Things are finally settling down in the DC Universe. Since September, we've been reading about the familiar and new versions of the heroes in the DCU. There has been a lot of focus on allowing each character to be developed individually but now we're starting to see more crossovers between the different characters.

The idea of the "New 52" was to have a fresh start without completely rewriting everything that was already established in the last few decades. New readers are now getting used to who these characters are and the same can be said, in some cases, for long time readers as we're seeing the new interactions unfold.

In May we'll be seeing EARTH TWO, a series focusing on familiar heroes from a parallel world. These won't necessarily be the same version of heroes that has been established. Heroes from parallel worlds are popping up in other titles as well. This leads to the questions of will this make sense for new readers and do we have 52 parallel worlds or are we back to an infinite number?

EARTH TWO was first announced as a title for the Justice Society of America. Heroes such as Jay Garrick, Alan Scott, Wildcat and others have been absent from the "New 52" Universe. Somewhere along the way to the release date of the title being announced, the name was changed to focus on the fact that this is a different "Earth.'

Power Girl hasn't been seen but Karen Star was in the pages of MISTER TERRIFIC. There hasn't been any mention of Donna Troy but it appears she could be on the cover to EARTH TWO #1 (along with Superboy dressed as Superman and Dick Grayson dressed as Batman).

There has been debate over whether or not the HUNTRESS mini-series by Paul Levitz and Marcus To took place in the "New 52" universe or on Earth Two. We've been told there would be a connection between that book, JSA and BIRDS OF PREY.

Another title announced for May, WORLD'S FINEST, will include Power Girl and Huntress, from Earth Two, on the "New 52" Earth, trying to find their way back home. That won't be confusing for new and old readers, right?

Earth Two isn't the only parallel worlds we'll be hearing from. In ACTION COMICS #9, Grant Morrison will be showing us some other parallel worlds as well.

Featuring characters from parallel Earths, including PRESIDENT SUPERMAN! Guest artist GENE HA joins GRANT MORRISON for this tale of not one, not two, but THREE Earths! And in the backup story, President Superman must stop a nuclear attack – but he can’t leave the White House!

President Superman was seen in FINAL CRISIS #7 (also by Grant Morrison). We didn't get to see a lot of President Superman in FINAL CRISIS. It's always fun to visit parallel worlds to see the different variations of familiar characters but putting them in actual ongoing issues could be a problem.

This is why DC created the Elseworlds concept, telling "What If" stories on separate, parallel worlds. But having parallel worlds and the characters mix with the core characters can cause confusion.

Crisis on Infinite Earths was created to clean up the multiverse in DC Comics. We were left with just one universe. Then years later, this started to unwind. After other "crises" came and then we were left with 52 different "Earths."

With "The New 52," not only do we not know full details on the histories of the characters in the current books. We also don't know details on the entire universe. We don't know what the status is anymore.

Back in October, co-publisher Dan DiDio suggested that Crisis on Infinite Earths might not have happened now.

Yes, there have been “crisis” in our characters lives, but they aren’t exactly the Crisis you read before, they can’t be. Now, what this means for characters seen and unseen……

With Flashpoint, there was mention of three timelines becoming one again.

We know the Wildstorm (Earth-50) and Vertigo (Earth-13) worlds have been combined. Does that mean there are now only fifty "Earths" or has two other variations taken their place? Then again, we could be back to an infinite number in the Multiverse.

Now imagine trying to explain all of that to new readers. They might be familiar with the idea from shows like Star Trek, Sliders, Fringe and even Lost but when it comes to superhero characters with loads of history, introducing variations of those might be too much. We're still waiting to see a reappearance from Pandora, the mysterious pink lady (seen above) in FLASHPOINT and all the #1s in the "New 52" issues. Most likely when she does show up again, it's going to be even messier than it already is.

FLASHPOINT and all the #1s in the "New 52" issues

She is in batman #2 too.

I don't know what i should fell about this, but for me bringing character like midnighter or other authority characters in earth zero a bad idea. They would raid gotham in one night and nuke arkham asylum if they were like before. They have no place in a universe where killing is forbidden (like masturbation) and we all know that stormwatch will not stay secret for long.

this is so epic

Bad idea, imo.

I thought the how point of rebooting was to make it all easily accessible and to come up with "definitive" interpretations of the characters.

Not another one of these kind of article. It seems entirely unfair that the writer fleshed out all the information about parallel earths and then say explain that to new readers.

