Make your own DCU

[Gero4568]

What would you do if you could make your own DCU? What would you change? What would you keep? What obscure characters would you bring back after a rediculous amount of years? List all the ideas you want to list.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I've been working on this for years. It's a fully illustrated History of the DCU that incorporates all the various incarnations of them from the comics, cartoons, movies, radio, and more into one cohesive story. Hope you enjoy it.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

[Bored at 3:00AM]

And here's the second half spanning the 70s to the distant future.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

[Lee Stone]

I'm gonna have to come back to this...

I have ideas, I just need to formulate them.

[Kingcrimsonprog]

I would do something similar to Ultimate Spiderman with every property.

Restart everything, starting from origin story, do a greatest hits of all the most famous events again for a new generation.
Make the seeds of everything planted from the start and happen more naturally. Have one writer write each title for about 100 issues.

For example; with Batman, start with redoing year one, then man who luaghs, mad monk etc, up to knightfall and all that.
But compress, seed, have Tommy being in it the whole time so he isn't a random new shoehorn guy in Hush, have all the cops like Montoya be there in year one. Have Dr. Quinzell being in college during year one.

Do that for each title.


Also cycles... 100 issues of Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, Bruce Wayne.
Followed by 100 issues of Wally West, Kye Rayner, Dickbats.
Followed by 100 issues of reborn Barrey, Hal and Bruce

Crossovers exist, but everything is timed well so that every indivdual heros arcs are concluded for the crossover to start so you don't mentally have to justify people being in two places at once or whatever.

During crossovers, all other titles are paused.

Justice League has a fixed line up, that doesn't change every 5 minutes, the same guys are in it for 100 issues straight. There aren't nurmous Justice Leagues, just one.

Everything is a bit more neat and tidy.

[Jon Clark]

Part of me thinks of something like Bored's approach- an "it all happened DCU" where Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have somehow been active since the 1930's/40's and have played a role in the Justice Society of America, Justice League of America, and the later Justice League (no national affiliation). Where Jay Garrick was the 1st Flash and the name has carried on since then through Barry Allen, Wally West and others. Where Doll man was 6-inch hero in the 1940's who later inspired Ray Palmer's actions as the Atom in the 1960's and his successor Ryan Choi in the 2000's. Or a World War II special ops team lead by Colonel Rick Flagg would continue through the next century where his great grandson served as field leader of a criminal rehabilitation program called the Suicide Squad.

But another part of me pictures a string of parallel universes. One where superhumans appeared in the 1930's with Superman being the first public one- but now in 2020 we'd be several generations in from Bruce Wayne, Jay Garrick, etc who were the Justice Society and seeing a world where 80 years of events have led to new heroic legacies. Other universes where Superman and the JSA'a role was filed by the mystically powered Captain Marvel and his Squadron of Justice or Captain Atom and his allies. And a new universe where Clark Kent began his career in his teens growing into Superman while Bruce Wayne is just exploring how to deal with crime in Gotham , Jaye Garrick and her friend Barry Allen inspired by the legend of Jonny Quick are exploring Jaye's new speed abilities, Alan Scott has just found The Green Lantern, Hal Jordan has been recruited by an interplanetary police force as Earth's Starman. Diana of Amazon Isle has been sent forth to prepare the outside world for Darkseid's threat and John Jones of the US Department of Extraordinary Occurances contemplates coming out of the shadows after decades of hiding his true nature.

So one the one hand I'd love to see a full DCU, call it Earth-One where most of the characters from the past have existed and most (if not necessarily all) of the adventures we've enjoyed happened. But I also want a more blank canvas where Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman/Flash aren't bound by 80+ years of retread story concepts. Somewhere that Diana isn't always watching her home island be stolen/destroyed, Superman isn't always intimately tied to Lex or Zod as his main opponents, Batman can move past his parent's death without forgetting it, Flashes aren't always battling speedsters or exploring the source of their own powers, the main law enforcement organization in the universe isn't led by psychos or in the midst of being destroyed, etc.

[Jon Clark]

I would do something similar to Ultimate Spiderman with every property.

Restart everything, starting from origin story, do a greatest hits of all the most famous events again for a new generation.

I agree with everything but "the greatest hits". I thought that was one of the weak points of the Ultimate Universe.

Killing Jason Todd has no impact if you introduce him and a few arcs later kill him. Especially once the readers have caught on that you are replaying the major events of the Bat-verse at high speed. They know that Jason's death is coming so it is more a "wait for it" than a "damn, what just happened". You need to take time to develop Jason as someone that people might care about and even then make his death (if you still want to kill him) something new and unexpected.

