Perfectly Post-Crisis: A DCU Appreciation thread

[Claude]

I know that it wasn't always the best period, but for me "my" DCU is the one from Green Lanter Rebirth/Infinite Crisis to Batman Vs Robin. Hal Jordan back as Green Lantern under Johns, Morrison on Batman, Giffen and Rogers on Blue Beetle, Buisek on Superman, Rucka developing Renee Montoya as the Question, Johns on Booster Gold, 52.... There was a vividity there, to each of the characters that was attracting my interest. I didn't just love reading about these people, I knew what their worlds smelt like - there was a real, tangibly defined "ethos" to a lot of those titles that was deeply attractive. Clear, defined, "this is what this character is and this is what they do" storytelling.

It all went a little wooly for me around Final Crisis, and a number of those titles/characters either faded away or got caught at the bottom of a well of their own continuity. But we got Dick Grayson as Batman out of it, so I'll take it!

[Dataweaver]

There’s a lot of territory post-Crisis. The first few months of it were essentially “pre-Crisis, but all mashed together onto one world”: the origin story retcons hadn’t started to kick in yet. During this time, my main focus was the newly-rechristened “Green Lantern Corps”, where Hal had just gotten his ring back and he and John were joined on Earth by Katma Tui (Sinestro’s successor and John’s girlfriend), Arisia (the teenaged Green Lantern who had a crush on Hal), Saavik (I forget why he came to Earth), Ch’p (a chipmunkish GL who was left without a history by the Crisis), and Kilowog (newly introduced and never seen before). Guy also had a ring, but he didn’t hang around the others; he was too busy with the newly-formed JLI.

I dropped out of comics shortly after that due to financial reasons; when I next looked in on things, it was the early 2000s and boy had things changed. There was a new Robin, Tim Drake, and I started following his adventures from his first miniseries. Superman fought Doomsday; Batman fought Bane; and Wonder Woman had her title stripped from her — the 90s antiheroes invaded the DCU with a vengeance, only to be beat back within a year by the originals. By this point, most of the retellings of chacters’ origins had occurred, with Aquaman being the last big name to be retconned. Wally West had firmly established himself as the Flash, having surpassed Barry; and he was joined shortly thereafter by Impulse.

At this point, I faithfully read Robin and kept tabs on most of the rest of the DCU. Then Zero Hour hit, and I added Starman and the Legionaires/Legion of Superheroes to my reading list. We also got a “no more retcons” promise that lasted through the rest of the 90s. In the late 90s, Kingdom Come changed everything again, tonally: after it, we started getting the likes of Young Justice, Peter David’s Supergirl, Morrison’s JLA, a new Titans title, and the Starman-inspired reformation of the JSA. This was perhaps my favorite part of the post-Crisis era, as it hearkened back to the pre-Crisis DCU without slavishly imitating it.

The early 2000s saw the start of the dismantling of everything that had been built up to that point. Connor Hawke got benched by Oliver Queen’s return from the dead; both the Titans and Young Justice were shattered by a time traveler; Linda Danvers got benched to make room for a highly unpopular “Supergirl from the future”, whose exploits ultimately resulted in a retcon of Superman’s origins, the first major retcon since Zero Hour. In the Bat-verse, we got War Games; then the Justice League got a rather nasty retcon in Identity Crisis. The Doom Patrol likewise got a totally unexplained reboot, and the post-Zero Hour Legion of Superheroes got a somewhat better explained reboot.

Then Infinite Crisis happened. From that point on, there were a few bright spots (such as the Secret Six, the Birds of Prey, and Chuck Dixon undoing Stephanie Brown’s death); but for the most part, there was very little left that I enjoyed. Flashpoint hit at an opportune moment, as personal issues forced me out of comic books right about then — so it formed a perfect jumping-off point for me.

In a nutshell: when you talk about post-Crisis, I tend to divide it up into three main eras: an early transitional era that lasted maybe five to ten years, the “90s DCU” which mostly ran from 1990–2000 with a bit of overlap on either side, and the “DCU in Crisis” 2000s decade. I definitely appreciate the 90s, both good and bad; the 2000s DCU, not so much.

[Lee Stone]

There’s a lot of territory post-Crisis. The first few months of it were essentially “pre-Crisis, but all mashed together onto one world”: the origin story retcons hadn’t started to kick in yet. During this time, my main focus was the newly-rechristened “Green Lantern Corps”, where Hal had just gotten his ring back and he and John were joined on Earth by Katma Tui (Sinestro’s successor and John’s girlfriend), Arisia (the teenaged Green Lantern who had a crush on Hal), Saavik (I forget why he came to Earth), Ch’p (a chipmunkish GL who was left without a history by the Crisis), and Kilowog (newly introduced and never seen before). Guy also had a ring, but he didn’t hang around the others; he was too busy with the newly-formed JLI.

I dropped out of comics shortly after that due to financial reasons; when I next looked in on things, it was the early 2000s and boy had things changed. There was a new Robin, Tim Drake, and I started following his adventures from his first miniseries. Superman fought Doomsday; Batman fought Bane; and Wonder Woman had her title stripped from her — the 90s antiheroes invaded the DCU with a vengeance, only to be beat back within a year by the originals. By this point, most of the retellings of chacters’ origins had occurred, with Aquaman being the last big name to be retconned. Wally West had firmly established himself as the Flash, having surpassed Barry; and he was joined shortly thereafter by Impulse.

At this point, I faithfully read Robin and kept tabs on most of the rest of the DCU. Then Zero Hour hit, and I added Starman and the Legionaires/Legion of Superheroes to my reading list. We also got a “no more retcons” promise that lasted through the rest of the 90s. In the late 90s, Kingdom Come changed everything again, tonally: after it, we started getting the likes of Young Justice, Peter David’s Supergirl, Morrison’s JLA, a new Titans title, and the Starman-inspired reformation of the JSA. This was perhaps my favorite part of the post-Crisis era, as it hearkened back to the pre-Crisis DCU without slavishly imitating it.

The early 2000s saw the start of the dismantling of everything that had been built up to that point. Connor Hawke got benched by Oliver Queen’s return from the dead; both the Titans and Young Justice were shattered by a time traveler; Linda Danvers got benched to make room for a highly unpopular “Supergirl from the future”, whose exploits ultimately resulted in a retcon of Superman’s origins, the first major retcon since Zero Hour. In the Bat-verse, we got War Games; then the Justice League got a rather nasty retcon in Identity Crisis. The Doom Patrol likewise got a totally unexplained reboot, and the post-Zero Hour Legion of Superheroes got a somewhat better explained reboot.

Then Infinite Crisis happened. From that point on, there were a few bright spots (such as the Secret Six, the Birds of Prey, and Chuck Dixon undoing Stephanie Brown’s death); but for the most part, there was very little left that I enjoyed. Flashpoint hit at an opportune moment, as personal issues forced me out of comic books right about then — so it formed a perfect jumping-off point for me.

In a nutshell: when you talk about post-Crisis, I tend to divide it up into three main eras: an early transitional era that lasted maybe five to ten years, the “90s DCU” which mostly ran from 1990–2000 with a bit of overlap on either side, and the “DCU in Crisis” 2000s decade. I definitely appreciate the 90s, both good and bad; the 2000s DCU, not so much.

I agree with your assessment that there were three post-crisis eras.
I can see that.

I, myself, really liked the first post-Crisis era. Everything seemed so fresh and exciting.
Legends, Booster Gold, Suicide Squad, JLI, Doom Patrol (pre-Larson), Secret Origins, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Green Lantern Corps, the Byrne Supeman, the Perez Wonder Woman, the Miller Batman, the Waid Flash...

[Montressor]

The mid-Eighties was a tremendous time to be reading comics. So much happened then--Dark Knight, Alan Moore--but The Crisis itself was just mind-blowing, especially with the cool, slow build up of the Monitor and his appearances in every corner of the DCU.

What came after was just as fun, for me, at least.

John Byrne streamlining Superman...I can still remember the minute details of eating a Hostess cupcake as I read Man of Steel #1 for the first time, in awe. I recall still being stunned at the fate of Barry Allen as I read his protege Wally filling in his boots in The Flash #1. I loved and still love to this day Morrison's look back at all those erased characters during his trippy 'Second Crisis' in Animal Man, and the slow, methodically-painful and awkward removal of Superboy from Legion Lore (Mon El just became more badass post-Crisis, if you ask me).

What I especially loved about the old DCU is that the history remained intact, in that Donna Troy still wore that 60's ponytail and Dick was in his Robin gear as they adventured together as youths in the Teen Titans. Barry Allen had still read comics about Jay Garrick. The JLA still had their corny first adventure with the Apellax (sp?). The Crisis didn't throw it all out, it just streamlined it.

It was a fun place to visit, and I miss it...but I personally NEVER have let go of Hypertime, so for me it's still all out there somewhere.

[colonyofcells]

My favorite post-crisis series was the Grant Morrison JLA. Unfortunately, by that time Hawkworld had fizzled out. Wished Wally and Kyle could've lasted longer as the main Flash and GL.

[Marvell2100]

My faves? Here are a few:

L.E.G.I.O.N.
JLA
Green Lantern(Kyle Rayner)
Keith Giffens Legion of Super-Heroes run, by far the best Legion imo.
John Ostrander's Suicide Squad, one of the best titles ever by DC.
Nightwing. Dick's best portrayal