Yes, Scribbly’s hair was pretty much just like that.
So in the wake of the mid-1980s Crisis on Infinite Earths, the epic mini-series that changed the DC Universe permanently and forever, never to be altered again, the masterminds behind that series, Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, put out a two-part History of the DC Universe. The last two installments of the 12-issue Crisis were intended as an overview of the new, combined, parallel-Earthless DCU, but ended up as its own thing.
The premise of the series was that Harbinger, former associate to the Monitor in Crisis, is documenting the events of this new version of the DC Universe, presenting how everything now fits together when it had all been on multiple Earths before. It was text with beautiful illustrations by Pérez, and was out of date almost as soon as it was published, as DC began its multiple decades of trying to bend everything back into something resembling pre-Crisis shape. However, it still stands as a wonderfully drawn art showcase which still gets rereleased from time to time, including a new reissue of the Crisis on Infinite Earths Omnibus that includes History.
However, after nearly forty years, it’s been decided that it’s probably time to try again and see where the DC Universe stands. This is probably the right time for it, as we seem to have gotten away from DC’s near-yearly attempts at undoing Crisis from the last decade or so and the DCU has settled down into some relative stability.
And that new try? Behold, The History of the New DC Universe written by Mark Waid, issue #1 illustrated by Jerry Ordway and Todd Nauck, main wraparound cover here drawn by Chris Samnee:
I did love Samnee’s cover, and if I gave in to temptation, I would have kept one of every cover for myself. I did manage to restrict myself to just one cover, though, and it’s the wraparound group shot cover by Scott Koblish:
Here’s a detail I pulled off the back cover, specifically because this image includes Sheldon Mayer’s Scribbly:
There’s a specific reason why I like the Koblish covers specifically, in that it includes characters like some of those funny animal characters that don’t get mentions in the comic itself but have their existence acknowledged in this huge group shot. We also get characters that, In Real Life, first appeared during the Golden Age, but in the new DCU are presented as more contemporary characters, like the Marvel/Shazam! Family.
The actual content itself is split into two parts: the main “story,” as such, is Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash, presenting a chronological step-by-step New History of the DC Universe, as it says on the tin, light on the text and transitions, almost by necessity, but heavy on the swell art:
Yes, I picked a Swamp Thing-related image as an example, You know whose blog you’re on.
Another nice touch is that Barry acknowledges at the very beginning the presence of “Crisis-level events” that have mucked about with continuity, which does have me curious as to how the series is going to handle things like Crisis on Infinite Earths, or Dark Crisis, or the various Metal series, or, God help us, Doomsday Clock.
Of course, it’s easy to draw comparisons between this series and the History of the Marvel Universe by Waid and Javier Rodriguez, released about six years ago. Similar in layout, with art heavy pages and small blocks of text in the front of the book, with pages of notes in the back (more on the notes section shortly), it differed in that it the Marvel history seemed to go out of its way to point out and correct continuity issues.
I imagine it’s at least in part because Marvel’s mostly avoided line-wide reboots or endless rejiggerings of its fictional world. But some characters, like the Punisher, had their origins in the Vietnam War, which is maybe a little too far back in real world history for the Punisher to still be an active and effective vigilante in stories set in modern times. As such, the fictional Siancong War was created to replace the Vietnam War, always some vague time in the recent-ish past, being pushed along forward in time much like the Marvel characters themselves, staying current in relation to the real world year.
If I recall correctly, characters like Reed Richards and Ben Grimm from the Fantastic Four, who originally had fought during World War II (and was still a thing, so to speak, as of 1981, kinda sorta), had their wartime experiences shifted to the Siancong War. But some WWII-era characters who had an “out,” like Captain America’s initial 20-years-long suspended animation being extended eventually to now, what, 60 or 70 years, are still WWII-bound. And there’s Namor, who’s long-lived, and there’s the Red Skull, whatever his deal was…all still connected to the 1940s.
It’s mentioned here only because New History of the DC Universe hasn’t yet dropped any huge change along those lines, at least that I’ve noticed. To be honest, I was expecting something drastic being done with the Justice Society of America, a World War II-era superteam, some of whom are still around and kickin’ today. I think the Golden Age Green Lantern is kept vital by his ring, and the Golden Age Flash is…his connection to the Speed Force, maybe? At any rate, they’re all literally 100 years old or more now, or thereabouts.
