A depiction of several alternate Earths within the Multiverse and the variations of the Flash inhabiting each Earth. Art by Dan Jurgens and Art Thibert
The DC Multiverse is a fictionalcontinuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous versions of the DC Comics Earth, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and their histories without contradicting the continuity of the main universe. The number of alternate universes used by the Multiverse construct has varied over the years due to DC Comics' policy of using or abandoning the concept at various points in its publishing history.[1] Originally, there was no consistency in spelling regarding "numbered" Earths — they would be either spelled out as words or use numbers even within the same story (such as was the case with Earth-3 in 1964) but a tradition of spelling them out developed. Because the current Multiverse (brought back via Infinite Crisis and 52) uses numbers some people mistakenly believe that this was a way DC separates the current multiverse from the "original" one. ====History====
Pre-Crisis[]
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 had ceased publication. The only superhero features to survive without long interruptions from the Golden Age to the present were Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow. In 1956, DC's Showcase anthology provided a starting point for the new Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen. It was firmly established in the Flash's first appearance that the Golden Age Flash was a comic book character within the DC Universe, whose fictional exploits inspired Barry Allen to take on the 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. In order to facilitate crossovers between heroes from the main DC Universe and the Golden Age, an explanation was provided in one story that resonance from parallel worlds can be detected by some people who go on to write stories based upon the information they are receiving. The first parallel universe was introduced in 1953 in Wonder Woman #59, in which Wonder Woman fell through a space-time warp and encountered her double, whose name, Tara Terruna, translated as Wonder Woman. After battling the villain Duke Dazam, Wonder Woman returned home. The parallel universe concept was not used again until Wonder Woman #89 (April 1957), which featured an alternate Earth where crime predominated. The second was "Magic-Land", an alternate Earth where magic, instead of science, was the dominant force in the world. However, its existence has been ignored in current DC Multiverse continuity. It appeared in Gardner Fox's "Secret of the Sinister Sorcerers" in Justice League of America #2. The story "Flash of Two Worlds" appeared in The Flash #123 and established the Multiverse concept. In the story, the Barry Allen version of the Flash uses his powers of super-speed vibration to climb a rope suspended in mid-air and vibrates from Earth-One to Earth-Two where he meets Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash. He claims that events on Earth-2 must have found their way into the dreams of Gardner Fox. At the end of JLA #22 the Fiddler, to stop the JLA and JSA capturing him, says that as there is an Earth-1 and an Earth-2 there must be an Earth-3. Although he was unable to transport himself away in time, the multiverse concept was touched upon here. Each universe's Earth has its own set of superheroes, with their own unique characteristics and life histories. In several cases, characters from other publishers acquired by DC, previously established within a fictional universe of their own, have been incorporated into the Multiverse in various alternate universes. Claw the Unconquered #7 (May/June 1976), by David Micheline and Ernie Chan, contained one of the first anecdotal mentions of the Multiverse in a DC Comics title, including the term "Multiverse". In Star Hunters #7 (October/November 1978), with co-plotter Bob Layton and penciler Rich Buckler, Micheline offered a description of multiple co-existing parallel Earths. It also described an ancient war between the forces of light and dark using agents scattered across multiple universes. =====Crisis on Infinite Earths=====
Main article: Crisis on Infinite EarthsTo celebrate its 50th anniversary, in 1985 DC Comics published the 12-issue limited seriesCrisis on Infinite Earths. The series featured appearances by nearly every DC Comics character published and told a story that allowed the company, at the end of the series, to 'reboot' its entire line of comics: a cosmic battle ending with the recreation of the comics universe from the dawn of time with a single universe. This allowed DC to launch a new era with a reinvention of its major character franchises, such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.Janette Khann stupidly<along the rest of DC Comic Editors<thought<the way to compete with Marvel Comics,was to make their fictional reality,similar to their own,in a time when Marvel Comic Editor in Cheif,was making Marvel more an infinate variety of Alternate Realities. One by one, a villain known as the Anti-Monitor destroyed several alternate universes. Heroes of the last five universes (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.) held off the destruction of the last five universes long enough to defeat the Anti-Monitor. After this, during a time travel incident, the Big Bang was altered, and only one universe was created. In the modern day, this new DC Universe combined elements of the last five universes, along with completely new elements. For example, there was a Flash named Jay Garrick who was a member of the Justice Society during the 1940s, and another Flash named Barry Allen who was a member of the Justice League decades later, but there was only one Superman, who had a modified history, different in some respects from both the Earth-One and the Earth-Two versions. Several pre-Crisis characters (most importantly the Kara Zor-El Supergirl and Barry Allen) were killed during Crisis on Infinite Earths, and as a result were either erased from history, as in Supergirl's case, or simply proclaimed dead, as in Barry Allen's case, in the new singular universe. Wonder Woman was thought to have been slain in the final issue, but was revealed to have been thrown backwards through time, reverting to the clay from which she was formed. This set the stage for her reintroduction into the reformed DC Universe and the relaunch of the Wonder Woman comic, helmed by George Pérez. Other characters and concepts, such as Streaky the Supercat, Comet the Super-Horse, and the Space Canine Patrol Agents vanished without explanation. Initially, most of the superhero characters remembered the Multiverse, but after some time their memories acclimated to the new timeline, and the pre-Crisis Multiverse was forgotten, except for only one character who remembered it: Psycho-Pirate.Crisis,created,what DC Comics and some fans,felt was a single ,fictional reality,while thought it was the beginning of an tangled fictional reality,needing countless fix ups and reboots,ongoing to this day. =====Post-Crisis=====
Although the Multiverse concept was discarded after the publication of Crisis, several comics published after it made references to it. 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 character 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 but 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 traveled from universe to universe, killing and absorbing the powers of his alternate selves. ======Elseworlds======
Although DC maintained that the other Earths no longer existed, during the 1990s they published occasional one-shots and mini-series labeled Elseworlds, featuring alternative versions of their characters — a practice that was consistent with the concept of a Multiverse. DC officially classified these as stories that perhaps "could have" happened but had not actually occurred.Template:Citation needed Some one-shots and limited series without the Elseworlds label, such as Frank Miller's re-imagining 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 continuity diverge from them. More recently, after the events of 52 re-established the Multiverse as part of DC continuity, many alternate worlds within the Multiverse and the characters that inhabit them are now based on stories that bore the Elseworlds label.Elseworlds,was a compremise between trying to keep the stupid single reality,while presenting new DC Alternate Realities. ======Hypertime======
Main article: HypertimeIn 1999, DC introduced Hypertime, a concept which provided a framework of recognition for both canonical and apocryphal stories, stating that all stories outside mainstream continuity happened in alternate timelines that had "branched out" and, in some cases, re-merged. Hypertime was a superset of the Multiverse, including not only all pre-Crisis stories set on alternate Earths, but any story set in any continuity. This concept was first referenced in The Kingdom, in which an image of what appeared to be the original Earth-Two appears. However, the concept has been subsequently used only a few times, most notably in story-arcs in the pages of The Flash and Superboy. In Booster Gold vol. 2, #30 (March 2010) Hypertime is specifically mentioned. According to Dan DiDio, Executive Vice President of DC Comics, Hypertime will not be featured in any future stories.Template:Citation needed ====Snowflake====In Warren Ellis' Planetary series (and subsequently other series from the WildStorm imprint), the structure of the Multiverse is described as a web of 196,833 universes arranged in a pattern resembling a snowflake, each universe separated from its neighbors by a medium called the Bleed.Template:Issue In the Batman-Planetary crossover, it is said that a "partial multiversal collapse" occurred in 1985, an oblique reference to Crisis on Infinite Earths. The fact that it is only a "partial collapse" indicates that there were definitely still other realities, and that the Multiverse was not as "gone" as was originally believed. At about the time of Infinite Crisis, the Bleed was shown to lie between the 52 dimensions.Template:Citation needed =====Infinite Crisis=====
Main article: Infinite CrisisIn 2005, DC began Infinite Crisis, a DC Universe crossover and sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Stories leading up to the main limited series contained scattered references to the Multiverse, such as the Return of Donna Troy mini-series, in which the titular character Donna Troy returned from the dead and remembered the various origins of her alternate selves (such as her counterpart from Earth-Seven, who became her nemesis Dark Angel), and the Captain Atom: Armageddon mini-series, which sees the main character sent to the Wildstorm Universe and inadvertently causing its destruction and recreation. In the Infinite Crisis series itself, the Superman and Lois Lane of Earth-Two, the Superboy of Earth-Prime, and Alexander Luthor, Jr., of Earth-Three, all survivors of the destruction of the original Multiverse, reappeared and the former existence of the Multiverse was acknowledged. Earth-Two was recreated in issue #4, and the surviving heroes who originated from Earth-Two were transported there. In addition, worlds previously described only as "Imaginary Stories" or "Elseworlds" were revealed to be universes within the Multiverse, as shown by the presence of Superman Red and Superman Blue from the Silver Age imaginary story of the same name; Superman, Jr., and Batman, Jr., from the 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; and a world featuring characters from the first Wonder Woman pilot, as well as from the Wonder Woman television series, alongside the original Teen Titans in a militaristic setting.[2] Eventually, Alexander's plan to recreate Earth-Two was circumvented when his equipment was destroyed by Superboy, resulting in all Earths re-merging into "New Earth". The effects of this transformation were shown during the series 52 and in the "One Year Later" storyline. =====52=====
In the "DC Nation" column printed in the back of Week 37, Dan DiDio revealed "the secret of 52" in a coded message. The message was spelled out using the first letter of every third word and said: "the secret of fifty-two is that the Multiverse still exists". In 52 Week 52, it was revealed that the Multiverse was recreated at the end of Infinite Crisis with the creation of fifty-two separate Earths, separated by different vibrational frequencies and each with their own histories. These Earths were initially identical to New Earth until they were altered by the intervention of Mister Mind "eating time" using his powers.
