DC Main Continuity Timeline

This timeline page is made with the purpose to catalog the main continuity timeline of the DC Universe. This page will focus only on the main timeline, and not the DCAU, other DC adaptations or Extended Universe Timelines, and no Elseworld stories or Vertigo stories will be included either due to them taking place in different universes. This timeline may be inaccurate, meaning that anyone may add anything they want, as long as it is officially DC, and part of the official DC Universe main timeline. Plus, make sure the content fits within the age that the comic was published in.

Dawn of Time

In the beginning, there was nothing but The Source, from which sprung forth an explosion of incalculable energies that heralded the Dawn of Time. Manipulating this newborn multiverse was Perpetua, who entrusted its three realms of matter, anti-matter and dark matter to her sons. As the cosmos slowly expanded and gave rise to stars and planets, the hand of Destiny, first of The Endless, recorded all that transpired in his book.
Rallying a third of the Angels to his side, Lucifer the Morningstar began a War in Heaven against his brother, the Archangel Michael, who defeated Lucifer's forces and cast them down into Hell, where they were reborn as demons. One of the fallen angels begged forgiveness and was transformed by Michael into the Wrath of God, the instrument of divine vengeance. Another angel, who refused to fight for either side, was cast out by Heaven and Hell, condemned to walk Earth alone for the rest of eternity, a stranger to all.
Elsewhere, while the War in Heaven was raging, two warring factions of immortals, The Lords of Order and Chaos, began their cosmic struggle for dominance.

5,000,000,000 years ago

On the densely populated planet of Maltus, a blue-skinned race eventually achieved immortality and abandoned their birth-world to live on the planet Oa, an ancient world rumored to be the center of the universe. There, one of their greatest scientists, Krona, attempted to unlock the secrets of the beginnings of all existence. Instead, his experiment unleashed an enigmatic Earthman from another universe named Volthoom, who taught the Oans to harness the power of the Emotional Spectrum. Created by all sentient life, this energy was personified by the green willpower of Ion, the yellow fear of Parallax, the red rage of The Butcher, the blue hope of Adara, the orange greed of Ophidian, the indigo compassion of Proselyte and the violet love of The Predator.
However, Volthoom’s insanity wreaked chaos, so the Oans took it upon themselves to become the Guardians of the Universe. After sealing the wild chaotic magic of the universe within the Starheart, the Oans constructed an android army known as The Manhunters to establish order across the cosmos. When their robotic servants malfunctioned and massacred virtually all of Space Sector 666, the Guardians decommissioned The Manhunters, although many fled to operate from the shadows on other worlds to fulfill their oath "No Man Escapes The Manhunters!" Believing that sentient life would make for a more effective police force, the Guardians formed the Green Lantern Corps, empowered with rings fueled by a Central Power Battery on Oa that channeled the green light of will from all life in the cosmos. The Guardians also imprisoned the fear parasite, Parallax, within the Central Power Battery, creating a weakness to yellow within all their power rings. As millennia past, the true nature of the Yellow Impurity was kept secret by the Guardians in order to prevent any from unleashing Parallax upon the cosmos once again.
There came a time when the Old Gods died. The brave died with the cunning. The noble perished, locked in battle with unleashed evil. It was the last day for them. An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust. From the blinding death-flash of their destruction, two molten bodies began to form. One world, suffused with the cunning and evil of these primordial beings, became Apokolips, forever spinning in the shadow of New Genesis, bathed in the bravery and nobility of their forerunners.
1,000,000 B.C. - Tor, a lone prehistoric warrior, is born. He gets his pet gibbon caden, and the events of 1,000,000 Years Ago!/3-D Comics/Tor (1954), Alter Ego #10, Tor #1, and Tor (1974-1975) take place.
Ancient Egypt - Prince Khufu is engaged in a feud with his rival, the Egyptian priest Hath-Set. The priest eventually captures both Khufu and his consort Chay-Ara, and kills them. But, Khufu vows that he will find Hath-Set when they are both reincarnated, and kill him.
Thousands of Years Ago - A mystical "green flame" fell to Earth in ancient China as a meteor. A voice in the flame predicted that it would act three times: once to bring death, once to bring life, and once to bring power. For the first prophecy, a lamp-maker crafted the metal of the green meteor into a lamp. In fear and punishment for what they thought was sacrilege, the local villagers killed him, only to be destroyed by a sudden burst of green flame.
3000 Years Ago - The mighty wizard and former citizen of the Middle Eastern kingdom of Kandak and member of the Council of Eternity known as Shazam, known in the New 52 as Mamaragan, begins his battle against the forces of evil alongside the council until most of the council, save for Shazam, was killed by Black Adam.
3000 Years Ago - The Amazons of Paradise Island, later known as Themyscira, begin living on their home land in the Bermuda Triangle. This island would become the birthplace of Wonder Woman.
19th Century - In All-Star Western Vol. 2 #3, Lazarus Lane, a bank teller in the American Old West, gets struck by lightning, after getting assaulted by a gang of thieves, and falls into a coma. He is revived by a Native American Shaman named Wise Owl, and becomes the vigilante known as El Diablo (Spanish for "the Devil"). According to Jonah Hex Vol. 2 #11 and #24, Lazarus Lane is cursed to be the host of a minor demon that acts as a Spirit of Vengeance. This means that while Lane's body lies in a coma, El Diablo roams the earth. His fate is similar to that of Jill Carlyle, the current incarnation of the Crimson Avenger.
May in the 19th Century - Ohiyesa Smith, later known as Pow Wow Smith, is born, though no exact date is given. Ohiyesa is a Sioux Indian, who left his home in Red Deer Valley to learn more about white man's world. His tracking and expert gun skills won him employment as a deputy sheriff, and eventually the job of sheriff of Elkhorn. Ohiyesa took up a deputy named Hank Brown. Once sheriff, Pow Wow spent most of his time in Elkhorn, only rarely returning to Red Deer Valley. For most of his adventures, Pow Wow's girlfriend (and later fiancee) was the Native American maiden Fleetfoot, daughter of Chief Thundercloud. She often aided Pow Wow in his adventures.
1838 - Jonah Hex is born to Woodson and Virginia Hex.
19th Century - In All-Star Western Vol. 2 #9 and #10, Bat Lash's family is robbed and eventually his mom and dad were killed by a conman named Rickett when Bat Lash was 18. And thus, Bat Lash sent his sister and girlfriend Bitsy to a convent, and he set out to find and kill the man responsible. Eventually he did, and Rickett's entire gang before him, and set out on more adventures across the West.
1851 - In Jonah Hex #8 (and Jonah Hex #14 in the New Earth Universe) at the age of 13, after being raised by his alcoholic father, Woodson Hex, and going through regular physical abuse, Jonah Hex was sold into slavery with an Apache tribe. They worked him constantly, until one day (two years later in 1853 in the New Earth Universe) when he saved the chief from a puma attack, making him an honorary member of the tribe. The chief took Jonah in as his own son, but this made his adopted brother, Noh-Tante, jealous. Noh-Tante also shared Jonah's affections for a young tribe girl named White Fawn.
1854 - During their manhood rite when he was at the age of 16, Noh-Tante betrayed Jonah and left him for dead with the tribe's enemies, the Kiowa. He was rescued by a Cavalry patrol, though he was shot in the gut when he tried to stop the slaughter. Left for dead for a second time, an old trapper in the woods nursed him back to health. Returning to his tribe's camp site, he found that they had broken camp and left. As Jonah grew into adulthood, he joined the United States Army as a cavalry scout.
