New History of the DC Universe #2
Chad Burdette
Recap
In celebration of 90 years of DC, super fan and writer Mark Waid turns back time to the very beginning of the DC Universe in a four-issue miniseries drawn by some of DC’s greatest artists in New History of the DC Universe #2
Comic Watch Review: New History of the DC Universe #1: Let’s Do The Time Warp Again
The DC Universe as we know it begins to take shape as a mysterious ship crash-lands in Smallville, and years later, Superman makes his debut.
Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Batman emerges from the shadows to clean its crime-ridden streets, and after years of isolation from Man’s World, Wonder Woman leaves the paradise of Themyscira for modern society.
A new age of heroes dawns as Barry Allen recounts the formation of the Justice League through the events up to and leading to his death during the Crisis on Infinite Earths!
Review
New History of the DC Universe #2 continues the current telling of the DC Universes as a new age of heroes dawns and the superheros of the modern age explode onto the scene as Barry Allen recounts the formation of the Justice League through the events up to and leading to his death during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Waid hits the ground running detailing the appearances of Superman and Batman along with the other A-List characters of Wonder Woman, Green Lantern ( Hal Jordan), Aquaman and Aquaman, before talking about the fact that along with these heroes came villains and sidekick. Waid incorporates the rise of Darkseid much like the events that kicked off the New 52 era, most notably including Cyborg as a member of the Justice League and not the Titans to begin with.
Waid then proceeds to introduce the other heroes that fill out the rest of the early League, retconning and working in elements of his seminal Justice League – Year One maxiseries when introducing these characters. Waid seems to play fast and loose with the Multiple Earth concept as the Allred recreates the picture of the Leaguesummoning the JSA and mentioning the Crime Syndicate, and Charlton characters such as The Question and Blue Beetle.
Along with Waid hitting the right notes in telling this new history the artwork, especially the pages by Mike and Laura Allred make this a symphony worthy of this era of the DC Comics history. Seeing The Allred’s art, evocative of the Superman: Space Age and Batman: The Dark Age stories, gives new life and energy to some of the lesser-known and secondary/tertiary characters presented.
The issue ends with Crisis On Infinite Earths and Barry telling the readers that this was when he died, leaving perhaps and hopefully more details about this event to be covered. By giving the large picture over view of events and the bibliography in the backup, hopefully this will encourage readers old and new to revisit and read tbe full stories from the DC Comics catalog.
It will be interesting to see where the next issue will go as after Crisis On Infinite Earths, the company entered it’s yearly line wide event phase.
Final Thoughts
New History of the DC Universe #2 continues to be a well-told masterpiece of telling the vast and sometimes confusing history of the DCU as #MarkWaid blends old and relatively new ideas into a streamlined narrative that will hopefully appeal to long-term and new fans alike.
New History of the DC Universe #2- Let’s Do The Time Warp Again
- Writing - 10/1010/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Art - 10/1010/10
- Color - 10/1010/10
- Cover Art - 10/1010/10
