The DC Universe
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.
In particular the Earth of each universe has a different set of superheroes or 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 assigned their own alternate universe within the Multiverse. The universes are identified by referring to the alternate
Earths known as Earth One, Earth Two, Earth Three, Earth X and so forth. The first such parallel world was introduced in 1961 in The Flash
#123 in the story Flash of Two Worlds. These parallel worlds/universes were eliminated or merged in Crisis on Infinite
Earths a 12-issue limited series published in 1985, but were again acknowledged in the 2005 sequel Infinite Crisis.
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.
Earth One is the home of DC's Silver Age heroes including the original Justice League of America. In this
world Superman had a career as Superboy while in his teens and an array of other superheroes first appeared in the 1950s or later. The Flash was police scientist Barry Allen, Green Lantern was galactic peacekeeper Hal Jordan, Hawkman was Thanagarian Katar Hol, and the Atom was shrinking scientist Ray Palmer. Characters unique to this world included the Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Firestorm, the Guardians of the Universe and Green Lantern Corps, the Teen Titans, the New Gods, the Legion of Superheroes and most other heroes introduced by DC in the 1960s and 1970s. As the default Earth for most of DC's comics during the prolific Multiverse era, this was by far the most
populous and greatly explored and 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 this merged Earth One, as the Crisis indicated that this universe was the core existence until the rogue Guardian Krona fractured reality at the dawn of
creation creating both the multiverse and the anti-matter universe.
Earth Two is the home of DC's Golden Age heroes including the Justice Society of America. In this
world Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman began their careers as adults at the dawn of World War II (concurrent with their first appearances in comics). The Flash was chemistry student Jay Garrick, Green Lantern was magic-powered Alan Scott, Hawkman was archaeologist Carter Hall, and the Atom was pint-sized powerhouse Al Pratt. Characters unique to this world included the Lords of Order, Infinity Inc., All-Star Squadron, Dr. Fate, Mr. Terrific, Dr. Mid-Nite, Shining Knight, Power Girl, Huntress (Helena Wayne), Crimson Avenger. The heroes of this world appeared as comic book characters on
Earth One (subconsciously channelled by Earth One's writers). Politically Earth
Two was distinctly different in that various countries diverged from the Earth
One template modelled after Earth Prime (stated at times by DC as the real world pre-Crisis). For
example Quebec was an independent nation autonomous from Canada, South Africa had abolished apartheid sooner, and the Atlantean countries of Poseidonis and Tritonus was ruled by a Queen not King (along with its inhabitants displaying surface dweller features and no capacity for underwater survival as the Atlantis continent was raised). At the time of
Crisis Superman was older, and Batman was murdered in his fifties.
Earth Three is the home of evil versions of Earth-One heroes, including the Crime Syndicate of America. In this
world history was backwards: Christopher Columbus was an American who discovered Europe; Britain fought and won its freedom from the United States in the Revolutionary War; President John Wilkes Booth was assassinated by actor Abraham Lincoln; the United States flag had
reversed colours (black stars on a red background, and alternating blue and black stripes); and so on. Noteworthy characters include Ultraman (analogue of Superman), Superwoman (analogue of Wonder Woman), Owlman (analogue of Batman), Power Ring (analogue of Green Lantern), Johnny Quick (analogue of Flash), Alexander Luthor (analogue of Lex Luthor and the sole hero on the planet), and Alexander Luthor, Jr. This world is not to be confused with the evil world called Qward from Green
Lantern which is in the antimatter universe and which cannot be entered by the same means that the other Earths can.
Earth Four is the home of the former Charlton Comics heroes. This world was introduced at the beginning of Crisis and gone less than a year later. Noteworthy characters include Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Nightshade, Peacemaker, The Question, Peter Cannon
(Thunderbolt) and Judomaster.
Earth Six is the home of Lady Quark, Lord Volt and their daughter Princess Fern. On this
Earth America lost the Revolutionary War. The planet was apparently ruled by a royal family of superheroes (Lord Volt is referred to as the King, and mentions his family's reign over Earth). Given its
appearance technology seems to have progressed faster on this world as well. It was destroyed in
Crisis with only Lady Quark surviving.
Earth Seven is the home of Dark Angel an evil analogue of Donna Troy. This Earth was established post-Crisis in The Return of Donna Troy, a lead-up to Infinite Crisis.
Earth Twelve is the home of the Inferior Five. Noteworthy characters include Awkwardman, Blimp, Dumb Bunny, Merryman, and White Feather. This world 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.
Earth A is the home of the Lawless League. This world was created by Johnny Thunder's evil counterpart from
Earth One when he altered the origins of the Justice League. A stood for
alternate since it was an alternate version of Earth One. The heroes of this world included alternate, evil versions of Superman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and the Martian Manhunter, as the evil Johnny Thunder's criminal
henchmen granted powers and skills identical to the Justice League's members.
