With hindsight, it's pretty amazing how forgotten Millennium is today.
Now, I'm not arguing that it was a successful story, or even a particularly good one.
But DC put a lot of effort into this event: a weekly main book!! Crossing over into virtually every single other DCU title (even those set 1000 years in the future), making what this preview called a "56-chapter novel"!! All of the big guns involved!! Universe-shaping consequences!!
Well, not so much that last one.
Sure, there have been 3 semi-boots and one full reboot since Millennium. But that hasn't stopped other events from being respected/canonized/fetishized by the modern keepers of the flame.
Despite getting the cover treatment here in Focus #1, there never seemed to be much institutional support from DC's upper echelon. The only real follow-up was the short-lived New Guardians series. Contrast with today, when we've already had 58 series spinning out of Metal (OK, it just seems like that many). DC management seemed to shrug even more than the fans.
Maybe it's because the "revelations" about who were the "secret Manhunters" in each title were so underwhelming--and frequently just plain cheating--that it made the "who was a Skrull" reveals in Secret Invasion look positively brilliant by comparison.
Or maybe it's because Millennium was followed almost immediately by a much, much better crossover event, Invasion, which made it pale by comparison.
Maybe it was because the promised outcome--the creation of a new set of Guardians Of The Universe and the creation of a new race of immortals and Earthling evolving to run the universe--never really happened.
And maybe, just maybe...
Anyway, Millennium wasn't the only non-starter on the cover of Focus #1:
Of course, I just paid 50¢ for a bit of advertising that was free in 1987, so i really shouldn't be mocking anyone...
Umm, teams that diverse were doing well at Marvel years before that. New Mutants, in particular, launched in 1983 with a majority female cast and black, Asian, and American Indian characters.
ReplyDeleteAt a more likely guess (IMO) -- it's true that I didn't really start reading DC comics until late 1988, but I only recognize one of those characters on the cover, don't remember his name, and don't have any positive associations with him...
The Wanderers! As a Legion diehard, I was so excited when I learned they were getting their own series!
ReplyDeleteI dumped them after the first four issues, though I pride myself on lasting probably three issues longer than most people.
Good timing, snell - I've just finished annotating the whole of the Millennium event over here at my site.
ReplyDeleteI'm also going to be cheeky and pinch that cover of Focus for the house ads page. ;)