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Summary
DC Comicshas become notorious for its absurdly messy continuity over the past few decades , which has made learning about character history — especially within theJustice League — an especially daunting task . And while messy continuity can certainly be a job , it can also lead to a surprising number of emotional moments that would n’t be potential otherwise , like in one story starringGreen Arrowand his family .
Green Arrow ’s family has had some of the worst luckwith reboots in the DC Universe . Not only has Oliver Queen been single out from his household time and clip again , but several of his family appendage have also straight up disappeared due to shifting persistence , specially after theFlashpointand New 52 reboot .
One of the many characters to follow to Oliver Queen ’s economic aid inGreen Arrow#10 by Joshua Williamson and Sean Izaakse is none other than Mia Dearden . Mia was score out from persistence during the New 52 era , and she ’s recently been bring back , reuniting Speedy with Green Arrow for the first time in many geezerhood . This emotional reunion was only possible to start out with because of DC ’s shifting persistence .
The New 52 launched in 2011 to motley response from fan and critic . The initiative whole rebooted the DC Universe , often revert characters to " square one " in damage of origins , human relationship , and skills .
Green Arrow and his family have been separated for years . Now , they finally get a sept reunion - but is it one they ’re all work to survive ?
DC’s Shifting Continuity Isn’t Always a Bad Thing
Green Arrow’s Family Gets the Perfect Post-Reboot Reunion Fans Longed For
GREEN ARROW # 10 ( 2024 )
Green Arrow ’s family has escort the most reunions because of DC ’s unusual continuity , with the big example being the reunion ofRoy Harper and Lian Harper . Roy is Lian ’s Father of the Church , and the two have been inseparable since birth , except for the period of the New 52 where Lian ceased to exist . Over the year , DC tantalise the possibility of Roy travel on a search for his miss girl , but it was only recently , inGreen Arrow#1 by Williamson and Izaakse , thatLian and Roy were bring in together again : a heartfelt moment that fans had been waiting a long time to see . The poignant reunion was only potential because DC ’s continuity changes wipe off Lian .
TheNew 52was a very strange metre in DC ’s account . know that get into unexampled comics was unmanageable for lecturer , DC tried to streamline everything by restarting its shared world . type were reset to their origins , and this new status quo include reset character relationship . People like Batman and Superman were , for the most part , bring back to square one , with readers getting to see the Justice League forming for the first clock time . But resetting chronicle also meant trimming some fat , and certain character were erase for a more aerodynamic experience , such as Mia Dearden and Wally West .
Despite Batman persistence largely remaining the same , the Bat - Family also experienced a number of their own post - reboot " reunion , " especially as fan - favorite fiber like Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain finally returned to the DCU .
The Flash Reunion Between Wally West and Barry Allen Was Made Possible by Messy Continuity
Sometimes Shifting Continuity Can Grant More Emotional Freedom
While DC ’s shifting continuity can sure be annoying for tenacious - time fans , there are also plenty of benefits . Green Arrow ’s emotional reunification with Mia was only possible because Mia had been gone for quite a while , as the New 52 did n’t use the bulk of the Green Arrow family in its floor . And Green Arrow is n’t the only case this has happened to in 2011 and beyond . While characters like Batman , Superman , and their close allies are normally immune to this phenomenon due to their popularity , characters like the Flash have also infamously lose family members , only for high-flown return key to fall out .
One of the biggest exercise of this isthe fate of the third Flash , Wally West . Wally was the odd Flash for an full genesis of fan in the 1990s , but when the New 52 range around , Wally was wholly exchange with a young interlingual rendition of the character called Wallace . This was n’t just a slightly different interpretation of Wally though , as Wallace was an entirely novel character with a different history and lot of motivations from Wally . Wally ’s absence eventually led to a major reunion when , shockingly , Wally West was able to return after having been erased , leading to an emotional reunion with his uncle and Flash wise man , Barry Allen .
Wally ’s status as the lover - favorite Flash was cement in a now - iconicThe Flashrun by notable DC author Mark Waid , whose new seriesAbsolute Powerwith Dan Mora is about to place shockwaves through the DCU . Waid’sThe Flashrun is available now in collected version from DC Comics , andAbsolute Powerby Waid and Mora launch this July .
DC’s Rebirth Era Laid the Groundwork for Compelling Stories about Continuity
Infinite Frontier and Dawn of DC Continue That Work to This Day
sports fan were not happy seeing characters they had loved for tenner suddenly being off . Eventually , DC strain to run - correct with theRebirthevent , leading to what is now known as the Rebirth era . It was during this time that the DC Universe became a batch low-cal and bright , since theNew 52was often criticize as being overly dark and woeful . While this was a step in the right focusing , it still was n’t perfect — but it was good . Rebirth wouldeventually lead toInfinite Frontier , an epoch all about how " everything is canyon . " DC Maker can , for the most part , apply anything from the grapheme ' long history in their stories .
Having strict continuity really suffocate the originative freedom of creators far more than take the easy and currently ever - switch DC continuity .
The Infinite Frontier geological era has granted creators a ton more freedom and allow them to take back older characters who were thought forgotten for major worked up payoffs . Creators have also been able to use the shifting persistence to tell compelling stories , such as the recent Jason Aaron and John TimmsAction Comicsrun , where Bizarro goes berserkafter his major planet of Htrae vanishes after one continuity shift too many . It ’s a tragical look at someone who drop off everything due to the cosmic events that DC characters , and fans , seem to take for grant . But it ’s also a tale that would n’t be possible without DC ’s continuity constantly moving around .
Some of the outstanding case in DC history have also been born from its absurd continuity , such as the iconicCrisis on Infinite Earthsby Marv Wolfman and George Pérez , an entire story with the sole purpose of cleaning up DC ’s multiverse and continuity and making a single world with a single history . So , while it may be initially confuse for new reader , make strict persistence actually stifles the originative freedom of creators far more than having the loose and currently ever - shifting DC continuity .
Changing DC Continuity Offers Far More Story Potential
DC’s Continuity Can Be Confusing, But It Also Has Major Pay-Offs
One of the best examples of using stir continuity to narrate a story is without a doubttheInfinite Crisisevent , during which DC brought back the Earth-2 versions of certain charactersas major antagonists for part of the story . Earth-2 was the original Earth where thefirst versions of Batman and Superman appeared . But after the multiversal crash see inCrisis on Infinite Earths , the Earth-2 Superman was go out without his people and planet . This lead him to try and overwrite Earth-1 with his Earth . This intact tragic moment would not have been possible without DC ’s shifting continuity .
The entireInfinite Crisissaga traverse countless tie - in title , prologue , and serial , but the main event serial is by Geoff Johns and Phil Jimenez and is available now digitally and in take in editions from DC Comics .
or else of strictly hold fast to the past , many major DC events all rely on DC ’s continuity being something that can be play with . As long as characters remain who they are at their meat , then there ’s no intellect their histories should n’t be played with a little bit as a form of creative exemption . While this definitely has the negative drawback of making it hard for new readers to get into the comics , DC Comicshas also shown just how many unspoilt stories can come out of a looser persistence as well — particularly for a figure ofJustice Leaguefamilies , and most especially forGreen Arrow .
The ongoingGreen Arrowseries , sport touchingly emotional post - reboot reunion , is available now from DC Comics .
