If you could change ONE thing back to Pre-COIE days, what would it be

[Rod G]

No Hawkworld.


Leave Katar and Shayera as they were before.

[married guy]

The Flash Family is back. ALL of them

Jay - The Flash (active member of the JSA)
Barry - The Flash (Based in Central City with Iris)
Wally - The Flash (Based in Keystone with Linda & the twins)
Bart - Impulse
Max - Still the zen master of speed
Johnny - Semi retired
Jesse - Still going by Jesse Quick

[Green Lantern wannabe]

It happened pre-COIE, but not to the same degree, where super-powered villains arose to battle Batman in particular. Which I never liked. It's one thing to have the super-villains of other super-heroes come to Gotham and take on the Caped Crusader. Or for Batman to visit his super-friends in other cities and help them fight super-powered threats. But if Batman is a regular guy (with lots of training) then the social science law should mean that the counter-balance are other regular people turning to crime. At worst they wear costumes and use crime-toys--but they shouldn't be exponentially more powerful than the Dark Knight, if they are going to be in his Rogues Gallery. I expected that the consequence of COIE and Year One would be a more grounded reality in Gotham, where Bruce took on criminals that were like those in our world. Instead, what happened was an increase in the over-the-top hyper-powered bizarro villains in Gotham. Which just put the pressure on the Batman and his family to follow suit so they'd have a chance against these over-sized metahumans.

Hi Jim,

Batman's opponents were often not super-powered - the Joker, the Riddler, and the Penguin, to name the most obvious examples.

[Sutekh]

That Superman was Superboy.
This would indirectly fix the LSH which would be my primary goal.

Yes! It would be simple enough to say that Saturn Girl (or Tellus, whomever) mucked with time travellers (such as Kal and Kara) minds when they returned home, so that they didn't recall their friends in the future, and could even retcon that the 'new' Superman never had a career as Superboy *in the 20th century.* (But still had some adventures with his future friends, which he doesn't remember, because of timey-wimey stuff.)

My runner ups would be Helena Wayne and Kole Weathers still being alive, and Earth 2 and the JSA still being around.

[caj]

I was going to type "restore The Real Earth 2," but as is so often the case with caj, I like his answer better.

I really appreciate that complement, DrNewGod. That's very kind of you to say.

[Lee Stone]

Let me choose...

The multiverse, with a well established Earth-2..?
The Legion history, crafted and cultivated for so long that it was something to cherish..?
The Satellite JLA, which was the team at its most iconic stage, its importance not realized until after it was gone... with the Justice League cartoon showing the possibilities of 'what could have been'..?

No...
I think my number one would be...

Stop taking things so seriously.

[DrNewGod]

...I think my number one would be...

Stop taking things so seriously.

Agreed. Girlfriends in refrigerators being an especially egregious thing I wish they hadn't gotten into.

[Spiderboy12]

That Superman was Superboy.

This would indirectly fix the LSH which would be my primary goal.

If I'm limited to just one thing, this would be it.

But it isn't just the Legion (which is a big part of it; don't get me wrong).

Superman's career as Superboy always meant, on Earth-1, that he wasn't the first superhero by a matter of months (as he was on Earth-2), but he was actually the first superhero by more than ten years. Thus, although he might have been about the same age as his fellow JLA members, he had more experience as a hero, and through his Legion membership, more experience working with a team. All of that fed into him being Earth's premier hero.

In a world in which the JSA had been the first superheroes some decades back, and then had been banned, Superboy could have served as a bridge between the "Golden Age" and "Modern Age" of heroes. Let a kid wearing no mask (and possibly no costume, like Kon-El after 2003) be a superhero for a decade, perhaps (because he has no mask) not violating any "anti-vigilante" laws, and he could be the impetus behind a change in the law and the birth of a second superhero age.

That, in a nutshell, is why I think Superboy could have worked well on "post-Crisis" Earth. And his experience as a superhero and his team experience would still give him additional reasons for being Earth's premier "Modern Age" superhero.

[Gold49]

That Superman was Superboy.

This would indirectly fix the LSH which would be my primary goal.

It would! "COIE" royally messed up the Legion!

[MajorHoy]

It has to be in the comic book universe, not with the people in charge of DC comics now vs. then?

[Buried Alien]

Most of all, I'd avoid retroactively rewriting history (and using COIE as justification for numerous retcons). I say carry on with the history intact: there WAS a Multiverse; the original Kara Zor-El did exist, as did all the Earth-Two doppelgangers, and the Marvel Family on Earth-S. It was possible to turn the page on these characters without having to negate their previous history. That was COIE's worst offense.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

The Superman family history (with Silver Age Supergirl and all) and the original origin for Ocean Master.

[Jon Clark]

Most of all, I'd avoid retroactively rewriting history (and using COIE as justification for numerous retcons). I say carry on with the history intact: there WAS a Multiverse; the original Kara Zor-El did exist, as did all the Earth-Two doppelgangers, and the Marvel Family on Earth-S. It was possible to turn the page on these characters without having to negate their previous history. That was COIE's worst offense.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

That appeals to me, but I'm not sure how workable it would have been.

If the argument is that having two Supermen, Batmen, etc; was to confusing then is it less confusing to have characters refer to them when they no longer exist? Or to try to work them into the new history?

Would most non-heroes remember Superboy (Kal-El) as the 1st hero or Superman 1 (Kal-L) or,Captain Marvel...? Or would it vary with some people remembering heroes in the 1940's and others of the same age remembering no heroes before the 60's?

Or is "not rewriting history" only apply to things other than the doppelgangers and Marvels? Like do the JSA remember Diana as a member? Does anyone else?

Do all the prior Captain Atom tales now take place in the same history as all the Pre-Crisis Earth-One Superman tales? Or is this a world where prior to Crisis everyone remembers history from their own world? I picture an episode of Nightline where Commander Steel, Black Condor, Peacemaker and Green Arrow are debating post-WW2 and none of them are referencing the same history.

I could probably follow it- but I'm not sure a new reader would make that effort. It was easier not to keep Superman's Pre-Crisis back story than to try to align his Superboy career with the JSA history. Or to create a new Huntress rather than try explaining Huntress as daughter of "a" Batman other than the current one.

[caj]

IMO, the three DC entities that have never recovered from what happened after COIE is:

1) Katar and Shayera Hol
2) Donna Troy
3) Legion of Super Heroes

While the JSA and Wally West are currently being screwed around, they had many years of excellence over the last 20 years.

[byrd156]

IMO, the three DC entities that have never recovered from what happened after COIE is:

1) Katar and Shayera Hol
2) Donna Troy
3) Legion of Super Heroes

While the JSA and Wally West are currently being screwed around, they had many years of excellence over the last 20 years.

Eh I find Donna to be debatable, she had some good stories post-COIE but had a messed up history.

It seems like she was a trend setter for the current DCU.