Let's Try Again: Tracking the 52 Worlds (and Beyond!)

[resipsaloquitur]

Multiversity Spoilers Ahead. Read at your own risk.

I don't think we've restarted this thread since the forums rebooted. With Morrison just having released the Multiversity map, we now have insight into what the post-Flashpoint 52 worlds are. It seems that so far, these are pretty similar to the post-Infinite Crisis worlds, but they've been "Nu-52ified," or as Grant Morrison puts it, "they now look like they're drawn by Jim Lee." In the list below, I've included what limited identifiers we had from series such as Countdown, but keep in mind that many of these may have changed since Flashpoint.

I have only identified worlds which Morrison has affirmatively said "this is Earth-10" or whatever. As more worlds become identified, I'll change this list. So, here goes:

0 - New Earth; home of the Justice League.
- Trinity: Superman (Kal-El/Clark Kent), Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (Diana)
1 - Earth One; based on the OGN line.
- Trinity: Superman (Kal-El/Clark Kent), Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (Diana)
2 - Earth-2, home of the Justice Society.
- Trinity: Superman (Val Zod), Batman (Thomas Wayne, Sr.), Fury
3 - Earth-3; home of the Crime Syndicate and the Anti-Monitor. Destroyed.
- Trinity: Ultraman (Kal-Il/Clark Kent), Owlman (Thomas Wayne, Jr.), Superwoman (Lois Lane)
4 - Charlton Earth; home of the Pax Americana.
- Trinity Analogues: Captain Atom (Nathaniel Adam), Question (Victor Sage), Nightshade (Eve Eden)
5 - Thunderworld; home of the Fawcett characters (the Marvels, Dr. Sivana, etc.) .
- Trinity Analogues: Captain Marvel (Billy Batson)
6 - The "Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating..." universe.
- Trinity: Superman (Salden), Batman (Wayne Williams), Wonder Woman (Maria Mendoza)
7 - "Essential Major Comics" Earth (an ersatz Ultimate Marvel with hints of Hellboy) (see Earth-8); home of Thunderer. This world has been heavily damaged following the Gentry's attack.
- Trinity: Unknown (Thunderer may be a Superman analogue; Walkurye seems to be an Angela/Wonder Woman combination)
8 - "Major Comics" Earth; an ersatz Marvel universe and home of the Retaliators.
- Trinity: Unknown (possibly Hyperius and Major Max)
9 - Tangent Earth.
- Trinity: Superman (Harvey Dent), Batman (Sir William), Wonder Woman (Wanda). (Note: The Atom might be a better Superman analogue here.)
10 - Nazi Earth; home of the New Reichsmen and the Freedom Fighters.
- Trinity: Overman, Leatherwing, Brunhilde
11 - Genderswap-Earth; home of the Justice Guild.
- Trinity: Superwoman (Laurel), Batwoman, Wonderous Man (Dane)
12 - "Beyond"-Earth; home of the Justice League Beyond. (Presumably its past is or resembles the DCAU.)
- Trinity: Superman (Clark Kent), Batman (Terry McGuinness), Wonder Woman (Diana)
13 - Gothic Earth; home of the League of Shadows. Pre-Nu52, this was a "Vertigo-like" Earth.
- Trinity: Superdemon (Jason Blood)
14 - An unknown (dual?) Earth.
- Trinity: Unknown
15 - Utopian-Earth. Destroyed.
- Trinity: Currently none (pre-Nu52, Superman (Zod), Batman (Jason Todd), Wonder Woman (Donna Troy))
16 - Earth-Me; home of the Just
- Trinity: Superman (Chris Kent), Batman (Damian Wayne), Wonder Woman (Artemis)
17 - Post-Atomic Holocaust Earth; home of the Atomic Knights of Justice.
- Trinity: Superman analogue uncertain, Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (Unknown)
18 - Old West Earth; home of the Justice Riders.
- Trinity: Super Chief (Saganowana), El Diablo, Madame .44
19 - Victorian-Earth; based on Gotham by Gaslight and Wonder Woman: Amazonia.
- Trinity: Batman (Bruce Wayne); Wonder Woman (Diana) (Superman analogue uncertain).
