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This controversial story explores the consequences of actions and the line between hero and villain.
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00:00So, Identity Crisis is a 2004 DC Comics miniseries. It's an eight-issue tale featuring
00:05the Justice League of America and its family members and close friends. The book is a murder
00:10mystery that explores the idea of the thin line between hero and villain, betrayal and death.
00:15The series has been controversial with some readers, thanks to the violent sexual assault
00:19and murder of popular character Sue Dibney, wife of Ralph Dibney, the elongated man. But also,
00:25the series is praised for its attention to comics history and for being an engaging murder mystery.
00:30So, what we thought we'd do today is try and break it down for you. So, if you've not read the arc,
00:34then maybe it'll motivate you to go and do so, and if you have, well, let's just celebrate the best
00:38and some of the worst aspects of this crazy storyline. So, with this in mind, I'm Jules,
00:42this is WhatCulture.com, and this is DC Comics' Identity Crisis, the full story.
00:48Number 9. The Players, the Premise, and the Stage
00:51Identity Crisis took place in the then-present and starred members of the Justice League of America.
00:56Members of the Justice Society play significant roles, and practically every hero team in the
01:00DC Universe is mentioned or depicted in some artwork. The story centers around the Justice
01:05League members that were active in the satellite era. They were The Atom, Black Canary, Elongated
01:10Man, Green Arrow, Hawkman, and Zatanna, plus the Carl Rayner Green Lantern and Wally West Flash.
01:16Minus Carl and Wally are hiding a secret from years ago that involves the violent sexual assault
01:20of Sue Didney by the villain Dr. Light. Light claims that this is just the beginning,
01:25as he knows all of their identities and every loved one that he can torture and murder. The
01:29team, along with Hal Jordan's Green Lantern and Barry Allen's Flash, elect to have Zatanna not
01:34only wipe Dr. Light's memories, but to make him less of a threat. The team hangs back after Sue's
01:39funeral, while all the other heroes start to search the world for clues because they suspect that the
01:43person behind the murder is none other than Light himself. When word that they are after him gets back
01:48to Light, he goes looking for protection. 8. The Murder of Sue Didney
01:52In Opal City, Ralph Didney was out on a stakeout with Firehawk to potentially thwart the sale of a
01:57Lex Luthor battle suit. Across town, Sue Didney was preparing the annual mystery surprise for Ralph's
02:02birthday. She receives a call and begins to seize in pain. She manages to contact Ralph just as an
02:07unseen assailant burned her body horribly. Ralph got there and cradled her dead body as he melted in
02:13despair. His present then got knocked open, with it being revealed that Sue had been pregnant,
02:18meaning that Ralph would have been a father. In the captions from Green Arrow, we learn that
02:22since his and Superman's deaths, plans, contingencies, and an organizational structure
02:26has been put in place. Various heroes with certain specialties were called in to check the crime scene
02:31for clues and means of an entrance, and bypass the extensive security that the house had.
02:36After the funeral, where Ralph is too distraught to speak, Captain Atom organizes all of the heroes
02:41into teams to go and check on villains who might have likely committed the crime – those with
02:45fire-based powers, teleporters, or those with personal grudges against the League or Elongated
02:50Man specifically. Ralph believed he knew who did it and asked his closest League teammates to help
02:55him find Dr. Light. 7. The League Within The League
02:58Six members of the League hung back after the heroes all take off to pursue various possible foes who may
03:04have killed Sue Didney. As the group discussed a plan of action, they realized that they were being
03:08watched by Carl Rayner and Wally West, the current Green Lantern and Flash. They insisted the heroes
03:13tell them what's going on. Ralph recounted the horrible night where Sue was on the JLA satellite
03:18alone, looking at the stars, and Dr. Light got in. He attacked, beat, and brutally sexually assaulted
03:24Sue. The heroes returned to discover Light in the act and viciously beat him down. Zatana wiped his
03:29memory of the event so he couldn't brag about it, but Hawkman suggested that they do more. He suggested
03:34that they alter Light's mind to make him less of a threat. Zatana went through with this plan,
03:39making Light weaker and turning him into an absolute buffoon. Light appeared on the old
03:43secret society's satellite and begged for somebody to help him against the League. The heroes go to
03:47Light's home and are met with an explosion that immediately knocked Ralph out, as he was the
03:51closest to the building. They find that Light has succeeded to hire the best assassin on Earth,
03:56Deathstroke, the Terminator.
