Armageddon 2001

[milk114]

does anyone remember the 1991 crossover Armageddon 2001 that introduced the Monarch and Waverider? A friend had issues #1 and #2, which seem to be the capstone issues, 3 annuals (Batman, Superman, and Hawk & Dove), and 2 of however many of the sequal miniseries Armageddon: Alien Watch (or somethign like that).
I don't remember this from back in the day but it was a lot of fun reading his stuff and now Im curious what other annuals were included (I believe Wonder Woman and Teen Titans were) as there were supposedly 12 annuals involved. Also how many issues were in the sequal?
It was interesting take on the Justice League of the time and some fun stories that have been done better in the past or will be retold better in the future. it seemed that if they wanted to, Geoff Johns could tie some of this annual into infinite crisis.
I'm also curious about Captain Atom and Hawk and Dove as I''m not realyl familiar with them (at all... JLU has sort of tainted any memories I had). thanks for any and all help. happy reading.

[Expletive Deleted]

Armageddon 2001 (http://members.tripod.com/~MitchellBrown/xover/dc_armageddon.html)

[dancj]

The Miniseries and it's sequels were pretty lame, but some of the Annuals were excellent and easily made it worthwhile. I particularly recommend the L.E.G.I.O.N one

[Apathy Boy]

I recently found the HAWK AND DOVE annual that tied into this crossover. Damn, I still can't believe such a fun comic was bulldozed for the crap that was ARMAGEDDON 2001.

How awesome was HAWK AND DOVE? It even made Rob Liefeld's art look good (admittedly, aided by Karl Kesel, one of the best inkers in the business).

[dancj]

I recently found the HAWK AND DOVE annual that tied into this crossover. Damn, I still can't believe such a fun comic was bulldozed for the crap that was ARMAGEDDON 2001.

It was cancelled because it was selling badly. Armageddon 2001 just happened to be around at the time.


How awesome was HAWK AND DOVE? It even made Rob Liefeld's art look good (admittedly, aided by Karl Kesel, one of the best inkers in the business).

I loved his art in that Hawk and Dove mini. I couldn't understand why he didn't draw like that elsewhere. Karl Kesel must take a lot of the credit, but I also think Leifeld's pencilling changed. The inker doesn't change the basic proportions of character.

Dan

[davids]

spoiler











captain atom, but the secret leaked out and dc changed it to hawk! bleeeh!
liked when superman became the president, and took guy gardner's ring away from him. rest of the core offered him a power battery, but superman rejected it, because he was afraid he would be to powerfull.

[Joe Grendel]

captain atom, but the secret leaked out and dc changed it to hawk!
Of course, no one can come up with where it leaked TO. This is an apocryphal story that I'd view with a giant grain of salt.

[Master Darque]

Yeah .... I just reread Hawk and Dove's mini last night and was actually quite shocked to find how Liefeld's art was so much better then than it got later .

I also have all the Arm.2001 stuff .... yeah , alot of that was some pretty cool reading ...I especially liked the LEGION one .

[Jamie]

Personally, I've always thought that Waverider should have become Monarch. It would have made sense -- obsessed with eliminating whatever hero may become Monarch, Waverider eliminates all heroes. I seem to recall in the first issue, they showed close-ups of both men's eyes, which were blue, and I always thought that was a good clue...

But, even all these years later, I still go "Seriously -- Hawk?!"

[Clear]

The Flash annual was great, too. Wally went into hiding with his wife and had a son that was born with the speed but without the protective aura. Definitely worth a read.

[borateen]

The Flash annual was great, too. Wally went into hiding with his wife and had a son that was born with the speed but without the protective aura. Definitely worth a read.

The best visual in that issue was the kid speed peddling his bike to save a girl who was about to get hit by a truck, and he's got he arm up in front of his eyes because of the lack of that aura. Heroism must be a family trait.

[Shem the Penman]

Of course, no one can come up with where it leaked TO. This is an apocryphal story that I'd view with a giant grain of salt.

This is the first I've heard that it was "leaked." I've always figured it was just a case of folks jumping to the obvious conclusion, since Captain Atom's book was canceled around the time A2001 started.

[Joe Grendel]

It doesn't even particularly matter if some folks at a comic shop or other decided it was "obviously" Atom -- there wasn't a single comics community in near-constant communication back then. Very few fans participated in the fan newsletter scene, and as I recall, even they didn't unanimously out Monarch.

Personally, I wish DC had gone back and incorporated the best bits of the A2001 annuals into mainline continuity. There were a lot of fun ideas aired there, and it'd be a nice non-intrusive way to give the continuity wonks a little attention without, say, a six issue series that did nothing for a casual fan but unravel stories they never read and don't care about. Serve all audiences, in other words, not just one. ;)

[Kid Seven]

Armaggedon 2001 remains one of those things that had some potential but just fell flat. Waverider was always an awesome character design as well. Reminiscent of Firestorm, but different enough to be cool on its own.

[dancj]

Personally, I wish DC had gone back and incorporated the best bits of the A2001 annuals into mainline continuity.

One that they did do was in one of the Superman Annuals he was fighting Lex Luthor's son. This was before a supposedly good son of Lex Luthor turned up, and they'd already let the audience know that he would turn out to be bad.