One Year Later

Synopsis

Following the events of the "Infinite Crisis" storyline, every DC comic series jumped ahead in-story by one year. The events of the missing year were depicted in real time in the weekly comic book series 52. The "One Year Later" storyline started in March 2006, starting the same week that Infinite Crisis #5 went to press, and before the first issue of 52. Most first issues bearing the "One Year Later" logo were the first parts of multi-issue storylines, and featured major changes to the status quo of each character, often intentionally left unexplained as these details would be filled in by the remaining issues of Infinite Crisis and the 52 series.

Numerous prominent heroes were missing or inactive for most of the year as the "One Year Later" issues commenced. Heroes known to have been gone for the missing year were Aquaman, Batman, Blue Beetle, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, Nightwing, Robin, Superman and Wonder Woman. The Flash went missing, but Jay Garrick had been protecting Keystone City in his absence.

The DC Trinity

The year-long absence of the three most prominent superheroes of the DC Comics universe—Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman—and their return to active duty was a significant part of both the "One Year Later" series and 52 series.

The Superman storyline "Up, Up and Away!", was co-written by Geoff Johns and Kurt Busiek, with art by Pete Woods (and two issues by Renato Guedes), and cover art by Terry and Rachel Dodson. The four-month, eight-part introductory story arc ran through both Action Comics #837–840 and Superman #650–653. The story features a depowered Clark Kent who, having lost his powers in the climax of Infinite Crisis, uses his skills as a journalist to defend Metropolis from both organized crime and Lex Luthor, who is newly bankrupt and disgraced due to his actions in the series 52. Superman regains his powers in time to battle the embittered Luthor, who is seeking revenge on him and wielding Kryptonian technology.

The Batman storyline "Face the Face", was written by James Robinson, with art by Leonard Kirk and Don Kramer. It ran through Detective Comics #817–820 and Batman #651–654.

The storyline concerns Batman and Robin's return to Gotham City after a year-long absence, and their investigation of an unknown person who has been murdering other supervillains (including Ventriloquist and KGBeast) These villains appear to be connected to Harvey Dent, who has reformed and taken up battling crime on Batman's behalf during the latter's absence. It is learned that Dent is not responsible for the killings; the mastermind is Great White Shark, who has established himself as Gotham's reigning crime boss. Dent's resulting stress, paranoia, and resentment of being under suspicion leads to the return of his Two-Face persona and his self-scarring, thus returning him to his life of crime. In the finale, Bruce Wayne offers to adopt Tim Drake, whose parents had previously died.

In addition to the return of Two-Face, "One Year Later" also saw the reappearance of several other significant elements of the Batman mythos that had previously been written out or retired, including the return of James Gordon as Gotham's police commissioner and Detective Harvey Bullock.

Unlike the Batman and Superman series, Wonder Woman was reintroduced with a new volume at issue one in June 2006. The introductory storyline was titled "Who Is Wonder Woman?" and was written by Allan Heinberg, with art by Terry and Rachel Dodson.

Storylines

Green Lantern leads an assault on the Guardians' Manhunters and their new self-proclaimed leader the Cyborg Superman, and in the process manages to free Ke'Haan, Laira, Jack T. Chance, Honnu, Graf Toren, Kreon, and Boodikka, who were previously presumed dead. The Lanterns rejoin the Green Lantern Corps shortly thereafter.

A new Aquaman (named Arthur Joseph Curry) appears and allies himself with King Shark and the Dweller of the Depths. The original Aquaman (Orin) has mysteriously disappeared.

A revised Doom Patrol debuts.

Bart Allen becomes the new Flash.

Captain Atom is imprisoned within Blüdhaven by the military.

Initially, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd both operate in New York City as Nightwing, but Jason uses lethal force. Jason eventually returns to the Red Hood identity.

Hawkman has been missing for a year, and Hawkgirl has taken his place as St. Roch's protector.

Lorraine Reilly replaces Martin Stein as a component member of Firestorm following his disappearance.

Lady Shiva and Gypsy join Oracle's team in Birds of Prey. Black Canary returns, and Shiva takes Bethany Thorne, daughter of Matthew Thorne, the Crime Doctor as her student.

Oliver Queen is the mayor of Star City and has not appeared in public as Green Arrow for a year.

Cassandra Cain, under the influence of Deathstroke, has become the new leader of the League of Assassins.

Robin leads the Teen Titans, which now includes Cyborg, Kid Devil, and Ravager (Rose Wilson). The mysterious new Titans East is based in New York. Robin is secretly trying to reclone Superboy, who was killed during Infinite Crisis. Beast Boy and Raven have broken up and left the team.

Cancellations

In line with of the events of Infinite Crisis and 52, DC Comics canceled some of its long-running series, including; Wonder Woman vol. 2, The Flash vol. 2 (which was restarted after the death of Bart Allen), Gotham Central, Batman: Gotham Knights, Plastic Man, JLA, Superman vol. 2, and Batgirl.

Renaming

Adventures of Superman has been renamed to simply Superman, restoring the original title of this series with issue #650.

Aquaman is renamed Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis with issue #40, starring a new lead character.

Firestorm is retitled Firestorm: The Nuclear Man from issue #23 onwards.

Hawkman is renamed Hawkgirl from issue #50 onward.

Legion of Super-Heroes is renamed Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes starting with issue #16. The title also used a "1,001 Years Later" logo for several issues.

New series

As they are new titles, many of the following do not have the "One Year Later" to indicate a time jump since the previous issue.

Spin-offs from the Countdown to Infinite Crisis mini-series:

Checkmate was an ongoing series spun off of The OMAC Project, with writer Greg Rucka and artist Jesus Saiz. The series ended with issue #31 in October 2008.