1861 - By 1861, the country was radically divided on the issues of slavery. When war erupted between the northern and southern states, Jonah shifted his loyalties to the newly formed Confederate States Army and earned a commission as a lieutenant in the 4th US Cavalry. During this time, Jonah met a fellow soldier named Jeb Turnbull, and the two became close friends. However, as time went on, Jonah found himself torn between his loyalty to the South, and his feelings towards the treatment of slaves.
December, 1862 - Jonah realized that he could no longer support a system that elected to hold his fellow man in bondage; however he had no intention of betraying his comrades by cooperating with the Union. Therefore, he felt that the best option was to surrender and wait out the war. In Jonah Hex #36, Jonah abandoned his post and went to the Union camp at Fort Charlotte, sneaking into the camp's captain's quarters to surrender directly. The captain pressured Hex to reveal the location of his Confederate unit, but Jonah refused. However, an orderly examined the samples of clay from the iron shoes on Hex's horse and successfully determined where the Confederate soldiers were stationed. The Union soldiers tracked the enemy back to their camp and took them by surprise. As the Confederate soldiers were arrested, the Union captain, smarting from the fact that Hex was able to penetrate the fort's security, publicly thanked Jonah for his assistance, marking him as a traitor in the eyes of his former unit. Hex responded by brutally punching him and was sentenced to solitary confinement. However, Jonah found a shaft beneath his cell and used it to access the compound where Jeb Turnbull and the other prisoners were being held and aided them in their escape, but the fort's soldiers were prepared for them. Unbeknownst to Hex, however, the captain deliberately had the "escape tunnel" dug. The fort didn't have enough food to support the troops, let alone the prisoners, so he had manipulated Hex into staging a breakout so that he could legitimately claim that the prisoners were shot while trying to escape.
January 1st, 1863 - On January 1st, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation, a proposed bill that would outlaw slavery in most slave-holding states.
January, 1863 - During the event that history would remember as The Fort Charlotte Massacre, the Union soldiers shot down nearly every escapee in cold blood, including Jeb Turnbull. Jonah found himself a victim of a Union bullet as well, but he managed to survive long enough to kill the camp's captain. The handful of survivors, unaware of the captain's treachery, blamed Jonah and spread the word about his apparent betrayal. Following the Fort Charlotte Massacre, Jonah patched himself up and moved out toward the western territories.
1866 - In Jonah Hex #8, eventually returning to his village in 1866, Jonah found that Noh-Tante had since married White Fawn. He declared Noh-Tante's betrayal to the chief, but the accusations were denied and it was decided that they would deliberate through a trial by combat. However, Noh-Tante sabotaged Jonah's tomahawk, forcing him to cheat and end the fight with his knife. For breaking the rules and killing his son, the chief declared that Jonah would be branded with the mark of the demon and exiled under the death penalty. Years later, when he returned again to rescue a kidnapped white woman, he was captured and White Fawn was shot dead by the chief for trying to help him escape. Jonah killed his adopted father in return, and gunned down half the tribe who went after him with the help of Henri' d'Aubergnon. Soon, in Secret Origins Vol. 2 #21, Jonah became a bounty hunter after murdering his first criminal, Lucas "Mad Dog" McGill. He gunned down McGill outside a saloon when he saw him beating on his wife. In his inebriated state, Hex believed him to be his father, Woodson, abusing his mother, Virginia. The local deputy insisted that, even drunk, it was the fastest draw he ever saw and gave him the massive bounty on McGill's head. Hex accepted the money, and spread it out into the streets as he rode out of town. In Jonah Hex #30, he got his first bounty, and it was on an old army buddy named Eddie Cantwell. In Jonah Hex #31, the man-hunter, Arbee Stoneham stole Hex's reward by murdering Cantwell and then humiliated him by taking his guns
1872 - In Swamp Thing Vol. 2 #85, El Diablo is revealed to be Wise Owl's unwilling servant, so a number of DC's Western Heroes, including Diablo, Jonah Hex, Bat Lash, and Madame .44, along with Johnny Thunder, were employed by Otto Von Hammer and Jason Blood (aka Etrigan) to defeat Wise Owl and retrieve an object of great power. It was actually a crystal that contained the spirit of Swamp Thing, who had become lost in time. When Wise Owl was killed by the group, Lazarus woke up from his comatose state, and El Diablo vanished forever.
1874 - Eight years after being humiliated, in Jonah Hex #32, Jonah Hex and Arbee Stoneham met again while Hex was bringing down the James Crowley Gang, and he intended to take revenge on Stoneham, but found him wheelchair-ridden. So the two men went out for a drink instead.
Weird Western Tales - In Weird Western Tales Vol. 2 #12, Jonah received a wolf named Iron Jaws when he tried to rescue a peaceful Pawnee tribe from their local town, and failed to save the girl who previously owned him. In Weird Western Tales Vol. 2 #13, Jonah's former mentor, Windy Taylor, calls him and asks him to help find his outlaw son, Tod Taylor. However, Tod shoots down his father and Hex avenges the man who taught him everything he knew. In Weird Western Tales Vol 2 #14, Iron Jaws died after venturing deep into the deserts to rescue Hex from exposure to the sun where two outlaws tied him up. In Weird Western Tales Vol. 2 #16, Hex took down a corrupt sheriff who was scamming his town, and in #17, he took down a corrupt hanging judge. In Weird Western Tales Vol. 2 #18, Hex was a brief bodyguard to a sideshow attraction whose owner he murdered after the man tried to frame him for a heinous crime. In Weird Western Tales Vol. 2 #19, Jonah found an escaped psychopath on the run and got his next bounty on the Gentleman Killer. In Weird Western Tales Vol. 2 #20, Fort Lang was attacked by Indians, and Hex uncovered a railway conspiracy to drive them off their land. In Weird Western Tales Vol. 2 #21, some bandits Jonah was hunting down injured an old lady who had shown him kindness, so he funded a children's hospital to make sure she got the medicine she needed before chasing down and slaughtering the bandits. In Weird Western Tales Vol. 2 #22, while tracking down Blackjack Jorgis, Hex was ambushed by ex-Confederate soldiers sent by Quentin Turnbull. During the gunfight, his mentor Hank Brewster died and his horse, General, was killed by stray bullets. In Weird Western Tales Vol. 2 #23, Hex was briefly hired by the U.S. Secret Service in order to topple an assassination conspiracy against President Ulysses S. Grant. In Weird Western Tales Vol. 2 #24, an injury temporarily blinded Hex, but he took out an entire gang without his sight. In Weird Western Tales Vol. 2 #25, Hex fought corrupt army officials when he took down a greedy landowner who robbing pioneers and letting them die. In Weird Western Tales Vol. 2 #29-#30, Jonah had to face his past and confront Mr. Turnbull, who had a son named Jeb he was friends with during the Civil War, but ended up getting shot during the Fort Charlotte Massacre. As a result, Mr. Turnbull captured Jonah and put him on trial for what he thought was his crime of treason to the Confederacy. However, Jonah managed to escape his fate of death, as per the verdict, and fought Mr. Turnbull. However, Mr. Turnbull tripped and landed on a pitchfork that Jonah tossed aside after using it to disarm him and refusing to kill him with it. However, in Jonah Hex #4, it is revealed that Mr. Turnbull survived his encounter with Hex and revealed that he hired a government agent to have Hex framed for murdering three people (in Jonah Hex #2) and then, as further evidence against him, hired a former actor named The Chameleon to pose as Jonah and frame him for a stage coach robbery. However, Jonah saved himself and a young woman hired to help The Chameleon from burning to death in a house fire that Chameleon started. But the flames destroyed more than just the house, they also ruined Chameleon's face, and caused him to hunt Hex down to get his revenge.
