I'm still a bit stunned that the book I didn't want to even look at a year ago is the one DC book I can't wait to read. Yup. Red Hood and the Outlaws. And in trying to wrap my brain around that bizarre concept, I've been doing a lot of thinking about the DCU and the DCnU and that led me to thinking about the multiverse and its place at the center of all things DC.
One idea jumped out at me: Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Which led to the idea that there are multiple multiverses. When the multiverse collapsed after the first Crisis, that meant a new universe was created that was what a collapsed multiverse would look like, characters from Earths 1 and 2 mixed together, giving us an older Dinah Drake Lance who was Dinah Laurel Lance's mother, and so on. When the multiverse was reborn, the reality shifted for those characters in that relatively new universe. But the original, the one where Kara Jor-El and Barry Allen didn't die in a Crisis still existed.
Using that concept, we can assume any universe we like is still out there. For me, that means a universe continuing on from Flashpoint, where Flashpoint righted some wrongs. In that universe, Ralph and Sue are enjoying life and never died. Ted Kord is alive and happy letting Jaime Reyes be Blue Beetle while he concentrates on his company. Booster and Rip are still fixing attempts to screw up time, while Roy Harper has given up on being Red Arrow, preferring to be Arsenal so he can be his own man. He's operating solo now, having quit the JLA, and is raising Lian, working odd jobs, and fighting crime. Steph is Batgirl, Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne are both donning the Batman cape and cowl, and Babs is Oracle.
And the new 52? That's the multiverse that came into existence as a byproduct of Flashpoint, with a new Earth 1 and a new Earth 2.
Now we all can imagine our perfect universe is out there. What does your favorite universe look like?
Showing posts with label multiverse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label multiverse. Show all posts
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Alternate Realities
As in, the multiverse. But first, a few more thoughts on the new Wonder Woman outfit (I can't bring myself to call it a costume).
As many folks have pointed out, it would work better for Donna Troy, though I prefer Donna's black starfield jumpsuit. If I were younger, I would love to wear it, actually. Now I don't think those leggings would be all that flattering on me.
I think tweaking a costume is fine. Most of the time I don't notice. So many people (and I'm really sorry for not having links but at the time I read all the posts, I didn't think I'd want to revisit the topic over here) have blogged the history of Diana's WW costume. I've never paid much attention to her belt or the symbol on her chest, how stylized the eagle design is, if her boots are flat or heels, and so on. I notice a cape. I noticed two stars on the bottom of the costume vs a great many. I even notice when her bracelets grow or shrink in length. And I don't usually care. Because the costume still says Wonder Woman.
In fact, the only tweaking I never much cared for was Power Girl's costume, when the high neck with the cutout for her cleavage was replaced with a scoop neck, making it look like any old swimsuit off the rack. The top with the oval cutout was different, eye-catching, not something you see every day. Happily, the cutout is back. And when I realized that, I realized another thing about Diana's new outfit that bugs me.
The damn thing, pretty though it is, looks like it came off a rack at the local department store, Macy's, perhaps. I get the feeling Diana's real costume was in the laundry, so she rummaged in her closet and dresser drawers and came up with a nice, red stretchy top and black leggings (or possibly very tight pants) and thought, "Heck, this will do."
It's not iconic. It doesn't scream "Wonder Woman" because, minus the accessories, anyone could wear it (well, most any woman) and might be likely to wear it or something very similar, and no one would notice. Anyone walking around in Diana's iconic outfit, or a tweaked version, would stand out. Same as if they were wearing Supergirl's costume, or even Black Canary, because even that is a stylized look, blending the old Canary costume with a more modern approach.
Which brings me to that multiverse thing. I love the multiverse, so I decided I'm reading about Earth 53. I think there are still 52 earths, so I came up with Earth 53. On Earth 53, there was no Cry For Justice (or if so, Prometheus was quickly nabbed and eliminated as a threat). So, Ollie didn't kill anyone and Star City is intact. Corrupt, but intact. Ollie and Dinah are happily married, still (I'll have to see how well this fantasy of mine meshes with BoP as things play out there), and Lian Harper is alive and well. Roy is still the happy-go-lucky, yet responsible parent, still dating heavily and looking for the right woman to be Lian's stepmother. Without the need to avenge his daughter, he has not killed and might be back in the JLA. I can envision him fighting alongside Dick/Batman and Donna Troy.