I think the solution provided, seemingly inspired by Last Days of the Justice Society by Roy and Dann Thomas and David Ross, that they were on an “interdimensional adventure” that extended their lives “by decades.” It’s sort of the DC version of Marvel’s “Captain America was frozen in ice for [x] years,” where they can just keep increasing that value of [x] as needed. Anyway, I think this preferable to changing the DC WWII superheroes to, like, some newer war or an invented war.
As I said, like the Marvel History, there are pages of extra notes in the back, titled “New History of the DC Universe Timeline, written by Dave Wielgosz, based on the research he and Waid underwent for this project.
In case you’re wondering, yes, Scribbly gets a mention in the Timeline.
Almost by necessity, the “comic book” section of the publication had to skip a lot of the finer details while hitting the big moments of the history. There’s really only so much space to work with, and while I’m sure everyone involved would have liked to spend page after page detailing the origins of every Golden Age character, but that just wasn’t going to happen. But here in the notes, or Timeline, section, you can get those details and even specific issue numbers. It’s a nice, informative supplement to the main thrust of the book.
New History of the DC Universe is a wonderful artistic showcase, supported by the very thorough informative writing and research by Waid and his team. Like I said above, I’m looking forward to seeing how the later more volatile eras get hammered into coherent shape.
Mike, thanks for making the new post about the New History of the DC Universe.
Agreed that all of the covers are good, but the Scott Koblish cover takes the cake as it reminds one of the Steranko History of Comics Vol. 1, and Vol. 2 covers, as well as some of those Neal Adams Bronze Age covers for DC Specials which would feature a plethora of DC characters.
I also appreciate the fact that Koblish tried to cram all of the major–and some minor–Golden Age characters from DC (National/All-American Comics) Comics, Quality Comics, Fawcett Comics, and even the first Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett) from Fox Publications. That is quite an accomplishment! Although, I noticed that Sandy the Golden Boy and Speedy/Roy Harper were missing. Also missing was Molly Mayne, the original Harlequin, who was Alan Scott’s enemy who later became his wife.
I think DC should reprint this cover as a giant poster which also includes a list of the names of each and every single character. It would also make a cool T-shirt. And hopefully Koblish will draw similar covers for the Silver Age characters, Bronze Age characters, etc.
In terms of the latest retconned History and artwork, I will say that Mark Waid did an admirable overall job, and I really enjoyed the Jerry Ordway pages, although I thought the Todd Nauck pages were on the cartoony side. I wonder why they didn’t just let Ordway draw the whole thing, as Perez was allowed to draw the whole thing with the original History of the DC Universe?
Although I was very happy to find the Golden Age Superman and Lois Lane, Batman and Robin–and Catwoman and Joker,Plastic Man, The Marvel Family, and more on the cover, I was fairly disappointed that those original iterations of the characters seem to have been retroactively erased from continuity. I think this is a mistake. It would have been better if Barry Allen acknowledged their existence, or at least acknowledged that the Psycho Pirate claimed that they existed prior to the events of COIE, even if Barry himself didn’t recall those iterations of the characters. And, also, after forty years or so, why can’t DC just go back to restoring Earths 2, 3, X, S, etc., since there is now the acknowledgement of a Multiverse?
It seemed lazy to only acknowledge by names and draw three out of seven members of The Endless.
Whose bright view was it to turn Eclipso into a transformed fallen angel? That’s just dumb…and I don’t think Bob Haney would like that.
I never knew there were female Oans who became “Zamarons”–I’m still processing that one. And I thought Darkstar was a JLA villain from the Bronze Age –I guess he got retconned to be a malevolent Oan…okay.
I never knew that Eclipso caused the Great Deluge that sunk Atlantis–it seems that Eclipso has been a bad mammajamma throughout the centuries.
Nice to see Anthro getting props, but what about Tor, Konga, and G’naark???
How and when did the whole “Well of Souls/ murdered souls reincarnated as Amazons” retcon thing happen? That one threw me for a loop. Did George Perez do that back in the ’80s, or is that a more recent occurrence? I gotta say, I think it undermines what the Amazons should be about. They should be self-empowered warrior women whose origins date back to the times of ancient Greek mythology.