Secret Six is a six-issue limited series spun off from Villains United, with writer Gail Simone and artist Brad Walker. An ongoing series began in September 2008.

Shadowpact was launched as an ongoing series spun off from Day of Vengeance, with writer and artist Bill Willingham. It concluded in May 2008 with issue #25.

Follow-ups to Infinite Crisis:

Blue Beetle has a new character following in the footsteps of Ted Kord, written by Keith Giffen and John Rogers, with art by Cully Hamner. The series concluded in February 2009 with issue #36.

Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Blüdhaven is a six-issue limited series written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Grey, with art by Dan Jurgens and Palmiotti.

Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre is a three-issue limited series written by Will Pfeifer with art by Cliff Chiang.

Ion is a 12-issue limited series spun off from Green Lantern and Rann-Thanagar War, with writer Ron Marz and artist Greg Tocchini.

Relaunches:

The Flash: Fastest Man Alive was started with the first seven issues written by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo (the producers of the 1990s Flash TV series) with art by Ken Lashley. With the death of Bart Allen at the hands of the Rogues in issue #13, and the subsequent return of Wally West to the DCU, this title has reverted to being called The Flash, and picked up its numbering from prior to the name change. Thus The Flash #231 was released in August 2007 and ran through to December 2008 with issue #247. The title was put on hiatus prior to release of The Flash: Rebirth in April 2009. A subsequent reissuing of a new Flash title chronicling the new adventures of Barry Allen began in April 2010, but was brought to an end at issue #12 ahead of the Flashpoint DC Comics event. A new Flash title began in September 2011 as part of the DC Comics decision to relaunch 52 titles from issue #1.

Significant events of the lost year

Aquaman

Aquaman's mysterious disappearance was subsequently followed by the arrival of one Arthur Joseph Curry. This new Arthur's origin appears to be similar to the Golden Age Aquaman's. Arthur meets 'The Dweller', who has an enchanted hand similar to Orin's and has been confirmed to be the original Aquaman. 'The Dweller' also tells Arthur of his future, which seems to be describing past events involving the original Aquaman.

Freedom of Power Treaty

There is a new Freedom of Power Treaty. The specifics and structure have not been detailed, but it appears to place limits on the activities of heroes outside their nation of origin. Having broken the treaty numerous times, Hal Jordan is considered a criminal by most of the world. Only the Rocket Red Brigade, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and the Outsiders have been confirmed to be affected by it (Green Lantern #10, 2006). The Outsiders operated illegally and underground with all current members at the time (excluding Nightwing) presumed dead by the general public. As well as this, the Chinese government has formed a team called the Great Ten in the intervening year, and is currently working on a supersoldier program.

Gotham City

James Gordon has returned to the role of Gotham City Police Commissioner. Although the exact details have not been revealed as yet, it is known that his return - and that of Harvey Bullock - to the GCPD follows the cracking of a major corruption case in the GCPD by Bullock. Harvey Dent, believed cured of the multiple-personality disorder/psychosis issues that created his Two-Face persona, has been in charge of keeping Gotham safe as a result of a deal with Batman.

Superboy memorials

Monuments to the fallen hero have been erected in at least two locations:

In Metropolis, the statue depicting Superman holding an eagle dating back to his first battle with Doomsday has been joined by one of Superboy (as seen in Action Comics #837), honoring his sacrifice and actions during Infinite Crisis. 52 #1 depicts the memorial, apparently erected within only a few days of Superboy's death.

A second statue is erected in front of Titans Tower in San Francisco.

Aftermath

One of the more noticeable occurrences to come out of Infinite Crisis and One Year Later was the change in Batman's demeanor. He has become more accepting of others' opinions, is more polite, and apologizes to allies when he makes errors in judgment. This does not change his approach to crime, however. Some may argue that while he has "softened" his approach to his friends, he has hardened his approach to his enemies.

Many Silver Age components have been reintroduced to Superman and his supporting cast. The character of Mon-El, the interior design of the Fortress of Solitude, Superman starting his career by being known as a "super-boy" (sans uniform), and his teenage membership in the Legion of Super-Heroes are all recognizable Silver Age components that were not included in continuity before Infinite Crisis. The stories are also beginning to aesthetically resemble the Superman feature films by using the same exterior design for the Fortress of Solitude, as well as modeling Jor-El after actor Marlon Brando. These changes also bring current Superman stories more in line with the television series Smallville, which incorporates many of the same elements of classic comics and the feature films.

Wonder Woman actively keeps her secret identity and has a flirtatious relationship with Nemesis, a co-worker at the Department of Metahuman Affairs. The finale of the "Who is Wonder Woman" arc established that her secret identity is now a physical as well as aesthetic transformation; as "Diana Prince", she is physically a normal human, regaining her powers only when she transforms into Wonder Woman.

Bart Allen's tenure as The Flash was one of the shorter lived occurrences, as the new series starring him lasted 13 issues, the last of which included the character's death. Predecessor Wally West has since retaken the mantle of the Flash. Many heroes, most notably members of the Teen Titans, mourn his loss. This has also led into a subplot in DC's weekly series Countdown to Final Crisis, where many heroes are shown to be actively searching for the Rogues who killed Bart.

The Green Lantern Corps members that were recovered from the Manhunter homeworld of Biot still despise Hal Jordan for actions Parallax committed while in control of him. Because of this, various personal cliques have formed among certain Lanterns that question Jordan being among them still. Often Jordan is defended by Green Lantern Honor Guard member Guy Gardner. The lost Lanterns proved to be valuable field Lanterns on the front lines in the Sinestro Corps War, with some of them joining the ranks of the Alpha Lanterns.