How I Would Have Solved DC's Big Crisis, Part 3: My Original Solution

No matter how much I enjoyed the story as a whole, to say I wasn't happy with the ending of Crisis on Infinite Earths would be an understatement. My favorite earth in the DC multiverse was gone, even though most if not all of its heroes survived. Writer Marv Wolfman refused to kill off the original Superman, so he, his wife Lois Lane, Superboy of Earth-Prime, and Alexander Luthor of Earth-Three were sent off to a paradise (that turned out to be not so much of a paradise, but I'll get to that in a later column). The Earth-Two Robin and Huntress died at the hands of the Shadow Demons. My beloved Justice Society of America truly were the losers as most of the remaining team members were sent into limbo to stave off Ragnarok for eternity.

As much of a fan of the Justice League of America as I was in the 1970s, its was the Justice Society of Earth-Two who were my favorites. As I stated previously, I looked forward to the annual JLA/JSA crossover each year after reading "The Creature in the Velvet Cage" in Justice League of America #113 in 1974. Team-ups with the heroes of Earth-S and the New Gods and the All-Star Squadron just made me love the annual tradition more. The revival of All-Star Comics made me even happier as I was introduced to a new generation of JSA members, including Power Girl, Star-Spangled Kid, and the Huntress. But Crisis took my favorite heroes away in the present and Roy Thomas' Young All-Stars didn't do much for those heroes in the past.

I had an idea, though, of how DC should have begun their new single universe, and I wasn't afraid to share it with DC. I am sure that Dick Giordano laughed at my ideas -- if he even read them, since DC didn't accept unsolicited proposals then. These are the things I remember of those ideas from 35 years ago:

1. Kal-L was rocketed to Earth from Krypton and landed in Smallville in 1917. He was found by John and Martha Kent and raised as their son Clark. Clark ended up in Metropolis in 1938 and soon made his first appearance as Superman. He worked at the Daily Star with Lois Lane under the editorship of George Taylor. Kal-L's cousin, Kara Zor-L, landed nearly 60 years later, having traveled in suspended animation. Clark had no career as Superboy.
2. Clark and Lois married and had a son, Clark, Jr., with the help of Dr. Fate, who encased Lois' womb with a magical charm that kept the boy from harming his mother in utero. Clark, Jr. spent summers in Smallville with his grandparents. He met Lana Lang during those summers. They attended college at Metropolis U, married, and had twins, Clark III, nicknamed Trey, and Leigh. Lana went into broadcast journalism at WGBS, while Clark worked for Perry White at the Daily Planet. White had worked at the Star in the 1950s and jumped to the Planet later.
3. Kara made her debut as Power Girl in 1975 or '76, met Wonder Woman on a JSA case and was helped in assuming the identity of Karen Starr.
4. Trey and Leigh would have been teens in the '80s. They would be the inspiration for the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century. Leigh was to be a bit of a rebel, going behind her parents' backs to work on the GBS daytime drama, Secret Hearts, under the alias of Lynda Leigh. Trey and Leigh would also be the last of Kal-L's line to have full super-powers. As stated in a Legion story, after the third generation the powers passed on randomly after that.
5. Bruce Wayne became an orphan at age 10 in 1925; his brother, Thomas, Jr., was a baby. By the time Bruce debuted as Batman in 1939, he had studied acting and science and medicine and trained his body to be physical perfection. He took in eight-year-old orphan Dick Grayson in 1940 and met the love of his life, Selina Kyle, the same year.
6. Selina was the jewel thief known as the Catwoman. She fought Batman off and on for over a decade before giving up a life of crime and reforming. They married in 1955 and had a daughter, Helena, in 1957.
7. Thomas, Jr. grew up, studied medicine, and intended to practice medicine as his father had. But tragedy struck him and his wife, leaving their young son, named after Thomas, Jr.'s brother, an orphan. Bruce II was taken into his uncle's home. His discovery that the elder Bruce was Batman inspired young Bruce to decide to become an even better Batman. His uncle had failed in his goal to eradicate all crime, but he wouldn't. (This would explain why the second Batman was a bit darker in his methods, and also why Bruce II's cousin Helena calls him "Uncle" -- he's always been a bit of a brooding individual and seems much older than he is.)
8. Helena debuted as the Huntress in 1977, after her mother was blackmailed into committing one last crime. The original Batman retired with Selina's death.
9. There was to be a second Dick Grayson, who had a similar origin to the original Dick Grayson, and brought in by the first Dick Grayson to help "humanize" the second Batman.
10. Additional members of the Batman family included Batwoman, Bat-Girl (who would later take on the identity of The Silhouette), and the second Batgirl. Commissioner James Gordon would have been made younger for the original Batman's adventures. His son, James Jr., would have become commissioner after Bruce Wayne's death in 1978. James Jr.'s children are Tony and Barbara.
11. Princess Diana of the Amazons rescued Steve Trevor off the shores of Paradise Island. She won the contest to determine the champion who would return Trevor to the United States. She became the heroine known as Wonder Woman.
12. Diana rescued young Donna Troy from a burning building. Donna was taken to Paradise Island to live and train, though she would eventually return to the States and take on the identity of Wonder Girl.
13. Shortly after Donna was rescued, Diana discovered she was pregnant with Trevor's child (they had married years before, during the Justice Society's period of retirement, after she realized that the war on crime was never-ending). The child was named Lyta after her grandmother, Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons, and later became Fury of Infinity, Inc.
14. This one is kind of odd, but I also feel it was a genius idea: Green Arrow and Speedy were trapped in time with the other members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, though each was in a different era. When they were rescued by the Justice League and Justice Society, Oliver Queen became a liberal out for social justice, and Roy Harper joined the Teen Titans for a while but struggled with being a teen out of time and turned to drugs for a short period.

