Superman Through the Ages! Forum

Can someone please tell me what the hell Zero hour is all about? Is it just me or did DC not really think of that through. I am more confused than when I started reading it. A little help please?

It's a poor man's Crisis, I read it and I can't tell you what's it all about or why DC even made them  :oops:  :?

I feel your pain

Zero Hour was intended to "fix" lingering continuity problems from the Crisis on Infinite Earths.  Some aftereffects of Zero Hour were the rebooting of the Legion of Super-Heroes, the downfall of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, the appointment of Kyle Rayner as Green Lantern, a gutting of the Justice Society of America, the elimination of Team Titans, and Batman not knowing "for certain" that Joe Chill killed his parents.

To fully understand the reasons for the Crisis and Zero Hour, here are some resources:

http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/hypertime.html

http://omega.animefringe.com/dcevents/zerohourfaq.txt

http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/hypertime.html

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/1185/atlas6.html

Hope this helps.  Recently some of Zero Hour's effects have been undone -- there's now ANOTHER Legion, Hal's returning, and the JSA got Hourman back.

I thought "Emerald Twilight" happened before Zero Hour.  In fact, it must have, since Hal is already Parallax, eventually revealed as the ultimate villain of the piece.

With that in mind, I'd say Hal's "downfall" was a done deal before this mini began...a hero can't fall much lower than comitting mass murder!  What WAS interesting was the oblique references to the Multiverse, which may count as the first ones to see print, post-Crisis.  Hal basically orchestrates Zero Hour in an attempt to return the pre-86 Multiverse to existence, which if nothing else makes this "event" memorable in that it's the only one where I ever rooted for the bad guy to win!

Overall, though, it was a mess.  Most of it made no sense, and many of the "bold changes" didn't last a month.  In fact even before it ended, Mark Waid, then writing "the Flash,"  ignored the changes Jurgens made to Jay Garrick.  In the end, the only thing that seems to have "stuck" is that several members of the JSA died in a miserably handled scene.  They deserved much better.

With Zero Hour, DC crossover events hit rock bottom.  And since then they've been digging...

With Identity Crisis they gotta be passed the Earths core by now..

Amen to that. Remember when threats to the space-time continuum would be resolved by Superman all within the span of one issue, or one story in an Superman digest? Ah well.

 Zero Hour was a bold experiment, a way of trying to streamline the DCU and make it a bit more cohesive in terms of continuity. But the thing nobody seems to get is that--by and large--not very many comics readers care much for continuity. But this was at a time when the Superman titles numbered four and Batman had about five, Justice League had been split off into about 4 versions and Teen Titans was operating side by side with Team Titans. . .and let's not even get started on the fits-and-starts reboots they'd tried on Hawkman. So an effort was made to 'fix' the various problems DC percieved, which resulted in things being Fixed This Time For Sure. . .only now we see that another Crisis is a-brewin', what with the arrival of Supergirl into canon as the third superhero to bear the name, Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen's return from the dead, and Luthor going from corporate mogul/President to armor-clad supervillain in the span of seven issues. DC's up to something again, and while I hope it's a return to more sensible comicbooks with the advent of the All-Star line, I'm fearful that this will be another attempt to pander to the graying of the audience, make superheroes more 'mature' despite their inherent fun, and just generally continue the downward spiral the medium's been in since Crisis.

 But I'm not bitter. ;)

 -Def.

See I had that spark of hope for the All Star line for all of about two days.  Then I read that Frank Miller was who they were bringing in to write Batman.
 
So much for that idea.    :(

Eh, Miller has his moments. As long as he can keep his Bitter down below 11, we should be fine. Oh, and if he writes I'M SORRY FOR DK2 500 times on the blackboard, all is forgiven. :P

 -Def.

I don't think he would be able to stand long enough to write that.

Huh?

 -Def.

I thought the idea behind Zero Hour was that all of the flux that had been happening since Crisis was going to be over with, and that they would be proceeding with a solidified timeline.

But no.

Oh, well.  I don't think I liked the timeline they ended up with, anyway.  Superman should be at the beginning of the heroic age.

