Crisis on Infinite Earths #4

Welcome ComicVine to this the fourth installment of Project 500. Project 500 was the idea of reviewer Silkcuts for a series of Jam session style reviews where users come together to write reviews for the series . The first review for Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 was a jam session, while the reviews for the other issues of Crisis on Infinite Earths will be handed off baton-style from reviewer to reviewer...  
 - Editor
 
(Silkcuts) Looks like I am up again and I am most grateful to those of the jam and those now with me in this relay.  Every issue of Crisis is important, part of the reason for this relay is to show the impact of Crisis, even to today's readers..  Some issues have more meaning to others and in this case issue #4 is important to me.  Some will notice that there is the John Constantine connection and I applauded you with detective skills.  This issue is not just because it has my favorite character in it, but it is also where I think the comic narrative decided he had to go from Silver Age and grow up.  Let me explain. *grabs baton from FuryofObama2012*    
 

How appropriate is that the death of universes would occur at issue number 4?  The number 4 has some negative connotations, like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as an example.  The number 4 is also the inversion to the Chinese character for Li(4), also known as the character for strength. Inverting Li, I am told means Death, or the removal of Strength and power, like how the Darth Card in Tarot means change, this "4" could mean change as well. This is likely a coincidence, but I don't believe in coincidence, I believe in synchronicity. That is where I find it so appropriate John Constantine would make a very brief appearance in this issue.

I promise after I am done scaring you about the Magick of John Constantine on printed page, I will talk about other parts of this comic.  But humor me and let me try to show you why I love Constantine so much.  Page 3 and 4 of Crisis is summed up as John Constantine telling you to read Swamp Thing by Alan Moore.  Alan Moore's Swamp Thing was ground breaking because it is rooted as one of the major influences in the Modern Narrative.  John Constantine, before he was the "Hellblazer", was a shadowy character.  Almost kind of like a shadowy prophet who came to warn the world about a great shift of power of good and evil, almost like a messiah.   I am not calling John Constantine "Jesus", I am simply pointing out why the initials J.C. are interesting.  After issue #4 for Crisis I really think you should check out Swamp Thing, the direct tie-in to this issue is Swamp Thing #44...., (which is collected in Saga of the Swamp Thing Book 4)..... more 4s.... oh, odd....  It is not marked as a Crisis Tie-in, but I assure you the events of that issue take place right after page 4 in this issue.  In Swamp Thing #44, page 7, we see John Constantine continue his chat with Steve "Mento" Dayton.  Later Swamp Thing would break more ground and become what spearheaded the under used Vertigo Universe.  There are some comics I do believe essential to understanding the medium.  Some of the greatest comics creators see comics as an "invisible" language and a place of Magic.  The best of any art form, I believe the universe speaks to us with and Crisis is one of those series.

One of the reasons Crisis still has an impact today is because this series was not lazy.  Marv Wolfman researched so much and tried to incorporate as much as he could.  George Perez is a artist master mind that can layout so much information so clearly.  The events of Issue #4 would be so important that there is another tie-in I must address - Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis of Infinite Earths.   That issue is the untold tale of Crisis and it takes place during and after Issue #4, so it is almost the Bizarro too Swamp Thing #44, or Crisis #4.4.  The Legends cross-over is still told in this Silver Age thought bubble style and up holds the cheesy modes of telling stories that readers of the time are growing away from. 

Swamp Thing was still using Thought Bubbles, but it would not be until Alan Moore wrote Watchmen that Moore would abandon the Thought Bubbles and make it common practice.  The Legend's cross-over was released in 1999 and intentionally has the thought bubbles. There is an intention to maintain this younger mode of telling a comic story.  If comics kept the Silver Age tone, I don't think I would be reading comics anymore. Although the Crisis tie-in was not illustrated by Perez, it was written by Wolfman, so it is really up the reader to decide if it is essential or not.  My logic is that it is not collected to my knowledge, so why hunt it down?  Crisis and its ties to books like Swamp Thing would be the building blocks to the comics we read today.  There is an old saying that "to best understand the present you must know your past".  This is why Crisis is so important.  It may be a harder read for younger readers, but no offense to the younger reader, if Crisis is a difficult read then, you have not grown enough with the medium and the books you read now, you cannot possibly enjoy to its maximum potential. 

I cannot stress how important the classics are.  Instead of dismissing them or thinking "why do people like this, I hated it", try to think why the experts and the historians care so much for books like this.  In only first knowing your past can you understand your future. You do not have to like Crisis, but to truly appreciated the DCU as it is, appreciating Crisis is Essential.
 
Cheers
 - Silkcuts
 
I encourage you the reader to check out the other relay reviewers as this Project is to be a community Project.  Not everyone will see things the same way and this is what Project 500 is about.  It is about the medium and how we can help each other improve the state of the medium.  Not every comic reader has the same level of maturity and love for the medium and this project is for those who want to see the "invisible" Language of comics.  Comics are more then just pictures and words.  It is Magick in print.

*prepares the baton for the next reviewer*