Wednesday Comics: Multiversal Spotlight: Earth-19

Earth-19
Concept: Earth Victoriana/Steampunk
Pictured: (left to right) Bat Man (Bruce Wayne), Accelerated Man, the Shrinking Man, the Wonder Woman (Diana).
Sources/Inspirations: Gotham by Gaslight (1989) and Batman: Master of the Future (1991) collected in Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, Wonder Woman: Amazonia (1997), Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Gotham by Gaslight #1 (January 2008).
Analogs: Pre-Crisis Earth-1889 was the home of Victorian Batman as established in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006); post-52 Earth-19 features Batman plus several more Victorian analogs as shown in Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Gotham by Gaslight (January 2008) #1; Post-52 Earth-34 was the setting for Wonder Woman: Amazonia as revealed in Countdown to Adventure #1 (October 2007).
Comments: Gotham by Gaslight, with its story of an 1889 Batman facing off with Jack the Ripper, started the whole Elseworlds franchise (though its first printing predated the label). It's sequel has Batman fighting a Robur the Conqueror stand-in in 1892.

The Elseworlds Wonder Woman: Amazonia is set in an alternate 1928, which presents a different identity and history for Jack the Ripper (he becomes King after killing Victoria and her family). How these two distinct worlds are melded in Earth-19 has yet to be revealed.

Wednesday Comics: Multiversal Spotlight: Earth-33

Earth-33
Concept: Earth-Prime
Pictured: Ultra and everybody
Sources/Inspirations: Flash #179, Flash #278, Justice League of America #123-124, Justice League of America #153, DC Comics Presents #87.
Analogs: Earth-Prime of the pre-Crisis universe, first appearing in Flash #179 (May 1968); post-52, Earth-Prime was home to Superboy-Prime and a version of the Legion of Superheroes as seen in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5 (July 2009)
Comments: Earth-Prime started out as the place where the stories of DC Comics were read and written. In Flash #179, the Flash winds up their and enlists the help of Julius Schwartz, then writer of his title, to return to Earth-One. Flash #228 introduced the wrinkle of the writers on Earth-Prime not just chronicling the adventures on the other earths but influencing them, as well. In Justice League of America #123 (1975), Cary Bates briefly becomes a megalomaniacal super-villain on Earth-Two thanks to this power. That would set the stage for tragedies to come.

In Justice League of America #153, Earth-Prime stops being our world when he gets its own superhero, Ultraa. Still, Ultraa decides Earth-Prime just isn't ready for superheroes and migrates to Earth-One. Even though Ultraa had a similar origin to Superman's, Earth-Prime gets its own Superman in the Crisis crossover DC Comics Presents #87 (1985) in the form of Superboy(-Prime).

Earth-Prime gets destroyed by the Anti-Monitor in Crisis and Superboy-Prime gets raptured to superhero out of continuity heaven with Earth-Two Superman and Alexander Luthor at the events end. The ending doesn't last, as he's back as a maniacal, genocidal villain in Infinite Crisis.

Wednesday Comics: Multiversal Spotlight: Earth-16

Earth-16
Concept: Earth of celebrity superhero scions
Pictured: (left to right) Batman (Damian Wayne), Alexis Luther, Superman (Chris Kent), The Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner), Arrowette (Cissie King-Hawke), Bloodwynd, Sister Miracle.
Sources/Inspirations: The Multiversity: The Just #earthme #1, The Saga of the Super-Sons (originally presented in World's Finest); (Chris Kent) Superman: Last Son; (Damian Wayne) Batman: Son of the Demon, Batman and Son.
Analogs: The world of the Super-Sons was identified as pre-Crisis Earth-154 in Infinite Crisis #6; Mark Gruenwald had previously referred to this world as Earth-E in A Primer on Reality in Comic Books (1977). Earth-16 in the post-52 multiverse was the world of the Young Justice tv series.
Comments: Imaginary tales going back to the fifties portrayed Superman and Batman having kids with Lois Lane and Kathy Kane, respectively, but the story of the trials and tribulations of these kids as adolescents/young adults only started being told when Bob Haney and Dick Dillin introduced the Super-Sons in World's Finest Comics vol 1 #154 (December 1965). Morrison expanded the concept here to include a whole new generation of super-powered offspring in a world where all the heroic battles had already been fought.

