Are you by
chance a little unfamiliar with to the greater DC Universe, outside of Gotham and Metropolis? Well, you could wait until Warner
Bros makes a blockbuster Aquaman or Flash movie, settle for the wonderful Justice League or The Brave and the Bold animated series, or check back here this
week to learn about 7 collections that will only entice you with a legion of
diverse super moral gods facing altering realities, the collapse of time and
worlds vibrating at different frequencies, and even… satire…
Brought to you in
beautiful Technicolor by an array of talent that shows what only comics can do!
I’m
purposely choosing not to include any books solely featuring Batman or Superman.
Of course there are many celebrated works featuring those two pillars (All-Star
Superman, Dark Knight Returns, and just too many others to list), but I want to showcase
perhaps overlooked, yet fertilely rich corners of the DCU. Most of the books
involve teams or a wide cast of characters. For some new readers it may seem overwhelming,
but it’s a unique experience to be thrust into a world suddenly and not knowing
everything that’s happening all at once.
 |
| "Do you think you could make it with Frankenstein?" |
Like Frodo
in the Fellowship, you’re ducking and hobbit jumping out of peril, but every
now and then you see the other heroic members, whose names you can’t remember,
but you don’t forget the coolest slaying of a troll or orc commander you’re
ever going to see, and so that dude who just saved your hairy feet is now your
personal favorite of the group, and you’re going to start asking for his secret
origin and past exploits at the next campsite if you can survive the current
crisis going on.
WARNING DISCLAIMER
 |
| In the name of love! |
Another
thing to consider with the forthcoming articles, I do not discriminate against
comics created from forty or fifty years ago. Some claims I’ve heard from just
a few individuals about comics from before the current era of screenplay
written books (yawn) are that older comics are inaccessible to younger people
because of too many word and thought balloons and narration boxes with dated
language.
“There’s
too much to read in the panels!” Well, heavens to Betsy, I guess doing a little
more reading is too much of a chore. In many of today’s books there’s an
emphasis on setting a cinematic look and feel with maybe double splash pages of
action without even any words other than sound effects visible. So, yes there
are often many books from yesteryear that have more reading of the written language
required, but comics are also read through their art, and sometimes having more
words to read helps to slow the pace of the reader so as to take in subtle or
major happenings in the panels.
 |
| I'm in no rush to hurry past this page |
As for
dated dialogue and narration, that has never stopped me or others who enjoy The Maltase Falcon, The Great Escape, Back to the
Future (I’ve never heard anyone say “This is heavy” or “Give me a tab/Pepsi
Free”), Adventures Huckleberry Finn
or The Catcher in the Rye. Sure,
maybe some of the language in older comics might make you feel like you’re
talking to Grandpa, but that’s also part of the charm, and you’ll probably
learn new vocabulary to bust out at cocktail parties. So give Granpa some attention. Just yesterday I learned
gloryosky from the Penguin in an old Jack Kirby comic. It means gosh or golly
gee whiz!
With my
defense for the elderly resting for now, I have to say in actuality there are
only two books out of the seven with stories from before I was born. I do not
believe that just because something is older that it automatically of greater
quality than a comic that came last Wednesday. My late great grandmother would be
in sync with the magic comedy duo, Penn & Teller in responding to the “Good Ol’ Days” as BULL$#*! As a kid, Little Nana worked in a factory to help support
her family. There was shameless racism depicted as fact in both the Golden and
Silver Age. Child labor and Green Lantern referring to his Inuit friend, Thomas
Kalmaku as "Pieface" are things frowned upon today by hopefully most people.
That’s
enough with the serious drama for now. The pics above aren’t involved with the books
I’ll be highlighting because I don’t want to give too much away. I tried to
choose different jumping off points and flavors of the Multiverse mix that is
DC.
Stay tuned for more. Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel!