All-Star Superman[]
Main article: All-Star SupermanIn the tenth issue of the out-of-continuity series All-Star Superman, Superman creates, by himself, a parallel universe called "Earth-Q", to see if a world without a Superman or any other superheroes could work. It is revealed at the end of the issue that Earth-Q is "our" Earth, as Friedrich Nietzsche is seen creating his famous Übermensch, or "Superman", concept, and Joe Shuster is shown drawing the first modern Superman on the cover of Action Comics #1. =====Countdown and Final Crisis=====
The yearlong series Countdown to Final Crisis, as well as the various Countdown spinoffs and Final Crisis lead-ins, feature the Multiverse extensively, as several characters traverse the Multiverse in search of New Earth's Ray Palmer, while the events of Countdown: Arena involve the villain Monarch collecting various alternative versions of DC heroes and forcing them to fight in deathmatches to decide which ones to recruit into his army. While Crisis on Infinite Earth depicted the Multiverse as overseen by a single being known as The Monitor, Countdown, 52, and other titles have established that each of the fifty-two Earths has its own individual monitor. The original Monitor from Crisis on Infinite Earths supposedly returns during Final Crisis, now a vampiric creature and one of the various villains in the story. This was never confirmed. However, the being does resemble the original Monitor seen during the first Crisis story, though with vampiric traits. The events on Earth-51 tie directly in to the early issues of Final Crisis and involve the fate of one of the monitors, Nix Uotan. In Final Crisis, the Multiverse is shown to be made of a cone-shaped or an upside-down pyramid, where New Earth is at the top, holding all the other Earths together. If New Earth is destroyed all the other Earths fall in a domino effect and are also destroyed.
Flashpoint and The New 52[]
Main article: Flashpoint (comics)At Los Angeles 2011 Comic-Con in June 2011, Dan DiDio, Jim Lee, Bob Harras, Eddie Berganza and Grant Morrison stated after the events of Flashpoint, the DC Multiverse has been restructured yet again as part of The New 52. For example, the main DC Earth formerly known as Earth-0 aka New Earth, the Wildstorm Universe (Earth-50) and Vertigo (its parallel Earth-13) have all been merged into the new primary reality referred to as Prime-Earth.[3] These three realities are specifically mentioned in 52 as "The spread" as these three formerly separate publications are "shown fairly clearly that the three "broken" timelines are Vertigo, Wildstorm and the DC Universe, all of which now live together".[4] In May 2012, the series Earth 2 and Worlds' Finest premiered. The first will chronicle the events of a completely reimagined second Earth with the rise of young heroes commonly associated with Earth-2, such as the Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), and Atom (Al Pratt). The second title follows the adventures of the Earth-2 Robin and Supergirl, who are stuck on the primary Earth and have since taken up the new costume identities of Huntress and Power Girl, respectively. The same month, Action Comics 9 featured a story about the Superman of Earth-23. Other Earths in the DC Multiverse have yet to be revealed or explored. ====List of universes====
Main article: List of DC Multiverse worldsOriginally, there was no consistency regarding "numbered" Earths — they would be either spelled out as words or use numbers even within the same story. For example, "Crisis on Earth-Three!" from 1963 (JSA #29) uses "Earth-3" and "Earth-Three" interchangeably, though a tradition of spelling out the numbers seems to have emerged in "The Most Dangerous Earth" in 1964 (JSA #30). This convention was disregarded in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it became common practice to refer to the various Earths with numerals instead a practice continued in 52 and Countdown. After the first Crisis, several new universes appeared despite DC's intentions to the contrary. In addition, DC ran a number of crossovers with other companies that involved travel between different realities. Technically, none of these worlds were ever part of the Multiverse. A new Multiverse was revealed at the end of the 52 weekly limited series.[5] Unlike the original Multiverse, which was composed of an infinite number of alternate universes, this Multiverse is composed of only fifty-two alternate universes, which are referred to as New Earth and Earths 1 through 51. The alternate universes were originally identical to New Earth and contained the same history and people until Mister Mind "devoured" portions of each Earth’s history, creating new, distinct Earths with their own histories and people, such as the Nazi-themed version of the Justice League that exists in Earth-10.[6] Each of the alternate universes have their own parallel dimensions, divergent timelines, microverses, etc., branching off them.[7]
Characters of the Multiverse duel in an issue of Wizard. Art by Arthur Adams.
Originally in the pre-Crisis Multiverse, most inhabitants of these various Earths were completely unaware of the other universes, outside of the superpowered populace. The writers at DC Management changed this condition for the main post-Crisis Earth populace who are completely aware of the Multiverse, as shown in Final Crisis #7. It is unclear if the populace of most of the alternate Earths of the post-Crisis 52 Multiverse are also generally aware of other Earths, though many of the superpowered populace have been shown to be aware of, and interact with these other Earths and their inhabitants. The first character recorded to cross the gap between these various Earths was in pre-Crisis reality (chronologically in continuity, not publishing order as this tale was revealed in the series All-Star Squadron in the 1980s) and done by Uncle Sam of Earth-Two, who accidentally crossed over into Earth-X. DC Comics' first published story involving travel between alternate universes was Wonder Woman's crossing into an unnamed parallel Earth, in Wonder Woman #59 (1953). 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, in The Flash #123. 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 the team 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. Wonder Woman's invisible jet was also shown to be able to vibrate her across the multiversal barrier, in Wonder Woman #300, and she also crossed over when her magic lasso was struck by lightning, in Wonder Woman #59. Superman could travel to other Earths at will while Captain Marvel used the magical Rock of Eternity to gain access to all of the Earths. 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[8] 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, or edited by Murray Boltinoff or written by Bob Haney, 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 each character's moral code.[9]Earth-616, Marvel Comics' 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. Thor's hammer and the Flash's speed can allow travel between the Earths; however, as the Speed Force does not exist on Earth-616, Flash cannot travel back.
Print collections[]
Contact between the universes (or stories set on the other Earths) have been reprinted in the following graphic novels. {| class="wikitable"|-! Title !! Material collected|-! colspan="2" | Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups|-| valign="top" | Volume 1| valign="top" | The Flash #123, 129, 137, 151 Showcase #55-56 Green Lantern vol. 2, #40 The Brave and the Bold #61 The Spectre #7|-| valign="top" | Volume 2| valign="top" | The Atom #29, 36 The Brave and the Bold #62 The Flash #170, 173 Green Lantern vol. 2, #45, 52 The Spectre #3[10]|-! colspan="2" | Crisis on Multiple Earths|-| valign="top" | Volume 1| valign="top" | Justice League of America #21-22, 29-30, 37-38, 46-47|-| valign="top" | Volume 2| valign="top" | Justice League of America #55-56, 64-65, 73-74, 82-82|-| valign="top" | Volume 3| valign="top" | Justice League of America #91-92, 100-102, 107-108, 113|-| valign="top" | Volume 4| valign="top" | Justice League of America #123-124, 135-137, 147-148|-| valign="top" | Volume 5| valign="top" | Justice League of America #159-160, 171-172, 183-185|-! colspan="2"| Justice Society|-| valign="top" | Volume 1| valign="top" | All Star Comics #58-67 DC Special #29|-| valign="top" | Volume 2| valign="top" | All Star Comics #68-74 Adventure Comics #461-466|-! colspan="2" | Miniseries|-| valign="top" | Crisis on Infinite Earths| valign="top" | Issues #1-12|-| valign="top" | Infinite Crisis| valign="top" | Issues #1-7|-| valign="top" | Lord Havok and the Extremists| valign="top" | Issues #1-6|-| valign="top" | Countdown: Arena| valign="top" | Issues #1-4|-! colspan="2" | One-shots|-| valign="top" | Power Girl| valign="top" | Showcase #97-99 Secret Origins #11 JSA Classified #1-4 (contains a few plot-related pages from JSA #32 and #39)|-| valign="top" | Showcase Presents: Shazam| valign="top" | Shazam #1-20, 26-29, 33 (stories are set on Earth-S)|-| valign="top" | Huntress: Dark Knight Daughter| valign="top" | DC Comics Super Stars #11 Batman Family #18-20 Wonder Woman #271-287, 289-290, 294-295|-! colspan="2" | Weekly|-| valign="top" | 52| valign="top" | Issues #1-52|-| valign="top" | Countdown to Final Crisis| valign="top" | Issues #51-1|-|} ==Other versions==Teen Titans Go! #48 introduces its own multiverse. Each world pays references to various incarnation of the Teen Titans. The worlds shown are:* The majority of the story is set on a world which is menaced by the Teen Tyrants (evil Teen Titans), and is defended by the Brotherhood of Justice (heroic versions of the Brotherhood of Evil). Similar to Earth-3.* Malchior's (from the Teen Titans episode "Spellbound") homeworld.* A world similar to the past from the Teen Titans episode "Cyborg the Barbarian".* A world containing the teen Lobo.* A world consisting of the animalistic Teen Titans (from the Teen Titans episode "Bunny Raven").* Another future timeline with Nightwing (from the Teen Titans episode "How Long Is Forever").* A world consisting of the Chibi Titans.* A world in which the Teen Titans (as depicted in the Silver Age comics) consist of Robin, Speedy, Wonder Girl, Aqualad, and Kid Flash.* The home of Larry the Titan.* A futuristic world where the Teen Titans consist of Nightwing (a vampirish version, based on Dagon of the Team Titans), Battalion (who resembles Cyborg), Mirage (who resembles Raven), and Killowat. =====Parodies=====
Bongo Comics published a comic book series featuring characters from The Simpsons and Futurama titled Futurama/Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis. One of the conventions of DC's Multiverse that the series parodies is the existence of one universe's characters as fictional comic book characters in another. ====Other media====
In the animated television series Super Friends, the superhero teams encounter crossovers with other universes. In the episode "Universe of Evil", a freak accident causes Superman to switch places with his evil counterpart. =====DC Animated Universe=====