Wednesday Comics: The Multiverse So Far

Too busy tonight for a spotlight on a new world, so I figured it was as good a time as any for a review of what we've covered so far:

Earth-4 (Charlton Earth)
Earth-6 (Stan Lee's Just Imagine Earth)
Earth-10 (Earth X)
Earth-20 (Pulp Earth)
Earth-35 (Awesome Comics Earth)
Earth-37 (Chaykin Earth)
Earth-38 (John Byrne's Generations Earth)
Earth-39 (T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Earth)
Earth-51 (Kirby Earth)

Wednesday Comics: Multiversal Spotlight: Earth-35

Earth-35
Concept: Earth Maximum Press/Awesome Comics Universe.
Pictured: (left to right) Starcop (analog of Starhunter, analog of Martian Manhunter), Mercury-Man (analog of Doc Rocket, analog of the Flash), Miss X (stand-in for Alley Cat, a pastiche of Black Canary/Catwoman), Morphin' Man (analog of Polyman, analog of Plastic Man/Elongated Man), Majesty (analog of Glory, pastiche of Wonder Woman), Olympian (stand-in for Fisherman, stand-in for Green Arrow), Supremo (analog of Supreme, pastiche of Superman), the Owl (stand-in for Professor Night, Batman analog).
Sources/Inspirations: Maximum Press/Awesome Comics' Supreme #41-56, Supreme: The Return, Judgment Day (1997), Avatar Comics' Alan Moore's Glory (2001).
Analog: None in previous versions of the DC Multiverse.
Comments: Morrison has said this Earth is "a copy of a copy." In 1992, Rob Liefield's Extreme Studios populated his corner of the Image shared universe with dark heroes in 90s style. In 1996, after Liefield's depature from Image, he allowed Alan Moore to remake his characters in the image of Silver Age DC Comics. Supreme went having an inconsistent backstory and being largely vengeful and violent to being a very close pastiche of Silver Age Superman that more would use as a commentary on comics in general and Superman in particular. The other characters mostly just filled out Supreme's world, though Moore had bigger plans for Glory, which were never realized with that character, but seem to have provided the inspiration for Promethea.

Multiversal Spotlight: Earths Stan & Jack

Earth-6
Concept: Earth of Stan Lee's Just Imagine
Pictured: (left to right) Flash (Mary Maxwell), Green Lantern (Leonard Lewis), Batman (Wayne Williams), Superman (Salden), Wonder Woman (Maria Mendoza), Shazam (Robert Rogers).
Sources: The Just Imagine Stan Lee... series of oneshots 2001-2002.
Analogs: None.
Comments: In the Just Imagine series, Stan Lee re-imagined a number of DC characters and even Crisis with the help of various artists: Joe Kubert (Batman), Jim Lee (Wonder Woman), John Buscema (Superman), Kevin Maguire (the Flash), Dave Gibbons (Green Lantern), John Byrne (Robin), Gary Frank (Captain Marvel), Scott McDaniel (Aquaman), Catwoman (Chris Bachalo), Sandman (Walt Simonson), JLA (Jerry Ordway), and John Cassaday (Crisis).

Note that Earth-6 and Earth-51 occupy opposing positions in the Multiversity map, with Earth-6 connected to the Pit (Apokolips) and Earth-51 to the Pinnacle (New Genesis).

Earth-51
Concept: Earth of Jack Kirby creations
Pictured: (left to right) Lightray, Tuftan, Mister Miracle, Highfather, Kamandi, Big Barda, BiOMAC, ?.
Sources: Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth (1972), New Gods (1971), OMAC (1974), Final Crisis (2008).
Analogs: Pre-Crisis Earth-86 was identified as the home of Kamandi and OMAC in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006); Post-52 Earth-15 in home to a version of Kamandi as established in 52 Week 52 (May 2007), but after being recreated by Nix Uotan, Earth-51 is also home to Kamandi and ultimately the New Gods at the end of Final Crisis.
Comments: The earlier versions of a Kamandi Earth were also the home of other non-Kirby characters that have been tied in to the Great Disaster: the Atomic Knights and Hercules. There is no indication that those characters exist on Earth-51. The version of OMAC here ("BIOMAC") differs from previous versions of the character, at least in name.

