VI: The “New Earth” Era
Section Intro | Year 20 | Year 21 | Year 22
Timeline
| History | Notes and References | |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | “Year 20” (continued…) | |
| [Mar 30?] As Alexander Luthor’s variant earths collapse back down into New Earth, the surplus energy creates 51 identical parallel universes. | 52 #52 <5.07>. Described therein as “Week 0, Day 0” (a non-date, outside the timestream); this is the best-guess date for the climax of Infinite Crisis #7 <6.06>. Special note for the detail-minded: the cover dates on 52 (and the later weekly series Countdown and Trinity) do not synchronize with other comics published simultaneously; they reflect the actual month and week of release rather than being dated two months ahead. Note that New Earth is identified as Earth-Zero; an excellent catalog of the others can be found at Wikipedia. | |
| April | ||
| The Teen Titans are expelled from Blüdhaven by the Force of July, as the government takes over the ruined city. | Battle for Blüdhaven #1 <6.06> | |
| Dr. Light and Merlyn execute a large-scale attack on Green Arrow, gravely injuring Connor, Mia, Dr. Light II, and Ollie himself, and destroying major portions of downtown Star City in what is dubbed “the Amsterdam disaster.” | Green Arrow v3 #54-59 <11.05-4.06>. Contrary to appearances, this must occur after the climax of Infinite Crisis, since all these characters were active throughout that story. (GA v3 #52, leading into this story, occurs months earlier, but necessarily contains an undisclosed continuity gap.) | |
| Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) awakens on a tropical island, recuperating alongside Connor Hawke (GA II) and Mia Dearden (Speedy II). | GA v3 #66 <11.06> | |
| While Nightwing lies in a coma recovering from battle injuries, Batman trains Harvey Dent (the former Two-Face, now reformed) to patrol Gotham City in his absence. | Dick is comatose for “three weeks,” per Nightwing Annual #2 <2007>; Bruce trains Harvey for a “month,” per Batman #653 <7.06>. | |
| Oliver summons martial arts teachers to the island. | GA v3 #66. Date approximate; “weeks” after his arrival. | |
| Batman tests Harvey on the street in a confrontation with Mr. Freeze and Firebug. | Batman #653 | |
| Dick Grayson (Nightwing) undergoes intensive physical therapy under the guidance of Barbara Gordon (Oracle). | Nightwing Annual #2. This spans a couple of weeks. | |
| May | ||
| Bruce Wayne invites Dick to travel abroad with him and Tim Drake (Robin). Dick and Barbara part ways, agreeing to defer his pre-injury proposal of marriage. | Nightwing Annual #2 | |
| [May 7?] Clark Kent (Superman, now depowered), Bruce Wayne (Batman), and Princess Diana (Wonder Woman) agree to take an indefinite break from heroic activity, as Bruce, Dick, and Tim take ship from Gotham’s port. | IC #7[final epilogue]. Absent contrary evidence, I have assumed this takes place the day before “Week 1, Day 1” of 52. That series begins on May 8 (a Thursday in 2008). | |
| [May 12] Booster Gold returns to action in Metropolis. | 52 #1 <5.06>, “Day 5.” | |
| [May 13] A memorial service is held in Metropolis for those lost in the Crisis. | 52 #1, D6. Green Arrow and Speedy appear in the background at the event, almost certainly apocryphal. Despite the implication of some scenes and dialogue early in the issue, it has been a month since the end of Infinite Crisis. | |
| [May 15] T.O. Morrow notices that notable criminal scientists are disappearing. | 52 #2 <5.06>, D1. | |
| [May 17] Vic Sage (The Question) contacts ex-cop Renee Montoya about mysterious crimes in Gotham. | 52 #2, D3. | |
| [May 19] Ralph Dibny (Elongated Man), despondent over his wife Sue’s death, contacts Cassie Sandsmark (Wonder Girl), despondent over the death of Conner Kent (Superboy). | 52 #2, D5. | |
| The master assassin Natas is summoned to Oliver Queen’s island to supplement the training. | GA v3 #66. Date approximate; the story indicates roughly “three months,” but that would push things into late summer, which is impossible given other events. Three or four weeks is more reasonable. (Throughout this storyline, Judd Winick’s internal chronology is inconsistent and difficult to reconcile with other events.) | |
| [May 24] Seeking entry to Kahndaq, Intergang offers Black Adam the “gift” of a kidnapped girl, Adriana Tomaz. He rejects them and frees her. | 52 #3 <5.06>, D3. | |
| [May 26] John Henry Irons (Steel) IDs the corpse of “Lex Luthor” (actually a modified version of the body of Earth-3’s Alexander Luthor), reluctantly providing Lex with an alibi for his erratic behavior in the Oval Office. | 52 #3, D5. [Note than on D2, May 23, John’s niece Natasha remarks that her school year has “just ended,” and she’s “a high school senior now,” starting summer school “next week.” | |
| [May 27] Seeking normalized relations with the west, Black Adam opens a formal embassy for Kahndaq in the U.S. | 52 #3, D6. | |
| June | ||
| [Jun 4] Several missing “space heroes” (lost since the end of Infinite Crisis) are rescued. | 52 #4 <5.06>, D7. The returnees include Alan Scott (Green Lantern), Mal Duncan, Bumblebee, Firestorm and Cyborg (fused together), and Hawkgirl (grown to gigantic size). Red Tornado, Animal Man, Adam Strange, and Starfire remain missing. | |
| [Jun 5] Lex Luthor, seeking to resurrect his public image, introduces a synthetic metagene that can give super powers to ordinary humans. | 52 #5 <6.06>, D1 . | |
| [Jun 12] Hal Jordan and John Stewart, in their role as Green Lanterns, encounter the government super-team “The Great Ten” in China. Black Adam announces that his government, the Chinese, and several others, have signed a “Freedom of Power” treaty seeking to end de facto western control over metahuman activity. | 52 #6 <6.06>, D1. | |
| [Jun 13] Booster Gold and Skeets visit Rip Hunter’s lab, concerned about the integrity of the timestream, but find Rip missing. | 52 #6 <6.06>, D2. | |
| [Jun 21] Booster Gold is publicly exposed for having set up a fraudulent “villain.” Meanwhile, Renee Montoya’s investigation leads to a reunion with Kate Kane. | 52 #7 <6.06>, D1. This is actually Kate’s first appearance, but she is established as having had a relationship with Renee “the better part of ten years” ago. Father’s day is correctly remarked to have been the previous Sunday.Note also the reference to Sue Dibny having been killed “eight months ago," providing a clear date for Identity Crisis. | |
| Oliver Queen learns that Star City has built a Wall around its ruined neighborhoods, and vows to go back to help. | GA v3 #66. By way of contrast, GA v3 #60 <5.06> describes the Wall as only “six months” prior to that “One Year Later” story—but sticking to that date would contradict much of the rest of Green Arrow’s year. | |
| [Jun 26] Ralph Dibny visits Green Arrow in Star City. | 52 #8 <6.06>, D1. GA’s active presence in Star City implies a visit not mentioned in his own book, and given later events presumably takes place covertly, not in the public eye. | |
| [Jun 28] The mysterious hero Supernova debuts in Metropolis. | 52 #8, D3. | |
| July | ||
| [Jul 2] Natasha Irons, wanting powers of her own, joins Luthor’s “Everyman Project.” | 52 #8, D7. | |
| [Jul 3] Steel confronts Lex Luthor about Natasha. | 52 #9 <7.07>, D1. Note the holiday fireworks. Also, a radio report reveals that Oliver Queen has declared as a Mayoral candidate in Star City (again, presumably, requiring his presence on the mainland). | |
| [Jul 10] Black Adam hosts an international conference in Kahndaq that includes representatives from Russia and China, as well as independent agents such as Talia and Sonar. | 52 #10 <7.06>, D1. | |
| [Jul 11] Clark Kent, nearly fired from the Daily Planet, revives his journalistic reputation by landing an interview with Supernova. | 52 #10, D2. | |
| [Jul 21] Renee Montoya and the Question meet the new Batwoman, raiding an Intergang office in Gotham. | 52 #11 <7.06>, D5. Any connection to the original (early Silver Age) Batwoman [see 1992/Yr4] remains unknown. | |
| [Jul 24] Black Adam visits the Rock of Eternity, arranging to share his powers with Adriana Tomaz, who becomes Isis. | 52 #12 <7.06>, D1. Isis is associated with Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt in the 18th Dynasty, c. 1479?-1458 BCE; Black Adam mistakenly refers to the 15th. | |
| Father Time of S.H.A.D.E. takes over in Blüdhaven, and winds up sending his agents to battle incursions from the Teen Titans, Green Lantern, Firebrand, and the Atomic Knights. Ultimately a comatose Captain Atom is awakened, in protective armor, and in a rage destroys what remains of the city. | Battle for Blüdhaven #1-6 <6-9.06>. This begins “three months” after the government discovered power anomalies in the city and shut off relief funds [above], and despite a caption or two cannot be fully “one year later,” especially given the timeframe of events in the subsequent Freedom Fighters mini-series. Thus, the Titans roster in this story is mis-depicted. Wonder Girl’s presence may be accurate, though, as she’s not confirmed to be AWOL from the team until after this date. Captain Atom is next seen in the Bleed, wearing the armor as Monarch, in Ion #10 <3.07>. | |
| “Rot” begins to emerge in the Gotham City police department. | Detective #517 <5.06>, “nine months” before the return of the Batman. | |
| August | ||
| [Aug 01] Ralph Dibny, Green Lantern and Green Arrow sabotage a fraudulent “resurrection” attempt for Sue. | 52 #13 <8.06>, D2. | |
| Oliver Queen, back on his island, engineers the “Gun Run Stock Market Crash,” greatly increasing his personal wealth (and funding his campaign) at the expense of the arms industry. | “Five weeks” after learning of the Wall [above], per GA v3 #67 <12.06>, and “eight months ago” as of the beginning of OYL in GA #63 <8.06>, hence here in early August. | |
| Selina (Catwoman) Kyle and Sam Bradley conceive a baby. | Catwoman v3 #62 <2.07> | |
| [Aug 12] Renee and Vic travel to Kahndaq seeking information about Intergang. | 52 #14 <8.06>, D6. | |
| [Aug 13] T.O. Morrow disappears from captivity. | 52 #14, D7. | |
| [Aug 18] Booster Gold seemingly dies defending Metropolis from attack. | 52 #15 <8.06>, D5. | |
| [Aug 21] Black Adam proposes to Isis. | 52 #16 <8.06>, D1. | |
| [Aug 26] Renee and Vic win Black Adam’s friendship when they stop a bomb attempt at his wedding. | 52 #16, D6. | |
| [Aug 27] After months stranded on an alien planet, Adam Strange, Animal Man and Starfire successfully escape in a salvaged ship. | 52 #16, D7. | |
| [Aug 29] Luthor arranges the PR debut of a new “Infinity, Inc.” team created with his Project Everyman heroes. | 52 #17 <8.06>, D2. | |
| [Aug 31] The spacefaring heroes, seeking a way home, are attacked by Devilance the Destroyer and rescued by Lobo. | 52 #17, D4. | |
| September | ||
| [Sep 6] The Croatoan Society (including Traci 13 and Detective Chimp) locates Ralph Dibny in Marseilles, France, where they give him the Helmet of Fate, discovered at the site of a mysterious death. | 52 #18 <9.06>, D3. Traci 13 is mis-named “Terri” in the story. There is no known connection between these Croatoans and Klarion’s people [see 1590]. | |
| [Sep 7] Clark Kent and a motley group of C-list heroes attend Booster Gold’s funeral in Cincinnati. Skeets encounters Booster’s ancestor, Daniel Carter. | 52 #18, D4. | |
| [Sep 10] At a ceremony with the Shadowpact, the Helmet of Fate intones the arrival of the “Tenth Age” of magic, and Ralph leaves with it on a quest. | 52 #18, D7. Note that the costumes on Nightshade and Enchantress are the older versions seen in Day of Vengeance, not the ones from Shadowpact #1 <7.06> et seq. As events in that issue would seemingly make it impossible for the Shadowpact to appear here [see 2008/Yr20], this clue supports the surmise that unchronicled events cast the team members back in time to the preceding April sometime shortly after this appearance. | |
| [Sep 12] In Sector 3500, the space heroes discover the Church of the Triple Fish-God… and discover that Lobo is its patriarch. | 52 #19 <9.06>, D2. | |
| [Sep 14] Helping Skeets investigate Rip Hunter’s lab, Daniel Carter is ambushed and trapped. | 52 #19, D4 . | |
| [Sep 23] The space heroes are attacked by the Emerald Head of Ekron. | 52 #20 <9.06>, D6. The Emerald Head is revealed to be the original source of the Emerald Eye (an artifact more famous in the 30th Century). | |
| [Sep 27] The new Infinitors take on Blockbuster in Las Vegas (and meet the current Teen Titans). Eliza (Trajectory) Harmon, a friend of Nat Irons, dies in the battle—as secretly arranged by Luthor. | 52 #21 <9.06>, D3. The Titans roster at this time includes Beast Boy (the leader), Raven, Power Boy, Little Barda, Zachary Zatara, and Hot Spot. | |
| October | ||
| [Oct 6] Doc Magnus is kidnapped. | 52 #22 <10.06>, D5. | |
| [Oct 9] Doc Magnus is introduced to an entire cohort of captive “mad scientists,” held captive on Oolong Island off the coast of China, working under the mutated Chang Tzu (aka “Egg Fu”). | 52 #23 <10.06>, D1. | |
| [Oct 13] Vic and Renee help rescue Isis’s brother Amon from an Intergang camp in Yemen; sharing her power, he becomes Osiris. | 52 #23, D5. | |
| [Oct 16] Lorraine Reilly campaigns for her father’s old seat in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, the special election for Star City mayor is still “two months away.” | 52 #24 <10.06>, D1. | |
| [Oct 17] J’onn J’onzz emerges from months of undercover work in Washington when the president signs an executive order dismantling Checkmate. Meanwhile, Black Adam withdraws Kahndaq from the Freedom of Power treaty, cutting ties with Russia, China, and Syria. | 52 #24, D2. | |
| [Oct 21] Alongside Lex’s team, an ersatz C-list “JLA” goes into battle against time-shifted pirates and cyborgs. Several members die, and it promptly disbands. | 52 #24, D6. The wannabe JLAers include Firestorm, Firehawk, Bulleteer, Super-Chief II, and Ambush Bug. Amanda Waller comments that Atom Smasher helped Black Adam liberate Kahndaq “eight months ago,” i.e., February, which dovetails with that story’s Mardi Gras reference but ignores the fact that it preceded Identity Crisis; the events actually fit best the previous September [see 2007/Yr19]. | |
| [Oct 22] The United Nations steps in to re-certify Checkmate as an international agency. | 52 #24, D7. The newspaper headline in the issue lists the date as “Tuesday, October 24,” but that cannot be right given the uneuivocal date of New Year’s Eve, below. | |
| [Oct 23] Mannheim takes over the Gotham mobs on behalf of Intergang. | 52 #25, D1. The story reports that Mannheim personally met Darkseid “five years ago.” | |
| [Oct 25] Touring the underworld, Ralph Dibny encounters what appears to be Felix Faust’s captive soul. | 52 #25, D3. | |
| Former Gotham detective Harvey Bullock makes “discoveries” about corruption in the GCPD that reaches “all the way up to Commissioner Akins.” | ’Tec #817 <5.06> [setting this “six months” before Batman’s return], Batman #652 <6.06>. | |
| [Oct 30] The “Black Marvel” family takes Vic and Renee to the Himalayas, where they meet Aristotle Rodor and Richard Dragon. | 52 #26 <11.06>, D1. | |
| [Oct 31] On Halloween, the Black Marvels help Mary Marvel and Cap Junior defeat Sabbac in Boston, while meanwhile Infinity, Inc. defeats the Icicle and the criminal Huntress in NYC. | 52 #25, “D3.” That would actually be October 25, but the clear Haloween setting supersedes the mistaken placement of these scenes. This is also the correct date for #26, D2 (on which a news blurb reports that the World Series has been won 4-2; in the real world, Game 6 of the 2008 series falls on October 29). | |
| [Oct 31] Alan Scott meets with Michael Holt (Mr. Terrific), and invites him to come aboard Checkmate as Bishop to his White King. | 52 #25, “D3.” Again, the scene is out-of-sequence… nor can it be “22 months ago” as of Checkmate v2 #16 <9.07>, as stated in that issue. Michael has been spending time at the JSA brownstone, but the “old timers” have not. They also comment that Courtney Whitmore (Stargirl) got into “one of the best private schools in the country,” presumably meaning that she’s starting college. | |
| November | ||
| Black Lightning surrenders himself to Checkmate out of guilt over his seeming murder of an enemy. | Outsiders v3 #45 <4.07>. Date approximate; could be slightly later. The story refers to the killing [see 2007/Yr19] as “three years” before the events of “One Year Later”; in fact, this Chronology shows it’s only two. | |
| Father Time of S.H.A.D.E. secretly kills presidential candidate Senator Henry Knight (father of the latest Phantom Lady, Stormy Knight), and sends his agents to hunt down Uncle Sam. | Uncle Sam & the Freedom Fighters v1 #1 <9.06>. Although the original Phantom Lady [see 1939] was also the daughter of a Sen. Henry Knight, no family relation has thus far been revealed. | |
| [Nov 2] The Black Marvels eat dinner with the Sivana family, and Osiris befriends the crocodilian Sobek… while on Oolong Island, Veronica Cale joins the conspiracy, and sets about talking Doc Magnus into cooeprating as well. | 52 #26 <11.06>, D4. | |
| [Nov 4?] Uncle Sam converts S.H.A.D.E.’s agents to his side, and rescues the new hero Firebrand from captivity, but Father Time’s substitute candidate (“Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard,” an alien android), maquerading as Knight, wins the presidential election. | USFF #2 <10.06>. November 4 is the date of the 2008 election in the U.S. This is clearly the DCU’s first presidential election since Luthor’s year [see 2004/Yr16], and thus this story must fall here, four years after that one, despite some references seemingly placing it in a OYL context. | |
