Let’s say that, somehow or another, DC will manufacture a (singular) parallel world, existing alongside good ol’ New Earth (or whatever we’re calling Earth-1/Earth-Sigma/Earth-Zero/the Central Timeline these days) … but, because it’s new and all, there are no legacies and there may not be. In other words, this would be similar to an Earth populated by movie/TV/animated versions of the characters — but, for simplicity’s sake, no new Earth-D or Tangent-style identities. Yes, it is reminiscent of Wizard’s “Ultimate DC” project, with fewer wholesale changes.
It would be easy to make this the new Earth-2, with Golden Age and/or real-time versions of its classic heroes, or even the new Earth-1, restarting the Silver Age. However, this will be Earth-Smorgasbord, where everyone is just starting out today, and all iterations have an equal chance.Â
Or do they? Can Wally West be the Flash without Barry Allen’s influence? Animated Wally apparently was, and apparently (if “Teen Titans” is linked to “Justice League”) was also Kid Flash. However, no Barry means no struggle to live up to Barry’s example, and that was a big part of Wally’s development. Likewise, it’s hard to see how one could have a Jack Knight Starman with the same kind of potent father/son dynamic, without Ted having been Starman first.
Many successor characters have been set up through more complicated story arcs, including Matrix/Supergirl, Kon-El, the Hal Jordan Spectre, Bart Allen, and arguably the newest Firestorm, Blue Beetle, and Aquaman. These tend to make them dependent on existing characters, and therefore would probably exclude them from this freshman class.
Sometimes the successors compel the originals to justify their existences. Does an Earth with a member of the Green Lantern Corps really need an Alan Scott? Isn’t an Atom who can shrink to submicroscopic size more interesting than a short guy with a temper, “atomic punch” notwithstanding? Michael Holt might have drawn significant inspiration from Terry Sloane as Mister Terrific, but clearly he has made the identity his own.
Other successors seem like virtual duplicates of the originals. To me there is no significant difference between the Doctor Fates of Hector Hall and Kent Nelson, the Doctor Mid-Nites of Charles McNider and Piotr Cross (and probably Beth Chapel too, besides that hideous costume), or the Hourmen of Rex Tyler and Rick Tyler (again, once the bad costume is gone). Of course, this was the whole point of the two Black Canaries (wow, another bad costume!).
Something else before we begin: I know I said only established characters, and no new identities. That doesn’t mean there won’t have to be some small tweaking to make a particular iteration the “first” one. (This is the Animated Kyle Rayner loophole.) The challenge is to use the best characters and the least tweaking.
So, with all that said, who makes the cut for Earth-Smorgasbord’s freshman class? Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are givens, considering their place in DC history. For the most part they haven’t been changed — at least not in any significant Jay-to-Barry way — and I doubt they would be on Earth-Smorgasbord. I would use the current version of Wonder Woman, as revamped by George Perez et al. and developed by many others, if it makes a difference.
The Flash is Barry Allen, slowpoke police scientist given super-speed after a lightning-and-chemicals bath. I was really tempted to go with grad-student Jay Garrick, but Barry has the best origin, costume, secret identity, and Rogues’ Gallery. If I were mixing and matching more, I’d have made Wally West Jay’s student, struck by lightning in Barry’s lab.
Green Lantern is John Stewart, architect and activist, as developed by Steve Englehart in the ‘80s and Gerard Jones in the ‘90s. I like Animated John the military man well enough, but Jones’ work on the “Mosaic” storyline (and eventual standalone title) emphasized a Green Lantern’s potential as a world-builder, not just a policeman. Besides, the rest of the Green Lantern Corps (outside Sector 2814, so no Hal, Guy, or Kyle) would be around for diversity.
Doctor Fate is shared by Kent and Inza Nelson, as in the ‘90s series. I liked that approach, and I think it could work as a standalone proposition with minimal tweaking.
The Spectre is Jim Corrigan, because both Hal Jordan and Crispus Allen are riffs on and/or responses to him.
The Atom is Ryan Choi, but (the missing) Ray Palmer’s experiments have still driven Ivy Town insane.
Hawkman is Carter Hall, the reincarnated Prince Khufu. However, Hawkwoman is Shayera Thal, Thanagarian police officer. This fulfills the recommended daily requirement of bickering and unresolved sexual tension.
Green Arrow is billionaire Oliver Queen. Nothing against Connor Hawke, who is a fine successor, but Ollie just has such a great riches-to-rags arc. However, my Blue Beetle would be Ted Kord (no Dan Garrett, at least not in costume), and I’d keep him rich.
