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Post by johnreiter902 on Apr 23, 2023 18:31:46 GMT
I combed through multiple pre-crisis comics which claimed to depict the actual future of Earth-1 (not an imaginary tale, though some are listed as imaginary tales) and collated all the information, because I thought people might find it interesting.
This is NOT meant in any way to tie the hands of authors here. Quite the contrary. This is the future of Earth-1 as it would have been, if the Crisis on Infinite Earth (which affected all time and space) had never happened. As proof, this timeline assumes that Supergirl would live at least another 15 years.
It is well-established in our stories already that the future has changed, and much of this may never happen, or is now impossible. However, much of it COULD still happen, and might make interesting fodder for future stories.
I concentrated on just the futures of Batman, Superman, and their associates.
And yes, I know that Actions Comics #270 is almost certainly a dream sequence and non-canon, but I couldn't resist throwing it in, since it compliments rather than contradicts the other information.
Superman, Family, and Rogues Bizarro loses his powers as he ages, and is imprisoned (Action Comics #270) Lex Luthor reforms, cures cancer, and is eventually elected Mayor of Metropolis (Action Comics #270, Superman #400). After the nuclear war in 2000, Luthor helps rebuild civilization (Superman #416). Superman disappears in 2068, shortly after rescuing the space carrier Bruce Wayne (Superman #400) Superman marries Lois Lane (Action Comics #270, Superboy #217, Action Comics #254, Superman Family #200), and has 2 children, one boy and one girl (Superman #131). The boy is named Jorel, and will have a son named Kalel (Superman #354). The daughter is named Laura (Superman Family #200). Clark retires as a reporter to be a stay-at-home dad, so that Lois can continue her career (Superman Family #200). Jorel becomes the next Superman (Superman #354). Laura becomes the next Supergirl (Superman Family #200) After the death of Perry White, Jimmy Olsen becomes editor of the Daily Planet (Action Comics #270). He marries Lucy Lane (Superman Family #200) Supergirl becomes Superwoman, and takes over the Fortress of Solitude when Superman retires (Action Comics #270). She is elected Governor of Florida (Superman Family #200).
Batman, Family, and Rogues Catwoman, Penguin, Two-Face and Joker all reform, and the Riddler retires after finally coming up with a puzzle to stump Batman (Batman #300) Bruce Wayne goes into semi-retirement in his mid-fifties, and makes Dick Grayson President of Wayne Enterprises (Batman #300) Bruce eventually marries Silver St. Cloud (implied Batman #300), and has at least 1 male child (World's Finest #166, The Brave and The Bold #179) Dick marries Barbara Gordon (implied Batman #300), and has twin boys, named Bruce and James (Batman #300). Bruce retires as Batman at around 60 years of age, and is elected Governor (Batman #300) Dick eventually becomes the new Batman and takes a blonde boy as his new Robin (Batman #119)
Commissioner Gordon retires to Hawaii (Batman #119) Wayne Manor and the old Batcave are eventually abandoned (Batman #119)
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Post by reichsmark on Apr 23, 2023 20:37:11 GMT
Funn how Luthor always seems to end up in politics. But then, he's not the first billionaire to run for office and I suspect he won't be the last.
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Post by DocQuantum on Apr 23, 2023 21:08:26 GMT
I don't think the Pre-Crisis Luthor would consider himself a billionaire. All his money was off the books, so we don't know how "rich" he was at any one time. But he still robbed banks occasionally, indicating he spent as much money as he stole to create his inventions.
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Post by redsycorax on Apr 24, 2023 0:31:24 GMT
I wouldn't put it past Lex to have money laundering options in place, as well as (possibly) a revenue stream from legitimate invention patents to cross-subsidise his criminal career. Possibly, the invention patents were filed under a pseudonym, and paid into shell bank accounts, but would still end up for Lex' use. Otherwise how would he secure the necessary capital for his anti-Superman research, development and manufacture?
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Post by DocQuantum on Apr 24, 2023 0:36:09 GMT
Yeah, Elliot S. Maggin in one of his Superman novels established that Luthor had some shell companies that provided him with income from his inventions, but nobody knew that Luthor was the owner. Luthor definitely spent so much money on his schemes that much of the time they wouldn't even break even, so a few secondary sources of income would have made sense to him. All off the books, of course.
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Post by redsycorax on Apr 24, 2023 0:57:02 GMT
I can certainly see Lex getting interested in the possibilities of computer-mediated communication and the early Darpa technologies that developed into the contemporary Internet. My guess is that he would have kept abreast of developments from that quarter and exploit it to conceal the revenue stream from his illicit and covert patents. So, we're probably talking about the seventies and eighties from that perspective. Possibly also, as soon as a Dark Web became feasible, he might have used it to secure raw materials and componentry for his projects as well as keep in touch with other criminal scientists- particularly those with an animus against Superman or other Justice League members. One wonders if the advent of the Internet occurred faster on Earth-One, for that matter?
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Post by redsycorax on Apr 24, 2023 1:11:06 GMT
This also raises some interesting questions about how Superman and his allies would respond to this. Clark Kent is a journalist and a damned good one. And the same would apply to Lois Lane, who would be motivated to engage in some investigative analysis when it came to protecting the man she loved from Luthor's schemes, and might therefore be engaged in forensic tracking of the revenue streams, componentry and raw materials involved. Come to think of it, that wouldn't just apply to Lois- I can certainly imagine Vicki Vale doing the same duty in the context of Batman, as well as Iris Allen because, of course, she's worried about the level of technological aptitude her husband's rogues gallery might represent as a source of potential danger to him. Jean Loring's legal expertise could be used to track down the covert and illicit patents and registration details for the transit of any assembled componentry and raw materials too. Perhaps even Carol Ferris, as CEO of Ferris Aircraft, who would have some insight into how airborne smuggling and piracy might might be relevant in this context. And Steve Trevor might be highly useful as a government liaison, come to that. One wonders if there's some sort of organised information exchange activity going on between the JLA's partners and the League, with perhaps either Batman and Wonder Woman as chief conduits in an organisational setting. Bruce would then pass it on to the other League members.