The DC animated universe (DCAU) has depicted the Multiverse many times. 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 Justice 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" and another file shows footage from the episode "A Better World" where the alternate Superman murders Lex Luthor. Ironically, after viewing files on the Justice Lords, he initially believes that instead of looking at an alternate universe, he is looking at the future of the universe in which the League lives. The exact means by how Cadmus came into possession of footage from the death of President Luthor seen in "A Better World" remains unknown. ===Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman===In Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, the show's primary protagonists, Lois Lane and Clark Kent, encountered an alternative version Clark Kent from a parallel universe in the episodes "Tempus, Anyone?" and "Lois & Clarks". In the episode "Tempus, Anyone?", the dimension included these differences: * Clark Kent had not assumed the identity of Superman and was engaged to Lana Lang (prior to the events of "Tempus, Anyone?").* Lois Lane had been lost on assignment in the Congo and presumed dead since 1993 (prior to the events of "Tempus, Anyone?" and "Lois & Clarks").* Jonathan and Martha Kent died when Clark was a child.* Jimmy Olsen owns the Daily Planet and is also Perry White's campaign manager for his mayoral election.* Both Elvis Presley and Charlton Heston were elected as President of the United States of America (not to mention Elvis being alive and well). The primary version of Lois, who was abducted by the villain Tempus and taken to this dimension, helped the alternate Clark become Superman, only to have Tempus expose his secret identity to the world on television. Despite Clark's alien origin, the world embraces him as their champion. Later, in the episode "Lois & Clarks", the alternate Clark visits the primary L&C dimension to aid Lois in stopping Tempus while the Clark Kent of her world is trapped in a time vortex. After Tempus's defeat, it is implied that the alternate Clark would travel to the past with H.G. Wells and take his world's Lois Lane to his own time thus, under a predestination paradox, explaining her disappearance. =====Smallville=====
The live-action television series Smallville also featured the Multiverse concept. In the season 5 episode "Lexmas", Lex Luthor visits an alternate timeline where Lionel cuts Lex out of the family fortune while Lex is married to Lana and has a son named Alexander. Clark Kent is a reporter with the Daily Planet, Chloe is publishing a book exposing LuthorCorp with Lex's help, and Jonathan Kent is a state senator. In the season 7 episode "Apocalypse," Clark is taken to an alternate timeline where his counterpart had not arrived in Smallville and is killed by Brainiac. In that dimension, Clark Kent encounters another version of himself who is a human biological son of Martha and Jonathan and never met Lana Lang (who is a cheerleader with a different group of friends). Also in this dimension, Chloe Sullivan is engaged, Lana Lang is a married woman living in Paris, Sheriff Nancy Adams left Smallville and works as a member of the government, and Lex Luthor became president of the United States. While this dimension's Earth is destroyed by President Luthor, Clark travels back in time and sends his infant self to Earth, thus restoring his timeline. In the season 10 episode "Luthor", Clark Kent travels to an alternate universe dubbed Earth-2 with the help of a Kryptonian mirror box. There, Lionel Luthor is his adopted father instead of Jonathan Kent. Clark is a blood-thirsty tyrant whose persona is Ultraman. He has a relationship with his sister, Tess. Clark Luthor killed his brother Lex. When Clark Kent travels to the alternate earth, his counterpart, Clark Luthor, travels to his. Lois Lane is engaged to Oliver Queen, who bought land in Smallville for its kryptonite. And Lionel lures Clark into Oliver's kryponite trap and beats him. With the help of Oliver (who closes the kryponite portal), Clark uses the mirror box and returns to his world. Unknown to him, Lionel comes with him. Earth-2 is featured again later in the season in the episode "Kent", as Clark Luthor returns to his counterpart's world once more, and Clark Kent meets Earth-2's Jonathan Kent. After Clark Kent interacts with his deceased adoptive father's counterpart, he returns to his own world and lures Clark Luthor to the Fortress of Solitude, where he sends his counterpart back to his world. In the fourth issue of the television series' comic book continuation Smallville Season 11, an alternative version of Chloe Sullivan from Earth-2 arrives to Clark Kent's world and reveals that her universe is destroyed before her death.[11] In issue #11, it is reveals that the Anti-Monitor is responsible for Earth-2's destruction.[12]
Batman: The Brave and the Bold[]
In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, a kind of "multiverse" is referenced in the episodes "Deep Cover for Batman!" and "Game Over for Owlman!", which feature several references to alternate incarnations of DC Comics heroes and villains, including Batman and Owlman. The Multiverse is briefly revisited in "Night of the Batmen!", with a large group of Batman gathered from across various Earths coming together to help an injured Bruce Wayne protect Gotham. The army of Multiverse Batmen contained various iterations of Batman from different media adaptions, such as from The Batman, the DC Animated Universe, the 60's Batman TV series, and Batman Beyond.
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths[]
The direct-to-video feature Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths deals with the Multiverse as part of its story. The main story deals with a good Lex Luthor from his Earth (based on the pre-Crisis Earth-Three) coming to the Earth where the Justice League are located to help fight their counterparts, the Crime Syndicate. While the two Earths inhabited by the Justice League and Crime Syndicate are not named, names of other Earths are mentioned. These names are not from the official pre-Crisis nor post-Infinite Crisis Multiverse, but are nods to a degree. Examples include: "Gamma F-1", "Theta-Alpha", "Zeta-Pi", which are all Greek numbers. Earth-Prime is featured in the film, but is not the same Earth-Prime from the comics where it was "our" Earth. In the film, Earth-Prime is shown to be the cornerstone of all reality, and that decisions made by humankind on this world caused alternate Earths where the opposite decision was made to come into being. This world is shown to be a desolate barren wasteland of a planet, with ruins as far as the eye can see. It is unknown what exactly caused its desolation, though Owlman reasons that it was mankind who destroyed itself. ==References==
The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that is used in DC Comics publications. The Multiverse has undergone numerous changes and has included various universes, listed below between the original Multiverse and its successors.
Original Multiverse[]
Cataloged[]
Originally there was no consistency regarding "numbered" Earths—they would be either spelled out as words or use numbers even within the same story. For example, "Crisis on Earth-Three!" (Justice League of America (vol. 1) #29, August 1964) uses "Earth-3" and "Earth-Three" interchangeably. However, a tradition of spelling out the numbers emerged in "The Most Dangerous Earth" (Justice League of America (vol. 1) #30, September 1964). This convention was disregarded in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it became common practice to refer to the various Earths with numerals instead. Infinite Crisis reverted to the original practice, but 52 and Countdown have referred to the alternate universes with numerals. {| class="wikitable"|-!width=10%| Designation!width=10%| Era!width=25%| Inhabitants!width=45%| Notes!width=30%| First Appearance|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Zero| Infinite Crisis| Earth-Zero is populated by Bizarro versions of various DC characters.|
Earth-Zero's only appearance was in a single panel in Infinite Crisis #6. It is an homage to Bizarro World, with its population of Bizarros and cubical shape. The original Bizarro World was not a parallel Earth, but another planet that existed in the same universe as Earth-One.*This was one of the proposed names for the post-Zero Hour DC Universe after a somewhat definitive timeline was established.[1]
| Earth-One| Pre-Crisis|DC's Silver Age heroes, including the original Justice League of America: police scientist Barry Allen as the Flash; test pilot 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 time the original Multiverse construct was in use, Earth-One was by far the most populated and widely explored, and it retained dominance over the other four worlds which merged with it during the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline. The DC Universe's "official" continuity post-Crisis took place on a merged Earth-One, as the Crisis revealed that this universe had been the core reality until the rogue Guardian Krona fractured reality at the dawn of creation, creating both the Multiverse and the Antimatter Universe.*First described as a distinct Earth in Flash (vol. 1) #123 (September 1961), first named in Justice League of America (vol. 1) #21 (August 1963)| More Fun Comics #101 (January 1945)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| 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 (concurrently with their first appearances in comics): chemistry student Jay Garrick as the Flash; radio 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 modeled 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, their inhabitants displaying surface-dweller features and no capacity for underwater survival, as the Atlantis continent had been raised to the surface (the model was the Atlantis seen in Golden Age Wonder Woman stories).*First described as a distinct Earth in Flash (vol. 1) #123 (September 1961), first named in Justice League of America #21 (August 1963)| New Fun Comics #1 (February 1935)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Three| Pre-Crisis| Crime Syndicate of America, evil versions of the Earth-One heroes (Ultraman, Superwoman, Owlman, Power Ring, Johnny Quick); the heroic 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; the United States flag's colors were reversed: black stars on a red field, with alternating blue and black stripes; and all superheroes are supervillains and vice versa.| Justice League of America (vol. 1) #29 (August 1964)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| 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 disappeared less than a year later.*Named in Crisis on Infinite Earths #1 (Apr. 1985)| Yellowjacket #1 (1944)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Five| Pre-Crisis| Bruce Wayne|*Transported by the Phantom Stranger to a universe with no Krypton and no superheroes, the Earth-One Batman prevents the murders of the Earth-Five versions of his parents and inspires this Earth's Bruce Wayne to grow up to become Batman.*Named in Absolute Crisis On Infinite Earths (2006)| "To Kill a Legend" Detective Comics #500 (March 1981)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Six| Crisis on Infinite Earths| Lady Quark, Lord Volt, and their daughter Princess Fern|*Earth-Six is 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, and technology appears to have advanced more rapidly than on Earth-One. Earth-Six was destroyed in Crisis with only Lady Quark surviving.| Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 (June 1985)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| 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.Template:Citation needed The only known survivor of Earth-Seven, Dark Angel escaped the compression of the Multiverse to torment Donna Troy across several lifetimes.Template:Citation needed| DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #4 (October 2005)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Eight| Infinite Crisis| Breach (Tim Zanetti), Firestorm (Jason Rusch), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), and Huntress (Helena Bertinelli)|*Home to DC characters created after Crisis on Infinite Earths, as mentioned in an interview with Infinite Crisis writer Geoff Johns.[2]| Infinite Crisis #5 (April 2006)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Eleven| Pre-Crisis| "Tin"|*Home to "Tin," a robot. A nuclear war devastated this Earth in 1966. HC (2006).| Teen Titans Spotlight #11 (June 1987)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| 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 (March 1986)| Showcase #62 (June 1966)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Fourteen| Pre-Crisis| New Gods|*Also the world where all pre-Crisis non-Kirby Fourth World tales took place according to Mark Evanier's speculation in the text page of New Gods (1984 reprint series) #1.*Mentioned in Animal Man, where purple butterflies are an "Earth-14 species".| | First Issue Special #13 (April 1976)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Fifteen| Pre-Crisis| Stone Giants|*Named in Absolute Crisis On Infinite Earths (2006)| Justice League of America (vol. 1) #15 (November 1962)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Seventeen| Post-Crisis| Overman|*An Earth based around the "grim n' gritty" stories of the 1980s, the heroes of this universe were actually part of an experiment created by the government. The inhabitants 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.*Overman made an appearance in Infinite Crisis #5 (April 2006).| Animal Man (vol. 1) #23 (May 1990)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-25G| Infinite Crisis| Unknown|*One of three Earths named by Alexander Luthor in Infinite Crisis in his search for the perfect Earth; no information is provided.| Infinite Crisis #6 (May 2006)|- style="border-top:solid thick blue
