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DC Comics

Number_6

Number_6

beer, I want beer
I hear they're rebooting, and that the nature of the reboot might be of interest to a thirty-something guy like me, who enjoyed the old Earth-1/Earth-2 stories, and thinks that the post-Crisis DC Universe was muddled and confusing.

I'm also someone who stopped reading DC completely when Lex Luthor stole the 2000 election from Al Gore. I don't need leftism crammed down my throat when I'm reading about superheroes.

Can anyone explain the nature of the reboot, or direct me to a website that will describe what's going on in detail?
 
I just quit altogether back in 2001, I think it was. It just got ridiculous, with all the fucking cross-overs and the inability to collect just a few titles by either DC or Marvel, because they were always crossing over (or key titles were multiplying so that to follow Superman or Spider-Man was $20 a month). I quit the indie stuff too--it was a clean break.

I almost succumbed with the return of Hal Jordan--some of the first comic books I owned were the O'Neil/Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow books--but was fearful that I would be sucked in to a couple-of-hundred-dollars-a-month habit.

Still, I've been bored lately, and realize it's because I've given up almost all of my hobbies to make more time for work. And I rarely read for fun anymore. And, if DC is going to play the nostalgia card, that's tempting.

But I can't find a detailed description of what's going on. I started with DC's own message board, and found some general descriptions on Wikipedia, but I want a full accounting of what's happened and some decent speculations on where it's going (apparently a matter of utmost secrecy).
 
Number_6 said:
I just quit altogether back in 2001, I think it was. It just got ridiculous, with all the fucking cross-overs and the inability to collect just a few titles by either DC or Marvel, because they were always crossing over (or key titles were multiplying so that to follow Superman or Spider-Man was $20 a month). I quit the indie stuff too--it was a clean break.

I almost succumbed with the return of Hal Jordan--some of the first comic books I owned were the O'Neil/Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow books--but was fearful that I would be sucked in to a couple-of-hundred-dollars-a-month habit.

Still, I've been bored lately, and realize it's because I've given up almost all of my hobbies to make more time for work. And I rarely read for fun anymore. And, if DC is going to play the nostalgia card, that's tempting.

But I can't find a detailed description of what's going on. I started with DC's own message board, and found some general descriptions on Wikipedia, but I want a full accounting of what's happened and some decent speculations on where it's going (apparently a matter of utmost secrecy).
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Heh. Comicon is your answer. You post a question, you'll get plenty of replies and links even.
 
Shocking! :shock:I have a comic book question!

Ok my friend Megan reads this one comic book, I can't remember it's like furlough or something weird. Do you know if there is a site or anything for it?
 
*Puts on geek hat and shuffles deck*

Ok, ante up, ladies, I'm dealin.'

No. 6, it is a pretty exciting time to be a DC Comics fan right now, and, as you implied, big things are certainly afoot.

The "reboot" is part of the current "Infinite Crisis" series of books and very much represents a sequel, both directly, and spritually, to the original "Crisis on Infinite Earths" maxi-series in the mid-80's. Basically, they're looking to put some fixes on shit that got out of hand after the orignal crisis re-boot.

Although subtle hints - for those with eyes to see - have been being dropped for a couple years now, the ball really started rolling with last year's "Identity Crisis" mini-series, which lead to the Countdown (to Infinite Crisis) one-shot and spin-off books: The O.M.A.C. Project, Villains United, Day of Vengeance and the Rann/Thanagar War, each a six-issue mini-series that leads right up to and feeds into the Infinite Crisis, which is currently on issue #2 of a 7-issue series. (#3 should be out any day now.)

From a story perspective (and this is going to be very bare bones as I haven't read or collected all the books) what happend was this:

It was revealed in "Identity Crisis" that back in the day, the Justice League of America made the decision to mindwipe Dr. Light after he raped Elongated Man's wife in the JLA satellite. (Ok, some people saw sodomy in that scene, but that was NEVER implied or defined. He just had a go at her from behind is all. SEE KIDS COMICS AREN'T FOR KIDS ANYMORE!) Anyway, the JLA comes back just in time and beats his ass. And. They. Are. Pissed. (And rightly so.)