Robin the Boy Wonder is Dick Grayson. Tim Drake’s origin would have to be reworked significantly to take Dick out of it, and Jason Todd probably works best as a counterpoint to Dick. Most importantly, though, Dick’s origin resonates so well against Batman’s that it’s hard to imagine any other character originating the Robin role.
There are, as yet, no other kid sidekicks on Earth-Smorgasbord. (There was also no Superboy career for Kal-El.) However, I have to say that the choice of Wonder Girl is a tough one.
To me, all of this gets at the core of what makes a good concept a good character. The Green Lantern of Mosaic is a great example of a decades-old idea becoming the springboard for a completely different examination of its implications. The notion of immortal, omnipotent Guardians giving their minions vast power and discretion to impose their collective wills upon the universe is superficially very troubling in terms of due process, but combine it with John’s liberal social activism and it gets more interesting.
Likewise, with something like the original William Moulton Marston/H.G. Peter Wonder Woman, full of provocative ideas couched in truly bizarre stories, a reboot would almost have to discard the stories themselves in favor of restating the ideas in less distracting terms. I mean, really — did even Roy Thomas ever try to reconcile those stories as “actually having happened” on Earth-2? (The most anticipated phrase in the JSA brownstone must have been “You’ll never guess what happened to me today, boys….”)
Still, that’s the tension between preservation of continuity for its own sake and for the sake of dramatic viability. It may come down to something as harsh as “nobody cares about Dan Garrett,” but storytelling has its own economics. The point of a reboot isn’t the process, it’s where the process leads.
November 9th, 2006 at 1:09 pm
A nice meditation on a (possible) new Earth for DC. My preference was to have whole segments of the DCU heroes moved to a different Earth, such as the Marvel family, the Doom Patrol, the Metal Men, and other DC character groups that have had an awkward fit with the shared-universe model. By giving certain groups of characters their own Earth, they’re stories can go places that a much more crowded, interconnected shared-universe seldom allows for.
That said, I’d still enjoy seeing some aspect of the old Earth-1 / Earth-2 dynamic restored, especially primal versions of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman.
It seems DC itself doesn’t quite know what it wants to do with the alternate Earth possibility they opened up in JLA #0 and the recent edits in the Infinite Crisis hardcover. Let’s hope they settle on some sort of coherent vision for what it could be. They’ve got a great opportunity to build something really exciting while at the same time perpetuating a long-time DC tradition….so don’t blow it, DC!
November 9th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
But why are we doing this? Is it to (eventually?) replace the current DCU Earth, or sit alongside it for occasional stories, or act as a setting for Elseworlds stories, or what?
Your approach works okay if it’s the first choice, but it’s not too great if it’s to be used in parallel-world stories or for Elseworlds because it’s just too similar.
As for what will work in the second or third case… well, the possibilities are endless. But they have to be recognizably, although not necessarily radically, distinct from the current DCU Earth.
November 9th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
I actually would get rid of the whole reincarnated Hawk-couple dynamic and go with the animated Hawkgirl. I thought that the character was nicely done and gave the JLA a hit first ask questions second member that wasn’t a complete meathead.
As far as Green Lantern’s I’m really undecided but I don’t like the liberal fascist John Stewart of Mosaic and prefer the military veteran one from the cartoon.
I can live without a Robin of any kind. I would also prefer Ray Palmer as the Atom as the new Atom book has done little of interest for me. A Ronnie Raymond Firestorm would be a must as well as Zatara and Red Tornado.
November 9th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
But why are we doing this? Is it to (eventually?) replace the current DCU Earth, or sit alongside it for occasional stories, or act as a setting for Elseworlds stories, or what?
It’s more thinking out loud than anything else. I picture an Ultimate-style (or animated-style) alternative as more of a fourth option, and I guess this is closest to that.
I do want to get into what lies at the core of particular concepts and/or characters, but I just ended up somewhere else today.
November 9th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
I would start by thinking of each character as a potential franchise.
I’d boil their origins into one sentence and only establish the absolutely unique.
That means either there can’t be a plastic man and elongated man OR their powers have to be distinctive to one another. (ie: EM can only stretch and Plas can only shape shift.)
Effectively this is a world building exercise. Each power and character should build up another corner of the DCU with their presence.
November 10th, 2006 at 6:53 am
JohnnyZito wins!
This is the kinda thought process that should be going into the All-Star line, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
November 10th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
How I see it: All of the alternate Earths, the Elseworlds books, animated series, Tangent; they all exist. They were deemed to be worthy of print, and they are out there in some form. Once you introduce an idea into public consiousness you can’t retract it. The elegance of Hypertime is enabling those stories to stand side by side with current continuity. As Dave Sim was fond of saying: All stories are true.