Joel Phillips
Feb 16, 2005, 01:38 pm
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/Top70DCMoments1.jpg" align=left border=0 alt="Top 70 DC Moments">Part 3: #30-11
Written By: Ryan Day, Raul Grau, Alex Groff, James Groves, Jon Hancock, Matt Lazorwitz, Jordan T. Maxwell & Omar A. Safi
Edited By: Joel Phillips
Additional Graphical Assistance: Omar A. Safi, Jesse Baer & Al Harahap
What is a truly great MOMENT? Is it something that touches us? Something that shocks us? Something that changes the characters forever? Is it a milestone, a mega-event, or just one perfect panel?
We think it’s all of the above, and so much more. We think it’s sacrifices and slaughters. We think it’s big reveals and deep secrets. We think it’s team-ups, power-ups, shutdowns and beatdowns. And we haven’t even cracked the top ten.
Just joining the party? Check out Part 1 (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32210) and Part 2 (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32314). Otherwise let’s get back to the ComiX-Fan staff’s picks for the 70 Greatest Moments in DC History, here with picks #30-11:
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#30: “Lois, There’s Something I Should Tell You…”
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/30.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Action Comics #662
Writer: Roger Stern
Artist: Bob McLeod
For more than fifty years, Lois Lane had been trying to learn all she could about Superman, and win the Man of Steel’s heart. But after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Lois’s priorities changed, and this post-Crisis Lois became more interested in Clark Kent, not suspecting that Clark and Superman were one and the same. The romance between the two star reporters grew, and eventually Clark asked Lois to marry him, and she agreed. But Clark knew that, eventually, he would have to tell Lois his secret. After a battle with the Silver Banshee, Clark knew the time was now, and he removed his glasses, unbuttoned his shirt, and showed Lois the symbol beneath. This was a major status quo shift in the world of Superman. The hero who always had to keep his secret from the woman he loved, who was always running to broom closets and phone booths, now had someone to cover his tracks, a true partner. Since then, the couple have seen rough times and happy ones, but the fact that Clark shared his deepest secret with her has been a beacon for Lois, making them, in many ways, the World’s Strongest Couple.
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#29: Doomed to the End
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/29.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: The Doom Patrol (v1) #121
Writer: Arnold Drake
Artist: Bruno Premiani
They were the freaks, the damned, the carnival sideshow of superheroics. Each member of the Doom Patrol bore their own curse, whether it was as visible as a steel skeleton or as subtle as the knowledge that they are different from everyone else. Each could have turned their back on the rest of the world, but they fought to protect the very ‘normals’ who had shunned them. The Doom Patrol worked to prevent others from suffering as they had, and found purpose in that struggle… a struggle that made their end inevitable. The diabolical Captain Zahl had the team at his mercy. They were helpless, his to kill at any time, but he wanted them humiliated first. He gave the captured heroes a choice- they could live, but only at the expense of a tiny fishing village, populated by fourteen strangers they would never know. Zahl wanted to witness them betraying their vaunted morals by saving their fractured skins. Fourteen die or four, and they choose the only option they could. The Doom Patrol were freaks, misfits, and outcasts, but they were also heroes. The Doom Patrol died, but they were not forgotten. They returned when Phoenix made her sacrifice on the moon, when Barry Allen ran his final run, and when Colossus gave his life for all mutants. Of course, their deaths (like many others) did not take, and the Doom Patrol have returned in several incarnations over the years. However, whenever a superhero lays down his life for the greater good, their sacrifice again finds meaning.
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#28: Goodbye, Underworld
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/28.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Sandman #23
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artist: Kelley Jones
It begins with a family dinner. Normal enough, except that the family is the Endless and the dinner takes place in the hall of Destiny. Confronted by his brother/sister Desire and sister Death over his damning a former lover to Hell millennia ago, Dream sets out for the infernal realm to set her free and redeem his mistake. He arrives to find the gates of Hell unguarded, the fields of the damned untended and not a soul (or demon) in sight. Lucifer appears behind him and reveals the reason for Hell’s emptiness: he’s quit. For the first and possibly only time, the normally unflappable Dream is struck dumb. Lucifer invites Dream to accompany him as he gets rid of a few remaining damned and demons and locks up the gates. As they travel, Lucifer explains that he’s had enough. The passion that led him to rebel as an angel has waned in the eons since (so much so that he has to ask Dream to remind him what he was like in those days). He’s tired of merely playing the role of the punisher, of being blamed for every human shortcoming, of participating in the mindless machinations of other demons. And so he’s cleared out Hell and is leaving for good. To lie on a beach. Listen to music. Play the piano. Dream, who is obsessed with responsibility and duty, cannot fathom Lucifer’s reasons. Lucifer tells him plainly that it is perhaps the “ultimate freedom. The freedom to leave.” This moment is one of the most defining (and recommended) of the entire Sandman series. It not only served to further the thematic development of the book and popularized Lucifer as a character, leading to his own title, but fully showed Gaiman for the master storyteller and poet he is.
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#27: One Magic Word...
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/38.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Kingdom Come #4
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Alex Ross
In the world of Kingdom Come, genocide was inevitable. The 'heroes' were out of control, divided into militant factions, and warring amongst themselves over whose ideals were the least flawed. They had placed themselves so far above the common man that none among them even noticed when the common man was forced to act. The choice of the people was a simple one- allow the fighting to swallow the world whole, or destroy their own protectors in a rain of nuclear fire. Fortunately, there was another with the power to choose. Captain Marvel, brainwashed and near insane, was given the opportunity to decide the fate of the metahumans. Should he allow the Man of Steel to save the misguided titans, and certainly doom the rest of the planet, or stop Superman, and thereby end all of their lives for a possible greater good? Marvel found within himself a third option, rushing headlong into the path of oncoming destruction, and seven thunders uttered their voices for a final time. Though many colorful champions fell that day, the sacrifice of Marvel ensured that some would live, and inspired by his nobility, would restore the balance between man and superman. Straddling the line between god and boy nearly broke Captain Marvel, but his last act proved that he never lost his grasp on heroism. The world knew hope again, though at a terrible price.
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#26: It’s a Stork! It’s a Rocket! It’s… a Boy!
