Crisis on Infinite Earths is a landmark 12-issue American comic book limited series published by DC Comics from 1985 to 1986. Written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, it was conceived as a way to celebrate DC's 50th anniversary while streamlining its notoriously convoluted multiverse continuity, which had been in place since the 1960s. The story features a massive cast of heroes and villains from across all of DC's parallel Earths, uniting to face the Anti-Monitor, a cosmic entity determined to destroy all of existence.
The series is famous for its epic scale, high stakes, and the permanent deaths of major characters, most notably the Flash (Barry Allen) and Supergirl (Kara Zor-El). Its central plot device, the merging of all parallel Earths into a single, unified timeline, fundamentally reshaped the DC Universe for decades. The event effectively ended the Silver Age of Comics for DC and ushered in a new, modern era.
Crisis on Infinite Earths is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential comic book events ever published. It established the template for the large-scale, line-wide crossover event that would become a staple of the American comic book industry. Its legacy is immense, with its narrative consequences and themes of sacrifice and cosmic rebirth being revisited and referenced in countless DC stories and adaptations across all media.
