Lettered Earths

This Earth was the first creation of a new Earth to actually be witnessed, it involved Johnny Thunder of Earth-One altering the origin of the JLA so that a Lawless League was created out of his friends. This created counterparts to Superman, the Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and the Atom.

"This Earth can be the most elusive of all for which to pin down any identifying traits. Indeed, it has never been shown by DC as a distinct Earth; it is only posited to exist because of inconsistencies created in comics edited by Murray Boltinoff, or written by Bob Haney or E. Nelson Bridwell. Mostly, these inconsistencies are found in issues of Brave and the Bold and World's Finest Comics."

"In fact, it is difficult to say which stories in those series did occur on Earth-B, since most issues can be recognised as canonical tales of Earth-One. Here are some possible identifying traits:"

"The Batman of Earth-B began his career in World War II, at least shortly before D Day He teamed with Sgt. Rock in a crucial point of the conflict. Bruce Wayne had a brother named Thomas, whose existence was hidden from him until the 1970s, Batman continued his career without letup all the way through the Seventies, without marrying or seeming to age. His Catwoman, unlike that of Earth One, has no compunction against murdering and has done so at least once. Green Arrow I, after losing his fortune to John Deleon (as on Earth One), apparently regained it to a large degree."

"These stories are but the tip of the iceberg, and any tale which conflicts irreconcilably with canonical "fact" in other stories can be assigned to Earth-B. It is probable that Earth-B did not survive the Crisis; it may be the Earth on which DC Challenge takes place."

Home to Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew. On this world fragments of a strange meteorite (set in motion by Starro the Conqueror) caused members of the dominate culture of sentient animals to gain superpowers and become the Zoo Crew (Alley-Kat-Abra, Captain Carrot, Fastback, Little Cheese, Pig-Iron, Rubberduck, Yankee Poodle). I know of no Post-Crisis appearances for this lot, but it world be nice to seem them as a cartoon that children of the DC universe watch. :)

A number of Earth-C residents were later revealed to be former humour characters from the old National line. These include the Terrific Whatzit and possibly also Hoppy the Marvel Bunny (Fawcett), Atomic Mouse (Charlton 60's) and Cosmo Cat (Fox 40's).

Captain Carrot of Earth-C was originally a comic book artist who worked on a comic called the JLA (Just a Lot of Animals), this Earth is the settings for those comics.

The dimension of Earth-D first appeared in LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #1 (February 1999). It was unique in that it was the only Earth added officially to the Multiverse after the end of the CRISIS crossover. The issue in which it appeared was written by CRISIS scribe Marv Wolfman and took place between events in the original maxi-series. In the publicity release for the story and in the introduction this world is referred to as Earth-Six while the few in story text panel references refer to it as Earth-D.

As usual Flash II (Barry Allen) is the first hero to encounter Earth-D as he takes a wrong turn travelling back from the thirtieth century to the twentieth century. He discovers a world superficially patterned after Earth-One and Earth-Two except that it is currently in its early "Silver Age". They have a fully developed superhero team called the Justice Alliance of America based in an underwater headquarters. The major difference is the heroes and their attitude. We also know that until its first appearance no hero has ever been killed in action. The Justice Alliance has a much more international favour to it than the Justice League with most of the members being representatives from non-European cultures.

The first hero we encounter is Tanaka Rei, the Flash of Earth-D who was inspired to become the Flash after reading the exploits of Barry Allen in comic books. He conceals his costume in a pen rather than a ring. He is married to Hoshi Rei, has two children and a brother named Hank. Other members of the JAA are just as family orientated with the husband and wife teams of Wonder Woman and the Atom and Superman and Supergirl (who were the sole family to escape Krypton-D). Batman and Robin are a father and son team while Hawkman and Hawkgirl are brother and sisiter. We also see the origin of a new Green Lantern Jose Hernandez which mirrors the origin of Earth-One's Hal Jordan. This however breaks the long standing tradition that the Guardians of the Universe only being present in the Earth-One universe.

(Material supplied by Michael Norwitz)

Figure 1: The differences between three Supermen and Batmen.

Earth-E was first postulated by Mark Gruenwald in Omniverse #1, 1977. Its role was to deal with the "Super-Sons" series which appeared in several issues of World's Finest, starting from issue 215.

"Between the Earth-Two Superman and Batman whose careers began in the 1940's and the Earth-One and Batman whose careers began in the 1960's, there must have been a Superman and Batman whose careers began in the 1950's. In scanning the complete runs of all the magazines where Superman and Batman regularly appeared, is it difficult to assign strict cut-off points where one Earth's heroes' adventures end and the next begins. Still, let us presume that the period between the retirement of the Justice Society (ALL-STAR COMICS #57, February-March 1951) and the founding of the Justice League (BRAVE AND THE BOLD #28, February-March 1960) roughly corresponds to the heyday of the Earth-E heroes."