Wednesday Comics: Multiversal Spotlight: Earth-10

Earth-10
Concept: Earth where the Axis Powers (or at least Germany) won World War II
Pictured: (left to right) New Reichsmen: Leatherwing, Blitzen, Brünhilde, Overman; Freedom Fighters: Human Bomb, Phantom Lady, Uncle Sam.
Sources: The Multiversity: Mastermen #1 , Justice League of America (vol 1) #107-108, Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1-2, Countdown to Adventure #2 and Countdown to Final Crisis #16.
Analogs: Pre-Crisis Earth X, home to the Freedom Fighters, a group of characters originally appearing in Quality Comics) first appearing in  Justice League of America (vol. 1) #107 (October 1973); Post-52 Earth-10, home to a version of the Freedom Fighters and a Nazi-themed version of the Justice League, die Gerechtigkeitsliga or JL-Axis,  first appearing in 52 Week 52 (May 2007).
Comments: Earth X (the letter, not the roman numeral) first appeared in a Justice League/Justice Society team-up story in 1973. It was a world where Germany had won World War II and the "freedom fighters" against the Nazi regime were a group of characters DC had acquired from Quality Comics in 1956. (A couple of other Quality characters--Plastic Man and the Blackhawks--had already debut in the DCU and were not included in the Freedom Fighters.) The heroes from Earth One and Two helped the Freedom Fighters overthrow the fascists. In 1976, the Freedom Fighters got their own short-lived title after they immigrated to Earth One.

In the 1980s in the pages of All-Star Squadron, Roy Thomas retconned the members of the Freedom Fighters to have been from Earth-Two but had them go to Earth X later. Roy Thomas also introduced World War II Nazi counterparts of at least some of the members of the Justice League in the pages of Young All-Stars in 1987. It's unclear if Axis Amerika served as an inspiration for Earth-10's Nazi League in either the JL-Axis or New Reichsmen iterations.

Wednesday Comics: Multiversal Spotlight: Earth-39

Earth-39
Apparent Concept: Earth T.H.U.N.D.E.R agents.
Pictured: (left to right) Accelerator (Lightning analog), Psi-Man (Menthor analog), Cyclotron (Dynamo analog), Corvus (Raven analog), Doctor Nemo (NoMan analog).
Sources: Tower Comics's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (1965-1969), DC Comics's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (2011-2012) .
Analog: None in previous versions of the DC Multiverse.

Comments: The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents were a creation of Wally Wood and Len Brown who wanted to combine the Justice League style superhero team with popular spy-fi like The Man from UNCLE and James Bond. All of the agents derived there powers from some device (an element Morrison has retained for his stand-ins). The characters have been published by a number of companies since their debut in the 60s. DC first attempted to publish them and perhaps add them to the DC Multiverse in the early 2000s, but things didn't come together until 2011. DC introduced a black Lightning (not to be confused with Black Lightning) into what had been an all white group and Morrison retained that element with his Agents of W.O.N.D.E.R.

Wednesday Comics: Multiversal Spotlight: Earth-38

Earth-38
Apparent Concept: Earth Generations.
Pictured: (left to right) The Bat-Man from 1938 (Bruce Wayne), Supergirl (Kara Kent), Knightwing (Clark Wayne), Batman in the 80s (Bruce Wayne, Jr.), Superman from 1938 (Clark Kent), Joel Kent.
Sources: Superman & Batman: Generations (1999), Superman & Batman: Generations 2 (2001), and Superman & Batman: Generations 3 (2003).
Analog: The world of Generations was designated as Pre-Crisis Earth-3898 in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006).

Comments: The three Generations limited series were written and drawn by John Byrne. The series follow Superman and Batman and their respective families from their first meetings as kids to the future. Here's a good article on the series, including a family tree.

