facing another crisis?

ok

so what exactly is going on with the DC universe then?

i'll have to admit one thing, for the amount of people that the 'reboot' has got riled up, i dare say that all of them, plus a few more, will be curious to see exactly what's going on with september's relaunches

like i said yesterday, i'm hardly up-to-date on current events in the DCU, i'm aware that the latest mass-crossover-type-thing is called Flashpoint, and that it involves The Flash

and word is he's been dipping his toe into the timestream and sodding things up considerably

the fact that Flashpoint concludes just before these massive changes get underway is unlikely to be a coincidence

and news has already leaked that Superman and Lois's marriage will no longer have happened as a result of Flashpoint

which raises a couple of bigger questions

how much will we see undone? and are DC establishing a new status-quo for their universe?

personally, i can't imagine that they would.  whenever comic book stories hit a massive turning point it is usually assumed that a year down the line practically everything will be as it was before, unless you're a second string superhero, in which case the usual guarantees don't apply and you'll likely be usurped by a younger hero taking the same name, i'm sorry, but those are the breaks

but the big hitters?

Superman?

Batman?

yes, we've seen massive shifts (better known as cross-overs or money makers) in their lives before, but if you just go re-setting their careers by a number of years, what would that mean?

would Superman never have faced off against Doomsday and died?

i'm more of a Batman fan myself, so perhaps Knightfall would have been erased from history, but would we go further back?  would Tim Drake ever have become Robin, would Jason Todd? is Dick Grayson still the Boy Wonder?!

no matter how DC plays this, and it could prove very interesting, i can't imagine that we'll see a complete striking of the DCU's complicated continuity from the books, not only would it be insulting to long-term readers, but it would be a complete about-turn from a company that have always seemed to embrace it's rich history (even if it does shrug off or ret-con portions of it on a whim)

people that have complained that the books have become too complicated to follow, and this is mostly down to the fact that massive cross-overs of late seem to have been drawing the world closer together, with knock-on effects that occur through-out an entire universe and run through multiple books, instead of allowing character their own threads that only occasionally tangle together, which may seem a great idea to get people interested in other books they don't usually shell out for, but isn't particularly easy on the wallet or on more casual or first-time readers

i for one, had always been fascinated by DC's past that i had missed out on, and enjoyed reading stories that referred back to them and would treat myself to back-issues or collected trade paperbacks as and when i could, it made the history richer when i could witness it all for myself firsthand

i don't view it as a messy continuity, i prefer to see it as legacy, and believe that there are writers out their such as Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison and James Robinson that will draw upon DC's rich tapestry of past goings on and almost forgotten characters

and even rebooted, how long could a 'simple' universe last before someone starts to complicate things, comics will continue to be published monthly and stories need to be told

perhaps we do need new comics that welcome new readers, but lets do it without alienating readers that have already dedicated their own time to following the lives of superheroes

hail to the underdog

last night, as i finished up Starman Omnibus Vol.1 and read James Robinson's lengthy and enlightening afterword, i was reminded of a quote

i wasn't entirely sure who had said that 'history is written by the winners' (i guess it could have been Shakespeare), but it seemed entirely appropriate as i read the rambling thoughts of Robinson, as he regaled his journey that lead him to the acclaimed run on the '90's incarnation of Starman and the paths he had crossed

and as thought of my own embryonic ideas for a potentially acclaimed comic stories came to mind, and if i will ever actually get round to fully developing my fantastical whims, i also gave thought to how many other stories of creatives have also gone unheard, all those also-rans and ne'er-do-wells that never got to claim the spoils of victory or tell their tales


and it was this mentality that drove me to write my piece on Flo Kirton for the Enfield Advertiser, to give a voice to someone on the other side of the music industry, since your Qs and NMEs are already clogged up with the bands and artists that have made it  and your 'hot tips'

but what happens when the 'next big thing' doesn't get 'big'?

i want my columns to give a different scope from your usual music journalism, of course in a local paper i give a lot of time to local bands, it would be stupid not to, and there are many deserving bands knocking around Enfield, but so much is made of this fantastic future that we're living in, where more and more is available to us, that i want to expose the cracks in this ideal... just because the NME is telling you that 'the next big thing' recorded all their demos in their bedroom, it doesn't mean that Joe Goddard will be knocking down your door wanting to turn you into a popstar just because you own a PC and a little bit of music software

and you'll also find me dipping my toe into the other end of the spectrum, with a recent column on Cheryl Cole and a work in progress on Kanye West, and possibly a sideways glance at Justin Bieber.

but keep your eyes peeled for pieces on my agenda covering The Freewheelin Troubadour, 9BlinD and Deeds of the Dying and a look at the recording habits of Those Handsome Animals and Akira the Don, who recently unleashed a killer mixtape in conjuction with Joey 2tits as he builds towards the release of his second album proper.

 Pyke by Akira The Don stream only
available on the mixtape 'the kidnapping of Akira The Don By Joey 2tits'