The “New” History of the JSA: *New Golden Age SPOILERS*

[WonderLight789]

I don't think we want to dig too deeply into what Diana's creator really wanted

Superman fans obviously don't. Because he wanted her to be more powerful than the farm boy.

[Gaius]

I don't think we want to dig too deeply into what Diana's creator really wanted

*shakes fist*

You win this round, Bored!

[WonderLight789]

I actually thought her portrayal was pretty solid there. I know people harp on her fight with Aquaman (and forgetting about the Lasso of Truth) a lot but I thought they depicted her as an effective fighter, leader, and even romantic.

She was overpowered by aquaman on land. And her fighting skills were nowhere to be seen. So "effective"

[Dataweaver]

The idea of Diana dating two military men who look and act exactly the same and have the same name is icky in itself.

For what it's worth, there's nothing saying that they have to look and act the same. Out was pointed out that you can have two Etta Candys, one a white woman in the 20th century and the other a black woman in the 21st century; it wouldn't be too much of a problem to have the 20th century and 21st century Steve Trevors look and act differently from each other.

[Dataweaver]

You guys are making it more and more complicated for new readers and whenever they adapt things to other media.

You’re just asking for another Didio situation, where the new new publisher comes in, sees your scenario and decides to kill off all of them because that sounds too complicated.

The goal is streamline not make it more convoluted.

That approach was tried with the New 52; it bombed. The goal shouldn't be to streamline the timeline; it should be to be as inclusive as humanly possible, making as much of DC's rich history available for the writers as can be managed. If writers choose not to use that history, they don't have to; but it should be there for those who do want to use it. I'm thinking, in particular, of someone like James Robinson's The Golden Age and Starman.

[Psy-lock]

For what it's worth, there's nothing saying that they have to look and act the same. Out was pointed out that you can have two Etta Candys, one a white woman in the 20th century and the other a black woman in the 21st century; it wouldn't be too much of a problem to have the 20th century and 21st century Steve Trevors look and act differently from each other.

Hmm, how about making Superman and Batman immortal heroes from the 40's with two sets of Lois Lanes, Jimmy Olsens, Jim Gordons and Selina Kyles?

[Mantis-Ray]

Hmm, how about making Superman and Batman immortal heroes from the 40's with two sets of Lois Lanes, Jimmy Olsens, Jim Gordons and Selina Kyles?

In fairness Diana already comes from a society of long-lived semi-immortals and usually has live a long while herself so it arguably does fit her better

[Agent Z]

That approach was tried with the New 52; it bombed.

It bombed because the New 52 pretty much gave up on trying to streamline the timeline about 2 months in.

[Dataweaver]

My take on Infinity Inc: if we're going with the notion that the pre-Crisis Earth-2 stuff happened on the mainstream Earth in the 20th century (with the exception of the Golden Age Superman, Batman, Robin, and Huntress) while something resembling the pre-Crisis Earth-1 stuff happened on the mainstream Earth on a floating timeline that starts with Superman's debut in Metropolis roughly twenty years ago, then it follows that any pre-Crisis interactions between Earth 1 and Earth 2 that are still in continuity have to be treated as time travel crossovers, from Flash of Two Worlds (now effectively Flash of Two Eras) all the way up to the Crisis on Infinite Earths itself. That means that the Crisis on Infinite Earths actually took place both in 1985 and “fifteen years ago”. And the second to last issue, when all of the surviving heroes of the Multiverse woke up to find themselves on a single Earth, becomes the point that Infinity Inc., and their co-workers, transitioned from 1985 to “fifteen years ago”.

That leaves a seventeen year (and growing) gap between the 20th century end of the First Crisis and Superman's debut in Metropolis, kicking off the modern age of heroes. That gap is likely to mostly be empty, with a handful of notable exceptions such as Superman's teen career as Superboy and the adventures of Cameron Chase's Justice Experience; but unless something gets retconned into this gap, it serves mainly as setup for the modern age of heroes.

This arrangement has the benefit of being sustainable in the long term: it doesn't matter how big the gap between the end of the 20th century age of heroes and the dawn of the modern age of heroes gets; the fact that “everyone” ended up in the “present” at the end of the First Crisis means that you don't need any further explanation for how a relatively young Rick Tyler can be both the current Hourman and the son of the Rex Tyler who was Hourman way back in 1940. It's also something that could be explained with a single page worth of panels: one showing a scene from Flash of Two Worlds with a caption about how Barry had accidentally gone back in time to meet Jay; another showing the first meeting of the JSA and JLA with a caption about how the two eras became linked and that for a time there were periodic crossings between them; and a third showing, say, a scene of Infinity Inc. and the New Titans together on the post-Crisis Earth with a caption saying that that link eventually snapped and that when that happened, many from the 20th century found themselves pulled forward in time to the modern era.

[Dataweaver]

It bombed because the New 52 pretty much gave up on trying to streamline the timeline about 2 months in.

We'll have to agree to disagree about that. Personally, I wouldn't mind if DC were to take another stab at a simplified continuity — on another Earth, like maybe a relaunched Earth One series or a new line of titles set on Earth 52. But not the mainstream DCU. “Let the past die; kill it, if you have to” is a good way to kill the franchise.

[Dataweaver]

Hmm, how about making Superman and Batman immortal heroes from the 40's with two sets of Lois Lanes, Jimmy Olsens, Jim Gordons and Selina Kyles?

In fairness Diana already comes from a society of long-lived semi-immortals and usually has live a long while herself so it arguably does fit her better

This. And as long as you don't go overboard on “duplicating” supporting cast (two begins to stretch credulity; three or more is clearly too many), and maybe even explain the apparent coincidence (e.g., the modern Steve Trevor was named after his WWII-era counterpart, and maybe even took up a military career because of the stories he was told about his namesake; but otherwise, he's his own man), it should be fine.

[Psy-lock]

In fairness Diana already comes from a society of long-lived semi-immortals and usually has live a long while herself so it arguably does fit her better

It fits her no more than it fits Superman who's also typically portrayed as immortal/very long-lived and who debuted before Diana in most continuities.

[Dataweaver]

It fits her no more than it fits Superman who's also typically portrayed as immortal/very long-lived and who debuted before Diana in most continuities.

I would say that it fits her no less than it fits Superman. Again, though, the key is moderation.

[Mantis-Ray]

Granted its a common take nowadays that while Clark was a baby when he arrived on Earth, Diana could already be up to several centuries old and a grown woman on Paradise Island by that point

All things considered emphasizing Diana as a JSA member is undoubtably due to the success of the WW movie being a period piece set in WWI.

A lot of people really like the idea of Diana getting embroiled in early 20th century adventures kinda like how Captain America has his adventures set in WWII before he enters the modern day.

[Frontier]

She was overpowered by aquaman on land. And her fighting skills were nowhere to be seen. So "effective"

I thought she fought Aquaman pretty well and she busted up nazi's amazingly.