IV: The Silver Age
Section Intro | Years 0-1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 | Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | Year 10 | Year 11
Timeline
| History | Notes and References | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | “Year Zero” (continued…) | ||
| [Sep] At the 250th anniversary of Metropolis’s founding, Clark Kent rescues the crashing space-plane Constitution. His powers revealed, Clark seeks advice from his adoptive parents… and makes his public debut as Superman, heralding the beginning of a new Heroic Age. | ZHTL* <10.94> [“Ten Years Ago”]; Man of Steel mini-series #1 <10.86>, and many other sources. (Scenes from Birthright #3 <11.03> are of provisional canonicity only, however, as they do not match many other known details.) Action #850 <7.07>, the most recent recounting, shows Superman already in costume during this rescue. Clark is 23 at this time. The month is derived from the statement that Superman preceded Batman by about eight months [see 1989/Yr1], from the known events of Clark’s post-college summer [see 1988], from the byline reference noted below, and by the reasoning set forth in the Section Intro. Here we encounter the main, fundamental difference between this timeline and the version in ZH: Superman’s debut precedes the Crisis by roughly 11 years, rather than merely six. Thus, it accommodates other characters and events which cannot logically be compressed into less time, as detailed at length in the entries below. | ||
| Bruno “Ugly” Mannheim, son of Metropolis’ legendary Boss Moxie, revives Intergang, with the aid of Apokoliptian technology—but is defeated by Superman. Meanwhile, Star City cop Maggie Sawyer relocates to Metropolis, and is appointed to head the newly formed Special Crimes Unit. | Adventures of Superman Annual #7 <1995>—set within a week of Superman’s debut. Superman battles Kalibak in this story, but is not aware of the New God’s origins. | ||
| [Oct] Clark Kent is hired at the Daily Planet, scooping Lois Lane on an interview with Superman after she has spent days seeking one.1 (Clark’s job interview is interrupted when unmanned security copters attack Metropolis in an act of industrial sabotage by Lex Luthor.)2 | 1MoS #2 <10.86>, Adv. Supes Annual #7. Note that Superman v2 #79 <7.93> shows a date of Oct 6 for Clark’s first byline (the “interview” with Superman). 2Birthright #4-5 <12.03-1.04>. The space-plane rescue is said to be “a few weeks back.” Provisional canonicity only; this tale could be from an aberrant hypertimeline, and at the very least many details cannot be taken at face value. If valid, we must assume Luthor delayed his departure for South America (as mentioned in MoS #2) by a few days. This would then be Superman’s first meeting with Luthor, although not Clark’s. | ||
| Oliver Queen (see 1984), restless since his return to civilization, takes action to stop a robber at a costume party, and becomes the adventurer dubbed Green Arrow. He soon receives greater public attention when he prevents the assassination of a prominent politician. | ZHTL* [“11 Years Ago”]; Secret Origins v2 #38 <3.89>, Green Arrow: The Wonder Year #1-4 <2-5.93>. As noted earlier, as a compromise with ZH’s inexplicable dating, I have left the core of Ollie’s origin pre-Superman—but placed his costumed debut here, slightly after. It no longer follows directly on his castaway period, however, owing to factors involving his son Connor Hawke’s age; see 1985 for more detailed discussion. | ||
| Morpheus (see 1988) recovers a pouch of dream sand from an old girlfriend of John Constantine… and grants John relief from his decade-old nightmares of Newcastle (see 1978). | Sandman #3 <3.89>. Exact date undetermined. Contrary to appearances, continuity slippage now requires the retrieval of Morpheus’ other artifacts to stretch out over several years; see 1992/Yr4. | ||
| Superman spends a lonely first Christmas in Metropolis. | DCU Holiday Bash #1 <97>. A vignette in Action #850 is also set around this period, and establishes that Lana Lang (no longer an only child in current canon) is in Los Angeles, while Pete Ross has joined the Peace Corps. | ||
| [Dec 30] A time-traveling Booster Gold (see 2009/Yr21) deflects Sinestro from visiting Guy Gardner (see 1986, 1993/Yr5) on Earth. | Booster Gold v2 #2 <11.07>. The sequence starts “three days before kickoff” of the Rose Bowl, always held January 1, but the key encounter appears to take place the next day. | ||
| 1989 | “Year One” | ↑ top | |
| [Jan 1] When dying Green Lantern Abin Sur (see 1873, 1882, 1942, 1980) crashes on Earth, he wills his ring to search the planet for a fearless successor. The ring chooses the nearest candidate… and former test pilot Hal Jordan becomes Green Lantern of space sector 2814. | ZHTL*; SO v2 #36 <1.89>, Action Comics Weekly #642 <3.89>, GL: Emerald Dawn #1 <12.89>, BG v2 #2 [provides date], Green Lantern v4 #30 <6.08>; (orig. ShC #22 <9-10.59>). The timing of GL’s debut vs. other heroes’, as laid out in SO v2 #32 <11.88> and S:MOS Annual #4, supersedes that in SO v2 #7 <10.86> and GL Corps #209 <1.87> (which had placed his debut just after the other JLAers first met, as in pre-Crisis history). The latest retelling, in GL v4 #29-35 <5-11.08> has also superseded some minor aspects of past accounts (e.g., Hal’s job, the exact nature of Abin Sur’s crash). | ||
| Hal is summoned to Oa for training by fellow GL Kilowog; he meets the Guardians of the Universe and the rest of the Corps, and helps defeat the creature known as Legion. | GL v4 #31 <7.08>; GL:ED #2-6 <1-5.90>. The canonicity of this earlier account is uncertain at this writing, as it doesn’t entirely dovetail with details of the updated “New Earth” origin in GL v4 #29-35. | ||
| [Jan 4] Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City, 12 years after his departure. Around the same time, tarnished cop James Gordon arrives from Chicago. | Batman (“Year One”) #404 <2.87>, which states that Bruce is 25 at this point. It has been 18 years, he notes, since his parents’ murder (see 1971). | ||
| Back on Earth after a week, Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan regains his pilot’s job, has his first encounter with Hector Hammond… and meets Sinestro of Korugar, who helps him defeat Atrocitus of the Five Inversions. | GL v4 #32-35 <8-11.08>. | ||
| [Jan] Superman meets Dr. Occult (see 1935), confronts the Cult of Thahn, and discovers his vulnerability to magic. | Superman Annual #7 <95>—set four months after Clark was hired at the Planet. | ||
| Superman makes his first trip into outer space, encountering the alien H’Tros. | Action Annual #7 <95> | ||
| Superman first confronts professor Thaddeus Killgrave. | Superman Villains SF #1 <6.98>. Details unknown; (orig. 1st app. Superman v2 #19 <7.88>). | ||
| Selina Kyle (see 1987) is badly beaten by her pimp, Stan. | Catwoman v1 (mini-series) #1 <2.89> | ||
| On the advice of a sympathic cop, Selina seeks out Ted (Wildcat) Grant for self-defense training. Ted also advises her to cut her hair. | Catwoman v1 #1 | ||
| Attempting to rob a high-rise, Selina is injured in a narrow escape. She retreats to Stan and the care of her friend Holly. | Catwoman Annual #2 <95> [a “Year One” story; establishes Selina is 19 at this time]. The flashbacks in this tale were not written to integrate well with the earlier mini-series, to put it mildly, but they’re not irreconcileable. E.g., this incident is placed here largely because of the scene in which Holly cuts Selina’s hair. | ||
| With a new sense of purpose and responsibility, Hal Jordan voluntarily submits to a 90-day prison sentence for drunk driving. His social worker is one Guy Gardner (see 1986, ’93/Yr5). Meanwhile, covertly, Hal continues GL training under Sinestro. When Korugar throws off Sinestro’s tyrannical rule, he unsuccessfully seeks refuge with Hal, but is captured by the Guardians and exiled to the anti-matter universe of Qward. | GL:ED #6; GL:ED II #1-6 <6-11.91>. Hal serves out the remainder of his 90 days uneventfully. (However, as above, the canonicity of this account is uncertain at this writing, given the updated “New Earth” origin currently appearing in GL v4 #29-35. That story does reference ongoing training with Sinestro, but other details remain in doubt.) Sinestro later returns from exile, naturally, armed with a yellow power ring: GL v3 #100 <7.98> (orig. GL v2 #7 <7-8.61>). | ||
| [Mar 11] After a winter of planning and a false start at crimefighting, Bruce Wayne finds inspiration from an errant bat breaking through his window. | Batman (Year One) #404. Selina crosses paths with Bruce in his “false start,” as seen in this story and also in Catwoman v1 #1. | ||
| A client/mark gives Selina Kyle a whip. She asks Ted Grant to train her to use it. | Catwoman v2 #0 <10.94>, v1 #1. The zero issue was also not written to dovetail easily with earlier accounts of her origin, but these two scenes actually complement one another when combined. | ||
| [Apr 9] Bruce Wayne first dons cape and cowl to strike fear into the hearts of criminals—and the Batman makes his debut. | ZHTL*; Batman (Year One) #405 <3.87>. Bruce is 26 at this time. His debut, like Superman’s, is necessarily moved back several years relative to ZH to accommodate other events—notably the histories of Barbara Gordon, Dick Grayson, Wally West, the Teen Titans, and the Justice League of America, as discussed in the Section Introduction. | ||
| [Apr 14] When four people die while Bruce Wayne is on a date, Bruce realizes he can’t balance a personal life with his fight for justice—and commits himself fully to his mission as the Batman. | Batman Chronicles #19 <Win.00> | ||
| [Apr 23] Granted super-speed by lighting-struck chemicals, Central City police scientist Barry Allen becomes the second Flash, the fastest man alive. He soon battles the Turtle-Man. | ZHTL*; Life Story of the Flash GN <97> [provides date]; (originally Showcase #4 <9-10.56>). Barry thus retains his traditional position as the first “second generation” hero of the Silver Age. Barry is 24 at this time [Secret Origins Annual #2 <88>]. In a minor time flux, Booster Gold helps ensure the events of Barry’s origin [Booster Gold v2 #17 <4.09>]. Note that from this point, I have “redistributed” events over the next nine years or so, vs. five years in DC’s timeline(s), to allow most events to unfold in a closer approximation of their original published sequence—per the framework discussed in the Section Intro—and to avoid incongruities and inconsistencies with numerous other known canonical events. | ||
| Selina Kyle meets and takes up with a professional thief named Stark, who teaches her more refined tricks of the trade. | Catwoman: Selina’s Big Score GN <2002>. Placement approximate, but in logical sequence between other events. | ||
| Small-time Gotham arsonist Matches Malone fakes his own death and skips town, and the Batman—having trouble establishing a credible underworld alias of his own—assumes Malone’s identity for future use. | Batman #589 <5.01>, in a flashback (set ambiguously early in Batman’s career) from Malone’s present-day return and real death. It must precede the Clayface origin story below, however, as Bruce uses the Malone identity in that tale. (Malone 1st app. Batman #242 <6.72>.) | ||
| [Early May] Treasure-hunter Matt Hagen mutates into the shapeshifting criminal Clayface, posing the first real challenge to the Batman's confidence. | SO v2 #44 <9.89>, LODK #89-90 <12.96-1.97>, BVSF #1; (1st app. ’Tec #298 <12.61>). BVSF’s timeline puts this in “Year 4”—impossible, given Hagen’s earlier appearance in 1990/Yr2 [JLA:Y1 #2]. The LODK story sets it here, only “three weeks into my mission,” according to Bruce. (Thus Hagen, traditionally known as Clayface II based on publishing order, now stands as the first; Basil “Clayface I” Karlo [see 1985/Yr3] becomes the second, although he still has a prior claim on the nickname from his acting days.) | ||
| [May] Superman first encounters Batman, and they work together uneasily to capture the villain Magpie. | MoS #3 <11.86> [described as “eight months” after Superman’s debut], Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #4 <95>. | ||
| [May] The Unknown Soldier’s former boss, General Roth, becomes chairman of the Joint Chiefs… and the Soldier finds his friends threatened and killed in order to keep him under Roth’s thumb. | Unknown Soldier v2 #11 <11.89> | ||
| Selina Kyle attempts to rob a museum, and encounters a martial artist/thief named Kai. She follows him to his dojo and begins training with his sensei, the Armless Master. | Catwoman Annual #2. Again, placement approximate but logical. She has been laying low for “months” since the high-rise incident. Note also that she uses a whip in this outing, with some skill. | ||
| [June 6-7] The Batman is covertly working with assistant DA Harvey Dent by this point, but still hunted by the authorities. He narrowly escapes a police ambush in an abandoned building. | Batman (Year One) #405-6 <3-4.87>. We may speculate that many people believe him to have died in this firebombing incident, perhaps contributing to his status as an “urban legend” in later years. Selina and Holly witness this encounter (and are bitten by bats), as seen in the story and corroborated in Catwoman v1 #1 and Catwoman Annual #2; per the latter source, it interrupts Selina’s first good night’s sleep after “weeks” of training. | ||
| [June 17] Selina Kyle punches her pimp Stan and leaves for good, taking Holly with her. She soon fashions an improvised catsuit in which she ambushes Stan, scratching his face. | Batman (Year One) #406 <4.87> and Catwoman Annual #2; Catwoman v1 #1-2 <2-3.89>. Her estranged sister Maggie, now a nun, witnesses the attack on Stan in the latter source, and redoubles her months-long effort to locate Selina. | ||
| When arsonists target Alan Scott’s Gotham Broadcasting studios in retaliation for an exposé on crimelord “Roman” Falcone, Scott (the original Green Lantern) meets the Batman. | Batman: Gotham Knights #10 <12.00>. Date imprecise, but clearly early, well before the JLA announces itself in Gotham [see 1990/Yr2]. This may well stand as the first “canonical” meeting of Golden Age and modern heroes. | ||
| In Sicily, young Helena Bertinelli (see 1986) begins to study martial arts and weaponry under her cousin Sal Asaro. | Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #4 <9.00>, Huntress: Y1 #1. She is 11 at this point. Over the course of four years, she becomes an expert. | ||
| [Aug 7] Inspired by the Batman, Selina Kyle takes to the streets in an improved costume as the Catwoman. | ZHTL*; Batman (Year One) #407 <5.87>, Catwoman v1 #2, Catwoman v2 #0, Catwoman Annual #2, and other sources. According to the Annual, in her first outing she robs Peterson Mall. | ||
| [Aug] Dinah Laurel Lance, trained by Ted (Wildcat) Grant, steps into her mother’s boots as the Black Canary. | ZHTL*; S:MOS Annual #4. Dinah is 19 at this time [BC/Oracle: Birds of Prey #1 <3.96> text page], and has recently ended a bad college-freshman marriage [BoP: Wolves <10.97>]. | ||
| [Aug] In quick succession Superman meets Hal (GL) Jordan (stopping a satellite crash), and Barry (Flash) Allen (battling the Weather Wizard). | S:MOS Annual #4; the month [same as for the Black Canary entry directly above] is given in the story. (Weather Wizard’s original 1st app.: Flash v1 #110 <12-1.60>; origin: [SO v2 #41 <6.89>].) | ||
| Arthur (Orin) Curry meets the Flash, in battle against the Trickster, and debuts as Aquaman. | ZHTL*; Aquaman: Time & Tide #1 <12.93>. The story establishes that Green Lantern is already publicly known. (Trickster’s original 1st app.: Flash v1 #113 <7.60>; origin: [SO v2 #41].) | ||
| In the small southeast Asian country of Minglia, Hal Jordan—testing Ferris Aircraft fighters for the government—first meets Oliver Queen, investigating rebel thefts of Queen Industries munitions. Ollie is injured, and rescued by the rebels. | Legends of the DC Universe #7 <8.98>. The first page establishes that the story begins in the summer—which fits fine after Hal’s 90-day jail term, as well. Note also that Ollie is living in his penthouse as the story begins. | ||
| [Sep] Batman confronts the anonymous criminal the Red Hood at Gotham’s Ace Chemical Plant. | Batman SF #1 <10.97>, Batman Villains SF #1 <10.98>, and especially Man Who Laughs GN <4.05> confirm the Joker’s origin and previous history as the small-time crook the Red Hood, as alluded to in Batman: The Killing Joke GN <88> (orig. ’Tec #168 <2.51>). MWL sets this “three months” before the Joker’s debut [below]. Batman #614 <6.03> states that Batman has known him “longer than any other criminal” (…currently active, one must assume). | ||
| Edward Nigma, preparing for his own criminal career (below), inadvertantly witnesses the murder of a woman he soon learns was the Red Hood’s wife. | Gotham Knights #54 <8.04>. Captioned as “twelve years earlier,” but clearly that’s an editorial-timeline-influenced term meaning only “during year one.” | ||
| Robert “Hob” Gadling (see 1889) is pleased to see Morpheus (recently freed) show up for their regular centennial meeting… with a more friendly demeanor. | Sandman #13 <2.90>. Note that due to its precisely dated historical antecedents, this has necessarily fallen far out-of-sequence with the surrounding issues [see 2001/Yr13]. It simply cannot “slide forward” (and thus mandates the same for Sandman’s return to freedom [see 1988]). | ||
| [Autumn] Superman meets Aquaman, battling Poseidon. Soon after, in Denver, he encounters J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter. | Aquaman Annual #1 <95>, S:MOS Annual #4. The latter of these meetings inspires J’onn to stop operating in secret. Note that Trickster is already in jail at this point, and that the Flash sent Superman to meet Aquaman; also that the sequence of chapters in the Aquaman Annual cannot be accurate, as Mera and Garth didn’t enter his life until later. Note further that the version of J’onn and Superman’s first costumed meeting shown at the end of Martian Manhunter v2 #20 <7.00> does not match this account. | ||
| Adam Strange first teleports to Rann. | ZHTL*; SO v2 #17 <8.87>; (ShC #17 <11-12.58>). (“May 6” on the 1976 Super DC Calendar, but that date may well be apocryphal now.) | ||
| Dr. Bruce Gordon, injured by a black diamond, becomes unwilling host to Eclipso, the God of Vengeance. | ZHTL*; (1st app. House of Secrets #61 <7-8.63>). This occurred later in both the ZH Timeline and the publishing sequence, but must be moved up to accommodate Eclipso’s presence in JLA:Y1 # 2 <2.98> [see 1990/Yr2]. | ||
| On her third outing, Catwoman double-crosses her mentor Stark on a caper to steal diamonds from the Falcones. | C:SBS GN. Placement approximate. | ||
| [Oct 12] Gotham police lieutenant James Gordon becomes a father when his wife Barbara gives birth to James Jr. | Batman (Year One) #407 | ||
| Hal Jordan returns to Minglia, where he and Oliver Queen meet for the first time in their costumed identities. Green Lantern and Green Arrow join forces, tenuously, to expose the treacherous General Zho’s efforts to derail peace talks with the rebels. | LDCU #8-9 <9-10.98>. Ollie has spent the intervening three months recuperating in the rebel camp, and he experiences a crisis of conscience when he realizes the damage done by his company’s weaponry. Note that this entire prolonged adventure must precede the founding of the JLA [see 1990/Yr2]. | ||
| [Nov 1] On her fourth outing as Catwoman, Selina steals Cmmr. Loeb’s collection of “pop memorabilia.” | Batman (Year One) #407 | ||
| [Nov 2] Catwoman first encounters the Batman, in a raid on the home of crimelord “Roman” Falcone. | Batman (Year One) #407. She leaves permanent scratch marks on Falcone’s face in this incident. | ||
| [Nov 3] Gangsters kidnap Jim Gordon’s son, seeking to intimidate him; Batman (sans mask) rescues the infant, earning Gordon’s trust. | Batman (Year One) #407. In the weeks that follow corrupt police commissioner Gillian Loeb is prosecuted by Dent, using testimony from Flass, and Jim Gordon is promoted to Captain. | ||
| Small-time crook Eddie Nigma begins committing big-time crime capers as the Riddler. | SO Special #1 <10.89>, Detective Annual #8 <95>, Batman Villains SF #1 <10.98> [stating “Year One”]; (1st app. ’Tec #140 <10.48>; Silver Age: Batman #171 <5.65>). The date is uncertain (as is the sequence relative to other villains of this period); the Annual places his debut on “March Fourth,” but there is no March 4 on which Batman is active and Gordon still a Lieutenant as depicted. | ||
| Pamela Isley, subjected to bizarre experiments by Prof. Jason Woodrue, attempts to extort rich Gothamites as the alluring yet deadly Poison Ivy. | SO v2 #36 <1.89>, Shadow of the Bat Annual #3 <95>, BVSF #1 [“Year One”]; (orig. Batman #181 <6.66>). Exact date uncertain; the Annual story mentions Catwoman, but Gordon is still a Lieutenant. As with Man-Bat below, this is earlier in Batman’s career than the character had appeared pre-Crisis. | ||
| Selina’s former pimp Stan kidnaps her sister Maggie. Catwoman tracks him down and rescues her, and Stan dies trying to escape. | Catwoman v1 #2-4 <3-5.89>. Batman is present for the climax, and in the aftermath Catwoman recalls their previous encounter and he mentions cooperation with Gordon, setting a limit on the placement of these events. | ||
| Selina’s martial arts rival Kai invades a TV station, and learns of Catwoman’s escapades. | Catwoman Annual #2. The incidents mentioned include the encounter with the Roman, above. | ||
| Batman confronts the evil scientist dubbed “Dr. Death.” | Batman #682 <1.09> (an oblique reference to the events of ’Tec #29-30 <7-8.39>). Writer Grant Morrison’s guiding conceit is that the current Batman’s life history includes all the original Golden Age and Silver Age adventures, but it isn’t really possible for that to be so consonant with current continuity. However, specific stories he references (like this one) can usually be wedged in, with the full details remaining unchronicled. | ||
| Imagining his war on crime might soon be over, Bruce Wayne begins dating socialite Julie Madison. However, he soon becomes embroiled in the conflict between gangster Sal Maroni and a rogue scientist he's funding, the freakish Dr. Hugo Strange, who is experimenting on live humans and turning them into murderous brutes. Batman stops the immediate threat, but both criminals escape justice. | Batman and the Monster Men #1-6 <11.05-4.06>; BVSF #1 [“Year One”]. This story also includes what may be Bruce’s earliest use of the Batcave as a base of operations [see also Detective #0 <10.94>], and his earliest precursor to the Batmobile. The first issue shows Julie’s father reading a newspaper article about the Red Hood [above], but given other chronological clues (e.g., Commissioner Grogan has replaced Loeb, Gordon is now a Captain), that paper must be several weeks out of date. (Hugo Strange orig. 1st app. Detective #36 <2.40>; this tale is loosely inspired by his second original appearance, in Batman #1 <Spr.40>.) | ||
