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One Year Later

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"One Year Later" is a 2006 event running through the DC Universe. As the title suggests, it involves a narrative jump exactly one year into the future of the DC Comics Universe following the events of the Infinite Crisis event, to explore major changes within the continuities of the many different comic books within the DC Comics range.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Following the events of the limited series crossover Infinite Crisis, every DC comic series jumped ahead in-story by one year. The events of the missing year are depicted in real-time in the weekly comic book series 52. The "One Year Later" event started in March 2006, during the publishing of Infinite Crisis and before the first issue of 52. Most first issues bearing the "One Year Later" logo were the first parts of multi-issue storylines, and featured major changes to the status quo of each character, often intentionally left unexplained as these details will presumably be filled in by the remaining issues of Infinite Crisis and/or the 52 series.

Numerous prominent heroes have been missing or inactive for most of the year as the "One Year Later" issues commence. Heroes known to have been gone for a year are Aquaman, Batman, Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Nightwing, Robin, Superman and Wonder Woman. The Flash has been missing, but Jay Garrick has been protecting Keystone City as the Flash.

[edit] "The Big Three"

The year-long absence of the three main superheroes of the DC Comics universe - Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman - and their return to active duty is a significant part of both the 'One Year Later' series and the ongoing 52 series.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Superman

The Superman storyline was co-written by Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek, with art by Pete Woods (and one issue by Renato Guedes), and cover art by Terry and Rachel Dodson. The four-month, eight-part introductory story arc, entitled "Up, Up and Away" ran through both Action Comics #837-840 and Superman #650-653. The story primarily featured a powerless Clark Kent (having lost his powers in the climax to Infinite Crisis) using his skills as a journalist to defend Metropolis from both organised crime and Lex Luthor, newly bankrupt and disgraced for unknown reasons (presumably to be explained over the course of 52, wherein he remains as powerful and influential as ever). Gradually, however, Superman began to regain his powers, just in time to battle the embittered Luthor as he sought to inflict his revenge upon Metropolis with the help of stolen Kryptonian battle technology and redesigned versions of the Toyman and the Kryptonite Man.

[edit] Batman

The Batman storyline, "Face the Face", was written by James Robinson, with art by Leonard Kirk and Don Kramer. It ran through Batman #651-654 and Detective Comics #817-820. It concerned Batman and Robin's return to Gotham City after a year-long absence, and their investigation of a mysterious vigilante murdering low-rank supervillains (including the Ventriloquist and KGBeast), who appeared to be connected to Harvey Dent, who had reformed and had taken up battling crime on Batman's behalf during his absence. Whilst Dent was not responsible for the killings (the mastermind was actually Great White, who over the previous year had established himself as Gotham's reigning crime boss) the resulting stress, paranoia and resentment of being under suspicion saw the return of his 'Two-Face' persona and his self-scarring, thus returning to his life of crime. The finale also saw Bruce Wayne offer to adopt Tim Drake, the current Robin, as his son following the deaths of his parents and the events of the Crisis.

As well as Two-Face, 'One Year Later' also saw the return of several other significant elements of the Batman mythos that had previously been written out or retired, including the return of James Gordon as Gotham's police commissioner and Detective Harvey Bullock.

[edit] Wonder Woman

Unlike the Batman and Superman series, Wonder Woman was rebooted from issue one in June 2006 with a storyline called "Who is Wonder Woman?", written by Allan Heinberg and drawn by Terry and Rachel Dodson. In the story, Donna Troy is depicted as having taken over the Wonder Woman title in Diana's absence, while Diana is shown to have accepted a government position at the Department of Metahuman Affairs under the alias of Diana Prince at Batman's urging. She is directed by Sarge Steel and is ironically assigned to the rescue mission of the new Wonder Woman, who has been captured by several of Wonder Woman's super-nemeses demanding that the 'real' Wonder Woman be submitted to them. She is partnered on the case with a reluctant Tom Tresser. Within the story it has been revealed that prior to her admission into the department Diana was also photographed in the company of an eastern mystic code-named I Ching (implying that she spent most of the previous year travelling), and that the World Court has dropped the charges against her for the killing of Maxwell Lord. The story is ongoing.

[edit] "One Year Later" storylines

Newsarama.com, Wizard #172 (February 2006), and DC Comics reported on "One Year Later" storylines, cancellations, changes, and notes, many of which are now already in effect:

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Cancellations

In line with of the events of Infinite Crisis and 52, DC Comics canceled some of its long-running series, including; Wonder Woman (2nd series), The Flash (2nd series), Gotham Central, Batman: Gotham Knights, Plastic Man, JLA, Superman (2nd series), and Batgirl.

[edit] Renaming

[edit] New series

As they are new titles, many of the following do not have the "One Year Later" to indicate a time jump since the previous issue.

Spin-offs from the Countdown Mini-series:

Follow-ups to Infinite Crisis:

Relaunches:

Brave New World:

Replacements:

  • Batman Confidential is an ongoing series with revolving creative teams.
  • Superman Confidential is an ongoing title beginning November 2006 with revolving creative teams.

As of July 2006, most DC Comics titles wrapped up their 'One-Year Later' story lines and no longer display the 'One-Year Later' bullet on their covers.

[edit] Significant events of the lost year

Main article: Major events of the DC Universe lost year

[edit] Aquaman

Aquaman's mysterious disappearance was subsequently followed by the arrival of one Arthur Joseph Curry. This new Arthur's origin appear to be similar to the Golden Age 'Aquaman's. Arthur meets 'The Dweller,' who has an enchanted hand similar to Orin's (and has, in fact, been confirmed to be the original Aquaman). 'The Dweller' also tells Arthur of his future, which seems to be describing past events involving the original Aquaman.

[edit] Freedom of Power Treaty

Main article: Freedom of Power Treaty

There is a new Freedom of Power Treaty. The specifics and structure have not been detailed, but it appears to place limits on the activities of heroes outside their nation of origin. Having broken the treaty numerous times, Hal Jordan is considered a criminal by most of the world. Only the Rocket Reds, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and the Outsiders have been confirmed to be affected by it (Green Lantern #10, 2006). The Outsiders are operating illegally and the organization is underground with all current members (excluding Nightwing) presumed dead. As well as this, the Chinese government has formed a superteam called the Great Ten in the intervening year, and is currently working on a supersoldier program.

[edit] Gotham City

James Gordon has returned to the role of Gotham City Police Commissioner. Although the exact details have not been revealed as yet, it is known that his return - and that of Harvey Bullock - to the GCPD follows the cracking of a major corruption case in the GCPD by Bullock. Harvey Dent, believed cured of the multiple-personality disorder/psychosis issues that created his Two-Face persona, has been in charge of keeping Gotham safe as a result of a deal with Batman.

[edit] Superboy memorials

Monuments to the fallen hero have been erected in at least two locations:

  • In Metropolis, the statue depicting Superman holding an eagle dating back to his first battle with Doomsday has been joined by one of Superboy (as seen in Action Comics #837), honoring his sacrifice and actions during Infinite Crisis. 52 #1 depicts the memorial, apparently erected within only a few days after Superboy's death.
  • A second statue has been erected in San Francisco, in front of Titans Tower.

[edit] Notes

  • Grant Morrison has mentioned in interviews that he has, in his spare time, redesigned several unused DC characters. He presented them to Dan DiDio as part of his Seven Soldiers of Victory proposal with several of them, including the redesigned Freedom Fighters and the Atom, debuting in 2006.
Spoilers end here.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/One_Year_Later"
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