Timeline of the DC Universe

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The DC Universe Timeline is a timeline of the major events in the fictional DC Universe. It represents fictional settings for most of the stories featured in DC Comics' publications. DC has published several official timelines with publications such as History of the DC Universe. These timelines coincide with each other because they were published by DC Universe. Plotholes are common in the Golden Age of Comics throughout the Modern Age because of the concept of the Multiverse. The timeline represents fictional time in the Golden Age, Silver Age, and Modern Age of comics. Due to the "floating timeline" that is applied to events in the Modern Age, everything published in the past 5 decades are considered to have taken place in the present. Please note that DC has officially revised its universe's history thrice in the limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), Zero Hour (1994) and Infinite Crisis (2006) and events in the current continuity might no longer be the same as when they were originally published. All dates are approximate unless stated otherwise and all listings include the individual timelines of the DC Universe.

Contents 1 Before the Big Bang 2 Dawn of Time 3 Billions of years ago 4 Ancient Times 5 20th Century 6 Modern Era of Heroes 6.1 c. "13 Years Ago" 6.2 c. "12 Years Ago" 6.3 c. "11 Years Ago" 6.4 c. "10 Years Ago" 6.5 c. "Eight Years Ago" 6.6 c. "Seven Years Ago" 6.7 c. "Five Years Ago." 6.8 c. "Four Years Ago" 6.9 c. "Three Years Ago" 6.9.1 The Death of Superman.[18] 6.10 c. "Two Years Ago" 6.11 c. "One to Two Years Ago" 6.11.1 Identity Crisis and Green Lantern: Rebirth 6.11.2 Batman: War Games 6.11.3 Countdown to Infinite Crisis 6.11.4 Infinite Crisis 6.12 c. "One Year Ago" 6.13 c. "Now" (One Year Later) 7 Future 7.1 Legion of Super-Heroes 8 Alternate and possible future events 9 The End of Time 10 References 11 See also 12 External links

[edit] Before the Big Bang

• The Hal Jordan / Parallax entity is defeated before time begins. The Spectre initiates the Big Bang through Damage.^[1]
• Imperiex destroys the previous universe. He is sent back again with Brainiac 13, who helps recreate the Big Bang (Our Worlds at War).^[2]
• Superman and Waverider leave Doomsday at the end / beginning of time, where history loops over.^[3]

[edit] Dawn of Time

• c. 20,000,000,000 B.C. – The Anti-Monitor appears at the dawn of creation to undo the universe. The Spectre, backed up by superheroes, fights the Anti-Monitor and allows the universe to be created (Crisis).^[4]
• c. 19,000,000,000 B.C. – The current universe is created by (and in turn creates) The Source (Jack Kirby's Fourth World). Notably, in a Marvel Comics publication detailing the end of their previous universe and the creation of their current one, DC's Spectre is shown to collaborate with the Living Tribunal to initiate the Big Bang that births both the current DC and Marvel universes. Though immediately questionable in its relevance to the DC universe, it is notable in that the story was co-written by DC's Executive Editor at the time, Mike Carlin.
  • The Endless appear into existence. They appear in order: Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair and Delight. (The Sandman)
• c. 18,000,000,000 B.C. – GodWorld is formed.
• c. 17,000,000,000 B.C. – Life begins to evolve on GodWorld.
• c. 15,000,000,000 B.C. – Humanoid beings on the GodWorld became known as the Old Gods and fought titanic wars.
  • Imperiex is reborn in the new universe and begins his eons-long destiny of remaking the universe again.

[edit] Billions of years ago

• The GodWorld is destroyed in a great war caused by the Old Gods' greatest weapon, Mageddon. The gods are killed, and the "Godwave" is unleashed on the universe. This creates forces in the universe (such as the Speed Force and the Metagene) that will allow certain superpowers to work. It also gives birth to new gods on planets all around the universe, including Earth.
• Mageddon is imprisoned in a gravity sink on the outer curve of space-time.
• The remains of Godworld form the planets Apokolips and New Genesis.
• An experiment by Krona, a member of an immortal race of aliens from the planet Oa creates the Anti-Matter Universe; his people decide to atone for allowing this to happen by becoming the Guardians of the Universe. (52 Week 2)
  • c. 3,000,000,000 B.C. – The Oans split between females (the Zamarons) and males (the Oans).
  • The Guardians bind all the wild magic in the universe into the Starheart orb at the farthest reaches of space. (52 Week 2)
  • The Zamarons decide to reside on the planet Korugar. The male Oans swear not to interfere with them, so that the killing of a male Korugarian by them or their agents can result in the destruction of the main Green Lantern power battery.
  • The Guardians create the Manhunter androids to serve as their agents. However, they eventually rebel against their masters. (52 Week 2)
  • The Guardians replace the Manhunters with living agents, the Green Lantern Corps. (52 Week 2)
  • The Psions are created from genetically altered lizards by the Guardians.

