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81scorp · 1 year

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DCEU in general part 2

A while ago I made an editorial where I pointed out the DCEU`s lack of planning and came up with my own idea on how to structure the DCEU. I ended that editorial with Justice League 3 because I felt that a cinematic universe didn`t have to keep on going indefinitely. But after a while I felt that I still had a few ideas left for my own version of the DCEU, and now that the folks at Warner Bros have decided to try a new DC universe and use Marvel`s approach and actually structure it this time I feel that I should strike while the iron is hot and let these ideas out. If they had planned the DCEU from the beginning there wouldn`t be a need for Flash to reboot the universe in his (by the time I`m writing this) upcoming movie. At least not this early. If I knew then what I know now, would I have hired Ezra Miller, Jared Leto, Amber Heard and Zachary Levi? No, I don`t think so. If I could run so fast that I could screw the laws of physics and travel backwards in time, again, this is how I would have continued my version of the DCEU.

TV series Since there are a lot of characters that I want to put in this universe but I don`t think there is enough time for me to do so, if I were to only focus on the movies, I decided to include TV series in the DCEU. I don`t think there would be a need for a Flash show since he would already have his own movie. I think I`d cast Grant Gustin as Barry Allen. I could give Supergirl a series though.

Green Arrow series After Man of Steel has premiered there could be a Green Arrow TV series that takes place within the DCEU. The show could introduce characters like Black Canary, Speedy, Huntress and the Question.

Constantine series I would definitely want Matt Ryan as John Constantine. The show could introduce supernatural and occult characters like Zatanna, Dr Fate, Etrigan the demon, Phantom Stranger, deadman and the Spectre (who was technically introduced in an episode in the real show).

Supergirl series Like I said: there wouldn`t be any need for for a Flash series but I there should be room for a Supergirl series. After she has had her first appearance in Man of Steel 2 she could star in her own TV series, and have a cameo now or then in the Green Arrow series.

In my previous editorial "Constructive criticism: DCEU in general" I wrote "Then do some sequels to Green Lantern, The Flash and Aquaman (doesn`t necessarily have to be in that order)" but I didn`t go into any details (because I didn`t have any ideas for those movies at that time). So I want to takes this opportunity to retroactively add some ideas to those phase 3 movies, and put a little meat on the bones of the Cyborg Solo movie.

Solo Cyborg movie Cyborg fights some terrorists that he finds out are involved in the accident that almost killed him and led to him becoming the cyborg he is now.

Green Lantern 2 Since there can now be more than one Green Lantern per sector, Hal Jordan recruits a partner: John Stewart, a marine who now works as an architect. Their first mission as an intergalactic, crimefighting duo: To escort a witness to a trial where he can give a testimony. A testimony that could hopefully bring down a mob boss, and said mob boss has hired a bounty hunter to kill the witness. The Bounty hunter is none other than Lobo, the last czarnian. Also: turns out that there is another man who was worthy of becoming a Green Lantern: Guy Gardner. Hal picked John Stewart because he was closer. In a mid-credit scene Guy Gardner is visited by Krona who tells him this and as consolation offers him a yellow lantern ring.

The Flash 2 You know how every Indiana Jones movie (and James Bond movie) always starts with the main character right in the middle of a previous adventure? That`s how this movie could start. First Flash fights and defeats Trickster in the first five minutes. His struggle to prove his dad`s innocence continues, he fights Mirror Master (the main antagonist) and in the end Iris reveals to Barry that she knows that he is the Flash. Mid credit scene: Weather Wizard frees Mirror Master and Trickster from prison and introduce them to Captain Cold.

Aquaman 2 Aquman is growing into his role as a king, acts as a mentor figure to a young atlantean named Garth (Aqualad) and has a son now named Arthur Jr. Arthur Jr. is kidnapped by Black Manta who almost kills him but thanks to Garth, Arthur Jr. survives. Aquaman fights Manta and almost kills him but decides to spare his life and sentence him to prison. Mid-credit scene: An alantean breaks Black Manta out of prison. He works for someone who wants Manta to help them defeat Aquaman and take over Altantis.

Phase 4

Man of Steel 4 Superman is kidnapped by Mongul and is forced to fight as a gladiator on Mongul`s "Warworld". He is still strong but weakened by the planet`s orange sun and in order to survive, defeat Mongul and escape Warworld he has to team up with... Lobo. In the end Mongul is defeated, the prisoners are freed and Superman takes a spaceship and hopes that it will be enough to take him home back to Earth.

Green Lantern 3 Hal Jordan and John Stewart teams up with Carol Ferris who is in possesion of a Star Sapphire ring (that works similar to the Green Lantern ring) to fight Sinestro, Krona, Guy Gardner and Doctor Hector Hammond who have their own Yellow Lantern rings. In the end though, Guy turns on the yellow lantern gang and takes the side of the heroes.

Steel (See my constructive criticism of Steel)

Wonder woman 3 Diana, Cheetah and Supergirl teams up to fight Ares (the real one this time), who has been freed from his prison by Circe, Phobos and Deimos.

Flash 3 Barry finally gets his father out of prison. Also: he fights the Rogues: Weather Wizard, Trickster, Mirror Master, Captain Cold and Captain Boomerang. (Captain Boomerang has had the explosives that were planted in his neck removed and joins the Rogues as a quid pro quo.) But since Captain Boomerang had a character arc in Suicide Squad he turns on the Rogues in the third act.

Aquaman 3 Aquaman (and Garth) has to fight Eochaid Bres who has allied herself with Black Manta.

Justice League 4 Superman finally returns to Earth. JL fights Brainiac. Yes, I know, in my previous editorial I thought that it would be a good idea to use up Brainiac in Man of Steel 2. But since Brainiac is a pretty big deal when it comes to villains it would be better to save him for a Justice League movie. So I would like to retroactively change my villain idea for Man of Steel 2. Instead Superman and Supergirl could fight... Mr Mxzpltk. Because why not?

Phase 5

Joker movie A new inmate at Arkham Asylum who has the Joker as his role model convinces the Joker to tell his backstory. The Joker tells the tragic story of his life. His name was Joe and he was a janitor at Ace chemicals who had dreams of becoming a comedian. There was a woman that he loved, but she died. in the end he joined a gang of criminals who one night decided to rob Ace chemicals. Batman showed up, defeated the other members of the gang and threw poor Joe into the vat of chemicals. He was flushed out into a river, crawled up on land, had a mental breakdown and laughed at the nightsky like a madman. He was now the Joker. The new inmate notices a few inconsistencies in Joker`s story however. Riddler and Poison Ivy who has been sitting there and listened to the story with him tells him that the Joker does this all the time, he makes up new versions of his past. As far as they know, he has no true back story. The inmate is disappointed and leaves, the Joker himself just thought it was fun and has a good laugh.

Swamp thing It begins In Medias Res in the swamps of Louisiana. A bunch of goons are harassing Alec Holland, he tells them to go away, they blow up his lab, on flames he throws himself into the swamp. He passes out and wakes up as the Swamp thing. We find out more about his life before he accident a little later. John Consantine shows up and helps him discover some powers that he didn`t know he had. Then a giant threat of some kind shows up and Swamp thing has to fight it.

Green Lantern 4 Hal Jordan gets possessed by Parallax and John Stewart, Guy Gardner and Carol Ferris has to fight him. In the end Parallax is driven out of Hal`s body but is not quite defeated. You can`t destroy energy after all, and you can`t defat fear by punching it. Hal, feeling that he is no longer worthy to use the green lantern ring gives it to Guy who reluctantly accepts it.

Shazam 2 The Shazam family has to fight Dr Sivana who has teamed up with Mr Mind and Black Adam.

Harley and Ivy Nothing against Birds of Prey (and the fantabulous emancipation of one Harley Quinn) but I had my own idea for a Harley Quinn movie that I really like. Harley has been dumped by the Joker and thrown out on the streets. Poison Ivy gives her a place to stay. Harley decides to commit a crime to show herself that she`s better off without the Joker and doesn`t need him anymore, she`s gonna steal the MacGuffin diamond. But it turns out that Roman Sionis (Black Mask) also wants the diamond, and Huntress wants to prevent both of them from stealing it. In the end Catwoman comes out of nowhere and steals the diamond from them. Black Mask is angry, Huntress is angry and so is Harley, but only temporarily. Harley realizes that she got what she needed: a fun adventure with a friend who cares about and respects her: Ivy. It ends with them under the moon, sitting on a rooftop and sharing a pizza. Harley kisses Ivy and then realizes something about herself. Harley: "I think I`m bi." Ivy: "I think so too."

Batman film A scientist named Kirk Langstrom has created a serum that turns him into a big, human-like bat. A Man-bat if you will. Batman has to find him before Prof. Hugo Strange does. Hugo wants to use Man-bat`s DNA to create more bat-creatures but Batman wants to save him. Hugo is also a skilled psychological manipulator and uses these skills to try to get into Batman`s head.

Justice League 5 An adaptation of the tower of Babel

Phase 6

Man of Steel 5 Supes fights an evil, alternate reality version of himself called Ultraman and gets help from a good, alternate reality version of Lex Luthor*. Mid-credit scene: A satellite orbiting the Earth. A large man in a futuristic armor talks to his assistant, a woman named Harbringer. The man himself is called... Monitor. *Both Ultraman and Good Lex come from the same alternate universe which I will name the Ultraman universe.

Lobo movie Lobo does his usual thing, then he gets transported to an alternate reality, one where the forces of Darkseid defeated the Justice League in the first JL movie*. At first Lobo likes living in a world where the good guys didn`t win, but then he realizes how boring it is. In the end Lobo returns to his home dimension. Mid-credit scene: We are introduced to the Anti-Monitor! *I will call this the Darkseid won universe

Cyborg sequel Victor Stone is reunited with an old, charismatic friend: Ronald Evers. He finds out that Ronald is involved in criminal activity and has to fight him.

Flash 4 Flash VS Reverse Flash. also: Mid-credit scene with Monitor and Harbinger

Wonder woman 4 Diana become a mentor figure to Donna Troy, a young girl whose parents have just died. Donna has superpowers and turns out to be part amazon. Diana lets her live on Themiscyra but it turns out that Donna is a sleeper agent of Circe. It turns out that many years ago, Circe cut off a strand of hair from Diana when she was just a kid and used it to make Donna. They fight, Donna gets her mind back and hates that someone used her like a puppet. In the end she and Diana fight Circe.

Aquaman 4 Orm returns and is now allied with Starro the conqueror, a creature that looks like a giant starfish that uses tiny copies of itself that can latch on to other beings and control them.

Justice League 6 Adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths. (We get to revisit the Ultraman universe and the Darkseid won universe.) Guy Gardner gives the green lantern ring back to Hal Jordan (He doesn`t need it, he still has his own yellow lantern ring.) because they need all the heroes they can get.

You may have noticed that I haven`t come up with many Batman movies, there`s only 3 of them if you count Batman V Superman. That is because there have been so many Batman movies over the years, it`s like he`s almost the only character from DC Comics that Warner Bros are not afraid to make movies about. As if they don`know about any other characters. So I felt that the dark Knight could step aside so that some the other heroes got a chance to shine. There would still be plenty of room for the caped crusader though, he would appear in all the Justice League movie and have cameos in several of the other characters`movies, kinda like MCU`s Nick Fury.

So anyway, those are my ideas for a DCEU that could have been. Originally I was gonna stop at phase 3 because I think that a big superhero cinematic universe should eventually stop and not go on forever. Kind of like, quit while you`re ahead. I know, not a very capitalist way of thinking. But then I started thinking about how the other characters hadn`t gotten their movie trilogies, how some elements felt like they were left dangling, untapped potential and how writing these little essays is a fun excercise in creativity. And hearing about James Gunn`s plans for a more organized DC movie universe also contributed in reigniting my interest for more stories in this universe that never happened. After making these movies I would step down as the creative producer guy (or whatever the title is), in this alternate universe where I got to be the Kevin Fiege of the DCEU, and let someone else take over.

But it may be possible that I come back some day in the future and say "Hey, you guys! I`ve come up with some ideas for phase 7 to 9 in my own version of the DCEU!" since my decision to stop after phase 3 didn`t last.

