Now how this relates to Infinite Crisis ----- I don't see how you can really judge this series on the basis of just four issues. After issue seven and the other three Infinite Crisis Specials and Secret Files special I truly feel that is when we should judge IC.
I see your point about the Cleary book, and I certainly don't mean any disrespect, but every time I hear this argument I have to wonder if the person making it isn't on the dole at DC.
"Don't judge Dark Knight Strikes Again til it's over," people said, "Frank's going to pull it all out at the end." Flash forward a couple years and they're saying the same thing about All-Star Batman. And so on. Meanwhile we shell out 3, 4, 6 bucks an issue for stuff we don't even like based on the vague promise (blind hope) that, when it's all over, it will somehow prove worth it. "Trust us, a few months from now, it'll all fall into place." Right. Frankly, DC used up that kind of trust a LONG time ago.
So, what if we get to the end and it's NOT a good story? What if the final pay-off isn't worth the dreck it took to get there? Then we're out about 60 bucks with nothing to show for it, and we get back on the merry go round to do it all over again with the next cruddy series.
To everyone who says, "keep spending your money and maybe the last part of the story will make up for the beginning," I say, don't buy anything until the series is over and then, once you know what happens and the verdict is in, *consider* buying the trade.
I hope better things are in store for DC, and it'll be nice if IC is the event that brings it on. But given this company's track record, I'll believe it when I see it. And given their penchant for collecting EVERYTHING, good or bad, I feel confident there will be an IC TPB available down the road if I really want it (though in this case I know I won't, since no comic with this kind of gore belongs in a house with two young children).