The Iron Age of Comics: Jim Shooter's Return to Marvel

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(OOC: I didn't want you leave you guys hanging on an update so here's what I originally had planned for Chapter 18.)

While Jim Shooter’s return to Marvel brought the company success in the form of its partnerships with LightStorm Entertainment and Sega, it would not be without controversy. Shooter had largely stayed away from editorial and gave incumbent editor-in-chief a wide berth, however he intervened by vetoing “The Walking Wounded” intended for Alpha Flight #106. Writer Scott Lobdell had intended for the story to both address the AIDS epidemic and for Northstar to finally reveal that he was gay.

The character was originally meant to be homosexual according to his creator, John Byrne, but editorial policy (when Shooter was editor-in-chief) prevented him from revealing it. Thus the character had stayed in the closet for years with only subtle hints at his sexuality. Shooter reasoned that the company didn’t need the controversy after the reaction Spawn received, and halted printing of the comic despite it being ready for the printer.

An angered Lobdell revealed the story’s existence in an interview with Wizard Magazine, which in turn led to the mainstream media picking up the story. LGBT advocacy groups such as GLAAD protested, calling for a boycott of Marvel Comics while several creators including Phil Jiminez (himself a gay man) criticized the company with some threatening to never work for Marvel again. Naturally, this new caught the attention of evangelicals who claimed that the outcry was, “a gay plot to corrupt the youth of the nation.”

Faced with increased media scrutiny and a possible walkout of his creative staff, Shooter relented and allowed the story to be printed in Alpha Flight #115. This ultimately culminated in an increase of LGBT characters in the medium. Most notably in DC's Legion of Super-Heroes where Lightning Lass and Shrinking Violet were revealed as a couple and longtime supporting character Shavaughn Erinn as a man who took a drug to appear female. However, the controversy led to the firing of Scott Lobdell, who would move on to the Distinguished Competition where he would replace Gerard Jones on Green Lantern with #48.

 

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(Acknowledgements to @unclepatrick and @tornadobusdriver for getting me inspired.)

The Year Without Superman had been such success for the Man of Steel that DC was looking to do the same for its Dark Knight. In truth, “Knightfall” had been conceived concurrently with “Doomsday” with neither team aware of the others’ plans. However, it would shake up Batman’s status quo in the years to come with the introduction of two new characters: Azrael and Bane. The former being Jean-Paul Valley, a graduate student who was secretly conditioned to an assassin for the Order of St. Dumas and the latter a prisoner of a small island nation used as a guinea pig for a super-soldier project.

Bane escapes his prison and heads to Gotham to fashion it into his fiefdom by taking over its underworld, but to do that he must “break the bat.” Part of his plan involves a mass breakout at Arkham Asylum to wear Batman down as he works tirelessly to apprehend the escaped villains. It is during this time that Batman takes Valley on a protege, which alienates him from Robin (who is at odds with Valley) who he sidelines during the crisis.

The plan works as Batman is barely able to fend off Bane during their fated confrontation until the villain breaks Batman’s back. He adds further insult to injury when he throws Batman off the side of the Gotham City Police Department’s headquarters to send a message to Commissioner Gordon. With the Bat injured and helpless, Bane soon goes on a tear through Gotham’s underworld to bring its gangs under his control so that he can soon lay siege to the city.

A now parapelegic Bruce Wayne appoints Valley his successor, which widens the rift between him and Robin who goes to Dick Grayson/Nightwing to beg him to take the mantle. A responsibility that Grayson (reluctantly) accepts. What neither Robin or Nightwing knew was that Bruce appointed Valley his successor because he didn’t want Dick to go after Bane for fear of meeting the same fate. However, Gotham has two Batmen while Bruce Wayne and Alfred travel the world in search of the missing Jack Drake.

Valley and Grayson demonstrate two radically different approaches as Batman. Valley’s subconscious programming makes him more violent and ruthless as a solo vigilante who is at odds with the GCPD. Meanwhile, Grayson prefers to subdue his foes and tirelessly works to build a network of allies including Barbara Gordon as Oracle, Robin, and training Betty Kane as the new Batgirl in addition to collaborating Commissioner Gordon. Gordon is aware that Grayson’s Batman is not the original, but welcomes his more gregarious successor as an ally.

The storyline splits into two parallel arcs: Knightquest and Siege. Knightquest follows Bruce’s globetrotting (including a crossover with Justice League Task Force) while Siege deals with the escalating war in Gotham. The Valley and Grayson Batman clash when Bane finally sets his plans to conquer Gotham in motion and forces the two rivals to reluctantly ally against him. A newly-healed Bruce also returns to Gotham for the final confrontation in time to witness Bane cripple Valley and Grayson defeat the villain with his allies.

The ordeal leaves Bruce shaken. While he was able to mend fences with Dick and Tim, he realized that he was wrong in both his approach as Batman and naming Valley his successor. He decides to travel the world once more to regain his fighting prowess and to reassess his approach to fighting crime. Thus he hands the mantle to Dick to protect Gotham in his absence.

This arrangement would last for almost three years until the release of Batman: The Dynamic Duo in 1996. Dick’s adventures would continue in Batman and Batman: Shadow of the Bat while Detective Comics would chronicle Bruce’s non-Batman exploits. It would result in some noticeable changes with Denny O’Neil allowing Grayson’s Batman to join the Justice League and Betty Kane/Batgirl to join the New Titans (he was unwilling to let Tim Drake/Robin go.) However, it was only the beginning of the seismic shifts that would happen at DC Comics.

 

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While Spider-Man and X-Men had flourished throughout the early nineties, Marvel’s Avengers-related titles had stagnated in sales. Editors Ralph Macchio, Bob Harras, and editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco had decided that a massive shake up was needed to revive the title--with a civil war between Marvel’s superheroes. Some of the seeds had been planted in 1992’s Avengers crossover “Operation: Galactic Storm” where a splinter group led by Iron Man killed the Supreme Intelligence for his part in the destruction of the Kree Empire. However, a humanitarian crisis in Genosha would widen the rift within the ranks.

“Bloodties” was a seemingly innocuous crossover with the X-Men titles with disgraced Acolyte Fabian Cortez travels to the island nation to stoke a rebellion within its mutate population. However, the conflict escalates when Cortez kidnaps Luna Maximoff (daughter of Avengers Crystal and Quicksilver and granddaughter of Magneto) as revenge against the Master of Magnetism. Captain America leads the Avengers and its West Coast branch on a rescue mission, but some members refuse to participate as it would violate the team’s UN charter. Meanwhile the X-Men and Quicksilver enter Genosha on their own to stop the civil war.

