History Headscratchers / TheDCU

** Headscratchers/HarleyQuinn

** ''Headscratchers/{{Aquaman}}''
** ''Headscratchers/TheAuthority''
** ''Headscratchers/{{Batman}}''
*** ''Headscratchers/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth''
*** ''Headscratchers/{{Batgirl|2000}}''
*** ''Headscratchers/BatmanADeathInTheFamily''
*** ''Headscratchers/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns''
*** ''Headscratchers/{{Batwoman}}''
*** ''Headscratchers/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain''
*** ''Headscratchers/GothamCentral''
*** Headscratchers/HarleyQuinn
*** ''Headscratchers/TheKillingJoke''
*** ''Headscratchers/TheLongHalloween''
** ''Headscratchers/{{Brainiac}}''
** ''Headscratchers/BlueBeetle''
** ''Headscratchers/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''
** ''Headscratchers/DarthVaderDarkLordOfTheSith''
** ''Headscratchers/DCTheNewFrontier''
** Headscratchers/TheDCU
** ''Headscratchers/{{Convergence}}''
** ''Headscratchers/DoomPatrol''
** ''Headscratchers/EmperorJoker''
** ''Headscratchers/FiftyTwo''
** ''Headscratchers/TheFlash''
** ''Headscratchers/{{Flashpoint|DCComics}}''
** ''Headscratchers/GreenLantern''
*** ''Headscratchers/BlackestNight''
** ''Headscratchers/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica''
*** ''Headscratchers/JLAActOfGod''
** ''Headscratchers/{{Hawkman}}''
** ''Headscratchers/IdentityCrisis2004''
** ''Headscratchers/InfiniteCrisis''
** ''Headscratchers/KingdomCome''
** ''Headscratchers/{{Starman|DCComics}}''
** ''Headscratchers/SuicideSquad''
** ''Headscratchers/{{Superman}}''
*** ''Headscratchers/AllStarSuperman''
*** ''Headscratchers/ForTheManWhoHasEverything''
*** ''Headscratchers/HelOnEarth''
*** '' Headscratchers/KryptoTheSuperdog''
*** ''Headscratchers/LastSon''
*** ''Headscratchers/LegionOfSuperHeroes''
*** ''Headscratchers/LexLuthorManOfSteel''
*** ''Headscratchers/{{Supergirl}}''
*** ''Headscratchers/SupermanBrianMichaelBendis''
*** ''Headscratchers/SupermanAndBatmanGenerations''
*** ''Headscratchers/SupermanRedSon''
*** ''Headscratchers/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow''
** Headscratchers/VertigoComics
*** ''Headscratchers/{{Fables}}''
*** ''Headscratchers/{{Hellblazer}}''
*** ''Headscratchers/{{Lucifer}}''
*** ''Headscratchers/OneHundredBullets''
*** ''Headscratchers/{{Planetary}}''
*** ''Headscratchers/{{Preacher}}''
*** ''Headscratchers/TheSandman1989''
*** ''Headscratchers/{{Transmetropolitan}}''
*** ''Headscratchers/YTheLastMan''
** ''Headscratchers/VForVendetta''
** Headscratchers/VandalSavage
** ''Headscratchers/WonderWoman''
** ''Headscratchers/{{Watchmen}}''
*** [[Headscratchers/WatchmenEnding Ending]]
*** [[Headscratchers/WatchmenCharacters Characters]]

* In ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis2004'', [[spoiler:after Atom finds out his ex was responsible for Sue Dibny's death because she wanted him to come running back to her, why does he commit her to Arkham asylum of all places!? Not only is that place hardly [[BedlamHouse conductive]] to one's mental health, but the place also happens to hold 51% of all psychotic super villains at any given time, but she's also publicly known as the Atom's ex-wife! Either the Atom is a phenomenal idiot, or he's [[JerkAss just that cold]].]]

* In ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'', [[spoiler:after Atom finds out his ex was responsible for Sue Dibny's death because she wanted him to come running back to her, why does he commit her to Arkham asylum of all places!? Not only is that place hardly [[BedlamHouse conductive]] to one's mental health, but the place also happens to hold 51% of all psychotic super villains at any given time, but she's also publicly known as the Atom's ex-wife! Either the Atom is a phenomenal idiot, or he's [[JerkAss just that cold]].]]

** ''Headscratchers/ADeathInTheFamily''

** ''Headscratchers/IdentityCrisis''

*** No, the DeMatteis Forever People miniseries showed that they were human orphans raised by Highfather on New Genesis, but they were transformed into gods and given powers. John Byrne basically wrote off that whole miniseries (and their subsequent appearances) by having Darkseid pluck the old Forever People from right after the first Forever People series and retconning them into real gods. This means, however, that they were either turned into gods or were originally gods (and that there were two sets of Forever People running around, one older than the other). Either way, they're gods.

** Falling/exploding skyscrapers are a classic superhero trope. It goes back to the days of the Comics Code when writers had to do something to establish a villain as a threat but couldn't show any on-panel civilian deaths, so they showed him destroying property instead. And as writers kept trying to outdo previous stories the property damage caused by villains got progressively worse until whole buildings were exploding. Yes, it borders on a CriticalResearchFailure, but in my opinion this is very much a case of Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad. The only real alternative (aside from massively downgrading the villains so they can't destroy skyscrapers anymore, which I don't think anyone would want to see) would be to actually ''show what really happens'' when skyscrapers explode. And that would raise a whole lot of uncomfortable nagging questions in the minds of readers. Like, why haven't the governments of the DC universe not started aggressively eliminating all supervillains and/or all metahumans in general? If battles between heroes and villains actually resulted in as many civilian deaths as would actually happen when a skyscraper exploded, why are superheroes still viewed so positively by the general public of the DCU? Why hasn't there been a push for a Marvel-style Superhero Registration Act? No, I'm happy to leave the (relative) realism to the 616 universe and keep the idealistic non-realism of the DC universe the way it is.

* DC stands for "Detective Comics". It's now called "DC Comics". [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Detective Comics Comics]]. [[FridgeLogic Hmm.]]
** Now it's more like "Detective Comics Entertainment", which is still kind of awkward.
** No different than an ATM machine.

** Simply put, it's not about their powers. It's about their personalities, their methods, and their general outlooks on life. To quote Wiki/TheOtherWiki, "Batman is the pinnacle of human achievements, physical and mental; Superman is the ultimate freedom fighter, with an absolute will; and Wonder Woman's message inspires all around her to do what is right to the end." Point is, there's a lot more to balancing out a team than just the power sets of the team members.

* The New 52. I was a fan of the DCAU and familiar with the comic canon from Wiki/TVTropes and second hand stories. So I decided with the new DC digital publications to check out the universe. So far I checked out Flashpoint, Brightest Day, some assorted Flash titles, Infinite Crisis and the Action Comics run of Lex Luther looking for black lantern ring energy. So I read Justice League (2011) #1, and it opens up a "few years ago" Green Lantern doesn't even know if Batman really exists or is an UrbanLegend, Darkseid is alive again, and neither they or Super Man seem to be familiar with each other. In other words, a clean slate. I'm reading the preview descriptions for the other new titles. Half of them seem to be acting as if the old plot lines are continuing after a minor hiccup. Example, Barbara Gordon is no longer paralyzed and is Batgirl again, but Swamp Thing is described in a way that implies a continuation from Brightest Day from the preview. I'm going to read Swamp Thing to see for myself to see if it is working from that angle or they are going for pre-retcon origin of Swamp Thing again, but I'm literally scratching my head over this at the moment.

*** ''Headscratchers/{{Batgirl2000}}''

*** Yes, Vertigo characters are still part of the DC Universe. Animal Man is still Vertigo, but he has been part of some important stuff, especially in Infinite Crisis and 52. Dream (as in Daniel) has been in JLA, and [[spoiler: (probably) Death]] is in the new Batman story "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader". The semi official explanation is that less focus is payed to the Vertigo characters because DC has, of course LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

*** I think they can handwave the cheap death with the story of Lazarus; Jesus brought him back, and Lazarus wasn't even needed to fight Brainiac. The superheroes returning to life are sent back by God to perform more good works; saints that God lets get more proactive with their intercessions. Doesn't undermine the dogma uso much as tweak it.

*** Depends on your interpretation of Christianity. Traditional Catholic Catechism teaches that there are not and never were any other gods but the Lord. But John Calvin once said "…we must beware of superstition, by which our minds are turned aside from the true God, and carried to and fro after a multiplicity of gods." Some Christian interpretations also hold that those who worship other "gods" are actually worshipping demons who have purposely deceived them into turning away from the Lord.

*** I think they can handwave the cheap death with the story of Lazarus; Jesus brought him back, and Lazarus wasn't even needed to fight Brainiac. The superheroes returning to life are sent back by God to perform more good works; saints that God lets get more proactive with their intercessions. Doesn't undermine the dogma so much as tweak it.

*** ''Headscratchers/TheSandman''

** I don't know when that post was created, but it's October of 2013 and they have. There's Earth-2, back in its full glory with a series that follows the Flash, GL and Hawkgirl of the new universe. Not only that, but World's Finest features two characters who originated in Earth 2--Power Girl and Huntress--on the regular Earth. Then there's the line of graphic novels known as Earth One (note the spelled out number) which has given us two Superman OriginalGraphicNovels and a Batman one. Finally, every time there's a book that takes place in the universe of an animated series or movie, that's considered a different "Earth" as well.

** Apparently Chief Editor Dan Didio doesn't like out-of-continuity stories. That's why Elseworlds got canned, among other things.
*** As willing as I am to blindingly accept that Dan Didio is doing something evil--again--is this actually the case? ''Trinity'' was barely in continuity, and even then no one can remember it. ''Superman/Batman'' goes in and out depending on the week. ''Wednesday Comics'' is definitely out of continuity. And his Silver Age obsession would seem to contradict that, as every other story back then was an "imaginary" story or what have you.
*** Considering that there is now a miniseries explicitly [[http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/comics/?cm=15360 labeled]] as an Elseworlds story coming out this month...

** Finished reading Action Comics #1, Comicbook/SwampThing, JLI, {{ComicBook/Stormwatch}}. Does this relaunch make any more sense to long term fans than newcomers? This all just seems to be coming off to me as if someone deleted half the content of a DC Wiki and they are trying to recreate the canon off of what remained. In other words, they decided to go full continuity snarl instead of fighting it for the sake of rule of cool.

*** [[FridgeBrilliance So that's why George Bush won the election!]]

*** Ditto for those fans who love Wonder Woman and comics, follow the continuity, and have noticed that every love interest she's ever had has been a male. Some of us don't think [[HetIsEw that's a bad thing]], and seeing Diana outed, in stark contrast the way she's been consistently portrayed all the way back to the Perez run, would be disappointing. Whether it was done to appeal to a minority or as fanservice, it would still [[SuddenlySexuality come off as cheap]].

* Forgive me for breaking out this old chestnut, but why doesn't anyone just shoot WonderWoman in the legs? I know, speed of Hermes, but when she's ''standing there'' deflecting bullets with her armbands, no one ever thinks to aim lower?

** What bothers me more is why WonderWoman bothers with the bracelets at all. If her body is durable enough to take punches from Superman, what's a bullet going to do?