The real pioneer of the DC multiverse

[Elmo]

Everyone credits Barry Allen with discovering the DC Multiverse. In a way this is true because the Flash of Two Worlds story kickstarted some incredible multiverse stories and a new era for DC.




However Barry Allen was NOT the first person to discover the multiverse, it was Diana Prince / Wonder Woman in #59 of her series way back in 1953





As far as I know this story and the background of Earth 59 has never been touched upon outside of a Wonder Woman comic book. This issue is notable for me because it truly is the first example of an alternate "earth 2" style earth in DC Comics and also at the end, Wonder Woman's double Tara gives Diana her lasso! For a while the lasso Diana used was not the one from her earth.

Would you like to see DC revisit this unappreciated piece of history and acknowledge Diana as the real pioneer of the multiverse?

[Doctor Kent Nelson]

Everyone credits Barry Allen with discovering the DC Multiverse. In a way this is true because the Flash of Two Worlds story kickstarted some incredible multiverse stories and a new era for DC.




However Barry Allen was NOT the first person to discover the multiverse, it was Diana Prince / Wonder Woman in #59 of her series way back in 1953





As far as I know this story and the background of Earth 59 has never been touched upon outside of a Wonder Woman comic book. This issue is notable for me because it truly is the first example of an alternate "earth 2" style earth in DC Comics and also at the end, Wonder Woman's double Tara gives Diana her lasso! For a while the lasso Diana used was not the one from her earth.

Would you like to see DC revisit this unappreciated piece of history and acknowledge Diana as the real pioneer of the multiverse?

Nice find and maybe Sandy Jarrell good be the artist ��

[SiegePerilous02]

I would love this, but unfortunately it would require DC to WANT to use more of Wonder Woman's Golden Age lore, and use the Multiverse more regularly. Neither of which seems likely to happen any time soon.

[Phoenixx9]

I a!ways thought that myself, but it seems DC decided to just go with this being an alternate version of Wonder Woman, instead of an Earth 1 counterpart.

I think that is the difference with the Flash story. In the Flash story, didn't they specifically mention E1 and E2?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I a!ways thought that myself, but it seems DC decided to just go with this being an alternate version of Wonder Woman, instead of an Earth 1 counterpart.

I think that is the difference with the Flash story. In the Flash story, didn't they specifically mention E1 and E2?

Yeah, the entire modern construction of the Multiverse is built upon the Flash of Two Worlds. Multiverse stories had been around for a while. At National, Fawcett, All-American.

I mean, the November 1940 Justice Society story establishes that Thunderbolt created what would become the DCU by merging together various comic book characters published by different comic book companies (in the story itself). That is Ground Zero for the interconnected loose continuity that would become the modern DCU.

[Buried Alien]

There was also another place called "Dimension 24" that appeared in the very early Silver Age FLASH comics, before FLASH OF TWO WORLDS.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[CaptCleghorn]

Yeah, the entire modern construction of the Multiverse is built upon the Flash of Two Worlds. Multiverse stories had been around for a while. At National, Fawcett, All-American.

I mean, the November 1940 Justice Society story establishes that Thunderbolt created what would become the DCU by merging together various comic book characters published by different comic book companies (in the story itself). That is Ground Zero for the interconnected loose continuity that would become the modern DCU.

A retcon I'd love to see would be Jay showing up at JSA HQ and going "Guess what?" WW replies, "Been there, done that." and tosses him her documented adventure.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

There's a reason that Geoff Johns had the formation of the JSA being tinkered with causing massive repercussions throughout the DCU. With Marvel, it was the Sub-Mariner vs. Human Torch battle. With DC, it was the formation of the JSA. Everything else is building upon that foundation.

[Buried Alien]

I a!ways thought that myself, but it seems DC decided to just go with this being an alternate version of Wonder Woman, instead of an Earth 1 counterpart.

I think that is the difference with the Flash story. In the Flash story, didn't they specifically mention E1 and E2?

