History Creator / MilestoneComics

--> '''Static:''' You know, Hardware once told me his theory of how Q-juice worked on people. He said at sub-atomic distances, that is, very small, like Planck's Constant small, human consciousness affects reality. He said, if you do an experiment, if you as the universe a question, like, "Is light a particle or a wave?", the universe'll give you exactly the answer you expect. Q-juice is plasma ''that doesn't know what Planck's Constant is supposed to be.'' So if you breathe it, you ask the universe a question. And the desired effect is what you get. Guess a lot of people expected to ''die'' that night. [[note]]From ''Icon'' #20[[/note]]

%%* AmazonianBeauty: Donner from the Shadow Cabinet.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Edwin Alva and his magnificent feather boa.

%%* GreenRocks: Quantum Juice.

%%* MassSuperEmpoweringEvent: The Big Bang.

%%* MyGrandsonMyself: Icon resorted to this in his backstory.
%%* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: Dakota.

Creator/MilestoneComics was the imprint of Milestone Media, a coalition of African-American comics creators who felt that mainstream superhero comic books severely under-represented minorities. In a special deal with Creator/DCComics, the latter company distributed Milestone's output, but did not have editorial control over it. Milestone kept the copyrights, but DC got all the trademarks. It should be noted that, despite primarily featuring Black characters, Milestone aimed to showcase more ethnicities, and some of its heroes were Hispanic, Asian, and even, yes, White. It also featured gay and transgender characters. In addition, the line hired minority writers and artists such as the late Maddie Blaustein, who was openly transgender.

** Marisa Rahm, the hero (but not the title character) of the ''Deathwish'' miniseries. Maddie (nee Adam) Blaustein [[AuthorAvatar based the character on herself]]. Like Marisa, Maddie was also pre-op.

Creator/MilestoneComics was the imprint of Milestone Media, a coalition of African-American comics creators who felt that mainstream superhero comic books severely under-represented minorities. In a special deal with Creator/DCComics, the latter company distributed Milestone's output, but did not have editorial control over it. Milestone kept the copyrights, but DC got all the trademarks. It should be noted that, despite primarily featuring Black characters, Milestone aimed to showcase more ethnicities, and some of its heroes were Hispanic, Asian, and even, yes, White. It also featured gay and transgender characters. In addition, the line hired minority writers and artists; for example, Maddie (neé "Adam") Blaustein was transgender.

Creator/MilestoneComics was the imprint of Milestone Media, a coalition of African-American comics creators who felt that mainstream superhero comic books severely under-represented minorities. In a special deal with Creator/DCComics, the latter company distributed Milestone's output, but did not have editorial control over it. Milestone kept the copyrights, but DC got all the trademarks. It should be noted that, despite primarily featuring Black characters, Milestone aimed to showcase more ethnicities, and some of its heroes were Hispanic, Asian, and even, yes, White. It also featured gay and transgender characters. In addition, the line hired minority writers and artists; for example, Adam "Maddie" Blaustein was a pre-op transsexual.

A few years after that, Milestone and DC made another deal, announced at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, which established the Dakotaverse as Earth-M, one of the Earths in DC's [[TheMultiverse multiverse]], with Earth-M stories released as part of their own distinct line, rather than as part of the main DCU, akin to the original deal.

While the distribution deal with DC was sweet, and Milestone's creative teams were good, the line was hobbled by a perception that Milestone was "[[MinorityShowGhetto comics for Black people]]", which kept many fans from investigating the books. (The fact many of their character's origins involved negative ethnic concepts -Icon's with slavery, Hardware's with the GlassCeiling, Blood Syndicate and gang violence, etc.- didn't help.) At the same time, a glut of "new universes" was followed by a sharp downturn in overall comic book sales.

The primary continuity was known as the Dakotaverse, after the fictional Midwestern city where the initial titles published in 1993 took place. These titles were:

Creator/MilestoneComics was the imprint of Milestone Media, a coalition of African-American comics creators who felt that mainstream superhero comic books severely under-represented minorities. In a special deal with Creator/DCComics, the latter company distributed Milestone's output, but did not have editorial control over it. Milestone kept the copyrights, but DC got all the trademarks. It should be noted that, despite primarily featuring Black characters, Milestone aimed to showcase more ethnicities, and some of its heroes were Hispanic, Asian and even, yes, White. It also featured gay and transgender characters.

In 1994, the main Milestone titles [[CrisisCrossover crossed over]] with DC's Franchise/{{Superman}}-related books, in the "Worlds Collide" storyline. In this story, a being with the ability to [[RealityWarper turn fiction into reality]] merges Metropolis and Dakota, leading to the heroes meeting and wondering [[MutuallyFictional which of them were real]].

