In the preview pages for next week’s Super Sons #12, ComicBook.com revealed that Savior — a future version of Tim drake formerly known as the “Batman of Tomorrow” — seems to enter Hypertime and see all of the possibilities of the universe.
Whether these are pieces of actual history from the existing DC Universe, potential alternate Earths, or something else entirely, is yet to be clarified…but not only can these memorable moments from throughout DC’s publishing history be seen by Savior and the readers, but it becomes clear that Superman and the Teen Titans get a glimpse into Hypertime, too.
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Since the events depicted use art not recreated by Gleason (as he did on a similar page in an early Superman issue during the Rebirth run) but the original art which ran with the comics in question, it seemed worth scouring the page to see how many of the stories we could identify and say “hey, this story here is going to play a role in what comes next.”
We got most of them — with a little difficulty around the far end of the page.
Why?
Geoff Johns, the chief creative officer at DC and a chief architect of both the Rebirth publishing initiative and of DC’s mysterious post-Doomsday Clock plans, is pretty well-represented here — so much so that in one or two cases we had some trouble distinguishing between his Green Lantern stories, many of which played off of one another and featured art by the same couple of art teams.
Starting from the top middle, and working around the page clockwise…
Forever Evil
Featuring writing by Geoff Johns and art by David Finch, Forever Evil was The New 52’s first incursion from Earth-3, where the Crime Syndicate of America (evil versions of the Justice League members) rule with an iron fist, opposed by only a single hero: Lex Luthor!
Forever Evil featured art by David Finch and was a line-wide takeover event in which villains got to “claim” the hero’s comic for a month while the Justice League was missing and an army of villains faced off against DC’s second-tier heroes, the villains of the DC Universe’s primary Earth, and ARGUS.
Tying into the story was a Justice League of America comic by the Forever Evil team of Geoff Johns and David Finch was released, with its lineup and activities managed by Steve Trevor.
The series, which spun out of the Justice League titles’ “Trinity War” event, was the first line-wide crossover during the New 52 era.
The Oz Effect
Yes, this looks like it is Jonathan Kent looking at a Legion of Super-Heroes knockoff. It is not that, exactly.
This is a world shown to Jonathan by his grandfather, Jor-El, when he attempted to woo Jon to his side during the recent storyline “The Oz Effect.” In it, Jor-El (in the guise of Mr. Oz, a morally-ambiguous character who had been skulking around the edges of the Superman mythology for a few years now) attempted to prove to Superman that humanity did not deserve him by using sleeper agents to stoke the embers of conflict around the globe.
At the same time, Jor-El rescued Jonathan Kent from a bombing, only to use that closeness to try and convince Jon that his father’s affection for Earth was misplaced.
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths was ground zero for DC mega-events.
The 12-issue series, published on the heels of Marvel’s Secret Wars (no, not that one, the first one), was intended to streamline DC’s continuity.
The idea at the time was that an infinite and ever-expanding multiverse, coupled with fifty years of continuity, presented a barrier too steep for most new readers to surmount. Crisis on Infinite Earths would be a final hurrah for DC’s multiverse (and a lot of characters), and at the end, there would be one Earth with one comprehensible timeline.
It didn’t work out quite that way, but for a generation of fans who grew up in its wake, pre- and post-Crisis versions of characters, concepts, and stories were the ultimate point of demarcation.
Death of the Family
One of the biggest and best-selling stories of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s acclaimed run on Batman, “Death of the Family” was billed as the group’s “final” Joker story and featured the Clown Prince of Crime trying to destroy the Bat-family.
You can check out the official description below:
One year ago, the Joker limped off the streets of Gotham, mutilated and scarred when someone had taken the pale white skin right off of his face.
But now, the Dark Knight’s greatest foe has returned but for once, Batman doesn’t seem to be his target. Instead, the Joker turns his vile hatred towards Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood and Red Robin … the only family Bruce Wayne has left. The Clown Prince of Crime will unleash his most unpredictable, vicious and psychotic assault ever on everyone Batman holds dear.
Can Batman stop his arch-rival’s most deranged assault ever? Or will the cost of a deadly secret be a family member’s life?
The Sinestro Corps War
Sinestro — Hal Jordan’s former mentor and arch-nemesis — has gathered an army of soldiers fueled by the fear they instill in others, consisting of Arkillo, Karu-Sil, the Cyborg-Superman, and hundreds more of the most terrifying villains the universe has ever seen!
Former Green Lantern Kyle Rayner has been possessed by the entity known as Parallax and now assists the Sinestro Corps in cutting a swath of evil across the universe.
Trapped in the depths of the Sinestro Corps’ Citadel and face-to-face with the Guardian of Sinestro’s army of fear, Hal Jordan must find the will-power to battle these terrible foes. And as one of the Book of Oa’s prophecies comes true, the Green Lantern Corps makes a last stand that reveals the reincarnation of one of their fold!
Dark Nights: Metal
Currently ongoing!
Yeah, obviously this is the story of the Dark Knights, evil Batmen from the dark multiverse who have come to bring nightmares to life and bringing an epic war to the DC Universe.
The Dark Knight has uncovered one of the lost mysteries of the universe…one that could destroy the very fabric of the DC Universe! The dark corners of reality that have never been seen till now! The Dark Multiverse is revealed in all its devastating danger–a team of twisted, evil versions of Batman hellbent on destroying the DC Universe!