Oh well, with all that said, I look forward to see what James Gunn has in store for us. ------------------------------------------------------ Written stuff: 50

Started writing this: 2023-03-11

Other movies on my Constructive Criticism list that you can look forward to

Burton`s Batman Schumacher`s Batman Supergirl (1984) Jonah Hex (2010) Dragonball evolution The Spirit (2008) The Dark Knight trilogy

And as usual: English is not my first language, so if my writing doesn`t seem to flow naturally, you know why.

#dceu #dceu films #editorial #Written Stuff #constructive criticism #DC comics #81scorp

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mischiefandspirits · 3 years

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Titanic Beginnings

Part of the Six for the Age of One AU

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Dick was excited when Bruce helped form the Justice League, babbling on about Bruce’s new friends and begging to meet them. Damian also wanted to meet the JL, but to appraise them to see if they were worthy of his father’s time and ensure they were capable of watching Batman’s back.

Not wanting the boys to get involved in the more punishing missions the JL faced, Bruce continually denied their requests.

That was ruined during a meeting a month later when Superman sheepishly admitted that his sons had also been badgering him and his wife to meet the other JL members and asked if he could bring the boys to the next meeting.

Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter appeared as resistant as Bruce. However, Wonder Woman adored children and agreed before any of them could speak up. She even offered to bring her young sister to keep them company. Aquaman agreed as well, mentioning that his apprentice could use the land experience. Flash and Black Canary were fine with it, which left the League at an even split.

At a nudge from Canary, Arrow broke the tie by reluctantly agreeing to bring his protégé.

Any ideas Batman had at keeping his boys out of it were dashed when Lantern turned to him and asked if he would also be bringing his kids. Superman sent him a look that clearly stated he would invite the boys if Batman didn’t so the Gotham vigilante nodded after giving Lantern a fierce glare.

Batman, Robin, and Serin were the first ones to the temporary headquarters the Justice League were using while Batman, Arrow, and Lantern finished the work on the space station they were retrofitting.

Before they arrived, Bruce had reminded Dick that, allies or not, only Superman knew the Bats’ identities and it was to remain that way for the time being. He had also negotiated with Damian. The boy wouldn’t challenge anyone to a fight and would abide by sparring rules with anyone who challenged him, no matter what abilities they may have. In return, the boy could assess whoever he wanted. He also allowed the boys to bring their dogs, hoping that would help keep Damian from going too far.

Titus (or Birdhound as Dick insisted despite Damian’s arguments that Great Danes weren’t hounds) had swapped out his red collar for a yellow one that matched Serin’s belt and had a tag with Serin’s logo on it. He also wore a grey ballistic vest with dark coral straps and handle. Haley (or Bitewing, a play on a character from Dick’s favorite story in Bruce’s extraterrestrial files) had a green collar with Robin’s logo hanging from it in place of her usual blue. Her vest was red with canary straps and handle.

Robin and Bitewing immediately went off to explore while Serin and Birdhound stayed at Batman’s side as he got things ready for the meeting. The boy kept an eye on the meeting room’s door, so he was the first one to notice the Supers’ arrival.

Superman was talking to his foster son when they walked in, his younger son flying over them with wide eyes. Superboy (aka nine-year-old Jonathan Kent) nearly looked like the spitting image of his father with his blue-black curls and neon blue eyes that didn’t quite look human, though his nose and lips were shaped a bit more like his mother. Meanwhile Hyper (aka fourteen-year-old Christopher Kent) only shared his foster father’s physique, his skin not having that same natural sun-kissed look while his hair was a dirty blond and his eyes were a bright amber that was just a little too close to yellow to be humanly possible. Superboy was wearing jeans, red high tops, and a Superman costume shirt that had a small red cape attached. Hyper was even more underdressed in just jeans, black tenner shoes, a yellow and blue flannel, and a black shirt. A black band wrapped around his wrist, appearing to all the world like a watch though, having helped create it, Batman knew it was a device to help Earth’s newest kryptonian keep control of the powers he’d developed on arrival.

Robin reappeared suddenly, dropping down onto Superman’s shoulders. “Heya, Kal!”

“Hello, Robin,” the man chuckled.

The twelve-year-old did a backbend so he could hold a hand out to the older boy. “Hi! You’re Hyper right? Kal’s told us about you.”

“Oh, yeah. Or K’Riss. Uh, K’Riss-El, but just K’Riss is fine,” Hyper said, accepting the hand.

“And I’m Jon!” Superboy said, dropping down in front of Batman and Serin. He smiled up at the man before holding his hand out to the other boy. “Dad’s told us about you too. Nice to meet you. I like your dog. Can I pet him?”

The eleven-year-old looked at the hand, then glanced over Superboy’s outfit. “No. What kind of attire is that for fighting crime?”

The half-kryptonian looked down at his clothes and shrugged. “I thought it looked cool.”

“It offers no protection.”

“They’re kryptonians,” Robin pointed out as he stood up on Superman’s shoulders so he could pet Bitewing, who was leaning out of a vent on the ceiling. “Their skin is better armor than the stuff we wear.”

“What if they were to lose their abilities? A shard of kryptonite would easily pass through that flimsy shirt.”

Superboy frowned and glanced back at his dad, which gave Batman time to give his son a reprimanding look and hold out his hand.

Serin scowled and palmed him a small lead case.

The Supers didn’t notice the actions, distracted by unsuccessfully trying to get Bitewing out of the vent.

“Neither of us really dressed for fighting crime,” Hyper said over Robin’s soft cackling, pulling away from the vent. “Jon’s too young for that stuff and I’m still getting my powers under control. Our superhero names are more honorary than anything.”

Clicking his tongue, Serin crossed his arms. “Heroes or not, we are in the base of a team of superheroes. You should be prepared to be attacked at any minute by any of the members’ various enemies.”

Superman aimed an incredulous look at Bruce, who shrugged.

His son wasn’t wrong.

“Hello there!” Wonder Woman called as she walked in with a teenage girl in red and black Amazonian armor.

The girl looked exactly like a fifteen-year-old version of her sister with her curly brown-black hair, warm olive skin, and dark green eyes. She gave a smile that looked a bit more forced than her sister’s, which quickly dropped away when she noticed Superman still near the vent with Robin clinging to his back. “Why is there a dog up there?”

“She likes it in there,” Batman grunted when Wonder Woman looked like she was going to try to help as well.

“She’s Robin’s,” Serin added, which did explain it if you knew Robin.

“Dogs shouldn’t be inside vents,” Wonder Woman said pointedly.

“And children shouldn’t nap in chandeliers,” Batman muttered, earning snorts from Serin and Superman. Accepting that the issue wasn’t going to be dropped, he gave Robin a look.

The boy pouted, then gave a sharp whistle. Instantly the pitbull sprung from the vent, hopping off superman’s chest, then Hyper’s shoulders, before landing on the ground as gracefully as her boy despite her missing limb. Robin dropped to the ground next to her and scratched her neck before grabbing the handle on her vest and going over to greet the Amazons.

Wonder Woman introduced her sister as Troia, who had recently left Themyscira so she could learn more about Man’s World at her sister’s side.

After respectfully greeting the sisters, Serin turned to Superboy. “See, the Amazons wear armor.”

“Well, they aren’t quite as durable as us,” Superboy shot back.

“They also don’t have a well-known weakness to a rock, yet they still understand the necessity to be prepared for battle.”

“So that one is definitely Spooky’s,” Lantern joked as he walked in with Hawkgirl.

Robin did a cartwheel into a backflip, landing in front of the two with Bitewing racing to stay by his side. He gave the heroes a wide grin, leaning cutely against the alert dog. “Hi, I’m Robin! It’s so nice to meet B’s friends! I like your wings, Ms. Hawkgirl! They’re very pretty!”

“Thank you,” she said, bemused.

Lantern gave Batman a smirk as he shook Robin’s hand. “You sure this one’s yours and not Supe’s or Wonder Woman’s?”

Robin’s grin turned sharp, then he pulled away.

A green flash lit the room and Lantern was left in just a black tanktop, Flash sweatpants, and mismatched fuzzy socks. The man yelped and looked down to find his ring missing from his hand. His gaze shot up, but Robin and Bitewing had disappeared with the light. “What the heck!?”

The boy’s laughter echoed around the room, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere.

“Okay, maybe he is yours.”

“Why is Lantern in his sleeping clothes?” Martian Manhunter asked as he and Aquaman came in with a young Atlantean.

“Robin stole his ring right off his hand,” Hawkgirl answered with poorly hidden laughter in her voice.

The test pilot scowled and held out his hand. His ring shot out from inside Batman’s cape. As it slid onto Lantern’s finger, returning his suit in a flicker of green, Robin and Bitewing poked their heads out of the fabric. He pointed at the smug boy. “You won’t do that again.”

“Unless I want to.”

“Kid -”

“Hey, my first idea was to come up and throat-punch you so be glad I just stole your ring,” he snickered, slipping back into the shadows. “Can’t talk bad about my family if you can’t breathe.”

“It seems the Bat’s family are as entertaining as he is,” Aquaman joked. He set his hand on the young Atlantean’s shoulder. “Speaking of family, this is my mother’s ward and my apprentice, Aqualad. Lad, this is the Justice League and their young companions.”

The boy appeared to be around fifteen with alabaster skin that was edging towards grey. His eyes were plum-colored and his hair was long and pitch black. With teeth slightly sharper than a human’s, he smiled and gave a small bow. “A pleasure. You may call me Garth.”

Baring the Bats, the group all greeted Aqualad cheerfully. Batman grunted and nodded with Serin copying his actions while Robin’s hand poked out of the cape to wave.

Before anyone could introduce themselves to the newcomers, Arrow and Canary entered with a grumpy thirteen-year-old.

Speedy had fair skin and pale red hair, alongside eyes hidden behind a domino mask like the ones Robin and Serin wore. Batman knew from his day-life that Speedy’s backstory wasn’t too far off from Robin’s. He’d gotten Oliver Queen’s attention during an archery contest so when the boy’s adopted father died, Oliver took him in.

“Are we the last ones here?” Canary asked.

“We’re still waiting on Flash,” Wonder Woman answered.

“As per usual,” Hawkgirl joked.

“Well, in the meantime,” Arrow set a hand on Speedy’s shoulder, “this is Speedy.”

“‘Sup,” he said, giving a sarcastic salute.

Introductions went around. Robin took the distraction as his chance to slip out and greet Aqualad and Speedy properly. As the time for the meeting grew closer, the group got the kids settled in a room near the meeting room. Just as they were about to leave for the meeting, a steak of red shot into the room.

“Sorry I’m late,” Flash said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You’re actually on time,” Superman said. “Though you’ll have to wait to meet the kids until after the meeting.”

“About that…”

A second streak came into the room, which turned out to be a red-headed teenager. The boy was tan and freckled. When he pulled up his goggles to smile at the group, his eyes proved to be a grassy green. “Hi, there! I’m Kid Flash!”

The group turned to Flash, who was pinching the bridge of his nose. “My nephew became a speedster last week. I’m training him how to use his powers.”

“Then I’m going to be his sidekick!”

Batman held back a snort at the imploring expression Flash gave him and Superman. The kryptonian patted the speedster on the back and led him out of the room with the others following.

Behave, Batman said with a grunt, giving his boys the kind of glare that would have the JL flinching back and the criminals of Gotham fleeing.

Robin batted his eyes innocently and Serin gave a half-hearted nod.

When the meeting was through, the adults returned to find the room worse for wear.

Robin and Kid Flash were sitting cross-legged on a battered table (one of the few remaining pieces of furniture) with Bitewing draped over their laps. They were both fidgeting with the dog’s ears and tail as they happily talked about a fight the Bats had recently had with Penguin.

Serin and Troia were standing off to the side near some cracked flooring, talking about the Amazonian knife she was showing him. Superboy was sitting on the floor next to them, though he appeared more focused on the pets he was giving Birdhound.

The last three boys were standing next to a hole in the wall. The older two were inspecting the hole with guilty frowns while a snickering Speedy patted Hyper on the back, looking more relaxed despite the bruise on his cheek.

“What happened in here?” Arrow asked, all the adults except Superman and Batman looking shocked at the destruction.

“Sparring competition,” Superman answered, proving he’d kept an ear on the kids throughout the meeting.

