New History of the DC Universe - Comments and Questions (SPOILERS)

[The Baron]

Issue #1

1. Barry Allen describes himself as "retired". Is this some development that I missed, or is this meant to be "future" Barry?
2. Barry seems to have a large collections of "trophies" from various heroes and villlains. I wonder how he obtained all that stuff?
3. Who's the World Forger? Never heard of them. Also never heard that Perpetua was the Monitors' mother.
4. Never heard of the Spectre's real name being "Aztar".
5. "Ktar Deathbringer and Shrra served an ancient force of evil before being redeemed and reincarnated..." Do we know who this {force of evil" was?
6. "Merlin anointed a second Shining Knight"... This appears to be the Shining Knight from Morrison's Seven Soldiers, but if I'm recalling correctly, she was supposed to be from ancient, pre-Arthurian times, so this would appear to be an alteration of her backstory.
7. Never heard of these "Demon Knights".
8. No sign of the Trigger Twins on the "western Heroes" page.
9. No sign of the original Red Tornado, either.
10. So Hippolyta is still the Golden Age Wonder Woman?  Somehow, I thought that they'd re-written it so that Diana was back in nthe Golden Age again.
11. Why is the Invisible Hood being called "Invisible Justice" now?
12. Also never heard of this "Justice Alliance" consisting of Captain Comet, Prine Ra-Man, Automan, Tiger-Man and Congorilla.
13. Putting Niles Caulder, Will Magnus, Martin Stein and Simon Stagg together as "The Supermen Project" feels like they're trying to create a DC version of the guys who ended up creating Adam Warlock.

Otherwise, most of the rest of the stuff is as I remembered it.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

At this point I'd like to quote/paraphrase something Danny Horn wrote on the "Dark Shadows Every Day" blog: "They do whatever they want to, and either it works because it’s interesting, or it doesn’t work because it’s not. Whether it makes logical sense or not is not really a concern at this point. [DC Comics] does not make logical sense, and if you haven’t figured that out and made the appropriate mental adjustments by now, then you’re just bad at [reading comics], and there’s not a lot I can do except offer my assistance and hope that you get better at it."

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

I couldn't agree with this more. But then again, what are books like these for than to start conversations like the ones we're having?

By the way, from what I hear there's also some setting-the-record-straight regarding Titans history in this week's Titans Annual 2025, a loving tribute to Donna Troy from Phil Jimenez, who is probably her biggest fan. Both reviews I've read (skimming, since I intend to buy it) say it's a wonderful book. I don't know if it adresses the Cyborg-in-the-Justice League problem (I doubt it does), but I wouldn't be surprised if it nails down a few other facts that might have been in flux.

[Captain Comics]

That is a great quote, and better said than I would have said it. On the other hand, there are those who won't or can't make "adjustments" when watching superhero movies, reading comics or watching fantasy/sci-fi TV. I pity them for missing out on what gives me such joy, but I do not judge them. If it's not their bag, it's not their bag.

But I don't think they're incapable of making such adjustments, because you need to accept a lot of preposterous things to enjoy sticoms and regular movies and even sports. My wife and I sampled Untamed, which has no fantasy elements, but was so cliched and preposterous that we gave it up. It's a popular show on Netflix, so there are a lot of people who are making adjustments to accept this drivel as "realistic." My wife and I are unwilling to make those adjustmetns, so we're not watching Untamed. No shade on anyone. You like what you like. 

[The Baron]

I was re-reading #2, and came across the following:

"The League of Assassins contimnued under Ra's al Ghul, but his daughter Talia's loyalties were often threatened by her love for Batman. Their union would later produce a highly surprising outcome."

Maybe it's me, but to my mind, "a baby" is not a "highly surprising outcome" to two people having a "union".*

*"Nudge-nudge, wink-wink, know what I mean? Say no more!"

[Philip Portelli]

"The SHOCKING Origin of Detective Chimp...Revealed!"