Unfortunately, Iron Man arrives with his contingent of Avengers (including those who dissented against Cap) to apprehend Captain America’s faction. Tempers flare, especially when Cap calls out Iron Man on his hypocrisy after murdering the Supreme Intelligence and a vicious battle breaks out between the two groups. The battles become increasingly personal as evidenced by the Scarlet Witch vs Vision and Iron Man vs War Machine fights. Only the timely intervention of the X-Men turns the tide in Cap’s favour and forces Iron Man’s faction to retreat.

Matters grow worse when the fanatical Exodus answers Cortez’s challenge in Magneto’s stead. His supremely high power levels force the three groups to work together to both rescue Luna and stop Exodus from murdering Genosha’s human population. While the Avengers and X-Men succeed, the former are bitterly divided and the United Nations revokes the Avengers charter with several members resigning, including Iron Man.

Marvel cancelled Avengers West Coast with issue #102 and replaced it with Force Works, which focused Iron Man’s splinter group of more “proactive” heroes. Unfortunately, the crossover only caused a temporary bump in sales. However, it did lay the foundation for the 1995 event: The Forever War. If Marvel wanted to revitalize the fortunes of Captain America, Iron Man, and company, they would have to bring in new blood and bold ideas.

 

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The rise of UPN created a hunger for content for the fledgling network, particularly for Saturday Mornings to rival Fox Kids’ programming block. Of course Stan Lee was more than happy to pitch a Fantastic Four animated series, which the network green-lit alongside Iron Man as part of the “Marvel Action Hour” hosted by “the Man” himself. However, the production on both shows were not without problems. Both Stan and Jim Shooter were dissatisfied with the quality of work from Wang Film Productions (Fantastic Four) and Rainbow Studios (Iron Man) and ordered a switch to Toei Animation and Koko Enterprises respectively. [1]

Most of Fantastic Four’s twenty-episode first season were adaptations of the classic Lee/Kirby issues and included appearances from Namor the Sub-Mariner and Black Panther [2]. It would climax with an adaptation of the seminal Galactus Trilogy, leading to the future Silver Surfer spin-off later in the decade. Meanwhile, Iron Man’s first season was a slightly more formulaic “good vs evil” plot where Tony Stark AKA Iron Man fought the Mandarin and his minion alongside Force Works [3]. Criticisms from Shooter led to an overhaul in its second season that saw an overall improvement in story quality that insured a third.

As successful as the two shows were, a new kid on the block would quickly steal their thunder: Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Haim Saban had been trying to bring the tokustatsu mainstay, Super Sentai, to the United States since the mid-eighties and even produced a pilot adapted Choudenshi Bioman in 1986, but none of the networks would buy it. He would pitch the series to UPN with Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger in 1992, who immediately greenlit the show.

The series followed Jason Lee Scott (Austin St. John), Zack Taylor (Dan Southworth), Trina Brock (Nakia Burrise), Billy Cranston (David Yost), and Kimberly Hart (Amy Jo Johnson.) Five “teenagers with attitude” recruited by Zordon to fight the monster armies of Rita Repulsa after astronauts accidentally release her from her prison on the Moon. While the show enjoyed fairly good ratings at first, it did not become a phenomenon until the “Green With Evil” mini-series that introduced Tommy Oliver (Jason David Frank) as the Green Ranger who became popular with the fans.

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers exploded after the mini-series with the action figures becoming highly sought after during the 1993 Christmas season. Paramount Pictures quickly ordered a Power Rangers film into pre-production with Saban Entertainment for a tentative Summer 1995 release. The teenagers with attitude would be the first salvo in what would become a war for Saturday Morning dominance between Fox and UPN, which would only intensify when Warner Bros. entered the ring.

[1] Thus improving the animation quality immensely.

[2] Introduced in the second second OTL.

[3] Consisting of War Machine, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Sersi, and Ant-Man (Scott Lang.)

 

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"...Hold on to your ho-hos, Quarter-buds, this is where the dirt gets really good! My covert action teams have infiltrated the most secure Sega labs to pull out the most important word of the year: Saturn. Although EGM's head ed got some good stuff on Sega's 32-bit wonder machine, the Quartermann has the real scoop on what has to be the most scorching console to come. The big N's scorned partner, Sony, is teaming with Sega in their struggle for industry dominance. This new system will come equipped with not only a 32-bit RISC processing chip (similar to the one Atari is boasting of in their new mega-machine), but backwards compatibility with the Genesis. Strange times indeed."

"We reported that Capcom and DC have entered into an exclusivity agreement a few issues back and now we have exclusive coverage on the first fruit of this new partnership: Superman: Shadow of Apokolips for the SNES. From what we have seen from the stills provided to us, it appears to be a Final Fight-style beat-em-up similar to Marvel/Sega's Fantastic Four. It appears that DC is giving the Man of Steel a big push after the recent film announcement. What other games will come out of this alliance? A game based on Fox Kid's Batman: The Animated Series, or maybe a fighting game staring the Justice League?"

 

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There was little doubt that Jacob Kurtzburg AKA Jack Kirby was a titan of the comic book industry after his role in shaping the contemporary Marvel Universe among his many other contributions throughout his decades-long career. His last major burst of creativity would come in the form of the "Secret City Saga" published by Dark Horse Comics in 1993 [1]. The premise itself was similar to his work on The Fourth World for DC Comics: that civilization repeats itself in cycles beginning in barbarism, advancing in knowledge and technology until greed and arrogance leads to its downfall.

The Ninth Men of Garza placed three of its citizens into hibernation to survive the “Great Catastrophe” that felled their society to spread ideals of Garza to the next age of man, which was modern civilization. Those three would be Keltan who would assume the name Captain Glory, Gilda who became Nightglider, and Bombast. Sales on the initial three mini-series (Secret City Saga, Satan’s Six, Teen Agents) and one-shots (Captain Glory, Nightglider, Bombast) were lukewarm despite considerable promotion and appealed mostly to Kirby die-hards.

However, Kirby’s fortunes would change that year. Despite having co-creating the Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, and many others for the Marvel universe, Kirby himself never financially benefited from their popularity. Longtime friend and protege, Mark Evanier, would tell anecdotes about how Kirby could not walk into a toy store without getting upset knowing that he did receive royalties from his creations. So Evanier started a campaign to demand that Marvel give Kirby the royalties he was due after the company announced its partnership with Lightstorm Entertainment.

