Nor the Huntress we know. Or rather she is. But she isn't. I give up!

How permanent are our comic book universes?

Even as I ask the question, I find myself wondering what that very word means. With DC’s recent announcement of the return of Earth 2 and the Shazam family of characters, we know the enduring characters and settings will return again and again.

The recent (and thoroughly enjoyable) relaunch by Dark Horse of what’s become known as the Jim Shooter stable of characters only serves to prove the point. Dating back to short lived appearances in the Gold Key years Solar Man Of The Atom and Magnus, Robot Fighter et al have returned and again, under the labels of Valiant, Acclaim and then Dark Horse. Changed everytime according to the predelictions of the writers and the fashions of the age, but nevertheless returning again and again.

Yet returning our attention back to DC, the universe is far from permanent. The original multiverse survived a whole fifty years, only to be wiped away in the Crisis, leaving us with the DCU 1.0. Zero Hour took this to DCU 1.5, and the Infinite Crisis to version 2.0, the New Multiverse. Which still sort of exists, if I understand Flashpoint correctly, it is only Earth Zero that was rebooted.

Thus the new Earth 2 we are about to experience should really be the same Earth 2 as we saw in the excellent Kingdom storyline; a brief but tantalising glimpse. So we discover that the Huntress and Power Girl of Earth 2 are loose on Earth, erm, what Earth do we call it nowadays?

Still, as a long time fan, I miss the original worlds, and I fear that DC make a mistake by simply discarding and destroying their previous worlds. We could take a leaf out of Marvel’s book here; the House of Ideas feared that their creations were becoming outdated and thus was born the Ultimate line, updated for a new age with added cliché.

Marvel sat back and let the sales figures decide their fate. Surprise, surprise, the fans stuck with the tried and tested incarnations of the characters, the original Marvel Universe is still going strong. But guess what?

So is the Ultimate line, a vibrant universe with many years left in it yet, surviving disaster after disaster and allowing the creators freedom to tell stories we would never see in the ‘real’ MU.

Maybe DC should keep that in mind next time they decide to have an enormous reality changing event, and open the door for new stories set in the older worlds. Like the old ‘Whatever happened to’ back-up feature in DC Comics Presents, but with the same freedom the Ultimate universe has given creators.

Or in other words – bring back Kamandi!

The League - all you expect, but in a cool new way!

DC has now announced their collaboration with Amazon, releasing their stock, including an exclusive 100 graphic novels for release to users of the Kindle Fire. We are told, not to worry, these stories will be available for other Amazon customers eventually, and following that, DC are not sticking just with Amazon, but promising to look at other outlets, such as Barnes and Noble.

All major outlets I notice, which is really to be expected. But where does that leave your local comics shop?

Now I am personally in a quandary over this. Though I have yet to purchase a Kindle Fire, I adore my eReader. I love how it reduces the weight of my luggage when I travel, and the fact that my library can be squeezed into one corner of my external hard-drive rather than covering every spare inch of shelf space across the house. With the new technologies at our disposal, the need for a real book is lessened; devices with full colour appropriately sized screens and easy to manage are slowly replacing paper simply through that quality of space.

I was amazed one day to watch a young guy reading a comic through his phone, which just shows how well the fans are adapting. For myself, I think a phone screen is just too small, yet here we are, just over a year down the line, and that is no longer an issue. As a consumer, this is a perfect solution for me.

As a former retailer and comic shop manager, I have my concerns. Will the printed material still be relevant? Will the release of full graphic novels through digital outlets devalue my stock? Or will it deliver on a promise of pulling more customers through my door?

What about our community? Each local store has it’s own community, where friendships are made sometimes for life. And let’s face it, these communities are drastically different from their online analogues. Everyone is generally a hell of a lot nicer to each other to start with. I see little that supports your LCS; even these ‘combo-packs’ seem little more than hooks to drag readers into the digital market, rather than genuinely caring for the end retailer.

Is this simply the cost of progress? Is it a return of comics to the newsstand in a sense?

The DCnU has indeed triumphed over all of the fears we had at the abandonment of over seventy-five years worth of history. Three months down the line, and who cares? The history is there for us to read when we want to, and fanfic will always work keep it alive. Now DC expands into new markets, capitalising on the new energy they have injected into the market. As a consumer and a fan, this is good for me.

Yet I cannot forget my successor at my local store. I suddenly have an urge for the Universe X trade paperback, in real paper. What better thing can I give the store for Christmas, than a few sales prior to the big day?

Greater than even Infinite Crisis' Battle For Metropolis, this issue defined the concept of super-villain team up!

Newsarama have started a discussion asking ‘do fans even know what they want’? This week, the topic has turned to that bugbear of the discussion boards (and articles such as this one); the company crossover.

On such a contentious topic, I could hardly resist contributing my own point of view. One can hardly deny the efficacy of the crossover. From my own experience, Unity introduced me to the rest of the Valiant universe way back when; initially I had only read Solar. Break-Thru helped introduce me to parts of the Ultraverse that had hitherto remained unseen by me. Wildstorm Rising served a similar role, and Dark Horse’s late (and lamented by me at the very least) Comics’ Greatest World began its life as a weekly event, mapping out their universe from the word go. More recently, the Dream Eater saga over at Zenescope’s Grimm Fairy Tales has finally made that universe make sense for me, and I am richer for it.

Notice I have left out the Big Two from that description, even though the phenomenal Crisis On Infinite Earths served the same purpose for me, introducing me to the many corners of the DC universe. In fact, until the very first mega maxi crossover that hit the newsstands, the DC universe barely made sense to me. I imagine there will be younger readers out there for whom Flashpoint, or more precisely the DCnU, has served the same purpose.

Yet what we as fans require is a good story. I can think of many such ‘events’ that failed to reach the dizzying heights that we demand. Anyone remember ‘Extreme Sacrifice’ from the Liefeld family of Image titles? Nah, me neither.