1892 - Thaddeus Bodog Sivana, later known as Doctor Sivana, is born.
1903 - In the endless reaches of the universe, there was once a planet called Krypton, a world with people who had a far greater intelligence than humans. However, the leading scientist, Jor-El, realized that the planet was about to be destroyed by massive quakes. Ultimately, Jor-El and his wife Lara placed their infant child, Kal-El, into a rocket ship and sent him to a planet that Jor-El had been studying, Earth. The rocket and it's burden, Krypton's sole survivor, sped away from the dying planet as it exploded.
1904 - Jonah Hex was a bounty hunter until the age of 66 in 1904, in DC Special Series #16, when he was married to a Native American woman named Tall Bird. His life story was documented by Michael Wheeler. The entertainer L.B. Farnham approached him to become part of a Wild West Revue show in his old age, but Hex angrily refused to let them turn him into a sideshow. Hex's last bounty was a gang run by bank robber George Barrow; he succeeded in wiping them out, but Barrow returned for revenge several days later. While playing cards in a Cheyenne saloon, Hex was murdered with Barrow's double-barreled shotgun while fumbling to put on his spectacles. His death was immediately avenged by the lawman Hank Crawford who gunned down the unarmed Barrow in cold blood. In his dying moments in Jonah Hex Vol. 3 #70, Hex hallucinated and reflected on the life he lived. Tall Bird and Wheeler, in DC Special Series #16, attempted to give Jonah a proper Native American burial, but they were robbed at gunpoint by Farnham and an accomplice. Farnham had Wheeler shot and the widow left unconscious to die in a house fire while he stole Hex's corpse for his Wild West Revue. Jonah was taxidermized to be put on display permanently in a gaudy outfit, although the two evil men met their ends through the "accidental" discharge (at point-blank range) of Jonah's hair-trigger guns. Hex's body was thereafter transported from location to location. His final resting place was as a dummy at a Westworld theme park.
1906 - The rocket ship carrying young Kal-El (soon to be known as Superman) lands in the area of Smallville, where a passing couple find the uninjured child and take him to an orphanage. However, the people at the orphanage discovered the baby had Super Strength and, according to Superman #53, had the ability of flight. So, they called the couple that found him, Jonathan and Martha Kent, who agreed to adopt the child. In Superman #146, Mrs. Kent decided to give him her maiden name for his first name, thus officially naming him Clark Kent.
1914 - Bruce Wayne is born to Thomas and Martha Wayne.
World War 1 - During the First World War, one pilot stood out from all the others, he was a German pilot known as Rittmeister Hans von Hammer, also known as "The Hammer of Hell", and more commonly known as Enemy Ace. During his time in the Great War, Hans showed honor and chivalry by not shooting down helpless pilots. However, he occasionally found himself at odds with another pilot from France known as The Hangman. Then, in Booster Gold Vol. 2 #16, when Booster Gold gets thrown back in time, von Hammer helps him, along with Cyrus Lord, the ancestor of Maxwell Lord, escape their captivity.
1914 - At the age of 8, in The New Adventures of Superboy #1, Clark Kent gets his soon-to-be signature costume from the rocket ship that brought him to earth. And so, he begins his career as Superboy. At the same time, he learned of his Kryptonian origin and several weeks later, in The New Adventures of Superboy #12, he gives Perry White the exclusive story about his alien background. Soon enough, he becomes famous for his national and global hero work, eventually, in The New Adventures of Superboy #23, setting up an emergency-signal system with both Chief Parker of the Smallville Police, and the President of the United States. As Superboy, Kal-El became known as the world's first superhero, except for appearances by Aquaboy and the Japanese hero Sunburst in The New Adventures of Superboy #45-#47. Despite the appearances of other superheroes, Superboy was the only one who had a well-known public profile until after be became Superman. His solitary status was reduced somewhat when, in Adventure Comics #210, he was reunited with his pet dog from his infancy on Krypton, Krypto. Krypto would join Superboy on many of his adventures as his canine partner, and also have many adventures of his own. Then, in Adventure Comics #283, through his discovery of the Phantom Zone, Superboy found out that he was not the lone humanoid survivor of Krypton's destruction. Though Superboy encountered few super-powered peers on Earth, he occasionally befriended teens living on other worlds that had superpowers. It wasn't until, in Adventure Comics #247, when Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad arrived in the past from the 30th century to recruit him into the Legion of Super-Heroes did Superboy find a group of super-powered friends with whom he'd regularly interact with. In fact, Superboy's career was the inspiration for the formation of the Legion. Not long after joining the Legion, in Adventure Comics #271, Superboy's life was threatened when a Green Kryptonite meteor fell to earth, but his life was saved by a Smallville farm boy named Lex Luthor, who also happened to be a science prodigy. The two became fast friends, and Superboy built Luthor a fully stocked laboratory to allow him to conduct his experiments. Lex used the lab to search for a cure to Superboy's weakness to Kryptonite. But just after Lex discovered the cure, he accidentally causes a fire. When Superboy puts out the fire, the antidote is destroyed along with a protoplasmic life form that Lex created, and Lex loses all of his hair. Lex blames Superboy for destroying his experiments and his hair loss, accusing The Boy of Steel of being jealous of him and his brilliance. Lex swore that he would prove to the world that he was superior to Superboy, and tried to do so by implementing a series of scientific quality-of-life improvements for Smallville's residents. However, each invention ended up backfiring, requiring Superboy to intervene. This series of setbacks caused Lex to dedicate his life to destroying Superboy, and later Superman.
Saturday, July 7th, 1917 - At 7 a.m., in Flash Comics #8, John L. Thunder is born, but then gets kidnapped and sold to a group of men from the country of Badhnesia who were looking for someone born on that day.
1919-? - During his teenage years, Superboy traveled to the future under his own power to join the Legion in fighting threats to Earth and the United Planets, to which Earth belongs. Superboy eventually became a core member of the Legion during two extended, full membership stints, including two terms as Deputy Leader. Through the Legion, Superboy also regularly met with his cousin Kara, aka Supergirl, but because of telepathic hypnotism employed by Saturn Girl, Superboy never remembers Kara, or any other information regarding his future career as Superman or the future of his family and friends, when he returns to the 20th century. One of the youths who became a member of the Legion is Lar Grand, a teenager who Superboy first met when he crash landed in the 20th century. The teenager, who has powers identical to Superboy, initially had amnesia, but because he carried a message from Jor-El, Superboy believed him to be his big brother and dubbed him, Mon-El. Around the same time as Mon-El arrived on Earth, in Superboy #86, a boy named Pete Ross moved to Smallville. He quickly befriended Clark Kent, and the two boys became best friends. One night, on a camping trip, in Superboy #90, Pete accidentally spots Clark changing into his Superboy costume. Vowing to keep Superboy's identity a secret, Pete used his knowledge to aid Superboy and, on several occasions, save his life. Through the rest of his years in high school, Pete and Lana Lang remain Clark's closest friends, and also share numerous adventures with Superboy in both the 20th century, and the 30th. Then, one day, after being exposed to lead, Mon-El regains his memory and reveals to Superboy his real name and that he is actually a Daxamite. He also says that to a Daxamite, lead is more deadly than Kryptonite to a Kryptonian. In Superboy #89, Superboy had no choice but to project Mon-El into the Phantom Zone in order to save his life. Mon-El would linger in the Phantom Zone for a millennium until he was freed by the Legion in Adventure Comics #300 and #304. In the Legion, the two teens would remain close friends.
