DC is Retconning!! (Part One)

So, DC announced last week (in the oh-so-relevant USA Today) that they will be setting all comics back to issue #1. This was a huge thing for me for several reasons. 1) Detective Comics and Batman were set to hit #1000 in the not-so-distant future. 2) Issue number ones do nothing to attract new readers. I'm sorry, but they don't. And 3) along with the article there was a picture of the new Justice League, with their "fresh and young" (why oh why, DC?!) costumes, and Wonder Woman looks sixteen.

And then I heard about the retconning.

And my blood boiled.

First off, the Teen Titans. I was never a particular fan of Superboy, so I could care less about his role, and I'm relatively sure that the girls at bottom left and far right are new characters. But from the solicitation I read that Tim Drake was never Robin (so goodness knows what happened to Damian--my prediction is that he'll have never existed) and that that lineage ends with Jason Todd (who I will get to in a moment). Aside from the stupid costume, where would a teenage hacker get field training? Second, Wonder Girl. In the quest for young and the ever-wanted "edgy" DC has made her a teenage thief. I'm going to assume she's the Donna Troy version, because a cleaned-up origin would help that character out in current continuity. Again, who knows what will happen to Cassie Sandsmark, or if she'll even exist now.

Then there's Batgirl. I won't post a picture of this one (go to dccomics.com if you really want to see it) but it's basically Stephanie's costume...with Barbara in it.

THEY NULLIFIED THE KILLING JOKE!!! Besides the fact of yet more heroes apparently vanishing (Cassandra Cain, fan favorite, and Stephanie Brown), this--if it is changing continuity and not Barbara somehow healing herself--means no Oracle, no Barbara-as-leader-of-Birds-of-Prey, and none of the later Dick/Barbara interesting relationship dynamics. More importantly, Oracle represented a maturity in the character, and now DC is sending her back to her teenage years.

I also don't know why everyone is suddenly wearing armor. Even Superman seems to have armored boots and gauntlets, though why an invulnerable alien would need them is beyond me. The best--and one of the only good--of the new character designs is Supergirl, whose costume now has a majesty that her old upskirt-shot one didn't.

Even after all this, I took a deep breath and decided that DC had done well so far. They'd made The Return of Bruce Wayne a reasonably good miniseries and the dual-Batman thing work. I even enjoyed the Green Lantern movie (with some reservations, but it didn't deserve the flogging the critics are giving it). So I almost--almost--said oh well, I'll trust them on this one.

And then  saw the one thing that could have possibly made angry enough to consider boycotting the whole enterprise.

Remember when they cancelled the Wildstorm imprint, with it's wonderful Warren Ellis titles like my favorites, Authority (which, in all honesty, wasn't much good after Ellis) and Planetary?

Well, they did THIS:

Ignoring Midnighter's (idiotic) new costume, and ignoring Apollo's ridiculous shaven head (you would remember that he was the gentle one, DC, if you cared about your characters as much as your sales graphs), even ignoring the fact that both of these universes have rich backstories that have nothing to do with the other, this is still a godawful idea.

In order to shoehorn the Wildstorm characters into the DC Universe, you have to destroy them. The Authority--indeed, even Midnighter--cannot exist in the DCU, except, perhaps, as villains. The way the universes work are just too different. The Authority could never do what they do in the DCU because the DCU's idea of morality is that the ends do not justify the means. In the Wildstorm universe, they can, and do.

This Midnighter and Apollo will be a weak imitation of the former iterations (I would be surprised if DC even kept the same relationship between the characters). There is no way the ones I knew and loved can function in the DCU. It simply isn't possible--Superman won't let it happen.

Part Two to follow soon.

Review: Batgirl #13

Batgirl #13

by Brian Q. Miller
Art by Pere Perez

Rating: 5/10

The gist of this issue is that Clayface and Batgirl get into a fight because Clayface wants to break into a bank to get into his safe deposit box. We also learn that Detective Nick Gage (more on his creepy relationship with the Batfamily later) has a dead wife/girlfriend.

Well, this was certainly a dead average issue. Really, it was just kind of a cute little filler issue with a "meaningful" talk between Gage and Stephanie. Also, we see Wendy, aka Proxy, for about three panels. I'm still not convinced that she's a meaningful character.

I don't understand the need to make each and every person who comes in contact with the Batfamily a damaged person. There was absolutely no need for Nick Gage to have a skeleton in the closet. He works best as the ray of sunshine in the Gotham universe, a nice light-hearted character with some wisecracks and a touch of romantic interest.

Then there's the whole Barbara/Nick/Stephanie thing. Seriously, to be a detective you have to be at least 27. Stephanie is, at most, 19. To have both Stephanie and Barbara dating, or at least interested in, the same guy is creepy to no end. This isn't a sophomore girl crushing on a senior's boyfriend. This is a late teenager coming on to a late twenties, early thirties guy.

Seriously. Just make it a Barbara/Dick/Nick love triangle and leave it at that. (Where is Dick these days in Barbara's life? Aren't they engaged, or has that been forgotten again?)

My high points for the issue  were the art, which was kind of light and DCAU oriented, the feel Batgirl should have in my opinion. Also, Oracle is finally gone. This is Batgirl's book, after all, and I was seriously getting incredibly sick of Calculator. At least he is (apparently) taken care of for quite awhile.

