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Post by urrutiap on Jul 28, 2017 17:45:02 GMT -5
So what else went on besides Death of Superman, World Without Superman and Reign of the Supermen story arcs?
What else was going on with DC for the other characters like Flash, Wonder Woman and whoever else?
Was the whole thing with Bane and Batman going on at the time? Reason why I am asking is because Im trying to get caught up on some of the DC stuff that went on besides the stuff with Superman at the time back then.
Aquaman i know a little where he lost his hand yada yada.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2017 19:51:40 GMT -5
Batman had his back broken by Bane & Azrael took over the role of Batman.
Wonder Woman lost her "title" in another contest & Artemis was WW for awhile.
Aquaman lost his hand & became angry.
Flash (Wally West) was written well by Mark Waid & Geoff Johns. One of DC's best of the 90's.
Green Lantern was Kyle Rayner.
Green Arrow was Ollie's son Conner Hawke.
The awesome & under rated Power of Shazam series by Jerry Ordway. |
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Post by hondobrode on Jul 28, 2017 20:36:01 GMT -5
The Legion of Super-Heroes were clones and had the spin-off Legionnaires title.
That whole Vertigo thing took off like crazy with Doom Patrol, Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Sandman, and later more new characters, concepts and titles, like Preacher, The Invisibles, and 100 Bullets.
DC had a Sci-Fi imprint, Helix, that had some good stuff, the most famous of which later got adopted into Vertigo, being Transmetropolitan, but also included Bloody Mary, Timebreakers, and the Black Lamb.
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Post by Outrajs on Jul 28, 2017 20:37:08 GMT -5
Wonder Woman went off planet and became a slave for a bit before taking them down and returning as a kick ass heroine.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2017 21:07:36 GMT -5
A string of events like Zero Hour, Final Night, Genesis, Bloodlines, Eclipso: The Darkness Within, Armageddon 2001, aside from the mini events running through the Superman, Batman (Knightfall, Knightquest, No Man's Land, Contagion, etc.) and other titles, many of which were utterly forgettable.
Some of the best (imo) titles (non-Vertigo) DC put out in the 90s included the Ostrander/Mandrake run on Spectre, James Robinson & Tony Harris' Starman, Jack Kirby's Fourth World by John Byrne featuring back ups by Walt Simonson, and Mark Waid's Flash.
There were some interesting experiments, such as the Weirdoverse stuff -Scare Tactics, new versions of Challengers of the Unknown, Night force and the Books of Fate-; the Milestone books, and some great Batman stuff in books outside continuity like the books based on Batman The Animated Series and Legends of the Dark Knight, and more aniimated style stuff like Superman Adventures and Adventures in the DC Universe.
there was also a lot of interesting mash ups when DC and Marvel teamed up to do the Amalgam books, there were some good, some bad, some downright ugly, but there was some great reads in those in particular Iron Lantern, Dr. Strangefate, Thorion of the New Asgods, Legends of the Dark Claw, Dark Claw Adventures, and Bruce Wayne, Agent of SHIELD.
Like just about every publisher in the 90s, there were some gems well worth checking out that were nealry drowned in a sea of crappy output.
-M
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 28, 2017 21:13:37 GMT -5
Aquman was more than just angry... they focused on the 'King Arthur' part of his character, which worked really well ,IMO. Sure the long here and hook hand look really 90s NOW, but at the time it seemed just fine.
Wally West and Kyle Rayner were both great... far better than their predessors. Sadly, their success was not followed by all the other heroes, who all had their turn at being replaced and all came back quickly. (Sorta like what Marvel is doing now, I suppose).
As far as the events go... I enjoyed Final Night, it was both a good story and a good redemption of Hal Jordan. Zero Hour was continuity maintenance, which turns out to be a horrible idea. Also, Kingdom Come was amazing.
