The Obscure Big Five

My theory about the first Crisis on Infinite Earths and how different reboots didn't all occur at the same time (Hawkworld being a particular aberration) is that it took some time for the new universe to "gel". Pieces of reality kept shifting for perhaps years until they settled into their new shape. An early example of this phenomenon is to be found in the pages of All-Star Squadron #60, importantly NOT a Crisis tie-in issue, and yet dealing with its important ramifications for Earth-2.

Indeed, Crisis more or less killed ASS when it merged its Earth with Earth-1. The last few issues were pretty much an appendix to Secret Origins or experiments in which Roy Thomas rewrote Golden Age stories, this time omitting characters that could no longer participate. But here's the belated "shift" I'm talking about.

In this issue, which must in part occur before the Golden Age Superman is sent to the great void, Johnny Quick gets all the All-Stars together for a very special picture:

You'll note the Big 5 up front. Well, none of these still exist after the Crisis merges their world with "ours"! Yet, they're still there.

Then I imagine Superman leaves with Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor, and then the picture is delivered to the President, who by golly, really appreciates it!

"Any costumed hero who isn't in this photo... must be someone so obscure that nobody ever heard of them!"
And there you have it! The Freedom Fighters and other Quality heroes, formerly of Earth-X (one of the 5 merged Earths), now replace the Big 5 in the front! well, except for the Human Bomb and Jester, standing behind Johny Thunder (ouch!).

Notice a "shift" that hasn't happened yet? That's right! Green Arrow and Speedy are still in the picture (second row, second and third from the left). Man, those would have been sweet positions for the Human Bomb and Jester, eh? Plastic Man would shift in time as well.

Of course, an actual "reboot picture" would give prominence to such JSA luminaries as Hawkman, Flash, Green Lantern and the Spectre instead of the Freedom Fighters, but what are you gonna do? Just be thankful it isn't the putrid "Young All-Stars" that debuted some months later...