The Dibneys are alive and well on Earth 53, too. Somehow, they were restored to life after Blackest Night, but no one knows yet. Not part of the special dozen whose story is currently being chronicled in Brightest Day, they moved to a busy city where Ralph, eschewing his Elongated Man identity, has opened a PI business with Sue, the two of them happily solving mysteries.
Anyone else we should resurrent/retcon on Earth 53?
As many folks have pointed out, it would work better for Donna Troy, though I prefer Donna's black starfield jumpsuit. If I were younger, I would love to wear it, actually. Now I don't think those leggings would be all that flattering on me.
I think tweaking a costume is fine. Most of the time I don't notice. So many people (and I'm really sorry for not having links but at the time I read all the posts, I didn't think I'd want to revisit the topic over here) have blogged the history of Diana's WW costume. I've never paid much attention to her belt or the symbol on her chest, how stylized the eagle design is, if her boots are flat or heels, and so on. I notice a cape. I noticed two stars on the bottom of the costume vs a great many. I even notice when her bracelets grow or shrink in length. And I don't usually care. Because the costume still says Wonder Woman.
In fact, the only tweaking I never much cared for was Power Girl's costume, when the high neck with the cutout for her cleavage was replaced with a scoop neck, making it look like any old swimsuit off the rack. The top with the oval cutout was different, eye-catching, not something you see every day. Happily, the cutout is back. And when I realized that, I realized another thing about Diana's new outfit that bugs me.
The damn thing, pretty though it is, looks like it came off a rack at the local department store, Macy's, perhaps. I get the feeling Diana's real costume was in the laundry, so she rummaged in her closet and dresser drawers and came up with a nice, red stretchy top and black leggings (or possibly very tight pants) and thought, "Heck, this will do."
It's not iconic. It doesn't scream "Wonder Woman" because, minus the accessories, anyone could wear it (well, most any woman) and might be likely to wear it or something very similar, and no one would notice. Anyone walking around in Diana's iconic outfit, or a tweaked version, would stand out. Same as if they were wearing Supergirl's costume, or even Black Canary, because even that is a stylized look, blending the old Canary costume with a more modern approach.
Which brings me to that multiverse thing. I love the multiverse, so I decided I'm reading about Earth 53. I think there are still 52 earths, so I came up with Earth 53. On Earth 53, there was no Cry For Justice (or if so, Prometheus was quickly nabbed and eliminated as a threat). So, Ollie didn't kill anyone and Star City is intact. Corrupt, but intact. Ollie and Dinah are happily married, still (I'll have to see how well this fantasy of mine meshes with BoP as things play out there), and Lian Harper is alive and well. Roy is still the happy-go-lucky, yet responsible parent, still dating heavily and looking for the right woman to be Lian's stepmother. Without the need to avenge his daughter, he has not killed and might be back in the JLA. I can envision him fighting alongside Dick/Batman and Donna Troy.
The Dibneys are alive and well on Earth 53, too. Somehow, they were restored to life after Blackest Night, but no one knows yet. Not part of the special dozen whose story is currently being chronicled in Brightest Day, they moved to a busy city where Ralph, eschewing his Elongated Man identity, has opened a PI business with Sue, the two of them happily solving mysteries.
Anyone else we should resurrent/retcon on Earth 53?
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Belated Reviews
Time sure flies when you're busy. I've been busy getting ready for my vacation, starting on Saturday, mostly by crafting my little fingers off to get my decoupage boxes done for the art show at the fan con (for tv and movies, mostly) I go to every May. But I have read some comics, so here's what I thought of them.
Outsiders 47
As soon as the crossover with Checkmate is done, I'm dropping this. Without Roy, there isn't much here for me. Most of the characters seem directionless and the book lost its heart. With Batman coming onboard, things will just move backward, and this will become just another Bat book, and Dick will only get out of Bruce's shadow in his own book.
