THE KNOWN WORLD(S) - THE LIST OF DC UNIVERSES

[MattBrady]

The end of DC’s 52 series left the DC Universe a multiverse again. Thanks to the flapping of a butterfly’s wings (or something like it) the single DC Universe left after Crisis on Infinite Earths and fractured slightly in Infinite Crisis was once again split into many. Well, not exactly “many” - exactly 52. Previously numbering in the hundreds (and added to whenever a Silver Age writer needed a new one, generally speaking), the multiverse of DC has been winnowed down to a more manageable number.

But what are they for sure? DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio has said that a full list resides in his office, or at least as full as list as possible, as not all of the universes have been named or described, and as DiDio has said, he and the rest of DC Editorial are slow to name them all, but rather slowly explore the worlds in Countdown to Final Crisis, its associated spinoffs, and later projects.

So – what are they? DC Comics has provided Newsarama with the current listing of the earths that currently make up the DC Multiverse. “First appearance” means first appearance post-creation in 52 #52. And yes, many of the worlds are very familiar to previous, Pre-Crisis multiple earths, or Elseworlds stories, but DC has maintained that these worlds are not perfect recreations of those worlds. These are new worlds that share the same characteristics.

The known earths are:

Earth-2: Home of the original Justice Society (first appearance 52 #52 - this earth’s Superman and Power Girl are missing)
Earth-3: The Crime Society’s world (first appearance 52 #52)
Earth-4: Home of the Charlton characters (a.k.a. – the Watchmen-esque world) (first appearance 52 #52)
Earth-5: Home of the Fawcett (Shazam) characters (first appearance 52 #52)
Earth-8: World of Lord Havok and the Extremists – called Angor by its natives (Countdown #29)
Earth-9: Tangent Universe (upcoming in Tangent: Superman’s Reign #1)
Earth-10: Home of the Quality (Freedom Fighters, Uncle Sam, the original Ray, etc) characters (first appearance 52 #52)
Earth-11: World of reversed genders ( Arena #1 and The Search For Ray
Palmer: Superwoman/ Batwoman #1)
Earth-12: The Next Generation, beyond Batman (i.e., Batman Beyond?) (Arena #1)
Earth-13: World of dark and arcane heroes ( Arena #1)
Earth-15: World of heroes realized (Donna Troy as Wonder Woman; Jason Todd as Batman) (Countdown #30 - the earth of this universe was destroyed in Countdown #24)
Earth-16: Home of the Super-Sons ( Arena #1)
Earth-17: A post WWIII, apocalyptic universe (first appearance 52 #52)
Earth-18: World of the Elseworld’s Justice Riders ( Arena #1)
Earth-19: World of Elseworld’s Gotham by Gaslight (The Search For Ray
Palmer: Gotham By Gaslight #1)
Earth-21: World of Elseworld’s New Frontier ( Arena #1)
Earth-22: Elseworld’s Kingdom Come Universe (first appearance 52 #52)
Earth-26: Universe of Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew (Captain Carrot
And The Final Ark #1)
Earth-30: World of Elseworld’s Superman: Red Son (Countdown #32)
Earth-32: World of Elseworld’s Batman: Darkest Knight (Arena #1)
Earth-34: World of Elseworld’s Amazonia ( Arena #1)
Earth-37: World of Elseworld’s Thrillkiller ( Arena #1)
Earth-40: World of Elseworld’s Liberty Files ( Arena #1)
Earth-43: World of Elseworld’s Batman: Red Rain (The Search For Ray Palmer:
Red Rain #1)
Earth-48: Forerunner’s world (Countdown #46)
Earth-50: Wildstorm Universe (first seen 52 #52)

To date, it’s unclear as to what the difference between “Earth-1” and “New Earth” is, as Rip Hunter mentioned in 52 #52 that were separate realities. Also, the world of the Atomic Knights (classic Silver Age) was shown to be Earth-17 in the same issue.

Oh, and Earth-31? It’s shown in the preview to Arena #1.

Okay – so what’s not been listed yet? A few that caught our eye…

Vertigo. Yeah, yeah – it’s not part of the DC Universe proper. That line’s been used at cons by DC staffers, and you know what? Forget it. It is. It may be Earth-13, but come on…let’s see that as official.