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/26.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Man of Steel #1
Writer/Artist: John Byrne
It is a story widely known throughout our modern culture, the origin of a modern pop icon. Rocketed away from his dying planet, the infant Kal-El of Krypton is discovered and raised by a loving farm couple, the Kents. Though the moment has been shown several times through different media, the version most relevant to modern continuity is Byrne’s retelling of it in his post-Crisis update of the Superman mythos, Man of Steel. As Clark is nearing the end of high school, he is aware that he’s different from the other students. But nothing can prepare him for the secret his parents have kept from him. One night, after a football game, Jonathan takes Clark to a strange rocket embedded deeply in a field and tells him of the night eighteen years before when a strange light appeared on the Kent farm. How he and Martha had gone to investigate and discovered the rocket. How they found a small baby inside and adopted it as their own. How that child grew and began to exhibit strange and extraordinary abilities. In short, how Clark came to be the powerful young man he was. The moment differs from other tellings of the story in key ways. For one, there is no time spent as Superboy. Clark spends his adolescence using his abilities selfishly and has to grow into his responsibilities. Also, in this version Kal-El is sent to Earth still gestating and is born on Earth, in America, before the Kents’ very eyes, highlighting his dual heritage as being both a part of this world yet separate from it. The most important element of this moment, however, is one that remains constant in each version: that Clark Kent was raised by both of his parents with a sense of honesty, of responsibility, of justice, and of a morality that has guided his powers for the greater good and given this world not just a Superman, but an age of heroes.
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#25: Wally West masters the Speed Force
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/25.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Flash (v2) #100
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Salvador Larocca
For years it was thought that the DCU’s Speedsters gained their powers from different sources. The second and third Flash were hit by lightning and doused in chemicals, Johnny Quick used an equation to focus his mind, the first Flash inhaled hard water. When Max Mercury introduced readers to a Speed Force that powered the movement of everything it was revealed that speedsters could tap into this force and take extra speed from it. Furthermore, when they died they would go and join the Speed Force, so that others could use their energies. Wally West had been living in the shadow of his uncle, the previous Flash, ever since he graduated to the Flash mantle. When he entered the Speed Force, it appeared that he had run his last race. But Wally managed to leave the Speed Force and found he had complete mastery of it, finally able to show his potential as the Flash, free from the shackles of his uncle’s legacy. With these metaphorical bonds released, Wally became the only sidekick in the DCU to truly graduate into his mentor’s title. He became a character in his own right, rather than a kid trying to honor his uncle. More importantly he became the most interesting and well-written solo character within the DCU.
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#24: Green Lantern Goes Ga-Ga
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/24.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in Green Lantern (v2) #48-50
Writer: Ron Marz
Artists: Bill Willingham, Fred Haynes, Paul Pelletier, Romeo Tanghal, Robert Campanella and Dennis Cramer
Imagine your friends and family were killed by a power mad tyrant. Sure, you can defeat the monster, but instead of a feeling of victory, you're left with a crater where your life once was. An entire city destroyed, because you weren't paying attention. And then, the power you had to fix this was taken away. Would you be angry? Would you be enraged? Would you be willing to do anything to heal the wounds of Coast City? Hal Jordan would, and it led him to kill the Green Lantern Corps and steal the power of OA for himself. He murders his friend, Kilowog, then fights to the death his old mentor, the villain Sinestro. Many readers have since argued that his actions were illogical and out of character, considering his closeness to the Corps. I point you fellows to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where a hero bent on justice causes the death of his lover Ophelia and his two schoolboy friends, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern. Is it tragic? Yes, yes it is. But so was his loss; so was the arrogance of the Guardians to ignore him in his time of need. Even heroes make mistakes; Jordan’s error—his tragedy—is made all the more poignant by the good intentions that led him to commit such crimes.
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#23: Batman: The Animated Series Debuts
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/23.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">Producers: Paul Dini, Eric Rodomski and Bruce Timm
Batman Created by: Bob Kane and Bill Finger
In 1992, Batman: The Animated Series debuted and introduced another generation to one of the greatest and most iconic superheroes ever. The success and influence of this series was mostly due to creators Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, who crafted a show that reflected the spirit of the Batman mythos perfectly. What’s more, the show didn’t condescend to its older viewer audience. While surprisingly entertaining children with its dark backgrounds, the show was also a perfect match for adult viewers because of its understandings of the characters and shaping itself with stories from the Batman comics. The series’ tone was covered in shadows and dark skyscrapers, almost taken from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. Also Batman’s supporting cast and rogues gallery were brilliant, with the likes of Joker, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Robin/Dick Grayson, Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Bullock, Poison Ivy, and Ra’s Al Ghul all recreated superbly, and the lesser-known characters like Clayface, Killer Croc, and the Ventriloquist were just as enjoyable. The series even added its own characters to the Bat-mythos, most notably Harley Quinn, who has since gained recognition in comic books too. After its ending, the series spawned quite a few more successful series, like The New Batman Adventures (which featured Nightwing and Tim Drake as Robin), Superman, The New Batman/Superman Adventures, and Batman Beyond; and current series Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans continue the original series’ legacy.
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#22: Flash vs. Reverse Flash
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/22.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Flash (v1) #324
Writer: Cary Bates
Artist: Carmine Infantino
Barry Allen was the poster boy for heroics, but even the most clean-cut man in the DCU could be pushed too far. When he was faced with Eobard Thawne, his biggest fan and greatest nemesis, the Flash was forced to confront the reality of having a private life. Knowing all his secrets as he came from the future, Thawne was able to kill the Flash’s wife in cold blood. Around a year later, Barry was preparing to marry for a second time only to have another encounter with Thawne. This sparked a race around the world as Barry tried to stop Thawne killing the woman he loved again. Stopping Thawne at the last instant, Barry put his arm round his throat and inadvertently snapped the villain’s neck. This tarnished Barry’s reputation and saw him embroiled in a court case for two years. Further ramifications are still being felt as the vulnerability Barry experienced led him to alter the Top’s mind. Only his heroic sacrifice restored his legacy of true heroism but the Allen/Thawne feud is one of comics’ hottest, and stretches for centuries into the future.
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#21: The Crippling of Barbara Gordon
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/55.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Batman: The Killing Joke
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Brian Bolland
The Killing Joke was a different Batman story. The art was more realistic, the story darker, and there was language you never heard Batman use before. If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind, though, that this was a Batman story for a more mature mind, it was put to rest when Barbara Gordon went to answer the door to her father’s apartment. A scene of domestic bliss between Jim and Barbara Gordon was shattered when the Joker arrived at their door and shot Barbara, stripped her, and took pictures as part of his campaign to break Batman through his friends. When Batman arrives at the hospital, he finds out that Barbara has been paralyzed from the waist down permanently by the Joker’s bullet. This wasn’t an imaginary story, it wasn’t something that was going to be fixed by magic or super powers. Barbara was wheelchair bound for life. This level of tragedy was something that was slowly beginning to creep into comics, and this truly pulled it to the forefront. Barbara would struggle with this dilemma, would have to deal with her memories of swinging over Gotham, and now not being able to walk. The chilling moment would haunt her, and many of the readers who first saw it, for years to come.
