Usurping the Joe Quesada Award
Here at the Legion of Doom, we’re always looking out for each other and doing our best to help each other whenever we can. Well, as you may recall, The Joe Quesada Award for Distinction in Diminishing Stories You Had Nothing To Do With was a creation of Fin Fang Doom back in the late Civil War / Aunt May’s gonna get shot days.
Well, Fin’s been busy – apparently too busy – so I’m going to help him out by awarding the latest Joe Quesada Award for Distinction in Diminishing Stories You Had Nothing To Do With. No one has done more to influence my appreciation of 52 in the past year than the current DC editor-in-chief, Dan DiDio.
The revelation in last Wednesday’s 52 that there were more earths was surely one of the most shocking moments in the history of the DC Universe. As a faithful reader of DC comics, particularly their big Crisis events, I should have been shocked as well.
But all I could think as I read those expository speech bubbles was “Huh. I already knew that.”
For a year now, Dan DiDio has used his “DC Nation” column in every DC comic to talk about the big events in the DC Universe, particularly as relates to Infinite Crisis, One Year Later, and the series that spawned his columns – 52. According to him, it’s the biggest secret of 52. According to him, way back in issue 37, “the multiverse still exists.” Simply put, Dan DiDio ruined the surprise ending of dozens of people’s unprecedented 52-issue weekly series.
Then came issue 51. Professor Morrow, having just hooked up Red Tornado’s android head, understands what has happened and what is going to happen. On day 7 of week 51, Morrow says “Here he comes. This is exactly how they said it would happen. 52 worlds…52 Morrows…” Then came the latest issue of Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes, in which Booster Gold makes a surprise cameo, which DC editorial also managed to carefully time, revealing that the Dominators’ plan was all based upon Booster’s external monologue that revealed 52 parallel universes.
Then I realized that DiDio’s completely unnecessary revelation ruined what should have been one of the most significant weeks in DC comics history since the multiverse was eliminated two decades ago.
The return of the multiverse should have been a mind-blowing event for any long time reader. For the past 20 years of the DC universe, there has been an effort to restore, rebuild and refine one earth, cohesively combining all the histories and variations of the vast array of characters. No events were more influential in the modern day DC universe than Crisis on Infinite Earths. And now, the multiverse was back because of Alexander Luthor’s cosmic meddling in Infinite Crisis.
So on the eve of the grand finale of 52, it’s only fitting that I help out FFD and award this to DiDio (since time is running out). The return of the multiverse should have been a draw-jopping, “Holy cow – no way” moment. But thanks to Dan DiDio’s stupid “Look at me – I’m clever” code in the pages of DC Nation, it wasn’t.
That’s the Dan DiDio difference!
At first, I thought DD was doing a good job with the columns. He highlighted all the cool things going on in different books and showed DC’s dedication to readers. And instead of revealing plot twists, he made great hints at what was to come. Then, gradually, it turned into a sort of one-upsmanship with Marvel. That’s not to say Marvel holds any blame for what happened. It’s all on DiDio that he made the column more about him than about the books and readers. That multiverse reveal is one of the most offensive things an editor has done in ages. The “code” could’ve at least been a challenge. Maybe it would be better if he just butt out.
I forgot to include the quote from Greg Rucka:
“A lot of stuff was given away, and I think it hurt us and that ticks me off. DiDio’s infamous 52 secret message…why in the world would you do that!?”
I really dropped the ball on that one. It made no sense for Dan Didio to reveal that. Did he think no one on the internet was going to figure out a secret code and tell everyone else? There’s always someone on the internet that figures out the secret code and tells everyone else.
For those of you on the internet, this post actually contained a secret code.
The return of the multiverse was already spoiled in JLA #0
(not as the beig revelation of 52, though)
I don’t follow DC, but I’m curious as to what the code was, and how it was solved.
He had a curiously placed “x,” so it just meant figuring out the numerical sequence that the “x” fell into, eventually leading to the extracted phrase: “The multiverse still exists.”