The WONDER WOMAN story was intended as a one-off that wouldn't go anywhere, and didn't really have a purpose beyond telling that one story. FLASH OF TWO WORLDS not only told that story, but also retroactively explained how Superman, Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman could be contemporaries of both Jay Garrick (a fictional character) and Barry Allen (a "real" person in their world). It became the springboard to the Multiverse.

So it's sort of like the difference between Leif Ericsson and Christopher Columbus. Ericsson arrived first, but left behind nothing permanent. Columbus arrived later, but his visit changed things permanently.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Frontier]

This kind of reminds me that an upcoming fill-in issue by Steve Orlando will have Wonder Woman visiting an AU Themyscira...

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I would love this, but unfortunately it would require DC to WANT to use more of Wonder Woman's Golden Age lore, and use the Multiverse more regularly. Neither of which seems likely to happen any time soon.

I want Diana in WW2 again, I want her in WW1 again. Have her and Steve to go on an adventure through time in which a Wonder Woman appears at key points in history. Everything from the goofy 1940s original stuff needs to be back in all its kinky glory!

They tried to backdoor it with Polly Post-Crisis, but it didn't feel right because it needed to be Diana & Steve, not Hippolyta & Ted (?).

[SiegePerilous02]

I want Diana in WW2 again, I want her in WW1 again. Have her and Steve to go on an adventure through time in which a Wonder Woman appears at key points in history. Everything from the goofy 1940s original stuff needs to be back in all its kinky glory!

They tried to backdoor it with Polly Post-Crisis, but it didn't feel right because it needed to be Diana & Steve, not Hippolyta & Ted (?).

Oh definitely. I loved Rebirth, but I feel like both it and post-Crisis Perez missed the opportunity to take advantage of Diana's immortality on a merged Earth (with both the JSA and JLA) and include as much of her history as possible. That means debuting during WWII with Steve, the Holliday Girls, Paula von Gunther and Priscilla Rich Cheetah, and then modern day adventures with Donna Troy and Barbara Minerva, etc. DC doesn't want her debuting before Superman I guess, yet they're fine with the JSA coming first? Like if we have to have a public superhero before Superman, she's earned that right over almost anyone else.

Never cared for the Hippolyta retcon. It makes Diana a superhero legacy when she was never meant to be, and still doesn't accurately reflect the published older material.

[Phoenixx9]

Wonder Woman had a few counterparts that were really meant as nothing more than individual stories. In addition to my earlier reference of the WW story, there was a later story where there was an evil Wonder Woman wearing the same costume and everything that fought Diana.

I understand that they meant for the Flash story to be the start of the Different Earths.

[Adekis]

I would love this, but unfortunately it would require DC to WANT to use more of Wonder Woman's Golden Age lore, and use the Multiverse more regularly. Neither of which seems likely to happen any time soon.

Yeah, it's unfortunate but contemporary Wonder Woman lore seems, not that I'm an expert or even a regular reader of hers, but, it seems a lot more stripped down than the Golden Age. When's the last time they used the Purple Ray, or rode kangaroos?

Still, this is an awesome find and I'd love to see Tara show up in a comic again! Or more likely read about it after the fact and then look the comic up and buy it later. Sorry Wonder Woman! I love her, but I don't read her much.

[SiegePerilous02]

Yeah, it's unfortunate but contemporary Wonder Woman lore seems, not that I'm an expert or even a regular reader of hers, but, it seems a lot more stripped down than the Golden Age. When's the last time they used the Purple Ray, or rode kangaroos?

Still, this is an awesome find and I'd love to see Tara show up in a comic again! Or more likely read about it after the fact and then look the comic up and buy it later. Sorry Wonder Woman! I love her, but I don't read her much.

Rucka at least established that the Purple Ray exists, and King had her mention Jumpa. So Amazon tech and Kangas are finally back!

But yeah, her franchise is too narrowly focused on Amazons and gods almost all the time, with the Cheetah, Dr. Psycho, Giganta and the occasional Silver Swan being the only non-myth villains she encounters on a semi-regular basis. This is a problem that has existed for decades, she's got a wide array of locations, supporting characters and villains that just don't show up or even exist anymore, and the best ones were IMO in the Golden Age. It IS very stripped down.