(The following guest post is by Mike Tiefenbacher, former editor of The Comic Reader, that he posted earlier today on his Facebook page. The post was so long that Mike had to split it into two separate parts on Facebook, due to the limitations that site imposes on post length. I thought it was a shame that such an impressive post was limited to those readers who are on Facebook, so with Mike's permission I have reposted it here on my blog, combining both parts into one massive post as he had originally intended. My thanks to Mike for allowing me to do so. Enjoy! -- Rob Imes)
"PASTICHE, ANALOG, SIMULACRUM, ESPY"
by Mike Tiefenbacher
About a month ago, I had the pleasure of reading a brand-new comic book that I enjoyed for all the right reasons, which is something that doesn’t happen all that often anymore. The comic in question is actually a part of one of those line-wide “event” series that, unfortunately, have become both annoyingly predictable and increasingly inane as well as so coldly calculated that you know you would be smart to just ignore them as a general policy. So it honestly shouldn’t have pleased me as much as it did, and I’ve been trying to explain to myself the reasons why.
I’ve never made it much of a secret about how I feel about DC’s 1985-86 50th anniversary “celebration,” CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. I felt then, and I haven’t changed my opinion in the 37 years since, that it was a kick in the teeth to the faithful DC readers up to that point who’d bothered to learn and stay abreast of the character histories of the long-running DC pantheon.
“So, 50 years, right? You want a celebration? How about 500 of your favorite all-time DC heroes from the past 50 years meeting each other for the first time? Drawn impeccably by George Perez and inked by Dick Giordano, Jerry Ordway, and Mike DeCarlo and Mike Machlan? Umm, you’re okay that several of your favorites get killed, right? Never mind, you won’t miss them, we’ve got plenty of other heroes to take their places. Plus, that won’t really matter because a whole bunch of other heroes just won’t exist anymore either when its done. And even the survivors will just disappear one by one as we replace them with new versions as we think of them. Why should any of this bother you?”
Simply because relative newcomer Managing Editor Dick Giordano (who, after coming over from Charlton, had had a brief four-year run as a DC editor from 1968-71 before leaving to help Neal Adams create Continuity Associates, an art agency which later became a publisher on its own), who was admittedly not a fan of science fiction to begin with, never seemed able to grasp the unique parallel-worlds concept Julius Schwartz and Gardner Fox had introduced in 1961’s “Flash of Two Worlds” (a concept which has since become universally known--ironically, through Marvel’s movies), so he (along with publisher Jenette Kahn) approved Marv Wolfman’s story, which served to literally blow up everything at least some longtime fans loved, also using it to kill off the “deadwood” in favor of new characters and a universe in which the two main Earths (and worlds devoted to characters from Quality, Fawcett and newly acquired Charlton) were all smushed together into one “darker, more realistic” (sic) universe (allowing a handful of Earth-Two characters like Doctor Fate, The Spectre and Power Girl, plus Fawcett heroes Captain Marvel and family, and Charlton’s Blue Beetle and Captain Atom the ability to interact with other Earth-One heroes without having to spend a panel per story traveling between dimensions). Oh yes, it also enabled them to restart everything (well, nearly everything -- BATMAN seemed to escape all the re-conception agony) over at #1. Because fandom has and, seemingly, will forever fall for the imagined incipient “value” of any comic books which have a #1 on their covers, DC seemed to clean up in the next several years, with sales jumps on newly “reimagined” titles like SUPERMAN, WONDER WOMAN and JUSTICE LEAGUE, each of which threw out between some, most or all of the fifty years of history that fans (if not writers and editors) had had no trouble keeping straight in favor of a bunch of new histories and details which rapidly became more and more complex and confusing than they’d ever been before--because DC couldn’t get enough of a “good” thing.
Within a short time, the new DC Earth’s sales had decreased again to former, pre-Crisis levels, necessitating similar annual line-wide “event series” with universe changes, attendant deaths, reboots, and spin-offs, all in an attempt to repeat that sales boost again. They worked, to the extent that they became annual events. These included LEGENDS (1986-1987), MILLENNIUM (1988), INVASION! (1989), ARMAGEDDON 2001 (1991), WAR OF THE GODS (1991), ECLIPSO: THE DARKNESS WITHIN (1992), BLOODLINES (1993), ZERO HOUR (1994), UNDERWORLD UNLEASHED (1995), THE FINAL NIGHT (1996), GENESIS (1997), DC ONE MILLION (1998), DAY OF JUDGMENT (1999), SINS OF YOUTH (2000), OUR WORLDS AT WAR (2001), THE JOKER: LAST LAUGH (2001-2002), IDENTITY CRISIS (2004-05), INFINITE CRISIS (2005-06), FINAL CRISIS (2008-09), BLACKEST NIGHT (2009), FLASHPOINT (2011), FOREVER EVIL (2013-14), FUTURES END (2014), CONVERGENCE (2015), THE MULTIVERSITY (self-contained) (2015), DARK NIGHTS: METAL (2017-18), HEROES IN CRISIS (2018-19), DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL (2020-21), INFINITE FRONTIER (2021), and, most recently, DARK CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS (2022-23). Many of these are okay, some lack logic, some are unreadable, some are way too dark to enjoy, others are gruesome, and some (LEGENDS (for introducing Amanda Waller), MILLENNIUM, IDENTITY CRISIS, and HEROES IN CRISIS) are better forgotten completely, but too many are just boring gang battles against cosmic villains with very little actual story and more about scene after scene of masses of superheroes, which although enjoyable to look at, rarely convey much story. (Even though I’ve been a sucker for those hero group drawings ever since the covers of the two volumes of Steranko’s HISTORY OF THE COMICS, I still prefer a story I can follow.)
All of that said, the issue I loved came as a one-shot special spin-off of the aforementioned DARK CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. Now, that series, which just terminated with an issue which didn’t end the story, was meant as a direct sequel to the original CRISIS of 1985, as well as updating the MULTIVERSITY series from six years ago, essentially overturning both mini-series by restoring the entire infinite multiverse to DC’s current continuity, which had already been expanded from one Earth to 52 in the coincidentally titled series 52 #52 in 2007.
Ironically enough, the new facts involved in these revisions of the post-CRISIS status quo have pretty well subverted the part-time project I’ve been working on since my freelance days, conceived in 1989 and which I’ve been crafting ever since--just waiting for that perfect opening when company attitude changes would offer an opportunity to pitch the story to DC. Without going into too many details, it was (and still is) titled AULD LANG SYNE: A QUIET CRISIS ON THREE EARTHS. It’s set on New Year’s Eve, 1968-69 in the JLA’s Secret Sanctuary, and the story involves every known DC, Quality, Fawcett and Charlton hero (far more than ever acknowledged in any version of the WHO’S WHO) introduced before that date, and its conclusion (entirely based on published adventures) instigates the collapse of the 1960s multiverse into one world magically/scientifically advanced to the current year of publication, creating an alternate present populated only with the heroes I grew up with instead of their often radically altered versions created after CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. The idea was for it to work either as an independent Elseworlds one-shot or mini-series, adhering to the CRISIS-dictated one-world premise, but also allowing for new stories set in a facsimile of the original Earth-One universe to be written by whoever wanted to do so.
Obviously, that barely cracked-open window of opportunity has been closing more tightly with every year that passes. As my fantasy sale fades, because of all the work I’d put into it, I still imagined that I could make use of the plot and turn it into a prose story, with the twist--based on the Gardner Fox premise that all of DC’s stories had literally been dreamed by DC writers--being that it would thus allow me to annotate each character’s details by issue number and date within the story itself as a natural part of the narration to overcome the lack of visuals and so there wouldn’t be any need for endless footnotes. With the recent “print-your-own” advances in book publishing, I had a vague plan to publish a couple dozen copies as a small paperback, just to bore my friends and have a book with my name on its spine to display on my shelf.
52, MULTIVERSITY and DARK CRISIS have obviated the first part, eliminating the need to collapse worlds into a one-Earth cast without doppelgängers, while the dreamed-storytelling detail is explicitly included in the current story as well. Oh, well. I’ve never been one to let facts get in the way of my dreams.
So, I’m lukewarm (and even rather resentful) about the series, but head over heels about the special. How that works gets complicated.
I must go back to 1966 for at least part of the answer. I had a subscription to SHOWCASE, purchased because because I knew that every issue of the recent past--everything from THE ATOM, METAL MEN, and TEEN TITANS (the successes), to DOCTOR FATE & HOURMAN, TOMMY TOMORROW, CAVE CARSON, I--SPY, G.I. JOE and ENEMY ACE (those that weren’t as successful) had become important origin issues since the debut of THE FLASH in 1956 and would be hard to collect if I missed buying them new. Because I wanted to read about the newest characters as soon as possible, and subscription copies arrived three weeks ahead of newsstand dates, I invested my dollar in a sure thing. My first subscription issues had featured THE SPECTRE by Fox and Murphy Anderson, so it seemed like I’d made the correct choice. Then I got #62.
I was nearly fourteen at the time, and I’d justified my comic-book purchases up to this point as being equivalent to collecting science-fiction paperbacks: adult stuff, not “comic” at all, because funny comics were what I’d bought “when I was a kid.” So it was a crisis of conscience when I extracted that issue from its wrapper to find THE INFERIOR FIVE, a humor comic for sure, judging by the cover art by former MAD Magazine artist Joe Orlando, probably the only portion of the issue he actually drew himself, though his name is the only one on the work (Jerry Grandenetti actually penciled the interiors). Reluctantly, I began to read Nelson Bridwell’s story, and while I found the art wanting (as I would for the remaining twelve issues drawn by Mike Sekowsky and Winslow Mortiimer in typical big-foot style), I pretty instantly liked its twist on the unlikely hero theme, echoing both the Doom Patrol and Marvel Comics of the period. Oddly enough, it also presented the very first band of DC legacy heroes, nearly three decades prior to JUSTICE SOCIETY’s coining of the phrase. The Inferior Five members were the adult offspring of the earlier generation’s leading superheroes, The Freedom Brigade: The Patriot and Lady Liberty were the parents of Merryman, Mr. Might and The Mermaid’s son was Awkwardman, White Feather’s dad was The Bowman, Captain Swift was father to The Blimp, and Princess Power and Steve Tremor’s daughter was Dumb Bunny.
Even now, I still think it might’ve worked better if the art had been done straight and without exaggeration, but that’s probably a minority opinion.
I didn’t know it at the time, but these new stand-ins for golden-age DC heroes were my first exposure to pastiche heroes (a term I wouldn’t know for at least another decade). In order, of course, they were slightly altered equivalents of Uncle Sam, Miss America, Superman, Lori Lemaris, Green Arrow, The Flash, Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor. Merryman’s paternal grandfather, Yellowjacket, and his maternal great (times six) grandfather, the Crimson Chrysanthemum, were pastiches of The Green Hornet and The Scarlet Pimpernel. (I find it remarkable that Nelson had the restraint to not include a Batman analog in his story, though this was written just before Batmania exploded in America, though it did coincide with the rise of “camp” in popular entertainment.) While these heroes would have been considered parodies in MAD Magazine, here they were legitimate (if inept) heroes. Though it didn’t occur to me at the time, largely because they never crossed over with any actual Earth-One heroes, I later realized that this meant that all of this must have been happening on a different Earth than Earth-One. (In his OZ-WONDERLAND WAR just prior to CRISIS, Nelson himself placed the group on Earth-12.)
