NYCC 2019 and DC Comics Universe Spoilers follows.
New DC Timeline Chronology Unveiled, But There’s A Catch!
DC Comics Publisher Dan DiDio announced during the DC Nation panel the following:
- “For the first time, we’re going to introduce the DC Timeline. The whole idea here right now is, from our standpoint, we’re trying to organize a sense of when the DC stories took place and how they all fit together…”
In addition, THR quite rightly notes (emphasis added):
- The audience was then briefly shown a detailed timeline — too detailed to be legible onscreen — of the entire DC continuity…
Several websites have posted snaps of that timeline image, but they all have something in common per the below.
The timeline image, like the one above, is virtually illegible. So don’t be duped by “exclusive this” or “exclusive that”. Today’s web stories on this timeline are speculative trying to decipher. Some will be correct others will be shots in the dark. A fun pastime, but not definitive.
What we do know from DiDio himself about the DC Comics chronology / timeline / continuity is below:
- “…[it is] split into four distinct eras: “Dawn of the Heroic Age,” which DiDio explained begins with the arrival of Wonder Woman in Man’s World, before the Second World War; “The Space Age,” which begins with Superman’s debut; “The Age of Crisis,” which spans the period between the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths comic book series and 2011’s Flashpoint; and “The Flashpoint,” which was characterized as the current era of DC’s output.“
Plus more DiDio musings:
- “…reintroducing aspects of our history back into [our central universe], from the Justice Society all the way into the future of the Legion of Superheroes.”
“We’re starting to figure out how continuity works…”
“There’s a lot of interesting implications that this timeline sets up. If this character came around back then, then what does that mean?”
I think, even if DC never formally releases the timeline, it is good for the writers and editors to know where things “fit” in DC chronology so that they can craft appropriate stories if you’re writing in the core super-hero universe.
If you want out-of-continuity tales, there’s DC Black Label and other avenues at DC for you.
