That said, I prefer DC's current events to Marvel's by far. DC's make more sense, feel less cheap, and are more fun. When Marvel has a big event it's usually late to arrive in stores, screws up all of the other comics (which events do, of course) and kills off the Avengers and 99% of the mutant population...who will come back to life because some writer didn't like it or realized it was a really stupid thing to do.

Yes, I could go on with this forever but I'll stop.

Now.

SO close, Dan!

Next time, use instead of [].

Thanks for that. Hopefully this post will look right!

Actually Dan, the site's title would lead one to believe that good is fine.
You may want to fight for great, but the blogs title, at least, seems to say that they are okay with good.
I'm happy with good.
I wouldn't call the latest Blue Beetle series 'great', but dammit, I had good fun reading the trade, and can't wait to get the next one.
It hasn't set any new benchmarks, or re-invented the wheel, but it did entertain the hell out of me.
What's wrong with that?

Next time, use <> instead of [].

The multiverse was always a Cool Comic Concept. Getting rid of it was just a Cool Series Concept. Returning it is once again a Cool Comic Concept.

And this means that Earth-2 Supes may still be alive out there. The world’s First Super-hero!

Embrace your inner child and enjoy this for the fun thing it is.

Damn straight. All change is good!!

I believe the first Marvel "alternate dimension" showed up in Avengers Annual # 2. (I THINK this was pre-Squadron Supreme.) It wasn't the start of the Multi-verse, but it was the debut of the Marvel duo-verse.

The Avengers fight their otherworldly counterparts who've taken over their planet 'cause, y'know, governments were screwing up and wars and pollution and stuff.

Which is, come to think of it, the plot of every single superhero comic from the last 10-15 years. But you've already heard my "get some new ideas you bums" spiel once in this post.

Fortunately, the Marvel multiverse goes much further back than that. We have early issues of Avengers, etc. talking about other dimensions, whether it be Dr. Strange, the Squadron Sinister or Thundra; but I think a true multiverse started with the mostly unknown Captain Britain titles by Alan Moore, et al., some of the best Marvel stories, ever. That's where the Earth -616 desisgnation arises. Here's a wink: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth-616.

If you get a chance, check out part of this great story in the Capain Britain tradepaperback (1995) (reprinted 2005), and the X-Men Archives featuring Captain Britain (7 issue limited series) (1995).

That's the exact sentiment that this blog was started to denounce. It's really sad that a comic being "decent" or "not great, but good" is seen as some sort of accolade. I will not settle for mediocrity, and I will not settle for comics that are "okay".

Also, your phrasing's a bit off. It should be "It's not great, but I like it."

Well, I don't know if anyone will be satisified with the answer, but I'm sure there is one. Or, I guess I should say, at this point there better be, because they've been claiming there is a significance to "52" beyond just 52 weeks. And it's become a plot point, of course. (Though not one that much concerns me or affects my enjoyment of the series.*) I oughtta know better than to believe either of the Big Two publishers when they say something. ("Oh, absolutely, Civil War is a stand-alone story.")

The best theory I read — and this was many weeks ago — is that Red Tornado (et al) isn't really saying "52" (meaning a single number, "fifty-two") but a ratio, "5:2" ("five to two") ... The idea being: From the five earths that endured (and sort-of survived) the original "Crisis," we now have two (not just one) left. In other words, Earth-2 is back (which I'd be fine with). Does that mean we get Helena Wayne and company back too?

On the other hand, if DiDio is writing that the "multiverse" is back, well, that suggests they're gonna end up adding countless earths back on. Which could be fun, it could be dreadful. It's all a matter of how they handle it. [shrug] We'll see soon enough, won't we?

* Personally, I'm not too invested in exactly what "52" means. It's fine for me as a name for a comic that's running weekly for a year — a comic that comes out [i]on time[/i] every week and gives me some fun serialized storytelling featuring C-list characters who never (or too rarely) get the spotlight, along with some interesting new ones too. I mean, Doc Magnus & T.O. Morrow! THe Question! Buddy Baker! ... I'm really enjoying the development of Black Adam and Isis, and Steel, and Ralph too, and I'm happy to see them used here. Steel as Luthor's main nemesis, while Clark is out of action? Perfect. And, though I too roll my eyes at Identity Crisis, they might as well finally follow up on how Ralph moves on with his life. I've actually been quite moved by certain moments with Ralph in this series, like when the Spectre gave him the chance to have Sue back if only he would extract a wicked vengeance on Jean Loring, and he couldn't do it — he couldn't be that cold, not even to attain his heart's desire. Beautiful.

I had no idea it was so confusing. After reading all the posts I'm not even sure if there are multiple universes converging or separating.

Batman fights crime. Personally I don't care if he is wearing the original cowl or dressed up as the Egyptian God of the Dead as long as he is punching people and detecting.

So now we can have Batman fight the Bat-god in the same universe? As long as I can be reasonably sure that the book titled "Batman" has somebody dressed in a costume somewhat resembling a winged mammal I will be satisfied.

I'm thrilled for those of you that follow and understand this stuff!

As to the multiverse, I think what we should all remember is that the original explanation was that different universes vibrated at different speeds. Which means that we should always, always, always remember that in the first JLA/JSA crossover, the villains traveled between Earths with the aid of "personal vibrators".

Now that's a concept they should give to Warren Ellis to handle.

But, as far as forty plus year old ideas dreamed up by Fox and Schwartz go, the idea of the multiverse is more interseting to me than the idea of the legacy hero.

But a lot of that interest came from context; F & S were trying to teach their audience, who were like eight year old kids at the time, some very adveanced theoretical physics. I like that. I like that they were trying to make their comics, like, beneficial to their audience, and to really make 'em think. Pretty coo.

That said, I'd rather the DC talent come up with some NEW ideas instead of endlessly recycling old ones.

ALTHOUGH the Marvel family need their own earth. "World's Mightiest Mortal" has a conceptual strength that "in a nine way tie for the world's third mightiest mortal (give or take)-" just doesn't.

But I do think Marvel’s is a more “take it or leave it” thing, whereas DC’s was required knowledge.

Exactly. I can get behind the former, but I have a problem with the latter.

Alternate realities and timelines can be a lot of fun, I agree. But it only works for me if they exist independently from one another, without the reader needing a scorecard to keep track of where everything "fits".

a) extremely obvious and basic cod-detective work and
b) punching people in the face

I'm not sure how its directly related to the "sucking the fun out of comics" thing mentioned above, but it sucks the fun out of it for me when I feel like I'm not allowed to appreciate people being punched in the face.

At one time, I'd have been thrilled by this news. These days, I don't care. I simply don't have any faith DC will do anything cool and fun with the concepts any more.

So… what is the 52 part of 52? Is this Earth-52? Are there a total of 52 universes?" \quote

What he said! We all knew the multiverse was back the second they made the changes to the IC hardcover. The real question (and one I wouldn't be the least bit suprised if they never really answer) is what is the significance of *52*. It's been popping up all over and I bet they never give any kind of answer that makes sense on any real level.