At this point in 1966, DC’s Julius Schwartz/Gardner Fox parallel-world/multiverse consisted of exactly three established worlds, referenced by number only in the books Schwartz edited: Earth-One, where all current DC comics were set, Earth-Two, where all golden-age DC comics (however you define its parameters) had occurred, and Earth-Three, the odd universe that debuted in 1964’s JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #29-30 where the pastiche characters that parallel Earth-One’s JLA members were all villains instead of heroes. This ignores Earth-A (created by Johnny Thunder’s Thunderbolt to magically eliminate the JLA and be replaced by the Lawless League, which did not survive its sole appearance in JLA #37-38 after it was erased from everyone’s memory at that story’s conclusion). Sadly, Gardner Fox got swept out of DC by Carmine Infantino in ‘68, so further parallel worlds were staved off for another five years, when Len Wein introduced the Freedom Fighters in JLA #107-108 (1973) on Earth-X, a world where the Nazis won World War II, featuring what was then strongly implied to be the only Earth on which the Quality Comics characters existed. It was later joined by Earth-S (for Shazam), which was created in 1976 by Nelson Bridwell and Martin Pasko (JLA #135-137) to contain Captain Marvel and his fellow Fawcett Comics heroes on a world only changed by skipping the twenty years the heroes weren’t being published (1954-73). And that was it, except for Earth-Prime, created by Cary Bates in FLASH #179 (1968), reappearing in #228 (’74), then JLA #123-124 (’75), originally as the world where we and DC’s creators lived, then in JLA #153 (’78), as a world which had only one hero, Ultraa, who ultimately came to live on Earth-One, leaving Earth-Prime bereft of superheroes. Whatever its definition, ignore it. It only confuses the current situation.
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS was created to simplify this confusing (???) array of worlds to entice new readers, but made it more confusing by creating Earth-Four just to make it one of the five Earths that were combined into one in the story’s conclusion, and introducing Superboy of Earth-Prime, his destroyed world’s only survivor. Whether this was intended to be the previous Earth-Prime or not, I’m not sure. Why the five Earths chosen to survive included Earth-X is completely nonsensical, as were the subsequent post-Crisis histories of the Freedom Fighters who were replaced, killed or retired. Reading those histories makes you want to cry. The Charlton characters debuted there and were awarded Earth-Four, since there weren’t any other worlds established beyond Earth-Three until then. A whole array of other unnamed worlds were also created and destroyed in CRISIS, making it appear as if there were a “convoluted mess” (a quote) to clean up, which wasn’t actually all that true.
Of course, there was a far easier solution, likely rejected because it would not have enabled the full reboots (that brand-new eighties computer term) that followed, along with a ton of new first issues, or a melodramatic best-selling series with grimly posed heroes battling a vague, deadly encroaching force. Because Roy Thomas had already established that the Quality Comics heroes all existed on Earth-Two prior to several transporting themselves to the hero-less Earth-X to fight Nazis, and the Fawcett heroes had awakened from a twenty-year-nap to find themselves in the present, by simply also placing them on Earth-Two, and collating the Charlton heroes’ simple history into present-day Earth-One continuity, and then never again referring to Earth-X, Earth-S, or the not-yet--established Earth-Four ever again DC could have solved the “confusion” of many multiple Earths, retained the beloved Earth-Two, and could have been done in one issue. Crisis averted!
But CRISIS, a convoluted mess of a story created to avert an alleged convoluted mess of its own making, was published (and reprinted dozens of times) but wrought nearly 40 years of increasingly forgettable patch work. Plus, the conclusion still doesn’t make any sense: if the Crisis never happened after the universe was reset at the dawn of time, what killed all those heroes? And why did phantom doppelgängers who were never born exist for so long afterward only to “blink out” one by one, billions of years after the new universe began?
Keep this in mind, while we go into some more necessary history.
DC began as National Allied Publications in 1935, owned by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, who was then forced out of the company by his printing and distribution partners Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz, becoming Detective Comics, Inc. in 1937. They staked Max Gaines’ All-American Comics in 1939, and then bought him out in 1945, in the process acquiring the superheroic Justice Society, The Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, The Atom, Wildcat, Mr. Terrific, Ultra-Man, Red Tornado, Dr. Mid-Nite, Sargon, Scribbly, Johnny Thunder, Black Canary, The Whip, The King, Gay Ghost, Hop Harrigan, Ghost Patrol and Little Boy Blue & The Blue Boys, and then only briefly using them until 1951 when (except for Wonder Woman) they all went into two decades of hibernation, following the reintroduction of new Earth-One versions of four of them (The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and The Atom).
During the forties, DC publisher Harry Donenfeld and his DC partners were the shadow co-publishers of multiple long and short-lived comics lines, many of which were actually advertised in DC’s comics. These included Crestwood (PRIZE COMICS), ACG (HI-JINX) and Lafayette (PICTURE NEWS, THE GUMPS), all distributed by Donenfeld and partners’ Independent News. In 1950, the comics sections published in the pulp magazine line Donenfeld owned from 1932-50 (Culture/Trojan/Speed), edited by original Nicholson-era DC editor Adolphe Barreaux were reprinted in standard comics using the Trojan and Ribage company names under frontman partner Mike Estrow. Along with horror and romance reprinted stories without recurring characters in other titles, CRIME SMASHERS featured reprints of Sally the Sleuth; Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective; Ray Hale, News Ace; and Gail Ford, Girl Friday; CRIME MYSTERIES reprinted Jerry Jasper; Jim Phillips; Don Grady, Man of a Thousand Faces; Queenie Starr, Glamour Girl of Hollywood; Lance Storm, Manhunter; Chick Collins, State Trooper; Kitty Vale; and The Fantastic Dr. Foo; and WESTERN BANDIT TRAILS reprinted Six-Gun Smith; Wilma West; K-Bar Kate; Fighting Bob Dale; Tex Gordon; and Lariat Lucy. (Each of these strips were scrubbed of the nudity and bad language that occurred in the pulp versions, of course). Other small companies connected through Donenfeld and Barreaux included Youthful, Western, Master, Story, Men’s and Merit, none of which published any superhero titles, save Youthful’s CAPTAIN SCIENCE (a Flash Gordon analog). Also connected was the Stanhall humor line (G.I. JANE, MUGGY-DOO, OH! BROTHER, and BROADWAY-HOLLYWOOD BLACKOUTS), written and edited by DC humor writer and future cartoon producer (MILTON THE MONSTER, BAT-FINK) Hal Seeger. All were gone by 1955.
As National Comics Publications (the new combined company name as of 1947), DC bought Quality Comics in 1956 (after the latter’s distribution company, American News, went out of business), acquiring Blackhawk, Plastic Man, Doll Man, Uncle Sam, Kid Eternity, Captain Triumph, Quicksilver, Black Condor, The Ray, Phantom Lady, Human Bomb, Firebrand, Manhunter, The Clock, Midnight, Miss America, The Jester, The Spider, Red Bee, Neon, The Great Defender, The Barker, Red Torpedo, Her Highness, Silk, Wildfire, Bozo the Robot, Blue Tracer, Hercules, Invisible Hood, Madam Fatal, The Marksman, Tor the Magic Master, Destiny, The Unknown, The Sword, and Spider Widow. Though they only chose to continue publishing the four top-selling Quality titles (BLACKHAWK, G.I. COMBAT, ROBIN HOOD TALES and HEART THROBS) in 1957, reviving PLASTIC MAN in 1966, when I interviewed him in his office in July of 1971, Carmine Infantino told me that he’d just been on the phone with Quality’s former owner Everett “Busy” Arnold to confirm that DC had indeed purchased the entirety of the Quality Comics line from him, a fact which Infantino seemed genuinely eager to take advantage of. Sure enough, Quality reprints began appearing in early ‘72 onward, prior to the Freedom Fighters’ official debut in 1973’s annual JLA/JSA team-up story. As mentioned, when Roy Thomas created ALL-STAR SQUADRON in 1980, he placed the Quality characters on Earth-Two alongside DC’s heroes.
The abovementioned heroes are only those who’ve appeared in DC Comics. Even at this late date, they’ve yet to use Wonder Boy, Cyclone, The Dragon, USA the Spirit of America, Just 'n Right, #711, The Whistler, Rusty Ryan, Ace of Space, Wings Wendall, Black X, G-2, The Destroying Demon (Bruce Blackburn), The Mouthpiece, The Raven, Blaze Barton, The Ghost of Flanders, Yankee Eagle, Scarlet Seal, The Sniper, Paul Bunyan, The Lone Star Rider, The Whip, Arizona Raines, Two-Gun Lil, Ken Shannon or T-Man. Also, Nick and Nora Charles pastiches Jack and Jill Doe, plus--whether they were aware of it or not--half ownership of The Spirit, Lady Luck and Mr. Mystic. The 1967 Harvey reprints of The Spirit were officially registered as co-copyrighted by Everett Arnold and Will Eisner; if Arnold sold all of his copyrights to DC, well, you get the picture. Eisner never renewed any of his original copyrights, Spirit or otherwise, depending instead on his ownership of the Spirit trademark. (DC held the rights from 2000-12, reprinting every SPIRIT story to date, and then published original material from 2007 to 2012, after which IDW (’13) and Dynamite did new stories from ‘15-‘17.)
Sometime in the late ‘50s, DC may well have bought former editor Vin Sullivan’s ME (Magazine Enterprises) Comics, acquiring the rights to Funnyman, The Avenger, Strong Man, Thun’da, Red Mask, Black Phantom, White Indian, Undercover Girl, and the original Ghost Rider in the process. (American rights to Straight Arrow, Tim Holt and Durango Kid wouldn’t have been included in any deal, since they were licensed.) Evidence of this: ME’s original art still resides in DC’s vaults, and foreign DC reprints in Australia and Scandinavia featuring many of the listed characters, including the licensed ones, appeared from the ‘60s through the ‘80s in multiple DC-licensed reprint comics. Because they didn’t continue any of ME’s active titles when ME left the business in 1958, by the time the artwork was uncovered in the ‘90s, there were no then-current DC employees left who’d been around 30-plus years earlier to remember if DC had merely arranged to handle ME’s foreign reprint rights or bought Sullivan out completely, as no contracts were found. This could explain why nobody prevented Marvel from lifting Ghost Rider en toto from ME’s version in 1967, as Sullivan possibly no longer owned the character’s copyright. (Artist Dick Ayers had assumed that Marvel had bought the ME character and merely drew the character he knew. Sullivan’s lawyer told him that Marvel had made a Library of Congress search to prove that his trademark--never used by DC--had indeed expired, so he had no legal recourse. Of course, his copyright--which would have protected the character’s appearance and method of operation--wouldn’t expire until 1982, which wouldn’t have helped him if he no longer owned it).
If a buy-out didn’t happen in 1958, another possibility is that DC might have been inclined to pursue the line’s remnants in 1961 just to acquire the trademark for one of ME’s final titles, MIGHTY ATOM (1957-58), which they would soon need for their revival/relaunch of THE ATOM). This appears more likely, as (from the very limited evidence on the GCD) the K.G. Murray Australian DC comic reprints (including ME’s Ghost Rider, Durango Kid, Tim Holt, Straight Arrow, Trail Colt, Jolly Jim Dandy, Calico Kid, Lemonade Kid, Bobby Benson’s B-Bar-B Raiders, Dan Brand Z& Tipi, Dan’l Boone) began appearing in 1963 or thereabouts.