Some so-called events are no such thing. As much as I enjoyed Marvel’s Dark Reign, that was not a crossover event. It was a backdrop, much like the Crisis was a back drop in some of the labeled crossovers back in 1985. Some events are so large that, apart from a central pivotal cast, a backdrop is all they can be.

Other crossovers have no need to be all encompassing. With wallets more limited nowadays, does the company really need to draw attention to the entire line all at once? One of my most favourite events was the Janus Directive, which I think occurred shortly after the Millennium crossover in DC. I was already a Firestorm and Suicide Squad reader, but the restrained cast and chapter order led me to Captain Atom, Checkmate and Manhunter, the latter two becoming regular monthly additions to my pull list. This was effective, and more importantly, fun.

Sometimes, smaller is better. Like the Janus Directive, an event does not have to be all-encompassing to be large, and to be successful. What we as readers require is not issues that carry crossover banners and are integral to some uber-story, but simply comics that are obviously in the same universe, and recognise and reference the events occuring elsewhere in that universe. If I want to by Spider-Man, I will. But if I am an X-Men reader, I do not want to feel badgered into buying Spider-Man, but having the events of Spider Island being reported on a television in an X-Men title, would be fine.

Curiously enough, I don’t think that happened. But surely there is a difference between tightly dove-tailed titles or titles that retain their independence?

Independence does not have to mean ignorance, just as recognition does not have to mean inter-twined.

After all, smaller can be better. You know what they say about small packages.

Dr Strangefate, one of the best Amalgam titles.

With the stunning sales figures of many of the DCnU  first issues, minds no doubt turn towards how the industry can sustain this momentum? As I have said before, I have doubts as to how many of these sales are likely to be new readers, although I imagine by far the largest segment of these extra sales will be returning readers. Unfortunately, there are no metrics available to either support or refute my assumption, so I will just have to resort back to my experience in the Nineties as a comics’ store manager, and join the ranks of self-appointed experts.

One of the major comics events of the Nineties was the DC vs Marvel event. I would say trilogy, but lets face it, the latter two mini-series were hardly earth shattering in terms of quality. Conversely, the trilogy was succeeded and the long awaited and phenomenally successful JLA/Avengers, that despite a hefty price tag delivered impressive figures and a treat for the fans.

Over at Newsarama, Michael Doran delivered an op-ed suggesting that Marvel and DC should embark upon another crossover, or series of crossovers. Considering that the secret of sustaining the industry is generating cash flow for the retailers, this could only serve to further this aim.

That’s my LCS-manager side speaking. Yet as a fan, I would take Mr Doran to task with some of his suggestions. He claims that the standard formula of: a) two villains from respective universes team up/come into combat; b) two sets of heroes meet and fight and then c) team up to save the day; is not enough.

I cannot disagree with a word of that. And I love the idea of simple DC hero versus Marvel villain (or vice-versa) being the focus of the story.

Yet he implies that these stories should simply occur in isolation, with no thought to continuity or the respective cosmologies of the parent companies.

As a continuity geek, I find this blasphemous heresy, and I’m shocked to the very core of my being. Unless we re-establish the theorised ‘Crossover Earth’ of say, X-Men and the New Teen Titans, then I want context. I want ramifications. I want something more than a three-panel appearance of the Access Axel Asher in the pages of Green Lantern.

Yet there is a compromise that can satisfy both myself and Mr Doran. The trusted mechanism of bookends.

Have a commencing issue that sets the stage for these crossovers, setting up some great cosmic threat, imbalance or whatever. Make it really, really large in scope.

Then, do the crossovers, whether they are hero team ups or one company’s hero against another company’s villain. Let them contain their own self-contained stories, either ignorant or only tenuously linked to the uber-plot. (In fact, by my plan, these crossovers should be composed prior to the bookends, giving the writers a challenge as to how to link these seemingly unrelated stories, taking the art of retroactive continuity to its peak.

Let’s start with killing Access. As much as I like him, I’m not convinced my opinion is shared by the multitudes.

However, one comment in Mr Doran’s post really aroused my ire.

And the less said about “Amalgam,” the better, don’t you think?

One thing that the Amalgam was, was fun! In my eyes, some of the series had a lot of potential, while others had the kitschiness of some Sixties material that endeared them to my heart. To see it denigrated and cast aside as a mistake is in my eyes a crying shame. Taking such events as Final Crisis, Civil War, Fear itself or Flashpoint, as good (or bad) as you may consider them, the over-arching themes were ‘dark’. I enjoyed them all (except maybe the latter two), but they lacked that element of joy in discovering a new character or idea, the appearance of a name that could make me laugh out loud.

Who’s to say that Doctor Strangefate would not make the perfect uber-villain?

Justice League #1 Wildstorm style

Well, today’s the day that the New Fifty Two (hardly the catchiest of slogans) bursts out into existence, and the first sight of it is in Justice League #1. I can’t determine whether I like it or not.

Well, that’s a total lie. I do like it, I like it a lot so far, on the strength of one issue. Heck, I wasn’t that bothered about how Flashpoint ended, I just leapt straight into reading the League.

It seems quite the schizophrenic experience. As a first issue, the offering Geoff Johns puts before us seems to have a lot more in common with a Wildstorm first issue than what one expects from DC, and this is not only due to the admittedly excellent Jim Lee art, but to the confrontational tone. Not only are the Gotham PD after the Bat, but the Bat and Green Lantern very nearly come to blows (highlighting the immaturity of Hal Jordan from the very onset. No surprise there then).

Yet here we are, faced with Batman, Green Lantern and the remarkable healthy and human looking Victor Stone who we just know something really nasty is going to happen to. Familiar icons that we know inside and out, but acting like they are, well, in a Wildstorm book. I have to ask, if the Wildstorm formula was so successful, why did they cancel the line in the first place? As much as I enjoyed it, another part of me screams to the heavens about the sheer blasphemy. And I like all of those feelings.

