An Amalgam

Whether intentionally (Wonder Woman and Fury, Green Arrow and Speedy, Batman and Robin) or unintentionally (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Flashpoint/New 52) DC has created plenty of examples where a known figure can be replaced by a younger counterpart.

The best example, of course, is the Mantle of the Bat. Batman could very easily be a mask passed down generation to generation like the Lone Ranger/Green Hornet or the Phantom (“the Ghost who Walks”). DC has played with this idea several times, the best example of which can be found in John Byrne’s Superman & Batman: Generations

Generations takes a look at the Batman and Superman families and creates a lineage by tweaking existing material to tell a unique story. In the case of Batman, we begin with Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson as Robin, until the day that Batman decides to pass the mantle on to Dick, with Bruce Wayne, Jr. eventually becoming the new Robin. Later still, Bruce Jr. takes over for Dick and continues as Batman. It’s a Dread Pirate Roberts situation.

Really, it’s just a matter of locking down a timeline.

With characters like Superman and Wonder Woman, whose abilities grant them a longer than average lifespan, there’s more wiggle room. In my head, the Crisis on Infinite Earths retcons to the timeline could just as easily be the moment that WW and Supes passed along their own mantles to younger heroes, Hippolyta Trevor (Diana’s daughter) in the case of Wonder Woman. She would have been just about the right age to be the rejuvenated Maiden of Might that George Perez gave us in the Post-Crisis continuity.

Batman I: Bruce Wayne

Batman II: Dick Grayson

Batman III: Bruce Wayne, Jr.

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Wonder Woman I: Diana Prince

Wonder Woman II: Hippolyta “Lyta” Trevor Hall

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As I said, I’m focusing on the Golden Age at the moment, specifically on DC/National comics since it’s generally agreed that the superhero trend began with them.

First came Doctor Occult, more a hard-boiled detective who specialized in the supernatural, but in one story he dons a cape and flies:

Doc returned to his usual trenchcoat and fedora after this, but it made an impact. The adventures of Doctor Occult, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (as Legar and Reuths), ended just one month before the most recognized first superhero:

ALSO by Siegel and Shuster. Some people believe that Doctor Occult’s “Koth and the Seven” story was a dry-run for Supes. Considering some of their other early works (look up Hugo Danner), this is very likely.

So, Doctor Occult is where we begin. Actually, because I’m incorporating multiple universes, things begin with a character created by Mike Mignola when he was expanding his Hellboy universe. He’s not so much a superhero as a pulp hero in the tradition of the Shadow or the Avenger, but he is a comic book hero, which is my focus, so Lobster Johnson, whose career began in 1932 according to the stories, is our Golden Age beginning:

Of course, when all is said and done, considering how many times he’s been translated to comics over the years, Doc Savage (first adventure 1931) is where we’ll begin with the Golden Age, but so far the Lobster is as far back as I’ve delved.

This world will be quite similar to the Wold Newton Universe of Philip José Farmer, but it will focus more on comics canon than the WNU does, as those scholars try to make any comic characters they include more realistic and down to earth.

So long T*dd Ph*llips, hello Amalgamated Comics.

The point of this new blog will be to share the work I’m doing to combine various existing comic book narratives across companies into one cohesive structure.

More than a crossover, it’s a melding together of stories.

Then came The Joker, and the press for the Joker, and ol’ Todd lamenting on “woke culture” killing comedy... and really, that was enough for me. I don’t want this guy’s attention. I wouldn’t want to play this guy’s John Belushi.

But, what to do with this blog? I don’t necessarily want to delete it, so instead I’ve been thinking of exactly how to repurpose it.

I’ve toyed with tge idea of a film blog, but I already have the Media Blitzkrieg tumblr for that. Plus, I’ve tried the film review thing and it’s not really my bag.

I then started thinking about my current projects, and things I simply enjoy spending time on. This brought me to where my head has been lately, with the crossover.

That’s all I’m going to say for now, as I don’t want this to be a super long post, but big changes are coming. For those of you who followed this blog for the Belushi thing, I’m sorry. It’s just not where I am as a person anymore.

I promise.

There has been a lot going on, and I apologize for the neglect.