The DC Universe
In DC Comics the Multiverse is a continuity
construct in which multiple fictional versions of the universe exist in the same
space, separated from each other by their vibrational resonances. Each universe
in this multiverse varies from the others in either subtle or profound ways.
In particular the Earth of each universe has a different set of superheroes or
the life histories of its superheroes are different from those of others'. In
several cases characters from other publishers acquired by DC previously
established with a fictional universe of their own have been assigned their own
alternate universe within the Multiverse. The universes are identified by
referring to the alternate Earths known as Earth One, Earth Two, Earth Three,
Earth X and so forth. The first such parallel world was introduced in 1961 in
The Flash #123 in the story Flash of Two Worlds. These parallel worlds/universes
were eliminated or merged in Crisis on Infinite Earths a 12-issue limited series
published in 1985, but were again acknowledged in the 2005 sequel Infinite
Crisis.
Traditionally the numbered Earths were spelled out as words rather than with
numerals e.g. Earth-Two not Earth-2 in part to avoid confusion between similar
looking numerals and letters in hand lettered text. This convention was
disregarded in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it became somewhat common to refer
to the various Earths with numerals instead. However Infinite Crisis reverted to
the original use of words.
Earth One is the home of DC's Silver Age heroes including the original Justice
League of America. In this world Superman had a career as Superboy while in his
teens and an array of other superheroes first appeared in the 1950s or later.
The Flash was police scientist Barry Allen, Green Lantern was galactic
peacekeeper Hal Jordan, Hawkman was Thanagarian Katar Hol, and the Atom was
shrinking scientist Ray Palmer. Characters unique to this world included the
Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Firestorm, the Guardians of the Universe and
Green Lantern Corps, the Teen Titans, the New Gods, the Legion of Superheroes
and most other heroes introduced by DC in the 1960s and 1970s. As the default
Earth for most of DC's comics during the prolific Multiverse era, this was by
far the most populous and greatly explored and retained dominance over the other
four worlds which were merged in the Crisis on infinite Earths storyline. The DC
Universe's official continuity post-Crisis took place on this merged Earth One,
as the Crisis indicated that this universe was the core existence until the
rogue Guardian Krona fractured reality at the dawn of creation creating both the
multiverse and the anti-matter universe.
Earth Two is the home of DC's Golden Age heroes including the Justice Society of
America. In this world Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman began their
careers as adults at the dawn of World War II (concurrent with their first
appearances in comics). The Flash was chemistry student Jay Garrick, Green
Lantern was magic-powered Alan Scott, Hawkman was archaeologist Carter Hall, and
the Atom was pint-sized powerhouse Al Pratt. Characters unique to this world
included the Lords of Order, Infinity Inc., All-Star Squadron, Dr. Fate, Mr.
Terrific, Dr. Mid-Nite, Shining Knight, Power Girl, Huntress (Helena Wayne),
Crimson Avenger. The heroes of this world appeared as comic book characters on
Earth One (subconsciously channelled by Earth One's writers). Politically Earth
Two was distinctly different in that various countries diverged from the Earth
One template modelled after Earth Prime (stated at times by DC as the real world
pre-Crisis). For example Quebec was an independent nation autonomous from
Canada, South Africa had abolished apartheid sooner, and the Atlantean countries
of Poseidonis and Tritonus was ruled by a Queen not King (along with its
inhabitants displaying surface dweller features and no capacity for underwater
survival as the Atlantis continent was raised). At the time of Crisis Superman
was older, and Batman was murdered in his fifties.
Earth Three is the home of evil versions of Earth-One heroes, including the
Crime Syndicate of America. In this world history was backwards: Christopher
Columbus was an American who discovered Europe; Britain fought and won its
freedom from the United States in the Revolutionary War; President John Wilkes
Booth was assassinated by actor Abraham Lincoln; the United States flag had
reversed colours (black stars on a red background, and alternating blue and
black stripes); and so on. Noteworthy characters include Ultraman (analogue of
Superman), Superwoman (analogue of Wonder Woman), Owlman (analogue of Batman),
Power Ring (analogue of Green Lantern), Johnny Quick (analogue of Flash),
Alexander Luthor (analogue of Lex Luthor and the sole hero on the planet), and
Alexander Luthor, Jr. This world is not to be confused with the evil world
called Qward from Green Lantern which is in the antimatter universe and which
cannot be entered by the same means that the other Earths can.
Earth Four is the home of the former Charlton Comics heroes. This world was
introduced at the beginning of Crisis and gone less than a year later.
Noteworthy characters include Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Nightshade, Peacemaker,
The Question, Peter Cannon (Thunderbolt) and Judomaster.
