All right, all right, what exactly is going on here? Just another egregious case of both a continuity conundrum, and another egregious example of DC letting some writers do whatever they want, no matter what it does to the work of others.
Let's take a quick look at Action Comics Annual #11. Now, it's bad enough--embarrassing enough--that this resolution to the "Last Son" story is appearing MORE THAN ONE YEAR after the previous chapter. Hell, it makes All-Star Superman look like it's published in a timely manner. After much fanfare and hoopla over Richard Donner co-writing this arc, it's gotta suck to have to bail on the story and continue it at some (much, much, much) later date.But the funny thing is, the rest of the Superman stable was publishing during this delay, and guess what? It doesn't match up at all with how Johns and Donner conclude the arc.
At the end of this story, Lor-Zod (aka Chris Kent), the Kryptonian tyke born in the Phantom Zone and sort of adopted by Lois and Clark, sacrifices himself by going back into the Phantom Zone to seal the breach that is keeping it open. This is clearly a big deal, because Superman gets all broody about it.
Afterwards, Mon-El cannot find any trace of Chris...he's somewhere deep in the Zone, apparently. And in the little character capsules bit in the back of the issue, Johns clearly tells us that Chris is still in the Zone, his whereabouts "remain a mystery."
WAIT A MINUTE!!!During Kurt Busiek's run, haven't we seen many, MANY stories with Chris Kent, set AFTER the defeat of the Phantom Zone invasion? You know, Kal-El gave him a red sun watch, they enrolled him in school, he helped defeat the Daxamites in Busiek's last issue...remember?
Now, there's no way you can suggest that everything we saw in Superman somehow took place between the events portrayed in Action...what, they took a break from saving Metropolis to buy Chris clothes and put him in school?? Even if you were to, somehow, claim that Busiek's Superman stories all took place DURING Last Son, there's no gap, no place where they could have!! And if you want to argue that Chris somehow subsequently escaped the Zone, well, where's that story?? Where's a single line of dialogue, "We're so glad you escaped the Zone?" We never saw it. Busiek apparently wrote his stories from the assumption that Chris would be permanently around, not lost in the Phantom Zone.
It's almost as if nobody at Superman knew how the story in Action was going to end. Which is pretty funny, because both mags had the same editor, Matt Idelson. So which is it, Matt--did you let Busiek write all those stories with Chris Kent when you knew they couldn't happen? Or did you somehow not know that Johns was going to leave Chris lost in the Phantom Zone? Would it be too much to suggest that either way, you resign immediately due to gross incompetence?
No, the sad fact is, right now Geoff Johns is the horse pulling the DC Universe cart, and whatever he says, goes. He IS DC continuity right now, no matter what anybody else writes. What he wants to happen for the Legion is what's going to happen, period, and now it looks like Jim Shooter is being booted off in favor of Johns. Johns has his pet theories about the "emotional spectrum" in Green Lantern, and now much of DC ret-conned to reflect that. He wanted the pre-Crisis Superman back, so he waves his wand and huzzah--with no notice or explanation young Clark Kent hung with the Legion, all colors of Kryptonite are back in play, etc. And if he wants to banish certain characters to the Phantom Zone, well, why the hell should he bother to inform Kurt Busiek, anyway?
Remember...DC doesn't have continuity, it has wikinuity. And Geoff Johns is the one with the eraser.
BONUS KONTINUITY KOP PREDICTION:
Hmmm...Young Chris Kent is trapped in the Phantom Zone for the foreseeable future. Geoff Johns is writing the Legion of 3 Worlds, and probably taking over the regular Legion title. Hmmm, do I smell a way to introduce a NEW Superboy to the Legion, one who is not Clark Kent and thus maybe not subject to the strictures of current legal proceedings?? You read it here first...
I thought part of the Superboy problem was use of the name..? (I'm really not up on my lawsuits though.)
ReplyDeleteA snafu, yes, unless the Secret File on Superkid is as dated as the story and he has since been rescued (in an unpublished tale) and sent to school etc.
I'm just angling for a no-prize.
I have a personal theory that I just know DC editorial hasn't considered, but whatever: Since Infinite Crisis or even since the original Crisis, continuity anomalies have been cropping up, almost by design. It's why Countdown doesn't make sense, why Batman contradicts Detective and Action contradicts Superman. And it's what leads to Final Crisis.
But that's just me, justifying crappy editing (a lost art, apparently).
In the best tradition of Stan, your No-Prize is joyfully awarded, sir.
ReplyDeletechris being a new superboy would be cool. i forget continuity in favor of goo stories so i don't really care about busiek's stuff it was weak.
ReplyDeleteI share your rage, sir. I had to re-read the last couple of pages of the Action Annual to make sure I was reading what I thought I was reading.
ReplyDeleteThis seems to go beyond DC's usual brand of event-management incompetence into an entirely new category of fustercluckery. Thing is, Busiek doesn't seem like the kind of sloppy writer who'd willingly play along with such a shabby ruse...so I have no idea what was going on there. Way to go DC!
I don't know. Seems like a bit too much needless whining on this end if you ask me and I'm pretty big on continuity.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, Brent.
ReplyDeleteOne Superman mag said Chris Kent ended up in the Phantom Zone. The other Superman mag said he didn't, he was being raised by Lois and Clark, and he was instrumental in helping Superman a couple of times.
If you're pretty big on continuity, I'd hope you'd have some reaction to two mutually exclusive fates for the same major character in the same shared universe. That seems very non-trivial to me.