Recently, there has been discussion on the internet about DC possibly having another Crisis-like event. I took the following from
CHUD:
Op-Ed: Does DC Have Another Crisis in Store for Us?
By Devon Sanders and Scipio Garling with more than significant input from Chris Green and James Kurtz
Luthor was right: a Crisis IS coming.
Let’s start with just the little things. Things that suggest that in 2005, the writers and editors are either taking characters into forbidden territory because they know it will all soon be fixed or simply stalling, waiting for…something.
Batman’s “urban legend” exposed on TV and a total breakdown of relations between the Bat-Family and The GCPD.
Dick Grayson’s gradual mental unraveling across several titles.
The impending return of Hal Jordan.
The “Birthright” revision of Superman/Luthor’s origins, penned by Mark Waid, to be more in sync with television’s “Smallville”.
The new “any era goes” format of the Justice League book.
But those are just changes in atmosphere. For months now, there’ve been actual clues of MAJOR changes in regards to DC Comics’ superhero universe. Staring us in the face (slapping us, even!) are clues pointing toward a revamp that will allow:
Total redemption for mass murderer Hal Jordan, and his return as Green Lantern.
A revivified Legion that is both more in tune with its origins and more new reader-friendly.
A DCU more like the animated JLU with the icons at the center and every other character still “on the board”.
The perfect opportunity for an event of Crisis-like proportions, only this time keeping what works and fixing what doesn’t.
Mark my words…it’s all prefaced and foreshadowed in 1999’s Kingdom #2 and brought together by the events of by The Teen Titans/Legion Special. (Both written by one Mark Waid.)
The final page of The Kingdom # 2 shows a pre-Crisis Golden Age Superman searching for a door between the universes. The Golden Age Superman wants his world back, be careful what he wishes for he just may get it…someday.
“For all he’d done, he deserved Heaven…not prison. But now, at long last, he knows this isn’t the jail he once believed it to be. Now he knows that there’s a DOOR. There’s a door, even if he’s not going to use it. Not TODAY, anyway.”
Meanwhile, 1000 years in the future (Teen Titans/Legion #1), the LSH are dislodged from reality when they confront “some other force out there…something that’s POUNDING against reality.” When all’s said and done, the Teen Titans are returned a decade after they first left where we find the former Superboy is now Superman ten years on and wearing a very Kingdom Come Superman-ish costume. Could that “pounding against reality” be the Golden Age Superman wanting in to our reality? If that pounding has effected the 31st Century, could the editors have it headed for the 21st Century as well? (…we all know that as The Legion goes, so does The DC Universe i.e. Crisis or Zero Hour, anyone?)
Speaking of the “Kingdom Come Superman”, think about his ‘return’ (Superman/Batman #2) with a warning for “our” Superman, “I’m you. Years from now. I’ve come to STOP you. I know you’ll THINK you’re doing the right thing --- but you’ll be WRONG. You’ll only wind up killing them all. And you’ll be all alone.” Throw-away comment by Loeb or something else?
Another “omen of the apocalypse”: the appearance of the Crime Syndicate (originally of Earth III), amongst the first victims of the Crisis. In JLA Secret Files 2004, the Crime Syndicate’s Johnny Quick is shunted a year or more into the future only to be jettisoned back, proclaiming, “It’s gone! All of it---IT”S ALL GONE! …there was NOTHING THERE! The WHOLE UNIVERSE---GONE, DESTROYED! There’s NO FUTURE---NO FUTURE AT ALL!
If you can’t believe a wild-eyed Luthor or juiced-up Johnny, how about Mr. Mxyzptlk’s visit to Superman in July’s Adventures of Superman # 630 to warn him of the upcoming events of 2005? He’s stopped from telling Superman everything by “the rules”; what kind of rules could restrain Mxyzptlk from doing ANYthing? Editorial ones, I’ll wager…. In Mxyzptlk’s own words:
“HUSH! The ZERO HOUR approaches! There will be a CRISIS on Earth! Time will need Ritalin, it’s gonna be so HYPER! And a WAR, Ohhh, there will be a WAR, so SECRET that YEARS will pass before it CONCLUDES! A DARK age is coming, my friend, that shall CAST you into a NO MAN’S LAND of DESPAIR!”
Could this be the beginning of a new reality? An “entry-verse” similar to Marvel’s Ultimate Universe? One where classic characters and stories are re-imagined for new readers with little to no knowledge of DC’s vast continuity, more in the spirit of Cartoon Network’s Justice League Unlimited cartoon? One where The Legion Of Superheroes could actually make sense and be popular? Could the new Legion of Super-Heroes title be our first glimpse into this new continuity?
Am I on to something or… am I on something?