“I Don’t Grant Wishes” is my 600-word flash fiction story published by New American Legends on March 31, 2020.
Synopsis – Tommy’s home remodel has been delayed for months. And when a magical creature emerges from within the wall he’s demolishing, Tommy struggles to understand the benefit of what is being offered to him.
Read “I Don’t Grant Wishes” for free here: https://newamericanlegends.com/2020/03/31/i-dont-grant-wishes-by-jeremiah-kleckner/
JLA/Avengers, written by Kurt Busiek, is described on its Amazon page as “perhaps the most eagerly anticipated and memorable crossover of all time, as the Justice League of America unites with The Avengers. Superman, Batman, and the other members of the JLA join forces with Captain America, Iron Man, and the many other Avengers to fight a threat so immense it threatens two entire dimensions.” This was the ultimate Marvel/DC event, featuring hundreds of character cameos as well as headlining bouts like Superman vs Thor!
But are the events that played out in this adventure considered canon?
In regards to fictional universes, canon refers to everything that is judged to be included in the history, setting, circumstances, and overall makeup of the property. When the property is written by a single creator, then that person is responsible for acknowledging what is or is not canon. When it comes to much larger properties, the publisher sets the guideline that keeps contributing authors writing stories in the universe that “fit” in the continuity of what is expected for characters and events.
When ranking the validity of different types of evidence, I’d consider the following in order:
Now, let’s get to the evidence…
This one is pretty easy since the author of JLA/Avengers also wrote a JLA arc that included overt references to the events of the crossover in its story. Kurt Busiek wrote it. DC published it on its comic pages. JLA/Avengers is clearly canon in DC.
The events of JLA/Avengers is referred to in JLA #107.
© DC Comics
© DC Comics
© DC Comics
In JLA #111, also written by Kur Busiek, Owlman explains that the Crime Syndicate reboot is a result of the events of the JLA/Avengers crossover.
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© DC Comics
In addition to this, DC used the Cosmic Egg that appeared at the end of JLA/Avengers. In Trinity #7, John Stewart refers to the Avengers as “Others.”
© DC Comics
Marvel repeatedly acknowledged the canonicity of the events that took place in JLA/Avengers in their 2008, 2011, and 2012 sourcebooks. These were all titled the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, published by Marvel themselves.
The Terminus entry states, “In a distant cosmos, he arrived on another Earth and began to rampage across its USA attracting and battling a league of justice-seeking superheroes. Though Terminus easily resisted even their mightiest warrior, their detective correctly deduced the importance of Terminus’ power lance. Combining their minds via their telepath, the heroes assaulted Terminus on several levels, then dumped him into thinking they were trying to steal his lance. As Terminus unleashed a potent blast of power through the lance, one of the heroes channeled the energy back at Terminus, blasting a hole in his helmet and incapacitating him. A being of high power from that universe then dispatched Terminus back to the Earth-616 reality.”
© Marvel Comics
© Marvel Comics – © DC Comics
© Marvel Comics – © DC Comics
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© Marvel Comics – © DC Comics
In Monica’s entry, it mentions “the will-powered energies” of an “emerald gladiator.” That’s a reference to a GL (Kyle Raynor) who she fought in JLA/Avengers.
© Marvel Comics
© Marvel Comics – © DC Comics
© Marvel Comics – © DC Comics
The Galactus entry reads that he was “assaulted by yet another extra-dimensional powerhouse, who sought the origins of the universe, but he recovered via the actions of the Avengers and a league of heroes from another reality.”
© Marvel Comics
© Marvel Comics – © DC Comics
© Marvel Comics – © DC Comics
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Avengers’ entry says that they “teamed with the league of heroes from a divergent cosmos to save both their universes from a cosmic scholar turned semi-omnipotent destroyer.”
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© Marvel Comics – © DC Comics
© Marvel Comics – © DC Comics
The Grandmaster’s entry recounts nearly the entire plot of JLA/Avengers.
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© Marvel Comics – © DC Comics
© Marvel Comics – © DC Comics
The events in JLA/Avengers is canon because it is acknowledged in publications from both Marvel and DC since its release.
Is it just me or are there a ton more articles about our imminent demise lately?
It could be an organized campaign to keep us clicking on these and related links, but I can’t help but I think that there may be something to it.
Earth ‘entering new extinction phase’ – US study (Regarding the unfolding Sixth Mass Extinction.)
Big Five mass extinction events (In case you were wondering what the first five were all about.)
Okay, so we’re done. It’s been a hell of a ride, but what happens on our way out? Unlike the dinosaurs, we’re not expected to die off right away. What does our slow death as a species look like?
The History Channel made a documentary called Life After People (followed by a series with the same title). The original documentary is embedded below, but the timeline of the collapse of our bridges, buildings and achievements is pretty clear. Between one and three hundred years, most of our steel and concrete icons are gone. After 1000 years without consistent and organized upkeep, there would be very little evidence that we existed.
That’s the thing about this. The structural decay and neglect described in the documentary would happen even if mankind wasn’t totally wiped out. The rapid loss of 85% of our population due to hunger and mass murder would destabilize governments and throw us into anarchy. I doubt that people would be concerned with maintaining bridges and buildings while they are foraging for food and picking each other’s bones clean.