1920s - Shortly after graduating high school, Superboy took his adoptive parents on a vacation to the Caribbean, where they contracted a rare tropical disease. Though Superboy valiantly tries to save them, nothing can cure them. And so, with Clark at her side, Martha dies. And with his adoptive father on his death bed, Clark promises to use his powers for good. In mourning, Clark buries both of his parents in Superman #161. Shortly afterwards, Superboy throws a huge farewell party for the people of Smallville and departs. Separately, in Superman #362, Clark departs for Metropolis to attend Metropolis University. In Metropolis, Clark readily befriends the students who share his dorm suite, Tommy Lee, Dave Hammond, and the alcoholic Ducky Ginsberg. In Superman #365, Superboy reveals himself as the new guardian of Metropolis, ending a national guessing game about which city Superboy would call his new home. For Clark's first two years at Metropolis University, Lana was also a classmate, until being transferred to Hudson University. In his Junior year, in Superman: The Secret Years #1, Superboy felt helpless once again after not being present to save Ducky from an automobile accident caused by his own drunk driving. Ducky was paralyzed and bound to a wheelchair for life. Soon, his place in the dorm was taken by Billy Kramer, a Smallville boy whom Clark befriends and decides to trust with his secret identity. Much like he would do with Jimmy Olsen years later as Superman, Superboy gives Billy a supersonic whistle that he can use to call him for help if he should ever need it. While befriending Billy, Clark became romantically involved with a wheelchair-bound student named Lori Lemaris. He eventually proposes to her in Superman #129 and Superman: The Secret Years #2 & #3, but Lori revealed that she already knew his secret identity thanks to her Telepathy. She ultimately rejects his proposal because she reveals that she is a mermaid from Atlantis. In Superman: The Secret Years #4, Billy was trapped in a burning building while trying to save someone's life and used his supersonic whistle to call Superboy, but he was, unfortunately, preoccupied with saving a thousand people on a Pacific island from a tsunami, and was unable to reach him in time. Upset by his inability to save his parents and his friends, Superboy exiles himself until, three months later, Perry White, using Billy's whistle, calls him back into action to battle Lex Luthor. After defeating Luthor, Clark made peace with his limitations and returned to Metropolis for his final year of college.
June or September 26th, 1922 - In Detective Comics #33, 8 year old Bruce Wayne witnesses the death of his parents in Crime Alley. Afterwards, he swears that he will spend the rest of his life to avenge his parents' death by waging war on all criminals in Gotham City.
1924-? - In the same comic book that featured his kidnapping as a baby, Johnny is given the genie-like Thunderbolt named Yz as part of a mystic ritual on his seventh birthday. This ritual was intended so the Badhnesians to use Johnny to rule over the world. But, in Flash Comics #1, the plan was aborted when a neighboring country attacks. Johnny would eventually return to the United States and live a normal life with a job as a window washer, until one day when he summons the Thunderbolt with the magic words "cei-u" (pronounced "say you") when asking someone for a sponge. Johnny then used this power, completely by accident, to help him become a successful boxer. It wasn't until Flash Comics #2 that he learned of Thunderbolt's existence. Soon, in Flash Comics #21, Johnny adopted an orphan named Peachy Pet, and later joined the United States Navy for a brief time and even joined forces with the Justice Society of America.
1927 - At the age of 21, in Superman: The Secret Years #4, after graduating from college, Kal-El changes his superhero name from Superboy, which he was known as for 13 years, to Superman.
1927 - At the age of 13, Bruce Wayne begins his training in preparation for his war on the Gotham criminal underworld.
1927 - In the Guns of the Dragon mini-series, von Hammer was in China, where he met and teamed up with an elderly Bat Lash and Biff Bradley, the brother of Slam Bradley, against Miss Fear and Vandal Savage on an adventure to Dinosaur Island.
1930 - William Joseph "Billy" Batson and Mary Batson are born. Their parents' identity remain unknown. at six months old, however, their parents would die and the twins would be separated. Billy would be sent to live with his uncle Ebeneezer, and Mary would be adopted by the Bromfields and be renamed Mary Bromfield. But as for Billy, his uncle would kick him out and steal his inheritance, forcing Billy to live in the subway station of Fawcett City and survive by selling newspapers.
1930s - Clark Savage Jr., better known as Doc Savage, begins his adventures with his aides, The Fabulous Five; Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Blodgett "Monk" Mayfair, Brigadier General Theodore Marley "Ham" Brooks, Colonel John "Renny" Renwick, Major Thomas J. "Long Tom" Roberts, and William Harper "Johnny" Littlejohn.
1931 - Dick Grayson (soon to be known as Robin) is born to John and Mary Grayson, a circus duo known as The Flying Graysons.

Golden Age

1938 - In Flash Comics #1, Jason Peter Garrick, a student at Midwestern University in Keystone City, accidentally inhales heavy water vapors while taking a break in the lab where he was working when he leaned against a chemical flask and caused the beakers to crash on the floor. Jay was soon found and rushed to the hospital. Weeks later, he woke up to realize that he had developed a strong appetite, a rapid metabolism, and enhanced reflexes. Jay's doctor speculated that the accident made him the fastest man alive. Jay later showed his new Super-Speed to his sweetheart, Joan Williams, and she suggested that he use his new super power to help the college football team. Jay did so, and became the school hero. However, Joan became the target of a drive-by assassination, but Jay saved her. Joan then explained that it was probably part of a scheme on the part of a group of men known as The Faultless Four to make Joan's father, whom they kidnapped, to reveal the location of a secret atomic research base. Jay then decided to take up a costumed identity modeled after Mercury, which included attaching wings on his shoes and his father's World War 1 helmet and wearing a red pullover, inspired by his school football uniform, with a lightning bot across the chest. However, instead of wearing a mask like other superheroes he read about, Jay decided to vibrate his face fast enough for no one to recognize him. And so, The Flash was born. Using his super-speed, Flash saved Joan's father and, haphazardly, causes the Faultless Four's deaths when they drove off the side of the road and into a canyon while trying to get away. From then on, Jay Garrick was the sworn protector of Keystone as The Flash.