Its the same as explaining the whole history of Superman, Golden age, crisis, silver age, john bryne - man of steel, birthrights, secret origins then flashpoint and new 52.

We were already told its a new earth. Its as simple as Earth 2 - Parallel earth, alternate storyline World's Finest - Huntress and Power Girl from Earth 2, caught in our world. Simple as that.

There isn't a need to know Crisis on infinte earth and infinite crisis. Yes Earth 2 was originally a home for Jay, Alan and Ted. Right now its a new earth that will also host these people in a parallel earth. I don't see how hard is it to understand especially when cartoons like JLU and Superman TAS have been broadcasting them to kids younger than 12.

@sethysquare said:

Not another one of these kind of article. It seems entirely unfair that the writer fleshed out all the information about parallel earths and then say explain that to new readers. Its the same as explaining the whole history of Superman, Golden age, crisis, silver age, john bryne - man of steel, birthrights, secret origins then flashpoint and new 52. We were already told its a new earth. Its as simple as Earth 2 - Parallel earth, alternate storyline World's Finest - Huntress and Power Girl from Earth 2, caught in our world. Simple as that. There isn't a need to know Crisis on infinte earth and infinite crisis. Yes Earth 2 was originally a home for Jay, Alan and Ted. Right now its a new earth that will also host these people in a parallel earth. I don't see how hard is it to understand especially when cartoons like JLU and Superman TAS have been broadcasting them to kids younger than 12.

Agreed Just Put Earh 2 on the Cover or whatever the name of the alt earth is. Just like Marvel has an Ultimate Comics Title across Ultimate Books. Nice and Simple.

It could be a bad idea.. then again the whole ultimate thing worked out pretty good for marvel so perhaps Ill be surprised.. but at the moment Im not so convinced....

@sethysquare: Yeah I also agree with you it really isn't that hard of a concept to understand and if new readers really need help understanding the concept of a parallel earth then they just need a crash course in comics in general.

I was just thinking moments before reading this how I really hope we get a New 52 take on Earth 3 (at least I think it's Earth 3) the Earth with the Crime Syndicate, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that one.

lol so erase the histories to make it easy for everyone and start fresh...but keep some histories the same... but only some parts, not the parts that would make other characters the same still.... cuz their different. And lets do parallel earths...and time travelers fro the future... cuz thats easy to grasp.

lol i already gave up on all the things that got me into DC comics in the first place (Superboy, Tim Drake, and Young Justice/Teen Titans). Now even as i enjoy different titles, im left with this glaring plot holea whole universe/time stream wide, and i just have to go with it and hope they fix it, or stop indulging in my 20 year habit.

...i just know im going to end up with a pull list devoid of Marvel and DC books by this time next year. And it both saddens me and infuriates me to realize that i probably wont mind. :/ good article Tony.

I'd like to think they have infinite, but it really doesn't matter so long as there's more than two parallel earths. What I don't understand is why they would disjoint some characters from mainstream eearth and put them into earth 2, this would only confuse old readers though. If the characters people love turn out not to be who they were before it will be quite confusing as they may as well introduce them as new ones.

This whole multiverse concept hurts my brain lol. But I did enjoy Justice League's animated feature Crisis on Two Earths. Explaining how a new universe exists by the choices you make and then the choices you don't make. That does kind of make me wonder wheather that could really happen. :/

@Grim:

Have to agree with you there...

This kind of transition really mess many things up. I mean sure you can show what has changed with each issue but it still won't cover up the big Plot-holes that stand like a Black Hole...sucking every meaningful story of the past into oblivion.

It is a good thing that you wanna start fresh and get new readers but not at the expense of the past stories and current fans.

I spoke my mind before the New 52 released and said '' If they wanna go fresh, just create a new universe like Ultimate or M2 , might seem like copiying Marvel but it will be a lot smoother then messing up with the current stories. ''

These new series suppose to keep current fans happy with the characters they KNOW and LOVE while helping new readers to understand characters easier...but with soo many changes and event going on , I think it fell short on the both parts...

Out of all this, as G-Man mentions, is the fact new readers might be scratching their heads regarding what the Sam Hill is going on. It is confusing enough for regular readers but all these things are just a bit much.

Maybe, just maybe, all these plot happenings and well, cluster f*k could get resolved but I am perplexed why it has gotten to this point in the first place. Unless DC has a plan to finally get it all straightened out it is just too much to get involved with for me. I am still eyeing "Earth 2" but that isn't concrete. Maybe DC is just letting all things flop around and giving writers free reign until something gets finalized? Does all this have to do with the claim of Superman's creators' heirs?