Other heroes active during the Mort Weisinger era include Wonder Woman, Batwoman, Bat-Girl, Wingman, the Ranger, Green Arrow I, and Aquaman ("the latter two having had crossover adventures with Superman"); World's Finest #231 also documents the Flash II's existence. One of the many Plastic Men counterparts also doubtless exists here, as well as possibly the super-powered Blackhawks. World's Finest #131 (February 1963) provides evidence that during the 40's a Crimson Avenger may have been active.

It is unlikely that there is a Justice League or Justice Society on Earth-E; however, both Superman and Batman are members of the Club of Heroes which comprises the Legionary, the Musketeer, the Gaucho, and the Knight and the Squire. Green Arrow is a member of the Green Arrows of the World.

This is the future strange barren Earth created by Jack Kirby in Kamandi. Some hold that it is actually a future timeline of Earth-One and this can be reinforced by the connection to Superman.

"Earth-S's designation is derived from Shazam, the ancient Egyptian wizard who gave the Marvel Family their powers, and whose name is invoked by Captain Marvel and several other members of the family to switch identities. Its heroes were depicted in Fawcett Comics from 1940 to 1953, with a few of Ibis's adventures appearing in Charlton's Danger and Adventure. "

"On Earth-S, Shazam had battled evil with the powers given to him by gods even more ancient than the Greek pantheon, as The Champion, in 7,000 B.C. As the ages went past and Shazam grew older, he attempted to find a deputy to take his place and chose Teth Adam, whom he granted the powers of six Egyptian gods. But Teth Adam was corrupted by his power, and was renamed Black Adam by Shazam, who exiled him to the farthest reaches of the universe. It would be several millennia before Shazam would pass on his mighty powers anew."

"In 1940, Billy Batson, orphaned son of Merrill and Jocelyn Batson, gained the identity and powers of Captain Marvel from Shazam, who ended his own physical existence but maintained his identity as a spirit being by a mystic bracelet of Shazamium. Within three more years, Captain Marvel was joined by three Lieutenant Marvels, Captain Marvel Jr., and Mary Marvel, his sister. In combined form, they were known as the Marvel Family."

"Captain Marvel was not the only hero whose powers stemmed from an Egyptian source; Earth S was also the home of Ibis the Invincible, a young Egyptian mage from ages past who had placed himself and his lover Taia in suspended animation until 1940, when they were both revived. Other costumed heroes on Earth-S in the 40s, included Bulletman, Bulletgirl, Spy Smasher, Minute Man, Mister Scarlet and Pinky, Radar and Commando Yank. Some, such as Master Man or the Hunchback, may not have survived the war."

"The Marvel Family's greatest nemesis, the Sivana Family, succeeded in placing them and a host of other heroes and friends in a bubble of Suspendium in late 1953, only to find themselves victimised by the substance as well. Propelled into space by a rocket ship, the entourage was held unaging and immobile for twenty years. Then the Suspendium was sufficiently melted for Captain Marvel to recover and, with the help of his two allies Mary and Captain Marvel, Jr., return their friends and the Sivanas safely to Earth S, to take up their lives and careers anew. Lex Luthor was accidentally catapulted into Earth S from Earth One in 1974 and teamed up with Mister Mind in a short lived attack on Captain Marvel. Later, the Marvel Family and six other Earth S heroes teamed with the Justice League and Justice Society to battle King Kull, who endangered their three Earths. 'Since 1985, Earth-S has been merged with Earths-One, Two, Four, and X in the new DC Earth."

"Earth S had several variant time lines, including one in which Earth had colonised the entire solar system by 1961 and another in which the world was ruled by the tyrant Zotan. Both of these futures and all the others depicted in the Faweett comics chronicles have to be regarded as changed or eliminated by the Crisis."

On this world the Nazi's won the Second World War. A group of heroes called the Freedom Fighters (Uncle Sam, Phantom Lady, Doll Man, etc) owned by the Quality Comics group crossed over from Earth-Two to battle the Nazi terror. The Nazi's were eventually defeated with the help of the Justice League and the Justice Society. in the post-crisis universe the Freedom Fighters were contemporaries of the JSA and members of the All-Star Squadron, the operated on the western coast of the USA so did not come into much contact with other mystery men. We have seen Phantom Lady II (trained by the original) and we saw a different Uncle Sam in Alex Ross's mini-series of the same name.