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November 2022 goes to be an enormous month for Justice Society followers because the group returns in a brand new Justice Society of America ongoing, in addition to The New Golden Age one-shot and a brand new miniseries referred to as Stargirl: The Lost Children. The larger shock is the revelation of the Huntress’s return on the covers for each Justice Society of America and The New Golden Age. Since the Huntress that is strongly affiliated with DC’s Golden Age group is Helena Wayne — the daughter of Earth-2’s Batman and Catwoman — there is a sturdy implication she’ll be making her Earth-0 debut, solely this time, she’s right here to remain.
Integrating Helena Wayne’s Huntress to the Earth-0 continuity has been 4 many years within the making. While 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths initially erased her from DC canon as a part of a long-term plan to simplify and streamline DC continuity, the Huntress did not keep out of fee that lengthy. Three years after Helena Wayne’s erasure, the Huntress made her Earth-0 debut as Helena Bertinelli and has been the mainstream Huntress ever since. However, there’s at all times been a particular fondness for the unique Earth-2 Huntress amongst DC followers and creators that Justice Society author Geoff Johns has been making an attempt to combine her since 2006’s Infinite Crisis.
After 2020’s Dark Nights: Death Metal re-canonized all of DC’s previous continuity as half of a bigger DC omniverse, each model of Helena Wayne that ever was and ever can be, has formally been built-in into the mainstream DC Multiverse for the Infinite Frontier period. The just one that is lacking is the Earth-2 unique that received worn out with Crisis on Infinite Earths, and that is the model of Helena Wayne that is implied to be returning on this yr’s Justice Society of America ongoing. This has vital implications for the Earth-0 variations of Batman and Catwoman, particularly since each Generations Shattered and Generations Forged established that the Golden Age Batman and his trendy counterpart are one and the identical.
Even earlier than Dark Knights: Death Metal re-canonized every part, Johns was already trying to reinstate Batman and Catwoman’s Golden Age historical past as far again in Infinite Crisis and once more in 2016’s Rebirth period. The reintegration of that historical past first appeared through the Batman Rebirth run that lasted between 2016 and 2019 when author Tom King established that Batman and Catwoman first met on the yacht as depicted Batman #1 from 1940, and met once more “for the primary time” as Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle in Batman: Year One from 1986. Johns is constant this trajectory within the Infinite Frontier period, together with Joshua Williamson because the Golden Age Batman is featured on one of many variant covers for The New Golden Age.
One of the primary items of proof that Johns intends to merge Batman and Catwoman’s Golden Age historical past with their trendy historical past is present in his 2021 Stargirl: Spring Break Special. In that one-shot, Oliver Queen/Green Arrow shares his previous historical past along with his sister Emiko Queen/Red Arrow whereas coaching her. In dialog, Oliver confirms that he’s the identical Green Arrow that appeared within the Nineteen Forties alongside Roy Harper as Speedy, and is among the unique Seven Soldiers of Victory. In his clarification for a way he and the Golden Age Green Arrow will be the identical particular person, Oliver confirms that his enemy, the Clock King, was the explanation he ended up within the Nineteen Forties earlier than making his means again to the current.
Another main clue is the looks of Per Degaton on the finish of Stargirl: Spring Break Special. After abducting Clock King to scold him about utilizing his time journey know-how (which introduced Green Arrow to the Nineteen Forties and “made a large number of issues”), Per Degaton decides to recruit him to assist him “damage lots of people.” Among the individuals he intends to harm embrace the unique Helena Wayne Huntress, who was chargeable for sabotaging two of his plans. The first plan she sabotaged was the one the place he modified the Earth’s historical past in 1942 in order that 1982 seemed prefer it by no means progressed previous the Nineteen Forties. The second plan she sabotaged ended along with his suicide after Helena Wayne as a lawyer publicly outed him as a serious menace in America vs the Justice Society.
Since Batman’s diary was central to his defeat within the occasions of America vs the Justice Society, Per Degaton has greater than a adequate cause to change his historical past in an effort to take away each him and his daughter as a menace. If Per Degaton is the explanation Batman and Catwoman now exist of their present types with their present households, then this could successfully affirm that their Golden Age historical past did really occur on Earth-0 because it initially did on pre-Crisis Earth-2, however was subsequently wiped from existence. In this case, this could set up that Batman did initially seem in 1939 similar to earlier than, with him initially assembly Dick Grayson and Selina Kyle in 1940.
If Batman and Catwoman’s Golden Age historical past nonetheless panned out on Earth-0 the identical precise means it did on Earth-2, then this could imply that Bruce and Selina nonetheless married in 1955 with Helena being born two years later in 1957. This would additionally imply Dick Grayson continued working as Robin nicely into maturity, and formally joined the Justice Society in his notorious hybrid costume in 1967. Helena Wayne nonetheless turned the Huntress in 1976 after her mom was killed by one in all her former henchmen, and joined the Justice Society after working in secret for 2 years. Bruce additionally turned police commissioner someday earlier than his loss of life in 1979.
Given that Per Degaton was imprisoned in Gotham on the time Bruce was police commissioner, this implies Bruce was nicely conscious of his plans earlier than he had the possibility to execute them in 1985, which gave him the time he wanted to put in writing the diary that led to his defeat. Since Per Degaton is a sore loser, the worst means he can damage Batman is by wiping his marriage to Catwoman and his daughter Helena out of existence and re-writing their histories in order that they by no means once more marry and Helena stays misplaced to time. With Helena discovering her means again to the current timeline in a brand new Huntress costume to presumably warn the Justice Society about Per Degaton, this would be the first time in DC historical past that Batman and Catwoman had been married on Earth-0.
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