| Julie Madison is hypnotized and kidnapped by the mysterious vampiric Monk and his assistant Dala, until Batman intervenes. In the wake of her father's death and her discovery of Batman's identity, however, Julie leaves both Gotham and Bruce behind, pursuing relief work in Africa. | Batman and the Mad Monk #1-6 <10.06-3.07>. Note that in both this tale and its precursor above, Gordon is working with Batman, but only in secret, not yet openly. Batman has also developed a second, more customized Batmobile. The story also includes another, brief encounter with Catwoman. (This tale is also loosely inspired by a Golden Age original, from ’Tec #31-32 <9-10.39>. Grant Morrison’s Batman #682 suggests that Julie left to pursue an acting career, and without knowing Bruce’s secret, as in the Golden Age accounts—but that flashback is based explicitly on unreliable memories. Of course, it is possible that she traveled briefly to Hollywood before moving on to Africa.) The closing scene, weeks later, leads directly into MWL [below]. | ||
| Batman begins to expand the Batcave and redesigns the Batmobile, perfecting his future modus operandi… all while dodging a police manhunt engineered by Dr. Hugo Strange, who very nearly unearths his dual identity. Ultimately, he succeeds in discrediting Strange and rescuing the kidnapped daughter of Gotham’s mayor, winning his tacit support. | Legends of the Dark Knight #11-15 <9.90-2.91>, “Prey”. This story may be superseded in current canon by the Monster Men tale above, but then again the final scene of that one does leave the door open for this one, by showing Strange “rehabilitating” himself as a TV psychiatrist. An improvised Bat-signal also makes its debut in this story, in #12… but the device is first formally introduced at the end of MWL [below]. Batman also develops a more sophisticated Batmobile, in apparent contradiction of a scene in MWL. | ||
| Batman defeats the “Dirigible of Doom.” | Batman #682 (a one-panel reference to the events of ’Tec #33 <11.39>). | ||
| [Nov 30] The lunatic villain known as the Joker first menaces Gotham, publicly killing millionaire Henry Claridge. | ZHTL*; Man Who Laughs [superseding the pre-ZH version of Joker’s debut depicted in LODK #50 <9.93>]; (Joker and Claridge orig. 1st app. Batman #1 <Spr.40>). The story opens with what Bruce calls his first “real world” usage of the Batmobile (a seeming conflict with the Monk and Hugo Strange stories above). Note that the new commissioner here is named Jack Grogan, whereas in Monster Men he’s called Edward. | ||
| [Dec 3] The Joker brings his schemes to fruition with a plan to poison Gotham’s reservoir, narrowly averted by the Batman. | Batman (Year One) #407 [provides date], MWL. Cmmr. Loeb is still “conferring with the Mayor on the terms of his resignation.” Meanwhile, Gordon formally unveils the Bat-Signal in the coda to this tale, at the suggestion of that same Mayor. | ||
| The Batman apprehends serial killer Rudolph Klemper. | Batman Annual #14 <90>. Six months before his conviction; see June of 1990/Yr2. This leads into the origin of Two-Face, later that same year. | ||
| Psychotic ex-college professor Jonathan Crane begins carrying out revenge schemes as the Scarecrow. | Batman Annual #19 <95>, BVSF #1 [stating “Year One”]; (1st app. World’s Finest v1 #3 <Aut.41>; Silver Age: Batman #189 <2.67>). Exact date is uncertain; in the Annual Gordon is depicted as a Captain, and the Bat-Signal is in use. The story also refers in passing to Two-Face, but that reference likely needs to be be set aside, as the Scarecrow appears repeatedly in Long Halloween [see 1990/Yr2] prior to Two-Face’s origin. | ||
| Scientist Kirk Langstrom transforms himself into the monstrous Man-Bat. | SO v2 #39 <4.89>, LODK Annual #5 <95>, BVSF #1 [“Year One”]; (orig. ’Tec #400 <6.70>). Exact date uncertain, but the giant penny and dinosaur in the Batcave are certainly anachronisms [see 1991/Yr3]. The story actually spans nine months before Langstrom is successfully cured. | ||
| Selina Kyle’s rival increasingly deranged rival Kai murders a crooked vice cop. | Catwoman Annual #2, set a “month” after the TV station invasion above. | ||
| [Dec] The Unknown Soldier executes a sting that results in Gen. Roth’s death at the hand of his own security forces, and disappears into deep cover. | Unknown Soldier v2 #12 <12.89> | ||
| The Batman brings in gangster Sal Maroni. Dent has Gordon recruit a trio of honest cops to formally serve an arrest warrant, and then attempts to prosecute him. | Two-Face: Year One #1 <9.08>. Questionable, since so much of this tale is difficult to place in continuity: Joker and Scarecrow have already debuted, yet Loeb is still Commissioner (if accurate, it’s certainly his last days in office). There’s even a reference to the Holiday killer, clearly an anachronism at this point [see June of 1990/Yr2]. Harvey Bullock is part of Gordon’s squad, making this his chronologically earliest appearance [previously in 1991/Yr3]—and Maggie Sawyer has apparently left Metropolis for the GCPD around this time as well, although she evidently returns later. In the end, the best placement probably matches Dent’s offhand “Merry Christmas” remark. | ||
| The Flash battles the atomic villain Professor Fallout (Manfred Mota), witnessed by the time-travelling John Fox (see 27th Century). | Flash Special #1 <90>. Exact date approximate; fifteen years before Mota’s encounter with Wally West [see 2004/Yr16], per Flash v3 #3 <10.06>. | ||
| More costumed criminals appear in Central City: besides the Trickster and Weather Wizard (see above), by year’s end the Flash has also faced Captain Cold1 and Dr. Alchemy2. | LSOF; respective origins/1st apps: 1SO v2 #41, (ShC #8 <5-6.57>); 2(ShC #13-14 <4-7.58>). They’re not as homicidal as the ones in Gotham, though… :-) | ||
| 1990 | “Year Two” | ↑ top | |
| [Mid Jan] Bruce Wayne learns a disturbing lesson about unintended consequences of Wayne Enterprises’ acts when a downsized employee loses his mind and becomes a mass murderer. | Batman: Tenses #1-2 <10-11.03>. The story opens when “three weeks ago” was “just before Christmas,” and Bruce has been back “just over a year.” (The later reference to his parents’ murder as “thirteen years ago,” however, as well as a “1988” date on a computer screen, are incorrect in light of the bulk of contrary evidence.) | ||
| The Batman is haunted by crimes that trace back to his training with Willie Doggett (see 1988). | LODK #1-5 <11.89-3.90>, “Shaman”—set during the Batman’s first winter in Gotham. | ||
| Oliver Queen meets Batman for the first time (and Bruce Wayne for only the second), in an adventure that has him doubting his costumed role… until a revenge scheme by General Zho (soon deceased) draws him overseas to Dhabar, where he recovers his courage. | LODK #127-131 <3-7.00>. This tale (set “a couple months” after Minglia) poses many conflicts with other Green Arrow history; e.g., Ollie is living in a cheap urban apartment, apparently broke, but still beardless and using his original costume. This can only fit here (hence Bruce has not been Batman for “two years” as stated, and his costume is mis-depicted). Note Ollie’s lawyer’s reference to some “legal stuff” he’s been avoiding, though, which may allow a way to reconcile this with later events [see 1991/Yr3]. | ||
| Batman becomes obsessed with increasing his effectiveness through the use of the steroidal drug “Venom,” but finally breaks the habit. | LODK #16-20 <3-7.91>; this story allegedly spans many “months” (at least, several weeks) early in Yr2. Venom is the same drug used by Bane in later years [see 2002/Yr14]. | ||
| J’onn J’onzz, following up a case in Gotham, meets the Batman. | MM v2 #22 <9.00>. Date approximate; Jim Gordon is depicted as a Captain, but the JLA has clearly not yet been formed. | ||
| [Mar] Clark Kent and Superman both have their “first” (public) encounter with Lex Luthor, at a party on his yacht, leading to his arrest for public endangerment and igniting a lifelong grudge in the billionaire. | MoS #4 <11.86>—stated to be a year and a half after Superman’s debut (Luthor was traveling abroad in the interim). This may no longer be canonical, but thus far no story has replaced it. | ||
| Luthor summons Clark Kent and Lois Lane for an interview, disclosing his theory that Superman is really an alien. | Birthright #5 [final scene]-6 <1-3.04>. Provisional canonicity only; this may be an aberrant hypertimeline, and at the very least many details cannot be taken at face value. If valid, it certainly cannot occur a mere week after Superman’s debut, as depicted, and thus Luthor’s anger at Clark’s reporting likely pertains to the recent yacht incident. It is here that Clark first mentions Luthor’s past in Smallville [see 1979], which Luthor categorically denies. In Birthright #7-8 <4-5.04> Clark then returns to Smallville to reflect on that history, which is indeed “ten years ago” at this point. | ||
| Luthor perfects his subspace viewer (see 1980), and perpetrates a public hoax about an invasion from Krypton, until he is exposed by Superman. | Birthright #8 [final page]-12 <5-9.04>. Provisional canonicity only; this may represent an aberrant hypertimeline, and at the very least many details cannot be taken at face value. Luthor’s “revelation” to Superman of his Kryptonian origins cannot easily be reconciled either with the latest accounting of Clark’s teen years [see 1979], nor for that matter with the previous account from MoS #6 [see 1997/Yr9]. | ||
| [Late Mar] Superman and Batman work together to capture killer vigilante Eric Stang—but apparently fail to save the life of plastic surgeon Harrison Grey. | Batman & Superman: World’s Finest #1 <4.99>. The “Year One” designation aside, this cannot occur earlier than here, as Luthor appears in the story—nor can it occur later, since B&S:WF #2, set on the anniversary of these events, occurs [as implied in #3] before Robin’s costumed debut [see 1991/Yr3]. | ||
| Princess Diana of Themyscira comes to “Patriarch’s World,” settling in Boston, and is soon dubbed Wonder Woman by the press. | Wonder Woman v2 #1-6 <2-7.87>. Details and placement entirely speculative at this point. We know that in “New Earth” history she debuted early enough to co-found the JLA, but have otherwise been given no information at all with which to revise her post-Crisis origins. (Moreover, through the eccentricities of time travel [see 1942], she can actually be seen as either the first or the second Wonder Woman.) | ||
| John Constantine’s father, Thomas, is slain by the serial killer “The Family Man,” who leads John on a cat-and-mouse chase. | Hellblazer #28 <4.90>, Hellblazer SF #1 <8.00>. | ||
| Gotham scientist Victor Fries, altered by a lab accident, confronts the Batman as Mr. Freeze. | Batman: Mr. Freeze special <97>, BVSF #1 [“Year Two”]; (1st app. Batman #121 <2.59>). Exact date uncertain. | ||
| Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot hatches his criminal career as the absurd-yet-deadly Penguin. | SO Special #1, BVSF #1 [“Year Two”]. Exact date uncertain. | ||
| The Batman confronts a vigilante youth gang inspired by his own actions… and Dr. Leslie Thompkins (see 1971) learns of Bruce’s double identity. | LODK #21-23 <8-10.91>, “Faith.” This may represent Batman’s earliest canonical costumed encounter with Dr. Thompkins; her discovery of his secret here appears to conflict with a Halloween tale below, however. The Flying Graysons also make a cameo appearance, “months” before their fatal circus visit to Gotham. | ||
| [Apr?] Bruce Wayne, troubled by dreams about the negative impact of his obsessions, is inspired to establish the charitable Wayne Foundation, and hires Lucius Fox (see 1984) to manage his business affairs. | LODK Halloween Special #3 <95>. Properly placing the events of the Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale Specials is exceedingly problematic. These apparently cover three separate Halloweens—and their subseqent Long Halloween and Dark Victory cover two more each, plus several other holidays—yet all the stories appear to require settings between Years Two and Five, and furthermore seem simultaneously to acknowledge and yet to disregard related continuity. One is sorely tempted to dismiss the entire corpus of work as apocryphal, were it not (A) highly regarded, and (B) the source for various events elsewhere treated as canonical (e.g., in “Hush”). Here, e.g., we have a tale that includes the Joker and the Penguin (i.e., no earlier than Yr2)—with no Robin, Gordon still a Captain, and (most significantly) the origin of the Wayne Foundation (hence, also no later than Yr2). Yet Halloween of this year is already decidedly overbooked [see below]. Accordingly, I have speculatively decided (not without some trepidation) to locate this tale here, around Easter—which accommodates other necessary events, retains a holiday setting, and has no apparent substantive impact on the plot. (We may perhaps imagine an egg hunt rather than trick-or-treating in the final scene?) | ||
| The Flash Museum is erected in Central City. | LSOF [described as “within a year” of his debut]; (orig. Flash v1 #154 <8.65>). | ||
| Swamp Thing tracks the Conclave, killers of Alec and Linda Holland (see 1982), to Gotham City, and encounters the Batman. Swamp Thing then returns to the solace of the Louisiana bayou. | Swamp Thing SF #1 (“18 years ago”—or two years after his debut, no longer possible given Batman’s involvement); (orig. ST v1 #7 <10-11.73> et seq.). Date approximate. | ||
| Wonder Woman briefly crosses paths with Superman while providing aid in the war-torn Balkans. | WW v2 #226 <4.06>, a flashback set “less than two months” after Diana’s debut. It’s also captioned “nine years ago” as of publication, which wasn’t too far off, but is now moot in current canon. Even with timeline sliding, the Balkan reference can’t quite be accurate, as military conflict in Yugoslavia did not begin until mid-1991 (in reaction first to the secession of Slovenia, then of Croatia). | ||
| Six months after the Minglia adventure, Oliver Queen (still living in a cheap apartment) tells Hal Jordan that he’s sold off his munitions business, and donated the proceeds to the Minglian war relief fund. | LDCU #9—but despite appearances to the contrary, Ollie cannot have sold all his business ventures, and this is not a retcon of how he lost his fortune and changed his outlook. That’s years off yet [see 1994/Yr6]. | ||
| Selina (Catwoman) Kyle graduates from her dojo. Her rival Kai, now costumed as Hellhound, attempts to kill her, but she defeats him decisively. | Catwoman Annual #2, concluding “374 days” after the two characters' first meeting. | ||
| Sal Maroni (arrested the previous December) walks in a mistrial, frustrating prosecutor Harvey Dent. | Two-Face:Y1 #1. (Continuity status uncertain.) Date approximate, but it needs to precede Maroni’s involvement in the gang war below. | ||
| [Early Jun] After a six-month trial, serial killer Rudolph Klemper is acquitted—only to die mysteriously (secretly the work of DA Harvey Dent). Soon after, Jim Gordon officially “introduces” Dent to the Batman, and the trio forge an uneasy alliance. In their first joint effort, Dent helps the Batman burn a stash of ill-gotten money belonging to mobster Carmine “the Roman” Falcone… and has his own home bombed in retaliation. | Batman Annual #14 <90>; Batman: The Long Halloween #1 <12.96>. Gordon’s son is “seven months” old. Superficial differences (in dialogue, etc.) notwithstanding, a close look at the details reveals that the latter (longer) story is clearly meant to expand upon the former, not supersede it. However, note that the internal timeline of Long Halloween cannot be fully reconciled with other known events, as it would delay Two-Face’s debut until late Year Three—while its sequel, Batman: Dark Victory <12.99-12.00>, would push Robin’s debut all the way to Year Five. However, if most of the tale’s specific holiday references are disregarded, and the crimes depicted are read as merely holiday-themed, the timeframe can be compressed [as below] while the rest of the story remains intact. | ||
| A series of murders by the press-dubbed “Holiday killer” ignites a gang war between the Roman and rival mobster Salvatore “Boss” Maroni. (Meanwhile, Selina Kyle has begun using her ill-gotten gains and newfound confidence to remake her life—becoming a socialite, and even attempting to romance Bruce Wayne.) | Long H’ween #2-4 <1-3.97>, compressed as discussed above. As shown in issue #3, and corroborated in BVSF #1, Batman has confronted the Calendar Man (1st app. ’Tec #259 <9.58>) sometime prior to this point. Selina’s lifestyle shift is also confirmed by Catwoman SF #1 <11.02>. The mysterious murders of several of Maroni’s men in TF:Y1 #1 also presumably fall during this period. | ||
| [Jun] Wally West, visiting his aunt Iris West in Central City, is miraculously struck by a lab accident duplicating Barry Allen’s, and becomes Kid Flash. | ZHTL*; SO Annual #2, Flash v2 #62-65 <5-8.92> [“Born to Run” ; stated to be the “first week of summer vacation”], LSOF [placing this “about a year” after Flash’s debut]; (orig. Flash v1 #110 <12-1.60>, just prior to the JLA’s first appearance). Given the latest changes to Roy (Speedy) Harper’s backstory, Wally now stands out as the very first “kid sidekick” of the modern era. The first two sources solidly establish that this occurs the summer Wally is ten years old. Since Wally turned 21 during the Alien Alliance’s Invasion [Flash v2 #21 <Hol.88>; see 2000/Yr12], the condensed dating of DC’s timeline would introduce a contradiction—making him either significantly younger then, or significantly older when he received his powers [as in Flash SF #2 <11.98>, which in an apparent sop to ZH suggests age 14, an anomalous reference that contradicts the preponderance of other evidence and should thus be disregarded]. | ||
| JSA offspring (and future Infinitors—see 1998/Yr10) Hector Hall, Lyta Trevor, Al Rothstein, and Rick Tyler, all adolescents, meet for the first time. | Infinity, Inc. v1 #27 <6.86>. The JSA is in retirement at the time, but nevertheless keeps in touch [as also seen in JLA:Y1 #4 <4.98>]. The story requires minor revisions for current continuity; e.g., Star-Spangled Kid and Power Girl cannot be present. Lyta and Hector are 12; Albert is 11 [per Who’s Who in the DC Universe v2 <8.90-2.92>]; Rick must be about 14 [see 1975]. | ||
| [Jun 27] Putting extortion pressure on Haly’s Circus during its run in Gotham, crime boss Anthony Zucco arranges the murder of aerialists John and Mary Grayson—Dick Grayson’s parents. | SO v2 #13 <4.87>, #50 <8.90>, Robin Annual #4 <95>, etc.; many other retellings. Date from Nightwing mini-series #1 <9.95>, superseding earlier sources which suggested autumn (e.g., SO #50, Ms. Tree Quarterly #1 <Sum.90>). The account in Dark Victory #9-11 <8-10.00> also presents inconsistencies, mostly chronological, but if Dick’s scenes are extracted from the rest of the story they’re provisionally reconcilable. | ||
| Ambitious new hero Triumph attempts to form a team, but becomes trapped in a time loop, erasing the event. | JL #92 <9.94> | ||
| Physics graduate student Ray Palmer uses the size-changing energies of a white dwarf star fragment to become the second Atom. | ZHTL*; SO v2 #29 <8.88>, JLA:Y1 #2 (calling him active “about a week” before the JLA forms—hence moved up slightly from the original publishing sequence (ShC #34 <9-10.61>), relative to the JLA). | ||
| [Summer] Eight young heroes band together to defeat invading Appellaxian alien warriors—and decide to form the Justice League of America, the first super-hero group of the modern age. | ZHTL*; SO v2 #32 <11.88>, JLA:Y1 #1 <1.98>, 52 #51 <4.07>; (revising JLofA v1 #9 <2.62>). The initial core members are the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Black Canary, and J’onn J’onzz. Dinah is still 19 at this point. The exact date is uncertain—but one popular fan conjecture is July 4th, and it’s at least a valid possibility. Co-founders Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman formally join a few months later, below (a revision to “New Earth” history as compared to post-Crisis canon, in which none were active Leaguers until years later). | ||
| A group of rogue geneticists called Locus steal one of the captured Appellaxians. | JLA:Y1 #1, set the day after the attempted invasion. | ||
| The Leaguers hold a press conference in Gotham to announce the team’s formation. Four villains attack (Solomon Grundy, Thorn, Eclipso, and Clayface II), sent by Vandal Savage, but they are defeated—with the help of Green Arrow. Simon Carr introduces himself to the League, representing an anonymous benefactor. | JLA:Y1 #2, set the week after the attempted invasion. This is Ollie and Dinah’s first meeting. We may speculate that she has just turned 20, to be closer to consistency with the statement that Ollie was “12 years” her senior when they met [BC/O: BoP #1], since he is probably 33 by this point [based on his age in Longbow Hunters <87>; see 2000/Yr12]. The benefactor is actually Oliver Queen; given the Queen Industries reorganization alluded to in LDCU #9, above, we may speculate that Ollie has resumed control of the company’s remaining (non-munitions) operations by this point, and also resumed his playboy persona, though it’s more of an act than before. | ||
| The Leaguers set up their Secret Sanctuary in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island, with technical assistance from college student Ted Kord (see 1988) and Simon Carr’s nephew Lucas “Snapper” Carr. | JLA:Y1 #3 <3.98>. T.O. Morrow appears in a cameo, but does not confront the League. Dinah reveals that she knew Jay Garrick (casting further doubt on the supposed “1956” date of his disappearance [see 1979]), although he is now missing. | ||
| The JLA defeats Starro the Conqueror, an alien super-starfish, with Snapper’s assistance. | JLE #26 <5.91>, JLA:Y1 #4 <4.98>; (both recapping the JLA’s original 1st app., in Brave & Bold v1 #28 <2-3.60>). | ||
| The Brotherhood of Evil captures Blue Beetle (see 1939), turning him over to Locus for experimentation. | JLA:Y1 #4. (Details of Blue Beetle’s intervening career and apparent longevity remain unrevealed.) Meanwhile, Dinah learns of her mother’s long-ago affair with Ted Knight [see 1971 ]. Note that Jay Garrick is absent; also the implication that Larry Lance is dead. | ||
| The League stops a flood in California, with Green Arrow’s assistance; then teams with the Doom Patrol to stop the Brotherhood’s attack on Manchester, AL. | JLA:Y1 #5-6 <5-6.98>. Note that J’onn J’onzz is shown to be aware of his true history. Note also that Speedy does not appear alongside GA [see 1991/Yr3]. Negative Man recognizes GL as fellow USAF veteran Hal Jordan. Note: the original Doom Patrol history remains canonical, notwithstanding John Byrne’s 2004 “reboot,” as of Teen Titans v3 #32 <3.06>. | ||
| The League discusses choosing a chairman, and unknown to GL, the other members settle on the Flash. | JL Quarterly #3 <Sum.91>, JLA Secret Files #1 <9.97>, JLA:Y1 #9 <9.98> [dialogue flashback]. | ||
| The Gotham gang war escalates, tangentially involving several villains; the Batman begins to suspect Dent of being the Holiday killer; and “Boss” Maroni, seeking to incriminate Falcone, comes to Dent to strike a deal. | Long H’ween #5-10 <4-9.97>, TF:Y1 #1. Condensed from Long H’ween’s internal timeline, as noted above, to maintain compatibility with other canonical data. The latter source adds the factor that Maroni is spooked by the grisly murders of his underlings. | ||