Nabu tinkering with Dan Garrett’s Blue Beetle scarab (even though, technically, the scarab existed before Nabu was even created, because Blue Beetle debuted in 1939, and Dr. Fate only debuted in 1940! ) seems gimmicky and unnecessary.
I guess the original wizard named Shazam no longer exists–he’s been replaced by Mamaragan. Why? I mean, I’m sure Mamaragan is a good character, but why get rid of the original Wizard named Shazam? Lame.
The Hawkman and Hawkwoman backstory with all of the reincarnation seems pretty complex at this point. I didn’t know they now were said to originally serve an ancient force of evil before they were reincarnated as Prince Khufu and Chay-Ara.
Personally, I’m all for restoring the Earth 2 and Earth 1 Hawkcouples as separate entities. Oh, well.
Whose bright idea was it to make Madame Xanadu a sister to Morgaine Le Fey and the Lady of the Lake?
Did the Viking Prince and Arak, Son of Thunder ever have an adventure together? If not, how about doing a limited series of a BLack Label graphic novel of that, DC?
I get it that Ra’s Al Ghul is one of Batman’s main villains, but he also seems like a negative stereotype in the Fu Manchu tradition–so, as a counterbalance to that has DC ever told a story of a positive Middle Eastern character or group of characters –like Sufi mystics or something–who could have been trying to defeat the evil Ra’s in past centuries, before Batman came along? Maybe they should think about some thing like that and do a limited series along those lines. I’m also trying to recall if the Demon Knights, with Al Jabr, went up against Ra’s?
I’m curious to know what the actual origin story was for Quality Comics’ Quicksilver (if he ever had an origin story) before DC repurposed him as Max Mercury and had his origins going all the way back to the Wild West.
I never knew if Fawcett Comics’ Golden Arrow’s adventures took place in the 1940s or in the late 1880s–it looks like DC has decided he belongs in the Wild West era.
I’m glad that Dr. Occult got acknowledged as the first (briefly) costumed superhero, but I think they should have also drawn the Crimson Avenger in his original outfit, because he predates Batman and the Wesley Dodds Sandman as the first masked superhero! Although, they drew him a few pages later in his second out fit with the Seven Soldiers of Victory. Although Sandman was drawn, there was no mention of Sandy of Diane Belmont.
Also, cool that they drew Bulletman, but they should have included Bulletgirl as well.
Then we get to the JSA. Lame that the Golden Age Superman and Batman were retconned out of the Secret Origin of the JSA, and I’m down with more stories of Amazing Man having interacted with the JSA –or more Amazing Man stories in general in a limited series or or Black Label book, but really Starman, and not Amazing Man, should have been drawn inside that globe along with the other JSA members, as he was an official member who joined at the same time as Dr. Mid-Nite did. Also lame that they are still saying Hippolyta was the Golden Age Wonder Woman, instead of the original Dianna being the original WW.
Then we get to all of the unnecessary sidekicks which I suppose Geoff Johns created a few years ago. Oh well, I guess if DC decides they want to revive the Young All-Stars concept of have a Golden Age Teen Titans they will now have plenty of characters to utilize. But does Cherry Bomb, in her civilian identity, look like Joan Jett in the ’70s?
They should have drawn and mentioned the Paul Kirk Golden Age Manhunter as well as the Quality Comics character called the Manhunter.
They could have had a couple of panels depicting all of the patriotic WW II superheroes together–including Commander Steel, Minute Man, Commando Yank, Flying Eagle, etc.
I didn’t know there was a Golden Age “Justice Society Dark” –I really dislike the whole “Dark” branding…why not “Justice Society Eldritch” instead, or “The Esoteric Society” or something a bit more original? And why aren’t Sargon and Ibis shown as members?
I didn’t know that there was a post-WW II “Justice Alliance” either, and I’m assuming this was just created recently –but it would be fun to see a story featuring these characters (I also didn’t know that DC had a Tiger-Man–I thought that was an Atlas Comics character!).
The “Superman Project” retroactive consortium seems lame. I can buy Niles Caulder and Will Magnus hanging out together–but not with Martin Stein who wasn’t even created until around twenty years later, and not with Simon Stagg. Niles and Will should be hanging around with the Challengers of the Unknown, Cave Carson, the Sea Devils, Adam Strange, etc.
