Chapter Twelve: Caped Crusaders-Part One
Wonder Woman ended in a high note but it was immediately brought crashing down when Schwartz began yelling at "Magoon" for not having done as good a job with Superman, not that O'Neil and Miller got off any easier. (When O'Neil wrote a guide to writing comics years later, he compared comic book editors to tyrants and it was Schwartz he was thinking of.) What about all the other Bat-villains and Super-villains? What about resolving the other aspects of Earth-Two? In stark contrast to the detailed outlines both teams were forced to start making things up as they went along. They kept making things up for years.
For example, where would Huntress fit? She could no longer be the daughter of the Earth-Two Batman and his Catwoman as the new DCU wasn't big enough for two Batmen. It was ultimately revealed that Helena Wayne was from a possible future, not another dimension, and was the daughter of that future Batman. With that her continuity was secured and she took her place as an occasional member of the post-Crisis Bat-family, emphasis on occasional.
Earth-Two was thus split in half with the JSA's glory days taking place firmly in the new Earth's past, compatible modern adventures taking place in the new present, and adventures that could only take place in an alternate dimension taking place in that possible future. Examples of the latter included an aged Wonder Woman happily married to her Steve and with a child to boot. While the setup saved many DC characters and settings from being retconned out of existence, not many writers took advantage of it. As overstuffed as the new DCU was, one "timeline" was crazy enough
Similarly, Power Girl, in this new timeline, was recast as Supergirl clone. That proved much easier for writers to accept as she was supposed to be a clone anyways. She was made by Project Cadmus for unclear but clearly corrupt reasons and freed by Kal-El and Kara. Power Girl, however, decided not to stay with them; she had been thoroughly programmed during her gestation and knew full well who Kara Zor-El was. While she had no personal grudge against the two cousins, she wanted to carve out her own identity and be more than just someone's clone. Supergirl understood and she and her cousin offered "Karen Starr" a new home. That led directly to stories about her joining the JSA, though now there was the extra component of them training her as they had Kal. She still maintained a close friendship with her rescuers, though, and with Supergirl's death in the Crisis, Power Girl found herself in Metropolis more often and fighting alongside their cousin.
The two sisters-in-arms however were just the beginning as the two brothers-in-arms faced their challenges together and earned their name of the World's Finest. In fact, when John Byrne used his run on Supreme to showcase how he would have handled Superman's friendship with Batman, many readers were shocked at the enmity between Supreme and Professor Night.
Batman was especially keen in that regard. Under O'Neil editorship, all later writers did was emphasize this or that aspect of him. As per the new editor's decisions the Dark Knight faced the end of the eighties and the whole of the nineties as a man who was as loved by the innocent as he was feared by the guilty. While at first glance he gave the impression of being the one hero most likely to go rogue or at best be a control freak drill sergeant, a closer look revealed more.
That's not to say he didn't face trouble as Jason Todd showed. Despite the idea of having him be some juvenile delinquent Batman felt sorry for, he remained a Dick Grayson clone for the first few years after Crisis. That admittedly did provide a sense of continuity with the past but older readers said enough was enough. If they wanted a Dick Grayson Robin, they'd just read back issues. O'Neil knew he had to do something and decided to gamble Todd's life by having Joker beat the boy half to death with a crowbar and then strap him to a bomb. Batman arrived one second too late to save him and the readers were then invited to vote on whether or not Robin would live or die. Even if it was by a mere fifteen votes, Robin lived.
Unfortunately, Jason Todd's injuries left him paralyzed from the waist down. After a few years of self pity, however, he triumphantly returned as Batman's mission controller. (He was promoted to Justice League mission control and chief-of-staff during Grant Morrison's run.) He ran the Batcave from a wheelchair and served as the Dark Knight's right hand, outranking even Dick Grayson in that regard. He was truly an oracle.
He also took a keen regard in Tim Drake's welfare. Drake was a child prodigy who independently deduced Batman's secret identity and who thereon asked to be trained as the next Robin. Todd knew this was different from his own experience; he accepted the chance to become a superhero but he never went looking for it. He knew full well that no matter how "fun" being a superhero might be, it's dangerous business. Drake might get lucky and survive to adulthood like Grayson did, but everyone's luck runs out sometime.
