DC Generations Is Kind Of Still Happening With Future State

Not long ago, DC Comics canceled the 5G event spearheaded by the then-co-publisher Dan Didio. The event, focusing on five generations of superheroes, would have been the next reboot for DC, only four years after Rebirth, the last reboot. Likewise, it would have been the fourth reboot in one decade. So, if DC canceled the Generations event, what is Generations: Future State?

What is Generations Future State and Can DC Make Up Their Mind on This Event?

Look at those bat ears! And he says he uses nonlethal weapons. That is a deadly headbutt. (Image: Detective Comics #1027, DC Comics)

The tease for DC Comics’ Future State came at the end of Dan Jurgens and story Generations Fractured, part of the massive Detective Comics #1027. In the new version of Generations, the heroes of various versions of DC’s past must save the current continuum. In Fractured, Batman is fighting Calendar Man when a rift in time changes everything to 1939, and the beginning of World War II. Immediately after, the post-apocalyptic hero Kamandi arrives from the future with a mission from Booster Gold. He needs Batman’s help to recruit other Golden Age heroes to save the space-time continuum.

While this is, as far as we know, a much different story than 5G would have delivered, the shared Generations title makes it a little frustrating. If they canceled Generations, why not just call this Future State? It feels like they are trying to salvage any Generations marketing by just tagging the name onto the new event.

The Beginning is the End is the Beginning for DC Comics

(Image: Detective Comics #1027, DC Comics)

Or is it “The End is the Beginning is the End?” Either way, both are great Smashing Pumpkin songs and both phrases describe the ongoing problem at DC Comics. Call it Generations or call it Future State, DC’s finger is still hovering right over the reboot button. But considering that the endless reboots is the main reason DC fired Dan Didio, it will be, if a reboot at all, a “soft” reboot.

But on the bright side? KAMANDI!

(Featured Image: Detective Comics #1027, DC Comics)

Roman Colombo finished his MFA in 2010 and now teaches writing and graphic novel literature at various Philadelphia colleges. His first novel, Trading Saints for Sinners, was published in 2014. He's currently working on his next novel and hoping to find an agent soon.