Crisis on Infinite Earths rolls on and Comic Book Classics Revisited is here to take a look at issue #6.  After seeing for themselves the crazy, mixed up timeline occurring while Earth 1 and Earth 2 slowly merge together, the heroes agree to work with Harbinger, Alexander Luthor, and Pariah to save what’s left of the multiverse against the grotesque and evil Anti-Monitor!In the beginning, the universe was formed.  Sometime later, a mistake occurred creating an anti-matter universe.  Think of it as an evil opposite to our “positive” matter universe.  Here, like in our universe, there is a Monitor, who calls himself the Anti-Monitor.  With him is his crazy servant, the emotion-controlling Psycho Pirate, and their captive, the Flash.  With the heroes on their way to the final three universes in the Anti-Monitor’s reach, he increases the Psycho Pirate’s powers to aid him in the destruction of the final Earths.

Between the positive and negative universes sits the Monitor’s massive ship.  It has been attacked by the Anti-Monitor and is breaking apart.  Realizing the ship will never withstand the attack intact, Alexander Luthor is going to draw the final three universes into the netherverse where Earths 1 and 2 are being protected from the Anti-Monitor’s onslaught.  Not allowing Alex to kill himself to do so, Harbinger destroys the machine and knocks Alex out.  Just in the nick of time, Harbinger finds her human body inside its mechanical womb and recombines with it before the Monitor’s ship is destroyed completely.

On Earth 2, the original Wildcat is being cared for by the original Atom.  Wildcat’s legs are smashed completely, and it would appear his heroic career is over, but Yolanda Montez is watching outside and swears to carry on for him in honor of who Wildcat is and what he stood for.  I should note here that Yolanda is the god-daughter of the original Wildcat and he is unaware that she possesses powers of her own.  On Earth 1, Lex Luthor is suddenly sucked up into what appears to be a tornado.  He’s brought to the new Brainiac’s ship where he is offered the opportunity to become a ruler of the universe.

Meanwhile, a group of heroes arrive on Earth X where the anti-matter wave is slowly eating the planet.  The heroes see an image of Harbinger in the anti-matter cloud, but they also see the masses of humanity walking toward the cloud that will wipe them from existence.  The people appear to be controlled and even the Freedom Fighters aren’t recognizing the heroes they should know well.  As it turns out, the Psycho Pirate has filled the people of Earth X with fear and hatred.  The same is happening on Earth 4 where the heroes sent there are being attacked by Blue Beetle and other heroes of that universe.  Blue Beetle knows, though, he’s being forced to do so and can’t stop it.  On Earth 1, Aquaman is distressed to find that Atlantis is missing and, along with it, his estranged wife, Mera.  He planned to reunite with her and make their crumbling marriage work.  Elsewhere, Dolphin is about to attack Ocean Master and Black Mantis, but before being able to do so, they disappear right before her eyes.

On Earth S, the assorted heroes there are being attacked by Captain Marvel (a.k.a. Shazam) and his Marvel “Family”.  Supergirl tries to get Captain Marvel to understand what’s happening, but his rage is so great, she cannot reason with him.  Kole, after creating a wall of crystal to stop the people from entering the anti-matter cloud, calls whoever can come over to try to figure out what Harbinger is doing in the image she’s projecting in the cloud.  Black Canary figures out that the masses must be controlled by Psycho Pirate, so, therefore, he had not perished when he disappeared previously.  Across the three universes, a shudder is suddenly felt, and at Harbinger’s command, the universes of Earth 4, Earth X, and Earth S are pulled into the netherverse, much to Psycho Pirate’s disdain.

In doing so, Lyla sacrifices the power of Harbinger, and she would have sacrificed her own life if she had to in order to atone for the murder of the Monitor.  Alex and Lyla now must figure out how to safely merge five universes into one as opposed to only two.  The original Flash (Jay Garrick), Power Girl, and Johnny Quick personally witness three more villains disappear before their eyes and all agree that something pretty bad is going on along with this whole destruction of the multiverse problem.  Elsewhere on Earth 2, Ted Grant, the original Wildcat, is resting from his injuries.  A shadowed figure tells him the world needs Wildcat so she must take his place.  Yolanda Montez reveals herself as the new Wildcat!

One of the things I like very much about this particular chapter is how kind of helpless the situation is.  It’s bad enough that out of all the universe that previously existed in the multiverse only five remain.  It’s bad enough that no one can stop the anti-matter wave, and if they try, they are completely wiped out.  No, what’s worst is that the only person who can truly stop it was killed a couple of issues ago.  To add to that, there are people (Lyla and Alex) who should know what to do to take his place and they have nothing more than hopes that they can stop it.  They also have no idea how to get off the floating rock they’re on.

Imagine reading this book in 1985 or 1986 while the event was still happening.  Today, yes, we know the DC Universe was changed, but not wiped out.  You gotta think that there’s no real good way out of this.  No one has any answers or a plan.  The superheroes aren’t able to punch the problem away.  In fact, no one can really take on the problem of figuring out what to do on a scientific level because everyone is too busy trying to save as many people as they can.  These days, there would always be a smart guy who would be kept off the front lines and in a secure bunker working out the plans to stop everything.  This series doesn’t have anything like that.

That doesn’t mean that the series is stuck in neutral because no one has a clue what to do next.  No, instead, the series is building still.  There’s still a lot of action and a lot of intensity.  As I mentioned before, everyone is getting involved too.  It’s not limited to being a Justice League problem, or a Batman family problem.  Everyone, no matter what they do or what their powers are, has something to do and giving what they have to stop people from being killed.

Just because heroes are heroes and trying to save everyone, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a terrible price to pay.  We’ve already seen what should be the end of an illustrious career for Earth 2’s Wildcat.   However, two terrible blows have yet to be struck.  The next week of Comic Book Classics Revisited are going to be a tough one because we’re about to see the deaths of two beloved characters.  After the elimination of DC’s multiverse, it’s these next two issues that everyone who’s read Crisis on Infinite Earths remember most.  So, for now, I’ll sign off, and I’ll see you next week for what I will dub “The Black Week” as we cover issues #7 and 8!