Review: Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating the DC Universe, Volume 1

Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating the DC Universe, Vol. 1 by Stan Lee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In 2001-2002, DC Comics published a series of comics books imagining Stan Lee what the DC Universe would had been light had Stan Lee created it (or more aptly what it would have been like had Stan Lee created in the early 21st Century.)This collects the first four issues, imagining Stan Lee's version of Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Green Lantern.

The key to enjoying this book is to remember what it is and what it isn't. The book does not set out to offer new and improved versions of DC's heroes. As Lee said on the back, "Please don't think for one minute that this is an attempt to improve on any of the truly great characters that have become legendary throughout the world." Rather, Lee creates a Staniverse, characters with the same name but entirely different origins that should be judged on their own merit.

Stan Lee's Batman is a black ex-con and pro-wrestler who fights to avenge his wrongful imprisonment the death of his parents. His father died at the hands of a local crime lord. His mother died while he was in prison for a crime he didn't committed. Wonder Woman is from Peru and receives her powers through Incan rather than Greek mythology and seeks to stop a man who killed her father. Superman is an intergalactic policeman who has to be extra tough because he's the only member of the force not genetically altered. However, when he lands on Earth, he finds himself the most powerful man on the planet. He seeks to avenge his wife's death and get home. Finally, Green Lantern is an archaeologist who finds the tree of life.

The stories occasionally pepper in the names of traditional DC characters. Steve Trevor appears in the Wonder Woman story with Diana Prince in the back up feature. Superman does adopt the identity of Clark Kent based on reading a couple signs (although, he could have just as easily adopted the identity of Peter Parker) and hires an aggressive agent named Lois Lane. It's worth noting that far more characters in this story became heroes through deaths than in the traditional DC universe. Of the four, only Batman became a hero that way in mainstream, but in the Staniverse only Green Lantern didn't, and even he lost someone he'd been interested in, though in a pretty shallow way.

Personal pain and tragedy is more often a motivator for Lee-created superheroes than for DC's traditional stable. Other Lee touches are present as well. The Batman story is evocative in some ways of Spider-man with Batman's wrestling and the Green Lantern looks a lot like a glowing green Silver Surfer.

The villain is Reverend Dominic Darrk, a classic Dr. Doomlike villain preaching hate and evil in his crossless church.

Overall, while none of the characters are going to replace the mainstream DC continuity, for a thought experiment, the book is fun and well-put together. I'll look forward to future volumes and see how the plot lines all resolve themselves.



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