| [Aug 2] On Falcone’s birthday, Holiday kills the Roman’s daughter Carla. Meanwhile, “Boss” Maroni takes the stand and double-crosses Harvey Dent—scarring his face with acid, smuggled into court for him by Dent’s assistant DA Vernon Fields. | Long H’ween #11 <10.97>; Batman Annual #14, TF:Y1 #1. The Long H’ween internal date appears to be reliable in this instance—while still not much over a “month” after Gordon, Dent, and Batman’s rooftop meeting, as the Annual says. Note that Batman’s courtroom disguise is the same in both stories, and that Dent has the same duplicitous assistant (although his name is given inconsistently as Adrian Fields in the Annual, and Vernon Wells in TF:Y1). | ||
| Captain Gordon and his wife and son are kidnapped to Chicago by old enemies, but rescued by Batman; at the same time, Jim’s niece Barbara is orphaned by a tragic car crash. Jim takes her in. | SO v2 #20 <11.87> [re: Babs], LODK #159-161 <11.02-1.03>. Barbara is 13 at this time [per SO #20], and the date of the story must be partly determined by her age. The LODK tale’s mention of a “web site” is anachronistic (even in DC’s timeline!), although Barbara’s nascent computer skills are legitimate; and its dénouement (noting Jim’s separation from his wife) must fall several weeks later [see below]. Note inconsistencies: SO #20 has Babs’ mother Thelma dying years earlier, and her father Roger dying later in an alcoholic car crash; LDCU #10-11 <11-12.98> has them dying together; this LODK tale has her father long dead when her mother (mis-named Jennifer) dies in a crash. | ||
| After more than a month in Gotham’s youth center, the orphaned Dick Grayson is taken in by Bruce Wayne. | Robin Annual #4; Dark Victory #9 [Dick’s scenes only, in isolation, internal dates ignored; otherwise see 1992/Yr4]. | ||
| His mind fractured, Harvey Dent escapes the hospital where his injuries are being treated. | Batman Annual #14; Long H’ween #11. The escape is not actually immediate, but two weeks after the trial, as the earlier source shows. | ||
| [Sep 1] Harvey Dent hides in the sewers… while Falcone’s son Alberto returns from a faked death to kill Maroni, and is arrested as the Holiday killer. | Long H’ween #12-13 <11-12.97>. Note Maroni’s reference [in LH] to the “three slugs” he took in court [in Batman Annual #14], again linking the two tales. The shooting is again reaffirmed in TF:Y1 #1, although depicted in jail, not a courtroom. | ||
| During the circus’ late-summer return to Gotham, Dick Grayson witnesses “Pop” Haly’s murder. The Batman rescues him from Zucco’s thugs and reveals his secret identity… and Dick, seeking to help find his parents’ killers, begins six months of intensive crimefighting training (see 1991/Yr3). | Robin Annual #4; Dark Victory #10 <9.00> [Dick’s scenes only, in isolation, internal dates ignored]. | ||
| Over a period of several weeks, the newly-formed JLA defeats the Invisible Destroyer, Gorilla Grodd, the Icicle, and the Phantom Doom. | JLA:Y1 #7 <7.98>. These stories remain to be fully chronicled. Grodd orig. 1st app. (Flash v1 #106 <4-5.59>); the Destroyer and the Doom remain unknown. (It has been suggested that Green Arrow and Green Lantern’s Minglia adventure could fall during this “gap,” saving some time… but if shifted, it would lose its status as their first meeting, which seems pointless. The preponderance of other evidence places the JLA’s early days here, regardless.) | ||
| Superman saves Metropolis from nuclear terrorists, once again upstaging Luthor; and on the last day of summer, he saves chemist Jenny Vaughn from a fire. | Superman For All Seasons #2 <9.98>, “Summer.” | ||
| [Autumn] The JLA defeats Xotar, the Weapons Master (see 120th C.), assisted by Superman; they offer him active membership, but he declines. | Action #650 <2.90>, S:MOS Annual #4, JLA:Y1 #7; (all recapping B&B v1 #29 <4-5.60>; note that the original story showed Flash as chairman). Date is approximate. | ||
| Wallly (Kid Flash) West begins experiencing seizures when he runs faster than the speed of sound. | Flash v2 #244-45 <11-12.08>. Date approximate; in the flashback Wally recalls this happening “when I was ten” (thus also confirming his age above). This problem has plagued Wally periodically throughout his career, but it’s a retcon to have it happen this early, and the story indicates that the “speed limit” lasted at least through Wally’s early days in the Teen Titans [see 1992/Yr4]. | ||
| Ralph Dibny, aka the Elongated Man, meets the Flash and begins his heroic career. | ZHTL*; SO v2 #30 <9.88>; (Flash v1 #112 <4-5.60>). He has a cameo in the JLA:Y1 finale [below]. | ||
| Snapper Carr unearths the existence of an additional Appellaxian; meanwhile, the Leaguers are distracted by the discovery that J’onn has been spying on them. | JLA:Y1 #8 <8.98>. The depiction of a full team of Blackhawks in this issue, all still youthful and alive, is a continuity error [see 1943, ’48, ’63, ’67, ’75]. | ||
| The young Barbara Gordon, hiding in her uncle’s office, spies on his meetings with the Batman. | SO v2 #20. No longer her first encounter with him [see above], but still a significant influence. Date approximate. | ||
| Bruce Wayne meets black-widow socialite “Jillian Maxwell” at a Halloween party, and spends a weekend entangled with her designs on his wealth, while simultaneously pursuing the escaped Scarecrow as the Batman. | LODK Halloween Special #1 <93>. The Wayne Foundation exists [placing this after Special #3; see above], but Jim Gordon’s wife is still present [thus preceding events below]. This can fit here, tenuously, only by virtue of the fact that the party and subsequent events take place on a weekend, and thus may well precede the actual date of Halloween. | ||
| [Oct 31] Barbara Gordon is kidnapped by the Mad Hatter (Jervis Tetch), and rescued by Batman. | LODK Halloween Special #2 <94>. With the entry immediately below, this makes for one very busy night, but if the story’s to be canonical at all this is the only Halloween date that fits: Babs is in Gotham but Jim’s wife is still present, and James Jr. is about a year old. The Hatter’s earliest canonical appearance (1st app. ’Tec #230 <4.56>) appears to be above, in Long Halloween. Dr. Leslie Thompkins also appears here, apparently unaware of Bruce’s secret. | ||
| [Oct 31] That same night, Harvey Dent frees several inmates from Arkham, attacks and kills Carmine “The Roman” Falcone, then seeks out his assistant Fields and kills him as well; the Batman finds him threatening his estranged father, and Harvey—on a coin flip—turns himself in. Harvey, hopelessly insane, is locked up… as Two-Face. | Long H’ween #13; Batman Annual #14. (A synthesis of the two stories’ conclusions, which actually works better than one might suspect.) The readers (but not the characters) learn that not only Alberto Falcone but also Harvey’s wife Gilda, and possibly Harvey himself, all acting separately, were truly responsible for the Holiday killings. TF:Y1 #1 also reaffirms the shooting of Fields (despite calling him Wells). | ||
| Two-Face escapes and chases off both other candidates (one honest, one corrupt) running for election as district attorney… but is apprehended by Gordon and the Batman in a confrontation at Arkham. | TF:Y1 #2 <10.08>. The continuity status of this tale remains very questionable. It seems to follow directly on Two-Face’s origin [above] from issue #1, but has Gordon named Commissioner (and Grogan in the mayor’s office), suggesting at least 1992/Yr4. For that matter, it also includes the Ventriloquist, Maxie Zeus, and Killer Croc, all of whom debut years later [see 1994/Yr6, 1997/Yr9, and 1999/Yr11 respectively], kills off the Penny Plunderer [see 1991/Yr3], and shows the Penguin owning the Iceberg Lounge, a post-Crisis setting. On the other hand, it also includes (non-essential) cameos from gangster Franco Bertinelli, who was killed when his daughter Helena (later the Huntress) was only eight, hence years before this [see 1986]. There are other glitches as well. All told, this story may not be worth keeping. | ||
| The Justice Leaguers rebuild their trust by sharing their secret identities, and discover that the final alien has been possessing Simon Carr. They defeat Locus’ plans to xenoform the Earth, but not before Simon summons a full-fledged invasion fleet. | JLA:Y1 #9-10 <9-10.98>. Four months are revealed to have passed since Carr contacted the League [in #2] and, behind the scenes, became possessed. [Given the pace of the story, it seems clear that most of that time passed during the continuity break in issue #7]. | ||
| The Appellaxian invaders ambush almost all other active heroes on Earth, and imprison them on Blackhawk Island. The Leaguers infiltrate and rescue them, and all the heroes combine forces, finally sending the aliens home through a mystic portal. | JLA:Y1 #11-12 <11-12.98>. The roster includes the JSA, the Freedom Fighters, select All-Stars, and virtually all other heroes established in recent years [i.e., since 1957; see Section III]. The appearances of Jay Garrick, the Seven Soldiers of Victory, Phantom Lady, and Uncle Sam are errors, however [see 1991/Yr3, 1995/Yr7, 1964, and 1946, respectively]. Speedy also appears, which was originally valid, but is now apocryphal; see 1991/Yr3. | ||
| Batman confronts his parents’ killer, the criminal Joe Chill—as well as the Reaper (Judson Caspian), back after over 20 years (see 1961). Batman faces down his desire for direct revenge against Chill, but the Reaper himself perishes in a fall while combatting the Dark Knight. | ’Tec #575-578 (“Batman: Year Two”) <6-9.87>. Date approximate. In fact, given Joe Chill’s twice-revised status [first in Batman #0 <10.94>, then more recently in Batman #673 <3.08>, below], this story may no longer be canonical at all; at the very least, Chill’s death at the Reaper’s hands is not. The biggest stumbling block is actually the anachronisms; the story references the Wayne murders as both 20 and 25 years ago (!), and both Gordon’s promotion to Commissioner and Batman’s costume change are inappropriately early, and should be disregarded. The Wayne Foundation, at least (construction of the HQ of which is a significant plot element), can remain provisionally valid [see above]. Dr. Leslie Thompkins is also important to this tale, and clearly knows Bruce’s secret. | ||
| Batman drives Joe Chill to the edge of insanity with covert visits every night for a month… until the terrified Chill realizes his stalker’s true motivation, the Wayne murders, and takes his own life in despair. | Batman #673 <3.08>; (a variant of the original tale from Batman #47 <6-7.48>, in which, however, it was Chill’s henchmen who did him in on realizing he had created the Batman). This new version may superesede significant elements of “Batman: Year Two,” above. Date approximate: after Two-Face’s debut, but before Robin’s. This clarifies the “New Earth” Chill’s final fate, but provides no details about his earlier capture and incarceration, as hinted in Infinite Crisis #6 <5.06>. | ||
| On the day Jim Gordon helps the Batman apprehend a hostage taker who’s grief-stricken at the loss of his family, Gordon’s own wife leaves town with their son. | Batman: Turning Points #1 <1.01>. Date approximate (per events above, not withstanding the “Tale of Year One” in the story’s title). Note the apparent conflict with the events of the Batman: Night Cries GN <92> [but see 1995/Yr7]. | ||
| Hugo Strange returns (see 1989/Yr1) seeking revenge on Batman, and joins forces with the Scarecrow—only to be betrayed, narrowly cheating death once again. | LODK #137-141 <1-5.01>. Date approximation based on a dialogue reference to Two-Face. Catwoman is also involved in the tale; she makes romantic overtures toward Batman, but is rebuffed as an unrepentant criminal. | ||
| [Very Late Autumn] Superman saves Metropolis from a viral toxin engineered by Luthor, with the help of chemist Jenny Vaughn—but at the cost of her life, a catch also engineered by Luthor. | SFAS #3 <10.98>, “Fall.” The opening scenes of Luthor’s criminal booking cannot occur at this time, although they are made to seem so; they are a flashback to the aftermath of Luthor and Superman’s first meeting, months earlier. | ||
| Over the course of the year, the Flash’s “Rogues’ Gallery” has grown to include the Mirror Master1, the Pied Piper2, Gorilla Grodd3, and Captain Boomerang4. | LSOF; respective origins/1st apps: 1(Flash v1 #105 <2-3.59>); 2SO v2 #41, (Flash v1 #106 <4-5.59>); 3SO v2 #40, (Flash v1 #106); 4SO v2 #41, (Flash v1 #117 <11.60>). | ||
| Additions to the Batman’s roster of enemies this year (besides those already mentioned) include the Cavalier (Mortimer Drake)1 and Deadshot (Floyd Lawton)2, both idle playboys who turn to crime in search of adventure. | BVSF #1 [“Year Two”]; respective origins/1st apps: 1(’Tec #81 <11.43>, Silver Age: Wonder Woman v1 #212 <6-7.74>) [note that this is a separate character from the Cavalier (aka Hudson Pyle) seen in LODK #32-34 <6-7.92>]; 2(Batman #59 <6-7.50>, Silver Age: ’Tec #474 <12.77>). | ||
| 1991 | “Year Three” | ↑ top | |
| Superman returns to Smallville demoralized over Jenny Vaughn’s death, to talk with his parents and Lana. He saves the town from a flood, and returns to Metropolis reassured about the good he can do. | SFAS #4 <11.98>, “Winter.” Note: according to Man of Steel #6 <12.86>, Lana herself left Smallville after Superman’s debut, and thus was not present at this time. The contradiction remains unresolved. | ||
| Aquaman returns to Poseidonis (see 1988), and is hailed as King. He appoints Vulko as his regent. | Aquaman SF #1 <12.98>, synthesizing Legend of Aquaman <89>, Aquaman #0 <10.94>, Aquaman Annual #1 <95>, and other sources. The weight of evidence indicates that this return happens after the JLA is established, in contrast to pre-Crisis history… although the Kingship comes earlier, as it originally coincided with his marriage [see 1992/Yr4]. | ||
| Aquaman befriends young Garth of the Idylists, who becomes his partner, Aqualad. | ZHTL*; Tempest #1 <11.96>, Aquaman SF #1. (Garth’s 1st app: Adventure #269 <2.60>.) Tempest #1 merely says Garth was “over ten years” old at this time—but also that he was 15 when he met Tula [see 1993/Yr5], which makes him 13 here. | ||
| Captain Jim Gordon works alongside Sgt. Harvey Bullock, apprehending the Joker without help from the Batman (who’s out of town pursuing terrorists). | LODK #105-106 <4-5.98>. Date approximate; set “around… two years” since the Batman’s debut, and “eight months” before a mayoral election. (Note for chronological purposes that municipal elections aren’t necessarily held in even-numbered years, unlike national ones. Nor are they even necessarily held in November, admittedly (real-world examples include Chicago)… but absent contrary evidence, it’s the safest assumption.) | ||
| On Thanagar, wingman Katar Hol is framed for treason and patricide, and exiled for ten years. | ZHTL*; Hawkworld mini-series #1-4 <7-10.89>. | ||
| Barry Allen and Hal Jordan arrange a social visit—but wind up as Flash and GL, defending Earth from alien Doragians seeking to steal humanity’s “evil.” | Brave & Bold v3 [mini-series] #1 <10.99>. Precise date uncertain. | ||
| [Late Mar] Superman and Batman team again on the anniversary of Dr. Harrison Grey’s death. They defeat the Riddler’s gang and Knodar (see 1947, 2447), and discuss their differing methods. | B&S:WF #2 <5.99>. The characters discus in detail why neither has (yet) joined the JLA; while the conversation may not remain entirely canonical, the fact itself is, as discussed below. Superman also observes with unintentional irony that the Batman could work with “a full-time partner.” (Note, also, the passing mention of Two-Face—yet another reference corroborating that he was active before this point, in contrast to the implications of Long Halloween’s internal chronology.) | ||
| [Spring] Dick Grayson makes his debut as Robin, the Boy Wonder, at the Batman’s side when they finally apprehend Boss Zucco for Dick’s parents’ murder. | ZHTL*; Batman (Year Three) #436-439 <8-10.89>, Robin Annual #4, etc. This is set six months after Pop Haly’s murder, per the Annual. March 21 brings not only Spring but Dick’s birthday, according to the same source, but this appears to have been superseded again in favor of a summer date, per Nightwing #133 <8.07>. At any rate, this year’s birthday would be his 12th—given that Dick turns 20 the year of the Crisis [New Titans #18 <12.85>, SO v2 #13; see 1999/Yr11]. As with Wally West, DC’s timeline’s version of events would radically distort Dick’s history: it’s inconsistent with his age as depicted either then or now, and would also reduce his entire career alongside Batman to only two or three years [instead of six; see 1997/Yr9]! Also note that contrary to the portrayal in Dark Victory #11 <10.00> (as well as the openly apocryphal LODK #100 <11.97>, and certain implications in the highly flawed Nightwing SF <10.99> timeline), Zucco does not die but survives to be incarcerated; his death here would simply conflict with too much other history, not least the entire plot of “Batman: Year Three” [see 2001/Yr13]. Finally, note that contrary to his publishing history, in current canon Robin is not the first heroic “kid sidekick,” having been preceded by both Kid Flash and Aqualad. | ||
| Batman and Robin defeat a rogue robot T. Rex from a “Dinosaur Island” theme park, and take it as a souvenir to serve as décor for the Batcave. | Batman Chronicles #8 <Spr.97> (based on Batman #35 <6-7.46>). Date uncertain; placed as early as possible. | ||
| Batman and Robin confront Joe Coyne, the “Penny Plunderer,” at a coin show, and acquire the giant 1947 penny that decorates the Batcave. | Batman Chronicles #19 <Win.00> (based on World’s Finest v1 #30 <9-10.47>). Date uncertain; placed as early as possible. Any sightings of the giant penny and/or dinosaur in pre-Robin-era stories should be disregarded. | ||
| Robin first meets Superman in person. | LDCU #6 <7.98>. Date approximate, but logical. | ||
| Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman confer, and decide to join the fledgling Justice League. | JLofA v2 #0 <9.06>. This is a notable change to “New Earth” history as compared to post-Crisis canon. The relevant flashback scene seemingly implies that it takes place in the immediate aftermath of the founding battle with the Appellaxians [see 1990/Yr2], but a reference to Robin precludes a date earlier than this. The origin recap in 52 #51 confirms the delay as well. | ||
| As the year progresses, the Justice League successively defeats Amazo and Professor Ivo1, Despero2, and Kanjar Ro3. | JLASF #1, JLA:Y1 #12, and, respectively: 1JLQ #5 <Win.91>, Action #850 [showing Superman and Batman participating in the case] (orig. B&B v1 #30 <6-7.60>); 2JL Task Force #31 <2.96> (orig. Justice League of America v1 #1 <10-11.60>; 3(JLofA v1 #3 <2-3.61>) [consistency with the Kanjar Ro shown in Hawkworld [#1 <6.90>, #6 <12.90>, #10 <4.91>, etc.—see 2001/Yr13] remains unclear]. | ||
| [Spring] John Constantine discovers he’s stricken with terminal lung cancer—and executes a con on the Devil himself (“the First of the Fallen”) to regain his health. He also meets Kit Ryan, and they soon become lovers. | Hellblazer #41-46 <5-10.91>. This placement respects the title’s use of real time, as for all events in Hellbllazer, with certain unavoidable exceptions that will be noted. The First is not the same as the Lucifer depicted in Sandman (in a story actually published contemporary with this one!) [see 2000/Yr12], but this is not really a contradiction, as the ruling politics of DC’s Hell are portrayed as often-shifting; the distinction was later clarified [see 19 Billion BCE]. | ||
| After his assistance on the “Star Diamond” case, the Justice League votes to induct Green Arrow as its first non-founding member. (Ironically, Oliver Queen has been funding the team all along.) | JLASF #1, JLA:Y1 #12, and GA v2 #19 <1.03> (orig. JLofA v1 #4 <4-5.61>). | ||
| Black Canary and Green Arrow work side-by-side for the first time, taking down a group from the League of Assassins on a JLA mission. He cracks wise about mistaking her for her mother. | Black Canary v3 #1 <9.07>. Placed as early as possible. Ollie is actually more of a novice Leaguer here than Dinah, although that’s not how she recalls it in flashback. Note that one of the assassins is the archer Merlyn. Ollie hits on Dinah from the start, as shown (in a slightly inconsistent “first meeting” scene) in Green Arrow/Black Canary #1 <12.07>, but their relationship does not actually begin for several years yet [see 1994/Yr6]. | ||
| The orphaned Roy Harper, raised on a Navajo reservation, is taken in as a ward by Oliver Queen, moving with him into the luxurious Queen Mansion. Roy, a skilled archer, becomes Green Arrow’s costumed partner Speedy. | ZHTL*; SO v2 #38, Arsenal #2-3 <11-12.98>; (orig. Adv. #262 <7.59>). The Arsenal mini establishes Roy as 13 at the time. Post-Crisis, he debuted in Year Two and was the earliest kid sidekick (a line in LSOF indicated that he preceded Kid Flash and thus also Robin)... but Green Arrow/Black Canary #5 <4.08> precludes that, showing GA talking with his teammate Batman about Robin, and his own inability to locate his son Connor, before Roy’s debut. This is therefore the earliest possible date. The mansion (vs. Ollie’s earlier penthouse and apartment), perhaps an inheritance, may represent part of the “legal stuff” Ollie was earlier avoiding [see 1990/Yr2]. | ||
| Olympic archer Bonnie King tries to team with Green Arrow and Speedy as “Miss Arrowette,” with little success. She soon retires from crimefighting, and marries Bernell “Bowstring” Jones. | Impulse #28 <8.97>, SO 80-Pg Giant #1 <12.98>; (orig. World’s Finest v1 #113 <11.60>, 118 <6.61>, 134 <6.63>, JLofA v1 #7 <10-11.61>). Earliest possible setting. Note that in DC’s “official” timeline, there is literally no time for her to have this history and to have a teenage daughter [see 1997/Yr9, 2003/Yr15]. Even now, the 80-Pg panel showing Ollie with a beard is incorrect, as this cannot be set that late in his career. | ||
| Oliver Queen suspects that Bruce Wayne is the Batman, but is thrown off the trail—although he gains a new respect for Bruce in the process. | JLA 80-Pg Giant #2. Dating based on both heroes having sidekicks, and on Alfred’s remark that Batman has been (at least) “briefly allied” with the JLA. Note that Ollie is still rich, beardless, and living in his mansion. | ||
| Horror actor Basil Karlo, known as “Clayface” for his makeup skills, begins using the name as a criminal alias. | SO v2 #44, BVSF #1 [allegedly “Year Two”]; (1st app. ’Tec #40 <6.40>; Silver Age: Batman #208 <1-2.69>). Note that Karlo is apparently no longer the first criminal to have used the name: see 1989/Yr1, re: Matt Hagen. Date approximate; Robin is involved in the case, so Karlo’s first outing must postdate his debut. | ||