With appearances from heroes, villains and faces long forgotten, Dark Nights: Metal will examine every choice a hero doesn’t take and every path they don’t walk, and open up worlds that are forged by nightmares.
Identity Crisis
This is one of a number of stories that were depicted during “The Button,” suggesting that previously non-canonical tales had rejoined the DC Universe.
When Sue Dibny, wife of the Elongated Man, is murdered in her own home, the superhero community is devastated. They come together in mourning, hold their loved ones closer, and immediately begin a worldwide search to find her killer.
But a handful of heroes think they already know who murdered Sue Dibny.
Years ago, to protect Sue and others like her from super-villains, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Black Canary, the Atom and Zatanna crossed a line. Now, their long-buried secret will break the superhero community apart.
Zero Hour: A Crisis in Time
The first Crisis-level event following Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour attempted to clean up some post-Crisis continuity hiccups by giving Parallax (Hal Jordan, who had just gone evil) a story.
Parallax and his partner Extant sought to destroy the universe so the Parallax could rebuild it the way he wanted, removing elements from history that he didn’t like.
Convergence
Once, there were infinite Earths. Untold timelines. Innumerable Elseworlds. Then there came a Crisis…a Zero Hour…a Flashpoint. Worlds lived. Worlds died. Now they all must fight for their future!
The evil alien intelligence known as Brainiac has stolen 50 doomed cities from throughout time and space and brought them to a place beyond the Multiverse—a sentient planet of his own design, a world with the power of a god.
As heroes and villains from dozens of worlds battle each other for their very existence, it’s up to a ragtag band of warriors from a slain Earth to put an end to this threat that bends the Multiverse to its will. Reality itself hangs in the balance…
This is it! The entire DC Universe from the dawn of time through the New 52 stars in CONVERGENCE — an unprecedented event that brings together your favorite characters from every era and series. Whether familiar or forgotten, none of them will ever be the same!
Final Crisis
What happens when evil wins? That’s the question Superman, Batman, the Justice League and every being in the DCU have to face when Darkseid and his otherworldly legion of narcissistic followers actually win the war between light and dark.
Featuring the deaths and resurrections of major DC characters, FINAL CRISIS is more than your average multi-part event-it’s a deconstruction of Super Hero comics and a challenging, thought-provoking take on the modern, four-color icons.
Blackest Night
Comics’ hottest writer Geoff Johns (GREEN LANTERN: SINESTRO CORPS WAR, THE FLASH, ACTION COMICS, JSA) and superstar artist Ivan Reis raise the dead in this hardcover collection of the most anticipated comics event of the year!
Throughout the decades, death has plagued the DC Universe and taken the lives of heroes and villains alike. But to what end? As the War between the different colored Lantern Corps rages on, the prophecy of the Blackest Night descends and it’s up to Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps to lead DC’s greatest champions in a battle to save the Universe from an army of undead Black Lanterns made up of fallen Green Lanterns and DC’s deceased heroes and villains.
This collection of the best-selling epic is the culmination of the events that Geoff Johns has been leading to since he relaunched the Green Lantern franchise in 2006!
Flashpoint
The event that relaunched the DC Universe!
After traveling back in time to save his mother from being murdered at the hands of the Reverse-Flash, Barry Allen caused a massive chronal catastrophe that reinvented the DC Universe as a world at war — a war between Aquaman’s Atlantis and Wonder Woman’s Themyscira.
Even after repairing the damage to the timeline, though, Barry could not prevent changes to the timeline, resulting in a radically-changed DC Universe.
Brightest Day
The follow-up to the best selling comics event BLACKEST NIGHT, written by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi!
Once dead, twelve heroes and villains have been resurrected by a white light expelled deep within the center of the earth. Called a miracle by many and a sign of the apocalypse by others, the reasons behind their rebirth remain a mystery.
Now, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Deadman, Jade, Osiris, Hawk, Captain Boomerang and Zoom must discover the mysterious reason behind their return and uncover the secret that binds them all in this first volume of a three part series.
The Lazarus Contract
They are the greatest young heroes this world—or any world—has ever known. They are the Titans. And now, from the void between the worlds, one of their most legendary members has emerged.
Wally West, a.k.a. Kid Flash, has returned. Powered by the Speed Force, he’s brought the secrets of time and space following in his wake.
And with those secrets comes a prize that Deathstroke, the most lethal foe the Titans have ever faced, would do anything to claim: the rebirth of his long-dead son.
Now Titans from every team—past, present or future—must unite to stop the killer called Slade from claiming his sinister prize. Can the Titans and the Teen Titans work together to stop this evil? Or will the two teams turn on each other, leaving Deathstroke to seize control?
Titans Tomorrow
This one is not one of the worlds on the page, per se, but it certainly plays into the issue.
Savior — the Tim Drake from the future pictured in the middle of this image — is formerly the Batman of Tomorrow, a character who appeared during Geoff Johns’s Teen Titans run and then continued on through “A Lonely Place of Living,” the companion piece to “The Oz Effect” which ran in Detective Comics while “The Oz Effect” was going on in Action Comics.
“Titans Tomorrow” featured a fully grown-up version of the then-current Teen Titans, traveling back from a dark future in order to change the past. Each of them was tortured and evil, and blamed the heroes of the previous generation for their woes.
We saw elements of that echoed in the Batman of Tomorrow concept, and it is no surprise that when that character finally “learned his lesson,” this panel should be present.
