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When DC Comics unleashed the Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985, it had two missions: celebrating 50 years of the publisher and cleaning the continuity, making the comic books more accessible to entice new readers. Throughout 2024, a year shy of the maxiseries’ 40th anniversary, the three-part direct-to-disc project was cleaning up or clearing out the revised continuity of Warner Animation’s DC Comics universe.

Part three arrived in late July and is welcome after the deeply disjointed and disappointing Part Two. Screenwriter Jim Krieg couldn’t seem to figure out how to pace this middle section but recovered for a stronger, but still flawed, finale. What should have been a fast-paced story that slows down to give key characters their moment continues to focus too much on one set of characters, too much talking, and not enough fun scenes chock full of heroes we’re not likely to see otherwise.

We left...

When DC Comics unleashed the Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985, it had two missions: celebrating 50 years of the publisher and cleaning the continuity, making the comic books more accessible to entice new readers. Throughout 2024, a year shy of the maxiseries’ 40th anniversary, the three-part direct-to-disc project was cleaning up or clearing out the revised continuity of Warner Animation’s DC Comics universe.

Part three arrived in late July and is welcome after the deeply disjointed and disappointing Part Two. Screenwriter Jim Krieg couldn’t seem to figure out how to pace this middle section but recovered for a stronger, but still flawed, finale. What should have been a fast-paced story that slows down to give key characters their moment continues to focus too much on one set of characters, too much talking, and not enough fun scenes chock full of heroes we’re not likely to see otherwise.

We left...

In early 1939, Superman soared over the comic book world. Editors at a nascent DC Comics (then known as National Comics Publication) charged young gag cartoonist Bob Kane with creating a follow-up to the hugely successful character. The illustrator wracked his brain, drawing upon diverse images from across the pop cultural spectrum: Leonardo da Vinci’s flying machine, pulp detective novels, a mystery film called The Bat Whisperer and Douglas Fairbanks’ portrayal of Zorro. He called on another young collaborator, Bill Finger, to fine-tune some of the details and zero in on their hero’s backstory.

Over the course of a weekend,...