1938-1939 - Clark Kent gets a job at the Metropolis newspaper, the Daily Planet (known in the comics at that point as the Daily Star), makes a new name for himself as Superman, and meets one of his first villains in Action Comics #13, Ultra-Humanite. However, at that time, Ultra-Humanite was just a crippled mad scientist who sought to conquer the entire world. Superman first learned about Ultra-Humanite when stopping an underworld organization known as the Cab Protective League, which was led by a racketeer named Jackie Reynolds and was trying to seize control of the lucrative taxi trade in Metropolis. The union, financed by Ultra-Humanite, intimidated other cab drivers through violence and threats against passengers. Once apprehended, Reynolds was convicted and sentenced to Sing Sing Penitentiary. However, he escaped by use of a cigarette that emitted a "mysterious gas" that knocked rendered the guards outside his cell unconscious. Superman tracked him down to a secluded cabin hideout, but before he could take him back to Sing Sing, he spotted a second figure. A "paralyzed cripple" whose "fiery eyes... burn with a terrible hatred and sinister intelligence": the Ultra-Humanite. Ultra knocked the Man of Steel unconscious with enough electricity "to kill five hundred men," and he and Reynolds proceeded to kill him by putting him with a buzz saw. However, Superman's skin showed that he had Invulnerability because the saw blade was obliterated when it made contact with him. Ultra and his minions proceeded to set the cabin on fire and leave Superman to perish. While Ultra-Humanite was carried outside to a waiting aircraft, Superman regained consciousness and deliberately crashed the plane. However, Ultra's body was nowhere to be found. Superman would clash with Ultra again in Action Comics #14, when, after scores of subway riders get injured in the collapse of a subway tunnel, Superman discovers that Star Inc., the firm that built the tunnel, defrauded the city by using substandard materials. Superman pursued some of the criminals, and they lead him to the Ultra-Humanite. However, as Superman tries to barge in and apprehend Ultra, the villain freezes him in a block of crystal, but Superman was able to escape and stop Ultra's plans. This wouldn't be the last time Superman would battle against Ultra, because in Action Comics #15, Superman foiled his plan to extort millions of dollars from a cruiseline, but Ultra managed to escape thanks to a hologram. In Action Comics #19, a mysterious epidemic swept through Metropolis, killing hundreds. A young scientist named Professor Henry Travers concocted an antidote, but Ultra captured him, prompting Superman to come to the rescue. Ultra's henchmen fired an unknown ray and Superman and knocked him unconscious. Ultra tried to hypnotize him with a mind control helmet, and sent him with his henchmen to spread the plague but Superman faked being under the helmet's powers and destroyed the "fantastic airship of Ultra's creation" that was spreading its "cargo of Purple death". Superman returned to Ultra's stronghold where the villain is ready to blast him, but Superman places him in front of the gun, killing Ultra-Humanite. In Action Comics #20, however, Superman learned that Ultra's assistant temporarily revivied him "via adrenaline". Ultra then ordered his henchmen to kidnap actress Dolores Winters in order to transplant his brain into her body. As Dolores, Ultra announced her retirement from acting and throws retirement party aboard her yacht, "The Sea-Serpent". When the party is in full swing and the yacht moves out to sea, her henchmen hold the guests at gunpoint. She announces via the ship's radio that she demands a $5 million dollar ransom in exchange for the release of the captives. Dolores also reveals that she has placed helmets on the guests that were wired to a control board so that she can electrocute them if her demands aren't met. Despite getting the ransom, she decides to kill the hostages anyway. Superman thwarts that idea by throwing a huge stalagmite into the switch board, breaking the electrical connection. When Superman tries to capture her, she waves a lighted torch in front of the hostages, and Superman realizes that it's really Ultra-Humanite in the body of a woman. Superman extinguishes the torch, but Ultra dives into the water and makes her escape.
1939 - At the age of 25, Bruce Wayne completes his mental and physical training and is ready to begin his war on crime, but realizes that he'll need a disguise. Then, a bat flies in through the window, inspiring Bruce to make that his costume. The first case that Bruce/Batman takes on is a murder chain that involves partners with a chemical plant owner. Soon, Batman had more crimes to solve. Including everything from jewelry thieves and meeting his first super villain, Doctor Death. Batman first crossed paths with Doctor Death in Detective Comics #29, when the evil doctor developed a lethal chemical agent from pollen extract and planned to use it to extort money from the wealthy people of Gotham City (called Manhattan in the comics at this point). With help from his large East Indian manservant, Jabah, he tried to bribe Batman into trying to stop him from killing someone so that he could kill him. Batman falls for the bribe intentionally, and beats Doctor Death's henchmen, but suffers a bullet wound from Jabah, though he manages to escape by means of a gas pellet. Batman arrives at Doctor Death's base, meeting him in his lab and chases him around the building. In order to evade capture, Doctor Death ignites some chemicals in his lab, presumably killing both himself and Jabah in the resulting explosion. However, in Detective Comics Issue #30, it's revealed that Doctor Death actually survived, but now with a new accomplice, a Cossack named Mikhail. This time, Doctor Death was successful in claiming a victim in his extortion scheme, but discovers from the widow of the poisoned man that he lost his fortune in the Great Depression. Batman then intervenes, following Mikhail back to Doctor Death's base, and apprehends the doctor. However, it is revealed that Doctor Death's face was horribly disfigured by the lab explosion, resulting in a brown, skeletal appearance.
1939 - In Adventure Comics #40, Wesley Dodds takes to the streets of New York to fight crime as Sandman. His first case is on a mysterious hooded criminal known as the Tarantula, who had kidnapped a movie actress known as Vivian Dale. However, after finding where Vivian was being held, Sandman unmasked the Tarantula to reveal a man who was Vivian's house guest, named Crossart.
1939 - For the second prophecy of the green meteor, the lamp the metal of the meteor was fashioned into came into the hands of a patient at Arkham Asylum who fashioned the lamp into modern train lantern. The green flame restored him to sanity and gave him a new life, fulfilling the second prophecy.
1940 - In Whiz Comics #2, at the age of 10, Billy Batson meets a mysterious man in a green cloak who tells Billy to follow him into the subway station. Inside, Billy spots a train that is covered in hieroglyphics. After boarding and riding the train, Billy arrives at his destination, known as The Rock of Eternity. There, he finds statues of the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man. At the end of the hall with the statues, Billy spots an old man in a white cloak. The man introduces himself as the wizard Shazam. Shazam explains that he has been fighting against the forces of evil for over 3000 years, and has decided to find a champion worthy of following in his footsteps. Billy is the champion he has sought, and tells Billy that he will be gifted the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. And with one word, Billy can become the Earth's mightiest mortal, Captain Marvel. The word he needs to speak is the wizard's name: Shazam. By saying the word, Billy becomes Captain Marvel, and is transported back to the entrance of the subway station. The next morning, Billy reads the newspaper and finds a threat printed by an anonymous maniac against the entire US broadcasting system. The messages says that unless his demand for fifty million dollars is met, he will use a ray to drive all radio stations off the air. On a hunch, Billy follows to suspicious men to the swanky Skytower Apartments, where he hears one complain about their "maniac scientist" boss. Billy then visit Sterling Morris at Amalgamated Broadcasting, where Morris refuses to entertain any belief that a reputable building like Skytower Apartments could host a criminal enterprise. While Billy gets shooed out of the office, he does convince Morris to offer him a job in exchange for catching the criminals. Later that night, Billy becomes Captain Marvel and visits the apartment building, discovering that the thugs are talking to their boss, soon revealed to be Doctor Sivana, over the television. Captain Marvel enters the room, easily takes out the thugs, and smashes the radio silencer in the process. While Sivana vows vengeance, Captain Marvel promises to bring him to justice, dead or alive. Billy returns to normal and invites Sterling Morris to see his handiwork. Morris gives Billy the job he promised him, and in his excitement, Billy almost gives away his secret identity, but stops himself in the process. Over time, Dr. Sivana does everything he can to stop Captain Marvel, including everything from tanks, to artillery that can shoot 75 miles, combat cars that can go up to 120 miles an hour, an army of super soldiers, and more.