Superman debuting at the dawn of the heroic age? A neat idea. Maybe they could tailor it along the lines of Superman/Batman: Generations or DC One Million and have Kal-L an older but respected hero, or gone from the Earth after the death of Lois and leaving things to his heir, Superman Secundus.

 Hm. . .writer-sense. . .tingling! ;)

 -Def.

he's always dry

ZH may well have been intended to fix all the continuity gaffes that followed Crisis, but even if it did -- which it didn't -- the only way those fixes would have stuck would have been if the final issue was the last thing DC ever published.  Because every month, in a hundred different places, continuity is undone again and again.

Which just goes to show that maybe continuity isn't such a good thing.  In Weisinger's day, when one man had absolute control over an entire mythos, continuity could be cohesive and consistent. (And had to be, with constant scrutiny from letter-writing fans). In this modern day where "creators" rule and editors exist primarily to stroke their egos and do press conferencs, it's patently impossible.

Anyway, Mark Waid did Jurgens one better with his cross-over event, The Kingdom, which established Hypertime.  Now instead of trying to fix gaffes, DC's official stand is, "Every mistake we ever made, are making or will make is all part of Hypertime and thus not a mistake."  And since the questions and complaints from fans can no longer be dealt with, all the letter columns have been summarily dropped.

It's all part of the motto: "DC Comics: They're Not Fit For Kids Anymore"

Or something like that.

Oh do I miss letter columns - if I were President for a day right after I sign an executive order making Teri Hatcher a Goddess I would propose and have passed in Congress and then ratified by the states an admendment to the Constitution making letter columns a mandatory part of all comics.

As for Zero Hour I have mixed feelings - I liked some parts (the new Starman, Green Arrow's role, the "return of the Multiverse") but the way the JSA was so easily dispatched was reason enough to hate it then the way Hawkworld/Hawkman.

Zero Hour was as an idea a Noble experiment but in reality was not as good as it could have or should have been.

Well, Crisis and ZH are alike in that sense; both may have been good ideas, and perhaps even necessary things, but they turned to crap somewhere in the execution.  In the case of Crisis, it was a combination of Wolfman being allowed to serve as his own editor (never a good set-up) and not being able to properly end the story because of politics and disorganization.  (Logically the last two issues should have introduced us to the new DC timeline and set up the new versions of Superman, Wonder Woman, et al.  But when issue 12 rolled around, the editors on those books -- and the rest -- still hadn't decided yet what form those reboots would take!).

With Zero Hour I suspect it was much the same.  No one could deny that even 7 years into the new "continuity," things were falling apart in a major way, and something had to be done to stop the bleeding.  But no mini-series, even had it been done well, could have stopped the inevitable slide into chaos (maybe we should call it "discontinuity").  Because that would take strong editorial oversight and the enforcement of strict rules, neither of which seems possible in modern comics.  These days artists and writers are the selling points on comics, not so much characters, and to get the big names you have to promise them the freedom to go nuts.  Byrne was just an early example, but far from the last.  

The real problem is that DC has "Marvelized" itself in the sense of cross-title continuity.  Maintaining a continuity among the  Superman titles, or various mutant titles, is one thing, but trying to maintain a cohesive universe across all published titles may well be impossible.  And yet with all these cross-over events, that's what both companies have forced themselves to do.  Starman's stories must interlock with Power Girl's stories, etc, and that's asking a lot.  You can't on the one hand give a writer total freedom to play with characters and events, and on the other expect him to respect or even keep up with all the crazy stuff his colleagues are pulling on other books.  Personally I'd be happy just for Superman stories to tie together logically, or Batman stories, and see no need for either to tie into each other much less every other title DC publishes.  

Marvel was able to build a company-wide continuity because they started with three or four books and went on from there.  When Crisis ended, DC had how many books in print?  Tons anyway.  Superman wasn't ready to reboot for almost a year afterwards, and Wonder Woman even later than that.  Meanwhile Batman kept going like nothing happened, basically.  With that as a foundation, you'll never have a DCU continuity that's worth spit.  Expecting a four-issue mini-series like Zero Hour to fix all the problems and keep them fixed is about like the Coyote expecting that little umbrella to protect him from a falling boulder.