-->'''Random Team Member:''' (lists ways they've [[KickTheDog Kicked The Dog]] this month).\\

* AmazonianBeauty: Donner from the Shadow Cabinet

* AntiHero: A good majority of Milestone heroes, save for Icon and Static, fall into this.
** The Blood Syndicate are probably the biggest samples. Most of the members aren't exactly nice people.

* TheChessmaster: Dharma.
* CrisisCrossover: ''Shadow War'', ''Worlds Collide'', ''Long Hot Summer''.

* FallenHero: [[spoiler: John Tower]]

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Rocket.
* GrandFinale: ''Milestone Forever'', which also served as the point where the Milestone Universe was blended into DC Canon. It also ended up being Creator/DwayneMcDuffie's farewell to the characters, as he passed away not long after it was released. In this finale, we see several long-running storylines resolved: [[spoiler: The Blood Syndicate reform, Holocaust dies, Hardware retires and gets married, Rocket eventually takes over the mantle of Icon, and Virgil grows up to become a doctor, retires from Superheroing, and marries Frieda. In the end, Dharma reboots the universe to migrate them into DC Canon.]]
* GreenRocks: Quantum Juice.

* MassSuperEmpoweringEvent: The Big Bang.
* MutuallyFictional: The "Dakota-verse" and the DCU in ''Worlds Collide''.
* MyGrandsonMyself: Icon resorted to this in his backstory.
* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: Dakota.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Edwin Alva.]]

* SacrificialLamb: Tech-Nine.

* ShockAndAwe: Static.

* UniverseBible

* WeirdnessMagnet: Dear God, ''Xombi'', in spades.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Rift. He's just a mailman, really.

* {{Transsexual}}:

[[quoteright:400:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/long_hot_summer_milestone_hardware_icon_static.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:400: From left to right: ComicBook/{{Icon}}, Rocket, ComicBook/{{Static}}, ComicBook/{{Hardware}}.]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/long_hot_summer_milestone_hardware_icon_static.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: From left to right: ComicBook/{{Icon}}, Rocket, ComicBook/{{Static}}, ComicBook/{{Hardware}}.]]

[[quoteright:280:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/long_hot_summer_milestone_hardware_icon_static.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:280: From left to right: ComicBook/{{Icon}}, Rocket, ComicBook/{{Static}}, ComicBook/{{Hardware}}.]]

[[quoteright:260:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MilestoneComics.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:260: Clockwise from top right: ComicBook/{{Hardware}}, ComicBook/{{Icon}}, Rocket, ComicBook/{{Static}}.]]

[[caption-width-right:260: Clockwise from top right: Comicbook/{{Hardware}}, ComicBook/{{Icon}}, Rocket, Comicbook/{{Static}}.]]

* Comicbook/{{Static}}: Virgil Hawkins, a bright high school student, gets mixed up with gang violence just long enough to be present when the city's assembled gangs have a riot, the "Big Bang" -- which is broken up by police armed with an experimental gas. Gaining [[ShockAndAwe electromagnetic powers]] from exposure to the gas, he becomes a superhero. [[BreakoutCharacter This was the most popular of the titles]], gaining an animated adaptation, ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock''.

* Comicbook/{{Hardware}}: Curtis Metcalf, a brilliant engineer, realizes his employer/mentor/father figure Edwin Alva (who only saw him as a "cog in his machine") is a supervillain-grade [[CorruptCorporateExecutive criminal mastermind]] and develops a suit of powered armor with embezzled funds to battle him and the organization backing him, the "SYSTEM".

* Xombi: A Korean scientist develops nanomachines that allow him to regenerate by absorbing nearby materials, making him functionally immortal. This was Milestone's supernatural title and seriously weird (we're talking Comicbook/DoomPatrol weird here.)

In 1994, the main Milestone titles [[CrisisCrossover crossed over]] with DC's Comicbook/{{Superman}}-related books, in the "Worlds Collide" storyline. In this story, a being with the ability to [[RealityWarper turn fiction into reality]] merges Metropolis and Dakota, leading to the heroes meeting and wondering [[MutuallyFictional which of them were real]].

Later, Creator/DCComics struck a new deal with Milestone, which folded the Milestone characters into the [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]] proper, as though they had always been there; for example, Static was a member of the ''Comicbook/TeenTitans''. The revived version of ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold'' was used to reintroduce the Milestone characters by teaming them up with DC heroes (e.g., Hardware and ComicBook/BlueBeetle, Xombi and ComicBook/TheSpectre). ''Xombi'' became a short-lived 2011 ongoing series, and ''Static Shock'' was an (also short-lived) title in DC's ComicBook/{{New 52}} relaunch. The miniseries ''Milestone Forever'' eventually explained how the two universes had merged; however, how much of the previous history was still in continuity was initially unclear, and even less so with the relaunch.