Honestly it is this type of stuff which puts off some readers from getting into DC in the first place.

As someone who isn't a new reader, I don't think you have the right to talk about what new readers will and won't understand. They didn't understand the New 52 before picking the books up. I'm sure they'll be fine. It'll be explained in the books and it'll be fine.

Everyone was a new reader once in their lives. How did you figure out who the Justice Society was? DId someone explain Crisis on Infinite Earths to you?

You see what I mean?

If new readers can handle or otherwise comprehend Legion of Superheros I don't see why they can't handle this.

I jumped on to DC and comics in general with the New 52, and so far I have yet to be confused or overwhelmed by this news.

Perhaps it would start getting ridiculous if DC starts putting out books more than one degree removed from the standard DC universe (e.g. a Legion of Superheroes book set on Earth 2), but so far it remains rather straightforward.

I love what DC is doing with its universe. If done correctly, these books can be suitable for both new and old readers. I mean, if I were a new reader, who started to read comics with New 52 and liked some characters, I could be glad to read about different people under the cowl of that character.

As an old reader, I believe the creative teams are very good, the characters ok (but not my favorite) and the whole scope promising. I will surely read it.

Alternate realities are one of my favorite plot devices, but I really think DC should get the "NEW 52" stuff organized first and THEN have fun with Earth-2 or Earth eleventy-nine or whatever.

@Miss_Garrick said:

Alternate realities are one of my favorite plot devices, but I really think DC should get the "NEW 52" stuff organized first and THEN have fun with Earth-2 or Earth eleventy-nine or whatever.

I totally agree!

I love the multiverse! It's endlessly fascinating! I can't wait to meet the new Crime Syndicate of America! Hope they do a good job with them! But i think they should've waited until everything was a little more settled before throwing MORE new universes at us

I have no problem with Elseworlds but they really should not be crossing over into the main continuity.

gotham by gaslight was the first DC book i ever read, and i absolutely loved it. they should keep them separate. adding them to the new 52 would destroy what they have planned and built over the past year

With the exception of the Earth 2 book, I think a single issue or two featuring a character from a parallel world or something isn't a huge deal. It gives Action Comics specifically a very old school sci-fi feel. Parallel universes happen all the time in Star Trek and it's never a big deal. Just because president Superman shows up in an issue of a comic doesn't mean that the whole universe is instantly unaccessible.

If Earth 2 is about the "sidekicks" (Superboy, Donna Try, Dick Grayson, etc) becoming the main heroes (Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, etc) then they should come up with a better name and advertise that. All this is going to do is confuse new readers and not sell as well because of this. Unless this series is geared toward old fans, then it might work...

The last two times that DC tried this whole mutiverse thing (Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis) it didn't work out so well and this seems more confusing (from a buyers view), if that's possible...

@sethysquare said:

Not another one of these kind of article. It seems entirely unfair that the writer fleshed out all the information about parallel earths and then say explain that to new readers. Its the same as explaining the whole history of Superman, Golden age, crisis, silver age, john bryne - man of steel, birthrights, secret origins then flashpoint and new 52. We were already told its a new earth. Its as simple as Earth 2 - Parallel earth, alternate storyline World's Finest - Huntress and Power Girl from Earth 2, caught in our world. Simple as that. There isn't a need to know Crisis on infinte earth and infinite crisis. Yes Earth 2 was originally a home for Jay, Alan and Ted. Right now its a new earth that will also host these people in a parallel earth. I don't see how hard is it to understand especially when cartoons like JLU and Superman TAS have been broadcasting them to kids younger than 12.

Tabernacle, folk. This really isn't a difficult concept. And if it is then fiction itself just isn't for you as a reader. Seriously Sliders and plenty of other SciFi shows have established this principle in the mainstream and as I already mentioned, it's a staple of fiction. We all saw the numbers the lump sum of DC's "New" readers are returning readers or readers from other companies. Both camps will be familiar with the concept of parallel realities. Also this is really the kind of stuff nerds like us spazz about. I've had to explain comics to non reader friends and while not always easy to do (because of my habit to expound upon minutia) the simple approach works best. Example: "That's not the Batman from the cartoon when we were kids. The Batman in these issues of Detective is Robin. He filled in while Bruce was away for a while." This simple explanation made the story seem easy to dive into. Now imagine if I had brought up Final Crisis, R.I.P,& Battle for the Cowl? I'm willing to bet that most of these brand new readers aren't going to lose their ish over the "-2" on the cover and will just read the comic.

