Prelude to Infinite Crisis

Infinite Crisis (Collected Editions)

by Judd Winick, Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka

Prelude collects the complete crossover story from Flash #219 and Wonder Woman #214 as well as a story from Superman Secret Files #2004 and pages from almost two-dozen other DC comics. New text as been added to these clips to help tie them together and provide a better understanding of how the Crisis came to be.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction, Fantasy

80 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 2005

About the author

Judd Winick is an American cartoonist, comic book writer, screenwriter, and former reality television personality known for his diverse contributions to storytelling across multiple media. He first entered the public eye in 1994 as a cast member on The Real World: San Francisco, where he formed a close friendship with AIDS educator Pedro Zamora, an experience that deeply influenced his later work. Winick memorialized their bond in Pedro and Me, a critically acclaimed autobiographical graphic novel that earned several literary awards and became a staple in school curricula.

Winick's career in comics took off with The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius and continued with major runs at DC Comics, including Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Batman. His stories often explored socially relevant themes, such as HIV, homophobia, and identity. He was recognized for introducing gay characters and tackling difficult subjects with empathy and clarity. His work on Batman notably included resurrecting the character Jason Todd as the Red Hood, a storyline later adapted into the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood, for which Winick wrote the screenplay.

Beyond comics, he created The Life and Times of Juniper Lee for Cartoon Network and served as head writer for Hulu's The Awesomes. In 2015, he launched the Hilo series, an all-ages sci-fi adventure inspired by his own children. The bestselling series has been widely praised and is expected to reach its eleventh volume in 2025.

Winick lives in San Francisco with his wife, Pam Ling, also a Real World alum, and their two children. He continues to create heartfelt and imaginative stories for audiences of all ages.

Reviews

[Sud666 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Prelude to Infinite Crisis is indeed what it says it is-a Prelude. Taking over two years of lead ups to the Infinite Crisis these events are encapsulated into this issue. Basically, each page is a summation of events from a previous series and the author writes a caption explaining the overall context. There is quite a bit going on and , for the most part, it is explained relatively well considering the vast nature and complexity of the events. But, still I was expecting some form of a story not a cliff-notes version of the past two years. There are so many events that it is hard to figure out how all of them come together. We shall see in Infinite Crisis, I suppose.

There is an actual two-part story- it involves the Cheetah, Zoom, a blind Wonder Woman (not sure what that's all about) and Wally West. Cheetah is trying to acquire super speed, Zoom is attempting to help and Wally and blind Wonder Woman fight against them. Uh, it was not the most inspired story nor the most entertaining one. It was just odd.

I realize I read this out of context. But, it was precisely context on Infinite Crisis I was trying to find. For the most part this issue encapsulates the past events fairly well. But there really is nothing else going on. Random pages of different comics strung together with brief blurbs of exposition does not make a story. The story that does exist is rather mediocre. Unless you are dying to find out what led to the Infinite Crisis I'd take a pass on this one.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the dominoes are set to fall into place with this book which royally sets up the best "Crisis" DC Comics has had in two decades. It's well worth a read, especially if you loved "Infinite Crisis".

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story and art. Nice surprising turn of events on some of the mainstay heroes of the DC universe. Very enjoyable read. Very recommended

[Zachary King · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a prelude so much as a "Previously on..." one-shot, which collects bits and pieces of continuity detritus leading up to Infinite Crisis. It makes me want to go back and reread the whole event, which I suppose is the point of a book like this! It also collects in full a story about the transition of power from President Luthor to President Pete Ross, plus the unlikely team-up of Cheetah and Hunter Zolomon. Fun, quick read, equating to a brisk jog down memory lane for continuity wonks like myself.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty much a mess. The actual comic pages included don't really say anything about the leadup to Infinite Crisis. Some are only a couple panels long. The only context comes from the accompanying text, which really makes the comics themselves completely unnecessary. The included Superman and Wonder Woman/Flash stories are fine, but they don't tell readers anything about the impending Crisis either.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a regular comic, it's kind of a mishmash of a bunch of comics to get you up to speed before the "Infinite Crisis" event. So for what it is, it's fine, lots of information, but not very engaging.

[Dan Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was just too much in there to really tell the stories properly.

