Little did I know when I made this cover that Damian Wayne would be killed off before I even had a chance to post it. While I do think that it has been problematic that Batman has had so many sidekicks, I have to admit that I was just warming up to the kid before Grant Morrison decided to permanently close out his story arc... or did he? Morrison's time on Batman has apparently ended with the revelation of numerous Damian clones, leaving the door for a return quite open, it would seem.
Marvel's Age of Ultron event ended with Galactus showing up in the Ultimate Universe, and some are already suspecting that this will indeed signal the end to that line of comics. I can see that happening, but if it does I am sure there will be some elements that carry over to the mainstream Marvel Universe. The top of that list is Miles Morales, I just can't see that character going away no matter what happens to the Ultimate line.
3 comments:
Great cover as always!!!
I agree about your thinking of the Ultimate universe. Miles has been too popular and successful for them to throw away (but stranger things have happened).
I don't understand how some would accept Jason with his anger issues, yet hate Damian with his arrogance and over-confidence. I thought the character brought something different to the Robin table.
I read a bunch of the Ultimate line -- all I could get my hands on -- but lost track a couple of years ago. Is that universe's Peter Parker dead or something? To me, he was the line's most durable character.
Still, early on in that line, someone at Marvel stated that a direct crossover between that universe and Earth-616 would be jumping the shark. Now, even though the Ultimate Galactus (the robotic Gah Lak Tus) has had its storyline, the main one has shown up there. Yes, this probably does mean the end of the line -- not because their heroes aren't up to dealing with him, which they may or may not be, but because of that shark-jumping.
As to the many Robins, I find them problematic for much the same reason you do: the retcon on the DC Universe sets superhero history at only 5 years. Even the previous reboot set it at 10, which is kind of short for Bats to have gone through as many sidekicks as he has (I think Damian's the fifth, isn't he?).
I've said this before, but personally I would have preferred a retcon where the mantle of Batman has passed from Batman to Robin over the years -- Bruce Wayne to Dick Grayson to Tim Drake -- much as was being done with Green Lantern and the Flash for a while.
I'd love to see (or even write) something where a slow-aging Superman and an unaging Wonder Woman are in the Justice League with Tim Drake as Batman, Wally West as the Flash, Kyle Raynor as Green Lantern, Raymond Choi as the Atom, and so on. (Maybe Martian Manhunter and Plastic Man are similarly long-lived?)
Bob, the Ultimate universe's Peter died a year or so ago. You are correct about the jumping the shark quote about the crossover and it's already happened with the "Spider-men" mini-series. It was Joe Quesada who said it and backtracked on that statement when the spidey mini was announced.
As to the Robins, they have retconned Tim as never being a Robin, just Red Robin. That upset a lot of fans (I'm not happy about it either). But your point of so many sidekicks in a short period of time is a good point. The five years is time pass between the public awareness of Superman and now. Batman was operating as a urban legend for a bit before then, but still...
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