In Drawing Crazy Patterns, I spotlight at least five scenes/moments from within comic book stories that fit under a specific theme (basically, stuff that happens frequently in comics). Note that these lists are inherently not exhaustive. They are a list of five examples (occasionally I'll be nice and toss in a sixth). So no instance is "missing" if it is not listed. It's just not one of the five examples that I chose.
Today, I'm spotlighting five great DC stories (I'm mostly looking at limited series and graphic novels) that have been hampered a bit over the years by the fact that, due to various continuity reboots, they are SO far out of the mainstream DC Universe continuity that these stories tend to get less support from DC. This has led to most of them being out of print for a number of years or not being collected period. As an example, let's say that your comic book series re-tells Superman's origin. Well, there have been, what, nineteen series since then that have re-told Superman's origin? Each one based on a different point in DC's state of continuity. Thus, it definitely hampers the original story, even if it was better than the later ones. Of course, some stories transcend continuity, like Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? but otherwise, it is something that has a drag on certain stories. Here are five such stories!
The World of Krypton
The very first miniseries ever put out by DC Comics, The World of Krypton was done by Paul Kupperberg, Howard Chaykin and Murphy Anderson. It told the story of Jor-El's life, as a whole lot of crazy stuff happened to him and the world of Krypton before it exploded.
This is a fine miniseries, but it is so steeped in the Pre-Crisis continuity of the Superman titles that it is a tough sell nowadays.
Untold Legend of Batman
DC's second miniseries ever, The Untold Legend of the Batman, was a brilliantly constructed re-telling of Batman's history by Len Wein, with artwork by John Byrne and Jim Aparo on the first issue and then Jim Aparo on the next two issues. Covers by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez finished the package! This one is so good that, of all of the stories on this list, this is the one that is hampered the least by the fact that it is telling a very specifically Pre-Crisis version of Batman's history and thus, it gets reprinted with some frequency.
Krypton Chronicles
The late, great E. Nelson Bridwell was the master of Pre-Crisis DC continuity and that knowledge was put to great use in this well thought out history of Krypton called The Krypton Chronicles, with art by Curt Swan and Frank Chiaramonte. However, once again, the story is so specifically about the minute details of the Pre-Crisis Krypton, it is hurt when it comes to a modern Superman audience, that is a number of reboots further on.
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Superman: The Secret Years
One of the most amazing parts of this miniseries is that Frank Miller did the covers for all four issues at pretty much the peak of his early comic book superstardom! However, whiel the Bob Rozakis, Curt Swan and Kurt Schaffenberger series was really well done, it tells a time so specific to Pre-Crisis Superman (his time between being Superboy and Superman) that it is a hard sale today.
The Power of Shazam
Jerry Ordway's Power of Shazam graphic novel was a brilliant reinvention of the Captain Marvel and Marvel Family mythos. However, since DC has drastically rebooted the Shazam set-up and then released a movie very tightly connected to that new continuity, a series set in the Post-Crisis but Pre-New 52 continuity is a poor fit. This is despite the series remaining in print for well over a DECADE and being a continually strong seller for DC for years!
If anyone has an idea for a future Drawing Crazy Patterns, drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!