At least, the story started to move, but the issue still has the aura of setup. I guess there was a need to show that Checkmate doesn't ask for help and the Outsiders are tough as nails, but 2 whole issues just to get the gang on the mission? Sheesh.
Nighwing 132
Dick's ragtag team of meta helpers made this more interesting than it's been. Bride and Groom had a strong ick factor and mostly, were just plain creepy. At least, Dick's acting like a grownup again and not the boy toy Bruce Jones had made him.
Green Arrow 74
I can't comment on the plot of this thing. To be honest, I read only the Ollie/Dinah scenes, which is the only reason I didn't drop the book. For good or bad, Ollie and Dinah are hot together. I also appreciated lines like:
Countdown51
Wow. From the wonderful wrap around cover to the promise of the Joker coming up, and all the confusing bits of multiverse in between, this was a breathtaking start to what promises to be another yearlong romp. A lot of plot threads got introduced at once. Mary Marvel is out of the hospital, without her powers. A misplaced Joker's Daughter threatened the multiverse. Darkseid has plans. Flash's rogues have plans. And I have no clue what's going on. It's great.
I'm intrigued by the idea that universe jumping is problematic. I hope by the end of this, visits back and forth will be routine again. Because that was the real cool factor of the old multiverse. The JLA and JSA are on the same Earth now, so their team-ups don't involve crossing dimensions as they once did, but there must be other teams on other Earths our groups should meet. The old multiverse was about possibilities. I don't expect, or even want that version back. But I hope the new one is as full of possibilities as the old one and that DC properly exploits it for thrilling stories. Comics can be fun. And so far, this is. Now to see if they can sustain the fun for another year, week by week.
Outsiders 47
As soon as the crossover with Checkmate is done, I'm dropping this. Without Roy, there isn't much here for me. Most of the characters seem directionless and the book lost its heart. With Batman coming onboard, things will just move backward, and this will become just another Bat book, and Dick will only get out of Bruce's shadow in his own book.
At least, the story started to move, but the issue still has the aura of setup. I guess there was a need to show that Checkmate doesn't ask for help and the Outsiders are tough as nails, but 2 whole issues just to get the gang on the mission? Sheesh.
Nighwing 132
Dick's ragtag team of meta helpers made this more interesting than it's been. Bride and Groom had a strong ick factor and mostly, were just plain creepy. At least, Dick's acting like a grownup again and not the boy toy Bruce Jones had made him.
Green Arrow 74
I can't comment on the plot of this thing. To be honest, I read only the Ollie/Dinah scenes, which is the only reason I didn't drop the book. For good or bad, Ollie and Dinah are hot together. I also appreciated lines like:
"I don't think there's anything I've been prouder of...ever. ...Red Arrow..."and
"I wanted to be...I wanted to be a better man...for you."Could this really be the arrogant pig we've come to love? My my, Mr. Queen, how you've changed. I loved this and I hope he really has grown up.
Countdown51
Wow. From the wonderful wrap around cover to the promise of the Joker coming up, and all the confusing bits of multiverse in between, this was a breathtaking start to what promises to be another yearlong romp. A lot of plot threads got introduced at once. Mary Marvel is out of the hospital, without her powers. A misplaced Joker's Daughter threatened the multiverse. Darkseid has plans. Flash's rogues have plans. And I have no clue what's going on. It's great.
I'm intrigued by the idea that universe jumping is problematic. I hope by the end of this, visits back and forth will be routine again. Because that was the real cool factor of the old multiverse. The JLA and JSA are on the same Earth now, so their team-ups don't involve crossing dimensions as they once did, but there must be other teams on other Earths our groups should meet. The old multiverse was about possibilities. I don't expect, or even want that version back. But I hope the new one is as full of possibilities as the old one and that DC properly exploits it for thrilling stories. Comics can be fun. And so far, this is. Now to see if they can sustain the fun for another year, week by week.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
52, the Multiverse, Retconning, and Death in the DCU
52 42: A Review
Do not read if you do not want this issue spoiled. This is the only WARNING I'll give. :)
"Because, Faust... ...I'm a detective."