Following Superman from close to day one issue by issue makes it hard to accept that by issue 25 he has already married Lois and fathered a son by issue 50 while dying in battle with Doomsday, revisiting krypton and meeting Supergirl in between. Or that Barry Allen has a full enough career to matter when you hand the role over to Wally by issue 50 after having Barry die in final battle with Reverse-Flash in issue 49. Instead it all feels rushed, like every story arc has to crush in some major event years in the making only for the next arc to top it until we have no room left for real consequences and character growth.

My first rule if I rebooted the DCU would be that NO major event based on a past story except setting the stage (origin, introducing supporting cast/opponents) can occur in the first 100 issues. No "Death of Superman". no Robin becomes Nightwing, no the Green Lantern Corps goes to war against the Guardians or with each other. no destroying Atlantis/Themiscrya. Build a universe before you start trying to radically change the groundwork.

[king81992]

I'd start by revamping the Superman family. The core members would be Superman, Lois Lane, Power Girl, Cir El, Kon El and Jon Kent. Supporting members would be Jimmy Olsen, John Henry Irons, Natasha Irons and various characters who work at the Daily Planet.

Clark, Lois and Jon are mostly the same(minus Jon getting aged into a teenager).

Power Girl was originally Supergirl and a founding member of the Teen Titans. She took on her current identity after a falling out with Superman. They've since reconciled and she's basically a cool aunt toKon, Jon and Cir El.

Kon El and Cir El were clones of Superman who were created by Cadmus. They went rogue and wound up getting adopted by the Kents. Kon wound up being Power Girl's sidekick for a while before he became a member of Young Justice. Cir El became the second Super Girl and Superman's sidekick. She later joined a new incarnation of the Teen Titans.

Jimmy Olsen is Clark Kent's friend, one of the few people who know the truth about his secret identity. He is also a weirdness magnet,constantly winding up in strange and surreal situations during the course of his job.

John Henry Irons was inspired to become a superhero by Superman and took the codename 'Steel' and eventually became one of the tech experts of the Justice League. His niece, Natasha Irons eventually inherited the mantle and became a hero in her own right.

The staff of the Daily Planet interact with Clark and Lois during their day jobs. Perry White suspects that Clark and Superman are the same person, but he doesn't say anything

[DrNewGod]

This is entry one of I don't know how many. A comprehensive answer to the OP could crash Wikipedia's servers.

To begin ...

Spread it out, and dial it down.

Comics run off Events these days. Got it. Not every Event need include every hero, and every Event need not threaten All Existence. Having Batman face-off with Darkseid, for example, is ludicrous. Green Lantern dealing with a streetgang war is killing rats with canons.

There are heroes suited to different kinds of threats. There's no point in distorting what makes characters special so they can have a moment against Mongul or whoever.

This also doesn't mean we have to strictly confine heroes to a caste system. Black Lightning, Elongated Man and Hawkman, for example, can all fit as nicely in Green Arrow's environment as they can Wonder Woman's. That said, there's no point in trying to make Nightwing take on threats suitable to Cyborg.

Don't make it One Size Fits All. Make different Events that suit the abilities of different heroes.

[superduperman]

This may take a while. But here goes...

Full reboot for the entire universe. Every character gets a "new" origin OGN called Genesis. Superman first. Batman second. WW third.

Superman Genesis: Krypton was destroyed by an old enemy. The governing council knew it and built themselves a ship to flee to Earth. Jor-El finds out and steals the ship to save his family. The governing council destroys the ship as it leaves the planet but not before Jor puts Kal in an escape pod programmed for Earth with all of Jor's records. His ship lands on Earth at night so nobody see it. The Kents find it the next day. They adopt Clark and say he was left on their doorstep. Literally. About a month after they find him, Martha goes in to wake him up from a nap and finds him floating on the ceiling. That's when the Kents discover he is different. Flash forward to kindergarten and Clark is in the principals office for breaking a Kenny Braverman's arm. On the drive home, Pa warns him that he has to hide his strength or people will be afraid of him. But Martha reassures him that someday he will use his gifts to help people. Flash forward again to are 17. Martha calls Clark to go get Pa for dinner. Pa is fixing a tractor and Clark helps him get a screw loose. Then Clark hears a young girl trapped on the train tracks. He sees the train coming right at her. He speeds to her rescue and gets there just as the train is about to hit her. Letting it hit him instead. That night, Clark demands to see the ship. Pa takes him to see it and when Clark touches it, all of Krypton's history flows into his brain.

