Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Multiverse #23 Review

Written by: Dan Abnett
Art by: Szymon Kudranski
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: October 19, 2014

The Key to it All

I didn't like last week's Infinite Crisis one bit.  I said so in my review and got called out by a reader who commented that I wasn't the intended audience.  It made me wonder, who is the intended audience of this book?  I want to think that DC is not just targeting players of the game it's based on, but also comic fans in general.  In fact, isn't the point of any book to get the widest audience possible?  I would hope so.  I'm no rocket surgeon, but I would think that the best way to reach a wide audience is to make a great story with great characters.  Infinite Crisis has the characters, but the story hasn't been there.  I don't care if you play the game, don't own a computer or have a crazy middle name like Lee, a good story is a good story and this book has been mostly devoid of them.  Now that I got that off my chest, let's get on to this week's issue.  Surprise, I really liked it.  You know why? Great story and great characters.  Mix in great art and we have a winner.




The issue starts with our heroes battling Nightmare Brainiac and his forces.  Catwoman makes a desperate move that gives them hope and pushes the story forward more than the last couple issues combined.  It also sends Batman and Luthor off to see the Monitor.  Of course, that leaves Sir Harold, Damian and the rest a couple down in the fight and after seeing Szymon Kudranski's awesomely gruesome Nightmare Brainiac, you can only hope they can hold out.

When Batman and Alexander get to the Monitor there is a bit of recap but a whole lot of game planning.  This is what I'm talking about.  The plan calls back to the Eternal Key from the beginning of the series and involves one of my favorite characters, Zatanna.  Mix in some more humor courtesy of The Flash and we have the best issue of Infinite Crisis yet.  Then we get an ending cliffhanger that I can't say surprised me one bit, but was shocking all the same.  I can't wait for next week.  There, I said it.

I mentioned Szymon Kudranski's awesome Nightmare Brainiac and while that is the highlight of the issue, everything else looks great as well.  As a fan of the DC digital titles, I love when an artist goes all out for an issue and Kudranski always does.  It's sad that that isn't always the case.

Bits and Pieces:

It surprises me to say it, but I loved this issue.  Dan Abnett gives readers great character moments, awesome action and a cliffhanger that has me as excited as I am worried for next week.  This is the book I've been waiting for over the past twenty three weeks and I hope it continues from here on out.

9.5/10