At least J’Onn J’Onzz was drawn the way he originally looked–more or less.
Is the Kryptonian rocket carrying Superman–or Power Girl –or Supergirl?
Despite all of my critiques, Archie Comics should hire Mark Waid to write the History of the Archie/MLJ/Mighty Comics/Red Circle Dark Circle Universe. And get Jerry Ordway to draw it.
I was impressed. Very impressed. Especially by the list in the back–they’ve restored my beloved Amethyst’s origin! This is even more of a definitive “one Earth history” than Wolfman and Perez achieved. I’m looking forward to the Silver Age in book two.
The one major new addition I noticed was firmly establishing Icon, and thus presumably all of the Milestone characters, in the timeline
Hey Sean, just to pick up on a couple of your questions –
The Cosmic Teams site has done an amazing job on a key to all of the characters on Scott Koblish’s superlative cover here –
https://www.cosmicteams.com/jsa/_docs/new-history-of-dcu.html
I think Eclipso as ‘guy who used to do The Spectre’s job’ is from the Robert Loren Fleming series from the early 90’s. There’s definitely a bit about the Biblical flood in there as well but I think linking that to Atlantis sinking might be new.
Iirc the Well of Souls thing is indeed from Perez’s post-Crisis Wonder Woman reboot.
I think the Justice Alliance are new here. Tiger Man was a one-off guy from the Silver Age who appeared a few times as one of Buck Wargo’s Monster Hunters in the Guy Gardner: Warrior series back in the day. Definitely a surprise to see him.
I had a quick look at the Milestone Season One books DC put out a couple of years back and they all say all the characters are TM and copyright DC (which wasn’t the case for the 90’s books). No mention of Milestone in the indicia, but creator credits and a credit for some of the founders as Executive Producers or something like that. I wonder if DC have actually bought some or all of the characters outright on the quiet? Icon’s inclusion here certainly seems to suggest they’ve no worries about losing licensing rights to them, but then Marvel put Conan in the Avengers and then lost the rights, so who knows.
@Ben
Thank you for the various clarifications and especially for the characters key link to Scott Koblish’s amazing cover.
I really hope that Denys Cowan and the other Milestone Universe creators are getting royalties or fair compensation from DC for the use of their creations.
I enjoyed many Robert Loren Fleming comics back in the 1980s, but I still think it is fairly absurd to have Eclipso as “the guy who used to do The Spectre’s job” and a fallen angel. Ugh.
I have to wonder if the Justice Alliance was created as a placeholder, due to the sliding time scale, so that the creation of the JLA can be moved forward by several decades. I get it that I am now the old man–well, technically late middle-aged man–desperately clinging to his youth and shouting at clouds, but I still think DC should have restored Earth’s 1, 2, 3, S, X, etc. And the New 52 reboot should have just been another parallel Earth, so we would historically have three main iterations of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, et al (Golden Age, Silver Age, New 52 Age) who would be aware of each others existence and could meet each other and interact with each other. Also, it seems that there are anomalies, like keeping the Golden Age Aquaman around, who looking basically the same as the Silver Age Aquaman except for the yellow gloves. Oh, well.
A few other things …I didn’t notice Beowulf or Stalker being mentioned in Middle Ages section–but maybe I should read through the footnotes more closely in the back of the book. I would also think the Golden Age superhero parents of the Inferior Five would have been mentioned somewhere, even if they are parody characters, but maybe a sliding time scale is being applied to the Inferior Five and their parents are no longer Golden Agers? Also, I don’t think Bob Kane’s Ginger Snapp was included in the cover.
Also, I think DC might as well include other Victor Fox characters that are public domain in some Golden Age stories, beyond the Blue Beetle. Why not make use of The Flame and Flame Girl, Samson, Green Mask, etc. ? It might be ironic, but DC could even use the Golden Age Wonder Man, who was sued out of existence for being to similar to Superman. Actually, if they wanted to go that route, Fox Publications characters the Golden Age Wonder Man, and the Lynx, could become substitutions for the retconned out of existence Golden Age
Superman and Batman. Something to consider.
