Crisis on Infinite Earths #3

History

Crisis on Infinite Earths grew out of Marv Wolfman's long-standing conviction that DC's multi-Earth continuity was hostile to new readers; he began seeding the groundwork as early as July 1982 when he introduced the mysterious Monitor in The New Teen Titans. George Pérez, who had originally planned only a pacing role on the series, talked himself into full co-plotter and penciller status after extended conversations with Wolfman — a creative partnership that shaped the dense, character-packed visual storytelling that distinguishes every issue, including #3. The series had been in development and delayed since at least 1981, finally launching in 1985 to coincide with DC's fiftieth anniversary, with the entire editorial apparatus of the company — including president Jenette Kahn, Paul Levitz, and Dick Giordano — coordinating the crossover in weekly meetings that were described as highly unusual for the era. Issue #3 carries interior art credits for both Dick Giordano and Mike DeCarlo as inkers over Pérez's pencils, with Tony Tollin on colors and John Costanza on letters, and Wolfman himself serving as editor.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published March 7, 1985 (cover date June 1985); written by Marv Wolfman, pencilled by George Pérez, inked by Mike DeCarlo and Dick Giordano, colored by Tony Tollin, lettered by John Costanza.
• Story title: 'Oblivion Upon Us!' — the issue spans four distinct time periods simultaneously: WWII-era Markovia, the Old West of 1879 Texas, Earth-AD (the future post-Great Disaster world of Kamandi), and the 30th-century metropolis of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
• Deaths in this issue: Kid Psycho (Legion of Super-Heroes reservist, killed by the antimatter wave in 30th-century England), Nighthawk (Western hero, consumed by the antimatter wave in 1879 Texas), and the four Losers — Johnny Cloud, Captain Storm, Gunner, and Sarge — killed by Shadow Demons in WWII Markovia. King Solovar also dies of wounds sustained between issues #2 and #3.
• The Flash's mysterious terror-stricken appearance before Batman and the assembled heroes — followed by his instant disappearance — is a pivotal story beat that foreshadows Barry Allen's impending fate later in the series.
• The Monitor's analysis reveals that Alexander Luthor Jr. is composed of both positive matter and antimatter, identifying him as potentially the key to stopping the Crisis; this establishes Alex's role as the series' ultimate narrative linchpin.
• Harbinger, secretly under the Anti-Monitor's influence, confronts the Monitor at the issue's end — a scene complicated in production when panels were given curved corners at the last minute in an attempt to clarify it as a viewscreen image rather than a direct confrontation, an editorial fix widely noted as unsuccessful.
• The issue contains an in-story error: the Easy Company member Farmer Boy is mistakenly referred to as 'Flower'; the Losers' final mission is more fully depicted in the August 1985 one-shot Losers Special #1.
• The series has been collected in trade paperback, hardcover, and Absolute Edition formats; DC released a monthly run of remastered Facsimile Editions beginning April 2024, with issue #3's facsimile published June 18, 2024. A new Absolute Edition remastered from original inks and recolored against the original palette is scheduled for 2026.

Cast · 40 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Crisis on Infinite Earths

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#7 Death — Death of Supergirl

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#8 Death — Death of the Flash (Barry Allen)

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#4 1st appearance — Kimiyo Hoshi

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#2 1st appearance — The Anti-Monitor

Variants (2)