“We locked a bunch of superpowered and vigilante children in a room together. I’m just pleased the room’s still standing,” Batman added.

Robin and Kid Flash laughed while Speedy bit down his own laughter at a look from Arrow.

Lantern slapped the archer on the back. “Lighten up. As much as I hate to admit it, Spooky’s got a point. We should have known the kids would screw around and set them up somewhere a little less fragile. So, who won?”

“Troia, technically, since Robin was disqualified after the tournament was over,” Kid Flash said.

Batman turned to Robin, who gave a wide grin. “I don’t want to know.”

“I would have won had I had my full arsenal,” Serin said petulantly.

“He was eliminated because Superboy managed to bear hug him right at the start of their go and he couldn’t squirm free before the time ended,” Robin explained.

“You utilized kryptonite in your spar with a kryptonian so I do not see why I couldn’t!”

Superman gave Batman a look and the vigilante sighed, holding out his hand.

Robin skipped forward and dropped a lead case into his palm. “For the record, I brought blue kryptonite.”

“Was that why you were disqualified?”

“No.”

I will be having a conversation with both of you when we get home, he said with a grunt and put the case in his belt.

“And how did you fare?” Aquaman asked his apprentice, coming over to set his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“I won my match against Kid Flash, but Robin proved too formidable an opponent.”

“I lost first round to Troia,” Speedy said before Arrow could ask as he and Canary came up to the teen.

“His close combat abilities could use some work, but his skills with a bow are comparable to some of our best archers,” Troia argued. “Had our arena been larger, the fight would have been much closer.”

“Yeah, Arrow’s not too good at close range either,” Canary said, earning a huff from her boyfriend. “Don’t worry, kid. I’ll show you a few tricks.”

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If you're wondering why I put Donna in armor instead of one of the suits she wears in the comics, I ask you this: Why the flip would she want to wear some spandex suit when she could wear sick Amazonian armor? This applies to Cassie too.

And yes, Dick's treatment of Hal is a reference to a certain movie and a certain TikToker. Thanks for asking.

#batman #dick grayson #robin #damian wayne #teen titans #Robins are the Same Age AU #fanfiction #64ao1

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davidmann95 · 4 years

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For definitely no reason whatsoever, in response to nothing specific, can you rank the DC Multiverse Earths and tell us a bit about why each is in its place on the list?

Were this in response to an article, I could assure that I generally enjoy the writer’s output perfectly well from what I’ve seen and was absolutely baffled by the bizarrely selective research that went into it. Anyway, I hope you feel guilty enabling the amount of work I put into this truly ridiculous task by the end.

Cliff notes for the relatively uninitiated: that gorgeous monstrosity up above is The Map Of The Multiverse from the miniseries Multiversity, presented as a series of concentric circles bordered by the ‘Overvoid’ that all of reality is suspended in (and framed in such a way as to make clear it is the white of the pages comics are printed on). You go inwards from the borders of creation - moving moreso with each sphere from abstraction to the realm of the physical - to the Monitor Sphere in which once lived the near-omnipotent, now nearly extinct Monitor race that observed and maintained the multiverse, into the Sphere of Gods where the various beings of myth and divinity dwell, and into the innermost sphere where ‘we’ live. The 52 Earths you see within aren’t the whole of the multiverse but the ‘local’ 52 worlds, with infinite other Earths dwelling in their own dimensional pockets; all these universes actually exist in the same three-dimensional space at the same time but suspended in a higher-dimensional substance called ‘the Bleed’, and vibrating at distinct frequencies. Also there’s a ‘Dark Multiverse’ that’s cosmologically speaking ‘beneath’ the map, disintegrating half-formed potential realities that new proper universes are culled from. There’s a lot more to it than even all of that, but that’s enough to explain what’s up with these.

My ranking here is obviously subjective, but mostly comes down to a mix of ‘how cool is this Earth’, ‘how much would this Earth be worth using again’, ‘how well does it work in the context of being part of a shared multiverse’, and ‘do I seriously see creators unearthing any of this Earth’s potential down the road’. Also, Earths 24, 27, 28, 46, and 49 aren’t here, as they’re among the 7 Unknown Earths on the map that were left behind for future creators to define; 14 and apparently 25 have since been revealed.

64. Earth 14

A worthy bottom-place entry, Earth 14 is at the top of the Multiverse Map, and is shown as physically different from the other Earths, seemingly vibrating as if in two places at once; map co-designer and illustrator Rian Hughes suggested in an interview the intent was that this was where new universes entered the multiverse. Instead, ending up the first Unknown Earth to be revealed after the doors were opened to other creative teams, it was shown as a generic dystopian world home to a ‘Justice League of Assassins’ that were quickly dispatched by a generic cosmic threat. A monumental tribute to contextual ignorance and creative laziness.

63. Flashpoint

This is one of several Earths I’ll touch on that exist in neither the ‘local’ nor Dark Multiverse, but has directly crossed over or been framed in reference to the currently operating version of the DC Universe and so is probably worth a mention even if I’m not going over every Elseworlds and Imaginary Story DC has ever published. Another dystopian world, in this one an attempt by The Flash at fixing a change to history resulted in an Earth torn apart by war between Aquaman and Wonder Woman, where Cyborg was America’s greatest hero and Kal-El was held captive his entire life in a military bunker rather than becoming Superman. Aside from the prospect of a Thomas Wayne who became Batman when Bruce was gunned down as a child rather than vice-versa - resulting in him being pulled into a recent Batman run after this worlds’ destruction, the reason for this Earth’s inclusion - absolutely nothing of value came of this or the stories tied into it, such that astonishingly in spite of being the impetus for one of the biggest DC reboots of all time with theoretically an entire revised history to play with, essentially no one cares about this anymore.

62. Earth 1

The site of DC’s standalone, bookstore-market oriented ‘Earth One’ graphic novels. The incredible tunnel vision of marketing these for that purpose with titles that exist in reference to their multiversal structure aside, the Green Lantern book is the only one of those I’ve heard about being even kind of good; the rest top out at an interesting failure in Wonder Woman, with a standard forgettable failure in Teen Titans and truly flabbergasting misfires in Superman and Batman. Even Multiverse Map co-designer and writer Grant Morrison described this Earth in a blurb as having a history ‘in flux’, implicitly permitting the reader to believe it’s something else if they really want to, but as it stands in spite of the theoretical wide-open possibilities the foundations have already been built on salted Earth.

61. Watchmen

Home to the cast of characters of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal miniseries. Crossed over with the DC Universe 30+ year later in Doomsday Clock, which clearly intended to set up this world as one ripe for future stories and development rather than a singular text, but instead misinterpreted, stripmined, and otherwise nuked essentially everything that might have had one interested in exploring it further in the first place (in spite of the source text’s very definitive conclusions to all major narrative threads and characters). The only reason this is not ranked even lower is the possibility that the upcoming, as-yet untitled Watchmen project by Tom King and Jorge Fornes might manage to dredge something out of this.

60. Earth Negative 11

The first of the Dark Multiverse Earths here, a gender-flipped Earth where Bryce Wayne generically altered herself into an Atlantean in order to do battle with Aquawoman and the forces of Atlantis. As the Dark Multiverse worlds we have seen thus far are described as being borne of Bruce Wayne’s fears, it’s odd that as opposed to the ‘want of a nail’ scenarios shown on all others, this includes the additional twist of making Bruce a woman, yet does nothing with that. Anyway, this is a very clear product of the Dark Multiverse’s debut in Dark Nights: Metal wanting an evil Batman to correspond to each member of the Justice League, and it’s the oddest, most perfunctory of the lot.

59. Earth 34

Home to the heroes of the Light Brigade, defenders of Cosmoville, this is an Earth meant to evoke the classic creator-owned superhero comic Astro City. However, as Astro City is itself made up of archetypal signifiers yet isn’t meta about its usage of them, being defined by its storytelling principles rather than the shared universe it builds up in the background, there are essentially no stories to be told here that couldn’t be told with the regular heroes of the DC universe. Which is a shame, those are some neat character designs.

58. Earth Negative 12

A Dark Multiverse Earth where believing Wonder Woman killed in a battle with the war god Ares, Batman took up the deity’s helm in hopes of redefining war, instead being corrupted by it and becoming an unstoppable monster. There’s basically nothing here.

57. Earth Negative 44

A Dark Multiverse Earth where a computer program meant to replicate Alfred after the butler’s untimely death, attempting to protect its charge, takes control of Batman by way of mechanizing him and turns Gotham into a digital nightmare. A little more on-point than the previous entry, but still not much here.

56. Earth Negative 22

A Dark Multiverse Earth where Batman is finally pushed into killing the Joker, but the Clown Prince of Crime secretes a particularly potent Joker Toxin upon his death that corrupts the Caped Crusader into a second Joker known as The Batman Who Laughs, who slaughters his way across his universe before ultimately making his way to the ‘main’ DCU. The prospect of a Batman/Joker combination is interesting, but an origin for the ultimate corrupted Batman ‘he got drugged into going bad’ falls short.

55. Earth Negative 32

A Dark Multiverse Earth where Bruce Wayne moments after his parents’ deaths was judged worthy of a Green Lantern ring, but having only his hatred of crime rather than the discipline and morality he would come to develop becomes the murderous terror of the underworld, with even the Corps unable to stop him when he manages to force the darkness of his heart through the ring into ‘dark constructs’. Another ultimately throwaway Earth, this at least illustrates the properties of the Dark Multiverse in an interesting way: the constructs he creates aren’t something that’s ever been indicated as being possible or even sensible with the ‘real’ Green Lantern, but as this is a world literally made of nightmares that’s irrelevant.

54. Earth 39

Home to the United Nations superspies the Agents of W.O.N.D.E.R., who operating using super-technology with eventually deleterious side-effects. A pastiche of the obscure T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, it’s hard to imagine anyone with much to say about them wouldn’t simply wish to write an actual comic about them under the current rights-holders, though the concepts described in Morrison’s provided information are enticing.

53. Earth 41

A riff on several of the superheroes published by Image Comics over the years, they’re worth having around for the occasional heroes of the multiverse groupshots for your big crossover comics and Dino-Cop turned out to be charming, but it’s doubtful someone with a big Spawn story in them for instance would use Spore as their outlet.

52. Earth 9

All I know about this is that this is a ‘what if superheroes really changed the world’ Earth, and when those are a dime a dozen, the additional conceits of the names of the various characters not at all corresponding to their traditional backstories and attributes, and being the brainchild of creator Dan Jurgens, are far from enough to sway me. I understand there are some fans out there who may heartily disagree, to be fair.

51. Earth Negative 52

Another Dark Multiverse throwaway Earth, this time one where a Batman shattered by losing his various partners taps into the Speed Force so that he can finally be everywhere at once to stop all crime. This is distinct however in that he achieves this by defeating The Flash, chaining him to the hood of the Batmobile, and driving it so fast their atoms explode and merge, which is thoroughly rad and gets it big-time bonus points next to its contemporaries.

50. Earth 37

An Earth based on the DC works of creator Howard Chaykin, its conceit of being a world that progressed technologically far faster than our world but culturally remains decades behind us is interesting, but I’m not much of a fan of his work that I’ve read and most of what’s been drawn upon here doesn’t seem to have much of a following.

49. Earth 30

The world of Superman: Red Son, where Kal-L landed in the Ukraine and grew up to become leader of a global Soviet Union, before realizing he had deformed humanity’s development and faking his death. Leaving Earth in the hands of a Lex Luthor who while still very much a bastard found public approval in America for fighting Superman, Lex ultimately led Earth into a utopia that over time fell into complacency and became its universe’s version of Krypton, Jor-L (Luthor’s distant descendant) and Lara sending their baby back in time to survive and establishing a predestination loop. While several elements of the DC Universe are present in a limited capacity that could in theory be expanded on, Superman and Wonder Woman are the only superheroes of long-term note and both their stories are very much concluded, seemingly leaving little to do here except have the Superman with the hammer and sickle logo show up in event comics.

48. Earth 6

The world of the Just Imagine Stan Lee Created The DC Universe series, where the father of the Marvel Universe rebuilt several DC figureheads from the name and a few pieces of imagery up. The results were mixed at best, but a series of gorgeous artists involved in the projects mean the characters certainly look interesting even if it’s hard to imagine creators going back here in any meaningful capacity.