Jason Todd was instrumental in getting Wayne to not accept Drake into the service. He was also instrumental in getting him out of the superhero business entirely when the boy tried to freelance. Tim Drake's walking into his house's living room and seeing his father, Mr. Jack Drake, and Batman having coffee is still referenced of as one of the most awkward moments in Bat-history. Raising his own "sons" to be crime fighters was one thing, but somebody else's son? After speaking with the wheelchair bound Todd, Wayne knew he couldn't do it. If Drake were older maybe, but as it stood Batman would not employ child soldiers.
In recent years Tim Drake returned as the Red Hood, a deranged fanboy determined to prove the greatness of "the goddamn Batman" by setting up homicidal challenges for him to triumph over. While the Dark Knight usually did win, it was never without injury or even loss of life on the part of innocent people. Yes, it was Bat-Mite gone bad, real bad.
As for Barbara Gordon, she stayed on as Batgirl for years before briefly graduating to Batwoman, despite Alan Moore's ultimately non-cannon Batman: Killing Joke. In an interesting concession to reality concerning women's lower average physical strength, however, years of pushing her non-superpowered body past the limits took their toll and forced Barbara Gordon to retire, much to her father's approval. Even the Black Canaries had limited superpowers, one for longevity and one for a Canary Cry, to take the edge off the nightly toll. Barbara Gordon, on the other hand, was forced to use a cane and lots of Tylenol. Still she remained active as part of mission control with Jason Todd and enjoyed teaching the new generation the ropes. She still, occasionally, donned her costume if the need was great enough. She would have to spend the next issue having to apply Icy-Hot, though.
Dick Grayson remained Wayne's firstborn and heir apparent. Able to function as both a back alley vigilante and a four color superhero who gave kids safety lectures equally well, Nightwing's adventures ran the gamut and never felt forced in any way no matter what the situation. More important than his myriad skills and abilities, however, Grayson's light heart and fun loving attitude also meant he had many more friends and allies than his mentor. That would be very necessary in the times to come.
Alfred Pennyworth remained Wayne's friend and confidant though he was changed to fit Miller's Year One version. There, he had always been the Waynes' butler and became a father-figure in the wake of the Waynes' death. It was very different from the pre-Crisis version who only even met Wayne until after the man had already become Batman. Alfred was also imbued with the Miller version's caustic black humor.
As part of O'Neil's "it's all true" plan the Kathy Kane Bat-Woman was still in continuity as the first woman whom Batman ever loved and the first to break his heart. While the ex-circus star was still dead, her niece Betty Kane remained a superhero despite ceding the Batgirl identity to Barbara Gordon and her protégés like Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain. She went on to become the heroine Flamebird, a pyrokinetic avatar for the titular Kryptonian phoenix. She serves alongside her husband Nightwing—no, the other Nightwing.
Related to that, Grant Morrison went on to reveal in his Batman Inc. that the Batmen of Many Nations was still in effect. They were all still there but some like the Ranger, the Legionary, and the Gaucho decided to go their own ways and police their respective countries. Some of them were the only heroes their nations had. (And they had no wish to be seen as mere minions of "the goddamn Batman"…) Others, such as Britain's Knight and Squire or the Native American Chief Man-of-the-Bats and Little Raven kept in touch with Bruce Wayne and remained on hand.
Jim Gordon was changed slightly in the overhaul. In line with earlier stories, he'd been a rookie cop who'd befriended Thomas Wayne and was there for the elder Wayne's one off Silver Age adventure as the "first" Bat-Man. He was also there when the good doctor was killed and it was revealed that he did what he could to make sure that the boy stayed with Alfred like Thomas Wayne would have wanted. He was also there as the newly minted Gotham City Chief of Police when Batman came.
As Miller revealed in Year One and later writers showed in flashback stories, Gotham City was a cesspool ruled by crime. The crime families, however, found in number two cop the one cop who couldn't be bribed. He was a rising star who stood up to the mafia dons and vowed to make the city safe for decent people. He initially ignored reports of a winged monster preying on crooks; he had enough to worry about without ghosts and goblins. As more people kept seeing… whatever it was, it became clear that it was real.