For certain, just as DC was in the process of reviving the Justice Society in THE FLASH in 1961, DC bought a controlling interest in their former division E.C. Comics from Max Gaines’ son William, acquiring a percentage of MAD Magazine. Gaines retained complete ownership of everything he had published himself between 1949-57, but allowed all the copyrights for his father’s comics published from 1946-48 to expire (except PICTURE STORIES FROM THE BIBLE, which was renewed by Gaines’ sister, Virginia MacAdie). So it could be argued that rights to those continuing heroes from that short period belong to DC, including Moon Girl, The Prince, Star, The International Crime Patrol: Van Manhattan, Igor the Archer, Madelon, Juan Meatball, and The Chessmen; plus Gunfighter and Buckskin Kid. To date, this remains only my theory. While it can be assumed from public record that these characters are now in public domain, only Moon Girl has been attempted by anyone else, and even then using only her name and secret identity (by Red 5 Comics in 2011). Of course, currently, Marvel is publishing a completely different character of the same name.
In 1963, Prize Comics left the comics business, and evidently sold only its remaining active titles, YOUNG LOVE and YOUNG ROMANCE, to DC. At the time, the company was co-owned by Michael Bleier, with DC owner Harry Donenfeld a minority owner and despite Harry’s death in 1965 after a long illness, from later evidence, Prize (Crestwood) remained a part of the company bought by Kinney National Service in 1968. Prize’s Joe Simon became a DC editor briefly in 1968. Prize and DC shared the subsidiary name Hampshire Distributors in 1969-70, used by Crestwood for PRIZE CARTOONS and ORIGINAL CARTOONS (each edited by Joe Simon), while National published Jack Kirby’s IN THE DAYS OF THE MOB and SPIRIT WORLD using the same company name. The copyrights for two of the Prize titles created by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby in the ‘50s were renewed by Simon (for Simon & Kirby): FIGHTING AMERICAN and BLACK MAGIC, each of which he briefly leased to DC. (Simon created BROTHER POWER, THE GEEK based on a BLACK MAGIC story from 1952, and co-created the 1977 version of The Sandman (which became the version by Neil Gaiman) based on the Prize series STRANGE WORLD OF YOUR DREAMS.) Again, while DC continued only those two romance titles, the remainder of Prize that Simon didn’t stake any claim to may well be DC property. Under this supposition, all of Prize’s superheroes from PRIZE COMICS, TREASURE COMICS, HEADLINE COMICS, PRIZE COMICS WESTERN, and FARGO KID except Fighting American and Speedboy are probably in DC’s holdings if they care to ever use them: The Black Owl, Yank and Doodle, Green Lama, Power Nelson, Frankenstein, Bulldog Denny, The Great Voodini, Future Man, Dr. Frost, Airmale & Stampy. Jupiter the Master Magician, Dr. Styx, Paul Bunyan, The Flying Fist & Bingo, Prince Ra, The Blue Streak, Invisible Boy, Atomic Man, American Eagle, Lazo Kid, The Black Bull, Fargo Kid, and Flash Cameron. Understandably, these little-known heroes have never been used elsewhere, even by the publishers who’ve exploited other presumed public-domain characters.
While Donenfeld owned a piece of ACG until 1965 (according to the statements of ownership in the comics), following his death that year, his former son-in-law Fred Iger must have bought out Harry’s portion of the company as Iger is subsequently listed as sole owner in 1966 and 1967, ACG’s final years of publication. When Donenfeld’s son Irwin and Liebowitz sold DC to Kinney in late ‘67/early ‘68, Iger’s deal to sell ACG’s holdings back to DC fell through, as DC never picked up the announced continuation of ACG’s oldest surviving title ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN. Thus, DC missed out on being able to revive Herbie, Nemesis, Magicman, John Force Magic Agent, Commander Battle, the Hooded Horseman, Bantam Buckaroo, or Cowboy Sahib, not that they needed the properties. (Several DC writers wanted to revive Herbie.) In 1980, DC did introduce an unrelated hero called Nemesis.
In 1973, DC began leasing some of the Fawcett heroes, chiefly Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel, though Minute-Man, Spy Smasher, Ibis the Invincible, Mr. Scarlet, Pinky, Bulletman and Bulletgirl also made appearances. Circa 1987, DC finally bought the entirety of Fawcett’s intellectual comics property, adding Golden Arrow, Radar, Commando Yank, Phantom Eagle, Balbo, El Carim, Zoro, Lance O’Casey, Master Man, The Devil’s Dagger, Warlock the Wizard, Red Gaucho, The Hunchback, Atom Blake, Captain Kid, Young Eagle and Vic Torry & His Flying Saucer to their roster plus having legitimate claims on Captain Midnight and Nyoka (and in the latter case, if it’s determined that the character is under copyright, I offer my own pastiche name for her: Oknya the Jungle Girl).
When they finally purchased the Fawcett heroes from CBS, DC missed the opportunity to also legally acquire the characters from the Ned Pines/Standard comics published between 1939-59 which were also owned by CBS at the time of the sale. While the stories from 1940-43 are still under copyright (and currently owned by Hearst via a series of buyouts), the comics industry has since decided that they are public domain on the premise that no one has objected. Many companies have shared the use of their roster of heroes, including DC, via Alan Moore’s America’s Best Comics imprint in the TOM STRONG title and its spin-off, TERRA OBSCURA. That list of heroes includes Doc Strange, The Black Terror, The Fighting Yank, Pyroman, Wonder Man, Captain Future, The Woman in Red, The Mask (the comic-book version of Pines’ pulp superhero The Black Bat), The Ghost, American Crusader, Lone Eagle, Phantom Detective, The Grim Reaper, The Cavalier, The Sphinx, Son of the Gods, The Liberator, The Scarab, Miss Masque, The Oracle, Silver Knight, The Magnet, Spectro, Princess Pantha, and Tygra, most of whom appeared in those TERRA OBSCURA issues.
In 1983, as a gift to then Editor-in-Chief Dick Giordano, DC purchased most of the superheroes he had edited at Charlton Comics in the ‘66-‘68 years before coming to DC. These ten heroes were the sum total purchased: Blue Beetle (I and II), Captain Atom, Son of Vulcan, Sarge Steel, Thunderbolt, Judomaster, Tiger, Nightshade, The Peacemaker and The Question. Unknown to DC, Thunderbolt had been previously purchased from Charlton by his creator Pete Morisi prior to DC also buying the rights, and Morisi subsequently leased the character to DC for their 1992 series. Dynamite has subsequently published two series featuring the character. (As with DC’s mini-series version, the costume and story were changed, this time after Morisi’s death. The most recent by Kieron Gillen is his take on WATCHMEN, if that’s what you’re looking for. I don’t think it would be anything Morisi would love, but I’d only be guessing). However, due to the use of the first Charlton superhero, Yellowjacket (definitely now in public-domain), in THE MULTIVERSITY: PAX AMERICANA (Grant Morrison’s WATCHMEN parody) seven years ago, it may well be that all other Charlton heroes (see below for the list) live on the Charlton Earth too, even if DC didn’t acquire them, as any created before 1964 are in the public domain.
Jumping ahead of the chronology, in 2003 DC arranged another interesting potential rent-to-own arrangement with John Carbonero, owner of Tower Comics’ T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, a license DC held for ten years from 2003-12. For quite a long time, it appeared as if Carbonero might be selling his company to DC, with DC publishing Archives editions of the entire run of Tower and post-Tower stories featuring the characters as well as DC Direct statues of Dynamo and NoMan. Planned production of new material came only after Carbonero’s death in 2009. He had quashed earlier attempts to do so by DC because they wanted to “update” the characters in ways he didn’t like, especially NoMan, who in the modern retelling would be using human clones for his cannon-fodder android bodies. His heirs authorized two series which may well have revived at least a portion of the rejected premise, as they were mediocre pastiche versions which utterly failed to capture even the colorful visual appeal of Wally Wood’s original characters which DC had reprinted in full, because, of course Wood’s costumes were deemed to be dated. The low sales for the improved version was the end of the arrangement and DC, instead of acquiring the company from the heirs, instead allowed the characters to be picked up by IDW, who had even less success with them. When last seen in 2015, IDW had wisely abandoned original material for classic reprints.
DC’s most recent acquisition occurred in 1999, when they purchased the WildStorm company and its characters. While the company published dozens of titles as an Image division, their super-powered protagonists were almost entirely members of groups, with well over 100 characters appearing in the group titles WildC.A.T.s, StormWatch, Team 7, DV8, Gen13, Wetworks, The Authority and The Monarchy. In this flurry of costumed beings, the notable participants were Grifter, Apollo, Midnighter, Mr. Majestic, Spartan, Zealot, Voodoo, Grunge, Jet, Deathblow, Backlash, Synergy, Jenny Sparks/Jenny Quantum, Union, Battalion and Jack Hawksmoor. I really had to do my research to compile the above list of characters, because almost without exception, even after buying all those comics, I still can’t recognize any of them on sight (except Mr. Majestic).
WildStorm’s pre-DC history is relevant as well. Fueled with the capital earned from royalties based on the huge sales from new series of Marvel’s X-MEN and SPIDER-MAN, seven (reduced to six upon launching) expatriate Marvel artists formed Image Comics in 1991. Founded and introduced under a single group identity (as Detective and All-American Comics had done in the 1940s), with phenomenal initial sales, Image eventually began to splinter into six mostly separate entities: Erik Larsen’s Highbrow, Marc Silvestri’s Top Cow, Todd McFarlane’s McFarlane, Rob Liefeld’s Extreme/Awesome, Jim Valentino‘s Shadowline, Jim Lee’s Aegis/WildStorm, and Whilce Portacio’s Homage (he’d dropped out before launch, but then reappeared as head of a division of WildStorm).
The six founders had their own goals, with Awesome and Top Cow briefly publishing under their own names before rejoining Image, and in 1999, when Jim Lee sold WildStorm/Homage to DC, the partnership was considerably reduced, with the focus gradually taken off superheroes. Interestingly, the WildStorm universe characters (like most other Image characters) were initially created as pastiche versions of Marvel and DC heroes, not as superheroes (if you want to even call many of them that) that would be great additions to the DC universe. As such, the WildStorm characters have had a difficult time finding footing in the already crowded DC multiverse, not offering much that was original except their general amorality. Nonetheless, WildStorm’s origins being based on pastiches actually follows DC’s own company genetics.
When the first issue of NEW FUN: THE BIG COMIC was published in 1935, its sole predecessor on the market was FAMOUS FUNNIES, a comic book composed entirely of reprints of newspaper comic strips with nationally known characters such as Mutt and Jeff, Toonerville Folks, The Bungle Family, Ben Webster, Tailspin Tommy, Connie, Hairbreadth Harry, Dixie Dugan, The Nebbs, S’matter Pop? and Somebody’s Stenog, soon adding Joe Palooka, Buck Rogers, Dan Dunn and other small-syndicate features. In a short time, Dell’s THE FUNNIES, SUPER COMICS, POPULAR COMICS and CRACKAJACK FUNNIES, featuring Chicago Tribune and New York News comics like Dick Tracy, Terry and the Pirates and Little Orphan Annie, United Feature Syndicate’s TIP TOP COMICS with Tarzan, Li’l Abner, and The Captain & The Kids, and David McKay’s King Features-exclusive titles ACE COMICS, KING COMICS and MAGIC COMICS with Blondie, Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Popeye and Mandrake, would join the competition, sewing up all of the most famous properties. (Oddly enough, many of the original FAMOUS FUNNIES features, including Mutt & Jeff, Toonerville Folks and Ben Webster, turned up in DC’s ALL-AMERICAN COMICS in 1939.) Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, shut out of the bidding for most syndicated comics of value by their cost, went with all-new comics that only appeared to be comics you knew. In that first issue of NEW FUN and all the issues that year, every page in the issue featured the standard syndicate slug every newspaper comic strip featured at the bottom of a panel:
© 1934 National Allied Publications, Inc. Trade Mark Registered U.S. Pat. Off. Great Britain Rights Reserved
In fact, of course, the comics in that issue were 100% original, and not reprinted from newspapers (and for sure, no trademarks were ever registered, because that would have cost more money than the profits from the issue). By 1936, the copyright line had been amended to:
© 1935 National Allied Newspaper Syndicate Inc. Great Britain Rights Reserved
Making it clear that the implied source of the issue’s contents came from a newspaper syndicate still wasn’t fooling anybody, as soon the issues said “all-new” on the covers and the copyright slugs disappeared. But the whole premise continued up through the post-Superman transformation of most of DC’s comics output into almost entirely superhero features, in that the huge majority of the individual features in every pre-war DC comic were knock-offs of well-known comic strips, radio series or movie characters--some more subtle than others.