47. Earth Negative 1

A Dark Multiverse world where Superman turned on humanity for reasons unknown, and Batman deliberately infected himself with the ‘Doomsday Virus’ to gain the properties of the hulking monster and defeat his former friend. Now numbed to human emotion and vulnerability, this Batman hopes to spread the virus as to make humanity similarly indestructible, as well as shield them emotionally from what he has come to see as the false hope Superman represents. This Batman didn’t end up a major figure in the same way as The Batman Who Laughs, but the conceit is killer and I hope someone picks up on it one day.

46. Earth-52

A universe somewhere outside the local 52, a ‘remnant’ of sorts of the main DC universe circa 2011-2016 prior to cosmic revisions resulting in the current setup. A world where superheroes had emerged approximately 5 years earlier and home to lots of dudes in very dumb battle-armor, most fan-favorite stories from this era have been carried forward into the current history, and its unique version of Superman under Grant Morrison - a socialist crusader in a t-shirt and jeans who battled corrupt institutions and cosmic supervillainy in equal measure - was depicted as set loose from his world after 2016′s continuity changes as a defender of the multiverse. While a significant part of DC history both in-universe and publishing-wise, there wouldn’t seem to be all that much left here worth exploring.

45. Earth 2

A world where Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman alone represented the first wave of superheroes, they nobly fell in battle repelling an invasion of Earth by Darkseid. In time a new generation would emerge that were modernized, youthful iterations of the Justice Society of America, the superhero team predating the Justice League in DC’s publishing history. While the logline’s an interesting one and the successor to Superman Val-Zod debuted to some acclaim, for the most part this reinvention didn’t end up received well by either new or longtime fans, and a last-minute overhaul where this bunch was transplanted into a rebooted world without superheroes probably didn’t help. You still see them in crossovers and there are promising concepts, but this world seems basically dead.

44. Earth 50

When Lex Luthor ascended to the presidency and soon thereafter executed The Flash, Superman snapped, executed him, and took over the world alongside his allies as the Justice Lords, until they were ultimately overthrown by way of a parallel universe Justice League and a repentant Lord Batman. A Better World unequivocally rules, but given this is supposed to be those specific versions of the Lords rather than a new iteration, it’d be weird to see them up against any universe other than the DCAU. And, well...

43. Earth 12

The DCAU, currently world of Batman Beyond and a future Justice League. The DCAU, you may be aware, extremely rules, but is also somewhat redundant in this context - the ‘regular’ DCU already has all its core components without too much aesthetic differentiation, and there’s already frequently a Batman Beyond in the future of said universe. It has its unique attributes that make people love it, it’s cool that it’s here, but on the macro scale it’s too clean an adaptation to bring much to the table to crossovers and whatnot, and you’d never see any further stories told there otherwise as really being part of the DCU cosmic landscape so much as a comic tie-in to the TV show.

(Also it’s odd this is placed here with the Justice Lords Earth as if to go ‘it’s secretly been part of the 52 all along, you just never noticed when it only crossed over with the one other!’ when there were two other parallel universes in the DCAU.)

42. Earth 43

A nightmare world haunted by the once-heroic, now vampiric Blood League, the obvious potential would be for this world to function as DC’s equivalent to Marvel Zombies. Recently however DCeased has come to fill that position, and while this world in practice if not concept skews more closely towards that source material as the former heroes still have vestiges of their old personalities - in theory distinguishing it as its own spin worth keeping around - it’s hard to imagine most takes on ‘Justice League but monsters’ won’t come out under the DCeased banner for the foreseeable future.

41. Earth 40

A world of pulp villains made to oppose Earth 20, these guys are simple but a hoot.

40. Earth 35 aka the Pseudoverse

More analogues to analogues, this time of the Awesome Comics characters largely defined by Alan Moore in Supreme. This opens up the promising vista of ‘DC if it were designed by Alan Moore’, but in practice as demonstrated by his work with both DC and the analogues these mimic, that would just be...well, good DC comics, which you don’t need a whole extra universe for. The notion of this as a universe artificially created by Monitor ‘ideominers’ however both gives it a unique place in the multiverse, tackles its status as a pastiche in a unique way, and gets back to ideas of the power of imagination in both Supreme and Moore’s other works, so it’s likely there could be something to be done here.

39. Earth 11

A bit of a study in contradictions. This is seemingly a rather straightforward ‘gender swap’ Earth with Superwoman, Wonderous Man, and so forth. Also, its version of Star Sapphire implied it’s not subjected to constant crises in the same way as the main universe it mirrors, maintaining a greater degree of consistency in the process. At the same time however it’s mentioned that the Amazons rather than leaving Man’s World for Themyscira shared its technology and philosophy with the world, changing it forever, suggesting a far different world from what we’ve seen in glimpses here. Until it decides one way or another whether it’s a simple mirror to the regular DCU or a radically different take, it hovers in a state of uncertainty.

38. Earth-2 aka Earth Two

The original version of Earth-2, home to the DC Universe of the 1940s with aged versions of Superman and company and the original Justice Society of America. The first take on a DC universe that would progress in something resembling ‘real time’ rather than keeping the headliners as perpetual twenty-to-thirty-somethings, this was also the birthplace of heroes such as Power Girl and Huntress. I’m of the perhaps controversial opinion that this is a concept that was explored better in later takes: there’s a sense here that the largely forgotten follow-up generation eventually introduced, with the exception of the two heroes mentioned above, will never really matter in the same way as their still fully-active predecessors in spite of ostensibly taking over the family business, meaning you never quite actually get what you want here, which is to see a DC where things meaningfully change and move on - well into his middle age and his mentor’s death long behind him, Dick Grayson is still Robin. Add in the odd, ignominious demise of the original Batman and its Superman’s odd eventual fate - which slide from bizarre to intolerable if you accept the frequent implication that these are meant to be the original versions of them from the 1930s - and I can’t help but think the enjoyable high concept was never realized as well as it could be here.

37. Earth 4

The Earth of the characters of Charlton Comics who would go on to inspire Watchmen, this initially seemed like one of the most promising worlds after its debut in Pax Americana drew perhaps the most pronounced critical acclaim of any single issue in the past decade as the site for creators with something to say to work with Watchmen without actually touching that property. Now, however, Watchmen itself is in the mix: most wouldn’t reasonably go here while the material they’re truly referencing is now freely available (especially those simply wanting to draw fan attention by visibly playing with those toys, the way Earth 4 sidestepped) even though that world itself is now massively compromised past the original text, and with the ‘Watchmen Earth’ no longer an option and the characters themselves - if cleaned-up, more mainstream versions of them - existing in the DCU proper, this world’s role seems to have been largely stripped from it. I have to imagine there’s still potential here for those with the talent and commitment though.

36. Earth 44

A world where in the absence of natural superhuman beings, Doc Tornado created a Metal League of robot superheroes to protect the Earth. A promising concept definitely worth a few stories.

35. Earth 15

Once a perfect universe destroyed in a rampage by another Earth’s Superman, it was artificially reborn through the will of Countess Belzebeth - a cosmic vampire - as a copy of the Prime universe with the Green Lantern Corps replaced by Belzebeth’s despotic Blackstars, the uncertain and bitter heroes of this universe warped through the lens of Belzebeth’s perceptions of them had no chance against her forces. While its inhabitants are a bit samey what with all life having been subsumed into the diamond will of Blackstar Controller Mu, the idea of a conceptually weakened DCU being turned into an army against the rest of the multiverse makes for a terrific threat, and the prophecy of the ‘Cosmic Grail’ (a Green Lantern power battery lost somewhere in the multiverse) and that the First Lantern of the multiverse Volthoom hail from its original incarnation lend it some extra mythological weight.

34. Earth 32

A mashup world hosting the likes of the Justice Titans, Young Justice International, and the Doom Society. A world that’s home to Aquaflash will probably never have an ongoing all its own, but plenty of stories, miniseries, and even a brief line of comics have been based on mashup characters before, so there’s plenty of proof of concept for this being able to endure.

33. Earth 23

An Earth where Batman (naturally) is the only white guy on the Justice League, and Superman is not only President of the United States in his secret identity as Calvin Ellis, but the leader of the multiverse-spanning superteam Justice Incarnate. It reads like Morrison trying to do his idealized take on an ‘Ultimate DC’, a more diverse and politically engaged superhero landscape that doesn’t scale down its big ideas in turn, and if I were ranking it at the time it was introduced it would go much higher. The problem is that its version of Superman is modeled after Barack Obama, and that guy isn’t President anymore (and for that matter his legacy seems to grow more complicated by the year). As a result the vibe goes from triumphant to wistful mourning if not outright bitterly ironic, and that’s a needle that would have to be threaded before doing any substantial work here.

(Also, since several Justice Leaguers here rather than being made black are replaced with various black counterparts they’ve had over the years, that means Wonder Woman here is the 70s Amazon Nubia. And, uh, that name is something that would have to be...something.)

32. Earth 19

Steampunk superheroics; superhero period pieces are usually fun, and this is built on a foundation of pretty Mike Mignola art (though confession that I’ve never read Gotham By Gaslight), so sure, this one has potential.

31. Earth 18

Same as above but cowboys instead. This gets extra credit because cowboys mesh better with superhero conventions, and the additional twist of this world being frozen in history by the Time Trapper, forcing them to approximate modern technology with 19th century resources.

30. Earth 31

A post-apocalyptic waterworld where humanity is protected by Captain Leatherwing and assorted other pirate superheroes. Another ‘superheroes but in another genre’ setup, the post-apocalyptic, environmental twist makes it unfortunately more relevant than its peers, though I don’t think it’s quite the best end of the world as we know it on the list.

29. Earth 42

Home to the adorable, innocent world of the chibified Little League...secretly robots unwittingly enacting an endless stage play for the malevolent being known as the Empty Hand, running scenarios of his devising in preparation for a coming war with the rest of the multiverse. It’s a neat little multipurpose world, able to be played both as amusing contrast, or as parody whether light-hearted or cynical, in their endless ‘playtime’.

28. Earth 7

Formerly home to counterparts of the heroes of Earth 8, it was shattered by the Empty Hand’s forces and its desiccated cities made his throne, the zombie hordes that were once its champions his armies. The ‘Ultimate Marvel’ to Earth 8′s Marvel proper (and now Marvel Zombies), the idea of the broken remains of the cool version of the cool superhero universe as the lair of the ultimate evil has a certain appeal.

27. Earth 52

The last of the Earth 52s on this list, this newly added 53rd core Earth is home to Frank Miller’s Dark Knight books. Much as the reception to it over the years has become...mixed, at best (for my money Dark Knight III is the only one that’s not at least bad in a very interesting way, and even it still has its moments), the surprised generally positive reception to the most recent entry in Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child suggests there’s still life in this oddball corner of the cosmos yet.

(Fun fact: this was Earth 31 in a previous version of the multiverse, and Morrison intended it to be included as such in Multiversity - hence why Earth 31 is made up of inky scratches on the Map - but Miller requested he not since he wanted to keep his domain separate from DC’s ongoing storylines. Instead he agreed later to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s use of it in Dark Nights: Metal as DKR is famously Snyder’s favorite comic, bringing it in as Earth 52.)

26. Earth 47 aka Dreamworld

Where the Love Syndicate of Dreamworld dwells, baby: all is groovy. It’s incredibly specific in both era and theme, but a psychedelic universe with heroes to match invites tons of possibilities.

25. Earth 10 aka Earth X

It’s the Nazi Earth that sucks. It has superheroes who unnervingly are about as well-intentioned and effective as the standard set in the New Reischman, opposed by the few remaining dregs of the Freedom Fighters led by Uncle Sam; only their Kal-L, Overman, once Hitler’s weapon, truly understands the scope of the atrocities that led to their ‘utopia’, having grown a conscience too late and ever-aware that no feat in the present can ever redeem the oceans of blood on his hands. You can do horrifying introspective stuff with them as in their Multiversity chapter, you can tell Freedom Fighters stories like the recent miniseries, or you can just have the Justice League show up to fight the Nazi Justice League. A Nazi world is a standard one in multiverse stories for a reason, you don’t get easier targets.

