The 'original' timeline-altering event that cause the shift from GA to SA...

[Jim Kelly]

I like Mike's Amazing World--it's a wonderful resource (there's not a day goes by that I don't look at it)--and it's kind of fun that he's split things up into different Earths, but it does get to be a drag sometimes when you want to look at the chronology for a character, but you have to keep in mind the rules that Mike has imposed on those comics.

Trying to read the actual comics as if they fit what is Earth-One or Earth-Two is pretty chaotic. Earth-Two Superman is supposed to work for George Taylor at THE DAILY STAR, but that all changed very early on in the Superman comics--so none of the comics after that in the 1940s actually fit strict Earth-Two continuity. You also have to throw out all the Superboy stories (or somehow make them fit Earth-One), even though they were being published in the 1940s.

The Earth-One/Earth-Two game is a fun game to play, but it shouldn't be taken so seriously.

I like just as much the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COMIC BOOK HEROES game. Michael Fleisher imagines all the stories of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman fitting into a cohesive chronology for each character. And any contradictions are explained away as Chronicler's errors. It helps that he doesn't bother with some titles (like those that starred Superboy) and that the entries stop at around the early 1960s, so it's easier to fit everything together without too many glitches.

[CaptCleghorn]

I like Mike's Amazing World--it's a wonderful resource (there's not a day goes by that I don't look at it)--and it's kind of fun that he's split things up into different Earths, but it does get to be a drag sometimes when you want to look at the chronology for a character, but you have to keep in mind the rules that Mike has imposed on those comics.

Trying to read the actual comics as if they fit what is Earth-One or Earth-Two is pretty chaotic. Earth-Two Superman is supposed to work for George Taylor at THE DAILY STAR, but that all changed very early on in the Superman comics--so none of the comics after that in the 1940s actually fit strict Earth-Two continuity. You also have to throw out all the Superboy stories (or somehow make them fit Earth-One), even though they were being published in the 1940s.

The Earth-One/Earth-Two game is a fun game to play, but it shouldn't be taken so seriously.

I like just as much the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COMIC BOOK HEROES game. Michael Fleisher imagines all the stories of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman fitting into a cohesive chronology for each character. And any contradictions are explained away as Chronicler's errors. It helps that he doesn't bother with some titles (like those that starred Superboy) and that the entries stop at around the early 1960s, so it's easier to fit everything together without too many glitches.

Pretty much this. Mike's is an incredible resource and one that can be useful to every comic fan.

As to the Earth One/Earth Two dividing lines, the stories weren't written for the separation of Earths One and Two. The concept wasn't even thought of at this point. The Golden and Silver Ages also weren't written with a firm grip on tight continuity so some discrepencies do occur.

But even though the interest in that amount of detail doesn't interest me, I get the liking for it. But the reality is there is no set answer.