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This week sees the release of Marc Andreyko and Aaron Lopresti’s new DC Comics miniseries, Death of Hawkman, which seemingly promises to kill off the confusing cluster of continuity masquerading as a character for good. But how did Hawkman get this way? What single decision led to decades of confusion, and how can it be fixed? There may be a solution, but if we’re going to address the Hawkman problem, first we need to understand it.

Born on this day in 1959 in Ortonville, Minnesota, Dan Jurgens is one of the most influential comic creators of the past three decades. As both a writer and a penciller, Jurgens has contributed a tremendous amount to the comics industry and was a shining light of creativity and fun in a decade that is often regarded as dour and serious.

Superhero comics as we know them have been telling singular ongoing narratives for over seventy-five years, and they can be incredibly intimidating to new readers. Comics companies have been seeking fixes to the problems caused by continuity for almost as long as they’ve been releasing them, and the it seems like publishers are getting far more comfortable reaching for the big red button marked “reboot.” Continuity isn’t necessarily a four letter word, but satisfying an existing fan-base while trying to appeal to new readers can be a tricky tightrope to walk. With Marvel’s not-a-reboot Secret Wars recently behind us, and DC’s not-a-reboot Rebirth event on the horizon, what can a company do to try and solve the problems caused by long-term continuity?

Compounding many longtime DC Comics fans' confusion with respect to the revised histories of the publisher's superhero characters, Co-Publisher Dan DiDio confirmed that tent-pole storylines Crisis On Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis and all such universe defining Crises did not occur in DC's New 52 universe...

Since the announcement of DC's line-wide relaunch hit last week, readers have been wondering what exactly all of this means for the publisher and their comics. Titles, creators and even distribution methods are all up in the air in what's turning out to be a pretty huge shake-up...