Flash War and the rebirth of the classic DC Universe
by Phil Perich for the Capes and Lunatics Blog
This past week saw the release of Flash #47, part one of “Flash War”. This storyline seems to feature the return of the original Wally West’s pre-Flashpoint memories. What does this mean? Since 2011 when DC Comics rebooted and basically “restarted” their whole universe and gave their characters new histories and backstories, many fans have felt much of what made DC Comics great was missing. Many fans even saw this as a good jumping off point, the exact opposite of what the DC Comics team was hoping to achieve in bringing in new readers.
So what was it that drove away certain fans and made others cringe at the new product? Many fans had loved the legacy aspect that many of their characters had achieved, and much of the rich history of the DC Universe just disappeared with DC Comics New 52 reboot in 2011 with little to no explanation or even a quick outline of what the new history was. The powers that be at DC seemed to get the message and DC Rebirth in 2016 began the long process of adding in the missing story points fans loved including classic characters like the original Wally West and Donna Troy and hints at possible returns of the Justice Society and Legion of Superheroes.
So what has already happened and what still needs to take place in a new DC Universe but with the classics in place? Here are a few of the big items that still need addressed.
The Flash
For the last few months, we’ve seen original Wally West getting flashes of forgotten memories from the pre-flashpoint universe, including his time as the Flash, his marriage to Linda Park, and the birth of his children. All of the characterization and classic characters and the legacy of superheroes is what the fans have been missing, like the long legacy of the Flash beginning with Jay Garrick in 1940. It has been two years already, but hopefully we will see a payoff soon of the Watchmen’s Doctor Manhattan and his manipulations of the DC Universe. Where is Jay Garrick and the Justice Society? Except for a quick glimpse, we haven’t seen classic Jay Garrick since Flashpoint.
Batgirl
We have also caught glimpses of the classic DC Universe recently in the page of Detective Comics. The Brother Eye artificial intelligence has shown Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain how much they accomplished in the previous universe. This is also an example of the loss of legacy in the DC Universe with the mantle of Batgirl. Before the reboot Barbara Gordon operated as Batgirl before she was crippled by the Joker and took the identity of super hacker Oracle. Years later the Batgirl identity was taken by Cassandra Cain and later Stephanie Brown. When New 52 began, Barbara was quickly healed and restated as Batgirl with the other two young women retconned as never putting on a Batgirl suit. A few years into New 52 Barbara got a new Batgirl suit and was portrayed as even younger as the “Batgirl of Burnside”. It’s not just a costume or general idea of character that fans love, it’s their long time characterization and ongoing legacy that was built by many hard working creators.
Cyborg and the Teen Titans
One of the biggest and earliest changes made to the DC Universe was shown in the very first New 52 issue, Justice League #1. In this issue it was revealed that Cyborg had been a founding member of the Justice League and had never been a part of the Teen Titans. Not only had Cyborg lost a huge and important part of his history, his friendship and time with the Teen Titans, but his inclusion in the Justice League made no room for the Martian Manhunter, who had been with the team more than just about any other DC character. It was also shown that the current Teen Titans team led by former Robin now Red Robin Tim Drake was the only team to ever carry that title. But thanks to fan outcry, the Titans Hunt miniseries that was published right before Rebirth showed that thanks to a magic spell the world had forgotten the previous Titans team led by Dick Grayson. While this seemingly solved the problem of the original Titans, this team still had never had Cyborg, or even Beast Boy, Starfire or Raven in it’s ranks.
Superman
Some of the biggest fan outcry came about thanks to the changes made to Superman. Prior to 2011, Superman was portrayed as a good friend, loving husband and doting son. When New 52 hit, Superman became an outcast loner with stories emphasizing his alien background more than the human qualities that he had been most known for before the reboot. This darker take on Superman even bled over somewhat into the DC movie Universe and was some of what the fans did not enjoy about Man of Steel and Batman v Superman. Again DC seemed to see the error of their ways and transformed this darker Superman who had started a romantic relationship with Wonder Woman into the loving part of humankind that was married to Lois Lane. The long, convoluted story started with both versions of Superman being two different beings, with the New 52 version dying before Rebirth. Mr. Mxyzptlk later alters Superman and the entire universe so both Supermen and their histories are merged into one being, with the real Superman having sat out most the New 52 like many fans had.
Wonder Woman
The New 52 changed, edited, and retconned many things, including Wonder Woman’s origin and very being. Previously Wonder Woman had been created from clay by her mother and given life by the gods. Her new origin had her become the daughter of Zeus himself. She also became much more aggressive and not the ambassador of peace she had been in her earlier incarnations. She even replaced Ares as the god of war for awhile. But with the revelations in Rebirth that perhaps much if not all that she knew about Themyscira and her origins were lies, perhaps we will get a more classic Wonder Woman soon, especially with the character being the most successfully to come out of DC’s current movie universe making her much more visible to the public.
Green Lantern
Much like the history of Batman, the legacy of the Green Lantern Corps was not altered that much as much as it was compacted. The New 52 universe was revealed to originally be only five years old. So the major question became how could Batman have already been on his fourth Robin, and at least two of them having long eventful careers. The same could be said for the Green Lanterns. How in five years could Hal Jordan have had a long distinguished career as a Green Lantern and also have had time to be replaced at various time by John Stewart and Guy Gardner. And also what about the period where Parallax had possessed Hal and used him to destroy the Green Lantern Corps? Was Kyle Rayner a Lantern for a few days before the Corps returned instead of years as was portrayed previously? Again it appears that DC is attempting to repair these continuity issues with one of Rebirth’s biggest plot points, missing time.
So what do YOU think? Is the path DC Comics is taking the right one? What else would you like to see return? What would you like to never see again? Let me know!
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