Category: 100 Issues Ago

100 Issues Ago July 2011 (Part 2)

I came across this “100 Issues Ago” panel in an old JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and thought I’d tidy it up and re-purpose it. If one month = one issue, what was I reading 100 Issues Ago?

And lo, the FLASHPOINT spin-offs have landed! I picked up 34 issues from DC this month, of which 20 were FLASHPOINT related miniseries or one-offs. This one – FRANKENSTEIN AND THE CREATURES OF THE UNKNOWN – was one of my favourites as it took Grant Morrison’s version of Frankenstein from his SEVEN SOLDIERS miniseries and had fun with it.

This was also my first exposure to Jeff Lemire’s writing and I became something of a fan, picking up the later FRANKENSTEIN: AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. series by him as well as others.

Pretty much everything else by DC was wrapping up – TEEN TITANS was being produced twice monthly in what seemed like a desperate attempt to reach issue #100 before the New 52 reboot!

Wait a second . . . didn’t we have one of these just last week?

Yeah, we did . . . because I’ve been doing them wrong for the last year or more. Since I started these 100 Issues Ago posts, I’ve been subtracting 100 months from the current date but then looking at the comics that have the resulting cover date. As the majority of my collection from this time is DC, this means I’m highlighting issues that are two months older than I should be looking at.

Last week I looked at FLASHPOINT #1 because November 2019 minus 100 months is July 2011 . . . but I actually bought FLASHPOINT #1 in May 2011 when it was released.

So this week and next you get two extra posts to bridge the comics I bought in June and July 2011 so that when we get to December 2019 and I subtract 100 months, we’ll be looking at comics I bought in August 2011, rather than those with the cover date of August 2011.

100 Issues Ago July 2011

I came across this “100 Issues Ago” panel in an old JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and thought I’d tidy it up and re-purpose it. If one month = one issue, what was I reading 100 Issues Ago?

I’ve been doing these 100 Issues Ago posts for about eighteen months now, but it’s only in the last year that I’ve managed to keep them to a regular, monthly schedule. A couple of times over the recent ones, I’ve mentioned about DC titles starting to wind down their plot lines in preparation for the New 52; regular commenter Calvin has mentioned what’s coming on more than one occasion . . . and we’re finally here.

Most of the time, I think back to the issue I’m featuring, but for this one I dug it out of its comic box and re-read it for the first time since 2011.

Barry Allen wakes up in a Central City Police Department that’s in a totally different world from the one he’s expecting; there are a number of small reveals/mentions before the big one: his mother is alive and well. As much as he likes that idea, he knows things aren’t right and so sets off to see Batman.

The Dark Knight, meanwhile, is a lot meaner in this world, willing to let villainous side-kicks die if they don’t provide useful information. He’s approached by Cyborg who asks him to join a group he’s putting together to fight Aquaman and Wonder Woman. Both those heroes in this world have caused massive loss of life when they attacked parts of Europe, but Bats refuses to team up and, without him, Cyborg’s group falls apart.

Finding his way to the Batcave, Barry’s astounded when Batman doesn’t know him – hardly surprising as it’s Thomas Wayne, not Bruce, beneath the cowl.

FLASHPOINT #1, taken on it’s own as the start of an event mini-series, works quite well. Barry plays the fish out of water, with hints about the new world being dropped in (mostly) naturally in dialogue, although the Cyborg/Batman conversation is a little exposition heavy, and the big reveal on the final page – that of Thomas Wayne being Batman – works well.

It sets up the mystery of how and why this world’s in existence and, honestly, makes you want to find out more. Unfortunately, DC decided to more than satisfy the appetite with the plethora of mini-series that would spin out of this over the coming months.

And after this was over, would come the New 52 . . .

100 Issues Ago June 2011

I came across this “100 Issues Ago” panel in an old JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and thought I’d tidy it up and re-purpose it. If one month = one issue, what was I reading 100 Issues Ago?

Palmiotti and Gray had been doing some sterling work with the Freedom Fighters over several series in the years running up to this, bringing the team together in INFINITE CRISIS AFTERMATH: THE BATTLE FOR BLUDHAVEN before a couple of FREEDOM FIGHTERS titles that was coming to an end with this penultimate issue.

Here Uncle Sam battles and finally defeats the Jester who had been trying to take his place as a more tyrannical spirit of America. The celebrations are muted due to the death of one of the team and the issue ends with the President having to shut them down.

I enjoyed the team’s dynamics and, following FLASHPOINT and the rise of the New 52, Palmiotti and Gray would try to launch other versions of these heroes: Phantom Lady (with Doll Man), the Ray, and Human Bomb had their own mini-series but it went nowhere, sadly. It wasn’t until the recent FREEDOM FIGHTERS title that the characters reappeared – but that’s set on Earth-X and features different versions again.

Looking at the other comics in my collection from this time shows various series starting to wind down as something big was around the corner . . . which we’ll have to address next month.

100 Issues Ago May 2011

I came across this “100 Issues Ago” panel in an old JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA and thought I’d tidy it up and re-purpose it. If one month = one issue, what was I reading 100 Issues Ago?

I had plenty of problems with Judd Winick’s writing on both JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST and POWER GIRL that he was writing at the time of this issue, but I had to pull this one out for this episode of 100 Issues Ago mainly for the cover and Wonder Woman’s trousers – or pants as they say in America.

Jim Lee had redesigned Wonder Woman’s costume and, I think, there was some new storyline about how people either forgot who she was, or there was a different timeline or something where she hadn’t been around – this was pre-New 52 so I don’t think it hung around for long. But the thing that made the internet go crazy was the fact that he gave her long pants in the redesign.

I vaguely remembered writing about it on my old blog and so did a quick search and found I’d captured some comments from DC’s old blog The Source (no longer available) which summarised the reaction:

disconnectedsmile says on June 29th, 2010 at 6:37 pm :

she didn’t need to be redesigned for the modern era.
Wonder Woman is a global icon. you can’t change her look anymore than you can change Batman’s or Superman’s.
i don’t know who that’s supposed to be in that costume, but it sure isn’t Wonder Woman.

thebigburton says on June 29th, 2010 at 6:45 pm :

This has to be a joke. I am literally sick to my stomach right now. This is a joke. You CANNOT destroy my reason for loving comics and superheroes like this. Not even for a single issue. Please stop this NOW!

ipstenu says on June 29th, 2010 at 6:51 pm :

This had BETTER freakin’ end with Steve Trevor stepping out of the shower and it’s all a dream.
I was willing to lay the One More Day Spider-Man fiasco on Marvel, but now this?
No. I’m sorry, JMS, I love you for B5, but this is … this is horrific and wrong.
No.
Bad.
Done.

thebigburton says on June 29th, 2010 at 7:01 pm :

I actually just threw up… how dare you do this. THIS IS DISGRACEFUL. I hope you lose the rights to WW. I am now done collecting comics. GOOD JOB!

I said at the time and it still cracks me up that “thebigburton” tells us he’s feeling ill at 6:45, goes (hopefully) to the bathroom, throws up, then comes back to tell everyone at 7:01!

Ah, comic fandom . . .