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#20: Hard Travelin’ Heroes
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/20.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76-80
Writer: Dennis O’Neil
Artist: Neal Adams
A pilot with the most powerful weapon in the universe and a former billionaire wielding a bow and arrow, one a conservative agent of intergalactic authority and the other a liberal vigilante and social activist. Together with a tiny blue alien, they all pack up in a pick up truck and set out to see America. It may sound like a pitch for the new fall season of UPN, but it’s actually one of the most important and progressive moments in mainstream comic books. While visiting his “chum” Oliver Queen, Hal Jordan is confronted by an elderly black man: “I been readin’ about you…how you work for the blue skins…and how on a planet someplace you helped out the orange skins…and you done considerable for the purple skins! Only there’s skins you never bothered with…the BLACK skins! I want to know…how come? Answer me that, Mr. Green Lantern.” And Hal, to his own surprise, cannot. So he and Ollie set out across America (with one of the Guardians in tow so that he can experience humanity) to not just fight crime, but discover the social ills that cause crime. They encounter injustice, poverty, racism, pollution, drug abuse and often argue over the best way to handle them. And in that argument lay the debate of a nation struggling with itself, yet it showed through the enduring friendship of these two heroes that despite our disagreements, we can all work together for a brighter and better tomorrow. O’Neil and Adams crafted the first socially conscious superheroes and did so without being preachy, opting instead to raise awareness of a particular issue and let the characters react naturally to it. It showed that superheroes could do more than just stop muggers or halt alien invasions. It showed that the medium itself could deal with social issues as handily as other art forms, and it told some damn fine stories besides.
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#19: “Surprise for you in the fridge”
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/19.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Green Lantern (v3) #54
Writer: Ron Marz
Artist: Darryl Banks
Take a brand new superhero with a shiny power ring. He's got superpowers, a hot girlfriend, and he's just teamed up with Superman to beat up an alien conqueror. Life is good, something that cannot be allowed for a superhero. So how do you knock him down a peg and show him that, by golly, being a superhero is hard? Easy – send an atomic-powered government assassin around to murder his girlfriend and stuff her into a refrigerator. While it offered carefree Kyle Rayner a dramatic motivation, the moment became synonymous with another long-standing comic book tradition: murdering, raping, and otherwise damaging the female supporting cast. Writer Ron Marz didn't do anything that dozen writers had done before him, but it still inspired Gail Simone to mount her <a href="http://www.the-pantheon.net/wir/" target="new">Women in Refrigerators</a> site, a list of the many female characters who have met less than noble ends. Ultimately, Major Force taught us two important lessons: First, that being a superhero isn't fun and games, and second, that being a female comic book character is even less so.
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#18: The League Within the League’s Dark Secret
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/18.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Identity Crisis #2
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Artist: Rags Morales
One of the most important things that any super-hero possesses is his secret identity. It is what protects his loved ones from all the enemies that he has made. But what happens when a villain knows a heroes identity, and chooses to use it against them? There are contingencies. A small cadre of members of the Justice League, consisting of many of the pillars of the Silver Age, had been using Zatanna’s powers to remove the memories of the villains. But when Dr. Light attacked and raped Sue Dibny, and threatened the loved ones of the other heroes, choices were made. The League decided to lobotomize Light, making him a non-threatening bumbler. The vote was narrow, but it fell in favor of the procedure. And when it was done, it was never to be spoken of again. But something happened, something to complicate matters: Batman walked in on them. And another decision was made. Batman’s memories were wiped, just of those ten minutes, and he was sent away. This core moment of Identity Crisis shifted the perceptions of the heroes of the DCU, and posed many questions. What does it mean to be a hero? Can you do immoral acts, and still be a good person? Some fans were angered by the poisoning of the great icons, while others applauded the humanity that was given to them. And it seems as if this moment is the touchstone for the future of the DCU. Where it is going, only time will tell…
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#17: DC gives Gaiman Endless control
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/17.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments"> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/17a.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">The character of the Sandman had been through several different incarnations since his initial creation. In the Golden Age, he was a pulp style crime fighter, a mystery man in a gas mask with a gun that would fire sleeping powder. In the Silver Age, he was a gaudily dressed superhero who defended the dreams of sleeping children. Neither was ever all that popular or successful. But in the late 80s, a young British writer by the name of Neil Gaiman was asked to revamp a lesser-known DC character in the hopes of repeating Alan Moore’s success with Swamp Thing. And as if by fate (or perhaps Destiny?), Gaiman chose the Sandman. Only he wouldn’t be a crime fighter. And he wouldn’t be a superhero. He would be the embodiment of dreams, a dour and stoic ruler over the realm of the sleeping, of stories and nightmares. The book would follow him not on grand adventures, but on an epic journey of introspection and self-discovery. The scope of the book would span from the creation of worlds and the birth of gods to the veldts of tribal Africa and taverns of Elizabethan England into the motels and strip clubs of modern America. Its cast would include an eccentric ensemble of dream creatures, talking animals, angels, demons, gods, monsters and humans…and a dysfunctional family who embodied the fundamental forces of the universe. It was one of the first comics to be acknowledged as having true literary merit. It was a hit with readers and critics. And from day one, it was guided by the unique vision and genius of Gaiman. So when he was done telling his story, DC did something unheard of up to that point: they let him. They gave him full creative license to end one of their most successful series, and while DC would retain commercial control over the characters, they would ensure that all future creative decisions for the characters and concept involve Gaiman’s input and approval. It was an unprecedented moment in mainstream comics and created a new paradigm for creative control and creator’s rights at DC… one that its Marvelous Competition has yet to successfully emulate.
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#16: Death of Superman
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/16.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Superman (v2) #75
Writer/Artist: Dan Jurgens
The greatest hero of all. The everlasting hope of society. The guy you call when you need a win against all odds. That’s what Superman is to every denizen of the DCU. For years his rogue’s gallery had been filled with enemies who were more psychological threats, because nothing could physically harm him. Then there was Doomsday. Entering comicdom with one of the least subtle introductions ever, Doomsday cut a path of destruction towards Metropolis and towards Superman. Taking out the Justice League and Supergirl on his way it seemed business as usual that Superman would have to be the one to end this rampage. Then the unthinkable happens, and both men die. The moment that both men contact each other with simultaneous killing blows was fantastically portrayed. While many see the death of Superman as a commercial stunt and nothing more, the impact it had on the DCU at the time was vast. Characters were bereft and hopeless. The DCU became a much bleaker place. Lex Luthor was faced with realizing his goal through no actions of his own. The reversal of the event has somewhat tarnished its impact but placed in the context of the world of DC, nothing could have been more influential on the life of someone inhabiting the DCU than their greatest champion falling.