With that one line, Ralph Dibny became, once again, the character I loved when I was a kid. Ralph and Sue were the perfect couple and Ralph had a good heart, the best ethics, a joy in life and what he did with it. I hated seeing Ralph sink so low after Sue's death, giving up being Elongated Man, moaning and groaning and being rather pathetic though single-mindedly determined, all with good reason, but still.... And here he was, being the Ralph of old, tempered by grief into a hardness he didn't have before, but still, Ralph, the detective, the man who could outthink nearly every human in the DCU, having figured it out. He'd figured out Supernova and he figured out Faust and he got the last laugh, only he's dead now (for good?) which means he's with Sue where he belongs. And I want to hate DC and the writers for this, but I can't because this was so damn good.
And now my confusion over the Dr. Fate miniseries, re: where the helmet's been if it's been with Ralph for most of the missing year, but no mention of that is in the miniseries, well, now I know why.
The intro with Renee and the "Question" was nice, but could've been moved to an issue featuring her, because it was so unnecessary here, taking away from Ralph. This was Ralph's issue. I guess we'll be seeing that in issues coming up, issues focusing on the major players of 52 to resolve their storylines. Is this the "big death" or will there be others, too? I don't know, but I can't wait to find out.
Maybe Ralph is really dead, never to come back. Maybe someone else will be Elongated Man someday. It won't really matter. Because I realized a few things while reading and enjoying 52.
I've said before that after Crisis on Infinite Earths, I gave up comics because Supergirl was killed. From 1985 (I didn't even finish reading Crisis) to 1991, I read only New Titans because I loved those characters. In my mind, the collapse of universes and the end of the multiverse never happened. In 1991, I gave up New Titans, too, because all the fun had been sucked out of it. I started reading comics again, bit by bit, in the mid-'90s, because I'd read that they'd changed a bit and got curious and went into a comic shop and saw lovely books that insisted I read them. So, I read the Nightwing mini and the Arsenal + Batman one-shot and the Arsenal mini (because of my lust for all things Roy Harper). And over the years, I learned I'd missed a lot.
I didn't know from Parallax or Zero Hour. I'd missed half the retconning and forgotten most of the rest. Slowly, I came to see that DC had had second thoughts about a few things. Characters came back from the dead. Green Arrow, for one. Hal became Spectre and finally Green Lantern again. I found I didn't mind some of the retconning. Dinah Lance being the daughter of the original Black Canary on this one Earth, carrying on her mother's "job," made sense. I could live with it. I got back into the rhythms. I figured enough out to keep track. And finally, Kara Supergirl was returned, even though she's pretty much unrecognizable. Such is life.
And that brings me to the whole point of this, this thing 52 has taught me, along with Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis. Nothing is etched in stone. Things change. Just like life. But this is a fictional realm, one with superpowers and magic. These characters don't live "normal" lives and we shouldn't expect them to. They are not of our Earth. Characters come back to life and that's okay. I know there are people who think death should be permanent or it loses meaning and I agree with that, in principle. But in the DCU, things work a bit differently.
Death is still felt keenly. Characters still mourn. Not everyone comes back or comes back the same. Characters have to deal with their, with their own resurrection or that of others. Some, like Power Girl, have had to cope with being on the wrong Earth. Dinah had to face Ollie's death and then his return and how that affected her since she'd finally moved on. His cheating on her was a scab his coming back tore off. Nightwing is facing the realization that he was supposed to die. In the DCU, anything can happen, and they all know it. They feel the pains as well as they joy and when the writing is good, we feel those emotions, too. Even retconning, when done as part of a story, is a part of the way the DCU operates. And sometimes, it just a way to fix a problem or an unpopular choice -- ignore it!
Maybe the multiverse is returning. I hope so. I'm a big parallel time fan, from comics and science fiction novels. But I know it might not be what it was or what I'd prefer. All I can ask is that it be interesting, true to the characters, well written, and beautifully drawn. Sometimes, DC has dropped the ball in one or more of those areas, but they seem to have figured out how to do it right. They've demonstrated that with 52. I'll be with them for Countdown. Because I want to know what happens next. Because I enjoy seeing how things thread together. Now, in other books OYL, things that had to wait until the big reveals in 52 can now be told in those books. Some were not part of 52, but others did include events from 52. Now we see which events affect which books. It's been one big, fun jigsaw puzzle to piece together.
