Lorendiac
11-19-2008, 11:54 AM
Shortly after COIE, Superman got "rebooted," with most or all of his previously published stories getting erased from history in one clean sweep. This began with John Byrne's 6-part "Man of Steel" mini, most of which was set "years ago" so that as it ended, and as the effects of the Reboot carried over to three regular monthly titles (one of them starting from scratch), Superman would already be "well-established" in the Post-COIE continuity as a world-famous superhero, trusted and admired by practically everybody.
Meanwhile, Batman did not really get rebooted -- most of his stories from the Silver and Bronze Ages appeared to still be in continuity, with some modifications to specific bits and pieces (such as Jason Todd's origin story), but Batman's "origin story" did got "retold" at length, with some dark new twists to suit the "Post-Crisis" era, in Frank Miller's four-part story arc "Year One." That entire arc was obviously happening "several years ago." After it was over, "Batman" and "Detective Comics" kept right on telling stories in which Batman was still a seasoned veteran who had been a respected superhero for a long time now (and Dick Grayson had already grown up to become Nightwing, a young man in his early twenties, and so forth).
A bit later, beginning in 1989, something similar was done with Hal Jordan -- DC began publishing the 6-part "Emerald Dawn" miniseries which revised and expanded his origin story as he became a Green Lantern, but it was understood that nearly all of his old Silver Age and Bronze Age stories had "still happened" after the events of "Emerald Dawn," pretty much the way Hal's fans remembered them. He'd still been a founding member of the JLA, he'd still spent a long time working with Ollie Queen as his crimefighting partner, and so forth.
So Clark, Bruce, and Hal all got "lengthy retellings of their origin stories," but those things were supposed to have happened "years ago," with all three of them already being well-acquainted with one another (and other people) as "seasoned veterans" of the superhero racket in most of the comics DC was publishing in the late 80s as it commenced its Post-COIE era. Some other heroes probably got similar treatments, somewhere along the way.
Here's the question: In the last few months, I've seen vague rumors that much the same thing was originally supposed to happen in the late 80s to Wonder Woman and Hawkman.
I saw someone assert that George Perez, when he started co-plotting and drawing the first story arc of the new "Wonder Woman" series, initially thought his story arc would be happening "several years ago," and then eventually they'd "jump forward to the present day," in which Wonder Woman would suddenly have years of experience under her belt, just like Superman and Batman and other well-established names.
I've also seen an assertion (from someone else entirely) that Tim Truman's "Hawkworld" was originally supposed to be the rough equivalent of "Man of Steel" or "Year One" for Katar Hol of Thanagar; a quick story arc ("Hawkworld" began as a 3-part mini) that happened "several years ago," retelling the Silver Age Hawkman's origin story with more modern dialogue and gritty details and so forth.
Then, I'm told, in each case someone in a position of power had a sudden mood swing and said, "Wait! We'll have Diana [and later Katar] just now be making their grand debuts in the DCU for the Very First Time, long after everyone and his brother is already familiar with the Justice League and the Teen Titans and lots of other costumed heroes!"
So I've just got a couple of questions in each case:
1. Is it true that George Perez originally thought his first Wonder Woman story arc was supposed to basically be a "flashback to several years ago"? And if so, has anyone heard a good explanation for why that was suddenly changed?
2. Is it true that Tim Truman originally thought his first Hawkman story arc was supposed to basically be a "flashback to several years ago"? And if so, has anyone heard a good explanation for why that was suddenly changed?
Meanwhile, Batman did not really get rebooted -- most of his stories from the Silver and Bronze Ages appeared to still be in continuity, with some modifications to specific bits and pieces (such as Jason Todd's origin story), but Batman's "origin story" did got "retold" at length, with some dark new twists to suit the "Post-Crisis" era, in Frank Miller's four-part story arc "Year One." That entire arc was obviously happening "several years ago." After it was over, "Batman" and "Detective Comics" kept right on telling stories in which Batman was still a seasoned veteran who had been a respected superhero for a long time now (and Dick Grayson had already grown up to become Nightwing, a young man in his early twenties, and so forth).
A bit later, beginning in 1989, something similar was done with Hal Jordan -- DC began publishing the 6-part "Emerald Dawn" miniseries which revised and expanded his origin story as he became a Green Lantern, but it was understood that nearly all of his old Silver Age and Bronze Age stories had "still happened" after the events of "Emerald Dawn," pretty much the way Hal's fans remembered them. He'd still been a founding member of the JLA, he'd still spent a long time working with Ollie Queen as his crimefighting partner, and so forth.
So Clark, Bruce, and Hal all got "lengthy retellings of their origin stories," but those things were supposed to have happened "years ago," with all three of them already being well-acquainted with one another (and other people) as "seasoned veterans" of the superhero racket in most of the comics DC was publishing in the late 80s as it commenced its Post-COIE era. Some other heroes probably got similar treatments, somewhere along the way.
Here's the question: In the last few months, I've seen vague rumors that much the same thing was originally supposed to happen in the late 80s to Wonder Woman and Hawkman.
I saw someone assert that George Perez, when he started co-plotting and drawing the first story arc of the new "Wonder Woman" series, initially thought his story arc would be happening "several years ago," and then eventually they'd "jump forward to the present day," in which Wonder Woman would suddenly have years of experience under her belt, just like Superman and Batman and other well-established names.
I've also seen an assertion (from someone else entirely) that Tim Truman's "Hawkworld" was originally supposed to be the rough equivalent of "Man of Steel" or "Year One" for Katar Hol of Thanagar; a quick story arc ("Hawkworld" began as a 3-part mini) that happened "several years ago," retelling the Silver Age Hawkman's origin story with more modern dialogue and gritty details and so forth.
Then, I'm told, in each case someone in a position of power had a sudden mood swing and said, "Wait! We'll have Diana [and later Katar] just now be making their grand debuts in the DCU for the Very First Time, long after everyone and his brother is already familiar with the Justice League and the Teen Titans and lots of other costumed heroes!"
So I've just got a couple of questions in each case:
1. Is it true that George Perez originally thought his first Wonder Woman story arc was supposed to basically be a "flashback to several years ago"? And if so, has anyone heard a good explanation for why that was suddenly changed?
2. Is it true that Tim Truman originally thought his first Hawkman story arc was supposed to basically be a "flashback to several years ago"? And if so, has anyone heard a good explanation for why that was suddenly changed?