1940 - In More Fun Comics #52, Jim Corrigan, a hard-boiled police officer in Cliffland, New Jersey, gets a tip from a stool pigeon named Louis Snipe about a warehouse robbery that was about to unfold on the order of crime lord Gat Benson, just before he could announce his engagement with Clarice Winston. At the warehouse Snipe told Corrigan about, Jim and some other cops busted the crooks. However, Benson ordered his thugs to kidnap Clarice and Jim, and to have Jim killed. The thugs knocked Corrigan out, placed him in a barrel, filled it with cement, and was sent to swim with the fishes. Jim's spirit soared toward Heaven, but was denied entry. And so, Corrigan was sent back down to Earth to wipe out all crime. Jim soon found that he was a ghost, meaning that he could walk through walls, disappear, and fly. Jim then hunted down the gangsters and killed them. However, a stray bullet hit Clarice. Jim held her in his arms, and discovered that he could also heal wounds. Jim then realized that he could no longer be with Clarice, and severed all ties with her, including his engagement. And so, Jim Corrigan created his costume and vowed to root out all evil on Earth. And so, The Spectre was born.
1940 - One night in Gotham City, in Detective Comics #36, Batman watches some thugs kill a man, but apprehends them. Turns out, the thugs are henchmen who work for Professor Hugo Strange, a criminal scientist who vows to set a trap for the Caped Crusader and make him his next victim. Strange knows that Batman is a threat to his plan, which is using a stolen "concentrated lightning" machine to create dense fog every night, so that his henchmen can rob the city banks unseen. When Batman arrives at the spot where the trap is set for him, over a dozen of Strange's men are waiting. Batman fights valiantly, but ends up getting knocked out by a thug wielding a baton (called a blackjack in the 30's). Batman wakes up in Strange's lair, where the mad scientist has hung him up by his wrists and lashes him with a wrist. However, Batman breaks the ropes, fills the room with gas from his gas pellets, and tackles Strange. Professor Hugo Strange is locked in Arkham Asylum (called Manhattan City Asylum in the comics), but plans to escape. In Batman #1, Strange did escape with 5 fellow inmates. He then used the inmates, due to their insane nature, as guinea pigs for a powerful artificial growth hormone. The growth formula turns them into 15 foot monsters. Strange then makes them wear bulletproof clothing and sets them loose to cause chaos in Gotham while his men rob commit robberies. Strange then injects Batman with the serum, but Batman manages to create a vaccine to save himself. He also manages to trick two of the monsters that Strange left to guard him to kill themselves. He then takes to the Batplane to take down and kill the other monsters, and send Strange to his apparent demise, but he suspects that Strange survived. Some time later, in Batman #38, Batman takes in young Dick Grayson after his parents are killed in the middle of their trapeze act in the circus due to an accident. Dick reveals to Batman that he overheard some thugs talking to the circus owner about protection money, and Batman tells him that the thugs actually work for a man named Tony Zucco. The pieces fit together and it becomes clear that Zucco ordered his men to do the crime. Batman then reveals his secret identity to Dick, and then makes him swear an oath that he will fight by Batman's side as his partner. Dick takes the oath, and becomes Robin. Together, Batman and Robin take down Zucco and his gang. Afterwards, in Batman #1, a new criminal emerges in Gotham. A psychopathic clown known as the Joker. At first, Joker had the plot to kill people using his own weapon called "Joker Venom". What he would do was sneak into his target's room, poison them just a day before the poison can take effect, and announce on the radio that his target would die at a specific time as a "prediction". When the poison took effect, the victim's mouth was stretched into a grotesque Joker grin. However, Batman and Robin tracked him down and sent him to prison. Though two days later, Joker returned with plans of vengeance. First, he kills Gotham Police Chief Chalmers with Joker venom, then steals both a painting and a gem with the guards dead at the scene. Batman tries to stop him from stealing the Cleopatra necklace, but fails. Soon, Edgar Martin, a man who calls for the Joker's capture, dies from a pack of poison-laced playing cards. The next day, Bruce Wayne and Commissioner Jim Gordon set up a trap for Joker, and start printing articles in Gotham newspapers about the Fire Ruby. Joker thinks it's a trap, but goes anyway. When he arrives, the police surround him, but he makes for the roof, where Robin starts to follow him. Joker notices he's being followed, and sends Robin off a rooftop. Joker checks to see if he's dead, but Robin grabbed on to a flagpole to save himself. Joker prepares to finish Robin, when Batman arrives and fights him. Joker ends up stabbing himself in the heart, and Batman and Robin flee. The police arrive and check on Joker, and find that he's still alive. Later, Batman and Robin uncover a new villain, a mysterious burglar and jewel thief known as the Cat (later known as Catwoman), but Batman lets her get away.
1940 - In Adventures Comics #48, in upstate New York, Rex Tyler discovers a "miraculous vitamin", which he calls Miraclo, that can increase the strength and vitality of mice, but can give a human super strength and super speed. However, the effects last for only one hour. Tyler kept the discovery a secret and, in Adventure Comics #53, decided to use it only on himself. Rex then decided to use the powers of Miraclo to become a superhero for Appleton City. And so, Rex Tyler decided to use a costume he found in an abandoned costume shop for his disguise. And so, Hourman was born. Eventually, in Adventure Comics #53, he formed group of sidekicks that would be known as the Minute Men of America.
1940 - For the third and final prophecy of the green meteor, in All-American Comics #16, the green lantern fell into the hands of Alan Scott, a young railroad engineer. Following a railroad bridge collapse, the flame of the lantern instructed and guided Scott to fashion a ring from its metal. And so, with a red, purple, yellow, and brown costume, Alan Scott uses the fantastic power of the ring to become the Green Lantern. With his powers, he managed to defeat the crooks who caused his train accident, but also discovered his weakness to wood.
1940 - In Metropolis, in Action Comics #21, Ultra-Humanite learns of the discovery of an atomic weapon created by physicist Terry Curtis. With his brain in the body of Delores Winters, Ultra was able to seduce and kidnap the scientist. After extended torture, Curtis agrees to help Ultra-Humanite to build an atomic arsenal. Ultra then makes her demand of $2 million dollars known to the public, or else she will blow up every building and destroy all life in Metropolis. As a demonstration, she promises to destroy the Wentworth Tower. When an airship arrives to destroy it, Superman steps in and stops the airship long enough for all the people inside the tower to escape. Superman destroys the disintegrator, and follows the plane to Ultra's lair, which is a city inside a volcano, and destroys the robot guards. Inside, Ultra threatens to destroy Metropolis if Superman moves any closer. Ultra then tells Superman that she'll let Curtis go if he brings her crown jewels, expecting him to be destroyed by the guards in the process as she alerts them. Superman returns with the jewels, but Ultra goes back on her end of the deal and sends diamond drills after the Man of Steel. Superman breaks them apart, and Curtis stops Ultra from pulling a lever that will destroy Metropolis. Superman then disintegrates the photoelectric cell connections. Confronted again with her ultimate foe, Ultra-Humanite dives to her apparent death in the crater of the volcano. Afterwards, in Action Comics #22 & #23, Superman stops a war in Europe perpetrated by Lex Luthor. In following issues, Superman thwarts more plans concocted by Lex, thus making him a more prominent adversary.