They vote to wipe his mind and right after Zatanna does it, Batman comes in and wants to know what the fucks' going on. And he's so pissed about it that he attacks them. With all those heroes, of course they subdue him, but the only way to get out of that situation is to wipe Batman's mind! And it all goes wrong from there.

The wipes don't last forever. And Identity Crisis starts off with flashback of the rape and the murder of Elongated Man's wife in the "present." It turns into a mystery as to who did it, but the larger mystery was to the why, and that's when the secret history of the JLA and the mindwipes becomes clear and eventually the fact that they did it to the Batman.

Also, after they had wiped Dr. Light's mind, another group of baddies had discovered the secret identities of most of the heroes, so they good guys vote to wipe all their minds, too, to protect the lives of their family and friends in their civilian identities. Anyway, as I said, the wipes don't last forever, and the villains start to remember all this shit - and the secret identities. And they start attacking. Elongated Man's wife is the first to go. A few character's bite it in this series, both supporting cast, and actual costumed characters, too. There's some pretty cool "oh, shit" moments. And the biggest thing about this series that is important. Not only have the villains regained their memories, they've regrouped. They're more dangerous now, AND they've started to unite together in order that they take down the heroes for what they've done to them. And they'll do it any way they have to.

At the end of this series, the reader is left to wonder if Batman knows he's been mindwiped because it's never addressed - but it's hinted that he does. And although Superman wasn't at the meeting to wipe Dr. Light, his super-hearing has enabled him to overhear things and it's implied that he was aware later, too.

This series of events begins to paint the heroes in a controversial and not-so-heroic way, and both sides have valid points.

***

Ok, I'm tired. I need to turn in. I'll continue this later. We'll talk the Countdown "Prelude" books next.

Oh, and I'm burning through this pretty quick, so if you have any questions, I'll try and answer them.

***

And before I forget: Menty I was thinking something the other day, too. Sandman was part of the "new" books that came out AFTER the original Crisis sereis was over. I can't help but think about what the landscape will be like after this current Crisisi is over. I wonder what it will do - if anything - to the Vertigo books that once used to be entrenched in the DC universe. What will the new Crisis do to the Sandman mythos? (Probably nothing at all, but it was something that popped in my head.)
 
I thought Zero Hour was supposed to fix all continuity problems in the DC universe. :bigass:
 
Kerb Crawler, I appreciate the synopsis so far, and look forward to more.

Looking though the old collection to see how much catching up there would be.

Or will that be unnecessary, so long as I read the Infinite Crisis stuff and start with the One Year Later?
 
Starburn said:
I thought Zero Hour was supposed to fix all continuity problems in the DC universe. :bigass:
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Yes, wasn't that a splendid fantasy? The only decent thing that came out of the Zero Hour debacle was Robinson/Harris' Starman, Jack Knight.

Truth.
 
Number_6 said:
Kerb Crawler, I appreciate the synopsis so far, and look forward to more.
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No problem. It's been a while since I've had a right geek-out. I'll continue the rest soon. (Had a hell of a weekend of late nights and too many shots.)

Looking though the old collection to see how much catching up there would be.

Or will that be unnecessary, so long as I read the Infinite Crisis stuff and start with the One Year Later?
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Well, a lot of the things I'll be discussing will be retconned and supplemental information that may or may not have been previously shown in the books. The whole rape/mindwipe thing? Yeah, that was retroactively inserted into the fabric of comic book continuity. If you're interesting in this stuff, but don't care to spring for the individual "floppies" each of these series will have trade paperback collections for them. (I know the Identity Crisis TPB is already out.)

I'd just spring for those. Most of the main elements will be captured in those series, although some fall-out is dealt with in individual series. I know a lot of relevant stuff was spun out from and in The Flash and Wonder Woman, but you don't need to own those to know what's going on for the most part as the real important stuff is reference anyway.
 
Alright, next time I'm in town, it looks like I'll be picking up full runs of the following:

Green Lantern: Rebirth
Green Lantern
JSA Classified
Identity Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Rann/Thanagar War
OMAC
Prelude to Infinite Crisis
Day of Vengeance
Villains United

That looks like it'll give me a run down of sorts of what's been going on, as well as a GL fix.