| Earth-Twenty Seven| Post-Crisis| Angel Mob, Animal Man, Batman, B'wana Beast, Envelope Girl, Front Page, Green Cigarette, Human Vegetable, Notional Man, and Nowhere Man|*Home of variant versions of Animal Man, Batman, and B'wana Beast and historical divergences such as Hitler's hanging for his war crimes and Edward Kennedy's drowning at Chappaquiddick. The American government is corrupt and extremely right-winged.*The Buddy Baker of the Post-Crisis Earth could only exist in this universe in the body and mind of that universe's Buddy Baker, and could only leave by killing his parallel self.*Named in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Animal Man #27 (September 1990)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Thirty Two| Pre-Crisis| Almost exact counterparts of Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Carol Ferris, and others|*After Carol Ferris professed her love for Hal Jordan instead of Green Lantern and accepted his marriage proposal, he eventually figured out that he had somehow shifted into a parallel universe, which he compared to the home of the JSA and labeled Earth-32.| Green Lantern (vol. 2) #32 (October 1964)|- style="border-top:solid thick blue"
| Earth-61| Elseworlds| Barbara Gordon (Batgirl/Robin), Detective Duell (Two-Face), Hayley Fitzpatrick (Harley Quinn), Richart Gruastark/Dick Grayson (Robin), Bianca Steeplechase (Joker), and Bruce Wayne (Batman)|*A world where Barbara Gordon and her boyfriend Richart Graustark become Batgirl and Robin in 1961 and fight against corrupt cops and other establishment types led by the white-faced Bianca Steeplechase, who later kills Richart. Gotham Police Detective Bruce Wayne, who has been framed for murder, then becomes Batman and Barbara later assumes the Robin mantle while seeking revenge for her lover's death.*Bruce Wayne's family lost their fortune during the Great Depression, and Wayne Manor is now owned by Barbara Gordon.*Designated canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Batgirl & Robin: Thrillkiller #1 (January 1997)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-86 also known as Earth AD| Pre-Crisis| The Atomic Knights, Hercules, Kamandi, and One-Man Army Corps (OMAC)|*An Earth that was ravaged by an atomic war in the year 1986.*Named in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Strange Adventures #117 (June 1960)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-96| Elseworlds| Older versions of the Post-Crisis heroes|*A future timeline, in which Superman has been retired for ten 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. He later settles down with Wonder Woman and they have a son.*Named in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Kingdom Come #1 (May 1996)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-97| Elseworlds| Characters shown in the "Tangent Comics" 1997 event|*The Tangent characters were radically re-envisioned solely on the basis of the existing DC trademark.*Named in Infinite Crisis #6 (May 2006)| DC's "Tangent Comics" fifth week event|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| 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 son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane and the son of Bruce Wayne and Kathy Kane try to live up to or surpass their fathers' 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 1999 Elseworlds 80-Page Giant one-shot.*This Earth is also identified as Earth-E and its name was given by Mark Gruenwald in Omniverse #1, 1977, and it was also used to explain transitional elements in Superman and Batman stories of the 1950s.[3]*Merged with Earth-462 by Alexander Luthor during Infinite Crisis.*Named in Infinite Crisis #6 (May 2006)| World's Finest Comics #154 (December 1966)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-162| Pre-Crisis| Superman Red/Superman Blue|*An Earth home to Superman Red, who married Lana Lang and Superman Blue, who married Lois Lane. They were created when a device Superman made to increase his intelligence a hundredfold split him into two beings.*Named in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths| Superman (vol. 1) #162 (July 1963)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-172| Pre-Crisis| Batman, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Superman|*An Earth where Bruce Wayne was adopted by the Kents and became Clark's brother, soon joining him as the crimefighting team of Superboy and Batboy, later emigrating to Gotham where Clark Kent becomes employed at the Gotham Gazette. As Batman, Wayne eventually relocates to the Legion of Super-Heroes' 30th century.*Designated canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| World's Finest (vol. 1) #172 (December 1967)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-178| Pre-Crisis| Superman as Nova|*An Earth where Superman lost his powers and adopted the identity of Nova.*Nova made a post-Crisis appearance in Infinite Crisis #5 (April 2006).*Named in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths| World's Finest #178 (September 1968)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-247| Post-Zero Hour| Home to the 1994 incarnation of the Legion of Super-Heroes|*Home to a version of the Legion that had updated, modern names like "Live Wire" instead of "Lightning Lad", and interacted with the inhabitants of the 20th and 21st Century post-Zero Hour Earth.*This universe was destroyed by several alternate versions of the Fatal Five and Superboy-Prime's tampering.Template:Citation needed It later reappeared in Infinite Crisis #6.*Named in Infinite Crisis #6 (May 2006)*Named after Adventure Comics (vol.1 ) #247 (April 1958), the comic which features the Legion's first appearance.| Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 4) #0 (October 1994)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-276| Pre-Crisis| Captain Thunder|*Home of Captain Thunder, a thinly veiled copy of Captain Marvel that Superman fought soon after DC's 1970's Captain Marvel revival (this story helped lay the groundwork for the eventual Superman vs. Shazam oversized tabloid comic of 1978).*Named in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Superman #276 (June 1973)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-387| Pre-Crisis| Supergirl|*An Earth where no divergences in history have occurred, except that every inhabitant of the planet Earth is a lycanthrope.*Designated canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Adventure Comics (vol. 1) #387 (December 1969)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-395| Elseworlds| Kal, Sir Bruce of Waynesmoor, King Arthur, Merlin, Morgan La Fey, Mordred, Lady Loisse, Jamie, Talia al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul, and Baron Luthor|*An Earth where Kal-El landed in medieval England and forged the sword Excalibur from the metal from his spacecraft.*Sir Bruce of Waynesmoor, a.k.a. the Dark Knight, fought against Mordred and Ra's al Ghul until he was ultimately sealed in Avalon alongside King Arthur until they were awakened in World War II.*Despite the fact that the two stories took place on the same Earth, they didn't take place side-by-side.*Designated canon in Absolute Crisis of Infinite Earths (2006)| Superman: Kal (1995)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-462| Infinite Crisis| Wonder Woman, Per Degaton, Baron Blitzkrieg, Captain Nazi, and the original Teen Titans (Robin, Speedy, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Wonder Girl)|*A Golden Age planet still locked in World War II. In very obscure cameos, Wonder Woman is Cathy Lee Crosby (who starred in the Wonder Woman pilot movie) and Wonder Girl is 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.*Merged with Earth-154 by Alexander Luthor during Infinite Crisis.| Infinite Crisis #6 (May 2006)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-494| Elseworlds| Alfredo, Capitana Felina, Captain Leatherwing, the Laughing Man, and Robin Redblade|*Home to Captain Leatherwing, a pirate who fought alongside Capitana Felina against the insane pirate the Laughing Man.*Designated canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Detective Comics Annual #7 (October 1994)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-898| Infinite Crisis| Western heroes Jonah Hex, Bat Lash, Scalphunter, El Diablo, Nighthawk I, and Cinnamon I|*Earth-898 is the reality that Jonah Hex was transported to during the events of Infinite Crisis, after spending much of his career on Earth-One in the 19th century. During the creation of Alex Luthor's Multiverse in Infinite Crisis #5–6, Jonah Hex appeared to be on Earth-898. Hex's time spent on a 21st century post-apocalyptic Earth has never been designated in continuity or on a proper Earth in the DCU, but Hex was returned to his normal timeline at some point (as vaguely detailed in 1987's Secret Origins #21). To date, Jonah Hex's time spent in the future apocalyptic world has never gotten official closure and remains open to interpretation.| Infinite Crisis #6 (May 2006)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-1099| Elseworlds| Catwoman, Batman, Two-Face (Darcy Dent), Killer Croc, and Commissioner James Gordon|* An Earth where a heroic Catwoman fought crime in Gotham City and married Bruce Wayne, unaware that he is actually the evil murderer Batman.* Designated canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham #1 (August 1999)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-1191| Elseworlds| Batman, Dracula, James Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth, the Joker, Two-Face, Killer Croc, and Catwoman|*An Earth where Batman fought against Dracula and was subsequently turned into a vampire. He would later go insane and try to kill all his enemies, until finally being killed by James Gordon and Alfred Pennyworth.*Named in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Batman and Dracula: Red Rain (1991)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-1198| Elseworlds| Darkseid and Kal-El|*The rocketship containing the infant Kal-El diverted from its path to Earth and landed on Apokolips, where the tyrant Darkseid raised him and used him to help destroy New Genesis and conquer Earth, until Kal-El rebelled against him.