Crisis On Infinite Earths has gone down as one of the most important comics in the medium’s history. It closed out DC‘s Silver Age and brought the publisher into the present, making them viable competition for Marvel for the first time in years. The idea of completely rebooting the DC Universe and destroying the Multiverse was a risky one but it paid off very well, with the post-Crisis DC Universe becoming one of fans’ favorite incarnations of the publisher.
While not every post-Crisis change was perfect, many of them were superior to what came before and added a lot to the DC Universe’s lore that fans loved.
10 It Streamlined The Origins Of Multiple Characters
One of the biggest perceived failings of DC pre-Crisis was how complicated the origins of so many characters were. DC’s biggest characters had been continually published since the ’40s and even with the multiple Earths and different versions, their origins were cluttered and oftentimes rather confusing.
While some characters, like Donna Troy and Hawkman, had their origins completely destroyed by CoIE, plenty of other DC characters benefited greatly from the changes wrought by the story. The proof was in the pudding, as many DC characters got more popular post-Crisis because their histories were easier to understand.
9 Making Black Canary A Founding Member Of The Justice League Made Her More Important Than Ever
Black Canary was originally an Earth-2 hero from the Justice Society who decided to stay on Earth-1 because she had a crush on Green Arrow. Post-Crisis DC made her into a legacy character whose mother was a member of the Justice Society. Following in her mother’s footsteps, this new Dinah became a founding member of the Justice League, taking Wonder Woman’s place because of the change in her history.
This made Black Canary more important than ever. The character has always had a big place in DC history but making her a founder of the League made her an A-lister in a way she wasn’t before, making her an even bigger part of the DC Universe going forward.
8 It Led To Batman: Year One
Batman’s origin was always iconic but nowadays, most people think of the version popularized by writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli’s Batman: Year One. This comic redefined the Batman mythos, selling the rampant criminality of Gotham City in a way it had never been before and setting up a Batman who was very different.
This newer, grittier origin proved to be extremely popular with readers. It’s become the default Batman origin, with later continuity shifts leaving it alone. It changed the way Batman was perceived by the world forever.
7 Wally West Got His Chance To Shine
Leading into CoIE, Barry Allen had lost just about all of his popularity. He was a relic of an earlier time and his death in the story was as much symbolic as it was clearing away an unpopular character. Barry Allen was the Silver Age and his end meant that time was over. Wally West, his longtime former sidekick Kid Flash, stepped into the big yellow boots, ready for his race.
While it took some time before Wally got popular, as the Flash brand was damaged almost beyond repair by Barry, he’d hit his stride and is widely considered the best Flash. CoIE’s killing of the Silver Age gave Wally a chance to shine and made the Flash popular again for the first time in years.
6 It Expanded The Number Of Villains
DC long had some of the greatest villains in comics but they were spread among multiple Earths. While there were some crossovers, villains like Eclipso weren’t always around for use. CoIE putting all of the Earths together paid off greatly in this regard, as it allowed the villains of Earth-2, Earth-S, and so many others to be used against any hero at any time.
It was great to see enemies that had only fought the Teen Titans take on Infinity Inc. or Justice League villains tackle the Freedom Fighters. It changed the way the heroes and villains operated and made things exciting for fans.
5 Evil Businessman Lex Luthor Is The Best Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is Superman’s greatest foe but there are some stark differences between him in the pre and post-Crisis DC Universes. Pre-Crisis Lex was the supervillain mad scientist type and while that was fine, post-Crisis Lex Luthor’s re-imagining as an evil businessman was so much better and led to greater stories.
It’s gotten to the point where most fans have no idea that Lex Luthor was ever anything but an evil businessman with supervillainous tendencies. It’s become such an iconic part of the character that looking at him in any other way feels wrong.
4 It Made The Justice League International Possible
The Justice League International is one of the League’s most beloved rosters. It never would have been possible without CoIE. Combining heroes from multiple Earths like Blue Beetle, Power Girl, Shazam, and more would have been impossible long-term in the pre-Crisis universe. The JLI’s success depended heavily on the heroes involved; without those particular heroes from other Earths it never would have worked.
The DC Universe would be a much worse place without the JLI. The stories that DC fans got because of it are amazing and the relationships built between the characters have paid off in multiple comics over the years.
3 It Allowed DC To Really Play Into The Legacy Concept
One thing that DC has become known for is its legacy heroes. DC has some of the best legacy heroes in comics and while one can argue that there were still legacy heroes in the pre-Crisis DC Multiverse, namely teams like the Teen Titans on Earth-1 and Infinity Inc. on Earth-2, the concept became much more important once everything was combined.
By creating a continuity that stretched back into the Golden Age, DC made legacy a massive part of its story. Superheroes became a generational thing and this changed the way DC was perceived, playing a huge role in superhero comics in the years to come.
2 Wonder Woman’s New Origin Brought Her Closer To Greek Mythology
Wonder Woman is one of DC’s most important heroes. This was just as true in the pre-Crisis comics as it was in the post-Crisis ones, but Wonder Woman’s origin was completely undone by CoIE. Writer/artist George Perez was given carte blanche to re-do her history and brought it closer in line to Greek mythology than ever before.
This move paid off. It greatly expanded the villains available to Wonder Woman, changed her powers, and set her up as a different kind of Wonder Woman. She became more of a warrior than ever before and this portrayal of hers became the default.
1 It Made An Integrated DC Timeline
While the Multiverse is a great superhero storytelling concept, sequestering all of the heroes on separate Earths wasn’t the best way to go about it. While there were still plenty of crossovers, it was bizarre to not just have the same timeline, one that stretched back to the Golden Age. The post-Crisis universe’s integration of all of the disparate elements of DC made for a better ground for stories.
This is the biggest strength of the post-Crisis DCU. It made it actually feel like a universe instead of a bunch of different worlds that only seldomly interacted. It made the whole thing easier to understand and led to amazing comics.
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