No JSA? Sacrilege. Too many guns and no public love of the spandex? Wrong, wrong, wrong, but deliciously so. The unseen spectre of Silas Stone hovering over all the metahumans (assuming he is still Cyborg’s father of course), a promising harbinger of treats to come. They never did use Silas to his greatest advantage.

Of course, this being the League, there is no small beginning either. The villain of the piece (aside from human nature) is some creation of Darkseid. Yes, you heard it right, Darkseid.

So DC has decided to throw a bone to all of us long-time fans, by use of the name which the mere mention of sends shivers through our spines. And there we were, waiting for some barely in continuity Earth-51 drama to return the New Gods, while the big bad himself had died, destroying reality along with it. How can you have the New Gods without Darkseid? The answer if that you can’t. So in one foul swoop, the critics of Final Crisis have been muted, and the entire new timeline is justified.

In time, our other questions will no doubt be answered. Earth 2 will return, (although I have to feel sorry for ‘our’ Power Girl, she always seemed to get the raw end of the stick), and the JSA and Infinity Inc will fly again. Writers will escape the control of their editors and make reference to the pre-Flashpoint stories, confusion will return as the core fan base rejoice at such out of policy tales, and the whole mess will continue on, and rightly so.

All of my previous worries about the DCnU have been wiped away, with two simple words.

DARKSEID IS!*

(Not a direct quote, but what do you hear in the cry ‘For Darkseid’?)

Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior #3

Newsarama today have posted an article entitled “TRANSFORMERS & Beyond: 5 Best Marvel TOY Comics”, yet I have to take issue with their choices. To my mind, they have missed out one of the very best toy-linked titles of all time.

Although no one can deny the quality of the Micronauts, ‘They come from Inner Space’; or Rom, Spaceknight, the latter of which I have sung praises about previously, there was another toy character that seemed to get lost in the shuffle.

Back in 1983, The Saga Of Crystar, Crystal Warrior only lasted for eleven issues, and like most toys was based on quite a simple concept. Beings of crystal fighting beings of lava. Set in an alternate, fantasy style world of Crystallium, the comic followed the release of the toys the previous autumn, and so like many, I had assumed it was a licensed property, the trademarks resting with the toy company Remco.

So researching this morning for this post, I was surprised to learn that according to the ever-infallible Wikipedia, the entire concept was wholly created and owned by Marvel, who had the express intent to license this to a toy company.

Those eleven issues for a teenager like me (at the time) had great characterisation, and all the requisite dramatic themes. The forces of Chaos versus Order; the poisonous rivalry between brothers, in this case princes of the realm that tear the country apart, numerous love interests; and even more importantly for me at that age, guest appearances from Doctor Strange, Nightcrawler and Alpha Flight.

This was my first exposure to the art of Bret Blevins, which I have to note had a dramatically different style to his later work in New Mutants. Remember that cartoony style during the Bird Boy saga and the Fall of the Mutants era? This was nothing like that. Combined with phenomenal colouring for the time, this had an epic feel to it, sort of like a more shadowed and dirty George Perez, said shadow giving an impression comparable to a lot of the Lord Of The Rings art books that were floating around in that time.

I must say, if Crystar and his fellows remain in Marvel ownership, which they most obviously do, then why is it that we have never seen another appearance of this cast? With such iconic themes, they would easily provide a backdrop for a story of many of the more popular teams. After all, if Marvel can reference the Space Knights or Baron Karza and other members of the Micronauts cast even after those trademarks have long flown the coop, then why not Crystar?

The reason brother versus brother plots keep reappearing is because they last the test of time; we love this stuff. Marvel continually tries to honour its history; even retcons only reinterpret what has gone before rather than ignoring it.

So why not Crystar? Let’s see him again, and soon.

Classic X-Men #15, retelling the death of the Phoenix

And no, I do not mean trade paperbacks. I mean the good old-fashioned monthly comic. Remember Marvel Tales? Or Marvel Triple Action for that matter? It was these titles that as a young reader, drew me into the rich history of the Marvel Universe, rather than just focusing on the hottest and newest events.

Reliant as I was at that age on the newsstand, as the direct market was only just in its infancy, there was little other ways I could have been drawn into the urge for back issues, never mind having that desire fulfilled.

Of course the concept evolved over time. Enter the Classic X-Men, reprinting stories, but with each having an eight-page back up strip that a) expanded on the story or b) retroactively introduced elements to the story that could be utilised again. Easily a concept that could be utilised in today’s fashions.

Of course, now we are firmly in the age of reboots and retcons, this could be a very useful tool. However, the concept evolved itself out of existence, if we look at teh poorly executed ‘Professor Xavier and the X-Men’, which if I remember correctly, barely lasted for eighteen issues.

In the age of direct market shops and digital archives, is there a place for such a product? Every store is burdened with endless back issue stock, while the popular stories can be found collected in the trade paperbacks.

But….

There is always discussion about attracting new readers, how comics are competing for the entertainment dollars with the gaming industry, and how the average age of the comics’ reader is rising.

What youngsters have the cash for a trade paperback, and even if they have, does a complete story deliver the urge to come back for more? Where now do parents get the opportunity to just grab a comic off the rack to give their child something to keep them quiet on the long journey they are about to take? Or just to keep them occupied for an hour?

Are they really going to swing by the local comic book store to pick up an issue? With the loss of the newsstand, there lies the loss of potentially thousands of new readers, who despite the many Hollywood movies remain unlikely to visit such stores, either due to geography or finance.

Reprints of such stalwart favourites such as the Hulk or Batman, Superman or the Fantastic Four could and should be made available on the newsstand. So what if they must be sale or return? These are loss leaders at worst, and at best recruit a whole new generation of readers with a passion for their favourite heroes. Readers that will collect not just for months, but for years, their consumption growing in proportion to their income.

