The opinions and speculations expressed herein on the possible implications of the DCU Rebirth Special and Watchmen which including, but not limited to, those of a political, social, metaphysical, psychological, or alternate reality – reflect the actual opinions, views, and theories that I have actually given a lot of thought about while reading this comic . Any so-called “errors” or “misrepresentations of fact,” should be considered in light of the fact that my brain is a sieve when it comes to trying to remember events in the DC Universe. Any tangent that I go on below (and there are a lot) should be attributed to my passion for the medium when unchained by slavish convention.

If a scapegoat is required, let us look to the dark, depraved times of the Comic Book Industry in which we live and the fact that Dan Didio was adamant that the New 52 was going to be the status quo going forward, no backdoor return to the old Universe.

Praise be to the writing of Geoff Johns and his love for the DC Universe, as this is probably part of his penance for agreeing to The New 52 concept.

–

This final post in my series on the DC Universe Rebirth has probably been the hardest to write, hence why it has taken me so long to get it published here on the blog. In case you would like to go back and read the other parts of this series here are the links:

The REBIRTH of the DC Universe (Part 1)

The REBIRTH of the DC Universe (Part 2): Primer

The REBIRTH of the DC Universe (Part 3): Chapter 1 – LOST

The REBIRTH of the DC Universe (Part 4): Chapter 2 – Legacy

The REBIRTH of the DC Universe (Part 5): Chapter 3 – Love

The REBIRTH of the DC Universe (Part 6): Chapter 4 – Life / Epilogue

The Rebirth of the DC Universe: Who Watches the DC Universe?

There are so many thoughts that it is hard to organize them in a coherent manner … this post is my attempt to do so which in itself is the result of many a sleepless night where I swear I would lay awake running through the different possible outcomes of this story. In fact, I probably thought about this too much… either way, I think we all know who is to blame for the New52 … Barry Allen. Wally lets him off fairly easy in my opinion once he returns saying that it was someone else but guess what Barry… had you not been selfish and tried to change history and then correct it, none of this would probably have happened in the first place… so thanks a lot, pal!

Chances are I am totally wrong but if I am not then I am a genius! So without further ado… let my mad ramblings begin.

There are only two heroes that have any memory of the Pre-Flashpoint universe and events: Superman, from the Convergence event and Wally West, who was trapped in Speed Force.

FlashPoint ->New 52

The Flashpoint was the event, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Andy Kubert, which radically changes the status quo for the DC Universe and set the stage for the 2011 relaunch of the DC Universe, The New 52. The basic premise is that Barry Allen has returned to the DC Universe after Final Crisis and is still haunted by the fact that Reverse-Flash (Eobard Thawne) goes back in time and kills his mother. Barry goes back and saves his mother but unknowingly alters the timeline creating a much different DC Universe. While he succeeds in saving his mother, he unknowingly alters the entire timeline and creates a very different DC Universe. This new timeline is very different from the one we are familiar with differences such as Thomas Wayne becomes Batman after Bruce is the one murdered in Crime Alley, there is a war between Atlantis and Theymiscara after the marriage of Wonder Woman and Aquaman doesn’t happen because of a murder, and other stark differences from the known Universe at the time. Barry Allen is the only one who knows something is wrong and works to correct the timeline During the climax of Flashpoint, Professor Zoom reveals to him that the “Flashpoint” timeline was actually a result of Barry traveling back in time to stop Zoom from killing his mother. Now knowing the point of divergence, the Flash supposedly restores the timeline by traveling back in time, Barry merges with his earlier self during the attempt to stop Thawne (Reverse Flash). The result of all this is the New52 Universe a combination of three different timelines — which in reality are Earths in the post-Infinite Crisis MultiverseDC (New Earth), Vertigo (Earth-13), and WildStorm (Earth-50). As the New52 era drew to a close, the New God Metron reveals that the Pre-Crisis DC universe happened, Crisis on Infinite Earths happened, Zero Hour happened, Infinite Crisis happened, Flashpoint happened, and it’s all been one universe (or multiverse), breathing in and out, exploding, imploding, renewing, and even in the New52 had yet to solidify (Justice League (Vol. 2) #40).

3 is the Magic Number

The first mention of there being three of something starts at the end of Flashpoint event and the mysterious Pandora.

When this panel first came out in Flashpoint#5, I didn’t think much about it but I have a hard time believing that the New52 combination of three different timelines, more so a combination of three versions of Earths in the Multiverse, DC (New Earth), Vertigo (Earth-13), and WildStorm (Earth-50), into a single Earth, by Pandora to start the process of saving the 3 timelines.

In my research of going back to the Flashpoint event and forward couldn’t find that the DC, Vertigo Earth and Wildstorm Earth are referred to as “different timelines.” In fact, the first Wildstorm character (Grifter) appears in the Flashpoint Universe.

I think that whoever is responsible for stealing the 10 years of history from the DCU is also responsible for giving Pandora the power she had to create the New52. There seems like that something happened which caused her to rebel and try to correct and make the Timelines one by combining the three Earths into a single Earth, hence the cost she mentions being the New52 Earth.

One of the main themes I have noticed that started the Rebirth Era was that things are showing up in threes:

The Variant cover to the DCU Rebirth Special There are the 3 Jokers that Batman says that he learned about during his time on the Moebius Chair The case could be made that there are 3 Clark Kent/Supermen

The Variant cover to the DCU Rebirth Special

This seems to me to represent the 3 different timelines, two of which are somehow been separated from the main timeline, the one where the heroes are free New52/Rebrith era.

Going Left to right:

The Golden Age Hourglass:

Oh, look! It is the original Justice Society of America: Doctor Fate (Kent Nelson), Flash (Jay Garrick), The Atom (Al Pratt), Doctor Midnight (Charles McNider), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Hourman (Rex Tyler), and Black Canary (Dinah Lance). This looks like the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths version of the team.

They are shown trapped in the hourglass which seems to play into the Johnny Thunder story thread of his former teammates not only gone but essentially erased from the New52-Rebirth continuity/timeline.

The Silver – Bronze Age Hourglass:

The second intact hourglass has what appears to be the Silver/Bronze Age versions of the main heroes of the Justice League of America: Green Lantern (Hal Jordon), The Flash (Barry Allen), Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman (Diana Prince), Superman / Superboy (Clark Kent), The Atom (Ray Palmer), Martian Manhunter (J’onn J’onzz), and Teen Titan Cyborg (Victor Stone).

These look like the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths versions of the characters which would serve as the basis for the characters until the Flashpoint event, which is also a period of DCU history that seems not to have existed in the New52-Rebirth era.

The NEw52/Rebirth Hourglass:

This hourglass showcases what was the New52, now Rebirth (current) era of the DCU.



Unlike the other hourglasses, this one shows the heroes “breaking out” with the Pre-Flashpoint Superman leading the charge. All the characters here are sporting their costume designs from the New52 era with the exception of Superman, Kid Flash, Wonder Woman, and Johnathan “Superboy” Kent.

The Three Jokers

Durning DC Universe – Rebirth #1 it is confirmed that there are at least two Jokers: one killing people in Civic City while the other was in transit between Baltimore and Arkham Asylum. Yet there are three Jokers on the screen.

Like the variant cover above, the revelation that there are 3 Jokers, each of which belongs to one of the Ages of the DC Universe as mentioned above:

Looking at the Bat-Computer screen from left to right:

Joker on the Left:

This Joker looks like the original Bob Kane/Bill Finger version that first appeared in Batman #1 (Vol. 1) based on the actor Conrad Veidt in character as Gwynplaine (a man with a disfigured face, giving him a perpetual grin) in the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs.

This version of the Joker was more the remorseless serial killer, who killed his victims with “Joker venom” that left his victim with the trademark grin.

Joker in the Middle:

This version of the Joker is the one who appeared during the Dennis O’Neil and artist Neal Adams beginning with Batman #251’s “The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge”, which returned the character to his roots as an impulsive, homicidal maniac who matches wits with Batman. This Joker on the screen is in the style of Neil Adams who modified the Joker’s appearance by extending his jaw and making him taller and leaner. If you look closely you can see that this Joker also appears to be wearing the trenchcoat made popular by Steve Englehart and penciler Marshall Rogers during the Bronze Age and was around during the Crisis on Infinite Earths event.

If you look at the panel above this Joker you will see that this is also the version that Moore used in The Killing Joke and would become the definitive look for the Joker until the New52 relaunch.

Joker on the Right

The Joker on the right is the New52 version which was designed by Greg Capullo and Scott Snyder. This version of the Joker is the one who had his face literally removed and he wore it like a mask, had his face reattached and then was reborn in the aftermath of the Endgame storyline

—

—

Before we look into just who is monkeying with the DC Universe, the one question should be asked is:

Where does the Watchmen Universe fit in when it comes to the DC Multiverse and the possible Multiversity connection

The one questions that still has yet to be answered is how does the Watchmen Universe fit in with the main DCU Universe.

The argument could be made that the Watchmen Universe is part of the DC Multiverse using an excerpt from Hollis Mason’s Under the Hood from the original series.

This would not be a new concept that has been used in the Silver Age , in stories such as “Flash of Two Worlds!” from The Flash #123 (Sept. 1961) which introduced Earth-Two, and more generally the concept of the multiverse, to DC Comics where the Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick was fictional comic book character that Barry Allen read stories about. This story concept was also used again up until the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Perhaps the tear in reality that allowed Wally West to return from the Speed Force as allowed Mr. Oz to access the DC Universe and affect the regular DCU continuity. That would also fit in the timeline for Mr. Oz first appearing in Superman (Vol. 2) #32 which happens after New52 is captured by Brainiac leading to the Convergence event, following “Doomed” storyline where New52 Supes was infected with the Doomsday virus.

—

If you believe most of the theories about the Watchmen / DC Universe connection have Doctor Manhattan being the responsible party and threat to the existence of the DC Universe. As far as I can tell this is based on circumstantial evidence and the fact that Johns has hinted at this as being the case. The latter makes me think that floating Doctor Manhattan as the bad guy is a red herring or that while he is responsible for the missing ten years, he himself is somehow being manipulated.

I think that the person who is responsible for causing the changes to the DCU is mostly

The Suspects:

Doctor Manhattan:

Doctor Jonathan Osterman (born August 14, 1929), in Germany, his father was a watchmaker, and Jon planned to follow in his footsteps. One of his first memories was when he was 9 years old and his father gave him a complicated clock as a birthday present in order to teach him that time has weight and power.

When Jon is sixteen, the US drops the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, his father declares his profession as a watchmaker outdated and throws his son’s watch-making parts out the windows, urging him to instead pursue a career studying nuclear physics. This is the incident that is the turning point in Jon’s potential future from watchmaker to nuclear physicist

Due to an accident involving a nuclear physics experiment, Dr. Osterman os taken outside the physical realm and returned with god-like powers, including superhuman strength, telekinesis, the ability to teleport himself or others over planetary, and interplanetary distances, control over matter at a subatomic level and near total clairvoyance. After his transformation, Jon begins to experience time in a non-linear, “quantum” fashion, and it is implied that he is aware of and experiencing all the moments of his life simultaneously. Furthermore, he perceives the past, present, and future as happening simultaneously, but at least believes that he cannot act on that knowledge since his own actions and reactions to chronological events are apparently predetermined.

The Case for Doctor Manhattan being behind the New52 Continuity:

Circumstantial Evidence against Doctor Manhattan:

The vaporization of characters like Owl Man, Metron, and Pandora

Post-Rebirth Special references in books like Titans (to be covered in the Rebirth Checkup blog series currently in the works)

Before Watchmen: Doctor Manhattan plays with time travel and physics, ultimately suggesting that the cause of the accident that turned Jon Osterman into Dr. Manhattan was … Dr. Manhattan himself. The four issue mini has Doctor Manhattan traveling back in time past the point that he was caught in the accident that transformed him in his god-like state good parallels between Manhattan and Ozymandias’s ultimate Watchmen plan when Manhattan begins destroying alternate timelines in order to preserve his own.









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Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Image 2 of 5 Image 3 of 5 Image 4 of 5 Image 5 of 5 The Rebirth of the DC Universe: Watchmen, the Multiverse, and Everything 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

The first issue explores quantum physics ideas like Schrodinger’s cat, the thought experiment involving a cat locked in a box with a flask of poison that could break at any time: Until you open the box, you don’t know whether the cat is dead or alive. Eventually, the cat becomes essentially both dead and alive at the same time.