[S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confusing and all over the place

[Bane Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25/5

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got here through another case of "Greg doesn't know enough to read what he's reading." I started Green Lantern: Revenge of the Green Lanterns, when I came across a page that said the entire DC universe jumped forward in time after the Infinite Crisis cross-over, so I picked up Infinite Crisis in hopes that it would explain why everything is different now. s I started reading Infinite Crisis, I quickly realized that I had no idea who most of the characters are and even the ones I was familiar with were in situations I was unfamiliar with, so I found Prelude to Infinite Crisis and hoped that it would fill in the gaps so I could read Infinite Crisis so that I could continue reading Green Lantern. Prelude to Infinite Crisis starts off by saying, "Hey, did you read all of the books in the Countdown to Infinite Crisis series? If so, yeah for you! If not, here's a quick list of things going on." Of course, I still have no idea what some of these things are (OMAC, Eclipso, Checkmate?) but after reading PTIC, I fell that I at least have a better handle on what's to come in Infinite Crisis. A lot of the book is two or three quick panels and a Cliff's Notes context of what's going on. We do get a whole Superman story and a two-part Wonder Woman/Flash story. Infinite Crisis is a DC wide event, so it would be ridiculous to think that PTIC could catch me up on the goings on of all of those characters, but I did expect a little more than what I got. The introduction explains that DC comics had been hinting at a big event (apparently mainly by saying the word "crisis" a lot) for the past previous couple of months and this book is more of a collection of the "seeds that have been sown for the last few years. It doesn't really feel like a story, but more like a scrapbook of disjointed and almost random clippings from a few comic series. Was it a perfect foundation for a reading of Infinite Crisis? No, but is does a fair job of giving a neophyte like me a crash course in some of the elements I was unprepared for. Form what I understand, Infinite Crisis is one of the most convoluted and difficult to follow stories, so anything DC can give me to prepare is appreciated.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really odd collection it must be said. Although you know what to expect from the title, stories that deal with the upcoming Infinite Crisis, what you get are a lot of one page or even half page moments from many individual stories, with very little linking them. There is a little text here and there which helps with context, but read as a stand-alone this is hard going.The Flash/ Wonder Woman tale is the longest and best thing in it by far.
Should have been a cheap 0 issue, whetting the appetite for the main event perhaps.

[Richard Schaefer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd book, actually maybe the very definition of an oddity, and certainly far from essential. As the cover says, this is a “roadmap to people, places and events leading up to the cataclysmic events of 2005.” This means it has relevant pages torn from various comics with filler text explaining the context and relevance. It also features a full issue of the Flash and a full issue of WW, in which the two team up to fight the Cheetah and Professor Zoom. Those issues are good, but the rest of the content is at most vaguely helpful and not very interesting to read.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 4 out of 5]

Según la descripción, esto trae: "collects the complete crossover story from Flash #219 and Wonder Woman #214 as well as a story from Superman Secret Files #2004 and pages from almost two-dozen other DC comics. New text as been added to these clips to help tie them together and provide a better understanding of how the Crisis came to be." y andá a saber si leí todo. Dejo en "verificar" hasta sacarme bien la duda.

[Norman Van Der Linde · Rating 2 out of 5]

I openly admit that except for Batman, Hellblazer & Lobo I am not a dedicated follower or even a fan of the DC multiverse, I figured that this being the jumping on point for one of the milestones in DC comics would be a good place to start. I was sadly disappointed, this TPB is incredibly confusing, even alienating to anyone who doesn't follow the DC canon religiously. Just another reason why I make mine Marvel.

[Cesar Millán · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good comic even though is not fluent at all. It jumps from scene to scene without connection, so you read a topic and them you read another wholy different. I hope I will have a better understanding of the story in the next comic countdown. The highest point are the scenes in which Flash (Wally Wets) interact with Wonder Woman.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one part catch-up, one part mess, and one part advertisement. There's a good Flash/Wonder Woman story here, but most of it isn't detailed enough to really catch you up on Infinite Crisis-related stuff, and certainly isn't interesting in such a tiny chunk of reading.

[Gary Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Wonder Woman/Flash story was worth reading; the rest was a bit of a mess.

[Dave Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was pretty good.

[Juan Jose]

An excellent companion with a lot of data to help you before you get into "Infinite Crisis".

[Kris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Schizophrenic. Jumpy. Disorganized. Fragments. Strawberry.

[J.M. Guillemette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but probably would be better if I was more familiar with what had been going on at the time.