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#15: The Dark Knight beats the Man of Steel
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/15.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: The Dark Knight Returns #4
Writer/Artist: Frank Miller
“Can Batman beat up Superman?” is the stuff of classic fanboy speculation. And while the two icons have tussled from time to time, it’s usually been by way of a classic superhero “misunderstanding”, which, once clarified, gives way to the heroes teaming up to thwart the real villain’s plan. But on a dark night in Gotham, with the world in ruin and only one man holding back the madness, The Man of Steel was sent to take down the Dark Knight. He's gone too far, they said, and must be stopped. And so Clark Kent flew down to Crime Alley to bring in his old friend Bruce ... and promptly got his ass kicked. Oh, we can add qualifications to it: Superman had just been through a nuclear blast; he was trying to talk to Batman, not kill him; and, while this episode largely formed the basis of the “if he had time to prepare, Batman could beat Superman/Spider-Man/Galactus/etc.” rationale, it’s probably safe to say that Supes would have acted a little differently had he known he’d be facing guided missiles, a tank, and a kryptonite arrow. But then, what kind of Kansas yahoo goes into a fight with the world’s most determined, intelligent and prepared vigilante on his home turf and doesn’t expect a surprise or two? And indeed, it’s probably worth mentioning that this was not a fight that was going to last: while Batman certainly knocked Superman down, he probably couldn’t have kept him down. But neither that nor anything else matters, because Bruce Wayne went to his grave knowing that he was the strongest, the smartest, and the best.
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#14: Enter the Bastard
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/14.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Saga of the Swamp Thing #37
Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: Rick Veitch and John Totleben
As Swamp Thing is attempting to regrow himself following his confrontation with Nukeface, a mysterious figure is traveling around, seeing old friends who warn him of a coming evil though none of them can agree on what it is. Some extragalactic energy field, Cthulhu from the Lovecraftian mythos, Satan himself…they all have an idea or theory. But they all agree that it’s big, it’s evil and within a year it will arrive. And so this mystery man, with his trench coat, cigarettes and cocky British accent travels down to the bayous of Louisiana in search of the last plant elemental… who’s still stuck halfway in the ground. He lights up a cigarette and introduces himself. “I’m a nasty piece of work, chief. Ask anybody…my name’s John Constantine, and I think we could do each other a favor.” And with that, the ball was rolling on the introduction of one of the most enduring and popular characters in the Vertigo stable. For the next year, Constantine led Swamp Thing around the country, showing him monsters and horrors… even a crisis across infinite earths… that were all but harbingers of the coming of a greater evil. He baited this quest with promises of revealing secrets and mysteries to the Swamp Thing, manipulating him and anyone else around him to get what he wanted. It just so happened that what he wanted was to save the world. He had his chain smoking, his wry comments, his arrogant cleverness and pure working class London attitude, mixed with a healthy dose of self loathing over the things he had to do and the friends he had to lead to death and madness… all of which made him an instant hit with fans. Soon he was appearing almost everywhere in the fledgling Vertigo line, from Swamp Thing to Sandman to Books of Magic, and finally his own title, Hellblazer. Constantine was the next evolution of the antihero archetype: the righteous bastard. And it all started with that one issue, that one moment, that one meeting... from that moment on, we would be blessed with his trench coat and silk cuts.
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#13: An Image to Strike Fear in the Hearts of Criminals
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/13.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Detective Comics #33
Writers: Gardner Fox and Bob Kane
Artist: Sheldon Moldoff
To know Batman is to be afraid of Batman. Villains and heroes alike are put off by his cold nature and dark demeanor. None of this would have happened though were it not for the chance wanderings of a flying rodent. Bruce Wayne was deciding how he could best avenge his parent’s death, following years of dedication at furthering himself, when all of a sudden a bat crashed through the window, answering his need for a symbol that would strike fear in the hearts of criminals. This is the moment that created Batman even more than his parents’ demise, as it made Bruce Wayne the dark, brooding, pant-wettingly scary man he would become.
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#12: A Wonderful Woman gets her own title
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/12.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Wonder Woman (v1) #1
Writer: William Moulton Marston (as Charles Moulton)
Artist: H.G. Peter
During the war-torn era of the 1940s, comic books were often seen as literary pieces of flag-waving propaganda; ideological weapons to increase morale in violent and disturbing times. The industry was saturated with male archetypes, violent testosterone-fuelled imagery and arbitrary slogans depicting male greatness. The women that did appear were often portrayed as damsels in distress, perpetually weak, and always in need of a man to save them from their impending doom. They were little more than plot-devices or fulfillments of male fantasies. Then came W. M. Marston, who blew the industry away with the concept of a female comic book hero, Wonder Woman, the epitome of the perfect woman and a remedy to the growing dominance of male superheroes in the industry. Wonder Woman was the first female super-heroine to be given her own solo-series, which not only brought readers a strong, intelligent, powerful woman, but one who was beautiful, soft and tender too. She was a heroine who was a symbol of truth and an icon of feminism, and she broke the mould of what was perceived to be the ideal internal female archetype. Her debut series not only brought with it a different approach towards dealing with criminals (reformation as opposed to incarceration), but more importantly a renewed passion towards the female identity as well.
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#11: The Dark Knight Appears
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/11.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Detective Comics #27
Writer: Bill Finger
Artist: Bob Kane
When Detective Comics #27 was released in May of 1939, the readers were introduced to a new and fascinating character: The Batman. “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate,” showed readers Bruce Wayne, millionaire playboy by day, hard nosed vigilante by night. This was not in itself anything new. Lamont Cranston had been doing this same shtick for years in the pulps as the Shadow. But with Batman, there was something different. There was the costume. Batman seemed to tread the thin line between the old pulp tradition of the “mystery man,” a masked man who goes to fight crime with nothing but his wits and a .45, and this new thing called, “the superhero,” the garishly clad defender of justice with powers far beyond those of mortal men. While Batman did not have the powers, he had the unusual costume, and thus was born the second of the holy trinity of DC Comics, the heroes who would form the foundation of all that would come in the next seventy years. The creation of this second superhero proved that the formula would work, that these heroes had captured the minds of the people of their times, and that the future was bright even for the darkest of knights.
