Now that “The Power of Shazam” has wrapped up, we’re going to be doing a tour through crossovers and odd appearances over the next few weeks. Today, we look at two very different, but very fun crossovers from a six month period between late 1999 and early 2000, “Day of Judgment” and “Sins of Youth.”
Written by Geoff Johns, Peter David, Scott Beatty, and Dan Curtis JacksonCover by Mike Wieringo
Penciled by Matthew Dow Smith, Todd Nauck, Lee Moder, Terry Dodson, Sunny Lee, and Carlo Barberi
Inked by Steve Mitchell, Larry Stucker, Dan Davis, Rachel Dodson, Norm Rapmund, Wayne Faucher, and Juan Vlasko
Colored by Jim Sinclair, Jason Wright, Tom J. McGraw, and Pat Garrahy
Lettered by Comicraft, Ken Lopez, Bill Oakley, and Dave Lanphear[Solicitation for “Sins of Youth” #1]“Sins of Youth” part 1 of 12! The media attack on Young Justice heats up while, at the same time, Old Justice and the mysterious group called the Agenda launch a more direct assault on our heroes, leading DC’s young heroes to become adults and the elder statesmen and women of the DCU to turn young. Continued in SUPERBOY #74.
“Day of Judgement” is an incredibly important crossover that, shockingly, is not in print, even digitally. While this is a reasonably self-contained event without too many direct consequences for the greater DC Universe, there is one component that still affects comics today: the rehabilitation of Hal Jordan. Though started in “The Final Night,” this is really where Jordan becomes a vital piece of the DC Universe again. Rescued from Purgatory, Hal becomes the new soul tethered to the Spectre.
I know I just spoiled the event, but y’all likely knew this, or if you didn’t, you knew that Hal was still a Green Lantern in 2019, which is possible due to this event. This event does a lot of really great stuff with the magical characters of the DC Universe and, for the first time since ‘War of the Gods,’ really treats Captain Marvel as an important part of the crossover in a way that couldn’t be filled by someone else.
Cap is important here, both for his tether to magic and his connection to the gods, and is responsible for grabbing the Spear of Destiny from space. The Spear corrupts Starfire, but Billy is able to use the Stamina of Achilles to prevent it from turning him. This is a really good use of Cap, written by his eventual New 52/Rebirth scribe Geoff Johns. In fact, Johns, more than anyone else who has written Billy post-Crisis, really showcases how the various gods inside of him play out in different ways. Jerry Ordway did a little of this, but focused more on what the gods, in chorus, helped him do. Here, Johns is more spotlighting/identifying what is needed at each time from the various forces.
The Marvels also get to hang out in the JSA-adjacent world for the first time really, guest starring in “Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.” #4, again written by Johns. This would eventually become a more regular event, but here, it feels somewhat novel to see Cap alongside Justice Society members. This issue, as well as the entire event, really puts Captain Marvel in the spotlight and doesn’t shy away from his powers or his effectiveness as a member of the Justice League. It’s so weird that this happened after his series was cancelled.
But the best part of “Day of Judgment” is the artwork of Matthew Dow Smith. Smith brings a Mike Mignola-esque style to these heroes, that instantly put the book in the visual ballpark of “Cosmic Odyssey,” one of the best DC events of all time. Smith’s art is gloriously unconcerned with drawing the biggest muscles or sexiest outfits, instead focusing on storytelling and character moments. That’s not saying that these characters don’t look great, or look like we’ve grown accustomed to them looking like, but Smith puts far more attention on the visual language of the pages than he does on trying to draw pin-ups. His effort is greatly appreciated.
Overall, this crossover touches so many corners of the DC Universe, but doesn’t feel overstuffed or rushed. This is a really well paced mini that tells a complete story that builds up so many corners of the DCU, and yet doesn’t pretend to ‘change everything forever.’ Reading this just makes me sad at what Johns’s DC career has become, either through his fault or through outside forces.
Continued below“Sins of Youth” is a totally different type of event. Spinning out of “Young Justice,” this event is essentially a humorous story with a few dramatic moments. Klarion the Witch Boy (I refuse to write ‘dum dum dum’ each time) along with Cadmus has de-aged all the adult heroes (including Captain Marvel), while aging up all the teen heroes (including Mary Marvel). Hijinks ensue, of course, before things are more or less put right.
This event was shepherded by Peter David, who was in the midst of one of his “Young Justice” run, and who had built up this generation of heroes that had come up in the prior decade into something really special. What Brian Bendis is currently doing in “Young Justice” is more or less a direct result of this run, and the run itself had a very specific tone, which is carried over to all the tie-ins. Well, save one.
“Superboy” #74 is the only tie-in that wasn’t specifically labeled ‘Sins of Youth,’ and it is also the only issue that really takes a different tone, and its tone is far more somber and serious. That’s, obviously, due to the fact that Kon-El’s girlfriend gets melted in front of him. Yep. That’s a thing.
Aside from that, the tone is upbeat and silly, even when serious things are happening. The silly tone sometimes pushes a bit too far, and the book can be bogged down in superheroes acting like 8 year olds. Its funny for a few scenes, but eventually gets pretty tiresome.
However, much like ‘Day of Judgment,’ this event uses a lot of the Shazam mythos in interesting ways. Here, we see the de-aged Justice League enter the Rock of Eternity and interact with the Wizard Shazam, as well as see various JL members be compared to the Seven Deadly Sins of Man, in a fun sequence.
But there is some real weirdness in the “Sins of Youth Secret Origins” special where we see the aforementioned Mary Marvel become an ‘adult,’ where Billy got de-aged. Billy and Mary are twins, so shouldn’t they have both gone in one direction or another? Not only that, but their ‘hero’ selves are adult, so it seems like they should’ve been aged down, like Billy was. Because, even if Mary was somehow in her civvies when she was aged up, wouldn’t her version of Captain Marvel stay the same?
We get different examples in different books of how the aging of Captain Marvel works, but in extremes. In “Kingdom Come,” Billy grows up to look just like Captain Marvel, and when he transforms, he doesn’t become a 60 year old Cap, but looks the same. We’ve also seem a much older Billy with long white hair in the Rock of Eternity, like the “Power of Shazam” Annual, or in the #1,000,000 issue. But those are instances where hundreds or thousands of years have passed; I still don’t see how Mary’s Marvel version seems like a 30 year old woman who is somewhat different than the usual 25 year old version she transforms into.
But overall, this is a fun event that managed to do some good mythology stuff. Can we get more events like this at DC again?
Stray Observations:
– DC really needs to bring more of these “Day of Judgment” characters into Justice League Dark, or a Shadowpact book, or something of the like. Faust, in particular, really shines here.
– Of all of the things the New 52 messed up, this era of the JSA may be the worst consequence. The various generations, all mixed together, led to some amazing storytelling. Damn you, DiDio!
– In “Sins of Youth,” Billy is portrayed as a narc again. I wish they would either stick with that characterization of him as a goody two shoes or drop it totally. This back and forth shit is never acknowledged, so it just seems like lazy writing.
– Hey look, de-aged Alan Scott is called “Teen Lantern.” Answer for that, Bendis!
– LOL, off-brand Pokemon characters are brought into “Sins of Youth.”
Next week: the first of two miscellany weeks, which will lead us to our season finale on October 16th with “Shazam: The Power of Hope!”