1940 - Joe Higgins, the son of Lieutenant Tom Higgins, finishes a solution that his father created in 1916 that the Germans were after, thus leading to Tom's death at the hands of German saboteur Hans Fritz and the Black Tom Explosion. The solution that Joe completes requires him to apply chemicals to certain parts of his anatomy. Sacrum on the heart, Innervation on the eyes, and Derma on the lungs. The solution also requires him to expose himself to x-rays. The result of the solution grants Joe super strength, the ability to make great leaps, and invulnerability. Joe then dons the moniker of The Shield, joins the F.B.I, and fights foreign agents and other threats to the U.S., and clears his father's name when he was posthumously blamed for the Black Tom Explosion.
1940 - In Flash Comics #1, American archaeologist Carter Hall finds the ancient knife that Hath-Set used to kill Khufu, and discovers that he is the reincarnation of Prince Khufu of ancient Egypt. He then later discovers that Shiera Sanders is the reincarnation of Chay-Ara and that Anton Haster is the reincarnation of Hath-Set. Carter then forms a belt that can defy gravity by using the properties of "Nth Metal", along with a costume with wings in order to control his flight direction, and so, Carter Hall became Hawkman. Anton had Shiera in his lair and under his spell, until Hawkman swoops in and kills him. From then on, the two of the them began a romance, and Shiera eventually became Hawkgirl.
1940 - In Batman Vol. 1 #2, Joker is revealed to have survived his stabbing in the previous issue. Batman plans take him to a specialist to mend his mind and cure him of his insanity, but a crime gang in need of a leader called Crime Syndicate Inc. kidnaps him and makes him their boss. The crooks plan to use Joker to steal the priceless Pharaoh Gems. The crooks force some doctors to operate on Joker at gunpoint, until Commissioner Gordon arrives with some other cops. The gang's temporary leader Weasel has a Batman impostor lead the cops away, but the impersonator is shot dead in a barn after killing two cops and is revealed to be a wanted criminal named Circus Charlie. Meanwhile, Joker is brought back to full health and double-crosses his saviors immediately. Batman and Robin arrive at the hospital and find Catwoman waiting outside. She gives Batman some information about Joker and manages to escape, however, Batman reveals to Robin that he had the floor of his Cord covered by a radioactive material that Catwoman now has on her feet. Batman then gives Robin a special flashlight to follow Catwoman and track her movements, and he eventually finds and busts the Crime Syndicate. Catwoman then pays a visit to E.S. Arthur, the owner of the Pharaoh Gems, at his castle, but she ends up finding Arthur dead. Joker then pops in, hold Catwoman up, and reveals that he killed him. Robin suddenly swoops in and takes him on, but is knocked out cold. Catwoman decides to trade the Pharaoh Gems in exchange for sparing Robin's life. Batman then arrives and faces Joker in a sword duel, but Joker wins and knocks Batman out a window. Joker tries to kill both Catwoman and Robin with flaming arrows, but sets the tower on fire in the process. Batman comes back in and fights Joker one on one and wins, but is then forced to leave him in the burning tower in order to carry Robin to the Batplane. Catwoman then evades Batman once again by jumping off the Batplane and into the water below.
1940 - In Batman Vol. 1 #3, Catwoman makes a return, this time wearing a mask that has the startling resemblance of a real cat and robbing from the wealthiest people of Gotham. In response, Commissioner Gordon assigns Detective McGonigle to the case. Meanwhile, on his daily patrol, Batman witnesses a murder in the streets and learns from the dying victim that the Diamond Syndicate are behind it, however, a thug sneaks up behind Batman and knocks him unconscious. Batman is then saved by Detective McGonigle, but is handcuffed as well. Batman regains consciousness, and knocks out the detective in order to escape. The next day, Bruce Wayne and Commissioner Gordon head out to investigate the murder at the Diamond Syndicate headquarters. The members of the organization are baffled by the news of the murder, and inform Gordon that they fear for the safety of the jewels that will be at a gala, organised to showcase their best jewels, that night. At the Gala, Bruce Wane is in attendance, and he witnesses one of the models wearing the jewelry throw a blinding powder to the audience, and escapes with the jewels. Turns out that the model is Catwoman, but she is soon abducted by some gangsters and placed inside a car. As the car speeds off with Catwoman and the jewels, Robin follows in his small roadster. Bruce, meanwhile, changes into his Batman costume, and goes to the home of one of the members of the Diamond Syndicate, but he is attacked when he arrives. He's surprised that he was attacked, but soon fill Robin in with the updates. Batman takes the man to the main headquarters of the Diamond Syndicate, where the other members have kidnapped Catwoman and reveal their plot; the second member of the syndicate hired Catwoman to steal some of the jewels, as well as the man who was killed the night before, in order to take away all the revenue for himself. However, when he realized that Catwoman and any others involved would take a piece of his take, he decided to eliminate them all so he would become the sole owner of the Diamond Syndicate. Batman and Robin fight off the thugs, and rescue Catwoman. But, in order to escape jail time, Catwoman gives Batman a grateful kiss and escapes, but Batman doesn't seem to mind. Later, Batman delivers the stolen jewels to Detective McGonigle, who is still sour with Batman for escaping him, while Catwoman, elsewhere, drives away from Gotham, wishing that Batman was with her.
1940 - In Detective Comics #40, a remake of the film "Dark Castle" is about to be filmed, and Bruce Wayne's fiance Julie Madison is going to be in it. But soon, one of Madison's colleagues and her boyfriend are murdered on the set. Batman investigates the murders, and finds the male victim right before he dies, and he manages to identify the killer as Clayface. Batman and Robin then take the investigation to the film set, and there, Batman spots some gangsters. However, they're not the ones behind the murders. Meanwhile, Robin finds the real murderer, Clayface, and the killer attacks him and sends him into the castle moat. Batman saves him, but Clayface escapes. The next day, Julie's death scene is being filmed, and Clayface is about to strike, when Batman and Robin intervene. Batman takes off Clayface's disguise, revealing his identity of Basil Karlo, the make-up man and embittered ex-actor who wanted to kill the actors that were remaking another film he starred in called "The Terror".
1940 - In Detective Comics #45, Batman spots a group of suspicious looking men walking towards a museum and decides to follow them. When the men attack the guard and break into the place, Batman stops them fast. However, one manages to escape, and Batman follows him to his hideout, where he vanishes into a brick wall. Turns out that the man used a secret entrance to meet with his boss, an old music collector called A. Rekoj, who is displeased to learn that Batman foiled his thugs. When the creator is left alone, he goes to a secret place under a trap door and removes his make-up of an old man, to reveal his true identity: the Joker. The Harlequin of Hate then plans his next strike against the city's District Attorney, and on the outside, Batman decides to keep an eye on the place. The next day, D.A. Carter receives a mysterious vinyl record and decides to play it. The music is eerie, and a message is soon spoken by the voice of the Joker. The Joker tells the D.A. that the vinyl record was tainted with his trademark Joker Venom, and soon, Carter falls under the influence of the poison, laughing out of control, to death. The police enter the apartment, but are too late. The news spreads, and Batman and Robin are now aware of the Joker's return. That night, Batman keeps an eye on the criminal's hideout, while on the inside, Rekoj prepares his henchmen to strike at a gala event and steal some gems. The henchmen are dressed as a brass band, but when they get on their way, Batman follows them. Their plan goes well, until they are attacked by the Joker, who takes the gems away from them, and then by Batman, who enters the place and fights the thugs. Joker escapes, Batman tries to stop him, but Joker gets the upper hand and gets away. Upon recovering, Batman follows the group of henchman back to their headquarters and he finally learns about the secret door in the brick wall. Inside, Batman observes Rekoj scolding his henchmen for failing him, and when he's left alone, Batman witnesses the villain's identity transformation. Aware of Batman's presence, Joker explains that he used his henchmen to do all the jobs, and followed by up by stealing the loot from his own hoods. Batman tries to stop the Joker, but ends up trapped inside a glass dome while Joker escapes. Using an acid vial from his utility belt, Batman escapes and learns of a valuable jade Buddha statue arriving in Gotham aboard a ship. But this, too, is part of Joker's plan. Using his identity as Rekoj, Joker manages to get inside the ship, and soon eliminates the guards and finds the statue. Batman starts chasing the Joker, and the crew of the boat think that he wants to steal it from them and get in his way. With help from Robin, who takes care of the crew, Batman catches the Joker and grabs the statue. In the struggle, Joker falls into the ocean. Wondering if Joker will ever make a comeback, Batman and Robin deliver the statue to the crew, and get on their way back to Gotham.