24. Earth 5G

The DC universe that’s...sort of here and sort of not. Doomsday Clock and other upcoming stories appear to be shifting us over to this, but in most of DC’s line of titles the leap hasn’t taken place yet. As we haven’t seen the bench of successor heroes apparently primed to take over only so much can be judged, but the vast changes suggested by the new ‘official timeline’ that’s been leaked suggest a bizarre attempt at incorporating as many of their editorially-favored biggest hits as possible into a bizarre selective mishmash, without particularly serving the status quos any of the constituent characters said history is meant to bolster (with the exception of Wonder Woman, now framed as the first superhero, which would at least be interesting and a deserved bolster to her profile if there were any particular impression her new standing would be meaningfully followed-through on), while also not only reinstating the mutually destructive retcon of the JSA as preceding Superman, but taking the absurd extra step of actively presenting them as his inspiration. Of course we haven’t seen it in practice yet, and at the end of the day good stories will surely still be told here, but the foundations here are about as shaky as they’ve ever been for the ‘core’ DCU as a wholehearted capitulation to placing dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s over the actual narrative logistics of making a shared universe function smoothly.

23. Earth Negative Zero aka Betwixt

A world where those whose senses of self entire disintegrate fade away to seeking to feed on those still well-defined, this bears similarities to the realm of Limbo where ignored superheroes reside, but with just enough conceptual differences and a hellish, malleable twist that makes it the best thing anyone’s come up with to date to do with the Dark Multiverse.

22. Earth 48 aka Warworld

While its iconography is rooted of all things in castoff characters from Crisis On Infinite Earths and no-hopers from Countdown To Final Crisis, the actual conceit here of a world where literally everyone and everything is a superhero that operates by superhero rules, a world built by the New Gods as defenders of reality, is wide-open and tantalizing.

21. Earth 38

Another major shot at a DCU that aged in real time, this version has its own idiosyncrasies but far more of a sense of forward momentum and meaningful change, with the original Superman and Batman still leading the pack one way or another but successors to both them and the rest of the heroes truly stepping up. Also the predominant hero of the 21st century is Knightwing, the grandson of both Superman and Batman who has only partial Superman powers but also Batman training, which is just really cool.

20. Earth 3

The good ‘ol classic evil mirror universe, where strength is the only law, the forces of evil always win in the end no matter how bright the day may become, and thus the Crime Syndicate operates as it pleases. It’s never quite as interesting as you want it to be - its villains are largely one-note - but its warped societal and cosmic rules, and that each character has a handful of twists on the mythology of their counterparts rather than being an exact (if morally inverted) duplicate, means it could easily one day come to live up to its obvious potential in the right hands.

19. Earth 21

Here, most superheroes were forced into retirement after World War II by McCarthyist paranoia, but at the dawn of the 1960s the few remaining and a new generation are emboldened to step back into the light, spearheaded by the Justice League of America. DC: The New Frontier is a modern classic, with a direct standalone follow-up virtually out of the question; as it doesn’t quite lead into the world of the actual 1960s DC Comics either, its sole function in its capacity as a world in the multiverse is as a 60s ‘period piece’ Earth. Given that’s where most of the architecture of DC as we now know it was built however, that’s hardly a problem.

18. Earth 26 aka Earth C

Funny animals are fun, and in a superhero universe that means you get superhero funny animals, courtesy of Captain Carrot and his amazing Zoo Crew. What’s not to love?

17. Earth 22

While time has somewhat dimmed the acclaim that originally surrounded it, Kingdom Come and its tale of a Superman coming out of retirement alongside his allies to try and reign in an out-of-control new generation remains a landmark moment in the genre, and in many aspects still holds up. Unlike many stories of its stature this world has always played nice with the mainline universe in terms of guest appearances and crossovers, including works by the original creators Mark Waid and Alex Ross, and as the most iconic and conceptually expansive work to date set in a DC universe that has joined in the march of time, that makes it a prominent and useful one to have around.

16. The Antimatter Universe of Qward aka The Reversoverse aka the Anti-Verse

The original dark flipside of DC reality, this has occasionally also played home to the Crime Syndicate - and their best stories by far, to boot - but mainly serves as a home base to the Weaponeers of Qward and occasionally Sinestro. While largely unexplored it has a massively central place in DC’s cosmology and the birth of the multiverse, the glimpses of a society of pure evil in early Silver Age Green Lantern and JLA: Earth 2 are far more fun and interesting than anything seen in Earth 3′s history, it’s about to get even more room under Morrison to find definition, and as the ultimate mysterious Forbidden Realm of the DCU the possibilities could be essentially endless in the right hands.

15. Earth-1985 aka Earth One

The DC universe of 1956-1986, and the dragon an entire generation of creators have spent their livelihoods chasing as the ‘classic’ iteration, as evidenced by one of them flat-out confirming it still exists somewhere out there. While that makes it frequently redundant when the main DCU is trying hard to mimic its feel - a few divergent notes such as Maggin’s idiosyncratic take on latter-day Superman and its version of Jason Todd aside - the prospect of a DCU that remained in that mold forever to a greater or lesser extent even if time may have moved forward could, in principle, free the main universe to go off in wildly different directions, knowing this image of DC always exists in its own space to return to when so desired rather than actively turning the current status quo to face backwards.

14. Earth 17

The Atomic Knights of Justice quest across the radioactive landscape of Novamerika in a world decimated by nuclear was in 1963 in search of Earth 15′s Cosmic Grail, their only hope against the coming of Darkseid. A mashup of the Justice League with the protagonists of one of the most fascinatingly bizarre comics of DC’s Silver Age in the Atomic Knights, a mythic quest, and most relevantly “What if Fallout had superheroes?” leaves this feeling like it’s just waiting for its moment to shine.

13. Earth 8 aka Angor

Known across the rest of the multiverse as the protagonists of the Major movies and comics (as opposed to the sub-imprint Essential Major reflecting Earth 7), in actuality the non-actionable champions of Angor - the Retaltiators, the G-Men, the Future Family, and The Bug, among others - are as real as any other superheroes, and while they struggle under the weight of both mistrust by the general public and frequent in-fighting, they’ve thus far protected their world from threats global, universal, and multiversal alike. The Big Two having stand-ins for each other is a longstanding tradition for good reasons: it not only allows for crossovers where the legal stars don’t align (and adds an extra fun shock of recognition whenever the reader realizes what’s happening), but provides each of them an ongoing version of those archetypes to play with within the confines of their own narrative, whether as contrasts or bending them to fit the tone of a very different shared universe than they were originally created for.

12. Earth 16 aka #earthme

The world where every sidekick, super-son, successor, and short-lived ‘new generation - of HERO!’ at last seize their moment in the sun...in a world already saved by their predecessors, with little left to do but lap up lives of super-celebrity and wish for one, just one little alien invasion or immortal tyrant to justify their existences for them. The best of DC’s futuristic/what-if-time-mattered alternate Earths in my opinion, taking to its logical conclusion the notion as stated by Morrison in interviews that as the Justice League will stick around as long as there are evils that need fighting, the ever-present promise of the torch being passed could only ever truly, permanently take place in a world where the job was already redundant. Playing as it does with in-universe history, real-life publishing realities, celebrity culture, generational divides, and the question of what being a superhero even means sans the usual confrontational justifications, it’s by its nature only going to become more expansive and interesting a commentary as time goes by and the regular DCU goes through its cycles of reboots, rebirths, and returns to form.

11. Pocket Universe 54471

Exactly what you see: Superman made a little pocket universe a half mile wide to go fishing in and he was gonna take Bruce and Dick there for the former’s bachelor party, and he knows about and/or created at least 54470 others. It’s absolutely delightful not only in its own right, but as an opening of the door to what the multiverse can mean in DC comics as a sci-fi idea generator beyond riffs on existing properties, while still being presented with a distinctly DC sense of playfulness.

10. Earth 45 aka Earth 45™

The origin of one of the best Superman villains of all time in Superdoomsday - the Superman idea in a world without him brought to life but twisted by committee into a murderous living brand - a horrifying corporatocracy standing for all Superman and company are meant to stand against, and an enduring threat with the world still in shackles and those in power still able to dream to life whatever vision they please of absolute power to be wielded in their name.

9. Earth 36 aka Terra

Justice 9, the defenders of Terra - or I suppose Justice 7 now after the losses of Optiman and Red Racer, though how long does that matter in a superhero universe? - is the most interesting of the direct analogue groups for my money. Technically speaking they’re another twice-removed set like 34 and 35, standing in for the heroes of Big Bang Comics, but given my understanding is that there’s no major “Like the DC heroes, BUT” twist in that book the way Astro City and Supreme have other than a retro ‘good old days’ bent (which definitely isn’t the case here with at least two queer members), Justice 9 basically function as direct analogues for the Justice League...in the same comics as the Justice League. To me, that’s actually fascinating: one of the most useful elements of stand-in characters like this is the ability to tap into the iconic power of archetypes without the familiarity surrounding the actual figures, in the way Planetary for instance uses just enough distance from the source material to make a couple dozen decades-old pop culture touchstones feel completely new, and this implements that approach to the material to the DC characters with heroes who can actually themselves team up with DC proper. As many approaches as could be taken with that though, that potential alone probably wouldn’t be enough to shoot it this high up the list if not for a major additional factor: in the same way that in the old-school DC universe the heroes of Earth-1 had comics reflecting the adventures of the heroes of Earth-2 long before learning they were real in another universe, DC Comics are published on Earth 36. Aside from the neat trick of putting our leads in the same position as the Golden Age heroes, it means Justice 9 grew up with the Justice League as their heroes in the same way as us the audience before becoming heroes themselves, and then they grew up to learn they were real. These folks absolutely deserve to become multiverse standbys.

8. Earth 51

The Earth where all Jack Kirby’s ideas live as a single cohesive world and adventure. No further justification is needed.

7. Earth 13

A world of occult danger where DC’s traditionally superheroic magical figures such as Zatanna and Deadman are given the full Vertigo horror treatment, while the more intimidating and morally dubious figures such as Etrigan and John Constantine get logos and codenames. Not only an expansion but an offputting inversion of one of DC’s most acclaimed corners, this oddball bunch could bounce off of the capes and tights crowd as easily as your Shadowpacts and Justice League Darks, in ways no other team from any corner of the multiverse could.

6. Earth 20

Pulp champions of a 21st century that remains aesthetically moored in the early 20th, of the handful of Earths converting DC standbys into different genre territory in the local 52 the homeworld of the Society of Superheroes hits hardest, given the role the likes of Doc Savage and The Shadow played in that time shaping the conventions of superheroes as we know them. Add the wealth of concepts presented in their oneshot and the decision to hew away from the traditional Justice League riffs of parallel Earths, and of all the truly new worlds introduced in Multiversity, Earth 20 is the one that most feels like it could support an ongoing all its own.

5. Earth 29 aka Htrae

You gotta have Bizarro World. You just gotta.

4. Earth 33 aka Earth Prime

The in-universe representation of our very own pale blue dot. Whether it’s the birthplace of Superboy Prime where assorted DC creators had to deal with a visiting Flash and Superman throughout the 60s and 70s, meta games with the various incarnations of Ultra/Ultraa, a looming threat yet also victim in need of rescue through the eyes of Justice Incarnate, or the unwitting home of the ‘Superman’ or ‘Batman’ of Kurt Busiek’s off-center takes on the characters in Secret Identity and Creature of the Night, over the years DC has shown a decent amount of restraint in not going back to this particular well too often unless someone has a really clever tale to tell, and as a result it has maybe the single best batting average of all the ‘parallel Earths’ that have been regularly returned to by DC over the years. Give yourselves a hand, folks!

3. Earth 5 aka Thunderworld

Home not to ‘Shazam’, but Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family in all their glory, a technicolor world playing by the rules set down by Otto Binder and company where a superhero can literally battle planets and the most dangerous villain of all may be a very, very mean worm with glasses, a place of dream logic and childish innocence even by the standards of superhero comics. Captain Marvel at his best is one of DC’s most iconically potent players yet many seem to agree that much of his woes in recent years have come down to trying to find a unique space for him in the DCU proper. While I don’t know that it’s at all impossible to make that work, it’s certainly true that Marvel as he was originally presented doesn’t quite make sense in that world, whereas back in his own he keeps a flavor entirely unique to himself and his partners, whether for solo adventures or teamups with the heroes of the other worlds, playing it straight or examining some of the unsettling implications established by Thunderworld or finding a new way to make it work. Much like Bizarro World, it’s simply a locale the place doesn’t quite feel whole without.

