Should DC have more series set “in the nebulous past,” like LOTDK?

[godisawesome]

I’ve been reading through some of the comics from the old Legends of the Dark Knight series for Batman, where the idea was that what you were reading *could* be the past, but didn’t have to be.

It occurs to me that a lot of the other hero families could use something like that - series that can bounce around their timeline to use whatever status quo a writer wants to use, but don’t have to be held 100% to even this more flexible canon. Imagine Superman stories that could try merging some of the Post-Crisis rom-com stuff with Lois alongside a Silver-Age style Phantom Zone escapee plot. Or a Wonder Woman plot from her first days that doesn’t interrupt her current story. Or some kind of throwback story that uses Wally, Kylo, and Connor in an adventure that the. Gets picked up later by Barry, Hal, and Ollie.

Feels like that would circumvent a lot of issues for writers who want to relive their childhoods without needing any reboots…

[Thor-Ul]

There was a Legends off the DCU with that smae premise. And the Confidential tales to.
I think the World Finest book goes in the same route.
But why not, an antology book with that premise can be a good idea.

The problem is how to seel it.

[bat39]

Oh definitely! We've had those before and it'll be great to have them again. Of course, DC would need to nail down at least the basics of the current continuity - something which hasn't really been clear for a long time now

Of course, a lot of the digital-first and Black Label minis have been doing this, but then, unlike the old LOTDK, they don't even pretend to be set in the past of the 'mainstream' DCU...

[Stanlos]

LOTDK made me a Batfan. That Venom story was haunting and so tragic.

[Dr. Poison]

I would be interested in more books like LOTDK or World's Finest especially starring Wonder Woman, the WWII JSA, the All-Star Squadron, or the satellite-era JLA.

[exile001]

It's a shame anthology series in general don't seem to sell too well.

I wonder if part of that is DC/Marvel needing to realise and retrain their audience to the idea that a good, self-contained story should be as important at this month's Crisis.

They've spent decades telling us that a hero's main book is the only place important stuff happens, unless there's a crossover where your favourite B-D level character could be killed.

[achilles]

There was a Legends off the DCU with that smae premise. And the Confidential tales to.
I think the World Finest book goes in the same route.
But why not, an antology book with that premise can be a good idea.

The problem is how to seel it.

You're not going to. These days, I just don't see any DC anthology series selling well. That said, there's value in having a good series like that, if it mostly bans the big 7 in favor of less well known and developed characters. But DC will have to settle for lower than their usual cancellation level sales. But they could be persuaded to still do so IMO if someone points out that such a series is an excellent place to expose and develop other IPs for their movies. From the MCU, we know that to some extent it doesn't matter how well known generally a character is if you can make a GOOD movie about a very likeable, sympathetic character(s) in the lead.

[achilles]

LOTDK made me a Batfan. That Venom story was haunting and so tragic.

There was a crossover with Marvel?!?!

[Claude]

Absolutely - there are key bits of DC characterisation and events that play into the present, but because they're not "current" status quos we get a smattering of flashbacks over decades. And that's a shame, because the present status quo is only enriched by showing readers - say - Lois trying to sniff out Superman's secret identity, or her relationship with him and Clark when she thought they were different people. Or the New Teen Titans in their glory days. Green Arrow and Green Lantern as vitriolic and bickering best friends before they calmed down.

Batman Urban Legends had some fun playing quasi-canon in various parts of Bat Family History, something like that for the wider DCU would be great.

[j9ac9k]

Absolutely! If one wanted to tell a tale of the original Teen Titans sidekicks, you could just have a great story with them without hurdling a mountain of nebulous continuity to explain it. Or if you wanted a story with the earth-bound GLC team, where Guy isn't psychotic and Kilowog was his current characterization rather than the slow-gentle giant he was, then you could just tell a story from that time. One could have a Kent and Inza story that's a one-off without having to invest in a whole series about them or have to fit in other Dr Fates, etc...

[godisawesome]

It's a shame anthology series in general don't seem to sell too well.

I wonder if part of that is DC/Marvel needing to realise and retrain their audience to the idea that a good, self-contained story should be as important at this month's Crisis.

They've spent decades telling us that a hero's main book is the only place important stuff happens, unless there's a crossover where your favourite B-D level character could be killed.

Yeah, you want to be able to tell an audience that important stuff happened during the setting of a "flashback" book, just as much as it does in the main book, which is where you could get fun little odd combinations peppered as major events, but if you do LOTDK-style "sort of in continuity, but maybe not" stuff, you could give writers opportunities to be ambitious without locking yourself into anything ruinous.

Like, Doug Moench got pretty ambitious with his LOTDK "Trilogy" of Prey, Heat, and Fear, because he could sort of pitch it as Scarecrow and Hugo Strange's premiers as major villains, the first ride of the Batmobile, the first time Batman and Catwoman seriously teamed up and flirted... but when he introduced a slasher-serial killer version of Catman, future writers were totally free to ignore that even when they referenced the adventures against Strange.

Absolutely - there are key bits of DC characterisation and events that play into the present, but because they're not "current" status quos we get a smattering of flashbacks over decades. And that's a shame, because the present status quo is only enriched by showing readers - say - Lois trying to sniff out Superman's secret identity, or her relationship with him and Clark when she thought they were different people. Or the New Teen Titans in their glory days. Green Arrow and Green Lantern as vitriolic and bickering best friends before they calmed down.

Batman Urban Legends had some fun playing quasi-canon in various parts of Bat Family History, something like that for the wider DCU would be great.

Exactly; arguably, the sweet spot of showing superheroes and villains' "growing" requires something to grow *towards* - the modern status quo - and something to grow *from* - their origin stories and earliest battles.

You want stories that can show shifts in *a* status quo that actually "sticks" in "future" stories, like:

- Aquaman and Superman meet for the first time when young Clark helps his college girlfriend Lori take back her home kingdom with young Aquaman's help.

- Lois realizes that she loves Clark, even if she was openly attracted to Superman, but then starts to realize they might be the same person and feels lied to, introducing romantic drama that can be resolved in a maybe semi-spicy way.

- Maybe Wonder Woman meets Aquaman for the first time fighting Queen Clea.

Etc.

[j9ac9k]

Waid's "World's Finest" is already kinda doing this by taking place in the past, and it's a past that seems familiar enough, but doesn't require plot mechanics to explain continuity details.

[Timothy Hunter]

I'd read it, especially if it brought back older creators.

[phonogram12]

I’ve been reading through some of the comics from the old Legends of the Dark Knight series for Batman, where the idea was that what you were reading *could* be the past, but didn’t have to be.

It occurs to me that a lot of the other hero families could use something like that - series that can bounce around their timeline to use whatever status quo a writer wants to use, but don’t have to be held 100% to even this more flexible canon. Imagine Superman stories that could try merging some of the Post-Crisis rom-com stuff with Lois alongside a Silver-Age style Phantom Zone escapee plot. Or a Wonder Woman plot from her first days that doesn’t interrupt her current story. Or some kind of throwback story that uses Wally, Kylo, and Connor in an adventure that the. Gets picked up later by Barry, Hal, and Ollie.

Feels like that would circumvent a lot of issues for writers who want to relive their childhoods without needing any reboots…

I love this idea and am all for it. That said, it is very unlikely neither writers nor readers will ever want to stop reliving their childhoods through comics.

[Bruce Wayne]

There was a Legends off the DCU with that smae premise. And the Confidential tales to.

Weren't the Batman Confidential stories just a backdoor for DC to finish stuff that was commissioned, but were unfinished and unpublished?