Multiverse (DC Comics)

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In DC Comics, the Multiverse is a continuity construct in which multiple fictional versions of the universe exist in the same space, separated from each other by their vibrational resonances. Each universe in this multiverse varies from the others, in either subtle or profound ways. The universes are identified by referring to them as parallel Earths, such as "Earth-One", "Earth-Two", "Earth-Three", and "Earth-X".

Contents 1 History 1.1 Crisis on Infinite Earths 1.2 Post-Crisis 1.2.1 Elseworlds 1.2.2 Hypertime 1.3 Infinite Crisis 1.4 52 2 Known Earths 2.1 Catalogued Earths 2.2 Unclassified Earths 2.3 Animal Man: "Second Crisis" 3 Contact between universes 3.1 Trade Paperback 4 Representations in other media 5 Parodies 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

Although DC Comics continued publishing from the 1930s through the 1950s, the Golden Age of Comic Books had come to a close in the late 1940s or early 1950s and most superhero comic books, including the Flash and Green Lantern, had ceased publication. References in DC comics to those characters also ceased. The only superhero comic book titles to survive from the Golden Age to the present were Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. In 1956, DC's Showcase comics provided a starting point for the new, Silver Age Flash (Barry Allen). The new Flash was introduced in house ads as "Heralding the Silver Age of Comic Books". It was also firmly established in the Flash's first appearance that the Golden Age Flash appeared as a comic book character, which inspired his own use of that name. With the success of this character, more Golden Age characters' names were reused with new heroes, often having new costumes, identities or powers, such as Green Lantern, the Atom and Hawkman.

The first parallel universe was introduced in 1961 in The Flash #123, in the story "Flash of Two Worlds", in which the new Flash was utilizing his powers of super-speed vibration to climb a rope suspended in mid-air and ended up vibrating into Earth-Two, where he met Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash.

The Earths of each universe have a different set of superheroes and the life histories of its superheroes are different from those of others. In several cases, characters from other publishers acquired by DC, previously established with a fictional universe of their own, have been incorporated within the Multiverse on different alternate universes.

[edit] Crisis on Infinite Earths

Main article: Crisis on Infinite Earths

Until well into the 1970s, mass-market comic books were dominated by a generation of creators who had been involved in the creation of the Golden Age heroes of the 1940s (such as Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Julius Schwartz and Joe Kubert) or by fans of the Golden Age comic books who had entered the comic book industry themselves, such as Roy Thomas and E. Nelson Bridwell. The earliest stories of the Earth-Two heroes were written and drawn by creative personnel who had worked on those characters during the Golden Age. As time went on, however, most of the new editors and creative personnel were less familiar with the older heroes, and had greater difficulty maintaining the over-all continuity of the Multiverse. The newer generation also took the stories more seriously, and were embarrassed by the light-hearted elements of the older stories and the profusion of kid sidekicks and other spin-off characters. Accordingly, many staffers and creators saw a need to simplify the Multiverse and eliminate elements that were perceived as silly in the old stories.

In order to accomplish this end, the Multiverse was reduced to a single universe in the 1985 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths. One by one, a villain known as the Anti-Monitor destroyed universes. The heroes of the last five universes (those of Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X) along with a handful of survivors from other universes (Pariah, Lady Quark, Alexander Luthor, Jr., the Inferior Five) held off the destruction of these last five universes long enough to defeat the Anti-Monitor.

The five merged into a single universe with its own history combining elements of the five, along with completely new elements. For example, there was a Flash named Jay Garrick in the JSA during the 1940s and another Flash named Barry Allen in the JLA decades later. But there was only one Superman, who had a modified history, different in some respects from the Supermen of both Earth-One and Earth-Two.

Several characters famous from pre-Crisis works (most importantly the Kara Zor-El Supergirl and Barry Allen Flash) were killed during Crisis and as a result were either erased from history (in Supergirl's case) or simply proclaimed dead in the new, singular universe. Other characters and concepts, such as Streaky the Super-Cat, Comet the Super-Horse and the Space Canine Patrol Agency, vanished without explanation.