*Designated as canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Superman: The Dark Side #1 (August 1998)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-1289| Post-Crisis| Batman, Robin, the Riddler, and Harvey Dent|*An Earth where Batman and Robin fought the Riddler on their first formal case and where Harvey "Two Face" Dent was ultimately rehabilitated.*Designated as canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)|Comics Revue #41.|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-1863| Elseworlds| Abraham Lincoln, Superman|*An Earth where Kryptonian Atticus Kent, a.k.a. Kal-El, a.k.a. Superman, ended the American Civil War in the year 1863 and prevented the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre.*This Earth has ties to the Lone Ranger.Template:Citation needed*Designated as canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Superman: A Nation Divided (1999)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-1889| Elseworlds| Batman, Jack the Ripper|*An Earth where Batman began his career in 1889 and fought against Jack the Ripper, who turns out to have been the one who orchestrated the deaths of his parents.*The first published Elseworlds story*Designated as canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Batman: Gotham by Gaslight #1 (February 1989)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-1927| Elseworlds| Clarc Kent-Son (the Super-Man), Lutor, Bruss Wayne-Son (the Nosferatu), and Diana (the Blue Amazon)|*Home of the clockwork city of Metropolis where the Super-Man once fought Lutor and Bruss Wayne-Son took the alias of the Nosferatu.*Inspired by three classics of pre-WWII German expressionist cinema: Fritz Lang's Metropolis, F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, and Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel.*Named in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Superman's Metropolis (1996)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-1938| Elseworlds| Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and Martians|*An Earth where Clark Kent died to save the world from the invading forces of Mars in the year 1938.*World War II never occurred on this Earth, as Adolf Hitler was killed by the Martians in 1938.*The Clark Kent of this universe has the powers and costume of the Golden Age Superman.*Designated canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Superman: War of the Worlds #1 (1999)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-3181| Infinite Crisis| Unknown|* One of three Earths named by Alexander Luthor in Infinite Crisis in his search for the perfect Earth; no information is provided.| Infinite Crisis #6 (May 2006)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-3898| Elseworlds| Superman and Batman|*A world where Superman and Batman started their careers in the 1930s, and started families that would follow in their superhero footsteps all the way to the 30th Century.*Designated canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Superman & Batman: Generations #1 (January 1999)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-7642 also known as the Crossover Earth| Pre-Crisis| All main-continuity DC Comics and Marvel Comics characters|*An Earth where Earth-1 and Marvel Comics Earth characters coexisted. Also had its own version of Darkseid and Dark Phoenix. Named in The Official Crisis on Infinite Earths Index and Official Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Index.| Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man (January 1976)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-9602| Post-Crisis| Amalgamated DC/Marvel Comics characters including Super-Soldier (Superman/Captain America), Dark Claw (Batman/Wolverine), and JLX (Justice League/X-Men)|*A head to head battle with DC and Marvel characters for the survival of their universes ended in a draw and both universes were combined as a result.*For the comics that were published, an entire history existed for each of the combined characters.| DC vs Marvel (1996)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| 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 (vol. 1) #37 (August 1965) |- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-B| Pre-Crisis| Versions of various Earth-One and Earth-Two characters|*This Earth was never specifically depicted, but was suggested to exist in a letters column by DC editor/writer Bob Rozakis as a possible explanation for certain non-continuity stories or character traits (for example, stories that showed Catwoman committing murder with no qualms, despite being established that she did not engage in that kind of activity); tongue-in-cheek, Rozakis designated it "Earth-B" in "honor" of writer Bob Haney, whose Brave and the Bold stories were then-notorious examples of such continuity errors. ICG's Official Crisis Crossover Index theorized that DC Challenge took place on this Earth which given the involvement of Oan Guardians would make it an alternate Earth-One timeline.| Debatable|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| 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. The population included the characters from many of DC's Golden and Silver Age funny animal comics (The Dodo and the Frog, Peter Porkchops, Funny Stuff, etc.). Historical heroes included the Golden Age superhero the Terrific Whatzit and the 17th century's the Three Mouseketeers.| New Teen Titans #16 (February 1982)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| 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 Earth-One and Earth-Prime. Earth-C's Terrific Whatzit also existed as a fictional comic character that the Crash had read as a youth, paralleling the relationship of Earth-One's Barry Allen enjoying comics about Earth-Two's Jay Garrick.| Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #14 (April 1983)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-D| Post-Crisis retcon of Crisis on Infinite Earths itself.| Justice Alliance of America|*Earth-D featured a more ethnically diverse version of several Earth-One heroes, such as an Asian Flash, a black Superman, and an American Indian Green Arrow. The Earth-D heroes had never experienced major tragedies in their lives. It was a combination of modern multi-cultural sensibilities combined with Silver-Age-style innocence.| Legends of the DC Universe: Crisis on Infinite Earths (February 1999)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-I| Pre-Crisis| Insect lifeforms|*A world created by Despero that was populated by insect lifeforms.*Designated canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Justice League of America (vol. 1) #26 (March 1964)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-M| Pre-Crisis| Aquatic lifeforms|*A world created by Despero that was populated by aquatic lifeforms.*Designated canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Justice League of America (vol. 1) #26 (March, 1964)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-Prime| Pre-Crisis| Ultraa, Superboy-Prime, and DC editor Julius Schwartz|*The keystone Earth from which all the other Earths within the Multiverse originate. Earth-Prime had few superheroes. The superheroes of Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-S, etc. existed only in fiction.|Flash (vol. 1) #179 (May 1968)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Q (All Star Superman) also known as Qwewq| Infinite Crisis| Regular Humans|*A world created by Superman to see if a world without a Superman, nor any superheroes, could work. It is revealed at the end of the issue that Earth-Q is a real world Earth, as Friedrich Nietzsche is seen creating his famous Übermensch, or "Superman", concept, and Joe Shuster is shown drawing the first modern Superman on the cover of Action Comics (vol. 1) #1 (June 1938).*Earth-Q would later become a sentient universe, Nebula Man, a frequent enemy of the Seven Soldiers of Victory.*The International Ultramarine Corps briefly became heroes in this universe after they failed to save Superbia from an attack from Gorilla Grodd and the Sheeda. | JLA: Classified #1 (January 2005)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Q| Infinite Crisis| Unknown|*One of three Earths named by Alexander Luthor in Infinite Crisis in his search for the perfect Earth; Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Superboy, and Supergirl are Aztec warriors with the "Superman Family" (Superman, Supergirl, and Superboy) and the "Batman Family" (Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman) fighting against each other.| Infinite Crisis #6 (May 2006)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-Quality| Pre-Crisis| Characters from Quality Comics as well some characters done by Will Eisner|*Earth where stories published by Quality Comics occurred but the Allies won WWII, unlike Earth-X. Named in ICG's Official Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Index.Template:Citation needed It was theorized by ICG that the Spirit, Lady Luck, and Mr. Mystic also resided on this Earth.Template:Citation needed| unknown|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-R| Pre-Crisis| Reptilian lifeforms|*An Earth created by Despero that was populated by reptilian lifeforms.*Designated canon in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006)| Justice League of America (vol. 1) #26 (March, 1964)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| 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, and 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 (February 1973)| Whiz Comics #2 (February 1940)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Jimmy Olsen's Earth-X| Pre-Crisis| Steelman, The LUTHAR League (League Using Terror, Havoc And Robbery)|*An Earth visited by the Earth-One Jimmy Olsen. Perry White is a retired Matador, Professor Potter is a cranky boss at the World's Fair, and Clark Kent is a science-fiction writer and secretly a Joker-masked villain that leads the LUTHAR League. Jimmy gains Superman-like powers and becomes Steelman, a superhero wearing a combination of Superman and Batman's costumes. Designated Earth-X on the cover and in the story title, but not in the story itself.| Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #93 (June 1966)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-X| Pre-Crisis| Freedom Fighters (retconned to have migrated from Earth-Two):Template:IssueUncle Sam, the Human Bomb, Miss America, The Ray, Black Condor, Doll Man, Phantom Lady, and Firebrand|*On this world, Nazi Germany won World War II, and the Freedom Fighters, originally from Earth-Two, fought to defeat it. Most Quality Comics publications chronicled adventures from this Earth.*Named in Justice League of America (vol. 1) #107 (October 1973)| The Comics Magazine #1 (1936)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Dreamworld| Post-Crisis| Love Syndicate of Dreamworld (Sunshine Superman, Speed Freak, and Magic Lantern)|*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 (vol. 1) #23 (May 1990)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| (unnamed)| Pre-Crisis| Alternate Wonder Woman named Tara Terruna and Duke Dazam|*The first parallel Earth to be featured in DC Comics was visited by the Earth-2 Wonder Woman, who worked with her counterpart to battle the conqueror Duke Dazam. This Earth appeared to be technologically less advanced than Earth-2, with Dazam's navy using oar-powered ships. "Tara Terruna" translates from that Earth's language to mean "Wonder Woman".| Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #59 (May 1953)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| (unnamed)| Infinite Crisis| Aztec versions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman|*This Earth was created by Alexander Luthor during Infinite Crisis, when he merged Earth-154 with Earth-462, which equals 616, the number used to identify the Marvel Universe.
