| abstract
| - A company-wide Massive Multiplayer Crossover which sweeps all the "mainstream" characters in a Fiction into a single storyline and, often, takes their own series along for the ride. The original was Crisis on Infinite Earths, the event which changed The DCU so much that its history is permanently defined as "Pre Crisis" and "Post-Crisis". It went from April 1985 to March 1986, tying in almost every other series DC published at the time. After this, it became more and more popular, with not just Marvel and DC but other companies -- Malibu, Wildstorm, etc. -- getting into the act. Eventually, though, readers were sick of it, and it tapered off, before returning to the scene in 2004 when DC and Marvel both launched new Crisis Crossovers that started Metaplots that are still running today. Time will tell how long it takes for readers to get sick of it this time (if they aren't already). The advantage of a Crisis Crossover to a publisher is that people reading the main story will want to read the various crossovers, thus increasing sales. The disadvantage is that people who only want to read one of the titles that cross over may be turned off by having to buy all the tie-ins to understand it, thus decreasing sales. In practice, it can go either way, but there's a reason the technique was abandoned for awhile. In comics, there are several subtypes:
* The classic is a single mini- or maxi-series, with other titles having a couple issues branded with the crossover's title. Crisis on Infinite Earths itself and Secret Wars II are of this type.
* A second kind is the all-annuals crossover. Many comic series have, in addition to their twelve monthly titles per year, a thirteenth plus-sized annual. An all-annuals crossover takes place entirely in one year's annuals (plus, perhaps, a special bookending issue or two). Armageddon 2001 and Atlantis Attacks! are examples.
* Fifth Week Events. Most comics come out monthly, most comics come out on Wednesday, and most months have four Wednesdays. Four times a year, however, there will be a month with a fifth Wednesday. Instead of moving titles around so that (for example) some comics that usually come out on the fourth Wednesday are pushed to the fifth, the publisher may just schedule an event for that week. Example: Sins of Youth
* Self-contained: A crossover that doesn't crossover. The heroes take a break from their own books to participate in a mini-series, then return to their own books. Examples: Secret Wars and Cosmic Odyssey.
* The opposite is the crossover without a self-titled mini-series; the whole crossover takes place in extant books. Marvel used to do this a lot, as with Inferno and Acts Of Vengeance.
* The current format is a expansion of the first type: There will be a core series, one or more spinoff series, probably some one-shots, and crossover into regular titles. Blackest Night, for example, had a core mini-series, seven multi-issue spinoffs, a slew of one-shots (nominally numbered as "new" issues of long-dead series), and heavy crossover into both Green Lantern titles, among others. When a comic slaps a big, visible "Crisis Crossover" logo on the cover, but only has a token Shout-Out to the Big Event that only peripherally affects the plot of the issue in question, that's a "Red Skies Crossover". When a Crossover occurs that involves a couple of characters and their support, but doesn't necessarily affect the large universe, it's a Bat Family Crossover. When the various sets of characters do not interact with each other but still deal with an universal threat, it's a Cross Through. Examples of Crisis Crossover include:
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