Since Marv Wolfman and George Pérez destroyed the DC multiverse in the 1985 event comic, the Infinite Earth Crisis, DC continuity has not been defined very clearly in the next 40 years. The event, which was supposed to streamline everything about DC Canon to one Earth, instead erod its foundations in ways that are still recovering. The reboot itself was at best a coincidence, as the post-crisis DC Universe was never carefully mapped at an editorial level before moving forward with the story.
After the crisis, the unpopular litcon was made, then later rewinded, and the litcon that should have happened never did. This gave rise to DC Canon, which is even more complicated than when the DC multiverse existed to keep things organized. This is also despite the fact that Wolfman and Pérez drafted the original history of the DC Universe in 1986 and established a new Canon for writers and editors to work together. Since then, many attempts have been made to patch the continuous holes created by the crisis reboot. This includes events such as Zero Hour in 1994 and the Infinite Crisis in 2006, both reconstructing DC Canon with mixed results.
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In 2011, DC Comics attempted to restart another Crisis style with Flashpoint. But like the crisis reboot 20 years ago, the new 52 repeated many of the same mistakes in its execution. This has further confusing the already complicated DC Canon to follow. By 2016, the new 52 hype had died dramatically. That same year, the DC Universe revival restored several versions of post-crisis continuity without completely erasing the new 52nd floor. By 2020, further revisions of DC’s continuity were followed from that year’s Dark Knight: Death Metal, and then 2022’s dark crisis on Infinite Earth.
Both events reintegrated the pre-crisis DC multiverse without actually restoring, leading to more confusing revisions during the dawn of DC’s infinite frontiers and the DC era. With DC’s all-in era in full swing, more revisions have been made to restore DC’s pre-crisis continuity aspects. This naturally confuses many people with updated timelines as to whether they are still Canon. This is where the new history of Mark Waid’s DC Universe aims to straighten the record. But how people receive this latest revision will depend heavily on which DC era readers are watching.
What fans will love about the new history of WAID’s DC Universe is their aim to find a place for everyone’s favorite characters. This effectively ends the troublesome trend of erasure that has plagued both the crisis and the restart of the flashpoint. But what’s causing the fans to have a problem is how the history of their favorite characters will be redefined in the new DC Canon. In particular, future solicitations have already confirmed that both the endless planet and the flashpoint crisis is still ongoing. A critical storyline cannot logically occur even if the pre-crisis multiverse is not intact, so this alone will cause some problems to streamline DC Canon.
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On that front, the first problem fans come across the new history of DC Universe #1 is chasing after post-crisis Canon outside the gate instead of the actual pre-crisis Canon. This means that the golden age of superheroes began again with the arrival of Superman in 1938, Batman in 1939, and the rest of the heroes who debuted in 1940 later formed the American Society of Justice.
Restoring the Golden Age Trinity would have officially restored Helena Wayne as the original Huntress. It would have especially ended the current state of confusion that they are both Power Girl Earth 2 refugees and Prime Earth natives. Similarly, restoring the original Golden Age Wonder Woman would have finally recovered his anger as a daughter and could easily cut off the now-troubled connection to the Sandman universe.
Anyway, if the crisis must still be Canon on the current DC timeline, then there is no reason to not recover with the crisis event, which later erases them and explores the outcome. Otherwise, it will be difficult to explain how the crisis event occurred in 1985, even if all the right pieces weren’t in place. It also keeps taking away the Huntress, Power Girls and their full story potential, as they don’t have a strong foundation for future storytellers to work together.
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In addition to several versions of Canon after the crisis, the new history of DC Universe #1 incorporates concepts from both flashpoints and post-mortem metal continuity into the early timeline. Challenging the new history of DC Universe #1, one of the additions of post-metal metal after Flashpoint is her role in creating the DC Multiverse from Scott Snyder’s Justice Lee Gran. Monitor, Anti-Monitor, and World Forger have also been reorganized as sons of current DC Canon. The new 52 Devil Knights are also integrated into part of DC’s medieval history. Similarly, the lost children at Geoff Johns’ more recent Justice Society of America are also recognized as part of DC’s revised golden age history.
Wade also recovers some controversial post-crisis litcon in the new history of DC Universe #1. One such controversial restoration of Letocon’s nest is Queen Hippolita as the former Wonder Woman who worked in the Justice Society during World War II. Wade also recovers Helena Kosmatos as the wrath of the Golden Age. In other words, Rita Trevor Hall, the two daughters of Wonder Woman, will continue to be the daughter of rage after this crisis. This also means that Flying Fox and Iron Munro will serve as alternatives to the golden age of Batman and Superman in the current continuity.
Perhaps the most controversial myth that cried out as part of the mainstream DC continuity is Neil Gaiman’s Sandman universe. Given that the author recently fired fire on sexual abuse allegations that spanned most of his career, this is one of the things WAID could easily rule out from the new history of the DC Universe. Sandman’s universe was not truly embedded in the larger DC Mithos and was always present as part of the traces of DC’s dizziness, so most fans treat this comic line as completely separate from the main DC universe.
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Mileage depends on how fans accept these latest revisions, but one strength of DC Universe #1’s new history is that it’s easy to read and very easy to follow. Readers need not be aware of DC’s past or ongoing storylines. Because Waid lies all in simple, simple terms. Another thing that will help guide our readers is the incredible artwork by legendary artists Jerry Ordway and Todd Nauk.
In contrast to the original history of the DC Universe, where artist George Perez still uses comic panel layouts (not necessarily traditional) the original (not necessarily traditional), every page in the new history of DC Universe #1 is a full splash page with an eye-guiding image montage. This creates stunning visuals from both Ordway and Nauck, adding to the vibrant colours of Matt Herms and John Kalisz.
Another thing that works very well in the new history of DC Universe #1 is what aspect of DC history, where artists are tasked with handling. For example, Nauck handles most of the fantasy and historical aspects of the DCU, while Ordway handles most of the sci-fi and golden age aspects of the updated timeline. These challenges become the strength of both artists, resulting in some of their best works.
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Overall, the new history of DC Universe #1 has a strong start in terms of easy access. This will make it a must-have item on all DC pull lists. The miniseries not only successfully streamline all changes from the major DC reboots to make sense, but WAID itself also acknowledges in text how the constant change that exists in maintaining a consistent canon is possible very early on.
Unfortunately, despite Waid’s best feet ahead, he still misses the greatest opportunity to course correct the biggest problem that emerged from the reboot of the crisis: the elimination of the Golden Age Trinity. Restoring these previous versions of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman that existed before the crisis event will bring wonders to ultimately correct the complicated history of the original Helena Wayne Huntress, Power Girl and Fury. Similarly, Waid (and DC, for that matter) may have benefited from further distance from Neil Gaiman’s work, given the troubling controversy surrounding the author.
“New History of the DC Universe” #1 finally means DC Continuity
The new history of the DC Universe
The new history of the DC Universe fits nicely with the DC Timeline, which began with the Crisis of the Infinite Earth, but misses the chance to fix some of its reboot’s biggest issues.
Mark Waid’s writing is easy to read and follow.
It successfully streamlines changes from a major DC restart.
A spectacular visual from artists Jerry Ordway and Todd Nauk.
You miss the opportunity to fix the biggest issue of a crisis reboot.
Despite the issues of author Neil Gaiman, he canoe the Sandman universe.
