The Charlton Universe, aka Earth-4, was a superhero universe originally from Charlton Comics. It was acquired by DC, and the original version was destroyed in 1986, in Crisis on Infinite Earths.
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Charlton Universe
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Publisher
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Charlton Comics, Americomics, DC Comics
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Notable Characters
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Captain Atom (Allen Adam), Sarge Steel, Judomaster (Rip Jagger), Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett), Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), Thunderbolt, Peacemaker, Nightshade (Eve Eden), The Question (Vic Sage)
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First Appearance
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Yellowjacket Comics #1 (September, 1944) [first Charlton superhero comic], Space Adventures #33 (March 1960) [first appearance of an Earth-4 character]
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Aliases
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Earth-Four, Earth-4
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Publishing History[]
The Charlton Universe took some time to come together. The earliest Charlton heroes like Yellowjacket and Nature Boy, or the Golden Age Blue Beetle (acquired from Fox Comics), were isolated and never crossed over, and they were not acquired by DC. The first and most successful Earth-4 superhero was Captain Atom, who came out in 1960.
1964 to the end of 1967 was the main period for Charlton Superheroes. Sarge Steel, as well as a new Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett) were introduced in 1964, and Son of Vulcan and Judomaster the next year. In 1966, a new line of 'Action Heroes' was launched by editor Dick Giordano and artist Steve Ditko, introducing Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), The Question, Nightshade, Peacemaker, and Thunderbolt. But this effort flopped, and even Captain Atom ended at the end of 1967. The Blue Beetle and The Question managed to last into 1968. Except for Captain Atom and Nightshade, and the 2 Blue Beetles, these heroes did not cross-over.
The Charlton superheroes made a few appearances in the 1975-1976 'official fanzine' Charlton Bullseye, and the 1981-1982 anthology Charlton Bullseye. In 1983 Americomics produced an issue with the only known Earth-4 team, the Sentinels of Justice, which they published after the Charlton Bullseye was cancelled.
In 1983, DC acquired most of the Charlton super-heroes. Eventually, they appeared in the Pre-Crisis DC Multiverse in the 1985-1986 Crisis on Infinite Earths event, as coming from Earth-4. This event finished defining the membership of Earth-4, and also destroyed it.
Legacy[]
After the post-crisis reboot, the Charlton characters were always part of the DCU. Some of them were revamped quite heavily. But writers never forgot their origin, which is why they were sometimes teamed together.
The series Watchmen was originally planned to use the Charlton characters, before it was decided to revamp them into separate characters.
After Infinite Crisis, when DC re-introduced a multiverse, it included an Earth-4, but this only had a few cameos. In Countdown: Arena, the Captain Atom of this earth is killed.
In the Final Crisis event, a new Earth-4 Captain Atom, who was heavily influenced by Doctor Manhattan, made a number of appearances.
Following the launch of the New 52, the Multiversity officially defined a new Earth-4 that was something of a hybrid between the original Charlton Universe, and the Watchmen Universe, and included a story, Pax Americana. The Captain Atom who appeared in Final Crisis appears to come from this reality.
The Convergence event in 2015 (featuring cities taken from many no-longer existing realities) included a 2 part story (Convergence: Blue Beetle) set in a Hub City taken from Pre-Crisis Earth-4.
Notable Characters[]
Captain Atom (Allen Adam) - Captain Atom is a powerful superhuman gifted with atomic powers from a nuclear accident that include superhuman speed and strength.
The Question (Vic Sage)- A crime fighting detective, the Question has objectivist views about the nature of good and evil and wears a mask that looks like a blank face.
Peacemaker (Christopher Smith) - A fierce masked espionage agent who, contradictorily, wages war in the name of peace.
Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett) - Charlton originally published reprints and a few new stories about the Golden Age Blue Beetle from Fox Comics, but in 1964, produced a rebooted and retooled Blue Beetle powered by a mystic scarab.
Blue Beetle (Ted Kord) - Replacing Dan Garrett in 1967, this non-powered character relied on gadgets.
Nightshade (Eve Eden) - The daughter of a princess from the Realm of Nightshades, she has some limited teleportation and shadow powers.
Judomaster (Rip Jagger) - A WW II hero who was a master hand to hand combatant. He also had a kid sidekick called Tiger.
Thunderbolt (Peter Cannon) - Raised by Himalayan Monks, he was able to achieve 'physical and mental perfection'. He is also a creator-owned character. DC acquired the license with the cooperation of the owner Pete Morisi, but later let it lapse.
Sarge Steel - A detective and CIA agent with a steel hand. Not really a superhero.
Son of Vulcan (Johnny Mann) - A young and physically weak reporter, empowered by the Roman God Vulcan (Greek style), so he can transform into a sort of super-powered centurion.