Notable creators such as Jim Steranko, Jerry Seigel (co-creator of Superman), Todd McFarlane, along with many others publicly called for Marvel to rectify this with the campaign even making national news. Perhaps the most surprising advocate was Stan Lee who did so at the urging of his wife, Joan.

As he would later say in an interview a decade later, “Joanie was always smarter than I was. I was about to quit the industry altogether when she told me ‘Why don’t you write the kind of book you want to read? The worst they can do is fire you and you’re going to quit anyway [2].’ So I wrote Fantastic Four and the rest, as they say, is history. She said that I couldn’t have done it without Jack and it was only right to do good by him. Who was I to argue?”

After months of legal wrangling Jim Shooter announced that Jack Kirby and his estate would receive royalties for his part in creating the Marvel universe at San Diego Comicon in July 1993. Unfortunately, Jack Kirby would not benefit from this for very long as he passed away of heart failure on February 6, 1994 over a year before X-Men released in theaters. His widow, Rosalyn and their children use his royalties to found the Kirby Foundation--dedicated to assisting comic book creators in need, which would become his enduring legacy.

[1] Topps Comics OTL

[2] True story. Stan told this anecdote twice when I attended his panels at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo.

 

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DC Comics had grounded Superman and broken Batman in 1993, but they would not be the only characters that would undergo a seismic shift. Green Lantern’s sales had stagnated by that time and the character of Hal Jordan had not been resonating with readers as well as hoped. It did not help that there was much drama behind the scenes with writer Gerard Jones and Kevin Dooley [1]. Dooley--a new editor at the time--was under pressure to increase sales and thus took creative control from Jones, who quit with issue #47.

Scott Lobdell took over at the last minute to adapt Jones’ pitch and what editorial wanted: replace the incumbent Hal Jordan with a new character. However, Lobdell argued that the Green Lantern Corps should remain intact as it was what made the property unique and drew inspiration from both the Star Wars trilogy and the “buddy cop” genre of film. The storyline begins with Hal Jordan leaving Earth after his failed relationships with Carol Ferris and Olivia Reynolds to devote himself to the Green Lantern Corps full time.

However, a second group of Guardians of the Universe arrive on Oa with the Zamaraons to declare that the first group of pretenders--starting a civil war over the Corps split loyalties. Most choose to follow the second group after they remove the 24-hour time limit and the yellow weakness while Hal follows the first group--forcing him to battle the Corps led by a resurrected and “reformed” Sinestro. Sinestro’s resurrection causes many GLC stalwarts such as John Stewart, Kilowog, and Tomar-Tu to defect to Hal’s side. There are major casualties on both sides until “Guardians” and “Zamarons” reveal themselves to be an illusion created by Krona, who conspired with Sinestro and Nekron to commandeer the Corps.

Hal absorbs enough power from the Central Power Battery to battle and defeat Krona in single combat, but not before Krona reveals a horrible truth. The Guardians had been responsible for the death of his father and manipulated his life to make him the “ultimate” Green Lantern. This revelation, combined with the Guardians’ confession causes Hal to snap and symbolically crush his ring (which he no longer needs after merging with the battery’s power) before flying into deep space--leaving behind a shattered Green Lantern Corps.

The Guardians remain divided on how to proceed as they rebuild the Corps--with Ganthet being the sole dissenter. He believes that the Corps needs a new approach and perhaps they do not need a fearless being to wield the ring while the rest prefer to maintain the status quo. Thus Ganthet reforges Hal Jordan’s ring and seemingly gives it to artist Kyle Rayner at random in a Los Angeles alley. Meanwhile, the Controllers (an offshoot of the Guardians) approach Hal Jordan to become Darkstar Prime, the main enforcer for their answer to the Green Lantern Corps: the Darkstars.

“Emerald Twilight” was a contentious storyline among the fandom. The newly-reimagined Hal Jordan as the darker, “edgier” anti-villain Darkstar Prime angered many fans yet sales more than doubled as many new readers jumped on the title when Kyle took over. Possibly also due to Joe Madureria’s art, whose manga/anime drew in curious readers. Most of Kyle’s early adventures had been Earth-bound, but his exploits attracted the attention of John Stewart who would (reluctantly) partner with at Ganthet’s behest. With the new status quo set in Green Lantern, Hal Jordan would continue to appear in Darkstars, but it was only a matter of time before the two titles crossed over and their protagonists clashed.

[1] https://www.cbr.com/green-lantern-emerald-twilight-original/

 

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The 1993 holiday season would see the first trailer for James Cameron's Spider-Man--distributed by TriStar Pictures--drop in theaters, exciting both fans and general audiences alike. Fred Savage of Wonder Years fame beat out contenders such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Joey Lawrence for role because of Cameron wanting an actor could look like an introverted and socially-isolated nerd. Arnold Schwarzenegger would lend his star power to play Dr. Otto Octavius with Bill Paxton playing an undisclosed role (rumored to be Norman Osborn, despite the character having been dead for many years in the comic [1]) while Michael Biehn and Jamie Lee Curtis would play Ben and May Parker, which raised many eyebrows among the fanbase. Rounding out the cast was Brittany Murphy as Peter's long-time love interest, Mary Jane Watson, who would stand in for Peter's high school crush, Liz Allan.

Cameron would work with longtime collaborator, Stan Winston, using cutting edge special effects to bring the Wall Crawler's web slinging and Doc Ock's metallic arms to life in stunning (and explosive) fight scenes that excite audiences. Anticipation will only grow through the opening months of 1994 with Spider-Man expected to break box office records upon its July 15 release and perhaps dethrone DC's Dark Knight as the super hero champion of cinema.

It wouldn't be the only superhero news as Warner Bros. announced the the casting of their new Superman on January 10, 1994 after months of speculation. Rumors had circulated that Christopher Reeve was in talks to reprise the role, but the Spielberg and studio opted to recast the role. Brendan Fraser of Encino Man fame (or infamy, depending on how you look at it) would be the latest actor to play the Man of Steel, which the fans met with bewilderment and even mockery despite Spielberg's assurances. However, audiences would have to wait until the first Superman '95 trailer later in the year to learn whether or not Fraser would soar.

Lastly, The Mask (based on a little-known character from Dark Horse Comics) would see release two weeks after Spider-Man. Can Jim Carrey's rising star challenge the world's most famous superhero? Only time will tell...

[1] Spoiler: He's not.

