52 Week Eight

History of the DCU Part 7

Dan Jurgens: Writer/Layouts
Andy Lanning: Finishes
Nick J. Napolitano: Letters
Jeromy Cox and Guy Major: Colors
Berganza, Cohen and Schaefer: Editors

Our cover by J.G. Jones gives Steel the spotlight, showing him being influenced by Superman and his niece, Natasha, on the right, and the devious Lex Luthor on the left. It is a nice composition, but the only aspect of it we care about is the little note advertising the backup story. (Unfortunately, Norm Rapmund was given credit instead of Andy Lanning.)

Infinite Crisis was the biggest continuity-altering event since Zero Hour (Genesis also technically qualifies, but everyone seemed to make a pact to pretend that never happened). There are a lot of questions as to what officially "counts" now, so DC wisely threw together a series of short stories to explore the new history of the DC Universe. And 52 is the perfect series to host this story. And the perfect character to tell this story is Donna Troy, with the aid of her trusty Harbinger Orb, which contains information on all possible realities.

We pick up after Zero Hour with the formation of the new Justice League of America, Hal Jordan sacrificing his life to defeat the sun-eater in Final Night, Connor Hawke becoming the new Green Arrow, Superman getting married to Lois Lane and briefly gaining new electrical powers, and the Atom forming the new Teen Titans. We then move on to the earthquake that hit Gotham City, creating No Man's Land, and Impulse, Superboy and Robin forming Young Justice.

Wally West helped form the Titans (not to be confused with the Teen Titans) and Jay Garrick was part of the new Justice Society of America, as Hal Jordan became the new Spectre. After Lex Luthor was elected president, Imperiex attacked during Our Worlds at War. Batman learned of the possibility of Jason Todd's return during the Hush storyline. And Donna Troy was killed by a Superman robot, causing the formation of the Outsiders and new Teen Titans, starring Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Beast Boy, Robin, Superboy, Starfire, Cyborg and Raven. Our story concludes with Donna learning about the destruction of San Diego, the arrival of Supergirl, the death of Stephanie Brown and the death of Sue Dibny in Identity Crisis.




I don't think Infinite Crisis changed the continuity that much, but it is still nice to get a periodical reminder of what are the major events in DC history. You'll note that this story did not mention Genesis, and I'm pretty sure that was intentional. In any case, it seems that all of Bart's major moments still matter, and that's a good thing.

Next time, it's the moment I've long dreaded, Bart will get his second solo series, the obnoxiously titled The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive. But I'm actually going to use this milestone as a chance to take a break. You see, I somehow convinced a beautiful woman to marry me next month, which means I'm going to be pretty busy for the next couple of weeks. I should be back here in June, cataloguing all the misadventures of Bart's tenure as the Flash!