JLA Weblog

Volumes of DC Comics

So I needed to reference these, but I couldn’t get them all straight without creating a list. The numbering scheme I work to is based upon on-going series. Mini or limited series constitute a separate class of publication in my opinion.

Aquaman

There have been five on-going Aquaman series since his first Silver Age title plus with two solo-titled mini-series from the 1980s.

  • Silver Age - 
    • Aquaman (vol. 1) – Silver/Bronze Age series. Starts 1962. Cancelled in 1971, but numbering is picked up for a 7-issue run in 1977-78.
  • Post-Crisis –
    • Aquaman (1986 mini) – the one with the blue suit
    • Aquaman (1988 mini) – Mera leaves
    • Aquaman (vol. 2) – Starts 1991. Written by Shaun McLaughlin.
    • Aquaman (vol. 3) – Starts 1994. Written by Peter David, Erik Larsen, and Dan Jurgens.
    • Aquaman (vol. 4) – Starts 2003. Initially written by Rick Veitch; numbering continues into Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis written by Kurt Busiek.
  • New 52 - 
    • Aquaman (vol. 5) – Starts 2011. Written by Geoff Johns.

Batman

This one is simple. (Detective Comics VOL 2. still wrankles, but seems to be set.)

  • Golden/Silver Ages + Post- Crisis -
    • Detective Comics (vol. 1) and Batman (vol. 1) – Golden Age to present day. Begins 1940, ends with the pre-52 cancellation.
  • New 52 -
    • Detective Comics (vol. 2) and Batman (vol. 2) – The New 52-versions. Written by Tony Daniel and Scott Synder respectively.

Flash

The Flash has several different naming conventions depending on whom is the current Flash. Jay appears in “Flash Comics”, Barry in “The Flash”, Wally is simply “Flash”. However, Wally’s title was renamed “The Flash” later in its run and subsequent titles have more or less stuck to that convention so I’m counting them as iterations.

  • Golden Age -
    • Flash Comics – Golden Age Jay Garrick series. Ends in 1949.
  • Silver Age -
    • The Flash (vol. 1) – Silver Age Barry Allen series. Picks up numbering from the Flash Comics series, ends with the Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985.
  • Post-Crisis -
    • The Flash (vol. 2) – The Wally West series. Runs from the Crisis until 2006. Famous for runs by Mark Waid and Geoff Johns. For much of its run there was no “The” before the Flash, but for the latter half of its run “The” was added back to the logo.
    • Flash: The Fastest Man Alive – Bart Allen series, ends with the Final Crisis.
    • The Flash (vol. 3) – Wally West and family. Continues numbering from Wally’s original series.
  • Rebirth -
    • The Flash: Rebirth – 6-issue mini-series by Geoff Johns showing Barry Allen’s return to form.
    • The Flash (vol. 4) – Barry Allen, post-Final Crisis series. Runs up to Flashpoint.
  • New 52 -
    • The Flash (vol. 5) – The New-52 version written by Brian Buccellato.

Green Arrow

Ollie’s been in lots of places and has often co-starred with other characters so it this gets a bit messy.

  • Pre-Crisis - 
    • Green Arrow (1983 mini-series) – First solo book in nearly 50 years.
  • Mike Grell era -
    • Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters (1987 mini-series) – start of the Mike Grell era.
    • Green Arrow (vol. 1) – Begins in 1988, lasts until 1998. Sees transition to Connor Hawke.
  • The “What the hell do we do with this character era”
    • Green Arrow (vol. 2) – Begins in 2001 with the Kevin Smith revamp, ends with the marriage event.
    • Green Arrow / Black Canary – Team-up series. Its numbering is carried over to…
    • Green Arrow (vol. 3) – Begins 2010, spins out of Blackest Night/Brightest Day.
  • New 52 -
    • Green Arrow (vol. 4) – The New-52 version.

Green Lantern

A fairly simple run is made more confusing by name changes and team-ups.