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Join us next time for the top ten moments, and watch ComiX-Fan all month long for more anniversary goodness! (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32203)
Individual Entry Credits:
Ryan Day (15 & 19)
Raul Grau (27 & 29)
Alex Groff (24)
James Groves (12)
Jon Hancock (13, 16, 22 & 25)
Matt Lazorwitz (11, 18, 21 & 30)
Jordan T. Maxwell (14, 17, 20, 26 & 28)
Omar A. Safi (23)
Written By: Ryan Day, Raul Grau, Alex Groff, James Groves, Jon Hancock, Matt Lazorwitz, Jordan T. Maxwell & Omar A. Safi
Edited By: Joel Phillips
Additional Graphical Assistance: Omar A. Safi, Jesse Baer & Al Harahap
What is a truly great MOMENT? Is it something that touches us? Something that shocks us? Something that changes the characters forever? Is it a milestone, a mega-event, or just one perfect panel?
We think it’s all of the above, and so much more. We think it’s sacrifices and slaughters. We think it’s big reveals and deep secrets. We think it’s team-ups, power-ups, shutdowns and beatdowns. And we haven’t even cracked the top ten.
Just joining the party? Check out Part 1 (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32210) and Part 2 (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32314). Otherwise let’s get back to the ComiX-Fan staff’s picks for the 70 Greatest Moments in DC History, here with picks #30-11:
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#30: “Lois, There’s Something I Should Tell You…”
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/30.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Action Comics #662
Writer: Roger Stern
Artist: Bob McLeod
For more than fifty years, Lois Lane had been trying to learn all she could about Superman, and win the Man of Steel’s heart. But after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Lois’s priorities changed, and this post-Crisis Lois became more interested in Clark Kent, not suspecting that Clark and Superman were one and the same. The romance between the two star reporters grew, and eventually Clark asked Lois to marry him, and she agreed. But Clark knew that, eventually, he would have to tell Lois his secret. After a battle with the Silver Banshee, Clark knew the time was now, and he removed his glasses, unbuttoned his shirt, and showed Lois the symbol beneath. This was a major status quo shift in the world of Superman. The hero who always had to keep his secret from the woman he loved, who was always running to broom closets and phone booths, now had someone to cover his tracks, a true partner. Since then, the couple have seen rough times and happy ones, but the fact that Clark shared his deepest secret with her has been a beacon for Lois, making them, in many ways, the World’s Strongest Couple.
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#29: Doomed to the End
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/29.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: The Doom Patrol (v1) #121
Writer: Arnold Drake
Artist: Bruno Premiani
They were the freaks, the damned, the carnival sideshow of superheroics. Each member of the Doom Patrol bore their own curse, whether it was as visible as a steel skeleton or as subtle as the knowledge that they are different from everyone else. Each could have turned their back on the rest of the world, but they fought to protect the very ‘normals’ who had shunned them. The Doom Patrol worked to prevent others from suffering as they had, and found purpose in that struggle… a struggle that made their end inevitable. The diabolical Captain Zahl had the team at his mercy. They were helpless, his to kill at any time, but he wanted them humiliated first. He gave the captured heroes a choice- they could live, but only at the expense of a tiny fishing village, populated by fourteen strangers they would never know. Zahl wanted to witness them betraying their vaunted morals by saving their fractured skins. Fourteen die or four, and they choose the only option they could. The Doom Patrol were freaks, misfits, and outcasts, but they were also heroes. The Doom Patrol died, but they were not forgotten. They returned when Phoenix made her sacrifice on the moon, when Barry Allen ran his final run, and when Colossus gave his life for all mutants. Of course, their deaths (like many others) did not take, and the Doom Patrol have returned in several incarnations over the years. However, whenever a superhero lays down his life for the greater good, their sacrifice again finds meaning.
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#28: Goodbye, Underworld
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/28.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Sandman #23
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artist: Kelley Jones
It begins with a family dinner. Normal enough, except that the family is the Endless and the dinner takes place in the hall of Destiny. Confronted by his brother/sister Desire and sister Death over his damning a former lover to Hell millennia ago, Dream sets out for the infernal realm to set her free and redeem his mistake. He arrives to find the gates of Hell unguarded, the fields of the damned untended and not a soul (or demon) in sight. Lucifer appears behind him and reveals the reason for Hell’s emptiness: he’s quit. For the first and possibly only time, the normally unflappable Dream is struck dumb. Lucifer invites Dream to accompany him as he gets rid of a few remaining damned and demons and locks up the gates. As they travel, Lucifer explains that he’s had enough. The passion that led him to rebel as an angel has waned in the eons since (so much so that he has to ask Dream to remind him what he was like in those days). He’s tired of merely playing the role of the punisher, of being blamed for every human shortcoming, of participating in the mindless machinations of other demons. And so he’s cleared out Hell and is leaving for good. To lie on a beach. Listen to music. Play the piano. Dream, who is obsessed with responsibility and duty, cannot fathom Lucifer’s reasons. Lucifer tells him plainly that it is perhaps the “ultimate freedom. The freedom to leave.” This moment is one of the most defining (and recommended) of the entire Sandman series. It not only served to further the thematic development of the book and popularized Lucifer as a character, leading to his own title, but fully showed Gaiman for the master storyteller and poet he is.
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#27: One Magic Word...
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/38.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Kingdom Come #4
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Alex Ross
In the world of Kingdom Come, genocide was inevitable. The 'heroes' were out of control, divided into militant factions, and warring amongst themselves over whose ideals were the least flawed. They had placed themselves so far above the common man that none among them even noticed when the common man was forced to act. The choice of the people was a simple one- allow the fighting to swallow the world whole, or destroy their own protectors in a rain of nuclear fire. Fortunately, there was another with the power to choose. Captain Marvel, brainwashed and near insane, was given the opportunity to decide the fate of the metahumans. Should he allow the Man of Steel to save the misguided titans, and certainly doom the rest of the planet, or stop Superman, and thereby end all of their lives for a possible greater good? Marvel found within himself a third option, rushing headlong into the path of oncoming destruction, and seven thunders uttered their voices for a final time. Though many colorful champions fell that day, the sacrifice of Marvel ensured that some would live, and inspired by his nobility, would restore the balance between man and superman. Straddling the line between god and boy nearly broke Captain Marvel, but his last act proved that he never lost his grasp on heroism. The world knew hope again, though at a terrible price.
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#26: It’s a Stork! It’s a Rocket! It’s… a Boy!
