Last week DC relaunched their entire continuity for the umpteenth time but this time they really mean it.
Allegedly, when Marv Wolfman and George Perez wanted to reboot the universe in 1985 with the granddaddy of all crossover-jumping-on-points Crisis on Infinite Earths, they wanted to have all titles start over from issue number one. They only succeeded in a few cases: Wonder Woman, The Flash come to mind. I guess the duo was overruled by more powerful editors overseeing Batman and Superman. It didn’t matter in the long run, those characters were given separate Eighties makeovers by Frank Miller and John Byrne respectively.
For DC’s 76th anniversary, all titles did start over at number one along with all the characters receiving makeovers to bring them into the modern era: Superman no longer has red undies, an anatomy shortcut my friend Steve explained to me.
Only time will tell if 2011 marks the start of comic books’ fourth official age. Personally, I think we’ve been in this said new period which I prefer to call the Stupid Age due to both Marvel and DC’s proclivity toward continuous reboots. Ever since the mid Eighties, they’ve behaved like gambling addicts thinking they’ll eventually win back all their compounding losses. All they need is just one more big score to start a hot streak.
Leading the charge is DC’s fifth incarnation of Justice League, their premier team book which recently crashed and burned in 60 issues this time. I myself was pretty stoked when they relaunched the title from the ashes of Identity Crisis in 2006 yet I didn’t think it was necessary to start over. Disenchantment set in quickly as continuity was destroyed by story arcs bleeding into other comics (DC finally let go of JSA and all the Methuselahs from the Golden Age) or characters disappearing due to Darkseid sending them back in time, see Batman. I didn’t mind lesser heroes such as Vixen, Plastic Man or the Japanese Dr. Light joining yet even they were put through the revolving door; making them the Guns n’ Roses of superhero teams.
So how is the new attempt? It’s too early to say in the 40 pages allotted. I will have to see after four (or more) issues to have a solid opinion. Right now, the author is sticking with the traditional origin story: the Earth’s mightiest heroes must band together to prevent an alien invasion. This time it’s Darkseid’s parademons (Cosmic Odyssey), not the Appellaxians (Sixties) or White Martians (the 2001 show). The core seven members will also be different: Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl were swapped out for Aquaman (if he’s like John DiMaggio’s version from Batman: the Brave and the Bold, I’m sold) and Cyborg whose origin is part of the arc.
Meanwhile, I hope to include other books I continue to pick up at Rogues Gallery.
Next up, Sergio Aragonés’ Funnies from Matt Groening’s company Bongo.