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One Year Later is the 2006 event running through the DC Universe.

Synopsis

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 a 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. It seems likely that The Flash has also been missing, but until the new series commences, it is impossible to be sure.

The Big Three

Superman
The Superman storyline is 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 story arc called "Up, Up and Away" runs through Action Comics #837-840 and Superman #650-653. The story involves Clark Kent protecting Metropolis with his skills as a reporter against a newly bankrupt Lex Luthor, since Clark apparently no longer has superpowers (as a result of a plunge into Krypton's red sun in the Infinite Crisis mini-series). It also features new versions of the supervillains Toyman and Kryptonite Man.

Recently, at the end of Action Comics #838, Superman starts recovering his powers. He concludes in Superman #652 that he, subconsciously, did not want his powers back, but when he needed them, his cells started to absorb the yellow sun rays.

In subsequent issues of the "Up, Up and Away" story arc, we see the goal of Lex Luthor's machinations that were hinted at in previous issues. He had found, buried deep underground, a Kryptonian battleship that had once been commanded by Admiral Zod. Using Kryptonite Man's powers, Luthor reactivated the ship and attacked Superman who had by now almost fully retrieved his powers. Metropolis was also a target of Luthor's attack; as result of his rage towards the city at being tossed away and not being given the respect that he felt he deserved.

Once Superman figures out how to beat the Kryptonian battleship, Luthor reveals his old trump card; he activates the Kryptonite that he had coated the entire hull of the battleship with. Superman is beaten back and feels his powers being drained but is protected by Jimmy Olsen who is burned and then rescued by Superman in a scene strongly reminiscent of the scene in the Superman movie. Superman ultimately shatters the Kryptonite coated battleship by rocketing into it as fast as his now once-again depleted powers will allow him. This act however, once again saps almost all his powers.

The momentum from Superman striking the battleship carries both him and Luthor near a small deserted island. The final issue of the "Up, Up and Away" story arc shows a once-again powerless Superman getting into a (somewhat light-hearted) fist-fight with Luthor. Though Luthor is now a physical match for him, Superman manages to beat Luthor while simultaneously lecturing him on the concept that respect needs to be constantly earned and not expected as a right.

With Luthor beaten, Superman faints with exhaustion, but eventually recovers with all his powers intact after his body absorbs enough solar energy. The last half of this issue shows Superman helping to reconstruct Metropolis and dealing with a two-bit super criminal before learning that Luthor has escaped from the prison he was put in after his fist-fight with Superman.

As Superman remarks, everything is now back to normal.

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. Batman and Robin (Tim Drake) have returned to Gotham following a year long absence, and now must investigate a mysterious vigilante, who is murdering Gotham City villains and may be connected to Commissioner Gordon (back to his old job, along with Harvey Bullock) and a mentally stable Harvey Dent, formerly known as Two-Face.

Following Batman's return, Dent lost his confidence. Feeling his new purpose was lost, and under the pressure from the public suspicion of guilt in the murders of the supervillains, Dent gave into his alternate ego. He deliberately rescarred his face, and became Two-Face once again. The finale had Batman and Robin confronting Two-Face and bringing him in, with the reveal that Great White had framed Dent, and established himself as the new crime boss in Gotham. The finale also showed a new direction for the the life of Tim Drake. Thinking about Tim's place in the world following the deaths of both his parents and the events of the Crisis, Bruce Wayne offered to adopt Tim. Tim readily accepted this, even going so far as to embrace Bruce with tears in his eyes.

Along with the adoption, Tim will also move into the Manor using the room once owned by Dick Grayson and Jason Todd at different points.

Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman was rebooted in June 2006 with a storyline called "Who is Wonder Woman?", written by Allan Heinberg and drawn by Terry and Rachel Dodson. An all-new supporting cast will also be introduced.

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:

Cancellations
As a result 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, Gotham Knights, Plastic Man, JLA, Superman (2nd series), and Batgirl.

Renaming

New series

As of July 2006, most, if not all, DC Comics titles have wrapped-up their 'One-Year Later' story lines and no longer display the 'One-Year Later' bullet on their covers.

Significant events of the lost year

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.

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.

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 an as yet unrevealed deal with either Batman or Bruce Wayne.

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.

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.

External links

DC Comics storylines | Infinite Crisis

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "One Year Later".

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