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/26.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Man of Steel #1
Writer/Artist: John Byrne
It is a story widely known throughout our modern culture, the origin of a modern pop icon. Rocketed away from his dying planet, the infant Kal-El of Krypton is discovered and raised by a loving farm couple, the Kents. Though the moment has been shown several times through different media, the version most relevant to modern continuity is Byrne’s retelling of it in his post-Crisis update of the Superman mythos, Man of Steel. As Clark is nearing the end of high school, he is aware that he’s different from the other students. But nothing can prepare him for the secret his parents have kept from him. One night, after a football game, Jonathan takes Clark to a strange rocket embedded deeply in a field and tells him of the night eighteen years before when a strange light appeared on the Kent farm. How he and Martha had gone to investigate and discovered the rocket. How they found a small baby inside and adopted it as their own. How that child grew and began to exhibit strange and extraordinary abilities. In short, how Clark came to be the powerful young man he was. The moment differs from other tellings of the story in key ways. For one, there is no time spent as Superboy. Clark spends his adolescence using his abilities selfishly and has to grow into his responsibilities. Also, in this version Kal-El is sent to Earth still gestating and is born on Earth, in America, before the Kents’ very eyes, highlighting his dual heritage as being both a part of this world yet separate from it. The most important element of this moment, however, is one that remains constant in each version: that Clark Kent was raised by both of his parents with a sense of honesty, of responsibility, of justice, and of a morality that has guided his powers for the greater good and given this world not just a Superman, but an age of heroes.
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#25: Wally West masters the Speed Force
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/25.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Flash (v2) #100
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Salvador Larocca
For years it was thought that the DCU’s Speedsters gained their powers from different sources. The second and third Flash were hit by lightning and doused in chemicals, Johnny Quick used an equation to focus his mind, the first Flash inhaled hard water. When Max Mercury introduced readers to a Speed Force that powered the movement of everything it was revealed that speedsters could tap into this force and take extra speed from it. Furthermore, when they died they would go and join the Speed Force, so that others could use their energies. Wally West had been living in the shadow of his uncle, the previous Flash, ever since he graduated to the Flash mantle. When he entered the Speed Force, it appeared that he had run his last race. But Wally managed to leave the Speed Force and found he had complete mastery of it, finally able to show his potential as the Flash, free from the shackles of his uncle’s legacy. With these metaphorical bonds released, Wally became the only sidekick in the DCU to truly graduate into his mentor’s title. He became a character in his own right, rather than a kid trying to honor his uncle. More importantly he became the most interesting and well-written solo character within the DCU.
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#24: Green Lantern Goes Ga-Ga
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/24.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in Green Lantern (v2) #48-50
Writer: Ron Marz
Artists: Bill Willingham, Fred Haynes, Paul Pelletier, Romeo Tanghal, Robert Campanella and Dennis Cramer
Imagine your friends and family were killed by a power mad tyrant. Sure, you can defeat the monster, but instead of a feeling of victory, you're left with a crater where your life once was. An entire city destroyed, because you weren't paying attention. And then, the power you had to fix this was taken away. Would you be angry? Would you be enraged? Would you be willing to do anything to heal the wounds of Coast City? Hal Jordan would, and it led him to kill the Green Lantern Corps and steal the power of OA for himself. He murders his friend, Kilowog, then fights to the death his old mentor, the villain Sinestro. Many readers have since argued that his actions were illogical and out of character, considering his closeness to the Corps. I point you fellows to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where a hero bent on justice causes the death of his lover Ophelia and his two schoolboy friends, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern. Is it tragic? Yes, yes it is. But so was his loss; so was the arrogance of the Guardians to ignore him in his time of need. Even heroes make mistakes; Jordan’s error—his tragedy—is made all the more poignant by the good intentions that led him to commit such crimes.
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#23: Batman: The Animated Series Debuts
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/23.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">Producers: Paul Dini, Eric Rodomski and Bruce Timm
Batman Created by: Bob Kane and Bill Finger
In 1992, Batman: The Animated Series debuted and introduced another generation to one of the greatest and most iconic superheroes ever. The success and influence of this series was mostly due to creators Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, who crafted a show that reflected the spirit of the Batman mythos perfectly. What’s more, the show didn’t condescend to its older viewer audience. While surprisingly entertaining children with its dark backgrounds, the show was also a perfect match for adult viewers because of its understandings of the characters and shaping itself with stories from the Batman comics. The series’ tone was covered in shadows and dark skyscrapers, almost taken from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. Also Batman’s supporting cast and rogues gallery were brilliant, with the likes of Joker, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Robin/Dick Grayson, Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Bullock, Poison Ivy, and Ra’s Al Ghul all recreated superbly, and the lesser-known characters like Clayface, Killer Croc, and the Ventriloquist were just as enjoyable. The series even added its own characters to the Bat-mythos, most notably Harley Quinn, who has since gained recognition in comic books too. After its ending, the series spawned quite a few more successful series, like The New Batman Adventures (which featured Nightwing and Tim Drake as Robin), Superman, The New Batman/Superman Adventures, and Batman Beyond; and current series Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans continue the original series’ legacy.
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#22: Flash vs. Reverse Flash
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/22.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Flash (v1) #324
Writer: Cary Bates
Artist: Carmine Infantino
Barry Allen was the poster boy for heroics, but even the most clean-cut man in the DCU could be pushed too far. When he was faced with Eobard Thawne, his biggest fan and greatest nemesis, the Flash was forced to confront the reality of having a private life. Knowing all his secrets as he came from the future, Thawne was able to kill the Flash’s wife in cold blood. Around a year later, Barry was preparing to marry for a second time only to have another encounter with Thawne. This sparked a race around the world as Barry tried to stop Thawne killing the woman he loved again. Stopping Thawne at the last instant, Barry put his arm round his throat and inadvertently snapped the villain’s neck. This tarnished Barry’s reputation and saw him embroiled in a court case for two years. Further ramifications are still being felt as the vulnerability Barry experienced led him to alter the Top’s mind. Only his heroic sacrifice restored his legacy of true heroism but the Allen/Thawne feud is one of comics’ hottest, and stretches for centuries into the future.
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#21: The Crippling of Barbara Gordon
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/55.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Batman: The Killing Joke
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Brian Bolland
The Killing Joke was a different Batman story. The art was more realistic, the story darker, and there was language you never heard Batman use before. If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind, though, that this was a Batman story for a more mature mind, it was put to rest when Barbara Gordon went to answer the door to her father’s apartment. A scene of domestic bliss between Jim and Barbara Gordon was shattered when the Joker arrived at their door and shot Barbara, stripped her, and took pictures as part of his campaign to break Batman through his friends. When Batman arrives at the hospital, he finds out that Barbara has been paralyzed from the waist down permanently by the Joker’s bullet. This wasn’t an imaginary story, it wasn’t something that was going to be fixed by magic or super powers. Barbara was wheelchair bound for life. This level of tragedy was something that was slowly beginning to creep into comics, and this truly pulled it to the forefront. Barbara would struggle with this dilemma, would have to deal with her memories of swinging over Gotham, and now not being able to walk. The chilling moment would haunt her, and many of the readers who first saw it, for years to come.
