My friend, we're not going to die, none of us -- not you, not me, certainly not this Earth. 
- — John Constantine
Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 is an issue of the series Crisis on Infinite Earths (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 1985. It was published on April 4, 1985.
Synopsis for "And Thus Shall the World Die!"
As Supergirl joins a despondent Batgirl on top of a city building on Earth-One, trying to encourage her before she is called to rescue a plane that falls apart approaching the anti-matter wave, Pariah arrives on Earth-6 where he confronts the royal superhero family of Lord Volt, Lady Quark, and Princess Fern as the anti-matter wave destroys their world as well. Lady Quark watches helplessly as both her husband and daughter are consumed in the wave while Pariah transports her safely out of the universe.
Meanwhile, the Monitor prepares to create a new hero to help him in his quest. By firing an ion-based energy ray into an unstable star in the Vegan system in the Earth-One universe, he causes a powerful flare of solar energy to travel to Earth. It reaches the observatory of Dr. Kimiyo Hoshi, who berates her staff as she uses the telescope to observe the destructive phenomenon present. She screams as the flare strikes her and then mysteriously transports her out of the lab, leaving her fellow workers and her father wondering what happened to her.
In the dark place where the Psycho-Pirate is taken prisoner, the shadowy figure watches on the screen the Red Tornado in action and uses his power to teleport him to the same place.
On Earth-Two in the time of Camelot, Firestorm and Killer Frost (still under the love thrall of Psycho Pirate) get help from Shining Knight to protect the cosmic tuning fork planted there in that time period, as Vandal Savage watches from a window. The three heroes engage the Shadow Demons in battle, but it is all for naught as they merge and form a giant Shadow Demon. This also happens in the other time periods that the cosmic tuning forks and the Shadow Demons appear.
In the present time of Earth-One in Metroplis, the superheroes see yet another cosmic tuning fork appear, though this time with a female in a costume similar to that of Dr. Light. She tries to warn the heroes approaching her to stay away from the tower, and blasts them away with a burst of light. Katana, who understands Japanese, realizes that this Dr. Light is not their enemy, but an ally. Superman, who is able to converse in Japanese, tells Dr. Light that he knows the situation they are in and they only want to help.
As the Monitor on board the satellite watches the heroes valiantly but vainly try to protect the cosmic tuning forks, Pariah emerges to find that the Monitor was expecting him. He reveals to Pariah that he was responsible for his survival when he should have died for his deeds, but before he could say anything more, Harbinger appears, obviously not in control of herself. She strikes the Monitor with a powerful blast that sends him hurtling down platforms until he finally lands dead. Pariah mourns as he realizes that with the death of the Monitor came the death of all hope.
At that moment, the heroes of both Earths 1 and 2 can only watch as their worlds, consumed by anti-matter, fade into nothingness.
Appearing in "And Thus Shall the World Die!"
Featured Characters:
- Monitor (Final appearance)
Supporting Characters:
- All-Star Squadron/Justice Society of America
- Easy Company
- Infinity, Inc.
- Justice League of America
- Legion of Super-Heroes
- New Teen Titans
- Outsiders
Antagonists:
- Anti-Monitor (Behind the scenes)
- Harbinger
- Psycho-Pirate (Roger Hayden)
- Shadow-Demons
- Vandal Savage
Other Characters:
- Air Wave (Hal Jordan)
- Alexander Luthor
- Amazons
- Arion
- Athena (Behind the scenes)
- Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)
- Bat Lash
- Blue Devil
- Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi) (First appearance)
- Doctor Polaris
- Dolphin
- Green Lantern (John Stewart)
- Jeb Stuart
- John Constantine
- Johnny Thunder (John Tane)
- Jonah Hex
- Kamandi
- Killer Frost (Louise Lincoln)
- Lady Chian
- Lady Quark (First appearance)
- Lord Volt (First appearance; dies)
- Lori Lemaris
- Mento (Steve Dayton)
- Pariah
- Princess Fern (Single appearance)
- Queen Hippolyta
- Ronal
- Scalphunter
- Swamp Thing
- Supergirl (Earth-One)
- Winged Victory
- Jiro Hoshi (Single appearance)
- Professor Tazu (Single appearance)
Locations:
Items:
- Anti-Matter wave
- Medusa Mask
- Trident of Lucifer
- Cosmic Tuning Fork‎‎
Vehicles:
- None
Notes
- This issue includes a letters column with pin-up illustrations of the Monitor by George Pérez.
- This issue is reprinted in the Crisis on Infinite Earths trade paperback, as well as the hardcover edition and Absolute slipcase edition.
- In the five-part television adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths, the events of this issue, the death of The Monitor and the apparent destruction of the entire multiverse, occurs in Part 3 (an episode of The Flash).
Trivia
- In the original print version of this story, the caption to the right of panel 6 of page 4 reads, "After that, only four others remain." At this point in the story, Earth-1 is being attacked, and seeing that plans for using the Charlton Comics heroes of Earth-4 in the upcoming Watchmen mini-series were up in the air at that time, it is assumed that the "four others" means Earths 2, 6, S, and X. This has been changed in the collected versions of Crisis On Infinite Earths to correctly read, "After that, only five others remain".
See Also
- Cover gallery for the Crisis on Infinite Earths series
- Images from Crisis on Infinite Earths Vol 1 4