| [Nov 4?] Lorraine (Firehawk) Reilly wins a seat in the U.S. Senate. | 52 #26, “D2”, in which an (anachronistic) news blurb declares that the election results set the Senate “on fire” (suggesting that her heroic identity is public knowledge); also Firestorm v3 #23 <5.06> et seq. Lorraine’s victory, of course, also reaffirms that the federal election—and thus the presidential race, as above—falls during the same year as 52. | |
| [Nov 6] Ralph and the Helmet visit the Spectre, and direct confront Sue’s killer, Jean Loring (now Eclipso). | 52 #27 <11.06>, D1. Ralph and Jean travel back to the date of Jean’s murder, described as “Week -84, Day 2,” but that caption must be the result of a mistaken calculation, as it’s almost exactly a year too early for the previous-October date indicated above in Week 7. | |
| [Nov 7] An increasingly evil Skeets kills the time-traveling Waverider. | 52 #27, D2. | |
| [Nov 10] In Nanda Parbat, Vic reveals to Renee that he’s suffering from lung cancer. | 52 #27, D5. Vic also mentions in passing that the DCU Earth has “eight billion people,” which interestingly is over a billion more than the real Earth. | |
| [Nov 14] Back in Gotham with a renewed sense of mission, Vic and Renee recruit Batwoman (Kate Kane) as an ally. | 52 #28 <11.07>, D2. | |
| [Nov 19] The space heroes trap the Emerald Head, and discover that it’s actually the Green Lantern of Venegar, fleeing the ominous “Stygian Passover.” | 52 #28, D7. | |
| [Nov 22] Steel discovers that Luthor’s Everyman treatment isn’t permanent. | 52 #29 <11.06>, D3. | |
| [Nov 27?] The JSAers confront the new Infinity, Inc. at a Thanksgiving Day parade. | 52 #29, “D2” (misplaced much like Halloween—the scene is technically set on Nov 21, but that date doesn’t correspond to Thanksgiving in any real year). Note that the JSAers recall “another Turkey Day with the League” a year ago [see 2007/Yr19]. | |
| [Nov 27] In north Africa, Nightwing and Robin encounter Intergang smugglers linked to Gotham. Dick decides to abandon their travels and return home. | 52 #30 <11.06>, D1. | |
| [Nov 29] In the desert, Bruce Wayne has the “Ten-Eyed Brotherhood” mystically cut out his demons. | 52 #30, D3. | |
| In the halls of Checkmate, Michael Holt and Sasha Bordeaux (the new Black Queen) begin a romance. | Checkmate #16. Date approximate, but it cannot be fully “18 months” before that story. “Eight months” before the events of #4-5 <9-10.06> , as stated therein, seems more reasonable. | |
| December | ||
| [Dec 3] Back in Gotham, Nightwing meets Batwoman. | 52 #30, D7. | |
| The Red Hood informs Nightwing that Black Lightning (above) is actually innocent of his murder charge. | Outsiders v3 #44 <3.07>. Date approximate; could be slightly later. At any rate, given Dick’s travels, it cannot be fully “one year ago” as the story states. | |
| The reunited Outsiders break Black Lightning out of Iron Heights prison. In the aftermath, they are thought to be dead. | Outsiders v3 #46 <5.07>, -Annual #1 <2007>. Date approximate; could be slightly later, but presumably before the end of the year. | |
| [Dec 6-7] Ralph revisits Metropolis, comparing notes with Cassie Sandsmark and Supernova. | 52 #31 <12.06>, D3-4. | |
| [Dec 9] Captain Comet and two GLs perish trying to defend a planet near Sector 3500 from the advance of Lady Styx and her “Stygian” forces. | 52 #31, D6. | |
| [Dec 11] Ralph Dibny makes his way to Nanda Parbat. | 52 #32 <12.06>, D1. | |
| [Dec 12] The Teen Titans conduct an open membership call, and Osiris joins. | 52 #32, D2. Hawk and Dove have left the Titans roster by this point. Raven and Gar remain as the veterans, and Captain Marvel Jr. has joined. Kid Devil tries out (without powers). Other inductees seen in the crowd scene include: the new Aquagirl, Bombshell, Flamebird, Mas y Menos, Mirage, Miss Martian, Molecule, Offspring, Red Star, Riddler’s Daughter and Joker’s Daughter, Talon, and Young Frankenstein. Resident techies Wendy and Marvin have also started repairing Cyborg by this point [“six months ago” as of Teen Titans v3 #34 <5.06>]. | |
| [Dec 16] In Nanda Parbat, Ralph meets Yao Fei, the Accomplished Perfect Physician of China’s Great Ten, and is granted an audience with Rama Kushna. | 52 #32, D6. The story says it is the “Year of the Pig,” but that actually spans Feb 2007-Feb 2008, and thus can’t be accurate. | |
| Hal Jordan and Dinah (Black Canary) Lance visit Star City to help out Oliver Queen, who has won the mayoral election. | 52 #37 <1.07>, “D4.” This scene is chronologically misplaced, as a January setting is precluded by Hal’s captivity [below]. | |
| Thom (Starman) Kallor arrives from the future (see 3007 in Hypertimeline L4) and starts fighting crime in Opal City, saving a group of hostages from the Terrible Trio. Suffering from schizophrenia, he soon seeks help at the Sunshine Sanitarium. | JSA v4 #1 <2.07>. This fulfills a prophecy made in Starman v2 #73 <01.01>, wherein Matt O’Dare learns that he is not only the reincarnation of Brian Savage, but that he will live again as Thom, and will fulfill this fate about “three or four years” after his own death [see 2004/Yr16]. Exact date uncertain; described as “a few months” before the JSA’s revival in late 2009/Yr21, and setting it here fits both that remark and the original prophecy. It is likely (but not specified) that Thom’s fellow Legionnaires from “The Lightning Saga” arrive at this same time. The Terrible Trio (Fox, Shark, and Vulture) were last seen in Doctor Mid-Nite III’s debut adventure [Dr. Mid-Nite #1-3 <3-5.99>], and are next seen in ’Tec #832 <7.07>, post-OYL. | |
| [Dec 24] On Christmas Eve, as Vic’s cancer grows worse, Renee reconciles with Kate Kane and renews their old relationship. | 52 #33 <12.06>, “D5” [it should actually be D7]. The story reports that “Hannukah ended last night,” but it actually runs from Dec 22-29 in 2008. Meanwhile in a montage sequence, Hawkgirl and Firestorm are shown to be healed; Catwoman is shown to be visibly pregnant; Hal Jordan is shown celebrating Christmas with his brother’s family; the space heroes approach the Vega system; and Jim Gordon is shown at a “Welcome Back, Commissioner!” party with the GCPD (implying that Akins and his related corruption have been rooted out). | |
| [Dec 25] On Christmas Day, the Black Marvel family visit New York in a show of public penance and reconciliation. Amanda Waller, unconvinced, prepares an ad hoc Suicide Squad to undermine him. | 52 #33, “D6” [it should actually be two days later]. | |
| [Dec 27?] The Squad attacks the Black Marvels, and in the battle Osiris kills the Persuader—providing Waller the negative PR hook she wanted. | 52 #33, D1/D3 [both are listed; the latter is more accurate, given the timing of Christmas]. | |
| Flying without his power ring, Hal Jordan is captured and imprisoned by terrorists in Chechnya. | Green Lantern v4 #10 <5.06>, “five months ago” as of May, hence placed as soon as possible after his Christmas appearance. | |
| [Dec 31] Luthor kidnaps Clark Kent in a futile attempt to gain information about Supernova… and, angry at his own inability to acquire powers, turns off the Everyman powers at midnight, causing countless flying heroes to come crashing to the street. | 52 #34 <12.06>, D5/D7 [both are listed; the latter is more accurate, as the scene ends the issue’s week and leads into the next one]. Active Teen Titans shown in the issue include Argent, Kid Eternity, and Zachary Zatara. | |
| 2009 | “Year 21” | ↑ top |
| January | ||
| [Jan 1-2] Downtown Metropolis is devastated by the superpower “malfunction” and resulting panic. Many heroes participate in rescue efforts, including Supernova, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Dr. Light II, Hawkgirl, Power Girl, Geo-Force, and the Teen Titans. | 52 #35 <1.07>. Active Titans shown include Offspring (Plastic Man’s son Ernie) and Aquagirl (Lorena). | |
| Jim Gordon officially returns to his old job as Comissioner of the GCPD. | ’Tec #817. Date approximate; described as “three months” before Batman’s return, but the way things work out it’s actually closer to four (I would set it later but for the Christmas scene above). | |
| The JSA confronts the Gentleman Ghost in both New York and London. The team’s HQ (once again) suffers major damage. | JSA v3 #83-87 <5-9.06>. Date approximate. Alan Scott enjoys “seeing the JSA gang back together again after so long,” and other caracters refer to “this past bizarre year” with “no real JSA meeting in months,” and to “a winter‘s sleep.” Meanwhile, Courtney is picking up textbooks for her next semester. While none of this is dispositive, it all suggests an early-winter setting, around the turn of the year. | |
| [Jan 10] The space heroes infiltrate Lady Styx’s base and defeat her using a Sun-Eater. Buddy seemingly dies. Lobo gives up his flirtation with pacifism. | 52 #36 <1.07>, D3. | |
| [Jan 13] Renee sets out to return to Nanda Parbat with the critically ill Vic Sage in tow. | 52 #36, D6. | |
| [Jan 15] Skeets discovers that Booster faked his own death and skipped backward in time 12 weeks, masquerading as Supernova. He tracks down Booster and Rip Hunter hiding in Kandor, attacking them there… and “eats” the Phantom Zone portal. | 52 #37 <1.07>, D1. | |
| Checkmate blocks a cyclosarin attack on the Vatican engineered by Kobra. | Checkmate #1 <6.06>. Date approximate; described as “back in January.” | |
| The Outsiders restart as a covert operation, with funding provided by Oliver Queen. | Outsiders Annual #1. Date approximate; set “six weeks” after the Iron Heights breakout, above. | |
| [Jan 20?] Senator Knight (secretly “Gonzo”) is sworn in as President. Meanwhile, Father Time seeds robotic suicide bombers around the country, frames the new Freedom Fighters, and sends a “First Strike” team after them, while the FF team recruits a new Black Condor. | USFF #3 <11.06>. The dating is based on the traditional inauguration date as mandated in the Constitution, although it requires a non-obvious continuity gap in the story between issues 2 and 3 [continuing from November, above]. | |
| The Freedom Fighters set up a safehouse in the other-dimensional “Heartland,” and launch a counterstrike against S.H.A.D.E., kidnapping Air Force One—but are captured by a face Miss America. | USFF #4-5 <12.06-1.07>. | |
| [Jan 23] Chang Tzu’s scientists unveil the mutant warrior “Horsemen” War, Pestilence, and Death. | 52 #38 <1.07>, D2. | |
| [Jan 27] Charles Victor Szasz, aka Vic Sage, formerly the Question, dies of cancer outside Nanda Parbat. | 52 #38, D6. | |
| A new Invisible Hood and Red Bee, and the real Miss America, rescue the Freedom Fighters. The latest Ray betrays the team, but the real Ray (Ray Terril) intervenes and stops him. Gonzo betrays Father Time—planning to nationalize all metahumans, take dictatorial control over the citizenry, and launch chaotic new wars. Time shifts sides, and helps the FF team reveal the truth about the fake president at a D.C. press conference. | USFF #6-8 <2-4.07>. (Note the reference to Black Adam in Kahndaq, implying that these events occur prior to “World War III,” below). Note also that Father Time has shifted appearance in this issue, changing from an elderly, bearded Caucasian, back to the younger African-American appearance he had in Seven Soldiers [see 2008/Yr20]. | |
| With its citizens dying, Aquaman bargains with the sea gods to raise Sub Diego back out of the ocean… and triggers his own conversion into a mutant form. | World War III, Book 2 <6.07>. The sequence is out of place in the issue where it appears (allegedly “Week 50, D4”), as it must precede Orin’s appearance in altered form below. | |
| [Jan 31] Ralph and the Helmet visit the ruins of Atlantis, where they encounter a mutated and amnesiac Aquaman. | 52 #39 <1.07>, D3. | |
| February | ||
| [Feb 2?] Lex Luthor finally acquires powers himself. Natasha discovers she has been manipulated by Luthor’s shape-changing lackey Everyman and rebels, but is overpowered. | 52 #39, D5. The date is not completely certain, as the sequence actually appears after the “D6” scenes in the issue. | |
| [Feb 3] The Oolong scientists send the Horsemen to attack Kahndaq. | 52 #39, D6. This is presumably intended as revenge for Black Adam’s repudiation of the Freedom of Power treaty. | |
| [Feb 5] Steel and the Teen Titans invade LexCorp tower to rescue Nat, who helps them depower and defeat Lex. | 52 #40 <2.07>, D1. The Titans shown include Gar, Raven, Offspring, and Aquagirl. | |
| The Freedom Fighters are made official agents of a restructured S.H.A.D.E. by the new “acting” president (the former vice-president). | USFF #8, set “one week” after the climactic confrontation with Gonzo, above. Although not named in this issue, the new president is later confirmed to be the previous (but never elected) incumbent (and Pete Ross’s successor), Jonathan Horne. Although it has never been clarified, we may speculate that during the primary campaign Horne lost his party’s nomination but wound up as Knight’s running mate. | |
| [Feb 10] Rain, plague, death, and unrest afflict Kahndaq. | 52 #40, D6. | |
| [Feb 12] Bruce Wayne begins the Thörgal seclusion ritual in Nanda Parbat. Both Dick and Tim see him off. | Batman #673 <3.08>, establishing that the ritual lasts 49 days (seven weeks), and thus dated relative to its conclusion, below. The original story does not include Dick, but Robin #175 <8.08> clarifies that he has rejoined the “journey” at this point. | |
| [Feb 16] A mourning Renee meets Princess Diana in Nanda Parbat, where she is “waiting for a friend.” | 52 #41 <2.07>, D5. The friend is Bruce, of course. | |
| [Feb 18] Adam Strange and Koriand’r crash-land on Mogo, the Green Lantern planet. | 52 #41, D7. | |
| [Feb 21] Ralph Dibny reveals Felix Faust as the real power behind the Helmet using a Wishing Gun. Ralph dies, but traps Neron and Faust in Fate’s tower. | 52 #42, D3. | |
| [Feb 24] Nightwing and Robin travel to France and Switzerland to apprehend a slave trafficker. | Robin #175. Specified as “Day 12” of Batman’s Thörgal ritual. | |
| [Feb 26] The Black Marvels visit the Rock of Eternity seeking a solution for the apparent curse on Kahndaq, but find no help from the Captains Marvel. | 52 #43 <2.07>, D1. | |
| March | ||
| [Mar 1] Buddy Baker returns to life, channeling the energy of a Sun-Eater. Far off in space, Lady Styx also resurrects. | 52 #43, D4. | |
| Vandal Savage returns from exile in space, after spending a year fleeing both Tamaraneans and Dominators. | JSA Classified #10 <5.06>. Date approximate. This follows “one year” after he was lost in space in Flash v3 #227-230 <12.05-3.06>, which itself appears to fall about six months after the birth of Wally’s twins, just before the events of Infinite Crisis. | |
| [Mar 4?] Sobek reveals his true colors (as one of the Horsemen), and attacks and eats Osiris. | 52 #43, “D5” [actually D7, as it’s a week-ending cliffhanger]. | |
| [Mar 5] The Horsemen attack openly. Black Adam defeats Famine, War, and Pestilence—but Death kills Black Adam’s wife, Isis. | 52 #44 <3.07>, D1. | |
| Jaime Reyes reappears on Earth, having lost nearly a year of his life in a space/time warp. He reunites with his family and friends, reveals his powers as the new Blue Beetle, and soon meets the Peacemaker. | Blue Beetle v6 #1-5 <5-9.06>. It's not been quite a full year since his disappearance in Infinite Crisis, but the “Spring Break” setting of a subsequent story [below] suggests placement here. | |
| [Mar 7] In Monte Carlo, Dick and Tim (operating as civilians) persuade a wealthy sheik to stop working with Intergang. | Robin #175; “Day 24” of Batman’s Thörgal ritual. | |
| Vandal Savage confronts Alan Scott, his oldest surviving enemy, who defeats him with the assistance of Checkmate. | JSAC #11-13 <6-8.08>. Set within “eleven days” of Savage’s return, as his immortal body rapidly deteriorates. Alan notes (and the plot hinges on the fact) that the “JSA’s not… totally together at the moment.” The story inaccurately places Savage’s origin only 37 millennia ago, rather than 50 [see 48,000 BCE]. | |
| [Mar 14] Isis and Osiris receive state funerals in the still-afflicted Kahndaq. | 52 #45 <3.07>, D3. | |
| [Mar 15-16] Black Adam tracks the last Horseman, Death, to the Intergang client state of Bialya. In a rage, he destroys the Bialyan government and military, then attacks the population itself, committing virtual genocide until he finds, and defeats, Death. | 52 #45, D4-5. Per WW III Bk 1 <6.07>, J’onn J’onzz attempts to confront him, but is overwhelmed by psychic feedback. | |
| Blue Beetle and his friends, along with local meta gang “The Posse”—and the Phantom Stranger—rescue a small army of metahuman teens from local crimelord “La Dama” (who is secretly the aunt of Jaime’s friend Brenda). | BB v6 #6 <10.06> . Date approximate. | |
| [Mar 19] Black Adam attacks Oolong Island, the true source of the Horsemen, but is captured. Meanwhile, T.O. Morrow buys the salvaged shell of Red Tornado. | 52 #46 <3.07>, D1. | |
| [Mar 19] In Hong Kong, still on the trail of Intergang, Nightwing and Robin take down a gang buying high-tech weapons. | Robin #176 <9.08>; “Day 36” of Batman’s Thörgal ritual. | |