1940 - In Detective Comics Vol 1 #46, Batman confronts a gang in a warehouse and beats them one by one until there's one man left standing. The "man" is a teenager, and Batman agrees to let him go if he tells them the gang's entire plan. The kid tells him that they were going to meet Professor Hugo Strange, who told them he had developed a new chemical for their next hit. The kid then gives Batman some pills that are supposed to prevent those who take them from falling under the effects of the chemicals. Batman takes them and tells the kid to meet him again the next night, and lets the entire gang go free. The gang goes to the meeting place and are greeted by Strange, who informs him about his new invention: fear dust. Using this new chemical weapon, Strange's gang will be able to commit crimes without having to worry about police intervention as they can use the fear dust against them and terrorize every person in the city. The next night, the teen sneaks away to meet with Batman, but Strange notices his behavior and has a goon follow him. The youngster meets Batman on a dark street, but before he can update Batman, the thug that followed the teen attacks Batman from behind and knocks him unconscious. Batman soon wakes up, surrounded by Strange's thugs and the Professor himself. They all beat Batman to a pulp and leave him in the basement of their secret hideout. When he recovers, Batman listens in on Strange talking to his henchmen about his plan in the next room. Waiting til after Strange leaves, Batman breaks into the other room and defeats the thugs. Afterwards, Batman contacts Robin and informs him of Strange's plan. Afterwards, Batman rushes to the nearest train station, where one of Strange's thugs is about to spread the fear dust among the people and he stops the criminal before running off to find Strange. Meanwhile, Robin takes out some of Strange's thugs on the water reservoir and at the city's main plaza, both places targeted to spread fear dust. Later, Batman finds Strange's secret hangar, after interrogating one of the thugs, and confronts the Professor inside, where he was planning to spread fear dust from the air. Batman and Strange fight a ruthless battle, but the Dark Knight wins in the end and Strange loses his footing and falls over a nearby cliff to a certain death as Robin joins Batman after saving the city once again.
1940 - In Batman Vol. 1 #4, the crew of a passing yacht spot Joker hanging on to a piece of driftwood in the ocean. They take him ashore, not knowing his identity, and he makes his way up to his hideout, an old gloomy mansion that is said to be haunted. Joker celebrates as he knows that Batman thinks he died, which gives him an advantage. Meanwhile, elsewhere, the Dynamic Duo attempt to stop a group of acrobatic thieves they caught stealing from a house. While in the process of beating them, a huge man with incredible strength comes out of the nearby parked car and beats the two crime fighters easily. Later, at Wayne Manor, Bruce gets an invitation to a ball that he decides to attend. After a while, the host of the party, Darcey, announces that a miniature circus will be performing in the ball room. Three days later, Dick Grayson reports that the Darcey family, who hosted the party, was robbed. Bruce estimates that this robbery makes the 6th one in a month. Bruce investigates and announces to Dick that every family that was robbed had a miniature circus perform for them. They then remember the robbers that they confronted days ago were acrobats, and the man who beat them was a strongman. Dick then reads in the newspaper, the Gotham Gazette, that the Morganbilt family is going to have the miniature circus perform for them. Bruce then decides that they'll interfere as Batman and Robin! The night of the performance, it's revealed that Joker is behind the thieves, known as the Crime Circus. Joker then introduces the circus gang to a new member and tells them that he's the surprise guest of the night. Once the performance starts, Joker steps forward and states that he has a surprise for the crowd, but before he can finish, the Dynamic Duo enter by leaping through the window. Robin takes care of the acrobats, and Batman handles the strongman. Joker makes his escape to the Haunted House with the Dynamic Duo right behind him. They enter the mansion, only to be mislead by several different traps, and Batman is eventually trapped in a room with illusions of the Joker's laughing face. Batman soon discovers that it's just a recording and stops it, but gas then enters the room. Batman mixes some vials from his utility belt and throws the pellet into the wall, causing it to explode. He finds Joker about to push Robin down a trap door, that goes all the way down to underneath the mansion. The two fight, and Joker knocks Batman down, only to be sent down the trap door himself as he tries to lunge forward at Batman, who sends him flailing over his head with his feet.
1940 - While fighting the evil Dr. Cobra in Central City in 1940, a young policeman named Denny Colt was doused with a liquid which put him in a deep coma. Believed dead, Denny was buried at Wildwood Cemetery, but awoke from his grave, twenty-four hours later. He established a secret crime-fighting base under his own tombstone, and from that day forward, using his new-found anonymity, he began to fight crime and protect the people of Central City as The Spirit. His identity is known only to his "driver," Ebony White and Police Commissioner Dolan.
1941 - After a partnership with fellow G-Man, Ju-Ju Watson and his girlfriend, Betty, Joe Higgins/Shield got a kid partner in Pep #11 named Dusty Simmons. Dusty's father had been killed by foreign agents, and he was adopted by Joe and given a costume. Both heroes wore patriotic costumes under their street clothes and would change for action whenever they were needed (much like most superheroes of both the past and of today). Dusty would also team up with the kid partner of Blane Whitney, aka The Wizard, Roy the Super Boy, to form a team known as The Boy Buddies.
December 7, 1941 - Japanese bomber planes attack Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and force the United States into World War 2.
World War 2 - Though certainly no friend to the Nazi regime, Enemy Ace took to the air once again in the second World War against the Russians. However, in 1945, he soon found the horrors of the Holocaust and was outraged that Germany would perpetrate it. He ultimately proposed a mutiny when he returned to his airbase, and eventually surrendered his air unit to the allied forces, namely Sgt. Rock's company.
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1969 - In Enemy Ace: World Idyll, von Hammer lived until 1969, dying peacefully after turning over his memoirs and concluding his interview with a troubled Vietnam veteran-turned-journalist.

Bronze Age

1970 - While in Spain, Bruce Wayne/Batman was forced to investigate a string of mysterious thefts, fires, and deaths that are linked to a motion picture about Von Hamer called "The Hammer of Hell", in honor of Hans von Hammer, that was being filmed. Turns out it was someone who looked almost exactly like Baron von Hammer, but in the end, his scarf on his von Hammer disguise got caught in the propeller of the plane he was flying during an air battle with Batman and yanked him out, sending him plummeting to his doom. During the fight, Batman noticed that he was flying his plane like he had been flying it for years, when he really only flew it for a short time a long time ago. It's possible that Batman was receiving help from the ghost of Baron von Hammer, who had joined him in the fight from beyond the grave.
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