Anyway, it would be great fun if DC would do a revised DC Challenge 12 issue limited series set in the 1940s that tries to use as many characters as possible from Koblish’s cover–even if many of them only make cameos in a panel or two. I like the idea of Slam Bradley, Speed Saunders, Dr. Occult, and the Crimson Avenger embarking on an adventure that eventually incorporates a legion of Golden Age DC characters. Bring in Hop Harrigan, the Blackhawks,the Ghost Patrol, Spy Smasher, Captain Midnight, the Death Patrol, and other aviators at some point. Also, include all the intrepid lady reporters, adventurers, and secret agents as well.
Thanks for mentioning the History of the Marvel Universe. I didn’t realize Rodriguez was on art for that one. I’m going to have to pick it up now.
“Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash, presenting a chronological step-by-step New History of the DC Universe”
That’s the right guy for it!
“and there’s the Red Skull, whatever his deal was…all still connected to the 1940s.”
Clones, clones, clones!
“We also get characters that, In Real Life, first appeared during the Golden Age, but in the new DCU are presented as more contemporary characters, like the Marvel/Shazam! Family.”
Some characters SCREAM Golden Age to me, though, because of design, or the characters naivete.
” and the Golden Age Flash is…his connection to the Speed Force, maybe? ”
Or maybe it’s the HAT.
“which does have me curious as to how the series is going to handle things like Crisis on Infinite Earths, or Dark Crisis, or the various Metal series, or, God help us, Doomsday Clock.”
Worse than that, what about “Superman 4: The Quest for Peace”?
“I wonder why they didn’t just let Ordway draw the whole thing, ”
yeah- he’s not Perez, but he’s damn close!
“I never knew there were female Oans who became “Zamarons””
I think I DID know that- but I’m not sure how!
“Mamaragan.”
That’s darn close to “Mamagram”.
“I get it that Ra’s Al Ghul is one of Batman’s main villains, but he also seems like a negative stereotype in the Fu Manchu tradition”
Somewhat, but thankfully not at that high level of “Yellow peril” stereotypes. He never spoke in broken English, for example.
“But does Cherry Bomb, in her civilian identity, look like Joan Jett in the ’70s?”
I SURE HOPE SO!
“Justice Society Dark”
Worst. Super-Team. Name. Ever!
“I also didn’t know that DC had a Tiger-Man”
Tiger-Man, Tiger-Man, does everything a Tiger can!
“Is the Kryptonian rocket carrying Superman–or Power Girl –or Supergirl?”
Neither- it was carrying LOADS OF CASH to pay Marlon Brando for his part in “Superman- The Movie”.
“Iirc the Well of Souls thing is indeed from Perez’s post-Crisis Wonder Woman reboot.”
And “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.
In the group shot, where’s Superman?
@ Andrew Davidson
Superman is on the back cover in the group shot, lifting up the green automobile, In homage to the cover for Action Comics no. 1.
Mike didn’t include the back cover in his scans.
You can see the complete wrap-around cover here:
The New History of the DC Universe | Annotated Variant Cover by Scott Koblish https://share.google/Z3NAsJ950FYHk2ova
Thanks. A great cover.
Is there anyone ‘major’ who isn’t on there?
@Andrew Davison
My apologies for misspelling your name.
@Snark Shark
LOL.
I actually really like Jay Garrick’s red and blue Flash outfit and helmet–and also Kid Flash’s red and yellow costume from the ’60s to ’80s–way more than the Barry Allen (and later Wally West) red Flash costume (heck, even the Reverse Flash costume looks cooler to me).
I think there could be many explanations for most of the Golden Age JSA members being 100 years old or older yet seeming to only be in their ’60s or whatnot. There was that whole Ian Krakull story line from All-Star Squadron Annual no. 3 where a bunch of JSA members were exposed to some cosmic or whatever rays. There was also the storyline from All-Star Comics where many of the JSA members were exposed to the waters of some mystic river that could have ultimately extended their lives. There were also Golden Age stories where the team went to other dimensions, and planets which might have inadvertantly slowed down the aging process. And, Roy Thomas devised the story where they were stuck in a Ragnarok limbo for “x” number of years after Crisis on Infinite Earths.
