History ComicBook / DCUniverseLegacies

An old man, [[TheEveryman Paul Lincoln]], proudly displays his memorabilia and begins to tell his history...and, simultaneously, the history of the [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]]. From the streets of Suicide Slum in The40s to Washington at the end of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks to Metropolis in UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, he tells of the transition between the old-style masked heroes to the newer heroes, even as he tells his story.

* ComicBookTime: Oddly played with. Paul seems to age in "real time", as if the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] happened in The60s, ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' in The90s, and it's currently 2011. But the heroes, and the villains and supporting characters ... don't.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Paul comments that once the ComicBook/DoomPatrol died, [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks everything seemed to get darker]]. The Joker used to be just a prankster, then gassed a bank (including his own men) and when ComicBook/{{Batman}} asked why, he replied, "It's Thursday! [[ForTheEvulz Isn't that reason enough?]]"
* EndOfAnAge: The end of UsefulNotes/{{The Golden Age|OfComicBooks}}...
** DawnOfAnEra: ... and the beginning of UsefulNotes/{{The Silver Age|OfComicBooks}}.

* ComicBookTime: Oddly played with. Paul seems to age in "real time", as if the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] happened in the sixties, ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' in the nineties, and it's currently 2011. But the heroes, and the villains and supporting characters ... don't.

An old man, [[TheEveryman Paul Lincoln]], proudly displays his memorabilia and begins to tell his history...and, simultaneously, the history of the [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]]. From the streets of Suicide Slum in the 1940s to Washington at the end of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks to Metropolis in UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, he tells of the transition between the old-style masked heroes to the newer heroes, even as he tells his story.

Each issue is written by Len Wein (creator of Comicbook/SwampThing and many others) and illustrated by various people. Paul Lincoln's story doesn't take up all the book either - there's a backup story called a "Snapshot" of various characters at various times.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Paul comments that once the Comicbook/DoomPatrol died, [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks everything seemed to get darker]]. The Joker used to be just a prankster, then gassed a bank (including his own men) and when ComicBook/{{Batman}} asked why, he replied, "It's Thursday! [[ForTheEvulz Isn't that reason enough?]]"

** The strapline for the Myth/KingArthur "Snapshot" on the cover of #7 says "Camelot 500", a reference to ''Comicbook/Camelot3000''.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Paul marries Peggy, the redheaded sister of Jimmy.

* ComingOfAgeStory: The first few issues are about Paul Lincoln growing up in a rough neighborhood, as he decides whether he wants to be a cop or criminal (he chooses [[spoiler:cop]]).

%% ZCE * ChangingOfTheGuard: The JSA to the JLA (especially as a lot of the JLA had the same names as the JSA).

%% ZCE * ComingOfAgeStory: The first few issues are this for Paul Lincoln as he decides whether he wants to be a cop or criminal (he chooses [[spoiler:cop]]).

%% ZCE * TheEveryman: Paul Lincoln.

%% ZCE/Indentation * EndOfAnAge: The end of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks . . .
%% ZCE/Indentation ** DawnOfAnEra: . . . and the beginning of UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks.

%% ZCE* YouthfulFreckles: Jimmy and Peggy.

* {{Retcon}}: A few things get rewritten to smooth out the story. In #9, for example the Sentinals of Magic arrive to fight Asmodel-Spectre as a team under that name, while in the original ''Day of Judgement'' crossover, they reluctantly join forces during the storyline, and only get a name in the postscript story. In the same issue's "Snapshot", Shazam says that the Hawks were killed an unspecified amount of time before he gave the power to Black Adam, which honestly makes more sense than the idea that all the Ancient Egyptian proto-supers knew each other.

* {{Retcon}}: A few things get rewritten to smooth out the story. In the ''Comicbook/{{Shazam}}'' "Snapshot", for example, Shazam says that the Hawks were killed an unspecified amount of time before he gave the power to Black Adam, which honestly makes more sense than the idea that all the Ancient Egyptian proto-supers knew each other.

* MythologyGag: Superman's rescue of Lois from falling out of a helicopter in #3 is closely based on the same scene in ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'', complete with the line "You've got me? Who's got you?"

%% * MythologyGag:
%% Shoehorn? ** In issue 6, Jimmy has sustained injuries which led him to never walk again, which also happened to Ted Grant during the Crisis, before it was {{retcon}}ned.
%% ZCE/When? ** [[Film/{{Superman}} Superman rescues Lois from falling out of a helicopter.]]