As I said before, I only learned the term “pastiche” in the ‘70s while reading about August Derleth’s Sherlock Holmes analog Solar Pons, Philip Jose Farmer’s Doc Caliban, as well as the Harry Donenfeld-owned/Trojan-Speed pulp character Jim Anthony, Super-Detective (of the magazine of the same name), each a pastiche of Doc Savage, plus other L. Sprague de Camp, Lin Carter and Glenn Lord pastiches of Conan and Tarzan. Sometime (probably) in the ‘80s, when CDs were replacing vinyl records, everyone was talking about analogue (or analog) recording vs. digital, and I recognized that “analog” was also another word for duplicate or pastiche. Somewhere along the line, I also learned the word “simulacrum,” an elegant Latin word with much the same meaning, if a bit more derogatory, like “knockoff”--and in researching this post, I learned that fandom has come up with another term, “expy,” short for exported character, for exactly the type of knockoffs we’re talking about here. “Doppelgängers,” are defined as ghostly replicas, and as such are more exact duplications than what I’ve generally referred to throughout this post. (It’s good to learn a lot of synonyms for extended articles such as this.)
This practice was not unethical by definition, in fact the same creative shortcuts were taken by the newspaper syndicates themselves. Buck Rogers inspired Flash Gordon and Brick Bradford, Dick Tracy instigated Red Barry and Dan Dunn, Little Orphan Annie birthed Little Annie Rooney. If something sold, imitations were expected and rarely challenged. (Ironically, after Superman’s debut, DC became famous for doggedly defending their own trademarks and intellectual property copyrights, though ultimately that battle would be lost, as they couldn’t file suit against hundreds of creators’ heroes who only barely resembled Superman and expect to win.) But the sheer number of original DC characters whose genealogy could be traced directly to previous popular entertainment icons underlines this fact: pastiches have been part of DC’s DNA since the beginning.
The list (some features had multiple influences):
Adam Link (Automan)
Apt. 3-G (3 Girls--Their Lives, Their Loves)
Barney Baxter (Rex Darrell the Flying Fox)
“Beau Geste” (silent movie) (Wing Brady)
The Black Bat (Dr. Mid-Nite)
“The Black Pirate” (silent movie) (The Black Pirate)
Brick Bradford (Rex Cosmos/2023 Super Police, Mark Marson of the Inter-Planetary Police)
Buck Rogers (Gary Concord, Sr., the first Ultra-Man)
Captain Easy (Slam Bradley, King Carter, Clip Carson)
Captain Future (Captain Comet)
Captain Midnight (Hop Harrigan; Captain Desmo, Rex Darrell the Flying Fox)
Chandu the Magician (Dr. Occult, Mystic Detective)
Charlie Chan (Mr. Chang)
David Innes of Pellucidar (Mark Lansing of Mikishawm; Brad Hardy)
Dennis Nayland Smith and Fu Manchu (Barry O’Neill and Fang Gow)
Doc Savage (Cotton Carver, World Adventurer)
Doll Man (The Atom)
Don Winslow of the Navy (Lieut. Bob Neal of Sub 662; Lt. Cmdr. Don Kerry)
Flash Gordon: (Don Drake on the Planet Saro)
Frank Merriwell (Pep Morgan)
The Green Hornet & Kato (Crimson Avenger & Wing)
The Hardy Boys, Frank and Joe (The Bradley Boys, Tom and Jack)
I Love a Mystery (The Three Aces)
Jack Armstrong, All-American Boy (Jack Andrews, All-American Boy)
Joe Palooka (Socko Strong)
John Carter of Mars (Adam Strange)
Jungle Jim (Congo Bill)
King of the Royal Mounted (Sgt. O’Malley & the Red Coat Patrol; Maginnis of the Mounties),
Little Annie Rooney (Marg’ry Daw)
Little Orphan Annie (Little Linda)
The Lone Ranger & Tonto (Masked Ranger & Pedro)
Mandrake the Magician (Zatara, Master Magician)
Mr. District Attorney (Steve Malone, District Attorney)
The Phantom Detective (The King)
Plastic Man (Elastic Lad, Elongated Man)
Popeye (Skipper Hicks; much later, Captain Strong)
Radio Patrol (Radio Squad)
“Rawhide”’s Gil Favor (TV) (Matt Savage, Trail Boss)
“Rex the Wonder Dog” (silent movie) (Rex the Wonder Dog)
Rin-Tin-Tin (Streak the Wonder Dog)
The Saint - Bruce Nelson
Scorchy Smith (Skip Schuyler)
Secret Agent X-9 (Spy, Bart Regan)
“77 Sunset Strip”’s Gerald “Kookie” Cookson III - Snapper Carr
Skyroads (”Wing” Walker)
Smilin’ Jack (Gary Hawkes--Knight of the Skies)
Tailspin Tommy (Bob Merritt and His Flying Pals)
Tarzan of the Apes (Sandor of the Wilderness)
Terry & The Pirates (Spike Spalding, Rusty and His Pals)
Then Came Bronson (Jason's Quest)
Young Dr. Kildare (Young Doc Davis)
Zorro (The Whip, Don Caballero, and, much later, El Diablo)
Note that influential comic strips overlapped; specific aspects of all of the aviation strips in the listed DC features, for example, are hard to pinpoint exactly.
Of course, a lot of other characters have plenty of antecedents. A Shadow novel was the basis of the first Batman story, and Dick Tracy’s adversaries inspired Batman’s rogues gallery. Flash Gordon’s Hawkmen inspired the name and look of Hawkman, if nothing else. The intergalactic protector organization of E.E. “Doc” Smith’s prose Lensmen series may have inspired John Broome’s ‘60s Green Lantern Corps, though editor Julie Schwartz always denied it (as he had about the Plastic Man and Doll Man parallels to Elongated Man and The Atom, even though Gil Kane later stated explicitly that he’d pitched The Atom as an update of Doll Man). Jack Kirby’s design for The Demon comes straight out of a ‘30s PRINCE VALIANT installment. But these four don’t quite meet the level of the characters on the above list, so don’t quite qualify as pastiches in my book.
So (finally), back to the question: why did I react so favorably to that DARK CRISIS special?
DARK CRISIS: BIG BANG, quite entertainingly written by Mark Waid and very nicely drawn by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund, was an altogether pleasurable experience for me as someone with my ‘60s-based preferences in story and art, being a positive, bright and nearly self-contained story. Best of all, The Flash is drawn in his classic Carmine Infantino-designed costume, acting very much in his ‘60s character, something I will always greatly appreciate wherever I run (sic) across it. But also...
Throughout the story and at the story’s conclusion, we get a reiteration of the map to the multiverse originally outlined by Grant Morrison in the mostly brilliant MULTIVERSITY GUIDEBOOK in 2016, only this time, expanded to 66 worlds out of the new order created by this particulat Crisis, naming the six worlds Morrison had left unidentified and limited to this number only by the space Waid had to devote to it in the particular issue. Of course, as it is now an infinite multiverse, there could never be enough room.
As one of those fans who had far too much time on his hands in his teens and twenties, I spent a lot of time trying to place the published DC comics on the known parallel worlds. My friends and I swapped theories, heartfelt beliefs, logical ascertainments and thematic arguments about who, where and when everything fit in. That all ended in 1985, and wasn’t revived with either the 52 series or MULTIVERSITY. But, seemingly, it’s something which those of us who are now retired and have the time to think about it again, can resume wasting our time on it.
The 2007 version of the multiverse seen in 52 #52 had included Earth-2 (the original), Earth-3 (Crime Syndicate), Earth-4 (Charlton heroes), Earth-5 (Marvel Family), Earth-10 (Freedom Fighters), Earth-17 (Atomic Knights), Earth-22 (Kingdom Come) and Earth-50 (the Wildstorm heroes). Remember that those worlds were designated prior to the changes made after the launch of The New 52 which completely changed the current Earth’s continuity. In the transition to the MULTIVERSITY map of the new multiverse, Earths 2, 4 and 50 were replaced, for whatever reasons had Morrison to do so. This was especially regrettable for 2 and 4, each of which were briefly back in play. Neither version of the list, though, considered the most obvious parallel worlds: those which corresponded to published DC comics after 1956, none of which are Earth-0.
Understandably, the 2022 version of the Multiverse list reflects many recently introduced alternate universes, such as the Jurassic League, INJUSTICE, the DCeased and Metal worlds, DC vs. VAMPIRES, DC Mech, DC Bombshells, the Tangent and Amalgam comics lines from the nineties, Stan Lee’s JUST IMAGINE comics, graphic-novel worlds such as GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT, SUPERMAN: RED SON, THE NEW FRONTIER, JUSTICE RIDERS, KINGDOM COME, THE NAIL/ANOTHER NAIL, et al., as well as the multiple new worlds introduced in MULTIVERSITY or defined for the first time in THE MULTIVERSITY GUIDEBOOK version of the list from 2015. All of those can be seen in the double-page spread shown below because Mark Waid didn’t change anything that Grant Morrison designated in the original version. [Rob notes: "Click the image to view the text at large size."]
Nonetheless, what is implied by the presence of these all-pastiche worlds is that the infinite multiverse includes worlds which represent not only every superhero published by DC or owned and controlled by them, but also every other competing publisher back to 1935, when the multiverse began. This makes sense if you consider that all of them only exist because DC published Superman. In other words, the list is just the tip of an infinite iceberg that was cracked off in 1938.
My comics-history Jiminy-Cricket pal, John Wells, advises me: “Some of the worlds on Mark Waid’s list were named by me in DC’s CRISIS COMPENDIUM (2005). That includes Earth-54, which I specifically used as a home for the Tommy Tomorrow stories from REAL FACT and early ACTIONs that were set later in the 20th Century and conflicted with his later tales set in Earth-One’s future.
“Other names I used in the COMPENDIUM were Earth-124 (after the first “Impossible” story in WW #124) and Earth-216 (Super-Sons). The reason it’s 216 is because I had used 215 as the designation for a world based on SUPERMAN #215’s imaginary tale. Mark also used my numbers for Earths 148, 162, 183, 387, 898, and 2020.”
THE MULTIVERSITY series ending portended a spin-off series that took nearly five years to finally appear: JUSTICE LEAGUE INCARNATE, a team composed of heroes from any number of these newly established parallel Earths. Thus, no matter how slight or trivial some of them seem to be, they’re merely an excuse to excise one or more of the unique heroes from their milieu and use them in the new team. Knowing that the multiverse is merely a means to create a pot of super-characters for writers and artists to play with makes this particular Crisis installment quite the opposite of any of the others: creation rather than death and destruction. Oh, how Dick Giordano would have been confused by it all.
In any case, if you were not exactly certain which worlds either version of the list you’ve seen was describing, here are my notes on that list shown below which I hope will help make things a bit clearer.