In a DCU that had forced the JSA into retirement decades ago and where superheroics were just barely being decriminalized thanks to Superman's efforts, Gordon didn't want a ticking time bomb of a costumed freak in his city. If it had superpowers it was a vampire and if it didn't… it's one thing if a meta goes public and submits himself to the local authorities because using superpowers to help others is "the right thing to do." But… but… what kind of a nut job with no superpowers decides one day to dress up like Count Dracula so he can beat up some mugger in an alley?!
Year One showed the future police commissioner trying to capture Batman, especially after he started to humiliate the police by leaving his "piñatas" gift wrapped from the nearest lamppost. All they had to do was cut them down… Miller's story ended with Gordon meeting the Dark Knight face to face and being told that yes, he, Batman, was engaging in illegal vigilante activity. He hadn't asked for official police sanction and honestly never would. As much as he might respect the law, if he had to bend it to see justice done, then so be it. It closed with a tentative truce between them and them talking about someone called Joker threatening to poison the reservoir.
Jim Gordon became Police Commissioner in time for the Silver Age and from then on history remained unchanged and stayed in mostly the same role. It was also revealed that he was seen as weak by civilians and police officers outside of Gotham for relying on a bogeyman. Honestly, if not a single one of Gotham's "villains" had superpowers, then what possible need could Gordon have for a… whatever it is that Batman was?
That, of course, changed with No Man's Land when Gordon stayed behind in the abandoned Gotham City. For going through hell to save his city and bringing light to its darkest hour, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom when it was all over. He almost turned it down, accepting it only on behalf of his men. Despite feelings of betrayal due to Batman's seemingly abandoning the city in the beginning, the old pact remained strong as evidenced by Gordon's refusal to learn the Dark Knight's secret identity. He always suspected that he was the son of his old friend, Thomas Wayne, but the only thing that mattered was that he knew Batman was a friend. That's all Gordon had to know.
As for the Dark Knight's other best friend, Superman spent the rest of the 80s wearing a black shield to mourn those who died in the Crisis, Kara Zor-El among them. After failing to save Kandor from Lex Luthor thus truly rendering him the last son of Krypton, he suffered a nervous breakdown screaming that he couldn't save them. Pa Kent, Lisa Davis, Kara, Kandor, the billions who died in the Crisis, all his power and he couldn't save them! It was his black brother who held him tight.
As Maggin had dreamed of for years, Lois and Clark finally married and as he planned, the wedding brought hope to the beleaguered hero. It didn't make the pain go away and it wasn't supposed to. A wife is more than a man's lover or even the mother of his children; she's a buddy. Marriage, a real marriage, means that if someone throws mud at you, you'll always have someone there to throw mud right back. Jimmy was the best man, Lana Lang was the maid of honor, and the entire Justice League—in their secret identities—attended. Diana jokingly told Lois that the best woman won but if she wasn't careful she'd steal Clark away.
Diana ultimately proved right.
Marriage seemed to catch as Clark Kent's boyhood friends Pete Ross and Lana Lang got married themselves. Pete had always known the secret ever since he'd seen a very young and inexperienced Superboy change in public but he'd never told anyone. It was with Clark's permission that he told Lana Superman's true identity. His son by his late first wife, Jon Ross, had learned the truth back in Action Comics #457 and he thought it was only fair she know too. Lana, of course, had suspected it since her days in Smallville but it was nice to finally know for sure. Despite her career in 24-hour television news, the WGBS anchorwoman never told anyone the secret.
Speaking of Lana, her maternal uncle, Professor Phineas Potter he went on to become head of Star Labs. While still the absent minded professor he was in old Superboy comics, he proved a good friend and science adviser to Superman. Alas, when Bruce Timm and Paul Dini made their Justice League cartoon, the professor was cast as a villain in charge of an anti-superhero conspiracy. Worse, this bled over into the comics.
On a brighter note Jimmy and Lucy Lane finally married each other. As a daredevil photographer with a penchant for getting into trouble in a world of gods and monsters, he justified the return of his fanclub in the comic book, Daily Planet. It answered just what would it be like for "normal" people to live in a comic book universe—and what it would be like for a reporter to work in one! Lucy had her moments too, of course.