| Infinite Crisis #6 (May 2006)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| (unnamed)| Crisis on Infinite Earths| Pariah|*The Earth that Pariah comes from was never officially named. Fans often dubbed it "Earth-Omega" as it was the site of the "beginning of the end".[4]| Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 (October 1985)|- style="border-top: solid thick red"
| 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.*The Antimatter Universe held a special place in the Multiverse: there was an infinite number of "positive-matter universes" separated from each other by vibrational planes, and there was a single Antimatter Universe.|Green Lantern (vol. 2) #2 (October 1960)|} ===Unclassified===Before the formal creation of its Multiverse, DC would use the "imaginary story" label to denote stories that did not fit and were never intended to fit into its canon—a tradition it would continue even after the creation of the Multiverse with Alan Moore's "What Ever happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" (Action Comics vol. 1 #583 and Superman vol. 1 #423) in 1986 being the last pre-Crisis story to use the label. By contrast other stories were clearly intended to be canonical but various details were wrong or there were stories told in other media that were never said to not be canonical. As a result, fans and editors would create other Earths to explain things like the Super Friends comic (set on what fans referred to as Earth-1A).Template:Citation needed Also there were many "one shot" Earths (such as the reality shown in "Superman, You're Dead, Dead, Dead" in Action Comics vol. 1 #399) that were never named and for which few details provided. After the first Crisis, several new universes appeared despite DC's intentions to the contrary. These included parallel universes in the Darkstars and Justice League series. In addition, DC ran a number of crossovers with other companies that involved travel between different realities. Technically, none of these worlds were ever part of the Multiverse. This was until the Infinite Crisis mini-series retroactively labeled the Tangent Comics universe and many Elseworlds as Earths of the Multiverse, even though they had been published long after the Multiverse was destroyed.Template:Citation neededInfinite Crisis did the same with many pre-Crisis Imaginary Tales.Template:Citation needed In the "With A Vengeance!" storyline in Superman/Batman, the Multiverse is visited by Bizarro and Batzarro. The Joker and Mr. Mxyzptlk summon Batmen and Supermen from various realities, both previously established worlds as well as unexplored ones.[5] {| class="wikitable"|-!width=10%| Designation!width=10%| Era!width=25%| Inhabitants!width=45%| Notes!width=30%| First Appearance|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Post-Crisis Earth| 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 existed until the events of Infinite Crisis and the creation of New Earth.*This world is dubbed "Earth 2" by the Antimatter Lex Luthor who dubs his own world "Earth 1".*Fans have often called this "Earth-Sigma," as Sigma means summation—in this case, the summation of five other universes.[6]| Crisis on Infinite Earths #11 (February 1986)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| (unnamed)| Elseworlds| Soviet versions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, along with an alternate version of the Green Lantern Corps|*An Earth where Superman landed in a Soviet commune instead of Smallville.*Bizarro visited this Earth during the Superman/Batman "With A Vengeance!" storyarc.[5]*Although debuted in Superman: Red Son #1, an early cameo appearance of this Earth's Superman is seen in 1999's The Kingdom #2.| Superman: Red Son #1 (June 2003)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Anti-Matter 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 Antimatter Earth with a Crime Syndicate whose motto is "Cui Bono?" ("Who profits?"), inspired by the pre-Crisis Earth-Three. Originally, the Luthor of the CSA Earth, upon discovering the positive-matter Earth, named his world "Earth 1" and the positive-matter Earth "Earth 2" (no hyphens). Subsequent appearances revised the naming convention and simply referred to it as the Antimatter Universe's Earth, and also established that the CSA's Earth existed in the same Antimatter Universe as Qward.| JLA: Earth 2 (January 2000)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| The Fourth World| Pre- & Post-Crisis| Darkseid, Orion, Mister Miracle, and 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 the 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.| Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133 (October 1970)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| The Dakotaverse| Pre-Zero Hour| Icon, Static, Hardware, and the Blood Syndicate|*In 1993, word of a 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" and were given mutagenic abilities.*Following the death of Darkseid (as chronicled in Final Crisis in 2009), the space-time continuum was torn asunder, threatening the existence of both the Dakotaverse and the mainstream DC universe (containing New Earth). Dharma was able to use energies that he harnessed from Rift (upon that being's defeat) to merge the two universes, creating an entirely new continuity.[7]
| Hardware #1 (April 1993)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"|} ==The 52==A new Multiverse was revealed at the end of the 52 weekly limited series.[8]
Unlike the original Multiverse, which was composed of an infinite number of alternate universes, this Multiverse is composed of a predetermined number of alternate universes, which were originally referred to as New Earth and Earths 1 through 51, although erroneously in Tangent: Superman's Reign #1, New Earth is referred to as Earth-1; however, in Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1, New Earth is instead designated Earth-0. Dan Didio has since explicitly denied that New Earth is Earth-1.[9]
The alternate universes were originally identical to New Earth and contained the same history and people until Mister Mind "devoured" portions of each Earth’s history, creating new, distinct Earths with their own histories and people, such as the Nazi-themed version of the Justice League that exists in Earth-10.[10]Template:Dead link
Each of the alternate universes have their own parallel dimensions, divergent timelines, microverses, etc., branching off them.[11]Template:Dead link
Each universe within the Multiverse is separated by a Source Wall, behind which Anti-Life keeps the universes apart.[13]
The Bleed permeates the Anti-Life in unpredictable places[13] behind the Source Wall,[12] allowing for transport between the universes. The destruction of New Earth would set off a chain reaction that would destroy the other fifty-one alternate universes at the same time, leaving only the Antimatter Universe in existence.[12] As a consequence of Alexander Luthor's attempts to recreate the Multiverse,[14] fifty-two new Monitors were created to oversee the fifty-two universes created afterwards.[15] The Monitors seek to protect the Multiverse from people who crossover from one alternate universe to another, through the Bleed or through innate ability, who the Monitors have labeled "anomalies".[16] A partial list of some of the alternate universes that make up the new Multiverse was revealed in late November 2007.[17]{| class="wikitable"|-!width=16%| Designation!width=10%| Era!width=25%| Inhabitants!width=45%| Notes!width=30%| First Appearance|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| New Earth[18] (also known as Earth-0)[19]| Infinite Crisis| Characters from DC Comics' main continuity|*After the destruction of Alexander Luthor's Multiverse Tower in Infinite Crisis, the parallel Earths that had been created were merged into a new single world dubbed "New Earth". New Earth is currently the core existence of the DC Universe.*New Earth is a composite of the pre-Crisis Earth-One, the pre-Crisis Earth-Two, the pre-Crisis Earth-Four, the pre-Crisis Earth-S, the pre-Crisis Earth-X, and the Dakotaverse.*Merged with Earth-13 and Earth-50 in the wake of the Flashpoint event and had its history rewritten as a result, creating The New 52.[20]| Infinite Crisis #6 (May 2006)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth One (also known as Earth-1)| Post-52| Modernized interpretations of the various DC Comics' characters|*A world reflective of the 21st century.*This Earth is featured in the Superman: Earth One and Batman: Earth One graphic novels.[21]| Superman: Earth One (December 2010)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-2| Post-52| An alternate version of the Justice Society of America known as Justice Society Infinity|*Resembles the pre-CrisisEarth-Two.*This Earth's Justice Society of America has merged with its Infinity, Inc. and is now known as Justice Society Infinity.*This Earth's Superman is missing, and this Earth's Power Girl went and searched for him following a Crisis event before returning in Justice Society of America Annual #1 (2008).*The Flash of this Earth was picked by Monarch and is considered missing after the events of Countdown: Arena.[22]|52 Week 52 (May 2007)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-3| Post-52| Villains include the Crime Society of America. The Jokester and the Quizmaster rank among the heroes.[23]|*A world of reversed moralities that resembles the pre-Crisis Earth-Three and the Antimatter Earth.[24]*This Earth contains evil counterparts of characters from Earth-2.[25]*Retconned as the home of Duela Dent, a character that first appeared in 1976.Template:Citation needed*Heroic versions of the Joker and Riddler appear in the Countdown maxi-series and its spin-off Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer.| 52 Week 52 (May 2007) (cameo), Countdown #32 (September 2007) (full)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-4| Post-52| Alternate versions of the Charlton Comics heroes, including Captain Allen Adam (an alternate version of Captain Atom), and alternate versions of Blue Beetle, Nightshade, Peacemaker, The Question, and Judomaster|*Resembles the pre-Crisis Earth-Four.*A condensed universe where the laws of physics are different.Template:Or*Described as a film noir world which uses story elements from the Watchmen limited series and is populated by alternate versions of characters acquired from Charlton Comics.[26]Template:Dead link*Captain Allen Adam, (a.k.a. "Captain Allen Atom"), the "Quantum Superman", appears in Final Crisis: Superman Beyond and is depicted as an amalgamation of Captain Atom and Doctor Manhattan.[19]| 52 Week 52 (May 2007)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-5| Post-52| Alternate versions of characters acquired from Fawcett Comics, such as the Marvel Family, and an alternate Hal Jordan Green Lantern|*Resembles the pre-Crisis Earth-S.*Unlike the pre-Crisis Earth-S, alternate versions of DC Comics characters such as Green Lantern also exist on this Earth.[10] The Captain Marvel of Earth-5 appears in Superman Beyond, where his Earth is described as "a simpler, kinder universe".[19]| 52 Week 52 (May 2007)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-6| Post-52| An alternate version of the Atom (Ray Palmer), who after an accident developed light-powers and called himself the Ray, and alternate versions of Rex Tyler and Ted Kord[27]|*This Earth is glimpsed in Final Crisis: Superman Beyond, where characters including versions of Etrigan the Demon and Offspring are seen.[19]| Countdown: Arena #2 (February 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-7| Post-52| An alternate version of Stargirl (Courtney Whitmore), known as Starwoman, and alternate older versions of Jakeem Thunder and The Wonder TwinsTemplate:Citation needed|| Countdown: Arena #2 (February 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-8| Post-52| Lord Havok and the Extremists, Crusaders, and Meta Militia|*A pastiche of the setting shown in Marvel Comics' publications. This version of Earth is called Angor by its inhabitants.[28]*The Meta Militia are a group of heroes based upon the "Champions of Angor", who were a pastiche of the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers in pre-Crisis continuity. Angor appears to be a US-based republic and empire, ruled by a president and committed to global expansionism. It has already fought a war in Iran and presided over the nuclear devastation of (Tsarist) Imperial Russia.[28]| Countdown #29 (October 2007)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-9| Post-52| Characters shown in the "Tangent Comics" 1997 event|*Resembles the pre-Crisis Earth-97.*On this Earth an African-American Superman with vast mental powers has conquered the entire planet and has outlawed all superpowered beings save for those who work under his command. This world's political relationships were affected by the escalation of the Cuban Missile Crisis into a fully-fledged US/Soviet nuclear exchange in 1962, which incinerated Florida and Cuba. The United States provided covert operations in Czechoslovakia in 1968, and the Soviet Union still exists as a superpower in the 1990s.*Characters from this Earth appeared in Ion #9 & 10, Justice League of America (vol. 2) #16 and the subsequent Tangent: Superman's Reign limited series.[29][30]|Countdown: Arena #2 (February 2008) (cameo), Tangent: Superman's Reign #1 (March 2008) (full)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-10| Post-52| Alternate versions of characters from Quality Comics publications, such as the Freedom Fighters, and Nazi-themed versions of several DC characters|*Resembles the pre-Crisis Earth-X.
