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The Justice League heroes of the 1990s come together to pay homage to an iconic cover, creating the perfect nostalgic tribute in the process. During the 90s, DC introduced a plethora of new characters, some of whom took up the mantles of classic heroes, such as Green Lantern. Now, artist Kerry Callen has brought them together in a perfect piece of fan art, complete with a major Easter Egg.
Kerry Callen has also worked for
Mad Magazine.
Kerry Callen unveiled the piece in a post on Instagram. He prefaced the post by saying the art was for a commission. The piece shows some of DC’s biggest heroes of the 1990s, such as Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, Green Arrow Connor Hawke and the Azrael Batman, sitting around a table, holding what appears to be a seance. Above them in a cloud of smoke are the heroes of the “classic” Justice League: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
The cover, a homage to Justice League of America #21, boldly declares there is a “Crisis on Earth-8.”
DC In the 1990s Took Big Risks With Their Biggest Characters
Many of DC’s 1990s Characters Continue to Make an Impact
In 1992, DC Comics published The Death of Superman, and its runaway success inspired the publisher to take big swings with their most popular heroes. After Knightfall, which saw Azrael temporarily replace Batman, came Emerald Twilight, which took Hal Jordan off the table and set the stage for Kyle Rayner’s heroic career. For a brief period, seemingly every major DC hero found themselves in a definitive storyline that would radically alter their status quo, be it a new costume or power. Even after Superman returned, DC continued this approach well until decade’s end.
Over the course of ten years, DC introduced a number of characters who continue to influence the publisher’s universe. These include the aforementioned Azrael and Kyle Rayner, as well as Connor Hawke, Superboy (Conner Kent), Steel, the Jack Knight version of Starman, Neron, and Harley Quinn. Some of these characters appear in Callen’s piece. The iconoclastic stories that gave rise to these icons have been celebrating anniversaries, leading to reappraisals, as well as nostalgia for days gone by. DC has capitalized on this wave, releasing specials for The Death of Superman and Zero Hour.
Earth-8 Should Have Been a Contender in the DC Universe
Kerry Callen Gives Fans a Tantallizing Glimpse of Earth-8
Kerry Callen’s piece contains a deep cut into DC lore: Earth-8. The piece’s “Crisis on Earth-8” is not only a reference to the classic “Crisis” stories of the Silver Age, but also to a lost world of the multiverse. As revealed in 2006’s Infinite Crisis #5, Earth-8 had been a world in DC’s pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, but it was destroyed in that event. This was a tragic loss for the DC Universe, as Earth-8 would have taken the heroic baton from Earth-1 much in the way Earth-2 passed the torch to Earth-8.
30 Years Later, DC’s ZERO HOUR Crossover Matters More than Ever
Take a journey back to the 1990s, when DC Comics released Zero Hour, an often overlooked event that helped shape the company’s future.
Earth-8 did not return to the new multiverse created in the wake of 52, but Kerry Callen has stealthily acknowledged it once existed. Infinite Crisis revealed that Rayner and other DC heroes created after the 1990s would have lived on Earth-8. The first mention of Earth-8 was no more than a throwaway reference, yet Callen has taken it and created a clever piece of fan art that taps into the wave of 90s nostalgia overtaking comics. Callen’s piece is bittersweet, revealing that DC’s 90s heroes would have one day formed their own Justice League, but were deprived of the privilege.
Source: Kerry Callen, Instagram
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