Yeah, DC still has areas that need improvement, but telling a good, complicated tale is something they've shown they can handle.
But they'd better not kill of Roy Harper, in Countdown or otherwise. ;)
Do not read if you do not want this issue spoiled. This is the only WARNING I'll give. :)
"Because, Faust... ...I'm a detective."
With that one line, Ralph Dibny became, once again, the character I loved when I was a kid. Ralph and Sue were the perfect couple and Ralph had a good heart, the best ethics, a joy in life and what he did with it. I hated seeing Ralph sink so low after Sue's death, giving up being Elongated Man, moaning and groaning and being rather pathetic though single-mindedly determined, all with good reason, but still.... And here he was, being the Ralph of old, tempered by grief into a hardness he didn't have before, but still, Ralph, the detective, the man who could outthink nearly every human in the DCU, having figured it out. He'd figured out Supernova and he figured out Faust and he got the last laugh, only he's dead now (for good?) which means he's with Sue where he belongs. And I want to hate DC and the writers for this, but I can't because this was so damn good.
And now my confusion over the Dr. Fate miniseries, re: where the helmet's been if it's been with Ralph for most of the missing year, but no mention of that is in the miniseries, well, now I know why.
The intro with Renee and the "Question" was nice, but could've been moved to an issue featuring her, because it was so unnecessary here, taking away from Ralph. This was Ralph's issue. I guess we'll be seeing that in issues coming up, issues focusing on the major players of 52 to resolve their storylines. Is this the "big death" or will there be others, too? I don't know, but I can't wait to find out.
Maybe Ralph is really dead, never to come back. Maybe someone else will be Elongated Man someday. It won't really matter. Because I realized a few things while reading and enjoying 52.
I've said before that after Crisis on Infinite Earths, I gave up comics because Supergirl was killed. From 1985 (I didn't even finish reading Crisis) to 1991, I read only New Titans because I loved those characters. In my mind, the collapse of universes and the end of the multiverse never happened. In 1991, I gave up New Titans, too, because all the fun had been sucked out of it. I started reading comics again, bit by bit, in the mid-'90s, because I'd read that they'd changed a bit and got curious and went into a comic shop and saw lovely books that insisted I read them. So, I read the Nightwing mini and the Arsenal + Batman one-shot and the Arsenal mini (because of my lust for all things Roy Harper). And over the years, I learned I'd missed a lot.
I didn't know from Parallax or Zero Hour. I'd missed half the retconning and forgotten most of the rest. Slowly, I came to see that DC had had second thoughts about a few things. Characters came back from the dead. Green Arrow, for one. Hal became Spectre and finally Green Lantern again. I found I didn't mind some of the retconning. Dinah Lance being the daughter of the original Black Canary on this one Earth, carrying on her mother's "job," made sense. I could live with it. I got back into the rhythms. I figured enough out to keep track. And finally, Kara Supergirl was returned, even though she's pretty much unrecognizable. Such is life.
And that brings me to the whole point of this, this thing 52 has taught me, along with Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis. Nothing is etched in stone. Things change. Just like life. But this is a fictional realm, one with superpowers and magic. These characters don't live "normal" lives and we shouldn't expect them to. They are not of our Earth. Characters come back to life and that's okay. I know there are people who think death should be permanent or it loses meaning and I agree with that, in principle. But in the DCU, things work a bit differently.
Death is still felt keenly. Characters still mourn. Not everyone comes back or comes back the same. Characters have to deal with their, with their own resurrection or that of others. Some, like Power Girl, have had to cope with being on the wrong Earth. Dinah had to face Ollie's death and then his return and how that affected her since she'd finally moved on. His cheating on her was a scab his coming back tore off. Nightwing is facing the realization that he was supposed to die. In the DCU, anything can happen, and they all know it. They feel the pains as well as they joy and when the writing is good, we feel those emotions, too. Even retconning, when done as part of a story, is a part of the way the DCU operates. And sometimes, it just a way to fix a problem or an unpopular choice -- ignore it!