 

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Producer Bernd Eichinger had purchased the film rights to Marvel first family for a reported $250,000 in 1986, but could not convince any of the major studios to back his vision. Those rights would expire if he did not start production by the end of 1992, and the Marvel/Lightstorm announcement only served to light a fire under his feet. Fearing that he would lose the rights to James Cameron, he set out on producing a Fantastic Four film on a budget of one million dollars with B-movie maestro, Roger Corman.

Stan Lee would later call the production a sham that was not meant to be seen by any living human beings. Marvel President, Jim Shooter would likewise call it “terrible,” but that did not deter Roger Corman from campaigning to release the movie as there was no clause in the contract that stated that he could not. He prepared a trailer, TV spots, and even a premiere at the Mall of America, but ultimately did not see wide release outside New York City, Los Angeles, and a few select markets.

What it did give Eichinger, however, was leverage. With hype building for James Cameron’s Spider-Man throughout the early half of 1994, Marvel and many of the major studios (notably Columbia/TriStar, 20th Century Fox, and Paramount) were very interested in a big budget Fantastic Four film with a tentative 1997 release. Cameron himself was quite interested in bringing the Fantastic Four to the silver screen--even going as far as to include them in the early drafts of his “Universal Bible” without even holding the rights.

1994 would be a year of tough negotiations, but Constantin Film would agree to co-produce with Lightstorm Entertainment while Paramount, whose television network aired the animated series, would fund and distribute the film. While Cameron would executive produce the film, he would not direct and the studio instead signed on Ridley Scott after some gentle prodding from Cameron and even other luminaries like Superman’s Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas [1].

As for Corman’s film, it would receive a quiet VHS release where it would join 1989’s Punisher and 1990’s Captain America on video rental retailers’ shelves. Fans would view it as something of an oddity and a cult classic/guilty pleasure that would become a comic book version of the Rocky Picture Horror Show.

[1] Lucas himself would later admit that he was tempted to take the job himself, but was more interested in returning to a certain galaxy far, far away.

 

[Pyro]

1994 - Spider-Man (Marvel/Tri-Star)
1994 - The Mask (Dark Horse/New Line Entertainment)
1994 - The Crow (Caliber/Miramax) [1]
1994 - The Shadow (Universal)
1994 - Blankman (Columbia)
1995 - Superman (DC/Warner Bros.)
1995 - X-Men (Marvel/Tri-Star)
1995 - Tank Girl (Dark Horse/United Artists)
1996 - Iron Man (Marvel/Tri-Star)
1996 - Batman: The Dynamic Duo (DC/Warner Bros.)
1996 - The Phantom (King Features/Paramount)
1996 - The Crow: City of Angels (Caliber/Miramax)
1997 - Wonder Woman (DC/Warner Bros.)
1997 - Spider-Man sequel (Marvel/Tri-Star)
1997 - Fantastic Four (Marvel/Paramount)

[1] The Butterfly God spares Brandon Lee, who will go on to star in the sequel.

 

[Pyro]

Jim Shooter was a known stickler for continuity for all things Marvel and that extended well past its comic book universe. He made his desires for the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Iron Man animated series to take place in the same universe known, but that was a challenge since X-Men aired on Fox and the Marvel Action Hour aired on UPN. Not only that, but the voice talent for the former worked out of Canada (to keep costs down) while the latter’s talent worked out of Los Angeles, which would also make such crossovers expensive. However, with Jameron Cameron’s Spider-Man nearing release in 1994, both Marvel and Fox planned to air a new Spider-Man animated series that year [1].

What Shooter and the Fox executives wanted was to make it an event so the latter mandated a crossover starring the Web Slinger and the Children of the Atom for X-Men: The Animated Series’ second season. This interference frustrated showrunner Will Meugniot and the production team despite Marvel and Fox offering additional funding for three additional episodes increasing the second season episode count to sixteen from thirteen. He would later describe the production as “hellish” and “rushed,” but completed it on time for its February 1994 air date regardless.

The “Mutant Agenda” three-parter aired on February 18 to much fanfare and a heavy marketing blitz. Its plot centered around the High Evolutionary abducting several mutants and stealing various pieces of technology using his “New Men” [2] in his bid to create a race superior to humans and mutants. Jean Grey and Jubilee are among the mutants kidnapped and the New Men steal an experimental “recombinator” during a demonstration attended by Peter Parker [3]. Both Spider-Man and the X-Men pursue them to Mount Wundagore where they come across each other by chance.

Spidey’s reputation (i.e. the Daily Bugle’s articles) precedes him and glib comment from the webslinger causes Wolverine to go berserk. The fight isn’t long, but it’s a memorable one that pits Spider-Man’s strength and agility against Wolverine’s fighting skills and killer instincts. Cyclops stops the fight and allows Spider-Man to accompany them although there is mistrust on both sides.

Meanwhile, the High Evolutionary creates the ultimate being from the genetic material he harvested and calls him Adam [4] before sending him to eliminate the Spidey and the X-Men. Despite their initial animosity between them, Spider-Man and the X-Men resolve their differences when they face New Men in their attempt to free Jean and Jubilee. This turns the battle in the heroes’ favor when Jean reaches out to Adam and convinces him that the High Evolutionary sees him as nothing more than an experiment. The revelation prompts Adam to abandon the battle, but the High Evolutionary sets off his base’s self-destruct, which forces the X-Men and Spidey to flee.

The three-parter ends at the X-Mansion where Spider-Man confirms to Professor X that he’s not a mutant and recounts his origin while declining to join his school. He amicably parts ways with the X-Men (even remarking to Wolverine that he shouldn’t believe everything he reads in the papers) who now view him as an ally in their mission of human/mutant coexistence.

“Mutant Agenda” was an unqualified success that saw Fox Kid’s highest ratings until the premiere of Dragon Ball Z later that year. It served as the launching pad for the Spider-Man series that debuted the following week, but more importantly it opened the door to unprecedented network crossovers with Marvel’s UPN shows in the following years where the first part would air on one network and the second part on the other.

Meanwhile, Batman: The Animated Series would see Batman team up with other characters from the DC universe such as Zatanna (a favorite of writer Paul Dini), Jonah Hex, but most curiously, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. The producers of the contact contacted Gaiman to write the episode and to their surprise, he agreed. “Perchance to Dream” [5] centered around a sedated Batman who is caught in a dream where his parents were never murdered.