Creator/MilestoneComics was the imprint of Milestone Media, a coalition of African-American comics creators who felt that mainstream superhero comic books severely under-represented minorities. In a special deal with Creator/DCComics, the latter company distributed Milestone's output, but did not have editorial control over it. Milestone kept the copyrights, but DC got all the trademarks. It should be noted that, despite primarily featuring Black characters, Milestone aimed to showcase more ethnicities, and some of its heroes were Hispanic, Asian and even, yes, White.

-->'''Random Team Member:''' (lists ways they've [[KickTheDog Kicked The Dog]] this month).
-->'''Dharma:''' [[KnightTemplar And we'll do worse before we're through.]]

[[/index]]

* Xombi: An Asian scientist develops nanomachines that allow him to regenerate by absorbing nearby materials, making him functionally immortal. This was Milestone's supernatural title and seriously weird (we're talking Comicbook/DoomPatrol weird here.)

* ComicBook/ShadowCabinet: A globally-active superteam, led by the morally ambiguous Dharma. Initially they shunned publicity in favor of relatively covert action. ArcWords[=/=]CatchPhrase:

* ComicBook/{{Kobalt}}: A street-level vigilante is compelled to accept a new KidSidekick who is woefully unprepared for the realities of crimefighting.

* AndIMustScream: In ''Xombi'', Rustling Husks are mummies animated by the revived corpses of flies who died caught between two window panes - as they died, they could see the outside but could never reach it. Needless to say, their reanimated corpses ''hate'' humans and by extension all living things. In short, they're '''pissed'''.

* ''ComicBook/BloodSyndicate'': A street gang that was at the riot mentioned above have all developed special abilities, and [[NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters become the protectors/rulers of their slum neighborhood]]. The membership had severely clashing motivations and ethical stances, providing lots of drama.

Recently, Creator/DCComics struck a new deal with Milestone, which folds the Milestone characters into the [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]] proper, as though they had always been there. For example, Static was recently a member of the ''Comicbook/TeenTitans''. The revived version of ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold'' was used to reintroduce the Milestone characters by teaming them up with DC heroes (e.g., Hardware and ComicBook/BlueBeetle, Xombi and ComicBook/TheSpectre) ''Xombi'' became a short-lived 2011 ongoing series, and ''Static Shock'' was an (also short-lived) title in DC's ComicBook/{{New 52}} relaunch. How much of the previous history is still in continuity was unclear before, and even less so with the relaunch.

* AndIMustScream: In ''Xombi'', Rustling Husks are mummies animated by the revived corpses of flies who died caught between two window panes - as they died, they could see the outside but could never reach it. Needless to say, their reanimated corpses ''hate'' humans and by extensive all living things. In short, they're '''pissed'''.

* CanonImmigrant: As of right now, all of the Milestone characters appearing in the DCU.

** Hardware can be seen as an expy of Steel. Personality-wise, they are on the opposite ends of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, with Steel on the former and Hardware on the latter.[[note]] Dwayne [=McDuffie=] explained that this was fully intentional, as he wanted to write a series where the lead begins as the typical violent, callous NinetiesAntiHero, then gradually changes and grows into someone more sympathetic and idealistic. Hardware's motivations shift as the series progresses, going from revenge to justice. In that sense - a technological genius slowly becomes a better perso through heroism - Hardware may also be considered an expy of Iron Man.[[/note]]

** Kobalt is Franchise/{{Batman}}, but more violent and reality-grounded version, if still non-lethal. Page, his KidSidekick, is a proto-ComicBook/KickAss whose dad fed him to Kobalt as an attempted "Scared Straight" experience ([[SpringtimeForHitler that backfired]]).

* LetsYouAndHimFight: Rift does this in ''Worlds Collide'' to Superman and Icon, [[LampshadeHanging stating that the two similar characters had to fight because that's what they're supposed to do]]. They play along and pull their punches. Rift is GenreSavvy enough to realize this and forces them into real NoHoldsBarredBeatdown when he states the loser's universe would be destroyed.

* ShockAndAwe: Static.

** Kobalt is Franchise/{{Batman}}, but more violent and reality-grounded version, if still non-lethal. Page, his KidSidekick, is [[strike:Robin]] a proto-{{Kick-Ass}} whose dad fed him to Kobalt as an attempted "Scared Straight" experience ([[SpringtimeForHitler that backfired]]).