7.28.2011

Justice League of America 0 and the DCnU....

I was flipping through the THE LIGHTNING SAGA TPB and saw JLoA 0, which I had forgotten was included in this TPB.  The single issue was released in July of 2006.

Written by Brad Meltzer and drawn by various artists, the issue presented the reader with vignettes set "yesterday" and "tomorrow."  The final vignette was set "today" – i.e. the formation of the then current JLoA roster.

The "yesterday" segments incorporated various bits of JLA lore and brought them back into continuity.
The "tomorrow" segments presented bits that may (some [one] did) occur in the stories that followed in the DCU.

The final "tomorrow" vignette, drawn by Jim Lee, has now become the most significant to me.

In this vignette, SupermanBatman and Wonder Woman discover the appearance a second Earth.  The third panel on the page is a gallery of various JSA and JLA members in their "classic" attire and the fourth panel shows the two Earths with slightly different geography. 

Superman and Batman discuss:
Clark: How's it even possible?
Bruce: It's vibrating at a different speed.
Clark: No, Bruce....I mean, how can it even be?
BruceClark, we've seen alternate universes, pocket prison dimensions and a full-on multiverse. Why should we suddenly be surprised to find....that there's a second Earth out there?

Could this page have been a foreshadowing of the DCnU?  

Jim Lee is one of the architects behind the formation and "bible" of the DCnU and he's also the artist on the new JUSTICE LEAGUE series.
Dan DiDio has stated that the Justice Society of America is being given a "rest."  

In the DCnU's sliding timeline, the emergence of the super-hero began five years ago (which will be chronicled in JL and ACTION COMICS [and possibly in other DCnU books, i.e. BATGIRL]), which seemingly puts the kibosh on the original JSA roster, that team having formed during WWII

It's possible the DCnU JSA kept their activities on the down low during their reign in the 40s and 50s, doing what they do best – being heroes – but not drawing media attention to themselves (remaining "urban legends"), being true "Mystery Men" and "Mystery Women." 

But after reading JLoA 0 again, I think one of the stories we're going to see – set at some point in the sliding five years past – is going to be the Justice League discovering a second Earth.  A second Earth, where the JSA is still doing what they do best – being heroes and training their next generation.

I think "SECOND EARTH" will be an arc in JL and it will lead into a full exploration of the "second Earth" in MULTIVERSITY next summer.

There, I said it!

8.27.2011 UPDATE:
Fan Expo CanadaJames Robinson will be writing a DCnU JSA series set on Earth-2

13 comments:

  1. I like it. You could be on to something. Having the JL explore Earth 2 and find the JSA there sounds interesting to me.

    I'm pretty excited about the DCnU, My Dad called me yesterday and said that he wants me to pick him up all 52 #1 too. Some of the artwork coming out of the SDCC looks pretty cool.

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  2. Don't forget the "Flash found it" line. That means that Manapul's FLASH series can have a new "Flash Of Two Worlds". And, if this ties into Multiversity, expect the JSA to be tweaked a bit, like Morrison's comments in 2007 right after 52 ended.

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  3. I'm wondering if what the Reverse Flash did to cause FLASHPOINT was something along the scale of negating the CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. Of course, there were FP Earth doubles of the Earth-Two JSAers, just like every Earth has doubles. They just never succeeded as the JSA on FP Earth, or even formed on old Earth-One.
    But Thawne had to do something of a Multiversal scale, not just messing with the JLA's origins. The Authority were on a separate Earth! In FP, they are on the same Earth as the regular DCU heroes. Messing with Hal Jordan's origin (or Diana's or Aquaman's) does not transplant the Authority to a new Earth!

    This was a MAJOR thing, and I think the twist is gonna involve COIE.

    Oh, and I'm banned, too!

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  4. Been banned twice but I think I've got seven user names (boredom) so it's no big. Me, I think the Lee sequence from a few years back was one of Meltzer's ideas that went nowhere, that were intended to spark story in whomever came after him. He did that with Doctor Impossible too, right? It may have very well sparked something in Lee's imagination that he brought to the table when Nelson lowered the boom and we'll have to wait and see...