2. Earth 25 (?)

While I’m a bit dubious on it definitely being Earth 25 in the core 52 based on interpretation of an offhanded line from Mr. Terrific (it has a multiverse all its own!), the fact of the matter is that America’s Best Comics came roaring out of the gate as proof of its own title, and basically didn’t stop until it ended. A couple after-the-fact Tom Strong miniseries (containing perhaps the most singularly cowardly hack move in the history of shared universe comics in undoing the end of Promethea) can’t detract from the core ABC lineup being made up of some of the most singularly clever, gorgeous, and heartfelt superhero titles to hit the stands, pretty much the platonic ideal of what you want books like these to look like. If this universe can hang around in any capacity at all until someone god willing picks them up again in a big way, it’s a win in my book.

1. Earth 0 aka Prime Earth

The extant version of the main DCU for at least a little longer, it really does feel like more than just about any version before it - at least for my money - they finally got all their ducks in a row, albeit right before blowing everything to hell. Most of the stories you really want to still have some sort of weight for the major characters are still in play to be built on, and most of the stories that clearly needed to be dropped are dropped. The cosmology’s fleshed out and expanding, the big names mostly work as they should ideally work while still heading into new territory, the JSA is mysteriously somehow around in the past without interfering with the primacy of Superman and the Justice League as the first known superheroes (a mystery that will never be resolved now due to the current reboot; damn shame) and the Legion of Superheroes have a new coat of paint, and there’s room for stories cosmically massive and intimately personal and utterly bizarre throughout the line rather than there being a single overriding idea of what these books should be. It may not be the perfect DC Universe by any means, but it’s a real, real damn good one, and of course without that thing, none of the rest of these universes would have been there in the first place.

#DC Comics #Multiversity #Opinion

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askaceattorney · 4 years

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Dear kuromajinevil,

Co-Mod: Thanks for letting us know. I’ve changed the response to indicate that. I’m still a little freaked out by them, but I like the art style.

(Previous Post)

Dear Inferno,

Co-Mod: You set me up! You set me up!!! The Cheat, tell him that he set us up.

(Previous Letter)

Dear Anonymous,

Co-Mod: Thank you for explaining. Even without having those stories for context, I find it somewhat believable that Ga’ran could have a hidden interest in something like the Mighty Moozilla.

Dear angry-blonde-ish,

Co-Mod: Thanks a bunch!

In return, I’d like to remind you (and everyone else following us) that it’s all of you who make it possible with your letters. And compliments like this one, of course.

Dear Anonymous,

Co-Mod: I try to keep it T-rated, as indicated in our submission guidelines. Like in the games, there’s the occasional bit of language, innuendo, or mild violence, but apart from that, I try to keep it clean. If it ever seems like we’re taking it too far, please let us know.

Mod Kristoph: Exactly. We’re not DD. We’re clean...ish.

Mod Paups: I feel we do a good job mantaining stuff T-rated! but yeah, do let us know if something is too much.

Dear Tony,

Co-Mod: I try my best to answer questions like that as carefully as possible, especially if they’re about heavy topics that I’m unfamiliar with (i.e. mental illness, family issues, etc.). If you feel like asking one of the characters for life advice, please feel free, but bear in mind that we aren’t professional counselors or therapists, so our answers aren’t guaranteed to provide the best advice.

Occasionally, I run across a letter I feel is either too personal or too complicated for me to give an answer to, so I play it safe and delete it. We’re here to have fun, after all.

Mod Paups: I’ve answered a few that have been quite personal, and I try to not only put myself completely into the character, but I also do my best to be understanding and caring, I get what Co-Mod is saying but I feel some people may try to cope with heavy stuff with characters they admire, so that’s why I domy best to answer them with care <3.

(Previous Letter)

Dear Spoil R. Warning,

Co-Mod: Thanks! I’m not sure why I didn’t do so in the first place.

Mod Paups: It’s ok, sometimes it flies by, but thank you for letting us know!

Dear ajanisapprentice,

Co-Mod: I think you might have, but I had to delete all but those three, since that’s one of my rules.

I don’t see a letter to the judge about Operation Turnabout, so feel free to send that one again if you really want an answer from His Honor.

Dear Inferno again,

Co-Mod: Absolutely! Much as I’d hate to see Athena (or any good-hearted lawyer) suffer abuse, I’m as eager as a human being can get to see her get her own piece of the Ace Attorney pie (heck, I’ll even settle for one game with her as the central character at this point). If Phoenix and Apollo can take on one civil and two abusive prosecutors each, then why not her? Huh? Why not, Capcom?

Mod Paups: I feel that in comparision to Nick and Apollo, Athena is much more hot-headed and might actually retaliate...

Dear Andrea,

Co-Mod: Possibly, but I think it might instead be the new “Franziska’s sick of cats,” if anyone still remembers that trend.

Dear Anonymous,

Co-Mod: That sounds fairly accurate, but let’s not forget that even Phoenix isn’t a perfect paragon of morality. He’s a nice guy overall, but he’s been known to play “hook or crook” on occasion.

I'm not read up on the Green Lantern, so I can’t really say if he or any of the other characters would be worthy of the ring, but it just so happens there are some letters on that subject in the queue, so perhaps we’ll see.

Mod Kristoph: If anyone else would be worthy to join the Green Lantern Corp., it would definitely be Dhurke. I mean his motto is “A Dragon never yields.” If that’s not a strong will, I don’t know what is.

Dear Christianthepupbot,

Co-Mod: It hasn’t so far, but that’s mostly because I answer the vast majority of the letters. They can always be rewritten whenever inconsistencies or other issues pop up, thankfully.

Mod Paups: It has happened that we’ve accidentally answered the same ask, but we delete it as soon as we realize it, overall we try to organize things well.

(Previous Letter)

Dear Anthony,

Co-Mod: I was just being silly before, but thanks for keeping our nerves in mind. I hope none of the spiders you had to deal with were that big. *shudder*

And once again, thank you (meaning you and every other submitter) for your letters!

-The Mods

#kuromajinevil #ajanisapprentice #Anonymous #angry blonde ish #Tony #a1tam0nt #rootingforthevillains #Christianthepupbot #iamnotthensa #Mod Post #Co Mod #Mod Kristoph #Mod Paups

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dorizardthewizard · 5 years

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Misconception: Hal Jordan is an idiot

Okay this might be part of a series of Green Lantern posts I’ve been writing when bored, because hey you read some youtube comments and suddenly you’re an essay writer. It’s just gonna be me rambling about Hal’s character lol

So we’ve all made dumbass jokes, me included, but honestly? Hal’s not stupid, he can’t be. It takes a lot to be a test pilot, including a degree in the engineering/physics field, and most likely military service. He wouldn’t have gotten as far as he did if he wasn’t smart enough.

It might not always seem that way though, but that’s because he excels in thinking on the fly, which is so important when you’re dealing with intergalactic crises springing up every Tuesday. He’s the guy who will jump right into danger and trust that he can get himself out afterwards. We’ve seen him think his way out of tricky situations before, even if in his own crazy style like jumping out of a plane to recharge his ring from the head of a Manhunter. In some circles he’s kind of gotten the reputation of being the lame one in the Justice League, which can’t possibly be true when he has a ton of amazing feats to him like defeating Sinestro multiple times, killing Krona despite the fact that a GL ring shouldn’t be able to kill a Guardian, controlling the death entity Nekron to defeat the reality-bending First Lantern, making a ring out of his own willpower… etc.

So if he isn’t actually an idiot, where did this reputation come from? The ring chooses according to willpower and technically, not being bright shouldn’t make anyone less worthy, but this trait has kind of been blown up over the years to the point where some people are getting “dumbass energy” mixed with “actual dumbass”. Going back to the silver age, Hal definitely had a clumsy streak – we’ve all laughed at the panels like him slipping over in the shower and knocking himself out. It was pretty endearing though, watching this walking disaster still manage to save the day.

I feel like some of that was lost in later comics as he grew up, and when Johns brought him back even later, he was more like the cool, cocky pilot type (although still a disaster in other areas lol). The thing is, because of his nature of jumping into danger it sometimes seems like he really can’t think for himself, but that’s not the case. It’s just his style to go in guns blazing, shining bright and attracting all the attention away from whoever’s he’s saving and onto him. It’s true that it doesn’t always work out as well as he hopes, and that makes for some fun stories, but other times his quick instincts are lifesaving.

It wasn’t until the New 52 where this really got blown up though – while the GL comics continued mostly the same as before, other characters got rebooted so we got a whole new Justice League dynamic. A lot of people unfamiliar with GL know his New 52 version through the animated movies, and booooy…. this guy is basically Guy Gardner but less lovable, more insufferable and way less competent.

Of course this isn’t just limited to him, a lot of the Justice League members seem to be caricatures of themselves in this movie but I feel like he’s gotten it the worst. The Batman Syndrome doesn’t help either, where everyone’s dumbed down and nerfed to make him look like the biggest BAMF on the League. You have a guy who literally works with aliens everyday but of course only Batman’s tech can identify an alien device as a bomb! There’s also the ring-stealing gimmick, which is stupid because a Green Lantern is always bound to their ring through concentration – to remove it they literally have to disengage their minds from it first. I don’t know, maybe there’s a retcon or something but it’s still dumb. He even does this to John Stewart in JL Dark – that’s crossing the line :’P

Of course you could say JL War was early days and he hadn’t been a GL that long, but it doesn’t get much better in the other films and it’s no excuse for crossing into annoying asshole territory. It’s a difficult balance to strike and boy can you tell when a writer only has surface-level knowledge of his character...

Yikes. Sure he can be a cocky flirt – so was Han Solo – but he was actually likable!!

Sadly this trend of making Hal more and more of a comic relief man-child outside of comics continues, you’ve got kids watching him in DC Superhero Girls thinking that’s the definitive take on him, and we’re not getting a new GL movie any time soon to really delve into the character, whether animated or live action. Thankfully the animated series portrays him in a more positive light (although maybe they went a bit too far in flattening out his flaws, but that’s a post for another time) but that got cancelled so :/ Again I’m not well-versed in New 52 and Rebirth comics outside of GL yet but I have seen snippets of Justice League comics where it seems like he’s grown more into his old self, my favourite being his Darkseid War tie-in, which I really hope to see animated someday. Speaking of movies, the 2011 one certainly didn’t do him any favours – I actually think Reynolds did okay as Hal but when people look back on it, all they see is the Deadpool guy.

Anyway this is kind of going off on a tangent but still, it’s sad seeing so many comments joking about him being dumb and incompetent and that they should have used another lantern instead (I agree we need more of the other lanterns but not because Hal sucks), just because bad writing made him a caricature of his worst traits. When this happens to characters like Batman, tons of fans complain and come to his defence by calling out the writing, yet for Hal many just assume this is how he always is. In a world where Aquaman is actually getting some love, I really hope we can get a good adaptation for Hal soon.

TLDR;

Me: Oh Hal you dumbass

Someone: Ikr he’s such an idiot and a jerk I hate him

Me:

Me: What the fuck did you just say

#dc #green lantern #hal jordan #justice league #justice league war #dcau #dc comics #if anyone wants to add anything or whatever feel free!#always up for some gl discussion lol #my posts

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bcoolreviews-blog · 6 years

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The Death of Superman Review

*Spoilers Ahead (seriously).

There are a few things that need to be said about DC Comics' "The Death of Superman":

1: The writers from the DC Animated Universe should write the films for the DCEU (Extended Universe) exclusively. 2. This film serves as a heartfelt apology to the fans for the pile of Doomsdoody the was Batman V. Superman. 3. This movie is close to perfect.