Throughout the episode a stranger with chalk white, black eyes, and unkempt hair warns him that this world is not what it seems. Bruce dismisses it at first, soon realizes that every newspaper and book is a garbled mess. He confronts the stranger in the bell tower of Gotham Cemetery; the stranger reveals himself to be Dream of the Endless and that his world is the dream life he wanted, but could never have as Batman. While Batman fights the dream’s influence, the dream fights back with nightmarish versions of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and the criminal that murdered. It is only by letting them “kill” him that Batman breaks free. While he scarcely remembers his dream, he finds a memento waiting for him in the Batcave: an hourglass.

“Perchance to Dream” remains a highly regarded episode of B:TAS by fans and critics alike, but Warner Bros. was looking to move on after 85 episodes. With Superman ‘95 on the horizon and their plans to launch their own network in 1996, Warner Bros. would task the production team to produce a Superman animated series. With the success of Marvel’s crossovers, the Man of Steel would serve as a testbed to introduce their pantheon of heroes for a potential Justice League series.

[1] With John Semper Jr. as showrunner like OTL.

[2] Animals the High Evolutionary evolved to sapience.

[3] Voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes.

[4] Though not explicitly stated in the episode, it’s hinted to be Adam Warlock.

[5] An alternate version of the OTL episode with a similar plot, but the addition of Morpheus..

 

[Pyro]

Many questions arose over what the Superman film would look like when it flew into theatres in the summer of 1995. Spielberg made it clear of the onset that this would be a new series of films that were not connected to the Reeve films. Meanwhile, DC’s only major stipulation was that it would resemble the comic books of the period as much as possible. As such, Jonathan and Martha Kent would still be alive and Lex Luthor would be a corrupt corporate executive, which producer Richard Donner and Spielberg agreed was more believable than the mad scientist of the Pre-Crisis era.

Casting for the film would be a monumental task, especially for Lois Lane, who was equally iconic as the Man of Steel himself. Julia Roberts was immediately out of the running as Spielberg refused to work with her due to her behavior behind the scenes of 1991’s Hook. Several actresses including Sandra Bullock, Claire Forlani, and Nicole Kidman auditioned for the role, but it ultimately went to Jennifer Connelly after she showed great chemistry with Brendan Fraser in her audition.

Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen was likewise an important role to fill. Donner and Spielberg had their hopes initially set on Sean Astin after working with him on the Goonies. However, dark horse candidate Will Friedle of Boy Meets World fame blew them away during his audition and won the role. His involvement with Superman did not stop at the movies as he would later reprise the role for the animated series [1].

While their roles were comparatively minor, Donner and Spielberg wanted someone recognizable for Jonathan and Martha Kent. For that they turned to Columbo himself, Peter Falk for the former and Olympia Dukakis for the latter. Smallville and the Kents would play a crucial role in the film to demonstrate how the American heartland shaped Superman’s moral center and contrast it to the bustling and modern Metropolis.

This would be abundantly clear with the staff of the Daily Planet. The casting of Ernie Hudson as editor-in-chief Perry White who had been traditionally caucasian in the books turned a few heads, but drew little protest. What probably surprised longtime fans more was the inclusion of Steve Lombard played by Matt Dillon. The character had not played a significant role in the comics since the eighties, but Spielberg that the mild-mannered Clark Kent needed a foil in the overly macho ex-professional foot player (and hopeless suitor to Lois Lane.)

That left Lex Luthor. Donner and Spielberg had taken a page from the 1978 film’s playbook and cast an A-lister in the role. There were no shortage of actors interested in the role from Kevin Spacey to John Travolta to Jeff Bridges before they settled on Bruce Willis. Having been made a household name after Die Hard, Willis was eager to sink his teeth into a villainous role to prove his versatility as an actor [2]. He would not be alone as ex-NFL star Howie Long was cast in the role John Corben, otherwise known as the longtime Superman rogue, Metallo as his first major role.

The cast of Superman (1995) would not be the only superhero news to emerge from Warner Bros. that year. With Tim Burton having departed from the franchise, Batman was in the market for a new director and the studio was looking for one that could balance the lighter elements of the Caped Crusader with the dark. Sam Raimi was the frontrunner for months before the official announcer because of his work on Darkman. With a new director locked, Warner Bros. was also looking for a fresh face for the Dark Knight and the rumour mill had it that Johnny Depp was in the running...

[1] Replacing David Kaufmann.

[2] This pushes Die Hard With a Vengeance’s release to 1996.

 

[Pyro]

"Brosnan out as Bond. In talks with Marvel Entertainment, report."
- The Hollywood Reporter, March 2, 1994

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[Pyro]

The New Universe had been one of Jim Shooter’s most ambitious projects during his first stint at Marvel. Intended to represent “the world outside your window” in 1986, he had originally wanted to recruit top talent for the books, but budget cuts prevented that and Shooter’s firing the following year only placed the imprint in further disarray. It continued to languish for years until Marvel quietly ended the line in 1990, but Jim Shooter had not completely given up on it just yet. Editor and writer Mark Gruenwald [1] had expressed a desire to revisit the New Universe in Quasar for a storyline, an idea that Shooter not only liked, but expanded into a companywide crossover [2].

Gruenwald took inspiration from DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths in terms of scope and using his encyclopedic knowledge of Marvel lore to craft a tale that would not only touch upon the 616 and New universes, but the entire multiverse itself. For that he brought on writers like Jim Starlin and Kurt Busiek for an event that the company promoted heavily as “Cataclysm.” It started with the prelude in Quasar when Wendall Vaughn finds himself stranded in the New Universe where he encounters characters such from Psi-Force and DP7.

Upon learning that the Star Brand possesses the power to return him to his native universe, he seeks out Ken Connell who agrees to assist him. However, in doing so, he inadvertently ruptures the multiverse that sets countless parallel universes (e.g. Days of Future Past, Squadron Supreme) on a collision course. To make matters worse, the cosmic entity, Oblivion, abducts Connell to prevent him from using the Star Brand to undo the damage.

Starlin co-plotted Cataclysm with Gruenwald and penned the eight issue mini-series, which served as the “spine” for the event. Vaughn, along with Adam Warlock, would then be forced to partner with Thanos to locate Connell. Meanwhile, Marvel’s earthbound heroes are left to deal with various “incursions” incursions from parallel universes and timelines. Most of these incursions were isolated events, notably in the X-Men and Spider-Man titles where the Children of the Atom fought an invasion of Sentinels from the “Days of Future Past” timeline and the Web Slinger teamed his multiversal counterparts (including Spider-Man 2099) to defeat the Goblin King.