As a vehicle for great story telling, I say please bring on the DC Multiverse.

I hadn't seen that cover before. Their Wonder Woman looks awesome, you can definitely see the connection between Supes' cape and the new Power Girl outfit, and Batman looks like the adult Damian.

Even thousands of heroes in one universe's never enough, but the multiverse....that's another.

Yes. Some of the best stories were elseworlds stories (Kingdom Come, All-Star Superman, Red Son), so I say bring on the multiverse.

I really hope we'll see Wally and Donna on Earth 2 and I'm actually really excited for it! Action Comics #9 looks like it could be really cool as well. I just hope they don't overdo so many Earth where they end up overlapping each other too much cos that's where it gets confusing

Where's Wally West? He's another character missing from the New 52!

@doordoor123 said:

As someone who isn't a new reader, I don't think you have the right to talk about what new readers will and won't understand. They didn't understand the New 52 before picking the books up. I'm sure they'll be fine. It'll be explained in the books and it'll be fine.

Everyone was a new reader once in their lives. How did you figure out who the Justice Society was? DId someone explain Crisis on Infinite Earths to you?

You see what I mean?

I agree with this 100%

It seems that the old readers are more confused than new readers due to all the previous versions of characters they've known. New readers may have no clue about any "Crisis" or what the "real" Earth 2 is suppose to be. It's all about old readers projecting their fears into this new reader surrogate. Most new readers are following the stories they're reading right now. About the article, it seems that people keep confusing the thought of merging timelines with merging universes (Earths). Those are 2 separate concepts like time and space. Timelines are parallel to each other (Hypertime) like Earths are parallel to each other (Multiverse). It's possible that timelines can be mirrored on different Earths. This is possible due to the events of 52. The end of Infinite Crisis created 51 exact duplicates of main Earth. Mr Mind eating chronal energy (time) is what changed them to all being unique.

@JonesDeini said:

@sethysquare said:

Not another one of these kind of article. It seems entirely unfair that the writer fleshed out all the information about parallel earths and then say explain that to new readers. Its the same as explaining the whole history of Superman, Golden age, crisis, silver age, john bryne - man of steel, birthrights, secret origins then flashpoint and new 52. We were already told its a new earth. Its as simple as Earth 2 - Parallel earth, alternate storyline World's Finest - Huntress and Power Girl from Earth 2, caught in our world. Simple as that. There isn't a need to know Crisis on infinte earth and infinite crisis. Yes Earth 2 was originally a home for Jay, Alan and Ted. Right now its a new earth that will also host these people in a parallel earth. I don't see how hard is it to understand especially when cartoons like JLU and Superman TAS have been broadcasting them to kids younger than 12.

Tabernacle, folk. This really isn't a difficult concept. And if it is then fiction itself just isn't for you as a reader. Seriously Sliders and plenty of other SciFi shows have established this principle in the mainstream and as I already mentioned, it's a staple of fiction. We all saw the numbers the lump sum of DC's "New" readers are returning readers or readers from other companies. Both camps will be familiar with the concept of parallel realities. Also this is really the kind of stuff nerds like us spazz about. I've had to explain comics to non reader friends and while not always easy to do (because of my habit to expound upon minutia) the simple approach works best. Example: "That's not the Batman from the cartoon when we were kids. The Batman in these issues of Detective is Robin. He filled in while Bruce was away for a while." This simple explanation made the story seem easy to dive into. Now imagine if I had brought up Final Crisis, R.I.P,& Battle for the Cowl? I'm willing to bet that most of these brand new readers aren't going to lose their ish over the "-2" on the cover and will just read the comic.

I agree with this as well.

This isn't confusing. Unless you're just trying to justify some sort of fanboy negativity for the possibilities that may occur because of a series like this. How's making a book SEPARATE from the new 52 confusing? It's a whole book about another Earth starting at issue 1... To stop confusion maybe people should, oh I don't know, read the damn book! Lol! Were people confused back in the Golden and Silver Age when they did parallel stories? I'm sure they were. But it didn't stop those stories from being uber popularize and famous to this day. Relax people.