[edit] Post-Crisis

Some fans refused to accept that the Multiverse no longer "existed" after Crisis, and posited that the "post-Crisis" DC Universe was merely another alternate universe within the Multiverse, sometimes dubbed "Earth-PC" or "Earth-Sigma" (the mathematical "summation" symbol), Earth-2, or Clutter-Earth (a derogatory reference) after the events of Zero Hour. A story in Animal Man by Grant Morrison referred to the Multiverse, with its effects coming undone as comic books, along with characters who no longer or never had existed emerging from the Psycho-Pirate’s mask inside Arkham Asylum. Keith Giffen's Ambush Bug demonstrated an awareness of the events in Crisis in his various mini-series, in which it was referred to as "Crisis on the only Earth we're still allowed to use." The Books of Magic series, published under the Vertigo label and set in the DC Universe, had a storyline by Peter Gross (beginning in The Books of Magic #51) in which a Timothy Hunter from a parallel universe travelled from universe to universe, killing and absorbing the powers of his alternate selves.

[edit] Elseworlds

Although DC maintained that the other Earths no longer existed (and had never existed), during the 1990s they published occasional one-shots and mini-series labeled "Elseworlds", featuring alternate versions of their characters that would have been consistent with the concept of the Multiverse. DC officially classified these as stories that perhaps "could have" happened, but had not occurred. They maintained that there was only one canonical Earth in the DC Universe. Some one-shots and limited series without the "Elseworlds" label, such as Frank Miller's reimagining of DC heroes and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, also diverged from established continuity (or in the case of The Dark Knight Returns, have had the continuity diverge from them).

[edit] Hypertime

Main article: Hypertime (comics)

In 1999, DC introduced Hypertime, which provided a conceptual framework to recognize both canonical and apocryphal stories, stating that all stories outside mainstream continuity happened in alternate timelines that had "branched out". It was arguably a superset of the Multiverse, including not only the whole range of pre-Crisis stories set on alternate Earths, but any story set in any continuity. Hypertime was first referred to in The Kingdom, in which an image of what appeared to be the original Earth-Two Superman was shown. However, the concept has been subsequently used only a few times (most notably in story-arcs in the pages of The Flash and Superboy). According to Dan DiDio, Executive VP of DC Comics, Hypertime will not be featured in any future stories.

[edit] Infinite Crisis

Main article: Infinite Crisis

In 2005, DC began Infinite Crisis, a DC-Universe-wide crossover and sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Stories leading up to the main limited series contained scattered references and hints to the Multiverse (including the possibility that it could live again). These references included the character Donna Troy returning from the dead and remembering her varied origins on the various Earths and the revelation that the evil Dark Angel had been her counterpart from Earth-Seven as well as a mini-series involving Captain Atom being sent to the WildStorm Universe.

In the Infinite Crisis series itself, the Superman and Lois Lane of Earth-Two, Superboy of Earth-Prime, and Alexander Luthor Jr. of Earth-Three—all survivors of the Multiverse—reappeared, and the former existence of the Multiverse was explicitly acknowledged. Earth-Two was recreated in issue #4, un-populated except for Earth-Two heroes transported there.

In addition to this, worlds previously described only as Imaginary Stories or Elseworlds were revealed to in fact be universes within the Multiverse, as shown by the presence of Superman Red and Superman Blue from the Silver Age imaginary story, Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. from World's Finest stories of the 1970s, the Superman from the Elseworlds story Superman: Red Son, a world featuring Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman in Aztec garb (this world was actually a combination of two other worlds, the sum of their numbers being 616, which might be a reference to the Marvel Comics universe, which is Earth-616) and a world featuring characters from the unaired Wonder Woman pilot and Wonder Woman TV show alongside the original Teen Titans in a militaristic setting.

Eventually, Alexander's plan was circumvented when his equipment was destroyed by Superboy (Kon-El, a.k.a. Conner Kent), resulting in all Earths re-merging into "New Earth". The effects of this transformation will be shown during the series 52 along with the "One Year Later" storyline.

[edit] 52

Main article: 52 (comic book)

In the DC Nation column printed in the back of Week 37, Dan Didio reveals in a coded message that the "secret of 52" is that the DC Multiverse still exists. The message is spelled out using the first letter of every third word: "the secret of fifty-two is that the multiverse still exists".

[edit] Known Earths

[edit] Catalogued Earths

Traditionally, the "numbered" Earths were spelled out as words rather than with numerals—e.g. "Earth-Two" not "Earth-2"—in part to avoid confusion between similar looking numerals and letters in hand-lettered text. This convention was disregarded in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it became somewhat common to refer to the various Earths with numerals instead. However Infinite Crisis reverted to the original use of words. Note that there are Earths designated in the Absolute Crisis On Infinite Earths hardcover as well.

