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Shotgun Reviews presents:
The
Crisis Crisis:
Explaining the Big One
by:
Troy Brownfield
DC
Comics' 12-issue Crisis on Infinite Earths marked several
milestones for the comics industry back in the mid-'80s. It
was the first real crossover that deeply and genuinely affected
an entire company's line of books. It wrought real and lasting
change on every single DC character. It completely redefined
every aspect of the DC Universe. In short, it was a risky
prospect that emerged a classic story. With great writing
by Marv Wolfman and the untouchable art of George Perez and
Jerry Ordway, Crisis accomplished its mission: to take the
complex and complicated DCU and make it a coherent whole.
If only
it were that simple; there was a price paid. While the new
universe was mostly consistent, the resistance to one crucial
idea at DC caused problems. As Marv Wolfman explained to me
earlier this year in our site's The Big Question, his original
idea was "to have all DC Comics restart the month after Crisis
ended with an issue #1. You'd start with an origin story and
go from there. If you wanted to bring something back, you
could, and if you wanted to ignore something stupid from that
time forward, you could do that, too. I was told that couldn't
happened then I was later told they realized they should have
done it because it would have helped kickstart the entire
company as I had wanted. They did it with Superman and Wonder
Woman, but it should have been down the entire line."
Therefore,
a number of inconsistencies lingered. Later events, like Zero
Hour, and later mini-series, like The Man of Steel, addressed
some of the changes and tried to refine them. What I will
do now is take the major characters from DC and explain how
the Crisis series changed them. First, a note on the plot
of Crisis itself. In issue #10 of the mini-series, we see
the world remade on the final page as DC's various multiverses
merge. Every occurrence in DC Comics prior to that moment
is henceforth referred to as Pre-Crisis. Every occurrence
following issue #12 is referred to as Post-Crisis.
Earth-1/Earth-2,
etc: During the Pre-Crisis DCU, there were alternate worlds
existing in different vibrational frequencies. The Earth we
read about was Earth-1. The Earth inhabited by the World War
II-era heroes of the Justice Society was Earth-2. Earth-3
was dominated by villains, and so on. This whole set-up, while
fun, was one of the seeds in streamlining the DC line. It
was confusing having multiple Supermen, Batmen, etc. The plot
set it up so that all of the Earths but five were destroyed.
The evil Anti-Monitor tried to destroy the last five, but
through the efforts of The Spectre (among others), the final
five worlds were merged into one Earth with a common history.
Superman:
Superman may be the character who was changed the least.
In the mini-series The Man of Steel, written and drawn by
John Byrne, the changes were solidified. Superman was the
last survivor of Krypton, period; the current Supergirl was
an alien from a different place, and the current Superboy
was a clone created in the wake of the Death of Superman event.
Superman was never Superboy, and didn't use his powers publicly
until he became an adult. Likewise, the writers rubbed out
the multi-hued Kryptonites and dropped the super animals (Krypto,
Streaky, etc.).
Perhaps
the biggest changes to Superman were in his supporting cast.
Lois is now much more independent, and Luthor was a millionaire
businessman, albeit an evil one. Many of Superman's villains
were changed drastically, but the core of the DCU remained
pretty much the same.
It is
also worthy of note that in the revised continuity, Superman
never belonged to the Justice Society of America (in the new
timeline, he simply didn't appear until much later; there's
only one Superman!) and was not a founder of the Justice League
of America (in fact, in Post-Crisis, Superman was never a
full member of the League until the Justice League Spectacular
special of 1991).
Batman:
Like Superman, Batman didn't change very much. He did, however,
become much more of a badass. The catalyst of this change
was Frank Miller's stunning The Dark Knight Returns mini-series,
positing an aging Batman in a futuristic nightmare Gotham.
The uber-dark trappings pushed the mainstream interpretation
of the character into an appropriately darker direction. Miller
refined Batman's origin for the Post-Crisis DCU continuity
with his Batman: Year One storyline.
Probably
the most important change with Batman was the elimination
of some of the sillier elements. The Batwoman of the '50s
and '60s (who used her dainty purse full of crime fighting
cosmetics) was thankfully erased from the new timeline. Bat-Mite?