Yes, Zero Hour was only four issues long, compared to the twelve-issue Crisis on Infinite Earths or eight for Millennium.  But being the major “crossover event” of 1994, Zero Hour interrupted every DC title (28 at the time) with a special issue, plus a “#0” book the following month to spotlight the new Zero Hour continuity.  Adding all the groundwork arcs and direct lead-in stories (the introduction of the Linear Men, Monarch and Bart Allen aka Impulse; “Emerald Twilight” and “Emerald Fallout”, JLA’s “Judgment Day”, the future falling to pieces in the Legion books, etc.), there was a lot of events going on.

But for the most part these crossovers did not advance the main Zero Hour storyline, nor did they have lasting effects on the affected titles.  The main exceptions were Team Titans, L.E.G.I.O.N., Valor (last issues) and The Legion of Super-Heroes (completely rebooted in Issue #0).  Issue #0 was also the debut of five new series (Primal Force, R.E.B.E.L.S., Starman, Fate and Manhunter), plus the Xenobrood mini-series.  

After slightly more than a decade, not much of Zero Hour’s legacy remains intact compared to the great Crisis of two decades ago.  All the new Zero Hour-spawned books are gone (there’s now a new Stargirl, Dr. Fate and Manhunter), the Legion’s been rebooted AGAIN, the Linear Men have been rendered irrelevant by Hypertime, Hal Jordan’s back, and so on.  Even many of the JSA’s casualties are back in action.

While some were entertaining stories, most of the Zero Hour crossovers were pointless “fluff”.  The worst example was Superman: The Man of Steel #37, where a brief meeting between Superman and Batman in the actual Zero Hour books (only a few panels long) is elaborated into an entire issue where Batman is literally interrupted by “himselves”!  While it’s fun trying to identify the various Batmen who morph in and out (including “The Dark Knight Returns” and an “Adam West” version), there’s absolutely no storyline.  The Planetary/Batman crossover “Night on Earth” was a far better treatment of this “multiple Batmen” gimmick – those unfamiliar with the Planetary series should read the summary at http://home.earthlink.net/~rkkman/frames/summaries/SPB.htm, and then browse through http://home.earthlink.net/~rkkman/frames/ for more background information on the Planetary team.

Not EVERYTHING was as forgettable as Superman: The Man of Steel #37, thank Rao.  Superboy #8 had Kon-El encountering a displaced Kal-El Superboy over Smallville.  This meeting proved so popular that Kon-El and Clark teamed up again in 1999's ”Hyper-Tension” arc (Superboy #60-65), along with nearly EVERY Elseworlds “Superboy” then published.

A similar teamup occurred in Robin #10, where Tim Drake meets a young Dick Grayson still in his “pixie shoes”.  A nice mini-adventure, but personally I think DC missed an opportunity since Tim had already worked with Nightwing before.  An appearance by Jason Todd (either the original Pre-Crisis ex-circus acrobat or the dearly departed ex-street kid) would have had FAR more emotional impact.

Superman met his parents in Smallville during Superman #93 – Ma and Pa Kent PLUS the Byrne-era Jor-El and Lana!  Even though we know the Kryptonians come from another timeline (where Krypton survived and Jor-El concocted a means to counter the Eradicator effect for a brief visit to Earth), it was nice to see the two expressing joy at this reunion and Jor-El voicing his approval of his son’s superhero activities.  Their deaths immediately afterwards left a sour taste in my mouth.   :(

Bruce Wayne also met his parents again in Detective Comics #678 – AND himself – in Crime Alley.  But while saving the Waynes Batman realized the killer WASN’T Joe Chill, planting a seed of doubt.  Even though Batman knows it’s just another timeline, this event leads him to question whether the murderer of his parents was actually brought to justice.  This uncertainty resurfaced recently in the Superman/Batman series, when Luthor played mind games with Batman by making it appear that METALLO was the killer.  Currently in this same series Batman again saves his parents and goes “poof!” into non-existence, because he just robbed young Bruce of the impetus to become the Caped Crusader!

