us believe that the top scientists in the Justice League would be stupid enough not to detect the chemical residue of a flame-thrower, the weapon that was actually used to burn Sue's body after her death. Instead, they flail around ineffectively looking for potential suspects with fire or heat powers. Just what sort of idiots are they? The Batman is supposed to be the world's greatest detective, for God's sake. Another example - faced with a cold-blooded murderer who can seemingly teleport into an ultra-secure facility, what does the Atom do? Give his wife a crossbow for her own protection. Hello? Never heard of a gun? And does everybody in the DC Universe and their grandmothers know the true identity of Robin? The same Robin who did not reveal his true identity to his own father and his closest friends for years? And need I even mention the tiny footprints of death? You have to read it to believe it - how the Justice League finally finds out who was responsible for Sue's murder is so inane I felt unclean after reading the last issue of the mini-series. My advice - if you must read it, borrow it from a friend or from the library, or read it in a comic shop. Don't waste your money on this collection. One star, and that's only because I can't go any lower than that on Amazon.