20 - Pulp-Earth; home of the Society of Super-Heroes.
- Trinity: Unclear. (Could be any of the SOS members; a "Bat-Man" is known to be on this world)
21 - DC: The New Frontier; home of the Justice League of America.
- Trinity: Superman (Clark Kent), Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (Diana)
22 - Kingdom Come; home of the Justice League.
- Trinity: Superman (Clark Kent), Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (Diana)
23 - Black-Earth; home of black versions of the New Earth heroes
- Trinity: Superman (Kal-El/President Calvin Ellis), Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (Nubia)
24 - An "Unknown Earth."
- Trinity: Unknown.
25 - An "Unknown Earth."
- Trinity: Unknown.
26 - "Earth C"; home of the Zoo Crew.
- Trinity: Captain Carrot (Rodney Rabbit), American Eagle (Johnny Jingo), Yankee Poodle (Rova Barkitt)
27 - An "Unknown Earth."
- Trinity: Unknown.
28 - An "Unknown Earth."
- Trinity: Unknown.
Bizarro World - 29; away of Unjustice League of Unamerica.
- No Am Trinity: Unknown (Bizarro), Unknown (Batzarro), Unknown (Bizarro Wonder Woman)
30 - Soviet-Earth; inspired by Superman: Red Son.
- Trinity: Superman (Kal-El/name unknown), Batman (Unknown), Wonder Woman (Diana)
31 - Pirate World based on Detective Comics Annual #9. Much to our confusion, this is no longer the Frank Millerverse.
- Trinity: Unidentified Superman; Leatherwing; Unidentified Wonder Woman
32 - Earth-Mashup (based on Batman: In Darkest Knight); home of the Justice Titans.
- Trinity: SuperMartian (unknown), Bat Lantern (Bruce Wayne), WonderHawk (Diana)
33 - "Earth-Prime"--the "real world."
- Trinity: Unknown--we likely don't have one.
34 - Earth-Cosmoville (an Astro City analogue); home of the Light Brigade.
- Trinity: Savior, Stingray (Bruce Wayne), Herculina
35 - Earth-Pseudoverse (an Extreme Comics analogue); home of the Super-Americans.
- Trinity: Supremo, the Owl (Bruce Wayne), and Majesty
36 - A Big Bang Comics analogue; home of the Justice 9.
- Trinity: Optiman (deceased), Iron Knight (Bruce Wayne), War-Woman
37 - A "Howard Chaykin" universe based on Batman: Thrillkiller.
- Trinity: Unknown except for Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)
38 - John Byrne's Superman/Batman: Generations.
- Trinity: Superman (Kal-El/Clark Kent), Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (Diana).
39 - A "Wally Wood" sci-fi world; home of the Agents of W.O.N.D.E.R.
- Trinity: Unclear.
40 - Dark-Pulp Earth; home of the Society of Super Villains.
- Trinity: Unknown,
41 - An ersatz "Image Comics"-Earth.
- Trinity: Superman analogue unclear, Scorpion (Bruce Wayne), Vague
42 - Chibi-Earth; home of the Little Leaguers.
- Trinity: Chibi versions of Superman, Batman (Dick Grayson), and Wonder Woman
43 - Vampire-Earth; home of the Blood League. Inspired by Batman & Dracula: Red Rain.
- Trinity: Ultraman, Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (Diana)
44 - Robot Earth; home of the Metal League.
- Trinity: Gold Superman, Iron Batman, and Platinum Wonder Woman
45 - Corporate-Earth from Action Comics #9.
- Trinity: Superdoom (created by Clark Kent)
46 - An "Unknown Earth."
- Trinity: Unknown.
47 - Dreamworld; home of the Love Syndicate.
- Trinity: Sunshine Superman, Shooting Star (Bruce Wayne)
48 - Warworld (an "Alan Moore" Universe based on Top Ten and Twilight of the Superheroes); home of Lord Volt and Lady Quark.
- Trinity: Unknown (probably includes Lord Volt and Lady Quark)
49 - An "Unknown Earth."
- Trinity: Unknown.
50 - Justice Lords Earth; home of the Justice Lords Beyond.
- Trinity: Lord Superman (Kal-El/Clark Kent), Lord Batman (Bruce Wayne), Lord Wonder Woman (Diana)
51 - "Great Disaster Earth" (or the "Jack Kirby" Earth); home of Kamandi
- Trinity: Unknown.