Designation	Era	Inhabitants	Notes	First Appearance
Earth-Zero	Infinite Crisis	Earth-Zero is populated by Bizarro versions of various DC characters.	Earth-Zero's only appearance is in a single panel in Infinite Crisis #6. Earth-Zero is homage to Bizarro World with its population of Bizarros and cubical shape. The original Bizarro World was not a parallel Earth, it was another planet that existed in the same universe as Earth-One.	Infinite Crisis #6 (2006)
Earth-One	Pre-Crisis	DC's Silver Age heroes, including the original Justice League of America: police scientist Barry Allen as The Flash; Hal Jordan as Green Lantern; Thanagarian Katar Hol as Hawkman; and scientist Ray Palmer as the Atom.	The default Earth for most of DC's comics during the prolific Multiverse era, Earth-One was by far the most "populous" and greatly explored, and it retained dominance over the other four worlds which were merged in the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline. The DC Universe's "official" continuity post-Crisis took place on a "merged" Earth-One, as the Crisis indicated this universe was the core existence until rogue Guardian Krona fractured reality at the dawn of creation, creating both the multiverse and the anti-matter universe. Named in Flash #123, 1961	More Fun Comics #101, 1945
Earth-Two	Pre-Crisis	DC's Golden Age heroes, including the Justice Society of America, whose careers began at the dawn of World War II (concurrent with their first appearances in comics): chemistry student Jay Garrick as the Flash; engineer Alan Scott as Green Lantern; archaeologist Carter Hall as Hawkman; and pint-sized powerhouse Al Pratt as the Atom.	Politically, Earth-Two was distinctly different from the Earth-One template modelled after Earth-Prime. For example, Quebec was an independent nation autonomous from Canada, South Africa had abolished apartheid sooner and the Atlantean countries of Poseidonis and Tritonis were ruled by a queen, not a king, along with its inhabitants displaying surface dweller features and no capacity for underwater survival, as the Atlantis continent had been raised to the surface. Named in Flash #123, 1961	New Fun Comics #1 (1935)
Earth-Three	Pre-Crisis	Crime Syndicate of America, evil versions of the Earth-One heroes: Ultraman; Superwoman; Owlman; Power Ring; Johnny Quick; Alexander Luthor; and briefly, Alexander Luthor, Jr..	History was "backwards": American Christopher Columbus discovered Europe; Britain won its freedom from the United States; President John Wilkes Booth was assassinated by actor Abraham Lincoln; and the United States flag's colours were reversed: black stars on a red field, with alternating blue and black stripes.	Justice League of America #29, (1964)
Earth-Four	Crisis on Infinite Earths	The former Charlton Comics heroes: Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Nightshade, Peacemaker, The Question, Thunderbolt (Peter Cannon), and Judomaster.	This Earth was introduced at the beginning of Crisis and gone less than a year later. Named in Crisis on Infinite Earths #1, Apr. 1985	Yellowjacket #1, (1944)
Earth-Five	Pre-Crisis	Bruce Wayne.	This Earth appeared in the Batman story "To Kill a Legend" in Detective Comics #500. Here there have never been any superheroes or heroic legends, and Bruce Wayne is born into a Gotham City a generation later than on Earth-One. The Earth-One Batman and Robin are taken to this world by the Phantom Stranger and given an opportunity to prevent the Wayne murders. As a result, this Earth's Bruce Wayne is becoming "a spoiled little brat" who may never grow up to be the Batman. Named in Absolute Crisis On Infinite Earths HC, (2006)	Detective Comics #500, (1981)
Earth-Six	Crisis on Infinite Earths	Lady Quark, Lord Volt, and their daughter Princess Fern.	Apparently ruled by a royal family of superheroes (Lord Volt is referred to as the king, and he mentions his family's reign over Earth). On this Earth, America lost the Revolutionary War. Given its' appearance, technology seems to have progressed faster on this world as well. It was destroyed in the 'Crisis', with only Lady Quark surviving.	Crisis on Infinite Earths #4, (June 1985)
