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Dakotaverse
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Publisher
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Milestone Media (as owner and creator), DC Comics (Publisher)
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Notable Characters
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Hardware, Icon, Static, Rocket
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Notable Teams
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The Blood Syndicate, Shadow Cabinet
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First Appearance
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Dakotaverse: Hardware #1 (February, 1993, cover date April, 1993)
Earth-M: Milestone Returns Zero (Sept 2020)
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Creators
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Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, Derek T. Dingle, Reginald Hudlin
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Aliases
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Milestone Universe, Earth-1993 (for the Dakotaverse). Earth-93 (for Earth-M)
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The Dakotaverse (also known as the Milestone Universe), and the reboot version, Earth-M, are a pair of superhero realities from Milestone Media, noted for focusing on American minorities.
Dakotaverse Publishing History[]
Milestone Media was founded in 1993 by a number of African-American creators who wanted more minorities (especially black people) in comic books. They entered into a partnership with DC Comics. Publication started in April 1993 with Hardware, and Blood Syndicate, followed by Icon and Static. While successful at first, sales did not stay strong after the 90's comic boom, and the last 3 titles (Hardware, Icon, and Static) were cancelled in early 1997. Milestone Media itself continued.
In early 2001, the Static Shock animated show debuted. A new miniseries was published to take advantage of this, but this did not lead to more, despite the success of the animated show. In 2008, it was announced that the Milestone characters would be incorporated into the DCU. This was done by 2009. The 2010 miniseries Milestone Forever showed that this happened at the time of Final Crisis, ending the Dakotaverse.
In 2023, it was revealed that some version of the Dakotaverse has returned or still exists. It was given the name 'Earth-1993'.
Dakotaverse Internal History[]
The Dakotaverse, like most other superhero universes, did not have any single starting event. Scientific experiments and Aliens gave people superpowers over the years, and some superheroes have operated since the 70's. The Shadow Cabinet, composed of superpowered individuals, was in existence well before the 90s.
Milestone Media, however, started with new superheroes arising in Dakota City. A genius inventor rebelled against his criminal employer, becoming Hardware. An alien in human form was convinced by a teenage girl to become Icon and Rocket. In the poorest part of Dakota City, Paris Island, gang warfare ran rampant, and the police used an 'experimental' gas on the participants. This gas was actually 'Quantum Juice', a strange compound that killed many and gave others superpowers. Among these were Static, and most of the members of the Blood Syndicate.
Earth-M Publishing History[]
The Milestone characters were not successful in the DC Universe (in particular, the New 52 Static Shock series only lasted 8 issues). In 2015, the Milestone creators (except for Dwayne McDuffie, who had died in 2011) announced 'Earth-M', a rebooted Milestone universe. However, this reality was a long time in arriving, which was not helped by a lawsuit from the widow of Dwayne McDuffie.
Finally, the Milestone Returns one-shot came out in late 2020. Early 2021 saw the first set of 'Season One' miniseries, featuring Static, Icon and Rocket, and Hardware. Several miniseries and one-shots followed.