But if we were to look at the Golden Age team there could be “weird science/comic book “logic” for a majority of the team staying relatively youthful. Superman is an alien. Wonder Woman is an Amazon. Magic and or/supernatural beings could have kept The Spectre, Dr. Fate (Kent Nelson), and Johnny Thunder seeming youthful–although, morbidly enough, Jim Corrigan, the human host of The Spectre, was actually a reanimated corpse–yikes! Magic and/or the supernatural (reincarnation) could also apply to Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Alan Scott’s “starheart” ring and lantern–and his will power–could have kept him more youthful. Then you’ve got the “better living through chemistry” JSA members: Hour-Man and his Miraclo pills, Star Man and his anti-gravity rod (which might have an energy aura that slowed down his aging. Even the Golden Age Atom later gained atomic powers, which I think were explained more fully in an All-Star Squadron issue that Thomas wrote.
I’m considering pre-COIE stories Canon, so the Golden Age Batman and Terry Sloane/Mr. Terrific are already deceased, but if they weren’t they probably would have come up with something to slow down their aging (like finding the Lazarus Pitt on Earth 2, or periodic periods in cryogenic stasis) considering they were among the smartest men on Earth 2 and fairly wealthy as well. In fact, I’m kind of surprised that no DC writer, to my knowledge, has revised that Levitz “Death of Batman” story and altered it so that Golden Age Commissioner Bruce Wayne actually faked his own death so that he could live out the rest of his years in peace. But, anyway, Wayne and Sloane are gone. That leaves Wesley Dodds/Sandman, Charles McNider/Dr. Mid-Nite, Ted Grant/Wildcat, and the original Black Canary. I think over the last few decades the original Black Canary, Sandman, and Dr. Mid-Nite have all passed away in one way or another–unless they brought them back? But, for the sake of argument, it might be a stretch, but maybe there was a chemical compound in Sandman’s sleeping gas that slowed down the aging process (even though he wore a gasmask it could still have come in contact with his skin and seeped into his pores). Likewise, for Dr. Mid-Nite, a chemical compound from his “blackout bombs” might have somehow slowed down his aging process–or,maybe as a doctor, he had created some rejuvenating serum. Or, come to think of it, between Wayne, Sloane, Dodds, Tes Knight, and Rex Tyler, these guys were all sitting on fortunes and could have easily synthesized a new drug from Miraclo that they all took to rejuvenate themselves, like some nanotechnology/singularity stuff. And Dinah Drake and Ted Grant could be mutants. Grant could have some healing factor similar to that of Wolverine. For the later additions to the JSA in the late ’60s (Golden Age Robin, Red Tornado II), and ’70s (Power Girl, Star-Spangled Kid, and Huntress) only Robin and Huntress pose aging problems. Red Tornado is an android (or is he a wind being from an alien word or dimension inhabiting an android?) and Power Girl is an alien, so no aging issues there. Star-Spangled Kid is deceased, but if he weren’t, the effects of the Nebulon Ray (or whatever it was) when he was lost in time along with the other Seven Soldiers of Victory could have kept him younger. Or, an easier explanation could that Nabu or the source that powers The Spectre decided to slow the clock on the JSA members aging, recognizing their importance as agents of Order against Chaos…
It turns out that Mamaragan is an actual Aboriginal thunder diety, which is cool, but I think DC should have an Aboriginal character tied in to that concept–and I think Grant Morrison did have one in that Multiversity series from awhile back. I just feel that the original Shazam Wizard with the long white beard should also be left intact, as he is a part of classic comic book history. But DC could do a separate comic called “Mamaragan: The Thunder from Down Under.”
Did the Zamarons ever battle the Amazons?
Yeah, “Justice Society Dark” and “Justice League Dark” are both uninspired team names. Bring back Shadow Pact, or call them “The Guild of Marvelous Magicians” or “The Legion of Sorcerer-Heroes” or something. And the bad guy team can be called “The Sadistic Mystics”…
@ Andrew Davidson
We both owe thanks to commenter Ben sending the Koblish cover link originally.
