Speculating about the Elongated Man's life in the DCnU

So far, we know only a few things about this DC new Universe that is being created, some can help to make suppositions about Ralph Dibny. Superman debuted 7 years ago, the Justice League was formed about 5 years ago and the Identity Crisis happened, the later assures us that the Dibnys existed, Ralph was part of the Justice League and that Sue died. We have not seen the Elongated Man in the new solicitations, and I think it's a safe bet that he died in a similar way to 52. That makes Ralph tenure as a hero was roughly 5 years as well.

The Justice League characters of the DCnU.



They chose to set Superman's debut, 7 years ago. So Superman debuted at some point during 2004. If we make that  July 2004, that would be a month for each of his 73 years of existence. Considering the was really created four years before DC acquired him, the date could be changed to March 2004. Condensing the entire DC continuity to 7 years or so makes little to not sense (too little time to train 5 Robins or make reasonably long JLA incarnations); it'd be easier to just start the continuity from the first year after a DC: The New Frontier sort of thing and to reintroduce all the younger characters eventually. However, if, for some crazy reason, they want to keep continuity luggage (probably a trick too keep selling trades of the old DCU), and still have younger golden and silver agers for a while, turning years into months is the best pretext (check this article to see what would the DC timeline would look like).

The new version of Superman in his early years.

Going with this "years = months" theory of mine, this is the World-famous Elongated Man time line:

• May 2007 (1960): The Elongated Man debuts in Central City, sharing the "Man of the Year" award with the Flash (who debuted in January). If the continuity is rigid, he makes his fortune the rest of that month and retires to explore Yucatan, but I guess in the DCnU, he visited Central already being rich and famous, which would mean that he discovered the Gingold elixir in mid 2003.

•  June 2007 (1961): After giving his secret identity away, he meets and marries Sue Dearbon (man, he works fast!!).

• September 2007 (1964): The Dibnys start traveling USA. The Elongated Man meets Batman.
• November 2007 (1966): Ralph meets Green Lantern and Zatanna.
• December 2007 (1967): Ralph teams with the JLA to help Zatanna find her father. Later, he rescues the Atom from Chronos.
• June 2008 (1973): The Elongated Man becomes a JLA member.

• June 2008 - January 2009: At some point Sue is attacked by Dr. Light.

• March 2008 (1981): The Dibnys solve the mystery of Edgar Allan Poe's death.
• May 2009 (1985): Aquaman dismisses the part time JLA members (Ralph, Zatanna, and the returning Martian Manhunter) and moves the remaining team to Detroit. Sue moves to their headquarters with Ralph.

• June 2009 (1986): Ronald Reag... I guess that's Barack Obama now, disassembles the JLA. Another group of heroes forms a new Justice League after the President changes his mind, they change their name to Justice League International (JLI).
• August 2009 (1987): Ralph teams up with Sherlock Holmes, Slam Bradley, Batman and Robin to stop Edgar Moriarty.

• October 2009 (1989): Ralph joins the European branch of the JLI. Sue also joins as the team's monitor.

• January 2010 (1992): Sue becomes Bureau Chief of the Justice League Europe.
• May 2010 (1996): after 11 months of a wildly rotating roster, the JLI is disassembled.
• Some point between May 2010 and January 2011 Maxwell Lord, along with other long staying members of the JLI, recruits Ralph and Sue Dibny again. The Dibnys settle in Opal City. This time for a superhero team called "Super Buddies". Meanwhile, Sue becomes a popular mystery fiction writer.
• January 2011 (2004): Sue Dies.

• March 2011 (2005): Ralph starts a quest to reunite with Sue.
• April 2011 (2006): Ralph sacrifices himself to foil Felix Faust and Neron. Sue and he become ghost detectives.

• August 2011 (2011): Some kid tries to become "the Elongated Kid" but dies. They start
• September 2011: NOW.

In theory, turning each year of DC publication history into months seems logical, but then, there are weird messes. A month is way too short for the JLA Detroit, and half a year is way to little for JLI. There's also Ralph's marriage. While I think he and Sue might be impulsive enough to marry soon, a month is way too short, specially considering her age (she was 18 tops). Some changes that wouldn't surprise me if this whole theory is right would be:

• June 2007 (1961): Ralph meets Sue, only this doesn't happen at her Debutante Ball (she shouldn't be 17). It was some other high society event. They click and start living together almost right away.
• June 2008 (1973): They marry, and he was invited to join the JLA soon.

Apparently, even Ralph had a skyrocketing life in 4 years of fame and fortune. And this is just the life of the Elongated Man, a character that, during his entire existence, only had a backup feature every three months in average. Imagine the kind of nightmare that will be sorting out the timeline of Batman or Superman (characters appearing in 3 to 9 books monthly).

