Infinite Crisis - Fight For The Multiverse 001-031 (2014-ongoing)

DC's Injustice comic book prequel is better than such a project has any right to be, so I was hopeful that maybe lightning would strike twice with Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Multiverse. Unfortunately, this video game tie-in doesn't manage to stand out much in this first print issue (which collects the first three digital chapters). Writer Dan Abnett is able to add some nice flourishes to the script, but at the end of the day this is still a pretty straightforward tale that reads more like a video game than it should.



The first story in this issue recounts the history of DC's multiversal Crises and introduces Nix Uotan as the last surviving Monitor in the multiverse. Abnett is able to succinctly catch readers up to speed on this material without bogging his script down in too much exposition, and there's definite appeal in seeing a pre-New 52 take on the DC multiverse. But as the latter two chapters shift focus to Batman and his encounter with Uotan's aide Harbinger, you have to wonder if the opening chapter was even necessary. Abnett positions Batman as the man on the ground and a newbie to matters of inter-dimensional travel, forcing Harbinger to educate him. It reaches the point where he actually comes across as stupid and naive.



The art style shifts sharply as this issue transitions from the opening chapter and the Carl Potts/Larry Stroman collaboration to Szymon Kudranski's moody visuals. But that's fine, as the opening chapter focuses on a completely different set of characters and locales. The art in that chapter isn't terribly remarkable, but Kudranski once again proves that he's a natural fit for Batman's seedy world, be it Earth-Prime's Gotham or Gotham by Gaslight.