Product Description

In the tradition of "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and "Kingdom Come" comes a murder mystery that will shake the foundations of everything you thought you knew about superheroes! When Elongated Man's wife is found murdered in the Justice League of America Watchtower, a secret is uncovered which could destroy the entire JLA - if some of their most powerful foes don't destroy them first! Superman, Batman, the Flash, and a host of other heroes must race to discover the killer...for it seems that their own friends and family are also under threat! Who will live? Who will die? And which heroes are implicated in the darkest secret of all?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #433091 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Review
Publisher's Weekly August 1st 2005: "...a genuine comics landmark." The List 1-15 December 2005: "This sharply illustrated dark soap opera deserves to be placed near the top of the canon."

The List 1-15 December 2005, review by David Pollock
"This sharply illustrated dark soap opera deserves to be placed near the top of the canon."

About the Author
Brad Meltzer is a newcomer to comics, but has a formidable reputation as a thriller writer. His novels The Tenth Justice, Dead Even and The First Counsel were all New York Times bestsellers. He is the current writer of Justice League of America. Rags Morales is the fan-favourite artist of Hawkman and JSA.

Customer Reviews

A New Era?
Ever since the epochal Crisis on Infinite Earths Series in the mid-80s, DC have annually produced one 'event' series every year, crossing over into various other titles, wherein all the numerous superheroes of the DC Universe are brought together for some reason or another, like an alien attack in Invasion, or the death of the sun in Final Night. Sometimes these series have an important, long-ranging impact on the DC Universe, like the original Crisis. Other times they are just so much sound and fury, like Genesis or Zero Hour. Identity Crisis is 2004's big effort and falls somewhere in the middle.

The plot concerns the murder of Sue Dibny, the wife of the Elongated Man. Unable to catch her killer, the fear that someone has found out the secret identities of the superheroes and is targeting their family members draws the heroes closer together, and also causes old secrets to rise to the surface. The job of writing this fell to Brad Meltzer, most famous as a thriller novelist, whose only previous comic work (that I know of) is a well-received run on Green Arrow, who has a significant role in this. Meltzer proves with this series that he has a considerable aptitude for comic-book writing. His script is littered with memorable scenes, like the fight between Deathstroke and the Justice League. The murder mystery itself is compelling throughout the series, but, although there are clues and foreshadowing throughout, providing for a rewarding second reading, the revelation of the killer's identity was greeted with a general sense of disappointment when originally printed. It is an intriguing ending but not necessarily one that bears being examined too closely.

Identity Crisis is different from most of DC's big events in that it is very small scale. Whereas in Zero Hour or Crisis on Infinite Earths we are witness to the destruction and recreation of the universe anew (Worlds will live, worlds will die and nothing will ever be the same), here it is more about the human side of the heroes, about the interactions between the different heroes and their families. While the more outlandish and powerful characters, like Mister Miracle, the Metal Men and Superman, are used, and used well, the heart of the story lies in characters like Green Arrow and Batman. In essence, it is a detective story, and even when Wonder Woman plays a part it is in the role of interrogator of a murder suspect. For forgoing the all-too-predictable cosmic apocalypse scenario in favour of a more intimate story, DC should be applauded. The great triumph of the story is in its characterization. Very rarely in the history of DC have the heroes felt so realistic, so believable as people. The funeral of Sue Dibny at the end of the first issue is startling in its emotional impact, and the relationship between Batman and Robin is very nicely portrayed. Many fans have complained that the only real effects the story has are the deaths of a couple of supporting characters, including Sue Dibny who has not really been featured for years, and of a similarly unused superhero, Firestorm, whose death is strangely rushed and not really befitting a formerly great character. This much is true, but the real impact of the story, hopefully, is that it introduces a new depth of character to the DCU. The villains have greater depth and individuality and the heroes interactions are more complex. No longer the superfriends, there are secrets and grudges, and a pervasive sense that their individual moral stances are not so clear-cut as they would like to think.

The biggest problem with this series is that it fails to resolve all of the issues it raises. To find out how much Dr. Light has remembered you have to continue the story in Teen Titans and JLA. The war suit that is the focus of the Elongated Man's attentions in the first issue is not mentioned again in the series, only elsewhere, and the subplot with Black Lightning and Katana has no real impact on the storyline. Its only relevance is to Outsiders readers. However, for those who simply wish to read a well-written, well-constructed story (for the first six issues anyway) with outstanding characterization this is about as good as it gets. The only real downside is that you may find yourselves ineluctably drawn to the nearest comic shop to find out more, and after that it's impossible to escape. In a lot of ways Identity Crisis now seems like only a prelude to DC's big event this year, Infinite Crisis, and this one is guaranteed to break the bank.

You will never see these Superheroes in the same light again!!
What would you do if as a superhero, someone knew your secret identity and chose to attack and kill your family?

This is what adult/teen comic books should be like - interesting, doesn't talk down to you and a great read more on the basis of the Marvel mode rather the DC - i.e. characters that have defects and can lie.
Not wishing to give the storyline away this is a great read about the death of one super-heroes wife and the member's of the Justice League (old and new) trying to come to terms with it and finding the killer. The book has many twists and turns an soon enough all the superheroes are worried about attempts on the life's of their loved ones.

The book is very realistic - think about it if you had a homicidal manic hunting you or your family and you knew that if he would just be locked for short-term before he escapes what would you do? The storyline goes way further then any other DC book to deal with this. It deals with infighting in the Justice League and the times when the members have to turn a blind eye to others actions. If you though Batman was a bit of a psycho wait until you see how Green arrow deals with his enemies!! See Batman humbled by the other members in a way that you would not imagine.

The finale when you find out who killed the victim is one where I cannot see how you will guess the perpetrator and so the volume keeps you guessing all the way to the end.

You will never see these Superheroes in the same light again!!

Revisionist Guff
5 stars? Surely not?

This attempts to make the DC universe grim and gritty, to suggest that some of the villains are nasty pieces of work who rape people, and the heros are morally conflicted, and willing to use some more than questionable tactics themselves. But it doesn't work. It doesn't work partly because it's trying to make sense of 1960s stories that were just bright and fun and for kids. Partly because it's not really willing to write about genuinely grim and gritty superheros, it needs to keep them mostly public and child friendly. It's a bit like reading a famous five story where the villain has brutally mutilated someone - just wrong.

If you don't regularly read DC universe stuff there's far better things out there which do grim and gritty superheros: Watchman, Dark Knight, Bendis's Daredevil. Or you could read something without any superheros to start with. And frankly this probably won't make much sense unless you're already (or have been) a comics obsessive.

If you do regularly read DC universe stuff then you've probably read this already, but if you haven't then don't. It jars horribly. Read something fun with superheros enjoying being superheros (Morrison's JLA) or something with actual noir protagonists which you can believe in (again Bendis's Daredevil).

But don't buy this - it only encourages them.