Uncrisis

Let's begin by noting that, like many of my previous flights of hypothetical prognostication, there's no possible way that this is right. Aside from the fact that I'm an idiot, I have no contacts with anyone at DC Comics, and I possess no insider knowledge of any type. I will admit up front that I am 100% certain that this is wrong. This is all just fanciful speculation on my part, unsupported by anything. So take it with a full shaker of salt.

Of course, one of the big hubbubs around the comics internet right now is "what the hell does DC have planned post-Flashpoint"?

A number of factors have created the buzz. DC's solicitations stated that only one book, the final issue of Flashpoint, would be published the final week of August, because of that book's "impact on the DC Universe." From those same solicitations, virtually every other DC title seems to have its current storyline concluding in the August issue. Everyone at DC and the grandmothers have been required to sign non-disclosure agreements, and given the industry's penchant for leaks and hints, DC personnel are being remarkably close-mouthed. And on June 11th, Geoff Johns and Jim Lee will be making "bombshell announcements about the future of Superman and the entire DC Universe," conveniently just before the September solicits are released.

Well, the non-hype hype has worked like gangbusters, because the lack of anything to respond to has led to speculation gone wild. DC will re-launch everything, and have new #1 issues for all titles--maybe with a full reboot! DC isn't going to undo the new reality of Flashpoint--that's going to be the new DC continuity (at least for awhile)! DC is going to put all new creative teams on every book! DC's going to announce they're no longer publishing monthly single issues!!

[UPDATE--Timing is everything. DC just announced today that they're renumbering the entire DC line at #1 in September...that doesn't necessarily preclude any of the other potential changes, though...]

And of course, there are the responses to those theories. They'll never lose the numbering on Action or Detective! They can't do that, because it would mess up what Grant Morrison is doing in Batman Inc! They wouldn't revive all those characters in Brightest Day just to do a reboot!!

Well, Geoff Johns has said "All I would say right now is that the speculation hasn’t been wild enough. The last thing anyone should do is to hold back their imagination." All right, Geoff, you asked for it.

My friends, based on absolutely nothing more than a hunch and a gut feeling, I think DC is going to undo Crisis On Infinite Earths.

There's a couple of reasons I think this. The reason often given for COIE in the first place--DC's continuity was too convoluted and confusing--doesn't really seem that valid anymore (if it ever was). First, in this internet age, any continuity questions a reader has can be answered in seconds. Secondly, the average fan base is growing older, and in a media culture where alternate universes are a much more common concept, the thought that readers can't handle "this occurs on Earth-1, while that occurs on Earth-2" is kind of quaint. Third, the continued successes of Marvel's Ultimate and Max lines show that the market can deal with separate continuities within a company.

And of course, on one level, a bunch of fans never really accepted Crisis, and were never satisfied with the "new" continuity that DC established. Certain characters just couldn't be comfortably "fixed"--Hawkman, Donna Troy, Wonder Woman, Power Girl, or who the hell was in the original line-up of JLA--and were constantly being tinkered with, and entire crossover maxi-series were put together just to "fix" frankly trivial continuity issues. And the wholesale transfer of so many of DC's acquired properties into the "real" DC Universe was never smooth, with characters like Captain Marvel and Plastic Man and the Charlton heroes never really fitting in (or, at least not being particularly well-handled) and often shuffled to the sidelines by a less-than-enthusiastic DC.

Or course, many of those discontented fans went on to become comic creators themselves--and now they were in a position to do something about that discontent. Look at Geoff Johns' DC career--at times it seems as if he's single-mindedly set about to revert DC to 1985. He revived Barry Allen Flash and Hal Jordan Green Lantern. He wrote Infinite Crisis, which turned the heroes of COIE into villains and undid much of what COIE did. He co-wrote 52, in which it was revealed that the multiverse was reborn. He undid large chunk's of Byrne's Man Of Steel, returning Superboy to DC continuity, declaring any newer version of Toyman and Brainiac were really robots or probes or some such, and making sure that the original Legion Of Super-Heroes circa 1985 was the one whose continuity was followed.

And now he's writing Flashpoint, which is apparently going to profoundly change the DC Universe.

There's other indications, too, I think. After going through the gymnastics necessary to resurrect the multiverse, DC has steadfastly refused to do anything with it over the subsequent 4 years, except for the more forgettable bits of Countdown and some glorified cameos during Final Crisis. Dan DiDio has declared multiple times that they're "saving" the multiverse for Grant Morrison to play with, but there's been no sign of any project coming down the pipeline. And the only other real use of the multiverse was the JSA/Powergirl "Earth-Two" annual--written by Geoff Johns.

Yet after letting the concept essentially lie fallow for the past few years, the latest issue of Booster Gold--the only other regular DC comic to be taking part in Flashpoint--went out of its way to mention the 52 worlds of the multiverse not once, but twice. That same issue revealed that there are also no more alternate timelines, just the one--in other words, if we want a different version of DC history, we'll have to use one of the other Earths.

So what do we have? A writer who seems bent on undoing COIE, writing the series that will change everything, and suddenly, we're getting hints that the multiverse might come back into play.

What do I think? I think they're going to have COIE unhappen. No more "everybody merged into one universe and one continuity." The end of Flashpoint will see lots of heroes shifted back to other worlds--the Shazam heroes will be removed from New Earth and sent to Earth-S again, the Quality heroes and the Fox heroes and the Charlton heroes will all be distributed back throughout the universe. That way no one will have to worry how they fit in with "New Earth" any longer. And everyone can have their own Hawkman and Wonder Woman again, and we can stop picking at Donna Troy's history like an itchy continuity scab. And we can do Golden Age Batman and Superman stories without having to make them "Elseworlds," and you just know there are some people chomping at the bit to do that.

Yes, there will be some juggling and suspension of disbelief required, but no more so than was needed for the post-COIE fallout. And since DC continuity is essentially just wikinuity under current their management, they really don't have to do anything more complex than they did when Geoff Johns magically waved his hands while chanting "Superman really was in the Legion Of Super-Heroes as a teen." It worked for him. And for anyone who requires more, well, that's what those September issues will be for, whether they're all #1 or .1 (it's not like Marvel can trademark that, right?) or double-zero or whatever.

Now, do I feel this would be a good idea? Heck no. I'm all for moving forward, for embracing history but keeping momentum going in a positive direction. Even if you believe the COIE was a huge mistake, accept it and move on...or else you eventually end up with Pam finding Bobby Ewing in the shower, and you lose all credibility and respect with your creative audience. Besides, Zero Hour et al show that you will never, ever EVER satisfy DC's continuity porn contingent--they'll just keep scrubbing and scrubbing like an OCD sufferer who never thinks the floor is clean.

But then again, I'm completely wrong here, and DC really isn't going to undue COIE...are they? So we shouldn't worry...right?!?