Maybe the multiverse is returning. I hope so. I'm a big parallel time fan, from comics and science fiction novels. But I know it might not be what it was or what I'd prefer. All I can ask is that it be interesting, true to the characters, well written, and beautifully drawn. Sometimes, DC has dropped the ball in one or more of those areas, but they seem to have figured out how to do it right. They've demonstrated that with 52. I'll be with them for Countdown. Because I want to know what happens next. Because I enjoy seeing how things thread together. Now, in other books OYL, things that had to wait until the big reveals in 52 can now be told in those books. Some were not part of 52, but others did include events from 52. Now we see which events affect which books. It's been one big, fun jigsaw puzzle to piece together.
Yeah, DC still has areas that need improvement, but telling a good, complicated tale is something they've shown they can handle.
But they'd better not kill of Roy Harper, in Countdown or otherwise. ;)
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Post-IC Commentary with Reviews
There's been a lot of blogging going on re: Infinite Crisis 7 and the bit of retconning that went on. I must admit that to me it's not a big deal since for me, that's the way things have mostly been, no matter what's been written in the last 25 years in the DCU. That's partly what happens when you stop reading something like the DCU for a decade or so.
There was only about 4-5 years where I didn't read comics at all, when I gave up the last title I'd been reading, Teen Titans/Titans, around 1991. But in 1985, after the first Crisis (when Supergirl was killed), I stopped reading just about everything else. And when I picked up DC Comics again in the mid-'90s with the Nightwing mini and the Arsenal one-shot and slowly added titles, I didn't look back. There were big gaps in my DC knowledge that slowly got filled in by talking to people, reading the DC message boards, and from the tidbits dropped into the comics I was again reading.
I never read the Year One books, except for the Robin/Dick Grayson mini (I tried the Nightwing one, but thought it pretty dull). At least, I think those were Year One books, albeit a bit late in the game.
Gradually, I learned that Ollie Queen had died and his son, a new character, was the then-current GA. I learned about Hal turning bad and Kyle being GL. I couldn't ignore those changes, but others, the ones dealing with backgrounds or who founded the JLA (which I wasn't reading and hadn't read since pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths) were either unknown to me or were of no consequence since they didn't make a difference in the stories I was reading. So hearing that Wonder Woman again is a founder of the JLA isn't a big deal. She always has been to me.
I pretended the post-Crisis DCU was simply another alternate reality. I don't really buy the bit about realities converging. Sure, maybe for that moment, but I'm a big fan of the science fiction construct that realities are created at every decision point. As soon as the first decisions were made in the then new DCU, reality splintered once more. So the planets of the DCU were similar to the one I'd lost, just enough so that I could read and enjoy the stories without dwelling on Kara's death, or Ollie's, because I knew they were alive somewhere and anything I liked that happened to my favorite characters probably happened in those other unseen versions of the DCU, too. So seeing the Earth-2 Clark and Lois wasn't out of left field for me. More like a bit left of center.
It's hard for me at times to keep track of all the versions of a character. I grew up with the Silver Age and soon thereafter, the multiverse. Retconning of retcons makes me dizzy. In many things, what we learn when we're young tends to stick with us, sometimes more than what we learn later. It's hard to forget some early lessons, even misconceptions. So when I can't remember the current details of Batman's origin, I fall back on the version I've read the most: the old one.
And now, once again, realities have converged and I know, it's only for the moment. What the DCU is now, the stories we're reading, are just one version of reality, because one nanosecond after, someone made a decision and reality splintered once again, only the characters populating the DCU are unaware of it. Perhaps, they'll never find out, if that's what the writers and editors decide.
Once you accept that alternate realities can't help but exist (okay, I take this on faith and have no idea if they exist for real, but within fiction, I aim for consistency with this concept), you then can look to the future as being flexible in that millions of possible futures exist for each reality. So the future where the LSH exists is but one future. The future Booster Gold knows is but another future and if 52's first issue can be a guide, he's about to learn just that.
So, my reviews here are based on this view of the DCU.
