History of the DC Universe

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#2

Creators

Writer	Marv Wolfman
Artist	George Pérez
Cover Artist	George Pérez
Cover Penciller	George Pérez
Penciller	George Pérez
Inker	Karl Kesel
Colorist	Tom Ziuko
Editor	Mike Gold
Editor in Chief	Dick Giordano

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This past New Comic Book Day, I picked up The New History of the DC Universe, which, as the title implies, is a new attempt at doing what was done once before nearly 40 years ago, adding in changes that have occurred since then, both in terms of events that have occurred over the decades, and incorporating the retroactive changes that have happened.

That latter part is nothing new; incorporating retroactive changes to history was basically the entire purpose of that first History, following as it did in the wake of the history-altering Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Speaking of history – specifically my own – the first time I ever went to a comic shop was in the spring of 1986. I was out of school for spring break, my dad actually had some time off from work, so my mom decided that we should take a day trip to Duluth, and it was decided that as part of the trip we should find one of those fancy comic book stores for me to go to.

(Among the comics I bought were two Crisis tie-in comics from the back issue bins.)

The second time I went to a comic shop was in the fall of that year, as one had opened a mere 100 miles away in a town we visited much more regularly than we did Duluth.

I don’t remember everything I bought on my first trip to what would become my semi-regular comic shop for the next four years, and my regular comic shop for nearly five years after that, apart from another back issue, and the two comics that are the point of this Short Box.

That was a great day, in large part because there was an honest-to-Crom comic book shop that I would be able to go to a few times a year, but especially because I was able to pick up both issues of what the covers of many DC comics as well as some house ads insisted was must reading.

Of course, I didn’t need to be told that.

Put together by the primary architects of the Crisis, History of the DC Universe attempted to lay out the history of the unified universe that had been born out of the destruction of the multiverse, serving as a guide to readers both old and new, letting us know what parts remained the same and what parts had changed, and giving us an idea of just how much.

As an aside, the original pitch for Crisis was to do a multi-issue history that would end with everything blowing up and then starting fresh with new number ones across the line. Early house ads for Crisis referred to it as DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths.

While letting us know what had – and hadn’t – happened, History also served as something of a preview of things that were to come, providing information about and looks at new characters and new versions of old characters who were yet to officially debut in new titles.

It wasn’t a standard comic, both in terms of content, being more of an illustrated prose work, and in format, as both issues were square bound, with pages that were glued, not stapled.

The history was presented as the journal of Harbinger, one of the few people who remembered history the way it once had been and who was documenting the new history for her own sake as much as for the readers.

While it was an invaluable resource for anyone who wanted to understand the new status quo, the best part of the two books was, of course, the beautiful artwork from the incomparable George Pérez. It was a treat to get to see basically every character in the DC Universe – at least, post-Crisis – illustrated by the master once again.

Ultimately, despite the considerable effort put into making sense of the new DC Universe, things very quickly went awry, and the new history made even less sense than the old, and history had to be rewritten again. And again. And again.

And, well, 40 years after Crisis, it’s being officially rewritten again.

Still, while it may no longer be accurate, the original remains a timeless classic, and managing to get both issues at the same time remains a major part of the History of Jon.

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