Crisis on Other Earth by Perez and Englehart

Before there was Crisis on Infinite Earths

Crisis on Infinite Earths #1, April 1985

there was Crisis on Other Earth!

from Avengers #144, February 1976

This is a precious little gem I uncovered while reading through the Serpent Crown saga of Avengers #141 - #149.

Perez was a young comic artist just getting started at Marvel. He was working on Steve Englehart’s the Serpent Crown story line in Avengers #144, February 1976, where the Avengers get shanghaied to the Squadron’s world.

The really striking thing about this drawing is that this was almost 10 years before Crisis On Infinite Earths came out and yet the illustrations are so similar with the heroes floating around in space while energy crackles around them that you would swear that this illustration was a major inspiration behind The Crisis on Infinite Earths. Did Perez recall of this old comic when Marv Wolfman pitched this project to him or was he equally instrumental in the creation of it? We may never know the inner workings of the creative mind but it fun to contemplate it, look for connections and hints like this one.