Here, Doctor Manhattan observes the universe and is able to see how things could be different depending on seemingly random events occurring.

An example being at the Crimebusters meeting, he initially was paired with Rorschach but used his powers to alter the name he was paired with to Silk Spectre. History changed from that point, and the universe where he was paired with Rorschach ceased to exist.

The second issue sees Doctor Manhatten taking this one step further and going back to the moment he was created by the accident and preventing his creation. This leads to him marrying his first girlfriend, Janey Slater. Manhatten messes with time simply choosing whether his bride is in the left dressing ‘room or the right creates two alternate timelines that Manhattan follows, each to its own respective “ending” (one where the Cuban Missile Crisis escalates, due to The Comedian and another where it doesn’t, due to Veidt).

By the end of the issue, Manhattan wonders if time is perhaps broken due to his traveling back past his creation.

The end of the series takes place during the end of the original Watchmen series with the conversation between Doctor Manhatten and Adrian Veidt (which is the same one found at the end of the Rebirth Special ). One could guess that Manhattan coming to Ozymandias with his view of the future, inspires Ozymandias into creating his plan in the first place.

It’s interesting what Manhattan says to Ozymandias after the plan was over: that it’s not at its end, as there are no such things as endings something amazing. And perhaps we will become something amazing, TOGETHER. I would like that. I would like that very much.”

The final panels of the series shows Doctor Manhattan creating something supposedly a universe:

—

Ozymandias

Adrian Alexander Veidt was born in 1939, the son of rich German immigrant parents Friedrich Werner Veidt and Ingrid Renata Veidt. As a kid, Adrian was found to be incredibly intelligent. After his teachers and parents became suspicious of his consistent academic prowess, he hid his intelligence by deliberately achieving average grades. Disgusted he stopped hiding his intelligence and graduated high school cum laude at age 14.os

After his parents were killed in a car accident he inherited their substantial fortune at the age of 17, chose to give it all to charity, Veidt then embarked on a vision quest, following the route of Alexander the Great – a childhood idol of he and his father. Upon returning to America, he named himself “Ozymandias” and became a costumed vigilante, focusing particularly on organized crime and earning a reputation as “the smartest man on the planet.” During his adventures, however, he loses the idealistic belief that battling crime would truly lessen evil and suffering in the world.

two years before vigilante crime fighters (superheroes) are banned by the “Keene Act“, he retires his superhero persona, and markets his image, in the form of Action Figures among other products, for money, and creates the Veidt Enterprises megacorporation. This helps bankroll his scheme of creating a catastrophic event and deceive the world into uniting against a common enemy—in Veidt’s case, a horrific alien invasion. To that end, he employed geneticists to clone the stolen brain of

To that end, he employed geneticists to clone the stolen brain of Robert Deschaines, a dead psychic, and use it to create such a creature with a group of artists and creative personnel to help create the illusion of an alien invader. He also invents a limited form of teleportation based in part on the studies of (and studies by) Doctor Manhattan.

Veidt’s plot has desired effect of uniting the nations of the world and averting a possible nuclear war, Veidt still asks the precognitive Doctor Manhattan for verification that he did “the right thing” and that his plans “worked out in the end,” to which Jon can only reply that nothing ever ends, leaving Veidt once again in doubt as to whether or not his plan was successful.

Following the Convergence event in the New52 DCU, a mysterious character known as Mr. Oz, (who is later heavily implied to be Ozymandias, though never explicitly identified as such,) appears to have been watching the New52 Superman for some time. He is shown to share many of the same characteristics; he is blue-eyed and fair-skinned, roughly the same height, with a handsome appearance. In addition, he possesses much of the same mental faculties, showing a keen interest in strategy, practicality, and long-term planning.

Some time later, following the death of the New52 Superman, Mr. Oz visits the Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint Superman and states that his true identity does not currently matter, though it will become relevant in the future. After commenting on the continued growth of Superman’s son, he declares he came to tell them that they are not what they believe themselves to be and neither was his deceased counterpart.

