Events from the Modern Age of Comic Books
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
One of the key aspects of the
In the early and mid-1990s, big events were regularly published by Marvel and DC, often leading to extra publicity and sales. These events helped fend-off competition from
Some of the most significant mid-1990s events, such as Spider-Man's "Clone Saga," Batman's "Batman: Knightfall" and particularly, "The Death of Superman" caused dramatic changes to long-running characters and received coverage in the mainstream media.
These events led to significant sales boosts and publicity, but many fans began to criticize them as excessive and lacking compelling storytelling. They also complained that monthly series had become inaccessible because one had to follow a number of comics to understand the full storyline. By the end of the 1990s, the number of large crossovers decreased, but they were still launched sporadically.
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Starting in the early 1960s, DC Comics maintained some aspects of its continuity through the use of a multiverse system of parallel Earths. A cosmic event in the 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths merged all of these realities and their respective characters into one universe, allowing writers to rewrite from scratch such long-running characters as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman and also as an attempt at simplifying the DC Universe. In some ways, this helped revitalize DC's characters, though some fans debated (and continue to debate) whether such changes were necessary to begin with or truly beneficial. Events such as the deaths of Supergirl and Barry Allen augmented debate among many fans.
Since Crisis, the trend of such
In 2005, the
The series continues, exploring many of the changes wrought by the events of "Infinite Crisis", introducing new characters, killing off old ones, and putting others in new situations. The series concludes when Rip Hunter reveals that a new multiverse exists, of exactly 52 universes, from Earth-0/New Earth (The primary Earth in continuity) to Earth-51. The new Multiverse is temporarily threatened by Mr. Mind, who has developed the ability to travel to each universe and "Eat" portions of it, altering its history. Each new universe was initially identical to New Earth, but Mr. Mind's rampage altered the history of each universe, altering them all and restoring the
52, World War 3, 1 Year Later, and Crisis Aftermath indirectly lead into "Countdown to Final Crisis", which is confirmed to be counting down to the next big event, "Final Crisis".
Watchmen
In 1986, DC published two groundbreaking
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
The book is set in the 21st Century although it seems to retain many elements of the Cold War culture. It is a disturbing world where criminals have run amok in the absence of superheroes. Gotham City is terrorized by a gang of teenage murderers, the Mutants. Bruce Wayne, now 55, has been retired from crime fighting for ten years following the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd. Attempting to bury his guilt over Jason's death, Wayne has turned to alcoholism and near-suicidal recreational activities. In an effort to prove to the world (and himself) that one's personal demons can be bested, Wayne has generously funded the rehabilitation of Harvey Dent (a.k.a. Two-Face).
There are two events that push Wayne back into the identity of Batman. The first instance was a chance meeting with two Mutant gang members on the very spot where his parents were killed years before, while the second was Two-Face's immediate return to crime, despite years of psychological and cosmetic rehabilitation.
The criminals he now faces are not as organized as they had been, rather they are an unfocused band of kids who kill for money, drugs, or just for thrills. Gotham City has also changed. Whereas the public once hailed Batman as a hero standing up for the citizens of Gotham, now there are some who cry out that Batman is violating the villains' civil rights. The media, the Mayor's office, and even police officers start to debate Batman's role in society.
The one change that Batman notices the most is the change in himself. He's older now, not able to leap as easily from roof to roof on as little sleep as he used to. His body takes longer to recover from blows and he gets winded much quicker than he ever remembered in the old days. He has had to accept that he has limitations.
The episodes find Batman foiling a plot by Two-Face to blow up Gotham's twin towers, Joker appearing on a parody of the David Letterman talk show, killing everyone in the audience, and fighting Superman, who works for the President of the United States.
Marvel vs DC
Marvel vs. DC was a 1997 comic book mini-series by DC Comics and Marvel. The plot was that two "Brothers" personify the universes that comics fans know as DC and Marvel. After becoming aware of the other's existence, the brothers challenge each other to a series of duels involving each universe's respective superheroes. The series was four comics in total.
Dan Jurgens (who wrote the Death of Superman) scripted the series and the outcome was determined by votes sent in by readers. Despite Marvel achieving more votes than its rival, and thus winning more matches, the series' storyline opted not to show one side victorious. The authors reserved calling the winner of six of the eleven matches so they could make the outcome seem close regardless of the votes.
As voters voted Marvel the winner in three of the five "open to vote" matches (DC's Superman and Batman won their matches, whereas Marvel's Spider-Man, Storm, and Wolverine won theirs), this proved a prescient move. The outcome was a 6–5 Marvel "victory". After Batman defeated Captain America, it was revealed that the
Ultimately, the Brothers decided to "settle things in their own way" by temporarily creating a new universe. This new universe, called the Amalgam universe, saw a merging of each company's most popular heroes into new ones:
The popularity of Amalgam led to another 12 one-shots the following year. Some of the heroes included:
Civil War
The premise of the "
The act requires any person in the United States with superhuman abilities to register with the federal government and receive proper training. Those who sign also have the option of working for S.H.I.E.L.D., earning a salary and benefits such as those earned by other American civil servants. Characters within the superhuman community in the Marvel Universe split into two groups: one advocating registration as a responsible obligation, and the other opposing the law on the grounds that it violates privacy rights.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill attempts to recruit Captain America for a strike force created to track down superhumans in violation of the act. When Captain America refuses, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attack him (notably before the act goes into effect), but he escapes. However, Iron Man supports the act and mobilizes many registered superhumans, including Mister Fantastic, Henry Pym, and Spider-Man, who unmasks himself to the world press in order to find and redeem the anti-registration heroes.
