Worlds lived, worlds died — and this book takes you inside the landmark maxiseries (and its Silver Age roots)…
It won’t be out for nearly a year but we can already tell you what one of 2026’s most anticipated books on comics will be: The Crisis Companion, coming in July from TwoMorrows.
Dig the official description:
THE CRISIS COMPANION: From Flash of Two Worlds to Infinite Earths and Beyond
By Kevin Miller
In 1985, DC Comics launched the most ambitious crossover event in comics history: Crisis on Infinite Earths. Four decades later, filmmaker and lifelong comic book fan Kevin Miller unpacks the tangled web of continuity, creators, and corporate pressures that gave rise to this multiverse-shattering epic. The Crisis Companion is both a personal love letter to the series and a deep dive into its history, from the classic 1961 Gardner Fox “Flash of Two Worlds” story that introduced the concept of multiple Earths, through the annual Justice League/Justice Society team-ups that led to the complicated DC continuity that Crisis aimed to fix. This book features original interviews with Marv Wolfman, Paul Levitz, Jerry Ordway, Bob Greenberger, Mike DeCarlo, Peter Sanderson, Roy Thomas, Cary Bates, Dan Jurgens, Mike Gold, and others who helped shape the series and the DC Universe itself. It explores how Crisis transformed our perception of comics continuity, redefined superhero storytelling, and introduced the multiverse concept to mainstream culture. This richly layered volume includes a full-color gallery, and a detailed, issue-by-issue commentary and examines the event’s far-reaching consequences, from the rise of endless reboots to the dominance of event-driven publishing. Whether you’re a casual fan or a full-fledged “Crisisologist,” this is the definitive companion to one of the most influential comic book series ever published.
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A few thoughts:
— The 256-page softcover is scheduled for July 29, 2026, though that could change. It lists for $36.95 (digital edition $15.99). You can pre-order now from TwoMorrows. It will also be available in comics shops.
— Want more Crisis? In February, DC Comics will publish a special new version of the Crisis on Infinite Earths: Absolute Edition. Details here.
— We have tons more coming from TwoMorrows this week, including Jim Aparo: Brave & Bold Artist. You can download TwoMorrows’ free 2026 Update flyer here.
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MORE
— FIRST DETAILS: TwoMorrows’ New JIM APARO Illustrated Biography. Click here.
— JERRY ORDWAY: The Full Rundown on the Special New CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS ABSOLUTE EDITION. Click here.
September 2, 2025
I’m definitely in. Might hold off some (post Xmas) until I place that order since it is more than 6 months out but I am definitely interested. I like the idea of an original cover but I think it lacks (a little) something that links back. TwoMorrows is a publishing ideas house for sure.
September 2, 2025
….just wish it had been in hard cover (HC).
September 30, 2025
It’s the cover to Lois Lane #128, only in silhouette form.
October 1, 2025
It is certainly a homage to that cover. Design wise still not the direction I’d gone. But maybe it is so different (from other Crisis work) for a reason so to be clearly distinct and not confused by other reprint volumes or the upcoming Absolute Edition. I can see that in the editorial decision.
https://assets.catawiki.com/image/cw_normal/plain/assets/catawiki/assets/2024/5/28/9/e/d/9edcc49e-3723-470b-a9a3-649c75402edb.jpg
September 2, 2025
Crisis is my favorite DC story, so I’m in.
September 2, 2025
Just pre-ordered. I have so many complex feelings about Crisis. I loved it as a kid (I read it as it was being released in real time when I was 12-years-old). As an event, I remember how exciting it was. I still think the artwork is amazing. And I love the post-Crisis DC reboots that Crisis ushered in its aftermath. But having reread the story again last year in its entirety (for the first time since 1985, I think), as a story I thought it was…okay (I think not having a central protagonist is what really holds it back). But it’s still a treasured memory for me. So I’m in.
September 2, 2025
Let me guess, DC didn’t give permission to TwoMorrows to use the complete figures from CRISIS #7, or the complete figures from Lois Lane #128, on the cover so the designer went with the silhouette?
September 3, 2025
I’ll probably grab it…I’m definitely interested in the backstory. But like the reader above, I have very complex feelings about Crisis. I loved it when it was initially released…I still have my original issues. And I liked some of the reboots in its wake. But, too much was lost…I’ve never got over the loss of Earth-2.
Looking back on it, Crisis was the beginning of the end of my active engagement with current comics. In the future, I would buy trade editions of storylines that looked interesting…like “The Long Halloween” and “Justice League: The New Frontier.” But actively collecting current release floppies? Stopped that just a few years after Crisis.
September 30, 2025
For those who are expressing some ambivalence toward “Crisis,” this book is for you. While I have a strong emotional attachment to Crisis, which was pretty much my gateway into comic fandom as a young teenager, the rigorous examination to which I subjected it while researching and writing this book definitely revealed its many flaws–some which George Perez, of all people, was pointing out before the ink had even dried on the pages. Even so, for reasons I express in the book, it’s still a landmark series that essentially reshaped DC (and the rest of mainstream comic book publishing) in its image, with other creators seeking to emulate or react against the model it created. In sum, don’t expect a hagiography. I would describe “The Crisis Companion” as my love letter to the series, but let’s just say it wasn’t written during the honeymoon phase of our relationship. 🙂
September 30, 2025
>> was pretty much my gateway into comic fandom
>>
Slightly older generation here (I’m guessing) for it was the start of me leaving comic fandom. Things were getting too dark and I was such a hard core fan of the JSA and Bronze Age in general the changes from DC were really leaving me behind. I guess we all have our own era that we hold to fondly.
Looking back at the run there really isn’t many of the 12 covers that “pop” for me. They were all so busy they really should have been Treasury size perhaps. They have definite spread page feel but not cover grabbing if that makes sense.
I’m definitely ordering the book that all said. And I might be inclined to get the Absolute Edition too….if that means full size artwork and other goodies.
October 1, 2025
I was born in 1971, so I was fourteen when Crisis came out. I fell madly in love with what followed, including comics that took things in a darker direction, such as Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, Watchmen, and The Dark Knight (finally got to meet Frank Miller this spring and give him a copy of a comic I created, which was a dream come true). But I kind of lost my taste for DC a few years later, not too impressed with what followed. It felt like they were constantly chasing the dragon but never quite able to emulate that mid-1980s explosion of creativity. I had never spent a lot of time reading Silver Age and early Bronze Age books prior to embarking on this project, but those soon became my favorite eras. Oddly, for someone whose favorite titles today include American Vampire, Doug Wagner’s Plastic, Jeff Lemire’s early non-superhero work, and anything related to the Mignolaverse, some of my favorites from the past include Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane and Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen, as well as Kirby’s New Gods, Tomorrow People, and related titles. Something I talk about in the book are the two schools of thought that have battled for prominence throughout DC’s history, including those who treat the DCU as an orderly storyworld where everything must connect and those who treat it as more of an open world, a sandbox where people are free to create and explore regardless of what preceded them. I enjoy both approaches, and I always thought I was more of a continuity guy, but I’ve since discovered that might not be the case. When retconning becomes to self-conscious, the bones tend to show through, and telling a good story becomes secondary to connecting all the dots.