Blood Moon: Brainiac's home where he holds cities taken from Earths no longer in existence.
Wonderworld: A futuristic world of colossal superheroes used in Morrison's JLA: Rock of Ages story.
Kwyzz: A world of radio-beings from Morrison's Flash run.

[resipsaloquitur]

Additional thoughts from poster Dispenser of Truth (edits by me):

The Quadrants: The map can be divided into four quadrants along two axes: Order (related to "Dream") and Chaos (related to "Nightmare") on the vertical, and the Pit (related to Apokolips) and Pinnacle (related to New Genesis) on the horizontal.
Pinnacle-Order (1, 2, 5, 8, 17, 20, 28, 30, 34, 36, 49) seem to be classical and/or utopian Earths.
Pit-Order (4, 9, 27, 31, 35, 39, 41, 45, 46, 48, 50): grim and gritty, 'realistic' Earths.
Pinnacle-Chaos (11, 12, 16, 18, 21, 23, 25, 26, 32, 42, 47): cartoony or otherwise 'weird' Earths
Pit-Chaos (3, 10, 13, 15, 19, 24, 37, 38, 40, 43, 44): dangerous Earths with 'twists'.
Order-Chaos Axis: (14, 0, 33, and 29): seem to show a continuum from high heroism (0) to no heroism (33) to sheer madness (29).
Pit-Pinnacle Axis: (6, 7, 22, 51): posibly a continuum of approaches to comics, from Stan Lee's approach (6) to big "events" (7 and 22) to Kirby's visions (51 and New Genesis).

The Rings: DoT theorizes that the rings correspond to Morrison's four phases of superhero comic history: Gold, Silver, Dark and Renaissance.
Orrery Orbital One: (7, 22, 24, 25, 30, 31) are brutal, politically driven Earths, similar to the Golden Age.
Orrery Orbital Two: (2, 3, 16, 20, 27, 28, 32, 35, 37, 40, 45, 47) correspond with the developing history of superhero comics in numerous ways, from its predecessors in the pulps (20, 40) and noir (37) to the beginnings of the Multiverse (2, 3) to the square-jawed 60s science champions (32) to 70s drugged-out cosmic comix (47, with its opposite in 35, being in the Pit-Order quadrant, probably being very restrained, conservative and 50sish), and on into its current incarnation as franchise (16, 45).
Orrery Orbital Three: Defined by their relation to us: through our creators (6, 51), our history (18, 19), our cultural fears (17, 43), our issues and demographics (11, 23); the world where we live our own lives (33), and the world we made to save us (0). That connection to the real world indicates the Dark Age.
Orrery Orbital Four: stretch the superhero concept in a variety of directions and approaches, to a number of different ends, the goal of Morrison's dreamed-of Renaissance.

Unknown Lines: There are multiple unexplained lines which form geometric pattern around the map, which spiral from the outside to the center. It is unclear if these are additional orbits, travel lanes, or something else. They touch or run through various Earths. Four of them have distinct colors, while the rest are Orange-Red. This is the order in which the path go, from outside to in.
The Dark Arc: 1, 14, 48, 46, 27.
The Light Arc: 48, 14, 1, 49, 28, 26.
The Bizarro Arc: 13, 29, 21, 11, 32, 30.
Unnamed Arc: 21, 29, 13, 43, 37, 31.
Orange (1): 39, 44, 43, 3, 26, 22.
Orange (2): 44, 39, 46, 45, 30, 22.
Orange (3): 8, 26, 12, 11, 16, 24, 7.
Orange (4): 26, 8, 49, 2, 31, 7.

Let's not forget the map:



Elsewhere, we're trying to figure out who is drawing which Earths in January's Guidebook.