To answer your question, the main “oversights” I noticed were that Golden Age Speedy/Roy Harper, and Golden Age Sandy Hawkins (Sandman’s sidekick) seem to be missing. I guess that because the whole Green Arrow and Speedy history is so convoluted now–what with the retroactive continuity take being that they “temporarily” were stuck in the past in the ’40s and became part of the Seven Soldiers of Victory for awhile –that maybe DC wants to focus on Speedy as a Teen Titan member starting in the Silver Age, and so he will probably be featured on the cover for issue no. 2. But, back in the early 1970s, in Justice League of America no. 100-102, it was established that there was an Earth-2 Green Arrow and Speedy who had been around since the ’40s, and Earth 1 Green Arrow and Speedy. Where is gets tricky is that Green Arrow and Speedy, along with Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman and Robin, all had stories published on a fairly regular since all of those characters were first created during the Golden Age. But most would argue that when Jack Kirby worked on Green Arrow in the late ’50s that those stories should mark the start of Earth 1 Green Arrow’s adventures, as Kirby came up with the whole Oliver Queen stuck on an island and teaching himself archery and survival skills origin story. Also, in early 1940s stories I think Green Arrow had brown hair and Speedy had blond hair.
Maybe Sandy will feature on the cover for issue no. 3 (as he became the leader of the re-formed JSA in the ’90s)?
But, what I think will ultimately make the Scott Koblish cover some sort of a minor key is that is the first time that several Quality Comics characters and Fawcett Comics characters (two defunct Gold n Age Companies that DC bought characters from) have ever appeared on a DC cover, to the best of my knowledge. So, from Quality Comics we get the first DC appearances of the Golden Age Wildfire (she is kind of like a female Human Torch character–but her long mane of hair trails behind her when she flies, similar to Starfire’s hair). I think it would be cool if DC were to use th character in a Golden Age story with a bunch of other characters–they could always change her name to avoid confusion with the Legion of Super-Heroes Wildfire. Even just change it to “Wylde-Fire” or something. The cover also has the first DC cover appearances of Wonder Boy, and The Clock, that I am aware of. And there might be some other Quality Comics characters who haven’t appeared in a DC comic before. It looks like they didn’t draw the Spider Widow, but she’s a fairly obscure character. And for Fawcett Comics (the original publisher of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family) I believe this is the first DC cover appearance of Lance O’Casey, and Master Man (an obscure character).
Hi Sean,
I was confused by the apparent absence of Sandy as well but he has just been squeezed on to the next part of the picture (the wraparound cover to #2).
Several retrospectively-inserted characters like the female Firebrand and Amazing-Man also appear in the part of the picture from the era that they were created (the 80s). However, the logic of that has broken down here and there (recently-created Quiz Kid appears near Sandy).
@ Mike Harwood
Thanks for the explanation. I hadn’t seen the Koblish cover images yet for issues 2 and 3–and I haven’t located the cover image for issue 4 yet.
Now that I have seen them, I did notice Sandy, and also Speedy included with the original Teen Titans (minus Robin) on the “Silver Age” / issue 2 Koblish variant cover. What strikes me as odd is that the no. 3 Koblish variant cover shows Earth-1 Bronze Age Superman holding the deceased Supergirl (in homage to George Perez’s iconic COIE cover), so by the logic of Superman and Supergirl featuring on at least two Koblish variant covers, it seems to me that all of the Earth-1 and Earth-2 “doppelganger” superheroes should appear on at least two covers: Superman (check), Batman (?), Robin (?), Wonder Woman (?), Aquaman (?), Green Arrow (?), Speedy (?) –and I don’t know at this point how they are categorized, but at one time I think there were Earth-1 and Earth-2 (or Earth X) iterations of Plastic Man and the Blackhawks. Also, I think the Vigilante (cowboy character) had an Earth-1 iteration along with his Earth-2 Seven Soldiers of Victory iteration. And then there is the original Kid Eternity from Quality Comics –which should make him from Earth-X, but I think E. Nelson Bridwell decided to make him related to Freddie Freeman/Captain Marvel Jr. , so does that mean there is an Earth-S iteration as well? And, what about all of DC’s war characters. I guess they were all created in the Silver Age, but should they have Earth-2 counterparts as well? I remember a Brave and the Bold story where Earth-2 Batman is featured with the Blackhawks, and another one with Earth-2 Batman and the Unknown Soldier.
So, at least for the main characters, it would have been nice to see Earth-1 Silver Age Robin (Dick Grayson) drawn included with the other original Teen Titans.
Also, it would have been cool if DC just included character keys which also listed the first comic book title and issue number that each character appeared in and who published it ( DC, Fawcett, Fox Publications,or Quality Comics) for all of the Koblish variant covers.
