Create Your Own DC Universe

[Jon Clark]

I wouldn't start from Year One, because the newest generations have their fans and it's annoying having to wait another twenty years to reach them.

The problem with that is - why create a new DCU just to re-arrange the same set pieces.

If your Batman history needs to fit in Dick, Jason, Tim, Stephanie, Damian ... then why not just keep the existing Bat-verse?

You aren't getting a fresh slate for Superman if you now need to have him married to Lois so we get Jon. Or have to keep the Doomsday battle because of Kon and Steel.

And how do you get "your" Green Lantern to shine if the history requires Hal, Guy, John, Kyle, Simon, Jessica... all have a place in the history?

Where is there room to make anything new or really put your own stamp on this universe?

[Jon Clark]

No presidents, landmarks, celebrities or anything?

I think the point is that a story from 1992 would have President Bill Clinton, but if you did a flashback today it would have President Obama and in a few years it would be Trump. The same way Pre-Crisis had Superman tales where he met John Kennedy as an adult (1963 stories) an as Superboy (1980's stories set during Superman's youth).

Same with the celebrities. A story referencing Katy Perry a decade ago got a different reaction than it would today. And having a member of the Teen Titans in 2011 be a fan of her doesn't work the same way in a 2020 story. Especially if the character is still in their teens (making them under 10 years old in 2011 now).

[Restingvoice]

The problem with that is - why create a new DCU just to re-arrange the same set pieces.

If your Batman history needs to fit in Dick, Jason, Tim, Stephanie, Damian ... then why not just keep the existing Bat-verse?

You aren't getting a fresh slate for Superman if you now need to have him married to Lois so we get Jon. Or have to keep the Doomsday battle because of Kon and Steel.

And how do you get "your" Green Lantern to shine if the history requires Hal, Guy, John, Kyle, Simon, Jessica... all have a place in the history?

Where is there room to make anything new or really put your own stamp on this universe?

Huh? My stamp is not important. I'm a hired guy, not a DC brand owner, and there's no point in creating something new when there are so many existing characters to use. (and even if I'm a DC owner I'd do the same anyway because I'm not the one buying these things. Other people are.)

As for screen sharing, equal time of rotating main character in my Family titles, or in the case of GL, the GLC title. Everyone else will still appear, but they're not the main character of that focus issue. A particular character will get a solo if a focus issue on that character sells higher than the others.

So at first there will only be GLC title, focusing on one GL per issue. Then if someone, say Hal, sell higher than others, they'll get the first chance at a solo, and if the fans protest that their fave is not first I can just show the numbers. (Though my personal preference is spread them out to different Corps on League)

if you want details on the Batfam that's gonna take a while since they have way more characters, but the concept is the same.

[Jon Clark]

Huh? My stamp is not important. I'm a hired guy, not a DC brand owner, and there's no point in creating something new when there are so many existing characters to use. (and even if I'm a DC owner I'd do the same anyway because I'm not the one buying these things. Other people are.)

As for screen sharing, equal time of rotating main character in my Family titles, or in the case of GL, the GLC title. Everyone else will still appear, but they're not the main character of that focus issue. A particular character will get a solo if a focus issue on that character sells higher than the others.

So at first there will only be GLC title, focusing on one GL per issue. Then if someone, say Hal, sell higher than others, they'll get the first chance at a solo, and if the fans protest that their fave is not first I can just show the numbers. (Though my personal preference is spread them out to different Corps on League)

if you want details on the Batfam that's gonna take a while since they have way more characters, but the concept is the same.

I get why you went the direction you did. I'm saying if you are hired after a reboot to create a DC Universe and you come up with largely the same DCU we have, then what was the point of the reboot?

It's like tearing down your house just so you can build an exact duplicate.

I can see creating a universe that has Hal's history intact to appeal to his fans or eliminating Hal entirely and making Jessica or Kyle the main character from day one. I can even see leaving the G:C untouched but revampimng Superman or Batman.

I just don't see the point of habing a chance to create your own DCU and just taking the existing one.

[Vakanai]

I wouldn't start from Year One, because the newest generations have their fans and it's annoying having to wait another twenty years to reach them.
So my initial launch would be
Earth-1 JLA
Earth-2 JSA
History of DC Universe

The second month or later would add
Earth-1 Batman Family
Earth-1 Superman Family
Earth-1 Wonder Woman Family
Earth-1 Aquaman Family
Earth-1 Flash Family
Earth-1 Green Arrow Family
Earth-1 Hawk Family
Earth-1 Shazam Family
Earth-1 Green Lantern Corps
Earth-1 Teen Titans
Earth-1 Suicide Squad
History of Batman Family
History of Superman Family
History of Wonder Woman Family
History of Aquaman Family
History of Flash Family
History of Shazam Family
History of Green Arrow Family
History of Green Lantern Corps
History of Teen Titans
History of Suicide Squad
The history series are mini that will stop once they reach the present day

