Generations (DC Comics)

Generations is an event published by DC Comics. The event was originally announced as a limited comic book series that would have united all eras in the history of the DC Universe, and was scheduled to begin on Free Comic Book Day on May 2, 2020. However, following the firing of publisher Dan DiDio and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the comics industry, the series was delayed and intended plans changed. The event, now in a new form, was revealed in September 2020 with the announcement of the one-shot Generations: Shattered.

Generations
Generations: Shattered cover. Art by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	September 2020
Main character(s)	Batman Sinestro Kamandi Booster Gold Starfire Doctor Light Steel Superboy DC Universe
Creative team
Written by	Dan Jurgens Andy Schmidt Robert Venditti
Penciller(s)	Multiple
Colorist(s)	Multiple

Publication history

Initial plan

Generations was originally planned as the event that would unite all eras in the history of the DC Universe,[1][2] starting with Generation Zero, which was scheduled to release during Free Comic Book Day on May 2, 2020.[3] However, following the exit of publisher Dan DiDio from DC Entertainment in February 2020,[4][5] and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the comics industry, the series was delayed. Writer Scott Snyder stated the plans for Generations had become more "fluid", and in June 2020, Generation Zero was not part of DC's plans for the revised Free Comic Book Day.[6] A story featured in Wonder Woman #750 was considered a prelude to the event in its original form.[7]

Revised plan

The story "Generations: Fractured" that appeared in Detective Comics #1027 is considered the first chapter in the event's new form.[8][7] In September 2020, DC announced the one-shot Generations: Shattered for release in January 2021.[7] As well, DC Comics publisher and chief creative officer Jim Lee stated that the 5G initiative, which would have occurred at the end of the original plan for Generations, was no longer happening. He said, "We had a lot of great ideas that we were floating around. And rather than dumping it all in one month and renumbering the line and going for that really short term spike in sales, we just naturally gravitated to the story ideas and concepts we love and building them into the mythology, the ongoing mythology, in a very organic way."[9] Writer/artist Dan Jurgens added the revised version of the event came about through "a very organic process with a natural evolution of ideas".[10]

Generations: Shattered was originally teased as Generations: Future State in the Detective Comics #1027 story,[11] suggestion a connection to the planned event "Future State", set to be released in January and February 2021.[12] While this was originally the plan, Generations no longer connects to "Future State", with Jurgens stating, "Originally, we were going to touch on what's coming with Future State. We're detouring from that a bit to focus more on our own story." Batman group editor Ben Abernathy also confirmed Generations was now its own story.[11] Generations also picks up from the events seen at the end of Dark Nights: Death Metal. The characters featured in the event were selected "to reflect different periods of DC publishing history" and because they "made for a very interesting mix of personalities, backgrounds, powers, and capabilities". The Batman in the event is from 1939, to represent the Golden Age of Comic Books; Sinestro represents the Silver Age of Comic Books; Kamandi is a representation of DC Comics' 1970s publishing and a link to the Great Disaster future; Booster Gold, Starfire, and Doctor Light represent the 1980s; and Steel represents the 1990s.[10]

Plot

Lead-up

Following his incarceration for his role in the massacre on Sanctuary,[N 1] Wally West is forcibly recruited by Tempus Fuginaut to restore the balance between the Light and Dark Multiverses. When Wally finds Metron's Mobius Chair, he also finds his children, Jai and Iris, being trapped. Before sitting on the Chair, he makes a deal with Tempus to save his children and return them to his wife Linda Park. Tempus agrees and Linda, Jai and Iris are reunited. Meanwhile, it is revealed that the Mobius Chair was upgraded with a big portion of Doctor Manhattan's powers, which causes Wally to become a godlike persona of himself.[13]

"A Brave New World"

During the 1939 New York World's Fair, Wonder Woman saves President Franklin D. Roosevelt from terrorists which causes inspiration around everyone in the country including people like Alan Scott.[14]

"Generation Zero"

With Doctor Manhattan's powers, Wally begins investigating reality and finds out time and space are out of synchronicity, despite Manhattan restored the universe.[N 2] During a brief conversation with Tempus, Wally decides to complete the restoration of the timeline by mending all realities in one. But as he attempts to do that, Wally is interrupted by the presence of The Batman Who Laughs who wants to obtain those new powers. Wally has no choice but to find the Batman Who Laughs first.[N 3][15][16]

"Generations: Fractured"

In Gotham City, Batman is searching for a gang of museum vandals led by Calendar Man. As a mysterious flash of light appears to break reality, Batman is transported back to 1939 and transformed into his Golden Age counterpart when he meets Kamandi, who was sent by Booster Gold to search for him.[8][17]

