New Earth, New Continuity. Old Confusions, Old Delusions

I couldn't read when the Crisis on Infinite Earths happened. In fact, I'm not sure I had even been born yet. All my knowledge of its aftermath, how continuity was uprooted and finally settled back into place, is indirect.

But what I hear is that it was a complete mess. It was confusing and nobody could make sense of what's what. Today, people are saying the same mistakes are being made with DC's newest version of continuity, the whole New Earth thing.

Well, I am directly witnessing how DC's handling a new continuity this time. And you know what I've concluded? If the continuity changes growing out of the first Crisis were handled the same way as the ones from the newer one are, it's not DC who's made their continuity confusing. It's the fans who make major continuity changes confusing. Them and their weird inability to let go of the old continuity and treat the new one as a separate entity. If the changes were handled the same way, because it's possible there are key differences. Given that the complaints about both Crises seem to be of a similar nature though, I have my doubts.

I keep hearing people making non-sensical complaints that Superman's history is now "confusing." Comparison are made to Donna Troy and Hawkman. What are they talking about? I'm sorry, but there's a difference between confusing and unknown. Not knowing New Earth Superman's history except in the broad strokes makes his history (partly) unknown. I fail to see how it makes it confusing. What is there to confuse it with?

Did New Earth Superman know a Supergirl who was protoplasmic organism? Who cares? Well, no, I can understand why someone would care. It affects much of the character's history, and as fans we're interested in that sort of stuff. Someone who's as much of a trivia hound as myself can't cast stones over that. But not knowing how Superman first met Metallo isn't confusing by any definition of the word.

In fact, the moment information like that is confusing, the writing's failed. Because a new reader won't know if Superman ever met a protoplasmic Supergirl. Will s/he even know a protoplasmic Supergirl once existed? And if a book can't attract new readers, then it might as well give up.

This is hardly rocket scientist. We were all new fans once. Having no idea about the characters' histories didn't keep us from becoming fans sans new. We enjoy newly-created characters despite not knowing their histories at first. "Look, the first issue of that new Astro City book is about some guy named Samaratin. Wait, what? It stars in media res, in the middle of his crimefighting career? Is this Busiek guy crazy? How can we enjoy his story if we don't know his history?"

And we also enjoy works like ALL STAR SUPERMAN, where we don't have any specifics on Superman's past. Did that Man of Steel ever fight Bizarro in the past? We didn't know until the latest issue, where there was a mention of past bouts. Until then, zilch information. And no one minded.

Wait, I have no idea what this Superman's first encounter with Mongul was like! How am I expected to enjoy this story that has nothing to do with Mongul?

This is so obvious that I suspect it's not any real "confusion" that's bothering the people complaining. They're not confused, they're unhappy that the previous continuity no longer applies. (And as a trivia-hound, I completely understand that.) But they understand that's not a criticism with any objective weight. It's just a matter of taste, so they twist it, whether conciously or un-, into something about "confusion."

I think there is a place for genuine complaints about confusion, such as when two books offer contradictory New Earth backstory for a character. But the complaints I keep seeing aren't of that color; the main issue is that the backstory's simply as yet unrevealed.

So now I wonder if Hawkman's continuity post-Crisis continuity ever really was that confusing. Or were the fans simply unwilling to separate it from the old one?

Note 1: The image, from the first issue of the Busiek/Pacheco Superman run, I got from www.newsarama.com.

Note 2: If Blogger allowed repeating a tag within one entry, this one would deserve two.

Not An Entry

Me so glad so many people on Internet use bizarro-speak to review oldest All Star Superman. Doing so am so original and creative. Small number people will think to do so.

The image is from DC's website, at www.dccomics.com.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, WOW!

Yesterday, I somehow got to thinking about the Japanese Spider-Man live action show I heard about some years back. Which got me to thinking that I've never seen so much as a clip of it before. Well, I thought, aren't curious oddities like this the lifeblood of YouTube?

Sure enough:



The face of the actor who plays Spider-Man actually looks a lot like how I'd picture the face of Peter Parker if he were Japanese. Something about the eyebrows, maybe? Or at least the similarity's there when he's wearing his motorcyclist's helmet. When it's off (as can be seen in other clips from the show on YouTube), not so much.

Also:



That's apparently an interview with Stan Lee from the DVD collection of the show.

Maybe I'm being too cynical, but I have to wonder what parts are him being honest and what parts are him being diplomatic.

I especially like his reaction when the off-screen lady tells him, in reaction to his question about what the tiny rocket was, "That's the Spider-Man's car." Look at his face as he takes it in.

John Byrne once related an amusing anecdote about the show on one of the incarnations of his infamous message board. He was visiting the Marvel offices at the same time as some of the Japanese folks behind the show. They showed him either an image or clip of their stuntman in the Spider-Man costume climbing the side of a really tall building. It wasn't a cinematic trick; the stuntman was really climbing.

Not noticing anything along the lines of safety nets or a bungee cord, Byrne asked one of the Japanese men, "What happens if the stuntman falls?" The man looked at him as if he were an idiot and replied, "Then he dies."