If you can recommend other titles and issue numbers, I'll see what I can find.

eBay looks to be a good way of getting hold of some of these. Anybody here buy comics on eBay?
 
Maybe I'm jaded, but I just can't get into Infinite Crisis the way my budd Darthsikle is. Nor did I find "House of M" all that great. Pretty much every "ground-breaking" event in comics these days has a "been-there, done-that" feel to me.

That being said, I've taken to reading the Marvel Essentials books recently. Those books I loved from the 70's? Horribly, horribly dated. Dialogue straight out of the cheez-whiz factory!! :)
 
Number_6 said:
Green Lantern: Rebirth
Green Lantern
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"Rebirth" was pretty cool and I feel Johns did the best job that could be done to restore Hal Jordan to his former greatness. Some things came across as bit... "hokey" and convenient, but, hey, they're comic books, not highbrow lit.

The current GL series has been pretty cool so far, but it's more establishing the current status quo and re-establishing the old mythos.

JSA Classified
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I forgot about this one. Apparently, the "TRUE" reveal of Power Girl's origins are important to the Infinite Crisis.

Identity Crisis
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Let me know what you think about this. Created a lot of controversy at the time, and I know people are still bitching about it. Me, I just enjoyed the ride. Didn't get overly-emotional about it as I didn't have all the "betrayal of established history" issue to really concern myself with.

Infinite Crisis
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I may have been wrong... This might only be a 5-issue series. Some interesting revelations thus far, but I'm more looking forward to the One Year Ahead scenario after the series.

Rann/Thanagar War
OMAC
Prelude to Infinite Crisis
Day of Vengeance
Villains United
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I forgot about that Prelude book. (I didn't buy it.) Try and find the Countdown one-shot, though. That's kind of necessary and features the death of one of the heroes.

Since you're going to be buying these, I won't continue posting about this as I don't want to ruin it for you.

Needless to say, Batman ties prominently into what happens.

Oh, if you're so inclined, you might want to buy the 8-issue Adam Strange series. This one leads right up to the Rann/Thanagar War books. (But I didn't buy R/T W or Day of Vengeance. Couldn't afford ALL of it. I will say the Adam Strange books were pretty fun, though, if you're a fan of sci-fi. The art was exceptional.)

That looks like it'll give me a run down of sorts of what's been going on, as well as a GL fix.
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GL is a personal fave of mine, too.

If you can recommend other titles and issue numbers, I'll see what I can find.
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Some of the JSA books dealt with the Hal Jordan/Spectre issue somewhat, and helped lead up to "Rebirth", but I don't think it's super necessary. There was a Spectre series prior to that that lasted for about 20 issues or so. Had some NICE artwork by Ryan Sook and detailed Hal Jordan coming to terms with his being the Spectre, but I don't know how good they were.

eBay looks to be a good way of getting hold of some of these. Anybody here buy comics on eBay?
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I have, and have only had one bad experience. I once won a bid of a bunch of Justice League books from the 80's (the Giffen/DeMatteis era) from Canadia for $20 - and they never came. I managed to get a hold of those people once and said, 'hey, where's my books' and they apologized, said they were moving to Detroit and had fallen behind. Further attempts at contact revealed the e-mail address was no longer active.

Otherwise comics from eBay is a very convenient means at scooping up large runs quickly and, hopefully, on the cheap. Some great deals out there. Good luck!
 
Big Dick McGee said:
Maybe I'm jaded, but I just can't get into Infinite Crisis the way my budd Darthsikle is. Nor did I find "House of M" all that great. Pretty much every "ground-breaking" event in comics these days has a "been-there, done-that" feel to me.
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Dude, I passed on the whole House of M "event."

MEH!

That being said, I've taken to reading the Marvel Essentials books recently. Those books I loved from the 70's? Horribly, horribly dated. Dialogue straight out of the cheez-whiz factory!! :)
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FUCK. YEAH! Some good stuff there, man. When comics were FUN!
 
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