| Archaeologists Carter Hall and his wife Shiera (aka Hawkman and Hawkgirl) move to Midway City, where Carter takes up duties as curator of the Midway City Museum. | Hawkman v4 #43 <10.05>. The narrative says Carter served the Museum well for “four years” before the main flashback, thus backdating his start to approximately this point (which corresponds well with the Silver Age Hawkman tales (B&B v1 #34 <2-3.61> et seq.), allowing the surmise that he and Shiera displaced their Silver Age counterparts in more than just their JLA roles). The correspondence with events on Thanagar [above] is mere fortuity. Note that much of Charley Parker’s personal history as related in this story is a lie, but it’s reasonable to assume that many of the background details he included for credibility are accurate. This is bolstered by references to the Hawks’ presence in Midway in Hawkman v4 #1 <5.02> and elsewhere. | ||
| Through the spring and summer, the Justice League battles Dr. Destiny1; Amos Fortune2; Felix Faust, the Demons Three, and the Lord of Time3; and Dr. Light4; allies with Adam Strange for a rematch with Kanjar Ro5; and expands the team again by inducting the Atom6. | JLASF #1, and, respectively: 1(JLofA v1 #5 <6-7.61>), 2(JLofA v1 #6 <8-9.61>), 3JLQ #15 <Sum.94> (orig. JLofA v1 #10-11 <3-5.62>), 4(JLofA v1 #12 <6.62>), 5Silver Age SF #1 <7.00> (confirming Mystery in Space #75 <5.62>), 6JLASF #1 (orig. JLofA v1 #14 <9.62>). The JLASF timeline is useful here for determining which pre-Crisis stories remain valid, although its dating is unreliable. Other early adventures may yet remain to be chronicled. | ||
| Vandal Savage arranges for the young Grant Emerson (see 1986, 2002/Yr14) to be implanted with DNA covertly obtained from the Justice League. | Damage #12 <4.95>. The story indicates that Grant was five at the time, and the fact that the DNA graft included no Leaguers after the Atom corresponds nicely with that. (Except in DC’s official timeline(s), of course, where Grant’s history doesn’t fit at all. Anyone sensing a pattern here?…) | ||
| [Summer] The Flash discovers Keystone City hidden in stasis (see 1979), frees Jay Garrick, and assists him in defeating the villains responsible, forging a bond of friendship between heroes of two generations. | SO v2 #50 (recapping and revising Flash v1 #123 <9.61>), LSOF. This extended stasis may help to account further for Jay’s reduced aging. The story is witnessed by Gar Logan, on summer vacation and stated to be eight years old at this time [see also 1992/Yr4, ’98/Yr6, ’98/Yr10, ’99/Yr11]. | ||
| [Summer] Superman befriends young Jimmy Olsen, on the run and on his own after both his parents disappeared in South America. Jimmy helps stop a plot by the criminal gang "The Ten," and is hired as a copy boy at the Daily Planet. | Superman #665 <9.07>—which is, believe it or not, the first canonical origin ever provided for Jimmy Olsen. Date approximate; this is the earliest possible setting given that Clark mentions a “JLA meeting.” Jimmy would be about ten at this time. “The Ten” is a precursor of The 100 [see 1994/Yr6], and is also using extraterrestrial weapons provided by Intergang [see 1989/Yr1, 1993/Yr5]—providing Superman’s first clue to Intergang’s activities. Note also that this follows an as-yet-unchronicled early encounter with (some version of) Brainiac. | ||
| Professor Jason Woodrue (see 1982, ’89/Yr1) takes to crime as the Plant Master (later, the Floronic Man). | (Atom #1 <6-7.62>); not necessarily a canonical story as printed, but definitely a significant character in later years. | ||
| The Zamarons hypnotize Carol Ferris, Hal Jordan’s boss and girlfriend, into becoming Star Sapphire. | GLSF #1 <7.98> (but not “10 years ago”), GL v4 #19 <6.07>; (orig. GL v2 #16 <10.62>). Date approximate, based on original publication. | ||
| Chronos (David Clinton) begins his criminal career. | Power of the Atom #6 <Win.88>; (Atom #3 <10-11.62>). | ||
| [Late Jun] Robin tracks down the last conspirator in the Graysons’ murder, ringmaster Stan Rutledge, who was in hock to Zucco. With the case closed, Batman offers Dick the option to continue as his partner. | Robin Annual #4; set “almost a year to the day” after his parents’ deaths. | ||
| [July 4] Robin spends the night evading his mentor, in a “final exam” to prove his merit on the streets. | Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet #1 <9.97>. The dating may at first seem inconsistent with the spring debut date from Robin Annual #4, above; but this tale is best interpreted as a test to see if Dick can continue in costume on his own, after helping find his parents’ killers. | ||
| Kid Flash gets a new, distinctive costume. | LSOF; (orig. Flash v1 #135 <3.63>). | ||
| Billionaire John Mayhew attempts to team Batman and Robin with several other international adventurers as the “Club of Heroes.” The venture fails. | Batman #667-69 <8-11.07> (orig. ’Tec #215 <12-1.55> and World’s Finest v1 #89 <7-8.57>). Date very approximate; set as early as possible (but not plausibly a mere “eight years” before the present-day tale; it’s more like 18). See 1954 regarding the other heroes. Note that Cyril Sheldrake is still “Squire” to his father Percy, “The Knight” [see 1940]. | ||
| Batman hallucinates being teleported to the distant planet Zur-En-Arrh by an alien imitator—a side effect of exposure to hallucinatory gas from the villainous Professor Milo. | Batman #672 <2.08>, #679 <9.08> (orig. Batman #113 <2.58>). Date and details approximate. (Many of writer Grant Morrison’s references to pre-Silver Age stories are difficult to place reliably in current continuity.) Prof. Milo’s 1st app. is (’Tec #247 <9.57>); the relevant one here, however, appears to be his second, in (Batman #112 <12.57>), the preceding issue. Milo’s current cononicity first confirmed in 52 #41 <2.07>. | ||
| Batman and Robin take on a psychedelic “Rainbow Creature.” | Batman #678 <8.08>, a one-panel reference to events from (Batman #134 <9.60>). Details unchronicled and placement approximate, as with most of Grant Morrison’s pre-Silver Age references. This is among the surreal adventures which eventually (per text from Batman’s “Black Casebook”) lead Bruce to wonder if his own mind might become “mangled out of all recognition.” | ||
| The Justice Society is captured by Vandal Savage, and decides to emerge fully from its semi-retirement (see 1951, 1961 ). | ZHTL*; JLASF #1; (orig. Flash v1 #137 <7.63>). (Note that only at this point, after three busy years, have we covered all the events that some of DC’s “official” timeline versions [e.g., GLSF #1] try to pack into a frenzied first year!) | ||
| Batman and Robin capture the criminal Bart Magan, aka Dr. No-Face. | 52 #18 <9.06> (orig. ’Tec #319 <9.63>). Date approximate, based on original publication. The 52 reference is oblique, mentioning that Dr. Aristotle Rodor used “the notes of Gotham criminal Bart Magan” while developing pseudoderm, the substance later used in The Question’s mask [see 1997/Yr9]. | ||
| [Aug] Five JSA members track down the murderous Rag Doll (see 1985), who dies in the confrontation, shot down by Starman’s Cosmic Rod. | Starman v2 #9 <7.95>, #11 <9.95>, Starman SF #1 [“Shade’s Journal”]. A “Times Past” story dated “13 years ago” [as of 2002/Yr14]—which is unfortunately no longer entirely accurate; in this “recompressed” timeline it can only be 11 years. This cannot fall earlier, given Jay Garrick’s presence. | ||
| Dick Grayson starts classes at Bristol Middle School, and (as Robin) foils a child abduction scheme of the Mad Hatter. | Robin: Year One #1 <1.01> | ||
| Robin helps the Batman nail several lesser villains such as Mr. Freeze, Killer Moth, Firefly, Cluemaster, and Blockbuster—but Captain Gordon questions the Batman’s judgement at involving such a young partner. | Batman: Turning Points #2 <1.01>, Robin: Y1 #2 <2.01>. The scenes with Gordon are similar, but not identical (nor perfectly consistent); the first shows his first meeting with Robin, while the second is “months” later. | ||
| Joe Chill’s long-lost son confronts Batman and Robin in a reprise of the identity of the Reaper (see 1990/Yr2). | Batman: Full Circle GN <91>. Date approximate, based on Gordon’s concerns about Robin. Proviso: many of the same continuity issues that apply to “Batman: Year Two” also pertain here. | ||
| [Autumn?] The JSA teams up with the JLA for the first time , to combat the Crime Champions (the Wizard, the Icicle, the Fiddler, Chronos, Felix Faust, and Dr. Alchemy). | SO v2 #50, JLASF #1; (orig. JLofA v1 #21-22 <8-9.63>). Although there were a total of 22 annual JLA/JSA team-ups published, only 11 (including this) stand as positively confirmed in current continuity… whereas no more than eight could fit the rest of this timeline tidily if interpreted as yearly meetings. Adding extra years would introduce more problems than it solves. So… taking a different approach, I determined that only seven of the 22 are definitely impossible in today’s continuity (the Earth-3, Earth-X, Earth-Prime, Earth-S, “Commander,” and both Earth-1-Johnny Thunder tales, published in 1964, ’73, ’75, ’76, ’84, ’65 and ’83 respectively). Even those that remain, obviously, must often differ in significant detail from the original tellings; but in most cases time- or space-travel in place of parallel worlds, along with minor character substitutions, will suffice as salvage. (If 1981’s Secret Society of Super-Villains tale can work in continuity, as JLASF #1 says, then anything’s possible.) Actual retellings would be nice one of these days, of course! In the meantime, though, the remaining 15 crossovers, treated as twice-annual meetings, actually fit the rest of the chronology fairly well—so subject to future revelations, that’s the interpretation I’m going with, as the following years’ entries will show. | ||
| The Unknown Soldier learns from the (unnamed) “General,” another former commander, of covert deals the U.S. made with Nazi officials in early 1945. Shocked and disillusioned, he kills the General. | Unknown Soldier v3 #4 <7.97> | ||
| Robin is nearly killed in a traumatic confrontation with Two-Face, and fails to save an innocent life. Batman “fires” him—but on his own, Dick manages to defeat a plot by Mr. Freeze… and leaves Wayne Manor. | Robin #0 <10.94>, Batman #512/’Tec #680 <12.94>, [“Prodigal”]—expanded on in Robin:Y1 #2-3 <2-3.01>, in a story that leads up to “the first snowflakes of winter.” This is only the first of many (retconned) schisms between Dick and Bruce. | ||
| Flash’s Rogues’ Gallery has grown ever larger—and more threatening—this year, with the addition of the Top1, the insane Abra Kadabra2, Heat Wave3… and the homicidal Reverse-Flash, aka Professor Zoom4. | LSOF; respective origins/1st apps: 1(Flash v1 #122 <8.61>), 2(Flash v1 #128 <5.62>), 3SO v2 #41; (Flash v1 #140 <10.63>), and 4(Flash v1 #139 <9.63>). | ||
| Over the course of the year, the Batman has had his first confrontations with Cat-Man1 (Thomas Blake) and Spellbinder I2—as well as Killer Moth3 (Drury Walker, aka Cameron Van Cleer), Blockbuster I4 (Mark Desmond), Cluemaster5 (Arthur Brown), and Firefly6 (Garfield Lynns) (all four seen above). | BVSF #1 [all dated as “Year 3”]. (1st apps: 1’Tec #311 <1.63>; 2’Tec #358 <12.66>; 3Batman #63 <7.51>, Silver Age: JLA #35 <5.65>; 4’Tec #345 <11.65>; 5’Tec #351 <5.66>; 6’Tec #184 <6.52>, Silver Age: First Issue Special #7 <10.75>.) | ||
| 1992 | “Year Four” | ↑ top | |
| More new heroes appear this year, including Wonder Girl, aka Donna Troy (who begins her costumed career burdened with false memories). | ZHTL*. Donna’s very scattered origin is best clarified in WWSF #2 <7.99>; (1st app. B&B v1 #60 <6-7.65). | ||
| Dick Grayson infiltrates a teen martial arts gang led by the assassin Shrike, and helps apprehend Two-Face, redeeming his past errors in judgement. He returns to Batman’s side as Robin. | Robin: Y1 #4 <4.01>, set “weeks” after “the holidays.” | ||
| Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad meet and team up on a mission to save the teenagers of Hatton Corners from “Mr. Twister.” Soon after, joined by Speedy and the newly-debuted Wonder Girl, they save their JLA mentors from a mind-controlling “negative energy monster,” the Antithesis, and decide to form a team—the Teen Titans. | ZHTL*; SO Annual #3 <89>, Titans SF #1 <3.99>, Teen Titans: Year One #1-3 <3-5.08>; (orig. B&B v1 #54 <6-7.64>; Teen Titans v1 #53 <2.78>). All the charter members are “barely teenagers,” according to New Titans #0 <10.94>; indeed, Roy and Garth are 14, Donna and Dick still not quite 13, Wally just turned 12. Yet, DC’s timeline(s) place this only two years before the New Titans form! That just doesn’t work. [Also see 1989/Yr7, 1991/Yr9.] | ||
| Aquaman meets Mera, a queen from another dimension. They fall in love and soon marry; she relocates to Earth. | Aquaman Annual #1 [stating this to be “during [his] first year as King of Atlantis,” but that doesn't necessarily mean the same calendar year], Aquaman SF #1, B&B v4 #10 <4.08>. (Mera’s 1st app: Aquaman v1 #11 <9-10.63>; wedding orig. Aquaman v1 #18 <11-12.64>.) Note that Garth has already joined the Titans according to the relevant Annual scene [confirmed by the B&B tale, placing this shortly after the Titans’ first case, above]. This would decisively preclude other events therein occurring in the order shown, i.e., pre-JLA—but after all, the story sequence was taken from Arthur’s journal, written years after the fact, when he was in an unstable state of mind. (Still, Tula’s cameo is unavoidably an anachronism, no matter what.) | ||
| [Late Mar] On the second anniversary of Dr. Grey’s death, Superman infiltrates Arkham Asylum. | B&S:WF #3 <6.99>. Superman notes that Batman has taken on a partner since their discussion the previous year. Note also that (despite scattered inconsistent depictions) most reliable sources agree that by this time, Batman had added the yellow oval to his costume. | ||
| The JLA is seemingly killed in a confrontation with the supernatural villain Wotan, barely surviving—but earning the ire of their elders in the JSA. | JLA: Incarnations #1 <7.01>. Wotan was last seen in JLA:Y1 #12, being imprisoned in a crypt by the Spectre. This tale (continued in the next two entries) appears to replace the second original JLA/JSA team-up (JLofA v1 #29-30 <9-10.64>); that was once reaffirmed, in JLQ #8 <Aut.92> (with the Crime Syndicate’s home changed from Earth-3 to Qward), but was later apparently negated by the Earth 2 GN <99>. There was speculation that this gathering replaced both the first and second team-ups, until the letters page in JLA:I #4 clarified that it was “not necessarily the first”; and indeed, to position it as such would either leave the JLA at least 6-12 months out of synch with the rest of the DCU throughout the Silver Age, or create a gap in this position needing to be filled by an “untold” team-up story. | ||
| The JLA first clashes with the Key1, defeats Dr. Destiny and the Joker2, and first encounters the Shaggy Man3. Meanwhile, the JSA defeats a plot by the Wizard, the Icicle, and the Fiddler, who have re-teamed as the Injustice Society (see 1947, 1948)4. | JLA:I #1, in passing reference (orig. 1JLofA v1 #41 <1.66>, 2#34 <3.65>, 3#45 <5.66>, and 4apparently a rematch with villains captured in the first JLA-JSA team-up [see 1991/Yr3]. JLA:I #1 mentions these stories out of their original sequence with regard not only to each other but to external events, as originally all occurred after Hawkman joined (in JLofA v1 #31 <11.64>), which would have placed them below. | ||
| The JLA again confronts Dr. Destiny, now skeletal and demented due to having lost the ability to dream, and in possession of a powerful mystic ruby. | (JLofA v1 #154 <5.78>.) Never explicitly retold, but logically required by Sandman # 4-7 <4-7.89>, as well as by later appearances of Dr. Destiny. It has unfortunately become necessary to place this much earlier than apparent in the JLA’s career [vs. 1996/Yr8], entailing changes to the story details, and moreover to assume that the recovery of Morpheus’ icons [see below] took place over a very extended period after he was freed. | ||
| [Apr 1-3] Morpheus, the Sandman (see 1988/Yr0) retrieves his mystic ruby, the last of his missing totems, from a lunatic Dr. Destiny, and reabsorbs its power into himself. | Sandman # 5-7 <5-7.89>; dates from story. Set as early as feasible, but regrettably no longer in real time. The details of Morpheus’ JLA visit in issue #5 are certainly no longer accurate. Sandman’s Dream Ruby should not be confused with Sargon’s Ruby of Life, an unrelated object. | ||
| [Spring] The JSA teams up with the JLA once again, finally defeating Wotan’s scheme to pit them against each other. Hawkman and Hawkgirl join the League as official liaisons with the JSA. | JLASF #1, JLA:I #1. (Team-up #2.) The Hawks here are the Golden Agers Carter and Shiera Hall, not the Thanagarian Katar and Shayera Hol—per Hawkworld Annual #1 <90>, reconfirmed in the “Inside DC” text page #36 <8.92>. Subsequent appearances of the Silver Age version of Katar Hol [e.g., LDCU 80-Pg Giant #1 <9.98>, JLA 80-Pg Giant #2 <11.99>] should be dismissed as errors or “hypertime fluxes.” (For more in-depth discussion of the JLA/JSA tradition, see this section’s Introduction. Note that originally the crossovers were not regularly scheduled until the creation of the “transmatter” device to ease the crossing between worlds, in the 1973 outing; however, in current canon, it makes sense to assume they were more easily arranged, and to consider them established as a semi-annual tradition after this date.) | ||
| Zatanna enlists the aid of several JLAers in the search for her missing father Zatara, and with the assistance of the whole team finally reunites with him. | ZHTL*. Zatanna (1st app. Hawkman v1 #4 <10-11.64>) meets the Hawks, then over several months the Atom (Atom #19 <6-7.65>), Green Lantern (GL v2 #42 <1.66>), and the Elongated Man (’Tec #355 <9.66>), and also has a romance with John Constantine around this time [SO v2 #27 <6.88>, which also confirms the original stories just cited]. Per the Hawkman story, it has been “several years” since her father’s disappearance [see 1985]; she is about 25. The final reunion with Zatara is in (JLofA v1 #51 <2.67>). | ||
| The JLA defeats a monster attacking Gotham; then, soon after, defends Washington, D.C., from an invading Gorilla Grodd. | JLA:I #2 <8.00>. This story was originally written to clarify when and how Batman joined the League (and Superman didn't) in post-Crisis canon. Those aspects are now moot, but the events may still have occurred in some fashion. It’s also worth noting that Batman’s JLA participation is kept largely out of the public spotlight, an aspect that may well remain valid. This story also references the first “Superman-Flash race” as canonical (orig. Superman v1 #199 <8.67>). | ||
| Oliver Queen throws a charity benefit with the JLA as guests of honor (at which he solicits Bruce Wayne to take over funding the team), and his mansion is destroyed by the villain Packrat. | LDCU #12 <1.99>. Note that Ollie says he’s been the team’s benefactor “these last two years”; also that the Atom appears as a member, but not the Hawks (who previously hadn’t joined by this point); perhaps they still preferred the company of the JSA? This needs to follow Ollie’s meeting with Bruce [see 1991/Yr3], and thus Batman’s participation in the JLA, contrary implications notwithstanding. The framing story must be set six years later, not just four [see 1998/Yr10]. And while Ollie clearly faces some financial trouble here (and wants to discuss it with Roy), he doesn’t actually lose his fortume just yet. | ||
| The Teen Titans appear on a popular talk show, where they fend off an attack by a villain called “The Ant.” | TT:Y1 #4 <6.08>. Date approximate. | ||
| Batman and Robin defeat the Joker when, adopting a less homicidal attitude, he surrenders after losing a “laughing contest” with Robin. | Batman #682 <1.09>; although seemingly evoking an early Silver Age story, I’m not aware of any specific issue underlying the reference. Placement approximate, but as Batman remarks “three years ago, this man was a merciless killer,” setting it in this year obviously makes sense (and thus helps date other flashbacks in the same issue, below), and even dovetails with Joker’s JLA encounter above. The mention of “reopening” Arkham Asylum seems likely to be apocryphal, however. | ||
| Socialite and former circus performer Katy Kane debuts as “Batwoman,” earning first Batman’s ire but then his trust and even romantic affection. | Batman #682; Batwoman’s 1st app. ( ’Tec 233 <7.56), originally as Kathy Kane. Placement approximate, based not on original publication but on the sequence of flashbacks in issue 682. Until this flashback, she was considered to be apocryphal in post-Crisis continuity. Note that she declares herself “almost a decade” older than Bruce. Any relation to the modern Kate Kane Batwoman [see 2008/Yr20], who is younger, Jewish, and lesbian, remains unknown. | ||
| [Late May] Superman teams up with Green Lantern Alan Scott to capture Solomon Grundy… from whom Lex Luthor secretly steals cell samples. | Superman #676 <7.08>. Set over the Memorial Day weekend—but contrary to Superman’s recollection, it cannot be his first Memorial Day in Metropolis, given such details as the presence of Jimmy Olsen, Luthor’s baldness, and his use of the samples to develop the original Bizarro [see 1993/Yr5]. | ||
| Barbara Gordon (see 1990/Yr2) finishes high school. | SO v2 #20. She is not yet 16—but her precocity, as retconned in this story, was made necessary by her compressed aging. Birds of Prey #103 <4.07> also confirms that she started college “days before [her] sixteenth birthday,” alongside the equally precocious Katerina (Spy Smasher) Armstrong.] | ||
| Batman and Robin discover a conspiracy by a corrupt rock promoter—but not in time to save his client, musician Izaak Crowe, from becoming a martyr to the spirit of rock’n’roll. | Batman: Fortunate Son GN <99>. Despite various anomalies and anachronisms in the art, this tale is written as canonical. Set early, but after the Titans form, since Dick mentions that Speedy is in a band. (Originally Roy only joined “Great Frog” later (Action #436 <6.74>), but it’s been retroactively established post-Crisis that he was a band member during his Titans days.) | ||
| Green Lantern and the Atom team up for the first time (outside the JLA) to save the earth from the villain Traitor (see 1882). | LDCU #28-29 <5-6.00>. Date approximate, but this appears to fall between the first appearance of Black Hand (GL v2 #29 <6.64>) and Jean Loring’s acceptance of Ray Palmer’s proposal (Atom #26 <8-9.66>). Ray’s passing reference to Kryptonite was anachronistic when published, but may not be so now. | ||
| Jimmy Olsen creates a subsonic device to summon Superman, helping to defeat a crew of drunken Scottish robots. Impressed by Jimmy’s ingenuity, Superman offers to miniaturize the device into a signal watch. | Action #852 <9.07>. Date approximate, but Jimmy is still a young copyboy, not yet even a photographer. This “New Earth” account supersedes the post-Crisis origin of Jimmy’s signal watch, from World of Metropolis #4 <7.88>. There is also an alternate account presented in the Toyman story in Superman Confidential #12-14 <4-6.08>—but as Jimmy is visibly older in that tale, it would preclude the watch’s appearance in in Silver Age #1 [below], and thus is likely apocryphal. (Accordingly, despite that tale, the Toyman’s post-Crisis origin [from Superman v2 #13 <1.88>] may well remain valid.) (The signal watch orig. 1st app. in Jimmy Olsen #1 <9-10.54>.) | ||
