Hey y’all. I finally decided to write this week’s column. Again thanks for all of your feedback. I have to say that I personally believe that technology has surpassed our ability to comprehend and grasp it, because I recently sent an email that I shouldn’t have. But the show must go on.
Our first question comes from JohnBritton via the message board.
I thought the Martian Manhunter series American Secrets was one of DC’s best. Have the events from that book ever been mentioned elsewhere?
I’ve never read the series, but I was always interested in it. I found a synopsis on the web. It sounds pretty cool, but in all of my reading I haven’t found a reference to it elsewhere. Of course I’m not the biggest Martian Manhunter fan so I haven’t read everything that he’s been in. Any reader who knows of any reference to this series just drop me a line or post on the board.
JohnBritton also asks:
How many appearances of the Golden Age Reverse Flash are there? I only know of one.
Yep good ol’ Rival as he is known now, had one appearance (Flash # 104) prior to his return in the JSA. Edward Clariss recreated the experiment that gave Jay Garrick his powers. Then he went on a crime spree, got defeated, and lost his powers. Then he came back and was put in the Speed Force. Now he is pure speed energy inhabiting the body of Max Mercury plaguing Garrick, and the JSA.
Dablueguy posted the next question at those wacky message boards.
I’m really new to Superman’s books and I wanna know what the hell happened in 1986. I hear people talking about something but have no idea what happened
Lots of things happened to Superman in 1986. First and foremost an era ended when some guy named Alan Moore wrote the “last†Superman story ever. And by Superman I mean the Pre-Crisis Superman. It was a great two-part tale that has been collected in a single issue. It really was the perfect ending.
Secondly John Byrne’s mini series “Man of Steel†came out. This started Superman’s continuity over from scratch. No Superboy, no super pets, no super powers before his last year of high school, no multi hued kryptonite, and even the green stuff was rare. It was the perfect beginning.
Lastly Superman #1 came out. And with that Action Comics, and Adventures of Superman all began anew (but not numerically) with tight continuity. John Byrne was the guiding force behind the relaunch.
So as you can see 1986 was a pretty big year for Superman. As I recall he even made it on the cover of Time magazine that year.
The next question comes from Sgt. Michael J Fermin via that damned dirty email.
I know of the DC crossover mega events miniseries Millennium, Armageddon, Legends cross over into the regular series. Did the granddaddy of them all “Crisis” do so? I just read the trade paper back and it seems like some stuff is missing. Also I know Harbinger made other DC appearances did the Lady Quark and the other original characters introduced in Crisis ever appear again?
“Crisis†was a multiverse shattering series. It crossed over into most, if not all of DC’s titles at the time. It didn’t necessarily crossover into every book every month, but some of the things hinted at in “Crisis†were shown in detail in other titles. They all had the DC 50th anniversary logo in the corner and a “Crisis Crossover†banner on top. That said “Crisis†does stand on it’s own as a series. Nothing too important to the story happened in the other books.
Harbinger was in “The New Guardians.†Lady Quark was in “L.E.G.I.O.N.†Pariah was in “War of the Gods.†But to my knowledge they have been MIA ever since. (Lady Quark died in the pages of L.E.G.I.O.N. Harbinger was last seen in the pages of Wonder Woman; she was made Themysceira’s official historian in the last WW Secret Files and was shown in this capacity in Phil Jimenez’ final issue on the book –Ben)
MKick posted the following question, also at the message board.
Has Batman or Superman ever killed anyone? And define if it was intentional of accidental…
The only case of Superman killing someone was in Superman #22. That was the only instance of Kal crossing the line that I know of.
Batman is another story. Bruce almost killed Joe Chill in “Batman: Year Two.†What stopped him you ask? The Reaper killed Chill first. Batman also left the KGBeast locked in the Gotham sewer, which is kind of like sentencing him to death. Most recently Bruce was willing to kill the Joker for all the pain and suffering he caused. So we can see that Bats is willing to cross the line. I’m sure that there are more incidents like this, but the only time I was a heavy Bat reader was for like five year, in the late eighties to the early nineties.
Yes, MKick, you have a follow up question?
Name some of the most “earth-shattering” (literally) moments in the DCU…I mean gigantic genocide type things… like coast city… or cataclysm… things of that nature…
Earth-shattering event you say?
Well Green Lantern Kyle Rayner blew up Oa, but then it got better.
Another Green Lantern John Stewart destroyed the planet Xanshi, on accident of course. He still lives with the grief today.
Arsenal’s baby’s mama Cheshire detonated a nuke in the capital city of Qurac, effectively wiping it off the fact of the planet.
Mongul and the Cyborg destroyed Coast City in a plot to make a new War World. Boy did that tick off Hal Jordan.
During the whole DC 1,000,000 thing a bomb from Vandal Savage destroyed a little South American spot by the name of Montevideo, Uruguay.
In the far-flung 30th century there were disasters aplenty, the most notable disaster being the destruction of the Earth, and its cute cuddly moon.
Metropolis took some damage when Lex Luthor tried to destroy it.
I once had a killer hangnail. I mean killer.
You are aware the Krypton exploded, right?
John Babos posted the following question on the message board.
I’ve got a tough one for you. Can you, in a few paragraphs, clear up the history of Troia, of Teen Titans fame and formerly Wonder Girl?
Concentrate, you can do this. Ok. Donna Troy/Troia is Wonder Woman’s magical twin. She was created so that Diana would have a friend her own age on Paradise Island. But then Dark Angel (no, not that hot Jessica Alba) kidnapped her and made her experience different lives. To hear Troia tell it, the Titans of Myth raised her. When she got back to Earth she hooked up with the Teen Titans and became Wonder Girl. She got married (to suave looking Terry Long, with the cool red beard) and had a kid. But then she lost her powers and got dumped by her husband (isn’t that always how it works? My girlfriend dumped me when I lost the ability to create income.) But did Donna let that get her down? No she joined the Darkstars, a space police force, and really hooked up with Green Lantern Kyle Rayner (dude, he was so sprung. And he was so a rebound thing.) But then her husband and son were killed in a car accident. At that point Dark Angel decided that that was enough suffering and wanted to start Donna’s life over again. But Wonder Woman and the Flash foiled Dark Angel’s plan. And y’know what? Even after typing all that information, I don’t find her to be an interesting character.
Metal Jesus posted the next question.
How many people has Batman been trained by and in which fighting arts?
We know that he trained with Shiva and Cain two of the most deadly martial artists in the DCU. Bruce knows Karate, Aikido, Judo and Jujitsu. But the thing about being Batman is that you know everything. So I imagine that if a new martial art were invented Batman (kind of by definition) would have mastered it. He has to be the best a human can be, therefore he has to know everything.
The following question showed up in the foul disgusting email account from Mr. Buffington.
You just The DC man ‘O’ knowledge or do you know Marvel too?
Compared to Jim Trabold over in Marvel Handbook, I’m not even a man. I’m like a preteen. That guy is so thorough. But I do know enough about the Marvel Universe to complain and moan when Jason Torres and I play Marvel vs DC heroclix.
Well that is going to do it for me for this week. I am so pumped. By the time you read this I should have a complete run of Starman. I ordered the issues I needed, and they are enroute. If anyone knows where I can find a loose leaf Who’s Who in the DC Universe #14 (I think. It has Batman on the cover) let me know because that is the only one that I am missing. Later. “I never said I was the heir to a fortune, I never claimed to have any looks. But these kind of things must be important…â€