Earth-Seven	Infinite Crisis	Dark Angel, an evil analogue of Donna Troy.	The Anti-Monitor saved Dark Angel, just as the Monitor had saved her counterpart Harbinger. The only known survivor of Earth-Seven, she escaped the compression of the Multiverse to torment Donna Troy across several lifetimes	DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #4, (2005)
Earth-Eight	Infinite Crisis	The home of Tim Zanetti (Breach), Kyle Rayner (Ion), Helena Bertinelli (Huntress) and Jason Rusch (Firestorm) had the Multiverse not been destroyed in the Crisis.	Infinite Crisis writer Geoff Johns mentioned in an interview that "all characters created after Crisis on Infinite Earths are inhabitants of Earth-Eight"[1]	Infinite Crisis #5 (2006)
Earth-Eleven	Pre-Crisis	"Tin" (possibly Tintin)	Earth-Eleven is an earth home to "Tin," a man who may be one and the same as Tintin. A nuclear war devastated this Earth in 1966. Named in Absolute Crisis On Infinite Earths HC, (2006)	Teen Titans Spotlight #11 (1987)
Earth-Twelve	Pre-Crisis	The Inferior Five: Awkwardman, Blimp, Dumb Bunny, Merryman and White Feather.	This Earth may have been home to other comedic superheroes published by DC. Additionally, references within the series pointed to versions of Justice League members having existed in that universe. Named in Oz-Wonderland War #3, 1985	Showcase Comics #62 (1966)
Earth-Fourteen	Post-Crisis	Purple butterflies	Appeared in the Grant Morrison's Animal Man storyline "Incident at Arkham"	Animal Man #24, 1990
Earth-Fifteen	Pre-Crisis	Stone Giants	Named in Absolute Crisis On Infinite Earths HC, 2006	Justice League of America #15 (1997)
Grant Morrison's Earth-Seventeen	Post-Crisis	Overman	Grant Morrison identified this world, based around the gritty and dark style of the 80s, as Earth 17, unaware that the number had already been used.	Animal Man #23, 1990
Post-Kirby Earth-Seventeen	Pre-Crisis	New Gods	Also the world where all pre-Crisis non-Kirby Fourth World tales took place according to The Kingdom #2.	The Fourth World #1
Earth-96	Elseworlds	Older versions of the Post-Crisis Earth heroes.	A future timeline, in which Superman has been retired for 10 years, following events which severed his ties to humanity. In order to deal with a new, often lawless generation of heroes, Superman reforms the Justice League, a gathering of power which concerns a non-powered group of humans led by Lex Luthor. Named in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths 2006	Kingdom Come #1 (1996)
Earth-97	Elseworlds	"Tangent Comics" characters, including the Joker, an athletic female crimefighter; and the Atom, a super-strong hero manipulated by the government.	The Tangent characters were radically re-envisioned solely on the basis of the existing DC trademark. Named in Infinite Crisis #6, 2006	DC's Tangent Comics fifth week event
Earth-154	Pre-Crisis	Superman Jr. (Clark Kent Jr.) and Batman Jr. (Bruce Wayne Jr.), the Super-Sons, younger versions of their superhero fathers.	The sons of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and Bruce Wayne and Kathy Kane try to live up to or surpass their father's legacies, but usually end up arguing or causing trouble. Their final appearance in World's Finest (#263) claimed the Super-Sons stories were merely computer simulations. The Super-Sons also appeared in the Elseworlds 80-Page Giant, 1999. Named in Infinite Crisis #6, 2006 (named)	World's Finest Comics #154, Dec. 1966
Earth-247	Post-Zero Hour	The post-Zero Hour version of the Legion of Super-Heroes	This 30th-31st century Legion was composed of, among others, Valor, a 20th-century hero from the post-Crisis Earth. These heroes interacted regularly with the heroes of the 20th-21st Century post-Zero Hour Earth, and their Earth was believed to be the genuine future of that Earth. In this version, the Legionnaires had updated, modern names like "Live Wire," instead of "Lightning Lad." This timeline was destroyed by several alternate versions of the Fatal Five and Superboy-Prime's tampering. It later reappeared in Infinite Crisis #6. Named in Infinite Crisis #6, 2006	Legion of Super-Heroes #0 (1994)
