As most mainstream comic book enthusiast must know, DC Entertainment is relaunching the DCU continuity, once again. It seems like this time the changes will be more drastic than the previous. They chose to set Superman's debut, 7 years ago. So Superman debuted at some point during 2004. The last time, they compressed less years into 10, and before that, there was barely any compression.
If we make Superman's debut July 2004, that would be a month for each of his 73 years of existence. Considering the was really created four years before DC acquired him, the date could be changed to March 2004. Condensing the entire DC continuity to 7 years or so makes little to not sense (too little time to train 5 Robins or make reasonably long JLA incarnations); it'd be easier to just start the continuity from the first year after a DC: The New Frontier sort of thing and to reintroduce all the younger characters eventually. However, if, for some crazy reason, they want to keep continuity luggage (probably a trick too keep selling trades of the old DCU), and still have younger golden and silver agers for a while, turning years into months is the best pretext. Here's what that would look like:
The Big Bang
Krona's experiment
100, 000 AGO
Immortal Man and Savage Vandal, Antro, Bat-caveman
VI AD
Camelot, King Arthur, Merlin, Etrigan
XIII AD
Ra's Al Ghul is born (probably)
LATER HALF OF THE XIX CENTURY
Prime of Hex, Bat Lash, and the others.
FIRST HALF OF THE XX CENTURY
- 1919: Morpheus is imprisoned.
- 1942: WWII heroes.
LESS THAN 50 YEARS AGO
Kara Zor-El is born (about 15 years before Kal-El). 1976
J'onn J'onzz arrives to Earth (Zero Hour).
LESS THAN 35 YEARS AGO
- J'onn starts operating as detective John Jones
- Bruce Wayne is born.
- Kal-El is born.
- Krypton explodes.
- Kal-El becomes Clark Kent.
- 1986 (maybe in March): The Waynes are murdered. I bet Wonder Woman was born this year (Zero Hour).
SEVEN YEARS AGO
- January 2004: Gordon arrives to Gotham City. In theory, Bruce and Talia conceive Damian at this point (Batman: YO).
- February: Bruce returns from his training (Batman: YO).
- March 11: 18 years after the tragedy, Bruce fights crime (crossing paths with Selina). Later that night, a bat crashes through his window. (Batman: YO).
- April 6: First night of Batman (Batman: YO).
- August 7: Selina becomes Catwoman (Batman: YO).
SIX YEARS AGO
- September: Lt. Gordon interrogates Wayne about Batman (Batman: YO).
- December: Gordon becomes Captain. The Joker threatens to poison the water reserves (Batman: YO).
- January 2005
- March (1934) or July (1938) 2005: Superman
- August: Batman, Mad Monk, Dr. Death, Ultra-Humanite
FIVE YEARS AGO
- If Dent's transformation into two face is pushed, this could be the Long Halloween year and the next the Dark Victory one (not that I care about those stories)
- September (1940): Hugo Strange, Captain Marvel , Joker, Catwoman, Lex Luthor, Clayface
- October: (1941) Plastic Man , Aquaman, Green Arrow, Scarecrow, Wonder Woman, Vigilante, Shinning Knight, Penguin.
- November: Dent becomes Two-face, Prankster, Puzzler, Ares
- December: Cheetah, Dr. Psycho, the Tweedles, Cavalier, Toyman
- January 2006: Mr. Mxyzptlk, Giganta
- February:
- March:
- April: Black Canary
- May: Mad Hatter, Riddler
- June:
- July (1950):Deadshot
- August: Killer Moth
FOUR YEARS AGO: DC YEAR ONE, THE SILVER AGE
- September: Phantom Stranger, Rex the Wonder Dog, Detective Chimp
- October:
- November:
- December: Martian Manhunter
- January 2007: Flash
- February: Challengers of the Unknown
- March: Adam Strange, Brainiac, Bizarro, Calendar Man
- April: Green Lantern, Supergirl, Mr. Freeze, Grodd, Metallo, Titano
- May (1960): JLA , Elongated Man, Aqualad, Kid Flash (I'd say that Robin and Speedy should idally debut here), Kryptonite man
- June: Atom, Hawkman, Sue Dibny, General Zod, Jax-Ur, Clayfae II. Green Arrow joins the JLA
- July: Metal Men, Felix Faust, Atom joins the JLA
- August: Mera, Simon Hurt, Doom Patrol, Catman.