| Johnny Mann debuts as the heroic but obscure Son of Vulcan. | History of the DCU; (1st app. Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #46 <5.65>). Date approximate. He later perishes during the “War of the Gods” [see 2001/Yr13]. | ||
| Green Lanterns Hal Jordan and Alan Scott join forces to repel the return of Maltusian renegade Krona (see 4.0004 Billion BCE), and learn the history of the Guardians of the Universe. | DC First: GL/GL #1 <7.02>; (orig. GL v2 #40 <10.65>). | ||
| [Late Sum] Gotham State freshman Barbara Gordon becomes Batgirl, rescuing Bruce Wayne from an attack by the Killer Moth at a Police Masquerade Ball. | ZHTL*; SO v2 #20 <11.87>, Batman: Batgirl special <97>, Batgirl: Year One #1-3 <2-4.03>; (orig. ’Tec #359 <1.67>). The ZH timeline, oddly, places Batgirl only a year before the Crisis—a contemporary of the Omega Men, Blue Devil, and Firestorm, which seems ridiculous. The timeline in Batman SF #1 places her in Year 5, which actually seems plausible (although that timeline is useless to the point of absurdity for later events)… but Silver Age [below] dictates she be moved a bit earlier. Chuck Dixon’s Bg:Y1 mini-series is often at odds with other canonical tales of her early career; e.g, #1 implies she’s already been “put… through college,” which would place this years later, so that dialogue should be read as “sent me to college” in order to fit; her library employment is presumably a student job. In #2 it also mentions the JLA satellite, impermissibly early (although the Teen Titans reference is okay). On the other hand, it accurately notes that Jim Gordon is not yet Police Commissioner—but that he is “on the short track.” It also establishes that Babs was rejected by the Gotham Police Academy, and that she is still living at home with Jim. | ||
| The Batman (along with Batgirl) first confronts Copperhead. | BVSF #1—dated therein as “Year 4,” notwithstanding Batgirl’s presence in the original tale: Who’s Who v2; (B&B v1 #78 <6-7.68>). This (as with Batgirl’s next several adventures) apparently occurs during a “continuity break” midway through Bg:Y1 #3. | ||
| Batman and Batwoman have an adventure in which, drugged, they imagine encounters on an alien planet. | Batman #678 <8.08> [one panel], and #682 [two panels], offering Grant Morrison’s take on events from (Batman #153 <2.63>). Note that just before the scene in #682 Robin mentions mistrusting both Batwoman and Batgirl. As the first Bat-Girl, Bette Kane (1st app. Batman #139 <4.61>), is neither mentioned nor depicted, and in post-Crisis canon has only ever been known as Flamebird—and moreover as the reference is spelled without a hyphen—we may assume that the reference is probably to Barbara Gordon, assisting with placement here. | ||
| Batgirl joins forces with Robin, pursuing a robber in a mall, and they begin a lasting friendship. | Batman Chronicles #9 <Sum.97>). Dick is 13. Barbara is 16, still clearly new at the costumed role, playful and untrained, although she says she’s met Batman “a couple of times” (which seems approximately right). This must precede Silver Age [below], wherein she and Robin appear side by side. Note also that the ZH timeline would make this meeting impossible as depicted. | ||
| Batman and Robin introduce Batgirl to the Batcave, but Batman refuses to train her and attempts to scare her away from costumed adventuring. | Bg:Y1 #3-4 <4-5.03>. They also learn her identity. This mini-series then requires a sizeable jump forward to accommodate other stories; see 1994/Yr6 next. | ||
| Mera gives birth to a son, Arthur Curry III, known informally as Arthur Jr. | Aquaman Annual #1, Aquaman SF #1, and other sources. (Orig. Aquaman v1 #23 <9-10.65>.) (A short pregnancy?) | ||
| The JLA offers membership to Metamorpho, who declines, and tackles the Royal Flush Gang. | JLASF #1 (reaffirming JLofA v1 #42, 43 <2, 3.66>). | ||
| James Gordon is promoted to Police Commissioner of Gotham City. | “Six years ago” as of Batman Annual #13 <89>—a tale of uncertain date, but suggesting this could be as late as 1995/Yr7. However, LDCU #10-11 and B&S:WF #5 <8.99> [see 1994/Yr6] both refer to Gordon as “Commissioner,” and Silver Age #1 <7.00> establishes the earliest such usage. This timing also corresponds roughly with Dark Victory [see further discussion below]. | ||
| The alien tyrant Agamemno comes to Earth, enlisting the aid of a coterie of villains (Luthor, Penguin, Catwoman, Mr. Element, Sinestro, Felix Faust, Dr. Light, Chronos, and Black Manta) and switching their bodies with the Justice Leaguers. The villains collect three artifacts of power (a Kryptonian jewel, the Great Battery of Oa, and a Thanagarian Absorbascon) to assemble a super-weapon before being returned to their rightful bodies. | Silver Age #1 and related specials, all <7.00>. This tale is extremely hard to place. Not only are Robin and the original Titans active, but it must follow Metamorpho’s rejection of JLA membership (JLofA v1 #42 <2.66>), mentioned in SA:Showcase #1 (and thus cannot precede the Hawks’ joining [above (orig. JLofA v1 #31 <11.64>)], as writer Mark Waid has suggested; the Hawks are not seen as Leaguers, but they may be busy with the JSA, which seems not unlikely for this period). It must also precede the weddings of both Steve Dayton and Barry Allen [see below], per SA 80-Pg. Giant #1. This suggests a setting c. stories published in mid-1966… but it also includes Batgirl and Black Manta, who originally debuted later (’Tec #359 <1.67>; Aquaman v1 #35 <9-10.67>). And it defies not only contemporary publications, but also DC’s most recent “official” timeline, from DCU2KSF #1 <3.00>—which has the Titans debuting after the JLA has moved to its satellite HQ (!) [see 1994/Yr6], and Batgirl a year after that. Ignoring that “source” and moving Batgirl and a handful of other events up slightly, though, as above, allows the tale to fit here. See further comments below. | ||
| The JLA defeats Agamemno and the allied villains, but only with the aid of numerous other heroes, including the Challs, the Doom Patrol, the Metal Men, the Teen Titans, an ad hoc Seven Soldiers of Victory, and (especially) Robby Reed and his H-dial, the Green Lantern Corps, and a phalanx of Thanagarian Hawkmen. | Character notes: The SSoV contains Deadman, Batgirl, Adam Strange, Metamorpho, Mento (still single), Blackhawk (last canonical appearance, his apparently minimal aging unexplained), and Gardner Grayle (as a new Silent Knight; in later years he will fight alongside the Outsiders as the Atomic Knight). Clearly, the original SSoV has not yet been rescued at this point [see 1995/Yr7]. Throughout this tale, Green Arrow is still rich and in his original costume, the JLA is still in its cave HQ, and Snapper Carr is still its mascot. Aquaman’s son is alive. Superman is clearly accustomed to working alongside the League. The appearance of the “classic” Brainiac, in SA:JLofA #1, remains unexplained (indeed that whole issue is a mess, with the villains uncharacteristically brutal). The continuity is tricky overall… but lest anyone think the entire Agamemno tale apocryphal, Batman confirms its canonicity by reference in JLA #46 <10.00>. (Robby Reed 1st app. House of Mystery #156 <1.66>.) | ||
| Rita (Elasti-Girl) Farr of the Doom Patrol marries Steve (Mento) Dayton, the world’s fifth richest man. The JLA and Teen Titans are in attendance—as is the Brotherhood of Evil. | (Doom Patrol #104 <6.66>). No explicit retelling, but implicit in the ongoing history of Gar (Changeling) Logan. Also see my note re: Doom Patrol canonicity at 1987. Apparently this was a big year for super-hero romance: note Aquaman [above], as well as the next two entries. | ||
| Ray (Atom) Palmer finally has a marriage proposal accepted by his girlfriend, Jean Loring. | (Atom #26 <8-9.66>.) Again, no explicit post-Crisis reference, but implicit in later events [see 1999/Yr11, 2007/Yr19]. | ||
| [Sep] Barry Allen marries Iris West… without revealing his identity as the Flash. | LSOF, which also provides the month; (recapping Flash v1 #165 <11.66>). | ||
| Katy Kane abandons her heroic career—and her relationship with Batman, breaking his heart (as Alfred sees it, at least). | Batman #682. Batwoman’s last Silver Age appearance was in (’Tec #325 <3.64>). Date approximate, based not on original publication but on the sequence of events depicted in flashback. The conjunction with Batman’s fellow heroes’ more successful romantic lives is interesting, however. | ||
| [Autumn] The JSA and JLA combine forces to save Earth from the cosmic threat of the Anti-Matter Man. | (JLofA v1 #46-47 <8-9.66>). (Team-up #3, originally #4.) Confirmed implicitly by a picture seen in the JSA Museum in JSA v3 #25 <8.01>—but see 1985/Yr3 for a more detailed explanation. (Note that as originally chronicled, this did not actually arise from a “scheduled” meeting of the two teams, so the date may be somewhat imprecise. However, it fits surrounding events.) | ||
| [Oct 31] On Halloween, Sofia Falcone Gigante (daughter of the Roman, now running his old mob) engineers an attack on Arkham Asylum that frees Two-Face (among other inmates) and ignites a new gang war. Meanwhile, a serial cop-killer known as the “Hangman” starts striking at the Gotham police. | Batman: Dark Victory #1 <12.99>. Internal chronology places this mini-series in Yr4-Yr5, and (except for Dick Grayson’s scenes!) that actually works. Gordon is Commissioner, just recently promoted. However, this date marks the second anniversary of Two-Face’s original capture rather than the first. | ||
| Wonder Girl goes on a first date with Speedy, which ends badly with the wreck of the Arrow-Car. | TT:Y1 #5 <7.08>. Date approximate; Roy is not yet 16 at this point, only about 15, so he could not have a driver’s license, but might have a learner’s permit. Alternately the story could be set as much as a year later, before Donna and Roy begin dating regularly [see 1994/Yr6], but it seems likeliest that these “Y1” tales fall between the events of B&B v1 #60 <6-7.65> and the original Teen Titans series debuting in <1-2.66>. | ||
| Robin and the Titans defeat a repeat attack from the Antithesis. | TT:Y1 #6 <8.08>. Date approximate. | ||
| The Teen Titans first meet Gar Logan, now endowed with super-powers as Beast Boy (later Changeling). Gar applies for membership, but is rejected, for the same reason that the Doom Patrol cannot officially include him: lack of permission from his corrupt guardian, Nicholas Galtry. | Titans SF #1; (orig. TT v1 #6 <11-12.66>.) Note again the effects of sliding timelines: in the first telling Gar debuted as a teenager; now he can be no more than ten at this point [see 1991/Yr3, ’98/Yr10]. Gar gained his powers earlier this same year on an African expedition, through the cure for a rare disease, and was orphaned in an accident soon after: WWho v2 <Update ’93>; (orig. DP v1 #100 <12.65>, #112-115 <6-11.67>, Tales of the NTT v1 #3 <8.82>). | ||
| Hal Jordan leaves Ferris Aircraft after a split with Carol Ferris, and takes a job as a traveling insurance investigator. | SO 80-Pg Giant #1 shows Hal in this capacity, meeting Bonnie King (Arrowette’s mother); however, that scene may be anachronistic and thus apocryphal [see 1997/Yr9]. (Orig. GL v1 #49 <12.66>.) His later jobs are definitely canonical; see below. | ||
| Sometime this year, the Batman has had his first confrontation with the Calculator. | BVSF #1 [dated as “Year 4”—where Cluemaster is also listed a second time!]. (Original 1st app. ’Tec #463 <9.76>.) | ||
| 1993 | “Year Five” | ↑ top | |
| The Teen Titans capture the Mad Mod, an international smuggler (and fashion designer). | SO Annual #3, Titans SF #1; (orig. TT v1 #7 <1-2.67>). The Titans SF timeline, as with JLASF, is useful for determining which pre-Crisis stories remain valid, but much less so for dating them. Other early adventures may also remain to be chronicled. | ||
| With the JLA’s assistance, Zatanna (see 1986/Yr4) finally locates and rescues her father, Zatara. | SO v2 #27 (reaffirming JLofA v1 #51 <2.67>). | ||
| [Feb 14] Gotham’s “Hangman” killer remains at large. Jim Gordon’s wife returns home to attempt a reconciliation; meanwhile, Selina Kyle finally gives up on months of attempts to romance Bruce Wayne. | DV #2-5 <1-4.00>, based on internal dates. Re: Mrs. Gordon, see 1995/Yr7. The apparent death of Flass in #3 is a mistake, as he’s very much alive years later in LODK Annual #1 <92> [see 2000/Yr12]. | ||
| After a legal battle, Steve Dayton and Rita Farr succeed in adopting Gar Logan. | (DP #110 <3.67>). Not yet retold post-Crisis, but logically necessary. | ||
| Aqualad meets Tula, aka “Aquagirl,” who becomes the love of his life. | Tempest #1, which states Garth was 15 at this time. (1st app. Aquaman v1 #33 <5-6.67>.) | ||
| [Late Mar] On the occasion of their annual “memorial” meeting, Batman discovers Superman under surveillance by Intergang… and by the top-secret Project Cadmus. | ZHTL [“Nine years ago”]; B&S:WF #4 <7.99>. Superman is mystified by a glimpse of the New Gods through a boom tube, so he clearly has not met them yet in person [see 1994/Yr6]. This may be Cadmus’ chronological first appearance. Batman observes that Jim Harper’s cloning [see 1983] is currently underway. | ||
| [Spring] Evil “black spheres” from another universe possess members of the JSA and JLA, forcing them to fight one another. | (JLofA v1 #55-56 <8-9.67>). (Team-up #4, orig. #5.) No explicit post-Crisis confirmation as yet (but see 1991/Yr3 for explanation). Like other early team-ups, as originally chronicled this did not arise from a “scheduled” meeting of the two teams, so the date may not be precise. | ||
| The Teen Titans defeat the Gargoyle (a transformed Mister Twister, manipulated by the Antithesis), who attempts to banish them to limbo. | SO Annual #3, Titans SF #1; (orig. TT v1 #14 <3-4.68>). | ||
| Batgirl intervenes against a plot by the Joker, and gets in over her head—accidentally killing one gang member, and unable to prevent two murders. She does save a child’s life, however… and Batman’s. | Batman: Batgirl special <97>, DC First: Batgirl/Joker #1 <7.02>. Batman is not surprised to see her, but the two have no chance to interact in this story. Date approximate; Barbara is shown still living at home at this point. | ||
| Batman volunteers for a sensory-deprivation experiment, in which he imagines Robin’s death. The manipulative Dr. Simon Hurt, head of the project, plants post-hypnotic suggestions in Batman’s mind. | Batman #673 <3.08>, #679, #682 (orig. Batman #156 <6.63>). Date approximate, based not on original publication but on the sequence of events depicted in flashback in #682, and on Batman’s “Black Casebook” reference in #678 to being “five years into the mission” when he decides he must know “what goes on in the Joker’s head.” | ||
| [May 10] John Constantine “celebrates” his 40th birthday in the company of various acquaintances, supernatural and otherwise. | Hellblazer #63 <3.93>. The date of John’s birth was established in Hellblazer #9 <9.88>, and the year confirmed as of Hellblazer SF #1. This is somewhat awkward, since in the story as chronicled the “acquaintances” include Swamp Thing—who as a result of timeline sliding apparently doesn’t even meet John until next year, since that meeting follows Swampy’s encounter with a “Satellite Era” JLA. At this time I have no proposed solution for this inconsistency. | ||
| In a massive raid on Sicilian crime families, the Asaros (caretakers of Helena Bertinelli; see 1989/Yr1) are arrested. Helena is sent to school in Switzerland. | Huntress:Y1 #1. This is described as “five years ago” the summer Helena is 20, making her 15 here. | ||
| Hal Jordan learns that Guy Gardner (see 1989/Yr1) was the power ring’s second choice for Abin Sur’s successor. | SO v2 #7 <10.86>, among other retellings (of GL v2 #59 <3.68>). According to the SO story, this is set two years before John Stewart’s debut, and four years before Guy is rendered comatose by a defective power battery, which all fits nicely. | ||
| Flash, Kid Flash, and Jay Garrick are drawn to the other-dimensional realm of Eastwind, where they aid Prince Grimm in recovering his kingdom. | Flash v2 #168 <01.01>. Date very approximate, as this is not based on an actual Silver Age story. Grimm returns years later as a villain. Speculation: this realm may correspond to the “Fairyland” visited in (All-Star Comics #39 <2-3.48>), later redubbed “Grimmworld” in Infinity, Inc. v1 #50 <5.88>. | ||
| Hal Jordan, visiting Barry and Iris Allen in Central City, helps Flash and Kid Flash apprehend Mirror Master and Black Hand. | B&B v3 #2 <11.99>. Hal has been dating Eve Doremus for just over “two months”—and he met her (in GL v2 #58 <1.68>) just before the Guy Gardner story above—but Barry “still hasn’t told his wife” his secret. | ||
| [Sep] After a year of tension, on their anniversary, Barry Allen tells Iris his secret identity… only to learn she already knows. | LSOF; (orig. Flash v1 #174 <11.67>). Iris learned Barry’s alter ego when he talked in his sleep on their wedding night. | ||
| Superman meets the first Bizarro, an imperfect duplicate of himself created by Lex Luthor. The creature’s destruction cures the blindness of Lucy Lane, Lois’ sister. | MoS #5 <12.86>, dated per Lois’ thought: “five years I’ve been dreaming of being kissed by Superman.” Luthor is depicted with some remaining hair, which is inconsistent with his appearance in Silver Age [see 1992/Yr4]. If Birthright #6 is valid [see 1990/Yr2], then this no longer represents Luthor’s first inkling that Superman is an alien. | ||
| [Autumn] The JLA and JSA join forces to battle T.O. Morrow and his android Red Tornado, who reforms and joins the Justice Society. | JLASF #1 (reaffirming JLofA #64-65 <8-9.68>). (Team-up #5, orig. #6.) Like other early team-ups, as originally chronicled this did not arise from a “scheduled” meeting of the two teams, so the date may not be precise. | ||
| [Oct] After months of gang war, Sofia Gigante is revealed as the “Hangman” and is killed. Gotham’s reigning crime families are decimated, and its costumed “freaks” prevail—but are themselves apprehended by the Batman, with invaluable assistance from Robin. | DV #6-13 <5-12.00>, based on internal dates. The scenes with Dick Grayson and Anthony Zucco in #9-11 do not belong in this story [see 1990-’91/Yrs2-3], but Dick’s appearance in #13 is probably legitimate [although it is not his debut]. James Gordon’s wife remains in Gotham at the end of this tale, in an ongoing effort at reconciliation. | ||
| Batman and Robin mourn the death of Alfred, but he soon experiences an “unlikely resurrection.” Alfred himself does not remember these events. | Batman #682, referencing events from (’Tec #328 <6.64> and ’Tec #356 <10.66>). Placement based not on original publication (it originally preceded Barbara Gordon’s debut as Batgirl) but on the sequence of flashbacks in the issue, prior to which it was considered apocryphal in post-Crisis canon. In between these events, starting in (’Tec #334 <12.64>), Alfred made several mind-altered appearances as the villainous Outsider, but as that form is neither shown nor mentioned in the flashback, its canonicity remains in doubt. | ||
| Reporter Jack Ryder is transformed into the maniacal antihero known as the Creeper. | ZHTL; SO v1 #18 <9.87>, Creeper v2 #3 <2.98>, Creeper v3 #1 <10.06>; (ShC #73 <3-4.68>). “Nine years ago” from ZH, just as in the official timeline—but in this revised structure he regains his original alignment in the sequence of events. Note that the Creeper’s origin has been retconned many times, and the 2006 version presented itself as a “hard reboot”… but his most recent appearances [e.g., Countdown to Mystery #3 <1.08>] reaffirm his prior history. | ||
| High school students Hank and Don Hall become the original Hawk and Dove. | ZHTL; SO v1 #43 <8.89>; (ShC #75 <6.68>). “Nine years” before ZH, just as in the official timeline—but like the Creeper, they now regain their original alignment in the sequence of events, rather than preceding characters such as Robin and Wonder Girl. | ||
| Blackmailed by ex-Nazi Captain Zahl, the members of the Doom Patrol sacrifice themselves to save the tiny fishing village of Codsville, Maine. | ZHTL; (DP v1 #121 <9-10.68>). “Nine years” before ZH, again unaltered, but the position relative to other events is now more logical. [Also see 1987.] (Gar Logan is 11 at this time, a retcon originally indicated in Tales of the NTT v1 #3.) Note again that despite John Byrne’s 2004 retcon, the Doom Patrol’s original history has been reconfirmed as of Teen Titans v3 #32 <3.06>. | ||
| [Dec] John Constantine, down and out for six months since the departure of his lover Kit, is inspired to regain control over his life, and recovers from his spiraling depression and alcoholic vagrancy. | Hellblazer #67-71 <7-11.93>. This placement respects the title’s use of real time, as for all events in Hellbllazer, save for certain exceptions that are explicitly noted. | ||
| At Interpol’s behest, the Teen Titans team up with Russian teen hero Starfire (Leonid Kovar, later Red Star) to track an international jewel thief. | Titans SF #1; (orig. TT v1 #18 <11-12.68>). | ||
| 1994 | “Year Six” | ↑ top | |
| Batman and Flash defeat the mystically empowered criminal Carl Bork. | Power Company: Bork #1 <3.02> (orig. B&B v1 #81 <12-1.69>), described as “eight years ago” at publication c. 2006/Yr18 (trying too hard to comply with DC’s overcompression of the Silver Age, as with most of Power Company’s flashbacks), but actually 12 based on the evidence. | ||
| Wonder Girl and Speedy begin dating; and on the trail of aliens from Dimension X, the Teen Titans first meet Hawk and Dove. | Titans SF #1; (orig. TT v1 #21-23 <3-8.69>). Wonder Girl adopts her new costume at this point, as seen in Titans v1 #25 <3.01> (claiming the scene is set “ten years ago,” vs. a more accurate eleven in current canon). | ||
| Captured by the Sunderland Corporation and examined by Jason Woodrue (see 1991/Yr3), Swamp Thing (see 1982, 1990/Yr2) discovers his true origins as a plant being, rather than a transformed human. | STSF #1 (“16 years ago”); (ST v2 #21 <1.84>, et seq.). My default mode for DCU-linked “Vertigo” titles is to arrange their history as close to “real time” as reasonably possible, absent more compelling evidence, since the books tend to do the same (and the relevant Secret Files do so explicitly). This can and does invite confusion when these stories interact with more “mainstream” characters that do fudge their history, however, as I’ll have occasion to point out again (indeed, the Vertigo Secret Files exhibit blithe disregard for the mainstream DCU continuity they incorporate), and the latest timeline “slide” has made this increasingly difficult. This story, for example, unfortunately cannot reasonably be placed significantly earlier, as Swampy-related events immediately below will make clear. | ||