The word "perfect" should not be used lightly, but this is a film worthy of that praise. Helmed by comic book author extraordinaire, Peter Tomasi, and directed by Jake Castorena with Sam Liu; The Death of Superman delivers an action-packed, knuckle-dragging, brawl for the fans. Even the IMDB page for the film has this very apt plot description, "Superman battles against an insurmountable foe named Doomsday." That's all it is. The movie is a battle, a fight, it's Hagler Vs Hearns. It is what the fans deserve! Why can't the feature films get this right? "TDOS" even shows the DCEU how to properly introduce other characters in a way that actually makes you want to see their solo films. Having the Doomsday asteroid land in Aquaman's turf serves as the perfect McGuffin, providing a legitimate reason for the Atlantean and therefore the Justice League to become involved in the storyline. The quick-witted banter of The Flash is a perfect characterization. The movie also shows just how much damage a speedster can inflict in battle. His round with Doomsday was an incredible feat of animation that will have you screaming in excitement. This scene also doubles to exhibit the nature of Doomsday's abilities in a brilliant manner, without using an ounce of exposition. Again, Kudos to Mr. Tomasi. Each character faces off with the film's foe and uses the height of their abilities. Hawkman tees off on Doomsday's jaw. The Green Lantern uses the full extent of his corps ring. But much how Doomsday breaks Hal Jordan's will; He literally breaks the other leaguers. Cyborg is torn apart. Wonder Woman although, valiant in her effort gets beat down. The Martian Manhunter is of no use, and somehow Batman comes out the least scathed. This would be one of the only points of contention in the film, as it seems that a villain so powerful, who mindlessly kills anything in its path (including bears) would've turned the Dark Knight into a dark smear on the pavement. Aside from this one gaffe, the Doomsday/Justice League rumble provides each character the opportunity to shine...which would have been a perfect way to set up spinoff films in the DCEU. The non-powered cast shines on screen as well. The storyline balances out the hopes, aspirations, and characterizations of anyone who gets screen time. We meet Cat Grant, Bibbo Bibbowski, John Henry Irons (voiced by Black Lightning's Cress Williams), Jimmy Olsen and others. The people of Metropolis grounds the story, in reality, providing stakes worth fighting for. Tomasi even uses astronaut, Hank Henshaw to present a philosophical point that the DCEU films alluded to, but managed poorly. A figure as powerful as Superman would definitely be regarded as an omnipotent God by some here on Earth. Supes failure to save Henshaw also sets up his motivation for his appearance in the 2019 follow-up film, "Reign of the Supermen". The "Superman is Jesus" motif also pays off in the final scene of the film. Although and appropriately not the main villain, Lex Luthor shines in this movie as well. His screen time is brief, but every moment counts to show his true character. He is always the smartest man in the room. He always has an ulterior motive. Lex, is callous and he hates Superman. There are no quirks, no maniacal laughs and no gimmicks *ahem Batman V Superman. It is also hard to fumble the characterization of the intrepid reporter, Lois Lane, and the movie does a great job of delving deeper into Lois & Clark's romance. The relationship issues that plague the average man also bothers Clark and these issues double as a plot device which reiterates his human desire to belong. At the same time, Lois can serve as a weak link (in Clark's life and the film itself). The gaping hole in any Superman story is that despite having the exact height, build and facial features...no one, including an award-winning investigative reporter, can tell that Clark and Superman are one in the same. (Lois also should have been obliterated in the shockwave that ends the fight, due to her proximity to Doomsday alone) These are just petty gripes in an otherwise absolutely perfect film. 2007's animated Superman: Doomsday tried, but that film is more like Marvel's first Spiderman movie in comparison to Spiderman: Homecoming. The 2018 Death of Superman is definitive. The events in this film should be added to DC Comic's canon. The DCEU should only make live action adaptions of the animated films from now on. This film receives 5/5 cool points.

*Stick around for the mid-credits scene(s). *For Extra Credit watch Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox and Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay

#DC Comics #dc animated universe #The Death of Superman #Review #bCool Reviews

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unpretty · 7 years

Note

I'm going through a real rough patch and if you want to write something cheerful you have no idea how grateful I'd be.

Flash sidled up to Superman on one of the Watchtower's mezzanines, leaning against a rail. They looked at each other sidelong, then away. "Wanna hear my new time?" Flash asked sideways, swaying as he alternated which foot held his weight, hands on his hips. "There's no way you beat my time," Superman muttered, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were in the other direction, and both men went silent as the Lanterns walked too close. Superman and Flash gave them a nod of acknowledgment, then waited for them to be at a safe distance."Nine seconds.""What!" Superman dropped his arms, whipped his head around to where Flash was grinning and bouncing on his heels. "No way.""*Flat*," Flash said."There's no way.""Check my heartbeat if you don't believe me," Flash said, tapping his insignia with his thumb. Then he frowned. "Actually, don't, I'm pretty excited about this so my pulse is probably crazy."His heart always sounded like an angry hummingbird trapped between his lungs, but Barry was also a notoriously terrible liar, so it wasn't as relevant as it could have been."*Dangit*," Superman said, crossing his arms again. He leaned back to scope out the area around them. No one seemed to be paying them much mind. "What time?""Eleven on a Saturday," Flash said, looking even more smug. "You know I don't mess around.""Tch!" Superman made an irritated sound, licking his canines. Then he snapped his fingers. "You forgot about–""Nnnope," Flash interrupted. "I'm including the new ones in that, that's the whole reason we had to reset our times, otherwise I'd still be at seven-point-four.""*Tch*." Superman drummed his fingers against his bicep. "*Nine seconds*," he repeated, torn between irritation and awe."You know what *that* means," Flash said, waggling his eyebrows.Superman sighed. "Alright, where are we going?""I want soup.""Uh-huh." Superman waited. Flash was waiting for him to ask. Superman was not going to give him the satisfaction."... in Saigon.""You've been watching Bourdain again," Superman accused."It looked like really good soup!" Flash said, defensive."Fine," Superman said, "but I *am* going to beat your time, and when I do–""Beat what, now?" Wonder Woman asked, having managed to approach them while they were distracted by negotiations."Nothing!" Flash and Superman said at once."We were just talking," Superman said."About stuff," Flash added unnecessarily. "Private, personal, man stuff."Wonder Woman's eyebrows shot up. She was close enough for her lariat to hum on her hip. She looked Flash over. Flash started to turn red. "Okay bye!" Flash said, and he was gone in a streak of red."Superman?" Wonder Woman asked."I should, uh. Hal..."He wasn't actually making any definitive statements, just stringing words together, and yet somehow it still managed to ring false. She watched him go, putting her hands on her hips.She could practically sense it when Batman came up beside her, even quiet as he was."Do you want to know what they were talking about.""Do you know?" she wondered. He said nothing, so she turned to look at his face. It was as expressionless as ever, but she got the impression that he did not consider the question worthy of dignifying with a response.He was Batman. He would never be so rude as to say 'of course' – but *of course* he knew."I wouldn't want to invade his privacy," Wonder Woman said cautiously."He'd tell you if you really asked," Batman said. "They just like feeling like they have a special thing.""Oh.""Flash, especially.""I see." She tapped on her lower lip as she watched Superman talk to one of the Green Lanterns. "So what's the special thing?""Pick me up in the plane on Saturday and I can show you."She froze. Slowly, she turned to look at him. As always, being able to see him helped not at all. "Like a *date*?" she asked.The corner of his mouth twitched. "More like a stakeout.""That could be like a date." She was mostly saying it to tease him. Sometimes if she did it right, he turned pink and had to find a shadow to hide in."It's usually not.""Why not?""I'm usually with the kids.""Oh!" Her eyes widened. "I didn't mean–""It's fine."She put her hand out to rest on his shoulder. "I would *never* imply–""I know."She took her hand back. "I'll behave," she assured him."You don't have to," he said, and she grinned."I'll pick you up at ten," she said, and she gave him an exaggerated wink as she walked away."It's a date," he murmured.***"*Why*," Wonder Woman asked, "are we in *Florida*?"Batman was sitting beside her, and the plane was in a low hover. "Because as far as anyone can tell, this is the single biggest and busiest Walmart in the world.""I don't think that explains as much as you think it does," she said.Batman held up a phone. A clock took up most of the screen. 10:59. "Watch," he said, and he pointed out to the parking lot, vast and terrifying and teeming with people. She watched, and she had no idea how she was supposed to see anything in the crowd.Finally, she spotted it. The motion too quick to be anything mortal. Would anyone on the ground notice anything more than a strong breeze?"Oh! It's the–" She snapped her fingers, couldn't remember the word."Carts," Batman supplied."Yes!"In almost no time at all, every cart in the parking lot had been returned to one of the designated corrals. Batman pointed to something that he must have been using technology in his mask to see, because otherwise his eyes should not have been good enough. Wonder Woman was much better equipped to see Superman, standing beneath a tree and checking a stopwatch and scowling. He did some kind of motion with his arms and one leg that suggested he'd have thrown his hat to the ground, if he'd been wearing one."They introduced new carts," Batman explained. "They don't fit with the other ones, so it slows them down. Ruined their whole system.""They had a *system?*" she asked, giggling."No, here," he said, tapping her arm to point again. "This is the best part. He's frustrated.""*That's* the best part?""Watch what he does."She watched. Superman was gone again, more impossible-to-follow motion through the crowd. Things were moving. Large things."He's fixing the cars!" she said, clapping her hands together."He's fixing bad parking jobs," Batman confirmed. "Because he's mad." There was a brief crooked curve to his mouth."He moved that one to a different space!""Illegally parked in a handicapped spot.""How *fun*." Wonder Woman watched the people wandering through the lot, wondered how many of them had noticed what was happening and how many had disregarded it as nothing worth noticing. "Flash is the winner of this contest, then?""Consistently.""Is there a prize?""Clark buys him lunch. Usually somewhere he saw on a food show, since he can't normally do that.""Why not?""Hm?""Barry can run anywhere, can't he?" she asked. "I see no reason he couldn't run to these places on his own.""He doesn't like being alone in foreign countries," Batman explained. "It makes him anxious.""Oh." She returned her gaze to the parking lot. "How nice, then, that it all works out." She frowned. "Is this weird?" she asked. "Spying on our friends like this.""I don't think I'm the right person to ask.""Do you do this often?" she wondered. "Watch people have fun without you?""Define 'often'."Wonder Woman held up a finger in warning. "Zatanna taught me a trick.""That doesn't sound good.""She says that if you ask me to define the parameters, it means the answer is bad."Before he could respond, there was a thump.Superman was standing on the nose of the invisible jet.He tapped a knuckle on the glass, until Diana opened the hatch. "Hello!" she said cheerfully."What are you two doing here?" Clark asked."We're on a date!" Diana said."We're not on a date," Batman said."If you're not on a date, can you give me a ride?""You're out of our way," Batman said."Nah, just drop me off in Gotham," Clark said, slipping inside the plane, awkwardly floating between the two front seats into the back."You don't even need a ride," Bruce said, having to fit himself as far as possible into the edge of his seat so that Clark would have room to get by. "You can fly.""Yeah, and you can walk, but I don't see you giving up the Batmobile." Clark made himself comfortable in the back seat as Diana closed up the plane. "I'm craving Dimitri's.""You're too sober for Dimitri's," Bruce said."I'm always sober. You're lucky I can tell this wasn't a real date, or I would be really creeped out by the whole *spying on me* thing.""Don't tell Barry we know about your special thing," Diana said, pulling the plane out of its hover to ascend. "I don't want to ruin it for him.""I won't," Clark assured her. "Hey, you know where we should go while we're here?""No," said Bruce."Where?" asked Diana."No," said Bruce."Disney World!""No."Diana gasped."No."Clark put a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "You can't have come all the way to Florida just to see me," he coaxed."I'm banned from Walmart, strongly discouraged from visiting Disney parks, and my parents are dead. I *have* no other reason to visit Florida."

#Anonymous #original #fanfic #sorrowful and immaculate hearts #greatest hits

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mousathe14 · 7 years

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TumblrFrostbite: Which black DC character do you see becoming worthy enough to be a Green Lantern?

Well let’s see... I suppose it depends on how one perceives what makes one worth of being a Green Lantern. Their thing seems to be “Willpower” but by that token almost every superhero under the sun counts.

Of course I prefer not to take the GL Corp as Willpower because that’s a stupid idea and pretty much makes it unreconcilable with the “emotional spectrum” stuff they’ve done which I find legt interesting

The primary off-shoot of the GL Corps is the Sinestro Corps, the lanterns that embody fear, and that seems to be anathema to the GL Corps. Which is why I reinterpret the Green Corps to be about the concept of “Courage”.

