Crisis on Infinite Earths #7

History

The decision to kill Supergirl was rooted in DC's editorial goal — shaped largely by executive editor Dick Giordano and writer Marv Wolfman — of making post-Crisis Superman the sole surviving Kryptonian, a clean-slate concept meant to restore his uniqueness in a line that had grown crowded with Kryptonian survivors. Wolfman himself later stated that before Crisis it seemed as if half of Krypton had survived its explosion, and that making Superman unique was the reason Supergirl had to die. Pérez, who had taken a leave of absence from New Teen Titans specifically to illustrate the series after signing an exclusive DC contract in 1984, split inking duties on the issue with Jerry Ordway (pages 1–17) and Dick Giordano (pages 18–40); the shift happened because Giordano was struggling to meet deadlines while simultaneously serving as DC's vice president and executive editor, a production reality that shaped the book's visual texture. The issue was a double-sized format — 48 pages — reflecting the weight DC placed on the story beat, and its title, 'Beyond the Silent Night,' was taken from an 1889 Robert G. Ingersoll poem, 'Declaration of the Free,' an excerpt of which closes the issue.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Cover date: October 1985; on-sale date: July 4, 1985. Story title: 'Beyond the Silent Night.' Double-sized issue (48 pages). Written by Marv Wolfman, pencilled by George Pérez, inked by Jerry Ordway (pp. 1–17) and Dick Giordano (pp. 18–40), colored by Tom Ziuko, lettered by John Costanza.
• Death of Kara Zor-El (Earth-One Supergirl): After roughly 26 years of continuous publication, the original Supergirl sacrifices herself battling the Anti-Monitor inside his antimatter-universe fortress, damaging his armor and forcing his retreat before dying in Superman's arms — the first permanent, in-continuity death of a DC character of her status.
• First in-costume appearance of Yolanda Montez as the new Wildcat: Montez, the goddaughter of original Wildcat Ted Grant, debuted in the Wildcat identity in this issue after Grant was injured during the Crisis, foreshadowing her membership in Infinity, Inc.
• Full origins of Pariah and Harbinger (Lyla) are revealed for the first time in this issue, explaining their roles in the Crisis and their connections to the Monitor.
• The in-universe origin of the DC Multiverse itself is disclosed here: Krona of Oa's forbidden experiment to witness the beginning of time inadvertently created both the infinite positive-matter universes and the antimatter universe from which the Anti-Monitor emerged — a significant piece of DCU cosmology retroactively linking the Guardians of the Universe to the Anti-Monitor's existence.
• George Pérez's cover won DC Comics' All-Time Best Cover Award in 2007, and the composition spawned a commercially released statue as well as documented homages in titles from Superman: The Man of Steel #10 (1992) onward across DC, Marvel, and independent publishers.
• The issue has been reprinted in the Crisis on Infinite Earths trade paperback (1998), the Absolute Edition (2005), the Deluxe Edition (2015), the 35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (2019), Crisis on Infinite Earths Giant #1 (2020), and a Facsimile Edition published in December 2024.
• The story served as a direct source for the five-part Arrowverse television crossover event 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' (December 2019–January 2020) and for the Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths animated film trilogy that began in January 2024.

Full credits

Key issues in Crisis on Infinite Earths

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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

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#3 1st appearance — Kole

Variants (2)