See, I catch up on the entire thread 'coz I hear where they're having classic X-Men discussion and then I find out it's, like, two hundred posts back. Crushed, I tell you. Also, P-Cow, I have the first thirteen or so issues of US-M, and I have no idea why I stopped buying them, 'coz it was all gold. I've loved Mark Bagley since he was doing Amazing Vol. 1 when I started collecting comics in the early nineties, and he's only gotten better.

Also, I just messaged you back on IM just now, so I'm not sure why I'm posting this.

Victor, thinking about the issue gives me uncomfortable skin prickles.

More below in whitefont.

It also makes my eyes curiously damp. I love the way Meltzer set it up, so that from the beginning, when they're talking in Opal City, the moment we're at "Seventeen minutes till now." you know, just *know* that it's going to be Sue dying. You know, and you want to be wrong. I cannot overstate how much I wanted to be wrong. I found myself thinking, as Ralph talked, "Well, maybe it could be one of the Kents! We saw the Kents a page or two back!" as if that were a comforting thought to have. Because with just a shadow of detail, just the line about butter pecan, you get it. Get why Ralph loves her. And as a reader, even if you don't know her well, you love her, too. Meltzer said who died wasn't the point or the mystery. It's the why. I went from sorrow to a deep sense of dread, wondering what had happened, what they'd done, what secret they have that's that deep, that terrible.

Plei, I'm with you on the prickles. I knew almost instantly, and damn, BM made me feel it all the way through. Not sure I can forgive him for that. But you know, I think Superman telling Pa Kent to lock the door behind hiim was even more chilling, the sudden realization that even Supes has something to lose.

I don't know what the secret is, although I think we get let in on it next issue. But I think BM's made it quite clear that all of their secrets are now on very shaky ground.

With this, and with everything else, it feels like the year where we all see what everyone in the DC universe can lose. It's shattering, or feels shattering, on a human level, in ways that previous big events haven't.

It's hard to say, without knowing the big secret, but I do think this wil spread from Elongated Man to others in the JLA. There's a lot of speculation about various heores identities getting out, and that could be devestating.

Which titles do you read, out of curiousity?

Also, do you happen to know/recall how long this was in the making/planning? Because it seems like a 'verse-wide leitmotiv coming to a head, and I'm wondering how coordinated that was.

(I read almost all the Bat titles, including Robin, Nightwing, and Birds of Prey, and I also read Flash, Outsiders, Teen Titans, Green Arrow, and Green Lantern. Oh, and Adventures of Superman.)

Of course the other critique I've seen of Identity Crisis you might call the Gail Simone one, which is out there in spades along with the fanboy one.

Which titles do you read, out of curiousity?

I'm in transition, but basically, I'm reading Identity Crisis, Outsiders, JSA, Green Arrow, Teen Titans, Fables, Promethea, various Hellboy stuff, various X-Men stuff, Swamp Thing and Ultimate Fantastic Four.

I'm also reading Avengers and Justice League, but their stock with me is plummeting.

Lastly, reading the Authority, Planetary and Starman in trades, which is mildly frustrating, as Starman's been FINISHED for three years and there's at least one more graphic novel left. Maybe two.

Also, do you happen to know/recall how long this was in the making/planning? Because it seems like a 'verse-wide leitmotiv coming to a head, and I'm wondering how coordinated that was.

Usually these things are planned at least a year in advance, often more. (Which may explain the minor continuity errors that popped up in IC, like Tim Drake running around as Robin after his father learns his secret, or Capt. Atom being alive (which can be explained away, as it's Capt. Atom, and he's done that before.

I drift in and out of BoP. Don['t know why. Also, been meaning to pick up Flash again.

Of course the other critique I've seen of Identity Crisis you might call the Gail Simone one, which is out there in spades along with the fanboy one.

And I can't say they don't have a point, really. Still, not undercutting my enjoyment of the story, though.

Yeah, I left off the "Things I Read in Trade for to Catch Up" category.

Which is basically Starman, Planetary, JLA, and maybe a couple of others.