[Captain Britain of Earth 20]

I hope one these Earths is the pre-52 Earth with Oracle,JSA,and Titans that don't rot or even better, the direct opposite of the way the 52 is set up.

[WillieMorgan]

Wow, this is really good stuff. This was obviously a labour of love for you.

I thought that Earth 1 WAS the OGN stuff. Is there doubt about this??

Also - I can't place Kwyzz. Am I forgetting or missing something??

[resipsaloquitur]

Wow, this is really good stuff. This was obviously a labour of love for you.

I thought that Earth 1 WAS the OGN stuff. Is there doubt about this??

Also - I can't place Kwyzz. Am I forgetting or missing something??

I don't remember which interview said it, but one of them was ambiguous about whether Earth-1 was the OGNs. Also, my recollection is that the Teen Titans OGN is *not* on the same world as Superman: Earth One despite sharing a name.

Kwyzz is that little spark next to Earth-42. Or am I misreading your question?

[WillieMorgan]

I don't remember which interview said it, but one of them was ambiguous about whether Earth-1 was the OGNs. Also, my recollection is that the Teen Titans OGN is *not* on the same world as Superman: Earth One despite sharing a name.

Kwyzz is that little spark next to Earth-42. Or am I misreading your question?

Yeah, but that'll be my fault. Kwyzz itself? Is it Flash related possibly? Racking my mind trying to 'place' it in my memory and don't wanna resort to just looking it up.

The name rings a bell but I can't place it.

[Captain Britain of Earth 20]

I hope one these Earths is the pre-52 Earth with Oracle,JSA,and Titans that don't rot or even better, the direct opposite of the way the 52 is set up.

Better idea that I know is better than the 52:
Earth 25: An Earth where the Justice Society of America/All Star Squadron characters co exist with Wildstorm characters, The big three are the High,Wildcat,and Wonder Woman (Polly).

Not saying the rest just use your imagination on it

[Dataweaver]

Better idea that I know is better than the 52:
Earth 25: An Earth where the Justice Society of America/All Star Squadron characters co exist with Wildstorm characters, The big three are the High,Wildcat,and Wonder Woman (Polly).

Not saying the rest just use your imagination on it

I don't know why you keep on injecting this notion of a JSA/Wildstorm hybrid into every thread that you post to. It's not that I'm not sympathetic to the idea; but really, there's a time and place for everything: if you like the notion, start a thread for it.

[Gordonstar]

Only one city will survive. Survivors could move to that reality.

[Thor-Ul]

again, too soon to say. You may be right; but it's also possible that they will return in some capacity. At this point, there's not enough evidence to rule it out. So just wait five weeks before you go making such absolute declarations. If, when the event is over, all of the cities on Telos have been destroyed and homes haven't been found for their denizens, then you can say “I told you so” if you wish;

I would not do that, it would be impolite.

but until then, such absolute claims are premature.

As would be premature any other claims, including the survival of any pre-Flashpoint city or characters. But here we are to make predictions and speculate and share opinions too. Hell, even could be possible than at the end, all the dead cities would be resurrected and returned to their own continuities opening the door to possible many happy returns free of any continuity. That would be sweet. But I really doubt it.

Dreamworld was one of the most famous Elseworlds? The pirate Earth was more famous than, say, Superman as a medieval knight? There are plenty of Elseworlds that are more famous than some of the ones we got in Convergence; so why didn't they make this list? Heck, Dreamworld wasn't even an Elseworld; it was a brief cameo in Morrison's Animal Man run: during his "mini-Crisis", the Love Syndicate showed up, named themselves, and then stood around as background characters for the rest of the story. Morrison included it in the Multiverse because it was one of his creations, not because there was anything historic or big about it. So why include a city for it in Convergence? That's why I think that it's more than just a coincidence of both drawing from the same well of inspiration: some of the Convergence city choices don't make sense unless the Multiversity map was being consulted.