With the current DC Earth labeled Earth-0 (or sometimes Earth-Prime, which has nothing to do with the pre-Crisis world of the same name, the in-CRISIS destroyed-Earth home to Superboy-Prime, or the recently published series of comics based on the CW’s DC TV series), Earth-One has been given over to the non-canonical series of young-adult graphic novels featuring modernized retellings of the origins of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Teen Titans that were issued from 2010-21. My quibble with this is, whatever their quality, is that aside from using “Earth-One” as a part of their titles, the dozen-plus issues hardly seem important enough in the scheme of things to rate such a pre-eminent moniker. In 1960s Mort Weisinger terms, they’re extended “imaginary stories,” no more or less valid than any of the hundreds of other stories with altered facts published in the past as variations on the familiar stories. The new Earth-Two on the map is even thinner, given that it’s based on 86 issues of the various titles published under the “Earth 2” trademark between 2012 and 2017, which have only vague similarities to the original Earth of the same name. While it’s possible that people under 50 will think of those two versions of the first two Earths first, people anywhere close to my age would probably be completely unaware there WERE any other versions of either one.
Each of these worlds wither in stark contrast to the “real” Earth-One, which includes every DC issue published between the introduction of John Jones, Manhunter from Mars in 1955 to sometime during the CRISIS ON INFINTE EARTHS in ‘86 when it was erased, and the “real” Earth-Two, which featured every story published between 1935 and 1955, then selected stories up through the same issue of CRISIS in 1986. Despite this, the latter world, which was in place in 2008, is now not even accounted for in either Morrison’s original MULTIVERSITY roadmap, or the abovementioned DARK CRISIS: BIG BANG special. In the context of Waid’s revised version, had it been included, it would have been most probably designated Earth-1935.
And why can we infer this? It’s because Waid does include in his expanded version, what can only be the original Earth-One: “A teenage Superman (Superboy) and his dog, Krypto, are Earth’s first superheroes; later, home of the Super Friends.” In The Flash’s own parochial map to the multiverse he discovered, this world is numbered Earth-1956 (the date of his own first comic-book adventure). Why this is perhaps the most exciting cited Flash-sighted world on either list for me is the prospect that it finally affords any DC writer (Waid being one I hope actually uses it) with the desire, knowledge and wherewithal to create new stories set in the pre-Crisis continuity, the ability to revisit that world, now that it has an officially sanctioned identity as a charted Earth. That single entry finally gives me a glimmer of hope that something that has taken a mere 37 years to happen might now see print before I die. And who knows? If they trumpet that fact, maybe they’d even have a new best-seller.
The new Earth-2, established in 2011 but likely not the Earth anyone thinks of when hearing the name, evidently features only these living versions of the expected heroes: Aquawoman, Batman III (Dick Grayson), Dr. Fate, Dr. Impossible, Firepattern (John Grayson), The Flash, Fury, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Hourman, The Huntress/Batman IV, Power Girl, Red Tornado, Superman II, and Ted Grant.
On the other hand, and against all logic, Earth-3 remains intact as the world featuring the Crime Syndicate of America and other antithetical versions of the original Earth-One/Two’s heroes), albeit in “modernized” knock-offs of their counterparts’ costumes that are far more duplicative than Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sach’s immensely more original and attractive designs. Included analogs of the JLA are Ultraman, Owlman, Superwoman, Johnny Quick, Power Ring, and more recent additions Atomika, Sea King, Black Beetle, Black Siren and Deathstorm.
Earth-4, following the numerical assignments dating back to the original CRISIS, featured the Grant Morrison parody version from MULTIVERSITY: PAX AMERICANA. That story cast the Charlton heroes who resided there before the original Crisis in 1985 in an ersatz WATCHMEN scenario (because Alan Moore had originally pitched WATCHMEN using the Charlton heroes), a story he’d written circa 2009-10, twenty-five years after the original, but which, by the time it saw print in 2015, lost its point because BEFORE WATCHMEN had been published three years before. It, as well as the more recent DOOMSDAY CLOCK, incorporated the WATCHMEN characters on an alternate world of its own interacting with Earth-0’s residents. I, for one, need never see this particular nightmare version of Earth-4 again, which may well have been Mark Waid’s intention, as his Earth-4, shown briefly in his DARK CRISIS: BIG BANG, clearly shows Captain Atom in his original, Steve Ditko costume, and not the Dr. Manhattan-parody Frank Quitely version shown in PAX. The Peacemaker incarnation from PAX, in fact, might have informed the ugly James Gunn version of the character in THE SUICIDE SQUAD and the PEACEMAKER TV series, a perversion of the original Joe Gill/Pat Boyette Charlton comics hero, and I’d love to know that the original persists on the Charlton Earth-4. As mentioned, the one thing I liked in PAX, despite his tragic fate, was the first and only appearance of Charlton’s very first superhero, Yellowjacket in a DC comic. The implication from that is that beyond the pictured Blue Beetle, Question, Nightshade and Captain Atom, and the other sane, apolitical heroes DC bought in 1983, Earth-4 could very well be host to the other super and costumed denizens of Charlton Comics, including Diana the Huntress, King of the Beasts, Nature Boy, Mr. Muscles, Zaza the Mystic, Mercury Man, The Fightin’ 5, The Sentinels: Mentalia, Brute, Helio, The Prankster, Tiffany Sinn, The Tyro Team, The Shape, Spookman, Gunmaster and Bullet, Masked Raider, Cheyenne Kid, Billy the Kid, Kid Montana, Man Called Loco, Wander, Thane of Bagarth, and Hercules, and, if not the original, then at least a pastiche version of Peter Cannon/Thunderbolt. We really won’t know unless and until DC decides to revisit that world.
Earth-5 (formerly “Earth-S”) actually features the Fawcett heroes in their original published state (based on Morrison & Cameron Stewart’s wonderful MULTIVERSITY: THUNDERWORLD ADVENTURES, a world I’d love to revisit) where Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family live with all the Fawcett characters listed above. Presumably, anything that’s happened to them on Earth-0 has never happened there, including their unprovoked name-change to “Shazam,” the regression of Captain Marvel to a grown-up with a teenager’s mind from the idealized adult version of the teen, where Kid Eternity remains Captain Marvel Jr,’s brother, and the death of Isis didn’t happen. (This is one of the few worlds on this list which aligns with the actual published comics, though, according to Waid, the only reason there aren’t more that do is only because The Flash has yet to explore them.)
Earth-6 features the almost-forgotten set of alternate versions of major DC heroes from the JUST IMAGINE STAN LEE CREATING... series of comics from 2001-02. It features Stan’s versions of Superman, Batman, Robin, The Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Atom, Sandman, Shazam, Catwoman, Crisis, the JLA, Oracle, Madame Xanadu, Mark Merlin, Tommy Tomorrow, Dominic Dark and Adam Strange.
Earth-7 is a literal waste--it’s an Earth where all the heroes but the Aboriginal Thor analog The Thunderer have been killed while the world itself is otherwise devastated. It is a pastiche world of Marvel’s equally destroyed Ultimate Comics characters (or “Major Comics’ Essential” universe, as MULTIVERSITY #1 calls it), and appears to be the splinter world of Earth-8. Its residents were (all are deceased) The Essential Retaliators: Bug (Spider-Man), Crusader (Captain America), Devilfist (Daredevil), The Future Family: (Doc Future (Mr. Fantastic), Ghost Girl (Invisible Girl), Golem (The Thing), Fireball (Human Torch); The G-Men (The X-Men), Machinehead (Iron Man), Microbot (Ant-Man), and Walkure (Valkyrie).
Earth-8 is the world featuring pastiches of Marvel Comics’ Earth 616 heroes, which originated in a Mike Friedrich JLA story simultaneously with Roy Thomas’s AVENGERS story which brought back their analog JLA, the villainous Squadron Sinister (from 1969), which then evolved into the heroic Squadron Supreme by 1971. That original story was set on the planet Angor, but in the reset multiverse, it’s its own universe, sharing some of the same names as Friedrich’s original team. According to MULTIVERSITY #1 it includes The Retaliators: Hyperius (Hyperion), Wundajin (Thor), American Crusader (Captain America), Machinehead (Iron Man), Major Max (Captain Marvel), Deadeye (Hawkeye), Ladybug (The Wasp), Kite (The Falcon), Silver Eagle (again, The Falcon), Red Dragon (Black Widow), Blue Jay (Ant-Man), Silver Sorceress (Scarlet Witch), Captain Speed aka Jack B. Quick (Quicksilver), The Bug (Spider-Man), Stuntmaster (Daredevil), Behemoth (Hulk), The Future Family (Fantastic Four): (Frank Future, Ghost Girl, The Golem, Fireball), G-(Geno)Men (X-Men): (Uni-Orb (Cyclops), Windrider (Storm), Nightroller (Nightcrawler), plus four yet to be named).
Earth-9 features the heroes featured in DC’s TANGENT COMICS imprint (1997-98), which are unrecognizable variations most of the. heroes of the DC universe: Superman, Batman, Flash, Joker, Green Lantern, Atom, Nightwing, Power Girl, JLA, Doom Patrol, Metal Men, Sea Devils, and Secret Six, and more than 35 other alternate versions of DC heroes.
Earth-10 is quite problematic. It lumps the Quality Comics heroes’ world, which existed from 1939 (1937 via The Clock) through 1956 (the year it was purchased by DC) where the allies won WWII, a fact reflected in their published adventures, with the very different alternate DC universe called Earth X, a world where Germany won WWII (established in 1973, but here specifically based on Morrison’s MULTIVERSITY: MASTERMEN, a story which pointedly seemed to be leading to the Nazi empire’s impending fall) which never reflected any published Quality comics, making Earth-X the splinter world from its original.
In the pre-CRISIS universe, however, the Quality heroes resided on Earth-Two with Uncle Sam dragging some of them from there to Earth-X in a pointless parallel war against the Nazis that couldn’t have been much different from the one also occurring on Earth-Two (the outcome of which Sam could not have known in 1941). With the restoration of the original multiversal Earths prior to the CRISIS, the Quality heroes once more reside on Earth-Two, with no reason to abandon their home world during WWII. I say the Earth-X on the list is the original one from JLA #107-108 and the first FREEDOM FIGHTERS series, populated with parallel versions of the originals, not the originals who transferred there from Earth-Two. Ultimately, in a multiverse where everything happened, there’s no reason to think otherwise. (Similarly, the Earth-One Blackhawks and Plastic Man originated on that Earth, and are latterday parallels to the originals just like Superman, Batman, Green Arrow, Aquaman and Wonder Woman. No need to complicate things with unneeded trans-dimensional migration, especially since the details of the Quality and DC characters were very different.)
I won’t go through the remaining 56 Earths listed which are clear in their roots except those that are not identified in the list reproduced below as being based on specific DC comics graphic novels, mini-series or single stories.
Earth-13, based on characters from Morrison’s own DOOM PATROL #53 and INFINITE CRISIS, features the League of Shadows: Superdemon, Hellblazer, Annataz, Witchboy, Swamp-Man, Fate, Ragman, Deadman and Enchantress.
Earth-20, which IS based on MULTIVERSITY: SOCIETY OF SUPERHEROES, is described by The Flash as featuring “pulp-era” versions of DC heroes. The vague description, however leaves little room for other “pulp-type” heroes in its present, because that story is pretty specific about the heroes in residence there: Doc Fate, Green Lantern, The Mighty Atom, Immortal Man, Lady Blackhawk and her Blackhawks. But pastiches of the DC-published adventures of The Phantom, Flash Gordon, The Shadow, Doc Savage, The Avenger, as well as The Spirit and the Bat Man from FIRST WAVE, (set in the thirties), might fit here.