Nightwing 120
Somewhere, the real Nightwing lives. This isn't it. If ever a character has been screwed over so quickly and completely, it's Dick Grayson. As bad as Devin's last arc was (and I'm a fan of her writing in general), as angst-driven as he was, at least I could recognize him. This version of Dick bears no more than a physical resemblence to him. And the story is just bad. I can't see why Clancy was brought back. I like her, but she's serving no purpose other than as someone Dick knows from before. She could've been anyone from before. The fashion show stuff was just crap. Cheyenne is a meta? Ho-hum. She's already been established as boring, immature, and idiotic, so why should I care about her? Where is Babs and why aren't she and Dick still together? That's what I care about. First, Tarantula, now Cheyenne? What is this need to surround Dick with out-of-control women? And I'm not going to get started on Jason, because I'm one of those people who was happy when he died and wished he'd stayed that way. The art is serviceable. The only reason I'm reading this book, still, is the hope that the next arc will be better. Well, I can dream.
JSA 85
The pace is a bit slow, but I'm enjoying the history of the Gentleman Ghost. Unlike the JSA Classfied arc featuring Vandal Savage and not much of the JSA, Levitz is weaving the Ghost's story in nicely with the JSAers. And I liked Jade's ghost visiting her father and trying to get him to fight to live. It was probably one of her better appearances. And nice art from Rags and company.
Checkmate 1
I never read about this group til the Crisis Countdown series. The concept intrigues me and the political aspect of the new series has a lot of potential. The art is nice, but I can't always tell some of the characters apart.
52 Week 1
Wow. I'm impressed. By ticking off the days, they really gave this a real-time feel. The cover is stunning, as good as the preview promised. The writing, especially the dialogue, is crisp and the art is wonderful, very evocative in places. The characters are full of life. Ralph's pain was palpable, even moreso than in Identity Crisis when so much else was going on and was distracting from the personal aspect of his loss. As with any good story, a lot happened, but not too much, giving a hint of things to come.
I suspect things to come includes the death of many beloved characters. One of the managers at the comic shop where I keep my pull list said a "ton of characters" will die in 52. I still suspect Roy "Arsenal" Harper will be one of them. If no, I don't know what DC hopes to gain by not giving us a hint of what's to come for him. And if he does die, the surprise in that is gone for many of us who are convinced he will die. If he doesn't, there will be no surprise, just enormous relief. With Dick playing boy toy and idiot du jour, if I lose Roy, I'll be hard pressed to find a new fav. Although, WildCats is supposed to return with a new book. There's no one quite like Cole "Grifter" Cash. It will be odd to have a fav comic character outside the DCU. Very odd. But unless Roy returns, or Dick shakes off the funk he's in, or someone else steps up and makes me take notice, Cole it will have to be.
There was only about 4-5 years where I didn't read comics at all, when I gave up the last title I'd been reading, Teen Titans/Titans, around 1991. But in 1985, after the first Crisis (when Supergirl was killed), I stopped reading just about everything else. And when I picked up DC Comics again in the mid-'90s with the Nightwing mini and the Arsenal one-shot and slowly added titles, I didn't look back. There were big gaps in my DC knowledge that slowly got filled in by talking to people, reading the DC message boards, and from the tidbits dropped into the comics I was again reading.
I never read the Year One books, except for the Robin/Dick Grayson mini (I tried the Nightwing one, but thought it pretty dull). At least, I think those were Year One books, albeit a bit late in the game.
Gradually, I learned that Ollie Queen had died and his son, a new character, was the then-current GA. I learned about Hal turning bad and Kyle being GL. I couldn't ignore those changes, but others, the ones dealing with backgrounds or who founded the JLA (which I wasn't reading and hadn't read since pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths) were either unknown to me or were of no consequence since they didn't make a difference in the stories I was reading. So hearing that Wonder Woman again is a founder of the JLA isn't a big deal. She always has been to me.
I pretended the post-Crisis DCU was simply another alternate reality. I don't really buy the bit about realities converging. Sure, maybe for that moment, but I'm a big fan of the science fiction construct that realities are created at every decision point. As soon as the first decisions were made in the then new DCU, reality splintered once more. So the planets of the DCU were similar to the one I'd lost, just enough so that I could read and enjoy the stories without dwelling on Kara's death, or Ollie's, because I knew they were alive somewhere and anything I liked that happened to my favorite characters probably happened in those other unseen versions of the DCU, too. So seeing the Earth-2 Clark and Lois wasn't out of left field for me. More like a bit left of center.
