Amazing Heroes #91 - Special Post-Crisis Issue Part 1 - A Death Done Well

Almost 4 years ago I did an in-depth 30th anniversary review of Crisis on Infinite Earths, focusing in on Supergirl's role, her death, some of the decisions which led to her death, and ultimately her legacy after Crisis.

I thought it was about as thorough as I could get.

Turns out I was wrong.

About a month ago I went to the North East Comic Con and there I stumbled upon Amazing Heroes #91, a special post-Crisis issue with an insane amount of goodness in it for a Crisis historian like myself. For a Crisis fan, this is a treasure trove. For a Supergirl fan, it is an interesting time capsule, once again looking back at what the reaction to Supergirl's death was on the comic scene.

I knew Amazing Heroes had done a lot of Crisis commentary back in the day, and it wasn't all kind to Supergirl in the aftermath of her death.With news of her impending death already out,  Amazing Heroes #74 had a requiem that was really more a diatribe about how pathetic Supergirl was as a character. And Amazing Heroes #78 had a review of Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 as it was on the stand by noted reviewed R.A. Jones. Jones was clearly a Supergirl fan and this review is more sympathetic (if not downright angry).

And then less than a year after Crisis ended, Amazing Heroes #91 came out and we were diving back into the pool again.

I bought this from a $5 and issue, 5 for $20 box. It might be the best $4 I have spent.

The issue starts with then Amazing Heroes editor Mark Waid talking about how influential Amazing World of DC Comics #9 was for him as a boy. As a Legion fan, this love letter to the team was almost a bible. And clearly, it was a fan-driven magazine.

As a DC fan himself and in a place of publication power, he had the power to authorize this issue, a love letter to the Crisis by a magazine essentially written by fans. The editorial gives some of what lays inside. And trust me, there will be more posts about articles here.

But this magazine includes a look at the death of the Flash and why it happened, a timeline of the Crisis, obituaries for all the characters who died, a panel-by-panel breakdown of character appearances in the book, a review of the series as a whole but broken down issue by issue, introductions to the Charlton heroes now in the DC fold, and finally a discussion with the creators about what they liked and didn't like about the series.

For a Crisis on Infinite Earths fan this is a hearty dish!

But this post will specifically be looking at how the folks looked back at the death of Supergirl now that it was a bit in the rear view mirror.

In 'Making a Crisis of it', Mark Waid interviews Marv Wolfman, George Perez, and Jerry Ordway. Specifically he asks about their reflections on the series now that it is over.

It is so interesting to hear the creators talking about this series in retrospect, even if it only ended a few months before. While the whole article is a great read, I will only be concentrating on the Supergirl's pieces.

First off, Waid talks to Wolfman.

It is clear that Wolfman was pleased with how the Supergirl death came out. As he says, he tried to put in enough about her character so people would appreciate her and therefore be effected by her death.

A bit self-congratulatory, for sure. But remember that many people feel Crisis is 'the best Supergirl story' ever. That means it was written in a way to play up her heroism so readers not familiar with her would be impressed.

It is done well.

And George Perez also was happy with how it came out. He is very proud of Supergirl's death.

One thing I like is how Perez says he drew her specifically as a young woman and not someone fully developed like Wonder Woman. It is one of the things I love about Perez's Titans run. Starfire, Donna, and Raven all have very different body types.

In particular, in my mind, I can definitely see the panels of Supergirl in Crisis #5 when she fought a mind-controlled Captain Marvel. She does look like a teen there.

The article that opens the book is 'Who Doomed the Flash?' Writer Steve Webb wonders why Barry Allen failed as a character opening the door for him to be killed in the Crisis.

He has a lot of theories and he talks to a lot of creators. All Flash fans should find and read this.

One thing I have become aware of in hindsight is that the death of Supergirl is sort of *the* moment of Crisis on Infinite Earths. If you ask people the first thing they think of when someone mentions Crisis, it most likely is the cover of COIE #7.

I have always wondered how Flash fans think of that. I mean Barry Allen's death was a big deal. But it clearly is the silver medal.

Here, Webb says it outright. Crisis #8 isn't 'that great a story', his words. And Supergirl was given her 'finest hour' (again his words). So he couldn't help but be underwhelemed with Barry's death given how well Supergirl's death was pulled off.

Lastly, in the obituaries section, there is a sidebar where Perez and Wolfman talk about their decisions around who to kill, singling out The Bug Eyed Bandit as someone who needed to die simply for his name.

Again, Wolfman says that he was very happy by Supergirl's death saying it was done well.

So, at the very least, creators and comic writers all agreed that the scene of Supergirl's death was done very well.

I have to say I agree. It was done well, finally showing the world a character who I loved and why I loved her.