Identity Crisis 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

by Brad Meltzer, Rags Morales (Illustrator)

The stunning mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer is back in stunning deluxe edition hardcover!

When the spouse of a JLA member is brutally murdered, the entire super hero community searches for the killer, fearing their own loved ones may be the next targets.

Genres: Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics

312 pages, Hardcover

Published June 4, 2024

About the author

Brad Meltzer is the Emmy-nominated, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Rod, The Escape Artist, and eleven other bestselling thrillers. He also writes non-fiction books like The JFK Conspiracy, about a secret plot to kill JFK before he was sworn in – and the Ordinary People Change the World kids book series, which he does with Chris Eliopoulos and inspired the PBS KIDS TV show, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. His newest kids books are We are the Beatles, We are the Beatles, and I am Simone Biles. His newest inspirational book is Make Magic, based on his viral commencement address.

In addition to his fiction, Brad is one of the only authors to ever have books on the bestseller list for Non-Fiction (The Nazi Conspiracy), Advice (Heroes for My Son and Heroes for My Daughter), Children’s Books (I Am Amelia Earhart and I Am Abraham Lincoln) and even comic books (Justice League of America), for which he won the prestigious Eisner Award.

He is also the host of Brad Meltzer’s Lost History and Brad Meltzer’s Decoded on the History Channel, and is responsible for helping find the missing 9/11 flag that the firefighters raised at Ground Zero, making national news on the 15th anniversary of 9/11. Meltzer unveiled the flag at the 9/11 Museum in New York, where it is now on display. See the video here. The Hollywood Reporter recently put him on their list of Hollywood’s 25 Most Powerful Authors.

He also recently delivered the commencement address at the University of Michigan, in front of 70,000 people, including his graduating son. Entitled Make Magic and called “one of the best commencement addresses of all time,” it’s been shared millions of times across social media. Do yourself a favor, watch it here and buy the book here.

For sure, it’s tough to find anyone being so successful in so many different mediums of the popular culture. But why does Brad thrive in all these different professions? His belief that ordinary people change the world. It is that core belief that runs through every one of his projects.

His newest thriller, The Lightning Rod, brings back characters Nola and Zig in a setting that will blow your mind (you won't believe where the government let Brad go). For now, we'll say this: What's the one secret no one knows about you? It's about to come out. Nearly 2,000 five-star reviews. Raves by everyone from the Wall Street Journal, to James Patterson, to Brad's mother-in-law. Plus that twist at the end! And yes, the new Zig & Nola thriller is coming soon!

His newest non-fiction book, The JFK Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy -- and Why It Failed, which he wrote with Josh Mensch, is a true story about a secret assassination plot to kill JFK at the start of his Presidency and, if successful, would’ve changed history.

His illustrated children’s books I Am Amelia Earhart and I Am Abraham Lincoln, which he does with artist Chris Eliopoulos, were written for his own children, to give them better heroes to look up to. Try them. You won’t believe how inspired you and your family will be. Some of our favorites in the series are I am Mister Rogers and I am Dolly Parton.

His other non-fiction books, Heroes for My Son and Heroes for My Daughter, are collections of heroes – from Jim Henson to Sally Ride — that he’s been working on since the day his kids were born and is on sale now, as well as History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time.

He’s also one of the co-creators of the TV show, Jack & Bobby.

Raised in Brooklyn and Miami, Brad is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Columbia Law School. The Tenth Justice was his first published work and became an instant New York Times bestseller. Dead Even followed a year later and also hit the New York Times bestseller list, as have all thirteen of his novels. The First Counsel came next, which was about a White House lawyer dating the President’s daughter, then The Millionaires, which was about two brothers who

Reviews

[Liz.Loki · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

I tried to read this but I stopped after issue #2 because of the terrible misogynistic writing.

The problem is how a woman, Sue, whose only trait is being the "perfect wife of a superhero", is killed only for shock value and to get the plot started. This during issue #1.

Terrible. I didn't think it would get worse. It did.

Issue #2. It gets revealed who killed Sue and why. Years prior a villain had raped Sue and the Justice League caught him in the act and stopped him, arrested him, so for revenge he killed her. This horrific story comes with two pages of graphic rape drawn. And the rape of Sue is only a plot device to stir up conflict between the male heroes still alive. The only thought the husband has about this is "I hope she fought back". So if she didn't fight back, what would that mean? That she deserved that? That she enjoyed that? There's so many reasons a victim doesn't fight when it happens (freeze response, threats, disassociation, pain etc). This is triggering and disrespectful to some many victims (myself included, who is currently shaking whilst typing this). Disgusting.

