There is perhaps no word more evocative of the DC Universe experience than “Crisis”.

Crisis as defined by Dictionary.com is as follows

cri·sis

 [krahy-sis]  noun, plural -ses [-seez] adjective, noun

1. a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined; turning point.
2. a condition of instability or danger, as in social, economic,political, or
international affairs, leading to a decisive change.
3. a dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person’slife.
4.  Medicine/Medical .

a. the point in the course of a serious disease at which a decisive change occurs, leading either to recovery or todeath.
b. the change itself.
5.the point in a play or story at which hostile elements are most tensely opposed to each other.

In the DC Universe, the word Crisis is reserved for a specific type of story that is going to change the status quo.  As with serialized fiction, like soap operas, literary series or movie franchises, it is sometimes rare that anything will happen of significance to the main characters.  This is especially true of comic book characters.  While actors on soap operas may leave and be replaced by another actor, or tv.movie franchises replacing their leads like with James Bond or Doctor Who, with comics the characters have a look and they never seem to change.

Sure for a lark, you may see a new costume on a character, or the character might move to a new city or a new focus for the series may occur, but these usually come and go with a change in writer, artist, or editor on the book in question.

The Crisis stories start off rather tame and then go off into more intense tales as they move forward.

The great majority of the Crisis stories comes from the concept of the DC Multiverse, so lets first examine the real world reasons as to why the Multiverse was created.

DC Comics started out as a conglomeration of a group of smaller companies publishing comics.  As the craze for Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman continued to climb as a reaction to the Great Depression and World War II, superheroes enjoyed their Golden Age.  It is very difficult to find a super-hero comic from the 40s that does not also serve as pro-war propaganda, and no wonder, most individuals working in comics in the 30s and 40s were Jewish and had much concern over the growing power of the Third Reich and the horror of the Holocaust.

When the war was over however, super-heroes were associated with the war and many, many people shunned the art form.  Famously All-Star Comics that was publishing the tales of the Justice Society of America became All-Star Western and with that the Golden Age of comics came to an abrupt end.

 

As the U.S. entered into the Baby Boom, Comics were not read much and all but the very strongest characters ceased publication.  The comics industry suffered another blow when Dr. Frederic Wertham published his manifesto on juvenile delinquency, Seduction of the Innocent.

Most comics publishers had moved away from Super-Heroes who were not selling, to true love romances, westerns, and horror comics.  EC Comics in particular was known for its graphic story telling, something Dr. Wertham hit upon time and time again in his book.

However, Wertham also looked at Batman and Robin and claimed that they had a homosexual relationship, a notion I frequently have poked fun at on this blog.   Wertham also pointed out the bondage imagery in Wonder Woman as not an appropriate role model for little girls.

Comics were put on trial in Congress and the Comics Industry reacted by creating the Comics Code Authority.

The Comics Code Authority meant heavy restrictions on what could and could not be done in comics and the storytelling that might have been a bit more interesting was dumbed down to basic morality tales.  Comics were so disposable and disliked in this era that the comics publishers recycled tales every three years assuming that the readership had “turned over” by then.

Then came Julius “Julie” Schwartz.  Mr. Schwartz in my opinion is the father of the Silver Age of Comics and without him, it is very unlikely that comics would have continued to be published.  Julie, as he was called by all his friends and fans, was an agent of many sci-fi writers of the day including a certain Dr. Isaac Asimov (enough street cred for you now?).

In the 1950s with sales dwindling and the atomic age just starting, Julie sensed it was time to dust off the characters that had been around since the 1930s, but to revamp them.  Heroes from the 30s and 40s typically had mystical based origins, but in this new era of Oppenheimer science, science-fiction origins were the way to go.

The first introduction of a revamped character happened in Showcase #4, the new Flash, Barry Allen was created.   Gone was the metal helmet and the hard water origin.  Instead Barry was working in his police forensics lab late one night and a lightning bolt hit a rack of chemicals and splashed all over him giving him super-speed.

And with that the Silver Age was born.

Other characters followed quickly, a new Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman, etc.., until it was time for a new Justice Society of America title.  Julie is famously quoted as not having liked the word Society in this and since he was a big fan of baseball, the word League was put in its place and the Justice League of America was born.

And with that stroke not only did Julie Schwartz and the creative team at DC Comics bring back super-heroes for a renaissance, they reinvigorated the entire comics community as Marvel took the idea and created their signature super-hero book The Fantastic Four.

Its great to have a new version of a beloved character, but what happened to the other Flash?

Next Time:  The Multiverse is BORN!