"Generations: Shattered"

In a distant future, a phenomenon causes reality to be erased, and Kamandi in being hunted by several creatures, blaming him for the event, until he is rescued by an elder Booster Gold, who was shot by those creatures. Booster delivers Kamandi his gauntlet containing Skeets, causing Kamandi to travel through time, recruiting Batman,[17] Sinestro, Starfire, Doctor Light, Steel, and Superboy (recruited by mistake instead of Brainiac 5) and a younger Booster Gold. Together they face the Linear Men, who were brainwashed by Dominus, the mastermind behind the phenomenon. But once again, the timeline is disrupted and the heroes end up marooned across several points of history.[18]

Titles involved

Title / Issue	Story	Writer(s)	Artist(s)	Colorist(s)	Release date	Critic rating	Critic reviews	Ref.
Wonder Woman #750	"A Brave New World"	Scott Snyder	Bryan Hitch	Mike Spicer	January 22, 2020	8.8/10	19	[19]
The Flash #750	"Generation Zero"	Scott Lobdell	Brett Booth	Luis Guerrero	March 4, 2020	8.3/10	12	[20]
Flash Forward TPB					July 8, 2020	7.0/10	67	[21]
Detective Comics #1027[8]	"Generations: Fractured"	Dan Jurgens	Dan Jurgens Kevin Nowlan	Hi-Fi	September 15, 2020	8.7/10	19	[22]
Generations: Shattered[7]		Dan Jurgens Andy Schmidt Robert Venditti	Oclair Albert Doug Braithwaite Bernard Chang Scott Hanna Klaus Janson Dan Jurgens Aaron Lopresti Emanuela Lupacchino Danny Miki Rags Morales Kevin Nowlan Fernando Pasarin Yanick Paquette Paul Pelletier Mike Perkins Joe Prado Ivan Reis John Romita Jr. Matt Ryan Wade von Grawbadger		January 5, 2021	8.0/10	15	[23]
Generations: Forged[24]			Bryan Hitch Mike Perkins Bernard Chang Paul Pelletier	TBA	February 23, 2021	TBA	TBA	TBA

References

Notes

1. As depicted in Heroes in Crisis.
2. As depicted in Doomsday Clock.
3. As depicted in Dark Nights: Death Metal.

Footnotes

1. Quaintance, Zack (February 5, 2020). "DC's GENERATION ZERO to tease publisher's future on FCBD". The Beat. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
2. McMillan, Graeme (February 13, 2020). "DC to Reveal Hidden History With 'Generation' Comics". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
3. Babu, Armaan (February 13, 2020). "DC's 'Generations' explains the new DC timeline and a Doctor Manhattan-ed Wally West kickstarts it all". Meaww. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
4. Rich Johnston (February 21, 2020). "Dan DiDio No Longer Publisher of DC Comics, As Of Today". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
5. Ryan Faughnder (February 21, 2020). "DC Entertainment shakeup continues with the exit of co-publisher Dan DiDio". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
6. Arrant, Chris (June 19, 2020). "DC's revised Free Comic Book Day plans no longer includes Generation Zero: Gods Among Us". Games Radar. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
7. Arrant, Chris (September 9, 2020). "DC Generations event returns reimagined with the homecoming of "the original" 1939 Batman". Newsarama. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
8. Arrant, Chris (August 10, 2020). "Missing DC Generations event pops up in Detective Comics #1027 preview". Newsarama. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
9. Arrant, Chris (September 12, 2020). "DC shoots down '5G' or reboot speculation - "not going to happen"". Newsarama. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
10. Doran, Michael (October 13, 2020). "Talking Generations: Shattered DC special with writer Dan Jurgens". Newsarama. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
11. Arrant, Chris (November 6, 2020). "DC Future State and Generations events no longer connected". Newsarama. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
12. Arrant, Chris. "DC Future State teased for 2021, part of Generations event". Newsarama. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
13. Scott Lobdell (w), Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund (a). Flash Forward (2019-2020), DC Comics
14. Wonder Woman 750 (2020), DC Comics
15. Josh Williamson (w). The Flash v5, 750 (May 2020), DC Comics
16. Flash Forward vTPB, (July 2020), DC Comics
17. Batman: Detective Comcis 1027 (September 2020), DC Comics
18. Generations: Shattered (January 2021), DC Comics
19. "Wonder Woman #750 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
20. "Flash #750 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
21. "Flash Forward Collected Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
22. "Detective Comics #1027 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
23. "Generations Shattered (2021) Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
24. "DC February 2021 solicitations and covers revealed". Newsarama. November 14, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.

External links

• DC Comics' official announcement