Crisis on Infinite Earths Absolute Edition Comparison (2005 vs 2026)
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■ George PérezGeorge Pérez was an American comic book artist and writer, who worked primarily as a penciller. He came to prominence in the 1970s penciling Fantastic Four and The Avengers for Marvel Comics. In the 1980s, he penciled The New Teen Titans, which became one of DC Comics’ top-selling series. He penciled DC’s landmark limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths, followed by relaunching Wonder Woman as both writer and penciller.
In my Crisis on Infinite Earths: Absolute Edition (2026) review, earlier this month, I mentioned that “We’re seeing fine details that previously was never seen” and tried to give you some side-by-side comparison between all the previous versions. A lot of you guys are specifically asking: is the new remastered artwork worth upgrading from the original Absolute Edition (2005)? I think that is really up to you and your situation. If you are happy with the original version, I think it looks fantastic. I like that 1998 digital color (I may be in the minority when it comes to the new colors).
If you must absolutely have the best details and quality printing, the new 2026 Edition looks amazing compared to the old version. Think of it like going from DVD to Bluray. Some people are going to be happy with their movie on DVD, and some people must have the best version, which may be Bluray or 4k UHD, or whatever they’re calling 4k (you can tell that I’m fine with Bluray – I don’t need the 4k version).
With Crisis Absolute (2026), DC’s gone back to the original negative and rescanned the line artwork from Jerry Ordway’s copies. For the other issues, DC tried to track down all the original pages for rescan, a task that would have been impossible before the internet. The result is the new remastered Crisis, which I am assuming will be the standard source material that they will be re-using in the upcoming Crisis Compact Edition and any future reprints (probably a 45th Anniversary Edition in 2030 is likely on the horizon). Certainly, the DC Finest are using the new source.
So, for those still asking, is the new remastered version worth it? I have gone the extra mile and give you a side-by-side slider comparison between the two Absolute Editions (2005 and 2026). They were taken with a lens camera so some artwork may appear slightly blurry. I have also lined them up using an opacity tool, so when you slide it, they should look relatively lined up. The images are very large (1.6mb), I need it as large as possible so you can see all the fine details. They are uploaded to this website at a cost of (limited) storage, so if you appreciate this work, please sure this link with your friends or social.
If the slider does not work for you, you can download the two pages individually: Crisis Absolute 2005 Page 13 and Crisis Absolute 2026 Page 13.
DC Comics does not do enough to advertise this kind of thing… so if you’re still on the fence about buying the new Crisis Absolute – I hope this new artwork comparison is enough to push you over the edge and buy this. Please use my affiliated link and save $50 off the book.
