Julian Perez writes:The thing is, though, "hard" reboots like the kind Superman and Hawkman got are truly, truly abnormal and RARE. They were rare then, in proportion, and rare now. Except for characters like Superman and Wonder Woman, most titles had their history intact, with a few details changed, coming out of Crisis.
Well, here I can only look to what DC's stated
intent was. The Crisis was advertised as the end of worlds and the beginning of a new DC. When it was over, there was much braying and ballyhooing about how bold and imaginative everyone was, and how DC was getting a "fresh start."
However, as you say, they muffed it. Some characters were rebooted entirely, others partially, still others not at all. Superman and Wonder Woman were re-done from the ground up; they are demonstrably NOT the versions that existed prior to or even during the Crisis. Batman seemed largely unaffected, except that Jason Todd was a new person in everything but name. Hal Jordan the rest of the GL Corps were totally unchanged, with hints that they -- unlike other heroes -- retained full memories of the Crisis and the Multiverse that preceded it (this was picked up on and taken further in "Zero Hour", where Hal/Parralax tries to restore the Multiverse). Wally West, likewise, seems to remember everything, and there are others.
But I wouldn't confuse imcompetence with intent. DC
wanted to change their fictional universe after Crisis #12. It took them several months to get started with Superman, even longer with Wonder Woman, and years later in Zero Hour we got still more tweaking (like un-solving the Wayne murders). Hawkman and Power Girl are still being re-booted every other month. The fact that DC is too disorganized, unfocused and untalented to do the job right doesn't mean they weren't trying.
In other words, the contemporary Hal Jordan is the same Hal Jordan that was put on a sham trial by the Manhunters for destroying a planet (in Steve Englehart's 1977 JLA run), the same one that fought intelligent Gila Monsters in the 57th Century (in the Kane/Fox GL), the same one that teamed up with first Barry Allen (in BRAVE AND THE BOLD) and later Green Arrow (in the O'Neil book).
Yes, but then he'd also have to be the same Hal who murdered several fellow GLs and went nuts for no good reason in "Emerald Twilight." (That's right, no good reason. What did Coast City mean to Hal? He hadn't lived there in years). If you're going to exercise the right to see a continuation in spite of DC's clear intent, then I'm going to exercise the right to imagine a clear ending for "old Hal" in 1986, despite evidence to the contrary.
For that matter, since I was a kid I've felt free to accept or reject any story I've read on a case-by-case basis. This month Batman fights the Joker? Canon. Next month Batman finds his long-lost older brother? Doesn't count. Superman learns his glasses hypnotize people? Doesn't count. And so on. The only difference lately is that instead of only throwing out a month here and there, I've thrown out about 20 years. That doesn't mean I don't read the stories, and even enjoy some things about them. But for me, they don't "count." I don't commit them to memory and add them to my overall picture of the characters. They're just excercises in speculation, like your example of modern-day Shadow or Doc Savage tales.
What I am saying is that there is a great deal of appeal in the idea that there's an answer to the question, "what's going on in the DC Universe RIGHT NOW?"
For you. For me, there's a lot more delight in the answer: "I haven't the slightest idea!" :wink: