Modern Age of Comics

<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

The Modern Age of Comics is an era of comics beginning in 1986, with the conclusion of DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi-series. At this point, DC decided to refurbish and reshape its continuity, virtually restarting the story of two of its oldest heroes, Superman and Wonder Woman. Eventually, much of Batman's history would be rewritten as well. The changes were many, and difficult for both fans and creators to grasp. Among the important changes were:

1) Superman's adopted parents, the Kents, were now still alive. They hadn't died before he came to Metropolis.

2) Superman was the only survivor of Krypton's destruction. No Supergirl or any Super-Pets ever existed.

3) Superman's powers didn't fully develop until he was an adult. So, he was never Superboy. The "Boy of Steel" was wiped from existence and memory, like his cousin Kara.

4) Jason Todd's Robin origin was completely different. Before, he was a cheerful circus performer whose parents were killed by the Batman villain Killer Croc. Now, he was a cynical street kid whom Batman caught trying to steal the wheels off the Batmobile.

5) Wonder Woman did not come into existence until way after the Justice League had already started.

6) There was no alternate Earths, and all the Earth-Two heroes now existed on the same Earth as the Earth-One heroes, and seemingly always have. So, instead of the Justice Society of America and the Justice League being the heroes of two parallel Earths, The Justice Society heroes of World War II now helped inspire the Justice League on the same Earth.

A definng moment that portends the Modern Age. Wally West considers putting on the costume of his fallen mentor. The rest of the DC Heroes look on. The Silver Age Kid Flash will become the Modern Age Flash

Resolving all these changes and their implications has been an on-going problem since then, and one that DC Comics is still trying to deal with. The fact that Superboy never existed meant the Legion of Super-Heroes and Mon-El had to be thought through again. The fact that Wonder Woman's pre-Crisis existence was wiped out meant that she was no longer a founding member of the Justice League, so the origin of the Justice League had to change. Hawkman's continuity particularly was a mess, since the Golden Age Hawkman and the Silver Age Hawkman were said to have both existed on the same Earth, despite the fact that they had completely different origins, the same secret identities, the same Earth occupation, both used ancient weapons and even had wives with the same name.

Significantly, Barry Allen, the second Flash, died during the Crisis. Since Barry Allen was the hero character who is credited in ushering in the Silver Age of Comics, his death is symbolic of the end of an age. Wally West, who was Kid Flash at the time, particularly mourns his mentor. Soon Wally will be come the third Flash character, a symbol of the new modern age. Comic book fans will distinguish him from Barry by calling him the Modern Age Flash.

Crisis on Infinite Earths was presented as a company-wide maxi-series that crossed over into all the DC comic books. The practice of creating a series like this was a new idea, and one that would become a hallmark of the Modern Age.

Marvel comics throughout the Modern Age has also experimented with updating their heroes and their continuity, though in less drastic ways. Marvel has also published several company-wide crossover series, from their first, Secret Wars, to their latest Civil War maxi-series.

Superheroes from this era are often called "Modern Age Heroes". When distinguishing between the Superman the 1990s from the Superman of the 1960s or 1970s (or earlier), we would call the newer character the "Modern Age Superman".

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