[edit] Ancient Times

• Civilization begins on the planet Krypton.
• 100 million years ago. – Captain Atom travels through time in chase with Monarch. He also encounters Chronos.
• c. 50,000 YA
  • Caveman Vandar Adg gains immortality from exposure to a strange meteor, setting him on the path to becoming the evil Vandal Savage. (As retold in The Flash #137 and other DC Comics)
• c. 30,000 YA
  • Anthro, the first Cro-Magnon Man, is born. He will become a leader among early humans. (52 Week 2) (Date from Cro-Magnon Man article.)
  • The Guardians of the Universe accomplish mass genetic tampering with the Martian species, giving them a weakness of fire and making them shy away from being chaotic creatures. (JLA)
  • A spaceship crashes into Earth, containing a Guardian of the Universe and a Burning Martian. The Martian kills a tribe of Cro-Magnons and is later killed by Vandal Savage. (JLA)
• A plague wipes out most of the Martian race.
• A great civilization, rich in both magic and technology, forms on the continent of Atlantis.
• Many years after its formation, Atlantis sinks. Some cities survive underwater thanks to their protective domes. The surviving Atlanteans use magic and technology to change themselves into water-breathing forms, and continue to live under the sea, unknown to the rest of mankind.
• 2600 BC Shazam gives power to Teth-Adam, a protectorate to watch over his lands while he is gone, who builds the first of the pyramids in Egypt, after which he speeds up civilization to rule it by killing the first of the pharaohs. Shazam only returns to banish Black Adam into another dimensional realm. Two Thanagarians crash on the planet. After their deaths the culture and technology is hidden and their civilization disappears.
• To protect the Amazons from persecution, the Greek gods transport them to the island of Themyscira, where they do not age.
• 64 AD – Evil Genius Doctor Doome summons the Roman emperor Nero to battle the Seven Soldiers of Victory in 1942. Five tyrants from the past were summoned with his time machine. Nero captures Captain Atom. The alien civilization has settled on Earth waiting in disbelief for Monarch and their leader returning (Alpha Centurion joins the alien civilization and spends centuries with these aliens).
• 6th century middle ages.
  • Merlin gives the Shining Knight, Sir Justin of the Round Table, magical equipment.
  • Morgan Le Fay destroys Camelot; Merlin and his half brother, the demon Etrigan curse a man named Jason Blood into serving as Etrigan's host body. (The Demon #1)

