I've said before that I've spoken with someone whose entire fandom is built around the concept that the "X-Cutioner's Song" crossover in X-Men is the epitome of the comics medium, with its many intricacies and complications spanning countless titles, requiring the reader to go here, there, and everywhere to track down every little permutation and enjoy every little jot and tittle! He swears it all pays off in ways the non-believer can never understand. Of course, it's one of his first comic stories, so it's pretty much perfect. 

I get that feeling, and I'm glad that you got to enjoy it as well. 

Eric J, I agree completely about Brennert. He has two credits for Marvel. One is shared with Marty Pasko on a Star Trek issue that had to be cannibalized because he based it on a television episode and Marvel did not have the rights to it. The result created literally the worst line to ever come from Kirk's mouth, Gold Key stories included.

When introduced to Janice Rand's fiance, a disembodied intelligence contained within a floating pyramid (originally written as a Medusan from "Is There In Truth No Beauty?") Kirk responds to his spoken greeting with, "It-- I mean, he-- talks??" 

I am pretty damn sure that is not in Brennert's original script, and if it is (God, I hope it is not) but if it is, it's because Kolos, the Medusan ambassador from the show, did not.

His other story, from Daredevil #192, in which Ben Urich and his wife go shopping for a house, is one of the very, very few stories in comics to have made me cry. As many have said, it's a shame it couldn't have been included in the recent hardcover collection of his DC work. :-)

As for whether Year One is still in continuity or not, I know it was directly referenced in Kevin Smith's amateurish "Widening Gyre" wherein Batman confessed to pissing himself when the sautee pan flash he rigged went off. Because he scared himself, you see. That's how scary he is. And how much of a kid he was back then. Gosh. So cool, right? (eye roll.) 

Whose daughter Batgirl is these days is probably up for grabs, I suspect, but then it usually is, right? Miller's work is sadly no more sacrosanct or free from reinterpretation by the current crowd of carpenter ants than anyone else's. 

Brian H., I did not use "I'm My Own Granpa" for your song... I heard (successfully) "The Ballad of Jed Clampett." It's great!

I once swore that the last new comic I'd ever buy would be a Legion of Super-Heroes book. I'm even a pseudo honorary legionnaire... got my flight ring and everything. (Haven't gotten it to work because my will power obviously isn't strong enough yet.)* I hear that a new LSH is coming out... written by Bendis. The horror in my soul is dark and angry.

*Have I tested my flight ring? Sure. Stood outside and thought real hard about flying. Why would I be any more able to fly by jumping off a roof? But a lot of character origins seem to require jumping off a roof to see if they can fly. I don't get it. If I absolutely had to leap up and out to try to fly... I'd do it over a swimming pool. 'Cause even if I can't fly, I can swim! :D

Also, thank you to you and Dan for your kind words!

I do not know at this point what to make of DC's latest run at the Legion. Being a Legion fan of long duration, I actually made the trip to a comic store and picked up the first issue of the new Millenium, which tracks a character they are keeping super-secret for no reason whatsoever (just another pull from the "who are we doing nothing with?" list) through DC's future where we find that our central protagonist is kind of stupid (you didn't notice what for how long?) and that Supergirl all-grown-up is a smiling politician and apparently a liar in what looks like a jab at Hillary. That can't possibly be right, can it? In any case, old stories like Kirby's tale of Superman's costume are uncrated and lots of people from the story are killed, because, hey, death. Who doesn't love it by the truckload, right? The Legion themselves do not seem to actually appear in this run-up-to-the-Legion story, but who knows? Maybe in part two. Also, I picked up the Superman issue in which the Legion all appear, at the moment in history they came to celebrate, and find their calculations just that much off. While their roster is more diverse, they bear no real difference from the last few Legions we've seen trotted out, all showing up en masse, grinning like idiots, and just really, really earnest about being super-heroes. Which is fine, but there's still no story or reason for them to exist yet. They're just suddenly there.

It could all work out fine, but it could also be one more giant nothing-burger from the future timeline that brought you bags full of nothing-burgers many times before.

What worked?

BLUE BEETLE being in the middle of the JLA and the DC universe was probably a good idea.  His friendship with Booster Gold seemed natural and was one of the highlights of a JUSTICE LEAGUE series I only read years later.

SUPERMAN by JB really did streamline Superman and set the stage for the next few years of stories by good talent like Roger Stern, Kerry Gammill, George Perez, Bob McLeod, etc.  (Still love the Earth One Superman by Curt Swan, etc. more though.)

WONDER WOMAN was always a beloved character, but she never really had any great stories until the George Perez and John Byrne runs.

What didn't work?

Oh gee, where do I start?  I think we all have plenty of answers for this above and in other threads.  But I will emphasize one: SHAZAM!  Big, big mistake to shoehorn Captain Marvel and friends into the already crowded DC universe, making both him and Superman less unique and important in the remaining Earth (an Earth which never had a good name, by the way).

Could it have worked?

Yeah, it could have worked...if everybody had been on the same page.  One of the greatest reasons for the success of Marvel Comics was the "benevolent dictatorship" of Stan Lee.  We can never diminish the contributions of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and other great talents, but it was Stan Lee's vision that kept the Marvel Universe coherent and something that others could build on, a strong foundation that future dumb editorial decisions couldn't really ruin.  Post-CRISIS DC needed some sort of "iron hand" to keep it coherent, someone to put his or her foot down and say either "Brand new start for every series!" or "Soft reboots (like MAN OF STEEL or BATMAN: YEAR ONE) for everyone"--reboots that streamlined things without slashing and burning every character's origin and history, substituting a "fake history" in its place.