Over in Action Comics, there’s a Legion of Super-Heroes running around that’s a continuation of the original, Adventure Comics #247 Legion. If the Legion that Supergirl is currently hanging with is the future of “New Earth,” where is this other Legion from? Sure, there will be claims of an alternate timeline within the “New Earth” Universe, but then we have to call in the theoretical physicists (or Grant Morrison) to tell us the difference between an alternate timeline contained within a universe and a wholly “different universe” that was created by Mr. Mind altering time over and over again to create new universes.

And hey – as this list is very reliant on DC’s Elseworlds stories over the years to build entire universes on, where’s the All-Star universe, and the Dark Knight Returns/Strikes Again universe (although that might be Earth-31, given Superman’s haircut…)?

Is there an America’s Best Comics universe?

The Amalgam universe?

Milestone?

Which future is Kamadi a part of? Lady Quark? Dark Angel?

Is there a new Earth-Prime, where DC superheroes only exist as comic book stories?

Superman & Batman: Generations? JLA: The Nail?

And jillions more.

So many questions – 52 answers.

[prolix]

Well, that's clear...

[EyesBL7]

They will come to regret ever releasing a "definitive" list.

[Burnt Frog]

Earth-50: Wildstorm Universe (first seen 52 #52)

WRONG!!!!!!!

First seen in WildC.A.T.S 1, August 1992. Get your facts right.

[MattBrady]

Originally Posted by Burnt Frog

WRONG!!!!!!!

First seen in WildC.A.T.S 1, August 1992. Get your facts right.

As noted in the piece, "first appearance" as used here is a relative term. From above:

“First appearance” means first appearance post-creation in 52 #52. And yes, many of the worlds are very familiar to previous, Pre-Crisis multiple earths, or Elseworlds stories, but DC has maintained that these worlds are not perfect recreations of those worlds. These are new worlds that share the same characteristics.

MattB

[dave_hearn]

What about Robinson's "The Golden Age"?

[nickmaynard]

Originally Posted by Burnt Frog

WRONG!!!!!!!

First seen in WildC.A.T.S 1, August 1992. Get your facts right.

the new multiverse didnt exist back then dude.

[Bugaboo-X]

Good gawd, if Cap'n Carrot and his Z-Crew get a real world of their own, then I'd expect at least a passing reference to Milestone's characters out of Dakota -- "Worlds Collide" cross-over?! Dang it. Someone get Dwayne McDuffie on the phone...

[Kevin T. Brown]

Originally Posted by EyesBL7

They will come to regret ever releasing a "definitive" list.

Only until the end of Final Crisis when everything (more than likely) changes again.

[Squeege63]

what still confuses me is if we have these earths where characters like the Justice Society or Shazam, etc. characters are from, how do they exist in the maid DC universe. are they transplants like Power Girl, meaning that they aren't on their own earth right now, or what. someone please explain this to me as it is really confusing.

[Edogawa1983]

so is the Jason Todd Batman of earth 15 dead or alive?

he and the Donna Troy Wonder Woman were taking out by Prime right?

[OM]

Originally Posted by dave_hearn

What about Robinson's "The Golden Age"?

...Damn good question. If it were up to me, I'd make it part of New Earth's timeline, where it would fit quite well if you account for quite a few deaths that occurred. It would also give an opportunity to confirm/deny one theory I've had about the behavior of Robotman in that series - that it was actually Eva Braun in Robotman's body, which would explain some of the motherly actions he demonstrated towards Hitler in Dan Dunbar's body.

[wishlish]

How can the Vertigo world exist when most of the books don't share the same world?

Now, I think you could have a world where John Constantine exists, but there's some problems with that. Since Constantine was originally seen in the Alan Moore Swamp Thing issues, that would mean that all of the events of Alan Moore's comics happened on that world. That means that the Green Lantern from ST #61 is in that world, but he later shows up in James Robinson's Starman. Starman has to be on the same Earth with some JSA. So is Starman and the JSA on planet Vertigo?

Also on this earth would be the Vertigo Shade The Changing Man (they did meet, albiet in an issue of Shade's series), Tim Hunter, Dream and the Endless (they met early on in an issue of Sandman), the Justice League and Martian Manhunter (they met in an issue of Sandman), Black Orchid, and others. See how problematic it gets?

