Post-Crisis: Difference between revisions

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The Post-Crisis universe has been rewritten many times since ''CoIE''. ''[[Zero Hour]]'', a [[Crisis Crossover]] from 1994, was meant to resolve the various inconsistences that had been introduced since ''CoIE''; it failed. Later, the concept of [[Hypertime]] was introduced to substitute for the lack of [[Alternate Universe|Alternate Universes]]; it failed. The latest [[Cosmic Retcon]] is ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'', bringing back some of the concepts jettisoned in the original.

 

Some of the changes which occurred Post-Crisis:

** Superman's revised origin was told in the miniseries ''[[The Man of Steel (Comic Book)|The Man of Steel]]'', by [[John Byrne]]. Later, this origin was revised again, in ''Birthright'', by [[Mark Waid]]; and yet ''again'', in ''Secret Origin'', by [[Geoff Johns]].

** Superman's first appearance was not as [[Superboy]], but as an adult, when he first came to Metropolis. (Superboy was [[Retcon|retconned]] back into history by Geoff Johns in 2010). His powers developed gradually, with flight not coming along until his late teens.

*** The major types were reintroduced properly late in the Post Crisis era with the arrival of Superman's cousin Supergirl. The only major change is gold kryptonite which now only causes temporary power loss instead of being permanent.

** Prior to the Crisis, Superman had been the character's "real" identity and Clark Kent, uberwimp, was just a convenient disguise. Post-Crisis, this was reversed. Both the glasses and the cape were covers for the "real" Clark Kent, the super-powered Midwestern farmer's son that only his parents were privy to. Both personas grew on Clark since his Man Of Steel origin story (where he had insisted Superman was nothing but a fancy costume), with Kent being a competent, sharp-witted journalist (a far cry from the Pre-Crisis loser) with his own life and friends, and Superman developing important personal friendships with other superheroes, most notably [[Batman]], with whom he had a very different relationship than the pre-Crisis best buds. Likewise, no one suspected that Superman had an alter ego (after all, without a mask, who's to assume he's hiding something?), and Lois Lane was no longer obsessed with discovering his [[Secret Identity]]. In fact she was often much more interested in Clark as he was the only person who ever managed to scoop her. She also was no longer in love with Superman, and instead slowly developed an attraction to Clark during the early '90s.

** Speaking of his parents, before the Crisis, Ma and Pa Kent were deceased; some time in [[The Silver Age of Comic Books]], it was revealed that they died of an alien plague that their adopted son couldn't cure. Post-Crisis, both Ma and Pa were alive and well and still a big part of their son's life. They were also ''much'' younger at the time they adopted Clark (Pre-Crisis they were already in their later years) to facilitate the greater impact they had on his adult life.

** The Earth-2 Superman, who had been a member of the [[Justice Society of America]], was erased from history. (However, he still existed, having been rescued to a haven outside of time, and eventually popped up again in ''Infinite Crisis''.)

** Since Wonder Woman had never existed, her [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]] protege Donna Troy (who already had a convoluted backstory) was left without a past. Eventually, it was settled that she had been raised and given her powers by the Titans of Greek myth. This worked well until John Byrne, in the ''Wonder Woman'' series, [[Retcon|retconned]] in a bunch of extra stuff, including that she'd been created with a magic mirror as Wonder Woman's playmate, kidnapped by one of Hippolyta's enemies in WW's place, and subjected to repeated reincarnation in tragic lives. This was so complicated that shortly after, they killed her off. With ''Infinite Crisis'', she was brought back with a new origin -- the merging of all possible Donna Troys from the [[Pre-Crisis]] multiverse.

 

** [[Frank Miller]] told Batman's new origin in the storyline ''[[Batman: Year One]]'' (as part of the ''Batman'' ongoing series). His backstory was much less altered than Superman's or Wonder Woman's, though his weirder [[Silver Age]] adventures were quietly removed from continuity. The darker [[Bronze Age]] Batman was actually a return to his dark, noir-esque [[Golden Age]] days after the kid-friendly stamp of the [[Comics Code]] was dropped by DC [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|(to the consternation of no one)]]. While Batman's character was even further darkened [[Post-Crisis]], it was mostly compatible with the Bronze Age version of the character.

** In ''Zero Hour'', it was stated that the murderer of Bruce Wayne's parents was never caught. Dialogue in ''Infinite Crisis'' indicates that this has been [[Retcon|retconned]] out with the murderer, Joe Chill, arrested on the same night for the crime.

*** Also in ''Zero Hour'', the idea of Batman being an "urban legend" was introduced, stating that most people didn't think he actually existed. How true this is held to be has fluctuated. This urban legend part was undone by the 2004 story arc, "War Games".

** He was also no longer a founding member of the [[Justice League of America]].

** The Earth-2 Batman (who had been dead for several years already) was erased as well.

 

* Robin