03:586. Dr. Light Remembers
04:00During his autopsy, Dr. Midnight had discovered that Dr. Light hadn't actually killed Sue Dibney,
04:06but that information had not reached the League in time. Deathstroke was ready for their attack and
04:10systematically took down each leaguer in fairly rapid and ingenious ways. Slade paused to get
04:15into a battle of wits with Kyle while he was crushing his ring hand. Oliver takes the opportunity
04:19to jam an arrowhead into Wilson's blind eye, and Deathstroke changes from controlled to chaotic,
04:24and the newly freed League then dogpiles on Slade. Watching the fight triggers a memory and power
04:29return to Dr. Light. He uses a blinding Flash to knock out the League and escape with Deathstroke.
04:35They awaken to find Superman standing over them. He tells them that Light is innocent. Flash
04:40interrogates Green Arrow further and reveals a time when five members of the secret society of
04:44supervillains switched bodies with five members of the League. They mind-wiped them, and apparently
04:48it had happened again at least a dozen of times. It's also discovered that the Sue Dibney murder was
04:53not an isolated incident. Jean Loring, lawyer and ex-wife to Ray Palmer, aka The Atom,
04:58is attacked in her own home. Loring is hung from a noose over the door, but she manages to place a
05:03call to Palmer before the noose tightens. 5. Who Benefits
05:07The Atom rush through the phone line to save his ex-wife's life. They are soon joined by Arrow,
05:12Superman, and Mr. Miracle, who can't find any clues to how the League's security was breached again
05:17without leaving a trace. Superman did recognize the knot, and Oracle identified it as the trademark for
05:22the villain Slipknot. Wonder Woman interrogated him with her lasso of truth, but Slipknot didn't know
05:27anything. The only connection between the suspects so far is that they were both on the Suicide
05:31Squad. While this has been going on, Batman had been conducting his own investigation.
05:35He had already dismissed the Suicide Squad connection. For him, this mystery, truly any
05:39mystery, was solved by determining who benefits most from the outcome. Bruce noticed that it was
05:44the significant others of the heroes that were currently benefiting most, as the heroes were now
05:48hyper-focused on keeping those closest to them safe. Lois Lane was extremely concerned for her
05:53husband. Not his physical state, obviously, but Lois knew that Superman wasn't invulnerable of being
05:57afraid that he can't save everyone. As she considered that thought, she opened an anonymous
06:02piece of mail that said that they know Clark's secret, and that she would be the next target.
06:074. Death of a Father
06:09The superhero community then becomes much more aggressive in their pursuit of the killer after
06:13Lois' death threat. The villains were becoming scared and desperate. While attacking the Shadow Thief,
06:18Firestorm was killed when the thief grabbed the Shining Knight's sword and punctured Firestorm's
06:23body. The nuclear hero then flew into the sky and exploded. Meanwhile, Ray Palmer and Jean Loring
06:28had been spending all of their time together, and their romance began to rekindle. Tim Drake began
06:33spending more and more time with his father Jack, and less time as Robin, although he felt guilty and
06:37went out to help the Titans look for the killer. As Tim left, Jack found a box with a note and a gun inside.
06:43Flash villain Captain Boomerang had fallen on hard times and couldn't get work. He had been begging
06:48his friend the Calculator for any job and for help finding his son, Owen Mercer. Calculator came
06:53through with Owen first, and Digger showed his son how to throw his trick boomerangs. Calculator
06:57also came through with a job to kill Jack Drake. Captain Boomerang entered the house, and Jack
07:02called Tim. Batman and Robin rushed to the house, but they heard a shot. Jack had killed Digger,
07:07but not before a razor-sharp boomerang hit Jack in the chest. And it turned out that Digger had also
07:12left a message for Owen.