Earth-25, however, is not an alternate version of anything, but is the exact world of Alan Moore’s America’s Best Comics imprint (which itself is made up entirely of wonderfully realized pastiche heroes), including Tom Strong and family, Promethea, others such as Cobweb, Splash Branigan, a different Jack B. Quick, Greyshirt, The Top Ten, and the heroes of Terra Obscura (who are the Pines/Standard heroes from the ‘40s). It does not, on the other hand, feature any of the WildStorm-universe characters, an alternate world of its own, which, despite being alluded to as recently as this month in comics featuring WildStorm characters, has yet to receive a numbered Earth designation since 52 #52. (Waid has stated that he just ran out of room for it.)
Earth-26 is the world of Captain Carrot, possibly encompassing all of the DC, Fawcett and Quality funny-animal characters (of which there were dozens). On a world such as this, seemingly different versions of each character don’t matter, because they are all assumed to be actual cartoon characters, living on a world where literally everything is possible.
Earth-29 is not the Earth-One-era Bizarro world but one established in EARTH-2: WORLD’S END based on it, so its Unjustice League of Unamerica looks like the current Earth-0’s JLA members.
Following the lead of Earth 8 are the “tribute” worlds. Earth-34 is based on Kurt Busiek’s ASTRO CITY comics, originally a part of the Image Comics line (and after 20 years as a DC comic, now returned there): The Light Brigade (Honor Guard): Savior (Samaritan), Master Motley (Jack in the Box), Ghostman (Hanged Man), Cutie (Beautie), Radman (N-Forcer), Goodfellow (The Gentleman), Herculina (Winged Victory), Formula-1 (M.P.H.) plus Stingray (a Batman alternate from BATMAN #256).
Earth-35 devotes a world to parodies of Rob Liefeld’s Extreme, Awesome (Image) and Maximum Press heroes (mostly created for him by Alan Moore): Supremo (Supreme), Majesty (Glory), Olympian (Fisherman), Morphin’ Man (Polyman), Miss X (Alleycat), Mercury-Man (Doc Rocket), Starcop (Spacehunter), plus, a Batman pastiche from BATMAN #256 (The Owl).
Earth-36 is a pastiche world starring the Big Bang Comics heroes published through Image in the ‘90s: The Justice 9 (Round Table of America): Flashlight (The Beacon), War-Woman (Thunder Girl), Optiman (Ultiman), Iron Knight from BATMAN #256 (Knight Watchman), The Red Racer (The Blitz), Cyberion (She-Borg), Blackbird (Bluebird), Bowboy (Kid Galahad), and Mer-Man (Atomic Sub). (The real BIG BANG multiiverse features an Earth-A (silver age) and an Earth-B (golden age), their order chronologically reversed, just like DC’s originals.)
Earth-37 is a nightmare universe that encompasses most of the warped mini-series written by Howard Chaykin including the debased ‘60s characters of THRILLKILLER ‘62, and the dystopic future of TWILIGHT. While the world features versions of Batman, Robin, Speedy, Tommy Tomorrow, Space Cabbie, Ironwolf, Manhunter 2070, Star Hawkins, Star Rovers, Knights of the Galaxy and the Space Rangers, the actual, altogether superior future-world heroes from comics edited by Julius Schwartz from STRANGE ADVENTURES and MYSTERY IN SPACE that could fit into the Earth-One future continuity (Astra, Chris KL-99, Knights of the Galaxy, Star Rovers, Space Cabbie, Space Museum, Star Hawkins) as well as Space Ranger, Ultra, Manhunter 2070, (if not Star Hunters, Starfire, Ironwolf and Atari Force) as well as the ACTION COMICS and SHOWCASE Tommy Tomorrow stories set 100 years in the future either deserve a world of their own or should be appended to Earth-1956, preceding the Legion of Superheroes.
Earth-39 is a very obvious pastiche world featuring expies of Tower Comics’ T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents. Included are: Accelerator (Lightning), Cyclotron (Dynamo), Psi-Man (Menthor), Corvus (The Raven), and Dr. Nemo (NoMan). Presumably, there’s also an Undersea Agent analog (perhaps Maritime Man) there as well.
Earth-41 features variants of original Image Comics’ Highbrow, Top Cow, McFarlane, Shadowline and even the original WildStorm heroes. From BATMAN #256 is Scorpion (Shadowhawk); the balance: DinoCop (Savage Dragon), Spore (Spawn), Nimrod Squad (Youngblood): Fletch (Shaft), Flintstein (Badrock), Vague (Vogue), Kal’amity (Combat), Nightcracker (Diehard); Cyborg Squad (Stone [Cyborg], Armory [Arsenal], Strikewing [Nightwing]); and versions of WildStorm’s WildC.A.T.s (Maul, Spartan, Warblade, Zealot) and Wetworks (Dane).
Earth-42 features the ugly dwarf (”Chibi”) characters created for SUPERMAN/BATMAN #51.
Earth-44 was created for MULTIVERSITY GUIDEBOOK #1, and then appeared in further comics in the past several years. The Metal League is a hybrid of the Metal Men and the Justice League under the control or Doc Tornado.
Earth-45 is a nightmare Earth from Morrison’s ACTION COMICS V2 #9 without any superheroes where Superman is a thought-experiment.
Earth-47, which spotlights the very peculiar heroes created for DC by Joe Simon: Brother Power The Geek, Prez, The Green Team, and presumably Jack Kirby’s Dingbats of Danger Street, as well as the Love Syndicate of Dreamworld from ANIMAL MAN #23, somehow seems to also encompass a version of Nelson Bridwell’s Freedom Brigade and Inferior 5. I propose an alternative: see Earth 120 in my list below.
Earth-48 featuring The Forerunners was born in COUNTDOWN #46, and involves a hybrid human-alien (Martian, Saturnian, Mercurian, Saturnian, et al.) race which spotlights the palindromic Viza-Aziv, and features Lady Quark, Liana, Brother Eyes, Antarctic Monkey, Danger Dog, Lord Quark, and Kid Vicious.
Earth-50 features the Justice Lords, a warped version of the JLA which never appeared in comic books until recently (BATMAN BEYOND UNIVERSE, , originated in the JUSTICE LEAGUE animated cartoon episode “A Better Place” as Crime Syndicate/Authority doppelgängers. Because someone forgot, Earth-50 should have been the WildStorm universe (so-named in 52 #52). Whether this is changed in the future depends on whether a new, expanded multiversal map is published.
Earth-52 was born in a DC ONE MILLION 80-PAGE GIANT #1 story by Morrison featuring the Primate Legion, with Titano, Sea-Ape, Atomic Lemur, Bat-Ape and Detective Chimp, among others.
For the most part, the MULTIVERSITY worlds were not created to account for anything but the dozens of alternate variations on Earth-0 published during the post-CRISIS era, but Mark Waid’s DARK CRISIS: BIG BANG recognized the omission of pre-Crisis worlds which account for universes which splintered off from mainstream DC continuity back to the ‘40s and added them to the list as well.
Waid’s clean-up Earths added for DARK CRISIS: BIG BANG include Earth-25, to account for the America’s Best Comics characters that have interacted with Earth-0 heroes over the past seven years; Earth-54, based on REAL FACT #6’s version of Tommy Tomorrow, differentiating it from the canonical Tommy Tomorrow adventures set 100 years in the future from ACTION COMICS and SHOWCASE; Earth-66 takes care of all the comics series spun off directly from the BATMAN TV series (also home to SUPERMAN ‘52, WONDER WOMAN ‘74 and ‘77, THE FLASH ‘90 and HUMAN TARGET ‘92, one would hope); Earth-93 accounts for all of Milestone Comics’ heroes and series; Earth-124 takes care of the Robert Kanigher young-girls’ stories of WONDER WOMAN from the ‘60s which don’t fit any other version of the continuity; Earth-216 (I still think it should be 215) does the same for the odd Murray Boltinoff-Bob Haney Super Sons stories from the ‘70s which began in WORLD’S FINEST #215; Earth-1996 accounts for those amusing Amalgam Comics co-published by Marvel and DC; and 1956 (or should it be it 1955?--a little respect for J’onn J’onzz, okay Barry?) takes care of all of the comics published during the period when Clark Kent was the only kid named Superboy. That Super Friends reference may be there just to throw off any DC higher-ups who might not have wanted the pressure of any official re-establishment of the pre-CRISIS Earth-One continuity. [Rob notes: On Mike's original Facebook post, Mark Waid himself replied: "Nah, they don't care -- in fact, I specifically put the Super Friends reference in there to make it clear I WAS talking about the former Earth-One."] Of course, anybody who bothered to read the original SUPER FRIENDS series already knows that it was entirely set on the same Earth-One as all of its contemporary comics.
John Wells’ list of parallel worlds included the following Earths (unnumbered pending official recognition) in addition to those Waid added to the official list:
An Earth explored by Earth-One’s Tommy Tomorrow that is the mirror reverse (including printed matter) of other Earths (ACTION COMICS #238: March 1958).
A world where the visiting Superman of Earth-One prevented the sinking of Atlantis and helped evacuate Krypton's citizens to Earth among other feats (SUPERMAN [first series] #146: July 1961).
An earth populated by stone giants (JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #15: November 1962).
An Earth on which Superman and Luthor died in battle unbeknownst to the general public (SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE #43: August 1963).
An Earth without a Batman. Its population included Bruce (Superman) Wayne and a Lois Lane double named Vicki Vale (WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #136: September 1963).
An earth where Hal Jordan married Carol Ferris early in his Green Lantern career (GREEN LANTERN [second series] #32: Oct., 1964).
An Earth whose Superboy was identical to the Earth-One version save for the yellow and red on his “S” emblem being reversed (SUPERBOY #116: October 1964).
An Earth whose Superboy fought evil Legionnaires from the future (SUPERBOY #117: December 1964).
An Earth characterized by heroic counterparts of Clayface and Luthor and villainous versions of Batman and Superman (WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #148: March 1965). The presumed same Earth appears again in THE FLASH [first series] #174 (November 1967), WONDER WOMAN [first series] #175 (March-April 1968), and SUPER FRIENDS #23 (August 1979).
An Earth where Superman married both Lois and Lana since bigamy was legal (SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE #57: May 1965).
EARTH-X, home of a villainous Clark Kent. Not to be confused with the Freedom fighters’ world (SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN #93: June 1966).
An Earth on which Jor-El, Lara, and Kal-El escaped Krypton's explosion. Capes were a status symbol on this world (SUPERMAN'S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN #117: January 1969).
A "negative world" where, "when a person dies on our Earth, his negative double on their world becomes a normal, positive being ... unseen by the negative people and mourned by them as dead." Supergirl's appearance here caused her counterpart to blip out of existence only to return after she left. Otherwise identical to Earth-One (ADVENTURE COMICS #383: August 1969).
Home of a married Lois Lane and Superman and their infant son (SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE #94 and 96: August and October, 1969).
A world characterized by feral counterparts of Earth-One residents (ADVENTURE COMICS #387: December 1969).
A world on which Superman died and was replaced twice by clones, both of whom were also killed in battle (ACTION COMICS #399: April 1971).
Home of Willie Fawcett a.k.a. Captain Thunder (SUPERMAN [first series] #276: June 1974).
An Earth whose population evolved from cetaceans (FLASH [first series] #265: September 1978).
A world whose Steve Trevor vanished while testing a jet and landed on Earth-1 (WONDER WOMAN [first series] #270: August 1980).
A world with no Paradise Island or Krypton that contained a young Bruce Wayne training to be become his Earth's Batman (DETECTIVE COMICS #500: March 1981).