Gone. Ace the Bat Hound? Gone. Camp humor? Dead, burned, and
the ashes scattered.
As for
Robin, Post-Crisis has made things pretty clear. Dick Grayson
became Robin during Batman's third year of crime fighting.
He later left after a fight with The Joker nearly killed him;
he worked full-time with The Titans, becoming Nightwing. The
second Robin, Jason Todd, was taken in by Batman after he
tried to steal the hubcaps off the Batmobile. Jason was somewhat
unstable, and was eventually killed by The Joker. The current
Robin, Tim Drake, discovered the secrets of Bruce and Dick's
identities and eventually persuaded them to let him become
the new Robin. Both Nightwing and Robin are stand-out ongoing
series in their own right, written by Chuck Dixon.
A last
word on team memberships. Since Batman didn't appear until
much later, he was never a JSA member in revised continuity.
Batman also was NOT a founding member of the JLA. He was the
eighth to join in the new timeline. Batman also founded The
Outsiders, who are now defunct.
Wonder
Woman: Of the DC Big Three, Diana changed the most. The
Pre-Crisis Wonder Woman died in the final moments of Crisis
#12. When the timeline restarted, it was if she had never
been. She didn't belong to the JLA when it formed, and her
participation in old JLA cases was retroactively assigned
to other female heroes.
The way
the new origin shakes down is that the Amazons were the reincarnations
of souls of women brutalized by the violence of men. Hippolyta,
their Queen, and Antiope, her sister, violently disagreed
on how to run the tribe. Eventually, Hippolyta's band settled
on Themyscira (what you might recall from TV as Paradise Island).
One day, Hippolyta sculpted a young girl from clay and wished
that it could be a real daughter for her. The Greek Gods that
the Amazons worshipped listened, and Diana was given life.
Eventually, it was decided that the Amazons should send a
champion to Man's World (the rest of the world; ask James
Brown) to spread the Amazonian way of peace (through force,
if necessary). A tournament was held; Diana, against her mother's
wishes, disguised herself, entered and won. She was sent out
as Wonder Woman.
Much of
that is pretty familiar. However, Diana's public debut in
Post-Crisis came during Legends #6 (1986). She sided with
Earth's heroes for the first time against Darkseid's minions.
However, her debut caused major problems for the character
Wonder Girl (Donna Troy) from The Titans. Pre-Crisis, she
had been raised as Wonder Woman's sister and came to Man's
World following Diana's example; she even named herself after
her. With no Diana present, how do you explain a Wonder Girl?
Part One:
You have Diana die, make Hippolyta the replacement Wonder
Woman, go back in time and spend eight years fighting alongside
the JSA in the 1940's. Therefore, the JSA did have a Wonder
Woman: Hippolyta.
Part Two:
You bring Diana back and explain that Donna was herself a
construct created to give the young Diana a same-aged playmate
on an island full of immortal women. Dark Angel, an enemy
of Hippolyta's from World War II (see how it fits?), kidnaps
Donna from the island (believing her to be Diana) and erases
her from everyone's memory. Donna eventually becomes a hero,
befriends Diana, and learns the truth after Diana's death
and return. Everybody grabs an aspirin, problem solved.
So now?
Hippolyta was the Wonder Woman of the 1940s, Wonder Girl was
inspired by her (and is now called Troia) and Diana is firmly
alive and in place as Wonder Woman.
And if
you think that's bad, wait till we get to Hawkman or The Legion.
The
Flash: This one is easy. In the 1940's, Jay Garrick (he
of the tin hat), called himself The Flash. He was a member
of the JSA. He served , and still serves, alongside them.
Later on, police chemist Barry Allen was given similar powers
in an accident and became a new Flash, naming himself such
to honor Jay. Barry helped found the JLA.
During
Crisis, Barry sacrificed himself to save the universe. His
nephew, Wally West (who had the same powers and was known
as Kid Flash, member of the Titans) took over as The Flash
to honor Barry.
Recently
in the Flash title, Wally and Barry met time traveling. It's
basically understood that no matter what happens in terms
of time travel, Barry must die at that crucial moment (Crisis
#8) or the universe falls to the Anti-Monitor. I have a feeling
that story isn't over; pay attention to the ongoing Flash
title for details.