A REVOLUTION/MAD MAX/THE WALKING DEAD/DIVERGENT/HUNGER GAMES style world will happen pretty quickly. Nations will break up into territories. Roving bands of survivors will scrape along, dying off one by one. Psychopaths and their cults have a grand old time hoarding resources and killing everyone they come across. But our buildings are still there. People tell stories of our culture and our history.
Chicago in DIVERGENT looks to be in pretty good shape, maybe under 100 years without upkeep.
As terrible as it would be, think of life as it is shown in GAME OF THRONES as our best case scenario.
Ignore the magic and dragons and White Walkers for a minute and follow me on this. (Those could all be remnants of whatever scientific advances in genetics and self-replicating nanotechnology we make between now and our fall anyway.)
All structures and physical markers of the past are gone and a new “ancient” history is being recorded. Whichever bands of humans survive create fiefdoms and monetary systems. War is everywhere, which is a sure sign that we’re not done killing ourselves yet.
Most importantly, the GAME OF THRONES world features a global climate that is in a constant state of change. As a point of reference, this environment that we live in currently is different in air composition and seasonal makeup than the environment the dinosaurs thrived in 100 million years ago. Perhaps whatever environmental shifts that nearly wipe us out in the Sixth Mass Extinction are still in the process of changing 10,000 years from now.
We live on. I’m just glad that I won’t live long enough to witness any of it. Good luck.
I had a conversation with an author friend of mine about this yesterday. There are differences between science fiction and fantasy, but few understand how to explain those differences.
Dictionary.com defines Science Fiction as “a form of fiction that draws imaginatively on scientific knowledge and speculation in its plot, setting, theme, etc.”
Meanwhile, Wikipedia states that “Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary plot element, theme, or setting.”
Both definitions are adequate enough. However, the most important factor in distinguishing the difference between the two is also the simplest.
It is all in how the author explains the characters and the situations.
Don’t believe me? Try this…
Hulk steps out onto a street and throws a car. He can do this because his cells are juiced with gamma radiation. He’s a science fiction character.
Thor steps out onto the same street and throws an equally heavy boulder. He can do this because he is a powerful god of thunder. As long as he is a god, he is a fantasy character. If you start calling him an alien, he’ll slip into science fiction just as easily.
Wonder Woman follows the two of them out and throws a different car. Depending on which origin you are reading, she is either a clay baby made by Hippolyta and blessed by Hera or the demigod child of Hippolyta and Zeus. Either way, she’s a fantasy character doing the same work as the boys.
There is no real difference, not in storytelling or in the abilities of the characters themselves. The line between Fantasy and Science Fiction takes place in the author’s explanation of why his or her characters can do the things that are beyond our abilities.
More Posts By Cynical Sci-Fi
Batman and Robin in the Batmobile
As the only pure human, Batman represents us in a world of superpeople. So why does he need to go so dark to do what he needs to do? Moreover, what does it say about us that he needs to be so dark for us to accept him as a relevant hero?
The Batman of the ’60s didn’t have armor. He wore bright clothing and drove around in a convertible with his teenage sidekick. He made jokes. He spent his money on expensive cars and state-of-the-art technology like Shark Repellant.
Shark Repellant
He didn’t need any help winning fights. Going dark didn’t help with that. It’s probably the opposite. Try convincing someone today that the modern Batman could take down the Hulk.
Old School Batman beats the Hulk
We did. The last fifty years has shown us some pretty harsh truths about our world. Wars. International Terrorism. Pervasive Economic Greed and Instability. All of these things existed before, but are now a daily part of our lives thanks to the global network of cameras and information that are nearly impossible to ignore.
Somewhere along the line we stopped believing in Shark Repellant. The convertible Batmobile was fine until snipers rose out of solely military use and into our collective awareness. Soon, a man in grey and blue tights looked small compared to the problems we saw.
Dark Knight Returns
First came Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns (1986), the story of an aging Bruce Wayne and how he deals with the way the world is turning out. This story didn’t take place in the regular Batman world. It was a possible future, one way that the character could turn out.
We liked it. It changed our view of Batman. He became colder and more detached. We liked it so much that we began to take things from him, most notably Robin. A Death in the Family (1988-1989) gave us the chance to tear a piece off of Batman and we took it with glee. DC let fans vote whether to kill off the current Robin. We did, permanently darkening Batman.
Tim Burton’s Batman
Also in 1989, Tim Burton directed the first Batman feature film since Adam West wore the costume. The tone was dark and Batman was in an all black armored suit. He was a fierce and humorless fighter and we couldn’t get enough of it.
The Jokes were gone. Batman became an overworked and under supported shell of himself. Even after training a new Robin, he was still driving himself past his limits. One villain caught on to this and exploited his weakness. In Knightfall (1993-1994), Bane broke the Batman we knew once and for all.
Bane Confronts Batman
Bane Breaks Batman
He came back as something different. Batman is now someone who we consider believable. He is aggressive. He is armored. He is unwilling (or unable) to make friends. He drives a tank and has extensive training. He has access to technology that keeps him ahead of his friends and foes.
The Modern Batman
The weird part is that we like him better this way.
Jeremiah Kleckner 