Overheads are low. There’s no creative team to be concerned with (unless as a safety the eight-page back up idea of Classic X-Men is continued, and these can be collected later in a trade or direct market specials). Use a lower quality of paper, comics used to be disposable (blasphemy, I know), which is what made original issues so very special.

After all, it’s a lot cheaper than producing a cartoon for the networks; but coupled with the cartoons, you have parental brand recognition, and entire new vistas open up for the industry.

Make them cheap, make them throwaway; but make them and get them out on the newsstands.

Coming from the days when John was a permanent fixture of the DCU, I should welcome this, yet for some reason I have reservations. John has made his home at Vertigo, in fact he defined Vertigo alongside Swampy and the Sandman.

Now thanks to that trio, the lines between Vertigo and the DCU have always been blurred, and one can ask if the ‘Mature Readers’ title actually means a great deal in today’s marketplace? However, I think it does. It meant enough for it to be created in the first place; and similar thoughts led to the creation of the Justice League as the original Golden Age Heroes were abandoned after the (admittedly ill-guided) assault on the comics industry in Seduction Of The Innocent.

Now I am sure younger readers will eventually gravitate towards the Mature Readers titles as they become older, but do we really want to send those younger readers into the Vertigo back issue bins? Parental Guidance is advised.

As for my second selection is a title from last week. Thinking of the great storm in the Fifties that also focused of the horror comics of the time, such as E.C.; offerings that seem remarkably tame by today’s standards; I found that same nostalgia in IDW’s recent release – That Hellbound Train.

One problem that EC stories had is that they were so very short. Make no mistake; alongside the word ‘Hell’ in the title, this is an old style horror tale. Dave Wachter’s art suits the story perfectly and more importantly, is close enough to that same old style we grew to love.

As a first issue, we have a traditional orphan background set up of the character, and on the last page, our character makes a deal with the devil that makes me wonder – what on Earth does he want that for? Can he cheat the master of deception?

The entire will to follow the story hangs on the cliff-hanger, and I for one am sold. I want to see where Robert Bloch takes this title. What seemed standard fare in the first few pages grabbed me. If you see a copy on the shelves, get it.

The relaunch of the Valiant stock is one I eagerly await, as there are some really strong characters in that universe, such as the Eternal Warrior, or Rai. Yet Solar, Man Of The Atom and Magnus, Robot Fighter did rather form the spine of the universe; so it will be interesting to see just what the company comes up with. Does this mean that the Eternal Warrior will become lynchpin character? Or maybe the Harbingers, knock-off X-Men as they are?

Yet I would not want to see Dark Horse end their excellent Solar title prematurely. If you haven’t picked it up yet, I highly recommend it, it remains true to the character we got to know in the Nineties, yet very much carries its own identity. Magnus I can take or leave, but with Solar, Dark Horse is doing good things.

Meanwhile, Flashpoint carries on apace, and the more of the tie-in titles I read, the more I am enjoying it. Cases in point, this week’s Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown. I enjoyed the Morrison rendition of our favourite patchwork zombie in Seven Soldiers, and have long since wanted to see more of him.

This week has been buzzing with promotions of the new September titles, a lot of which look very promising. Except maybe Teen Titans – what on Earth have they done to Wonder Girl? Now I must have the attention span and commitment of a goldfish. Remember how critical I was regarding the not-reboot? How betrayed I felt? Now I find myself drooling over the titles they are announcing, and I want to read them. Although like everyone else, I also want to know – WHERE ARE THE JUSTICE SOCIETY?

Like the Crusaders, and Milestone and the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents before them, the Wild Storm cast of characters are integrated into this new Earth. I have seen many ask if we want a world where Apollo and Superman co-exist; but my thoughts go to Majestic and Zealot. How will the cosmic DCU be affected by the presence of the Kherubim Empire? Or the Daemonites for that matter? It’s not easy just to slip in a new intergalactic empire with such an important history.

Of course, I haven’t seen mention of these characters yet, but we know it’s coming.

Under the barrage of publicity and interviews however, titles from the smaller labels may have gone unnoticed. My ‘must-have’ recommendation for the week is Fly from Zenescope, where the writer Raven Gregory uses the allegory of super-powers to explore the complex issues around addiction.

Aside from Eric J’s wonderful art, very much in the Zenescope style, this is a tale of three people whose lives have been controlled by a drug called ‘Fly’ since their teenage years; a drug that gives the user the ability to do exactly what it says on the tin.

The story is told in two eras; the present, where two of the three characters are adults and we have yet to see the third; fleshed out by flashbacks to their adolescent years, and their first experimentations with the drug.

In the editorial, Raven Gregory is brutally honest about his past, and what led him to create this story. The influence of Meth-Amphetamine disrupted the lives of himself and his family, so much so that although this script was initially penned two years ago, Raven was forced to let it sit until he had the distance to look at it again.

Although the first issue is purely framing, slowly revealing the back story without an overpowering cliff-hanger, I want to read more. There are hints of sensitivity that leads me to believe that such a storyline is in very capable hands indeed. If you pick nothing else up this week, give ‘Fly’ a go.

That of course is not withstanding their plans for same-day digital release of comics.

Now, as a reader, I find myself in a quandary here. I feel like a dog with two bones, with my loyalties torn. Let’s take these reactions step by step.

So, we can expect revamped characters “reflecting today’s real world themes and events”. Well, I’ve heard this before, and although I hope this will lead to a more racially diverse major cast (but new characters please, not just the traditional icons being given a tokenistic new skin colour), I fail to see why this requires a universe-wide reboot. Surely this is dependant on good stories being provided by good writers?

Another reboot – AGAIN? Without another ten year gap? Infinite Crisis gave us an unfulfilled promise of the return of some pre-Crisis style stories, which other than Grant Morrison’s efforts and the recent ‘Sorcerer Kings’ arc in Superman/Batman, we have seen nothing of. What about the promised Earth-5 Captain Marvel? What happened to that then? Fans had been clamouring for the return of the older stories without sacrificing the newer material, yet once again DC has abandoned them.

Let me spell this out. Continuity drives trade-paperback sales. We only have to look at Marvel’s success with this matter. In Marvel, everything counts, no matter how dire it was. It may be reinterpreted, but it counts. Why would a new reader want to read the Teen Titans’ Judas Contract now? Infinite Crisis re-established these stories relevence. What about the last few years? Do they count? Are we moving to another Earth, while the old one carries on in the background?

Older readers like myself have been betrayed, AGAIN. And who but the older readers have enough cash to buy all fifty-two first issues?

Additionally, I have mixed feeling about the same-day digital release. Yes, it opens the field to new fans, although trying to read a comic on a mobile phone seems to me like something would be missing.

Now I love digital comics, they are so much easier to store, and my home no longer needs bookcases on every spare square foot of wall. Yet as a former comic shop manager, I feel betrayed again. They have been cut out of the loop, and will this lower the cost of purchase?

If DC really wanted to preserve the comics store, then the digital comics release should maybe be rolled out in a network-marketing format. The local comic store is the agent, to whom a reader could sign up to, or even simpler, attribute sales according to post/zip code. You sign up for the comics through Comixology or whomever, input your location with your membership details, get introduced to your local store via your membership, and have the LCS gain a little something from each sale. This is in DC’s interest, it is far easier to browse a real store than flick through endless pages, and this could stimulate back issue and more importantly trade paperback sales.

OK, business pundits will say ‘what precisely are the LCS adding to the process of digital distribution’? Other than advertising all upcoming events by their very existence, stimulating trade paperback sales, encouraging the growth of the community and helping provide brand loyalty? Oh, nothing much.

They are only the backbone of the industry, and in business terms, spread the risk, rather than just relying on large chain stores. Your local comic shop more than likely opened due to a love of the medium. It certainly wasn’t with the plan to get rich.

Having said all this, as a fan of the medium, I do look forward to the new incarnations. I simply wish that we didn’t have to lose the old (well, not that old) versions that we know and love.

The scariest proposition that is being bandied around is that DC plans another One Year Later type event, dropping readers into new stories after some alleged gap of time, like they did after Infinite Crisis.

I shudder at the thought. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the ’52′ series, it hardly covered the activity of a worlds-worth of characters, and favourite titles such as the Titans appeared to descend into nonsense. Earlier plotlines were left hanging; characters appeared and disappeared with no thought of reader loyalty to those characters at all.

After all, why do we read comics in the first place? You may have a particular loyalty to this writer or that artist; but it is the characters themselves that attract us. Even in titles such as the Avengers or the Legion Of Super-Heroes, if these were restarted from scratch with none of the familiar faces and no reference to what had gone before, would this be half as appealing as the current titles are?

There’s a time and a place for a universal revamp. After the phenomenal Crisis On Infinite Earths (and the error-ridden subsequent material), DC had the decency to at least wait ten years before revamping again with Zero Hour, and another ten years for Infinite Crisis. Even though Final Crisis was technically a reboot of the universe, very little was made of this. (Remember the Miracle Machine recreating everything after the collapse of space-time?)

Now a revamp for characters not seen for a long while, that is often necessary. (Sometimes regrettable, but necessary.) Case in point – the Mighty Crusaders, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, or the compelling relaunch of the Atlas characters by Arrden. Out of today’s shipment, we can number Magnus Robot Fighter or the Mighty Samson, the latter of which is my recommendation for today.

Yet ‘updating for the modern age’ is not always a requirement. Why else is there such an interest in the Golden Age heroes? Or a market for DC’s upcoming Retrospective specials?

In conclusion, I hope DC is going to launch a new story in September, NOT a new universe. We have barely settled into the last one. After a shaky start, it’s not so bad, so if it ain’t broke…….

In this week’s Superman #711, the issue concludes with a statement of the ‘American Way’ that Superman has already fought for. The issue features LiveWire as the antagonist, the radio host gone bad (oh my, I only see the irony as I write this! D’Oh!), who had recently proved her worth in saving the planet against the Auctioneer, thereby redeeming herself.

Gone to S.T.A.R. to learn more about her powers, she absorbs way too much electricity, and the less attractive insecurities of her motivation resurrect themselves. I won’t spoil the story by a blow-by-blow account, but the interesting point for me is after her defeat, once she is ‘assisted’ in regaining her right mind. Supes is all forgiving despite the feelings of the city, and gives the following speech:

Well, now maybe Leslie will have a chance to find out. A second chance. That’s what America is all about really, that’s the American way. Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness – and second chances. None of us are forced to be anything we don’t want to be.

He mentions about his first experience of Metropolis, how people from all over the U.S. and the world flocked to the city to live the lives they wanted, to be who they want to be. (Why do I have the Soup Dragons playing in my mind?)

That’s the idea that America was founded on, but it’s not just for people born here. It’s for everyone.

I doubt the media will pick up on this, which is why I was inspired to write today; but if that is not a summing up of the U.S. Constitution is a few short phrases, I don’t know what is.

Or am I just a tool in the liberal takeover of the media?

One a totally different note, although I rained criticism on Age Of X, now we really see the justification of the story in the rercent issues of Uncanny and X-Men Legacy. The altered reality, the lifetime of memories are not just disappearing, and now we see some very interesting dynamics being formed between the players, and the awakening of unresolved relationships from yesterday as well as that other world. Now this I appreciate; the difference between ‘it was all a dream’ and ‘OMG! That was a dream but I can’t shake it off’ with consequences. I may yet have to eat my words on this matter.

I only hope Flashpoint has similar lasting repercussions. Else one has to ask – what is the point?

There was a certain arrogance in the storylines of the Authority, or StormWatch (or the most recent incarnation of Wild C.A.T.S.) that I found particularly appealing; operating on a scale only found in Grant Morrison’s JLA. Beings who could rewrite entire realities without all the drama and pathos of the Scarlet Witch in M-Day; master manipulators who could be toppled from power and even slain, yet the entire affair would only guarantee their victory. I miss that.

As much as one could say those themes were in the recent ‘Chaos War’, I’m afraid that series fell short. As enjoyable as the side series such as Dead Avengers or Chaos War:X-Men were, there was too much crammed into too small a space. WildStorm was never in a hurry to release its exhibitions of cosmic power; the shadow of Tao, or Henry Bendix could hover over a title for months before actually being utilised. Changing the world was something that occurred on a grand scale, not just some thing squeezed into six or eight issues.

To this end, I dug out my old Monarchy series, the spin-off of the Authority that actually helped to justify the main series. With the standard fare of mind-blowing concepts and displaying a nigh-infinite scale by using the contrast of the day-to-day details, I find myself thinking that this is what series like the Infinity Gauntlet or Countdown To Final Crisis should have been.

Let’s hope we have not seen the last of these characters. WildStorm had a certain flavour that DC is lacking, and neither could really imitate the other with any degree of success. It will be interesting to see just how DC integrates New Earth 50 into its multiverse, if indeed it tries.

When I think of Mr McDuffie, the very first thing that springs to mind is always Milestone, where he was co-founder of the company with Denys Cowan, Michael Davis and Derek T Dingle. Specifically for me, he was the creator of Static, and co-creator of the Blood Syndicate (who, despite their story having come to a conclusion, I would love to see a relaunch of, maybe a ‘where are they now?’ type feature).

Yet this was also the man who made Deathlok cool in the Nineties, and it is good to see that Deathlok as a concept is making a comeback currently. The latest appearance is in the last issue of Uncanny X-Force, but of course there’s the recent mini-series as well. Upon reading up for this article, I discovered that he was also responsible for one of my favourite cartoons of recent years, Ben 10: Alien Force, expanding on the Ben 10 concept as the character grows up.

Of course, he was behind the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited cartoons that really set a higher standard for the superhero cartoon, that I have yet see equalled. (Although the new Young Justice, G.I.Joe:Renegades and Generator Rex are certainly up there as competitors; if you haven’t seen them yet, make the time.)

The list of Dwayne’s accomplishments is too great to repeat them all here, but just throwing out a few: Jason Rusch, the All-Star Superman movie adaptation, scripting the Fantastic Four from #542-553, Damage Control, Milestone Forever (that I have already raved about),  Hardware, Icon, Justice League Of America just prior to Kurt Busiek’s current run; to name but a few. He has left us a lasting legacy to enjoy for the many decades to come.

Dwayne McDuffie, I salute you. Safe journey.

I can’t shake the feeling that I have seen all this before, and thus I find it difficult to get very enthusiastic about this latest X-Event. I wonder what ‘lasting consequences’ there will be from this particular reality shift. You know, lasting consequences like the Sugarman, Holocaust or the X-Man.

Oh wait, when did we last see them?

So I turn to the Distinguished Competition, and I discover this summer’s big event is the Flashpoint. Professor Zoom seems to be making alterations in the past that result in questions like “What if the spaceship never crashed?’

Still, it looks promising, DC have never done a great alternate reality story. Unless of course you add Trinity into the mix. Or the recent Booster Gold series. Or the Elseworlds. Or Tangent.

Plus fifteen accompanying mini-series? Fifteen? Seven or eight I could stomach, but this many? No wonder DC are making their price promise, they intend to strip our wallets with quantity instead.

Now I love my alternate reality stories. However, they must surely have their place, which is not spread over the entire universe. Been there, done that, countless times.

Give me zombie robots any day. Transformers Infestation #1 comes out today, and that has to be my advance recommendation for today.

I lapped up the brilliant struggles of Linda Danvers as she struggled to live up to such a demanding legacy. (Of course it was brilliant, have you ever known Peter David to let us down?) I picked up every story that had a Supergirl in it, even the Cir-El version. I applauded the return of a real Kara Zor-El in the pages of Superman & Batman, although like the previous incarnations, I did not expect her to last.

How wrong I was. Tying her origin to Darkseid I thought was a masterful stroke, and the gradual reintroduction of all of the Golden and Silver Age conventions in modern form was a treat. However, as much as I enjoyed reading the title, I found many of the issues much like their Silver Age counterparts: fun, but essentially forgettable.

With the new writing team of Nick Spencer and James Peaty, that has all changed. I was glued to this weeks issue. Aside from the storyline reflecting the perils of new media such as services like Foursquare, (could this be a fashionable theme currently perchance?) what was the most engaging was not just the excellent scripting, or the beautiful art from Bernard Chang; but the pacing of the story.

From the very first page where we meet the initially seeming innocuous antagonists, to Lois Lane doing her investigative thing, to Supergirl dealing with the trivial distractions of a modern super-heroine’s life; the framing of the peril is slowly woven into place until the climax of the issue is truly a cliff hanger.

This is what I want to see, a story that truly makes me wish the next issue was here already. My only criticism of the issue is that, in line with DC’s policy of a month’s worth of ‘iconic’ covers, the interior art far exceeds the cover art. The cover hardly does enough justice to the new creative team. Do not be put off by the mediocre cover, as you will miss a masterpiece of sequential art.

Now I may have fallen for the sillyness that was the JLI some fifteen years ago, but when it came to the immature antics of Young Justice, I was never a fan. This however is a lot different.

Compared to the first episode of the Justice League cartoon, this is more character driven and a real treat for DC fans, or a new viewer. Falling under the former category myself, I geeked out with the way the various characters were introduced, especially Superboy and Project Cadmus. The real treat however is the inclusion of the new Aqua-Lad, only recently introduced in the ‘real’ continuity; and Miss Martian, who is a character that desperately needs fleshing out. Maybe here she will have a chance to shine.

