Life During Wartime

And another thing: the whole idea that World War III was necessary to explain all the stuff that happened to Aquaman, and why the Titans were all broken up and dysfunctional at the start of OYL, and what happened to Manhunter, and how Jason Todd came to steal Nightwing's thunder, and whatever seems like a real Fibber McGee's closet construct. Was it really necessary to cram all that half-baked exposition into four issues? Did it really explain anything? Did all that change have to happen in one week?

Seems a poor excuse for good storytelling. Is this the new rug under which the powers that be at DC will sweep all their half-baked pre-One Year Later continuity questions?

"Why did Aquaman..."

"World War Three."

"So, what's up with Martian Manhunter's new look?

"World War Three."

"Okay, and the thing with..."

"World War Three."

"Right. But you know how..."

"World War Three."

As someone who has participated in the exercise in endurance that is 52, I can attest that a year is a hell of a lot of time. A lot can change in a year. Hell, that's the core conceit of works as varied as Babylon 5 and Rent. Change is a process, and throwing all this change into such a short span is nothing more than the manifestation of a broken process.

If the beginning of One Year Later represents Week 53 of the post-Infinite Crisis DCU (and the first OYL appearance of Superman seems to suggest this was the case), then it seems surprising that no one would mention the big global conflagration that had just happened.

It's one thing to realize you need to spackle the cracks in the wall. It's quite another to use an off-color spackle, and then claim the wall has looked that way all along.