[Ville Kokko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genuinely good

[Nolan Gutenschwager · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Well, I see why it is divisive. A lot to unpack with this one. It was a very compelling read that was well-written by Brad Metlzer and kept me wanting to see what happens next. The art by Rags Morales was absolutely phenomenal and did such a good job conveying the emotions of the characters and invoking emotions with the scenes. This was raw, visceral, gripping, and a lot of other things. I get why people do not like it and think it is character assassination for some, but I also get why those characters acted the way they did. Perhaps this would have been better suited as an elseworlds story.

Sue Dibny is murdered and her body is burnt. It is a big mystery to figure out who did it since the home security was impenetrable and there aren't obvious suspects. People are just appalled someone would kill the wife of a superhero. The whole superhero community comes together to mourn and also try to figure out who did this.

There is the flashback to how Dr. Light got to the Watchtower where only Sue was there and he raped her. Again, I get why people hate this, but I can understand it in the context of terrible people will do terrible things, and this was experimenting with taking it in a darker direction. So the people who get there to stop Dr. Light are so disgusted with this, and Dr. Light is saying he'll do it again and he'll come after everyone's loved ones. So they take it to a vote to not only make him forget he did this, but basically lobotomize him. Ollie, Dinah, and Hal say no while Ray Palmer, Zatanna, and Hawkman say yes, and Barry is the deciding vote, and since Iris was killed 6 months prior he says yes. And so this is what basically turns Dr. Light into a goof. It's revealed that while they did this, Batman teleported in, and they know how terribly he would react to this, so they unanimously vote to make him forget what he saw, because the Justice League is bigger than him, and him knowing this would cause too much damage. It's also revealed that the JL had a history of mind wiping. It's explained that after the JL would stop villains, Batman and Superman would always be off to the next thing, and the others were left with the cleanup, which isn't easy. And sometimes the villains would uncover their identities. So, they would wipe their minds to protect their identities. They were fine doing this but kept it a secret from the others. It wasn't until they lobotomized Dr. Light and did it to Bruce that they really felt a ton of guilt.

I get why people think the mindwiping is character assassination. But I think a lot of it is well explained, even if it still seems like something these beloved characters would avoid. And it weighs on them, they're not proud of it but they feel like they need to do it.

So those who are in the know about Dr. Light (Ralph Dibny knows, and Hal and Barry are gone) think he is the culprit for Sue's murder and they go after him. Wally and Kyle spy on them and wonder why they're going after him which is when this is all explained to those two. They run into Slade who is with Dr. Light and Slade basically takes out the whole crew which was ridiculous. Then they turn the tables and then Dr. Light remembers what the JL did to him.

Then Ray Palmer's ex-wife Jean Loring, who is still on good terms with him, is presumably attacked and almost killed by hanging but Ray saves her. There is also a threat sent in to Lois Lane. So all the heroes are worried their loved ones are being targeted. Then the Calculator hires Captain Boomerang on behalf of someone to go after Tim Drake's father, but someone also sends him a gun. It is an incredibly intense scene as Jack Drake is on the phone with Tim as Bruce and Tim race to save him and then Jack kills Boomerang but is also killed in the process, leaving Tim an orphan now. Again, very well done and super dramatic, but I liked how Tim was unique in that his father was still alive, and that is gone now.

It all kind of converges at the same time when Dr. Mid-Nite is doing the autopsy with Mister Terrific and rules out all these other causes of death and sees microscopic footprints in Sue's head. Batman also realizes from his detective work it must be something microscopic. And Ray is talking with Jean and she slips up and asks who sent Jack the note with the gun, which was not revealed to the news. So it becomes clear Jean did it. She denies it at first, but then admits it. She didn't want to kill Sue, but do enough damage that it spooked everyone and it led to her and Ray getting back together. But she accidently did too much damage and burned the body to cover her tracks. And then she hired Boomerang but sent Jack the gun because she thought Boomerang was lousy enough that only he would die and everybody would assume he was the killer all along. So this whole thing is because Jean was crazy and just trying to get back with Ray. Ray then puts her in Arkham and goes off the grid. The rest of the heroes are damaged by this but appreciate their loved ones even more. Also Firestorm unceremoniously died in a fight.

I am conflicted on how I feel about it. It is such an interesting read with amazing art. It is so bold and shows the consequences and dark reality of being a hero. But there are some questionable actions taken by the heroes who normally rise above this level. And there are some flaws. It seems ridiculous that Jean would do all of this when by all accounts her and Ray already seemed on good terms and that there was a path to getting back together. So yeah, very interesting to read, but still not sure how I feel about it.

[Arianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

What’s left of the superhero genre when you take away their morals? If your answer is people in dumb costumes beating up the mentally ill, that’s exactly what the moral of this comic book seems to be.