| [Mar 21] Luthor is arraigned for his involvement in the New Year’s disaster. | 52 #46, D3. | |
| [Mar 22] The JSAers conduct a futile search for survivors in Bialya, and resolve to hunt down Black Adam. | 52 #46, D4. | |
| [Mar 23] In Paris, Tim introduces Dick to his redesigned Robin costume. | Robin #176; “Day 40” of Batman’s Thörgal ritual. | |
| The Shadowpact rescues (and escapes from) Riverrock, WY, having lost a year of their lives in the process. | Shadowpact #3 <9.06>, #5 <11.06>. Set on the one-year anniversary of the only plausible date the team could have become trapped (during the events of Infinite Crisis)—although even that relies on undisclosed time-travel. Issue #5 also reveals that one year plus two weeks earlier, the team imprisoned Warlock’s Daughter (aka Laura Fell/ Darla Aquista) in “the world of the Dark Tower,” home of “Joshua Coldrake, the master of anti-magic,” in the aftermath of Robin #143-45 <12.05-2.06>. | |
| [Mar 29] Now alone and seeking a route to Earth, Buddy Baker uses his Sun-Eater powers to access “Space B.” | 52 #47 <3.07>, D4. | |
| [Mar 30] John and Natasha Irons, reconciled, reopen the Steelworks. | 52 #47, D5. | |
| April | ||
| [Apr 1] In Nanda Parbat, Diana is granted an audience with Rama Kushna, as Bruce emerges from his ritual and reunites with Tim Drake and Dick Grayson. | 52 #47, D7. The story implies (erroneously) that the Thörgal ritual lasts on seven days, rather than 49. Dick is not shown in the original story, but his presence is revealed in Robin #176. He obviously leaves quickly, however, given his presence back in Gotham over the next three days. | |
| [Apr 2-4] Tracking a kidnapped Kate Kane, Renee and Nightwing find her a captive of Intergang. Renee becomes The Question. They rescue Kate and stop Mannheim’s plan to open Apokaliptian firepits across Gotham. | 52 #48 <4.07>, D1-3. | |
| Slade (Deathstroke) Wilson sweet-talks Cassandra (Batgirl) Cain into joining forces with him. | WW III Bk 2. This scene is chronologically misplaced, as it must precede Slade’s capture below. He secretly drugs her, as well, but that is not revealed at this time. | |
| Hal Jordan and his fellow pilots Cowgirl and Rocket-Man escape from captivity in Chechnya. | GL v4 #14 <9.06>, placing this “fourteen weeks” after his capture in December [above]. They spend the next two weeks recovering in USAF hospitals. | |
| [Apr 6-9] Chang Tzu attempts to auction the captive Black Adam to the governments of the world. The JSA travels to Oolong to retrieve him, but is obstructed by the Great Ten. Doc Magnus recovers his wits, cracks open Chang Tzu’s plan, and lowers the island’s shields, but Adam escapes to plot revenge. | 52 #48, D5 – #49 <4.07>, D1. | |
| Blue Beetle and his friends travel to Kansas, where they meet the eccentric scientist Dani Garrett, granddaughter of the original Blue Beetle (see 1939). | BB v6 #8 <12.06>, set during “spring break.” Easter falls on April 12 in 2009 (although the story does not explicitly link the break with the holiday). | |
| Green Arrow makes a public “return” in Star City. He captures Deathstroke, who is remanded to Alcatraz… while as Mayor Oliver Queen, he outmaneuvers local fatcats seeking to derail his administration. | GA v3 #60-65 <5-10.06>. According to a local news broadcast, his return happens “one year exactly” since the Amsterdam Disaster [see 2008/Yr20]. | |
| Shadowpact retrieves a reformed Warlock’s Daughter from the Dark Tower, and battles the Demon for control of Blue Devil’s trident. | Shadowpact #9-11 <3-5.07>. Described as “another two weeks” after the events of issue #5, above. | |
| Dick Grayson rejoins Bruce and Tim in Budapest.Soon after, however, Tim receives a message about Batgirl and leaves for home himself. | Robin #148 <5.06>. Tim’s return apparently falls late in “Week 49.” | |
| [Apr 16] An enraged Black Adam launches a global reign of terror quickly dubbed “World War III.” He begins by wrecking Sydney, Australia, then in the Atlantic Ocean he devastates a U.S. Naval fleet and defaces Father Time. Worldwide panic quickly ensues. Meanwhile: Jason Todd begins masquerading as Nightwing in New York City, and Jason Rusch (with Prof. Stein missing) merges with Sen. Lorainne Reilly to become Firestorm once again. | WW III Bk 1 [Wk 50, D1]. Note that Father Time is wearing his post-USFF face. | |
| [Apr 17] Black Adam fights the Marvel family in Egypt, damaging the pyramids. Meanwhile: Donna Troy dons Amazonian armor to take on the role of the missing Wonder Woman. | WW III, Bks 1-2, and 52 #50 <4.07>, D2. | |
| [Apr 19] Black Adam defeats the Doom Patrol in Pisa, Italy. Meanwhile: Supergirl is hurled back from the future, her memory wiped, landing in Metropolis. | WW III, Bk 2, and 52 #50, D4. Re: Supergirl: Legion of Super-Heroes v5 #16-36 <5.06-1.08> [see 3006]. | |
| [Apr 20] The JSA spearheads relief efforts worldwide, as the U.N. declares a global curfew, while Black Adam battles the Teen Titans in Athens, Greece, then again over the Himalayas. Meanwhile: Amanda Waller enlists Ben (Bronze Tiger) Turner to help her locate Rick Flag and build a new Suicide Squad; Kate (Manhunter) Spencer and her assistant Damon Mathews resign as federal prosecutors and open their own firm, working for the DEO; and J’onn J’onzz reveals his human identity to his former police colleagues in Denver. | WW III, Bk 3 <6.07>, and 52 #50, D5. Titans shown include Gar, Raven, Hawk & Dove (apparently active again?), Talon, Offspring, Zatara (wounded), Young Frankenstein (killed), and Terra (killed). In the aftermath of these events, Gar and Raven break up, and she leaves the team [TT v3 #38 <9.06>]. | |
| [Apr 21-22] Black Adam attacks China. He battles the Great Ten, then confronts a huge alliance of heroes including the JSA, GLs John Stewart and Guy Gardner, several former JLAers and Titans, and others. He is ultimately defeated when Captain Marvel and a Zatanna-led coalition of mystics change his magic word, depriving him of his powers. | WW III, Bk 4 <6.07>, and 52 #50, D6-7. | |
| Alfred calls Bruce and Dick, telling them of Tim’s return to Gotham and prompting their own. Meanwhile, Robin discovers that his old enemy Lynx has been killed; Nyssa al Ghūl (see 2007/Yr19) is assassinated in Africa; and Batgirl is now running the League of Assassins. | Robin #148, “most of a week” after Tim’s return. | |
| Supergirl and Power Girl travel into Kandor, setting up identities as Flamebird and Nightwing. | Supergirl v5 #6 <4.06> | |
| [Apr 23] Buddy Baker returns to Earth and his family. | 52 #51 <4.07>, D1. | |
| [Apr 24] In the aftermath of recent events, many heroes reunite in mourning at a memorial service in Metropolis. Hal Jordan returns in costume, fully recupterated. Robin makes his first public appearance in his new costume. Rose Wilson (Ravager) joins the Titans, and Kid Devil (now with powers) asks to do the same. Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent attend in civies—as does Wonder Woman, with a new identity as Diana Prince, agent of the Department of Metahuman Affairs. | 52 #51, D2. Rose is allowed into the Titans as an opportunity for redemption, at the request of Dick Grayson, as revealed in TT v3 #35 <6.06>. After two days as Ravager’s roommate, Miss Martian leaves the team [TT v3 #39 <11.06>]. Per the list shown in TT v3 #38 <9.06>, the only Titan active during this chaotic year who has never actually been seen with the team on-panel is Speedy. | |
| [Apr 25] Adam Strange returns to his family on Rann, his sight restored. | 52 #51, D3. | |
| [Apr 28] Starfire returns to Earth, joining the Baker family in San Diego. | 52 #51, D6. | |
| [Apr 29] Booster Gold and Rip Hunter confront the evil Skeets. He is revealed to be controlled by a mutating Mr. Mind, who chases them into the timestream. | 52 #51, D7. | |
| [Apr 30] A fast-changing Mr. Mind absorbs chronal energy from throughout the fledgling multiverse (see 2008/Yr20), altering the history of its 51 other branches—before Booster, Rip, and Supernova (now Daniel Carter) successfully trap him in Skeets’ shell and send him back to “Week 1, Day 1,” trapping him in a time loop. | 52 #52 <5.07>, D1. “Wk 1, D1” is presumably the preceding May 8, on which date Mr. Mind is (re) captured by Sivana. Note that the nature of the change means the more-diverse Multiverse doesn’t only exist from this point forward; it has now “always” been this way. | |
| Green Lantern Hal Jordan chases the Igneous Man into Russia, almost igniting an international incident. | GL v4 #10 <5.06>. Date approximate; the story notes that it marks “the sixth time this month” that GL has violated the Freedom of Power treaty. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are not yet back in action. The story cites both “five months” and “three months” as the time since Hal’s capture in Chechnya; it’s actually been four. | |
| Dinah (Black Canary) Lance travels to southeast Asia to improve her martial arts training, while Lady Shiva stands in for her with the Birds of Prey, taking on Prometheus and the remains of the villainous Society. Dinah soon returns accompanied by Sin, a young orphan whom she adopts. | Birds of Prey #92-95 <5-8.06>. The Ventriloquist appears with the Society, placing these events before his death in the Batman tale below. | |
| May-December | “One Year Later”… | |
| Green Lantern rescues Arisia (and several other GLs long thought dead) from a Manhunter prison in “Sector 3601.” | GL v4 #11-13 <6-8.06>. | |
| [May 5] Black Adam is an international fugitive, hunted by Checkmate. Ralph Dibny and his wife Sue are reunited… as ghosts. And Doc Magnus manages to restore Skeets’ personality from a backup. | 52 #52, D6. | |
| [May 6] The Question restores the Bat-Signal in Gotham City. | 52 #52, D7. | |
| Commissioner Gordon officially fires up the Bat-Signal (for the “first time in several years”), and Batman and Robin make their public return, capturing Poison Ivy. | Detective #817/Batman #651 <5.06>. This is the “official” starting point of “One Year Later,” although certain events have occurred earlier, as seen above. Gordon notes accurately that it has been “twelve” months since Batman “went away.” | |
| KGBeast, Magpie, the Ventriloquist, and Orca are killed in Gotham. Batman and Robin take on the Mad Hatter, Killer Moth, Killer Croc, and Scarecrow, while Batman hires PI Jason Bard to help him locate the killer, who turns out to be the Tally Man. Meanwhile Harvey Dent, feeling betrayed, re-scars his face and resumes his identity as Two-Face, but Batman and Robin force him to flee. The Great White Shark emerges as Gotham’s latest crimelord. Bruce Wayne offers to officially adopt Tim Drake. | ’Tec #818-20/Batman #652-54 <6-8.06>. | |
| Blue Beetle enlists some online assistants, and rescues his friend Brenda when a stray Boom Tube whisks her away to an alien planet and an encounter with Lonar. | BB v6 #9-12 <1-4.07>. Placed relative to issue 19, which happens parallel to the Sinestro Corps War [below], in which Brenda learns of her aunt’s secrets “six, seven months” after Jaime’s assistants did. | |
| Hawkman meets with Adam Strange on Rann, borrows a “zetapod” teleporter, and uses it to travel to Earth, where he hides evidence of Blackfire’s conspiracy to play both sides against the middle in the ongoing war with Thanagar. | JSAC #21 <3.07> and Hawkgirl #50 <5.06>. | |
| Selina Kyle’s baby, Helena, is born. Holly Robinson fills in for Selina as Catwoman, and begins training with Wildcat. | Catwoman v2 #53-55 <5-7.06>. Selina’s reference to Holly being “younger than I was when I frist slipped on the costume” is obviously inaccurate, as there are actually only four years between them [see 1987]. | |
| After two weeks lost in New Azarath with Kid Devil, Zachary Zatara leaves the Teen Titans. | TT v3 #39 <11.06>. This is referenced as happening shortly before Robin’s return to the team, as he and Zatara have not met. | |
| Supergirl and Power Girl leave Kandor, having almost (but not quite) rescued it from the totalitarian rule of Ultraman and Saturn Queen. Supergirl returns to Metropolis, to fill in for the still-missing Superman. | Supergirl v5 #7-8 <6-7.06> and Superman #650 <5.06>. The former story sets this approximately “one month” after they entered the miniature city, above. The latter story implies that she’s been in Metropolis for a while, but that obviously can’t be so. | |
| The seemingly benevolent aliens known as The Reach arrive on Earth and introduce themselves, explaining their connection to Blue Beetle’s scarab (see 2578 BCE). | BB v6 #12, set “one week later” after BB’s rescue of Brenda. | |
| Dick Grayson moves to New York City, where he confronts Jason Todd and redeems the Nightwing identity. | Nightwing #118-122 <5-9.06> | |
| Robin rejoins the Titans, Cyborg is reawakened, and the team takes on the Brotherhood of Evil; meets with the Doom Patrol in Prague (where Mento takes control away from the Chief); defeats the Brain and Mallah; and convinces Wonder Girl to rejoin. | TT v3 #34-37 <5-8.06>. The membership at this point consists of Robin, Cyborg, Ravager, Kid Devil, and Wonder Girl. Gar is with the DP, having left the Titans after Tim’s return. Kid Devil’s membership is mentioned as dating back “months,” but it‘s actually only been weeks. | |
| Selina again dons the Catwoman costume to rescue her baby from the Angle Man and the Film Freak, and rescues Holly from jail after she’s arrested for Selina’s murder of Black Mask the previous year. | Catwoman v2 #55-62 <7.06-2.07>, an unbroken story sequence that begins “a few nights” after Holly’s first outing, above. | |
| [Late May] Lex Luthor is acquitted of all remaining charges against him, but is ousted from LexCorp, and declares bankruptcy. A still-powerless Clark Kent tracks down Intergang leads—with some assistance from GL and Hawkgirl, who also take on the Prankster. In an attack by Neutron and Radion, Clark begins to recover his powers… and he soon re-dons his costume, making his public return as Superman against the Puzzler and a cluster of other second-tier villains. Finally, he defends the city against an attack by Luthor, armed with a salvaged Kryptonian battle cruiser. Then, he uses the “sunstone cyrstal” recovered from Luthor to construct a new Fortress of Solitude in the arctic. | Superman #650-53/Action #837-840 <5-8.06>. The full story covers about a week and a half (probably May 16-27): Luthor’s acquittal falls on a Monday, after Clark and Lois have attended a weekend “Superman retrospective” on “a warm spring night.” Clark’s powers begin to return the following Saturday (on which we’re told that basketball season is over, but baseball is in season); he returns to costume the following Tuesday, and builds the Fortress on Wednesday. The reunited Titans, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Captain Marvel, and several JSAers attempt to assist with the big battle in Metropolis. | |
| Bart Allen, seemingly powerless and working at Keystone Motors, is caught in an explosion that grants powers to his roommate and coworker Griffin. To stop Griff’s criminal behavior, Bart resumes his powers and takes on the costume and identity of the Flash. Griffin dies from his powers, and Bart regains his memories of his parallel-earth experiences during the “Infinite Crisis.” | Flash v3 #1-6 <8.06-1.07>. The total story spans a couple of weeks. Bart is said to have been sixteen when he disappeared into the Speed Force with Wally and Superboy-Prime [see 2008/Yr20], but four years older on his return—making him 21 at this point, “one year later.” | |
| Batman and Robin tackle a new villain, Facade. | ’Tec #821 <9.06> | |
| Talia and the Society try to recruit the powerful mystic Black Alice, but the Birds of Prey intervene. Black Canary then leaves the Birds, to be a better parent to Sin, and in her place arrives the novice hero “Misfit.” | BoP #96-99 <9-12.06>. Black Alice is said to be 16 in this story; Misfit is “almost” 16. | |
| Kate Spencer successfully acquits Dr. Psycho after a weeks-long trial… but then defeats him as Manhunter. She also discovers her own true personal history, and her connection to the JSA. | Manhunter v3 #20-24 <5-9.06>. It is revealed that Kate is actually the granddaughter of “Iron” Munro and the original Phantom Lady [see 1943]. | |
| Superman saves Earth from the alien Auctioneer, and puts to rest any doubts about his authenticity. | Action #841-43 <9-11.06>. Other heroes involved in the adventure include the new Flash [above], Nightwing, Firestorm, the new Aquaman, the Titans, and Wonder Woman (who may be Donna in this story). There is a reference to “JSA HQ,” but only Mr. Terrific is seen there. A Newstime story gives Superman the stamp of approval “a week later.” | |
| Hawkman returns from Rann, proves Blackfire’s conspiracy, and depowers her—but Hawkgirl ends her relationship with him, fearing yet another attack from their old enemy Hath-Set. | JSAC #22 <3.07>/Hawkgirl #59-60 <2-3.07>. | |
