MILLENNIUM was DC’s third big crossover, following CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS and LEGENDS. A weekly series with a large number of crossovers, it was intended to usher in a new era for the DCU . . . but instead created new heroes that, at best, were an attempt to instil some diversity into a roster of heroes that was predominantly white and male, and at worst were a collection of cliches and stereotypes.
Collected Edition
For most other series I’ve annotated, I’ve included a page for the collection because they tend to add information or, for the later ones, even correct things from the original series.
The MILLENNIUM collection, however, is a straightforward reprint of the series; the colours have been enriched and they look nicer than the original issues, but there is no new introduction or afterword, and mistakes in the original (for example Herupa Hando Hu’s cloak is yellow in issue #8, Page 17 – Panel 9) are not corrected. With that in mind, I didn’t see the point in doing a separate page on this collection.
The only real change is that the collection cover uses that of issue #1 but the characters are coloured individually.
House Ads
As ever, DC used house ads and articles to promote the series; you can find a collection of them here.
The Teaching
Issue #5 contained the Teaching that Herupa Hando Hu and Nadia Safir passed on to the Chosen.
As it was interwoven throughout the story, I figured I’d break it up and share it as a single page here.
You never know – it might change your life. đŸ˜‰
MILLENNIUM Illustrated Index
ICG produced a number of indices for various titles and events and there’s a short write up of the two issue MILLENNIUM INDEX here.
Amazing Heroes Article
The Amazing Heroes magazine featured an article on MILLENNIUM and and interview with writer Steve Englehart and editor Andy Helfer. You can read it here.
Ian Gibson’s thoughts on MILLENNIUM
While hunting on the net for reference materials to do with MILLENNIUM, I came across this page on the Den of Geek website where, in 2009, artist Ian Gibson had a few things to say about the series.
It’s a short column and I think the pertinent paragraphs are these:
I was suckered into [the MILLENNIUM] contract, just as the poor readers were suckered into shelling out their good pennies for, what was in effect, pure market manipulation. One of the low points of my creative career. Not that there was much creation on my part. Though I did sometimes attempt to ‘improve’ on Joe’s pencils, when the mood took me. But after a few slaps on the wrist from Dick Giordano, (GRHS) I eventually gave up and inked, as best I could, over the pencils as they were delivered, whether I understood the marks or no.
I had taken the contract on the understanding that it was my series and I would pencil and ink the whole shooting match. But then the editors foisted Joe onto me, and me onto Joe. We were not a well matched pair. Joe, in his own work, inks loosely over tight pencils. And I ink tightly over loose pencils. There was no great harmony going on. The only reason it became a ‘best seller’ was because the story thread spread over all the other comics in the DC universe. So you had to read MILLENNIUM to figure out what was happening with your own favourite character’s story. Good marketing. Bad comics!
Clearly he wasn’t happy, and while I don’t know for definite, I think MILLENNIUM was his last work at DC.
Crisis on Earth-Prime 