I think the concern about new reader confusion is overblown. I can tell you from experience that my first comic book crossover was Infinite Crisis, which is, even the standards of hardcore fans, one of the 'deep-ends' in the proverbial pool of the superhero genre. Remember, there was actually more confusion and consternation in the readership post-Crisis on Infinite Earths (i.e. continuity of Hawkman, Wonder Woman, Donna Troy, Power Girl). It is extremely easier now more than ever, especially in our age of the Internet via Wikipedia or, might I say Comicvine, to compartmentalize and catalog certain characters and concepts to different allocated universes. As long as these ideas are introduced in a fashion that is accessible to the new reader, then we as fans need not worry of confusion. Besides, this is fiction. We throw our suspense of disbelief out the window every week on Wednesday when things like Superman flying through a yellow sun to get his clothes dry cleaned or the Avengers creating a sub-atomic headquarters out of Pym particles orbiting Earth. Throwing a few alternate universes at a new reader is the least of our worries. Personally, the Summers family tree gives me more of a headache than this.

@The Stegman said:

Said it before, and I'll say it again, the multiverse is a horrible and confusing concept that shouldn't exist.

And you would be, undeniably, certifiably, 100% correct.

Give new readers the benefit of the doubt. Parallel worlds is hardly a new or complicated concept.

A Black Superman who is president? what is wrong with this world ... hahaha. sarcasm aside.

Im glad they went this route because it still explores the other things that would have or eventually continued if say the golden age was still running but having the heroes age to a "somewhat" decent age. though i like the direction i think that they could have held off on this for another year or two.

i understood the concept of the dc multverse before i actually read my first comic (which was batman #713 right before the new 52) so "confuse new readers" my arse.. as long as Dc eases into it itll be fine

I am hating. It's what I do. But seriously, Superman, Earth 2 Superman, Power Girl, President Superman, Reverse Superman, Man Super: all of this is hinging on the fact that they MUST be out of novel ideas. Power Girl is female Superman. That's not clever or witty, especially when there are like three others running around. They could save themselves the hassle of writing a sixth person into a Batman cowl by... you know... creating something original.

I feel terribly sorry for DC. In all honesty if we all were sitting in a conference room wondering what to do with this brand. Most of us would  resign, or commit suicide. It is no surprise they chose to take a slash and burn approach with The New 52. It was the only way to save an already sick brand from dying an unceremonious and unjustified, yet partly understandable death. They either had a choice to allow the infection to fester, or they severed the gangrenous limbs and allowed the body, a horribly mistreated body to live. They honestly have no one to blame than themselves, by allowing hack writers free reign to run the gamut of characters into a corner. There was only so much silliness that could go unchecked before the Cancer became terminal, with exception to the Vertigo universe of course, they atleast tried to write good stories there. For the record I am reading Batman: The New 52 and I'm pleasantly surprised it hasn't fallen into the same bear traps they have before, I can't comment about the rest of the New 52, but most may not like The New 52, but this was an absolutely necessary step to cure a brand that had bar none the worst tales in the past 18 years of comics. I wish them all the best with this line, and hope they don't repeat the holocaust of mistakes that brought them here.

"There hasn't been any mention of Donna Troy but it appears she could be on the cover to EARTH TWO #1 (along with Superboy dressed as Superman and Dick Grayson dressed as Batman)."

I'm not a Donna Troy fan so maybe there's some obvious visual cue that I missed but how does it 'appear' that this might be her? And likewise, the assertion that this is Conner and Dick? Is there some other article where that's alluded to? If someone could point me toward a link illuminating the matter I would be eternally (in a temporary sense) grateful. :)

I would love for DC to do more Elseworlds, but I think that they should just keep them at that. Don't let Elseworlds cross over (or atleast not that much) and keep the stories fresh. But President Superman sounds like an awesome idea, didn't Morrison throw that character into Final Crisis?

President Superman for the win, forever and ever...

@EpicMeltDown:

It's mostly speculation, but one of the first things that people noticed about the Earth-2 cover Batman was that he had an escrima stick in his right hand (Dick Grayson's signature weapon) and since Robinson (the writer of Earth-2) has said in the past he prefer Dick as the Batman of Earth-2 , its a pretty safe assumption. The speculation regarding Donna and Conner is sort of based on the assumption that if Dick is Batman then it makes sense that the trinity of Earth-2 are all side-kicks,

Also, Supes looks very young on the cover and not a lot like Clark is usually drawn. While Wonder Woman has really small stars in her hair, around her tiara, which is a quirk that Donna often appeards with.

@Afro_Warrior: Thank you. Now I see it. I think I was so focused on Wonder Woman that I missed the escrima sticks.