An Earth populated by Fawcett's funny animals, including Hoppy the Marvel Bunny. First depicted as a parallel world in DC COMICS PRESENTS #34 (June 1981) as Earth C.
A magic-based Earth, whose populace included an alternate Terra Man (SUPERMAN SPECTACULAR #1 (1981) and SUPERMAN [first series] #377: November 1982).
EARTH-C-MINUS was characterized by Just'a Lotta Animals (CAPTAIN CARROT AND HIS AMAZING ZOO CREW #14-15 (April-May 1983).
An Earth where advances in health and science have led to a world of immortals (WONDER WOMAN [first series] #293: July 1982).
So after all that, what’s still still missing? As mentioned, while Earth-25 is devoted to America’s Best Comics heroes and Earth-93 houses the Dakotaverse of Milestone Comics, similar worlds devoted to the huge number of comics featuring clearly non-canon variations of DC characters published under the Vertigo and Young Animal imprints, and the aforementioned WildStorm world (renumbered or not) seem like obvious oversights. But there are two worlds that should also be on the list as DC imprints. Each has interacted with DC heroes multiple times.
The Hanna-Barbera superheroes have co-starred with DC heroes and starred in DC comics of their own since 1997 under the Cartoon Network title as well as FUTURE QUEST, and are also owned by Warner Bros. Surely, a world of their own makes sense. Whether you want to account for the HB funny-animal and comedic characters with another separate world or not is up to you.
Even more obviously missing, though, is Impact Comics, and its reincarnation twenty years later as Red Circle, imprints of DC in 1991-93 and 2009-10, and licensed from MLJ/Archie. The versions published by DC are not only visually distinct from the Archie Comics originals and their multiple revivals (as they’ve attempted multiple times) to make a success of their impressive roster), about the only thing they’d require for a DC world of their own are new names (see below).
To account for as many published DC comics as possible, inclusion of some long-running licensed characters, some of whom already have pastiche identities via reprints, or substitutes from early DC comics such as Mr. District Attorney (Steve Malone), Steve Wilson of Big Town (Marty Moran), Hopalong Cassidy (Monty West), Bomba (Simba), Dale Evans (Sally Sanders, taken from a story in EL DIABLO #12; “Miss Sally” was a Dale Evans to The Vigilante’s singing cowboy/restaurant-chain owner Roy Rogers parallel) and Captain Action (Clive Arno/Man of Action--oh wait, that’s right, despite repeated attempts, I was unable to sell that one to Julie--never mind), as well as Fu Manchu, Charlie Chan, Tarzan, Korak, The Shadow, The Phantom, Flash Gordon, Doc Savage, The Avenger, John Carter of Mars, David Innes, Carson of Venus, Tangor, Fafhrd & The Grey Mouser, and He-Man, et al. These wouldn’t need their own Earth, as most of them could be collated into Earths-1938 and 1956.
Earth-789, which accounts for the Superman and Batman feature films, should also encompass all the other DC films prior to the BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT trio of films, which might require a different Earth, and yet another featuring the DC extended universe films following MAN OF STEEL, Earth-2013.
In the category of other missed opportunities for pastiche/tribute worlds of their own, beginning with contemporaries of all of those Image Comics parody worlds. there could have been mirror worlds for virtually every superhero publisher since 1935, many of which wouldn’t even need pastiches because they’re in the public domain (they’re marked with an asterisk). Man--wouldn’t creating pastiche names and costumes for all of those heroes be huge fun!
So here’s my list of suggested further Earths for the DC Multiverse including further DC Earths that deviated from mainstream continuity (the numbers I’ve used here are almost completely random):
Earth-1935: The original Earth-Two, home to the DC heroes published between 1935 and 1955: Cosmo, Dr. Occult, Sandor, Nadir, Master of Magic, Slam Bradley, The Masked Ranger, The Flying Fox, Bulldog Martin, Captain Desmo, Superman, Zatara, Batman, Robin, Crimson Avenger, Wing, Mr. America the Americommando, Fatman, Sandman, Sandy, Hop Harrigan (Guardian Angel), Ultra-Man, The Flash, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, The Spectre, Doctor Fate, Hourman, Starman, Green Lantern, Red Tornado, Johnny Thunder, The Whip, The King, The Atom, Dr. Mid-Nite, Johnny Quick, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Speedy, Shining Knight, The Vigilante, Genius Jones, Black Pirate, Air Wave, Boy Commandos, Robotman, Star-Spangled Kid, Stripesy, Tarantula, Captain X, Robotman, Newsboy Legion, The Guardian, Liberty Belle, TNT, Dyna-Mite, Sargon the Sorcerer, Lando, Wonder Woman, Wildcat, Little Boy Blue, The Blue Boys, Mr. Terrific, The Gay Ghost, Ghost Patrol, Superboy, The Harlequin, Black Canary, Merry the Gimmick Girl, Captain Comet, plus ‘70s-‘80s additions The Huntress, Power Girl, Amazing-Man, Commander Steel, Brainwave Jr., Silver Scarab, Fury, Nuklon, Northwind, Jade, Obsidian, Wildcat (La Garo), Neptune Perkins, Tsunami, Cyclotron, and All-Star Squadron members Plastic Man, Phantom Lady, Firebrand, Firebrand II, Captain Triumph, Doll Man, Uncle Sam, Human Bomb, Black Condor, The Ray, Red Bee, Manhunter, The Jester, The Blackhawks, Midnight, Red Torpedo, Magno, Miss America, Neon, Invisible Hood, The Spider and the rest of the Quality heroes mentioned above.
Earth-1985: the “New Earth” post-Crisis era
Earth-2010: The Flashpoint universe including the New 52 titles through the “DC Reborn” launch in 2016, which begins Earth-0.
Earth-53: From WATCHMEN #1-12: The Minute Men, The Watchmen
Earth-56: From THE GOLDEN AGE #1-4
Earth-87 [Vertigo Comics (selected), Young Animal Comics (selected)] The DC-owned series that couldn’t possibly be reconciled with the mainstream post-CRISIS continuity (and no, I can’t list them. We'd be here all week.)
Earth-99 (formerly Earth-50) [WildStorm Comics]: featuring the groups: WildC.A.T.s, StormWatch, Team 7, DV8, Gen13, Wetworks, The Authority and The Monarchy, and individual members: Grifter, Apollo, Midnighter, Mr. Majestic, Spartan, Zealot, Voodoo, Grunge, Jet, Deathblow, Backlash, Synergy, Jenny Sparks/Jenny Quantum, Union, Battalion and Jack Hawksmoor, et al.
Earth-120: An alternate world that includes the original Nelson Bridwell Freedom Brigade and Inferior Five, plus Angel & the Ape, which seem quite tonally different from the Earth-48 Joe Simon & Jack Kirby series. This could also be the home of all of the DC human humor characters (Buzzy, Binky, Judy, Howie, Harvey, Scooter, Debbi, Windy & Willy), as well as the movie-stars (Bob Hope, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis) and the TV characters (Jackie Gleason, Bilko, Doberman, Dobie Gillis, Kotter), all in thinly disguised parody form a la MAD. Also includes ‘Mazing Man and Hero Hotline.
Earth-159 [Impact Comics, Red Circle Comics] A pastiche of the DC-published versions of the MLJ-Archie heroes: The Red Circle (The Mighty Crusaders): The Bee (The Fly), Bee-Woman (Fly-Girl), The Cougar (The Jaguar); Balaclava (Black Hood), The Weaver (The Web), Bolide (The Comet), Escutcheon (The Shield), Creed Crucible (Steel Sterling); Bonfire (Inferno), Garrote (Hangman), Reynard (The Fox), Royal Wraith (Mr. Justice), Blue Eagle (Captain Flag), John Jumper (Bob Phantom), and Corp. Punishment (Pvt. Strong), Superbrain (The Wizard) , Jack of Spades (Black Jack), Ball o’ Fire (Fireball), and Doc Strong (Doc Strong)
Earth-164: [Hanna-Barbera heroes]: Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, Hadji, Benton Quest, Race Bannon, Jezebel Jade, Birdman, Birdboy, Birdgirl, Young Samson, The Galaxy Trio: Meteor Man, Gravity Girl, Vapor Man, Frankenstein Jr., Sinbad Jr., The Impossibles: Multi-Man, Coil Man, Fluid Man, Cobalt; Shazzan, Moby Dick, The Herculoids, Dynomutt, The Blue Falcon
Earth-167: The world on which an angel-initiate named Mopee causes Barry Allen to become the Flash, from FLASH #167 and inspired by “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Earth-168 A world on which Carter Hall was publicly exposed as an alien (HAWKMAN #22-27) under editor George Kashdan, something immediately reversed by original editor Julie Schwartz when he regained control of the character in THE ATOM & HAWKMAN the next year.
Earth-169: The SMALLVILLE universe. With the BIRDS OF PREY and second HUMAN TARGET tv series, and comics adaptations.
Earth-176: A world where The Blackhawks were changed into gun-wielding mercenaries (far worse than the “super-hero” phase from ‘66-‘67). (BLACKHAWK #244-250)
Earth-178 The “Mr. And Mrs. Superman” series, which began with ACTION COMICS #484, then appeared in SUPERMAN and SUPERMAN FAMILY from ‘78-‘82, based on a scenario created by Nelson Bridwell and introduced in AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS SPECIAL EDITION #1 in 1976, then injected into continuity in ALL STAR COMICS #62 by Paul Levitz, altered virtually every fact from published Superman stories dating back to 1940 by reverting his S symbol to its primitive ‘39 state, changing his supporting cast to the 1939 version (replacing Perry White with George Taylor), his place of employment to The Daily Star, and removing the Superboy stories published from 1945-55 during the Earth-Two era from his past, which definitely created a splinter Earth-Two world.
Earth-179: John Wells argues that the SUPERBOY series itself created its own Earth-Two splinter world, which differed from the prior seven years of stories because nobody had heard of Superman before his arrival in Metropolis, something explicitly contradicted by the SUPERBOY series.
Earth-200: The Justice Guild of America [TV: JUSTICE LEAGUE episode "Legends"] featuring Justice Society substitutes Tom Turbine (Atom), Catman (Wildcat), The Streak (Flash), Green Guardsman (Green Lantern), Black Siren (Black Canary), and Ray Thompson (JLA mascot Snapper Carr)
Earth-202 The DC serial universe featuring The Batman, Superman, Hop Harrigan, Congo Bill, Vigilante and Blackhawk serials.
Earth 213: The DCEU movie universe beginning with MAN OF STEEL.
Earth-214: The Arrowverse comics and TV universe, referred to internally as Earth-Prime in the comics that adapted DC’s 2013-2023 CW TV series.
Earth-218: The streaming TV series universe including at least TITANS, DOOM PATROL, SWAMP THING, DEAD BOY DETECTIVES and whatever else pops up before the new unified film-TV-animated universe is established.
