DC Comics Infinite Crisis predictions (spoilers for runups inevetable, and unboxed)

Cafe Society
#1

Infinite Crisis and its leadups are going to be big events, of course.

So, what does everyone think is going to happen?

Obvious: Massive bodycount among the second and third tier characters, particularly mystics and villains.

The Spectre WON’T succeed in eliminating all magic in the universe (DC’s not going to eliminate the headliners of 2 ongoing titles - 3 if you’re willing to get into the argument about if the Vertigo DCU is the same as the mainline DCU - and major characters in at least 3 different team books), but he’ll wipe out a lot of the more obscure, silly, or unused magical characters.

Villains United will have a pretty good body count among the more obscure, silly, and unused villains.

Sasha Bordeaux is a goner.

Guesses: Detective Chimp is a dead monkey, too.

Someone in DoV will sacrifice themselves to bond their soul to the Spectre and end his rampage. My money’s on Enchantress. (Alternate possibility, that would be GREAT, IMO, but is unlikely - Jean Loring’s soul and body will be split. Her soul, free of her diseased brain, will be more rational, but still in need of redemption. She will be bonded to Spectre, while Eclipso retains control of her body.)

They’ll at least attempt a new Ragman series after all this, or else an Oblivion book with Ragman, Blue Devil, and anyone else who survives DoV.

Lex Luthor will appear in public again before the VU is done.

A few of the other, more obscure villains, will rise as major threats, like Dr Light has.

The hero community will become more fractured after the revelation about the Identity Crisis mindwiping, and the villain community won’t remain as tight-knit as VU is making them for long.

#2

It’s a foregone conclusion that whatever happens will be undone in short order, if not outright disregarded. I am so tired of these non-event “events” I can’t even muster up any enthusiasm.

I’m not buying DoV because I couldn’t care less about the magicians of the DCU; just thinking about them almost makes me yawn. Jim Corrigan WILL be bonded to the Spectre again. Surely you’ve noticed the retro approach DC is taking now. After the backlash from the Hal Jordan/Spectre thing, they’re not about to try anything experimental with that again.

And anything with Detective Chimp gets a wide berth from me. :rolleyes:

Also not interested in the Omac Project. I will say Villains United is pretty good.

Any “deaths” will be rendered moot by the next writer who wants to use a given character and either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that said character is dead. A recent example is the mess of villains who had died in Suicide Squad but just showed up hale and hearty in Deadshot. Far from an isolated incident, that’s typical of DC, and you just can’t believe anything that happens any more.

#3

New Supergirl = Pre-Crisis Supergirl. I mentioned this theory over in the comics thread.

#4

Right, never mind the fact that Peter David’s Supergirl was a vastly more interesting character and one of the best comic series ever. We must pander to the aging fanboys who wet themselves at the thought of anything new or different, and think that whatever random moment in comic book history when they happened to start reading is the way all comics should be for all time. As you know, the Legion of Super-Heroes of 1973 is the only real Legion, and Hal Jordan is the only true Green Lantern even though he was created to replace the existing GL and he was only one of thousands of GLs anyway.

#5

What should I read to be somewhat up to speed for Infinite Crisis other than Countdown and Day of Vengeance? As of right now, I only regularly read the various Bat books.

#6

DC has a page on their website where you can read weekly updates about the Infinite Crisis-related plotlines:

http://www.dccomics.com/features/countdown/

It could save you a ton of money if you just go there and to the message boards to follow the story!

#7

The other Crisis minis are The OMAC Project (you will probably be interested in that if you read Batman, since he ties in), Villains United, and the Rann-Thanagar War.

InfC is supposed to be pretty much self-contained - can pick up with Countdown, any one of the minis, or the final event books and follow easily enough - but some that should help, off the top of my head:

Identity Crisis wouldn’t hurt - It’s extremely likely that the fallout of it will come to a head in Infinite Crisis.

The current/recent Superman arc with Captain Marvel seems to be a tie-in.

The last couple Teen Titans arcs are related, though not particularly essential.

#8

Nevermind the fact that Peter David himself brought in the pre-Crisis Supergirl for the final arc of his Supergirl series, because, despite David’s admitted genius, no one was buying it.

And it’s not that Hal Jordan is the one, true GL - it’s that he’s a really darn cool character that got screwed over by a hack writer.

#9

Why weren’t they buying it? I never read the series, so i don’t know. If it was good, then it should have sold…or is like LE suggests; people are stuck seeing characters in “X” mold and when it changes to “Y” mold, they are unwilling or unable to give the book or direction a chance.

#10

The difference between the Hal Jordan situation and the Supergirl situation is - there are supposed to be thousands of GLs. If they die, they get replaced. It’s a job, not an identity. You can convincingly replace a Green Lantern without ruffling any but the most sensitive feathers.

You can even replace individual identity heroes - witness Wally’s ascension to the mantle of the Flash - if you write it well.

But Supergirl - Peter David is not to blame for it, but her introduction to the DCU was hokey and stilted, and created a lot of baggage going in. Kudos for David for molding that lump of clay into an interesting form, but the very origin of Supergirl II and the popularity of Supergirl I meant that Supergirl II was doomed form the start.

