Pop Culture Chronicles

Why the Multiverse Fascinates Me

I've always been fascinated by the concept of parallel universes and multiple earths. What if such places exist? What if there were another earth somewhere in which we all had counterparts who lived parallel lives with subtle differences? 

1) This enables us to ponder the "what if" questions. What if you had chosen to travel the road not taken? What if you had a doppleganger somewhere who married the counterpart of the high school sweetheart you rejected? What if your doppleganger chose another career path? Is there another version of you somewhere who is living the dreams you abandoned? Or perhaps your doppleganger is not as successful or as happy. 

2) What if you were born in another time? Maybe your doppleganger is older than you--born a generation or so earlier. The era of costumed heroes on Earth-Two began earlier than on Earth-One. So the Batman and Superman of Earth-Two had lived through the second World War, whereas their Earth-One counterparts had not yet been born. 

Had the first crisis not ended the original multiverse, would the Earth-One Batman's life had followed the same script as his Earth-Two counterpart who did everything first? Might the Earth-One Batman eventually have married Selina Kyle? Would he have become Gotham Commissioner? Would he have had a grown daughter who fought crime as the Huntress? Might the Earth-One Batman, like his Earth-Two counterpart, have died at the hands of a criminal? 

Might the Earth-One Superman have married Lois, as the post-crisis Superman did? A history of your older doppleganger's life may, or may not, be a prediction of your own future. An older doppleganger's history might also indicate how you would have fared if you had lived in an earlier era. 

3) What if all fiction is real? In the multiverse this is possible. In the Flash of Two Worlds story it was explained that on Earth-One Jay Garrick was a comic book character and the inspiration of Barry Allen who called himself The Flash. The DC comics writers were in touch with Earth-Two through their dreams, meaning the stories they wrote really happened in another universe. 

What if all fictional writer's imaginations were tuned in, unbeknownst to them, to parallel universes where their stories actually happened in reality? So while Wyatt Earp was Marshal of Dodge City in our old west, maybe there really was a Marshal Dillon on some other earth. And maybe there really is a Batman, a Tarzan, a Gomer Pyle, and a Cartwright family who lived on the Ponderosa. Cool!

4) What if you were born in another place? In the Elseworld's story, Red Son, Kal-El's spaceship landed on Soviet soil. Superman is an adopted Russian in this reality. In another universe, might your doppleganger be living in Germany, China, or Australia? 

5) What if we gave in to our darker side? Johnny Thunder's Earth-One counterpart was a bad guy in Justice League of America # 37-38 (Recently reprinted in the trade Crisis on Multiple Earths, volume 1). On Earth-Three, the Justice League's dopplegangers are criminals. I'm glad DC brought the multiverse back. The possibilities are endless.               

Review: All Star Superman

Grant Morrison, author of Final Crisis, also writes the twelve part series, All- Star Superman. In contrast to Final Crisis, about which I've been less than enthusiastic, I really love All-Star Superman. Since the story takes place outside the mainstream DCU, anything can happen. So is Superman really dead? One more issue to go! I hear it comes out this month. 

I also hear that at the NYCC it was confirmed that this series will indeed be limited to twelve issues. The creative team is busy with other projects and, IMO, no other team will do on this one. I especially cannot imagine anyone but Frank Quitely doing the art. We may, however, see a couple of All-Star Superman one-shots in the future. I hope so.

And I also hope that the All-Star Universe will be a part of the larger DC multiverse. Why settle for 52 when we can have MULTIPLE EARTHS?        

Justice Society of America Annual 1

This book has been out for at least a couple of weeks. Those who read this blog might be interested to know what I thought because I'm so retro and this story brings back Earth-2.  