3 YEARS AGO
- September: Teen Titans, Zatanna, Mento, Blue Beetle. Hawkman joins JLA
- October: Animal Man, Metamorpho, Aquababy
- November: Poison Ivy, Parasite, Enchantress, Inferior Five
- December: Deadman, Black Manta
- January 2008: Creeper, Batgirl, Dolphin, Sensei, Red Tornado
- February: The Martian Manhunter leaves the JLA, Black Canary joins.
- March (1970): Intergang, Darkseid, Manbat.
- April: Ra's Al Ghul, Swamp Thing, Talia, Forever People, Mr. Miracle, Big Barda, Orion, granny, etc.
- May: Etrigan.
- June 2008: Black Orchid. Phantom Stranger, Elongated Man and Red Tornado Join the JLA.
- July: Omac, Sandman
- August: Kobra
2 YEARS AGO
- September: Powergirl (or maybe Supergirl grows giant boobs?), Ragman, Secret Society of Super Villains. Hawkgirl joins the JLA
- October: Black Lightning (I'd add Golden Pahraoh, Manitou Raven, Aztek and Toshi Eto and the Wonder Twins to have the Suerfriends set), Tobias Whale, Rupert Thorne, Silver St. Cloud, Strange Apparitions (Prof. Strange and Deadshot return), Clayface III
- November: Firestorm, Huntress, Madame Xanadu, Vixen. Zatanna joins the JLA.
- December: Maxie Zeus
- January 2009 (1980): Mongul, Starfire, Cyborg, Firestorm joins the JLA.
- February:
- March:
- April: Lobo, Killer Croc, Harbinger
- May: Blue Devil, Nightwing, Taz, Aquaman's Detroit fiasco. Jason Todd is Robin.
- June: Constantine, Black Mask, Crisis on Infinite Earths.
- July 2009: Swamp thing meets parliament of trees, JLI, Maxwell Lord, Booster Gold
- August: Sherlock Holmes reveals to be alive in Nanda Parbat and teams up with Ralph Dibny, Slam Bradley, Batman and Robin to stop Edgar Moriarty.
ONE YEAR AGO
- September: Ventriloquist
- October: Morpheus returns. JLE. Tim Drake is Robin.
- November (1990):
- January 2010: Mr. Zsasz, Death of Superman: Doomsday, Knightfall: Bane, Harley Quinn
- February: Superboy, Steel III
- March: Lock-up, Conduit, Emerald Twilight, Zero Hour
- April: Final Night (Hal Jordan dies), Green Arrow dies
- May 2010: Moon Watchtower
- June: Livewire
- September (2000):
- January 2011: Identity Crisis (Sue dies).
- February: Countdown Iinfinite Crisis (Blue Beetle II dies), OMAC Project (Maxwell Lord dies), Secret Society II, Rann/Thanagar War, Infinite Crisis .
- March: Early 52 events. Batwoman II.
- April: Late 52 events (Elongated Man and the Question I die).
- May: Salvation Run, Trickster dies, New Gods die, Final Crisis.
- June: Blackest Night (Aquaman, Lord, Martian, etc. resurrect) .
- July (2010): Damian Wayne is Robin, Dick Grayson is Batman.
- August (pre-DCnU 2011): Flashpoint
Related articles
If you enjoyed this post, here are some articles that provide its background information:
- The Elongated Man and the Silver Age Timeline! - See what the Silver Age of DC Comics was all about event by event in chronoogical order.
- Part I: Pre-Classic (1947 - 1956).
- Part II: Classic (1956 - 1969).
- Part III: Post-Classic (1969 - 1973).
- The Elongated Man and the Bronze Age Timeline! (1973 - 1985).
- Survivors of the Golden Age! - This article will help you identify character counterparts between Earth-One and Earth-Two.