Vertigo and Helix definitely had their golden age, and have never really recovered.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,451
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Post by shaxper on Jul 28, 2017 22:44:22 GMT -5
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 28, 2017 23:09:28 GMT -5
 One of the best comics, bar none, of the 90s. Picture the son of a Golden Age superhero, who was long retired. he is an angry youth, at odds with his father. His older brother has taken up the legacy, which Jack Knight says is a joke. His brother is shot dead in the first issue and people come after Jack and his father. His father's old gravity rod helps him escape. He is on the run, fighting for survival, and finally beats his foe. He continues in the role, reluctantly. Along the way, he learns what it is to be a hero, to put your life on the line for someone else, with nothing to gain. He reconciles with his father and grows closer. He visits annually with the spirit of his dead brother. He ends u[p in a friendship with a Golden Age villain who has been retired, who stretches back to Victorian London. The ghost of the Black Pirate prowls the street of his city, longing for justice. A family of police officers are his best friends, including one who is the reincarnation of Brian Savage, aka Scalphunter. We see present and Times Past, visit all of the Starmen who were and will be, go off into space, face the family's deadliest foes, and find out what is most important in life. That was Starman, by James Robinson, Tony Harris, Peter Snejberg and Wade Von Grawbadger, plus side issues from people like Gene Ha and John Watkiss. The Flash was probably at its most popular since the Silver Age. Vertigo, especially Sandman, was garnering awards, sales, and fan worship and made Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison superstars. And then there was stuff like Armageddon 2000 and Zero Hour and Team Titans, about which the less said the better. The JSA returned and stayed, usher in a new generation, mentored by the old. JLA was enjoying a renaissance under Grant Morrison. DC's management was still pretty strong and their presence in theaters and on tv was dominant. |
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Post by chadwilliam on Jul 29, 2017 0:06:45 GMT -5
Was the whole thing with Bane and Batman going on at the time? Strangely enough, I believe that the Batman offices came up with their story line before the Superman group came up with theirs. In fact, I've often wondered if the reason the death of Superman was so hastily written and released was to ensure that it would hit the stands before enough people realized that something big was going down over on the Batman titles. I remember Superman 75 coming out in late November 1992 and a quick check shows that Bane debuted in a comic cover dated Jan 1993 (same cover date of the Superman "death" issue). I can't remember which one was released first though it seems as if they came out within weeks of one another. Also, Azrael predated Bane by perhaps a year (though I don't know if he was also created with the plans which developed in mind). In other words, if you were to read the Batman and Superman titles in order of their release, you'd hit Superman's "death" before Knightfall even begins, but at the same time, you'd know that something big was in the works for Batman before you had an inkling that anything at all was going to be happening with Superman. Doug Moench specifically, was depicting Bruce Wayne as overextending himself in all directions and headed towards some sort of mental/nervous breakdown. |
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Post by chadwilliam on Jul 29, 2017 0:22:49 GMT -5
Flash (Wally West) was written well by Mark Waid & Geoff Johns. One of DC's best of the 90's.
I remember taking notice of the title when Barry Allen presumably returned in issue 73. This would have followed The Death of Superman but predated Knightfall (at least the part where Batman gets his back broken). I can't stress enough however that while this was a significant event, it didn't feel like a cheap gimmick the way the other two did. I don't recall a lot of ads, publicity, talk about it and certainly none of the issues came in polybags, had silver embossing on the cover, or had that weird, half-dust-cover thing going on - it was a comic I started reading simply because of the enjoyment it was giving me. I didn't stick with it because I was disappointed that Barry Allen wasn't here to stay, but I certainly wasn't reading it because it was the cool thing to do or because I might resell it later on. In fact, I still have a tpb of that story, while I've long since gotten rid of my Batman/Superman ephemera from the same period. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2017 6:58:49 GMT -5
urrutiapThe Final Night Mini-Series is my favorite book(s) and I have the Complete Novel and it's an excellent read and very well written and all that and it's considered one of the best in that period. 
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Post by kirby101 on Jul 29, 2017 7:28:01 GMT -5
urrutiapThe Final Night Mini-Series is my favorite book(s) and I have the Complete Novel and it's an excellent read and very well written and all that and it's considered one of the best in that period. Final Night? The series they ended mot in the last issue of the mini, but in a Green Lantern/Parralax one shot they failed to tell anyone about? |
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 29, 2017 7:33:59 GMT -5
i won't reiterate what others have said, above.
what i can add (vs kibitzers) is that major chafes and changes for people with skin in the game (illustrators and writers, from the to down) happened, re deal structures, royalties, etc, and improved confidence in attempts by creators happened. as per the inception of the 'creators' guild' at Wondercon (when that name 'meant' something).
luckily it also was the beginning of creators being able to say ' #Q@@!! you' to pseudo pundits online. or in person. despite how popular those pseudo pundits might have been at industry parties or top-flight retailor parties.
and as this affected creator-lives, for the better, it improved the comics you had the choice to purchase.
sadly this died out circa 2008 or so, for reasons too banal for me to type, so i won't, except to a fellow freelancer in private, whom also had 'skin in the game'.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2017 9:23:29 GMT -5
kirby101I can't remember the Green Lantern/Parallax One Shot that well ... perhaps someone here can.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 29, 2017 9:29:43 GMT -5
The best comics DC put out in the '90s were those based on the Warner Bros. animated series: Batman [and Robin] Adventures, Superman Adventures, and Adventures in the DC Universe. I also love several series already mentioned, including Gaimin's Sandman, Starman, Spectre, Sandman Mystery Theatre, Power of Shazam, the Mike Parobeck-drawn JSA, and Final Night (one of the few "event" comics of the decade still in my collection). I liked Morrison's JLA, too, despite the horrible Howard Porter art. Conversely, Kingdom Come is beautiful to look at but the story feels terribly dated.
Cei-U!
I summon the last time I gave a rat's rump about DC!
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