The only other major couple was sports caster Vince Lombard and gossip columnist Cat Grant. The old character and the new brought out the worst in each other.
As for Perry White… by then he had had to retire due to age, lung cancer, and, worse, Alzheimer's. His wife's nagging about his cigars proving true was bad enough but to see his razor sharp mind degenerating into… It was a sad end for a man who won a Pulitzer Prize for the first interview with a newly debuted Superboy. In the wake of White's retirement, the Daily Planet's owner Morgan Edge picked a succession of interim editors to run the great Metropolitan newspaper until he could pick someone to fill the post permanently. While none of them were quite on White's level, they were all good editors and honest men who did their level best to make the Daily Planet great.
It wasn't until Edge chose a sleazy yes-man that White called Clark Kent to his side. White was on his deathbed by then but pulled himself out of his dementia to tell Kent to take the Daily Planet. White needed to know that there would be someone to take care of his baby when he was gone, the way he had been there when George Taylor passed it to him. The world's greatest newspaper had to be run by somebody who'd tell the truth not some yellow journalist who'd turn it into Morgan Edge's piece of Pravda. Clark made that promise and, after the funeral, promptly resigned his job as a WGBS anchorman over Edge's protests and, after a series of issues, became the new editor for the Daily Planet. It was a tremendous shakeup to not only see Kent back to working in print but as editor as Earth-Two and future glimpses had always said he would. In terms of Clark Kent's life, it was a shakeup second only to his finally marrying Lois Lane.
Maggin and his writers worked hard to keep Lois Kent from being the emasculating shrew she could have easily become instead making her the great woman behind the great man. She did love being a reporter, more so than Clark who initially became one just to watch for disasters but time and again she put Clark's needs and wants ahead of her own. This was especially poignant with how her husband was the editor. If she had to give up a story or compromise herself in order to help her husband save lives or if he had to miss their anniversary again, so be it. The writers even brought back the idea where she regularly volunteered at hospitals and local charities. (While she certainly would, this was shunted aside. Bates would often complain to Waid that the boss was laying it on too thick.)
Did Lois Lane's stories decline as a result of all this? Did some reporters at the Planet snicker that Kent had "tamed" her? Perhaps but Lois knew better. That was not to say that Lois became Suzie Housewife. She remained a feisty, no-nonsense woman who suffered no fools. But if hers was anger it was more often than not righteous anger. It was driven partly by her desire to be the best reporter she could be and partly because she wanted to help other people and reporting was the only way she knew now. If a corrupt politician, a greedy businessman, or anybody else abused his power and harmed the innocent, he could count on Lois Lane to expose his crimes. Throughout the Silver Age, Superman had declined to marry Lois because of her lack of superpowers; now, he told her, it looked like he married a superhero after all.
(As the unofficial DC encyclopedia, however, Mark Waid brought up old issues of Lois Lane to cite Imaginary Stories/Elseworlds to show that if it ever came to that she would, in fact, gladly sacrifice her career for her husband and any children that might result—even if she would be miserable.)
It was such a strong marriage that helped keep Clark sane with the direction the DCU took. Through the early nineties, Superman stood apart in the "Dark Age" of comics. The world he lived in grew bleaker, perhaps, but he didn't; if anything, chief writer Mark Waid made him more "super." Waid's first issue summed it all up having the Man of Steel see Jimmy turn into an alien, fend off an invasion of sentient mathematical equations, drive a demon warlord to the depths of hell, raise a hundred million for charity, time travel to the time of the dinosaurs, go to a run sun planet to liberate an entire world without use of his superpowers, and see that "Jimmy" was an alien youth who traded places with the photographer. The issue ended with a crying Man of Steel setting a crayon drawing of himself the young alien had made in the Fortress of Solitude. In the end what shocked him the most of his day was how utterly normal it had been. He'd had many days like it and expected many more before he finally hung up his cape to quit being Superman.