  • Golden Age -
    • Green Lantern (vol. 1) – Golden Age. Begins 1941, the adventures of Alan Scott.
  • Silver Age -
    • Green Lantern (vol. 2) – Silver Age. Begins 1960, the adventures of Hal Jordan. #76-87, 89 list Green Arrow as a co-headliner. Numbering continues over to…
    • The Green Lantern Corps (vol. 1) – continues number from Green Lantern (vol. 2).
  • Emerald Dawn / Kyle Rayner -
    • Green Lantern (vol. 3) – Begins 1990. Hal with the white-hair. Eventually becomes Kyle Rayner’s series.
  • Rebirth Era -
    • Green Lantern: Rebirth – 2004-2005 mini-series, the resurrection of Hal Jordan. The beginning of the Geoff Johns era.
    • Green Lantern (vol. 4) – The Geoff Johns series. Leds up to Blackest Night and then resets with the New 52.
    • Green Lantern Corps (vol. 2) – Companion title to Green Lantern (vol. 4).
    • Green Lantern Emerald Warriors – Third regular GL title. Companion title to Green Lantern (vol. 4).
  • The New 52 -
    • Green Lantern (vol. 5) – The New-52 version.
    • Green Lantern Corps (vol. 3) – The New-52 version. Companion title to Green Lantern (vol. 5).
    • Green Lantern New Guardians – New-52 era replacement for Emerald Warriors. Companion title to Green Lantern (vol. 5).

Justice League

The League gains and loses its suffix multiple times, but there is a fairly direct line.

  • Silver Age -
    • Justice League of America (vol. 1) – The Silver Age, runs until the Legends cross-over. Replaced by Justice League (vol. 1)
  • JLI Era -
    • Justice League (vol. 1) – The post-Legends League. Title changes to Justice League International (vol. 1) with issue #7
    • Justice League International (vol. 1) – Continues numbering from Justice League (vol. 1). Becomes Justice League America with issue #26. Finally cancelled to make way for JLA.
    • Justice League International (vol. 2) – Picks up numbering from Justice League Europe. Cancelled to make way for JLA.
  • The Big Seven -
    • JLA – The Grant Morrison era. Cancelled with the Infinite Crisis.
  • Post-Infinite Crisis -
    • Justice League of America (vol. 2) – Launches with Brad Meltzer. Then written by Dwayne McDuffie and James Robinson. Cancelled with the Flashpoint event.
  • The New 52 -
    • Justice League (vol. 2) – The New-52 version of the League launched by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee.
    • Justice League International (vol. 3) – The New-52 version. Written by Dan Jurgens. Cancelled after 12-issues.
    • Justice League of America (vol. 3) – The New-52 version. Launched by Geoff Johns and David Finch.

Superman

Almost as simple as Batman.

  • Golden/Silver Ages -
    • Action Comics (vol. 1) – Golden Age. Begins 1938, continues until 2011. Briefly Action Comics Weekly.
    • Superman (vol. 1) — Launched in the Golden Age renamed Adventures of Superman the 1980s. Reverts to its original name after the Infinite Crisis. Cancelled with the Flashpoint.
  • Post-Crisis -
    • Superman (vol. 2) – Launched in 1986 with the John Byrne reboot. Cancelled prior to the Infinite Crisis.
  • New 52 -
    • Action Comics (vol. 2) – The New-52 version, launched with Grant Morrison and Rags Morales.
    • Superman (vol. 3) – The New-52 version, launched by George Perez.

Wonder Woman

Some oddities with the number during the third run.

  • Golden/Silver Ages -
    • Wonder Woman (vol. 1) – Launches in the Golden Age runs until 1986.
  • Post-Crisis -
    • Wonder Woman (vol. 2) – The George Perez and co. reboot. Runs until the Infinite Crisis in 2006.
    • Wonder Woman (vol. 3) – Starts over with new numbering, but eventually reverts to a continuation of numbering from Vol 1 + Vol. 2. Cancelled with the Flashpoint.
  • New 52 - 
    • Wonder Woman (vol. 4) – The New-52 version.

Random find, 1989 Batman game map

I moved into a new apartment a few months ago so I haven’t had much time to blog. At the moment, everything seems to involve taking stuff out of boxes or putting stuff into boxes.

I’m still surprised by the amount of c**p that I’ve accumulated over the years (I’ve got enough random computer cables to rewire Norad).

