This episode kicks off with a bang as Ollie and Barry have to contend with a fully deranged John Deegan, now Earth-1’s Superman, black suit and all! It’s a pretty terrifying prospect but he also nicks the opening monologue! THE FIEND!

The whole thing has shades of the Injustice video game about it, or the flashforward/dream sequence in Batman v Superman which also ripped off the Injustice aesthetic, but it’s an effective way to show how boned Ollie and Barry are, especially when they learn that everyone they could rely on isn’t going to help them. Unless they do, like Cisco because they kinda need him to jump dimensions so sure, he’ll help them.

Speaking of dimension-hopping, Ollie and Barry come face-to-face with The Monitor and his whole demeanour is great. LaMonica Garrett has been fantastic any time he showed up. Enigmatic to a fault, The Monitor still has a playful lilt to his voice that indicates that this test isn’t meant in malice and he is genuinely surprised at how our heroes adapt.

So much so that he appears to offer Ollie a deal in order to keep Barry and Kara from not dying, as foretold in the Book of Destiny. What that actually means will remain to be seen but I can see it as a way for Stephen Amell to leave Arrow should he wish to.

Can I just give some love to Tyler Hoechlin? Because he’s a great Superman. And a great Clark Kent. And a great Evil Superman. He’s just a really good actor who gets the character and that chin is chiselled as FUCK! What a handsome lad. But yeah, he’s got great bits throughout the 3 nights but his best spots are in this Supergirl episode, where he finally proposes to Lois after learning they’re going to have a child. Good for them!

The Super Friends continue to have a really fun chemistry and it’s gonna be sad when they go back to their own shows and I have to listen to the same tired shit from The Flash again but that’s 2019 Sharp-O’s problem and that bastard deserves it. He knows what he did…

Deegan is defeated, even gaining a brand new skello-face to match his comic book counterpart; Doctor Destiny. Yeah, I didn’t mention that before because he’s kind of a jobber villain, mostly known for his appearances in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comics and the two times he was voiced by William Atherton in the New Batman Adventures and Justice League cartoons.

We also get some parting words from Batwoman about Deegan being incarcerated in Arkham and her concern about his new friend; Psycho-Pirate.

Words have power and there are few words in the DC Universe that inspire both awe and terror like those above. I’ve thrown the word ‘Crisis’ around a lot during this crossover, even capitalised it, that’s how important it is, because Psycho-Pirate’s final words are a portent of doom in the DC universe and foreshadowing for next year’s event which may mean the end for more than one of our heroes.

A Crisis is coming and universes will collide. Worlds will live, worlds will die, and nothing will ever be the same again.

And that’s Elseworlds! A thoroughly enjoyable romp over three nights and probably my favourite of the CW crossovers up to this point. It was funny, intriguing, and set the stage for the biggest name in DC events which will no doubt see Black Lightning come into the fold. And if you’re wondering where the Legends were during this whole escapade; let’s just say there was an incident involving Constantine, a cat, the Puppets of Tomorrow, and time being repeatedly shattered. So that’s why they had to cash in a rain check.

That’s all from Flash Facts until mid-January 2019 so I hope you all have a very merry holiday season and I’ll catch you guys next year!

I’m not even kidding; as good as last year’s Invasion crossover was cool, this year’s kicks off it’s two-night spectacular in style with Supergirl and Arrow, even if the casts are so meshed that you can’t even really tell which episode is which.

They don’t bury the lead either as we open on Earth-X itself, with crimson, lightning filled skies that bring to mind the Dark Multiverse worlds from the recent DC Comics event, Dark Nights: Metal. Black and crimson banners fill the skyline along with strange architecture and zeppelins. Oh yeah, we’re in Nazi Country.

A resistance warehouse is attacked and decimated by one lone archer, showing that Earth X’s Dark Arrow is not to be trifled with and he proves that by taking on that Earth’s James Olsen aka Guardian, in a way more beat-up patriotic version of his suit. He unfortunately dies but assures DA that there are more like him, nicely hinting at the upcoming animated Freedom Fighters: The Ray, which serves as a prequel to this crossover.

We catch-up with our main heroes as they’re all discussing the upcoming wedding, with nice location titles using the font of each respective series. It’s a neat little sequence, overall and serves as an introduction to the majority of the players for these first two parts.

During the build-up to the event, we get quite a lot of information dumped on us for those who may not watch every show and to show how all these disparate groups interact and it’s nice to see Barry catch up with Ollie and Kara again. They built up a real bond over the past couple of years and it’s paid off here as Ollie is best man and Kara does a beautiful rendition of Runnin’ Home To You, an original song from the musical team-up, Duet.

Kara’s adoptive sister, Alex, and Sara Lance hook-up the night before the wedding! Alex, rebounding from a recent break-up, and Sara, a notorious puss-hound, make for some nice, awkward comic relief but given how funny this collective cast is, there’s plenty to go around…

Like Mick! Dominic Purcell is frequently the funniest cast member on Legends of Tomorrow and is used to decent effect here, partnering up with Caitlin, most likely as a Snart surrogate. Get the whole fire and ice motif rocking again. They even have a go at Dark Arrow before being jobbed out (along with the rest of Team Arrow).

Back to the wedding where Nazis invade! It makes sense in hindsight since nearly every CW hero is gathered together but this gives the show the ample opportunity to have everyone show off what they do best and it gives one notable absence a real highlight…

While Kid Flash won’t be partaking in the event proper, Wally does get a really slick moment that made me smile and then made me sad because he’s amongst the three other black heroes that are sadly missing from this team-up.

OH! I should make mention of another odd attendant besides the assemblage of heroes and the Nazi gate-grashers. This odd little moment between Grant Gustin and a rather excitable Jessica Parker-Kennedy who is playing an unnamed character but my Spidey-Sense is tingling and I think she’s going to be important. There’s two theories I can offer but I’ll keep them under my hat for now.

Now, I guess I should talk about some of our villains and while Dark Arrow and Overgirl are just married versions of Ollie and Kara (gross, I know), they do make a menacing power couple and there’s a fair amount of affection between the two. The real odd-balls are Metallo, with some of the ropiest CGI this poor stretched production could muster and Eobard Thawne. Our Eobard Thawne. Wearing Wells’ face. I know they make mention of time shenanigans but this is ridiculous. I know they’re only doing the Wells-face again because they’re burning through their budget like no tomorrow and Tom Cavanaugh is up for literally anything but it’s still super weird.

Not as weird as Tommy Merlyn being Prometheus though! Holy shit! This was a swerve and a half and I applaud the writing team for bringing Colin Donnell back to Arrow after 5 seasons of his character being dead! Though I will admit that I didn’t recognise him immediately and only marked out when I heard his name.

I know there’s still a lot I haven’t covered and I’m already pushing 800 words but rest assured, I loved every second of the Supergirl and Arrow parts of this crossover and I can’t wait for tomorrow’s episodes when we’ll see Overgirl try to steal Kara’s heart and the rest of our heroes try to escape from Earth-X alive! Are you enjoying this year’s event so far? Let me know your favourite moment in the comments and I’ll catch you guys tomorrow for The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow!