DCnU : The Missing Pieces, the Heroes we've lost!
One year.
One long, year of the DCU New 52.
One long year filled with roller coater ups-and-downs that have
delighted and aggravated fans across the comic-readership spectrum.
There have been first attempts at
crossover, some successful (Night
of Owls, Rotworld) and some... not so much (The
Culling, Basilisk Rising) and – so far – three waves of
releases including the titular first wave of 52.
There are books I've loved and books
I've hated and some that aren't quite in either camp – others still
that started at one place and jumped to another. The point of all
this is, dear reader, that it's been pretty crazy as you're well
aware.
BUT! This first year over and DC
releasing a whole slew of #0 issues this week, we're looking at
finally getting at least some of the many questions about origins and
continuity answered (hopefully) through these titles.
With this in mind, we here at Comic
Addicts are starting a series of weekly specials that will cover
various aspects of the DCnU, from reviews to top-10 style lists and
others. Starting now! (so click ahead and read on!)
For some long-time fans like myself
however, there are some things that DC still needs to answer for and
account for – specifically characters and such that have been
utterly eliminated from canon. Sure, it's not new for characters to
be removed/retconned out of continuity and the like, but there are
some moves like this... *cough*OneMoreDay!*cough*Twats!*cough*
...that just leave a terrible taste and feel like a slap in the face
for many fans.
What hurts more for many is that DC is
not giving clear answers for pretty much any of this – honestly, if
you told me flat out, “No. That character will not come back.
Period.” Sure, I'd be sad, but at least then I'd know.
So, here it is folks, my love letter
(of sorts) to great characters – both hero and villain – that I
think deserved better than to be either wiped out or turned into
something less:
The Flash himself. Seemed like as good
a place as any to start!
For me, Wally West has been a great
Flash. Sure, I've seen the others, Barry
Allen was around briefly when I was little before his
epic death and I'm VERY fond of Jay
Garrick, but Wally was the man. He started out as a
goofy kid who used to be Kid
Flash running to catch up with the legendary figure he
could never surpass and looked at by his peers as something less.
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| Say it ain't so!! |
But Wally kept at it and instead of
chasing legends, he just ran his own road and created a legend all
his own – one that included Bart
Allen (a.k.a Impulse/Kid Flash) and a whole family of
speedsters. He made me love the character of The Flash more than I
ever had. And on this I'm not alone.
It was great having Barry back after
Final Crisis and his return was handled in a pretty
interesting manner if you ask me – I even enjoyed the whole
Flashpoint stuff
around him. But to just make Wally vanish completely, making it so
that now even if he does get reintroduced, it will be a whole other
Wally and will have to build a whole new storyline around him... well
it's a huge let-down to a lot of fans.
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| Best Team-Book Ever. Period! |
This is arguably the biggest travesty
for me – and for many fans I think.
The JSA started out as the predecessor
to the Justice League of America in comics, but then
faded a somewhat. Eventually they saw life again as Justice League
counterparts on another Earth.
But then a few years ago, Geoff
Johns did one of the best things he's done till date : he
relaunched the team in a new book and built in some amazing backstory
to fill in all the gaps and the long absence of these iconic heroes,
these men and women that inspired the JLA. This relaunch was not just
a critic and fan-wide success, it also gave the DCU a whole new slew
of characters that added so much richness to the universe they were
brought into, even spinning out several books like JSA:Classified,
JSA All-Stars and Power Girl, the latter of
which was one of the saddest losses as a series after the reboot.
Marvel has been bringing out more older
characters little-by-little and between that and series like Ed
Brubakers The Marvels Project and Six Guns among others, they've been
celebrating their rich and varied lineup while DC seems to be going
the other way – trying too hard to be “fresh” and “hip” and
make everything too new.
I think a softer reboot instead of this
harsh-makeover of the DCU might have served better in the longer run.
 |
| The Evolution of a Hero |
The original Wonder Girl herself!
Donna's been around for decades and for a brief period, she was even
Wonder Woman among many other amazing roles. Now, nothing.
She was one of the original Teen
Titans.
She was a heroine who died young, only
to be resurrected and reemerge in the mega-event that was Infinite
Crisis – coming back stronger and better. From thereon DC
actually let her character grow and evolve far more than anyone would
have expected and it worked a lot of the time (or at least I think
so).
But now she, like Wally – who
incidentally was a co-founder of the Titans with her – has been not
just side-lined but wiped from the books. And, like Wally, she can
never really come back as the character we grew to care for and if some of
the examples of the remade characters is anything to go by, I hold
little hope.
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| This is why Artgerm rules! |
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| Aerial a$$-whooping! |
Hell, she was even known as The Spoiler
before she took on the Bat-mantle and was even Robin for a little
while, she'd been around over TWO decades and even though they tried
to kill her off once before, she was brought back and became better
than ever after that.
Once again, just eliminating a
character with no explanation leaves you in a painful position of
knowing that even if they bring her into it, it will never be the
same Steph.
Damn you DC...
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| Bring it on! |
Another Batgirl.
I figured I'd put them both together on
this list since it's not exactly in order of preference.
I'm also extra p****d-off because they can keep EVERY SINGLE Robin in continuity and all that, but what? There can only be one Batgirl? What is she, the frakkin Highlander?
I'm also extra p****d-off because they can keep EVERY SINGLE Robin in continuity and all that, but what? There can only be one Batgirl? What is she, the frakkin Highlander?
Cassie was an interesting character
right from the start – you might remember her as the one who's
mouth was also covered in costume.
The child of one of the world's most
feared assassins (David Cain) and one of it's deadliest martial
artists, Lady Shiva.
She worked for Oracle (Barbara Gordon)
and earned the Batgirl mantle, acknowledged by both Batman and
Barbara, and was the first Batgirl to ever have her own ongoing
series. She was even a member of The Outsiders and of Batman
Incorporated.
But now, she too is gone, just like
that.
To pander to rabid fans who just wanted
to see Barbara Gordon as Batgirl again. No hate to Babs, she's
awesome and all, but that's like retconning Tim Drake or
Damian Wayne because some hardcore fans just love having Dick Grayson
as Robin.
What a waste.
What a waste.
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| I love this panel! |
This is a character that I'm just as
surprised to see on this list as you folks!
A short while back DC (re)launched the
character of Xombi in a without-fanfar kind of way to fans who mostly
had no idea what to expect.
Initial apprehension aside, the title
found its feet fast and our hero, Asian-American scientist David
Kim, did something DC struggles with at times – added some
diversity to the list of DC character.
Helmed by the characters creator John
Rozum and artist Frazer Irving, the character got almost
instant acclaim from every side. At one point I remember reading
several comparisons to stories like The Invisibles and
others by Grant Morrison – admit it, a comic being praised
for that kind of weirdness by the mainstream shows there was
something worth reading there.
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| Nuns with Guns. Beat that. |
This series was launched in 2011. That
close. Around that point DC had already decided to hold release on
Rozum's other title, Static Shock, and the
long-long-long awaited Batwoman to wait for the reboot
– would it have killed them to hold this one too? Really? It's
stuff like this that makes me really question the sanity and mental
abilities of DC's upper management and editorial staff.
Personally I think it would have been
great to have this as part of the New 52 waves of books and would
have done great – especially since we are seeing the supernatural
and other non-superhero-in-tights books showing their muscle and
getting praised and fan-loved.
Azrael
No, not the Jean-Paul Valey version of
Azrael – never really cared for him much.
I refer here to the most recent bearer
of the title, the Dark Knight of Death! Micheal Lane was an
African-American former Gotham PD officer who went through a lot
before taking on the title. He was “The Third Man” who was
brainwashed by Dr. Hurt in the plot that led to the death of Bruce
Wayne. But he was able to get past the brainwashing and was offered
the Suit of Sorrows – given to Batman by Talia Al'Ghul – and he
took on the burden of it to atone for his part in the Dark Knights
demise.
If you don't know who this is, you
don't know your DC.
She is one of the original and
hands-down one of the most iconic members of the Teen Titans. She
starred in the series for ages and even came back recently when the
title was relaunched as simple Titans with the old team
all grown-up, with the first big-bad being her own extended family in
point of fact!
She was a fan-favourite in the comics
and especially in the very manga-esque animated TV series that many
of us watched and enjoyed.
But now she's not only completely out
of the picture in the comic universe, but she hasn't even been around
in the Young Justice animated series (which is awesome
by the way!) which is pretty much a Teen Titans like group.
Why the sudden ignorance of Raven DC??
Why the sudden ignorance of Raven DC??
Villain, mercenary, anti-hero, hero.
Shiva has covered the whole spectrum in her career.
Expert martial artist.
Teacher and “frenemy” of Vig Sage,
a.k.a The Question.
Mother and one-time teacher of
Cassandra Cain.
Teacher of Tim Drake, arguably one of
the best new characters in the Batman family.
Taught Batman himself at one point. He
even asked for her help at several points, including during a plague
threat in Gotham
Even was a member of the Birds Of Prey
at one point.
One of the most bad-a$$ characters DC
has ever had with one of the most interesting histories, now nowhere
to be found...
Sasha was definitely one of the most
interesting characters introduced during the mind-bogglingly awesome
run that Grant Morrison had as writer for Batman.
She was first seen as the daughter of a
small-time and incompetent criminal who was foiled by the Dynamic
Duo. His failure led to the demented Professor Pyg torturing both him
and Sasha, leaving her face badly scarred and damaged and her mind
traumatised. Seemingly dying in an inferno that followed a battle
where Robin was unable to save her, she was found by The Red Hood
(a.k.a Jason Todd) who saw potential in her and seemed to actually
like her, so she went with him and soon after became his sidekick –
Scarlet.
Together they kicked a lot of arse
until they were forced to split and then after some evil-plot and
kidnapping, violence and more, she and Jason were reunited and she
decided that she wanted to stay with him as his partner.
Personally, I don't get why DC killed
her off. She was dark, twisted and interesting as a character – and
somehow her propensity for violence and all that made her a good fit
with DC's new 90s-isation of so much. She would have made an
interesting addition to the Red Hood and the Outlaws
team if they'd added her to the the line-up, an interesting contrast
to Jason and a unique type of character on that crazy roster.
Did you know that the first character
by this name was a mutated/changed version of Alfred Pennyworth gone
bad? I don't remember the whole story but yup, Alfred was a wierdo
and a freak at one point in the old continuity.
A new version of The Outsider was
brought into the fray with his own mini-series tying into Flashpoint.
Born in the 60's in India, Michael Desai was a deadly being pretty
much from birth, always an outsider and always feared.
He was an interesting choice, being an
Indian/India based villainous character that was built really well
and even if he had just this mini and a minor presence in the main
series, I liked him enough that I want to see more and wish they'd
included some version of him to this new reality.
Hell, the guy had the suave,
tea-drinking aloof-ness of Alfred, the bald-headed smug and clever
evil-ness of Lex Luthor and strength and invulnerability that looked
to be in the Superman/Wonder Woman-ish range.
What was the point of creating this
character if you have no inclination to use him after the event has
passed? It seems like such a waste of so much possibility.
I really miss these two.
Of all the New Gods, these two were
always my favourites!
They are the most awesome couple –
he's a free-wheeling escape artist and all around nice-guy, she's a
giant, amazon-like warrior who was not just a member, but leader of
Darkseids female Furies at one point.
Bring in true love, good hearts and a
desire to live a good life and you've got these two.
Moved to Earth, tried live a peaceful
life, but between their various abilities and such and the call to
arms when things went bad – neither could stay away from the action
forever.
Never a leading pair, but always
power-players when they were around, this was one of the most
entertaining and unique couples (and married couples are rare enough
anyway – name one besides Reed and Sue Richards without thinking
hard, I dare you!) to be seen in super-hero books.
I miss them, just hope that DC sorts
out their New Gods issues well and maybe I'll see a version of them
again someday, ones that I'd be happy with.
Ralph and Sue
He's super, she's not, but they became
one hell of a presence in the comics and were loved by fans.
They were like a mom and dad pair who
were respected by the others in the community and were the kind of
happy couple you rarely see in real life, let alone comics.
And of course, who could forget the
drastic alterations and world-shattering stuff that was to come...
The revelation that came during the
Identity Crisis series, of what Dr. Light did to Sue and what choices
the heroes present made after that was one of the most drastic,
dramatic and shocking events across comic-worlds in recent years.
It is a bit sad that for many younger
folks, they will be remembered more for these terrible events than a
lot of what came before – but then this is often the truth of what
people remember in life, no news like bad news – but even now, they
remain a respected and much-loved part of the Super-hero canon and I
personally have many, many fond memories of Ralph Dibney and his nose
for crime-detection that led to many fun adventures, including
teaming up with Batman, Zatanna and Green Lantern among so many
others.
I don't have a clue what DC plans for
these two, just hope they treat them well, they've been through a
lot.
Well folks, there you have it - the elements I most feel the loss of at the end of a year of new DC comics.
This new Universe has elements both amazing and annoying, but whether it's a successful gamble or not... I'm not still entirely sure. I think with the end of this year, the 0-issues establishing origins and (hopefully) clearing doubts and the first big company-wide event since the reboot - Trinity War - coming in 2013, we'll have a far better idea.
Keep watching this space for upcoming parts in this series of articles that will look back at the past year in DC comics folks, see ya soon!
Well folks, there you have it - the elements I most feel the loss of at the end of a year of new DC comics.
This new Universe has elements both amazing and annoying, but whether it's a successful gamble or not... I'm not still entirely sure. I think with the end of this year, the 0-issues establishing origins and (hopefully) clearing doubts and the first big company-wide event since the reboot - Trinity War - coming in 2013, we'll have a far better idea.
Keep watching this space for upcoming parts in this series of articles that will look back at the past year in DC comics folks, see ya soon!
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