It's Always Sad When Friends Break Up

Want to find out what's happening in the wonderful world of DC Comics? Then your best bet is to check out the dedicated websites as advertised in the back of recent issues of various titles.

You can check out DCComics.com, VertigoComics.com or MADMagazine.com all of which are mentioned in the ad on the left there.

As it says, there are social media features including "comments powered by Facebook" as well as real-time Twitter feeds. You lucky people can "follow, like, see trending topics and join the conversation" all over the place because one of the things they're keen to push is how interactive and social the sites are.

And yet . . . there's no mention of DC's Google+ page on there.

Not even a year ago, DC Comics were "thrilled to announce" that they were among the earliest of companies to join Google+ and sure, they do update it regularly but for some reason the All Access ad doesn't mention it.

With their site's comments being powered by Facebook and there being a somewhat acrimonious rivalry between Google and Facebook, have DC decided to play safe and only mention the big boys? Or is Ian Sattler simply not aware of their Google+ page?

What With Christmas Coming Up And All . . .

Think I've just found something to add to my Christmas list:

That's the cover to The DC Chronicle Year by Year which has been published by DK Publishing. From the DC Source blog article about it:

THE DC CHRONICLE YEAR BY YEAR traces DC’s fascinating story, from the beginnings to the present day. Remember the year you first picked up a comic? Flip to that page and see what else was going on in the DC Comics universe.

I am sold, I really am - it looks gorgeous and if DK's other books (and I'm specifically thinking of the DC Comics Encyclopedia) are anything to go by, this will be great!

Of course, it would be petty to point out that Wonder Woman is featured prominently on the cover wearing her classic costume and not the new one.

So I won't.

Just Popped In

I can honestly say I have no interest in buying this, but over at the DC Source blog they have a brief article about  the forthcoming DC Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book.

Like I say, not going to buy it but Batman and the others sure do look pretty!

The Source Of Hyperbole

I was just catching up on the comic blogs I read and, as usual, came across things from the DC Comics blog, The Source.

Obviously it's DC's own blog so it pushes the company's comics as much as possible.  It usually has a good line on news, previews and artwork as well and, generally speaking, it's a good read.  Then today, I came across this post about Justice League: Generation Lost #6 and found myself wondering if I'd read a variant issue yesterday.

"JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST #6 is such a game-changer for the series, is just SO BIG a revelation that by telling you ANYTHING at all would blow EVERYTHING for you. I mean, it’s HUGE!"

Really? Is it?  We have a brief recap of Captain Atom's origin and he reveals that, a couple of issues ago, he was shunted into the year 2351 where there are no more heroes, the moon's badly broken and a lot closer to Earth than it should be.

"I certainly can’t tell you anything about a cameo by a DC heavyweight that will absolutely shock you to the core."

A "DC heavyweight" cameos? I don't know whether to laugh or cheer - as much as I like Power Girl, is she really a DC heavyweight? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for more Power Girl but wasn't exactly shocked "to the core."

"And writer Judd Winick would absolutely KILL ME if I revealed that when Captain Atom demands to know—"

The big reveal? Telegraphed pretty much from page 1 and no surprise at all.

I like The Source but this post was just nonsense.

Decisions, Decisions . . .

I'll be 41 in less than a month, a fully grown man with a wife, a job, a mortgage and two cats.  I'm thus vaguely consistent with all the things society says I need to be considered a grown-up.

Of course, there's the comic habit that sees no sign of dying out just yet, illustrated by my love for DC Comics.

Also, for some years now I've been quietly reliving my youth by owning (and constantly wearing) Converse boots, the sort I could only dream of owning as a kid but never did.

And now this:

Did I mention it's my birthday soon?

Christmas Comes Early

And sometimes, so do birthdays.

It's my birthday in about three or four weeks but my wife has already bought and let me have my present - the Absolute Edition of Crisis On Infinite Earths!

God damn it's a beautiful looking pair of books. The collected series looks as good as the trade paperback that I bought when it was released though I've done little more than skim through it at the moment. Most of my attention has been on the Compendium, the second book that throws a lot more light on how Crisis came about and how it affected other titles being published at the time.