First I'll comment on the art. It was great to have Jerry Ordway back from the original Infinity Inc. Wiacek's inks over Ordway's pencils made a good combination. The Earth-2 Huntress and Robin look just as they should. But Powergirl just doesn't look quite right to me. I guess I've grown accustomed to her Eaglesham/ Von Grawbadger look in the JSA mags where her facial expressions match her assertive attitude (I hope that makes sense). But in this story Powergirl just looked a little mousy to me. The JSA pinup was awesome. Another great "class photo" shot. The Alex Ross cover is beyond awesome.  

Some characters who are deceased on New Earth still have living dopplegangers on this revised Earth-2. They include Jade, Dr. Midnight (Beth Chapel), Wildcat II (Yolanda Montez), the Star-Spangled Kid, and the original Atom (Al Pratt). Jim Corrigan and Kent Nelson are still the Spectre and Dr. Fate. Now if all these folks can still be alive, then why not the Golden Age Batman?!?!?! Bring him back! Throw his remains in the Lazarus Pit or something! 

The Fury and Hector Hall are still active on Earth-2 after the apparent "physical" deaths of their New Earth counterparts in JSA# 80 (a subplot which ran now and then beginning in issue 74). I'm assuming that on Earth-2 the Fury is still Lyta Trevor, daughter of the original Wonder Woman. 

Of course after the "attempt" of Crisis on Infinite Earths to make the DC Universe tidier and more manageable, the Golden Age Wonder Woman was retconned out of existence and a Golden Age Fury was created to be the mother of the modern Fury. But sometime between Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis, DC decided that a Golden Age Wonder Woman was a good idea after all. So on New Earth she is now Hippolyta, mother of the current Wonder Woman. Is that all clear as mud? 

And on the revised Earth-2 Hector has never been Dr. Fate, but is still the Silver Scarab. And of course, in this altered reality, Robin and Huntress never died in the Crisis. So here the Earth-2 Justice Society is known as Justice Society Infinity, a conglomeration of members from both the original JSA and the original Infinity Inc. 

Some questions: 

1) Justice Society Infinity has had experience with parallel worlds before. Which parallel worlds? 

2) Now who is it that Helena Wayne has been in love with her entire life? Is it Dick Grayson?

3) Is the Powergirl whose been hanging out with the JSA on New Earth indeed the Powergirl of Earth-2 or the lone survivor of a deceased Earth-Two? Does the appearance of yet another Powergirl indicate that the revised Earth-2 has had its own Powergirl all along? And if that's true, could this revised Earth-2's Superman and Lois still be alive? 

This very important book is the culmination of over twenty years of DC history. It's also been at least three years in the making, picking up some threads from Infinite Crisis, JSA Classified, and the other JSA titles. I cannot wait to see the story continue in the pages of Justice Society of America.       

Maverick

Pictured is a gem I recently purchased at a comic book show. I've been hoping to find an affordable issue of Maverick in decent condition for a long time. If you've been reading this blog, you know I love westerns--especially the TV westerns of the 50s and 60s. While the big screen cowboys are okay, my first love is the TV western whose memorable recurring characters get to seem like old friends. 

Maverick is my favorite western and possibly my favorite TV show of all time. Not your typical horse opera, Maverick had complex plots, witty dialog, comedy relief, a reluctant hero, and excellent acting. 

The comic based on the series lasted 19 issues from 1958 to 1962. The first six issues were a part of Dell Publishing's Four Color series, while the seventh issue was published as Maverick # 7 and the numbering continued from there. Each issue featured photo covers and the one pictured below introduced Bart Maverick to comics (I recently purchased this one at a comic shop sale).  

Bret Maverick (James Garner) was originally to be the only Maverick, until Warner Brothers got behind on production of the TV series. Then Jack Kelly was introduced as Bret's brother, Bart Maverick. So now two episodes could be filmed simultaneously with two separate production crews with respective episodes featuring either Bret or Bart. The Bart episodes would alternate with the Bret episodes Sunday nights on ABC. The brothers would occasionally share an episode. 

