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: Jenny Sparks--Secret History of the Authority

Secret History of the Authority: Jenny Sparks (GN)

By Mark Millar
Art by John McCrea and James Hodgkins

Rating: 8/10

Though this book is not critical to the timeline of the Authority, it provides and interesting look into the (wonderful) character of Jenny Sparks. It follows Jenny through her first meeting with each member of the Authority and her life through the twentieth century.

The best issues were the Engineer, #4 (an extremely interesting a nuanced look at Hitler) and Jack Hwksmoor by far. Hawksmoor is a character we never learn much of, and this provided much needed background.

The Engineer's issue had an extremely thought provoking plot, but ultimately #4 stood above all the rest, which is sad since it didn't deal with a single other member of the Authority. This brings me to by greatest criticism, which is none of the other characters were given enough attention to feel like anything more than props next to Jenny. The Doctor's issue was mediocre, with only one good scene. Apollo and Midnighter's was flat out boring, and fell prey to the trap of portraying the pair without any personality other than their relationship.

The art, overall, held up the story well. It was the type to stand back and let the plot take over, which worked well in my opinion. Very clean, but not showy. I hadn't encountered either of the artists before this book, and it reminded me a lot of Chris Sprouse's work on The Return of Bruce Wayne. 

Overall, a nice book if you're interested in the Authority, but not exceptional.

~Caro

Ellis' Authority vs. Millar's Authority

Recently, I discovered that I'd read ever Batman book the library had. Since the Marvel universe looks completely confusing, and most of the other DC titles were checked out, I began my first foray into non-DC Comics titles. one of the first I picked up was The Authority.

Now having consumed the first run (all the library has, dang it), I'm chiming in on the Ellis-vs-Millar debate. I'm a little nervous to do it on a forum (have you heard some of the crazy people there? And I thought I was an uber nerd), but hey, that's what a blog is for.

Personally, I thought that while the Millar issues were a little clumsy, and definitely inelegant compared to Ellis' run, Millar's plots weren't as formulaic as Ellis'.

Millar might have been hampered by the fact that Jenny Sparks--the most kick-ass heroine ever--was dead, but that doesn't excuse his liberal use of dues ex machina at the end of issue #29. Also, Millar was sincerely lacking in character development for every one except Jenny Quantum, Midnighter, and Jack Hawksmore. I felt that he was too wrapped up in an awesome plot and accidentally painted himself into a corner.

However, he gets props for having a Apollo-cares-for-Midnighter scene, as opposes to the other way around (one of Ellis' big follies, and not unlike the case of them always depowering Superman in the first season of JL--Apollo simply came off as weak).

Ellis had his own share of problems. The first three or so storylines of the run ran basically along the same lines, and I even think the same Apollo-gets-beaten (sorry to harp on it but it seriously annoyed me) happened twice. Midnighter was pretty badass, though.

All in all, I think I preferred Ellis run. Millar's run was too problematic and a little too hamfisted for my tastes. The execution, ultimately, was shaky compared to Ellis' sure grasp of the characters. While Millar seemed to ignore all characterization in favor of his plot, but ultimately undermined himself because of the book's incomplete feel.