Earth Six is the home of Lady Quark, Lord Volt and their daughter Princess Fern.
On this Earth America lost the Revolutionary War. The planet was apparently
ruled by a royal family of superheroes (Lord Volt is referred to as the King,
and mentions his family's reign over Earth). Given its appearance technology
seems to have progressed faster on this world as well. It was destroyed in
Crisis with only Lady Quark surviving.
Earth Seven is the home of Dark Angel an evil analogue of Donna Troy. This Earth
was established post-Crisis in The Return of Donna Troy, a lead-up to Infinite
Crisis.
Earth Twelve is the home of the Inferior Five. Noteworthy characters include
Awkwardman, Blimp, Dumb Bunny, Merryman, and White Feather. This world may have
been home to other comedic superheroes published by DC. Additionally references
within the series pointed to versions of Justice League members having existed
in that universe.
Earth A is the home of the Lawless League. This world was created by Johnny
Thunder's evil counterpart from Earth One when he altered the origins of the
Justice League. A stood for alternate since it was an alternate version of Earth
One. The heroes of this world included alternate, evil versions of Superman,
Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and the Martian Manhunter, as the evil Johnny
Thunder's criminal henchmen granted powers and skills identical to the Justice
League's members.
Earth B was never officially established but was often cited by DC staff as the
setting for team up stories told in The Brave and the Bold which did not always
conform to established continuity for Earth One (or any other established
Earth). For instance one such story featured Catwoman committing murder which
neither the Earth One nor Earth Two versions would ever do as it was strictly
against either character's moral code. Notable characters include Batman (who
appeared regularly in the series).
Earth C is the home of Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew. This world is
populated with anthropomorphic animals. Notable characters include the members
of the Zoo Crew: Captain Carrot, Alley-Kat-Abra, Fastback, Little Cheese,
Pig-Iron, Rubberduck and Yankee Poodle.
Earth C Minus is the home of the Justa Lotta Animals, this world (like Earth C)
is also populated by anthropomorphic animals. Notable characters include
Super-Squirrel, Wonder Wabbit, the Batmouse, Green Lambkin, Aquaduck and the
Crash. Events and characters on this world paralleled those of Earth-One;
additionally events and characters on Earth C Minus existed only as fictional
comics on Earth C (in his secret identity Capt. Carrot was the writer/artist of
the Justa Lotta Animals comic in his world).
Earth D is the home of the Justice Alliance of America. This world appeared in
Legends of the DC Universe as a previously untold chapter of Crisis published
more than a decade after the fact. It featured a more ethnically diverse version
of several Earth One heroes with no major tragedies in the heroes' lives (not
counting the Crisis). As such it was a combination of modern multicultural
sensibilities combined with Silver Age style innocence.
Earth S is the home of the former Fawcett Comics heroes called Earth S for the
wizard Shazam, mentor to Captain Marvel. The rest of the Marvel Family included
Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel, Jr., and Uncle Marvel. Other noteworthy characters
include Bulletman, Bulletgirl, Ibis the Invincible, Spy Smasher, Mister Scarlet
and Pinky, Commando Yank and Isis. This Earth's heroic teams included the Marvel
Family, Crime Crusaders Club and Squadron of Justice with its main villainous
organization being the Monster Society of Evil.
Earth X is the adopted home of several former Quality Comics heroes including
the Freedom Fighters. On this world Nazi Germany won World War II and the
Freedom Fighters originally from Earth Two fought to defeat them. Noteworthy
characters include Uncle Sam, the Human Bomb, Miss America, The Ray, Black
Condor, Doll Man, Phantom Lady, Firebrand and the Red Bee.
Earth Prime is the home of few or no superheroes; this was supposedly our world
where the characters of Earth One were merely comic book characters. DC editor
Julius Schwartz lived here, and met the Flash of Earth One who visited this
world. The little used character Ultraa was the first superhero to appear in
this world but after his initial adventure he relocated to Earth One (in light
of realizing that Earth Prime wasn't ready for superheroes). The interpretation
of Earth Prime being the real world came to an end; in a story just before
Crisis on Infinite Earths a young Clark Kent of Earth Prime discovered that he
had super powers and became Superboy and is referred to now primarily as
Superboy Prime. At the climax of the Crisis he joined the Superman and Lois Lane
of Earth Two (the Golden Age versions) in a kind of paradise but has since
recently returned to the DC universe with the others in the limited series
Infinite Crisis.
