Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985–1986), DC Comics’ legendary 12-issue maxiseries by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, reshaped the company’s cumbersome continuity. Readers still recall today their anticipation over the series’ “permanent” revisions and their enthusiasm for Crisis’ numerous intracompany crossovers. It’s no easy task producing a publication of any type, especially a project of Crisis’ enormity. Crisis’ editorial planning stages—from cameo appearances of the Monitor to the famous character “Death List”— have been well documented (nowhere better than in the superlative collected edition, Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths, which comes highly recommended). But what did it take to get Crisis on Infinite Earths,
the maxiseries and the crossover event of the decade, out the door and to the printer on time? Were there behind-the-scenes machinations— from blown deadlines to temperamental creators—that threatened to implode this earth-altering project? And over two decades later, how does Crisis hold up in the minds of those who helped bring it to life? To find out, BACK ISSUE has made the interdimensional hop (via e-mail) to the studio of Dick Giordano, that mirthful master of “Meanwhile…” who at the time was DC’s vice president/executive editor (as well as the inker of Crisis on Infinite Earths’ earlier issues), to ask some Crisis-related questions … and joining in on the chat is Pat Bastienne, who during Crisis was DC’s editorial coordinator—and later became the company’s talent coordinator (Pat’s participation in this dialogue was limited due to an injury—thanks, Patti, for doing what you could, and get well soon!). Join us as we pick Dick’s and Pat’s brains and venture back to a time…
®
by
Michael Eury
condu cted by e-mail on Januar y 25, 2009
Meet the Monitor George Pérez’s take on the foreboding figure behind Crisis, and (above) the DC Comics memo spelling out the Monitor’s use in other series. TM & © DC Comics.
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