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  5. The last week of June 2006, 2 weeks before JLA #0 came out, check out Dan's DC Nation post about the just-released BRAVE NEW WORLD:
    "... you are about to enter a BRAVE NEW WORLD. Coming out of INFINITE CRISIS, one of our goals was to seriously shake up the status quo-- recast our world, our universe, with an energy that hadn't been felt in the past twenty years. We examined every character and comic and recast them in a style reflecting today's world and audience."

    Isn't this the mandate for the DCnU? this was 5 whole years ago. I believe INFINITE CRISIS was supposed to end with a TRUE return of the Multiverse. There are several clues and signs throughout the earliest One Year Later stories, as well as solicitations. However, that got squashed quick.
    Then, I think it was going to happen again in February 2009 with FINAL CRISIS. The END truly HAD come for the ClutterEarth... And the FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH books were supposed to be part of what the New 52 are doing right now. Don't you think the SUPER YOUNG TEAM and OMAC/CHECKMATE were supposed to be part of the relaunch of 2009 that Levitz squelched again?
    Also, POWER GIRL was supposed to premier December 2007, but the writers said that the book was on hold until FINAL CRISIS ended, because there were important continuity changes that were going to happen to Power Girl's world, so her series had to wait. HUH??? The POWER GIRL ongoing which finally started in May 2009 had ZERO connectionwith anything in the DCU at all, aside from a RECAST Ultra-Humanite. It's like his history was wiped out and restarted... like in a RELAUNCH.

    I look forward to the DCnU greatly!!!! I hope they make the hard decisions and stick to them!

    But they clearly have wanted to do this for awhile, and JLA#0 is definitely an indication of this. Remember, Meltzer's 13 scripts were turned in before #0 was even released. So, his book was written while the 2006 RELAUNCH was still going to take place, before it morphed into the much, much weaker One Year Later.

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  6. davidh
    Posts: 2,323
    Registered: 5/17/03
    Re: Getting more frustrated by the day...
    Posted: Aug 1, 2011 8:21 PM in response to: bearscout07
    Reply

    My advice (and I've offered it up twice now in different threads) is, if you really feel that frustrated... take a break from the DCMB until September. At that point, there will be more than solicitations and rumours to comment on... and things may calm down a bit. They also may not.

    But until then... there ain't nothing you or anybody else can do or say to stop this tidal wave. And if you let it get to you to the point where you can't control your frustration anymore... well... you've been banned before right, Bear? As you know, it's not whether you're a fan of DC Comics... but rather how you conduct yourself on their message boards that determines who stays and who gets an involuntary vacation, right? HBR, another big-time DC-booster, learned that the hard way too... and he's likely been perma-banned.

    Don't let them get to you. IMHO, it's not worth the hassle.

    Just an opinion.

    David

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  7. The people flipping out over the DCnU are out of their minds. I don't see what the big deal is and I really don't get how they are all judging it before its even launched.

    The readers don't know anything yet about what is actually going to take place in each book.

    We won't know until we read them.

    I keep wanting to create a new account so I can put some of those people in their place.

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  8. 1986-1989 was THE MOST EXCITING time at DC until 2004-2006. The changes were EXCITING, and they DID throw out a LOT of continuity. JLI acted like many of the characters didn't even know each other (Black Canary? Who was this woman?), but the stories were AWESOME and were creating a new legends with traces of the old. Just like they are doing now.

    There's NO comparison to how EXCITING and INTERESTING the new Superman and Wonder Woman of 1986 were compared to their 1984-85 versions. And the new continuity made it possible.

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  9. Good old Earth Beer 30...

    [url=http://dcboards.warnerbros.com/web/thread.jspa?threadID=2000252177&tstart=0]Do You Miss These People?[/url]

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  10. "Rick Flag" is a scum bag – always has been, always will be.

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  11. Funny how he, blok, Punk, Gas & Alex are all at each other's throats now... No more BFFs???

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  12. They are? I haven't been reading their posts when I peruse the forum.

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete