Although the idea of a multiverse has become commonplace in popular media today, it has been a major preoccupation of superhero comics for decades. For example, consider all the different versions of Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine, different Spider-Men in No Way Home, and the Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once.

It’s impossible to talk about parallel universes, however, without mentioning Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s hugely influential Crisis on Infinite Earths—the first issue of which was released 40 years ago this week. While not the first comic (or even the first DC comic) to address the multiverse, Crisis brought it to the mainstream in a major way and would set a standard for epic, universe-spanning comics that remains to this day.

On the surface, Crisis on Infinite Earths tells the story of a giant, evil cosmic being known as the Anti-Monitor who is on a quest to destroy all of existence (as in, every universe in the multiverse), and of course, DC’s greatest heroes must join together to stop him. Massive battles ensued, many characters died, and DC’s status quo was changed forever (well, kind of, until years later when we find out that’s not really the case, but that’s a story for another time).

If you take a step back, though, and look at it as a comic book made by writers and artists employed by a big entertainment corporation, then Crisis essentially functions as a way of simplifying DC comics for new readers (after all, what better way to reduce the number of confusing Earths you have to keep track of than having a giant, evil cosmic being destroy them). Crisis simplified DC’s multiverse into one definitive universe and ushered in a new era for the publisher. Later storylines, such as Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, and Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, built upon the themes of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Few would leave as lasting an impact as the original..

In celebration of the release of Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 in 1985, we’ve selected some of our favorite superhero books that explore the multiverse.

For more great comics, check out the offerings of your local Library branch as well as the hoopla app.

Crisis on Infinite Earths 

Flashpoint

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time

Crisis on Multiple Earths Book 1: Crossing Over

The Flash of Two Worlds Deluxe Edition

Secret Wars

The Multiversity Deluxe Edition 

Spider-Verse 

Doomsday Clock: The Complete Collection

X-Men: Days Of Future Past