Tag: DC Comics

The Complete DC post-Flashpoint Spreadsheet [Updated to August 2016]

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[Update: 1 June, 2016] So here it is, the current, most up-to-date version of the Complete DC Comics post-Flashpoint Checklist! In here you’ll find, listed by month, every comic in the order DC has released them since September 2011.

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You may remember previous versions of this were known as The Complete New 52 Spreadsheet but I renamed it to fit better once the New 52 branding is over. To that end you’ll also notice that there’s multiple sheets to the spreadsheet. The first covers everything from the launch of the New 52 up to and including Convergence, while the second sheet commences with June 2015 with the DC You branding. The third comes from June 2016 to coincide with DC’s Rebirth relaunch. It helps keep it more manageable. :)

And now, the regularly featured segments:

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What’s the deal with Convergence?

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So, this isn’t necessarily a question that’s been asked of me specifically but rather one I see popping up more and more as we get closer to April: just what the hell is Convergence?

“What is it?” “When’s it happening?” “What comics are involved?” “Do I need to duck and cover?!”  Never fear! I’ve got all the info you could want, and more, and all you have to do is keep reading!

Convergence Promo Image

To make it easier, I’ve split this into the following sections:

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Guest Post: The Ring of the Mastermen

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I love writing this blog but I also love reading other people being brilliant. Eventually I’d like to see this site expand to include multiple writers (multiple Historians!) but for now I’m glad to introduce our first ever guest post! It come to us via The Qing (/u/The-Qing on Reddit) and you can find their Tumblr here and the original post here.

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Richard Wagner

Less my usual style of ranting about comic history this is a instead really great breakdown and analysis of imagery and themes used by Grant Morrison in his latest maxi-series, The Multiversity, especially focusing on the the connections between Wagner’s epic opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) and the seventh issue The Multiversity: Mastermen #1. He even broke up the analysis into sections named after the four operas that make up Wagner’s ring cycle: Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold), Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), Siegfried and Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods)

It goes without saying that you should not read the following without having read The Multiversity: Mastermen #1 first – it will spoil the whole joy of the book. Also, don’t forget you can click any image in this post to see the large version.

So, without further ado, here’s The Qing’s post. Enjoy!

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Friday Fun: The Brave and the Beautiful, Episode 1

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Now, normally this blog is only concerned with history and the official Word of God of the DC writers and editors. Sometimes though I like to have a little fun, and for that we have an episode of the DC soap opera…

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The Brave and the Beautiful, a soap opera where the ‘bold’ is implied! The basics premise is I take the pages or panels from DC comics and change only one thing: the dialogue in the word balloons. I’ve been doing these for awhile in my head, so I figured “why not share?”

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What’s the deal with Hawkman and Hawkgirl?

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On January 5th, 2015, /u/IrateGinger asked the following on /r/DCcomics:

Can someone give me an explanation of Hawkman and Hawkgirl?

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Normally when I write these I get to talk a bunch about what characters have done, what makes them tick, highlights from their careers etc. This time? Well sure, I’ll be covering a bunch of that but I’m also going to be mainly focusing on the main, many, many (many!) continuity changes and crazy updates DC has subjected the characters to in their nearly 75 years of publication. I’m going to basically focus on Hawkman but I’ll be covering Hawkgirl (and Hawkwoman, when she calls herself that) too at each point.

UntitledOne other thing that’s a bit different with this post is that I have a contributor! Reddit user /u/dmull387 has written a great coverage of Hawkman’s history and I’ll be including his commentary throughout! You can check out his Tumblr here. When I’m quoting him you’ll see the speech bubble to the right and the text will appear in this rather charming blue.

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What’s the deal with Superman Blue and Superman Red?

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On February 10th, 2015, /u/dispenserhere asked the following on /r/DCcomics:

Hi, I’ve just started reading JLA. I’m up to around no 15 but I’m still completely clueless what’s going on with Superman. Why is all different and blue? No-one else seems to be mentioning it.

I’m guessing it’s something going on in his comics, but I can’t find anything on it.

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Yo listen up here’s a story about a Superman that lives in a blue world… ahem sorry. Anyway, here are the events that lead Superman to saying “I’m blue!” (DA BA DE DA BA DI… sorry again! That song’s just too darn catchy). Here we go:

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Why doesn’t it matter that Wally West is now black?

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So, normally on this blog I respond to question posed directly to me or posted around the web. Today’s post is a little different as I’ll be covering, on a point-by-point basis, all the arguments for why changing Wally West’s ethnicity in the New 52. Also, why most of them are ridiculous at best and racist at worst.

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I think it’s important to note: I’m not a DC apologist, nor am I, by pointing out why some arguments are wrong, saying that everything DC does is right. Twisting the argument to this, as people often seem to do, is ridiculous and it’s perfectly possible to admit that a company like DC has a long way to go and that people opposing them starting to make those changes are wrong.

Furthermore, Wally West is my Flash. Yes, I’m a Golden Age nerd and love Jay Garrick, along with Barry Allen, Bart Allen and all the rest in the Flash Family Tree. However, I was born in the same year Crisis on Infinite Earths hit the stands and Wally will always be the true scarlet speedster – so this is not coming from a place of someone who doesn’t care, deeply, about the character.

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Climbing through the Flash Family Tree

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On January 21st, 2015, /u/Cyber85 asked the following on /r/DCcomics:

Can you also explain the flash family tree because there are so many flashes and I get confused on which is which.

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The Flash family and then some!

OK, so this is a bit of a big one so we’re going to break it down into stages to make it more manageable. We’ll be covering three main areas:

  1. The New 52 Flash Family Tree(s) – simply, by Flash standards
  2. The pre-New 52 Flash Family Tree – this is where it gets complicated
  3. Even more members of the Flash Family – yep, it just keeps going…

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Names, alliases and histories of Floronic Man and Professor Zoom

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On January 20th, 2015, /u/dmull387 asked the following on /r/DCcomics:

So this one is pretty much all /u/Warlach, because I get the feeling not many other people have this level of minutiae off hand.

When did Woodrue switch from Plant Master to “The Flouronic Man,” and when did Professor Zoom’s alias switch from Adrian Zoom to Eobard Thawne? I’m rereading an old “greatest stories ever told” trade and the naming threw me off.

Eobard Thawne and Floronic Man together!

Thanks, I think :P

I mean, I do cheat by using blogs and wikis etc when writing my posts but it does help that my brain is far too full of this useless info. Anyway, here’s what I’ve got on this…

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What’s the deal with the Anti-Monitor?

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On January 19th, 2015, /u/Cyber85 asked the following on /r/DCcomics:

Can someone explain who the ant monitor is? I keep seeing that name pop around when I read comics.

The Ant!

Oh man – I love that people are asking about the Ant! He was a villain of the Teen Titans back in 1966! He was a thief so I guess he had to monitor stuff and…

Oh, you meant the Anti-monitor. Well, he’s (it’s?) cool too. Here’s what you need to know. :)

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