An intriguing new character was introduced in Batman #511 – Barbara Gordon, Batgirl!  What’s so intriguing and new about Babs, you ask?  Well, in this issue she seriously confuses the Dynamic Duo before freaking out the crippled Barbara Gordon Oracle in her Clocktower!  This alternate timeline Batgirl plays a major supporting role in the main Zero Hour series, finally sacrificing herself to save Damage so he can restart the Universe with the Big Bang.  But what’s even more surprising was that according to other message boards this Batgirl was originally supposed to survive and REPLACE the original Barbara Gordon as the Dominoed Dare-Doll!  (Thus, Cassandra Cain would never become the current Batgirl.)  HOW they were going to keep TWO Barbaras in Gotham was never explained, so perhaps DC was wise in getting cold feet and killing the doppleganger off.  

Before I read of this idea, I always thought the Zero Hour Batgirl was planted to imitate Supergirl’s death in the Crisis – there’s even a shot of Green Arrow holding Babs in the classic “Crisis #7” pose.  And her frequently-quoted “I just want to live” made it OBVIOUS that she wasn’t going to make it.   :wink:   But apparently there were other plans for this girl…

But as a whole, not many of these crossovers were memorable.  It almost feels that many writers simply threw together a generic “temporal paradox tale with a gimmick guest who vanishes on the last page”, made their necessary adjustments in Issue #0, and then continued on after this two-month interruption.  This impression tends to minimize the overall impact of Zero Hour, not enhance the main story as crossovers are intended.

Funny, I pulled my box of comics out of the attic and re-read ZH...  I LIKED those 3 issues in particular.  Jon Bog did an AWESOME job of drawing the different Batmen very faithfully!

Anyway, with the main story in ZH, I too am confused.  It started off well, but left more questions than answers... How is Jay Garrick "young" again, after being aged (with the rest of the JSA)... the ending was rushed, if Waverider got the heroes back to the point they left and made sure the events wouldn't loop back and start again then why would the events happened in the "new" universe?

Great art, but CONFUSING!!

As far as Jay Garrick's age, I always got the impression Waid said, "Screw Jurgens, the Flash is my book. I'll write Jay the way I want to."

Which is pretty much the problem with a company that wanted, on the one hand, to do crossover series that involved every book they produced but, on the other hand, willingly handed total editorial control over to whatever prima donna was on a book in a given month.  Ultimately, if each creator in his individual little fiefdom decides he doesn't want to play by the rules, there's no way you can make him.

Not that I'm complaining about Waid, mind you.  Aging Jay (and the rest of them) was a dumb idea that SHOULD have been ignored.  But the mere fact that Waid and Jurgens could both be writing the same character at the same time with no coordination whatever shows the state DC was in at that time.

Point taken...

As other previous posters have mentioned, I thought this was the series that was going to "fix" the problems in the DCU since the Crisis... but it was such a mess.

I guess THEORETICALLY it would have tightened things up, but didn't.  When you FORCE changes, rather than let them happen NATURALLY, things become a bigger mess.

Also, the big mistake, too, is keeping the JSA rooted in having WWII origins.  Keeping those heroes young is no longer needed with the unified Earth.  In 30 years those characters would have been around for 100 years.  Let them die naturally and gracefully and pass the torch. 

Zero Hour introduced the Justice Society of America to a new generation of readers. Of course, it was not through Zero Hour, in itself, but what spun off afterwards. In high school, I cut my teeth on back issues of Starman. After Starman, DC launched Stars and STRIPE, JSA, Hourman, and Doctor Midnight.  The adage "everything old is new again" couldn't be more true. As my tastes began to change, I tracked down All-Star Squadron, America vs. the Justice Society, Jonni Thunder,  Infinity Inc, and Young All-Stars. Now, I read JLA/JSA crossover trades. While Zero Hour didn't achieve DC's intended goal, it did, inadvertently, usher in new reader interest in Golden Age characters.