Friday, June 10, 2011

I had a thought.

This is a big strange, but I'm going to go ahead and put it out there. The Action Comics solicit says "their first super-hero" and some of the speculation on Twitter is that means the JSA is erased.

Certainly, they that team didn't get a reboot book. But that doesn't mean they were erased.

I've been talking on and off to people on Tumblr and Twitter over the last few months about Wonder Woman. One thing that keeps getting brought up is how cool it'd be if Diana was REALLY old and actually had been the WWII Wonder Woman. She's basically ageless and immortal, after all.

Well, Superman's an alien with enhanced physiology. Morrison has him survive within the sun until the 853rd Century. Maybe the huge, radical change for Superman is that they're going to backdate his first appearance to 1938 and make him have been active that long.

It's a longshot, but it is something they can do with Superman and Wonder Woman that allows them to bring in any flashbacks they want for their stories, and any supporting cast members they want. It also lets them keep their inspirational status and their WWII cred. And they made one thing clear to the press:
Among the top heroes, none of them will change more than Superman and Wonder Woman.

That's a pretty big change without actually changing Clark's personality, and it is the same sort of change they could make with Wonder Woman. I'm not going to commit to this as my Grand Theory of What They Are Doing, but I do want to put it out there now that I've had the idea.

It would be gutsy, creative, change the way we look at the characters without truly changing how important they are or dropping all of their character evolution, and it works within the rules of their world. I wouldn't be too upset with it.

Do I think they are brave enough to do this? I don't know, we'll see what happens when the interviews start. I do think it's a possibility, and it has not been a possibility to have Superman and Wonder Woman as themselves in the JSA for years now so that right there is a big change.

7 comments:

  1. This is fantastic and I hope you're completely right. It would allow for the introduction of the JSA in six months or so with Superman and Wonder Woman being part of it. That would be cool.

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  2. Wow. You know my tastes and my peculiar Mutants & Masterminds game that runs off of essentially that premise; I would be BEYONd overjoyed if that's really what DC had up its sleeve.

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  3. Long comment. Just an idea of mine.

    I think they should do this: heroes have ALWAYS existed, so has the supernatural, and people with powers, and even costumed vigilantes (like the JSA) existed within the DCU.

    But when Superman descended on Metropolis and thwarted that bank robber the 1st time, everything changed. He was the first SUPERhero, and people like him entered public consciousness like never before.

    He threw the world into contrast. Before, the DCU was more morally ambiguous, like our world. But Superman drew a line between heroes and villains (just by his presence), and the world became black and white.

    Your suggestion involves making them old people, and that is super against the 'fresh, new, mid-20s" direction they want for DC. Though, I do sorta want to see this 'from 1938' thing with Martian Manhunter.

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  4. Given the timidity they've shown with the Bat franchise, I can't see them being this daring. Though it would solve a lot of problems. It does raise the questions of Lois and Steve's age, but dealing with that could make for some good storytelling.

    – Jack of Spades

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  5. I'm a bit torn on this. I actually love having Hippolyta in the JSA. Heck, I love the JSA! Surely there is room for them somewhere!

    And if they make Clark old, which is actually a rather interesting idea, then what about Lois?

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  6. I've been saying for years they should do this. I want all of their pop culture influence and most (not imaginary stories or stories that contradict things) stories to count. Even mortals like Batman, Lois, Steve and The Society and Golden Age heroes shouldn't be prone to aging, but going forward. No more Infinity Inc. ready to replace them. Hal, Barry and Ray can stay though because they earned their endorsement.

    I'm sorry Sally, but Diana is Jay and Alan's friend and comrade. It feels right. Hippolyta however did substitute as Wonder Woman in a Golden Age story, it's very reasonable that she could have had a couple Society invites where she hooked up with Wildcat. Think of the laughs there. Diana introduces the Society to her mother and Ted is totally smitten.

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  7. If Superman doesn't age, then he can't have the secret identity of Clark Kent anymore.

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