I’m also coming across stuff like this:

A-map-to-Level-1-of-Oceans-1989-Batman-Movie-game

I’ve obviously drawn it and it’s a map of some kind, but it took me ages to figure out what it was of.

It’s a map to the first level of the Ocean’s Batman: The Movie on the ZX Spectrum — the opening attack on ACE Chemicals. The red line must be the path the Batman takes. The green line is where Jack plunges into the vat of acid to become the Joker. Did anybody else ever do this as a kid, draw maps of computer game levels?

Ya know the really scary thing? That map is 24-years old. Which means that next year will be the 25th anniversary of Tim Burton and Michael Keaton’s Batman movie!  Strewth, that will be a third of the the character’s entire history. An equivalent amount of time before 1989 was 1964, the year that Julius Schwartz took over the Batman franchise and started the drive which eventually brought him back into the shadows.

If anybody needs me I’ll be in my rocking chair on the front porch.

VHS roulette

My new favourite game is VHS roulette. I got rid of most of my old pre-recorded VHS cassettes a couple of years ago, but I’ve still got a core of long play tapes holding stuff that has never been repeated on TV and isn’t available on DVD disc. However, there is a lot of room on those old tapes and you’re never quite sure what you’ll find when you watch them through.

Best case in point is the tape I just tested. My VCR was finished so I needed a new one. I knew they’d be hard to find, but I didn’t realise how hard. I eventually found a 10 dollar second-hand one at a local cash generators. The lady behind the counter says that second-hand VCRs fly off their shelves. There is no profit margin on them, but they sell quickly. I assume that’s because, like me, people only want a cheap one to view a couple of legacy tapes.

So I got this VCR home and I plugged it in. I then rummaged for the first tape out of the cupboard. Would you believe it, it only happens to be an off air recording of the Justice League pilot from the 1990s. (I must do a post on that sometime. The VHS/PC capture gadget is on its way. )

The roulette part was the stuff around the JLA pilot. There was twenty seconds of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise” – which it had obviously been taped over – and after it was the second half of a gangster flick (of which I remember the first half being the interesting part). There was also a complete episode of something called Disinfo Nation featuring a drunk Grant Morrison shouting at a convention. A version of that with Spanish subtitles is available on YouTube -

Then finally there was an episode of WWF Heat (I’m blaming this one on my little brother) featuring a guest appearance by Samuel L Jackson as Shaft!?! That must date this to circa 2000, which ties in with Morrison talking about the end of the Invisibles in his interview.

This is something we just won’t have with digital video recorders. They’ll give us perfect reproductions of our shows, but space is limited so we’ll never allow the backlog of random detritus to build up. I wonder how much more TV from the 1980s and 1990s will be preserved due to VHS relics than stuff from later decades.

Is it a cancellation if it isn’t renewed?

This entire Young Justice ending thing and Cartoon Network’s response to it has got me thinking. Because, technically speaking, Young Justice hasn’t been cancelled. The way it works is that Cartoon Network commissions Warner Brothers Animation – or somebody else – to produce a set number of episodes of a particular series. In the case of Young Justice they commissioned a series of 26 episodes that formed the first season. They liked what they saw enough to commission a second season of 20 episodes, the one we are currently watching.

Unfortunately there was apparently not enough interest/reason/profit/whatever for Cartoon Network to immediately commission a third season. And realistically we should have heard months ago about a third season if it had existed — we’d have heard about animation schedules, reoccurring characters, casting, writers, etc. This business isn’t like an open ended comic  book that just continues rolling on. Each commission is finite so we’ll get all of the remaining episodes of Young Justice. A real TV cancellation would mean it’s blocked mid-season and that hasn’t happened.

The third season never existed so it can’t be cancelled. It was just not renewed. After all, look at what is replacing it – a show that has been off the air for five years. And if Cartoon Network want something a little more serious in a year or two’s time – seriously have you seen how lite they’ve made TT – maybe they could be convinced to do a series of Young Justice: The Teen Titans. I know my argument is splitting hairs, but I think we need to make sure we’re using a frame of reference that the executives will understand.