And because of that cameo than is always remembered. It was in the Morrison's opera prima for DC. Pretty famous I would say. But really, I don't understand the choice parameter for the different realities. It seems pretty arbitrary. There is no any "pulp earth" for example, nor Justice Lords or any other editor-analog earth beyond the original Angor. If they looked at the multiverse map, I fear it was because they haven't enough realities to destroy.

Entirely possible. But that doesn't change the fact that the Convergence cities reflect the post-Flashpoint Multiverse more so than the pre-Flashpoint Multiverse.

They reflect stories in published comics mostly before Flashpoint, being Injustice and Future's end the main exceptions.

And that's your prerogative. My problem is when you start insisting that others should give up, too. Your opening argument wasn't "I don't expect this to happen"; it was "you shouldn't expect this to happen." And that business of telling others what they should and shouldn't expect is what I'm objecting to.

I said it as an advice. I had read a lot of dissapointing stories and fall in the wrong hype all my years as a comicbook reader and after a time you recognize the hype and develop certain distrust to the speech of editors. Hype is normal, they had to sell a product, but they sometimes editors sound like used cars salesmen. If you felt I was trying to force you on something, you misinterpreted. That was not my intention. Nobody is here to tell other people what to do.

I don't know why you keep on injecting this notion of a JSA/Wildstorm hybrid into every thread that you post to. It's not that I'm not sympathetic to the idea; but really, there's a time and place for everything: if you like the notion, start a thread for it.

What was about not telling other people what to do?

[Gordonstar]

Better idea that I know is better than the 52:
Earth 25: An Earth where the Justice Society of America/All Star Squadron characters co exist with Wildstorm characters, The big three are the High,Wildcat,and Wonder Woman (Polly).

Not saying the rest just use your imagination on it

Very interesting. What do you do with mister majestic? Use him as SuperMan?

[Dataweaver]

Very interesting. What do you do with mister majestic? Use him as SuperMan?

I would. Likewise, Zealot serves nicely as a WWII-era replacement for Wonder Woman. But again, there are more appropriate places to discuss this idea; I linked to one of them a few posts back.

[Dataweaver]

Unknown Lines: There are multiple unexplained lines which form geometric pattern around the map, which spiral from the outside to the center. It is unclear if these are additional orbits, travel lanes, or something else. They touch or run through various Earths. Four of them have distinct colors, while the rest are Orange-Red. This is the order in which the path go, from outside to in.
Black: 1, 14, 48, 46, 27.
White: 48, 14, 1, 49, 28, 26.
Purple: 13, 29, 21, 11, 32, 30.
Blue: 21, 29, 13, 43, 37, 31.
Orange (1): 39, 44, 43, 3, 26, 22.
Orange (2): 44, 39, 46, 45, 30, 22.
Orange (3): 8, 26, 12, 11, 16, 24, 7.
Orange (4): 26, 8, 49, 2, 31, 7.

Let's not forget the map:

These lines all start from four points in the Speed Force Wall — which, on the larger map, correspond to the points where the Monitors’ drills penetrate said wall. The White, Black, Blue, and Purple lines emerge from these points in more or less horizontal directions, while the orange lines emerge from these points in more or less vertical directions. As well, the white and black lines are notable in that between the two of them, they intersect all of the seven Unknowns — in fact, the artist’s interview highlights these two spirals in a way that implies that only the Unknowns are intersected by them:

White (emerges from Underworld drill): 14, 49, 28, 25.
Black (emerges from Heaven drill): 14, 48, 27, 24.

Note that that’s one world per ring.

The blue and purple lines mirror the white and black ones vertically; chances are that this includes the worlds they intersect:

Blue (emerges from Skyland drill): 29, 43, 37, 31.
Purple (emerges from Hell drill): 29, 11, 32, 30.

Note also that the blue-line worlds are opposite the white-line worlds, and the purple-line worlds are opposite the black-line worlds.

The orange lines don’t have as many clear intersections: they only clearly intersect two worlds each, one on the Outer ring and one on the Innermost ring. And the ones that they clearly intersect with are all among the fourteen worlds that the white, black, blue, and purple lines clearly intersect. OTOH, there’s no overlap in the worlds that different orange lines clearly intersect — nothing like how both white and black both intersect 14 and blue and purple both intersect 29.