And adding to the list of tribute worlds:
Earth-910 [Street & Smith] The Shadow, Doc Savage, Iron Munro, The Avenger, Bill Barnes, Supersnipe, The Hooded Wasp, Blackstone, Nick Carter, Chick Carter, Ajax the Sun Man, Red Dragon
Earth-911* [Fiction House Comics] Sheena, Kaänga, The Hawk, Lightning, Sky Girl, Red Panther, Fantomeh, Wambi, Camilla, Sabre, Super-American, Power-Man, Captain Fight, Tiger Girl, Auro, Red Comet, Star Pirate, Mars God of War, Mysta of the Moon, Space Rangers, Futura, Captain Wings, Suicide Smith, Phantom Falcon, Firehair, Tiger Man, Long Bow
Earth-912* [Eastern Color] Buck Rogers, Hydroman, Purple Zombie, Man o’ Metal, Music Master, Rainbow Boy
Earth-913* [Chesler Comics] Dynamic Man, Dynamic Boy, Major Victory, The Echo, Yankee Boy, Mr. “E,” Rocketman, Rocketgirl, Rocketboy, Sky Chief, The Master Key, Yankee Girl, Black Dwarf, Mother Hubbard, Lady Satan, The Gay Desperado
Earth-914* [Centaur Comics] Amazing Man, The Masked Marvel, The Arrow, Phantom Rider, The Ermine, The Eye, Air Man, Fantoman, Minimidget, Speed Centaur, The Shark, The Iron Skull, Mighty Man & Super-Ann, Stars & Stripes, Man of War, The Sparkler
Earth-915 [Dell Comics] The Owl, Owl Girl, Magic Morro, Martan the Marvel Man, The Black Knight, Night Devils, Phantasmo, Professor Supermind, The Voice, The Whistler, Zorro, Captain Midnight, Tarzan, Flash Gordon, The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet, Mandrake, John Carter of Mars
Earth-916 [Harvey Comics] Shock Gibson, Captain Freedom, Black Cat, Green Hornet, Kato, Spirit of ‘76, The Zebra, The Man in Black Called Fate, Invisible Scarlet O’Neil, The Phantom, Flash Gordon, Mandrake, Stuntman, Captain 3-D, 3 Rocketeers, Spyman, Pirana, Monsters Inc., Magicmaster, Tiger Boy, Jack Quick Frost, Glowing Gladiator, Bee-Man, Earthman
Earth-917* [Lev Gleason Comics] Daredevil, Silver Streak, Meteor, Captain Battle, Hale, Crimebuster, Young Robin Hood
Earth-918* [Fox Comics] Wonder Man, The Flame, Blue Beetle, Green Mask, Samson and David, Golden Knight, Stardust, Dynamo, The Eagle, Marga the Panther Woman, Black Fury, The Dart, The Eagle, V-Man, Yarko the Great, U.S. Jones, Rex Dexter, Phantom Lady, The Bouncer, Captain V, Rocket Kelly, Jo-Jo, Rulah,
Earth-919* [Novelty Press/Premium/Curtis] Blue Bolt, The Target, White Streak, Red Seal, Spacehawk, Sgt. Spook, Sub-Zero, The Twister, Dick Cole and Edison Bell (owned by Marvel, whether they know it or not).
Earth-920* [Prize Comics] The Black Owl, Yank and Doodle, Frankenstein, Future Man, Dr. Frost, Airmale & Stampy. Flying Fist, The Blue Streak, Atomic Man, American Eagle, Fighting American, Speedboy, The Black Bull, The Fargo Kid, and Flash Cameron
Earth-921* [Ace Comics] Lash Lightning, Magno, The Raven, Marvo, Vulcan, Mr. Risk, The Sword, The Lancer, Dr. Nemesis, Captain Courageous, Unknown Soldier, and The Flag
Earth-922* [Hillman Comics] Airboy, Iron Ace, Sky Wolf, Flying Dutchman, Black Angel, Bald Eagle, The Heap, Nightmare, Boy King, Microface, Twilight
Earth-923* [Columbia Comics] Skyman, The Face, The Cloak, Sparky Watts, Marvello
Earth-924* [Holyoke Comics] Blue Beetle, Cat-Man, Kitten, Captain Aero, Flagman, Solar, Rag Man, The Hood, Volton, Blackout, The Golden Archer, Alias X, Captain Fearless, Mr. Miracle, Miss Victory, The Red Cross, Grey Mask, Mr. Nobody, Jungol the Man-Beast, Golden Eagle, Black Venus
Earth-925* [ME Comics] Funnyman, The Avenger, Strong Man, Thun’da, Red Mask, Black Phantom, White Indian, Undercover Girl, Red Fox, Ghost Rider
Earth-926* [Rural Home Comics] Captain Wizard, The Blue Circle, Toreador, Steel Fist, Green Turtle, Captain Valiant, The Prankster
Earth-927* [miscellaneous publishers] Spark Man, Green Lama, Golden Boy, Golden Girl, Atoman, The Mad Hatter, Atomic Thunderbolt, Moon Girl, The Prince, Captain Atom, Crusader From Mars, Lars of Mars, Captain Science, Invisible Boy, Son of Sinbad, Zip-Jet, Captain Tootsie, Jon Juan, Captain Flash, Tomboy
Earth-928* [Ajax-Farrell] Black Cobra, The Flame, Flame Girl, Phantom Lady, Rocketman, Rocketgirl, Samson, Vooda, Wonder Boy, Torpedoman, Red Rocket
Earth-929 [Dell Comics] Brain Boy, Kona, Toka, Naza, Nukla, The Fab Four, Dracula, Frankenstein, Werewolf
Earth-930: [Gold Key Comics] Man of the Atom, Magnus, Turok, Mighty Samson, Astro Boy, The Owl, Owl Girl, Tiger Woman, Leopard Girl, Tarzan, Korak, The Green Hornet, Kato, The Lone Ranger, Tonto, Dr. Spektor
Earth-931 [miscellaneous ‘60s companies] Nemesis, Magicman, Magic Agent, The Fat Fury, Fatman, Tinman, Super Green Beret, The Flying Musketeers, Captain Marvel (MF), Tinyman, Radian, Dr. Savant
Earth-932 [Atlas Comics] The Protector, Tigerman, Phoenix, The Scorpion, The Brute, The Cougar, Demon-Hunter, The Grim Ghost, Targitt
Earth-933 [First Comics] Nexus, The Badger, E-Man, Sable, American Flagg, Whisper, Psychoblast, Hammer of God, Twilight Man
Earth-934 [Comico Comics] Elementals: Fathom, Morningstar, Vortex, Monolith; E-Man, Grendel, Mage, Next Man, Justice Machine: Challenger, Diviner, Blazer, Titan, Demon, Talisman
Earth-935 [AC Comics] Sentinels of Justice/Femforce: Captain Paragon, Stardust, Commando D, Scarlet Scorpion, Nightveil, Ms, Victory, Captain Freedom, Atoman, Fighting Yank, Kid Quick, She-Cat, Colt, Synn, Black Diamond, Blue Bulleteer, Dragonfly, Reddevil, Sky Gal, Yankee Girl, Haunted Horseman, et al. (An entire line comprised of pastiches and public-domain heroes)
Earth-936 [Eclipse Comics] Airboy, The Heap, Valkyrie, Sky Wolf, Iron Ace, Flying Dutchman, Airboy II, Miracleman, Young Miracleman, Kid Miracleman, Mr. Monster, Zot, Aztec Ace, Black Terror, Masked Man, Sabre, Prowler, Scorpio Rose, Strike, Sgt. Strike, Man Of War; DNAgents: Amber, Rainbow, Sham, Surge, Tank; Crossfire, New Wave: Polestar, Impulse, Avalon, Tachyon, Dot, Megabyte; Liberty Project: Cimarron, Slick, Crackshot, Burnout, Johnny Savage; Champions: Flare, Icicle, Giant, Marksman, Rose, Dr. Arcane, Icestar, Lady Arcane
Earth-937 [Dark Horse Comics] The American, Concrete, The Mark, Hellboy, The Mask, The Next Men, Babe, Danger Unlimited, Torch of Liberty, The Badger, Nexus, Agents of Law, Madman, The Mystery Men, Monkeyman & O’Brien, Captain Midnight, Skyman, Black Beetle, The Goon, The Moth, Nevermen [Dark Horse: Comics Greatest World] X, Ghost, Barb Wire, Mecha, The Machine, Rebel, Titan, Motorhead, King Tiger, Hero Zero, Vortex, The Heretic, Amazing Grace, Rhapsody, Division 13, Wolf Gang, Pit Bulls, Catalyst: Agents of Change
Earth-938 [Malibu Comics] Miss Fury, Men in Black, Cat Claw, Southern Knights, Rocket Ranger, The Protectors: The Ferret, Amazing Man, Airman, The Arrow, Arc, Man of War, Aura, Gravestone, Night Mask, Eternal Man, Mighty Man, The Eye, The Witch, Chalice, Piper, Iron Skull, Widowmaker, Black Fury, A-X, Edge, Power & Glory [Malibu Ultraverse Comics] Night Man, Firearm, Mantra, Foxfire, Freex, The Exiles, Rune, Elven, Warstrike, Sludge, Solitaire, The Solution, Ripfire, Siren, Reaper, Strike, The Strangers, Witch Hunter, Wrath, UltraForce: Hardcase, Prototype, Prime, Ghoul, Contrary, Topaz, Pixx (owned by Marvel)
Earth-939 [Now Comics] Rust, Syphons, Green Hornet, Kato, Astro Boy, Speed Racer, Racer X
Earth-940 [Heroic Comics] Champions: Flare, The Marksman, Tigress, Icestar, Sparkplug, Psyche, Dr. Arcane, Lady Arcane, Icicle, Giant; Blue Bolt, Captain Thunder, Eternity Smith, Skylark Smith, Agent 76, Anthem: Liberty, Rockets Redglare, Bomb Burst, Dawns Earlylight, Stars & Stripes; Mr. Fixitt, The Infinites, Black Enchantress, Liberty Girl, Chrissie Claus
Earth-941 [Valiant Comics] Solar, Magnus, Turok, Bloodshot, X-O Manowar, Harbinger, Ninjak, Dr. Tomorrow, Shadowman, Dr. Mirage, Eternal Warrior, H.A.R.D. Corps, Knighthawk, Archer & Armstrong, Rai, Psi-Lords, Quantum & Woody, The Visitor, Faith, Livewire
Earth-942 [Continuity Comics] Ms. Mystic, Armor, Silver Streak, Megalith, The Revengers, Zero Patrol, Earth 4, Crazyman, Toyboy, Cyberad, Hybrids, Samuree, Valeria the She-Bat; Shaman
Earth-943 [Topps Comics] Captain Victory, Captain Glory, Secret City, Satan’s Six, Silver Star, Teenagents, Nightglider; Exosquad
Earth-944 [Dynamite Comics] Green Hornet, Doc Savage, The Shadow, the Death-Defyin’ Devil, Black Terror, Miss Masque, Cat-Man, Black Bat, (Project Superpowers), Tarzan, John Carter, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, The Spirit, Lone Ranger, Zorro, The Spider (a line of entirely licensed and public-domain characters)
It would be nice if, at some point, a comprehensive list of at least the parallel Earths featuring the DC-originated imaginary-story/Elseworlds Earths as well as the continuity-jumping universes I’ve barely touched on in this list, could again be assembled in one of those compendium-type books DC likes to issue when repackaging their multiverse series.
But, more importantly, we can hope that, for the sake of the faithful who have weathered the storm of the greater part of four decades, we’ll again be able to bask in the glow of the original Earths One+ and Two+ or 1935 and 1956 (or whatever you want to call them)--in comic books where premature death is the exception not the rule, where heroes are good guys by definition and are not executioners, where villains have many other objectives other than murder, where there is no Lobo, Amanda Waller, or Hitman, where Peacemaker isn’t a lunatic. where villains don’t get series of their own, and “suicide” is used ironically--in other words, where the FUN is. Because everybody likes MORE FUN!
And let's hope it’s not yet another instance of ANTICIPOINTMENT --now an actual word recorded in several online dictionaries which I only very recently learned, but which perfectly describes the experience.
Because it’s all about new vocabulary, isn’t it?
[As usual, my thanks to John Wells for keeping me honest.]
AND DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU ABOUT THE LISTS!
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