Basically the DC version of ''ComicBook/{{Marvels}}''.

!!Tropes used in ''ComicBook/DCUniverseLegacies'':

* BigBrotherMentor: Jimmy is this at first to Paul...until Paul realizes that Jimmy is just out for himself, working as a criminal.
* ChangingOfTheGuard: The JSA to the JLA (especially as a lot of the JLA had the same names as the JSA).

* ComingOfAgeStory: The first few issues are this for Paul Lincoln as he decides whether he wants to be a cop or criminal (he chooses [[spoiler:cop]]).
* ContinuityNod[=/=]ContinuityPorn
* DarkerAndEdgier: Paul comments that once the Comicbook/DoomPatrol died, [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks everything seemed to get darker]]. ComicBook/TheJoker used to be just a prankster, then gassed a bank (including his own men) and when Franchise/{{Batman}} asked why, he replied, "It's Thursday! [[ForTheEvulz Isn't that reason enough?]]"
* EndOfAnAge: The end of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks . . .
** DawnOfAnEra: . . . and the beginning of UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks.
* TheEveryman: Paul Lincoln.

* KidSidekick: Paul comments on the emergence of these (which eventually form the ComicBook/TeenTitans) and how, when he was a kid, the kids mainly worked on their own (like the Newsboy Legion).
* MythologyGag: In issue 6, Jimmy has sustained injuries which led him to never walk again, which also happened to Ted Grant during the Crisis, before it was {{retcon}}ned.
** [[Film/{{Superman}} Superman rescues Lois from falling out of a helicopter.]]

* RedSkiesCrossover: The end of issue 5 is the beginning of the first [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths Crisis]] as the skies turn red and Paul seeks to help people evacuate.
* SuperRegistrationAct: The House Un-American Activities Committee demands that the JSA unmask themselves. Hawkman first takes a moment to talk it over with the others and then says, "For so many reasons, our ''faces'', our ''names'', our ''secrets'' must remain ''our own''. But don't worry, Senator, you ''won't'' be hearing from us again" and then the entire [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome JSA disappears in a flash of light]]. This was the end of the Golden Age.
* YouthfulFreckles: Jimmy and Peggy.

* ComicBookTime: Oddly played with. Paul seems to age in "real time", as if the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] happened in the sixties, ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' in the nineties, and it's currently 2011. But the heroes ... don't.

* TearJerker: The death of [[Comicbook/SgtRock Sergeant Rock]]. The bullet that killed him was said to have been the last bullet fired in the war.

* SuperRegistrationAct: The House Un-American Activities Committee demands that the JSA unmask themselves. Hawkman first takes a moment to talk it over with the others and then says, "For so many reasons, our ''faces'', our ''names'', our ''secrets'' must remain ''our own''. But don't worry, Senator, you ''won't'' be hearing from us again" and then the entire [[MomentOfAwesome JSA disappears in a flash of light]]. This was the end of the Golden Age.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Paul comments that once the Comicbook/DoomPatrol died, [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks everything seemed to get darker]]. SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker used to be just a prankster, then gassed a bank (including his own men) and when Franchise/{{Batman}} asked why, he replied, "It's Thursday! [[ForTheEvulz Isn't that reason enough?]]"

* ComicBookTime: Oddly played with. Paul seems to age in "real time", as if the [[TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] happened in the sixties, ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' in the nineties, and it's currently 2011. But the heroes ... don't.

** DawnOfAnEra: . . . and the beginning of TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks.

An old man, [[TheEveryman Paul Lincoln]], proudly displays his memorabilia and begins to tell his history...and, simultaneously, the history of the [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]]. From the streets of Suicide Slum in the 1940s to Washington at the end of TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks to Metropolis in TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, he tells of the transition between the old-style masked heroes to the newer heroes, even as he tells his story.

* EndOfAnAge: The end of TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks . . .

* DarkerAndEdgier: Paul comments that once the Comicbook/DoomPatrol died, [[TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks everything seemed to get darker]]. SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker used to be just a prankster, then gassed a bank (including his own men) and when Franchise/{{Batman}} asked why, he replied, "It's Thursday! [[ForTheEvulz Isn't that reason enough?]]"