Marvel left practically no timeline untouched and there were many casualties. Of note were the last stands of the Guardians of the Galaxy [3] and the Squadron Supreme whose attempts to save their colliding universe failed. Meanwhile, Iron Man’s character took a markedly darker turn in Force Works when he killed his unscrupulous 2020 counterpart, which foreshadowed the Avenger-centric “Forever War” event. Despite the best efforts of the heroes, the destruction of the multiverse continued unabated until only the 616 and the New Universes remained.

Vaughn and Warlock convince Marvel’s Cosmic Entities to intervene with Thanos' assistance while the heroes, villains, and Marvel’s intergalactic empires launch a final assault on Oblivion’s keep. What follows is a battle royale against Oblivion’s forces beautifully rendered by George Perez while Vaughn’s cosmic team recover Connell. However, it proves to be too little, too late as the two universes begin to collide. The only way to stop the end of everything is for both Galactus and Connell to release their combined energies to restart the Big Bang.

What follows is a soft “reset” of the Marvel Universe (which fans dubbed 717) where most of its history is intact, but update to better fit the times rather than this sixties. For example, Iron Man’s origin takes place in the Middle East during a Gulf War-like conflict instead of Vietnam. It would also alter history to “resurrect” the Spider-Man clone, which would throw the web-slinger’s world into chaos. However, Most of the changes are aesthetic, but the Flashback event that followed (with special -1 numberings) expanded on some characters’ backgrounds--like the mostly untold tale of Cap and Bucky’s fated last mission.

As for the New Universe, it would receive a complete reboot glimpsed at the end of Cataclysm’s final issue. A dying Connell’s arrival in this “new” universe triggers a new White Event with him passing the Star Brand to Kendra Connor as his final act. However, with total control over budget and promotion, New Universe 2.0 would defy expectations.

[1] Gruenwald had also written DP7, one of the New Universe’s better selling titles.

[2] To varying degrees. Some street level books like Daredevil remained unaffected.

[3] The original 1969 version and not the one most readers would be familiar with.

 

[Pyro]

Cataclysm was, by all measures, an unqualified success for Marvel with the mini-series and myriad tie-in dominating the sales charts throughout 1994. However, the fan and critical reception was mixed. Many fans accused the series of copying the plot of DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths in addition to a chorus of industry professionals. What rankled some readers was not so much the similarities to the groundbreaking DC maxi-series as it was that it appeared to be a promotion for Marvel’s newest imprint: Defiant.

Defiant was conceived as a complete rebooting of the New Universe and enjoyed heavy promotion during the latter half of Cataclysm, even more than mainstream Marvel’s Flashback event. The premise was the same as the New Universe of 1986 where it was designed as, “the world your window,” but with somewhat more relaxed rules. It started with the “White Event” seen at the end of Cataclysm, which brought several dark forces in the new “New Universe” to light.

Defiant launched November 1994 with six titles.

Star Brand - Written by Shooter himself as the flagship, which probably drew the most vitriol from fans who criticized it as completely derivative of the original NU title, but with a gender-flipped protagonist.

Harbinger - A reimagining of sorts of DP7 and Psi Force that reveals that “paranormals” existed in the shadows before the White Event. The story follows Peter Stanchek, a psionic of great potential and his friends, who oppose the similarly powerful Toyo Harada and his Harbinger Foundation. Essentially a “road trip” movie, Pete grows in both power and his role of leader while on the run from Harada.

Prudence and Caution - Written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Jim Fern. An unlikely superpowered duo inspired in part by The Odd Couple. Much like Harbinger, it features two paranormals on the run. However, the duo gets drawn into sticky (and sometimes outlandish) situations where they must use their powers and their wits to get out of.

Dogs of War - Follows the adventures of ex-military officer Elvis Mazerov who gains regenerative powers similar to Wolverine’s from the White Event, however, a shot to his head leaves him with amnesia [1]. His unscrupulous superior officer presses him into service with promises of revealing parts of old life in exchange for taking wetworks missions.

Ninjak - Son of of British spy trained in the art of ninjitsu who works as an enforcer for the mysterious Weaponeer while searching for his father’s murderer.

Nightmask - A rebooted version of the original New Universe title. Unlike Star Brand, it is a complete re-envisioning of the title that devolves into voodoo featuring an all-new character Jack Boniface [2].

Despite initially promising sales, Defiant attracted both controversy and negative publicity when Malibu Comics filed a lawsuit against claiming that the Star Brand and premise of the universe was an infringement of their Solar: Man of the Atom title. While the lawsuit proved to be more damaging to Malibu than to Marvel, tanking sales caused Marvel to pull the plug on the Defiant imprint. Shooter would cite “market saturation” as the reason for Defiant’s quick demise, but most industry observers acknowledge that it was the post-Cataclysm backlash and the lawsuit.

Defiant’s reputation would be rehabilitated over time as many critics did praise the quality of the titles (the much-reviled Star Brand being the sole exception.) Claremont and Fern would later return to Prudence and Caution, which moved to the Epic imprint with Nightmask by decade’s end. Elvis Mazerov would make the jump to the 717 universe as a supporting character in Wolverine. However, Defiant will be remembered as one of the industry’s biggest disasters of the decade.

[1] Uses the character name from OTL Defiant’s Warriors of Plasm with elements of Valiant’s Bloodshot.

[2] Essentially the Valiant character, Shadowman, under another name.

 

[Pyro]

Marvel's Spider-Man
Directed by James Cameron
Story by James Cameron and Will Wisher
Produced by Marvel/Lightstorm Entertainment/Tri-Star

Cast

Fred Savage as Peter Parker/Spider-Man
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus
Brittney Murphy as Mary-Jane “MJ” Watson
Michael Biehn as Ben Parker
Jamie Lee Curtis as May Parker
Bill Paxton as J. Jonah Jameson
Joe Morton as Joe Robertson
Kenan Thompson as Randy Robertson
Charleton Heston as Justin Hammer
Ron Perlmann as ???

Released: July 15, 1994

Budget: $150 Million
Box Office Gross: $977 Million​

1994 would be a banner year for the superhero genre in film in the same vein as 1978 and 1989. However, unlike Superman and Batman before it, Spider-Man would see the launch of a shared cinematic universe that had not been seen since the days of Universal’s monster films. Spider-Man received more promotion throughout the first half of the year with the launch of the animated series on Fox Kids, Happy Meals at McDonalds, and cereal boxes on supermarket shelves. All eyes were on the webslinger, even DC’s with their new Superman film releasing the next year.

