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Geoff Johns' story performs a balancing act in Infinite Crisis #1. On one hand, he tells a focused storyline set on the shattered remains of JLA lunar headquarters, centering on DC's three pillars of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Countering this is a sweeping epic that spans the globe, from Bludhaven to Gotham, from Metropolis to the Polaris Galaxy, in this case shifting among countless DC heroes and villains.

Geoff Johns' script also allows a balancing act for Phil Jiminez's art. A typical 22-page comic allows for possibly one double page splash and two, maybe three, single page splashes. Most artists sit in a comfortable range of three to six panels per page. Geoff, who writes in script format and breaks out the art panel by panel, offered here a greater balance between larger splash pages and more jam-packed, panel-covered pages, supplanting the middle ground.

A breakdown shows something not usually done in comics today. Of the 32 pages of Infinite Crisis #1, six of the pages are single or double page splashes, close to 20% of the story. On these pages are a total of 68 words either in captions or dialogue. This is an inordinately high number of eye-catching pages. Opposite this are 18 pages with seven or more panels, over 56% of the story (including six pages that have ten or more panels). I won't even begin to count the number of words on these pages, but I would bet each single heavy-paneled page contains more than the total from all the splash pages.

What does this say? It says that Infinite Crisis is BIG for DC Comics. You have tons of splashes to please the eye. You get tons of story crammed into intricately detailed, panel-strewn pages. And who do you put at the helm but DC's biggest writer, Geoff Johns. Who for the cover but DC's big gun Jim Lee. And who to do the interiors other than the George Perez-inspired Phil Jiminez.

Does it succeed? Yes and no (I'll give a balanced answer). They've been building to this for years, certainly since Identity Crisis and truly since Crisis on Infinite Earths. They've had miniseries, countless tie-ins in their regular titles, and counseling sessions at conventions throughout the country, all to trumpet a work that gave us a story and art as big as they promised.

How does it not succeed then? For the new reader I believe this would simply be too confusing to ever know what's going on in the pages of Infinite Crisis. So much has gone before that it's hard to know who is who, from heroes to villains to storylines to settings. This is not a story for those just coming into things. There are simple solutions to correct this, one of which Marvel is doing it in their House of M miniseries — a summary page at the beginning. This simple device, although depriving us of another page of comic, truly helps the reader orient and enter the issue. I read so many titles each month (along with novels and nonfiction books) that the summary page in Marvel's books helps me with even titles I know intimately.

In summary — a big comic well built over many months that delivers on a grand scale in story and art. And something maybe a little difficult for a new reader to break into. For now I give it 3.5, but I expect this to go higher. I think Infinite Crisis promises to be better as it goes, and I look forward to more.

Comments about my comments? Feel free to email me at myocum@comiccritique.com.