Earth-462	Infinite Crisis	Depicted: Wonder Woman, Per Degaton, Baron Blitzkrieg, Captain Nazi and the original Teen Titans (Robin, Speedy, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Wonder Girl).	Apparently a Golden Age planet still locked in World War II. In very obscure cameos, Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl appear to be Cathy Lee Crosby (who filmed a Wonder Woman pilot movie) and Debra Winger (who appeared as Wonder Girl on the 1970s television series). The remaining Teen Titans (Speedy, Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash) were all depicted in militaristic uniforms.	Infinite Crisis #6, 2006
Earth-898	Infinite Crisis	Western heroes. Depicted: Jonah Hex, Bat Lash, Scalphunter, El Diablo, Nighthawk and Cinnamon I.		Infinite Crisis #6, 2006
Earth-A	Pre-Crisis	The Lawless League: alternate, evil versions of Superman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and the Martian Manhunter.	Johnny Thunder's evil Earth-One counterpart created Earth-A when he used Johnny’s Thunderbolt to alter the origins of the Justice League, replacing them with his own henchman, whom he granted powers and skills identical to the Justice League's. "A" stood for "alternate", since it was an alternate timeline of Earth-One.	Justice League of America #37, Aug. 1965
Earth-C	Pre-Crisis	Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew: Captain Carrot, Alley-Kat-Abra, Fastback, Little Cheese, Pig-Iron, Rubberduck, and Yankee Poodle.	This world is populated with anthropomorphic animals, who appear as comicbook characters on Earth-One.	New Teen Titans #16, Feb. 1982
Earth-C-Minus	Pre-Crisis	Just'a Lotta Animals: Super-Squirrel, Wonder Wabbit, the Batmouse, Green Lambkin, Aquaduck, and the Crash.	This Earth (like Earth-C) is populated by anthropomorphic animals. Events and characters on this world paralleled those of Earth-One; additionally, events and characters on Earth-C-Minus were considered fictional on Earth-C (with Captain Carrot's alter-ego employed as the cartoonist of the Just'a Lotta Animals comic book series), in the vein of Earth-Two heroes’ only appearing as comic book characters on Earths-One and -Prime.	Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #14, 1983
Earth-D	Pre-Crisis	Justice Alliance of America.	Earth-D featured a more ethnically diverse version of several Earth-One heroes, with no major tragedies in the heroes' lives (not counting the Crisis, of course). As such it was a combination of modern multi-cultural sensibilities combined with Silver-Age-style innocence, rumored to be what writer Marv Wolfman would have liked the DC Universe to be post-Crisis.[citation needed]	Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths, Feb. 1999
Earth-K	Pre-Crisis	Kamandi	Alternate future timeline of Earth-One.	Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth #1, Nov. 1972
Earth-Prime	Pre-Crisis	Ultraa, Superboy-Prime, and DC editor Julius Schwartz.	Supposedly "our" world, Earth-Prime had few or no superheroes. The superheroes of Earths-One, -Two, -S, etc. existed only in fiction.	Flash #179, 1968
Earth-S	Pre-Crisis	Shazam, Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel, Jr., Bulletman and Bulletgirl, Mister Scarlet and Pinky, Minute-Man, Ibis the Invincible, Spy Smasher, Commando Yank, Isis.	Fawcett Comics publications of the 1940s and 1950s took place on this planet, with its predominant heroic teams being the Marvel Family, the Crime Crusader Club and the Squadron of Justice, while the main team of supervillains were the Monster Society of Evil. Named in Shazam! #1, 1973	Whiz Comics #2, Feb. 1940