This is a story that fundamentally relies on you believing its bullshit, and it works really well as long as you do that. The writing is pretty good, the mystery is compelling and all the turns are very fun to read. But if you examine it for a second longer than it should, it starts falling apart like a house of cards…

I’ll sing my praises before I carry out my criticisms, and my biggest praise is the thematic consistency throughout the book. “Identity Crisis” is a bad title for what this book explores: rape, mind rape, home invasions, invasions of privacy, broken trust, violated boundaries. If you want an exploration of how this particular theme could manifest in the superhero world, this is for sure your book.

The book opens with the murder of Sue Dibny, the wife of the Elongated Man, who is mysteriously attacked in her own home. The whole premise is already fallacious at this point. Firstly, the book explains in depth why this murder wouldn’t have been possible because the house had the best security systems ever, but when the murderer is revealed it’s not actually clear how the killer pulled off the whole thing. The evidence is microscopic? Yes, and you had a whole ass microscopic man investigating the scene for hours. Then, the heroes who are privy to the fact Dr. Light raped Sue in the past decide he also murdered her. Note that the whole book relies on the unhinged premise that JL heroes are routinely mind wiping people, but apparently the extent to which they can rely on this particular trick is that the second a crime happens they immediately suspect the person whose mind they wiped? Okay.

This book is flawed also because the characters do things just for the sake of the plot. For example, a fundamental aspect of the plot is the fact Dr. Light managed to break into the satellite where the JL is basing their operations. That’s likely an elaborate crime that took months to plan and execute, but the villain throws away whatever he had planned to carry out a crime of opportunity? Why? Well, he’s cRaZy. Of course.

Why was an unprotected civilian allowed to be on the JL satellite alone, without any protection? Isn’t that an obvious security risk? Batman would never allow this, and that takes me to my next point, which is that this book features the Injustice-y trope where Batman, one of the craziest motherfuckers you’ll ever read about, is somehow the only rational person in a whole room of “heroes” just because his moral standards are so rigid. Like, nobody else on the whole fucking planet can be trusted to make responsible decisions. I can’t really be mad at this trope as a Batman fan, and it even makes sense when it’s applied to his Gotham associates, but it’s offensive and a character assassination of all the other heroes who are supposed to also be the best of the best.

Dr. Light rapes Sue, then he starts flaying his tongue around a bit, and a bunch of the best fighters and most courageous people in the world go “omg I’ve never seen anything like that!”. If that’s what passes for horrifying, I’m sure the whole JL would piss their pants if they saw me doing karaoke in my room! Ultimately, mind wiping Light is understandable to protect Sue. But BATMAN? The guy was literally frozen, you could have erased Dr. Light’s memory and then released Bruce. I’m SO TIRED of characters in comic books making questionable but understandable moral choices, and then refusing to deal with the fallout for them! Is it completely understandable you’d want to erase Dr. Light’s memory of his assault on Sue? Yes! Do you also have to take responsibility for it if you do? Also yes! It’s literally not that hard. It’s the same issue I had with “The Hiketeia”, where a girl murders the people who caused her sister’s demise and then she’s like “Consequences? Could not be me! Please protect me, Wonder Woman!”.

After this you have some more gratuitous violence as Tim Drake’s dad meets his demise at the hands of Captain Boomerang. As far as Digger is concerned, he goes through this whole process of meeting his adult son, which is supposed to function as a way to humanize the villain element of the book, but it might be the stupidest and worst part of the whole story. For starters, the typical experience when your dad walks back into your life when you’ve already grown up is not to have a “Norman Rockwell” (quoting from the author himself) father and son bonding experience. Plus Digger, despite being an idiot, is one of the most charismatic and strongest personalities of the whole DC universe, and seeing him reduced to a pathetic and incompetent joke makes him less likable, not more.

For the final twist, the murderer is revealed to be Ray Palmer’s ex-wife. Now, unlike most of the other characters I know absolutely nothing about this woman, so maybe she was always insane? But like… she’s the one who broke up with him. He is clearly still interested in her and thinking about her. Girlie goes on a murder spree to get him back, even stages her own murder with a 50/50 chance of dying herself, all to get him back. Has she ever heard of, I don’t know, giving him a call? But it’s okay, she’s cRaZy. Why is she crazy? So she can be an element of the plot, of course.

[Cleber Fregatto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as great as I expected. Nice artwork and it plays well like a murder mastery with a twist that can be a bit disappointing. We see cracks in the Justice League that put Batman to shame.

[Ale Berberian · Rating 5 out of 5]

heartbreaking, jarring, incredible story telling. finished the entire thing in a sitting. excellent

[Zach · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have loved Brad Meltzer's work in the past, but this was neither engaging or interesting. Felt like edge for edge, but hey at least its pretty. Thanks Rags Morales.

[Nadinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked this! i didn't see the twist coming