MORE THAN ZERO: ZERO MONTH 20 YEARS LATER

In 1994 DC Comics published Zero Hour, a five issue mini-series designed to not only serve as a major summer crossover but also fix some of the continuity problems that had plagued their universe after the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths.  Some have suggested that Zero Hour caused more problems than it fixed but at the time it was the dawn of an exciting new era for DC.  To kick off this new age DC followed Zero Hour with Zero Month.  As the name suggests all of the main DC books were rolled back to zero though each one had a different approach to the idea  Some books featured a new origin.  Some contained tweaks to the existing origin.  Some contained brand new versions of old characters.  All of them served as a jumping on point for new and old readers alike.  

To celebrate this new era (or perhaps to bury it) some of us in the comic book blogging community have banded together from remote galaxies to discuss how the characters we cover were rebooted/revamped by looking at the solicitations of our character's zero issues as well as delving into the Wizard Magazine Zero Hour Special, which was a magazine published around the time of Zero Hour to promote the series, what was coming next and the history of DC in general.

Up first is the Zero Hour Special...

Huh.  That's certainly one way to put it -- "the past several years" seems a bit generous considering that Hawkworld had come out in 1991. I do find it odd as well that they go to Dan Jurgens for a quote when Bill Messener-Loebs is the one who really orchestrated the revamp of Hawkman.  But, it is a nice little summary of the changes which happened to the Winged Wonder in the wake of Zero Hour.  I especially like the last paragraph, including how Hawkman would "strive to find his place in the post-Zero Hour DC Universe," which given the events of "Eyes Of The Hawk" and "Way Of The Warrior."  It was not to last, but then again, who does?

And now the solicit from DC... 

"Unguessable impact" seems pretty prophetic, since I doubt anyone could have guessed at the eventual end of the "Hawkgod" / "merged" Hawkman storyline!  I do have to laugh that DC made a point of mentioning that Hawkman was going to tangle with Badblood, like that would be a selling point. I do like the subtle bit of hype at the beginning, with the new direction "redefining and expanding Hawkman's role."  It had the best of intentions, so who am I to question that? 

As this is a blog crossover be sure to check out the links below to find out how other characters were treated during Zero Month.

• Firestorm Fan
• The Aquaman Shrine
• The Legion of Super Bloggers
• Pop Culture Affidavit
• The Speed Force
• The Fortress of Baileytude
• Corps Conjecture

And a big shoutout to Mike Bailey of The Fortress of Baileytude for bringing this whole crossover shindig together!

Convergence: Hawkman #2 Variant Cover by Chip Kidd

Keeping with the theme from the first month of Convergence, the second month's offerings also feature variant covers designed by Chip Kidd. including this alternate cover to Convergence: Hawkman #2.  

These covers are all essentially the same as the first set of variants, just with the color "wipe" on the opposite side of the cover.  I guess that makes sense, but honestly I was expecting something a little more creative -- maybe the "wipe" having covered the older version of the hero to be replaced with the current New 52 version?  Like reality was warping and the cover was changing?  I'm spit balling here, but that's just my opinion.  Still, the bold use of color on these covers does make them "pop," similar to how Marvel made a lot of their Civil War tie in books stand out on the shelves by using half covers with high contrast, two color symmetrical covers.

So what do you folks think?  Will you be seeking out the Chip Kidd covers for the Convergence tie-ins or sticking with the regularly solicited covers?

Image: Convergence: Hawkman #2 variant cover, 2015, Chip Kidd.