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#20: Hard Travelin’ Heroes
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/20.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76-80
Writer: Dennis O’Neil
Artist: Neal Adams
A pilot with the most powerful weapon in the universe and a former billionaire wielding a bow and arrow, one a conservative agent of intergalactic authority and the other a liberal vigilante and social activist. Together with a tiny blue alien, they all pack up in a pick up truck and set out to see America. It may sound like a pitch for the new fall season of UPN, but it’s actually one of the most important and progressive moments in mainstream comic books. While visiting his “chum” Oliver Queen, Hal Jordan is confronted by an elderly black man: “I been readin’ about you…how you work for the blue skins…and how on a planet someplace you helped out the orange skins…and you done considerable for the purple skins! Only there’s skins you never bothered with…the BLACK skins! I want to know…how come? Answer me that, Mr. Green Lantern.” And Hal, to his own surprise, cannot. So he and Ollie set out across America (with one of the Guardians in tow so that he can experience humanity) to not just fight crime, but discover the social ills that cause crime. They encounter injustice, poverty, racism, pollution, drug abuse and often argue over the best way to handle them. And in that argument lay the debate of a nation struggling with itself, yet it showed through the enduring friendship of these two heroes that despite our disagreements, we can all work together for a brighter and better tomorrow. O’Neil and Adams crafted the first socially conscious superheroes and did so without being preachy, opting instead to raise awareness of a particular issue and let the characters react naturally to it. It showed that superheroes could do more than just stop muggers or halt alien invasions. It showed that the medium itself could deal with social issues as handily as other art forms, and it told some damn fine stories besides.
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#19: “Surprise for you in the fridge”
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/19.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Green Lantern (v3) #54
Writer: Ron Marz
Artist: Darryl Banks
Take a brand new superhero with a shiny power ring. He's got superpowers, a hot girlfriend, and he's just teamed up with Superman to beat up an alien conqueror. Life is good, something that cannot be allowed for a superhero. So how do you knock him down a peg and show him that, by golly, being a superhero is hard? Easy – send an atomic-powered government assassin around to murder his girlfriend and stuff her into a refrigerator. While it offered carefree Kyle Rayner a dramatic motivation, the moment became synonymous with another long-standing comic book tradition: murdering, raping, and otherwise damaging the female supporting cast. Writer Ron Marz didn't do anything that dozen writers had done before him, but it still inspired Gail Simone to mount her <a href="http://www.the-pantheon.net/wir/" target="new">Women in Refrigerators</a> site, a list of the many female characters who have met less than noble ends. Ultimately, Major Force taught us two important lessons: First, that being a superhero isn't fun and games, and second, that being a female comic book character is even less so.
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#18: The League Within the League’s Dark Secret
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/18.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Identity Crisis #2
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Artist: Rags Morales
One of the most important things that any super-hero possesses is his secret identity. It is what protects his loved ones from all the enemies that he has made. But what happens when a villain knows a heroes identity, and chooses to use it against them? There are contingencies. A small cadre of members of the Justice League, consisting of many of the pillars of the Silver Age, had been using Zatanna’s powers to remove the memories of the villains. But when Dr. Light attacked and raped Sue Dibny, and threatened the loved ones of the other heroes, choices were made. The League decided to lobotomize Light, making him a non-threatening bumbler. The vote was narrow, but it fell in favor of the procedure. And when it was done, it was never to be spoken of again. But something happened, something to complicate matters: Batman walked in on them. And another decision was made. Batman’s memories were wiped, just of those ten minutes, and he was sent away. This core moment of Identity Crisis shifted the perceptions of the heroes of the DCU, and posed many questions. What does it mean to be a hero? Can you do immoral acts, and still be a good person? Some fans were angered by the poisoning of the great icons, while others applauded the humanity that was given to them. And it seems as if this moment is the touchstone for the future of the DCU. Where it is going, only time will tell…
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#17: DC gives Gaiman Endless control
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/17.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments"> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/17a.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">The character of the Sandman had been through several different incarnations since his initial creation. In the Golden Age, he was a pulp style crime fighter, a mystery man in a gas mask with a gun that would fire sleeping powder. In the Silver Age, he was a gaudily dressed superhero who defended the dreams of sleeping children. Neither was ever all that popular or successful. But in the late 80s, a young British writer by the name of Neil Gaiman was asked to revamp a lesser-known DC character in the hopes of repeating Alan Moore’s success with Swamp Thing. And as if by fate (or perhaps Destiny?), Gaiman chose the Sandman. Only he wouldn’t be a crime fighter. And he wouldn’t be a superhero. He would be the embodiment of dreams, a dour and stoic ruler over the realm of the sleeping, of stories and nightmares. The book would follow him not on grand adventures, but on an epic journey of introspection and self-discovery. The scope of the book would span from the creation of worlds and the birth of gods to the veldts of tribal Africa and taverns of Elizabethan England into the motels and strip clubs of modern America. Its cast would include an eccentric ensemble of dream creatures, talking animals, angels, demons, gods, monsters and humans…and a dysfunctional family who embodied the fundamental forces of the universe. It was one of the first comics to be acknowledged as having true literary merit. It was a hit with readers and critics. And from day one, it was guided by the unique vision and genius of Gaiman. So when he was done telling his story, DC did something unheard of up to that point: they let him. They gave him full creative license to end one of their most successful series, and while DC would retain commercial control over the characters, they would ensure that all future creative decisions for the characters and concept involve Gaiman’s input and approval. It was an unprecedented moment in mainstream comics and created a new paradigm for creative control and creator’s rights at DC… one that its Marvelous Competition has yet to successfully emulate.
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#16: Death of Superman
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/16.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Superman (v2) #75
Writer/Artist: Dan Jurgens
The greatest hero of all. The everlasting hope of society. The guy you call when you need a win against all odds. That’s what Superman is to every denizen of the DCU. For years his rogue’s gallery had been filled with enemies who were more psychological threats, because nothing could physically harm him. Then there was Doomsday. Entering comicdom with one of the least subtle introductions ever, Doomsday cut a path of destruction towards Metropolis and towards Superman. Taking out the Justice League and Supergirl on his way it seemed business as usual that Superman would have to be the one to end this rampage. Then the unthinkable happens, and both men die. The moment that both men contact each other with simultaneous killing blows was fantastically portrayed. While many see the death of Superman as a commercial stunt and nothing more, the impact it had on the DCU at the time was vast. Characters were bereft and hopeless. The DCU became a much bleaker place. Lex Luthor was faced with realizing his goal through no actions of his own. The reversal of the event has somewhat tarnished its impact but placed in the context of the world of DC, nothing could have been more influential on the life of someone inhabiting the DCU than their greatest champion falling.
