Written by Brad Meltzer
Art by Rags Morales; Michael Bair; Alex Sinclair; & Ken Lopez
Cover Art by Aspen Studios’ Michael Turner & Peter Stiegerwald
SUMMARY:
Entitled “Chapter Seven: The Hero’s Life,” DC Comics released this 44-page mini-series finale for February 2005. Based on microscopic forensic evidence, Batman & members of the Justice Society simultaneously deduce who Sue Dibny’s murderer is. The Atom (Ray Palmer) also realizes the horrifying truth, as this same culprit manipulated the tragic outcome pitting Tim Drake’s late father vs. the mercenary Captain Boomerang.
Fallout poignantly continues amongst the DC Universe’s heroes, as a depleted Justice League assesses its present options. While the Atom’s whereabouts are now unknown, a lonely Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny) initiates an emotional coping technique re: his beloved wife’s death.
Note: Multiple printings of this issue were produced with variants of this same cover (including a textless version).
REVIEW:
Exemplified by the somber cover, Issue # 7’s art squad delivers top-caliber visuals. In terms of Brad Meltzer’s scripting, it’s fair to say, however, the second half far outclasses the finale’s opening pages. Without divulging spoilers, it makes logical sense that, after six issues teasing potential culprits and red herrings, the villain is indeed a Justice League insider.
Meltzer’s choice of culprit, however, resorts to that perpetual mystery cliché where the ingenious solution comes out of seemingly nowhere, given the character’s limited ‘screen time.’ Worse yet, the culprit’s convenient psychotic break exploits another genre cop-out that Meltzer relies too much upon.
Setting up a future villain, Meltzer’s plotting at least makes the culprit’s pre-Infinite Crisis transformation into the new Eclipso seem even more unpredictably horrific for the Justice League. Meltzer, in this sense, smartly deploys Ray’s insights rather than having Batman to rush in and make ghastly accusations.
Curiously, this issue’s script splits itself resolving Sue’s murder before transitioning into a classy epilogue impacting the Justice League. Yet, clearly more could have been inferred. While Tim Drake’s heartbreak over his father is readily evident, yet only Firehawk is shown grieving the loss of Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond). Hence, shouldn’t there have been an informal JLA wake where Sue and Ronnie would have been honored?
In terms of Meltzer’s scripting, Identity Crisis delivers, overall, a mixed bag, though the last scene is poignant. As for this issue’s artwork, the visuals (including Michael Turner’s stellar cover image) are exceptional.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Written by a supposed ‘mole,’ the “DC in Demand” column presents cover reveals Hawkman # 35; Batman: Gotham Knights # 60; the unnecessary Identity Crisis # 7; and a partial look at Seven Soldiers # 0.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 6½ Stars