Partly because this makes more sense and partly because I watched and loved “GaoGaiGar”, a mecha anime where the green energy stones that powered the stuff the good guys used was fueled by Courage and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. And while Courage is a primary trait of most superheroes, the thing about the rings seems to be about a defining trait of some manner.

So of the Black DC characters i have some or more familiarty with we have

John Stewart (Who is already worthy as a GL)

Cyborg (Going by the Teen Titans cartoon)

Aqualad (Kaldur'ahm) from the Young Justice Cartoon

Mr. Terrific

Black Lightning

Vixen

Amanda Waller

Steel

Bumblebee (TT and YJ)

Mal Duncan (Herald/Vox in the comics and TT cartoon but i know him as the Guardian from YJ)

If we include Milestone

Static

Icon

Rocket

Hardware

I wonder if I know more black Marvel characters... Oh well that’s neither here nor there.

Also, I know so little about Vixen and get so little impression from trying to look her up that there’s no point in me trying.

Anyhow, I think on general principle ALL These characters are worthy of being Green Lanterns. However, if we want to to analyze whose primary defining feature is Courage then that’s a different story.

I think under that criteria and the characters I know the most about, Mal from YJ is definitely a GL. Aqualad I think under the WIllpower banner qualifies as a GL. Bumblebee for what I know of her from TT and YJ seems like could be fueled by courage. Rocket is definitely worthy as a GL, no question.

Static is obviously worthy as a GL but I think is more motivated by Compassion and/or Love.

Icon by his very name and nature is all about Hope or at least trying to bring it.

Steel and Black Lightning are Hope obviously. One inspired to bring to the world what Superman did after Superman died and one trying to bring to life the slum that was his old neighborhood and also he’s a teacher.

Amanda Waller has in her and has invoked much Fear

Cyborg from the TT cartoon is pretty much motivated by his zest for life. While he has much will and courage, I can think of no one better to be fueled by Love.

I’ve read Hardware, he is so obviously Rage.

Mr. Terrific is a little hard to read, but his fairplay motivation makes him seem like his thing is Compassion but I’m not entirely sure what impression I’d actually get of him if I read more of his stuff or paid closer attention to him in JLU.

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mysteriousooze · 7 years

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Emotional Ectomagnetic Spectrum

Headcanon: the Lantern Corps and ghosts gain power from the same source.

(Scroll to Vlad’s pic for DP content, or past all of the pics for fic content.)

In the DC Universe, there are seven different Lantern Corps. Members use their lanterns to charge their power rings – but where do the lanterns get power?

Emotions. Every sentient being in the universe bleeds emotion, creating an energy field to which the lanterns are connected. Each Corps draws power from a different emotion. (Yeah, it’s hokey. Whatever. That’s canon.)

Who else gains power from emotions?

Ghosts – if you subscribe to a certain headcanon, anyway. Not like Spectra rejuvenating herself; the theory goes that ghosts haunt humans in order to feed on their yummy emotions, thus growing more powerful. And halfas cannibalize their feelings, giving them an internal power source.

If accept those both as true, then it isn’t a stretch to assume ghosts and lanterns tap into the same “emotional electromagnetic spectrum” for energy. Furthermore, I propose that the color of a ghost’s ectoplasm indicates which emotion they draw from the spectrum.

Another DP headcanon: ghosts recharge within the Ghost Zone. It makes sense, if you accept that ghosts need emotional sustenance. The Zone is where they spend most of their time. Of course, this means that the GZ (or ectoplasm in general) is/contains a source of emotional energy.

I submit that the “energy field” the lanterns draw from is the Ghost Zone.

DP canon:

Doors in the GZ can lead to pocket dimensions (like the boy in front of the static TV, you know the one.)

The GZ is a mirror dimension to the “real world,” so close that natural portals open everywhere. If the GZ is destroyed, then so is Earth.

Presumably, the GZ extends beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. A sister dimension brimming with energy, spanning the universe.

(A metaphor: the “real world” is an assembled puzzle, while the GZ is all of the pieces loose in the box. They align, but not symmetrically. If a piece of the GZ were destroyed, the corresponding piece of the assembled puzzle would be destroyed as well, but not the whole dang puzzle/universe.)

DC canon:

Corps members keep their lanterns in pocket dimensions accessible from a secret location.

This indicates that A) Lanterns are able to reach other dimensions, if very nearby ones, and B) that the location of the pocket dimension is static, relative to the rotation of the planet.

This correlates with DP canon, wherein the Ghost Portal never leads elsewhere as the Earth orbits. The lanterns would also be capable of drawing energy from the GZ.

In conclusion, this all fits together pretty damn well, imo.

But let’s get back to the ghosts.

DC canon: an emotion’s placement on the spectrum indicates how much influence it holds over the wielder. Green, in the middle, is the most stable, but can only be controlled by those of great willpower. We’re starting on the end of the spectrum, however.

Those who are capable of great love, who have lost their loves, or been rejected are capable of wielding the violet light.

Vlad’s motivation is all about love! He yearns for it, would plot and manipulate and kill for it; he feels scorned and deprived of what he deserves. He’s spent his life becoming his idea of the perfect man, all for the sake of love.

Being on the far end of the spectrum, the violet light drives the Star Sapphires to violence through their love. I’m not saying that Vlad isn’t responsible for his own actions; he definitely is. However, I think it’s indicative that he naturally bears the toxic love of the Star Sapphires.

The Star Sapphires are mostly comprised of scorned women. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that Desiree uses the love that betrayed and harmed her to smite revenge upon the living.

Another common trait among the Sapphires is hatred of men – an outdated canon, imo, but it certainly rings true for this ghost.

The Indigo Tribe is a very special Corps, not only for the fact that most of their members are literal slaves to their rings – as it is said people can be slaves to their compassion. The users of this light are capable of absorbing and utilizing the lights of other Corps as they would their own.

Similarly, Ember’s guitar can emit different colors of ectoplasmic attacks, depending on its setting. (I consider Ember’s guitar as intrinsic as Johnny’s shadow.) The theme of being enslaved by a single, overwhelming emotion fits with Ember’s siren-like ability, as well.

(Disclaimer: I’m not considering her blue hair for the same reason I’m not considering Plasmius’ red eyes. Those are more from their self-perception than the energy they draw from, imo.)

Blue power rings choose those capable of giving hope for the future to others when they have lost theirs.

Even in the depths of a frozen wasteland, Frostbite leads his people with palpable optimism. They’ve achieved science, art, and philosophy worthy of any sci-fi utopia. Their warrior culture is jovial, meant for recreation rather than conflict. He certainly gave hope to Danny.

I never said that ghosts could only use one color, did I?

Danny gained the ability to use blue ectoplasm later in his character development. After he learned to base his self-worth on himself, rather than on others’ opinions; after he wins more fights than he loses; after he gets a handle on his grades. He’s in a more positive place in his life. Most of Amity Park accepts him as a hero, and he’s even on their sign as their town hero. He’s become a symbol of hope.

Now, at this point one might say, “But Amelia, they’re blue because of ice powers.” to which I say, “bullshit.” Ice has no color, and neither does water. They reflect the sky, granting a blue appearance. IMO, their ice powers are illuminated from within by blue ectoplasm.

If you’re still not convinced, here’s another example:

Looks familiar. Pandora ain’t using ice powers; that’s blue ectoplasm. Considering she crafted a box to contain the world’s worst evils in order to make it a better place, I think she qualifies as one who brings hope.

Those of an indomitable will that can overcome great fear are capable of wielding the green light.

This kid was hunted by his parents, his government, terrifying other-dimensional ghosts, and a rich, old man smarter and stronger than himself. His own body didn’t obey him, or even the laws of physics – and that’s not even mentioning the normal perils of puberty! Bullies targeted him; teachers were biased against him; his grades, and all control over his life, were slipping.

Fear dogged his footsteps, but rather than hide, run away, or even keep his head down to make things easier on himself, he chose to fight. It would have been easy to say ‘my parents’ portal, my parents’ problem.’ He tackled his obstacles one day at a time, relentlessly putting the safety of others before his own, and relied on his friends to help him through – even if that just meant goofing off to destress.

That took serious determination – or, shall I say, willpower.

Disclaimer: green is the natural color of ectoplasm. I am not suggesting that the murky depths of the GZ are aglow with the universe’s supply of bullheadedness. Nor do I believe that the Fright Knight’s ectoplasm-empowered/enchanted sword is made of stubborness. All that is charged with willpower is green, but not all that is green is willpower.

(No ghostly examples for these. I blame color palettes, but I’m biased.)

Yellow is close to the center, and like blue, these rings choose those capable of instilling great fear in others.

Orange can be harnessed by those whose greed knows no bounds. Wielders become twisted, obsessively guarding their property and stealing from others.

I don’t need to tell you about the Ghost King’s breathtaking anger issues.

In DC, the red light of rage has the most profound effect on its wielders of them all. Red Lanterns are reduced to little more than rabid animals, and the rings poison their blood so that if they’re removed, the result is death.

However, ghosts are not Lanterns. They are not beings of flesh and blood overwhelmed by otherworldy power. This isn’t foreign to ghosts. This is a ghost’s natural state of existence.

For example, Vlad exibits negative traits of a Star Sapphire. But in the case of a Corps member (correct me if I’m wrong,) the ring is forcing this behavior. Not the light. The ring. Vlad is perfectly capable of changing his ways, of using the Power of Heart™ for good.

This is why I think Danny can use two different types, with green as his primary color. Not a DP post without a pun. Like when Desiree’s eyes glare crimson when she’s furious – she’s tapping into the red light, but when she attacks, it’s still violet, because love is still her source of power. I’m such a nerd, wow

If we can accept all of that, then we can get to the interesting stuff!

Danny could charge a GL’s ring, but he’d be exhausted afterward and maybe not hold his ghost form. A last resort.

Vlad’s cube thing that doesn’t let Danny use his powers? Could totally work on a Lantern. (The Plasmius Maximus, however, requires ghost biology, so no dice)

Danny’s ghost sense goes off when there’s a Lantern around, but only when the ring’s activated. Same thing with ghost shields – they work when they‘re powered up. The first time GL encounters this, they don’t know that. It’s such a stupidly simple solution they didn’t even consider, so they’re just outside trying to smash through with brute force when they could literally walk right in, its hilarious

Lanterns are basically artificial halfas. None of the really fun powers, like invisibility/intangibility, but anything that involves shaping or charging ectoplasm? They’re experts

GL could totally teach Danny how to use some of his powers

The Oans probably have the technology to stabilize Dani

The Fenton’s portal? That engine Jack made that uses ghosts as an energy source? Or really any of their ghost tech? Is basically following the same path of technological development as the Oans! GLs can track ecto-technology on their rings, as long as its active. Imagine their shock when they find Oan-like tech on Earth! They know about the emotional spectrum, but that’s it. The Oans don’t want anyone replicating their technology, so their people have no idea where their power really comes from If the GLs report back to the Oans about ecto-tech development on Earth, things may get political real fast

If the suit Technus made for Valerie is powered by the red light, what if it starts influencing her personality/emotions?

GL could take Danny into space. GL could take Danny to visit other planets. Danny could explore space with the Lanterns and he would be so happy

Danny vs GL: if it boils down to a battle of stamina, GL wins. His ring has more lasting power than Danny. As a halfa, however, Danny has full ghost powers; if he’s tricky enough, he could squeeze out a win. GL, on the other hand, is only limited by his imagination in what he can create. I’m inclined to say GL would win, unless Danny is willing to use the Ghostly Wail to knock him out, then flee on foot – but even then, GL’s ring would have a recording of him becoming Danny Fenton (Plus GL has way more allies than Danny. Basically, our boy might win a battle, but def not the war)

The Oans and the Observants could totally be in cahoots, and neither of them like Danny

That pocket dimension GLs keep their Lanterns in could totally be behind a locked door in the GZ, and now I’m imagining Vlad scheming up a way to find one

What if GL’s space travel utilizes the GZ’s natural portals like the infi-map?

There’s so much potential here, guys!!

#dpdc #black and white lanterns exist too #but this is complicated enough #long post #this is extra nerdy even for me #danny phantom #lantern corps #dc comics #this took an absurd amount of time #original post #DP headcanon

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