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Column:
Variant Coverage
"Retconned"
By Adam White
Published: 18 May 2006
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Recently, I was rummaging through things I have written that haven’t yet made their way onto the site and came
across my thoughts on Infinite Crisis, written back about the time #2 came out. The more I read over them, the more I
felt they encompassed my feelings on the whole affair even now after it has finished. So I thought for this week we’d
take a trip back in time and see the comments I had on the first issue of Infinite Crisis and why they remain relevant
even now that we are immersed in 52 and OYL. Read at your own peril...
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Ah, Infinite Crisis. I’m still debating whether that title refers to the conflict brimming in the DC
Universe or the one plaguing the comics industry: mind-bogglingly bad company-wide crossovers. Throughout DC’s Golden
and Silver Ages, multiple parallel universes coexisted in harmony with occasional crossovers that brought joy to many a
comicbook fan. However, all those parallel worlds became too confusing for the increasingly simple fans over time and thus DC
came up with a ploy to unify their properties into a single, cohesive universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths. Even
though Crisis came out twenty years ago, it did seemingly little to unify much of anything — creators who fondly
remembered the old days simply created new parallel worlds (and Elseworlds, and Hypertime, etc.) and things spiraled from
there. However, there has essentially been only one “real” Superman, Batman, et. all, as far as official DC
canon goes, during all that time, which counted for something until Infinite Crisis reared its ugly head.
That’s why, on principle, I refuse to buy Infinite Crisis. How can I review it then, you ask? Because most
of the pages and beat-by-beat breakdowns of the series are littered all over the Internet by rabid fanboys. Led to such
postings by morbid curiosity,
All the tenets of the pointless crossover are there: countless characters, inane character deaths,
and sweeping changes that serve no purpose other than shock value.
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my fears and suspicions were all confirmed by everything I saw, staunchly reinforcing my decision not to support projects by
publishers when they release such substantially mindless drivel. All the tenets of the pointless crossover are there: countless
characters, many of whom appear for no reason other than to test the waters for potential new series; inane character deaths
done simply for shock value; and the introduction of sweeping changes to the universe-at-large that, despite the
publisher’s claims of fixing continuity, really just foul things up even more than they already were.
The hype alone from Infinite Crisis spawned multiple miniseries before it was even released, again demonstrating
that people will flock to anything that they’re told to by Wizard magazine. All those miniseries were
atrocious, especially OMAC and the incalculably bad Countdown to Infinite Crisis one shot, but I was
extremely let down by Villains United, starring two of my favorite DCU characters (Deadshot and Deathstroke) and
written by the usually talented Gail Simone. They were all just bad; hype built on a foundation of hype, with all the
conceits of every bad superhero comic ever made.
“I know: let’s make Catman a badass — no one’ll expect that!”
“Let’s kill Phantom Lady! And Ray! No, wait, Ray might warrant a mini sometime…”
“Let’s bring back Earth 2 Superman!”
And it’s that last one with which I have the biggest complaint. It’s as if the otherwise talented Geoff
Johns and company sat around a table and discussed a variety of improbable happenings that would make a “really
cool” cliffhanger final page for the first issue, and this is what they came up with. No one would expect it, and it
would do huge numbers because drooling fanboys everywhere would flock to it in droves. And you know what? They were right.
Infinite Crisis did big business for DC, helping them overtake Marvel for the first time in a long time. But
that’s why I hate Infinite Crisis so much — it was a business decision, done solely for monetary gain under the
thin guise of creative vision.
Infinite Crisis is nothing but hype built on a foundation of hype, with all the conceits of
every bad superhero comic ever made.
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No one gave any thought to first telling a good story, or to what the repercussions would be in the long run to the integrity
of their characters or the heritage of their creators. Many people will scoff at my remarks, satisfied with the temporary
shock value of the whole affair, yet, in the long run, what is DC really saying about its characters and creators?
They’re telling us that they don’t matter, that nothing is sacred, and that the only thing that really matters is that
the parent company makes as much money as possible at all times with no regard for the creators or the characters. And that
is something I simply will not condone.
DC is not the only culprit; Marvel is just as guilty, with farce like House of M and Heroes Reborn, etc.
I throw up a little each time I even think of House of M. The point is that comics are an art form,
I throw up a little each time I even think of House of M.
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despite the large
corporations’ best efforts to turn them into advertisements to gain the attention of Hollywood and toy makers
worldwide. But the companies are not the only ones at fault here; DC and Marvel do these things because they make money, and
they make money because so many comicbook “readers” buy this crap up like there’s no tomorrow. And if
comicbook readers don’t wake up and start being selective about what they buy, demanding quality stories and art instead of
worthless hype, there may not be a tomorrow.
I will end this saying that I criticize not because I hate comicbooks, but because I love them. I think that the comicbook is a
fantastic art form, one that is unique and one of the only partially-original forms substantially contributed to by
Americans. I find that there is good work out there, but you have to really search to find it beneath the sludge piles
that the Big Two push on a monthly basis.
Comic readers need to wake up and start being selective about what they buy, demanding quality
stories and art instead of worthless hype.
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Diamond’s monopoly on distribution also complicates matters, and makes success for independent publishers more scarce
each year. So I ask you: Please evaluate the books you buy each month and determine which ones you actually enjoy, which
ones left you smiling or considering something deeper than a costume change or variant cover. Drop any and all that
don’t make the cut, avoid the crossovers like Infinite Crisis, and use that extra money to try out something
new, something different. DC and Marvel will only start marketing and standing behind quality work across the board when the fans demand it,
and the only language their parent corporations understand is money.
So please think before you buy, because until you at least consider a solution, you’re just part of the problem.
—CCdC—
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