Garner left the show after three seasons due to a contract dispute. Kelly continued as Bart and Garner was replaced by Roger Moore who played the Mavericks' British cousin, Beau Maverick. On an earlier episode, Moore had appeared as Jack Vandergelt III, a character very much like the Beau Maverick character. This historical episode was the only one in which Garner, Kelly, and Moore all appeared together. It would be great if someone made available some 8 x 10 stills of the three together from that episode.

Moore played Beau Maverick in only 13 episodes, citing mediocre scripts as his reason for leaving the show. Robert Colbert appeared as Bart's brother, Brent Maverick, in two episodes of Season Four. Publicity photos of Kelly, Moore, and Colbert together and in character still survive. While it was intended that the three appear together in the show, Moore left too soon for that to happen. An episode with Bret and Bart together also aired during Season Four, but was actually a hold over filmed during Season Three. So this makes Season Four the only season in which each of the four Mavericks appeared at least once. Only Kelly returned for the fifth and final season. His new episodes alternated with Garner reruns from earlier years. 

The comics stories always starred whatever Mavericks were currently on the TV show. The artist was Dan Spiegle who visited Garner on the set and took great pains to make his characters look like the actors. 

Maverick has appeared somewhere each decade of the last half of the twentieth century. The original series ran from 1957 to 1962. The 1970s saw a made-for-TV movie, New Maverick, with Garner, Kelly, and introducing Charles Frank as cousin Ben Maverick. His series, Young Maverick ran only 8 episodes on CBS with Garner making a cameo in the first show. 

NBC was the third network to pick up Maverick as Garner returned in Bret Maverick for the 1981-82 season. Kelly made a cameo as Bart in the final episode and would have become a regular player had there been a second season. Kelly also appeared as Bart Maverick in Kenny Rogers' 1991 The Gambler Returns: Luck of the Draw. 

The year 1994 saw the theatrical release of Mel Gibson's Maverick in which Gibson played Bret. Co-stars included James Garner and Jodie Foster. 

So where has Maverick shown up in the 21st century? In 2006, a Bret Maverick statue was unveiled at a ceremony with Garner present in his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma. The Encore Westerns cable network has aired the entire series in chronological order. And of course, Maverick occasionally shows up at a comic shop or show.                                        

My First Comics Convention (Sort of)

Our family was privileged to attend our first comiccon one day this past weekend. Well, at least the kids and I felt privileged. My wife came along to watch the kids since she knew my head would be in boxes the whole time. Having been raised by a red neck who would drag his whole family to gun and knife shows, I can imagine how boring this must have been to the love of my life.  

And they did call it a comiccon. But I'm sure it was small potatoes compared to the cons at San Diego, New York, or Chicago. There were no celebrity guests, although some local artists came demonstrating their talents and hawking their wares. Not only were there no celebrity guests, but no fans showed up in costume, and there were no panels with comics creators or movie stars. I would say this was more of a comic "show." 

I hope to make it to a big convention some day, but that doesn't mean I was disappointed with this event. It was awesome for what it was. My schedule would not allow me to stay beyond two and half hours (A very long time for my wife and a very short time for me). There were dealers from at least as far away as a two-hour radius all in a giant room with tables upon tables of boxes upon boxes of comics, old and new. There were trades and graphic novels, toys, t-shirts, all kinds of stuff.

I had a great time finding great deals to fill in some gaps in some very long runs of my collection. I bought Legends of the Dark Knight 100, which completes my first 100 issue run of that series. I love the Alex Ross painted cover. Batman 407 completed Frank Miller's Batman Year One story arc in my collection. I picked up Justice Society Secret Files and Origins #1, which I somehow missed back when they revived the JSA. And Legends# 6 completes my collection of that 80s mini-series. 

My most significant purchase was of a 1960s TV western comic with photo cover. I'll be sharing the cover image in a near-future post. 

But one of the most exciting things that happened to us is that we were door prize winners. My eight-year-old daughter actually had the winning ticket. The door prize included three comics signed by artists or creative teams with certificates of authenticity. Two Batman titles and Supergirl #1 from 1994. My daughter called dibs on Supergirl, which is who she was for Halloween. 

