Earth-One (alsoEarth-1) is a name given to twofictional universes (the Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis versions of the same universe) that have appeared inAmerican comic book stories published byDC Comics. The first Earth-One was given its name inJustice League of America #21 (August 1963), afterThe Flash #123 (September 1961) explained howGolden Age (Earth-Two) versions of characters such as theFlash (Jay Garrick) could appear in stories with theirSilver Age counterparts (Barry Allen). This Earth-One continuity included the DC Silver Age heroes, including theJustice League of America.
Earth-One, along with the four other surviving Earths (Earth-Two,Earth-Four,Earth-S, andEarth-X) of theDC Multiverse, are merged into one in the 1985 miniseriesCrisis on Infinite Earths. This Earth's versions of characters were primarily the Earth-One versions (i.e.Superman,Batman), but some characters from the four other worlds were also "folded" in. InInfinite Crisis, Earth-One was resurrected and merged with the primary Earth of the publication era to create a New Earth that brought back more aspects of Earth-One's original history. In 2007, a new version of Earth-One was created in the aftermath of events that occurred within the52 series.[2]
Characters from DC Comics were originally suggestive of each existing in their own world, as superheroes never encountered each other. This was soon changed with alliances being formed between certain protagonists. Several publications, includingAll-Star Comics (publishing tales of theJustice Society of America),Leading Comics (publishing tales of theSeven Soldiers of Victory) and other comic books introduced a "shared-universe" among several characters during the 1940s until the present day.
Alternative reality Earths had been used in DC stories before, but were usually not referred to after that particular story. Also most of these alternative Earths were usually so vastly different that no one would confuse that Earth and its history with the so-called real Earth. That would change when the existence of another reliable Earth was established in a story titled "Flash of Two Worlds"[3][4] in whichBarry Allen, the modern Flash later referred to as Earth-One (the setting of the Silver Age stories) first travels to another Earth, accidentally vibrating at just the right speed to appear on Earth-Two, where he meets Jay Garrick, his Earth-Two counterpart.
More Fun Comics #101 (1945): the first appearance ofSuperboy.[5] According to canon, theSuperman of Earth-Two did not fight crime until reaching Metropolis as an adult, therefore this is the first appearance of Earth-One in comics.
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #1 (1954): debut issue of spinoff title for supporting character from theSuperman series.[7] Superman and Batman books unofficially switch from the Earth-Two characters to the Earth-One characters, though it was not apparent at the time.
Showcase #4 (1956): popularly the first Earth-One comic (though not mentioned in text as such), featuring the introduction of Barry Allen asThe Flash.[9]
The Flash #123 (1961): "The Flash of Two Worlds", a story in which Barry Allen meets Jay Garrick. This is the first story to explain the concept of theMultiverse, namely that the two Flashes inhabited separate but similar Earths.[3]
Showcase #34 (1961): the first appearance of Ray Palmer, theAtom of Earth-One.[15]
Justice League of America #21 (1963): "Crisis on Earth-One", the first team-up between the JLA and the JSA, which became a yearly feature in the Justice League of America comic. This is the story in which both Earth-One and Earth-Two were first given names.[16]
Justice League of America #100 (1972), the story that establishes that the Green Arrow and Speedy appearing in the 1940s were the Earth-2 Green Arrow and Speedy. This annual JLA/JSA team-up featured the return of the Golden Age superhero team theSeven Soldiers of Victory, of which the Golden Age Green Arrow and Speedy were members.[18][19][20]
Swamp Thing #1 (1972): the first adventure of Alec Holland, the Swamp Thing.[21] The story won the 1972 Shazam Award for Best Original Story.
Justice League of America #244 andInfinity, Inc. #19 (1985): the final team-up of the Justice League and the Justice Society before Earth-One and Earth-Two are merged.[22][23]
Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985–1986) was an effort by DC Comics to clean up their continuity, resulting in the multiple universes, including that of Earth-One, combining into one. This involved the destruction of the multiverse, including Earth-One and the first appearance of the post-Crisis Earth.
At the end ofInfinite Crisis, the realigned world is called "New Earth". There are now 52 universes: "New Earth" (a.k.a. Earth-0), and Earths-1 to 51. In the final issue of the52 weekly series, it is revealed that fifty-two duplicate worlds have been created and all but New Earth have been altered from the original incarnation.[2]
Since Superman was one of several DC characters continuously published throughout the 1950s, there is not a clear dividing line between the Earth-One and Earth-Two versions of Superman. Several stories published before the mid-1950s took place on Earth-One. Also, any Superman stories published before the mid-1950s that featured or mentioned Superboy also took place exclusively on Earth-One, as the Earth-Two Superman, per the earliest Superman comics, never had a Superboy career. His first appearance in comics was inMore Fun Comics #101 (January 1945). This version of Superman remained in publication until 1986, as the miniseriesCrisis on Infinite Earths (1985–86), he was written out of continuity with John Byrne's miniseriesThe Man of Steel.