#11

Sorry, Candid, but we differ here. Hal Jordan is about as interesting as wallpaper paste. I sincerely doubt it was the decision of the “hack writer” to do away with him; I’m sure that came from very high up in the company. Because his book wasn’t selling. Where were all those devoted Hal fans before?

As for David’s Supergirl, it was popular enough to last what, 60 issues? Far longer than any series Kara ever had. Heck, that’s a damn respectable run for any comic in today’s market. Again, I doubt bringing back Kara was David’s idea. And the number of people who like (or don’t like) something is no reflection of its quality. I’m sure you can think of numerous examples of well-written comics that the zombie masses passed by.

#12

You never know how much you miss something till it’s gone. Often true, but even more often in comic book characters. I’m inordinately angry about Firestorm’s demise. FIRESTORM. I own maybe five issues spread out of his various previous series. I didn’t care a bit about him until they killed him. Paradoxical? Maybe. Maybe I just liked the idea that Ronnie Raymond was waiting in the wings, suitable for use in guest-starring or crossover roles, and now, instead, I’ve got a putz.

The run says more for David’s writing than it does for the character, and Supergirl, while she had various shorter series, had a more or less continuous run as a comic headliner for a very long time - Adventure, I believe, was her own. And more importantly, she was an important facet of Superman’s mythology.

#13

I’m with you on this, and I was very much a Ronnie fan. I have nearly every issue of his series. I refuse to buy this new one.

Hmm…I suppose I should be drawing a parallel between my hatred of the new Firestorm and the hatred Hal fans have for Kyle.

But I don’t wanna. :wink:

#14

Why? I had every Firestorm too and if I was still collecting/reading I would have purchased it, because I find the POWERS interesting, not the character…I re-read them before I eBayed them and they weren’t that good. I think I liked the first 5 issues, best of all, but that may have been my “bronze” age self talking.

#15

I actually like Kyle just fine, personally. Glad they kept him.

But Hal - Hal had a character aspect in the Justice League that no one else in the Bronze Age portrayed, except Batman - Hal was a badass. Sure, Hawkman’s all extreme now, smashing people up with medieval weaponry. But back then, if you wanted to talk about someone who was tough as nails, who got the job done, who could outwit or fistfight opponents like an old-style pulp hero if he had to - who even outstripped Superman in strength of will - you had two options.

And compared to Batman - Hal’s a lot more upbeat. He enjoys his work - he has kind of a swashbuckler mentality. I enjoy that.

#16

If you like Hal Jordan, I strongly recommend you read The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke, a big Hal fan himself. I guess back in the late '50s, Hal really was a badass. He was a test pilot, which back then was like an astronaut, a movie stuntman, and a rock star all rolled into one. He was fearless, brave, and had unmatched willpower (even though Cooke wrote him as a pacifist in the Korean War, which doesn’t really make sense). But later on, writers made Hal a toy salesman, I think he sold insurance, his origin was retconned to make him a drunk driver in Emerald Dawn 2, he traveled around the country all wishy-washy in the early issues of Green Lantern series 2… it really stripped away a lot of his coolness. Plus I was introduced to him in the '80s through the Super Friends cartoon, where nobody had any personality, and they could probably all get their asses kicked by Hostess Fruit Pies. The character had seen better days.

By the time Hal went crazy, DC was in the process of revamping a lot of its classic characters for shock value and short-term sales boosts, but it just wasn’t a good move. I had no problem with Kyle Rayner as GL; in fact, I was pretty indifferent to both of them. I always thought Alan Scott was The Man, though, and I liked small doses of jerkass Guy Gardner in lighter incarnations of the Justice League.

#17

I think that’s why we’re back to Kara, more than anything else. As cool as PAD’s Angelic Supergirl was, it had jack shit to do with Superman. I remember someone griping about that when the series was first coming out. “Supergirl is a dead devil-worshipper? WTF?” In tone, in origin, in powerset, she just no longer had anything to do with the greater Superman mythos. I think she would’ve done better if she’d been her own original character.

As for the Spectre, I’m not betting on Corrigan, and I’ll be mad as hell if that’s how it ends up. His story is told. And I don’t think his fans are clamoring for his return, unlike with Hal. I’d bet on an original character.

Or Detective Chimp. Because Detctive Chimp is cool.

It seems to me that DC (or Marvel, for that matter) just can’t win. If they change stuff (like Killing Beetle or Sue Dibney or revealing that the JLA lobotomized Dr. Light) then they’re destroying characters needlessly by being “edgy and extreme”. If they keep things the same, they’re going stagnant and pandering to their older fans.

Me, I’m waiting for the end result. I don’t even know what the Infite Crisis is yet. Is it a continuity warping reboot ala Crisis on Infinite Earths? Or just aa big smackdown with probable significant ramifications and minor character (and at leats one major character) deaths? I’m not asking, I’ll just wait to see.

#18

I think I said something just like this within the last two weeks. :wink:

#19

CandidGamera:

Supergirl had a 43-issue run in Adventure, from 381-424 (with a Legion special in the middle at issue 403). I guess it could be considered a success, since the cessation of her Adventure feature was due to her receiving her own comic. Nonetheless, that itself lasted only 10 issues, which means that Supergirl’s combined run as a headliner was 53 issues…not terrible, but not as good as Peter David’s version.

#20

Considering how much you have to say on comic, CG, you can probably lay claim to every assertion in any comics thread. :cool: