Earth 1985 - what would you like to see?

[Mr.B]

Not in this case as the revamped versions of the characters pretty much ignored a lot of the stories that came before with DC also shuffling the stories that they no longer wanted in continuity for their revamped characters to different Earths in the Multiverse.

Moves them up and nobody talks about them. It's still 1985 in universe.

[Buried Alien]

During the Bronze Age (DC), when characters reminisced about their earlier days, what we saw on the printed page were typically panels faithfully reprinted (or just very slightly modified) from old Silver Age comics. I remember that during the "Trial of the Flash" storyline in the early/mid-1980s, when Kid Flash was subpoenaed to testify against the Flash in court during the Reverse Flash murder trial, Barry reminisced about how he and Wally first met. Barry's memories were presented as faithful reproductions of the old Silver Age comic from the 1960s when Barry met Wally for the first time.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[scary harpy]

Isn't this the problem with nostalgia?

It's been 35 years since 1985.

Everything wasn't good as we remember it. We were just younger and didn't have anything else to compare that era to then.

Yeah, some of the stories in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s were just awful. Other stories have not aged well.

We still love the characters...and are less fond the changes to them in following decades.

I almost hope DC does nothing with Earth 1985. Anything they do is probably going to disappoint many.

[Mr.B]

Isn't this the problem with nostalgia?

It's been 35 years since 1985.

Everything wasn't good as we remember it. We were just younger and didn't have anything else to compare that era to then.

Yeah, some of the stories in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s were just awful. Other stories have not aged well.

We still love the characters...and are less fond the changes to them in following decades.

I almost hope DC does nothing with Earth 1985. Anything they do is probably going to disappoint many.

Strange post.

[Lee Stone]

Here's some research into when exactly the cutoff points could be for DC 1985.

First here's a list of the comics published the month that Crisis on Infinite Earths began:

Action Comics #566
All-Star Squadron #44
America vs. the Justice Society #4 -mini-series
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld #4
Arak, Son of Thunder #43
Arion, Lord of Atlantis #30
Atari Force #16
Batman #382
Batman and the Outsiders #20
Best of DC #59 -reprint digest
Blue Devil #11
Camelot 3000 #12 -maxi-series
Conqueror of the Barren Earth #3 -mini-series
DC Comics Presents #80
Detective Comics #549
Flash #344
Fury of Firestorm #34
G.I. Combat #276
Green Lantern #187
Infinity, Inc. #13
Jemm, Son of Saturn #8 -maxi-series
Jonah Hex #90
Jonni Thunder #2 -mini-series
Justice League of America #237
Legion of Super-Heroes #9
New Teen Titans #7
Omega Men #25
Saga of the Swamp Thing #35
Sgt. Rock #399
Spanner's Galaxy #5 -mini-series
Star Trek #13 -licensed property
Sun Devils #10 -maxi-series
Superman #406
Superman Special #3 -special
Superman: The Secret Years #3 -mini-series
Talent Showcase #16 -out of continuity anthology
Tales of the Legion #322
Tales of the Teen Titans #52
V #3 -licensed property
Vigilante #16
Warlord #92
Who's Who #2 -maxi-series/reference
Wonder Woman #324
World's Finest Comics #314

And here are the last issues of comics before crossing over with COIE (using this list):

All-Star Squadron #49
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld #12
Blue Devil #16
DC Comics Presents #85
Fury of Firestorm #40
Green Lantern #193
Infinity, Inc. #17
Justice League of America #243
Legion of Super-Heroes #17
New Teen Titans #12
Omega Men #30
Saga of the Swamp Thing #45
Superman #413
Wonder Woman #326

Then looking at the books cover-dated December 1985 and comparing to the above lists...
The cutoff points may well be:

Action Comics #574 (Last issue cover-dated 1985. Although I could see them extending out as far as #582)
All-Star Squadron #49 (Last issue before it crossed over with COIE)
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld #12 (Last issue cover-dated 1985 and the last issue before it crossed over with COIE. However, I could see this one being handwaved to keep the Dr. Fate/blind Amy storyline and downplay the Crisis, allowing the rest of the run to be counted)

Arak, Son of Thunder #50 (Last issue of the series)
Arion, Lord of Atlantis #35 (And then the Special. Last issues of the series)
Atari Force #20 (And then the Special. Last issues of the series)
Batman #390 (Last issue cover-dated 1985. Although I could see them extending out as far as either #391 for the Nocturna story or #400)

Batman and the Outsiders #28 (Last issue cover-dated 1985. However... Outsiders #1 and 2 were both cover-dated 1985, and if those are included then Batman and the Outsiders could be extended all the way up to #38 since all those stories occur before Outsiders #1. However, if Outsiders isn't included, I could see Batman and the Outsiders extended to #31, the last issue with Batman and the last before being renamed to Adventures of the Outsiders)
Blue Devil #16 (Last issue before crossing over with COIE)

DC Comics Presents #85 (Last issue before crossing over with COIE)
Detective Comics #557 (Last issue cover-dated 1985. Although I could see them extending to either #559 where the two features, Batman and Green Arrow, crossed over or up to #566)
Flash #350 (Last issue of the series)
Fury of Firestorm #40 (Last issue before crossing over with COIE)

G.I. Combat #280 (Last issue cover-dated 1985)
Green Lantern #193 (Last issue before crossing over with COIE)
Infinity, Inc. #17 (Last issue before crossing over with COIE)
Jonah Hex #92 (Last issue of the series. The replacement series, Hex, can be ignored, or it can be included. If included, its last issue cover-dated 1985 was #4. It would most likely be ignored, though, considering it had just began and was a drastic departure for the character.)

