Bullet Review: The Other History Of The DC Universe #5

 The Other Side of the DC Universe #5 came out last week focusing on Thunder. It was an interesting capstone on the series since we started with a look at Black Lightning and his dealings regarding race. Now we see the look from his daughter who is dealing not only with race issue but sexuality as well. Kudos to writer John Ridley and artist Giuseppe Camuncoli for putting this issue and this series together.

As a big fan of DC history, I have found this to be an excellent series overall looking at the history of this comic universe from a different perspective. Hey, I am still learning. And as steeped in DC lore as this was, I could appreciate the story angles as it pertained to the cultural issues.

I don't know if I like hearing Black Lightning is a homophobe. That seemed a bit out of left field. But I did like seeing him as an overprotective dad. That I empathized with 100%.

I will freely admit that the Outsiders is a sort of blind spot for me. So I don't know if I knew any of the story references in here. I do wonder what people who read all these stories thought of this.

But I come here today to wonder once again if John Ridley is a Supergirl fan. She had already been mentioned pretty significantly in both Other History #1 and Other History #2. And here in this issue, she is name-dropped.

And as this is a story from the 90s, we are probably talking Matrix here.

Bullet Review: The Other History Of The DCU #2

The Other History of the DC Universe #2 came out last week and was another very interesting look at classic Bronze Age DC history through the lens of minority characters. This time it is Mal Duncan and Bumblebee. 

Written by John Ridley with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, the issue is a nice slice of DC history, walking us through the history of the Teen Titans and Mal and Karen's interactions with the team. We are talking about real-life timing of these stories, for the most part, with Ridley placing this squarely in the 70s and early 80s. 

I like that this issue we hear both characters recollection of not only the trials and tribulations of the Titans, of Mal's desire to be accepted and how he just wished to be super, and Karen's legit super-powers but her reluctance to toe the line. But Ridley also throws in actual Earth history - Arthur Ashe's victory at Wimbledon and the busing riots in Boston. 

Like last month, Ridley stuffs the issue with iconic images of DC history. It is a great read. And Camuncoli does a great job with the art, doing homages but also keeping it all very grounded when he has to.

But this is a Supergirl blog. And I have to say, I think Ridley is a Supergirl fan. Because just like last month (see here: http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com/2020/12/bullet-review-other-history-of-dc.html ), there is a lot of Supergirl in this book. 

And Ridley treats her with great respect and admiration. 

Read on!

Bullet Review: The Other History Of The DC Universe #1

The Other Side of the DC Universe came out last week and it has been appropriately lauded as a look at marginalized groups and their place in the classic DCU.

Written by John Ridley with inventive art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, the book looks at the early career of Black Lightning and how he struggled as an African-American in the DC world. As a long time fan of DC, Ridley really hits my sweet spot of the Bronze Age, showing us scenes pulled directly from the original Black Lightning series and the classic Justice League of America 2-parter where the JLA invites Lightning to join their team, but do it in the most terrible way. I read those issues off the racks. But now I am looking at it from a different viewpoint.

Ridley puts us firmly in the mind of Jefferson Pierce and how he responds to the world around him. In particular, Pierce's thoughts on Jon Stewart and how Green Lantern acts in the DCU is fascinating.

 I am glad this book is on the shelf.

And I was glad that we got a Supergirl moment. For me, it meant that Ridley considered her an important part of the DCU. It even leans into more Silver Age Kara history and that makes me happy.