Under Waid, he became the paladin of the DCU, the perfect white knight. Or, as Grant Morrison jokingly said, an arrogant SOB hopped up on cocky macho bull… Well, you get the idea. Simply said, Kal-El was the man and he knew it. Yet therein was the paradox; Superman never lost his sense of decency but it left him in increasingly stark contrast to a DCU that seemed uninterested in decency. On realizing that and on hearing rumors that the folks at Marvel were planning to give Venom of all characters a title, Waid pitched an idea to Editor Elliot S! Maggin that became the single biggest Superman story ever: the "Death of Superman."
"Death of Superman" was the 1993 summer crossover though it retroactively began as early as 1991 with the introduction of Manchester Black in "Bloodlines." (Nowadays, he and Tommy "the Hitman" Monegan are the only things fans remember from that debacle.) Waid chose him as the secondary protagonist for the story because he saw in Black the epitome of everything he hated and saw as wrong about the 90s comic book anti-hero that was then sweeping the comic book world.
The countdown began with "What's so funny about Truth, Justice, and the American Way," co-written by Waid and up-and-coming writer Joe Kelley. There readers learned that if Superman refused to kill, it wasn't in order to "keep his hands clean" but because he actually did see all life as sacred. He saw each and every sentient being by sheer virtue of its sentience as having the right to live. Nobody, he said, has the right to kill, not even a Superman, especially not a Superman.
All this stood in utter contrast to Manchester Black and his Elite who summarily executed captured foes and overthrew what they deemed rogue governments. The DCU quickly developed an infatuation for the Elite seeing in them people who would finally do something. Finally someone would stop the villains once and for all! Finally, supers who would use their powers to solve everyone's problems! As for Superman, he and his code against killing were increasingly pushed aside by a public that wanted its "heroes" to be harder and more ruthless.
It all came to a head with Superman and the Elites dueling on live TV and Black murdering Superman's "friend" Lois Lane—whom Black had learned was the man's wife. With that, a revenge crazed Kal-El seemingly turned his full power against his tormentors, literally tearing them apart into bloody pieces. (Black's plan to morally break the Man of Steel worked a little too well.) It all climaxed when a denuded Manchester Black cowering in a ball and turning the cameras on Superman whom he claimed was no better than he was. At which point the bloodied Man of Steel burst out laughing!
After mumbling something about not pulling a hoax like that in years, Superman said that, hypocrisy aside, Black had been right in condemning him for "murdering" the Elite. Kal-El said that to be a Superman is to be a symbol to lead people into the sun. He'd seen the real world a long time before Miss Lane died and the reason he refused to murder men like Black was not only because he saw life as having intrinsic worth but also because he knew that taking life would be too easy. Was he living in a dream? Of course he was and he wasn't going to stop until his dream of a better world came true.
It closed with an utterly broken Manchester Black revealing his own hoax. Lois Lane had never died and he'd been goading Superman into breaking his oath for nothing. Having passed the final test, Kal-El returned home to see Lois alive and well. It was perhaps Superman finest hour and it all came crashing down with Doomsday.
Superman even pointed out his battle scars when asked about them in a Cat Grant interview two issues later. It was there that he heard news reports of an enormous monster rampaging through the American Midwest. The Justice League quickly rallied behind him though even with their help he was hard pressed against Doomsday. That was the beast's name as he learned from his mission control Superman Robot in the Fortress. "Born" on ancient Krypton, it was a mindless killing machine with a hatred for all life coded into his very DNA.
Even with that knowledge and with both Power Girl and all the Superman Robots forming a last stand around Metropolis, the Man of Steel was hard pressed. The insanity dwarfed even Wonder Woman's battle with Circe, a fact only underscored by the lunacy of having Doomsday literally pound Superman to the other side of the Earth! He was forced to use every superpower he had ever had against the monster. He used light speed super powered martial arts moves, planet destroying punches, Mary Sue abilities not seen since the 1960s, everything and still it was not enough. The reason was simple: against an enemy that he could not defeat, Kal-El was asked for more than he could give.
In the end Superman did save the world though it was at the cost of his life. The event garnered national—by some accounts world wide—real-life media attention with reporters rightly noting "What's so Funny" (which itself had made the news) led directly into "Death." One interviewee's comment that, we learned how precious the light is only so we could lose it, was incorporated into the comic book.