Earth-X	Pre-Crisis	Freedom Fighters (retconned to have migrated from Earth-Two): Uncle Sam, the Human Bomb, Miss America, The Ray, Black Condor, Doll Man, Phantom Lady, Firebrand.	On this world, Nazi Germany won World War II, and the Freedom Fighters, originally from Earth-Two, fought to defeat them. Most Quality Comics publications chronicled adventures from this Earth. Named in Justice League of America #137, 1974	The Comics Magazine #1, 1936
The Fourth World	Pre- & Post-Crisis	Darkseid, Orion, Mister Miracle, Big Barda.	The Fourth World is a continuum inhabited by the New Gods. Its two main worlds, New Genesis and Apokolips, are mirror reflections of each other: New Genesis, the bright, glorious home ruled by Highfather, and Apokolips, the fiery, horrific home of the evil warlord Darkseid and his minions. Inhabitants of these worlds have been frequent visitors to Earth-One and Post-Crisis Earth, but it has been shown that they could venture into any number of alternate worlds. The Fourth World was not affected by the Crisis on Infinite Earths. It has not been established whether it is a separate universe, or whether it is a kind of dimension linked to each Earth in the same way as the homes of the Old Gods, such as Olympus and Asgard. In the latter case each Earth would have its own set of New Gods so that there would, for example, be parallel Darkseids of the various parallel universes.	Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133
New Earth	Infinite Crisis	All current superheroes and villains	After the destruction of Alexander Luthor's Multiverse Tower in the Infinite Crisis, the parallel Earths that had been created merged into a new single Earth, tentatively named "New Earth." New Earth is currently the core existence in the DC Universe.	Infinite Crisis #6, 2006
Antimatter Universe	Pre-Crisis	Anti-Monitor, Weaponers of Qward, the Thunderers.	Qward's universe has been described as a "universe of evil". Qwardian society seems to be dominated by a philosophy of selfishness and greed. This could be the effects of millennia of inescapable rule by the Weaponers.	Green Lantern #2, 1960
Antimatter Universe	Post-Crisis	Crime Syndicate of America: Ultraman, Superwoman, Owlman, Power Ring, and Johnny Quick. Justice Underground: Alexander Luthor, Sir Solomon Grundy, General Grodd, Q-Ranger, Lady Sonar, Star Sapphire, and the Quizmaster.	A post-Crisis anti-matter Earth with a Crime Syndicate whose motto is "Cui Bono?" ("Who profits?"). Originally, the Luthor of the CSA Earth, upon discovering the positive-matter Earth, named his world, "Earth-One", and the positive-matter Earth, "Earth-Two". Subsequent appearances reversed the naming convention and also established that the CSA Earth exists in the same antimatter universe as Qward.	JLA: Earth-Two, 2001
Dreamworld	Post-Crisis	Love Syndicate of Dreamworld (Sunshine Superman, Speed Freak, and Magic Lantern).	Grant Morrison's "Incident in Arkham" storyline A world based on drug culture that appeared briefly in Grant Morrison's Animal Man comic series. Dreamworld is not an official designation, but is assumed from the name of this world's premier superhero team.	Animal Man #23 (1990)
Earth-Dakota	Post-Zero Hour	Icon, Static, Hardware and Blood Syndicate	In 1993, word of a Big Bang gang war on Paris Island resulted in Mayor Jefferson ordering enforcement officials to spray every gang member present with an experimental tear gas laced with a radioactive marker that would allow the police to track the participants down later. Survivors then became known as "bang babies" given mutagenic abilities.	Icon #1 (1993)
Earth-616	Post-Zero Hour	All main-continuity Marvel Comics characters.	Although part of a separate multiverse, the Marvel Universe crossed-over with Post-Crisis Earth in 2003 for JLA/Avengers. See Marvel Universe and Marvel Multiverse.	Motion Picture Funnies Weekly (1939)
Earth-9602	Post-Crisis	*Amalgamated DC/Marvel Comics characters including Supersoldier, Dark Claw and XLA.	A head to head battle with DC and Marvel Characters for the survival of their universe ended in a draw, both universes were combined. For the comics that were published, an entire history presumably existed for each of the combined characters.	DC vs Marvel (1996)