Everything seems to indicate that the Dibnys are still dead, which means that the best hope for their fans (besides going back to waiting for plan "resurrection") is to see them just the same way we saw them the last time...

Related articles

If you enjoyed this post, here are some articles that provide its background information.

• The Elongated Man and the Silver Age Timeline! - See what the Silver Age of DC Comics was all about event by event in chronoogical order.
• Part I: Pre-Classic (1947 - 1956).
• Part II: Classic (1956 - 1969).
• Part III: Post-Classic (1969 - 1973).  
• The Elongated Man and the Bronze Age Timeline! (1973 - 1985).
• Survivors of the Golden Age! - This article will help you identify character counterparts between Earth-One and Earth-Two.



Reboot possibilities for the Elongated Man & wife.

As sources have been informing this day (check the Bleeding Cool article, for instance), after the Flashpoint event ends, DC is restarting its entire line with 52 #1 issues. The change will also reset the continuity and focus on the main heroes at early points in their careers... Which means that there's a big chance for Ralph and Sue, along with Blue Beetle II the original Question and other characters like Rocket Red No. 4, the Ventriloquist & Scarface, Black Mask, the Fiddler and the KGBeast, to return from death without even needing to resurrect. I really, really hope so.

While Ralph was not seen in Flashpoint #1, a mysterious "Elongated Kid" appeared in Flash #9, part of the prologue of the event. Let's hope that means something good for the Dibnys. At least we know that the Elongated Man is still in the mind of Geoff Johns.

Update
Among the list of titles DC has revealed for September, we can notice the following changes:

1. Barbara Gordon can walk and is Batgirl again!
2. Roy Harper (a.k.a. Speedy, Arsenal or Red Arrow) recovered his right arm.
3. Arnold Wesker, a.k.a. the Ventriloquist & Scarface, is alive.

Covers to Batgirl #1 (by Adam Hughes) and Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 (by Kenneth Rocafort), and alternative cover to Batman #1 (by Greg Capullo).

These changes, specially Wesker's return, open the door for the Elongated Man and Sue, the original Question, Blue Beetle II, Rocket Red No. 4, Freedom Beast, Black Mask, Copperhead and the KGBeast to return.

So, the big question is: Are Identity Crisis and 52 still in continuity? Personally, as much as I love those stories, I hope not. If they don't get to be part of the new continuity, it would be like having a cake and eating it too. Those great stories would still be part of a past continuity, but we get some classic characters back in the current one. It's just a matter of crossing fingers now.

Update - Jun 9th

Along with a team that could give nightmares to Marilyn Manson, the Elongated Kid seems to be making a comeback in the upcoming Teen Titans #1.

Is this good? To me, it all depends. If he turns out to be Billy Warner, the classic Elongated Man #1 fan from the silver age, I might become a fan (despite not liking the uniform); if that's Ethan Kramer, I hope he doesn't survive the first issue. I'm sorry, but I'm just not into Diet Coke or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, I dislike replacement legacies.

I'm still hopping we get to see the real Nick and Nora Charles of DC Comics alive.

Update - Jun 15th.

Well, it seems like it's not going to happen after all. In an interview with Comic Book Resources DC's Editpr-in-Chief Bob Harras and DCU Executive Editor Eddie Berganza, revealed that events like Identity Crisis are going to form part of the new continuity:

Berganza: Right. Just because we're starting with new #1s doesn't mean we're getting rid of the history attached. A lot of those big, important storylines are remaining in tact. What happened in "A Death In The Family" stays true, and so does "Blackest Night," "Brightest Day," "The Killing Joke"...
Harras: "Identity Crisis." Again, this is a well thought out process before we went forward.

I think 52 is also likely to be part of it. What was done with the Ventriloquist and Arsenal seems to indicate that Robinson's stories might not be part of the DCnU, though. So it seems like we're back to crossing fingers for more those promised ghost Dibnys cameos or a resurrection...

Update - Sept 13th.

Here's a nice post about it by Bill D. from Trusty Plinko Stick:

Friday Favorites: The Elongated Man (and Sue, of course)

"If you read superhero comics, you know DC spent the last few years being very, very unkind to the Dibnys (...) However, as they're quick to remind everyone, DC's running a whole new (or at least really, really revised) ballgame right now. Some of the old continuity remains, a lot of it seemingly doesn't. Seems to me that some of the more unpleasant bits could easily be swept under the rug, don't you think? Come on, DC, give us back Ralph and Sue"...

...Click here to continue reading.