DC Universe
From Encyclopedia Superheroica -the Encyclopedia of Superheroes
Comicbook publisher DC has established a fictional universe in which most of their characters operate. In addition to Superman, it is host to some of the most notable superheroes in the genre, including Batman and Wonder Woman.
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History
While Detective Comics (established 1934) might not have been the first comicbook publisher, it did publish the first superhero (1938). DC is also credited with the unifying concept of one, contiguous environment containing multiple separate characters. Eventually several of the superheroes who had been featured in separate stories came together and actually founded a superhero all-star team, the Justice Society of America. There was some confusion experienced in the DC Universe when different writers developed contrary versions of the same story subject. This was occasionally rationalized by the existence of alternate realities.
Description
The basic concept of the DC Universe is that it is just like the real world, except that there are superheroes and supervillains. Most cultural icons and histories are represented -except when a superhero's story has had catastrophic repercussions. One example of this would be when Lex Luthor became the President of the United states of America. Since the primary DC Universe is part of a Multiverse where alternate realities have spawned alternate versions of the same characters, there are occasional cross-overs and even a few mass-extinction events.
Superheroes
List of DC Comics characters
List of DC Comics teams and organizations
Aliens
Superman was born Kal-el on planet Krypton. J'onn J'onzz is the Martian Manhunter. These are just two of the many aliens who have interacted with Earth in the DC Universe. Advanced technologies or supernatural phenomena are used to explain their presence without too-obviously circumventing what we accept to be the Laws of Physics.
Alternate Dimensions
The most confusing facet of the DC Universe has been it's expansion into (and occasional contraction from) other parallel universes. These alternate realities have possessed many similarities and have resulted in situations where multiple Supermans could stare eachother down. In the Crisis on Infinite Earths story, most of the continuity issues that had arisen (from these alternate dimensions and from narrative evolutions in the standard DC Universe) were addressed and resolved. Despite the deaths of countless billions in that initial crisis, there have been revisions and further crises. There have even been cross-over events (such as JLA/Avengers) whereby characters from other publishers' universes (such as Marvel) have interacted with DC characters.
See also
- To Be Continued in June 2009
- DC Comics
- History of the DC Universe
- List of locations of the DC Universe
- Timeline of the DC Universe
- Major events of the DC Universe
- Hypertime
- Multiverse (DC Comics)
- DC Universe Online
- Marvel Universe