[edit] Unclassified Earths

Various other Earths were arguably depicted in DC's substantial publishing output during the period in which the Multiverse was in effect. Some Earths have been posited to explain (for example) the Super Friends (based on the TV series). On yet another conjectured Earth-Crossover, the Silver Age DC Comics heroes lived side-by-side with the Silver Age Marvel Comics heroes, and it is on this alternate Earth where various team-ups and battles between the two publishers' heroes have occurred over the years. Some of these could instead be categorized using the "imaginary story" identifier which DC occasionally applied to stories they didn't wish to be considered part of continuity, especially before the invention of the Multiverse.

The Earth that Pariah comes from was never officially named; it is often dubbed "Earth-Omega" by fans, as it was the site of the "beginning of the end" (i.e, the Crisis On Infinite Earths).

Designation	Era	Inhabitants	Notes	First Appearance
Post-Crisis Earth (unnamed)	Post-Crisis	All residents of the reconstituted Earth formed following Crisis on Infinite Earths.	This universe has various derivations explained as manifestations of Hypertime and influenced by the actions of Superboy-Prime. This world blends elements of the last five universes existing prior to the Crisis. This world was divided and rebuilt during Infinite Crisis as "New Earth."	Crisis on Infinite Earths #11, 1986
Mega-City One Earth (unnamed)	Post-Zero Hour	Judge Dredd, Judge Anderson, Judge Death etc..	These crossovers have included references to Zero Hour (The Ultimate Riddle).	2000 AD, 1977
Wildstorm (unnamed)	Post-Zero Hour	The Authority, WildC.A.T.s, Gen 13	Originally part of the Image Comics universe. Following the Shattered Image crossover, Wildstorm Universe, among others, was explicitly established as a distinct universe in its own right (implicitly, the Image studios have been moving away from shared universe structure for years). The universe was preserved after Wildstorm Productions was sold to DC Comics. The Wildstorm characters interacted with other creator owned Image properties like Todd McFarlane's Spawn and Rob Liefeld's Youngblood both before and, to much lesser extent, after the above-mentioned split. Visited by Captain Atom following his disappearance in Superman/Batman #6. His departure created a "soft-reset", with the entire universe being rebooted with the Worldstorm crossover. Wildcats (vol. 4) #1 (2006) is the first appearance of the Worldstorm era. Part of a network of parallel universes connected together by The Bleed	WildC.A.T.s (vol. 1) #1 (1992)
Earth-Q	Infinite Crisis	Unknown	Unknown	Infinite Crisis #6 (2006)
Earth-25G	Infinite Crisis	Unknown	Unknown	Infinite Crisis #6 (2006)
Earth-3181	Infinite Crisis	Unknown	Unknown	Infinite Crisis #6 (2006)
(unnamed)	Infinite Crisis	Aztec versions of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.		Infinite Crisis #6 (2006)
(unnamed)	Elseworlds	Soviet versions of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, along with an alternate version of the Green Lantern Corps.	A world where Superman landed in a Soviet commune instead of Smallville. Bizarro visited this Earth during the Superman/Batman "Vengeance" storyarc.	Superman: Red Son #1 (2001)
(unnamed)	Pre-Crisis	Superman Red & Superman Blue	An Earth home to Superman Red, who married Lana Lang and Superman Blue, who married Lois Lane. According to the Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths collection, this Earth has been identified as Earth-162.	Superman (vol. 1) #162
Pocket Universe (unnamed)	Post-Crisis	The first post-Crisis versions of Superboy, the Phantom Zone residents General Zod, Quex-Ul, Faora Hu-Ul and Supergirl (Matrix). This Earth also had versions of Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen, Lex Luthor, Lana Lang and Jonathan and Mary Kent.	First alternate Earth following Crisis on Infinite Earths It was an artificial world created by the Time Trapper, a long-time foe of the Legion of Super-Heroes, to act as the source of the legendary (but now fictitious) Superboy whose legends inspired the Legion. This Earth was rendered lifeless by three super powered villains. It was not seen again until the last Legion story arc prior to Zero Hour and may have been removed from continuity at the end of that event.	Superman #8 (1987)

[edit] Animal Man: "Second Crisis"

Other Earths appeared in a storyarc in Animal Man involving the Psycho Pirate. These were Earths that had been destroyed during the Crisis and were accessed through Psycho Pirate's Medusa Mask. They are:

• Earth 14: The only specific details on this Earth are that they have a unique species of purple butterflies.
• An Earth home to Speed Freak, Magic Lantern, and Sunshine Superman of the Love Syndicate of Dreamworld, or LSD. This world is based on early drug culture.
• Earth 17: An Earth based around the gritty tales of the 1980s, the heroes of this universe were actually part of an experiment created by the government. The members of this Earth were Overman (Superman's counterpart), who went mad and destructive after contracting an STD, a black and muscular Wonder Woman, an unnamed Flash, and a punk style Green Lantern. This Earth was named Earth-17 due to a mistake made by Grant Morrison. Overman made an appearance in Infinite Crisis #5.

[edit] Contact between universes

Most inhabitants of the Multiverse are completely unaware of the other universes. The first character recorded to cross the gap between them was Uncle Sam of Earth-Two, who accidentally crossed over into Earth-X. Barry Allen, the Flash of Earth-One became the first recorded individual during the Silver Age to visit another Earth, accidentally vibrating at just the right speed to appear on Earth-Two, where he met Jay Garrick, his Earth-Two counterpart.

Other characters with super-speed powers have been able to duplicate the trick, but it has not been done routinely. Magic and technological devices have done the job as well. The Justice League of America's "transmatter" device (ordinarily used to transport between their satellite headquarters and the ground), was pressed into service for annual events in which the League and some of their counterparts on other Earths faced a universe-crossing "crisis" of one sort or another.

