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Friday, April 1, 2016

Usenet Fandom - Marv Wolfman leaves DC (1985)

Before we had the World Wide Web, we had UseNet. Developed in 1980, UseNet allowed a collection of computer users to interconnect via dial-up modems and post messages onto newsgroups (which resemble BBSes). Anywhere and anytime comic fans are able to congregate, you know they will be exchanging opinions and ideas about comic books - particularly DC comic books. In today's segment, Chris Sheehan examines what online comic fans were saying about Crisis on Infinite Earths. Please note: usernames have been removed for privacy reasons.

What follows is a strange one.  It's not so much Crisis related insofar as the finer story points, yet if it were to come to pass things the post-Crisis DC Universe may have rolled out much, much differently.

LY offers the following in "Marv Wolfman leaves DC" dated March 18, 1985:



I’m not even sure where to start with this one.  Let’s start at the start, I suppose.

Okay, so Marv Wolfman is not only returning to Marvel... he was, in actuality placed inside DC by Marvel.  How scandalous... am I right?  Marvel had the perfect plan... send Marv to DC Comics, have him destroy their comics universe... and then bail!  It’s patently brilliant!  Guess all those Marvel staffers who refer to Jim Shooter as evil were on to something!  Hmm, who was one of Shooter’s harshest critics?  Marv Wolfman.  Everything’s coming together!

Chris Claremont being offered a six-figure salary to jump ship?  Hmm, I’m not sure I buy that.  Wasn’t Mr. Claremont buying airplanes for family members at this point in his career?  A simple six-fig salary offer probably wouldn't coerce him to up his roots. Okay okay, let’s just say that this is true... I suppose this could have been one way for Claremont to side-step Secret Wars II.  Hmm, maybe this has a bit of truth to it.  Would Chris Claremont try to resurrect Terra?  I suppose it’s possible.  First, however Beast Boy would have to meet, date, and marry a girl who looked suspiciously like her.  Terra would return, and join a new group of Tita... err, waitasec... Did an alternate universe Chris Claremont unwittingly create the Team Titans?




A Warner Bros cartoon character joining the post-Crisis Justice League?  Hmm, I read the foreword to the Justice League: A New Beginning trade paperback by Keith Giffen.  He writes that there were certain DC characters he could not use... He even had to use a non-Hal Jordan Green Lantern.  There just happens to be a Warner character who is an official unofficial member of the Green Lantern Corps.

Yes, this actually happened in 2003



Dick Giordano’s plans to create a "What if?" series, featuring pre-Crisis heroes... Waitasec... In our second Usenet Fandom installment, "RN" and his local comic shop owner had an idea along these lines.  Could they be in on this?  Would Marv Wolfman’s departure get Superman his long awaited TIME Magazine cover?  Did Marv screw Supes by staying?

Okay, in all seriousness... I think we may be on to something here… just gotta do some more digging.  Just need to filter the newsgroup just so... Need to find anything I can on the April 1985 edition of The Comics Journal.

Here we go!  JB’s got the dirt.  In the post "Fanzine Notes" dated March 28, 1985 he offers:



Oh.

Never mind then.

I guess April Fool’s gags were always part of the fandom.  Careful surfing today...

We'll dig back in to our Crisis Coverage next time.  If you have any additions or corrections (perhaps Marv really did leave DC mid-Crisis... if you know something we don't, please share!), feel free to contact me in care of this website.  Thank you for reading.

-Chris

Can't wait for the next installment in this series of articles? For more of Chris Sheehan, check out his highly recommended Chris is on Infinite Earths blog

PLEASE NOTE: Everything written in this entry that isn't italicized was written by Chris Sheehan. If you want to attribute any of this work, please credit Chris Sheehan.

1 comment:

  1. What's funny is that this bit of snark sounds similar to a lot of critics darkly joking now about the "New 52" retconning.

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