*On this Earth, the Axis Powers won World War II. This Earth's Justice League reflect their Earth's values, and as such are composed of Nazi counterparts.*This Earth's Superman, called Overman and resembling Earth-0's Superman with a Nazified uniform, appears in Final Crisis: Superman Beyond.[19]
*It is revealed in Final Crisis: Superman Beyond that English is a dead language on Earth-10.[19]
*This Earth's Justice League consists of Overman, Brunhilde (an alternate Valkyrie version of Wonder Woman), Leatherwing (an alternate version of Batman), Underwaterman (an alternate version of Aquaman), and others.*This Earth's version of Supergirl, called Overgirl, is a human girl who was injected with genetic material from Overman and gained his superpowers.[31] Overgirl later crossed over to Earth-0.[32]
| Earth-11| Post-52| Matriarchal world of reversed-gender superheroes such as Superwoman, Batwoman, and Wonderman.|*This Earth has been shown at war as Wonderman leads his male Amazons against the Justice League in retaliation for his expulsion from the League, following the killing of Maxine Lord.*Maxine Lord killed this Earth's version of Booster Gold instead of Blue Beetle.| Countdown: Arena #1 (February 2008) and Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer - Superwoman/Batwoman #1 (February 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-12| Post-52| Characters and settings shown in the DC animated universe, such as the Batman Beyond television series[30]
|*The Green Lantern of Earth-12 is a descendant of Hal Jordan.[33] In Countdown: Arena #1, it is explained that seven Green Lanterns patrol the "seven primary galaxies" and that Hal Jordan's descendant patrols the Milky Way Galaxy.[34]
| Earth-13| Post-52| Resembles the settings of some Vertigo Comics titles|
*The existence of this reality is based on information from an interview with Keith Champagne. Champagne claimed to have a vague recollection of Dan Didio's list of alternate worlds and said that Earth-13 was "Vertigo, sort of".[10]
*This Earth's Nightshade is known as Eve of Shadows.
* This world's North America was destroyed by Monarch in retaliation against Eve of Shadows escaping his tournament. The only known survivor was Captain Atom.
*Merged with Earth-0 in the wake of the Flashpoint event.[20]| Countdown: Arena #1 (February 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-15| Post-52||*A near-Utopian world of highly evolved peaceful heroes, where crime has been virtually eliminated by efficient superheroes.[35]Template:Dead link*According to the Countdown: Arena website, Earth-15 is referred to as a place where heroes "have evolved to become nearly perfect beings".[36] Before being destroyed by Superboy-Prime,[37] this Earth was home to a humanitarian Lex Luthor, a semi-retired Superman (an alternate version of General Zod) and a long-deceased Joker. Several heroes, such as Batman and Wonder Woman, had been succeeded by their protégées. Martian Manhunter and Cyborg were also Justice League members.| Countdown #30 (October 2007)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"|Earth-16|Post-52| The Super-Sons (Superman Jr. and Batman Jr.).[30]
|*This Earth's Superman, an alternate version of Lor-Zod (Chris Kent) appears in Countdown: Arena #1, and has been described by Keith Champagne as a Superman in both an ideological and physical sense.[35] In early interviews and promotional material, Chris Kent was erroneously described as being the Superman of Earth-15.[35][36]| Countdown: Arena #2 (February 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-17| Post-52| Alternate versions of the Atomic Knights, Kamandi, Starman, and Etrigan the Demon, known as Superdemon. |*After a nuclear World War III was fought in its alternate 1987, this is a post-apocalyptic world.*Resembles the Earth of the pre-Crisis Atomic Knights stories.
*Simians make up much of the Earth's population. As such, an ape is this Earth's Starman.[27][38]
*This Earth's Etrigan is a demon from the planet Kamelot who was sent to Earth by the wizard Merlin. Etrigan bonded with Jason Blood, the son of a Midwestern preacher, who uses the demon's powers and physical form to fight crime.*Magic and science co-exist.[31]| 52 Week 52 (May 2007)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-18| Post-52| Characters shown in the Justice Riders one-shot[30]|
*This Earth's Justice League is composed of marshals operating in the Wild West.| Countdown: Arena #1 (February 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-19| Post-52| Characters shown in the Gotham by Gaslight graphic novel|
* In Countdown #40, a Monitor identifies his universe as being "in the throes of the Industrial Revolution."* This Earth's Blue Beetle (Daniel Garrett), and Man-Bat (Robert Langstrom) were shown in Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer - Gotham by Gaslight #1.| Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer - Gotham by Gaslight #1 (January 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-20| Post-52| 'Pulp' versions of various DC characters|
*Writer Grant Morrison mentioned in interviews that "Doc Fate, a combination of Doc Savage and Dr. Fate" would appear, and that he had written a great deal of backstory for this Earth. It has slightly over two billion inhabitants, although the reason for this slower global population growth is unclear.[39]
*This Earth is home to the Society of Super-Heroes, a group of 'pulp'-style mystery men led by Doc Fate (an alternate version of Doctor Fate), which includes alternate versions of Lady Blackhawk, Immortal Man, the Mighty Atom, the Green Lantern, and the Bat-Man.[31]| Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1 (August 2008) (cameo)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-21| Post-52| Characters shown in the DC: The New Frontier limited series[30]|| Countdown: Arena #1 (February 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-22| Post-52| Characters shown in the Kingdom Come limited series[30]|
*This Earth's Superman traveled to Earth-0 and joined the Justice Society of America. He later returned to Earth-22 and settled down with his Earth's Wonder Woman, raising a super-powered family and living into the 31st century, the era of the Legion of Super-Heroes.[40] This world is visited for some time by Earth-0's Thom Kallor (Star Boy of the Legion of Super-Heroes and the third person to join the Justice Society under the name Starman).[41]| 52 Week 52 (May 2007) (cameo)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-23| Post-52| Characters shown in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold television series|
*This Earth's designation was shown in the episode "Deep Cover for Batman!".| Batman: The Brave and the Bold Episode 1: "Rise of the Blue Beetle!"|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-26| Post-52| Intelligent anthropomorphic animals, led by superheroes Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew, and the Scarab, a being made up of millions of carnivorous blue beetles|*Featured in the Captain Carrot and the Final Ark limited series, Earth-26 is rendered uninhabitable, and the Zoo Crew are stranded on Earth-0 by means of a New Dogs' kaboom tube where they take on normal animal appearances and find themselves unable to communicate with the humans of Earth-0.*The renegade MonitorNix Uotan later manages to restore their original forms and powers.[42]
| Captain Carrot And The Final Ark #1 (December 2007)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-30| Post-52| Characters shown in the Superman: Red Son limited series|*In Countdown #40, a Monitor identifies his universe as one where "the last Kryptonian became a representative of the Soviet empire." Superman's craft landed in the Soviet Union's Ukraine and he succeeded Josef Stalin as Soviet Premier upon the latter's death in 1953. Under his influence, the Soviet Union almost won the Cold War on this Earth. Designated as Earth-30.[43]
| Countdown #32 (September 2007); Countdown Presents the Search for Ray Palmer: Red Son #1 (February 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-31| Post-52| Characters shown in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and its spin-off titles[44]
|*This Earth's Batman is a dark vigilante who fights against crime and corruption while Superman is a federal agent for the government.[35]
| Earth-33| Post-52| Magical versions of several DC characters|*A magical version of the DC Universe which is home to characters such as "Batmage, master of the Dark Arts, Kal-El, wielder of Kryptonian magics, and Lady Flash, keeper of the Speed Force",[45] as well as Black Bird (an alternate version of Hawkgirl), an alternate version of Starman, heroic versions of Weather Wizard and the Shade, and an anthropomorphic blue beetle called Ted.[27] This Earth's ruler is the mystical Oracle who can perceive and foresee events from across the Multiverse.| Countdown to Adventure #3 (February 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-34| Post-52| Characters shown in the Wonder Woman: Amazonia one-shot[30]
| *A world in which the British Empire is under the reign of the sadistic and misogynist King Jack after he murdered Queen Victoria and most of the rest of the Victorian British royal family.
| Earth-37| Post-52| Characters shown in the Batman: Thrillkiller trade paperback[30]
|*Also home to an alternate version of the original Firestorm (Ronnie Raymond) who has merged with his Earth's Captain Atom to become Quantum-Storm.[27]
| Earth-38| Post-52| Unknown|*Home to an alternate version of Captain Atom who is the leader of the Atomic Knights.| Countdown: Arena #2 (February 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-39| Post-52| Unknown|*Home to a teenage version of the original Blue Beetle, Daniel Garrett, who has bonded with his scarab in the same manner that Jaime Reyes has bonded with his scarab.[27]
| Earth-40| Post-52| Characters shown in the JSA: The Liberty Files collection|*A world in which superheroes are depicted as covert government operatives.*The existence of this reality is based on comments made by Dan Didio about the Countdown Arena limited series at Wizard World 2007.[10]
*The Batman of this Earth is known as "The Bat".
| Countdown: Arena #1 (February 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-43| Post-52| Characters shown in the Tales of the Multiverse: Batman - Vampire collection[30]
|*A world in which this Earth's Batman has become a vampire.