| A joint attack by Giganta, Cheetah, and Dr. Psycho captures Donna Troy and Steve Trevor. Diana Prince resumes her costumed identity as Wonder Woman, in a case that ultimately involves battling Hercules, Circe, and several other villains as well. | Wonder Woman v3 #1-4 <8.06-2.07>, -Annual #1 <07>. How Dr. Psycho escapes after his recent trial is not revealed. The story confirms that Steve Trevor is still Deputy Secretary of Defense. It also reaffirms the present-day canonicity of Osira [see 1942], Clea [see 1943], Gundra the Valkyrie [1st app. Comic Cavalcade #17 <10-11.46>; post-Crisis: Young All-Stars #1 <6.87>; never before seen in the modern era], The Mask [Nina Close, 1st app. WW v1 #24 <7-8.47>; never before seen post-Crisis], Kung [Thomas Morita; see 1927; never before seen in the modern era], the Duke of Deception [1st app. WW v1 #2 <Aut.42>; never before seen post-Crisis], Minister Blizzard [1st app. WW v1 #29 <5-6.48>; never before seen post-Crisis], and Dr. Cyber [1st app. WW v1 #179 <11-12.68>; post-Crisis: Power Company #1 <4.02>]. Most of these villains have no known history with the present-day, canonical Wonder Woman, but there may be unchronicled stories from early in her (now longer) career [see 1990/Yr2]. The story features guest appearances from several other heroes, including the Titans, Batman, Superman, the new Flash, and several JSAers, including Power Girl and Hawkman. | |
| Hawkman returns to Thanagar, taking Power Girl along to help with reconstruction. | Justice League of America v2 #9 <7.07>. They spend “six months” there, and flirt with a romantic relationship. | |
| The Outsiders (including new member Capt. Boomerang II) stop a sarin gas plot in the African nation of Mali, but cause an international incident in the process, and receive a lecture from Superman. | Outsiders v3 #34-37 <5-8.06>. This presumably follows the Superman story above, in which Nightwing appears with no apparent friction. Annisa Pierce (Thunder) has spent at least “eight weeks” under cover setting up the mission. Alan Scott is still in Checkmate at this point. | |
| The original Aquaman dies ??? Several former JLAers visit his funeral in Atlantis, alongside his successor. | Aquaman #51 <???>. This is the earliest possible date at which Superman, Batman, Hal, Diana, and the Flash can appear together, notwithstanding the reference to “April” in #52 <>. | |
| Batman teams up on a case with the reformed Riddler, now a private detective. | ’Tec #822 <10.06> | |
| [Jun 7] Robin breaks David Cain out of prison, and confronts his daughter Batgirl. She shoots him, but he survives, and she escapes. | Robin #150-51 <7-8.06>. Date based on a note in #149, which introduces a gap between that story [above] and this. | |
| [Jun 9-10] Robin teams up with the new Capt. Boomerang—son of the man who killed his father—to track down a dirty bomb planted by the Joker. Meanwhile, Tim starts summer school, studying with a girl named Zoanne. | Robin #152-53 <9-10.06>. The story covers three days immediately following the end of the previous tale; the reference to “August of 2006” should be ignored. What Tim is doing back in high school (yet again) is not explained; we can only speculate that when Bruce adopted him, after their year away, he agreed in return to go back and formally finish his diploma. | |
| Robin breaks up a kidnapping ring, and prevents a teen suicide. | Robin #154-56 <11.06-1.07>. The story confirms that school is still in “summer session”; indeed, a year-long string of issues all wind up falling in June. | |
| Robin meets Teekl and Klarion (see 2008/Yr20), and (as Tim) begins dating Zoanne. | Robin #157-59 <2-4.07>. | |
| [Jun] In Nyasir, Africa, Superman confronts a young hero called Redemption, who is channeling uncontrollable power from a metahuman minister. | Action #848-49 <5-7.06>. The story begins “one year” less “one month” after Clark’s interview with Supernova, which was the previous July. (Note that many Action stories appear out-of-sequence during this period, due to publishing interruptions in the “Last Son” storyline.) | |
| Robin hunts down a drug gang, with covert aid from Batgirl. | Robin #160-62 <5-7.07>. This must precede the Titans story, below, that reveals her drug-induced personality change. | |
| Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman meet to rebuild the Justice League. The kidnapping of Red Tornado by T.O. Morrow leads to a battle with Amazo and Solomon Grundy that forces events, and brings a new group of Leaguers together. Black Canary is elected leader. | Justice League of America v2 #0-7 <9.06-5.07>. The initial roster includes Clark, Bruce, and Diana, as well as Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Black Canary, Red Arrow (formerly Arsenal), Hawkgirl, Vixen, Black Lightning, and Red Tornado. They quickly build a new HQ, a “Hall of Justice” located on the Mall in Washington, D.C.—described as the former home of both the JSA and the All-Star Squadron, although it should be noted that this was only so for a brief period c. late 1942. Note also that contrary to remarks in #11 <9.07>, this cannot fall only two months before the events of that story. | |
| [Jun 21?] Robin fights the vigilante Jury on his first Father’s Day since being adopted by Bruce. | Robin #163 <8.07>. Date based on when the holiday falls in 2009. | |
| The Outsiders take on the Brotherhood of Evil and Dr. Sivana, in a case that blows their cover when it leads to a nuclear explosion in Russia. | Outsiders v3 #38-43 <9.06-2.07>. This is set “three weeks” after the African adventure above. | |
| [Jun 25] Booster Gold takes on the Royal Flush Gang, and asks to join the new Justice League. | Booster Gold v2 #1 <10.07>. This is set on “Week 60, Day1,” which (following the numbering from 52) both supplies a specific date and constrains the League’s re-formation, above. | |
| Green Arrow and Speedy, with an assist from Batman, take on the Red Hood (Jason Todd); Deathstroke escapes from Alcatraz; and Oliver’s funding for the Outsiders is revealed, miring him in political scandal. | GA v3 #69-72 < 2-5.07>. Jason was last seen in New York [above]. Deathstroke’s escape places these events before his involvement in the Flash and Teen Titans stories below. | |
| Bart Allen moves to L.A., where he has to rescue his new girlfriend Val from the villainous Inertia. | Flash #7-8 <2-3.07>. Inertia is also receiving covert assistance from Deathstroke. His reference to “February of 2007” should be ignored as topical. Although it’s not obvious, Val’s captivity has actually lasted several weeks, since the events of #4 <11.06>, above. | |
| The Titans travel around the world and visit several recent members seeking the whereabouts of the missing Raven… and find her, just as she resurrects the ex-Titan Jericho. Miss Martian also rejoins, and Bombshell is revealed as a traitor. | TT v3 #38-41 < 9.06-1.07>. Date approximate—but behind the scenes Deathstroke is busy recruiting his own team, including Inertia, suggesting this falls shortly after the Flash story above. | |
| [Jul 2] Booster Gold, informed of critical time anomalies by Rip Hunter, reluctantly rejects membership in the JLA, and sets out to fix history. | BG v2 #1, “Week 61, Day 1.” | |
| With earthly magic in chaos, Captain Marvel Jr. and Mary Marvel unexpectedly lose their powers. Mary is seriously injured in a fall from the sky. | DCU: Brave New World #1 <8.06>. Date approximate; it must follow her appearances in 52 and elsewhere above, but precede by some months her recovery in Countdown, below. | |
| Batman and Zatanna rescue the magician Ivar Loxias from a plot of the Penguin’s. | ’Tec #824 <12.06>. Date approximate. | |
| The Titans take on the renegade “Titans East,” gathered by Deathstroke as a perverse test for the team. | TT v3 #43-46 <3-6.07>. This commences a “week” after the conclusion of the Titans story above. Guest stars include Dick, Donna, Gar, and Bart. | |
| Nightwing defeats the cybernetic Raptor, the product of an abandoned LexCorp project. | Ntwg #125-28 < 12.06-3.07>. Date approximate, but the lexCorp bankruptcy is described as “months” ago, requiring at least July. | |
| [Jul] Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman contact the veteran JSAers, urging them to rebuild their team. | JSA v4 #1 <2.07>. Set “three months” after “World War III,” in April, above. | |
| [Jul] Under pressure from the Chinese government, Alan Scott is forced to step down from Checkmate. | Checkmate v2 #4-5 <9-10.06>. This is set “eight months” since the beginning of Sasha and Michael’s relationship [see Nov of 2008/Yr20]. The story also confirms, by name, that Jonathan Horne is the DCU’s current president of the U.S. | |
| [Aug] Kate Spencer sucessfully defends Wonder Woman from a grand jury indictment for Max Lord’s death. | Manhunter v3 #26-30 <2-6.07>. The story is set “18 months” after the death at Lord’s hands of Ted (Blue Beetle) Kord [see 2008/Yr20]—who is impersonated by the villainous Everyman in this story. | |
| Robin is hijacked by the Joker in a stolen car. He manages to escape, but so does the Joker, although injured. | ’Tec #826 <2.07>. Date approximate; despite obvious seasonal story elements, there is unfortunately no way this tale can fall around Christmastime. An editorial caption does correctly note, however, that it precedes (by quite some time) the Joker’s earlier-published appearance in Batman #655 <9.06> [below]. | |
Green Lantern re-enters Russia to rescue his fellow pilot Cowgirl from a mission gone wrong, confronting Rocket Reds and mind-controlled Global Guardians along the way, then defeats Amon Sur, the rogue son of his predecessor Abin Sur. |
GL v4 #14-17 <9.06-4.07>. The story involves the newly formed JLA, as well as an assist from Alan Scott, who still has some “strings… left in Checkmate,” thus placing this after his departure therefrom, above. | |
| Batman again battles Scarface—now accompanied by a new, female Ventriloquist. | ’Tec #827 <3.07>. Date approximate, but it cannot be a “January night” as described; fortunately, the month is not important to the tale. | |
| Nightwing tracks down and defeats the “Bride and Groom” serial killers. | Ntwg #130-32 <5-7.07>, set “four weeks” after the Raptor story above. | |
| Blue Beetle meets (and falls for) Traci 13 during a confrontation with Eclipso. | BB v6 #16 <8.07>. Date approximate. | |
| A magical volcano devastates downtown Chicago, but thousands of people and buildings are saved by Nightshade and other members of Shadowpact. | Shadowpact #14-16 <8-10.07>. Date approximate (but a guest appearance from the JLA forecloses any significantly earlier setting). | |
| Nightwing encounters a new Vigilante—and some familiar faces from his past, his first girlfriend, Liu, and her colleague “Metal Eddie” (see 1996/Yr8). His hopes for reconciliation are dashed, though, when it turns out they’re still criminals. | Ntwg #133-37 <8-12.07>. This is set only “a week or so” after the Bride/Groom story. Dick’s references to his past with these characters as “almost ten years ago” is not accurate; it’s been over a dozen. | |
| Bronze Tiger rescues Rick Flag, long thought dead (see 2001/Yr13), from a Quraci prison… and at Amanda Waller’s behest they rescue an energy-generating metahuman (and an ad hoc group of former Squad villains) from Myanmar. | Checkmate v2 #6-7 <11-12.06>, SSquad v3 [mini-series] #3 <1.08>. Date approximate. The stories refer to Rick’s imprisonment as variously four, three and two years long; however, it has actually been eight. | |
| [Sep?] Physicist Ryan Choi begins teaching at Ivy University, and discovers a size-changing belt hidden by his mentor Ray Palmer (aka the Atom). He finds he has tiny boots to fill when he starts operating as the Atom, and in short order winds up battling the demon M’nagalah, Giganta, Dwarfstar, and the microscopic aliens known as “The Waiting.” | All-New Atom #1-6 <9.06-2.07>. Date approximate; I have tentatively set it around the beginning of the academic year. Note that Dr. Doris Zeul (Giganta) is teaching under her own name at Ivy U., despite her recent criminal activity against Wonder Woman. | |
| Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake are trapped in a seige on Wayne Tower launched by the new villain Vox. | ’Tec #829-30 <5.07> | |
| The new Atom meets Dr. Alpheus Hyatt, inventor of the Time Pool, and rescues him from a murderous Linear Man. | ANA #708 <3-4.07> | |
| Batman and Harley Quinn team up against the new Ventriloquist, and Bruce Wayne, impressed by Harley’s rehabilitation, helps her win parole. | ’Tec #831 <6.07>. The Loxias abduction mentioned herein [above] cannot actually be “last year,” but his return to performance can indeed be “next month.” Note that this narrative for Harley is not particularly compatible with the version portrayed in the prose story in Batman #663 <4.07>, which may need to be regarded as apocryphal. | |
| [Oct?] Lana Lang is appointed new CEO of LexCorp, while Superman battles Mannheim… and celebrates the anniversary of his first flight with Lois Lane. | Superman #654 <9.06>. Month based on my analysis of Superman’s early career [see 1988/Yr0], and it fortuitously fits this year’s sequence of events. Note that it cannot possibly be only “twelve years” since that first flight (and interview) with Lois; that’s far too short even for DC’s version of the timeline, much less this Chronology. | |
| [Oct?] On the anniversary of his father’s death, Robin tracks down a pair of Arkham escapees, and finds a renewed sense of conviction about his heroic mission. | Robin #167 <12.07>. The story mentions an unspecified “holiday weekend”; given the original timing of Identity Crisis and Jack Drake’s death therein [see 2007/Yr19], it’s probably Columbus Day. | |
| Clark Kent takes Pa Kent on a fall “ice fishing” trip… that actually involves visting his new arctic fortress, then taking on a Sun-Eater in space. | Action #847 <4.07> | |
| Batman and Zatanna capture the Joker, who has been masquerading as the magician Loxias (see above). | ’Tec #833-34 <8-9.07> | |
| [Late Oct?] Superman encounters the alien Subjekt 17 in Kazakhstan, interrupted by the mage Arion (see 1659), who warns that he must give up his heroic role and let civilization fall to avert the end of humanity. | Superman #655-58 <10.06-1.07> | |
| [Late Oct?] Black Canary returns to Star City to help Green Arrow tackle Brick and Deathstroke. Oliver maneuvers his Chief of Staff into office as his successor, and in his last act as mayor brings down the city’s oppressive Wall. In the aftermath, Oliver proposes marriage to Dinah. | GA v3 #73-75 <6-8.07>. This is clearly set after the formation of the new JLA [above], but before the Birds of Prey story below. The story opens “one week” before the scheduled mayoral recall election, which I’m assuming (absent contrary evidence, and it fits here) probably falls on the ordinary early-November date, albeit in an off year. | |
| [Late Oct?] Checkmate manages to infiltrate an agent into Kobra, while Mr. Terrific is finally confirmed as the new White King. | Checkmate v2 #8-10 <1-3.07>, set a week before the “midterm elections” (an error, as given that the 52 year had federal elections this following year cannot, but I’m assuming it still indicates a late-October setting) and “three months” after Alan Scott’s ouster (thus dating that story, above). | |
| [Oct 29-31] Tim Drake renews his relationship with Zoanne, while as Robin he tracks the serial killer “Scary Mary.” | Robin Annual #7 <07>. Dates are from the story. | |
| Oracle assembles a new Birds of Prey team, and they rescue a gangster’s daughter from a Mexican prison. Then, blackmailed by the new Spy Smasher (Katerina Armstrong; see 1992/Yr4), the team takes on arms dealers and the Secret Six in Azerbaijan… where they discover that the heroine Ice is alive. | BoP #100-108 <1-9.07>. Alongside Huntress, Lady Blackhawk, and Misfit, the new Birds include Big Barda, Judomaster, and Manhunter. Note that the Secret Six in this story includes Deadshot and Harley Quinn. There must be a significant undisclosed continuity break just before #100, as the Azerbaijan story here takes place only “two days” after the Mexican adventure, and the epilogue makes clear that they all occur after Green Arrow’s proposal to Black Canary. Note also that the latter tale includes snow described as “out of season.” | |
| Superman hits a promotional baseball into space, aimed at the Moon, in Game 7 of the World Series. | Superman #671 <2.08>. Date seasonally appropriate, as the game is a significant plot point. | |
| The Justice Society of America formally re-forms, incorporating a whole new generation of legacy heroes, and quickly takes on Vandal Savage and the neo-Nazi Fourth Reich. Power Girl is chosen as chair. | JSA v4 #1-4 <2-5.07>. New members initially include Typhoon, Wildcat II, Damage, Starman VIII, and Citizen Steel. The story falls after the “League has spent weeks tracing bloodlines [and] gathering… intel” on legacy heroes—the “help” promised in July, above. The constraints of other events almost certainly put this story in early November, notwithstanding the “December” calendar seen hanging in Starman’s mental ward. Note that there is unseasonably early snow seein the Virginia scenes, although not in Boston or Ohio—a sign of early winter weather that seems to feature in several other DCU stories around this timeframe, as noted above and below. Note that the personal history given for Nathan Heywood in #2-3 could be construed to imply that his cousin Hank’s career as Steel (and, thus, the original Crisis) fell only two to three years earlier—but that is clearly inaccurate, and a larger gap between Hank and Nate must be interpolated. | |
| Catwoman takes a gig from the Calculator, raiding a LexCorp tech depot, in exchange for help clearing Holly’s name… then both women take on the assassins Hammer and Sickle. | Catwoman v2 #63-68 <3-8.07>. The story features snow in both Gotham and Metropolis, and the baby Helena is sitting up on her own, suggesting about six months have passed since the previous issues (in May). | |