| [Spring] The JLA and JSA battle the living star Aquarius. The original Black Canary, Dinah Drake Lance, is disabled by radiation and retires for good. | SO v2 #50 (recapping JLofA v1 #73-74 <8-9.69>). (Team-up #6, orig. #7.) The details of this battle remain in question. Dialogue references in JLA:Y1 #4, LA:I #1, and most recently BoP #100 <1.07> indicate that Dinah’s husband Larry Lance died years earlier, sometime prior to Dinah Jr.’s heroic debut, under undisclosed circumstances. This is a change with no clear reason, aparently made even though events as depicted in flashback in SO #50 include Larry’s participation and heroic sacrifice (as in the original), and even though BoP #28 <4.01> states Larry was still alive while Batgirl was active (Babs to Dinah Jr., recalling their first meeting: “Your father disappeared while on a case and you had some help finding him”). Regardless, nothing has negated this tale as a whole, and in fact it’s established as the source of Black Canary I’s later cancer. Like other early team-ups, as originally chronicled this did not arise from a “scheduled” meeting of the two teams, so the date may not be precise. | ||
| Hal (GL) Jordan and Barry (Flash) Allen go on an interstellar camping trip with Alan (GL) Scott and Jay (Flash) Garrick. | Brave & Bold mini-series #3 <12.99>. Exact date uncertain. Hal (now a toy salesman) mentions his new girlfriend Olivia Reynolds, who orig. 1st app. in (GL v1 #71 <9.69> and #75 <3.70>). | ||
| Nicholas Kotero (see 1984), returned to civilization, attacks Oliver Queen and kills his girlfriend Holly. Oliver, as Green Arrow, defeats Kotero, and begins to revise his attitude toward heroing. He grows a beard and adopts a new costume. | GA Annual #7 <95>. (GA’s beard and new costume originally first seen in B&B v1 #85 <8-9.69>.) He is also once again seen to be living in his penthouse [cf. 1989/Yr1, 1990/Yr2, 1992/Yr4]. While this is a “Year One” Annual, it seems evident that the story cannot be limited to that span, although it could possibly fall somewhat earlier than here. | ||
| On a brief crimefighting visit to Gotham, Green Arrow makes an ill-advised pass at Batgirl. | BoP #109 <8.87>. He is in his new costume, but not yet involved with Dinah; Barbara’s costume makes her “look at least twenty” (she’s actually 17). This flashback also features by far the chronologically earliest appearance of the Ventriloquist and Scarface [1st app. ’Tec 583 <2.88>]. | ||
| The JLA takes on the powerful alien godling Titus, who is destroying religious shrines all over Earth. | JLA Classified #50-54 <3-5.08>. The League is still in the cave HQ, and it is their first encounter with Green Arrow’s new costume. He and Dinah are still adversarial. It is about 13 years, not just “a decade” as stated, before Titus’s latter-day return. Note also that J’onn J’onzz recalls “in those days, the Batman kept to himself, interacting with us on an irregular basis.” | ||
| Oliver Queen loses his remaining fortune, framed for malfeasance by rival John Deleon—and changes his outlook for good, becoming aggressively political. | GA: Long Bow Hunters #1 <8.87>, JLASF #1, GA v3 #5 <8.01>; (confirming JLofA v1 #75 <11.69>). After this point, the confusing retcons of Ollie’s history begin to recede. | ||
| Green Arrow and Black Canary work together to capture the terrorist Kobra on a JLA mission. | BC v3 #2 <9.07>. Ollie later remembers this as a “turning point” in their relationship, although it was certainly not in their “first year with the League.” Even this placement still becomes Kobra’s chronologically earliest appearance. (Kobra 1st app. Kobra #1 <2-3.76>.) Here as with Scarface [above] and Merlyn and the League of Assassins [see 1991/Yr3], writer Tony Bedard seems to enjoy using villains in scenes that predate their earliest original appearances. | ||
| The Joker tricks Snapper Carr into revealing the JLA’s Secret Sanctuary. Snapper resigns as League mascot. | JLASF #1, Hourman #16 <7.00> (orig. JLofA v1 #77 <1.70>). | ||
| The JLA relocates to a geosynchronous satellite headquarters, built with the aid of Martian and Oan technology. Green Arrow expresses reservations about the League distancing itself from the people below. The romance between GA and Black Canary also begins at this point. | JLASF #1, JLA:I #3 <9.00> (orig. JLofA v1 #78-79 <2-3.70>, #130 <5.76>). Dinah is turning 24; Ollie is about 37. | ||
| On an archaeological dig in Egypt, Theo Adam becomes Black Adam (see 1223 BCE), and kills C.C. and Marilyn Batson, parents of Billy and Mary. | Power of Shazam GN <94>, DCU Heroes SF #1 <2.99>. Set five years before Captain Marvel’s debut [see 1999/Yr11]. Billy can be no older than five at this time, although the (DC Encyclopedia (1st Ed. 2004)) indicates that Mary is nine—which seems incompatible with the idea that they are twins [as per PoS #29 <8.97>]. | ||
| Swamp Thing confronts the Floronic Man and the Justice League. | STSF #1; (ST v2 #24 <4.84>). This is the earliest plausible date, as the story firmly places the JLA in their satellite HQ. | ||
| The Demon Etrigan (see 6th C.) reappears on Earth. | ZHTL; (orig. Demon v1 #1 <8-9.72>); many latter-day retellings. Accurately “Eight Years Ago” relative to ZH, and just in time to accommodate his involvement with Swamp Thing [see below]. | ||
| John Constantine, the Phantom Stranger, Dr. Occult, and Mr. E collaborate to introduce young Tim Hunter to the vast potential, and vast risks, of his magical heritage. | Books of Magic mini-series #1-4 <1-4.91>. Date approximate, backdated from a real-time reference in Age of Magic #7 <6.02> [see 2001/Yr13]. Tim is 12 at this time. Some of Tim’s later exploits, although released under the Vertigo imprint, appear to apply time compression similar (if not identical) to the “mainstream” DCU; however, his intersections with it are tangential at best. (The Children’s Crusade inter-Vertigo crossover <12.93-1.94> may need to be deemed apocryphal, though.) | ||
| Batgirl and Black Canary join forces when Killer Moth and Firefly kidnap Jim Gordon. | Bg:Y1 #5 <6.03> [bridging story], #6-7 <7-8.03>. This tale unequivocally involves the JLA satellite in #6, necessitating a significant gap since the previous issues’ pre-Silver Age events [see 1992/Yr4]; hence this mini-series unavaoidably covers more than just Batgirl’s first year, Jim Gordon is not actually still a Captain, and it’s actually closer to two years than “two months” [#6] since Babs’ first attempt at adventuring. Moreover, appearances notwithstanding, this is neither the debut of Firefly nor Barbara and Dinah’s first meeting—by virtue of data established in other Dixon-written stories! [Robin:Y1 and BoP #28 respectively; see 1991/Yr3 and above.] | ||
| Batman travels to Tibet to help Deadman (see 1985) confront the League of Assassins, who were behind his murder. | Bg:Y1 #7 [established in dialogue to be simultaneous with above], apparently affirming (B&B v1 #86 <10-11.69>). Note, however, that in current continuity Deadman has already been around for several years at this point [see 1985 ], so this adventure may differ significantly from the original account. | ||
| Batgirl teams with Robin to confront Blockbuster, then later the same night decisively defeats the Killer Moth/Firefly duo when they attack police headquarters. | Bg:Y1 #7-9 <8-10.03>. Babs first realizes she’s decided “to go full-time” in costume at this point, but then faces the need to stop… until Batman agrees to train her, below. | ||
| Framed for the murder of pacifist Dr. Arthur Swenson and chastised by their JLA mentors, the Teen Titans (joined by the mysterious Lilith and, briefly, Hawk and Dove) forsake their costumes and powers to join a training program sponsored by rich philanthropist Loren Jupiter. | SO Annual #3, Titans SF #1; (orig. TT v1 #25 <1-2.70>). They are soon joined by Mal Duncan (TT v1 #26 <3-4.70>). This necessarily postdates Robin’s appearance in the Batgirl tale immediately above. | ||
| Swamp Thing retrieves Abby Arcane Cable’s soul from Hell (where it was sent by her now-undead Uncle Anton), and they reveal their love for one another. | STSF #1 (“15 YA”); (ST Annual #2 <84>, ST v2 #34 <3.85>). The tale involves the Phantom Stranger, Deadman, the Demon [see above], and the Spectre. | ||
| Morgan Edge asserts leadership of Intergang. | SVSF #1—dated as “Nine Years Ago”; I have placed it here just before the New Gods’ debut, an appropriate context. | ||
| [Summer] Darkseid and the New Gods bring their battles over the Anti-Life Equation into the open on Earth, when the Forever People travel here to rescue the captured Beautiful Dreamer, and meet Superman. He visits Supertown, and is introduced to the wonders of New Genesis. | ZHTL* [“Nine Years Ago”]; Jack Kirby’s Fouth World #20 <10.98>; (orig. Forever People #1 <2-3.71>). In contrast to ZH, New Gods SF #1 <9.98> sets this only “seven years ago”; this placement actually splits the difference. It’s still a bit earlier than original publication might suggest, but the additional time allows for the character growth seen in the FP mini-series <2-7.88> [see 2000/Yr12] and various subsequent appearances. Jimmy Olsen is thus about 14 in this retelling, young but plausible. | ||
| Swamp Thing first encounters John Constantine, who launches him on a journey of self-discovery across the gothic underbelly of America. | STSF #1 (“15 YA”); (ST v2 #37-40 <6-9.85>). Constantine’s first published appearance… as before, as close to real time as technically possible, albeit no longer particularly close to the mark (and now postdating several other incidents in Constantine’s life that were originally published later; e.g., see 1988). | ||
| Green Lantern is exposed to will-sapping “Ergono” energy, beginning a cycle of self-doubt that lasts for years to come. | GL v2 #39 <5.93>, confirming (GL v1 #75 <3.70>). | ||
| Green Lantern and Green Arrow, concerned about their detachment from real-world injustices, take a leave of absence from the JLA, and embark on a quest across America. They are accompanied by the Guardian Appa Ali Apsa, affectionately known as “the Old Timer,” and occasionally by Black Canary. | JLASF #1; (GL v2 #76 <4-5.70>). DC’s own timelines cannot agree about when to place this. JLASF #1 has it in the League’s “Year 2,” the most implausibly early; DCU2KSF #1 implies it’s in Year 3; GLSF #1 places it “7 years ago” (i.e., Year 4). The actual evidence puts it here. This tale more than most others (post-World War II) suffers greatly from being chronologically transplanted; the Vietnam era in American culture is vastly different from the post-Reagan era. (Unfortunately the lesson DC learned from this seems to be to isolate most stories from any topical concerns, rather than just leaving them in their proper periods.) Incongruities notwithstanding, this does remain canonical. | ||
| Robin solves the Swenson murder case, and the Titans resume their costumed careers. Mal accidentally frees the Gargoyle from limbo, but successfully sends the villain back. | Titans SF #1, SO Annual #3; (orig. [re: Mal] TT v1 #35 <9-10.71>). (Somewhat out of sequence vs. contemporary publications, to allow for compression of the team’s final adventures [see 1995/Yr7], as well as for Robin’s role in Batgirl’s training, below.) | ||
| Discovering evidence that Batgirl is still active, the Batman confronts Barbara Gordon, and she agrees to suspend her costumed activities if he’ll agree to train her. Shortly thereafter, he reveals his identity to her, she swears an oath of loyalty and secrecy, and he and Robin help throw Commissioner Gordon off the scent of Barbara’s secret. | LDCU #10 <11.98> and Bg:Y1 #9 <10.03>; it’s awkward but not impossible to reconcile the context of the two tales. Note that Barbara is shown [in LDCU] moving into student housing this semester; it’s apparently meant to imply she’s just starting college, as is her (accurate) statement “I’m 18” (without mention of her accelerated schooling), but that’s never stated explicitly, and in fact isn’t so. Batman’s costume [in Bg:Y1] is mis-depicted for the era. | ||
| Batgirl has her first encounter with Catwoman, who leads her a merry chase after robbing the Gotham Library. | Batman Confidential #17 <7.08>. It is “three weeks” since Barbara “became an ‘official’ member of Gotham’s Bat-family” (and thus acquired new equipment), albeit more than just “a few months” since her debut. | ||
| Swamp Thing first encounters the Parliament of Trees (see 350 Million YA), learning secrets of his roots that enable him and John Constantine to narrowly avert a war between Heaven and Hell—but Sargon the Sorcerer and the magician Zatara die aiding in the effort, and Steve (Mento) Dayton is driven temporarily insane. | ST v2 #47-50 <4-7.86>, again as close to real time (relatively) as circumstance allows. This Brujeria conspiracy saga was originally linked to the Crisis, but it is plausibly extricable. Almost all of DC’s contemporary occult characters do participate, however. | ||
| When the First of the Fallen (see 1991) seeks revenge, Constantine deals him a resounding defeat—but at the cost of the lives of many of his friends and allies. | Hellblazer #78-83 <6-11.94>, “Rake at the Gates of Hell.” These events can be, and are, placed in real time. | ||
| [Late Summer] Education reformer and former Olympic champion Jefferson Pierce (see 1984) returns to his family home in Metropolis’s “Suicide Slum.” When one of his students is slain by the ambitious new organized crime family, “The 100,” he soon takes to the streets as a vigilante seeking the perpetrators. |
Black Lightning: Year One #1 <3.09>. According to the narration by his wife Lynn Stewart, she has known Jeff for (at least) 15 years, and they have been married for ten, during which time he has turned around “five schools” in as amany towns. Given the mention of college and grad school before his teaching career, he can be no less than about 33 here. His niece Joanna is leaving for college, and is “twice” the age of his daughter Anissa (later Thunder; see 2007/Yr19). His Olympic victories are described as “eleven years ago,” which if strictly accurate would put this story one year later… but that would force his daughters to be younger than they are currently portrayed. This placement is the best available compromise. | ||
| [Autumn] The JLA and JSA defend Earth from alien planetary architect “Creator2”. Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Black Canary are recalled from their leave of absence for this case. | (JLofA v1 #82-83 <8-9.70>). (Team-up #7, orig. #8.) No explicit post-Crisis confirmation as yet (but see 1991/Yr3 for explanation). Like other early team-ups, as originally chronicled this did not arise from a “scheduled” meeting of the two teams, so the date may not be precise. | ||
| After several weeks of training, Batgirl proves herself once again when she and her father work together to foil a bank robbery. | LDCU #10-11. Jim Gordon apparently learns Barbara’s secret identity as of this story [but denies the truth for years; see Batman Chronicles #1 <7.95>]. Batman already knows it [see 1992/Yr4], contrary to implications here. | ||
| Rose Forrest manifests a multiple personality as the Thorn to take down Metropolis’ ambitious new organized crime family, “The 100.” | ZHTL* [“Six years ago”]; (Lois Lane #105 <10.70>). Rose is 20 at this point [WWho v2]. There is no connection to the original Thorn, Rose Canton [see 1947, 1979, 1990/Yr2], although writers have occasionally confused them. | ||
| Months after their first encounter (above), Batman and Flash once again apprehend Carl Bork… who returns to prison with a new spirit of repentance. | PCo: Bork #1, still described as “eight years ago” but actually 12. (This might actually fall later, but I opted to honor the story by at least keeping its events within the same year.) | ||
| [Dec] Jefferson Pierce debuts in costume as Black Lightning. | ZHTL* [“Six Years Ago”]; SO #26 <5.88>, BL:Y1 #2 <3.09>; (orig. Black Lightning v1 #1 <4.77>). Per the Y1 story, he received the costume as a gift from tailor Peter Gambi on Thanksgiving Day. | ||
| Helena Bertinelli (see 1993/Yr5), visiting the States for the holidays, witnesses the Batman attack her mobster relatives. | Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #4. She is 16. Batman’s chest emblem is mis-depicted, as this cannot be significantly earlier in his career without changing Helena’s age. The story notes that the Galantes have “just regained control of the mob in Gotham,” an oblique reference to other crime families [see 1986, 1989/Yr1, 1992/Yr4]. | ||
| 1995 | “Year Seven” | ↑ top | |
| The JLA meets the Justifiers of Angor: Silver Sorceress, Blue Jay, Wandjina, and Jack B. Quick. | JLE #16 <7.90> (recalling JLofA v1 #87 <2.71>); the characters actually reappeared as early as JL #2 <6.87>. They are, of course, a pastiche of Marvel’s Avengers. | ||
| Iris Allen learns she is actually a refugee from the 30th century (see 2945). | LSOF, Flash SF #1 <11.97>; (orig. Flash v1 #203 <2.71>). | ||
| After a final case in which they free an old man’s estate from demons, the Teen Titans disband. | SO Annual #3, Titans SF #1 [establishing that the team was together for three years]; (orig. TT v1 #43 <2-3.73>). (This is not even mentioned in DC’s “official” timeline(s)!) It’s necessary to compress the team’s final issues a bit, as vs. contemporary (published) events, in order to dovetail with matters concerning Speedy in GL [see below]. | ||
| [Late Mar] In their annual get-together, Superman and Batman join forces with young heroines Batgirl and the Thorn to oppose The 100’s expansion into Gotham. | B&S:WF #5 <8.99>. This must fall two years after the tale in #4 (the first but certainly not last interruption in this mini-series’ “yearly” chapters), due primarily to the ripple effects of Bg:Y1 and related stories. Note Batman’s discussion of how Batgirl needs no more of his training. | ||
| [Apr 14] Passing through Central City, GA and GL join forces with the Flash to expose the Mayor’s corrupt plans for a quasi-fascist police force. | B&B v3 #4 <1.00>. Date from newspaper within story. | ||
| After months of traveling and solo adventures, Green Arrow and Green Lantern resume activity in the JLA. | JLASF #1; (JLofA v1 #88 <3.71>). Their adventures as a duo also continue for a time, however, as seen below. | ||
| Hal Jordan reveals his secret identity to Carol Ferris. | (GL v2 #83 <4-5.71>). Implicit in her later knowledge, although the story details may have changed. | ||
| The Batman first encounters the immortal Rā’s al Ghūl (see 13th C.) and his daughter Talia. | Never explicitly retold, but often referred to: WWho v2, BVSF #1 [claiming “Year 3” !], Batman #616 <8.03> [incorrectly recalling Robin as a college student, as originally published]; (orig. Batman #232 <6.71>). Black Lightning also encounters Talia around this time, in BL:Y1 #3-4 <4.09>. | ||
| [Spring] The JLA and JSA battle a Solomon Grundy under the influence of stranded aliens. | IInc. v1 #39 <6.87>, Starman v2 #17 <3.96>; both recapping (JLofA v1 #91-92 <8-9.71>), as part of a chronicle of Grundy’s history. (Team-up #8, orig. #9.) Like other early team-ups, as originally chronicled this did not arise from a “scheduled” meeting of the two teams, so the date may not be precise. | ||
| Feeling cast adrift by both Green Arrow and the Titans, Roy (Speedy) Harper develops a heroin addiction. He defeats it with the assistance of Black Canary. | Titans SF #1, Arsenal #1; (orig. GL v2 #85-86 <8-11.71>). | ||
| [Jun 19] After months of escalating skirmishes (including the death of his friend Peter Gambi), Black Lightning defeats “100” leader Tobias Whale—and the monstrous being behind him, once known as Bjorn Gustavsen (see 1467). | BL:Y1 #6 <5.09>; date in story. Jefferson Pierce’s daughter anissa is still “nine years old” at this point. His wife Lynn is very pregnant in this story, and their second daughter Jennifer (later Thunder, in 2010/Yr22) is clearly born soon after. | ||
| When Guy Gardner is injured, architect John Stewart is selected as an alternate Green Lantern. | ZHTL [“Seven years ago”]; GLSF #1 <7.98>, SO v2 #7 [see 1993/Yr5]; (orig. GL v2 #87 <12-1.72>). | ||
| Superman and the JLA defeat the alien energy vampire known as Starbreaker—first on Rann, then in a rematch on Earth. | Action #650, JL #64 <7.92>, JLASF #1, JLofA v2 #29 <3.09>; (recalling JLofA v1 #96-98 <2-5.72>). When originally recapped this was presented as one of Superman’s scarce cases with the League, but in “New Earth” canon we can once again treat him as a full member. The role of Sargon the Sorcerer in this tale, however [given his death now set in 1994/Yr6], cannot necessarily be confirmed. | ||
| While Superman is off-planet, a battle between Orion and Kalibak injures Metropolis SCU officer Dan “Terrible” Turpin. | SVSF #1; (New Gods v1 #8 <4-5.72>). As with other Secret Files timelines, the dating is error-ridden, but the canonicity of the event is relevant. SVSF #1 implies this is during Superman’s trip to Rann [see 1996/Yr8], but there’s no reason to believe that is accurate; the Starbreaker case is a likelier match. | ||
| Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon go on a date, then as Robin and Batgirl take on Crazy Quilt, and wind up getting rescued by Batman. | Nightwing Annual #2 <6.07>. Dick is 16 but, contrary to his dialogue when recalling this, Barbara is not (an error writer Mark Andreyko has acknowledged online); she is 18. Placement here is approximate. Batman is just back from being “off in space with the JLA,” possibly an unchronicled case. | ||
| The Batman fakes Bruce Wayne’s death (briefly) as part of a scheme to hunt down über-terrorist Rā’s al Ghūl, leading to a climactic swordfight in the desert. | Batman #683 <1.09> (confirming by flashback Batman #242-245 <6-10.72>). | ||
| Green Arrow accidentally kills a sniper with an arrow; he crashes his arrow plane in despair, and retreats to the Ashram Buddhist monastery to reconsider his heroic role. He emerges when GL summons him to help save Black Canary’s life. | LDCU #12-13 <1-2.99> (recapping Flash v1 #217-219 <8-9.72—12-1.73>). The latter-day tale implies that Ollie remains at the monastery for several more years, but that is inconsistent with the weight of too many other tales. He does return for further soul-searching at a later date, though [see 1998/Yr10]. This is the last “classic” GL/GA story. | ||
| [Autumn] At their semi-annual joint meeting, the JLA and JSA rescue the Seven Soldiers of Victory (see 1948) from across time, enlisting their aid to defeat the Iron Hand and the Nebula-Man. | JLASF #1, Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. #0 <7.99>, #9 <4.00>; (reaffirming JLofA v1 #100-102 <8-10.72>). (Team-up #9, orig. #10.) Attempts to set this earlier in DC’s “official” timeline(s) (to accommodate, e.g., Stripesy’s now-adolescent son) play havoc with surrounding history, causing more problems than they solve. Note that from here forward, all JLA/JSA team-ups were chronicled as formally arranged meetings. | ||
| Green Arrow exposes a corrupt tycoon trying to buy influence over the JLA. | JLA 80-Pg Giant #1 <7.98>. Dating based on the satellite HQ and the apparent membership ranks. | ||
| JLA membership is declined by the Phantom Stranger1, but accepted by the Elongated Man2 and the Red Tornado3. | JLASF #1; (orig. 1JLofA v1 #103 <12.72>, 2JLofA v1 #105 <5.73>, 3JLofA v1 #106 <7-8.73>). | ||