Batman is not significantly changed by the late 1950s for the new continuity. Batman is not significantly updated in the manner of other characters untilDetective Comics #327 (May 1964), in which Batman reverts to his detective roots, with most science-fiction elements jettisoned from the series. Details of Batman's history were altered or expanded upon through the decades. Additions include his upbringing by his uncle Philip Wayne after his parents' death. In 1969, Bruce moves from his mansion, Wayne Manor into a penthouse apartment atop the Wayne Foundation building in downtown Gotham City, to be closer to Gotham City's crime. Batman spends the 1970s and early 1980s mainly working solo, with occasional team-ups with Robin or Batgirl. Batman's adventures also become somewhat darker and more grim during this period, depicting increasingly violent crime. This version of Batman remained in publication until 1986, as the miniseriesCrisis on Infinite Earths (1985–86), he was written out of continuity.
Luthor grew up in the suburbs of Smallville with his parents and sister. As a teenager, Luthor learned about the existence of Smallville's own hometown hero, Superboy. After a fire in his lab, which resulted in losing both his hair and all of his experiments. Superboy saved him from the fire but Luthor accused the hero of destroying his experiments on purpose out of jealousy. From that moment onward, Lex Luthor became the sworn enemy of Superboy. Fearing that their son would never reform his ways, Lex's parents decided to move away from Smallville and changed their name to "Thorul" in hopes to raise their daughter in a relatively peaceful life away from the evil Lex. During one of his outer space explorations, Luthor discovered and moved to a planet dubbed Lexor before it is destroyed in his battle with Superman.
Zod is a megalomaniacal Kryptonian, in charge of the military forces on Krypton. He knew Jor-El, when he was an aspiring scientist. When the space program was abolished after the destruction of the inhabited moon Wegthor, he attempted to take over Krypton. He was sentenced to exile in the Phantom Zone for 40 years for his crimes. Zod was eventually released by Superboy when his term of imprisonment was up. However, he attempted to conquer Earth with his superpowers acquired under the yellow sun. With his threat now obvious, Superboy was forced to oppose him and ultimately returned him to the Zone.
Inthe CW seriesThe Flash (2014–23), the Flash team encounters metahumans and doppelgangers of friends and colleagues from another inter-dimensional Earth, which they dub "Earth-2" while referring to their own as "Earth-1".Harrison Wells of Earth-2 takes some umbrage at this; although he generally accepts the terminology, he occasionally remindsCisco Ramon andBarry Allen that his Earth can, from his perspective, be called Earth-1.
^abMcAvennie, Michael; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1960s".DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom:Dorling Kindersley. p. 103.ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9.This classic Silver Age story resurrected the Golden Age Flash and provided a foundation for the Multiverse from which he and the Silver Age Flash would hail.{{cite book}}:|first2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Irvine, Alex "1950s" in Dolan, p. 73: "Jimmy Olsen got his own adventures inSuperman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #1. A comic remarkable for its inventiveness and longevity, it ran for 163 issues."
^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 77: "The Martian called J'onn J'onzz debuted as a regular feature inDetective Comics #225. 'The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel', by writer Joe Samachson and artist Joe Certa, gave the origin for the lonely Martian Manhunter."
^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 80: "The arrival of the second incarnation of the Flash in [Showcase] issue #4 is considered to be the official start of the Silver Age of comics."
^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 90: "Wonder Woman's origin story and character was given a Silver Age revamp, courtesy of writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru."
^Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 95: "DC had decided to revamp a number of characters to inject new life into the genre. Writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane ensured that Green Lantern got his turn in October [1959]'sShowcase #22."
^McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 103: "The Atom was the next Golden Age hero to receive a Silver Age makeover from writer Gardner Fox and artist Gil Kane."
^McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 109: "The two-part 'Crisis on Earth-One!' and 'Crisis on Earth-Two!' saga represented the first use of the term 'Crisis' in crossovers, as well as the designations 'Earth-1' and 'Earth-2'. In it, editor Julius Schwartz, [writer Gardner] Fox, and artist Mike Sekowsky devised a menace worthy of the World's Greatest Heroes."
^McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 146 "It was taboo to depict drugs in comics, even in ways that openly condemned their use. However, writer Denny O'Neil and artist Neal Adams collaborated on an unforgettable two-part arc that brought the issue directly into Green Arrow's home, and demonstrated the power comics had to affect change and perception.
^Wein, Len (w), Dillin, Dick (p), Giella, Joe (i). "The Unknown Soldier of Victory!" Justice League of America, no. 100 (August 1972).
^Wein, Len (w), Dillin, Dick (p), Giella, Joe (i). "The Hand That Shook the World" Justice League of America, no. 101 (September 1972).
^Wein, Len (w), Dillin, Dick (p), Giella, Joe;Giordano, Dick (i). "..And One of Us Must Die!" Justice League of America, no. 102 (October 1972).
^McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 153: "Following his debut inHouse of Secrets #92 in 1971, the Swamp Thing grew into his own series, albeit with a reimagining of his origins by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson."
^Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 220: "In 'Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?', a two-part story written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Curt Swan, the adventures of the Silver Age Superman came to a dramatic close."
^Moore, Alan (w), Swan, Curt (p), Pérez, George (i). "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" Superman, no. 423 (September 1986).