Green
Lantern: Also fairly easy. In the 1940's, Alan Scott found
a magic lantern and ring and became Green Lantern; he was
a member of the JSA. It was later revealed that the lantern
was part of The Starheart, an evil magickal force. Scott chucked
the ring and became the mystically powered Sentinel. After
a conflict with The Starheart, Scott, still powered with the
mystic Green flame, has taken back his old GL costume and
fights alongside the new JSA.
Probably
the most famous GL is Hal Jordan, who was a JLA founder. Hal
wasn't affected overmuch by Crisis. Many members of the Green
Lantern Corps were killed during the event, though. Afterward,
several GLs relocated to Earth. Eventually, there were three
main ones: Hal, John Stewart and Guy Gardner.
Gardner
eventually lost his ring, took Sinestro's old one, began wearing
armor, found out he had alien powers, and became Warrior.
Stewart later became a Darkstar, only to have his legs crushed
fighting Grayven, Darkseid's son; he is now an architect living
with Meryn, his second alien love.
What happened
to Hal in the years since Crisis has caused massive debate.
During the Death and Return of Superman story, Hal's home
of Coast City was destroyed. Hal tried to use his ring to
bring it and its residents back, but the Guardians who ran
the Corps prevented him. Hal went nuts, killed several members
of the Corps and the Guardians, took the power from the main
battery for all the GLs and became insane bad guy Parallax.
He caused the Zero Hour event, changing parts of Post-Crisis
time (and screwing Hawkman and the Legion again) but was defeated.
Hal eventually died a hero, saving Earth during The Final
Night.
The current
GL is Kyle Rayner, who was given the last ring just after
Hal's mad rampage. Kyle is a member of the JLA, and a damn
good character, thanks largely to Ron Marz and Grant Morrison.
Hawkman:
For lack of better phrasing, Hawkman really took it in the
ass from Crisis. Let's start with the easy part. In the Pre
and Post-Crisis 1940s, Carter and Shiera Hall became Hawkman
and Hawkwoman. They were part of the JSA. End of the easy
part.
Pre-Crisis,
a married couple, Katar Hol and Shiera came to Earth from
their native Thanagar to become Hawkman and Hawkwoman. They
joined the JLA. Fairly easy.
Okay,
so DC does a mini-series called Hawkworld, which is a cool
take on facist Thanagar. Trouble is, it's so well liked that
it's decided in Post-Crisis that THIS K & S come to Earth
later to become Hawkman and Hawkwoman, totally eliminating
from continuity the original Thanagarian pair that everyone
knows from Super Friends.
Therefore,
we lose the familiar set of Hawkpeople, and so does the JLA.
It's decided that the Hawks in the JLA are the Hawks from
the JSA, just older, wiser and helping out the new generation.
Eventually, Hawkworld as an ongoing series bombs and they
make Katar as yet another Hawkman.
Finally,
in Zero Hour, the disparate Hawkmen are merged in one Hawkman:
Katar Hol, former Thanagarian, now avatar of Hawk spirit.
He was canceled soon after, and there hasn't been a Hawkman
since. Grant Morrison wanted the angel Zauriel in the current
JLA to name himself Hawkman in tribute, but editorial decided
that the name was so tainted from multiple relaunches that
they shouldn't use it.
So whither
Hawkman now? There currently isn't one. There is a new Hawkgirl
in the new JSA; she's the grand-niece of the original from
the '40s. Plans are afoot for a new Hawkman. Let's hope they
just start from scratch and give us a cool one.
The
Justice Society of America: The JSA was the first super-team
in comics. As the years went on, their WWII-era adventures
were consigned to Earth 2. When the timelines merged in Crisis,
it was stated that the JSA was active throughout the '40s
and disbanded in the early '50s. Many of the heroes therein
(the original Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, etc.) kept adventuring.
For a brief time, they were consigned to Limbo (in the late
'80s) to help fight off Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods.
Eventually, they were freed and returned to Earth. Recently,
a new version of the team has appeared.