As for the DCU, the entire universe seemed to stop in its tracks on funeral day. There came beings from across the stars such as the Oan Guardians and aliens from the hundreds of world's he had aided. Atlanteans and Amazons, gods and angels, wept. Representatives from other dimensions and timelines, time travelers whose eras Superman had saved all descended on Metropolis. Among the mourners were his fellow heroes who arrived to pay their last respects to their gallant leader. All of them came… except for Batman.
No matter how much Diana asked him he would not attend the funeral, instead claiming that he was busy. There was some truth to that; across the planet, gangland, Gotham included, celebrated the death of its most powerful foe. Crime rates skyrocketed because crooks knew that with super-doof dead nobody could stop them! As readers learned in Detective Comics, however, the real reason Batman didn't want to go, was that he didn't want anybody to see him cry.
Wonder Woman was the keynote speaker at the funeral and told everyone there to remember what he lived for and died for. She asked the people to let him live on by living out what he taught us, that it is our duty to all be heroes. Such words were necessary with how, as per editorial mandate, the entire DCU fell apart in the wake of Superman's death. In every title, scripts grew grittier. Coloring got darker. Higher crimes rates were just the start as hope itself seemed to die.
Batman's descent into madness as he faced Bane, a steroid fueled maniac, was only the most obvious example. The evil genius knew that with the loss of his best friend that the Dark Knight would be at his weakest mentally. He was right; when he released all criminals from Arkham Asylum, Batman insisted against all logic on facing them alone. When Bane faced him, he was a pathetic shell of a man so exhausted that he couldn't even defend himself. As the Man of Steel died, the Dark Knight was broken.
As a friend of both the Super- and Bat- families, Wonder Woman comforted the afflicted and watched over their respective protectorates. She repeatedly crossed over into their titles; in her own she desperately tried to fill the void left by the loss of her "brothers." She had to. As the only member of the Trinity left, Diana appeared across the DCU trying to stem the madness in an ever darkening world. Her desperate words of hope were not in vain…
More by sheer grit than anything else, Batman did return though in the end he had to wrestle his cowl from a pretender. During his convalescence, he had entrusted Gotham to Jean Paul Valley, aka Azrael, but he quickly turned into an egotistical madman determined to do what Wayne hadn't been "strong" enough to do. It was not enough that Valley donned a metallic bat-suit and beat Bane half to death, far from it. After he saw the imposter attacking the police and letting innocent people die, Wayne wryly mused that he had his own Manchester Black.
The still injured Wayne knew he could never defeat his doppelganger physically so he chose to outwit the enemy. He did so through a chase in the caverns around Wayne Manor that forced "Azbats," as the man was derisively called, to discard his power armor. When they finally emerged, the already unstable Valley found himself blinded by the light and on his back. All he could do was look at the fully uniformed Bruce Wayne to say, "You are Batman and I am nothing."
Still not fully healed, though, Wayne had Dick Grayson take up the cape and cowl until the time came. Everyone knew that if anything ever happened to Wayne, that Dick Grayson was the only one who could take up the mantle. His relationship with Wayne had been strained, especially with how he had chosen Valley over him but that had been because Wayne was afraid that what happened to him would happen to Dick.
Oh, Nightwing… As O'Neil and Maggin collaborated on their story, O'Neil made sure to have Wonder Woman tell Bruce in the wake of Clark's death that yes, Dick had gotten his name of Nighwing from Kandorian superhero Van-Zee. What he didn't know, she said, was that Van had gotten the Nightwing idea from Superman who, on one adventure, had been trapped in Kandor without his superpowers and mistaken for a criminal. Unable to show his face, he renamed himself Nightwing and drew inspiration from a certain detective… The Nightmobile, the Nightcave, a sidekick named for a bird. "Bruce, if Clark ever had to give up being Superman and be someone else, he'd want to be you."
Over in Metropolis, people saw the Reign of the Supermen, all of whom claimed, to one degree or another to be Superman returned. John Henry Irons swore to honor the man who saved his life by following in his footsteps as power-armor clad Steel. Eradicator thought he was Superman but it was revealed that he had been the man's chief Superman robot, Kelex, rebuilt by his fellows after nearly being scrapped by Doomsday. Superboy had been cloned from one of the many pieces of Kal-El's flesh and blood that Doomsday left splattered across the streets of Metropolis. Cyborg claimed to be Superman resurrected with DNA and Kryptonian biotech to prove it, although he claimed not to know it all happened and to be amnesiac about his earlier life.