James Cameron enjoyed a great deal of creative freedom while writing and directing the film, however, the only restriction that Marvel placed on him was that he could not use characters that were deceased in the comics. That excluded characters like Norman and Harry Osborn (both the Green Goblin) and Gwen Stacy from the story, but they were hardly necessary for the tale Cameron wanted to tell. The first act of the film was effectively a retelling of Spider-Man’s origins in 1962’s Amazing Fantasy #15, albeit with a few changes. Peter Parker was still a brilliant, but still socially awkward outcast whose only friend was Randy Robertson and pined for the popular and vivacious Mary-Jane Watson.

Another major departure from the comic book canon is involvement of Dr. Otto Octavius in the creation of Spider-Man, which also serves to tie into the larger cinematic universe Marvel planned. As an expert in radiation, Octavius is attempting to replicate the vita-ray process that stabilized the super-soldier serum that created Captain America. Justin Hammer (a rival of Tony Stark who mentions the future Armoured Avenger as a hint of what’s to come) won the government contract and pressures timid Octavius to work long to the detriment of his marriage. Admittedly, it stretched the audience’s suspension of disbelief that the 69-year-old Heston could intimidate Schwarzenegger in his prime, but some moviegoers found the absurdity of it entertaining.

It is at one of Octavius’ demonstrations that his experiment irradiates the spider that bites Peter, giving him his powers. Naturally, Peter uses his newfound abilities and intelligence to craft the Spider-Man ability for fame and fortune. His growing arrogance and falling grades alarm his guardians Ben and May Parker, prompting the latter to remind him that “with great power comes great responsibility.” Peter ignores his uncle’s advice and a robber he refuses to stop after a television appearance later shoots Ben in an attempted robbery.

That same night, an extremely fatigued Octavius begins another experiment at Hammer’s insistence, but forgets to put all the safeguards in place in his weary state. It doesn’t help that his wife (played by Tia Carrere) arrives at a critical time in the experiment, which explodes, killing her and fusing mechanical arms to his spinal cord. A grief-stricken Octavius awakens in the hospital to promise revenge on Hammer.

Meanwhile, Peter still grapples with his guilt over Uncle Ben’s death and with the help of Randy’s father, Joe [1], takes a job at the Daily Bugle for the bombastic J. Jonah Jameson. It is on his first day as a copy boy that he learns Jameson is paying large amounts of money for photographs of Spider-Man and gets the idea to photograph himself. He is also later partnered with Mary Jane on a school project, which gets interrupted by Octavius’ rampage where he uses her as a hostage and comes into direct conflict with Spider-Man. Naturally, Jameson uses this incident to tar both Octavius (whom he dubs Doctor Octopus) and Spider-Man as menaces.

An increasingly crazed Octavius kidnaps Hammer during an interview with DB Media and takes him to the Ditko Nuclear Power Plant where he intends to irradiate the entire tri-state area to make everyone “feel his pain.” Spider-Man confronts him for the climactic battle where Octavius completely overpowers him, forcing Spidey to use his brains. He relentlessly taunts Octavius and baits him into electrocuting himself and prevents a meltdown at the last moment. Despite his heroics, it’s something of a pyrrhic victory for Spider-Man. Jameson still rails on him as a menace and thus divides public opinion on him, and Mary Jane, despite showing some feelings for him, still stays with Flash Thompson. However, Aunt May gives Peter some needed encouragement by telling him that Ben would be proud of how he’s stepping up despite being unaware of his dual identity.

Elsewhere at an ultramax prison called the vault, a shadowy figure watches a silent Octavius in his cell. His partner, a man in a derby hat, remarks that they’re popping out of the woodwork, “First mutants and now these freaks.” The shadowy figure steps out into the light to reveal himself to be Nick Fury (Ron Perlmman), who nods and tells him that they are going to need a team for what’s coming next.

Needless to say, Spider-Man exceeded both Superman and Batman in box office gross to stop short of the billion dollar mark. Audiences and most critics praised Fred Savage’s performance, citing that his time on television’s The Wonder Years made him the ideal fit for the role. Critics were less charitable towards Schwarzenegger’s performance, complaining that he chewed the scenery along with Paxton’s Jameson though audiences weren’t judging by the box office receipts. If anything, Spider-Man helped Arnold bounce back from the misstep of Last Action Hero and even propelled him to an Oscar nod for 1996’s Crusades.

What possibly thrilled longtime fans even more were the strands of continuity hinted at within the film, particularly the allusions to Captain America and Iron Man. Indeed, Marvel officially confirmed and announced Iron Man starring Pierce Brosnan and Charleton Heston for 1996, though the Star-Spangled Avenger would have to wait a few years more after the Spider-Man and X-Men sequels. Fans were excited for what came next and how the Distinguished Competition would respond.

[1] In another departure from the comic canon Joe Robertson plays an arguably more prominent role than Jameson as a paternal figure to Peter.

 

[Pyro]

Stan Lee is one of DB Media's "man on the street" interviews where he rails on about how much of a menace Spider-Man is to the law-abiding citizens of New York. However, Spider-Man stops a runaway armoured truck from flattening him without him even realizing it.

 

[Pyro]

(OOC: Speak of the devil... )

Spider-Man’s smashing success only increased the hype for 1995's X-Men, which had been Marvel’s highest selling title for many years. One could not discount the success of the animated series on Fox’s Saturday morning block, which had introduced the Children of the Atom to a new generation. Marvel tapped Joe Johnson, whose credits included the film adaptation of Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer, to direct and Joss Whedon to write the screenplay. The animated series would influence the production in unexpected ways.

Fans petitioned for Marvel to allow the voice actors of Charles Xavier and Magneto to audition for the respective roles in the film. Cedric Smith (Xavier) was well known for his role as Alec King on CBC's Road to Avonlea in Canada while David Hemblen was a stage actor with film and television credits to his name. While both auditioned for the roles, Smith bowed out due to his commitment to the then-running Avonlea, but Hamblen won the role of the Master of Magnetism.

Several other actors were in consideration for the role of Xavier. Patrick Stewart had been a fan-favorite due to his likeness to the character, however, he had commitments to the Star Trek films and declined. Marvel threw a curveball when they announced that the role went to musician David Bowie. While Bowie had starred in films before--notably in Labyrinth--the news bewildered the unsuspecting fanbase who largely took a “wait and see” approach.

Wolverine was the most important casting decision and Marvel was insistent that the role needed major backing from Hollywood’s A-list. Mel Gibson’s name had been thrown around because of his portrayal of Martin Riggs in the Lethal Weapon series, but he was likewise unavailable due to Braveheart. However, Tom Cruise accepted the role despite serious reservations from Jim Shooter and creators like Chris Claremont. It became a family affair when Cruise’s then-wife, Nicole Kidman, signed on as Jean Grey and rounding the famous love triangle was Ethan Hawke as Cyclops.