| Commissioner Gordon attempts further reconciliation with his estranged wife Barbara… but concerned over subjecting her and their son to his own stress, he allows them to part ways for good. Meanwhile, the Batman tracks down a serial killer of child abusers. | Batman: Night Cries GN <92>. Given earlier events [see 1990/Yr2], to retain this story we must now suppose that this was not their first split. Fortunately that’s not too difficult; see the notes re: Dark Victory’s account of their reconciliation in 1993/Yr5. Gordon still seems new in the role of Commissioner here, but the clearest date evidence comes from the statement that James Jr. is “six years old.” | ||
| Swamp Thing, “killed” in Gotham City (by Lex Luthor’s technology) when he attacks it in defense of Abby, begins an involuntary sojourn through space. | ST v2 #53 <10.86>. Placement approximate. A reference in ST v2 #145 <8.94> clearly states that this occurred back during the Reagan years, but with timeline slippage that real-time link can no longer be maintained. | ||
| The first Black Orchid is created, grown by botanist Phil Sylvian as a genetic avatar of his dead friend Susan Linden. | Black Orchid v1 (mini-series) #1 <Hol.88>; (1st app. Adv. #428 <7-8.73>). The date is uncertain; this could arguably be placed earlier (but not prior to c. 1982: Phil Sylvian was a contemporary of Pamela Isley and Jason Woodrue at the University of Metropolis). | ||
| The Batman obstructs the Joker’s attempts at “five-way revenge” against his old gang. | Batman #683 (confirming by flashback Batman #251 <9.73>). This is roughly the point at which the Joker resumes his early homicidal tendencies, after a period of “jokier” crimes. | ||
| Earth’s first Manhunter (Paul Kirk; see 1946) is resurrected… and dies again, defeating the conspiratorial Council that’s trying to control him. One of his clones survives, however, and goes into hiding, later surfacing as mercenary “Kirk dePaul.” | ZHTL [“Seven Years Ago”]; (orig. ’Tec #437-443 <10-11.73—10-11.74>); also PCo: Manhunter #1 <3.02>, confirming the original story [described as “eight years ago,” but actually 11 at that point] and adding the surviving clone. | ||
| 1996 | “Year Eight” | ↑ top | |
| The JLA combats multiple Eclipsos1, as well as the Injustice Gang of the World2, led by a mysterious figure called Libra. | JLASF #1; (orig. 1JLofA v1 #109 <1-2.74>, in a tale that had the Hawks returning to Thanagar!; 2JLofA v1 #111 <5-6.74>). Libra also plays an important role in the events of Final Crisis [see 2010/Yr22]. | ||
| Batman’s old enemy Professor Milo (see 1991/Yr 3) creates a werewolf to take on the Caped Crusader. | Batman #683 (confirming by flashback Batman #255 <3-4.74>). | ||
| Flash helps Sue Dibny provide her husband Ralph (Elongated Man) with a “birthday mystery.” | Identity Crisis #1 <8.04> (referencing ’Tec #449 <7.75>). | ||
| [Spring] At their semi-annual joint meeting, the JLA and JSA discover Sandy Hawkins (see 1941, ’47) trapped in the form of a silicon monster, when he frees himself after decades of suspended animation. | JSASF #1 (reaffirming JLofA v1 #113 <9-10.74>) and subsequent references. (Team-up #10, orig. #12.) (At one point, this was thought to have been retconned away post-Crisis, per implications in Sandman Mystery Theatre.) | ||
| Richard Dragon and Ben (Bronze Tiger) Turner complete seven years of training under the O-Sensei (see 1895). They will consistently rank among the most skilled martial artists on Earth. Lady Shiva (see 1987) also works alongside them briefly, but abandons Dragon's peaceful philosophy to return to the life of an assassin. | (Orig. Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter #1 <4-5.75> et seq.) The recent Richard Dragon retcon series <7.04-6.05> attempted to render these events non-canonical, but it was not well received, and this history has been affirmed in its essentials in later appearances of the characters. We may take this as one of the minor but salutary effects of Infinite Crisis. Shiva’s involvement (starting as of #5 <12.75>) must come about differently than originally chronicled, given the changes in her origin. | ||
| Superman assists the JLA and Adam Strange against Kanjar Ro on Rann (and attends Adam’s wedding to Alanna). | Action #650 (recalling JLofA v1 #120-121 <7-8.75>). There are unreconciled conflicts with the version of Kanjar Ro shown in Hawkworld [see 2001/Yr13]. | ||
| Power Girl awakens in the present. (See 48,000 BCE.) | ZHTL [“Six Years Ago”]; SO v2 #11 <2.87>, IInc. Annual #2 <88>; (1st app. A-SC #58 <1-2.76>) (The ZH timeline actually seems roughly on the mark in this case.) Due to Kara’s powers and her arrival “craft,” she and Superman initially conclude they may share similar origins. This has now been relegated to an apparent hypertimeline, however, per JSA Classified #4 <12.05>—rendering questionable any mainstream DCU history for Kara prior to the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths #11 <2.86> [see 1999/Yr11], when she arrived from Earth-2 via the reality bottleneck at the Dawn of Time. If she did in fact arrive at this earlier date, no explanation has yet been provided. | ||
| The JSA battles the villain Vulcan1; takes on a re-formed Injustice Society2; and (as Kara and the Star-Spangled Kid join the team)3 travels to ancient Camelot in pursuit of Vandal Savage. Not long after, they encounter the villainous Strike Force, secretly led by SSK’s nephew Arthur Pemberton.4 | 1JSASF #1; (orig. A-SC #60 <5-6.76>). Green Lantern erroneously remembers this battle being in the 1950s, which is impossible, as Vulcan was a former NASA astronaut. 2IInc v1 #39 <6.87>; (orig. A-SC #62-63 <9-10 & 11-12.76>). 3IInc Annual #2; (orig. A-SC #64-65 <1-2 & 3-4.77>). The Shining Knight remains behind in Camelot [see 6th Century CE]. | ||
| Flash’s enemy the Top dies, disabled by his own mind-over-matter abilities. | Flash v2 #215 <12.04> (reaffirming Flash v1 #243-44 <8-9.76>); date approximate. (Top 1st app. Flash v1 #122 <8.61>.) | ||
| A short-lived second incarnation of the Teen Titans forms (involving several new members), and spawns an even briefer “Titans West” group. | SO Annual #3 [establishing this as two years after the originals’ disbanding, now slightly revised], Titans SF #1 [confirming battles against Dr. Light, Two-Face, and Mr. Esper]; (recapping and revising TT v1 #44-52 <11.76-12.77>). New Titans #56 <7.89> includes a flashback (featuring Gnark and Titans West) set “about six months before the old Titans disbanded, almost a year before the New Titans formed”… not a precisely accurate date, but one which appoximates late summer of this year. It must also fall here to accomodate events in Dick Grayson’s life, below. | ||
| His normal life torn away over the past two years by manipulative faeries and demons, Tim Hunter (see 1994/Yr6) goes on a quest for his true name—and discovers he’s a successor to the power of Merlin. Chased to Tintagel, Cornwall, he enters the multidimensional White School to train in the use of his magical heritage. | Names of Magic mini-series #1-5 <2-6.01>. As the events of the Books of Magic regular series [#1-75 <5.94-8.00>], prededing this, used compressed time, this is placed accordingly. Tim is 14 (nearing 15) in this story; he is 17 when next seen in early 2001/Yr13, in Age of Magic #1 <9.01>. | ||
| Swamp Thing finds himself on Rann, where he encounters Adam Strange, and helps relieve some of the planet’s barrenness. | ST v2 #57-58 <2-3.87>. Date approximate, but it must fall after Adam’s wedding to Alanna [above]. Thanagar severs its diplomatic links with Rann in this story. | ||
| [Summer] Batgirl and Catwoman join forces to take down a rich, secretive serial killer. | Birds of Prey: Batgirl/Catworman #1 <4.03>. The tale is set the summer Barbara is 19—some time after her training by Batman—and finishing up college, while Robin is “thinking about” college himself. Everything fits. | ||
| [Jul?] Dick (Robin) Grayson, injured on an unspecified case and chastised by the Batman, walks out of Wayne Manor and leaves for New York. He falls in with a group of other runaways led by one “Metal Eddie,” and falls for a fellow acolyte, a girl named Liu. | Nightwing #133-137 <8-12.07>. This is neither the earliest nor the latest retconned schism between Dick and Bruce [see 1991/Yr3, 1998/Yr9], although it’s very similar to the others. In #134’s opening flashback Dick says “next month I’ll be seventeen. I’m the leader of the Teen Titans…” and in #135 he recalls “I was with him for a summer. I was sixteen… seventeen,” placing the story’s opening here. (This is, however, unavoidably more than “almost ten years ago,” as Dick recalls it in #134 c. 2009/Yr21.) | ||
| Batman and Alfred close up Wayne Manor and set up headquarters in a downtown Gotham skyscraper. | Batman #682 (orig. Batman #217 <12.69>). This originally occurred when Dick Grayson left for college, and has not previously been considered a part of post-Crisis history, until referenced by Grant Morrison in #682. If it fits in current canon at all, it is most likely during Dick's absence here—rather than during the later Nightwing (and Jason Todd) period as the flashback scene implies, which would be a very awkward fit. | ||
| The JLA encounters the robotic Manhunters1 and their agent, Mark Shaw, who becomes the Privateer2; simultaneously confronts the artificial intelligence called the Construct again in a rematch3. | SO v2 #22 <1.88>, JLASF #1; (orig. 1JLofA v1 #140-41 <3-4.77>; 2#143 <6.77>; 3#142-43 <5-6.77>; 4#146 <9.77>. At some point Shaw is also brainwashed into being an agent of the U.S. government, per Manhunter v3 #13 <10.05>; as in 1942, we may speculate that the government agents responsible were also covertly working wtih the robotic Manhunter cult. | ||
| Rac Shade, the Changing Man, comes to Earth from his home dimension of Meta. | ZHTL [“Six Years Ago”]. The character’s exact status is puzzling, however, since the Vertigo version’s [from Shade #1 <7.90> et seq.] existence in the DCU is ambiguous—while the original, seen in Suicide Squad #16 <8.88> et seq. (and Shade #1-8 <6-7.77—8-9.78>), has seemingly been disavowed (a Hypertime flux?). This date could theoretically work for either one, pending clarification. | ||
| Black Manta kills Aquaman’s son, Arthur Curry Jr. Mera, grief-stricken, leaves Aquaman. | Aquaman SF #1; (orig. Adv. #452 <7-8.77> & Aquaman v1 #57-60 <8-9.77—2-3.78>). Arthur Jr. is three years old. | ||
| [Autumn] The JLA and JSA take on Mordru alongside one version of the Legion of Super-Heroes. | Action #864 <6.08> (reaffirming JLofA v1 #147-48 <10-11.77>). (Team-up #11, orig. #15.) In the previous version of this Chronology I had deemed this story impossible in post-Crisis continuity and speculatively placed the 1978 crossover here (involving the Lord of Time and “history’s heroes”), but this one actually synchronizes better with surrounding events, allowing a closer fit to the original published order. | ||
| [Nov] Barbara Gordon is elected to Congress. | SO v2 #20 (orig. ’Tec #422-424 <4-6.72>, in which she also unmasked to her father). With a Master’s Degree now under her belt, she is allowed to run at age 20 rather than the usual 25 under the provisions of the “Knight Dependents’ Act of 1946.” (Decidedly out of sequence vs. contemporary events—but this is both the earliest and the latest it can fall given other data about Barbara’s life.) | ||
| The JLA again confronts Mark Shaw, now costumed as the Star-Tsar. | SO v2 #22 <1.88>, JLASF #1; (orig. JLofA #149-50 <12.77-1.78>). | ||
| The JLA is sanctioned by the United Nations as a worldwide peacekeeping force. | JLASF #1 (original source unknown (??), but set around this point in the overall sequence); confirmed in JLA:I #3. | ||
| Bruce Wayne becomes romantically entangled with Silver St. Cloud, but she leaves Gotham after discovering his dual identity. | Batman #600 <4.02> mentions her, but her story has never actually been retold; (orig. ’Tec #470-476 <6.77-3.78>). Also referred to in LODK #132-136 <8-12.00>, but that tale may be apocryphal, as it distorts the history of the Wayne family and Wayne Manor. | ||
| Batman deals with the return of old enemy Deadshot (see 1990/Yr2). | Batman #683 (confirming by flashback ’Tec #474 <12.77>). This is in the midst of a tale also involving Silver St. Cloud, political boss Rupert Thorne, and the return of Hugo Strange [see 1989/Yr1], but none of them is actually depicted in the flashback panel. | ||
| Arani Caulder forms a brief second incarnation of the Doom Patrol (see 1987, 1993/Yr5). | SO Annual #1 <8.87>, DP v2 #1 <10.87>, and later sources (reaffirming ShC #94-96 <8-9.77—12-1.78>). | ||
| Deep in space, Prince Gavyn becomes Starman, heroic protector of his alien empire. | Starman SF #1 <4.88>, which places this three years before Gavyn’s death in the Crisis; (1st app. Adv. #467 <1.80>). | ||
| 1997 | “Year Nine” | ↑ top | |
| The Guardians of the Universe enlist the Flash to help defeat a rogue “empathistar” controlled by Sinestro. | B&B v3 #5 <2.00>. Date approximate; Hal Jordan is now a truck driver (first seen in GL v1 #99 <12.77>), and Iris Allen is still alive. | ||
| [Jan?] Dick Grayson learns he has been betrayed by his first lover, Liu, and set up by Eddie to facilitate a break-in to Wayne Enterprises. He returns to Gotham and, as Robin, helps Batman take down Eddie’s gang. | Nightwing #133-137. Placement of this is rather complicated. Dick’s absence must unavoidably have lasted more than just “a summer” as Dick later described—actually about six months—since in #137 he explicitly states that he learned of this betrayal “321 days” (i.e., about 10-½ months) before the founding of the New Teen Titans, below—which itself cannot be moved earlier without displacing other events. This lengthy absence from Batman’s side is longer than had previously been contemplated in post-Crisis reality, but fortunately it causes few story problems since in the original publishing sequence Dick was off at college during this period. With renewed respect from Batman, Dick agrees to come home “[At] least till I’m eighteen”… and later recalls that he spends “most of the next year pretending nothing had happened.” Note that the characters are once again based out of Wayne Manor at this point. | ||
| On “day four” after his betrayal, Robin and his fellow Teen Titans once again disband the group. | SO Annual #3, Titans SF #1; (orig. TT v1 #53 <2.78>). This originally corresponded with most of the members’ graduation from high school; it still at least falls in the correct year for that. Wally, Dick and Donna are 17 at this point, Garth and Roy just barely 19. | ||
| Bonnie King (see 1991/Yr3), widowed, begins to train her daughter Cissie in archery and crimefighting. | Impulse #28, SO 80-Pg Giant #1. Cissie, now age five [per the story], will eventually join Young Justice as Arrowette [see 2003/Yr15]. Note [contrary to the 80-Pg Giant flashback] that this scene falls well past the period when Hal Jordan was an insurance investigator [see 1992/Yr4]. | ||
| Swamp Thing returns to Earth with greater control of his elemental powers, only to learn that the Parliament of Trees has created a new proto-elemental “sprout” in his absence. With help from Constantine, he begins seeking a new host body for the Sprout. | ST v2 #63-65 <8-10.87>, et seq. Date approximate. The period following from this must be stretched a bit, once again, given the constraints on the next major events in Swamp Thing’s life [see 2000/Yr12]. Fortunately, it comes at a natural break in his ongoing story. | ||
| Physicist Martin Stein and teenager Ron Raymond are transformed into Firestorm, the Nuclear Man. | ZHTL*; (orig. Firestorm #1 <3.78>). Ron was only halfway through high school when he first gained his powers, but graduated just prior to the Crisis—hence this belongs two years before the Crisis, not just one, as ZH would have it. | ||
| The JSA encounters the villainous Strike Force, secretly led by SSK’s nephew Arthur Pemberton. | Power Company #4 <7.02>; (orig. A-SC #71 <3-4.78>). | ||
| The Batman is involuntarily “married” to Talia by Rā’s al Ghūl, but repudiates the villain’s attempts to make him an ally and heir. | Son of the Demon GN <9.87> confirms this (orig. Batman Special [DC Special Series #15] <Sum.78>). | ||
| Preston Payne, injected with a serum derived from the blood of Matt (Clayface) Hagen (see 1989/Yr1), becomes the tragic Clayface III. | SO v2 #44; (1st app. ’Tec #478 <8.78>). Date approximate, based on original publication. | ||
| Ray (Atom) Palmer marries Jean Loring. | (JLofA v1 #157 <8.78>.) Logically required by later events. | ||
| Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Black Canary encounter the alien Replikon. | Adv. Supes #427-28 <6-7.04> (confirming GL v1 #108 <9.78>). | ||
| Zatanna joins the JLA. | JLASF #1; (orig. JLofA v1 #161 <12.78>). | ||
| The JLA locates Zatanna’s missing mother, Sindella, at a hidden Homo Magi refuge in Turkey, but Sindella sacrifices her life to save her daughter. | DCU Heroes SF #1; (JLofA v1 #163-165 <2-4.79>). Zatara’s role in this story, as originally chronicled, may have to be apocryphal due to events in Swamp Thing [see 1994/Yr6]. | ||
| The Batman first encounters Maxie Zeus. | BVSF #1 [allegedly “Year 4”]; (orig. ’Tec #483 <4-5.79>). | ||
| [Winter] Guy Gardner is cast into limbo in an accident with Hal Jordan’s power battery, and rendered brain-damaged and comatose before his eventual rescue. (Hal briefly becomes involved with Kari Limbo, whom Guy was dating, and almost marries her.) | SO v2 #7 [placing this two winters after John Stewart’s debut; see 1995/Yr7], GLSF #1; (orig. GL v2 #116-124 <5.79-1.80>). | ||
| The Secret Society of Super-Villains (including the Wizard, Floronic Man, Star Sapphire II, Chronos, Matter Master, and Felix Faust) switches bodies with several members of the JLA. Narrowly defeated, their minds are wiped clean of the Leaguers’ secrets. | JLA #115 <8.05> (confirming JLofA v1 #166-68 <5-7.79>). (In the original tale, the only SSSVers involved were the Wizard, Floro, Sapphire, Blockbuster, and Reverse-Flash. The full history of this Secret Society (involving Darkseid and Captain Comet, among others, per SSSV #1-15 <5.76-6.78>), remains uncertain—although evidence in GG: Warrior #29 <3.95>, as well as various issues of Starman and Superboy, suggest it may retain some canonicity. | ||
| Professor Zoom “kills” Iris Allen. | LSOF; (orig. Flash v1 #275-76 <7-8.79>). | ||
| [Spring] At the JLA and JSA’s semi-annual reunion, Mr. Terrific is killed by the mysterious Spirit King (see 1953). | Spectre v3 #54 <6.97> (recapping and expanding JLofA v1 #171-72 <10-11.79>). (Team-up #12, orig. #17.) Power Girl also appears with the JSA in this flashback. | ||
| Green Lantern and Barry Allen discover the connection between the modern and Golden Age Star Sapphires. | B&B v3 #6 <3.00>. Date approximate; Hal Jordan has just returned to Ferris Aircraft (orig. GL v2 #125 <2.80>), and Iris’ death has been avenged (Flash v1 #281-284 <1-5.80>), but Barry is still depressed. The original Star Sapphire (1st app. All-Flash #32 <12-1.48>) was apparently a deposed Queen of the Zamarons. | ||
| Ted Kord becomes the second Blue Beetle after the death of his mentor, Dan Garrett. | ZHTL [“Five Years Ago”], SO v2 #2 <5.86>; (1st app. Captain Atom [Charlton v2] #83 <11.66>, origin Blue Beetle [Charlton v4] #1-2 <6-8.67>). Date approximate. | ||
| Investigative reporter Vic Sage becomes the faceless vigilante known as the Question. | Question #1 <2.87>, DCU Heroes SF #1; (orig. Blue Beetle [Charlton v4] #1 <6.67>). Date is very approximate. | ||
| Firestorm joins the JLA. | JLASF #1; (orig. JLofA #179-80 <6-7.80>). | ||
| The Unknown Soldier, bitter and disillusioned with his life, sets out to kill all those who know the secrets of his past. He tries to create a successor in CIA agent William Clyde—but fails, and is left utterly alone. | Unknown Soldier v3 #1-4 <4-7.97> | ||
| [Jul 4] In St. Louis, USN Lt. Celia Forrestal helps Green Lantern stop a terrorist attack. Six months later, she takes to the skies again as the costumed Skyrocket. | PCo: Skyrocket #1 <3.02>. Date given in story. Year of placement is approximate but plausible; described as “seven years ago” as of publication, but actually nine. (A year later is impossible, as Hal is off-earth that July… and the year after that Hal is temporarily retired during the lead-up to the Crisis.) | ||
| Doctor Light infiltrates the JLA satellite and assaults Sue Dibny. Horrified, the seven Leaguers present vote narrowly to have Zatanna not only remove Light’s memory, but alter his personality. When Batman intervenes, they wipe his memory as well. | Identity Crisis #2 <9.04>, #6 <1.05>. Voting “against” are Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Black Canary; voting “for” are Hawkman, Zatanna, the Atom, and the Flash. As Ollie later notes, “it was less than six months after Iris died.” While no direct connection has been made, note that this was also shortly before Batman’s first “firing” of Robin, and a significant darkening of his demeanor. | ||
| The spirit of Roscoe (the Top) Dillon possesses Henry Allen, the Flash’s father, but loses control when he attempts to take over the Flash himself. | Flash v2 #215 <12.04> (recapping Flash v1 #297-303 <5-11.81>). This is placed a little earlier than its publication might suggest, to accommodate the additional events below, which must precede Green Arrow’s departure from the JLA. It is unlikely that this re-sequencing interferes with any other canonical tales. | ||
| When the Top’s spirit possesses another young man’s body, Flash persuades the same JLAers who mindwiped Dr. Light (see above) to alter the Top’s mental state. For weeks he operates coverly as a hero… until he loses hold of his sanity, and disappears again. | Flash v2 #215. These new events are retrofitted as soon as possible after the tale above. The Top is next seen in Hawk & Dove Annual #1 <1990>. | ||
| Wrestling with a midlife crisis, Green Arrow resigns from the JLA after going public with his concerns about the League’s detachment from real-world social issues… but not before helping his teammates rescue the satellite HQ from an attack by the megalomaniacal terrorist Kobra and his cultists. | JLASF #1, JLA:I #3 [indeed “some time later” than the issue’s introductory pages—see 1994/Yr6!—but this cannot be moved earlier, due to the presence of Firestorm]; (orig. JLofA v1 #181 <8.80>, depicting different circumstances). Note that Ollie is “nearly 40” (his birthday may in fact be past), and Hal has begun coloring his hair to hide the gray, but Dinah is still “in her twenties” (27, to be precise). Recent revelelations in Identity Crisis shed some additional light on Ollie’s desire to leave the League. Continuity errors: Luthor did not yet have the Kryptonite ring shown in the story, and Ollie and Dinah lived in Star City at this time, not Seattle. | ||
| Robin is shot by the Joker, and the Batman unilaterally dissolves their partnership. | Batman #408 <6.87>; also #416 <2.88>, establishing therein that Dick was Batman’s partner for “six long years.” | ||