JL article at IBT with excellent choice in interviewees

Back when the New 52 launched the press were mad for finding every fan/pro/commentator they could get to give context on events. I even got a call from Cristina Merrill of the International Business Times asking if I’d be willing to comment on the new Justice League. I probably bored her with enough background for a serialized 7-part long-form essay, but she ended up using two short-quotes. I had almost forgotten about this until I accidentally bumped into the piece when looking for something else. It’s up on the International Business Times site.

Back to usual

So I go on to a conference for two-weeks and everything arrives at once — 3 weeks of New DCU, 2 Young Justice episodes, a YJ comic, casting news for the new DVD, a two-day Comixology JLA sale, and a couple of interviews by various writers & artists. There is also a Facebook campaign to get Dwayne McDuffie a lifetime achievement award and today is the launch day for the third New 52 title, Justice League Dark! Phew. Did I miss anything?

Rome was nice, but I’d recommend it more for a weekend break than a full week-long stay — all those churches and ruins begin to blur after a few days. Although it may have more mileage if you’re into shopping. Nicer than anything was seeing new-stands that were still selling a healthy number of comic books of many sorts and the only superhero is sight was the Brave and the Bold Batman.

Naming the Ages


Newsarama started a debate over what to call the period of the DC Universe from the Crisis on Infinite Earths to Flashpoint as the usual term, post-Crisis, is increasingly confusing.It got me thinking so I sketched out the different eras/versions of the DC Earth/Earths in the above flow chart (click it to enlarge, updated to include Wildstorm). The trouble with most of Newsarama’s suggestions is that they get into descriptions of in-universe trends and those may only be true for one particular phase of that entire Earth 0.1 to Earth 0.4 cycle. That block is 25-years long – as long as the Silver and Bronze Ages combined.

The classic publishing ages don’t really match step perfectly with the in-universe continuity either. For example, the Classic Earth-One continuity period covers both the Silver Age and the Bronze Age (the split between them being the wholesale replacement of DC’s old guard at the end of the Silver Age and the injection of a new wave of writers and artists). Earth-Two is often use as a short hand for the Golden Age material, but, in a strict sense, its a Silver/Bronze Age construction. Ditto for all the multitude of Classic Multiverse Earths. And all of this is what we generally lump together as pre-Crisis.

The post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Universe splits into five distinct incarnations with each separated from the last by a wholesale in-universe revision of the timeline. This happens in Zero-Hour, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, and in Flashpoint. The timeline is revised in Zero-Hour to fix the continuity mess created by merging five parallel Earth’s into one at the end of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Infinite Crisis splits the single Zero-Hour Earth into a Multiverse of 52 Earths. Grant Morrison restarts the timeline in Final Crisis with, for once, little visible effect on continuity. And then Flashpoint rejigs everything again and and brings us the post-Flashpoint Earth of the New 52. If that’s confusing think about all the parallel Earths that vanish with the Crisis and reappear with the Infinite Crisis.

All that post-Crisis revision doesn’t really parallel with any particular publishing trend or age. The grim-and-gritty “Dark Age” is in vogue immediately after the Crisis and into the Image Comics dominated 1990s. A central thesis of Morrison’s Supergods is that, by the mid-to-late 1990s, there is a push back against the Dark Age and a new Heroic Age of sorts comes about in works like Waid and Ross’s Kingdom Come, Morrison’s JLA & All-Star Superman, and Busiek’s Astro-City. Its also arguable that we’re actually seeing a new Dark Age with mainstream comics dominated by the Authority, Ultimates, Hush – a sort of cinematic, widescreen, ultra-detailed approach – that’s certainly the look that the new JL appears to be following.

So names… the publishing ages don’t align well enough to be usable. Terms like post-Crisis, post-Zero Hour, etc are okay, but require a certain level of knowledge about when they terminate. A grandiose title might be something like the Crisis Cycle, like ‘ramas own Crisis Era, but it again requires you to know what a Crisis is. However, I suppose that could be said of many different terms. I think the most neutral choice might be to resort to archaeology where the age that follows the Bronze Age is the Iron Age or if you want to split it down the Dark/Iron Ages. Whether the post-Flashpoint world deserves its own Age remains to be seen.