ungoliantschilde reblogged
“Guardian”, from Batman: Black and White, Vol. 2, was Illustrated by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, with Letters by John E. Workman, and it was Scripted by Alan Brennert, with Editing by Mark Chiarello.
ungoliantschilde reblogged
This is my very favorite DC Comics holiday-themed story, and not just because it’s written by Twilight Zone writer Alan Brennert, perhaps the single greatest and most underrated writer DC’s ever had. Yes, it shows just how sketchy Deadman can be, but he’s not the reason why this story is so powerful and important.
This story took place shortly after the big Crisis on Infinite Earths event, which rebooted almost the entirety of DC’s fifty-year history. One of the casualties of this event was Supergirl, who was not only killed off, but had her entire existence wiped out in the rebooted continuity. Her stories were from an obsolete timeline, to be ignored and cast aside. In the new DC Comics, she never existed, and any and all mention of her was verboten.
According to rumors, editor Mark Waid was actually fired for allowing this story to see print. I haven’t found any solid evidence to back this up, save for an interview with Waid in Wizard Magazine #132, which states that he “made a mistake early on in his tenure,” adding “it was a pretty big one,” and that he was fired by DC on Christmas Eve, 1989. Even if there’s no correlation (and I think there is), DC at best looks like a bunch of dickish Scrooges here.
Furthermore, Alan Brennert only wrote one more major story for DC and then never came back, save for a single short story in Batman: Black and White. Whether or not he was banned alongside Waid (who, of course, eventually returned as a successful writer), Brennert’s story apparently infuriated the powers-that-be who wanted to erase this character entirely along with the all the history that came before the Post-Crisis era.
But here’s the thing: you can’t wipe a character out of the minds and hearts of the people who’ve read her stories. With this tale, Brennert sneaked Kara in for one last story, showing that even if Deadman doesn’t know or remember her, we–the readers, the fans, and even the creators–still do.
Her stories mattered. She still matters. And considering that history has repeated itself with the New 52 reboot, where DC has done its best to erase the existence of characters like Donna Troy, Cass Cain, Stephanie Brown, Helena Bertinelli, and Renee Montoya, this story now matters more than ever.
Over twenty years later, “We still remember” still holds true.
"Guardian", from Batman: Black and White, Vol. 2, was Illustrated by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, with Letters by John E. Workman, and it was Scripted by Alan Brennert, with Editing by Mark Chiarello.