Flash forward about five years and Clark is a freelance journalist working around the world. One day, he is forced to use his powers to rescue a group of other journalists from being killed during a civil war in Qurac. That's when he decides he can no longer hide. He moves to Metropolis and gets a job at the Planet using his Qurac stories. Along with reporting on stories, he also uses his powers in secret to help people. He goes back home and decides that he wants to use his powers openly. Martha makes him a costume and he begins operating as Superman. Meanwhile, Brainiac has been monitoring all planets with life on them looking for something rare. That's when one of his probes sees Superman and he realizes that he is the last Kryptonian and decides to go to Earth to "collect" him. Brainiac tries to steal Metropolis, Superman stops him. And the legend begins.

Batman Genesis: This starts on the night the Waynes are killed. Joe Chill is actually caught but he's just some junky looking for a fix. He's later killed in a holding cell. We follow Bruce as he deals with his anger by learning every martial art he can master. No one can reach him. He keeps getting into fights at school. To the point where he's kicked out of the Gotham Academy at 15. He also doesn't believe that his parents were murdered by some random junkie. He keeps insisting that Chill was a hired gun. But the police have closed the case. Finally, he sneaks into the city one night and tries to fight crime. Finding some of Chill's known associated to "prove" that someone paid him off. It doesn't go well and he's nearly killed and gets arrested. After Alfred bails him out, he contacts one of his old buddies from MI6 and tells Bruce there's nothing more he can do to help him. He leaves for England in the morning. The rest of the book is us following Bruce's training years. As he learns to be a master fighter and detective. Over time, Bruce learns to accept that his parent's deaths really were just a random mugging. When the book ends, it's the beginning of Year One.

Wonder Woman Genesis: Diana lives in peace with her mother and sisters on Paradise Island when one day she sees a man floating in the water. She dives in to rescue him and pulls him ashore. She also sees that he's clinging to part of an airplane. After pulling the rest of the plane ashore, she takes the man to their healer who patches him up. Her mother is furious. After the man tells his story about a war going on in the outside world, Diana decides that she wants to help. Her mother outright refuses. But the man cannot stay. So a contest is held to determine which Amazon will take him back home. Diana enters the contest against her mother's wishes, of course, and wins.

As per Amazonian custom, she will wear an outfit bearing the colors of the host country. Hence her red, white, and blue costume. The plane has been repaired. But to avoid being shot down by enemy fire, it is equipped with a magical device that turns it invisible. When she arrives in America, it is 1941 and Pearl Harbor has just been attacked. Diana agrees to help the war effort. It is not long before she meets the JSA. Recently formed to fight the Nazis here at home. The papers dub her the "Wonder Woman" and she spends most of the war fighting alongside the JSA. Hitler still has the spear of destiny but this time it is given to him by Ares. This is precisely to prevent the JSA from being able to just end the war overnight. As the allies make more and more progress into Europe, Hitler starts to lose control over the spear and Ares refuses to help him. With a clear winner in sight, Ares abandons Hitler and the war ends. Diana goes back to her people after the war. Only to be lured back to "man's world" once again by the appearance of Superman. Finally, there are more like her again. Helping to keep the world safe.

After that would come Flash Genesis, Green Lantern Genesis, and Martian Manhunter Genesis. Every month you'd get another three Genesis books with a different origin for about a year. As you can see, the JSA exist in this universe. They will also get their own Genesis book about not only their formation but also how they disappeared around 1951 when a mysterious foe targets them and their loved ones. To the outside world, these are just random disappearances. But of course anyone who knows the JSA knows they were targeted. When they reappear again in the mid-nineteen eighties, they haven't aged a day and no one knows why. It's a mystery story as Detective John Jones investigates what happened to them and finds out they were the JSA. It turns out, they were kidnapped by an old foe who used their loved ones as bait to trap them. They were only managed to free themselves by about 1985 or so. They marry, have children, and those children go on to become Infinity Inc. today.

One of the more controversial things I would probably do is put the Marvel family on their own Earth. There is no need for a Superman allegory when the actual Superman exists. DC comics exists in their universe and when Billy gets his powers, he decides to model himself on Superman.

I would also probably go back to the Vertigo model of keeping the "darker" books as far away from the main DCU as possible. Maybe even give it it's own universe as well. DC comics also exists there so when someone refers to Batman, they are talking about a comic book character. It's more "realistic" than the main DCU. Four letter words and no fictional cities. This would be one of many universes in this multiverse.

