{{first off, this was published about two years before infinite crisis, not six months, my b.}}

Identity Crisis opens on The Elongated Man (Ralph) and Firehawk sitting on a roof, figuring out a mystery. You see, Ralph’s wife, Sue, has sent him off to solve a fake mystery so she can plan his surprise birthday party. It’s cute.

Ralph does his classic nose twitching thing (a staple of his character) {{his old-timey comic gimmick was that his nose would twitch when he sensed a mystery or something wasn't right, as he was a detective}} and Firehawk stops him. She says that Green Arrow told her Ralph’s nose twitching was all made up for publicity. Ralph angrily stares at her before remarking that Green Arrow wears a hat to hide his bald spot.

{{they come back to find his wife, Sue Dibny, horrifically murdered, burnt to death}}
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After Sue’s funeral, Ralph gathers a squad of ‘80s Justice Leaguers to go after Doctor Light. Flash (Wally West) and Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) are caught eavesdropping and Ralph explains to them a tragic story of the League’s past.

It turns out, back in the 80’s Doctor Light broke into the JLA satellite when only Sue Dibny was there. He attacked Sue and sexually assaulted her before the league returned to save her.
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In this scene, the Leaguers catch Doctor Light in the process and mindwipe him, also forcibly changing his personality. {{it's also revealed that they do this, like a lot, all the time. This is also intended to explain why he specifically went from a credible League threat to a drooling idiot who mostly loses to the teen titans}}
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{{paraphrasing another part; Tim Drake, the third Robin, was pretty well known for being one of the only bat-people and kind of even super-people that didnt have dead parents. He was fairly well-adjusted and had a unique dynamic with batman as a result, his first story bringing batman back from the brink of madness, titled "A Lonely Place of Dying", and was also the first Robin to get his own solo comic. As a result of all the complex things going on, a semi-minor supervillain called Captain Boomerang pops in and bloodily murders his parents, bringing him into the dead parents club}}
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{{It's revealed over the course of this that Batman accidentally walked in on the league mindwiping some villain once, and was furious. Panicking, the League decided to vote unanimously to wipe him too to preserve the league. He finds out about this and loses his shit, descending deeper into paranoia and mistrust of an already tenuous relationship}}
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{{several other classic or lighthearted or hackneyed old-timey heroes are killed off, or revealed to be much more complex and shitty people}}
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The story ends by revealing that The Atom’s {{super mentally ill, it turns out}} ex-wife, Jean Loring, was Sue’s killer and (indirectly) Jack Drake’s killer, as well. She only intended to scare the two, with the hope of frightening her ex-husband into getting back together with her and reliving the past. Loring is locked up forever in Arkham, and The Atom is all sad and stuff.