The door prize also included several first issues of recent series. Included were Bat Lash, Batman and the Outsiders, Green Arrow and Black Canary, Ultimate Iron Man II, X-Men: Kitty Pryde: Shadow and Flame, Death of the New Gods, and Salvation Run. This gives me a chance to sample some of what's been going on in comics lately since my pull list only consists of one ongoing title and five limited series. I read Green Arrow and Black Canary and Bat Lash last night. I really liked Bat Lash. I think I'll eventually get the rest of the series or the trade. 

Other winnings included X-Men:198 5, World War Hulk 3, Teen Titans 50, and some freebie sketch books. We also got a collected addition of Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four, which my eleven year old son is enjoying. Oh, and a Venom paperweight (just what everyone needs). 

So needless to say, I left feeling pretty good with all that free stuff. It was one of those weeks when I really needed something good to happen. 

My son bought a die cast Wolverine figure he had searched for quite a while and also picked up some cheap classic Star Wars back issues. My daughter got a Disney comic for 50 cents and both my kids impressed the vendors and artists with their vast knowledge of comic book super heroes. That's what happens when your dad is a pop culture geek.      

Reviews: Final Crisis 1 & 2

Well, I said that I would post more frequently, but after only two posts in the month of July, I haven't kept up with it. Life has just got in the way. I'm going to try to do better starting now, so keep an eye on this blog and I'll try to do several posts over the next few days.

Now some reviews. Final Crisis # 1 did not live up to the hype---at least not for me. In fact, I fell asleep reading it. First, I could care less about the New Gods / Fourth World stuff. The Orion pages in this first issue seemed like a rehash of what we already saw in Countdown, rendering that series even more obsolete. The apparent return of Darkseid, who I wish would stay dead, further undermines Countdown by reversing the few events in that series that could be considered milestone. 

My next gripe is a retro complaint, but the use of symbols in this series to indicate hardcore profanity is unappreciated by a nostalgia buff like me. I'm especially displeased that it was the F word (for which I have no affection) that could be so easily inserted with little imagination. I also thought the beating Mad Hatter took in the second issue was over-the-top graphic violence. I actually preferred life (for the most part) under the Comics Code Authority and I now share only a few comics with my kids.

I'm not saying all comics should be for kids, but I would like to see more that appeals to all ages without dumbing everything down. Kids seem to have been banished from the mainline comics universes that I enjoyed so much as a child. If the companies do not start appealing more to kids, they won't have a readership in the future. Most of us who are into comics were hooked as children---and not by the inferior Johnny DC type stuff, but by good stories by the best writers. When I was a kid, the DC Universe was a bright and decent place into which I could experience escapism. 

On a positive note, I am very interested in the Nix Uotan character. So he has been exiled to "New" (?) Earth where he is now apparently a mere mortal. I sympathize with this character and I almost wept with him over the destruction of his beloved Earth 51. He now appears as an African-American working at Big Belly Burger. From running his own universe to asking, "Would you like fries with that?' What an example of downward mobility. A former Monitor will now experience first hand what it's like to eek out a regular living. This has possibilities.  

Plus, I'm interested in the outcome of several cliffhangers in issue # 2. Batman and John Stewart are both in dire straits. But I'm mainly concerned about Lois Lane (Kent). Will Luthor now have reason to throw in with Libra? Does Libra know Superman is Clark Kent?

And is Barry Allen really back? The rumor in my local comic shop is that in each issue someone dies and someone is brought back. I was disappointed that the Martian Manhunter was an early casualty. But hey, Superman is praying for resurrection. Does anyone stay dead in comics? 

Final Crisis promises to be a reboot of the DCU. Last time they did that with Crisis on Infinite Earths, I was disappointed with the outcome. I hope the multiverse will not again collapse into a single amalgamated earth or be scaled down to include only four or five universes. The multiverse has endless possibilities to explore.