He does not elaborate further and disappears. Later when the Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint Superman visits New52 Superman’s grave site, his interaction with it triggers a glowing blue handprint to appear on the ground.

Since he first appeared in the New52 Volume of Superman, he has been actively “watching the events of the New52 / current DCU.

Mr. Oz has been around since the New52 Universe and (knowingly or unknowingly) to the New52’s Superman, knew his secrets and played a role in his life from the beginning.

Mr. Oz seems to be connected to Geneticon, a mysterious company in Metropolis

In the Watchmen and Before Watchmen, Adrian Veidt is shown to be a super genius when it comes to science.

He not only is able to create “the monster” which destroyed NYC but also creates his cat-like pet Bubstis but also reverse-engineers Doctor Manhatten’s powers.

I don’t see why he wouldn’t be able to create a human life form given enough time, as his Watchmen monster did have a cloned human brain.

I think that Pandora is one of his creations that he somehow gave certain Doctor Manhattan reality-warping powers to and then she rebelled against him once he learns of his grand scheme. Pandora seems to have started the New52 on the road to destruction since her box contained the key which allowed the Earth-3 Crime Syndicate to cross over to Earth-0 (New52 Earth) which led to the Darkseid/Anti -Monitor War and the end of the New52 era.

Pandora’s origin supposedly goes back to ancient Macedonia, circa 8000 B.C.E. While foraging so an herbal medicine to cure her sick son can be made, she finds a strange skull while looking and releases the Seven Deadly Sins upon the world. The spirits ravage her village, distorting and perverting the people there in order to force them to murder each other. She is then transported before the Circle of Eternity, along with Judas Iscariot (Phantom Stranger) and a man of questionable origin (The Question). They are called the greatest transgressors mankind has ever known, labeled the Trinity of Sin and are to be punished for their crimes. Pandora is the last, forced to walk the world for eternity to experience the pain she wrought by releasing the spirits of evil upon man, as well as receiving scars on her face that would burn without relief and be forced to feel the ruin of the world with the whole of her being.

Pandora’s punishment is that she is forced to walk the world for eternity to experience the pain she wrought by releasing the spirits of evil upon man, as well as receiving scars on her face that would burn without relief and be forced to feel the ruin of the world with the whole of her being. As she walks the world, she sees the affect the released spirits had on people. She would attempt to save people from the destruction but soon realized that, for every life she saved, the spirits would still kill much more. Then, she attempted to provide counsel for the people of the world, though she was often ignored. All the while, the spirits would appear to her periodically, mocking her by calling her their “mother” and attempting to turn her into supporting them.

Deciding to fight the spirits directly, she began to learn different forms of magic and martial arts throughout the ages.

Pandora seems to have powers that are similar to those of Doctor Manhatten such as. Not only was she able to manipulate the three timelines / Earths into the New52, she also displayed the ability to transport from place to place. From the beginning of the New52 Pandora was getting around, making hidden cameos in all the new titles, as one observing the new universe. It was revealed during the Trinity War, which brought the Crime Syndicate from Earth-3 even resembles the Manhatten-seque powers

Perhaps with Pandora, knowingly combined the 3 Earths to form the New52/Rebirth Earth as a step towards making it possible for the eventual reunification of the three timelines indicated above. The Flashpoint event may have provided her with the right conditions needed to do something of this magnitude. By combining the Earths, Pandora essentially cements the magic based characters like John Constantine (Hellblazer), Swamp Thing, Shade the Changing Man and Black Orchid, which were shuffled off to the Vertigo Universe following the Crisis on Infinite, and was starting to appear in the regular DCU following Brightest Day event.

This would also explain the sequence in the Rebirth Special where Pandora is vaporized by someone off screen:

In these panels, it is clear Pandora has known more than she originally divulged during the Trinty War event. Just who this person is unclear but is probably one of two Watchmen characters: Doctor Manhattan or Mr. Oz (Adrien Veidt / Ozymandias ). Pandora’s final words about in the second panel seem to me to describe Veidt more so than Doctor Manhattan…

This would also explain why Pandora recognizes her killer in the Rebirth Special. Also, Veidt does have a flair for the ancient Greek schtick and naming a creation Pandora from Greek mythology would be something I could see him doing as a smug joke while trying to weaken the DCU.