07:143. A Batman Betrayed
07:16Now here, some people began to breathe a sigh of relief, because they believed that
07:20Boomerang was the killer that they were all looking for. Many of the heroes were spending
07:24time with their loved ones and staying close to home. The Suicide Squad was released from custody
07:28since there was no reason to halt them any longer. Owen Mercer took up his father's mantle of Captain
07:32Boomerang, but Batman, however, continued to investigate.
07:35Flash confronted Green Arrow, asking why he saw eight people in the memory flash that they all
07:40experienced when Dr. Light recovered his memories. Arrow explained that Batman had come up on the
07:44teleporter as they were mind-wiping light, and he was going to stop them. So they had to also
07:49mind-wipe the Caped Crusader as well to make him forget those few minutes. They did, and Batman was
07:54none the wiser. Still performing his autopsy of Sue Dibney, Dr. Midnight, now assisted by Mr. Terrific,
07:59had found that Sue died from an infraction of the brain. Whilst doing a microscopic scan of Sue's
08:04brain, Peter was shot to find that the cause of the infraction were two tiny footprints on her brain.
08:09Somebody with the ability to change their size had stood on Sue's brain and then killed her.
08:152. The Murderer Revealed
08:17When news of Sue's brain scan was discovered, Gene Loring began asking Ray Palmer about evidence
08:22that she had no way of knowing unless she was actually directly involved. Gene admitted that
08:26she donned the atom suit and attacked Sue to scare her, not to kill her. When she saw what she did,
08:31she burned Sue's body to cover her tracks. Her intention was to get the heroes to rally around
08:35their loved ones, just as Batman had deduced. Gene recanted the details coldly and matter-of-factually,
08:41as if reading a recipe. Ray was screaming at her about how terrible everything she did,
08:46as she dismissed his feelings. Gene acted as if it was a good idea, and that she was his wife and
08:51wouldn't do anything against her. Realizing that she had gone way too far, Ray took her to Arkham
08:55Asylum. He then sank away, out of sight, in despair. Life for the heroes then returned to relative
09:01normality. Wally was unsure of how to talk to Batman, knowing what he knew now.
09:05Green Arrow mused about how the leak always endures, and lastly, Ralph was seen getting
09:09ready for bed as he was talking about his date to Sue, even though she was no longer there.
09:131. Ramifications
09:15There was definite fallout from the actions of this storyline. Batman did eventually remember
09:20the events of the night of Sue Dibney's attack, and the fact that his teammates and friends,
09:24especially Zatanna, would do this to him made him feel very distrustful and distant from the other
09:28heroes. It also caused Bruce to create the Brother Mark I satellite, which eventually became Brother I,
09:34and created the OMAX. Catwoman also suspected that her personality shift from villain to Batman's ally
09:39might have not been her own choice, and then confronted Zatanna. This entire situation caused
09:44the villain community to become organized in a way like never before. Rogues began to fear the
09:49possibility of being mind-wiped, and they began looking for ways to band together. This opened the
09:54door for Lex Luthor to create The Society, which organized nearly every villain into one large army,
09:59except for the Secret Six, who violently refused Luthor's offer. The distrust, anger, and hurt
10:04feelings ultimately caused the Justice League to fall apart, much to Green Arrow's anger.
10:09Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman came together later to rebuild the league from the bottom up,
10:13but the new league came together with all the heroes who battled Solomon Grundy for the body of
10:17Red Tornado. And there we go, my friends. That was DC Comics' Identity Crisis, the full story. I hope
10:23that you enjoyed that, and let me know what you thought about it down in the comments section below.
10:27As always, I've been Jules. You can go follow me over on Twitter at RetroJ, but the O is a zero,
10:31and it'd be great to chat to you over there. But before I go, I just want to say one thing.
10:34Hope that you are treating yourself well with love and respect, my friend. You deserve all the best
10:39things in life, and don't let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise, alright? You are a massive
10:44ledge. Now go out there and absolutely smash your life goals today. Big love to you.
10:47As always, I've been Jules. You have been awesome. Never forget that. I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
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