Infinite multiverse. Each Elseworld would get it's own Earth. Kingdom Come, DKR, Red Son, New Frontier, The Nail, you name it. Some of them will be made up. Like one for each "era". Pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, a "noir" Earth with no super-powered heroes. Some of these will be given their own minis or OGNs. New 52 would probably be converted to an Ultimates line. Everyone's favorite version is officially still out there somewhere. The "main" DCU would be Earth 0. There are more but I've eaten up enough space as is.

[superduperman]

This is by no means a comprehensive list but here are the Earths in my multiverse:

Earth 0: Main DCU.

Earth 1: "Silver Age" Earth. Picture the DCU circa 1963. SA Superman, Batman, JLA. etc. Basically pre-Crisis Earth. Sort of.

Earth 2: "Golden Age" Earth. The DCU 1940. Superman more jumps rather than fly. Works at the Daily Star. Batman has no sidekick. Uses guns. Drives a roadster. More gangsters and Nazi saboteurs than aliens and mad scientists.

Post Crisis Earth: Mullet Superman. Wally Flash. Connor Hawk GA. Tim Drake Robin. Kyle Raynor GL. Picture the DCU circa 1994/95.

Vertigo Earth: No costumed super-heroes. No fictional cities. Darker than the main DCU. More realistic. Except for the magic. Constantine. Swamp Thing. Sandman. Shade. a costume-less Animal Man. DC characters are just comic book characters here.

"Noir" Earth: No super-powered beings. Bat-Man. Green Arrow. Black Canary. All hunted vigilantes.

New 52 Earth: This will probably be an Ultimates line.

Shazam! Earth: Home of the Marvel family. DC is also just a comic book company here. Billy models himself after Superman once he gets his powers.

Legion Earth: 30th century. Superboy is a member here. If there is a Legion book, it will take place on this Earth.

Kingdom Come Earth.

Red Son Earth.

DKR Earth.

The Nail Earth.

Various TV and movie Earths.

[Celgress]

First of all, I'd reset everything.

I'd poach the Krypton version of Brainiac who is portrayed as an omega level threat (to take a line from Marvel) not to be messed with and creepy as heck.

I'd pair Superman with Wonder Woman.

I'd keep the Batman Family on good terms other than Jason.

I'd retool Aquaman and Mera so they are more in line with their movie counterparts.

No more deaths for Wally West period lol.

[Mutant God]

From a thread I created a few years back CREATE YOUR OWN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE(S) I created some universes each with several different ideas:

Earth-1K:
Several members of the Justice Society was assassinated by Deathstroke (who kept some of their masks as trophies) including Black Canary and her husband which drives their daughter the 2nd Black Canary fore revenge.

Jay Garrick lost his speed powers to the same lightning bolt that gave Barry Allen and Dr. Eobard Thawne their powers, Thawne is not a time traveler just a scientist whos obsess with the Speed Force and been studying it all his life.

Superman is the clone of Krypton survivor Jor-El and Lionel Luthor.

Diana Prince is an American soldier given weapons and items enchanted by the Greek Gods because of a prophecy

Bruce and Batman are two different personalities within Bruce Wayne

Penguin took over Wayne Enterprises when Bruce was gone

Merlyn Queen/Black Arrow is Oliver Queen's uncle

The alien Uxas built the planet Apokolips inside the Phantom Zone

[j9ac9k]

I've been working on this for years. It's a fully illustrated History of the DCU that incorporates all the various incarnations of them from the comics, cartoons, movies, radio, and more into one cohesive story. Hope you enjoy it.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...it?usp=sharing

Wow - I only glanced through it, but I applaud the work you put into this! I will be sure to take a closer look when time permits.

[j9ac9k]

To even begin to tackle the topic of this thread, I think I would start the universe from scratch, but:
-- Keep some of the names - not all. And I mean civilian names and superhero names. Superman would be Clark Kent but Aquaman might not be Orin/Arthur and Kara Zor-El might not be Supergirl. Definitely have an eye towards inclusion because it's just the right thing to do.
-- Even the playing field with legacy characters. Donna Troy might have never been Wonder Girl and maybe even appears before Diana. Fold in new characters as well so that relationships/dynamics aren't just assumed anymore.
-- Don't be beholden to the past. Not everyone gets rebooted and old stories should not be played out again. Take the things we like about the characters and put them through new stories rather than relive old ones. Green Lanterns don't have to be run by the Guardians and Wonder Woman doesn't have to come from Paradise Island and be connected to the Greek Gods, etc. At the same time, don't try to be so current. We ultimately want these stories to seem timeless.
-- Overall, strike new territory. Give people a sense that this is actually new while holding on to the core principles of what was good about the franchises, rather than any particular character or storyline. NEVER indicate that things might change back to how it was before.

Easier said than done of course, but we're just shootin' **** here...