The Infinite Crisis DC crossover event was devised by DC to sort out continuity and clean up the universe. It served as a sequel to 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths event which was meant to do the same. Both events just made everything a lot more confusing. Turbine’s Infinite Crisis MOBA is loosely – very, very loosely – based on the events of the 2005 arc. So of course it’s getting it’s own comic book series. Based on a game. Based on a comic series.
Despite the fact that players are put into teams filled with villains and heroes from different universes fighting other heroes and villains regardless of what faction or universe they represent, writer Dan Abnett contests that it’s not a story-driven game.
“The gameplay might be combat-oriented, but it’s driven by a ferociously strong meta-story, one that draws directly from some of the greatest stories in DC history,” Abnett said. “That’s what I’ve been looking at particularly—a comic series that showcases the characters and action you’ll find in the game, but which sets those elements against the greater context of the Crisis. Most of the characters have a very strong sense of what’s at stake, what’s driving them forward and the timescale. That propels the plot and provides a very muscular story. Also, of course, the story in the comic is about the characters’ discovery of, and growing understanding of, the events enfolding them.”
Again, this is a game where Batman can team up with The Joker to fight Green Lantern in one battle, and then fight three Jokers in another. Characters are simply models with abilities, tools used to secure a victory. There are no set factions and there’s not any real team consistency. Any character could end up fighting with or against any other character. The meta-story is an excuse to throw loads of different characters together, it doesn’t inform the action.
The story in the comic is actually a Batman yarn, with the world’s greatest detective discovering a multi-dimensional war. “[W]e start on Earth Prime with Batman, though I’m going to tease a lot of the epic backstory as a way in, and then focus on Batman as he tries to solve a crime in Gotham that appears to be the handiwork of one of his regular villains,” said Abnett. “It isn’t. Solving the crime opens the doorway, metaphorically and literally, into the Multiverse and the desperate battle going on across the 52 strands of reality to stave off the monumental threat of the Infinite Crisis. He’s going to encounter a lot of very cool variant heroes and villains… and maybe bring some of his Earth Prime allies into the fight too.”
So it actually sounds like the comic is only very loosely based on the MOBA, which is very loosely based on another comic. That groaning noise isn’t just coming from my empty belly.