| Checkmate executes a mission to Santa Prisca and confronts Bane, who lost the recent election there due to rigging by Amanda Waller. In the aftermath, Bea DaCosta (Fire) steps out from under Waller’s blackmail by revealing her father’s role in Brazil’s illegal “Operation Condor” decades earlier. | Checkmate v2 #11-12 <4-5.07> | |
| Superman battles Bizarro—and faces the arrival of a mysterious Kryptonian child from the Phantom Zone, whom he and Lois take in and dub “Chris Kent.” | Action #844-46 <12.06-2.07>, “Last Son,” parts 1-3. Despite appearances to the contrary, there must be a significant continuity break on pg. 9 of #846, to accommodate other events prior to the story’s conclusion, below, in early 2010/Yr22. | |
| Checkmate drafts the Outsiders to help invade Oolong Island, on a mission that spills over into North Korea and is narrowly salvaged by Batman. | Checkmate v2 #13-15/Outsiders v3 #47-49 <6-9.07>, “CheckOut.” | |
| Batman begins testing the skills of several current and potential Outsiders. Meanwhile, Fire and Ice reunite, and the August General in Iron (from the Great Ten) joins Checkmate as its new Black Bishop. | Outsiders: Five of a Kind: Nightwing/Capt. Boomerang #1, O:FoaK: Katana/Shazam #1 <10.07>; Checkmate v2 #16 <9.07>. This represents Capt. Boomerang, Jr.’s last outing as an Outsider, after which he moves on to the new Suicide Squad. The veteran Katana, meanwhile, is recruited. | |
| With the return of Deadshot (from the Secret Six) and new recruit Capt. Boomerang Jr. (from the Outsiders), Amanda Waller launches her latest Suicide Squad, taking down the Haake-Burton corporation before it can sell a lethal new weaponized virus. | SSquad v3 #4-8 <2-8.08>. The opening page of #4 indicates that this story occurs after Waller is forced out of Checkmate [in Checkmate #18-20 <11.07-1.08>, “The Fall of the Wall,”] but that’s an anachronism, as those events flow from her use of the Suicide Squad to kidnap villains, a project which begins only after the team’s trial outing as chronicled here. | |
| The Suicide Squad captures Bane, and begins an aggressive semi-covert program of kidnapping other known meta-criminals. | SSquad v3 #8 <8.08>; also (soon hereafter) Outsiders v3 #50 <11.07> and Checkmate #18 <11.07>. None of these tales actually portrays the first such outing, however, which apparently remains unchronicled. | |
| Superman meets the new hero Sirocco, then encounters Lightray and his “Young Gods,” then turns down Arion’s ultimatum and winds up fighting the government’s “Squad K.” | Superman #662-64 <5-8.07>. An internal reference puts this story sequence after the beginning of “Last Son,” but Lightray’s presence puts it before the beginning of Countdown. Arion had given Superman a “two week” grace period to considering his warning, above, thus bracketing these events. | |
| Sensing a disturbance in the Source, Darkseid resurrects all his minions, and begins making contingency plans. | Death of the New Gods #1 <12.07> [Apokalips scenes only, set “weeks” before other events in the issue]. Date approximate. | |
| [Nov (2nd week)?] Seeking to intimidate Superman, Arion begins causing a series of natural disasters around the world. | Superman #667 <11.07>. These go on for “eleven days.” The date is my own calculation, not from the story itself, hence the question mark… but the chronology of events through the last two months of this year is so tight (as seen above and below) that there is really very little flexibility, essentially “forcing” several stories into definite spots on the calendar. These dates will be designated with a question mark to indicate that they’re not found directly in the story. | |
| [Nov (2nd weekend)?] The Joker is shot by a fake Batman. The real Batman then travels to London, where he encounters both the supermodel Jezebel Jet and an army of man-bats controlled by Talia… and meets his son, Damian. He takes him to Gotham—where he picks a fight with Robin; then, in a rematch with Talia at Gibraltar, she retrieves the boy and escapes. | Batman #655-58 <9-12.06>, “Batman and Son” [with an epilogue in #664]. This must occur after a long string of Batman stories in Detective, as detailed above, in which the Joker was at large, and indeed (as Robin notes) in which Batman has largely “put an end to super-crime in Gotham.” (Some fans prefer to place this story—and thus Morrison’s entire Batman run—after the events of Salvation Run, early in 2010/Yr22, in order to reconcile Morrison’s quixotic treatment of the Joker. I disagree, as that would unavoidably push certain later events forward by several months; it’s easier to assume Joker’s injuries are less serious here than they appear, and reconcile his later appearance when necessary.) Bruce’s trip is said to begin on a Thursday (while Tim is visiting the mountains), and the story spans the next several days. Bruce notes to Damian that his own father “died when I wasn’t much older than you are now,” implying the boy is eight, which is in fact an accurate fit for a conception late in 2001/Yr12 [in the Son of the Demon GN] and a birth the following year. | |
| [Nov (3rd wknd)?] After fighting a drug-addled “Bat-Bane,” Batman and Robin travel to a secluded island for a reunion of the Club of Heroes (see 1991/Yr3), and wind up chasing down a killer. | Batman #664-65 <5-6.07>; #667-69 <8-11.07>. This story is explicitly set on a weekend, and clearly follows the “Bat-Bane” story within days, given the reference to Tim’s injured arm. An internal reference to the Club’s origins falling only eight years earlier cannot be accurate. | |
| Amidst Atlantean ruins, Superman has his final showdown with Arion, who retreats to the past, leaving an impostor to be imprisoned in his place. | Superman #667 <11.07>, -Annual #13 <08>. Over the preceding “eleven days” Arion has created several natural disasters as “warnings,” although the details are not chronicled. | |
| [Nov (4th wk)?] The JLA and JSA hold a joint meeting, interrupted when Batman discovers a captured villain is actually Karate Kid from the 31st Century. The heroes reunite KK with four other Legionnaires also hidden in the present, culminating in a plan which retrieves Wally West, lost since the previous year’s Crisis. Meanwhile… | JLofA #8-10/JSA #5-6 <6-8.07>, “The Lightning Saga,” plus crossover scenes in Countdown #51, 49-48, 45, 42-41 <5-7.07>. While it is not explicitly described as such, we may surmise that this gathering keeps with the teams’ seasonal tradition of recent years and begins the weekend before Thanksgiving (certainly, that timing neatly fits the surrounding chronology). The overall story spans several days, and (contrary to impressions in Countdown) cannot overlap the events of Amazons Attack. | |
| …Inertia and a group of Rogues launch an attack in L.A. that’s aimed at tapping the Speed Force and ends by killing the Flash (Bart Allen), at the same moment that Wally returns. Wally soon captures Inertia. Trickster and Pied Piper, reformed Rogues, immediately go on the run. | Flash v3 #10-13 <5-8.07>, All-Flash v2 #1 < 9.07>, and scenes in Countdown #51-49, 47-46, 44 <5-6.07>. The All-Flash story confirms the simultaneity with Wally’s return. Inertia’s recruiting and testing of the Rogues spanned the previous week or so, based on the Countdown scenes and Iris Allen’s warning to Bart in a preliminary scene that the attack would come within a “week.” The climax occurs on a Friday, according to JSA v4 #8 <8.07>, thus providing a date (the 27th, on the 2009 calendar). | |
| Duela Dent (Harlequin, among other names) is killed by a Monitor, witnessed by Jason Todd; Mary (Marvel) Batson is released from the hospital. | Countdown #51 <5.07> [the first issue, as the numbering counts backward]. This must take place while the JLA and JSA are preoccupied with the “Lightning Saga.” As noted in the Section Intro, the various events of Countdown do not all occur in the sequence depicted in the series itself. Moreover, while the series’ plots and crossovers are insanely complicated, they are also largely inconsequential. I will note only those “highlights” essential to constructing the chronology. | |
| Nemesis’ kidnapping leads to Wonder Woman being captured and detained for interrogation by the DEO. | WW v3 #6-7 <5-6.07> | |
| Jimmy Olsen visits Jason Todd and the Joker, and discovers he's developing unpredictable super-powers, while Mary visits Black Adam to regain powers of her own. | Countdown #50-47 <5-6.07> [selected scenes]. | |
| [Nov (final wknd)?] Newlywed JSAers Hourman and Liberty Belle vacation in Aspen, but have the trip interrupted when the team—including Damage—is called upon to capture Zoom in Atlanta. | JSA v4 #8. This follows immediately after “Lightning Saga,” and a holiday weekend early in ski season fits this story perfectly. Note, however, that the sundry weekday references on page one, recapping the team’s formation—while not necessarily inaccurate—cannot actually all fit in the same week, given other recent events. | |
| [Nov (final wknd)?] The Titans attend a memorial service for Duela. Meanwhile, Lightray dies in Metropolis. | TT v3 #47 <7.07>, Countdown #48 <5.07>. The service is held “three days” after Duela’s murder, and presumably on a weekend. It falls the day before “Amazons Attack.” | |
| [Nov (final wknd)?] Resurrected by Circe, Queen Hippolyta is incensed to learn her daughter is a prisoner of the U.S. government, and in short order Amazons attack Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, Holly Robinson leaves Gotham for Metropolis, where she witnesses the death of Sleez, and enters an “Amazonian Women’s Shelter” (seemingly) run by Athena herself. | TT v3 #47, WW v3 #8-9 < 6-7.07>, Amazons Attack! #1 <6.07>, Catwoman v2 #69 <9.07>, Countdown #47-44 <6.07>. The interweaving of plotlines between WW and its compantion title, AA, is (to say the least) not seamless, but with effort it’s possible to construct a rough chronology. | |
| [Dec (1st wk)?] The JLA and JSA move to defend Washington, coordinated by Batman, while Nemesis steps up to run the DEO for the missing Sarge Steel. The Amazons launch attacks on California, Kansas and elsewhere (Catwoman helps defend Gotham); the president detains Amazon associates in camps, and Supergirl and Wonder Girl attack Air Force One in reaction; Wonder Woman confronts her mother (twice); and Athena (actually Granny Goodness) ultimately steps in to end the conflict, imposing amnesia on the Amazons. Meanwhile, Donna Troy and Jason Todd are recruited by a rogue Monitor, Bob, and the Freedom Fighters return from a mission in space. | AA #2-6 <7-10.07>, WW v3 #10-12 <8-10.07>, Countdown #46-44 <6.07> and 41 <7.07>, Catwoman 69-70 <10-11.07>, TT v3 #48-49 <8-9.07>, USFF v2 #1 <11.07>, and other crossovers. The overall story appears to span about six days. (The Gotham attack “one week” after the story opens is actually more like three days.) Days 4-5 involve an impenetrable shield over D.C., courtesy of Circe. In the aftermath Hippolyta (unlike the other Amazons) is returned to Themyscira, alone, while Circe is consigned to Hades. The political fallout from these events, remarkably, seems to be nonexistent, which is to say that the repercussions were thought out every bit as well as the rest of the plot. | |
| The mysterious New-God-assassin kills Knockout (formerly of the Female Furies), prompting Big Barda to go home to Mr. Miracle, while Dinah discusses with Barbara her decision to marry Ollie. | BoP #109 <10.07> | |
| [Dec (1st wknd)?] The superhuman community comes together for Bart Allen’s funeral. It inspires Jimmy Olsen to find a use for his emerging powers. In the aftermath, Donna and Jason are instructed to seek out the Atom, while Trickster and Piper are captured by the Suicide Squad. | Countdown #43-42 <7.07>. The funeral provides a linkage point for several parallel storylines. It occurs more than a week after Bart’s death, given dialogue in All-Flash #1, and apparently on a weekend. | |
| [Dec (1st wknd)?] Jimmy ponders costumes, then debuts against crime as Mr. Action. Meanwhile, Mary Marvel seeks out advice from Zatanna, and witnesses the death of the Deep Six; Trickster and Piper escape the Squad; Val (Karate Kid) Armorr and his fellow Legionnaire Luornu (Una) Durgo seek out advice from Oracle; and Oracle herself fends off a global cyber-attack from the Calculator, with an assist from the JLA, JSA, and Freedom Fighters. | Countdown #42-38 <7-8.07>. The cyber-battle in #38 again links several storylines, including Mary’s, Val and Lu’s, and Trickster and Piper’s. These events follow hard on the funeral above, presumably the next day. | |
| Batman completes his testing of potential Outsiders. (Thunder and J’onn J’onzz battle Grayven shortly before he, too, is killed. Grace, who has discovered she’s of Amazon descent, stops a leftover Amazon bomb in Cleveland.) He then sends his new team to infiltrate the underworld, and they cross paths with a Suicide Squad anti-villain raid. | O:FoaK:Thunder/Martian Manhunter, O:FoaK: Metamorpho/Aquaman, O:FoaK: Wonder Woman/Grace <10.07>, and Outsiders #50 <11.07>. Events in Thunder’s story place it after the deaths of Lightray and Sleez [above], although the reference to the Deep Six [from Countdown #38 <8.07>] may be an anachronism. The young Aquaman is rejected. Grace’s story commences during clean-up work in the ruined Washington, D.C. | |
| The Freedom Fighters split, as part of the team agrees to go public, launching a NSA-sponsored press junket that wins them great publicity over the following weeks. | USFF v2 #1, in a sequence set “one week” after their return from space. | |
| Green Arrow helps defend Dinah’s young charge Sin from the League of Assassins. Sin is then consigned to the Ashram monastery to be raised in safety, and Dinah formally accepts Ollie’s proposal. | Black Canary v3 [mini-series] #1-4 <9-10.07> | |
| The Teen Titans mourn Bart’s passing, and then meet Blue Beetle, defending a satellite launch from Lobo. | TT v3 #50 and BB v6 #18 <10.07>. Date approximate. | |
| Mary rejects training from Zatanna; Val and Lu seek out the secretive Mr. Orr, who sends them to find Buddy Blank; and Trickster and Piper are captured by Deathstroke, then “rescued” by Batman and the Flash. | Countdown #37-33 <8-9.07> [selected scenes, spanning several days]. The presence of Orr (and Equus) serves to verify the canonicity of the Superman story “For Tomorrow” [see 2008/Yr20], in which they first appeared, notwithstanding the apparently appocryphal Zod also seen therein. | |
| [Dec (2nd wknd)?] Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance host parallel bachelor’s and bachelorette parties on the eve of their wedding—interrupted when a new Injustice League first attacks Firestorm, then kidnaps several other Leaguers. | Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special <11.07> and JLofA #13-15 <11.07-1.08>, and scenes from Countdown #34-32 <9.07>. The new Injustice League was formed by Luthor, Joker, and Cheetah, “ten days” before the party (thus, implicitly, during the Amazon attack). Note (contra appearances in Batman and earlier in Countdown) that the Joker is again at large here, but is recaptured at the end of this story, and handed over to the Suicide Squad. This is only one indication among many that the Joker’s injury in Batman #655 is not as serious as depicted in the (possibly apocryphal) Batman #663 <4.07>. | |
| [Dec (2nd wknd)?] Green Arrow and Black Canary marry, before all their friends, in the original JLA cave… which is attacked by a gathering of villains, including many of the same ones who attacked the night before(!), but this time led by Deathstroke and Sivana. In the melee, GA is kidnapped and replaced by Everyman, who attempts to attack Dinah that night and is killed in self-defense. | GA/BC Wedding Special, and scenes from Countdown #30-28 <10.07>. Likely on a Saturday. | |
| Trickster and Piper infiltrate Belle Reve, where they witness a group of villains being teleported off-Earth, then escape with Deadshot on their trail. | Countdown #27, 25 <10-11.07>. This probably represents the first contingent of villains transported, as referenced later in Salvation Run, below. | |
| [Dec (3rd wk)?] After helping defeat the Kryptonite Man and fielding the return of Krypto, Jimmy Olsen learns Clark Kent’s secret identity. He asks Clark for a JLA tryout, but fails to make the cut. | Action #853-54 <10.07> and Countdown #37-35 <8.07>. Note that Jimmy has been Mr. Action for “a week or two” at this point—which itself came after his powers had been developing for “a few weeks” [per Countdown #45 <6.07>]. Curiously, this major development has not been followed up in any significant way; however, neither has it been superseded, retconned, or otherwise undone. | |
| [Dec (3rd/4th wk)?] Donna and companions find the Atom and begin visiting nano-worlds in search of his predecessor, Ray Palmer; Mary Marvel meets Klarion in China, then falls under Eclipso’s influence in Turkey; after winning a tournament at the “Women’s Shelter,” Holly Robinson, Harley Quinn, and several colleagues are sent to Themyscira for more intensive training; and Val and Lu locate Buddy Blank (and his grandson) in a NORAD bunker, and meet the latest incarnation of Brother Eye. | Respectively, ANA #13-14 <9-10.07> and selected scenes in Countdown #41-39, 37-34 <7-9.07> [Donna]; Countdown #34-31, 29 <9-10.07> [Mary]; Countdown #35-34, 31-29, 27 <8-10.07>. [Holly/Harley]; and Countdown #31-28 <9-10.07> [Val]. | |
