Grovel

Written by: Bill Willingham, Judd Winick
Art by: Ian Churchill, Justiniano
Publisher: DC Comics (US), Titan Books (UK)
First published: 2005
Originally published as: Day of Vengeance 1-6, Action Comics 826, Adventures of Superman 639, Superman 216

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The Infinite Crisis, or rather, the Countdown to it, in the fictional DC Comics universe continues in this collection of monthly comics. The volume pulls together two stories featuring Eclipso, a spirit of vengeance looking to find a physical host in which to manifest itself. The first story comes from Judd Winick’s Superman writings and sees Eclipso attempting to take him over, which leads to fisticuffs between an Eclipso-possessed Superman and Captain Marvel. The second story hands over to Bill Willingham as he pits Eclipso and a hostless and confused Spectre against a handful of lesser-known magical superheroes, who join in Captain Marvel’s continuing crusade to rid the world of these malevolent powers.

We start to see some linking back to Identity Crisis at this point, as it’s the antagonist of that story (we won’t give it away in case you haven’t read it) who succumbs to hosting Eclipso’s spirit.

In a nutshell, despite high hopes from the calibre of the writers, it’s all average superhero fare - the weakest of the Countdown to Infinite Crisis books. There’s little plot to speak of, and what is present is dwarfed by what’s essentially a couple of battles between some very big DC Comics hitters. The artwork’s nice enough but the lack of engaging story detracts even from this and there’s little here to surprise or excite.

Other titles in the Infinite Crisis series:

• Identity Crisis
• JLA 18: Crisis of Conscience
• Superman: Sacrifice
• Infinite Crisis Companion
• Countdown to Infinite Crisis: The OMAC Project
• Countdown to Infinite Crisis: Day of Vengeance
• Countdown to Infinite Crisis: Rann-Thanagar War
• Countdown to Infinite Crisis: Villains United
• Infinite Crisis