Miller seems to be faltering these last few issues. Let's hope it picks back up these next issues.

Review: Batgirl #8

Batgirl #8

By Bryan Q. Miller
Art by Talent Caldwell

Overall: 7.5/10

In this issue, Tim returns to Gotham to find Stephanie as Batgirl. Although he doesn't like it, they have to team up to stop Ras al Ghul's assasins from murdering Leslie Thompkins.

I liked this issue, but I haven't enjoyed these past three issues as much as I did the inital arc. However, this was a good story, and it shows how Stephanie is growing up and distancing herself from the irresponsible person she was.

And Tim...well, Tim is a jerk. He has decided to become more like Bruce, and reminds Stephanie every other panel of how she screwed up and that she isn't good enough for his (or Batman's) expectations. This time, however, Stephanie merely smiles and proves him wrong. Together, they make an effective team and begin to come to terms with the each others' new roles.

The art for this issue is good, but not up to the precedent that Lee Garbett and Trevor Scott set for the book. For this story, it works, but it has more of an anime vibe than I like.

If you aren't reading this series, I'm ashamed of you.

Where in the World is Cassandra Cain?

I really love the new Batgirl series. I like how it's a fresher look on the character. I do feel, however, that the one-panel explanation for why Cassandra isn't the one under the mask doesn't do the character justice.

The problem for me is that Cassandra says that she was fighting for Batman. They've spent all this time building up the fact that she wanted to be Bruce's successor, and now that he's dead she suddenly decides that it isn't what she wants at all. I can understand if she's just in shock (which might be interesting if they have her come back and try to take Batgirl over again), but it was just too abrupt.

And where did she go?

Quick Reviews

Short reviews of the six comics I bought this week, all semi-Batman related.

JLA: Cry for Justice. #1, #2
Rating: 7.5/10
It's always nice to see Hal Jordan and Green Arrow together. They're just funny. Supposedly Batwoman (yippee) is showing up later.

Gotham City Sirens #2
Rating: 8/10
Definitely not what I was expecting, but better. Selina's a good liar, and the Talia connection is interesting. I wish there was more in this issue, though. But Hush kidnapping Harley? Great.

Batgirl #1
Rating: 9.5/10
Yes! Stephanie Brown takes her rightful role as a member of the Batfamily. They packed a lot into this issue, and it totally works. The only thing I didn't like is that Barbra Gordon's thought boxes are green. I never thought of her having a defined color, but green?

Titans #16
Rating: 6.5/10
This is where the "Starfire kissing Batman" picture came from, but unfortunately it was a dream. I don't think Starfire will be around much longer.

Streets of Gotham #3
Rating: 8/10
Tommy Elliot is a good villain. I'll give him that. A very though-provoking issue. He's got Dick and Damian stuck. ("A nice middle finger at the Wayne legacy" great line) There's a cool shot of a bunch of heroes in the Elliot manor.

Who Is Batgirl?

The one real mystery to come from "Battle for the Cowl" is Batgirl's identity. I mean come on, we all knew Dick was going to take up the mantel of the Bat, and that Tim was going to become Red Robin. Batgirl is the only secret DC has truly succeeded in keeping.

As for who could be under the mask, there are four contenders:

Cassandra Cain: Okay, so they've basically said that it won't be her. But I think that she's still in the running. This wouldn't be the first time DC's done something like this and said "Gotcha!" after the whole comic industry had gotten worked up over it. Plus, Cass hasn't been Batgirl for that long. She still has a lot of stories to tell. It was only recently that she learned to speak, and the fact that Shiva is her mother came even later.

Barbra Gordon (Oracle): Don't be convinced by the "Oracle: The Cure" postings up all over the internet. Nothing in that miniseries stated that Barbra had regained the use of her legs, or even remotely considered taking up the Batgirl costume again. More than likely, she will be involved with the "Batgirl" series as a mentor to whoever is in the costume. She did it for Cassandra, and Misfit. She also may take on a protege, the newly-awakened Wendy. But Batgirl? She's beyond that now.

Charlotte "Charlie" Gage-Radcliffe (Misfit): A distant maybe, Charlie qualifies as a possibility because she was under Oracle's tutelage, and she also was a sort-of member of the Birds of Prey. In her first apperance, she dressed up in a variation of Barbra Gordon's Batgirl costume. There are a few things keeping her from the role, however. The first is her status as a wild card, both in personality, and in the fact that we haven't really seen enough of her. True, Cassandra showed up out of nowhere, but that's better than a girl who's made a few apperances, had a couple lines each time, and really hasn't settled in yet. Plus, she has superpowers, which sort of defeats the whole "anti-superpowered batfamily" thing. at this point, it would be much better for her to expand her own persona.

Stephanie Brown (Spoiler): Recently returned to Gotham, Stephanie is the perfect candidate to take up the mask. Most believe her dead, her current persona has a lot of baggage attached, like pretending to be Penguin's lackey in "Gotham Underground" and the fact that her identity was publicly revealed back in "War Crimes". Also, she's been trained by Batman, Cassandra, and Barbra, not to mention the fact that she was Robin for 71 days. With the mask of Batgirl she gets a fresh start, and that is, after all, why she came back.

The Batgirl identity has always been the one bat-name that Batman could never fully control ever since Barbra sewed the first constume herself, and fought crime unsanctioned. The new Batgilr will doubtlessly be a delicious surprise.