Casstoons: Goodbye, Old DCU!

[espanolbot]

By Me


Well, we've come to the end of the current DCU. It's had a good run, with ups and downs, with brilliant moments and awful moments, we've had our No Man's Lands and our Countdowns.

We might not like the changes that have happened, but I guess the fun will have to be seeing where the characters we've come to like over the past twenty or so years fit in with all of this.

Such as, considering Barbara as been Oracle for around three of the five years, where does that leave Helena, Cass and Steph's tenures as Batgirl? And since they've pretty much retconned Steph's time as Robin now (they keep talking about how all FOUR Robins are in comics in the DCnU, and by that they mean the MALE ones...), I'm kind of puzzled as to what kind of compressed timescale the Batman comics particularly are meant to be operating on.

Ah well. We'll just have to see how this goes.

Comments

[shadowpsykie]

Such as, considering Barbara as been Oracle for around three of the five years

im curious.... the bat time-line is actually more than the past 5 years... if i recall correctly. the past 5 years, is when super heroes became public, but (now i may have my numbers wrong) didn't they say Bruce has been around (hell other heroes as well) for longer than that? just not public? Going on the bat-verse alone. isn't it implied that Bruce has been operating for... 7-10 years (again my numbers may be off) only in the shadows. there by giving the bat-verse some... growing time?

[omgwtflolbbqbye]

That's the fan-wank theory I came up with.

Superman came out as the world's first 'Bonafide Superhero' 5 years ago, but Bruce already spent another 5 years or so before that as Batman, sulking in the shadows and really riding the 'urban myth' gravy train in Gotham before following Clark's example and becoming part of the superhero community.

And it works since Year One is still in continuity and that placed Bruce's first year in the cowl at age 25, so 10 years later would make him 35, which seems to be the age range DC has been implying Bruce is at in some recent Bat-stories.

[shadowpsykie]

don't think it's so much fan-wank as plausable. they DID say batman has been around longer than the 5-years, and if that's the case the time line is longer allowing for the more stories , still condensed, to fit in.

[jlbarnett]

it barely works. Because it puts Dick Grayson in the hiding in the dark years, rather than him working with his peers better than Bruce ever did and becoming the most respected, within the super community, hero besides Superman

[jlbarnett]

it needs to be a little more because "5 years ago" in Justice League Superman was wearing his new armor. But in the preview for the new Action Comics at the beginning of his career he's wearing a t-hirt and jeans

[omgwtflolbbqbye]

You seriously need to get an official gig writing some commentary/parody series for DC; like 'Ambush Bug' or 4th wall breaking Starman or something.

[espanolbot]

That'd be nice, to be honest I could kind of do with the money. ^^;

[shobogan]

Aww. You're amazing, girls, and don't you ever forget it. (Also, I like their matching dresses, and Steph's armbands!)

If they're leaving No Man's Land alone, I think Helena's tenure as a Bat (I think she was Batman, rather than Batgirl) should be fine. I think that counts as a major arc. I imagine it would be set in second year, since that's also when Cass becomes Batgirl.

I think her time is safe, but I worry about Steph's.

Batman has been operational for around ten years, but it isn't clear how that time is divided between the Robins. Who wants to be Jason gets short shrift.

[salinea]

think Helena's tenure as a Bat (I think she was Batman, rather than Batgirl)
I love!

[runespoor]

I totally agree about Helena being Batman rather than Batgirl. That's what she implies, right there in canon. She implies that Batman was always a woman.

Ten years for four Robins... Dick gets his six-or-seven years, Jason gets two years, Tim... oops. Chronology exploded, done.

Adieu, Post-Crisis DC Universe/Multiverse!!!

[chocochuy]

Beautiful story, EspanolBot, and now I want to say something :

I know we had our differences with DC Comics but I really had a blast reading several of the stories that came after Crisis on Infinite Crisis and all the other Crisis. In a way, most of us are Post-CoIE children that enjoyed most of what DC gave us and now it's the time to say goodbye to an era we all knew and loved. May the DCnU prove its worth from now on.

Farewell, Our DC Universe/Multiverse!

Farewell.

[icon_uk]

Nicely done, mon ami, nicely done...

[ian_karkull]

That's all well and good, but what I really want to know is the story behind Stephanie Brown's awesome Pimp Chalice there.
It's glorious.
That better not get retconned out, DC.

Highly Paraphrased

[aaron_bourque]

A man and his friend were walking along the beach, and saw a baby tortoise on its back. Every spawning season, those tortoises climb out of the sea and law dozens of eggs in shallow pits. The eggs hatch, and the hatchlings race for the shoreline, trying to stay ahead of the birds of prey who gorged on them as they hurried as fast as they could between the hatching pits and the ocean. And this one tortoise was flailing away on its back.

The man picked the tortoise up and turned it over. The little hatchling rushed off for the water. A gull swooped down for the tortoise, and the man waved it away before it could eat.

After the hatchling reached the water, the man's friend asked him, "Why did you do that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Every year, dozens and dozens, maybe hundreds, of little tortoises are eaten just after their hatched, before they reach the ocean. Why does it matter if you saved one? There are still going to be dozens, or hundreds, of others eaten."

The man was silent for a moment, before answering. "It matters to that one," was all he said.

[kurenai-tenka.livejournal.com]

I actually got really teary reading that. Siiigh. :(

[silverzeo]

*sings taps*

[red_menace]

Man, reading this really makes me think of the song "Cara Mia" from Portal 2. Sad, but loving and hopeful.

The DCU is dead. Long live the DCU. (because I really don't want to be doing this again in 5 years)

[zenbro]

in my mind they stole the Batmobile and just kept going.

[lieut_kettch]

In my mind they made out. Oooh yeah.

[anothermoviegeek]

Now I am picturing Steph and Cass in the Batmobile ala "Thelma and Louise" heading for the cliff. It's all smiles and excitement until Steph starts to freak out once they get airborne. Cass gives here the "tut-tut" face and hits the 'convert to plane mode' button.

They fly off into the sunset giggling manically the whole way.

[runespoor]

In my mind they get one of Bruce's transdimensional spaceships.

[q99]

I'll note for all that she spent her time beating up thugs, Cass helped save the world once :)

[espanolbot]

That's what I meant, all they were meant to do at the start was just beat up thugs/resolve their father issues, but they've gone on to accomplish more than anyone would have thought that they could.

Steph was both a Batgirl AND a Robin! Not even Barbara can say she had that privilage.

[eyz]

3 of the five years, you say...
Mmmh... It seems the rebooted DCnU will be running on "Marvel time" now.

[biod]

Since when does comicbook time make a lick of sense anyway?