Writers have occasionally put characters from different Earths together in the same story without explanation, a continuity error often cited as a reason for eliminating the Multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths or as an extension of "Earth-B" (Cited by DC staff as the setting for team-up stories told in The Brave and the Bold which did not always conform to established continuity for Earth-One, or any other established Earth). For instance, one such story featured Catwoman committing murder, which neither the Earth-One nor Earth-Two versions would ever do as it was strictly against either character's moral code.

Earth-616, Marvel's main universe, is typically acknowledged as being part of a different multiverse entirely; in the JLA/Avengers crossover, even after the barriers between Earth-616 and the post-Crisis DC Earth had been deliberately weakened, it was incredibly hard to make the voyage.

[edit] Trade Paperback

Contact between the universes (or stories set on the other Earths) have been reprinted in the following graphic novels:

Title	Material collected
Crisis On Multiple Earths: The Team Ups
Volume 1	The Flash #123, 129, 137, 151 Showcase #55-56 Green Lantern #40 The Brave and the Bold #61 The Spectre #7
Volume 2	The Atom #29, 36 The Brave and the Bold #62 The Flash #170, 173 Green Lantern #45, 52 The Spectre #3 (Scheduled for March 2007)[1]
Crisis On Multiple Earths
Volume 1	Justice League Of America #21-22, 29-30, 37-38, 46-47
Volume 2	Justice League Of America #55-56, 64-65, 73-74, 82-82
Volume 3	Justice League Of America #91-92, 100-102, 107-108, 113
Volume 4	Justice League Of America #123-124, 135-137, 147-148
Justice Society
Volume 1	All Star Comics #58-67 DC Special #29
Volume 2	All Star Comics #68-74 Adventure Comics #461-466
Miniseries
Crisis On Infinite Earths	#1-12
Infinite Crisis	#1-7
One Shots
Power Girl	Showcase #97-99 Secret Origins #11 JSA Classified #1-4 (Contains a few plot related pages from JSA #32 and 39)
Showcase Presents: Shazam	Shazam (1973-1978) #1-20, 26-33 (Stories are set on Earth-S)
Huntress: Dark Knight Daughter	DC Comics Super Stars #11 Batman Family Wonder Woman #271-287, 289-290, 294-295

[edit] Representations in other media

The Super Friends has had crossovers with other universes; in the episode Universe of Evil, a freak accident causes Superman to switch places with his evil counterpart.

The DC animated universe (or DCAU) has portrayed the Multiverse. Several characters from the main DCAU have visited parallel universes that were similar to the DCAU:

• In the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Brave New Metropolis", Lois Lane fell into a parallel Earth where Superman and Lex Luthor had taken over Metropolis, turning it into a fascist police-state.
• In the Justice League episode "Legends", several members of the League were accidentally sent to a parallel universe where John Stewart's comic-book idols, a pastiche of the Justice Society of America named the Justice Guild of America, live. One member of the Justic Guild hypothesized that there are an infinite number of parallel dimensions.
• In the Justice League episode "A Better World", the Justice League were held captive by their authoritarian counterparts from another universe, the "Justice Lords". In this universe, Lex Luthor had risen to the U.S. Presidency, and had started a war which had killed the Flash, sparking the Lords' takeover of the world. (Later in the series, the regular Lex Luthor ran for President solely to enrage Superman.)
• In the Justice League Unlimited episode "Question Authority", the Question is surfing through Cadmus's files on a computer, one of the files is titled "Multiverse".

In an interview, Teen Titans producer Glen Murakami stated, possibly as a joke, that the show did not exist in the DCAU continuity, but instead took place on "Earth-T."

[edit] Parodies

In the Futurama episode "The Farnsworth Parabox", the characters meet versions of themselves from an alternate reality. They argue over which universe should be named "Universe A" until one group decides to be "Universe 1."

Bongo Comics published a comic book series featuring characters from Simpsons and Futurama titled Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis. One of the conventions of DC's multiverse that the series parodies is the existense of one universe's characters as fictional comic book characters in another.

[edit] See also

• Crisis on Infinite Earths
• Zero Hour
• Infinite Crisis
• List of character counterparts in the DC multiverse
• Multiverse (Marvel Comics)

[edit] References

1. ^ Wizard Magazine #174 (2006)

[edit] External links

• The Annotated Crisis on Infinite Earths (includes the Infinite Atlas)
• The Cosmology Compendium
• Alternity
• Too Many Earths? A MoviePoopShoot Article on DC Multiverse
• And Then There Was One MoviePoopShoot Article, Part 2