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 superpowered hero (1938). DC is also credited with the unifying concept of one, comprehensive environment containing multiple separate characters. Eventually several of the superheroes who had been featured in separate stories came together and actually formed 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 premise of the DC Universe is that it is just like the real world -except that there are superheroes and supervillains. Most realworld cultural icons and histories are represented -except when a superhero's story has had catastrophic repercussions. One example of this would be the election of Lex Luthor to 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 extinction level events.
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.
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External links
- DC Secret Files
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