Poor old Roy Thomas and his All-Star Squadron and Infinity Inc titles seemed to have suffered the harshest blows with the Earth-Two versions of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman being ret-conned out following the Crisis and altering his stories set in the Golden Age. That's kind of ironic as, from the memos reprinted in the Compendium, it seems Roy Thomas was eager to help out with Crisis as much as possible as long as he got to keep control over the Earth-Two/Golden Age heroes' fate.

It's a fascinating read not only for someone interested in Crisis as a story but also the way DC worked at the time - not only the editorial mandates that came down or the "like it or lump it" approach to many of the story's ramifications but also the sense of community that the editors and writers shared, the swapping of ideas and willingness (on the whole) to work together.

I'm off to carry on reading!

DC Versus Marvel - 70's Style!

As I mentioned when I started this blog, I'm in the process of re-cataloguing my entire collection. Using the database from Collectorz.com, I'm going through, adding cover scans and notes, plot descriptions and character appearances. It's a long old task but it gives me the opportunity to look over some of my comics that I haven't seen for a while, much like the one show here: Justice League of America #103 from December 1972.

About ten years ago, in 1996, the big event of the comics industry was what legions of fan-boys had been waiting for: a no holds barred, knock-down, drag out fight between the heroes of the big two companies. DC Versus Marvel was a four issue mini-series that pitted Batman against Captain America, Superman against the Hulk, Storm against Wonder Woman. The twist was that the fans got to vote for the winners of five of the battles, giving Marvel a narrow victory - a result that, with my blatant favouritism towards DC Comics, I disagreed with. I mean, come on - Storm beating Wonder Woman? Wolverine beating Lobo? Ridiculous.

Anyhow, while the heroes battled for the sake of their respective universes, I'm guessing a minority of fans remembered that they'd seen something similar before. True, not on the massive scale that the '96 series offered and with absolutely no interactivity, but the two universes had clashed previously.

Kinda.

Back in 1972 in JLoA #103, the League are warned by the Phantom Stranger that there are dark doings afoot in a city called Rutland, Vermont. Felix Faust, an old enemy of the League, is summoning demons for his own nefarious purposes and it's up to the League to stop him.

It being Halloween - when else would demons be summoned? - Rutland is hosting its thirteenth annual Halloween parade which means that not only are the League involved in it, but most of the people are in fancy dress costumes. As the plot thickens, the Flash encounters some possessed party-goers (hence the glow surrounding them) and while he recognises two of them being dressed as Supergirl and Adam Strange, the third introduces himself as Commando America. While none of the Marvel heroes are named, I can only imagine that back in the 70's there wasn't a great deal of worry spent on being sued over likenesses as there's no doubt that's Captain America!

Possessed, the party goers attack and the faux Captain America manages to lay out the Flash by flinging his shield which connects with a mighty BTANNG. They knew how to write sound effects in those days.

Batman, meanwhile has problems of his own as he is attacked by someone he describes as a "bargain basement web-slinger"! I swear, the balls on Len Wein - the writer of the story - are unbelievable! To get away with not only writing this but clearly having the Marvel characters depicted so that there was absolutely no mistaking who they were referring to beggars belief.

There's no way this could be done in today's litigious world.

Back to the story, though, and Batman is aided by the arrival of Green Lantern who manages to defeat the Spider-Man character. No sooner is that done, though, than another Marvel stalwart appears. Batman again shows his disdain for these characters, referring to the classic Jack Kirby designed costume of Thor as "a poor man's version"! Green Lantern's no help this time round, however, and both he and Batman fall.

The story turns out okay in the end, of course, and there are no other mentions of Marvel characters. As with the '96 battles, there is a narrow victory but as the fights take place in JLoA, it's no surprise DC wins out. There is one last guest appearance, though - Captain Marvel in his first (sort of) appearance in a DC comic.

Forced by DC Comics to stop publishing the good Captain because he was too similar to Superman, Fawcett Comics eventually licenced the character to DC. In what could only be a bit of a slap in the face to Fawcett, the Captain's first appearance has him going up against Superman, the very character that caused his cancellation!

There is light at the end of the tunnel in the shape of an advertisement for Shazam!, the new series DC were launching. The tag line actually reads Watch out, Superman! Here comes the "original Captain Marvel" The "original" line refers to Marvel Comics having trademarked their own Captain Marvel character in the period between Fawcett ceasing publication and DC getting their hands on him.

So there you go, the first unofficial meeting of the DC and Marvel heroes. As with almost every other first encounter, it ended in a fight, but at least this time the DC guys won!