Wright-Sized Pull List, 3-28 & 4-4

Updates will be scarce for a while as I work on getting my life back in order.
***
Batman 664
Three Ghosts of Batman
-- Probably my favorite issue of Morrison's BATMAN run yet. I didn't enjoy the Batman and Son arc much -- the inter-family dynamics never surpassed the two-dimensional, it felt to me -- but this was really fun. It's nothing breathtakingly innovative or anything, just a very well-written, strong superhero story. There's nothing at all bad about "just" being that, though.

This felt like Morrison giving his ALL-STAR SUPERMAN treatment to Batman. There was that sense of the story telling us, "This is what I, Grant Morrison, see as Batman being all about," the sense of him checklisting -- and I'm not attaching any criticism to that word -- through the elements that he sees as being definitive Batman.

Even the art seemed better somehow. I've never been much of a fan of either Kubert brother, but this issue clicked for me. That shot of Batman against the neon ads oozed presence.

I'm a little worried about the whole serial-killer-dressed-as-Batman plot. There's the danger of going down the road of cliché there, what with the hero who uncovers serial killings that are being covered up because the killer has pals in high places. No, who I am I kidding? I'm not really worried. After getting so much enjoyment out of this issue, I'm in far too optimistic a mood for that.

One thing..why is the title of this issue what it is? There's the musclehead disguised as Batman, one, and the actual Batman, two... Who's number three?

Fables 59
Burning Questions
-- Argh, my question wasn't picked! Blast it, how can I sleep at night until I know what Beauty's reaction was to finding out Beast had gained control over his transformations!

I'm surprised this issue was enjoyable as it was. I've never associated Willingham's writing with rip-roaring humor. There are amusing jokes throughout FABLES, but I can't recall anything "ha-ha" funny. And the same goes for the stories here really, but it still works. It's a charming "day-in-the-life" affair, giving us some rare glimpses of the normal activities of the characters when they're, for once, not busy keeping their heads above the water. It's not something we see too much of, which is what makes it such a treat.

And the formerly-giant pigs were absolutely adorable.

Gargoyles 3
Clan-Building, Chapter 3: Invitation Only
-- With this issue, we get our first genuinely new story. It's good stuff. It's nice to see Weisman is taking advantage of the comic book medium (e.g. the first page being a splash of the invitation) instead of simply writing TV-episodes-divided-into-panels.

We see a lot of story stands here, not just an A plot and B plot, but all the way to an E plot or something. I'm fan of that sort of diversity, so I enjoyed it.

One of the things I like about the show is that one had no idea what would happen next. Anything and everything was up for grabs, nothing could be taken for granted. From what we see in this issue, it looks like the comic is continuing in that fine tradition.

What does Thailog want? Why does Demona want that crystal? How will the dinner party go? What's Mr. Hacker's real agenda? Who knows! I have no idea, and isn't that great.

Buffy Season Eight 2
The Long Way Home, Part Two
-- As I thought, now that the first issue's set-up is out of the way, the quality spikes up, here in Issue 2.

Given that Andrew never seemed to be more than a well-intentioned-but-ineffective twit on the show, I'm finding it a little bizarre that they'd make him a slayer instructor. What exactly qualifies him for such a task? It did make for a pretty funny scene, though.

I like that, like the show, despite being called BUFFY, this comic is halfway to having a true ensemble cast. We got nice moments with various main characters this issue. The spread focus keeps things fresh.

And the thrill of seeing Whedon telling Buffy stories without the constraint of a SFX budget hasn't died out.

Jack of Fables 9
Jack of Hearts, Part Three: Luck Be a Lady
-- At this point, I'm most interested in what's going on with Mr. Revise and the Pages. The hints about their past and their current goals definitely upped my curiosity and, consequently, my interest. Was that a map of some sort of Homelands counterpart to America? Hmmm.

It's interesting how Revise actually treasts Melissa with something other than mild contempt. Looks like the dynamics over at Golden Boughs aren't as simple as they first appeared.

The parts of the issue about Jack are good, too. Fun. I've said in the past that I think Jack's narration captions are somewhat overdone, but I didn't feel that way this time. For whatever reason, this time around they felt just right.

Still not a big fan of Gary, though. While the way Tony Akins draws the character's "friends" makes for terrific visuals, Gary himself doesn't interest me much. In fact, I'm kind of hoping he won't be a permanent sidekick; his abilities are helping Jack out a whole lot, while I want to see more of Jack worming his way out of nasty situations via his base cunning instead.

Superman 661
Dangerous Lady
-- There seemed to be a disconnect between this issue's art and writing in a way I can't quite put down. The body language and facial expressions of the characters weren't... specific enough? Does that make an ounce of sense?

The real highlight here is the interactions between Lois, Clark/Superman, and Diana/Wonder Woman. There's something very... convincing about it all.

I can't say the story's villain did a great deal for me. I don't find myself eager for her comeback, at least. Still, she serves her purpose well enough, and it's not like she was designed to be someone with staying power instead of a one-timer (or at least I don't think she was).

Also, the way her defeat was illustrated was lacking, in my opinion. The art for those panels conveyed very little in the way of energy or drama.

Overall, this was a decent issue, though below the standards of the rest of Busiek's run so far. (In fairness, this issue was co-plotted.)