The first appearance of the Generations universe is actually a crossover with Marvel: Batman & Captain America. The epilogue has Batman and Robin rescuing Captain America from the ice in the 1960s. The Robin depicted has red hair, suggesting he is the Bruce Wayne, jr. Robin from Generations.

Wednesday Comics: Multiversal Spotlight: Earth-37

The Multiversity Guidebook came out a couple of weeks ago, giving new information on the 52 Earths of the current DC Multiverse as envisioned by Grant Morrison. If you're reading Multiversity and inclined to skip this because it's just a guide book, you should reconsider as there is a bit of story there. Even if you haven't been reading Multiversity, but you're a fan of the DC multiverse you should check it out. Many of them were the old standbys we've seen since the earliest days of the Pre-Crisis Multiverse. Some are of much more recent vintage:

Earth-37
Apparent Concept: Earth Chaykin
Pictured: (left to right) Robin (Rickart Graustark), Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Joker (Bianca Steeplechase), Star Hawkins, Tommy Tomorrow, Iron-Wolf.
Sources: Weird Worlds (1972) #8-10; Twilight #1-3 (1990) and presumably Ironwolf: Fires of Revolution (1999); Thrillkiller #1-3 (1997) and Thrillkiller '62 (1998), collected here.
Analogs: The world of Thrillkiller was designated as Pre-Crisis Earth-61 in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006); Post-52, Thrillkiller characters were shown as being on Earth-37 in Countdown: Arena #1 (February 2008).

Comments: Twilight was a re-imagining or Watchmen-izing of a number of DC's future nonsupers characters. It's unclear if the non-Twilight versions exist anywhere in the current Multiverse. Chaykin created Ironwolf in Weird Worlds and he gets referenced in Twilight, though never seen. We can assume he would be a different version.Then, years later, John Francis Moore and Chaykin wrote an Ironwolf graphic novel that altered his world a bit and represented some of the events of the Weird Worlds stories. The graphic novel is clearly intended to be in the world of Twilight, but it doesn't seem to jibe with the off-hand references to Ironwolf in that story! Ironwolf as pictured above looks like he did in his original 70s appearances, for what its worth.

Wednesday Comics: Pax Americana

"In Which We Burn"

The Multiversity: Pax Americana #1 (January 2015), Written by Grant Morrison; Art by Frank Quitley 

Last week saw the release of the fourth installment of Morrison's Multiversity storyline. Pax Americana is perhaps the most ambitious issue to date, being a refiguring of/homage to Watchmen, and either a commentary on deconstruction and comic book violence or the essentialness of violence to American cultural--or possibly both. So check it out.

All that aside, the issue takes place on Earth-4, which is essentially (or possibly exactly) the same as Earth-4 (first appearing in 52 week 52 in 2007), the home of Captain Atom, the "Quantum Superman" that appeared in Final Crisis: Superman Beyond. In other words, it's a mixture of the Pre-Crisis Earth-Four (home of the characters DC acquired from Charlton Comics) and the Earth of Watchmen (characters inspired by the Charlton characters--well, after they were inspired by the Archie/MLJ characters). If that's a bit confusing, there is some background here.

Blue Beetle (Earth-4)
This Blue Beetle is Ted Kord, Earth-4's version of Charlton's second Blue Beetle, who first appeared in Captain Atom #83 (1966). There is mention in this issue of Dan Garrett, who shares a name and probably more with Charlton's first Blue Beetle--who they had purchased and revamped from Fox Comics. The original version of that character (and the likely inspiration of Pax Americana's Dan Garret) first appeared in Mystery Men Comics #1 (1939). Both these Blue Beetles have analogs in the first and second Nite Owls in Watchmen. The Question's accusation of the Beetle's impotence in this issue is a specific reference to Nite Owl.

Captain Atom (Earth-4) 
First Appearance: Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1 (2008)
The original Captain Atom first appeared in Space Adventures #33 (March 1960). Both that one and this one are Allen Adam, who gained super-powers after being "atomized," then reforming with atomic powers. This Atom's expanded consciousness, almost godlike power, and blue skin are borrowed from Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen.

