10 Hugely Influential Comics That Changed Everything

4. Crisis On Infinite Earths (DC Comics)

Readers of the current Marvel Comics crossover event Original Sin, or DC's recently concluded Forever Evil storyline, may not be aware of the seismic impact of a 1985 series named Crisis On Infinite Earths, but without it, event comics may not exist in their current form. Whether or not one is a fan of this type of story (they do have their detractors) is immaterial when looking at the influence of the series, as company-wide events have become an extremely important and profitable style of storytelling for DC and Marvel over the years. Crisis functioned as a method of DC simplifying their overly complicated and intricate 50 year continuity, that by the mid-1980's incorporated the Multiverse (multiple universes that existed at the same time, each with different versions of the same characters). Creators found being bound to this continuity stifling, and so writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez were hired to create a huge story that give reasons and moments to nearly every character from every parallel universe in DC's history, before most of them were removed from the timeline. The series is memorable for featuring the deaths of Supergirl and Barry Allen's Flash, resonant demises that stuck with readers for years after. Of course, in the years since, both Supergirl and Barry Allen have been brought back from the dead...and the Multiverse now exists again. In fact, just this month Grant Morrison started a new miniseries, The Multiversity, which will define the Multiverse in New 52 continuity, which is enough to make even the most ardent fans head hurt! But regardless, the influence of Crisis On Infinite Earths is there for all to see in the business practices of DC and Marvel to this very day.