ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the “second phase” of DC’s Multiverse, which began in 1985 with the crossover series Crisis on Infinite Earths. Crisis attempted to make DC’s stories less confusing and more accessible to readers by consolidating the multiverse into a single cohesive universe. However, many creatorsstill working for DC, then and in the years to follow, bucked against this editorial decision, and worked to bring back elements of the multiverse and DC’s many parallel universes, ultimately culminating (about 15 years later) with the return of the multiverse (albeit in a contained form) in Infinite Crisis, the sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Since then, creators have once again played with the storytelling possibilities of the multiverse, with some (such as Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison) even making it a hallmark of their work for the publisher. This culminated in recent years with series such as Final Crisis, The Multiversity, and Dark Knights: Metal that slowly brought back the full, expansive multiverse.