| [Dec (3rd wknd?)] The Teen Titans take on their malicious future selves, the “Titans of Tomorrow” (see 2018), rescuing a captured JLA in the process. | TT v3 #50-54 <10.07-2.08>. This story’s conclusion leads directly and without a break into the Sinestro Corps’ attack on Earth, below. It presumably occurs on a weekend (Friday evening and Saturday?), given the Titans’ presence in San Francisco. | |
| The newly created, fear-driven Sinestro Corps attacks Oa. They kidnap Kyle Rayner to Qward, and attack Mogo seeking to fulfill a demonic prophecy (both are rescued). The Guardians reluctantly authorize the GL Corps to use lethal force, and the GLs regroup as the Sinestro Corps takes the battle to Earth, confronting many of its heroes. The Corps narrowly prevails, and Hal Jordan once again defeats Sinestro. | GL v3 #21-25/GLC #14-18 <9.07-1.08> and related Specials. Despite the grand scale of this story, the action actually takes place over only a couple of days. Krypto appears in the story, placing it after the events with Jimmy Olsen, above. | |
| Blue Beetle encounters Giganta, on the run from the Suicide Squad; then takes on his mentor Peacemaker possessed by a Sinestro ring; then in the days that follow launches a bold plan to defeat the insidious alien Reach. | BB v6 #19 <11.07> [in which Brenda learns of her aunt’s criminal life “six, seven months” after Jaime’s other helpers did, above]; #20 <12.07>; #22-25 <2-5.08> [in which Peacemaker is still recovering from his Sinestro War injuries]. | |
| Kyle Rayner joins Donna’s ad hoc team and the Atom leaves. They move on from the nanoverse into other worlds of the Multiverse, visiting Earth-50, Earth-3, Earth-15, before eventually being captured by the Extremists on Earth-8. | ANA #15 <11.07>, Countdown #33-29 <9-10.07>, and various Countdown Presents specials <11-12.07>. This must follow the Sinestro Corps War, as well as Kyle’s "recovery day” as seen in GLC #19 <2.08>. | |
| Batman and his allies are lured around the world to Nanda Parbat, where they take arms against the resurrection of Rā’s al Ghūl (see 2007/Yr19). | Batman #67-71/Robin #168-69/Ntwg #138-39/’Tec #838-39 <12.07-2.08>. The story spans three or four days. Note that the story’s final scene is set on Christmas—which could be a topical reference, but in this instance is seasonally appropriate. Note also that Bruce is saved from deadly injuries by immersion in the Fountain of Life, “the prototype of the Lazarus Pits” (at least the third mystical revival in his career—see 1999/Yr 11 and 2002/Yr14.) | |
| [Dec (4th wknd)?] Superman tracks down the mysterious “Third Kryptonian”—Karsta Wor-Ul, a survivor from “generations ago” (see 1820s)—who helps him defend Earth from the space-pirate Amalak. | Superman #668-70 <12.07-1.08>. The bulk of the story is said to take place on a Sunday, although the lead-in in the first issue—in which Chris Kent meets Batman and Robin—needs to fall a couple of days earlier. (Although not described as such, Chris’s red sun watch may be a Christmas gift.) Amalak seeks to attack Kandor, until he learns it is not the Kryptonian version of the city [see 1937]. | |
After a week of rehab following a debauched weekend, Stormy Knight (the Freedom Fighters’ new Phantom Lady) kills a man in battle and attempts suicide. In the week that follows, the NSA covertly introduces a new group of heroes to supplant the Freedom Fighters. Meanwhile, the Red Bee emerges transformed from an alien cocoon. |
USFF v2 #2-3 <12.07-1.08>. Date approximate, as the length of the team’s press junket is not specified. Note that Stormy’s father’s death [from the first USFF mini-series] is referred to as “last year.” | |
| Superman and Lana Lang defeat an alien Insect Queen on the Moon. | Superman #671-73 <2-4.08>. This takes place “a month or so” after Superman’s World Series appearance [above], and the ball he knocked into space there plays a role in this story’s resolution. | |
| Big Barda is killed. A female Forager kidnaps Jimmy Olsen, informs him of Barda’s death, and takes him to Apokalips. There he is captured, but soon freed by Mr. Miracle, who is trying to trace Barda’s missing soul. Jimmy and Forager soon escape back to Earth. Meanwhile… | DONG #1 <12.07> and Countdown #28-25, 22, 20-19 <10-12.07>. The two story sequences that flow from this point do not mesh seamless (to put it mildly), but I've made my best effort to reconcile them. Mr. Miracle is wearing his original costume, and his covert visit to Apokalips must actually precede the events of DONG #2 et seq., below. Note that Jimmy and Forager’s return to Metropolis features Christmas decorations in the background; the whole sequence is probably a few days after Christmas. | |
| …Donna’s “Challengers” battle the Extremists, then Monarch and his growing army (including the Crime Syndicate), before escaping Earth-8; Val and Lu, plus Buddy Blank and his grandson, infiltrate Blüdhaven, where they encounter Atomic Knights and a Firestorm briefly possessed by DeSaad; and Mary Marvel battles the Shadowpact, and escapes with Eclipso, who introduces her to Darkseid on Apokalips, then joins her in space… while the squabbling Monitors monitor all the activity. | Countdown #29-26 <10.07> [Challengers]; #27-24, 21-20 <10-12.07> [Blüdhaven]; #27-23 <10-12.07> [Mary]. The Monitors’ surveillance of these ongoing events (and Jimmy’s, above) in #26 <10.07> provides another convergence point at which several storylines can be seen to overlap. The Monitors conclude at this point that Monarch’s master plan is apparently to collapse the Multiverse, although how and to what end remain unlear. (Whether this Monarch is the formerly heroic Captain Atom, or his villainous doppleganger who had previously acted as Monarch [see 2003/Yr15], is a matter of some debate. Although we know a Monitor breached Atom’s armor after his arrival in Blüdhaven and started the chain of events leading to his transformation [as later revealed in Countdown #8 <3.08>], there is certainly time for a switch to have been made, which would go far toward explaining his drastic change of personality.) | |
| Superboy-Prime inserts himself into the story, genocidally destroying Earth-15, then torturing Mxyzptlk at the Source Wall; Brother Eye takes control of Blüdhaven; and Trickster and Piper encounter Deadshot while on the run through the Rockies, where Trickster is killed. Piper makes his way into the Mexican desert with the corpse. | Selected scenes in, respectively, Countdown #26, 24-23 <10-11.07>[E-15]; #15 <1.08> [Blüdhaven]; and #22-19 <11-12.07> [Piper]. The exact sequence of these various events cannot be determined, but they're roughly contemporary. The sequence with Deadshot must precede the Checkmate story below. | |
| Checkmate (with an assist from the Martian Manhunter) captures Deadshot and forces Amanda Waller to resign in disgrace, then goes public with the news of the Suicide Squad’s activities. The Squad goes on, however, sending a second cohort of villains to the hellish “prison planet.” | Checkmate v2 #18-20 <11.07-1.08>. Note that the raid that captures Scandal Savage in this story makes “nine in the last seven weeks” (not all of which have been seen), thus dating the beginning of the project, above. Contrary to other dialogue, however, it is only 14 months since Sasha became Black Queen, not “two years next week”—although if this occurs just before the New Year, next week could mark the second calendar year since her promotion. Although not explicitly stated, this villain transport is presumably the second one—including the Joker—falling two weeks after the first, as described in Salvation Run # <1.08>. | |
| 2010 | “Year 22” | ↑ top |
| The Freedom Fighters rescue the vice-president from a group of miniaturized test subjects led by Darrell Dane (the original Doll Man). Meanwhile the Red Bee kills mind-controlling NSA director Robbins… but then has to be cured of her own mind control by alien insects. With the aid of Happy Terrill (the original Ray, who acquires the powers of Neon the Unknown) and Miss Cosmos (the former Miss America), the team then turns back a full-scale insectoid invasion—and disbands. | USFF v2 #4-8 <2-6.08>. Date approximate; Red Bee observes that her original encounter with the Swarm [in #1] was “months” ago. Note that the epilogue set concurrent with the Cannes Film Festival cannot be quite “six months later” as stated, however; four would be more accurate, as the Festival is traditionally in late May, and there is no practical way to push this story back a month given its internal chronology. The vice-president is not named in this story. | |
| Concerned over her daughter’s safety, Selina Kyle enlists Bruce Wayne’s aid first to help them fake their deaths, then to arrange for Helena’s adoption. | Catwoman #71-72 <11-12.07>. Date approximate; Selina says “a few weeks” separate the two events, probably placing the earlier in mid-December. This precedes her exile to the “Hell Planet,” below. | |
| Superman battles both Paragon (see 1999/Yr11) and the Priest-Elders of Daxam, who have come seeking Lar Gand (see 1979). | Superman #674-75 <5-6.08>. This is the last story in which Chris Kent appears with Clark and Lois before the conclusion of “Last Son,” below. | |
| General Zod and a contingent of Phantom Zone villains invade Earth, and are narrowly defeated by Superman—but Chris Kent is lost to the Zone. | Action #546 <2.07>, #851 <8.07>, and -Annual #11 <2008>, concluding “Last Son.” The disposition of Chris Kent in the final chapter means that (contrary to appearances and to internal story logic) a lengthy continuity gap must occur midway through #846, and this has been confirmed online (somewhat sheepishly) by editor Matt Idelson. Luthor’s role in this story means that it must precede his capture and exile on the “Hell Planet,” below. Superman’s remark that he “knows of” Zod only because he has “studied Krypton’s history,” and the treatment of this as a first meeting, implicitly retcons away encounters with previous versions of Zod [see 2000/Yr12, 2005/Yr17, 2008/Yr20], at least under that name. | |
| Holly and Harley discover Hippolyta hiding on Themyscira; Forager reveals to Jimmy that he is a “soul-catcher” for the dying New Gods, explaining his powers. | Respectively Countdown #21, 19 <12.07>; #16 <1.08>. | |
| Brother Eye teleports from Blüdhaven to Apokalips with an army of OMACs. | Countdown #12 <2.08>. Date approximate. This need not be simultaneous with the various other characters’ transport to the same destination, as described below; as Brother Eye notes, a Boom Tube is a “spacetime warp technology,” thus providing—together with Darkseid’s behind-the-scenes manipulations—a handy narrative workaround to explain how everyone converges there at once, below. | |
| The Suicide Squad sends a third consignment of villains to the “Hell Planet,” then several more over the next three days, culminating in a final group that includes Martian Manhunter (disguised as Blockbuster), Catwoman, their own erstwhile allies Deadshot and Bane, and Lex Luthor—who quickly takes charge upon arrival. | SR #2 <2.08>, Catwoman #75-77 <3-5.08>. Luthor’s presence places this after his appearance in “Last Son,” above. | |
| [Jan 10-11] Batman confronts the hideously maimed serial killer Grotesk—actually Wayne Franklin, the brother of an old friend of Bruce Wayne. | Batman #659-62 <1-3.07>. The dates appear in the story. They are out of sequence with surrounding issues, but nevertheless cannot merely be dismissed as topical, as a major winter storm is a critical plot element. | |
| After visiting Earths 19, 43, 30, 11, and 12, Donna’s “Challengers” locate Ray Palmer on Earth-51—and Bob the Monitor promptly attacks him and kills his friends. Bob himself is then killed by the evil Monitor Solomon, who reveals but fails at his plan to integrate all the Monitors into one. Monarch and his armada attack the assembled Monitors, but all is rendered moot when Superboy-Prime intervenes and detonates Monarch, utterly destroying Earth-51. Kyle, Donna, Jason, and Ray escape to Apokolips. Meanwhile, Mary rebels against Eclipso and fights her, crashing back to Earth on Themyscira. | Countdown #21-13 <10.07-1.08>; re: Mary, #22, 20, 18-17, 15 <11.07-1.08>. Mary’s battle is portrayed as simultaneous with the attack on Ray, but that may be only for dramatic effect. Note that events on Earth-51 fall on Christmas Eve, but it is important to note that time flows differently there: only about “two years” have passed since Ray’s disappearance on “New Earth,” his home reality [see 2007/Yr19], whereas more (possibly much more) than five years have passed since his arrival on Earth-51, per Countdown #18 <12.07>. Thus, the date is not pertinent to events “back home.” | |
| Black Canary confirms that Green Arrow isn’t dead, and tracks him to Themyscira, where she, Mia and Connor mount a rescue. However, Connor is gravely wounded in the escape, and left comatose. | Green Arrow/Black Canary #1-4 <12.07-3.08>. The story explicitly begins “a month” after the wedding and Ollie’s supposed death. Note that “Athena” and her pseudo-Amazons are still occupying the island at this point. | |
| Batman, Green Lantern, Supergirl, and a host of other heroes including the Challengers of the Unknown become embroiled in a quest to keep the Book of Destiny out of the hands of the Luck Lords. Along the way, Batman encounters a new version (see 1996/Yr8, 2003/Yr15) of the Legion of Super-Heroes (see 3006 in hypertimeline L3). | B&B v4 #1-6 <4-10.07>. Date approximate. This is difficult to place, but it’s confirmed as canonical in Action #864 <6.08>. | |
| [Late Jan] On the prison planet, the Joker leads a faction of villains away from Luthor’s camp, and Martian Manhunter reports back to Batman. | SR #3-4 <3-4.08>, set on “day 13” after J’onn’s arrival. | |
| The JLA fights the Suicide Squad over the fate of a group of villains seeking asylum, and then mounts a rescue mission to the prison planet—only to discover that the deported captives were actually diverted to a different, unknown planet. | JLofA v2 #17-19 <3-5.08>. Batman is briefly in communication with J’onn J’onnz, and gets coordinates from him (placing this after the communication above), but they prove to be wrong. Note that according to Amanda Waller, Congress has apparently passed a bill (retroactively) legalizing the extraplanetary “quarantine” program. | |
| The Superman of Earth-22 arrives on Earth, and joins forces with the JSA as it institutes a recruiting drive. The expanded team soon finds itself encountering two versions of Gog—first the insane but powerful William Matthews (see 2007/Yr19), then a true Old God (see 5 Billion BCE). | JSA v4 #9-22 <11.07-2.09>. This extended storyline spans a few weeks, but the closest thing to a chronological anchor point is Lois Lane’s reference in #13 <4.08> to a Washington tip about Luthor’s transport to the prison planet. The new JSA members include Judomaster II, Amazing-Man III, Mr. America III, Lightning II, and David “Lance” Reid (who becomes Magog II). | |
| The JLA restores Red Tornado’s body (overcoming some interference from Amazo), and then sorts out the problems with Vixen’s powers. | JLofA v2 #22-26 <8-12.08>. Set “six weeks” after the GA/BC wedding, per Hal’s remark in #25. Note that these events follow the first half of #21 <7.08>, but the second half (featuring Libra) most likely occurs out-of-sequence, below. | |
| On the prison planet, Vandal Savage leads another faction of villains away from Luthor’s camp, seeking safer territory. | SR #4, “one week” after the Joker’s departure. | |
| [Feb?] Bizarro kidnaps Pa Kent, leading Superman to pursue him to a blue sun system where he has created a paradox-laden “Bizarro World.” | Action #855-57 <10-12.07>. This is set “three months” after the previous battle with Bizarro in Metropolis, at the beginning of “Last Son,” above. | |
| On the prison planet, Joker’s camp attacks Luthor’s, and the Martian Manhunter is discovered and captured. | SR #5 <5.08>, again set “one week” after the previous issue. | |
| Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance marry again—for real, this time—and when Connor’s body is kidnapped, set out on a quest to recover him. | GA/BC #5 <4.08>. Date approximate; set “weeks” after Connor’s injury. | |
| Blue Devil regains his soul, and helps his colleagues in the Shadowpact beat back the threat of the otherdimensional Sun King. | Shadowpact #23-25 <5-7.08>. Date approximate; described as “six months” after the volcanic attack on Chicago, above. | |
| [Mid Feb?] Joker and Luthor fight for leadership of the villains on the prison planet—interrupted when parademons attack from Apokolips; and through Luthor’s machinations, all the surviviving villains escape back to Earth, with the exception of the Martian Manhunter. | SR #6-7 <6-7.08>/Catwoman #78 <6.08>. According to the book’s internal chronology, it has been a total of about five weeks since Luthor arrived. Fatalities during that time include Iron Cross, Psimon, Brain, Mssr. Mallah, Plasmus, Warp, and Thunder & Lightning. Note that conditions still appear normal on Apokolips. Martian Manhunter is later recovered via Boom Tube, by the villainous Libra, in JLofA v2 #21 <7.08>. | |