[Marius665]

where is the universe with Batman Beyond and the Justice League Unlimited

I would kill to see that Superman fight the Kingdom Come Superman

oh, and what about the Titans of Tomorrow? what universe is that?

[Bevbos]

Hm. Before reading this article, I had no idea that the New Frontier was an Elseworlds tale. I thought it was just a re-imagining of the classic origin stories of all the heroes. Oh well, I won't enjoy it any less.

Oh! Also: are the recent Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters minis taking place on an alternate Earth? I had no idea. Again, no biggie, just curious.

[GreatKrypton]

They should make Earth 29, or 39, or 49 be the "90's Earth", where the 90's never ended: Superman stayed dead, and Metropolis is protected by Steel, Superboy, and the Eradicator; Bruce Wayne is paralyzed, and Azrael is in the armored-Batsuit; Kyle is the only GL, and Hal is Parallax; Guy Gardner is Warrior, and Artemis is Wonder Woman, etc...

[hlbimage]

So is the upcoming Final Crisis going to collapse all of these universe?

[Xanrn]

Well

E=Rx3-T

You cean clearly see that.

B=E+H.

So A=B-C+DxE

So The Answer to your question is RAFO.

Also is that Apollo in the big splash page from Arean, cause Apollo would never follow Monarch.

[IvCNuB4]

Originally Posted by Squeege63

what still confuses me is if we have these earths where characters like the Justice Society or Shazam, etc. characters are from, how do they exist in the maid DC universe. are they transplants like Power Girl, meaning that they aren't on their own earth right now, or what. someone please explain this to me as it is really confusing.

The JSA on New Earth-2, including that Earth's PowerGirl and Superman, are alternate versions. Not the same as New Earth PowerGirl. Keep in mind that when the 52 universes were created, they were all exact copies of each other. It was after Mr. Mind hit each Earth and changed their respective histories that the Earths started to diverge in appearance and history ....

[DigitalAtman]

Wow, they're using up those 52 Universes quickly. The new multiverse was such a cool idea but they're gonna run out soon if they don't use a little discrimination and stop using turning every Elseworlds storyline that the Arena/Countdown writers like, into one of the only 52 Universes in existence. Why not leave the Elseworlds alone, and save the 52 Universes for story-worlds that can be truly, fully mined for a variety of great stories?

[waterdragon]

What's the explain, DC's multiverse has never and will never make sense, EVER! All they will continue to do is pile on more and more nonsense just so readers can't keep asking "How does this and that make sense?" Who cares if it makes to DC right?

As far as I'm concerned, WildStorm's multiverse is the only multiverse and DC was just jealous they couldn't do anything with their own multiverse and had to essentially bully WildStorm into their own $@%storm.

[JB1864]

This is exactly why I will never read a DC Comic again! Make Mine Marvel!!!

[DigitalAtman]

And yeah, we can't really have a "Vertigo Universe" because there are too many Vertigo books that have nothing to do with the characters that otherwise interact with the DC universe. Swamp Thing, Sandman, Death, Books of Magic have had plenty of interaction - heck, Daniel showed up in JLA - but then stuff like Invisibles and Transmetropolitan and Preacher are all completely within their own worlds. Granted, this is nitpicking, because Sandman and Swamp Thing certainly do belong in their own corner of the multi-verse... but you can't put everything in the "Vertigo" umbrella in that category.

[O.M.A.C.]

Originally Posted by GreatKrypton

They should make Earth 29, or 39, or 49 be the "90's Earth", where the 90's never ended: Superman stayed dead, and Metropolis is protected by Steel, Superboy, and the Eradicator; Bruce Wayne is paralyzed, and Azrael is in the armored-Batsuit; Kyle is the only GL, and Hal is Parallax; Guy Gardner is Warrior, and Artemis is Wonder Woman, etc...

excellent idea, I was thinking the same!! I would also love to see the Milestone U return

[Zugernaut]

Originally Posted by JB1864

This is exactly why I will never read a DC Comic again! Make Mine Marvel!!!

Oh, boo hoo.