(Editors Note: All editorials are solely the opinion of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of DC Comics News or its staff.)
We never got to say goodbye.
As I sit here, reading the news about how The Crow is Lobo now, that’s the thought that hits me the hardest. The old DCU ended with a whimper and we never got to say goodbye. Not really, anyway.
Sure, there was “Flashpoint.” But you can’t replace an epilogue with fan-fiction. I mean, honestly, whose bright idea was it to usher in a completely new DC universe by showing us another completely new DC universe?
“Hey, Geoff, I’ve got some ideas for the last Flash story–”
“What if Aquaman was sea-Hitler?”
“What?”
“And Deathstroke was a pirate!”
“We’re not going to write this Flash story, are we Geoff?”
“Plastic Man could be evil puke!”
(sigh) “… Fuck it.”
“One of the heroes is a British cricket.”
We should’ve gotten something bigger. We should’ve gotten “Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow?” for a new generation. That’s not to say that the New 52 is bad, because it isn’t. It’s certainly flawed and often seems poorly planned. The new universe paved the way for a lot of exciting story lines and solved a lot of the problems that had been plaguing characters like Superman and Wonder Woman; like making Diana interesting again (at least in her own book) and bringing Superman back to his roots (at least while Morrison was at the helm).
Still, it would’ve been nice to have some closure on the old DCU. They’d been relatively unchanged for 25 years and their send-off was an alternate reality.
You may not think that’s too big a deal, but I invite you to really think about it. The last Superman story of the old DCU was some crap no one picked up about Doomsday clones. Was it exceptionally well-written and sadly overlooked? Nope. Just crap.
And what about Wally West? His absence from the New 52 has often been a sticking point between people who aren’t terrible and Dan Didio. Last we saw of him, he was being sidelined by Barry Allen and his “triumphant return.” He didn’t get a proper send-off. None of them did.
Hell, even if there’d been one issue of Justice League that ended with “… and good continued its war against evil until the end of time” and a future-montage-filled splash page, I’d be somewhat satisfied. But instead I’m here, in front of my computer, knowing that Scott Lobdell is probably going to write a Lobo book filled with too many thought bubbles, none of which contain the word “bastich” or an unreasonable love for space dolphins. And it makes me sad. No, that’s not true… It makes me angry.
It wouldn’t have been that difficult. Just a series of one-shot stories for the major characters. The only good ending I saw for any of the old DCU series was the last issue of Secret Six. Which is a good thing because Suicide Squad is a complete waste.
If it were up to me…
A gun. It was always going to be a gun. But he saved them. A little boy will not lose his parents tonight. The battle is lost, the war is won.
As he charges head long into battle he wonders what will become of him. There is no death for heroes. Not really. And he is not afraid. He was never afraid.
She is tired. She is made of Earth and the Earth has grown old and weary. Her sisters gather around her and point to the utopia she has wrought. “You’ve done well.”
Even after the land is swallowed by the sea. After all the great and mighty cities of man are eroded down to nothingness. After the light fades and there is only cold and dark. The old King waits. Even then.
The last of his kind. Not once but twice. He listens and hears nothing. It is time, at last, to go home. And for the soft red sands to cradle him to sleep.
He runs. Not away. Never away. Towards the big moments and the small ones. Towards the things that need him. Through time and space. He runs electric. Until he is nothing more than a pilot light at the edge of existence. Still going. On and on forever.
A wrinkled old hand clutches a locket. Eyes the very definition of blue stare at a faded picture of a woman with auburn hair. “I love you Lois Lane. Until the end of time.” And in front of him, the last sun dies.
That’s all I wanted. Just a moment to breathe before everyone discovered their love for turtlenecks and body armor. How do you think it should’ve ended?