As I look upon the ideas that I remember, I notice that Batman had a lot of history repeating (maybe I had Two-Face on my mind?). I don't remember how I dealt with the villains like the Joker or Penguin or Luthor who, in the DC multiverse, had doppelgangers on Earth-One and Earth-Two. I do seem to remember that Silver St. Cloud was a new Catwoman, a heroine from the outset who put on the costume after discovering that Bruce II was Batman.

I still think this idea has merit. Of course, John Byrne created three fantastic Generations series that took a similar yet vastly different path with the whole idea of legacy. And my solution has evolved a bit over the years.

Next up: How I Would Have Solved DC's Big Crisis: Zero Hour and Beyond

TV Reviews: Supergirl (CBS) and The Flash (CW)

This week has been a good one for those who love superhero television. Supergirl takes a cue from the classic Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons story in 1985's Superman Annual #11 and The Flash from any of a number of Earth-1/Earth-2 crossovers from the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.

In the original Superman story, "For the Man Who Has Everything," Batman, Robin (Jason Todd) and Wonder Woman arrive at the Fortress of Solitude to celebrate Superman's birthday only to find him under the influence of the Black Mercy, a parasitic plant "presented" to Superman by the villainous Mongul. The Black Mercy gives its victim its heart's desire while feeding on the bio-aura. In the Supergirl episode, similarly titled as "For the Girl Who Has Everything," the Black Mercy is a gift to young Kara from Non, one of the Kryptonian criminals who escaped from Fort Rozz and is terrorizing National City.

I don't want to spoil the episode for anyone (if you haven't watched the episode, you can go to cbs.com and watch it for free for the next couple of weeks), but I do want to point out a couple of things that I particularly enjoyed and, unfortunately, one thing that I didn't.

The good:

Melissa Benoist continues to grow into the role of Kara/Supergirl. Hesitant at first and becoming more confident with each mission, glimpses of the superheroine she will eventually become are seen in each episode. In this episode in particular, viewers saw what Kara would be like had Krypton not exploded and also felt her anger toward Non for using the Black Mercy on her while he pursued his evil plans.

The idea of family between Kara/Supergirl, her adoptive sister Alex, DEO director Hank Henshaw, Winn Schott, and James Olsen. You get the feeling that these people would go to Hell and back for one another. But it's this same thing that brings me to . . .

The bad:

I get that those same characters I just mentioned see each other as extended family but it was mentioned ad nauseum in this episode. If viewers haven't caught on that Hank is the substitute dad, Alex the sometimes bossy sister, and James and Winn the two best friends/potential boyfriends/brothers, then they're not paying attention to the interaction between the characters.

Rating: 4.25 Stars


This week's episode of The Flash finds Barry Allen, Cisco Ramon, and Harrison Wells getting a "Welcome to Earth-2."

There are so many things to like about this episode, from the Easter eggs seen while traveling through the breach to Earth-2 (including Melissa Benoist as Supergirl and John Wesley Shipp as the Flash from the 1990 CBS series), the art deco/sepia-toned appearance of Earth-2, Joseph West being a lounge singer, Killer Frost (Danielle Panabaker finally got to do something besides commiserate with Jay Garrick!!!), and -- my favorite -- Cisco's doppelganger, Reverb.

Every week Carlos Valdes (Cisco) manages to be a scene stealer, whether it's naming the villain of the episode or making some offhand comment about something, but when Earth-1 Cisco (aka Vibe) found himself face-to-face with Earth-2 Cisco (aka Reverb) . . . well, it was double the pleasure, double the fun (wait, that's Wrigley's Doublemint gum, isn't it?).

"Welcome to Earth-2" is the first of two parts, with the conclusion to air Tuesday, February 16, on the CW; 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Central. Until then I still have some things to figure out, like who is the guy in the iron mask in Zoom's prison at the end of the episode. Maybe the Earth-2 Eddie Thawne?

Rating: 4.50 Stars


One last thing: With news of the forthcoming crossover of the Flash to Supergirl's show in late March, is it too late to ask that they fit in a mini Glee reunion and figure out a way to get Melissa Benoist, Blake Jenner (as Adam Foster) and Grant Gustin to sing together?