Orange “Heaven drill” spiral: 11, 24
Orange “Skyland drill” spiral: 49, 31
Orange “Hell drill” spiral: 46, 30
Orange “Underworld drill” spiral: 43, 25

[resipsaloquitur]

These lines all start from four points in the Speed Force Wall — which, on the larger map, correspond to the points where the Monitors’ drills penetrate said wall. The White, Black, Blue, and Purple lines emerge from these points in more or less horizontal directions, while the orange lines emerge from these points in more or less vertical directions. As well, the white and black lines are notable in that between the two of them, they intersect all of the seven Unknowns — in fact, the artist’s interview highlights these two spirals in a way that implies that only the Unknowns are intersected by them:

White (emerges from Underworld drill): 14, 49, 28, 25.
Black (emerges from Heaven drill): 14, 48, 27, 24.

Note that that’s one world per ring.

The blue and purple lines mirror the white and black ones vertically; chances are that this includes the worlds they intersect:

Blue (emerges from Skyland drill): 29, 43, 37, 31.
Purple (emerges from Hell drill): 29, 11, 32, 30.

Note also that the blue-line worlds are opposite the white-line worlds, and the purple-line worlds are opposite the black-line worlds.

The orange lines don’t have as many clear intersections: they only clearly intersect two worlds each, one on the Outer ring and one on the Innermost ring. And the ones that they clearly intersect with are all among the fourteen worlds that the white, black, blue, and purple lines clearly intersect. OTOH, there’s no overlap in the worlds that different orange lines clearly intersect — nothing like how both white and black both intersect 14 and blue and purple both intersect 29.

Orange “Heaven drill” spiral: 11, 24
Orange “Skyland drill” spiral: 49, 31
Orange “Hell drill” spiral: 46, 30
Orange “Underworld drill” spiral: 43, 25

I included more worlds in my spiral list that yours only because the spirals clearly touch certain worlds even when they don't intersect them--for example, the black line goes through part of Earth-1. Since we don't yet know what the spirals are, it's hard to make of what effect they have on the worlds, particularly when it intersects a world as opposed to just glances it. I would wager that whatever effect the spirals have is diminished when it simply touches a world...but who knows.

[resipsaloquitur]

OK, good eye. Now that we've identified a lot of the named Earths so far, let's try to address some questions:

Why is Earth-1 all gold/yellow? Is this the OGN Earth, or is something else going on there?
Why doesn't Earth-2 have firepits? Laziness? Did the author forget? Are they going away at some point?
Why isn't Earth-3 reversed?
What's up with the swirls on Earth-9? Is this the "Tangent" Earth or something else? Is Florida small, or does it just look small?
Why is Earth-11 upside-down? Is this symbolic of a gender-flipped Earth? (Answer: probably.)
Why does Earth-12 colored more happily than the other Earths? (If it's the DCAU, then it's probably a jollier Earth than any of the others.)
Why is Earth-13 so dark? Is it still supposed to be "Vertigo"?
Why is Earth-14 doing...whatever it's doing? Why is it hidden (along with six other Earths)?
Why is Earth-15 just a black shadow?
What the heck is that around Earth-19?
Is that a flare on Earth-22, or just a trick of the light?
What's going on with Earth-31? Is that just supposed to be a Frank Millerism?
Is Earth-32 mostly covered with water?
Why is Earth-34 so green?
What's with those lines on Earth-35?
What does the "global"-lined logo on Earth-36 represent?
Why is Earth-38 so blue?
What are those lines on Earth-41?
Why is Earth-42 reversed? That was emblematic of Morrison's Crime Syndicate world in JLA: Earth-2; however, this Earth appears in the "zany" quadrant.
Why is Earth-44 so gray?
Why is there a hole in Earth-45's North America? (I don't remember Action Comics #9 very well--did Superdoom blow up the U.S.?)
Is Earth-47 the home of the 1960s Justice League?
What's that triangle on Earth-48?
Is Earth-50 still a "Wildstorm" world?