A moment of silence, please, for the “old” DC Universe, which breathes its last today. This is, of course, the… fifth DCU that has come and gone, by my reckoning (The various DCUs are: Golden Age, Silver Age, Post-Crisis, Post-Zero Hour, Post-Infinite Crisis – Am I missing any reboots? Basically, if it involved a full-scale visit to the Big Bang and/or had a line-in-the-sand Superman origin do-over, then I’m counting it)? But it’s possibly the first time that the final stories themselves have been so aware of their finality. Grant Morrison would be proud of the metatext on show in Justice League of America, Batgirl, Superman and even Green Lantern, despite that book continuing its continuity come next month (“This isn’t how it’s supposed to end” is a great last line of a series, come on).
It’s been interesting to watch how the various books have come to an end – Of the various approaches taken, I think that I’ve preferred the JLA and Batgirl takes, wherein the creators essentially try to show what would have happened on the books had they continued; it’s a trick I remember from the last issue of Green Lantern: Mosaic, way back when (John Stewart even addressed the reader, essentially saying “Oh, what stories you’d have seen!”), and I loved it now just as much as I did then, even if it feels like a cruel trick (Just as enjoyable was Chris Roberson’s attempt to create a new status quo for the Man of Steel in Superman, which employed a similar “What if?” technique, in many ways). But what’s been somewhat surprising is the lack of scorched earth finales – Justice Society aside, I can’t really think of any title that’s really ended on a massive downer (That said, I’ve not read all of the final issues, so there’s that). Is this some signal that the DCU is inherently an optimistic place, or just a sign that no-one wanted to create a final issue so final that readers wouldn’t want to come back for a new beginning in September?
August 24th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
I think more titles would have had scorched earth finales had the creators had more advanced notice. Most read like an email was sent in May saying “wrap this up by August, nobody will care after June, P.S. we’re taking away your artist and giving you these sub par fill-ins. Thanks.”
The lack of satisfactory send offs makes me feel, as a reader, that the reboot wasn’t as planned-in-advance as powers that be would have us believe. That may not be the case, but it’s my perception as a reader.
August 24th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
I really see this as the end of the post-Crisis DCU, since the Marriage of Lois and Clark began with stories in the late 80s and continued till today.
And also because the Zero Hour and Infinite Crisis reboots were “soft” and also rather under-successful. Even if Zero Hour gave us Starman and the first Waid reimagining of the Legion.
August 24th, 2011 at 6:07 pm
I hate this! ::screams I hate it over and over:: I am going to miss Power Girl, Stephanie Brown as Batgirl, Secret Six, Zatanna, Gotham City Sirens, wally west, current Teen Titans despite it’s ups and down, JSA, etc.
August 24th, 2011 at 7:10 pm
The actually end will be when The New Teen – Titans Games gets released ; that will be the final release in the old DCU
August 24th, 2011 at 7:38 pm
The relaunch woulda made more sense on the heels of FINAL CRISIS, and that would have allowed Morrison and company to really have Darkseid “win” for a while. Heck, they could have even killed off Batman for “real”…