‘New History Of The DC Universe’ Retcons Cyborg’s Justice League Membership, Hero Once Again Founding Member Of New Teen Titans
In reversing course on one of the most head-scratching creative choices to come out of their New 52 publishing initiative, DC has officially retconned Cyborg’s role as a Justice League founder and reestablished him as one of the original members of the New Teen Titans.
Half-man, half-machine, all hero, Victor “Cyborg” Stone was first introduced to the world in 1980’s DC Comics Presents Vol. 1 #26, appearing in the anthology series as part of writer Marv Wolfman and the late artist George Pérez’s debut New Teen Titans tale.
Though their assembly in this issue would turn out to be a Raven-induced-dream, the teen team would officially come together in the debut issue of their own series, New Titans Vol. 1 #1, with Cyborg himself standing tall among its seven original members.
And while his role as a founding Titan and subsequent mentor to successive members would hold for the next 30 years, Cyborg would find himself divorced from this entire aspect of his character thanks to Doctor Manhattan’s 2011 kickstarting of the New 52 continuity.
As established in the Geoff John’s penned, Jim Lee illustrated Justice League Vol. 3 #1, rather than making his superhero debut with Starfire, Raven, and other such ‘second-generation’ heroes, Cyborg was instead canonized as having done so alongside Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and The Flash in opposition of Darkseid’s invasion of Earth, after which they would go on to found the Justice League proper.
A particularly jarring change for fans to wrap their heads around, especially just how much of the hero’s current popularity and reputation is heavily informed by his starring role in the 2003 Teen Titans animated series, Cyborg’s promotion was purportedly driven by a desire to diversify the Justice League’s roster.
“He’s a character I really see as the modern-day, 21st-century superhero,” Johns told USA Today ahead of the New 52’s official launch. “He represents all of us in a lot of ways. If we have a cellphone and we’re texting on it, we are a cyborg — that’s what a cyborg is, using technology as an extension of ourselves.”
Despite DC’s best hopes, Cyborg’s Triple-A tenure ultimately amounted to little more than a few headlines and a brief bit of synergy with Zack Snyder’s cinematic take on the team, and the years since have seen him mostly relegated to the metahuman community’s ‘overall man in the chair’.
And far from just fan opinion, DC has also come to recognize the overall misfire of this creative decision, as their recently-released New History of the DC Universe Vol. 1 #2 has retconned-the -retcon.
Written by Mark Waid and framed as the currently de-powered Barry Allen’s in-universe attempt to catalog the DCU’s current post-Dark Knights Death Metal ‘Everything is Canon’ history, the second issue of the handbook series focuses its recollection on the events of the publisher’s Golden and Bronze eras, from Superman’s arrival on Earth to the aforementioned Scarlet Speedster’s death at the climax of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Therein, it is revealed that while Cyborg does still join DC’s Big Six in their stand against Apokolips’ invasion forces, he does not team-up with them to form the Justice League.
Instead, the amount of damage he sustained in the fight requires him to be immediately placed into a healing cryostasis, wherein he would remain up until the assembly of the New Teen Titans, thus bringing his current canon back in line with his original origin.
The third of The New Hustory of the DC Unhverse, which will cover the period between of Crisis on Infinite Earths and the end of Flashpoint, is set to hit shelves on August 27th.
