Infinite Crisis # 7 (of 7)
DC COMICS
WRITER: Geoff Johns
ARTISTS: Phil Jimenez, George Perez, others
COVER: Jim Lee/George Perez

The final chapter of this monumental miniseries is proof that some of the best of the current crop of comic book professionals simply aren't as good as their predecessors. Geoff Johns, Phil Jimenez and company-- top-line names in the DC stable-- simply fall short of the standards set by Marv Wolfman and George Perez in the original CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTH not so many years ago. Basically in this issue, the supervillains launch a massive assault on Metropolis while Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor make a last-ditch attempt to re-create the universe. Despite some well-crafted fight scenes, there is a lack of feeling in the story. There is no sense of triumph when the modern day and Golden Age Supermen team up to defeat Doomsday. Nor is there a sense of tragedy when a beloved comic icon dies. Just a sense of relief that the ordeal is over. Superboy-Prime and Alex Luthor are reduced to cartoon psychoes. No one feels sad about how they were twisted into villains, nor do we care about their motivations. Much of the art is a mess and was clearly rushed just to meet the deadline (hence the many artists working on it.) A key example is a two-page spread of all the villains battling the heroes at the gates of Metropolis. Thanks to the lack of detail, most of what we see in this scene is a red blur. Numerous heroes and villains died in this issue but the art is so messy, we can't tell who was blasted, crushed or whatever... The few pages that were clearly done by Perez see a dramatic jump in the quality of the art-- but even those ones look rushed. DC really should have spent more time on this story before releasing it. It will be looked on as a mere footnote to the original Crisis-- something like ZERO HOUR or LEGENDS.