[edit] 20th Century

• October 31, 1938 : Coinciding with the panic caused by Orson Wells' infamous broadcast, Newspaper publisher Lee Travis, assisted by his Asian chauffeur Wing How, makes his debut as the Crimson Avenger, the first of the twentieth century's masked heroes.
• 1940: The first superheroes debut; they soon form the first superhero team, the Justice Society of America.
• December 7, 1941: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brings the U.S.A. into the second World War; America's heroes try to retaliate only to find that a spell cast by Hitler and the Dragon King (using the Spear of Destiny and the Holy Grail, respectively) causes magical and magic-sensitive people to fall under their control if they enter Nazi-held territory. This leaves most of the truly powerful heroes out of the War. President Roosevelt then organizes all of America's superheroes into the All-Star Squadron, to protect the homefront. Normal people without special powers (such as Easy Company) fight the war, along with secret experimental soldiers like the Creature Commandos.
• 1951: The Justice Society of America disbands, after being subject to McCarthyism. (Adventure Comics #466) Superhero activity declines (but doesn't totally disappear) afterwards. In response to this, the covert government organization Task Force X is formed to fill the gap left by the departing heroes.
• c. "56 Years Ago"
  • The planet Krypton explodes. The Kryptonian scientist Jor-El manages to save his baby son, Kal-El by sending him to Earth in a prototype starship. The planet's remains become kryptonite.
• 1968: Nathaniel Christopher Adam, a United States Air Force airman in the Vietnam War, is sentenced to death; as an alternative to execution, he participates in a military experiment which Adam survives as alien metal melted into his body and the excess energy threw him forward in time.
• c. "36 Years Ago"
  • A scientist, Dr. Saul Erdel, accidentally teleports J'onn J'onzz, the last living Martian, to Earth. He is secretly active for years, studying humanity and fighting crime under several false identities.
  • Kal-El's spacecraft lands outside of Smallville, Jonathan and Martha Kent find him. They adopt him and name him Clark Kent. (Flashback in various Superman comics)
  • Bruce Wayne is born to Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne.
  • American lighthouse keeper Arthur Curry raises the son of exiled Princess Atlanna of Atlantis.
• c. "28 Years Ago"
  • A mugger murders Thomas and Martha Wayne in what will come to be known as "Crime Alley" in Gotham City. Their son Bruce swears to fight a war on crime. (Flashback in Detective Comics #33, November, 1939 and in various other issues). The killer, Joe Chill is eventually caught. (Infinite Crisis #7).
• c. "27 Years Ago
  • Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, yearns for a child and carves a statue of a little girl out of clay; her gods grant her wish by turning it into a real girl that she names Diana. (Wonder Woman vol. 2, #1)
• c. "20 Years Ago"
  • Bruce Wayne begins his training in a variety of disciplines.

[edit] Modern Era of Heroes

[edit] c. "13 Years Ago"

• Clark Kent emerges as Superman. This inspires a new generation of superheroes to debut as well. Later, he joins the staff of the Daily Planet as a reporter.^[5]
• Bruce Wayne begins his career as the Batman in Gotham City. Selina Kyle is inspired by Batman to become Catwoman shortly afterward.^[6]
• Diana, princess of the Amazons, arrives in America, where she takes the costumed identity of Wonder Woman. (Infinite Crisis #7)
• Central City police scientist Barry Allen is hit by lightning (actually, a manifestation of the "Speed Force") and chemicals, becoming the (second) Flash. (Showcase #4)
• A dying member of the Green Lantern Corps, Abin Sur of Ungara, chooses test pilot Hal Jordan to succeed him. (Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn; Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn II)
• Oliver Queen makes his debut as Green Arrow. (Green Arrow Year One Annual: From the Beginning)
• Roy Harper makes his debut as Speedy.
• Arthur Curry Jr. begins adventuring as Aquaman. (Aquaman Year One Annual)
• J'onn J'onzz reveals his existence to the public and becomes known as the Martian Manhunter.
• Dinah Laurel Lance makes her debut as the second Black Canary.
• A number of superheroes form the Justice League. (JLA: Year One)

[edit] c. "12 Years Ago"

• Harvey Dent has acid splashed in his face by his assistant, who was bribed by a gangster. Dent's face is ruined, and his mind cracks in two, creating Two-Face.

[edit] c. "11 Years Ago"

• Dick Grayson debuts as Robin.^[7]
• Wally West makes his debut as Kid Flash.
• Garth makes his debut as Aqualad.
• Donna Troy makes her debut as Wonder Girl.
• Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad unite in Hatton Corners to defeat the villain Mr. Twister (The Brave and the Bold #54). Shortly thereafter, the three join forces with Wonder Girl and Speedy and call themselves the Teen Titans (Teen Titans #53; Secret Origins Annual #3).

[edit] c. "10 Years Ago"

• Barbara Gordon makes her debut as Batgirl. (Batgirl: Year One)

[edit] c. "Eight Years Ago"

• Kara Zor-L, then age 18, lands on Earth after her rocket ship departs the Krypton of the Earth-Two dimension.^[8] She joins the JSA and makes her debut as Power Girl.^[9]

[edit] c. "Seven Years Ago"

• Wally West graduates high school.

[edit] c. "Five Years Ago."