[The Baron]

Issue #3

1. It's so lame that DC has to call Billy Batson "The Captain".
2. Rocket Red is described as a "Soviet hero". With the sliding timeline, they may as well just call him a "Russian hero". 
3. Since they're messing about with continuity, they should've made Jesse Chambers and Rick Tyler the grandchildren of the originals, or, better yet, descendants, so that the relationship wouldn't have to be regularly revamped. We're reaching the point where even the grandchildren of Golden Agers would be pushing middle age.
4. Supergirl is described as having been "Resurrected and manipulated by Darkseid" before going back to being a hero.
5. We end with Barry talking about returning from the dead and saying, "After many years, I was finally free of my prison......and would soon use that freedom to destroy all there is." Well, what'd you do that for, you jerk?
6. Much of this issue is taken up with characters and "events" from the late Eighties, the Nineties and the Noughties that I didn't give a crap about at the time and barely remember now, so it's hard for me to say to what extent they may have "fiddled and diddled" (as the late Johnny Most might've said) with the continuity of said stories.

Comments Regarding the Notes for Issue #3

1. The "Matrix" Supergirl gets a mention in the notes, but not in the story.
2. Apparently, at one point, Donna Troy died and was resurrected from the dead. I must've missed that.
3. So Jon Kent was conceived and born during a period when Supes had no powers. Must've missed that, too.
4. Apparently, Bart and Conner died and rose again, too.  All joking aside, would this sort of thing make it harder for Christians to proselytize super-heroes? "So, He died and was resurrected? So what? I know half a dozen people that did that!" "Yeah, but He's the only one that harrowed Hell, see?"

[Jeff of Earth-J]

We are now at the point where the New History of the DC Universe takes over from The History of the DC Universe. Up until now, this series has been useful in determining what is considered in canon and what is out (whether one approves of the changes or not). For example, the JSA'a time in Valhalla or whatever-it-was has now been from from "1986" (or whenever) to 1951), and the first adventure of the "proto-JLA" predates the Suilver Age origin, whiuch is still intact. But now, discounting the last six or seven pages of "future history" from 1986's "history" (plus some slight overlap), #3 picks up pretty much from where the Wolfman/Perez version left off. This issue is pretty much a summary of the years I became increasingly disassociated from DC. As I see it, these are the three main changes...

• "Milestone" is now considered DCU continuity
• Supergirl (2005) is now considered to be the original, resurrected
• "Convergence" never happened

Beyond that, thete are many (many) other tweaks, but I would consider them relatively minor.

It's so lame that DC has to call Billy Batson "The Captain".

That is pretty lame, but confusion already runs rampant among casual fans. Q: "What's your favorite Marvel movie?" A: "Superman." Can you imagine the chaos that would ensure (from a "brnding" perspective) if a DC hero called himself "Captain Marvel"?

Apparently, at one point, Donna Troy died and was resurrected from the dead. I must've missed that.

I remember that as the debut of DC then-new logo.

So Jon Kent was conceived and born during a period when Supes had no powers. Must've missed that, too.

Originally, Jon Kent was born during the Convergence "event" (see above). That resulted in the destruction of the post-Crisis/Flashpoint universe prior to the Rebirth event. That's out of continuity now (I was actually quite curious to see how Mark Waid would deal with this issue), so JOn's birth was moved to the year-long gap (i.e, 52) which preceded the "One Year Later" series of issues during which DC's "Big Three" were "missing." (Actually, that works for me.)

[Philip Portelli]

"One Year Later" couldn't have happened that long ago in "comic book time" for Jon to age ten years or so. I vaguely recall that he was aged up but still, a ten -year old still needs ten years!

[Luis Olavo de Moura Dantas]

Didn't he spend some time in the 31st century with Brian Bendis' version of the LSH?  I assume they are keeping that as a flexible option to explain rapid aging.

[The Baron]

That sounds familiar.