I love alternate reality stuff, but it can get out of hand easily. Good writers can weave some amazing stories with the concept, but it just as easy to do the boring "Hey, here's a universe where everything is screwed up because person X moved left instead of right". The later days of "What If?" in its first run ran into this problem. Every issues was the same, usually involving some small turn and then half the Marvel universe would be dead for some reason.

For some reason, I think alot of this confusion that you contend in this article will be made clear when Grant Morrison's "Multiversity" finally comes to print. At this point I don't think it will be too much yet to put forth all this multiversal stuff to readers, especially for new ones to DC, but I do see the potential of it becoming confusing later on if it leads to an infinite multiverse as you suggest. For now we should just comfort ourselves with knowing that Earth One, Earth Two, Wildstormverse and Vertigoverse are the only realities we need to be concerned with in the New 52 come May, even if things like Batman, Inc., the Huntress miniseries, the Shade maxiseries and others are obviously outside that continuity to create more confusion. What I'm most curious of is if Elseworlds will continue then to exist with this new reality..and more importantly, will Hypertime? Food for thought.

@RedheadedAtrocitus: You bring up good points here. Personally I am looking at a lot of this from the perspective of a new reader, would he or she really catch on and get involved with all that is currently happening and has happened? I'd think they may be overwhelmed right now.

Initially I thought the "52" would bring about some cohesion but if that is going to happen, it is taking awhile to get to that point. Granted I only sampled a few new titles but I felt disappointed and a bit out of place, it was just a bit much for me to follow.

Perhaps it will get streamlined but currently it seems like a bit of a muddled mess. Hate to say wait and see but I guess that will be the case but how many readers will be willing to do just that-- wait and see?

Trying to collect any thoughts on this, but the President Superman thing has me side winded. I think I said most of it in the last thread you made about the same things anyways. I agree with anyone saying new readers won't be confused. I still stand that your too focused on the details of continuity prior to DCnU, when the whole point of New 52 was to remove that continuity from the equation so the books would be more adaptable to new readers vs convoluted by decades of details, same as was the intent of Zero Hour before it. Also, and simply, if people can read in the first place that states that they're not so stupid as to not be able to understand what it is that they're reading, especially when they probably read that this line departs from things like silver age continuity and they won't need to apply nor figure out how it adds up, since it actually doesn't. I'm sorry but for example the actions of the Time Trapper from some really old story have no bearing here. That's kind of the entire point.

When DC previously had to deal with multible realities it was maily due to the older omic fans asking for a reason why superman, batman or wonder woman didn't call up their old friends from the JSA to join them in their new team the JLA in the 60's. A simple explanation was put out, the stories that took place during the late 30's to the mid 50's took place on a parallel earth called earth-2. The events that took place from then ords took place on earth-1, where the main universe was. This was simple to understand, it allowed for stories to be taking place on the 2 earths, and fans knew the difference as it stated inside all of the JSA titles that the series took place on earth-2, a parallel earth. People could understnad it.

Then DC strted to purchase other comic companies and tried to keep the characters from thoes companies alive by placing them on other multiple earths, it was a simple thing to do as DC rarely, if not, used these characters so there as little to be confused about, and even if superman had gone and had a team-up with captain marvel it was stated that he was travelling to a parallel earth. Simple to grasp.

What really made the concepts of the multivers confusing was that writers wanted to create their own stories about characters outside of cannon, putting their own spin on their origins (which i guess is fair enough) using the parallel universe concept as a way of allowing them to do it. Hence Elseworld titles, great for most of us as we got some awsum stories out of them, but as well as that we also got some bad titles out of them. Soon elseworld titles were sprouting up everywhere and with no real indication that they were taking place on a parallel earth. Hence Crisis came, and we all know the story from then on.

What im trying to say is that the idea of parallel worlds inst a bad one, so long as their titles are limited, are clearly shown to be taking place on the other earth, be it on the cover of the book e.g. Earth-2 presents:....., or in the case of president superman has the usual text box saying "on the parallel world of earth-?......". But also that DC should have a firmer grip on their writers and their creativity (which might sound strange and wrong, killing creativity) as it might be fun having a book where flash is actualy a lumberjack who juggles sharks, but it then opens the flood gates which will result in another kind of "crisis on multiple earths" to clear it up.............. It also doesnt help that dc decided to keep the Pandora character, as it seems that she'll just be used as some sort of deusexmahina to trigger the next big event when istead of tidying up their universe DC decides to shake it up and hope that everything falls into place.