The show was lucky enough to get some extra publicity from the Conan O’Brien Show, after a visit from Conan himself to the Warner Brothers animation studios.

Although hardly complimentary to the show, this is a moment of comedy genius, and obviously the new identity for Mr O’Brien himself as the Flaming C.

Fishnet stockings not withstanding, Young Justice shows a lot of potential, so much so it has been given its own Earth in the multiverse, Earth-16.  This may actually make Lor-Zod of Countdown:Arena homeless, but then who cares? Lor-Zod didn’t appear to have much of a history anyway.

Oh, he’s supposed to be Chris Kent? How’s that work out then?

I am pleased to say I have been pleasantly surprised. The stories have been reminiscent of some of the better titles of the late seventies and early eighties, but updated for today’s tastes. After all, many of those stories don’t translate as well as they could, it wasn’t called the Bronze Age of comics for no reason.

Case in point, this weeks Superman #706. I think this was the best ‘OMG! Superman’s secret identity is about to be revealed’ stories I have ever read. With Clark barely making an appearance in this issue, nor hardly even sight of Lois; the action centres around the Daily Planet and mainly Perry White, no longer just a walking stereotype of bluster and fury.

G Willow Wilson shows how he has a real handle on the supporting casts’ personalities, and a nice nod of the head to the struggles of traditional media nowadays. Due to the wonders of a blogger, Lois and Superman have the fear of god put up them, fearing their relationship is about to be put on world display. (Like it’s the worlds’ best kept secret, but let’s just overlook that one fact.) The risk that the pair could stumble and reveal themselves is apparent, but the situation is resolved in masterful fashion by Perry himself.

So now I am sold on the new writer, trusting his hands to maintain the high standards this title has achieved at many points in it’s career. One little gem contained in the issue is that we find out one thing that truly scares Superman.

The internet! Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha haa!

Now I am not what one would call a die-hard Batman fan. For me, he is far more enjoyable in team setting, with the Justice League or the Outsiders. His ‘Network’ has a reach that touches nearly every Earth-bound corner of the DC Universe. However, Batman’s fate through the Final Crisis and the Return Of Bruce Wayne was hardly the Dark Knights standard territory, except maybe in the pages of the Brave And The Bold and of course the aforementioned JLA.

Still, such an experience can hardly leave a man unchanged, even one as obsessive and pragmatic as this one.

In Batman The Return we see the start of those changes, and some feel a little more familiar than others.  A thousand G. I. Robots on order? Echoes of The Kingdom anybody? They keep creeping in, Magog vs Captain Atom in Justice League Generation Lost, the creation of the Emerald City in the recent JLA/JSA crossover. Who would have thought that one Elseworlds novel would have had such an influence?

Return is rather a strong word as well. Bruce Wayne was already on ‘The Road Home’ while he was still bouncing ‘Returning’ through time. Scheduling this so that it came out in chronological order would have been a nightmare, and now it’s all over I rather admire DC for throwing any attempt to the winds and telling each section of the story almost simultaneously.

So, Batman The Return sets up a nice new villain deep in the shadows by the original name of Leviathan. Batman Inc however gives full range to Grant Morrisons inventiveness and hopefully his encyclopedic knowledge of comics history will come into play. This is enough for me to jump back in to the Bat-titles, waters I have not played in since the days of Contagion.

World’s a-changing. Hop on to enjoy the new dynasty. For as long as this one lasts at least.

Well, the Ninety-Nine, as standard superhero fare goes, it is worth the attention. After only six issues this is hardly a masterpiece such as have been seen by Alan Moore or Grant Morrison, but then it is also aimed at a slightly younger audience, and fits comfortably into it’s niche. I don’t criticise Booster Gold for not being ‘deep’ enough when it is a thoroughly enjoyable romp. It’s always nice to see a new company do well, especially one in my opinion with cross-cultural leanings, mainly because I get to learn new things. I really hope that this is the start of a tradition, and soon DC will also do a crossover with Raj Comics. I can’t wait to see some of those in English!

Meanwhile, the Thanos Imperative concludes today, and although I suspect I am wrong, I rather hope this is not the end of the story. It’s not exactly an official crossover, but to see this Lovecraftian influence on the Marvel Cosmic stage has been an absolute pleasure. Even if we can see the ending of the Imperative coming a mile off, that Thanos’ death will break the power of Life Incarnate in Cancerverse, the whole saga has maintained Abnett’s momentum (following Annihilation and the War Of Kings) and makes me want to know what’s next.

I still hope I am wrong though. Let it be something more than just Thanos dying. Don’t let me down Dan.

Don’t get me wrong, Paul Cornell‘s writing is a treat, and this is no doubt a feast for anglophiles abroad, especially enhanced by the appearance of Ernie, The Fastest Milkman In The West. (I totally missed that until the explanation page, and I remember that infernal tune, possibly its own eras version of the Macarena in the way it would sneak into your brain and stay there.) If you have not experienced his writing before, then you need to dive into the old Virgin New Adventures of Doctor Who, and the Eighth Doctor Adventures from BBC Novels. As good as this first issue of the mini is, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

But I really must stress regarding the opening panels, not even Cockneys speak that Cockney. Most certainly not all Londoners are Cockneys, and the rest of us Brits find it as indecipherable as I imagine the average American reader does. It’s been a long time since I heard the word ‘mullered’ meaning an assault rather than a state of intoxication.

All reservations aside, do not miss this series. With Cornells’ history and this beginning, this promises to be well worth it. As long as Cornell forswears the use of Cockney rhyming slang for say, the next decade?

This has pretty obviously generated mixed reaction (as all things comics tend to do). Obviously the anti-Didio camp is happy, yet people point out the troubles Marvel had. This writer feels that since Marvel was already in trouble when Harras came to the position, Harras really didn’t do all that bad. Surely the foil covers would have arrived anyway? I rather thought that DC wasn’t broken in the first place, so this may be good, if a little superfluous.