The main
impact of Crisis on the JSA is that they never had Superman
or Batman as members due to the changing of times. There was
a Wonder Woman, Hippolyta (see above). For the best JSA story
ever written, check out the James Robinson/Paul Smith gem
The Golden Age.
The
Justice League of America: Pre-Crisis, the JLA was formed
by Superman, Batman, Flash, GL, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and
the Martian Manhunter. Post-Crisis, with the Diana Wonder
Woman having not appeared yet, it was decided that the JLA
was formed by Flash, GL, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and Black
Canary. DC decided that Superman would feel that his duty
was to the world, not to one group, and Batman's absence reflected
his dark new image and disdain for team work. Also, you are
to assume that the Hawkman and Hawkwoman in the original JLA
were the Hawks from the JSA.
If you
read a Pre-Crisis JLA issue, you are to assume that 1)Superman
and Batman are there as reservists, 2)Wonder Woman's role
was taken by a different female hero (depending on the situation)
and 3) that the Hawks were the JSA Hawks.
Recently,
after a couple of failed Post-Crisis series, a new JLA formed,
with the current "founding" roster of Superman, Batman, GL,
Flash, Aquaman and Wonder Woman. Everything old is new again,
it seems.
Infinity
Inc.: Though never a major team, the I.I. book took place
on Earth 2 when it began. After Crisis, it was merged into
the new Earth. Although the book ran 53 issues, it never really
caught on in a big way. It was victim to many revisions and
disappearing characters, as well as a general lack of respect.
I quite liked the book myself, and its characters are still
very much a part of the mainstream DCU. Some of these characters
included Fury (mother of Daniel, the new Sandman), Jade (now
in Green Lantern), Nuklon (now Atom-Smasher in JSA), Obsidian
(soon to go crazy in a JSA or GL or Starman title near you),
and Hourman (Rick Tyler, son of the original, soon to get
beat up by the new android Hourman).
The
Legion of Super-Heroes: Warning! This explanation will
be very complicated. Your head will hurt, your bladder will
throb, and you will wonder why reading comics was ever a good
idea.
Back in
the day, the Legion of Super-Heroes were young defenders of
the 30th Century. Time-traveling Superboy and Supergirl were
members, and much fun was had by all. Then Crisis came.
With
Superboy and Supergirl effectively removed from continuity,
a large portion of Legion history was screwed. A story was
written that showed that the Superboy and Supergirl who interacted
with the Legion were from a pocket dimension created by the
evil Time Trapper. That Superboy died to save the day.
Not too
long after, Legion was relaunched. It was five years later,
the Earth had been conquered by the Dominators, and the adult
Legion was fighting back. This was also a good series that
gets a bad rap. The tricky part was that so many fans bitched
that they wanted the old young heroes, DC decided to give
us both. A young version of the Legion appeared, clones of
the original, but *sigh* having the costumes and attitudes
of the young Legion. Eventually, the Dominators were crushed
and humanity took to the stars as the unstable Earth exploded.
The old Legion starred in one book while the young Legionnaires
starred in another.
Then,
Zero Hour happened. With Zero Hour, DC completely rebooted
the entire history of the Legion. With two zero issues, Legion
of Super-Heroes and Legionnaires began two ongoing series
about the same huge team. They were young again, and all continuity
problems were said to be solved. New members appeared too,
and it was if the other versions had never existed, except
in the Pre-Zero Hour and Pre-Crisis universes.
*POP*
Sorry; just a little aneurysm.
So what
does it all mean? Many things are clear, and many things are
confused, but there is one consistent DC timeline. However,
the recent DC event, The Kingdom, revealed that multiple timelines
still exist in Hypertime, a very vague concept that allows
ALL of the multiple realities to exist. So while DC has one
mainstream history, ALL of the stories they ever made "happened"
in one timeline or another.
And that's
what Crisis hath wrought. Get a drink; you've earned it.
Before
Crisis, Troy Brownfield worked for a publishing company in
Indianapolis. After Crisis, he became a grim avenger of the
night, writing internet columns. Thanks to Hypertime, it's
possible for him to be a gym teacher, editor, grim avenger,
exotic dancer, elephant trainer or dung beetle in separate
timelines. Aren't comics wonderful? Email him at psikotyk@aol.com.
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