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#15: The Dark Knight beats the Man of Steel
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/15.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: The Dark Knight Returns #4
Writer/Artist: Frank Miller
“Can Batman beat up Superman?” is the stuff of classic fanboy speculation. And while the two icons have tussled from time to time, it’s usually been by way of a classic superhero “misunderstanding”, which, once clarified, gives way to the heroes teaming up to thwart the real villain’s plan. But on a dark night in Gotham, with the world in ruin and only one man holding back the madness, The Man of Steel was sent to take down the Dark Knight. He's gone too far, they said, and must be stopped. And so Clark Kent flew down to Crime Alley to bring in his old friend Bruce ... and promptly got his ass kicked. Oh, we can add qualifications to it: Superman had just been through a nuclear blast; he was trying to talk to Batman, not kill him; and, while this episode largely formed the basis of the “if he had time to prepare, Batman could beat Superman/Spider-Man/Galactus/etc.” rationale, it’s probably safe to say that Supes would have acted a little differently had he known he’d be facing guided missiles, a tank, and a kryptonite arrow. But then, what kind of Kansas yahoo goes into a fight with the world’s most determined, intelligent and prepared vigilante on his home turf and doesn’t expect a surprise or two? And indeed, it’s probably worth mentioning that this was not a fight that was going to last: while Batman certainly knocked Superman down, he probably couldn’t have kept him down. But neither that nor anything else matters, because Bruce Wayne went to his grave knowing that he was the strongest, the smartest, and the best.
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#14: Enter the Bastard
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/14.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Saga of the Swamp Thing #37
Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: Rick Veitch and John Totleben
As Swamp Thing is attempting to regrow himself following his confrontation with Nukeface, a mysterious figure is traveling around, seeing old friends who warn him of a coming evil though none of them can agree on what it is. Some extragalactic energy field, Cthulhu from the Lovecraftian mythos, Satan himself…they all have an idea or theory. But they all agree that it’s big, it’s evil and within a year it will arrive. And so this mystery man, with his trench coat, cigarettes and cocky British accent travels down to the bayous of Louisiana in search of the last plant elemental… who’s still stuck halfway in the ground. He lights up a cigarette and introduces himself. “I’m a nasty piece of work, chief. Ask anybody…my name’s John Constantine, and I think we could do each other a favor.” And with that, the ball was rolling on the introduction of one of the most enduring and popular characters in the Vertigo stable. For the next year, Constantine led Swamp Thing around the country, showing him monsters and horrors… even a crisis across infinite earths… that were all but harbingers of the coming of a greater evil. He baited this quest with promises of revealing secrets and mysteries to the Swamp Thing, manipulating him and anyone else around him to get what he wanted. It just so happened that what he wanted was to save the world. He had his chain smoking, his wry comments, his arrogant cleverness and pure working class London attitude, mixed with a healthy dose of self loathing over the things he had to do and the friends he had to lead to death and madness… all of which made him an instant hit with fans. Soon he was appearing almost everywhere in the fledgling Vertigo line, from Swamp Thing to Sandman to Books of Magic, and finally his own title, Hellblazer. Constantine was the next evolution of the antihero archetype: the righteous bastard. And it all started with that one issue, that one moment, that one meeting... from that moment on, we would be blessed with his trench coat and silk cuts.
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#13: An Image to Strike Fear in the Hearts of Criminals
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/13.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Detective Comics #33
Writers: Gardner Fox and Bob Kane
Artist: Sheldon Moldoff
To know Batman is to be afraid of Batman. Villains and heroes alike are put off by his cold nature and dark demeanor. None of this would have happened though were it not for the chance wanderings of a flying rodent. Bruce Wayne was deciding how he could best avenge his parent’s death, following years of dedication at furthering himself, when all of a sudden a bat crashed through the window, answering his need for a symbol that would strike fear in the hearts of criminals. This is the moment that created Batman even more than his parents’ demise, as it made Bruce Wayne the dark, brooding, pant-wettingly scary man he would become.
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#12: A Wonderful Woman gets her own title
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/12.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Wonder Woman (v1) #1
Writer: William Moulton Marston (as Charles Moulton)
Artist: H.G. Peter
During the war-torn era of the 1940s, comic books were often seen as literary pieces of flag-waving propaganda; ideological weapons to increase morale in violent and disturbing times. The industry was saturated with male archetypes, violent testosterone-fuelled imagery and arbitrary slogans depicting male greatness. The women that did appear were often portrayed as damsels in distress, perpetually weak, and always in need of a man to save them from their impending doom. They were little more than plot-devices or fulfillments of male fantasies. Then came W. M. Marston, who blew the industry away with the concept of a female comic book hero, Wonder Woman, the epitome of the perfect woman and a remedy to the growing dominance of male superheroes in the industry. Wonder Woman was the first female super-heroine to be given her own solo-series, which not only brought readers a strong, intelligent, powerful woman, but one who was beautiful, soft and tender too. She was a heroine who was a symbol of truth and an icon of feminism, and she broke the mould of what was perceived to be the ideal internal female archetype. Her debut series not only brought with it a different approach towards dealing with criminals (reformation as opposed to incarceration), but more importantly a renewed passion towards the female identity as well.
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#11: The Dark Knight Appears
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/top70dcmoments/11.jpg" align=left alt="Top 70 DC Moments">As chronicled in: Detective Comics #27
Writer: Bill Finger
Artist: Bob Kane
When Detective Comics #27 was released in May of 1939, the readers were introduced to a new and fascinating character: The Batman. “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate,” showed readers Bruce Wayne, millionaire playboy by day, hard nosed vigilante by night. This was not in itself anything new. Lamont Cranston had been doing this same shtick for years in the pulps as the Shadow. But with Batman, there was something different. There was the costume. Batman seemed to tread the thin line between the old pulp tradition of the “mystery man,” a masked man who goes to fight crime with nothing but his wits and a .45, and this new thing called, “the superhero,” the garishly clad defender of justice with powers far beyond those of mortal men. While Batman did not have the powers, he had the unusual costume, and thus was born the second of the holy trinity of DC Comics, the heroes who would form the foundation of all that would come in the next seventy years. The creation of this second superhero proved that the formula would work, that these heroes had captured the minds of the people of their times, and that the future was bright even for the darkest of knights.
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Join us next time for the top ten moments, and watch ComiX-Fan all month long for more anniversary goodness! (http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32203)
Individual Entry Credits:
Ryan Day (15 & 19)
Raul Grau (27 & 29)
Alex Groff (24)
James Groves (12)
Jon Hancock (13, 16, 22 & 25)
Matt Lazorwitz (11, 18, 21 & 30)
Jordan T. Maxwell (14, 17, 20, 26 & 28)
Omar A. Safi (23)