Once Upon a Geek

Until a few years ago, the terms “Pre-Crisis” and “Post-Crisis” were commonly understood and used frequently by DC comics fans.  Since the publication of Infinite Crisis in 2005, the definitions of these terms have become confusing.  Previously the term “Pre-Crisis” clearly described events that were published in DC comics prior to 1986.  The term “Post-Crisis” was used to describe any story published after the Crisis on Infinite Earths mini-series was finished in 1986.

While there were many changes from Pre-Crisis continuity to Post-Crisis continuity, there is one change that is considered to be the most significant.  In Pre-Crisis continuity, the stories took place in a “multiverse”; meaning that there were an infinite number of parallel worlds.  So you might read about the Justice League of America on Earth-1, and then read another story about the Justice Society of America that took place on a completely different (yet similar) world referred to as Earth-2.  Each Earth typically had their own version of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and other numerous characters.  In Post-Crisis continuity all stories took place in a shared universe; gone were the parallel Earths and duplicate characters.  So in this Post-Crisis universe, the Justice League of America and Justice Society of America both existed and often interacted, yet there was only one Superman.

The reason the terms are now confusing stems from the 2005 mini-series Infinite Crisis. During this mini-series the infinite Earths were re-introduced.  Many of the old concepts not seen since 1986 were brought back.  So with the return of the multiverse in a new mini-series with “Crisis” in the title, what exactly does Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis mean nowadays?

I propose a new word be entered into the DC comics lexicon: Tween-Crisis.

The term “Tween-Crisis” describes the DC Universe continuity for comics published from 1986 - 2005.

For example, the Superman established in John Byrne’s mid-80s Man of Steel mini-series would be referred to as the “Tween-Crisis Superman”.  Personally, I used to describe myself as a “Post-Crisis” DC fan.  However, I haven’t been thrilled with the recent changes (or reversions) that DC has been doing.  So using this new definition, I would be considered a “Tween-Crisis” fan.  Following this logic, the term “Post-Crisis” could be redefined to mean stories published after Infinite Crisis or Final Crisis.

If you like the term, please feel free to use it and spread the word. Given my age, I never thought I’d refer to myself as a Tween, but with the current state of continuity in DC comics it just makes sense.

About two weeks ago I wrote a post about FINAL CRISIS: REQUIEM and the relationship between Martian Manhunter & Hal Jordan. You may recall I felt that Martian Manhunter and Hal Jordan didn’t really have an established strong relationship and I felt some scenes in REQUIEM rang hollow. Well… the webmaster of “The IDOL-HEAD of DIABOLU, a Martian Manhunter blog” follow-up on my thoughts and expounded upon them in a post of his own.

Wow!  Frank Lee Delano (the webmaster of IDOL-HEAD) really knows his stuff!  He took my thoughts and really ran with them.  He reinforced my opinion with numerous facts and history between these two characters.

Stop by the IDOL-HEAD of DIABOLU and check it out!  While you’re there, take a look at all the other great posts about the history of Martian Manhunter.

I read “Final Crisis: Requiem” and one thing is really bothering me. There are three pages where Hal Jordan and Oliver Queen grieve together over Martian Manhunter’s body. Hal talks about the rage he’s feeling and the revenge he wants to inflict because of his friend’s death. What bothers me is that I don’t believe historically there has been a really strong connection between Hal Jordan and Martian Manhunter.

If you look at their respective JLA appearances, they don’t actually overlap much. Both were founding members of the League, however, Martian Manhunter left the League with issue 71. Of those 71 issues, Martian Manhunter only appeared in 43 of them. After that, every run of the JLA that featured Martian Manhunter as a member, Hal was not a member at the same time. If you add up Martian Manhunter’s time in the Detroit League, the JLI, Justice League Task Force, and the JLA (Grant Morrison’s series), that’s something like 230 issues that he didn’t appear with Hal Jordan.

I just feel that the writer is shoehorning Hal Jordan into the grieving, whereas there are many other characters that Martian Manhunter appeared with more frequently that would have made more sense. I think I know why they are using Hal Jordan.. to prepare for “Blackest Night” where numerous dead superheroes are supposed to come back. That is probably where we’ll see Martian Manhunter next, so it makes sense from a plotting point of view to use Hal Jordan. I just feel as a fan of Martian Manhunter, it could have been other folks. Maybe there were some nice character moments between Martian Manhunter and Hal at some point in history, I just don’t happen to remember them. There are many other characters they’ve shown time and time again to have a close bond with Martian Manhunter. For example, characters that have starred in the JLA with Martian Manhunter more frequently and have been shown to have a bond with him include: Batman, Vixen, Gypsy, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Believe it or not, even Kyle Rayner have appeared with Martian Manhunter more often than Hal Jordan. While Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman did feature prominently in this story, the big emotional scene was given to Hal and Ollie. I just didn’t work for me.

Okay, rant over. “Final Crisis: Requiem” was a decent read, its just this one point really stood out to me. I admit part of my rant probably comes from the fact that I’m still bitter they brought Hal back to life.

Oh yeah, it’s also worth mentioning that Aquaman had a really strong bond with Martian Manhunter and appeared more frequently with Martian Manhunter than Hal. However, Aquaman is current dead. Interestingly enough, apparently death wasn’t enough to stop Aquaman from coming to the funeral. Check out the Aquaman Shrine for details on this.

Just a heads-up… I appeared in a special episode of The Unique Geek podcast with my buddy Michael Bailey from Views from the Longbox and Fortress of Baileytude. In this episode Mike and I cover all the cool comics you need to know about coming in June.  We talk about things like Trinity, Final Crisis, Secret Invasion, a tribute comic to Mike Wieringo, William Katt’s (Greatest American Hero) venture into comics, and much more!

It can be found here - June Comics Preview with Mike & Shag.