Crisis on Infinite Earths #4

History

Written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez — with inks by Mike DeCarlo, colors by Tony Tollin, and lettering by John Costanza — the issue was edited by Wolfman himself, with Robert Greenberger as associate editor and Len Wein serving as consulting editor. It carried a cover date of July 1985 and went on sale April 4, 1985, as the fourth chapter of the twelve-issue limited series DC had been building toward since Wolfman first seeded the Monitor into New Teen Titans in 1982. The series itself had been delayed multiple times — originally conceived for 1982, then pushed to 1983, and ultimately timed to coincide with DC's fiftieth anniversary — meaning by the time issue #4 shipped, the creative infrastructure behind it was unusually deep and coordinated for the era. A small but notable production artifact exists in this issue: the original printing's caption describing surviving Earths reads 'four others remain' rather than five, a discrepancy tied to then-unresolved plans for the Charlton Comics Earth-4 heroes in Alan Moore's upcoming Watchmen; all collected reprints correct this to 'five others remain.'

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi (the new Doctor Light): a Japanese observatory astronomer transformed into a light-powered hero when the Monitor directs an ion-energy ray from a star in the Vegan system to strike her — created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.
• First appearance of Lady Quark (real name Tashana), a nuclear-energy-wielding monarch of Earth-6, along with her husband Lord Volt (Karak) and daughter Princess Fern (Liana) — all created by Wolfman and Pérez; Lord Volt and Princess Fern are killed in this issue when the anti-matter wave destroys Earth-6.
• Death of the Monitor: a possessed Harbinger (controlled by the Anti-Monitor's shadow demon since issue #2) kills the Monitor on his satellite, the event that is the issue's dramatic centerpiece — titled 'And Thus Shall the World Die!'
• Second published appearance of John Constantine: per the established comics chronology, Constantine's official debut was Swamp Thing #37 (June 1985, created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and John Totleben); Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 shipped approximately two weeks later and contains his second cameo, where he is depicted in a green suit rather than his signature trenchcoat.
• The original print version contains a captioning error — 'only four others remain' instead of 'five' — linked editorially to the uncertain status of the Charlton Comics Earth-4 heroes during pre-production of Watchmen; all collected editions (trade paperback, Absolute Edition, Deluxe Edition, etc.) silently correct it to 'five.'
• The issue features an extraordinarily large cast spanning multiple DC eras: Legion of Super-Heroes members in the 30th century, the New Teen Titans, The Outsiders, Justice League, Justice Society, All-Star Squadron, western heroes (Jonah Hex, Bat Lash, Johnny Thunder, Scalphunter), Atlantean heroes (Arion, Lady Chian, Lori Lemaris, Dolphin), and Kamandi at the Great Disaster, all defending cosmic tuning forks across different time periods simultaneously.
• The issue has been reprinted in every major collected edition of Crisis on Infinite Earths, including the 1998 trade paperback, the 2005 Absolute Edition, the 2015 and 2019 Deluxe Editions, and most recently as a standalone DC Facsimile Edition published July 17, 2024 (cover-dated September 2024), which reproduces the original ads and letters column.
• The story's events — specifically the Monitor's death and the apparent destruction of the entire Multiverse — were adapted for the Arrowverse's five-part television crossover in The Flash episode 'Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three' (2019–2020), and the broader storyline was also adapted into the DC Animated Movie Universe trilogy Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths (2024).

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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#2 1st appearance — The Anti-Monitor

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#3 1st appearance — Kole

Variants (2)