** spoiler alert ** 
 As a relatively new comics reader, I've often wondered why more established female fans seem so reactionary about the subject of sexism in comics. "Come on now," I thought, "the situation isn't great, but it isn't that bad either!" 
 Then, I read Identity Crisis. I take it all back. 
 It would probably be easier to start by mentioning the things I *did* like about Identity Crisis, which were significant enough to justify a 2 star rating for a book that I felt an overwhelming urge to throw at the wall on several occasions. First, I liked Green Arrow as a narrator. It was nice to see a major comics event through the eyes of someone other than Superman or Batman. I also enjoyed seeing the JLA divided between those who were willing to tap into the dark side and those who were not. I like stories that test the limits of superheroes and see how far they will go to keep their loved ones safe, and that was definitely the case here. I loved the way that Brad Meltzer laid out the story, even though I didn't enjoy the story itself. Meltzer, who is primarily known as a novelist, does a great job of explaining who these people are and what's going on at any given time, and that makes this story much more accessible than many of the other big event books. Finally, I was glad to see the mystery solved through common sense and detective work instead of relying on super powers. I enjoy some level of realism in comics, and I'll take it where I can get it. 
 And now, the bad news: this book has a serious woman problem. I won't go on about the murder of Sue Dibny, or the brutal rape-- which did nothing to further the plot and was obviously included strictly for shock value-- that preceded it. Countless others have explained why this is problematic, and there really isn't much left to say about it. However, even when you set aside the horrific and pointless rape and murder of Sue Dibny, this book STILL has a woman problem, which is actually pretty amazing. In general, the female characters were helpless (Sue), batshit crazy (Jean) or attractive wallflowers who did a great job of standing around and being useless (Black Canary). The one bright spot was Zatanna, who played a small but fairly significant role in this hot mess of a story. However, the rest of the female characters were hopelessly stereotyped and/or grossly under-utilized. Case in point? Black Canary, a martial arts expert whose sonic scream is powerful enough to shatter glass, was able to be subdued by a guy who put a cloth sack over her head. Really? That's all it took? She wasn't able to fight back or, you know, scream through the bag? Sorry, you lost me there. 
 Another thing that bothered me about this book was the way the JLA (or at least the members who were privy to the information) seemed to react to Sue's rape. Not the vigilante justice part-- I'm not sure if I agree with the decision to mind-wipe Light and Bats, but I can at least understand the desire to do it. However, it seemed like the rape itself was a much bigger secret than the mind-wiping. Watching everyone tiptoe around the subject actually made me uncomfortable. From my perspective, the JLA's initial reaction was shame, not anger, and I don't understand that at all. I'm not saying they should have shouted it from the rooftops or anything, but why was it such a dark and horrible secret? Sue was a victim, plain and simple. If she was such an important part of the group, why not tell the others so they could offer support? How did Sue cope with the aftermath? Did she want it to be kept secret? Oh, that's right... we don't know, because it's never mentioned. We hear all about the JLA's desire for vengeance, but we don't hear anything about what Sue wants, because this was all just a plot device and it doesn't really matter what Sue wants. The JLA may refer to Sue as "one of us," but their reaction proves that nothing could be further from the truth. 
 My final complaint is the ending. Not part of the ending, but the entire thing. What a disaster. It took every ounce of strength I possessed not to throw this book out the window when I saw the panel with the tiny brain footprints. Same with the panel where somebody flipped Jean Loring's crazy switch as she tried to justify killing Sue because she missed her ex-husband. Good Lord, has there ever been a stupider, more nonsensical ending to anything ever? If this book didn't deal with such serious subject matter, I would assume that the ending was a bad joke, or perhaps a rejected portion of a script from a terrible episode of I Love Lucy, complete with 1950's era sexism. It was bad enough to qualify as embarrassing, and frankly, these characters all deserved better. 
 Overall, this book was a waste of a very interesting premise. I didn't get the in depth examination of how far superheroes will go to protect their loved ones that I was hoping for, but I did get a heaping dose of shame, sexism, and rape, and therein lies the problem.