To say nothing of the various national security agencies in Earth-One's United States as well as international fora like the United Nations, World Health Organisation and other such organisations.
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Post by DocQuantum on Apr 24, 2023 1:59:58 GMT
To say nothing of the various national security agencies in Earth-One's United States as well as international fora like the United Nations, World Health Organisation and other such organisations. The JLA would expose them, I would hope! Let's avoid cheerleading for any real-world governmental/non-governmental organizations.
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Post by redsycorax on Apr 24, 2023 2:19:04 GMT
Still, I imagine that the League's partners would do their best to protect their loved ones from their enemies, particularly if those enemies were using organisational means and methods to secure the various tech componentry used in their schemes. Lois, Vicki and Iris are professional journalists, so they'd surely be interested in exposing any such machinations against the men they love- as would Steve Trevor in the case of Wonder Woman, I suspect. One good thing about the characterisation of Lois from the seventies onward is the return to basics- she's a brilliant investigative journalist and you can bet she'd move heaven and earth if it meant exposing Luthor's covert measures and protecting Superman from them. Iris would feel even more motivated to protect Barry, and so might the other League partners.
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Post by reichsmark on Apr 24, 2023 16:49:22 GMT
I often thought it could be interesting if all those Golden Age sidekicks like Doiby Dickles, Tubby Watts, Stretch Skinner and the others were actually part of a government network keeping track of these new "mystery men". The government didn't seem to have any problem contacting them in those old stories when they needed them for something.
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Post by DocQuantum on Apr 24, 2023 16:52:44 GMT
Even more interesting to me would be if all or most super-villains were government agents. Given how prison is a mere revolving door for them and they escape when they want to at any time. They also “die” and return from almost certain death on multiple occasions (perhaps these deaths are scheduled vacations or time off).
Also so many super-villains have access to incredible technology that alone is worth billions or trillions but choose to use that tech on petty revenge schemes that are rarely ever fatal or on robberies that can’t possibly give them the kind of cash their tech could. Sure they could all be adrenaline junkies or have psychological issues that cause them to seek fame in the worst kind of way, but it begins to make little sense eventually.
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Post by DocQuantum on Apr 24, 2023 17:01:58 GMT
I often thought it could be interesting if all those Golden Age sidekicks like Doiby Dickles, Tubby Watts, Stretch Skinner and the others were actually part of a government network keeping track of these new "mystery men". The government didn't seem to have any problem contacting them in those old stories when they needed them for something. My villain idea is more of an Elseworlds (except if done on a small scale) but your idea has real merit as being a reality. The FBI has all kinds of CIs out there. Why wouldn’t they have one close to a masked vigilante?
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Post by johnreiter902 on Apr 25, 2023 0:56:38 GMT
Even more interesting to me would be if all or most super-villains were government agents. Given how prison is a mere revolving door for them and they escape when they want to at any time. They also “die” and return from almost certain death on multiple occasions (perhaps these deaths are scheduled vacations or time off). This is off topic, but I always felt that the revolving door idea of the DC prison system was exaggerated. Sure, there are many villains (like Joker, Penguin, or Luthor) who escape multiple times a year. However, there are dozens of supervillains who appeared only once in the comics, and never again (like the Aerialist, Mr. Miniature, Gadget-Maker, or Atomic-Man). These are the success stories of the DC comics prison system, the villains who were caught once, never escaped, and after serving their time never returned to crime.
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Post by redsycorax on Apr 26, 2023 1:28:28 GMT
Why is that the frontline supervillains seem able to escape incarceration so readily? It can't be because they have good defence teams in their corner- although Lex and possibly Oswald Cobblepot (the Penguin) might be able to afford them if they had access to ready cash from either their patented inventions or from family wealth (assuming the Cobblepots were as loaded pre-Crisis as they seem to be in current Batman continuity). Perhaps their state or civic administration is cash-starved and correctional facilities are suffering long-term neglect when it comes to public safety and structural security? That might be true in Gotham, but what about Metropolis? And surely there'd be a public outcry if that were the case, resident superheroes or not.
From professional experience (I work in the NZ justice system), it's always harder to reform entrenched criminals. They have social networks and possibly family ties within the criminal social milieu and the current law and order bias of criminal justice policy encourages punitive long duration sentences at the cost of adequately funded and long duration rehabilitation services. Statistically, one does see greater success with early intervention in the case of first offenders and I imagine that applies to fledgling would-be supercriminals as well- although one imagines that the scope and content of their rehabilitation strategies would be vastly different. Given its philanthropic aspects, I suspect the Wayne Foundation might probably help out with that. It'd be ironic if that were the case.
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Post by jonclark on Apr 26, 2023 2:11:46 GMT
Other than Mister Miracle and maybe Batman, I'd put Lex at the top of the escape artist pile on Earth 1. The Pre-Crisis Luthor wasn't getting out of prison on technicalities, he almost always outwitted the mechanisms that prevented physical escape.
Same with Flash's Rogues. I forget just when Batman goes started being mental patients rather than prison inmates, but again excluding Two-Face they escaped Arkham and prison more than getting released.
Wonder Woman seems to be the only one with successful rehabilitation of foes and even that was hot or miss.
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