Only fair to celebrate Crisis on Infinite Earths with the 40th anniversary approaching. The massive story made many changes to the DC universe. Some were subtle, for example Green Lantern books continued on with a new status quo (and a few tweaks to Hal Jordan’s origin) but basically no dramatic changes to canon. Others were convoluted, like the various attempts to reintroduce Huntress into continuity since she could no longer be the daughter of Earth 2 Batman.
These reboots caused entire swaths of history to be changed. Invalidating some really good stories. Here are ten retcons that came about after Crisis that hurt more than they helped. This list is arranged from the ones that were almost well done and seamless to the ones…that weren’t.
#10.Superboy and the Legion
When the Superman books got there relaunch there were a lot of changes. Some worked like Lex Luthor and others were lamer, like the depowered Superman. The worst was that there was no Superboy. Ever. So who was that fighting with the Legion of Superheroes? We got a pretty good explanation involving the Time Trapper and a pocket universe that did a decent job keeping most of those old Legion tales intact.
9.Jason Todd
Batman was mostly unscathed, only losing some sillier elements. One exception was Jason Todd. When Dick Grayson became Nightwing, Batman needed a new Robin. Originally Jason Todd was a carbon copy of Grayson, except for how his parents were killed. After Crisis that origin didn’t really work anymore (actually it did I think creators just hated it) so Todd got a new backstory involving him being a homeless street kid who met Batman after trying to steal his tires. This gave him a new tough attitude...which fans hated.
8.Wonder Woman
I’m of two minds with this one. On the one hand, it sucked that Wonder Woman was wiped entirely from history. Eliminating her history and relationship with other heroes was hard to take. However, the new series that launched was very well done and while it took some time she did fit in with the DCU as well as she did before. Not all were so lucky.
7.Donna Troy
As I said eliminating Wonder Woman affected a lot of others and none more than Wonder Girl, since WW was kinda integral to her origin. If there was no WW, and Donna never met the new WW, then who the heck is she? A long messy explanation was given trying to tie her origins to the Titans of Myth in a story I hated. Eventually it would be complicated even more but her connection to Wonder Woman would be restored.
6.JLA changes
Retcons to other heroes impacted the JLA in weird ways. First of all, Superman was never a founding or even full time member. This wasn’t the worst since he was a part timer, so stories he was in are mostly preserved. Wonder Woman was messier, she was never a founding member of the League or even existed so someone had to take her place. I love Black Canary but she couldn’t fill Wonder Woman’s shoes (and her backstory needed a new retcon also). Batman was also no longer a founding member, for reasons. Then there was Hawkman.. but I’ll get to him.
5.JSA & Infinity Inc
Justice Society was easy and hard. They were active during WW2 which made sense, but how were they still active in modern times? There was no golden age Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman so the team needed a new origin. They added Ms America to take WW’s place to mixed results. Their children had formed Infinity Inc but most of those origins didn’t make sense any longer. Fury was Wonder Woman’s daughter so now who was she? A brand new character was created out of thin air to replace WW, but it never stuck. This was such a mess since almost every issue or All Star Squadron was invalidated. The book was canceled and the JSA was so out of place they’d be retired for several years.
4.Power Girl
What a mess. Power Girl was the Earth 2 Supegirl, and cousin to that Superman. So what happens when that whole world ceases to be? You get a crazy situation where creators tried desperately to give Kara a new backstory. Suddenly she was tied to Arion, Lord of Atlantis in a story so lame it never really stuck. Eventually her proper backstory would be restored.
3.Supergirl
The decision was made that Superman was to be the last son of Krypton, meaning all the other stuff had to go including Supergirl. After her heroic death she vanished from continuity. But that didn’t mean creators didn’t try to bring her back. From a shape changing Matrix to a reborn Earth Angel to a strange 90s version, Supergirls death went from heroic last stand to instantly regretted.
2.Hawkman
This one just pissed me off. Not bad enough to have Golden Age Hawkman around the same time as the modern version, but a new mini series came along that totally rewrote Hawkmans backstory so that he has never been around before. He had never been in the JLA but if so who was the one we’d seen in the modern JLI book? I can’t even do the craziness justice just look it up. Zero Hour tried to clean this up but it was an issue of JSA that would finally make sense of the mess the character became.
1.The Multiverse
Almost all of these changes happened because of the change eliminating all Earths but one. Something special was lost when the multiverse ceased to be. Crossovers between the universes were all cause for a good story, but now they weren’t as easy. It also affected old stories rendering most invalid right to the very first story. Flash vibrating into Earth 2 to meet the original Flash isn’t the same if all Barry had to was go to the next city. Most of the JLA/JSA events never happened, and many characters stuck in the 40s faded into obscurity. No surprise DC has tried to undo this many times now, since no multiverse can limit the stories you can tell.
Did I miss one? Comment and let me know
No comments:
Post a Comment