Nightshade (Earth-4)
Eve Eden is the daughter of the Vice President and a superheroine. The original Charlton Nightshade first appeared in Captain Atom #82 (1966) was the daughter of a U.S. senator and a visitor from another dimension with the power to manipulate shadows. An otherworldly origin for Eve's mother is mentioned in this issue, but her veracity is questioned by both Eve and her father, and her mother is portrayed as suffering from dementia, at least at the time of the story. The Nightshade stand-in in Watchmen is Silk Spectre, though she is not as close an analog as the male characters.

Peacemaker (Earth-4)
The original Charlton Peacemaker (a man who "loves peace so much he's willing to fight for it") first appeared in Fightin' 5 #40 (November 1966). The loose Peacemaker analog in Watchmen is the Comedian. Dialog in Watchmen hints that the Comedian assassinated John F. Kennedy, a parallel to the Peacemaker's actions here, though in a very different context. Unlike the cynical Comedian, the Peacemaker of this story seems to be a well-meaning idealist.

The Question (Earth-4)
One of a couple of similar masked and fedora-ed vigilantes created by Steve Ditko, the Charlton Question first appeared in Blue Beetle #1 (1967). Rorshach in Watchmen was inspired the Question and his non-Code approved doppelganger Mr. A. While taking a role in the story similar to Rorschach's, Pax Americana's Question moves beyond the the black-and-white moral reasoning of Mr. A and Rorschach and espouses of 8 color spectrum theory of moral development (probably from here). He is, however, as ruthless as both of those characters.

Yellowjacket
This is actually Yellowjacket's first DC Universe appearance in any version. The original Yellowjacket was Charlton's very first superhero character, debuting in Yellowjacket Comics #1 (September 1944). That Yellowjacket was Vince Harley, crime writer. This one is Vince Harley, comic book writer. He has no direct specific Watchmen analog.

Wednesday Comics: Conquerors of the Counter-World

"Conquerors of the Counter-World"

The Multiversity: Society of Super-Heroes: Conquerors of the Counter-World #1 (November 2014), Written by Grant Morrison; Art by Chris Sprouse & Karl Story & Walden Wong

Last week saw the release of the second part of Morrison's Multiversity storyline. Society of Super-Heroes takes us to the world of Earth-20 where a pulp- and serial-flavored group of heroes is battling for the fate (heh) of their world against an invasion from Earth-40 lead by Vandal Savage and (presumably) a Society of Super-Villains.

Earth-20 first appeared in Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1 and its prominent heroes are named in Final Crisis Secret Files #1. Earth-40 is a bit of a puzzle. Comments Dan DiDio made about the Countdown: Arena limited series suggested Earth-40 was the home of the government operative pulp versions of the Golden Age heroes in JSA: The Liberty Files. It's possible the concept of this Earth has changed, but it's also possible that Vandal Savage and his crew took over that world sometime after World War II.

Anyway, here's a scorecard with the prominent players and what you need to know:

Immortal Man (Earth-20) 
First Appearance: Final Crisis Secret Files #1
The Pre-Crisis Immortal Man first appeared in Strange Adventures #165 (1965) and appeared sporadically for two years, then didn't show up again until 1984 when his backstory and link to Vandal Savage were revealed. Then he died in Crisis. This Earth-20 version adds the interesting wrinkle of apparently also being Anthro. Anthro is a Cro-Magnon born to Neanderthal parents and has fairly light-hearted adventures until he settles down and becomes the father of modern humans. He first appeared in Showcase #74 (1968). Pre-Crisis Immortal Man was a different prehistoric guy (Klarn Arg) but he is said to have been from the Bear Tribe, which is the name of Anthro's tribe, too.

Doc Fate (Earth-20)
First Appearance: Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #1
Doc Fate is more of a man of action that his Golden Age (and other Earthly) counterparts. He's also a person of color, who tells us he was adopted (both differences from other Kent Nelsons). His helmet is also explicitly tied in to Novu, the Proto-Monitor, not Nabu the Lord of Order. (Unless those are one and the same?)