*In Countdown #40, Monitor Rox Ogama identifies his universe as being "a world of vampires and the supernatural".| Countdown #40 (July 2007) (cameo), Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer - Red Rain #1 (January 2008) (full)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-44| Final Crisis| Alternate version of the Metal Men who are composed of robotic versions of the Justice League, and their leader "Doc" Tornado|
*This world is mentioned in Final Crisis #7, with a shard of Earth-44 colliding with Earth-0 and being used by the heroes as a last-ditch base of operations.*The Metal Men of this world are robotic versions of the Justice League, consisting of robotic counterparts of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, the Flash, and Green Arrow. Their leader, "Doc" Tornado is human and apparently an amalgamation of Red Tornado and Will Magnus.[42]| Final Crisis #7 (March, 2009) (cameo)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-48| Post-52| The Forerunners,[27]|*Native home of the Forerunners, creatures bred by the Monitors from all the alien races of the inhabited solar system after the destruction of all human life on Earth (now called War World) in a war against the rest of the solar system.[46] Forerunners are matriarchal, telepathic through their eldest living female, living in a society that kills off the weakest of its kind, and unaware of what happens outside of their solar system.[47]Template:Dead link*While humanity is extinct in this universe, alternate versions of extraterrestrial characters such as General J'onzz,[46]Jemm, and Starman also exist.[38]
| Countdown #46 (June 2007)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-50| Post-52| The Wildstorm Universe, featuring characters such as Mister Majestic, Gen¹³, WildC.A.T.s and the Authority. These metahumans are strongly interventionist.|*Numbered in 52 Week 52 (May 2007), this Earth supposedly correlated with the Wildstorm Comics titles following their internal continuity reboot entitled "Worldstorm".Template:Citation needed*Merged with Earth-0 in the wake of the Flashpoint event.[20]| Wildcats (vol. 4) #1 (September 2006)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| rowspan="2"
|Earth-51| rowspan="2" | Post-52| Utopian society where many deceased characters are still alive|*A utopian world where secret identities are no longer needed by superheroes. Libby Lawrence-Chambers is President of the United States, Zatanna is a therapist, and Ray Palmer was replaced by his counterpart from Earth-0.[48] This Earth owes its peace to a Batman who went on a one-man crusade and eliminated all of the world's supervillains in retaliation for the Joker's murder of Jason Todd.[49]
*The entire universe was wiped out by a battle between Monarch and Superboy-Prime, save for its Monitor, Nix Uotan, and a lone plant sprout on an unknown planet.[50]
| Countdown #19 (December 2007)|-| The setting of Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth.|*Nix Uotan successfully recreated his universe, at first making it resemble Earth-0, except that certain people, including the Challengers from Beyond, had never existed there. Solomon, the Monitor of Earth-8, conspired for it to be infected by the Morticoccus virus, triggering the Great Disaster which transformed this Earth into the setting of Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth
.*By the time of the events of Final Crisis, Earth-51 has become a "graveyard universe" devoid of life.[19] At the end of Final Crisis, it becomes the home of the resurrected New Gods.[42]
|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| (Unknown)| Post-52| Characters shown in the JLA: The Nail limited series|*Countdown: Arena #1 features counterparts of Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl and the Atom who are all referred to as coming from the Earth seen in the JLA: The Nail limited series.[51]
| (Unknown)| Post-52|"Super deformed" versions of DC characters|*This universe is a bright, optimistic place where noone ever dies (including the inhabitants of Krypton and Thomas and Martha Wayne). Mr Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite brought characters from this universe to Earth-0 to see how they fared. This led to the death of this Earth's Superman.|Superman/Batman #51 (October 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| (Unknown)| Final Crisis| Black versions of several DC characters|
*This universe is home to black versions of DC characters; including Superman (who is President of the United States) & Wonder Woman, and a version of Brainiac called Brainiac: Vathlo Prime.[42]
*The Wonder Woman of this Earth is named Nubia, hailing from the island of Amazonia, where its inhabitants, the Wonder Women, have brought anti-war technology to the world.
*The Superman of this world is from Vathlo Island on Krypton and wears a reversed version of the normal Superman shield, with a yellow-S on a red shield. The Wonder Woman of this world is an alternate version of Nubia, a supporting character from the Wonder Woman comic book. Recent interviews with Grant Morrison state this world will reappear in the Multiversity limited series.Template:Citation needed
| Doc Savage, Batman, the Spirit, Rima the Jungle Girl and other pulp characters[52]
|*A world of pulp characters, both derived from classic DC characters and also drawing on classic literary pulp characters. It is said that this world lacks a Superman as not to devalue Doc Savage.
| Batman/Doc Savage Special (January 2010)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-Prime| Post-52| Superboy-Prime and the 2004 incarnation of the Legion of Super-Heroes[53]
|*Similar to our world, superheroes exist only in fiction, outside of Superboy-Prime and the 2004 incarnation of the Legion of Super-Heroes.| Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5 (July 2009)|- style="border-top: solid thick red"
| Antimatter Universe| Post-Zero Hour| The Anti-Monitor, the Crime Syndicate of Amerika,[24] the Sinestro Corps, the Warlock of Ys, and the Weaponers of Qward|
*The Antimatter Universe is a "universe of evil". It survived the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis and exists alongside the fifty-two positive-matter alternate universes.
| The first post-Crisis versions of Superboy, the Phantom Zone residents General Zod, Quex-Ul, Faora Hu-Ul, and Supergirl (Matrix); and versions of Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen, Lex Luthor, Lana Lang, and Jonathan and Martha 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 "End of an Era" Legion story-arc prior to Zero Hour.Template:Citation needed
| "Forgotten" characters such as Merryman of the Inferior Five and Hard Hat of the Demolition Team
|*Exists outside of the Multiverse.*The first DC Universe appearance of "Limbo" was in Grant Morrison's "Animal Man" series, in which Morrison takes the concept of "comic book limbo" (where forgotten characters go when they're not being published) and makes it literal.[54]
*First post-Infinite Crisis appearance is in Final Crisis: Superman Beyond.[19]
*Inhabitants not only forget who they are, but all memory of them is removed from the Multiverse.*The "Library of Limbo" contains only one book, The Infinite Book, which contains the story of all existence and has been described as the one story that contains all other stories.
|Animal Man (vol. 1) #25 (July 1990)|}
==The New 52==[]
The Flashpoint story arc ended with the creation of an entirely new Multiverse, with new histories for its worlds. {| class="wikitable"|-!width=16%| Designation!width=10%| Era!width=25%| Inhabitants!width=45%| Notes!width=30%| First Appearance|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Prime Earth
| The New 52
| Characters from DC Comics' main continuity|*Shares a similar history with the previous amalgamated Earths.
*This Earth was created by merging Earth-0, Earth-13, and Earth-50 from the previous Multiverse in the wake of the Flashpoint event.[20]
| Earth One (also known as Earth-1)| The New 52| Modernized interpretations of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other DC Comics' characters|
*A world reflective of the 21st century.
*This Earth is featured in the Batman: Earth One and Superman: Earth One graphic novels.[21]
| Superman: Earth One (December 2010)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-2| The New 52| Younger versions of DC's pre-CrisisGolden Age characters[55]
|* This Earth contains new versions of DC's Golden Age heroes.
* This world suffered a cataclysmic war against aliens from Apokolips five years ago which claimed the lives of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
* This world's Supergirl and Robin, now using the identities of Power Girl and the Huntress, were transported to Prime Earth during the war and are seeking a way back.
* This world's Wonder Woman worshiped the Roman gods instead of the Greek gods like her Earth-0 counterpart.* Superheroes are commonly called "wonders" on this world
| Characters shown in the DC animated universe, such as the Batman Beyond television series[30]|| Batman Beyond Unlimited #1 (January 2012)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| Earth-16| The New 52| Characters shown in the Young Justice television series|
*The video game Young Justice: Legacy and the cartoon's tie-in comic book also take place on this Earth.[56]
| Earth-23| The New 52| Home to black versions of several DC characters|
* This world resembles the one seen in Final Crisis #7.
* On this world, Superman is a black man named Kalel, originally from Krypton's Vathlo Island. In his secret identity of Calvin Ellis, he serves as President of the United States.* This world's Wonder Woman is a black woman named Nubia.
* According to Grant Morrison, this world's Superman is based on Barack Obama and Wonder Woman is based on Beyoncé Knowles.[58]
* This world was the home of President Prez Rickard, the 19-year-old teenager who served as President of the United States in the 1970s.|Action Comics (vol. 2) #9 (July 2012)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| Earth-31| Post-52| Characters shown in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and its spin-off titles[59]|
*This Earth's Batman is a dark vigilante who fights against crime and corruption while Superman is a federal agent for the government.[35]| Countdown: Arena #1 (February 2008)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"| (unknown)| The New 52| The DC hero Ultra|
* This world resembles the Pre-Crisis/52 Earth-Prime and presumably features a Superboy-Prime as well.|Multiversity[60]
|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| (unknown)| The New 52
| A robotic Superman who rules the world|* On this world, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen attempted to create a savior. Instead they got a corporate-controlled robotic Superman who took over their world.
.* The Superman robot was defeated by the Superman of Earth-23. The Clark, Lois, and Jimmy of this world are currently residing on Earth-23.|Action Comics (vol. 2) #9 (July 2012)|- style="border-top: solid thick blue"
| (unknown)| The New 52| "Super deformed" versions of DC characters|* This world resembles the one seen in Superman/Batman #51.
* This world was attacked by the robotic Superman from the aforementioned universe.
↑The same list was published in two places: at Newsarama.com on November 26, 2007, [1],Template:Dead link and in the "DC Nation" editor's note page at the end of Countdown to Infinite Crisis #22 (November 28, 2007).
↑ 19.019.119.219.319.419.519.619.7Template:Cite comicCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "supermanbeyond1" defined multiple times with different content
{{cite book | first=Robert | last=Heinlein | authorlink= | date=1980 | title=Expanded Universe | edition= | publisher=Ace Books | location=New York | "Comic Book Limbo, as a metaphorical idea, has been around as long as comic books have been around. Any character who hasn't appeared for a while could be said to exist in 'Comic Book Limbo'. Morrison takes that concept and turns it into an actual place."