• Dick Grayson, then age 18, as Robin is "fired" by Batman.^[10]
• Jason Todd, then age 14, takes up the mantle of Robin from Dick Grayson.^[11]
• Shortly after leaving the mantle of Robin, Dick Grayson makes his debut as Nightwing.^[12]
• The Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Flash dies while saving the world from the Anti-Monitor; his nephew Wally West takes over the identity.
• The wizard Shazam grants Fawcett City teenager Billy Batson the power of Captain Marvel. (The Power of Shazam! limited series)
• Nathaniel Christopher Adam makes his debut as Captain Atom.
• Katar Hol and Shayera Thal come to Earth from Thanagar as Hawkman and Hawkwoman.^[13]
• Superman executes three Kryptonian, Phantom Zone criminals from a pocket universe.
• Robin (Jason Todd) is killed by the Joker.^[14]

[edit] c. "Four Years Ago"

• Lian Harper is born to Speedy (Roy Harper) and Cheshire (Jade Nguyen).
• Lonni Machin, then age 12, becomes Anarky.^[15]
• Tim Drake, then age 13, becomes the third Robin.^[16]
• Lex Luthor fakes his own death in a plane crash. He later returns as his own "son" in a younger clone body.^[17]

[edit] c. "Three Years Ago"

[edit] The Death of Superman.^[18]

• The monster Doomsday defeats the entire Justice League and kills Superman in Metropolis.
• Superboy, Cyborg-Superman, The Eradicator and Steel emerge.
• Coast City is destroyed by Mongul and Cyborg-Superman.
• Superman is resurrected.
• The Parallax entity possesses Hal Jordan^[19]
• Jordan / Parallax ravages the Green Lantern Corps and destroys the Central Power Battery.
• The Guardians of the Universe are killed except Ganthet.
• Kyle Rayner becomes the last active Green Lantern.^[20]
• Batman suffers a broken back at the hands of Bane and is replaced by Jean-Paul Valley.^[21]
• Iris Allen returns from the future with Bart Allen.
• Zero Hour. Parallax kills the Time Trapper and defeats Extant. The Golden Age Dr. Mid-Nite and Atom perish; the first Hourman, believed to be killed, is removed from the timeline and replaced by the third, android Hourman.

[edit] c. "Two Years Ago"

• Green Arrow Oliver Queen dies and his son, Connor Hawke, takes up the mantle.
• A new JLA and JSA are formed.
• Superboy, Robin, and Impulse form Young Justice.
• The Titans reform.
• No Man's Land. Gotham City is struck by a massive earthquake. The Federal government, finding that the cost of rebuilding Gotham would be too great, declares the city a "No Man's land", meaning Gotham is no longer a property of the United States. Most of the populace evacuates, but those who remain form territorial tribes in order to protect themselves. After restoration by Lex Luthor, the order is lifted one year later, and Gotham city is readmitted into the U.S.
• Our Worlds at War. Planets such as Almerac and Warworld are destroyed. Imperiex Prime almost succeeds in destroying the universe and recreating a Big Bang only to be deterred by the Earth and the alien alliance.

[edit] c. "One to Two Years Ago"

• Oliver Queen is resurected and becomes Green Arrow once again.
• An old friend of Batman's, Thomas Elliot comes back as Hush to tear his life apart at the seams.^[22]
• Donna Troy is killed by a Superman robot and Brainiac 8^[23]
  • Young Justice and the Titans disband, reform as the Outsiders & the new Teen Titans.
• The Spectre erases the Flash's secret identity from the world.
• Kara Zor-El arrives on Earth.^[24]

[edit] Identity Crisis and Green Lantern: Rebirth

• Sue Dibny is murdered by Jean Loring.^[25]
• Jack Drake (Robin's father), and Captain Boomerang kill each other simultaneously.^[26]
• Wally West and Zatanna return the Top's memories,^[27] and he subsequently starts the Rogue War.
• Hal Jordan is resurrected.^[28]
• The return of the Guardians of the Universe.
• Green Lantern Corps re-forms, doubles its membership.^[29]
• Guy Gardner is promoted to the Green Lantern Honor Guard.

[edit] Batman: War Games

• The Spoiler becomes the fourth Robin but is soon fired.
• Black Mask unites the gangs of Gotham City. The Spoiler is killed.