| [Feb 16?] JLA members get drawn into politics when they defend four major presidential candidates (Democrats Davis Brewster and Martin Suarez, and Republicans Kate McClellan and Bob Ridgeway) from a series of assassination attempts, finally identifying the culprit as the demented former Titan Jericho on the day of the decisive Wisconsin primary. | DCU Decisions #1-4 <11-12.08>. The story was published to correspond with the real-world election, of course (although all the candidates are fictional), but in DCU terms there is no explanation whatsoever for why the U.S. is holding another presidential election so soon after the previous one, as depicted in USFF #2 [see 2008/Yr20], since four years cannot possibly have passed. We might speculate that the unorthodox and impermanent results of that election (won by a homicidal android), not to mention the unelected status of acting president Horne, led Congress to mandate a special off-year election in the aftermath. Although an epilogue appears to be set during the November general election, this story never actually establishes who the winner is (or even the nominees). FWIW, the closest approximation to Barack Obama is probably Senator Brewster. The real Wisconsin primary in 2008 was held on Feb 19, the third Tuesday of the month; this is the equivalent in 2010. The full story spans a week or more leading up to that date. | |
| Holly, Harley and Mary chase Granny Goodness to Apokolips, where they rescue the captive Greek Gods, and where their paths converge with Donna’s team; Val and Lu; Pied Piper (summoned by DeSaad); and, eventually, Jimmy Olsen and his allies. Piper uses his flute to channel the Anti-Life Equation, defeating DeSaad and blocking Brother Eye’s attempt to take over the planet; then everyone escapes before confronting Darkseid. | Countdown #12-8 <2-3.08>. All the story threads converge at this point. Jason notes that he has been traveling the Multiverse for “months,” and Holly and company reflect back on “months” of training. This seems to be far more time than has passed for some other characters, but note again that the vagaries of Boom Tube technology allow us to elide any time differences vis-a-vis when various characters departed Earth vs. when they arrived on Apokolips. At any rate, this must follow the appearances of Apokolips in Salvation Run, above. | |
| Superman accompanies Mr. Miracle to New Genesis for Barda’s funeral, and winds up embroiled in the death of all the New Gods. It turns out that the Source itself has been manipulating the Infinity Man to serve as its assassin, as part of a scheme to end the “flawed” Fourth World and also to reunite with its own darker half, the Anti-Life Entity (see 2000/Yr12). In the end Darkseid uses the stolen soul-power of dead gods to battle both the Source and Orion, then escapes, while Apokolips and New Genesis are destroyed. | Death of the New Gods #2-8 <12.07-6.08>. Contrary to all appearances, the opening scene of DONG #2 (with Scott’s mourning for Barda, and the JLA’s investigation of her death) must follow many weeks after the death itself, to accommodate events on Apokolips above, as well as the fact that once Superman leaves Earth, this story proceeds quickly and without a break over no more than a few days. DeSaad was killed by Piper in Countdown #9 <2.07>, but is shown being resurrected by Darkseid in DONG #2; Granny Goodness, on the other hand, was killed more decisively by the God-Assassin in Countdown #10, so her cameo appearance in DONG #3 <1.08> is almost certainly apocryphal. | |
| [Feb?] Rā’s al Ghūl makes an aggressive move into Gotham—and is quickly defeated by the Batman, who leaves him drugged and helpless in Arkham Asylum. | ’Tec #840 <3.08>, set “two months” after the “Resurrection” story, above. | |
| Back on Earth, Catwoman has a pair of uneasy reunions with the Batman. | ’Tec #845 <8.08>, Catwoman #81-82 <9-10.08>. She is aware of Bruce’s dalliance with Jezebel Jet, placing these events after the early part of Morrison’s Batman run. | |
| Back on Earth, the Joker travels west to Silicon Flats, where he becomes involved in the high-tech syndicate defending itself from the Birds of Prey. He ultimately winds up confronting Barbara Gordon. | BoP #121-24 <10.08-1.09>. Date approximate; the story spans a week. Note that Joker’s teeth (and face and jaw) are severely injured by Barbara. He’s described as seeking oral surgery thereafter, but it’s entirely plausible—and we can reconcile some awkwardness by assuming—that this injury leads to his scarred appearance as seen in “Batman: RIP,” below. | |
| Checkmate, now with the leadership of new White Queen Valentina Vostok, enlists the aid of the JLA and JSA—and its own free-agent “rooks”—to derail Kobra's master plan to trigger metahuman terrorist sleeper agents worldwide. | Checkmate v2 #23-25 <4-6.08>. Vostok previously served with the second Doom Patrol [see 1996/Yr8] and the original Checkmate [see 2000/Yr12]. The start of her first story here [in Checkmate v2 #21-22 <2-3.08>], however, cannot possibly fall on “November 9, 2007” as captioned; that must be a topical reference. | |
| On a somehow-resurrected Earth-51, the mutagenic "Morticoccus" virus that Ray Palmer discovered and Val Armorr has been carrying kills Val and then spreads, devastating the planet in a “Great Disaster” and precipitating global war, and costing Luornu her life as well. The expanded group of "Challengers,” unable to help despite Ray’s immunity, leave the planet in sorrow and return to New Earth. | Countdown #7-5 <3.08>. The re-revised Earth-51 apparently becomes a duplicate of Kamandi’s post-apocalypic future (previously seen as Earth-17, in 52 #52). The Morticoccus virus is apparently a hyper-evolved strain of the original OMAC virus [see 2008/Yr20]—but despite its evident danger and the Monitors’ earlier quest for Ray in fear of it, it apparently does not escape this single alternate universe (the earlier re-creation of which is never explained). | |
| Darkseid, now on Earth, re-corrupts Mary Marvel. He then attacks and battles Jimmy Olsen, in whom he has secreted his fellow gods’ remaining soul-power. Orion intervenes, however, and finally kills Darkseid in single combat, then wanders away, the last of his kind. Donna, Jason, Holly, Harley, and the rest of Jimmy’s recent colleagues return to their ordinary lives. | Countdown #4-1 <4.08>. Thus the series ends with both a bang and a whimper. Superman’s accusation in #3 that Darkseid “had the New Gods murdered” makes absolutely no sense in light of the events he witnessed in DONG, nor is Orion’s demeanor entirely consistent with the end of that series. Note that if Batman’s encounter with the Joker (the first instance of his scarred appearance) and Harley in the quixotic Batman #663 <4.07> is not apocryphal, it must occur after this point (out of sequence with surrounding issues), when both characters have returned to Earth. | |
| Darkseid’s soul falls backward through time. It lands on Earth in the recent past, where he adopts the human avatar of “Boss Dark Side” and begins re-creating his former minions (see 2008/Yr20). In the present, his agent and prophet Libra (see 1996/Yr8) begins recruiting a new alliance of villains; he retrieves the captive Martian Manhunter from the prison planet. | DC Universe #0 <6.08>; JLA v2 #21 <7.08> [2nd half, re: Libra]. (This single zero issue illustrates as well as anything could how all of Countdown ultimately amounted to mere sound and fury signifying nothing. And indeed the most pivotal event of this comic, Darkseid’s fall, is itself far from clear but for writer Grant Morrison’s online explanations.) The first appearance of the human-form Apokoliptian Gods was in the Seven Soldiers mini-series and related crossovers, particularly Mister Miracle v4 <11.05-5.06>. In Libra’s only previous appearance, he acquired great power but was seemingly dispersed across the cosmos. | |
| Superman is summoned to the future by the Legion—the same team that sent members to the past months earlier (above), that he otherwise hasn’t seen in years. He helps rescue future-Earth (see 3008) from a violent xenophobic movement and prevents an interstellar war. In the aftermath, back in the present, he and Batman discover the bodies of Karate Kid and Duo Damsel, and Starman takes on the identity of “Danny Blaine,” as prophecied. | Action #858-64 <12.07-6.08>. The full details of this Legion’s history remain to be revealed at this writing; see Hypertimeline L4 for details, and the 30th Century for a consideration of the various incarnations of the Legion and its future. How the bodies of Val and Lu (who died on Earth-51, above) made their way to New Earth is not made clear, but it is likely due to the machinations of the Time Trapper. Assuming this follows the Bizarro story above, and the end of Countdown (as appears logically necessary), it is a bit more than just “a month”—actually two or three—since the events of “The Lightning Saga,” Superman’s dialogue notwithstanding. In #864 a calendar in Starman’s sanitarium cell is turned to April, but that should not necessarily be considered reliable. | |
| In Arkham the Batman confronts a scarred, demented, nonverbal Joker, who finally succeeds in alienating Harley Quinn for good. | Batman #663 < 4.07>. This is the “prose” issue. If this story isn’t entirely apocryphal, it can only take place here, after Joker’s return to Earth (and encounter with Barbara) and Harley’s adventures in Countdown. It seems inconsistent with other depictions of both characters, however. | |
| The villains Morgaine LeFay, Despero, and Enigma (the antimatter-earth version of Riddler) conspire to replace Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman as the symbolic “Trinity” key to Earth’s place in the universe. Stealing a series of totemic object and kidnapping the young mystic Tarot, who discovers she is connected to the “Worldsoul,” they successfully shunt the three heroes into a parallel reality, thereby altering the timeline and imbuing the villains with near-godly power. While the remaining heroes battle the trio, Alfred Pennyworth helps a small group of the Trinity’s friends and colleagues recover their memories and travel between worlds to retrieve them. The villains are stymied by an escaped Krona competing with them for control of the Worldsoul, and then defeated by the return of the Trinity with godly powers of their own—which they sacrifice to save the world from destruction. The status quo is largely restored, but a number of anomalous characters survive the change (including Tomorrow Woman), and the parallel world the Trinity visited is reborn as… Earth-One. | Trinity v3 #1-52 < 6.08-5.09>. The full plot is even more elaborate than described. There are no explicit links to external stories to aid in chronological placement, although there are oblique clues (e.g., the memberships of the various guest-starring teams before the time-switch). Issues #1-7 <6-7.08> actually take place before Red Tornado regains his body c. late January [above], as he is shown occupying the JLA computer in #7. There is a continuity gap of indeterminate length before issue #8, after which things continue relatively unbroken; note that the Joker is housed in Arkham in #9 (with his usual appearance, BTW), and Reddy is embodied again in #10 <8.08>. The story thereafter appears to span many days, possibly weeks, during which it occupies the entire DCU. Remarkably enough, though, it fits very tidily into an otherwise unoccupied period right about here, probably during the month of March. | |
| [Apr] Dick Grayson turns over a new leaf in his life, setting up shop as curator of the Cloisters Museum in northern Manhattan. As Nightwing, he twice defeats rogue scientist Creighton Kendall’s attempts to create a pliant army for Talia—even as her father, Rā’s al Ghūl, escapes from Arkham. | Ntwg #140-146 <3-9.08>. The story actually begins while Rā’s is “still a very obvious threat”—hence before his February capture above—but the bulk of it occurs here, when “another month” is left of the “three months” the museum is closed for renovation (and after Dick has taken a date to a baseball game, a clear seasonal reference). Kendall is the grandfather of Black Condor II, Ryan Kendall, who was killed in Infinite Crisis #1. | |
| After a globetrotting quest, Green Arrow, Black Canary and allies rescue the injured Connor from Sivana—along with Ollie and Shado’s son, Robert (see 2001/Yr13). | GA/BC #6-12 <5-11.08>. The story must bracket Rā’s’ escape, probably during a gap in #8 <7.08>—as early in that issue Batman still has Rā’s “confined,” but by #11 <10.08> Batman has mediated a “ceasefire” with the escaped Rā’s to aid Ollie. Note that Robert is described as “eight years old” in a flashback set during Ollie’s recent captivity—which dovetails nicely with this Chronology, but couldn’t possibly fit into DC’s truncated version of the timeline. | |
| Hush returns to Gotham, surgically altering himself to resemble Bruce Wayne, then kidnapping and nearly killing Catwoman before she is saved by the Batman and his allies. Bruce and Selina wistfully admit their love for one another. | ’Tec #846-850 <9.08-1.09>, “Heart of Hush.” During her recuperation, Selina uses her connections to siphon off Thomas (Hush) Elliot’s personal fortune. Note that the Joker appears perfectly normal in his cameo herein. Note also that is clearly more than just “ten years” since a pre-med school Elliot crossed paths with a pre-Batman Bruce Wayne and met young Peyton Riley. | |
| Dr. Hurt's false “third Batman” (see 2005/Yr17) captures and tortures Batman at the behest of the mysterious Black Glove organization. | Batman #672-74 <2-4.08> | |
| Lana Lang is fired from LexCorp, but soon hired by Perry White to serve as business editor at the Daily Planet. | Superman #679 <10.08> [firing], during Superman’s battle with Atlas; Supergirl #34 <12.08> [hiring]—the latter story explicitly simultaneous with Action #867, early in the Brainiac story, below. | |
| Probes from Brainiac’s ship (see 1510, 1937) reach Earth, alerting the genocidal alien to the presence of Kryptonians there and precipitating a confrontation with Superman. Superman defeats him, and successfully restores the stolen city of Kandor in the Arctic—but in the meantime, one of Brainiac’s attacks takes the life of Jonathan Kent. | Action #866-70 <8-12.08>. Despite all the previous versions Superman has battled—different embodiments of Vril Dox starting with Milton Fine [see 2000/Yr12], then various future incarnations starting with B13 [see 2004/Yr16]–this is the first time he has met the “real” Brainiac. Supergirl’s parents Zor-El and Alura are alive in Kandor [see 1939]; their continued youthfulness is accounted for by Zor-El’s remark that “one doesn’t age as rapidly within the confines of the bottle cities.” (Indeed, no more than a subjective decade appears to have elapsed for the inhabitants of Kandor, judging by the age of Thara Ak-Var as subsequently depicted.) | |
| Bruce Wayne’s latest girlfriend, Jezebel Jet, discovers his secret identity. | Batman #675 <5.08>, commencing a week after the torture story above. | |
| After Jonathan Kent’s funeral, Superman visits Kandor… while Gen. Sam Lane, running the covert operation “7734,” recruits Lex Luthor to work for him. The Kandorians go public as their powers emerge, and soon meet with the President—only to be attacked by Doomsday; they join forces to repel the creature. In an effort to round up human criminals, Kandorians kill several cops—precipitating a confrontation with Earth’s heroes that’s cut short when the villain Reactron kills Supergirl’s father, Zor-El. In the aftermath, his widow Alura uses Kryptonian technology to relocate the city to a newly created planet on the other side of the sun—New Krypton. | Superman: New Krypton #1 /Superman #681-83/Supergirl v5 #35-36/Action # 871-73 <12.08-3.09 inclusive>. These events must fall before “Batman R.I.P.” and Final Crisis, as Bruce Wayne is present at Jonathan Kent’s funeral [and earlier offered Superman consolation in costume, per flashback in JLofA v2 #31 <5.09>]. As the story progresses (over about a week) it most likely overlaps “R.I.P.”, below, since in Action #872 the new Kryptonian heroes Nightwing and Flamebird note that “Batman’s not answering” the Bat-signal, nor is he present for the climactic, JLA-centric gathering of heroes in the arctic. | |
| The Black Glove (and lackeys) makes its move on Gotham, driving the Batman to a mental breakdown and attacking each of his allies… only to be narrowly defeated thanks to Batman's contingency plan, a self-created “backup” personality. After a climactic confrontation in Arkham, Batman chases Black Glove leader Dr. Hurt onto his escape helicopter, disappearing when it crashes into the river. | Batman #676-81 <6-12.08>, “Batman R.I.P.” These events occur only days before the events of Final Crisis, below, and likely simultaneous with the establishment of New Krypton, above. The full story spans roughly four days. The Joker as seen in #676 et seq. is scarred per #663, in contradiction to all his other recent appearances. Writer Grant Morrison exhumes and interweaves a great many details of Batman’s early career for this epic, including stories that were not previously thought to be part of post-Crisis canon. | |
