What If...MadCap created a Comic Book Universe? (Part 1)

See? I told you this one was gonna be a little different.

This isn't just taking one established canon and turning it on its head. Rather, this will take several established canon and turn them on their heads.

This is going to cover quite a few things, but I want to string together a narrative that will continue on from the Golden Age all the way through to the modern era. How very fortunate, then, that we have a very handy breaking point for each of the four widely recognized eras of comic book history - that being the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, and the Modern Age.

In this little experiment, I will endeavor to make a narrative that will stretch through each era of comic book history. Will it all be from one comic company? No. Will it work and definitely not blow up in my face? No. Will every character be perfectly set to the then-modern sensibilities of the eras that they hail from? No. Will you have to use the MST3K mantra a bunch? Probably.

It's gonna be a heck of a lot of fun, though!

So, where do we begin? The Golden Age, of course! An era of comic books that ran from 1938 and 1956. We'll be starting just a little bit before that. In the year 1930, where a very interesting character pops up in New York City...

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.

Indeed, we'll be beginning with the protagonist of the last film that I reviewed. Specifically, Kent Allard having been a World War I pilot horrified and jaded after the war. Like the 1994 film, Kent sets himself up as the drug kingpin Ying Ko, but is eventually driven to a better path in the pursuit of justice against the wicked.

With the wealth and resources of his old friend Lamont Cranston as well as the teachings of the Tulku, Kent becomes a one-man army against crime. This all would be relayed to us through flashbacks at appropriate times (kind of like Arrow tried to do early on with Oliver's flashbacks...but without it taking up the entire episode, I mean issue).

Over time, the Shadow would recruit agents to his cause much as he did in the radio show and the comics, something we'll be coming back to every so often as we go on. He would also do battle against many of his foes such as Shiwan Khan, the Wasp, and a little known criminal organization known as the Hand.

Something else to keep in mind for later...

Now, this obviously isn't going to be the only character we're focusing on for the purposes of this little exercise. That would be rather niche and short, wouldn't it? Instead, we have a second focus character for the first few years of this little universe.

While Kent Allard was fighting in the trenches of World War I, a mysterious craft was making its way to Earth. Jettisoned from a dying world, the last survivor of his race, a young boy is found in a field outside the town of Smallville, Kansas. Johnathan and Martha Kent take on the boy as their own son, unable to have a child themselves, and name him Clark. As he grows, Clark begins to demonstrate abilities far and away beyond the ken of mortal men. He is not a man, but a Superman.

Clark, as an adult, commits himself to serving as Superman in order to protect his adopted world. In his public persona, he's nothing more than the bumbling reporter of the The Daily Planet, Clark Kent.

Now, you might be asking...why these two? Well, it's simple. Dipping a little bit into the Wold Newton family, their love interests Margot Lane and Lois Lane are siblings. Boom!

Again, these aren't the only heroes we'd see in action during this time period. This roughly covers the period between 1930 (when The Shadow first appeared in print) and 1938 (when Superman first appeared in print). Kent Allard also would have spent several years in Mongolia as a war lord as well as training in order to become the Shadow, seven if we go by the 1994 film. And, of course, we'd see crossovers such as you had in the Golden Age - Crisis on Earth-2, etcetera - and likely the first superhero teams such as the Justice Society, with Superman being one of its inaugural members.

The Shadow, not so much. Rather like a certain dark knight, the Shadow's MO doesn't really lend itself to being a team player. Of course, we'd likely get the occasional team up between Supes and the Shadow through their aforementioned connection, since I rather enjoy the contrast between the two styles. 

As you'd expect, what with World War II, you'd see several different heroes popping up such as the above Captain America (and with him, groups such as the Invaders - so we get the original android Human Torch and...Atlanna, Queen of Atlantis) and his sidekick Bucky, the Blue Beetle, the Black Marvel, Union Jack, Wonder Woman, the Atom (Al Pratt), and others.

So how was World War II not over within days, if not minutes? Well, because the Axis powers would have superpowered beings of their own. The Red Skull, in particular is a menace for Cap and the Invaders and likely would pop up elsewhere throughout the course of the war. This means that we're robbed of truly awesome moments like the Blue Beetle ripping off Hitler's moustache and mailing it to a friend (yes, that actually happened), but we get what would be a "realistic" version of World War II with superheroes.

When World War II came to an end, comic books saw the popularity of superheroes decline sharply. Captain America would go into the ice and Bucky would be presumed dead after stopping one of Baron Zemo's missile attacks on America. Wonder Woman, jaded and having given up hope, would fade away as the guns went silent on the battlefields. Atlanna would return to Atlantis to protect and lead her people, etc.

Certain characters would remain active with the shift, either because of being able to fit the new format or by their own popularity alone. So titles like The Shadow and Superman would most likely continue on despite the limitations. It is, in particular, The Shadow we focus on as we close out the Golden Age - giving us an interesting symmetry.

The year, in-universe, is 1954. In a city renowned as a den of crime and corruption, a family of three are leaving the theater after seeing Son of Zorro at the insistence of their young son. In an alley behind that theater, however, is where tragedy would strike. A mugger, wanting the family's wealth, gunned down both the mother and the father in cold blood. The son, left alive to mourn, is quickly found by the police department of this city.

The city? Gotham.

The boy? Bruce Wayne.

Our story doesn't end just yet, however. Rather than be left an orphan with his parents' vast fortune, Bruce and his trusted butler Alfred are taken in by an old friend of the Wayne family, Lamont Cranston...or, as we know him and have always known him...Kent Allard.

And that is where we see the end of the Golden Age...and the end of Part 1 of this little experiment.

So...did you like what you've seen so far? Who else would you have added into the cavalcade of superheroes? Are you going to be one of the three people who is upset that I replaced Namor with Atlanna? Let me know in the comments below, or tag me on Twitter!

When Part 2 comes out, we'll go into the Silver Age and see some new beginnings...and some endings as well. See you then!