[edit] Countdown to Infinite Crisis

• Superman erects a new Fortress in Ecuador.
• Alexander Luthor, Jr. of Earth-Three begins to masquerade as Lex Luthor and forms a new Secret Society.
• Max Lord kills Blue Beetle Ted Kord.
• Superboy-Prime instigates the Rann/Thanagar War.
• Jason Todd reveals his presence for the first time since his death as the Red Hood.
• Superboy-Prime destroyes the JLA Watchtower.^[30] The Justice League disbands.
• Psycho-Pirate reveals the existence and destruction of the Multiverse to Power Girl.^[31]
• Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Superboy and Indigo / Brainiac 8 attack the Titans and Outsiders.
• The Seven Soldiers of Victory repel an invasion by Gloriana Tenebrae, the witch queen from the future.
• Wonder Woman kills Maxwell Lord.^[32]

[edit] Infinite Crisis

• Jade dies and gives the last of her power to Kyle Rayner, who becomes Ion.^[33]
• The Spectre kills Shazam.
• Jaime Reyes finds the Blue Beetle scarab and becomes the new Blue Beetle.^[34]
• The Battle of Metropolis^[35]
• Superboy, Kal-L and Alexander Luthor are killed. Superboy-Prime imprisoned.
• Superman loses powers, and becomes Clark Kent full time.

[edit] c. "One Year Ago"

52 begins.

• The "Cult of Conner" forms.^[36]
• Freedom of Power Treaty is signed.^[37]
• Lex Luthor's Everyman Project; First appearance of new Infinity, Inc.
• First appearance of Supernova.^[38]
• Batwoman debuts.^[39]
• The "death" of Booster Gold.^[40]
• James Gordon returns as Commissioner.^[41]
• Donna Troy becomes Wonder Woman^[42]
• The New Year's Everyman tragedy.
• John Henry Irons puts Lex Luthor in his place!^[43]
• World War III

[edit] c. "Now" (One Year Later)

• Superman^[44] and Batman^[45] return after being missing for nearly one year. Diana returns to the role of Wonder Woman.
• Bart Allen becomes The Flash^[46]
• Cyborg awakens, and Robin returns to lead the Teen Titans.^[47]
• The Justice League and Justice Society of America reforms.
• Sinestro Corps forms.^[48]
• Superman rebuilds the Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic.^[49]

For more major events that take place within this time period, see Major Events of the DC Universe.

[edit] Future

• 25th Century Booster Gold and Skeets come from this era.^[50]
• c. 2800 AC: Bizarro-Brainiac enlarges McMurdo City, which becomes Big City.^[51]

[edit] Legion of Super-Heroes

• c. 3000 AC: Legion of Super Heroes is formed.^[52]
  • Barry Allen lives during this era, following his murder trial and before his death in the Crisis on Infinite Earths.^[53]
  • The Legion is officially sponsored by United Planets.
  • Death of Dream Girl.
  • Supergirl arrives from the past following the Zeta Beam accident after Infinite Crisis.^[54]
  • Bart Allen is born.^[55]

[edit] Alternate and possible future events

As of Infinite Crisis, these future events are unconfirmed.

• c. 2020 Superman returned from ten year retirement to stop those new generation heroes from corrupting current society and possibly start an apocalypse.
• 2030 Monarch reigns for 20 years on Earth and the being Waverider is born. He uses the Timestream to change the future.
• 853rd century Solaris destroys thousands of Superhumans and with the aid of Supermen, Justice Legion Alpha save the solar system. An android Hourman escapes to the past.

[edit] The End of Time

• The Legion of Super-Heroes' enemy, the Time Trapper, lives at the end of time. The universe begins to collapse as it is consumed by entropy.
• Krona tries to look past this time to view the beginning of the universe, only to unleash entropy on the early universe wiping out countless lives. Doomsday is sent here, consumed by entropy, and later escapes.
• Epoch the Lord of Time goes to the year 1 billion and creates the Timepoint.
• 100,000,000,000 A.D – The universe finally ends. Mister E and Timothy Hunter visit here briefly. Destiny closes his book and dies, and Death sends Mr. E and Tim Hunter back. Death figuratively closes shop on the universe. (The Books of Magic)
• The universe loops back to the beginning. It is the job of Imperiex to end and recreate the DC Universe.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• History of the DC Universe
• Zero Hour
• Infinite Crisis

[edit] External links

• The Unauthorized Chronology of the DC Universe
• Chronology of the Pre-20th Century DC Universe
• The DC Universe: Yesterday, Today and Beyond