The third month or maybe in a few months after all the characters involved is introduced would add these if the family/group title sell well
Earth-1 Trinity
Earth-1 Birds of Prey
Earth-1 Gotham City Sirens
Earth-1 Aquaman
Earth-1 Flash Barry Allen
Earth-1 Green Lantern Hal Jordan
Earth-1 White Lantern Kyle Rayner
Earth-1 Red Lantern Guy Gardner
Earth-1 Star Sapphire Carol Ferris
Earth-1 Titans
Earth-1 Outlaws
Earth-1 Outsiders
Earth-1 JLD
Earth-2 Power Girl
The characters that get a solo or a smaller group will only appear as a cameo in the family title or the larger group title

Quick question: Do you prefer Donna, Kyle, Starfire, and Roy Harper in Dick's team or Jason's team? Pick one.

Then if you pick Roy for Dick, can I use Mia Dearden for Jason's team?

If most of your starting books are "The History of..." you can say goodbye to getting new readers interested.

[Restingvoice]

I get why you went the direction you did. I'm saying if you are hired after a reboot to create a DC Universe and you come up with largely the same DCU we have, then what was the point of the reboot?

It's like tearing down your house just so you can build an exact duplicate.

I can see creating a universe that has Hal's history intact to appeal to his fans or eliminating Hal entirely and making Jessica or Kyle the main character from day one. I can even see leaving the G:C untouched but revampimng Superman or Batman.

I just don't see the point of habing a chance to create your own DCU and just taking the existing one.

Oh, that's because I already like a lot of the existing ideas, they just suck a lot of times too. So I don't want an extreme makeover, just patches.

Well, right now I've only talked about publication method, no story yet. So while all the characters exist there may be some changes in the lore. A bit of a tweak in the details.

If most of your starting books are "The History of..." you can say goodbye to getting new readers interested.

Well, we change the title to Suicide Squad #0 or something, IDK. My first thought is a mini because I don't know how long the history are, but I'll settle for a one-shot summary or even a free digital issue.

[ERON]

No presidents, landmarks, celebrities or anything?

You're overthinking it, my friend. Literally nothing about the stories would change. Every story would still take place in the year it is published, just like it is now, with presidents, landmarks, celebrities, pop culture references, etc. The characters would just age very slowly in real time. Which is pretty much the way things are now, I would just codify it. Like I said, I came up with the idea after noticing that Dick Grayson seems to age roughly 10 years in-universe for every 40 years that passes in real time, and I figured that would be a good rule of thumb to use when crafting a sliding timescale for the DCU if I were in charge.

[randomideaguy]

Oh, that's because I already like a lot of the existing ideas, they just suck a lot of times too. So I don't want an extreme makeover, just patches.

Well, right now I've only talked about publication method, no story yet. So while all the characters exist there may be some changes in the lore. A bit of a tweak in the details.

This and the "hired guy" idea are both pretty good points. I think maybe something interesting could be an ongoing "Death of the DC Universe" type arc. Everyone is told five years ahead of time that the universe will end and that there is nothing they can do to stop it. So the heroes must act and react accordingly. Five real life years later the actual "event" would happen, at which point you could just pass off the reigns to somebody else to handle a reboot. The point being - there's plenty of alternate origins. But potentially exploring an endgame for otherwise canon DC characters could be fun and interesting.

[Mr.B]

Mashed up world of various versions charcters living on one Earth. Not like post Crisis but more like example Nu52 Batman and Earth 1 Superman pre crisis, pirate Wonder Woman.

[TheRay]

I’d really delve more into multiverse stuff.
Say an older Robin from Earth 54 meets Earth Prime Robin, etc.

[Factor]

I wouldn't create a new DCU from scratch.
I'd take elements that worked from various incarnations of the main DCU and I'd create a simplified timeline to establish all the major points without going too much into specifics (a 5G timeline done right, if you will).
This way most classic runs would still matter and broadly dictate the current state of the continuity, but the focus would be on having a comprehensible backstory for everyone so writers could start telling NEW stories for a change, instead of having to establish WW's new origin for the 20th time.

In this DCU, the JL generation would be around 35 years old and would have debuted 15 years ago. Every era of DC's publication history since then would fit into this adjusted timeline. So Crisis would have happened 7 years ago. Specific dates wouldn't be given, but this would be a guideline used by writers and editorial:

Til 1960's: 15-12 years ago
1960-1970: 12-10 years ago
1970-1980: 10-08 years ago
1980-1990: 08-06 years ago (Crisis)
1990-2000: 06-04 years ago
2000-2010: 04-02 years ago
2010-2020: 02-01 years ago

So in my continuity, the highlights of my timeline would be:

THE AGE OF MYSTERY
*1940* - JSA debuts
*1952* - after being active for 12 years, the JSA disbands and disappears along with their close ones. Hawkman & Hawkwoman die. Johnny Thunderbolt goes catatonic after immortalizing his teammates as comicbook characters.

DAWN OF THE AGE OF HEROES
*35 years ago*
Krypton's destruction sends shockwaves through the DC Universe marking the beggining of a new age of super-heroes.
- Superman's rocket lands
- Bruce Wayne is orphaned
- Diana is molded from clay
- Johnny Thunderbolt revives the JSA
- JSA members remain in obscurity
*34 years ago*
- Dinah Laurel Lance is born
- Martian Manhunter arrives on Earth
- Hawks reincarnate
*24 years ago*
- Most of the Infinitors are born

THE AGE OF HEROES
*15 years ago*
- Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman debut at around the same time.
*13 years ago*
- Robin (Dick) debuts and Donna is rescued from a shipwreck by the Amazons.
- Damian is born.
- Hal Jordan/Barry Allen debut.
*12 years ago*
- JLA debuts
*10 years ago*
- Dick creates the original Teen Titans
- Jon Kent is born
*8 years ago*
- Original Teen Titans disband
- JLA Satellite expansion
- Infinity Inc debuts
- Earth-2 crossovers/Power-Girl debuts
*7 years ago*
- New Teen Titans
- Dick becomes Nightwing
- End of Satellite era
- CRISIS happens
- Barry Allen "dies"
*6 years ago* - Post-Crisis
- Jason Todd dies
- Wally debuts as Flash at age 20
- JLI debuts
- Suicide Squad
- Barbara becomes Oracle
- JSA finally become active again and Stargirl debuts.
*5 years ago*
- Death of Superman
*4 years ago*
- YJ debuts
- Cassandra Cain becomes Batgirl
*3 years ago*
- JSA Legacy (Johns)
- Kara Zor-El returns
*2 years ago*
- Damian becomes Robin at 10-11
- Batwoman debuts
- Blackest Night/Brightest Day
*1 year ago* FP/New52/Rebirth
- Barry returns
- Cyborg joins the League
- New Shazam origin
- Jessica Cruz debuts

Honestly, the biggest change would be that Jon Kent would have actually been born 10 years ago in this timeline. And I'd ignore stories like Graduation Day, Identity Crisis, Cry for Justice, HiC etc because they did way more damage than good.

In the present day, I'd focus a lot more on making each team stand on their own with a strong mission statement and brand.

Birds of Prey: Lead by Oracle, Black Canary, Huntress and Starling would specialize in hunting down the DCU's most wanted criminals.
Batgirls: Babs, Steph and Cass unite to use their combined skills as the Batfamily's intel gatherers.
Justice League: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Wally), Cyborg, GL (John), Hawkwoman, Mera and Vixen protect the world from global catastrophies.
Titans: Reunited to be where the JL can't. When regular citizens need saving, the Titans are there to save them. Donna Troy, Nightwing, Natasha Irons, Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire and more.
Young Justice: they may have become Titans for a while, but the YJ4 are back as the Young Justice, adding new members like Aqualad, Miss Martian and Emiko Queen to continue their training to become the heroes of the future.
Outsiders: To stop threats the world can't even know exist, before they reach League level. The Outsiders would be lead by Black Lightning and Katana. Starring Arsenal, Metamorpho, Geo-Force, Thunder, Grace and others.
Shadowpact: Zatanna's own team of mystic protectors: Swamp Thing, Detective Chimp, Frankenstein, Deadman, Animal Man, Black Orchid, Doctor Fate and others.

As for the solos, I'd have Barry operating in the Multiverse alongside Justice Incarnate, John Stewart would get his own book, as would Vixen and Blue Beetle.

[Potanical Pardon]

Mine's easy.

Whatever the status quo was right before Identity Crisis, when the entire JSA's legacies had been established, before Young Justice/Impulse got retrofitted into Teen Titans/Kid Flash, before GL Rebirth, when Hawkman, Superboy, LOSH, Power Girl, Psycho Pirate, the last vestiges of characters with funky continuity were finally resolved, Harley Quinn was introduced to the DCU, Ollie Green Arrow was returned, Linda Danvers was Supergirl and the JLA lived up to their name and had levels of threats worthy of their attention.

[TheRay]

Well, I need to recheck Bored's timeline first but let's start with the fact that I want Superman to be the first Superhero so I'm going to move JSA back to Earth-2

I think you can have that without the JSA having to move to Earth-2.

[Restingvoice]

I think you can have that without the JSA having to move to Earth-2.

You mean by making JSA not associated with WWII or by making Superman debut early? I guess we can do that, but it's gonna be weird since I'm used to them being the old guys or Ma and Pa Kent would've died before we hit the present day.

[TheRay]

Changing the timeline doesn’t seem like it would be that drastic when you can rewrite the whole universe however you want from the beginning.