That’s how the New 52 writers feel.
DC Comics (June, 1996)
WRITER: Mark Evanier PENCILER/CO-INKER: Sergio Aragonés INKERS: John Dell, Denis Rodier, Scott Hanna, John Byrne, Ron Boyd, Jerry Ordway, & Joe Rubinstein COLORIST: Tom Luth SEPARATIONS: Peter Tomasi EDITOR: Dan Raspler “SUPERMAN” CREATORS: Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster “BATMAN” CREATOR: Bob Kane “WONDER WOMAN” CREATOR: William Moulton Marston
After being booted out of DC’s offices for drawing Groo, Sergio enlists Mark to write superhero stories for him to draw. What follows is Hawkman running around warning of a mysterious threat, except Sergio hasn’t figured out who it should be yet. This leads to parodies of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Legion of Superheroes as they were in the 90’s, until Sergio decides on a proper villain. Let’s just say this is where I got the idea for Black Lantern Johnny DC.
What they got right: These were parodies of the DC heroes as depicted in the 90’s. The heroes are over-muscled, even for Sergio’s art style, and the women are rather large-chested. They also made fun of how Superman’s cape and costume kept getting ripped, how Batman had become more angry and brooding, and how so many bad things had happened to the characters (Superman’s death, Aquaman losing a hand, Paradise Island getting invaded), but it’s all done with a love of the DC Universe, right down to Barry’s death.
What they got wrong: Well, there’s this.
Only here because I used it in an old article.
The political commentary is sure to annoy any conservative readers, because calling Republican’s “cold-hearted” isn’t comparable to the Democrats “barren…victory party”. He also seems to have it in for Pat Buchannan. Did Buchannan get his dog deported? Although I will admit one of the three shots taken at him was actually funny. For the rest of you there are also a few pop culture references that date the comic even more than the comics commentary, which is still pretty true today. (DC will never learn.)
Recommendation: If you can handle the political commentary which usually is out-of-place, and the pop culture references that date the comic, there is a fun parody and commentary about the state of the DC Universe in the 90’s that is still true here in 2013. Give it a look. Tomorrow we’ll look at the Marvel version, released the same month.
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