| [Apr 27-May 4] Darkseid (operating as the human Boss Dark Side, and through his lackey Libra) engineers the death of his son Orion, then methodically takes down Earth’s big guns—killing J’onn J’onzz, capturing Batman, injuring Superman’s wife and friends, and arranging an assault on one Green Lantern and the arrest of another—before enslaving most of Earth’s population with the Anti-Life Equation, on “the day evil wins.” Thus begins what will be known as the “Final Crisis.” | Final Crisis #1-3 <7-9.08> and related crossovers. Dates derived from Booster Gold v2 #1, which includes a flash-forward to Final Crisis captioned “Week 104, Day 1” (i.e., April 29), presumably dovetailing with his appearance at the Martian Manhunter’s funeral. (The details are obscure, however, as the scene in BG doesn’t actually depict that, nor anything else from the actual story.) There are seeming inconsistencies with the end of Countdown and DONG, most notably the key plot point that the Guardians of the Universe immediately detect the “deicide” of Orion and quarantine Earth, whereas they reacted not at all to the earlier deaths of other New Gods. One might speculate that those deaths were deliberately hidden from the Guardians by the power of the Source, who is no longer involved in events at this point. | |
| [June 1-2] After weeks of resistance, with half of the planet lost to Anti-Life, Earth’s heroes (including a resurrected Barry Allen) launch a last desperate assault against Darkseid. He is defeated, but the Batman is seemingly killed by his Omega Sanction. Spacetime collapses, but Superman manages to restore it by using a Miracle Machine. | FC #4-7 <11.08-3.09> and related crossovers. | |
| Special Bonus Section! For those who are interested, I’ve assembled a more detailed day-by-day timeline of the events of Final Crisis (and all its crossovers and tie-ins). | ||
| Oracle successfully shuts down the high-tech crime syndicate in Silicon Flats, CA, but the Calculator escapes her grasp. In frustration, she disbands the Birds of Prey. | BoP #127-27 <3-4.09>. This may well be the chronologically earliest story following FC, although it’s entirely unheralded as such. The Internet is still down, Calculator’s ünternet is still up, and one scene shows graffiti of Darkseid’s omega symbol in a park where clean-up crews are working. Oracle has bandaged injuries ostensibly received in her recent confrontation with the Joker, above, but they could as easily have been sustained during FC itself. | |
| Nightwing checks up on the recently imprisoned Two-Face, then helps his fellow heroes relocate Valhalla, the heroes’ cemetary, to a secure location. | Ntwg #151 <2.09>. Two-Face is depicted in Arkham, despite the severe damage to the facility in “R.I.P.” (a story referenced herein), which becomes a plot point later in Battle for the Cowl. | |
| Barry Allen, feeling alienated from his friends and family after returning to life, also has to contend with dangerous malfunctions in the Speed Force, engineered by his old enemy Professor Zoom. | Flash: Rebirth #1-6 <6-11.09>. Date approximate. Note that the official cover story for Barry’s return is that he has been in the Witness Protection Program, so presumably his heroic identity remains unknown to the public. | |
| Nightwing chases down a Two-Face wannabe in Gotham. | ’Tec #851/Batman #684 <2.09>. Dick refers to Two-Face as “my new sparring partner, referencing the story from Ntwg #147-150 <10.08-1.09>. This story is simultaneous with the early part of the Robin story below, as it mentions “Tim is still busy with the gotham gang wars,” and indeed Dick’s motorcycle visit to the Batcave is depicted in both stories. Note also that Barbara Gordon is still operating on the west coast at this point. | |
| Robin tries to control emerging strife between Gotham’s gangs, in the process taking down two corrupt cops and also confronting his old enemy Ulysses “the General” Armstrong, now grown up and sporting first a Red Robin costume, then Anarky’s outfit. | Robin #177-182 <10.08-3.09>. Robin describes Batman as “gone” and “disappeared,” which clearly places the tale post-“R.I.P.”, although when published it was not clear whether it preceded or followed Final Crisis. Note that school is in session in this story, and Tim has exams scheduled; presumably it’s the tail end of the school year. The full story spans approximately ten days. | |
| Hush return to Gotham to discover that Catwoman has absconded with his fortune. He subjects himself to plastic surgery to look like Bruce Wayne, and sets out to travel the world, leaving a trail of bodies behind. Selina, Dick, and Tim finally catch up with him in Vietnam. | ’Tec #850, 852 <1.09, 3.09> [both establishing “two months” since the events of “Heart of Hush,” above], Batman #685 <3.09>. The depiction of snow in Gotham is incorrect, but is not a plot point and can be disregarded. The story spans nearly two weeks, as it takes Hush “ten days” to reach Syndey, Australia, and he is recaptured a couple of days later. It could well bookend the Nightwing and Robin stories immediately above. | |
| The JSA takes on a resurgent Kobra organization. | JSA vs. Kobra #1-6 <8.09-1.10>. This follows Final Crisis, as evidenced by the medical status of Sasha Bordeaux, but Hawkman is still active with the team, placing it before his departure in JSA v4 #23 <3.09>. | |
| Green Lantern Hal Jordan forms his own splinter group from the JLA, seeking to take a more proactive approach to defusing threats. | JLA: Cry for Justice #1-6 <9.09-2.10>. This must precede the events of JLofA v2 #31 <5.09>, below, as it is referenced therein. | |
| Barbara Gordon returns to Gotham City, and arranges the defeat and capture of the Calculator. | Oracle: The Cure #1-3 <5-7.09>. Date approximate, but cover banners notwithstanding, it appears to precede the main action of Battle for the Cowl. |
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| [Aug] Tim Drake helps Jason Todd escape from prison. Meanwhile, his GCPD contact Billi Harper is promoted to Detective. | Robin #182 <3.09>, in two epilogues which are actually considerably distant from the conclusion of the main story. They are placed here via backdating from the main action of BftC, below. | |
| Dick Grayson helps Barbara Gordon celebrate her birthday. | Ntwg #153 <4.09> [back-up story]. Barbara is living in Gotham again at this point. A late-summer setting is appropriate for her birthday, given what we know of Babs’ history [see 1990/Yr2, 1992/Yr4]. | |
| Supergirl decides to relocate to New Krypton, while Agent Liberty is killed by the mysterious new Superwoman. | Action #873 <3.09>, in two epilogues set some time after the main action. | |
| Superman and Wonder Woman deliver the remains of Batman’s costume to Dick, Tim, and Alfred. They agree to forego a public memorial service. | Batman #687 <8.09>, “four weeks” before the main events of the issue in the immediate aftermath of BftC. | |
| [Sep] Gotham’s newspapers start openly wondering whether the Batman is dead. Meanwhile, the GCPD discovers a murder committed by a successor to Azrael, and Dr. Leslie Thompkins returns to Gotham. | Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead? #1 <5.09>. This is not set on “March 4, 2009”; the newspaper date within is intended merely to coincide with the comic‘s publication date. The actual placement here is relative to the main events of BftC, below. Billi Harper is “three weeks in” as a detective [see above], partnered with Harvey Bullock. | |
| The wizard Shazam returns and depowers the Marvel families—both Billy and Mary, and Black Adam and his wife Isis. | JSA v4 #23-25 < 3-5.09>. This necessarily postdates both FC (in whcih the Marvels appear) and the events of JSA vs. Kobra, above, so the reference to the Gog story as “last week” is clearly inaccurate. September seems appropriate as the story coincides with Stargirl’s birthday [which is thus celebrated a week later, in JSA v4 #26 <6.09>], which appears to be constrained to this time of year by events in 2004/Yr16. | |
| [Early Autumn] Dick Grayson formally moves from New York City back to Gotham City, to help confront the growing chaos there in the absence of the Batman. | Ntwg #153. The story is set on the anniversary of the night Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed [see 1971]. | |
| Nightwing and Oracle summon a “network” of fellow heroes to help control crime in Gotham. Jim Gordon requests assistance from the National Guard. Problems escalate when a new Black Mask blows up Arkham Asylum and frees its intended inmates, all while shining a Bat-signal reading “R.I.P.” into the sky for added dramatic effect. | Battle for the Cowl #1 <5.09>. The altered signal is also seen in BftC: Man-Bat #1 <5.09> and BftC: Azrael #1 <5.09> [not set on “March 18”]. This mini-series actually spans only about four days, although related crossovers are spread more widely. It must fall between Dick’s move back to Gotham, above, and his debut as Batman, below, both of which can be dated. A great many heroes (notably from the JSA, the Outsiders, and the Birds of Prey) make cameos in this story, but none have any really significant roles. | |
| Seeking redemption, former cop Michael Lane (the “third Batman” of Dr. Hurt’s experiments) dons the mystic Suit of Sorrows to become a new Azrael. | BftC: Azrael #2-3 <6-7.09>. He replaces the one responsible for the murders in Batman Dead? and BftC: Azrael #1, who has already gone insane. | |
| In the guise of a gun-wielding armored Batman, Jason Todd injures first Damian Wayne, then Tim Drake, before being defeated by Nightwing. Meanwhile Black Mask sets off bombs throughout the city, fomenting panic until the military steps in to restore order. Dick Grayson accepts the responsibility to succeed Bruce as Batman. | BftC #2-3 <6-7.09> and related crossovers [BftC: The Underground <6.09> and BftC: The Network <7.09>]. The former of these establishes in passing that Harley Quinn is still rooming with Holly Robinson. | |
| Dick takes out the Batmobile one last time in his old costume, then plans with Alfred for a move from the Manor to the Wayne Tower, downtown. | Batman #687 | |
| Kate (Manhunter) Spencer is hired as the new DA of Gotham City. She spends the next month hunting down her precedessor’s killer. | Batman: Streets of Gotham #1 <8.09> | |
| Supergirl returns to Earth at her mother Alura’s orders to hunt her father’s killer, Neutron, but winds up fighting Superwoman. Her mission is further derailed when the U.N. votes to ban all Kryptonians (except Superman) from Earth. | Supergirl v5 #37-39 <3-5.09>.The story establishes that Kara has been living on New Krypton for “weeks,” creating a continuity break from earlier issues that neatly acommodates FC and other recent events. A phone conversation also establishes that this story begins the same day as Superman’s encounter with the Parasite, immediately below. | |
| Superman retrieves the Parasite from the Phantom Zone, and soon rescues Mon-El from it as well, while the Guardian starts a new job as field leader of Metropolis’s Science Police. When Superman learns that General Zod has been freed on New Krypton, and simultaneously that the U.N. has banned other Kryptonians from Earth, he resolves to relocate to New Krypton to prevent hostilities from emerging. | Superman #684-85/Action #874 <3-4.09> | |
| Harvey Bullock solves the Azrael killings; Leslie reopens her clinic; Stephanie Brown is active again as the Spoiler; and reporter Vicki Vale begins to suspect Dick Grayson and Tim Drake’s secret identities… as Gotham City wonders about the possible reappearance of the “real” Batman. | Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive? #1 <7.09>. Not set on “May 25,” despite the newspaper dateline. In fact, this is only “a week” after the murder in BftC: Azrael #1, simultaneous with the opening of the main BftC story. Note Bullock’s suggestion that Harper should transfer to Metropolis—which she promptly does, as seen below. | |
| The Justice League all but dissolves, as Superman and Wonder Woman reduce their involvement even as Hal challenges Black Canary’s leadership. The team’s “second tier” soon steps up to help defeat Starbreaker, however. | JLofA v2 #31 <5.09>, #32-34 <6-8.09>. Superman is planning for his trip to New Krypton, while Diana says she still has “obligations to Themyscira,” where she knows her mother is now alive again. | |
| Insulted by Damian taking over the role of Robin, Tim Drake makes plans to leave Gotham. | Red Robin #1 <8.09> | |
| Superman follows through on his plans to leave Earth, asking Mon-El to watch over Gotham (and Steel and the Guardian to watch over Mon-El). He is assigned to the military guild on New Krypton. Meanwhile Mon-El joins the SP under the secret identity of “Jonathan Kent,” meets his new colleague Billi Harper, helps defeat several villains in rapid succession, and visits heroes in a number of countries. | Superman #685 [establishing that he leaves on a “Tuesday,” after an explicit internal continuity break, World of New Krypton #1 <5.09>, and Superman #686-89 <5-8.09>. In the last of these Morgan Edge debuts a muckraking new TV show; he is clearly still in charge of WGBS despite his record as an ex-felon [see 2001/Yr13]. The places Mon-El visits include France, Russia, England, Spain, Germany, Africa, Japan, Mexico, and Louisiana. Billi Harper’s presence explicitly sets these stories after BftC; presumably she managed such a quick transfer with the assistance of former Metropolis SCU (now GCPD) commander Maggie Sawyer. | |
| [Oct] Dick and Damian make their first appearance together to apprehend Le Bossu, declaring “Batman and Robin will never die!” | Batman #676 <6.08> and 681 < 12.08>, the framing sequence for “R.I.P.”, explicitly set “six months” after the main story. The villains still believe Batman is gone, so this must precede his public reappearances. | |
| Batman and Robin take to the streets in a new Batmobile to apprehend the Toad, and get their partnership off to a rocky start at their first meeting with Commissioner Gordon, in the course of tracking down the vile Professor Pyg. | Batman & Robin #1-3 <8-10.09>. Dick describes them as “together again for the first time” just before they drop onto the GCPD roof, where Gordon’s attitude about the signal is “hope springs eternal.” | |
| When the Scarecrow threatens Gotham, Dick Grayson makes a fully public debut as the Batman. | Batman #687, set “two weeks” after he began planning with Alfred in the immediate aftermath of BftC. Dick describes needing to “go it alone” without Damian on occasion, and this is the first such instance. Per Batman #688 <9.09>, he makes two more solo appearances “on camera” in the space of a week, establishing his return in the public mind. | |
| The new Nightwing and Flamebird (secretly Kandor’s Thara Ak-Var and Chris (Lor-Zod) Kent) start tracking down Zod’s Kryptonian sleeper agents. | Action #875-79 <5-9.09>. Note that Thara has been missing from New Krypton for “over a week.” Chris has aged to adulthood, as detailed in Action Annual #12 <8.09>. Morgan Edge’s TV show is seen on a TV in Lois Lane’s apartment during this story, placing it after the Mon-El story above. Also, Lois attempts to make a phone call to her sister Lucy, placing this before the Supergirl story below. | |
| Supergirl fights Reactron, then has a rematch with Superwoman, exposing her as Lucy Lane (an agent of her father’s operation 7734) before her own suit kills her. With Lana Lang’s help, Kara breaks the sad news to Lois, then returns to New Krypton. | Supergirl v5 #39-42 <5-8.09>. There is clearly a significant continuity break in #39 after Alura’s message stating that Kara has been on Earth for “23 hours,” as several days—in fact, a couple of weeks—are necessary to accommodate the events described above. | |
| The Greek Gods return to Earth, and Zeus sets about restoring the Amazons to Themyscira—and creating replacements for them, an army of resurrected males he calls the Olympians. Meanwhile the demigod Genocide attacks the outskirts of Washington, badly beating Wonder Woman, demolishes DMA HQ, and kidnaps and tortures Etta Candy. The Olympians create a public furor when their leader, Achilles, offers veiled threats to the United Nations. Wonder Woman destroys the headquarters of the Society, which created Genocide. Diana then defeats Genocide; kills Ares, who was plotting to foment another war; and ultimately defies Zeus and his brutal machinations, thereby relinquishing her status as an Amazon. | WW v3 #26-33, “Rise of the Olympian.” Note that Tim Drake is present at Titans Tower as Robin in the early part of this story,and that several JLAers (but not Superman) appear in supporting roles. Note also that Achilles’ address to the U.N. appears on TV in the background of Supergirl #41 <7.09>, establishing a definite timeframe for this story. | |
| Adopting a new identity as Red Robin, Tim Drake—now going by his adopted name, Tim Wayne—travels to Europe seeking Bruce, convinced he’s still alive. | Red Robin #1 <8.09>. He spends several days making plans (which presumably accommodate his came in WW above), then spends a week crossing Spain and France. | |
| [Nov] Catwoman invites Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn to share her new abode. | Gotham City Sirens #1 <8.09>, starting “two months” after Selina’s beating at Jason Todd’s hands during BftC. Note that Holly Robinson is no longer living with Harley, having used some of Selina’s “Hush money” to depart for parts unspecified. | |
| …and the future remains to be written. | ||