I

IDENTITY CRISIS is a seven-issue limited series published by DC Comics (2004 – 5).

Written by New York Times best-selling author Brad Meltzer, and showcasing covers
by Michael Turner, the story features art by penciler Rags Morales, inker Michael R.
Bair, and colorist Alex Sinclair. Th ough the series has been collected and reprinted in
popular hardback and soft-cover trade formats, the original issues of the series were
some of the best selling comics put out by any American comics publisher during their
time period. Th e story takes place in the DC universe’s mainstream continuity and is
notable for its focus on some of the minor characters who came to prominence during
the Silver Age.
In addition to being a superhero story, the tale is also a murder mystery that begins
with Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man, waxing poetic to Firehawk about his love for his
wife, Sue Dibny. Shortly after fi nishing this paean to his marital bliss, Ralph receives a
distressing, cryptic phone call from his wife, who is under attack. He rushes home to
fi nd her and their unborn child already dead, with third degree burns over 40 percent of
Sue’s body. Th e Justice League of America , of which both Sue and Ralph are members,
is called in to investigate, but they fi nd no sign of forced entry, and even Batman — the
world’s greatest detective— cannot fi nd a single carpet fi ber out of place. A touching
funeral for Sue follows, and while diff erent teams of heroes split up to continue their
investigation into the crime, a select group from the mid-Silver Age JLA lineup stays
behind to help Ralph track down the person he believes to be responsible for Sue’s
death: Dr. Light.
By way of fl ashback, readers are informed that during the JLA’s satellite years,
Dr. Light successfully teleported onto the JLA satellite where he found and raped a
solitary Sue Dibny. Responding to Sue’s Justice League signal device, some of the team