Crossovers of the Modern Age
- 1985: Crisis on Infinite Earths
- 1986: Legends
- 1988: Millennium
- 1988: Cosmic Odyssey
- 1989: Invasion!
- 1991: Armageddon 2001
- 1991: War of the Gods
- 1992: Eclipso: The Darkness Within
- 1992–93: The Death and Return of Superman
- 1993: Knightfall (Batman)
- 1993: Bloodlines
- 1993: Trinity
- 1994: Worlds Collide (with Milestone Media)
- 1994: Zero Hour
- 1997: The Final Night
- 1997: Genesis
- 1998: DC One Million
- 2001: Our Worlds at War
- 2001: Silver Age
- 2004: Identity Crisis
- 2004: DC Comics Presents (to honour Julius Schwartz)
- 2005: Infinite Crisis
- 2006–07: 52
- 2007: World War III
- 2007–08: Countdown to Final Crisis
- 2008: Final Crisis
- 2009: Blackest Night
- 2010: Brightest Day
- 2011: Flashpoint
- 2013: Trinity War
- 2013–14: Forever Evil
- 2014–15: The New 52: Futures End
- 2015: Convergence
- 2016: DC Rebirth
- 1982: Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions
- 1984: Secret Wars
- 1985–86: Secret Wars II
- 1986: Mutant Massacre (X-Men/X-Factor/New Mutants)
- 1988: Fall of the Mutants(X-Men/X-Factor/New Mutants)
- 1988: Evolutionary War(1988 Annuals)
- 1988: Inferno (X-Men/X-Factor/New Mutants)
- 1989: Atlantis Attacks (1989 annuals)
- 1989–90: Acts of Vengeance
- 1990–91: X-Tinction Agenda (X-Men/X-Factor/New Mutants)
- 1991: Muir Island Saga (X-Men/X-Factor)
- 1991: The Infinity Gauntlet
- 1992: Operation: Galactic Storm (Avengers)
- 1992: The Infinity War
- 1992–93: X-Cutioner's Song (X-Men/X-Factor/X-Force)
- 1992: Rise of the Midnight Sons
- 1993: Infinity Crusade
- 1993: Maximum Carnage (Spider-Man)
- 1993: Fatal Attractions (X-Men)
- 1993: Bloodties (Fatal Attractions sequel) (X-Men/Avengers)
- 1994: Child's Play
- 1994: Phalanx Covenant (X-Men)
- 1994: Starblast
- 1994: Fall of the Hammer (2099 Universe)
- 1994–96: Clone Saga (Spider-Man)
- 1995–96: Legion Quest
- 1995–96: Age of Apocalypse (X-Men)
- 1995: The Crossing (Avengers)
- 1996: Onslaught Saga
- 1996: One Nation under Doom (2099 Universe)
- 1996: Heroes Reborn
- 1997: Flashback
- 1997: Operation: Zero Tolerance (X-Men)
- 1998: The Hunt for Xavier (X-Men)
- 1999: The Magneto War
- 2000–01: Maximum Security
- 2000: Apocalypse: The Twelve
- 2001: X-Men: Eve of Destruction
- 2002: Infinity Abyss
- 2004: Avengers Disassembled (Avengers)
- 2004–05: Secret War
- 2005: House of M
- 2006: Marvel Civil War
- 2006–07: Annihilation
- 2007: World War Hulk
- 2007–08: Annihilation: Conquest
- 2007–08: Messiah CompleX
- 2008: Secret Invasion
- 2009: Dark Reign
- 2009: Ultimatum (Ultimate universe)
- 2009: War of Kings (Guardians of the Galaxy)
- 2010: Fall of the Hulks (The incredible Hulk)
- 2010: Siege
- 2010: The Thanos Imperative
- 2011: Fear Itself
- 2012: Avengers vs. X-Men
- 2013: Age of Ultron
- 2013: Infinity
- 2013–14: Inhumanity
- 2014: Original Sin
- 2014: AXIS
- 2014–15: Spider-Verse (Spider-Man)
- 2015: The Black Vortex (Guardians of the Galaxy and X men)
- 2015: Secret Wars (2015)
- 2016: Avengers: Standoff! (Avengers)
- 2016: Civil War II
- 2017: Secret Empire
- 2018: Damnation (Doctor Strange and Midnight Sons)
- 2019: The War of the Realms
- 2020: Empyre
DC/Marvel
- 1996: DC vs Marvel
- 1996: DC/Marvel: All Access
- 1997: Unlimited Access
- 2003: JLA/Avengers
- 1992: Unity
- 1994: The Chaos Effect
- 1995: Rampage
- 1995: Birthquake
- 2000: Unity 2000
- 2013: Harbinger Wars
- 2014: Armor Hunters
Malibu Ultraverse
- 1993: Break-Thru
- 1994: Rafferty Saga
- 1995: Godwheel
- 1995: Ultraverse Spine
- 1995: Black September (comics)
- 1995: The Phoenix Resurrection