One thing that I didn’t realise however was that Harras was the writer of Breach.  Now this was a short series, eleven issues in total if I remember correctly and Breach seemed to meet an untimely end in the Infinite Crisis. (But then that’s a comics death, I’m not sure it counts. However, I still await the return of Aztek The Ultimate Man from his exploded four-dimensional state and I have not yet been satisfied.) If you have doubts of Mr Harras, pick this series up out of the back issue bins, and then judge him. It should paint him in a better light than any spectre of the speculation years could do. I would rather trust the judgement of his colleagues than those of the messagesboards any day.

And let’s face it, even if you are (like me) pro-Didio, change can be good, yes?

Now I have been lucky enough to find the first two issues of The 99, which I found thoroughly enjoyable, but since then later issues have seemed as available as rocking horse poop. Reading the press coverage I was amazed to find out that by now nearly thirty of the 99 heroes have been revealed (which eventually will surely rival even the fabled Legion Of Super-Heroes, or even the X-Men for a cast), of which I maybe know of the first seven or eight. Partnering these up with the JLA is a masterful move, as I for one want to see a lot more of these characters. However all the coverage so far just refers to an un-named DC villain teaming with Rughal (the link is just one example), but erm, look at the picture. Starro anybody? (I suppose since this is supposed to happen on the fabled Earth-Crossover, Starro’s recent defeat in the pages of REBELS is irrelevent.)

All such considerations aside, this is great. Now, next I want to see DC (or Marvel) do the same with Raj Comics. (For that matter, I would love to see some of Raj Comics translated into english.) So that alongside the heroes of the Middle East we can see the heroes of the Indian subcontinent. What I have read of them, the characters are fascinating, however I unfortunately do not read Hindi. I truly miss some of the Virgin Comics titles, such as Devi. Please don’t tell me she’s gone for good. I know the new incarnation of Liquid Comics has a few Hollywood projects lined up, but when was the last time we heard any news about them? Raj Comics promises to fill that gap. Someone, please, translate them already!

The British stable of characters seem to have all defected to the US, as seen by Marvel’s current Miracleman reprints. (Although is Miracleman British or American? With his complex history as Captain Marvel and Marvelman, who can tell?)  Yet the rest of the world may be full of characters we don’t know about, and I want to seee them all. Britain’s publishing may have dried up, but there is no shortage of British creators working for the larger companies, and taking the rich British stable of characters with them.  Yet the world has rich cultures to draw more stories from, Africa, South America, and I cannot wait to see what riches these comic worlds have for us.

Hmmm.  How very imperialist of me.

Now, even Newsarama states that DC has had successes with integrating the Milestone and Red Circle characters into the central universe, however do we really think that this stable of characters could be absorbed easily? They are so very independent in their style that other than an invasion by the Authority, I rather think they should stay on their own earth. After all, the DreamWar mini-series was not the best of reads, it rather lacked a certain something, even though it could set up some event in the future. Just for the sake of an internal re-shuffle, I rather think the fans will be the losers here, especially those die-hard fans that have followed the various incarnations from the very beginning.

After all, look how much we have seen of the Milestone characters since Milestone Forever. Other than Static in the Teen Titans, everyone else seems to have disappeared, when one would rather think at least the Blood Syndicate would have made a splash somewhere!

I cannot fault the Red Circle relaunch one jot, but do we really want to lose Earth 50 and its own multiverse of 196833-dimensional snowflake-shaped arrangement of universes?

Still, there’s plenty of crossover material to play with there.

Wasn’t the Punisher, when he first appeared, a character that although we may sympathise, we should despise? What does this victory demonstrate really? Is the House of Ideas (and by extension our world) in moral freefall? In a battle between the Punisher and the Marvel Universe, shouldn’t the universe win? So much for feel-good escapism! Heck, I would have accepted Galactus consuming the planet finally, and Frank becoming his herald! Now that does have potential – Frank, Herald of Galactus!

After the chaotic Fall Of The Hulks storyline, that was not the easiest to follow (any shipping issues aside, even with the issues all lined up, it’s not the easiest storyline to follow. However the new status quo (for as long as it lasts) is easy on the eyes (and brain) yet nicely multi-layered with histories both new and old, combining the appearance of sixties kitsch with solid storytelling. Having grown up with the Hulk, I really feel for him here in this new Hulk family, where the word dysfunctional would be a compliment.

X-Men Curse of the Mutants, despite my earlier criticism, is certainly exceeding my expectations. The spin-off issues make sense, the threat appears overwhelming but slow, and even more the whole epic is not taking over every single X-title, leaving us with a choice. The latest? Dracula is now resurrected and that is about as far as the storyline has gone. It’s nice to see the X-Men against a more central Marvel backdrop, and good to see Blade back as well.

Shadowland however does not score so well on my rankings. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of fun, I like the characters involved, especially throwing in the Ghost Rider who just had a major plot development yet he is hardly the character one would expect to be in this mix. Yet here the spin-offs have spun maybe a little too far from the central plot, looking more like a marketing ploy rather than essential to the story. I hope the writers will prove me wrong, but a few months in, it doesn’t look hopeful.

Of course, every story is a marketing ploy, that’s the point. But I don’t like my face rubbed in it.

On the other side of the isle, the latest issue of Brightest Day keeps the promise of the series going, and the theories being thrown around about Firestorm are, well, cool, I don’t want to give anything away. Interestingly, there is a slight re-interpretation of previous continuity but in a good way, adding a new layer rather than contradicting the past. I love to see Firestorm in the spotlight, his one hundred issue run was one of my favourites of all time. Since that title was cancelled however, Ronnie Raymond rather had a poor deal in terms of characterisation and was morphed into a whiny selfish self-centred failure.  I pray we will see the old Ronnie return in these pages, because it’s about time.