Earth B was never officially established but was often 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. Notable characters include Batman (who appeared regularly in the series).
Earth C is the home of Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew. This world is populated with anthropomorphic animals. Notable characters include the members of the Zoo Crew: Captain Carrot, Alley-Kat-Abra, Fastback, Little Cheese, Pig-Iron, Rubberduck and Yankee Poodle.
Earth C Minus is the home of the Justa Lotta Animals, this world (like Earth C) is also populated by anthropomorphic animals. Notable characters include Super-Squirrel, Wonder Wabbit, the Batmouse, Green Lambkin, Aquaduck and the Crash. Events and characters on this world paralleled those of Earth-One;
additionally events and characters on Earth C Minus existed only as fictional comics on
Earth C (in his secret identity Capt. Carrot was the writer/artist of the Justa Lotta
Animals comic in his world).
Earth D is the home of the Justice Alliance of America. This world appeared in Legends of the DC Universe as a
previously untold chapter of Crisis published more than a decade after the fact. It featured a more ethnically diverse version of several
Earth One heroes with no major tragedies in the heroes' lives (not counting the
Crisis). As such it was a combination of modern multicultural sensibilities combined with
Silver Age style innocence.
Earth S is the home of the former Fawcett Comics heroes called Earth S for the wizard Shazam, mentor to Captain Marvel. The rest of the Marvel Family included Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel, Jr., and Uncle Marvel. Other noteworthy characters include Bulletman, Bulletgirl, Ibis the Invincible, Spy Smasher, Mister Scarlet and Pinky, Commando Yank and Isis. This Earth's heroic teams included the Marvel Family, Crime Crusaders Club and Squadron of
Justice with its main villainous organization being the Monster Society of Evil.
Earth X is the adopted home of several former Quality Comics heroes including the Freedom Fighters. On this
world Nazi Germany won World War II and the Freedom Fighters originally from
Earth Two fought to defeat them. Noteworthy characters include Uncle Sam, the Human Bomb, Miss America, The Ray, Black Condor, Doll Man, Phantom Lady,
Firebrand and the Red Bee.
Earth Prime is the home of few or no superheroes; this was supposedly our world where the characters of
Earth One were merely comic book characters. DC editor Julius Schwartz lived here, and met the Flash of
Earth One who visited this world. The little used character Ultraa was the first superhero to appear in this
world but after his initial adventure he relocated to Earth One (in light of realizing that
Earth Prime wasn't ready for superheroes). The interpretation of Earth Prime being the
real world came to an end; in a story just before Crisis on Infinite Earths a young Clark Kent of
Earth Prime discovered that he had super powers and became Superboy and is referred to now primarily as Superboy
Prime. At the climax of the Crisis he joined the Superman and Lois Lane of Earth
Two (the Golden Age versions) in a kind of paradise but has since recently returned to the DC universe with the others in the limited series Infinite Crisis.
Various other Earths were arguably depicted in DC's substantial publishing output during the period in which the Multiverse was in effect. Identifiers such as
Earth Five (for a world destroyed at the opening of Crisis on Infinite Earths) or
Earth K (the setting of Jack Kirby's Kamandi) have been coined by fans and applied to certain characters and stories. Some Earths have been posited to explain (for example) Superman Jr. and Batman Jr. (the teenage sons of the two heroes who appeared in a handful of stories and cannot be reconciled with any known Earth) or the Super Friends (based on the TV series). On yet another conjectured
Earth 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 categorised 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.
Most inhabitants of the Multiverse are completely unaware of the other universes. The first character to cross the gap between them was Barry Allen, the Flash of
Earth One, who accidentally vibrated 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 the above mentioned
Earth B.
The Multiverse was shown to be destroyed in the 12 issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths by a villain known as the Anti-Monitor. One by one, the Anti-Monitor invaded each universe and destroyed it. The heroes of
Earth One, Earth Two, Earth Four, Earth S, and Earth X along with survivours from at least two other universes, managed to hold off the destruction of these last five universes long enough to defeat the Anti-Monitor. The five were merged into a single universe with its own history combining elements of the five 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 later. But Superman had a completely new
history different from the Superman of Earth-One or 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.
Although DC maintained that the other Earths no longer existed during the 1990s they published occasional one-shots and mini-series
labelled 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. In 1999 DC introduced Hypertime which provided a conceptual framework to recognize both canonical and apocryphal stories. It was arguably a superset of the
Multiverse including not only the whole range of preCrisis 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 suggesting that the Multiverse did in fact still exist in Hypertime.
However the concept has been subsequently used only a few times. In 2005 DC began
Infinite Crisis a DC Universe wide crossover a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Stories leading up to the main limited series of seven issues contained scattered references and hints to the Multiverse (including the possibility that it could live
again).
For a detailed timeline see Chris Miller's DC Chronology. Of all the timelines on the net his is the most detailed and complete.