It's hard for me at times to keep track of all the versions of a character. I grew up with the Silver Age and soon thereafter, the multiverse. Retconning of retcons makes me dizzy. In many things, what we learn when we're young tends to stick with us, sometimes more than what we learn later. It's hard to forget some early lessons, even misconceptions. So when I can't remember the current details of Batman's origin, I fall back on the version I've read the most: the old one.
And now, once again, realities have converged and I know, it's only for the moment. What the DCU is now, the stories we're reading, are just one version of reality, because one nanosecond after, someone made a decision and reality splintered once again, only the characters populating the DCU are unaware of it. Perhaps, they'll never find out, if that's what the writers and editors decide.
Once you accept that alternate realities can't help but exist (okay, I take this on faith and have no idea if they exist for real, but within fiction, I aim for consistency with this concept), you then can look to the future as being flexible in that millions of possible futures exist for each reality. So the future where the LSH exists is but one future. The future Booster Gold knows is but another future and if 52's first issue can be a guide, he's about to learn just that.
So, my reviews here are based on this view of the DCU.
Nightwing 120
Somewhere, the real Nightwing lives. This isn't it. If ever a character has been screwed over so quickly and completely, it's Dick Grayson. As bad as Devin's last arc was (and I'm a fan of her writing in general), as angst-driven as he was, at least I could recognize him. This version of Dick bears no more than a physical resemblence to him. And the story is just bad. I can't see why Clancy was brought back. I like her, but she's serving no purpose other than as someone Dick knows from before. She could've been anyone from before. The fashion show stuff was just crap. Cheyenne is a meta? Ho-hum. She's already been established as boring, immature, and idiotic, so why should I care about her? Where is Babs and why aren't she and Dick still together? That's what I care about. First, Tarantula, now Cheyenne? What is this need to surround Dick with out-of-control women? And I'm not going to get started on Jason, because I'm one of those people who was happy when he died and wished he'd stayed that way. The art is serviceable. The only reason I'm reading this book, still, is the hope that the next arc will be better. Well, I can dream.
JSA 85
The pace is a bit slow, but I'm enjoying the history of the Gentleman Ghost. Unlike the JSA Classfied arc featuring Vandal Savage and not much of the JSA, Levitz is weaving the Ghost's story in nicely with the JSAers. And I liked Jade's ghost visiting her father and trying to get him to fight to live. It was probably one of her better appearances. And nice art from Rags and company.
Checkmate 1
I never read about this group til the Crisis Countdown series. The concept intrigues me and the political aspect of the new series has a lot of potential. The art is nice, but I can't always tell some of the characters apart.
52 Week 1
Wow. I'm impressed. By ticking off the days, they really gave this a real-time feel. The cover is stunning, as good as the preview promised. The writing, especially the dialogue, is crisp and the art is wonderful, very evocative in places. The characters are full of life. Ralph's pain was palpable, even moreso than in Identity Crisis when so much else was going on and was distracting from the personal aspect of his loss. As with any good story, a lot happened, but not too much, giving a hint of things to come.
I suspect things to come includes the death of many beloved characters. One of the managers at the comic shop where I keep my pull list said a "ton of characters" will die in 52. I still suspect Roy "Arsenal" Harper will be one of them. If no, I don't know what DC hopes to gain by not giving us a hint of what's to come for him. And if he does die, the surprise in that is gone for many of us who are convinced he will die. If he doesn't, there will be no surprise, just enormous relief. With Dick playing boy toy and idiot du jour, if I lose Roy, I'll be hard pressed to find a new fav. Although, WildCats is supposed to return with a new book. There's no one quite like Cole "Grifter" Cash. It will be odd to have a fav comic character outside the DCU. Very odd. But unless Roy returns, or Dick shakes off the funk he's in, or someone else steps up and makes me take notice, Cole it will have to be.
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