IDENTITY CRISIS #1: There are two ways to look out this particular comic book, which I am only reading now because I get my comics in the mail:

One is, that the death of Sue Dibny was a hit by DC editorial, like the deaths of Jason Todd and Supergirl, done to send a message to the fanboys that they better buy this comic book--or else! Or else we won't kill anyone else and you won't buy any more of our crappy comic books. Brad Meltzer was even given a hitlist from DC editorial letting him know which beloved DC heroes he could bump off. So this was fictional homicide, a corporate property killed by the Time-Warner hivemind just because it could.

But second--look, it was done well. I'd be first in line with the "Dark Dibny" grim 'n' gritty Elongated Man jokes, but I don't think that's exactly what's happening in Identity Crisis--this isn't about Ralph putting on a vest and some robogloves and going out as the Shadow Malleable for VENGEANCE! Meltzer gives us every reason to care about Ralph and Sue's relationship--well, as many as he can in the few pages setting up her death. And there's clearly a ***mystery*** involved here (with no nose-twitching--that's the Grim Ralph part) involving Zatanna and Ollie and some of the older Leaguers that if you were Kurt Busiek you'd know what it was right away, but if you're not it's an honest-to-gosh mystery rooted in DC's fictional past, and even if you were Busiek you think to yourself. "Say--I wonder what Meltzer is doing with all this. Perhaps this isn't the craven stunt it appears to be." Plus killing a minor character like Sue (the wife of another minor character) fits in with the series' use of D-list villains like the Calculator and others--I read an interview with Meltzer where he talked about the challenge of using a crappy villain credibly, so I know there's more. Plus Luthor's awwwesome old green-and-purple battlesuit has made an appearance. I dunno. I like it.

Plus Giffen and DeMatteis can bring Sue back in the next Formerly Known As The Justice League deal. When they make Ralph funny again.

I apologize to those who, for a lack of vocabulary, found the above incomprehensible. I apologize to those who got all the references too. Tomorrow--physics worry, probably.