Strangely there was a fifth "Superman" who followed the others; he appeared in all the comics, helping them and testing them to see if they were truly the Last Son of Krypton. Fans everywhere asked who the new viewpoint character was but weren't surprised when he (along with the other supermen) followed the true Kal-El, resurrected, to the final battle against Cyborg. By then, the imposter had shown his true colors, a genocidal monster determined to destroy the Earth.
Superman confessed that, oddly enough, Cyborg was the imitator most like himself. With the powers he had it was so easy to lose perspective and see the humans as just so many insects. What was it that Shakespeare said? "As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport." If the humans are so small, why not kill them whenever the fancy strikes you? It wouldn't even be murder. After all, they're only human. He could never let himself go down that road because if did… There was a reason he had refused to listen to Manchester Black and part of it was that if he had, he knew that the Cyborg is what he would become.
The fifth imposter agreed completely and then dropped his disguise to show Manchester Black was exactly who he was! He said that he and the Elite had weakened Superman just prior to his fight against Doomsday and so blamed himself for Superman's death. He hoped that by continuing the never-ending battle might find absolution. He found it when he sacrificed his life to save the still recuperating Kal-El from the Cyborg and restore his power. After the villain was defeated, Manchester Black asked if the Cyborg was dead. When Superman said that no, he probably escaped, Black smiled. Superman hadn't killed his enemy; with that he knew he could die in peace. And so he did.
Every life is precious… that was the lesson hammered home. What kind of world, what kind of men would rise up if that lesson was forgotten was made equally clear. The joint storyline conceived by editors Maggin and O'Neil rocked the comic book world and redefined what it meant to be a true hero. It didn't get any easier, it never got any easier, but there was hope once again in the DCU. Was it a "Dark Age" of comics? Perhaps, but a holy Trinity of heroes chose to light candles instead of cursing the eternal dark.
They made that vow over lunch. On seeing that Superman was back, his two best hero friends invited him to play catch up at Bibbo's. When she saw him, Diana ran up to him and gave him such a hug that left them both blushing and nervously glad that he was invulnerable. Bruce was as inscrutable as always. He said that he knew he'd be back. Diana told Clark, however, that he took so hard that he just couldn't bear to go to the funeral! The power couple laughed at Bruce's expense and Clark eagerly asked about the service went. It was only later when he mentioned it to Lois that he realized just how surreal it was to ask what happened at your own funeral.
Author's Notes: Hi guys! It took awhile but a new chapter's up-at least half of it. The second half is complete but it still needs proofreading and editing. Now
Sir Thames: Always glad to have you here and I thank you for your kind words. ;-)
Michael Weyer: You want Superman and Batman to have their flashforward? Here you go. :-)
Taintedtamt: Ditto. :-D Oh, and by the way, welcome to the story!
"Anonymous": Valkyries do make logical foes for the Amazons and Hepheasteus giving the Amazons weapons is the only logical explanation I can think of for pre-Crisis Amazons having crazy sci-fi tech. :-p Thank you for your kind words.
As for villains and the taking of human life... superheroes offer a world that is inherently fantastical where the rules that pervade our world need not apply. That applies to science, to history, and yes even they way people might act. (Though as sadists and sociopaths of our world show, yes some people would use a wish to kill a neighbor's cow. If you don't believe me go to 's articles on dictators. search?q=site% ++crazy+dictator&oq=site% ++crazy+dictator&aqs=chrome.0.69i57j69i58.11513j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 )
I've written something on that here and I plan on going more in depth in the conclusion but the main point is that traditional superheroes are as much symbols as anything else. Superman is of course the most obvious but as the father of all superheroes, anyone who wears bright colored costumes carries the ideal with them. Metahuman X could join the police or the military and there might have the power to lawfully take human life but if he doesn't, then he doesn't have that power. If he's going to wear an attention grabbing costume and go around calling himself a hero, he has to act like it.
Well that's all and I hope to have the next half of this chapter up by the next week. Until then, see'ya soon!