DC:One Year After

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

DC has announced that all February issues will tie-in to Infinite Crisis and that the following month will be like a new beginning for the DCU. In March all the books will take place one year after the Crisis and things will go from there.

 

Newsarama

[Guest JMA]

This sounds great. Hopefully it lives up to the high expectations.

[SuperJerk 0]

Crisis Counseling @ WW Philly: One Year Later...

 

While offering “Crisis Counseling” at DC’s WizardWorld Philadelphia panel, DC’s Dan Didio made clear his intention that big changes were coming both throughout the coming Infinite Crisis (which he called "the be-all, end-all for the DCU"), as well as after.

 

One year after, particularly, but still, coming next year.

 

Allow us to clarify: as a result of the events in Infinite Crisis, all DC Universe books will jump ahead by one year in their respective timeline.

 

Just prior to the panel, Newsarama got a few quick words with Didio to explain what’s coming a little better.

 

The larger name for where and when things pick up as a result of Crisis is, specifically, “One Year Later…”

 

“The series will pick up with the new direction already in progress and the heroes established in their new status quo,” Didio told Newsarama. “’One Year After…’ sounds like you are dealing with the direct repercussions of Crisis, which is not the case.”

 

As for how things will play out, publishing-wise, all DCU books will make note of the Crisis in their February issues, corresponding with Infinite Crisis #5. Then, in March, all DCU books will be set “One Year Later…” relative to what was seen in their February issues.

 

Got that? Good, ‘cause that’s just the tip of the iceberg. “There will be big scale changes,” Didio said. “New characters, perhaps new series, new alliances, friendships, relationships, changing locations, and we might not even have some of the same people under the masks one year later.”

 

The changes will be so vast, Didio said, that he couldn’t rule out dogs and cats sleeping together.

 

To cut off the obvious question, no, while the Brian Azzarello/Jim lee Superman storyline was set one year ahead of its fellow Superman titles during its run, the “One Year Later…” move isn’t something planned to synch the rest of the DCU up with Superman, and go from there.

 

“Brian and Jim’s ‘one year ahead’ was for the Superman stories that were being published at that time,” Didio said. “Since their year-long arc moved at a much quicker pace – in comic book time - so in the year following that story’s start all the Superman books synced up and all the DCU is running on a closer timeline now.”

 

As for the cause of the jump ahead? That’s not coming until the end of Infinite Crisis, issue #7, to be exact. “Readers will see the changes before the cause is seen,” Didio said. “The end of Crisis sets up a number of these changes; other will be explained in the series themselves.”

 

As for making comparisons to changes made following other DCU events of this form, such as the original Crisis on Infinite Earths or Zero Hour, Didio said that “One Year Later…” will be its own unique beast.

 

“In those two events, every series started from a common point and moved forward and outward,” Didio said. “With ‘One Year Later...’ each and every character has a starting point and moves of at a pace of its own. You will see a wide mix of new series, rebooted series, continuing series and unfortunately, cancelled series. All the changes will make sense for the character and for their own story.”

 

Although the comparison would most likely make Didio cringe a little, “One Year Later…” is something closer to the original Secret Wars maxi series from Marvel in 1984-95, which saw the heroes disappear in one issue, and reappear nearly instantly, with changes – Spider-Man’s black costume, and the Thing missing from the Fantastic Four, most notably.

 

Finally, sucker for a good story that he is, Didio’s answer to whether or not the “missing year” worth of stories will ever be told? “Of course.”

 

Didio concluded his comments to Newsarama by adding that the jump ahead one year will be the launching point for the DCU for all of 2006 and beyond.

 

From the panel:

 

His usual enthusiastic self, Didio went roughly a mile a minute when it came to telling panel attendees about what they can look forward to in both the lead up and Infinite Crisis.

 

Highlights from Didio’s talk:

 

- The plans for Infinite Crisis began roughly two years ago through conversations with Greg Rucka, Judd Winick, and Geoff Johns. According to Didio, the writers started working together with each other in their own titles, finding common themes between the characters and storylines. Over time, the larger structure began to reveal itself, which then further developed into Countdown the miniseries, and Infinite Crisis, all of which Didio explained to be the map for the DCU through 2007.

 

- Pulling back the curtain somewhat, Didio explained that he was a bit of a “Marvel baby” growing up, and enjoyed the cohesive universe feel the Marvel Universe had, as well as how characters appeared in each other’s titles. Didio pointed to that as one of the many elements that went into the ideas for the DCU through Infinite Crisis and beyond.

 

- Reminded of comments he made to Wizard about Nightwing and Blue Beetle playing integral roles in the coming Crisis, Didio reiterated that Nightwing plays a very important role in everything going on and coming up.

 

- Due to the success seen by the Countdown miniseries, Didio said that it’s likely that storylines and characters from the minis will continue after their respective six issues, suggesting that there will be continuation of elements from the larger stories reverberating throughout the entire DCU.

 

- Asked if there would be a regular writer on Flash after Darwyn Cooke, Didio joked, “Why would we need a long term writer, there’s a Crisis coming?” which was met by mostly silence and some nervous laughter. (DCU speedsters don’t have the best track record in the world when it comes to surviving various Crises…)

 

- Asked about the “One Year Later…” jump that DCU titles will take, Didio said that it is absolutely not a continuity reboot.

 

- Didio also reaffirmed that there will be changes to heroes’ identities as well as new characters appearing.

 

- There are plans afoot for Booster Gold. Didio said that the character is essential for what is occurring in The OMAC Project, adding that there’s a great moment with Booster, Guy Gardner, and Wonder Woman in issue #3 of the miniseries, and that Booster really comes into his own in the series, given the recent loss of his best friend.

 

- Speaking of OMAC, in issues #3 and #4, what happens between Superman and Wonder Woman is a major key to everything that has been happening and will happen in the DCU.

 

- Asked if readers will see more stories set in the Golden Age of the JSA or something starring the All-Star Squadron set in the past, Didio admitted that he tends to resist those kinds of stories. While he didn’t rule it out, Didio said that he doesn’t like to look back too much, as the DCU, in Didio’s eyes, revolves around Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, who remain relatively ageless.

 

Didio went on to explain that the DCU is a generational story, and while time does progress, if you try to tell stories set in the past, it pushes the three major heroes up in the timeline, putting more time in between the first superheroes of the DCU and the modern day trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Telling stories that do that, Didio said, is something he’s very cautious about.

 

- Asked by a nervous fan if, like many major events in the DCU in the past, if Infinite Crisis will come down to being the machinations of Darkseid, Didio said no, adding that while both Darkseid and the Joker are great villains, both will be getting some time off shortly to give both them and the fans a breather.

 

Sounds like something Marvel did a few years back with the X-Men, following an apparent death of Cyclops and had Rogue and Gambit leading 2 separate teams of X-Men. It sucked, but hopefully DC can learn from their mistakes make a real go of this.