{"id":31011,"date":"2024-12-03T18:08:47","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T18:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=31011"},"modified":"2024-12-03T18:08:47","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T18:08:47","slug":"identity-crisis-20th-anniversary-deluxe-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/12\/03\/identity-crisis-20th-anniversary-deluxe-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Identity Crisis 20th<\/sup> Anniversary Deluxe Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Brad Meltzer<\/strong>, Rags Morales<\/strong> & Michael Bair <\/strong>& various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-7795-2592-5 (HB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Dark Highlights Not to Be Forgotten\u2026 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> included for dramatic effect.<\/em><\/p>\n

For most of us older acolytes, comics – drenched as they are in childhoods shared and solitary – are a nostalgic wonderland as much as fantasy playground. We grew up with certain characters and they mean a lot to us. It\u2019s often a wrench to share such golden moments with other – usually new or just younger – disciples, especially if those new guys have different notions on what we communally cherish.<\/p>\n

Jam-packed with all the heroes and villains and supporting cast Silver Agers and Boomers grew up with, 2004 miniseries Identity Crisis<\/strong> was, more than any other, the story that changed the tone and timbre of the DC universe forever.<\/p>\n

For such an impressive, far-reaching comics event, the core collection is a rather slim and swift read. Whilst the serialised comic book drove the narrative forward in the manner of a whodunit, most of the character by-play and staggeringly tectonic ripples of the bare-bones murder-mystery at the heart of the story could only be properly experienced in interlinked, individual issues of involved (or perhaps \u201cimplicated\u201d) titles. As this was all absorbed week-by-week, month-by-month, the cumulative effect was both bewildering and engrossing, and I doubt that such a muti-level entertainment experience could be duplicated or even attempted in traditional publishing… or any other medium.
\n\"\"
\nComprising and compiling Identity Crisis<\/strong> #1-7, with additional editorial material from Identity Crisis, Absolute Edition<\/strong>, this potent memento mori opens with an \u2018Introduction by Dan Didio\u2019 <\/em>explaining some hows and whys of the tale. Still controversial after all these years, the plot unfolds next, involving DC heroes brutally, painfully and uncompromisingly re-assessing their careers whilst frantically hunting a murderer.<\/p>\n

This assailant struck too close to home however, killing Sue Dearborn-Dibny<\/em>, the beloved and adored-by-all wife of second-string hero\/deceptively top drawer detective The Elongated Man<\/strong>. The deed is done in \u2018Coffin\u2019<\/em>, exposing a toxic \u2018House of Lies\u2019<\/em> and leading to escalating incidents that point to a cape-&-cowl \u2018Serial Killer\u2019<\/em> on the rampage. However, with heroes at each other\u2019s throats and cuttingly questioning past mistakes – especially a very vocal younger generation of costumed champions only just learning of cover-ups and dubious decisions made by their mentors – eventually, rational heads and deductive procedures force distraught protagonists to ask \u2018Who Benefits\u2019<\/em>.
\n\"\"
\nThis leads to revelatory discoveries on \u2018Father\u2019s Day\u2019<\/em> and appalling disclosures between \u2018Husbands and Wives\u2019<\/em> before the culprit is unmasked and the superhero community reels and begins a long, painful recovery…<\/p>\n

As the investigation proceeds, the heroes – and villains – confront and reassess many of their bedrock principles including tactics, allegiances and even the modern validity of that genre staple, the Secret Identity.<\/p>\n

Throughout, characterisation is spot-on and dialogue is memorable with the artwork never short of magnificent. Moreover, this time the aftershocks of revelation did indeed live up to their hype. How sad then than this central book feels like a rushed \u201cReaders Digest\u201d edition, whilst many of the key moments are scattered in a dozen other (unrelated) collections. Maybe it\u2019s time to start more modern omnibus collected editions, and even make them available digitally\u00a0 too?
\n\"\"
\nAs befits a 20th<\/sup> Anniversary Deluxe Edition<\/strong>, there is a vast amount of extra material, and behind the scenes treats including a \u2018Cover Gallery\u2019<\/em>, heavily-illustrated essays \u2018The Making of Identity Crisis\u2019<\/em>, \u2018The Making of The Covers\u2019<\/em>, \u2018The Making of the Action Figures\u2019<\/em> (!!) and an appreciative memorial piece \u2018Remembering Michael Turner\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Gripping, painful in places but extraordinarily cathartic, Identity Crisis<\/strong> is a book every superhero fan must see and will never forget.
\n\u00a9 2004, 2005, 2011, 2024 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brad Meltzer, Rags Morales & Michael Bair & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-7795-2592-5 (HB\/Digital edition) Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Dark Highlights Not to Be Forgotten\u2026 9\/10 This book includes Discriminatory Content included for dramatic effect. For most of us older acolytes, comics – drenched as they are in childhoods shared and solitary – are … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Identity Crisis 20th<\/sup> Anniversary Deluxe Edition”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[133,211,10,75,76,239,91,15,82,16,345,241,105,225,273,9,11,68,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aquaman","category-atom","category-batman","category-crime-comics","category-dc-superhero","category-drama","category-flash","category-green-arrow","category-green-lantern","category-jla","category-lois-lane","category-martian-manhunter","category-mature-reading","category-mystery","category-nightwing","category-superman","category-teen-titans","category-the-spectre","category-wonder-woman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-84b","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31011"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31017,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31011\/revisions\/31017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}