It would also be interesting to know which characters are now public domain. For example, I think The Clock might actually be in the public domain, as I think he started out as a Chesler character in 1937 or 1938 in Feature Funnies that Quality Comics then licensed or acquired when Feature Funnies became Feature Comics. I also think The Clock might be the first original comics superhero character to wear a mask (as opposed to newspaper syndicate characters such as The Phantom whose stories were reprinted in comics).
Also, I don’t know what the status is with Lady Luck, but I think Will Eisner or Klaus Nordling created her and she was part of the Sunday newspaper “Spirit sections” during the 1940s and then Quality Comics reprinted her stories. So, it would be interesting to know if she was in the public domain or not.
But here is an idea for DC if they want to capitalize on The New History of The DC Universe: start releasing 100 Page Giants that reprint the first appearances of a plethora of characters. The first 100 Page Giant could reprint some characters from 1935 to 1939, including Superman, Batman, Wesley Dodds Sandman, Crimson Avenger, Dan Garrett Blue Beetle, Slam Bradley, Dr. Occult, Captain Marvel, etc. The Next issue could focus on all the characters that were first published between 1940 and 1941, like most of the JSA founder members, Wonder Woman,and a bunch of Fawcett and Quality Comics characters. And a few more issues could be published to cover the rest of the Golden Age characters. Call the series: “Secret Origins of The DC Universe: The Golden Age, Vol. 1,2,3,4.”
Lastly, I still didn’t see Molly Mayne, the original Harlequin–maybe she got lost in the crowd or was busy being up to no good?
And, it would have been funnier to have drawn Golden Age Speedy where Red Bee is placed, so that it looks like Green Arrow is pushing him to one side while flirting with Black Canary (even though Golden Age Green Arrow and Black Canary were never a couple. She had a thing for Star Man, though).
A poster would be nice… but I think those Koblish covers would be amazing jigsaw puzzles!
@ Rob S.
Agreed that the Koblish covers would make amazing jigsaw puzzles–but DC might as well make posters, t-shirts, beach towels, skateboard decks, shower curtains, etc. of those amazing covers.
For anyone who wants to know more about Golden Age Fawcett Comics and Quality Comics characters that DC acquired–many of whom are drawn on Scott Koblish’s variant cover, here are a few cool links.
It turns out The Clock dates back to 1936, making him the first masked crimefighter in comic books! He also went through several publishers, including Centaur Comics and Quality Comics, before DC claimed him (although, technically it is likely that he is in the public domain because I don’t think there was a copyright renewal).
Lady Luck is likely in the public domain as well, unless Will Eisner or his estate renewed the copyright.
My guess is that some Quality Comics characters ended up in the public domain because their copyrights lapsed–excluding Plastic Man, the Blackhawks, Kid Eternity, the Freedom Fighters (Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, Human Bomb, The Ray, Black Condor, Doll Man, Doll Woman, and Firebrand), Captain Triumph, Alias the Spider, Golden Age Quicksilver–renamed Max Mercury, Madame Fatal, and some additional characters Roy Thomas used in a few issues of All-Star Squadron (Midnight, Manhunter, Jester, Miss America, Red Bee, Magno, Neon, Invisible Justice, Blue Tracer, Red Torpedo–am I forgetting any other Quality characters he used? ) But if I am wrong, let me know.
So, examples of Quality Comics characters likely in the public domain might include:
Spider Widow and her boyfriend the Golden Age Raven, Golden Age Wildfire, Torchy, Wonder Boy, Stormy Foster The Defender, The Clock, Lady Luck, Death Patrol, Ken Shannon, T-Man, Swing Sasson, The Barker and his carnival pals, Hercules, etc. Although, a few of these characters are included in Koblish’s variant cover –making it a minor key for first DC appearances of a handful of Quality Comics characters.
Here are the links:
Fawcett Superheroes and Villains – Mark Carlson-Ghost https://share.google/5R1SOjBUbqFb0b5SF
Rip Jagger’s Dojo: The Quality of Freedom! https://share.google/eBJU6xzmuEVA9DSwu
Clock (character) – Wikipedia https://share.google/ip6XKLETpG0E2aSIl
Lady Luck (comics) – Wikipedia https://share.google/j5RALN8ny1VPhnbTe