Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: DC--Crisis: The Aftermath
From: gary@futon.SFSU.EDU (Gary Hoo)
Date: 23 Jul 92 20:45:22 PDT
Distribution: na
Organization: San Francisco State University
Keywords: DC Crisis 
Summary: Thanks for the info, everyone!


I wasn't sure what kind of response I'd get when I asked about post-Crisis
continuity.  Thanks for all that has been posted!  

Michael S. Schiffer wrote:

> [...] the fact is that the best things DC has produced didn't _need_ 
> the Crisis, because they either were entirely out of continuity 
> (_Watchmen_, _V for Vendetta_, _The Dark Knight Returns_) or took 
> advantage of obscure continuity in a way which made even the silliest 
> throwaways seem like bits of a great myth (_Swamp Thing_, _Sandman_, 
> "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow") and hence could take 
> advantage of and rise above any confusion in continuity.  Hence, at C+6 
> years, I'm inclined to declare the Crisis a failure-- an interesting 
> one, but ultimately unnecessary and even detrimental.

I started reading comics shortly after the Crisis ended, and I really
bought into the DC hype about "one simplified universe."  After six years,
while I don't know that I'd call the Crisis a failure, I have to agree with
most of your points, including your assertion that the Crisis was
unnecessary.  I know it hasn't clarified continuity for _me_--and I managed
to piece together a lot of pre-Crisis history without too much trouble, 
even coming in at the tail end of fifty years' worth.  

On the other hand, James Langdell wrote: 

> My "get-a-life" view of the situation is to not fret about this continuity,
> to be annoyed by stories that get bogged down in trying to reconcile
> this muddled continuity, but to applaud writers who make good stories
> that happen to deal with this tangle (such as Grant Morrison's Animal Man).

Believe it or not, I'm not that big a continuity freak.  Your thoughts
remind me of a column that I believe Bob Greenberger wrote a short while 
back, responding to criticisms that he, as then-resident Continuity Cop, 
was hearing regarding inconsistencies.  He said that continuity was
important, but that if a writer had something important and interesting to 
say, he personally would want to read it whether or not it strictly
followed established continuity.  I think about "Whatever Happened to the
Man of Tomorrow" and wholeheartedly endorse this p.o.v.  

I'm not fond of picking, or rather nit-picking, stories apart.  I was 
curious about Crisis because while it rewrote history, it didn't seem to 
have a huge emotional impact on the characters.  I was looking for more
stories like the Infinity, Inc. issue that followed the disappearance of
the JSA.  But of course, under the "multiple wave" theory, since no one 
could remember what really happened, the Crisis became something akin to
"Invasion," and when cosmic disasters happen annually, as they seem to 
in the DC Universe today, even the most sensitive superhero can't be 
blamed for getting a little thick-skinned.  (Sorry, no smileys here.)

						/GaryH
-- 
			   gary@futon.sfsu.edu
DISCLAIMER: I do not speak for San  | In the short term ... I'd suggest 
Francisco State University, and I   | some _really_ good scotch, preferably
trust SFSU is suitably grateful.    | consumed in Aruba...--Vince Gibboni