Various other Earths were arguably depicted in DC's substantial publishing
output during the period in which the Multiverse was in effect. Identifiers such
as Earth Five (for a world destroyed at the opening of Crisis on Infinite
Earths) or Earth K (the setting of Jack Kirby's Kamandi) have been coined by
fans and applied to certain characters and stories. Some Earths have been
posited to explain (for example) Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. (the teenage sons
of the two heroes who appeared in a handful of stories and cannot be reconciled
with any known Earth) or the Super Friends (based on the TV series). On yet
another conjectured Earth the Silver Age DC Comics heroes lived side by side
with the Silver Age Marvel Comics heroes and it is on this alternate Earth where
various team ups and battles between the two publishers' heroes have occurred
over the years. Some of these could instead be categorised using the imaginary
story identifier which DC occasionally applied to stories they didn't wish to be
considered part of continuity especially before the invention of the Multiverse.
Most inhabitants of the Multiverse are completely unaware of the other
universes. The first character to cross the gap between them was Barry Allen,
the Flash of Earth One, who accidentally vibrated at just the right speed to
appear on Earth Two where he met Jay Garrick, his Earth Two counterpart. Other
characters with super-speed powers have been able to duplicate the trick but it
has not been done routinely. Magic and technological devices have done the job
as well. The Justice League of America's transmatter device (ordinarily used to
transport between their satellite headquarters and the ground) was pressed into
service for annual events in which the League and some of their counterparts on
other Earths faced a universe crossing crisis of one sort or another. Writers
have occasionally put characters from different Earths together in the same
story without explanation, a continuity error often cited as a reason for
eliminating the Multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths or as an extension of
the above mentioned Earth B.
The Multiverse was shown to be destroyed in the 12 issue limited series Crisis
on Infinite Earths by a villain known as the Anti-Monitor. One by one, the
Anti-Monitor invaded each universe and destroyed it. The heroes of Earth One,
Earth Two, Earth Four, Earth S, and Earth X along with survivours from at least
two other universes, managed to hold off the destruction of these last five
universes long enough to defeat the Anti-Monitor. The five were merged into a
single universe with its own history combining elements of the five with
completely new elements. For example there was a Flash named Jay Garrick in the
JSA during the 1940s, and another Flash named Barry Allen in the JLA later. But
Superman had a completely new history different from the Superman of Earth-One
or Earth-Two. Several characters famous from pre-Crisis works (most importantly
the Kara Zor-El Supergirl and Barry Allen Flash) were killed during Crisis and
as a result were either erased from history (in Supergirl's case) or simply
proclaimed dead in the new, singular universe. Although DC maintained that the
other Earths no longer existed during the 1990s they published occasional
one-shots and mini-series labelled Elseworlds featuring alternate versions of
their characters that would have been consistent with the concept of the
Multiverse. DC officially classified these as stories that perhaps could have
happened but had not. In 1999 DC introduced Hypertime which provided a
conceptual framework to recognize both canonical and apocryphal stories. It was
arguably a superset of the Multiverse including not only the whole range of
preCrisis stories set on alternate Earths, but any story set in any continuity.
Hypertime was first referred to in The Kingdom in which an image of what
appeared to be the original Earth Two Superman was shown suggesting that the
Multiverse did in fact still exist in Hypertime. However the concept has been
subsequently used only a few times. In 2005 DC began Infinite Crisis a DC
Universe wide crossover a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Stories leading
up to the main limited series of seven issues contained scattered references and
hints to the Multiverse.
A new Multiverse was revealed at the end of the 52 weekly limited series. Unlike
the original Multiverse, which was composed of an infinite number of alternate
universes, this Multiverse is composed of only fifty-two alternate universes,
which are referred to as New Earth and Earths 1 through 51. The alternate
universes were originally identical to New Earth and contained the same history
and people until Mister Mind "devoured" portions of each Earth’s history,
creating new, distinct Earths with their own histories and people, such as the
Nazi-themed version of the Justice League that exists in Earth-10. Each of the
alternate universes have their own parallel dimensions, divergent timelines,
microverses, etc., branching off them.
While Crisis on Infinite Earth depicted the Multiverse as overseen by a single
being known as The Monitor, Countdown, 52, and other titles have established
that each of the fifty-two Earths has its own individual monitor. In Final
Crisis, the Multiverse is shown to be made of a cone-shaped or an upside-down
pyramid, where New Earth is at the top, holding all the other Earths together.
If New Earth is destroyed all the other Earths fall in a domino effect and are
also destroyed.
DC stated after
the events of Flashpoint, the DC Multiverse has been restructured yet again. For
example, the main DC Earth formerly known as Earth-0 aka New Earth, the
Wildstorm Universe (Earth-50) and Vertigo (its parallel Earth-13) have all been
merged into the new primary reality.
Other Earths in the DC Multiverse have yet to be revealed or explored.