Mighty Atom
First Appearance: Final Crisis Secret Files #1
The original Al Pratt Atom first appeared in 1940. Like this version, he was a short guy with no super-powers who toughened himself up to fight crime. This version trained using the Arn Munro method. This is a reference to the old Charles Atlas ads and exercise regimen, but also to the pre-Crisis character Arn "Iron" Munro from Young All-Stars. In the series, Munro was the son of Philip Wylie's Hugo Danner from his 1930 novel Gladiator, one of the inspirations for Superman. Interestingly, "Mighty Atom" was the stage name of the strongman Joe Greenstein.

Lady Blackhawk (Earth-20)
First Appearance: Final Crisis Secret Files #1

There have been more than one Lady Blackhawk over the years, but all of them were so named because they were the only female member of the Blackhawks at the time. This Lady Blackhawk appears to be who her all-female team is named for.

Green Lantern (Abin Sur)
First Appearance: Final Crisis Secret Files #1
On Earth-0 ("New Earth"), and on Earth-1 Pre-Crisis, Abin Sur was dying alien Green Lantern that bequeathed his power ring to Hal Jordan. This Abin Sur looks sort of like a demon (or the Demon), which is his reason for keeping his existence secret from humankind, much like the rationale of the Overlords in Clarke's Childhood's End. He wears a costume more reminiscent of the Golden Age Green Lantern than the Silver Age one his origin is taken from.

Wednesday Comics: The Multiversity

"House of Heroes"

The Multiversity #1 (October 2014), Written by Grant Morrison; Art by Ivan Reis & Joe Prado

The release of DC Comics' The Muliversity #1 a couple of weeks a go seems like a good reason to take a short break from the examination of older comics and dig into something new. The Multiversity throws out a lot of characters in one issue. Here's a rundown of the major ones:

Nix Uotan (Superjudge; the last Monitor)
First Appearance: Countdown to Final Crisis #21
Last Previous Appearance: Final Crisis #7
By the end of Final Crisis, Nix Uotan was the last surviving Monitor and had been reborn in a human male body on another Earth. Apparently, he's still doing the good work of the Overmonitor, protecting the Multiverse. Or at least trying to.
The meaning of his name: Uotan apparently comes from "Wotan", Germanic god of writing and learning among other things. All the Monitors in Final Crisis have modified names of gods with a similar portfolio. "Nix" is colloquial English meaning "to put an end to" something. Nix plays a role in doing just that with the other Monitors.

Thunderer, Earth-7
First Appearance: The Multiversity #1
Thunderer is an Aboriginal Thor stand-in on an Earth that resembles the Marvel Universe. He's the last survivor of his world, which was decimated by the Gentry.
The meaning of his name: He's the superhero version of Wondjina, the cloud and rain spirits.

Superman of Earth -23
First Appearance: Final Crisis #7
Last Previous Appearance: Action Comics (2011 series) #9
President of the United States, Calvin Ellis, is also Kalel last survivor of Vathlo Island on the doomed planet Krypton. On Earth-23, the majority of the superheroes are of African descent or resemble sub-Saharan Africans.

Captain Carrot, Earth-26
First Appearance: The New Teen Titans (1980 series) #16 (insert)
Last Previous Appearance: Final Crisis #7
Captain Carrot (Rodney Rabbit) is a a sort of Superman analog on Earth-C (pre-Infinite Crisis), a world populated by cartoony, anthropomorphic animals (and obeying the laws of "cartoon physics"). Captain Carrot references meeting Superman before, which happened in Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! #1.

The Retaliators, Earth-8
First Appearance: (pre-New 52 as the Champions of Angor) Justice League of America (1960 series) #87; (current version) The Multiversity #1
Last Previous Appearance: (as the Meta-Militia) Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists #6
A Pastiche of Marvel, specifically the Avengers--and as such, they also resemble the heroes of Earth-7 (there's a Wandjina the Thunderer here, too). These characters first appeared as Marvel stand-ins from the world of Angor. In Final Crisis, characters resembling the Champions of Angor (called the Meta-Militia) and their enemies, the Extremists, existed on Earth-8. In The Multiversity, they've undergone another mild revision to become the Retaliators.