Filling out the ranks of the team would be Angela Bassett as Storm, Alfred Molina as Beast, and Leonardo DiCaprio as Iceman. Yet much like the animated series, the film would focus on the point-of-view of Jubilee who would be played by newcomer Patricia Ja Lee. Details about the plot were sparse, however, Stan Winston would be unavailable to do special effects for the film due to Iron Man and the Spider-Man sequel. Marvel instead contracted Jim Henson’s [1] Creature Shop for the job and photos of robotic-looking animatronics leaked, which indicated that the mutant-hunting Sentinels were to play a role in the film.

Promotion began in earnest September 1994 with the first trailer dropping for the Holiday re-release of Spider-Man. Despite the winter chill, the competition was heating up to see who would triumph next summer: the Man of Steel or the Children of the Atom.

[1] Jim Henson’s infection was one of the TL’s early butterflies so he is alive to work on X-Men.

 

[Pyro]

DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes had become a continuity quagmire after eight years of rampant retcons and editorial in-fighting. Much of it stemmed from the decision to reboot Superman in 1986, which eliminated the Man of Steel’s career as Superboy and thus eliminated the inspiration for the team and made Mon-El’s existence paradoxical. Paul Levitz created a “continuity patch” with the Pocket Universe saga that created a copy of the Silver Age Superboy, but Superman editor Mike Carlin wanted all references to Man of Steel removed from the Legion. The final straw came with the appearance of the SW6 Legionnaires--teenage “clones” of the Adventure Comics-era Legion, who may or may not have been the real Legion.

After thirty-six years of continuity, DC Comics decided to pull the plug on the 30th century. With the company’s 60th anniversary looming, the company decided to make the demise of the Legion an event to tie into their big crossover for 1995. Thus the editorial offices of Legion, Superman, and The Flash would coordinate to bring out what would be called “End of an Era” overseen by writer, Mark Waid.

It began in Valor where the time manipulator Glorith unintentionally killed the titular character after he refused her advances. This caused a fatal paradox as Valor (formerly Mon-El) became the Legion’s inspiration in Superboy’s place, which caused the fabric of time to slowly unravel. Characters slowly began to fade into oblivion only for matters to get worse as Glorith and Mordru seize upon the temporal chaos in a bid to combine their powers and control of time.

Superman gets drawn into the conflict as their manipulations reach into the 20th Century and paradoxes appear in Metropolis--most notably the arrival of the Pre-Crisis Superboy. After a brief battle between the two Superboys, the Man of Steel surmises that something corrupted that timestream. An assumption Waverider and the Linear Men confirm when they arrive to take Superman and the Pre-Crisis Superboy to the source of the disruption.

Meanwhile, the disruptions continue in Flash #94 with Barry Allen pulled out of his “last race” from Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 to come face to face with his successor, Wally West, and grandson, Bart Allen. Naturally, Wally is skeptical as Eobard Thawne impersonated Barry in “The Return of Barry Allen,” but must put them aside when the temporal upheaval pulls the three into the conflict raging in the 30th century.

The alliance between Mordru and Glorith ultimately proves too much for both Legions, Superman, and the Flash family to defeat. After their failure to unleash the Infinite Man on them, both Brainiac Fives grimly come to the conclusion that it’s too late to save the 30th century and that they must stop Mordru and Glorith from corrupting all of time and space. To this end, they build an “entropy bomb” that will completely collapse all of spacetime and thus stop the villains.

Though Pre-Crisis Superboy and Barry Allen volunteer to deliver to Entropy Bomb, the Linear Men whisk the 20th century heroes away as they will be needed for the battle ahead. So it comes down to the three founding members of the Legion (Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad) and their SW6 counterparts after the rest of the Legion fades away. After a tearful good-bye, they plunge into the rift and detonate the Entropy Bomb that collapses the 30th century and end the threat of Mordru and Glorith forever. Or so it seems…

The epilogue of the arc reveals that the event was orchestrated by Monarch [1], who manipulated Glorith into killing Valor and allying with Mordru. Their destabilization of the timeline was only the first step in a plan to to reshape reality as he sees fit to which he says, “There shall come a reckoning, A CRISIS.”

Indeed as DC would begin their promotion of Countdown: A Crisis in Time beginning in 1995.

[1]Formerly the hero, Captain Atom, who curiously takes on an appearance similar to Doctor Manhattan.

 

[Pyro]

Development on Sonic the Hedgehog 3 would prove to be an ambitious undertaking after the massive success of its predecessor. Perhaps too ambitious as space/cost concerns and time constraints forced Sega to split the game into two to make its February 2, 1994 release date. However, many critics praised its visuals and sound as well as new gameplay elements such as the elemental shields (which would become a series staple) despite its short length compared to Sonic 2. The game would introduce Knuckles the Echidna as an antagonist and rival to Sonic to hinder the player’s progress as Dr. Eggman rushes to complete repairs on the Death Egg.

The levels included are as follows: Angel Island, Hydrocity, Marble Gardens, Neon Carnival [1], Flying Battery, Ice Cap, and Launch Base.

The other half of the game would see release on November 18, 1994, which featured Knuckles as a playable character and Lock-On technology that allowed it to make the character playable in Sonics 2 & 3. Moreover, it made Sonic 3 a more complete gaming experience. The levels added were Mushroom Valley, Sandopolis, Lava Reef, Sacred Temple [2], Sky Sanctuary, Death Egg, and Doomsday [3].

Both games proved to be a success, allowing Sega to hold its own against Nintendo’s Super Metroid and Donkey Kong Country. Knuckles proved to be such a popular character after his introduction in both the comic and Fox Kids animated series that Sega decided to feature the echidna in his own game for the launch of the Sega Saturn in September 1995 while the Sega Technical Institute worked on the Blue Blur’s 32-bit debut scheduled for 1996.

[1] The only discernible difference between Neon Carnival and its OTL counterpart is the name and some aesthetic elements.

[2] Essentially the same as OTL Hidden Palace, but fleshed out into a full “two act” (though more 1.5 act) zone with Knuckles serving as the Act One boss. Act Two is shorter and focuses on Eggman’s siege of the temple (introducing the Egg Robos) and theft of the Master Emerald. There is no true “boss” for narrative reasons.

[3] Provided you are playing as Sonic and collect the seven Chaos Emeralds.