Explaining The Confusing DC Multiverse | New52? Prime Earth?
Recommended Readings:
-Action Comics #1
-Flash #123
-Crisis On Infinite Earths (1985)
-Watchmen (1986)
-Flashpoint (2011)
-Superman: Reborn
-DC Universe Rebirth #1 (2016)
-The Button (2017)
-Doomsday Clock (2017)
DC's Reboots/Relaunch
Ever since DC debuted with its first comic book, "Action Comics #1" in the year 1938, DC kept rebooting its universe on and on. But Why? Why does DC do this? Does it make anything better? Before I explain, DC technically only had 2 reboots, (we'll talk about that in a minute), but they do a lot of relaunches, #1s, multiverse stories, rectons and a lot more related to different Earths and timelines. They do this because they want to boost their sales more by attracting new readers.
If you're a new reader getting into DC comics, you might get all confused with all the different Earths, universes, timelines, events, reboots, and retcons. When I was a new reader, or even now, I still get confused and overwhelmed by so many things going on. Eventually, I felt like I had to go all the way back to the beginning and read every single DC comic to understand and enjoy it fully. (debatable) But don't worry, I'll try my best to explain.
Golden Age (1938~1956)
The term Golden Age defines the period of time between the start of DC comics, the year 1938 and around the 1950s. (Note: it's not just a term for DC comics, but comic books in general) This is the era when some of the most well-known superheroes of DC, or of all time, such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Aquaman and more. When you read comics from this era, they might leave a sour taste in you, with their old writing style, dialogue and art. Until not too long ago, comics WERE targeted to kids, and still considered "for kids." This isn't really true in 2024, but that's a story for another day.
Silver Age (1956~1970)
The start of DC's Silver Age is usually considered "Showcase #4," the first appearance of Barry Allen, the 2nd Flash. Ever since the, DC started replacing their Golden characters with new counterparts and making more new characters. Hal Jordan, Barry Allen, Zatanna, Supergirl, Plastic Man, and the list goes on. This is why this era is considered the era of legacy characters and/or renaissance of DC heroes. However, popular characters like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
Earth 1 & Earth 2
And then, DC wanted to separate the main Earth/universe into two, Earth 1 and Earth 2. Earth 1 was the main universe with all characters, and Earth 2 was the first DC universe with characters who fought in World War II, because DC wanted a crossover story between the first Flash, Jay Garrick and Barry Allen. The story arc was called "Flash of Two Worlds." This is the point when the idea of multiverse comes in and makes everything complicated.
Bronze Age (1970~1985)
If I'm being honest, I would say the Bronze Age isn't as important as other eras like the modern era or the start of DC comics, and I don't know a lot about it. It started with Jack Kirby's Fourth World and ended with (spoiler alert) Crisis On Infinite Earths in 1985~1986. It didn't really contribute to the multiverse stuff, but I have to mention that there were still crossovers around the universes, and it was getting messier. I'll leave it as is for now, and add more information,when I gain some more knowledge about this era.
Crisis On Infinite Earths (New Earth)
Here comes the big event, DC's first reboot, "Crisis On Infinite Earths." It was a limited series that ran from April 1985 to March 1986. It's very complicated and confusing, especially to new readers and I haven't read all of it, but I'll try my best to explain it as simply as possible. There's this villain called 'Anti Monitor' and he wants to destroy Earths, so he does that. The Monitor gathers a group of heroes all over the Earths to fight back against the Anti-Monitor and save the 5 Earths that are left. In the end, Barry Allen, the second Flash dies and all the 5 Earths merge into one, creating the "New Earth."
The New Earth had beloved characters from different Earths, such as Batman, Superman, Hal Jordan, Zatanna, and Shazam! (Captain Marvel), Plastic Man, Jason Todd, Hawkman and more. Now, if I talk about Shazam!/Captain Marvel right now, it would get too confusing, so I will save it for another day. Anyway, DC now only had one Earth with all the characters, maybe except Barry Allen, and it wasn't confusing at all. It was actually the perfect place to start. There were no more multiverse, timeline shenanigans...or it seemed like it.
Flashpoint (Prime Earth)
In 2011, some DC editors and writers wanted to reboot the DC universe again, not learning any lesson from the past creator's mistakes. They set up Geoff Johns as the leading writer of the new DC universe reboot project. Starting with the "Flashpoint" story arc, with its core limited series "Flashpoint" and its tie-ins, the New 52 began. There were some significant changes made to the universe, that were liked, but there were a lot more stuff that readers hated.
.png)
Speaking sales-wise, it did succeed a lot. Their sales were up. It was the reboot that brought so many new readers. That ended DC's never ending downfall of sales. The one that pushed DC up to the 1st place in comic books, pushing MARVEL to the second place for the first time in a long time. (even though it was just for a short period of time) A lot of DC readers started with New 52. The Justice League, Batman, Superman, Aquaman, Animal Man, Batwoman and more.
And I'm part of the group that started with New 52. My first ever DC comics were New 52 Justice League, Batman and Flash, the characters I'm most interested in. Not to mention that "Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox" is definitely one of my top 3 favourite DC movies. I really like the Flashpoint story arc, as a Flash story, but generally, after a decade, most fans tend to hate it and make some changes for the worse. Just to name a few, erasing Wally West, erasing the previous stories, making all of the characters more dark and edgy and more.
Rebirth To Current
DC's Rebirth was basically an apology to the old fans for taking all the stories they loved and putting them into the trash. It was also an excuse to bring Watchmen characters to the DC universe. This is also a story for another day, but long story short, there was a miniseries called "Watchmen" right after DC's "Crisis On Infinite Earths." However, it had nothing to do with Crisis On Infinite Earths or the DC universe, even though it WAS published by DC and DC just promised us no more multiverse shenanigans.
Anyway, in DC's Rebirth, it was revealed that Flash had nothing to do with creating the New 52 universe, and it was actually Dr. Manhattan who took 10 years from the DC universe because he was doing some universal science experiment or whatever. The follow-up of DC Rebirth is "Doomsday Clock," in 2019, which could possibly be the last Watchmen content in paper form. (not counting reprints and collected editions) I still quite don't understand 100%, because it doesn't really make sense. Mostly because they're just comics, but if I had to explain, I would say they're New 52 characters, but with their memories back? Or something like that.
Still complicated? I made a must-read list to help. Also, here are the sources I got my information from, which could help you, too.
Must Reads:
-Watchmen (1986)
-Flashpoint (2011)
-DC Universe Rebirth #1 (2016)
Comments
Post a Comment