| [Sep] Dick Grayson leaves Wayne Manor for Hudson University, but spends only a single semester there. | SO v2 #13 <4.87>, ACW #613 <9.88>, Ntwg SF #1 <10.99>. He has very poor attendance (per ’Tec #495 <10.80>), and as Dick later puts it, “when the semester ended, the school asked me not to come back” [Batman #416 <2.88>]. | ||
| A solo Robin teams with Batgirl and Man-Bat to defeat the villainous Outsider. In the aftermath Dick confesses his romantic feelings to a (seemingly) sleeping Barbara. | Nightwing Annual #2 (confirming a scene from Batman Family #13 <9.77>). This is the only period in which this scene can plausibly fit in current canon, when they’re both solo and have no other relationships. (And it couldn’t fit at all if the “summer” in Nightwing #133-137, “321 Days” [above], were taken completely at face value, which would push the New Titans’ debut back to around Dick’s 18th birthday and erase his time in college.) In pre-Crisis continuity the Outsider was a possessed Alfred Pennyworth, but that may no longer be the case. | ||
| [Autumn] The JLA and JSA battle Darkseid on Apokolips. | Action #650, JLASF #1, and other sources; (recapping and reaffirming JLofA v1 #183-85 <10-12.80>). (Team-up #13, orig. #18.) As related in the Action #650 recap, Superman does not yet know his origins, and he and Power Girl still believe they might be related. The first of these is no longer true in “New Earth” canon, and the latter may not be either [if, that is, she existed in the DCU at all at this point; see 1996/Yr8.] | ||
| Superman’s Kryptonian rocket is secretly stolen by Dr. Emmett Vale. | MoS #6 <12.86>. (The story implies this was earlier—c. Yr 6—but MoS #6 is inconsistent on its own terms, stating that Clark is only 28 in this story, even though previous issues established he’d have been 30 by #5. Anyhow, S:MOS Annual #4 places this seven years after the JLA’s debut [see 1990/Yr2], so canonically he’s now 32 here. Originally the main thrust of the tale was Clark’s own discovery of his Kryptonian origins thanks to a hologram from his father Jor-El (which also provided corroboration by forcing this to occur after the Darkseid confrontation just above)… but in “New Earth” canon, he has known his heritage at least as far back as his mid-teens [see 1979]. | ||
| The empath Raven organizes the New Teen Titans— Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, and Changeling, plus new heroes Starfire and Cyborg—to combat her demonic father Trigon. |
ZHTL [“Five Years Ago”]; SO Annual #3, Titans SF #1; (recapping DC Comics Presents #26 <10.80> and New Teen Titans #1 <11.80>). Nightwing #137 <12.07> establishes that this occurs exactly “321 days” after Dick’s first romantic betrayal, above (and the dissolution of the previous Titans around that same time). The Titans SF timeline actually allows more time between this and the Crisis than strictly necessary; even New Titans #14 <11.85> puts it at only a year-and-a-half. (Gar Logan is 15 here, per that source, and will turn 17 “three months” after the Crisis.) | ||
| The Omega Men form to combat the tyrannical Citadel, imperial overlords of the Vegan star system. | ZHTL [“Five Years Ago”]; (1st app. GL v2 #141 <6.81>). | ||
| [Dec 26] After a tumultuous year (including an abortive August coup), the Soviet Union officially dissolves itself, bringing the Cold War to an end. | Historical record, included for context. | ||
| 1998 | “Year Ten” | ↑ top | |
| As the year progresses, the New Titans first encounter the H.I.V.E. and Deathstroke1; battle Dr. Light and the Fearsome Five (and, under compulsion, the JLA)2, and defeat Trigon3; confront Deathstroke again4; help Robotman track down Madame Rouge and General Zahl (see 1993/Yr5), plus the new Brotherhood of Evil5; meet Frances Kane6; re-encounter Leonid (Red Star) Kovar (see 1993/Yr5)7; first confront the Church of Brother Blood8; and travel to the Vegan system to help Starfire rescue her homeworld from the clutches of her evil sister Komand’r9, upon returning from which Dick and Starfire begin a romance10. | Titans SF #1 (recapping 1NTT #2 <12.80>; 2#3-4 <1-2.81>; 3#5-6 <3-4.81>; 4#10 <8.81>; 5#13-15 <11.81-1.82>; 6#17 <3.82>; 7#18 <4.82>; 8#21-22 <7-8.82>; 9#23-25 & Annual #1 <9-11.82>; and 10#26 <12.82>). | ||
| Dr. Emmett Vale creates the Kryptonite-powered cyborg Metallo. Metallo and the Kryptonite are abducted by Luthor—who meanwhile rejects an employee’s discovery of Superman’s secret identity. | Superman v2 #1-2 <1-2.87>, set just a few months after MoS #6 [see 1997/Yr9]. Although technically published post-Crisis, these two issues make more sense as a flashback continuing from the events of MoS, and hence occurring prior to the Crisis. As originally published this was Superman’s first encounter with Kryptonite. That is no longer the case [see 1979], but no alternate origin for Metallo has been offered, so that aspect of the story presumably remains valid. At any rate, Kryptonite is still rare at this time, and this is the piece that Luthor hangs on to and later fashions into a ring. | ||
| The otherdimensional Nekron, Lord of the Unliving, using the renegade Oan Krona (see 4.0004 Billion BCE) as a tool, attempts to invade the realm of the living, and nearly destroys the Green Lantern Corps. Hal Jordan cements his reputation as the greatest of all Green Lanterns when he rallies the Corps to a last-ditch victory. | Tales of the Green Lantern Corps [mini-series] #1-3 <5-7.81>. This story serves as the introduction to a great many Corps members seen again in later years, including the neophyte GL Arisia, whom Hal first meets here. | ||
| Lee (Crimson Avenger) Travis (see 1938) sacrifices his life saving New York from an exploding tanker. | Golden Age SF #1 <2.01>; (orig. DCCP #38 <10.81>). | ||
| [Spring] The JLA and JSA combat the Ultra-Humanite and his Secret Society of Super-Villains. | JLASF #1; (orig. JLofA v1 #195-97 <10-12.81>). (Team-up #14, orig. #19.) Although explicitly reaffirmed, the story must be drastically changed, as the original plot hinged on heroes disappearing from only one of two parallel earths. [See also 1942 re: Ultra’s status.] (The status of the earlier Secret Society, meanwhile (involving Darkseid and Captain Comet, among others; SSSV #1-15 <5.76-6.78>), remains uncertain—although evidence in GG: Warrior #29 <3.95>, as well as various issues of Starman and Superboy, suggest it may retain some canonicity.) | ||
| Green Arrow returns to the Ashram monastery (see 1995/Yr7), summoned by the young acolyte called Onyx, to aid the monastery’s Master in an internal crisis. | ’Tec #556-57 <11-12.85>. I’ve bumped this back a bit from its publication period, to explain Ollie’s continued presence at the monastery prior to his return to the JLA as chronicled below. | ||
| A threat to his friends summons Green Arrow from the Ashram monastery once again, as Snapper Carr enlists him to help rescue the JLA from a trap1; then, after he and Snapper help defeat a second Appellaxian invasion, Oliver decides to rejoin the League2. | 1LDCU #13 [see 1992/Yr4]; 2JLASF #1 (reaffirming JLofA v1 #200 <3.82>). This is a synthesis of two admittedly less-than-perfectly-integrated stories, but it minimizes unnecessary continuity rewrites. | ||
| Sandra “Moonday” Hawke takes her son Connor (see 1985) to study at the Ashram monastery previously visited by his father Oliver Queen. | GA/BC #5. Date not exact, but Connor is 13 here, so it can’t be very long after Ollie’s most recent visit. This latest account shows Connor having disciplinary problems that require him to go to the Ashram, and knowing that his father was Green Arrow; earlier accounts had him as a more peaceful child, requesting the studies [GA v2 #114-116 <11.96-1.97>], and not knowing that his hero was also his father [GA v2 #0 <10.94>]. | ||
| Green Lantern Hal Jordan begins a year of forced exile in outer space, at the command of the Guardians, in order to patrol the whole of Sector 2814. | JLASF #1, GLSF #1; (orig. GL v2 #150-172 <3.82-1.84>). Surrounding events (just barely) allow for the Guardians’ one-year decree to be accurately accommodated. | ||
| Max Mercury reappears (see 1963), and waits undercover for Savitar’s return. | Flash v2 #109 <1.96>, Flash SF #1; date from the latter, putting this the year before the Crisis. | ||
| [Jun 25-27] Speedy helps the Titans tackle drug runners… but they are unable to save the lives of two runaways. The next day, the team helps Robin deal with the pain of the anniversary of his parents’ deaths. | Titans SF #1 (recapping NTT #26-27 <12.82-1.83>); re: Dick: Ntwg SF #1. Date derived from Nightwing mini-series #1 [see 1990/Yr2]. | ||
| As the year continues, the Titans tackle the Brotherhood of Evil and induct the secretive Terra1; meet brothers Thunder and Lightning2; assist crusading D.A. Adrian Chase—who becomes the Vigilante3 when the mob kills his family—and meet the mercenary Cheshire4; and track down Donna Troy’s mysterious family history5. | Titans SF #1—recapping 1(NTT #28-31 <2-5.83>—the topical New Year’s Eve reference is regrettably unsustainable, but July 4th might make a plausible substitute); 2(#32 <6.83>); 3ZH*—this clearly occurs before the Crisis, not after, and the alleged change appears inexplicable—plus 4(#34 & Annual #2 <8-9.83>); and 5(#38 <1.84>). | ||
| Kendra Saunders (age 13) and her mother are assaulted by a law officer outside of Austin, TX. | Hawkman v4 #9 <1.03>, #13 <5.03>. This event has ongoing ramifications for Kendra (later Hawkgirl), who is age 13 here; see 2002/Yr14. | ||
| Having come more to terms with his past and his dark side, John Constantine finds himself threatened by the demon Elle, whom he had once betrayed… and bargains his soul to the First of the Fallen (who has regained status in Hell) to help avert the threat without (for a change) endangering his friends. | Hellblazer #125-128 <5-8.98>, “How to Play with Fire.” These events are placed in real time, as with all Vertigo events when possible. | ||
| [Summer] Helena Bertinelli (see 1994/Yr6) reunites with her “Uncle Tommy” and other mob acquaintances in Sicily while waiting for her inheritance, and strikes up a romance with fellow mob offspring Tony Angelo. | Huntress:Y1 #2 <7.08>. It has been “five years” since her caretakers the Asaros were arrested. This may be an oblique reference to an actual Italian crackdown on the mob (e.g., in the aftermath of the 1992 Maxi trial appeals), but any direct connection to real-world history would probably do more to constrain the timeline than shed light on it. | ||
| [Autumn] The JLA and JSA travel to 1942, and help the All-Star Squadron defeat Per Degaton’s plan to blackmail the world with nuclear missiles stolen from 1962’s Cuban Missile Crisis. | (JLofA v1 #207-209 & All-Star Squadron #14-15<10-12.82>). (Team-up #15, orig. #20.) No explicit post-Crisis confirmation as yet. The parallel-world aspects of the story would, of course, need to be replaced with ordinary time travel. | ||
| [Autumn] Visiting Crime Alley, the Batman encounters the young delinquent Jason Todd—who helps him bring down Ma Gunn’s criminal “orphanage.” Batman soon takes Jason in, and eventually adopts and begins to train him as a new partner. | Batman #408-09 <6-7.87> (retconning Batman #357 <3.83> et seq.). It is a full year, not just “weeks,” since Dick’s “firing.” This is set on the anniversary of Bruce’s parents’ deaths [see 1971]; the criminal Ma Gunn observes that the Batman has been visiting the site annually for “six years or more.” Also see Nightwing #103 <4.05> [“Year One”], introducing Jason in a scene which (despite appearances) must be a flashback to months before the other events of the issue [see 1999/Yr11]. | ||
| Incensed at the League’s refusal to help him rescue Lucius Fox from Markovian terrorists, Batman leaves the JLA and forms the Outsiders. | ZHTL*; JLASF #1; (orig. Batman and the Outsiders v1 #1 <8.83>). This originally occurred before Infinity, Inc. formed [below], and ZH tries to change that for no reason. | ||
| The Flash accidentally kills the Reverse-Flash while preventing the villain from murdering his new bride-to-be, and is forced to disappear as Barry Allen while the Flash is put on trial for manslaughter. | LSOF, JLASF #1; (orig. Flash v1 #326 <8.83>). | ||
| Ray Palmer separates from his unfaithful wife Jean, and becomes stranded in the Amazon rainforest, where he discovers the miniature city of Morlaidh before returning to civilization. | Power of the Atom #1 <8.88> (recapping Sword of the Atom mini-series #1-4 <9-12.83>). | ||
| Blue Devil debuts1, as do Fire (Green Flame) and Ice (Ice Maiden)2. | ZHTL* [“5 Years Ago”]; 1SO v2 #24 <3.88> (orig. Firestorm v2 #24 <5.84>); 2JL #14 <6.88> (1st app. Super Friends #25 <10.79> and #9 <12.77> respectively). Timeline compression has moved these characters (and the Infinitors, below) closer to ZH than previously supposed, although their placement relative to contemporary events and to the Crisis remains unaltered. | ||
| [Dec 24] The children and protégés of the JSAers, rejected for JSA membership, form Infinity, Inc. In a trial by fire, they are transported to February 1942 and meet the All-Star Squadron, then defeat Brain Wave, the Ultra-Humanite, and a mind-controlled JSA. | ZHTL* [“5 Years Ago”]; (orig. A-SSq #25-26 <9-10.83> and Infinity, Inc. v1 #1-10 <3.84-1.85>). Date derived from original tale. | ||
| Over the course of the year, the Batman has had his first confrontations with the Black Spider1 (Eric Needham), the Crime Doctor2, and Dr. Phosphorus3. | BVSF #1—all dated as “Year 5”—actually the year before the Crisis, thus relocated here, which seems to be the intended (and more appropriate) context. (Orig. 1st apps.: 1’Tec #464 <10.76>; 2’Tec #494 <9.80>; 3’Tec #469 <5.77>.) | ||
| 1999 | “Year Eleven” | ↑ top | |
| [Jan] Barbara Gordon leaves Congress. | SO v2 #20—concluding a standard two-year term of office. (She lost her seat the previous November to one Della Zigler, per ’Tec #487-488 <12-1 & 2-3.80>.) | ||
| Barbara Gordon visits Dick Grayson seeking a romantic reunion… only to discover him involved with Koriand’r. | Nightwing Annual #2. No date provided, but logically it must be relatively early in Dick’s relationship with Kory, and Babs’ return from Washington seems a logical timeframe. | ||
| The Infinitors hold a press conference to announce their identities and the new team’s existence. | ZHTL [implicit in the founding events above]; Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E. #0 <7.99>; (orig. IInc. v1 #12 <3.85>). | ||
| In the first half of the year, the Batman has his first encounters with Firebug1, Killer Croc2 (Waylon Jones), the Wraith3, and Black Mask4 (Roman Sionis). | BVSF #1, all set in the year of the Crisis. (1st apps.: 1Batman #318 <12.79>; 2’Tec #523 <2.83>; 3(originally “Wrath”) Batman Special #1 <84> [“Player on the Other Side”]; 4Batman #386-87 <8-9.85>.) | ||
| [Feb] Helena Bertinelli (see 1989/Yr1, 1993/Yr5, 1994/Yr6, 1998/Yr10) kills Mandragora, the capo di tutti capi who ordered the murder of her family (see 1986), then travels to Gotham in pursuit of the triggerman, Omerta. She crosses paths with Batman, Batgirl, and Catwoman, and makes her debut as the Huntress. | Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #5 <10.00>, Huntress:Y1 #3-6 <8-9.08>. This occurs during several days surrounding Carnival, the beginning of Lent—almost always a February date—and about “a month” after her 21st birthday, per H:Y1 #3, “13 years” after her family was killed. Note that this retcons the details of her debut as presented in Huntress #1 <4.89>, and also backdates it about two years compared to where it would fall given events contemporary with that publication. However, Catwoman’s statement in #5 that she is “twenty-nine” [cf. 1989/Yr1] points to this year, and Barbara Gordon’s active presence as Batgirl provides corroboration, precluding a later date given what happens to her in 2000/Yr12. Note also that Helena’s inheritance is roughly three billion Euros, making her independently wealthy in a way not previously indicated; and that her former boyfriend Tony Angelo succeeds his father Nino Angelo as one of Gotham’s crime bosses in this story. Batman’s chest emblem is mis-depicted. | ||
| Despite their now-tense relationship, Robin assists Batman on a case against Clayface… only to be told by the increasingly autocratic Batman that he lacks sufficient “devotion” to crimefighting and is therefore once again “fired”… for good. | Nightwing #101 <3.05> [”Nightwing: Year One”]. The story explicily notes this “wasn’t the first time” Bruce had fired Dick. The story places itself during a winter blizzard; after the founding of the Outsiders; and on the heels of a Titans/ Brother Blood case—probably the one mentioned in the opening of NTT #39 [below], in which case Dick exaggerates in saying they’ve shut down Blood “for good.” | ||
| Wally West and Dick Grayson decide to retire their costumed identities and take a leave of absence from the Titans. Dick visits Superman for advice, and learns of the Kryptonian legend of Nightwing. | Titans SF #1, Ntwg SF #1, Nightwing #102 <3.05> [“Year One”]. Originally (in NTT #39 <2.84>) Dick’s decision was voluntary, but this (as with his original split from Batman) has been heavily retconned. (How Dick knew Clark Kent’s secret ID remains unrevealed.) | ||
| Dick Grayson returns to the circus, and draws inspiration from a heart-to-heart with Deadman. | Nightwing #103 <4.05> [“Year One”]. | ||
| Dick Grayson, in a new costume, reintroduces himself as “Nightwing” to Commissioner Gordon, Batgirl, and the criminals of Gotham City. | Nightwing #104 <4.05> [”Year One”]. Meanwhile, Bruce continues training Jason to succeed Dick as Robin. | ||
| Jason Todd debuts as the second Robin. | ZHTL*; Batman #410 <8.87> [set over “six months” after #408, above]; (orig. Batman #368/’Tec #535 <2.84>). ZH actually places this not only after the Crisis but after Legends, which is absurd, since Jason played a major role in both events [see 1999/Yr11]. This originally happened with the blessing of Dick Grayson, but that too has been retconned. | ||
| Dick Grayson first meets his successor on the streets of Gotham, and they wind up working together to apprehend Killer Croc. Dick departs without talking to Bruce, but with the gift of a new costume from Alfred. | Nightwing #105-06 <5.05> [“Year One”]. This is difficult to reconcile with the “first meeting” between Dick and Jason shown in Batman #416 [below], and may supersede parts of that story. | ||
| The Titans battle Brother Blood in Zandia1. Then, betrayed by Terra, they are captured by Deathstroke and delivered to the H.I.V.E.2 Dick Grayson rejoins the Titans as Nightwing3. He and Deathstroke’s son Jericho rescue the Titans4. With Aqualad’s help, the team finally destroys the H.I.V.E.5 | Titans SF #1; orig. 1(NTT #40-41 <3-4.84>); 2(#42-43 <5-6.84>); 3ZHTL (orig. NTT #44 <7.84>); also Ntwg SF #1 and Nightwing #102, which establish the Kryptonian inspiration for the name; 4(NTT Annual #3 <84>); 5(NTT #45-47 <8-10.84>). Dick is 19 at this point. | ||
| Dick Grayson, as Nightwing, confronts Bruce Wayne about their falling-out and his dismay on learning of the new Robin. | Batman #416 <2.88>. Set “one year ago” when it appeared [now c. 2000/Yr12], and approximately “18 months” after Dick’s departure from Wayne Manor—fitting it nicely right here. | ||
| [Spring] Hal Jordan returns from space. | JLASF; (GL v2 #172 <1.84>). Nearly a full year away. | ||
| The JLA battles the brilliant but power-hungry (and power-duplicating) villain Paragon. | Superman #674 <5.08> (confirming the events of JLofA v1 #224 <3.84>). | ||
| Divorcing his wife, the Atom leaves civilization behind and returns to Morlaidh (see 1998/Yr10). | Power of the Atom #1 <8.88>, DCU Heroes SF #1; (orig. SotA Special #1 <7.84>, #2 <7.85>). | ||
| When a distracted JLA barely repels an alien invasion that badly damages its satellite, a disgruntled Aquaman dissolves and re-forms the League under his leadership, with new members and a new Detroit headquarters. They soon battle the Cadre. | JLASF #1, JLA:I #4 <10.01>; (orig. JLofA v1 #228-30 <7-9.84>, Annual #2 <84>, and #233-36 <12.84-3.85>). This was originally a Martian invasion, pre-Crisis, but has been revised per the JLA:I retelling to an assemblage of homeless alien refugees, the “Debris.” (The newer story also supersedes the final JLA/JSA team up, vs. “The Commander” (JLofA v1 #231-32 <9-10.84>), originally meant to occur concurrently.) Minor caveats: Batman’s resignation as depicted in JLA:I does not necessarily re-date the founding of the Outsiders [see 1992/Yr10], but perhaps reflects an attempt to talk him back into membership. Dinah’s reference to the team “doing this for… six years” is apocryphal; it’s actually been nine. Her reference to her mother’s death is likewise years out of place, as that does not occur until significantly after the Crisis [see 2001/Yr 13]… but fan speculation suggests that perhaps Dinah Sr. had already been diagnosed with cancer at this point. Captain Marvel’s cameo appearance is also an anachronism. | ||
| Donna (Wonder Girl) Troy marries college professor Terry Long1. The Titans and Lilith battle Cheshire (who reveals she has borne a daughter fathered by a Titan, later disclosed as Roy Harper) and meet the alien Azrael2; Deathstroke is tried and convicted of weapons charges, and reconciles with Changeling3; and the Titans rematch against the Fearsome Five4. | Titans SF #1; (orig. 1NTT #50 <2.85>; 2#51-53 <3-5.85>; 3#54-55 <6-7.85>; and 4#56-58 <8-10.85>—in which the Monitor reveals that the Crisis will strike in three months). Note that Donna is nearly 20 at this point (and as a matter of New York law and general propriety, could not be less than 18). This Azrael is unrelated to the later Batman-related character. | ||
| Jemm, a native of Saturn, seeks refuge on Earth. | JLA #10 <10.97>; (orig. Jemm, Son of Saturn #1 <9.84>). | ||
| The Titans save the earth from Trigon in a climactic confrontation. Soon after, they meet Kole. | Titans SF #1; (orig. New Titans #1-6 <8.84-3.85>; #9-11 <6-8.85>). Kole’s tenure as a Titan is quite short, as she dies in the Crisis [below]. | ||
| The Flash is acquitted of the murder of Reverse-Flash—thanks to the intervention of his wife Iris, revealed to be alive in the 30th century. Barry returns there with her (see 2957). | LSOF; (orig. Flash v1 #350 <10.85>). | ||
| GLs John Stewart and Katma Tui re-encounter the alien Replikon (see 1997/Yr9), and build it a new home in the asteroid belt. | Adv. Supes #427-28 <6-7.04> (confirming by reference GL v1 #193 <10.85>). John and Katma later honeymoon on this planetoid, in GL Corps #212 <5.87>. | ||
| [July-Aug] The Anti-Matter Crisis strikes. Countless planets fall to waves of anti-matter, and time itself is torn asunder. Barry Allen and many other heroes die battling the Anti-Monitor. Wally West becomes the third Flash. The Guardians reawaken Guy Gardner, then depart the universe with the Zamarons. | ZHTL* [“4 Years Ago”]; also JLASF #1, Flash SF #1, GLSF #1, DCU Heroes SF #1, Flash #150 <7.99>, JLA:I #5 <11.01>, and many other sources, confirming the original (Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-12 <4.85-3.86> and related crossovers). Internal analysis suggests that the event covered approximately two to three weeks. However, the event as it occurred in the integrated post-Crisis universe has never actually been retold in full. | ||