Justice League of America #243 (Last issue before crossing over with COIE)
Legion of Super-Heroes #17 (Last issue cover-dated 1985 and the last issue before crossing over with COIE. See Tales of the Legion for more)
New Teen Titans #12 (Last issue before crossing over with COIE. See Tales of the Titans for more)
Omega Men #30 (Last issue before crossing over with COIE)

Outsiders #2 (Last issue cover-dated 1985. Its inclusion is debatable. While It did launch in 1985, it was only on #2. Keeping it means having to keep Batman and the Outsiders/Adventures of the Outsiders up until the last issue before reprints of Outsiders began because all those stories occur before #1. However, dropping Outsiders means that the last issue could be the last issue before BatO was renamed to Adventures of the Outsiders. Either way, Looker would still be a member as she joined just before BatO ended. See Batman and the Outsiders for more)
Sgt. Rock #407 (Last issue cover-dated 1985)

Superman #413 (Last issue before crossing over with COIE)
Swamp Thing #43 (Last issue cover-dated 1985. Although I could see them extending to #50 to complete the storyline. The Crisis references are pretty vague and don't impact the story)
Tales of the Legion #325 (Last issue of the series. #326-on are reprints of Legion of Super-Heroes)
Tales of the Teen Titans #59 (Last issue of the series. #59 is reprints, but it includes the story from the Digest that never appeared in regular comics. #60-on reprint New Teen Titans)

Vigilante #24 (Last issue cover-dated 1985. Although I could see them extending to #27 to finish the story)
Warlord #100 (Last issue cover-dated 1985)
Wonder Woman #326 (Last issue before crossing over with COIE)
World's Finest Comics #322 (Last issue cover-dated 1985. However, the next issue is the last issue, so I could see it being extended to #323)

These could be adjusted depending on how much of an impact the COIE crossover stories effected the books.

Also, the Convergence titles that featured the characters pulled from Crisis-era could be snapshots of who could be included.

[docmidnite]

Moves them up and nobody talks about them. It's still 1985 in universe.

If it wasn’t in continuity in 1970 and after them it’s not in continuity on Earth 1985

[Mr.B]

If it wasn’t in continuity in 1970 and after them it’s not in continuity on Earth 1985

You are wrong.

[docmidnite]

During the Bronze Age (DC), when characters reminisced about their earlier days, what we saw on the printed page were typically panels faithfully reprinted (or just very slightly modified) from old Silver Age comics. I remember that during the "Trial of the Flash" storyline in the early/mid-1980s, when Kid Flash was subpoenaed to testify against the Flash in court during the Reverse Flash murder trial, Barry reminisced about how he and Wally first met. Barry's memories were presented as faithful reproductions of the old Silver Age comic from the 1960s when Barry met Wally for the first time.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

The thing with Barry is he was never revamped. So everything stayed the same for him and his own continuity.

[docmidnite]

You are wrong.

Nope. You are simply not getting it all.

[Zaku]

Well, Bronze Era stories often referenced Silver Age stories (and often skipping the most "questionable" parts)
For example:
the "infamous" spanking of Lois Lane (from Lois Lane #14 - 1960)

and the same scene from DC Special Series 26 (1981)

Notice how Superman stops remembering just before the... well, you know right?

[Mr.B]

Lois has a spank kink anyways.


Gtg bubba,

[superduperman]

In terms of the reprints, I think most of them were just meant to be filler material. "Hey, we need to fill five pages. Dig something out from the vault." I doubt they cared if something from 1958 still counted in 1975 or whatever. Yes, some of these stories were problematic. But the thing about bringing back a whole world is that you can pick and choose what counts and what doesn't. Lois Lane #14 doesn't have to be canon. Or at least not the more problematic parts of it. They have a chance to start over and undo some of this stuff.

[docmidnite]

In an interview Johns said that Earth 1985/Earth 1 if CoIE never happened has progressed over time. I wonder by how much?

[superduperman]

In an interview Johns said that Earth 1985/Earth 1 if CoIE never happened has progressed over time. I wonder by how much?

In that case, maybe they won't do anything with it. Making this whole thing a moot point.

[docmidnite]

In that case, maybe they won't do anything with it. Making this whole thing a moot point.

Maybe. That or that they’ve already established a setup/background for new stories. Just have to wait and see I suppose.