Since he also has reverse-engineered Doctor Manhattan’s abilities, who is to say that given time, he would further be able to better duplicate Manhattan’s abilities. By being able to do this he could make the on-panel deaths look like Doctor Manhattan is responsible (as he would have an ax to grind) given the events of Watchmen.

Nobody is sure what Mr. Oz’s connection to the larger DC Universe is, but it is implied that when someone gets too close to learning what they are not supposed to know he captures them. This occurrence is usually accompanied by lots of blue energy similar to Doctor Manhattan’s teleportation abilities, yet they end up in Oz’s prison.

Mr. Oz has been taking players “off the field” such as:

Doomsday (Action Comics)

In Action Comics Mr. Oz uses Doomsday to see how powerful the Pre-Flashpoint Superman is and captures Doomsday after Superman believes he has banished the monster to The Phantom Zone

Red Robin/Tim Drake (Detective Comics)

The conclusion of the first story arc “Rise of the Batmen” had Tim Drake/Red Robin supposedly killed, when he was really captured and imprisoned by Mr. Oz

http://www.newsarama.com/32800-mr-oz-s-prison-why-is-tim-drake-so-important.html

http://www.newsarama.com/32800-mr-oz-s-prison-why-is-tim-drake-so-important.html

So why take Tim “off the field”?

He is a great detective and is shown to be questioning Batman before the events of “Rise of the Batmen” why Bruce was acting like he was positioning heroes around him as if he was going to war.

Before he was taken, he was in the process of leaving the vigilante life and going to Ivy University which would have put him in contact with Ray Palmer (see below) and Ryan Choi.

Taking Tim off the board would be one way to distract Batman from discovering Mr. Oz’s plans, hoping that Batman would focus more on Tim’s death then the investigation into the Comedian’s button which he found in the Bat Cave.

It should also be noted that the Tim Drake from the Future’s End storyline, who took over the mantle of Batman after Terry McGuiness was killed, gave it up the mantle after it was discovered that Terry McGuiness was alive, also disappeared around the same time as Red Robin was taken by Mr. Oz.

Prophecy: Multiplicity storyline, Superman (Vol. 3) #14 – 16

Prophecy targets Supermen across the Multiverse for processing. While his motives for doing so are uncertain, the Gatherers make it horrifyingly clear to our Earth’s Superman what “processing” means—they are consumed.

The prisoner that Escapes from Mr. Oz’s prison aka Mr. Mxyzptlk aka The third Clark Kent

Mr. Oz’s Mystery prisoner – Superman (Vol. 2):



Who is Mr. Oz talking to?

Doctor Manhattan – Maybe somehow captured him and is using his powers for his own schemes Booster Gold / Waverider / Rip Hunter – These three have been missing since the end of the Convergence event these characters police the DCU timeline which would make them logical possibilities if there has been manipulation of the timestream since they monitor the timeline for abnormalities.

Booster Gold:

Since Infinite Crisis and the 52 series, Booster has been working with Rip Hunter to ensure the DCU timeline is protected from abnormalities. Booster Gold was the first the first significant new character introduced into DC Universe continuity after the Crisis on Infinite Earths.When Earth entered the Flashpoint timeline, Booster and his robot companion Skeets awaken and are the only ones who remember the original timeline. leaving him to return to Vanishing Point as history resets without any clear memory of his time in the “Flashpoint” universe.In the post-Flashpoint/ New52 continuity, Booster is portrayed with his original glory-seeking personality and is chosen by the U.N. to lead the JLI due to his PR sense and naiveté. He takes his leadership role seriously, striving to become a better hero and role model.

Booster is confronted with what appears to be an older version of him, an agent of ARGUS who warns his present self to prevent Superman and Wonder Woman from dating which failed to prevent, would cause Booster Gold to cease existing. As the JLI monitor reveals Superman and Wonder Woman kissing, the future Gold disappears and present day Gold disappears moments later.

The older Booster Gold mysteriously reappears in other timelines, in Booster Gold: Futures End #1, the older Booster clarifies he is not an older version of the New 52 Booster, but an older version of him from a universe which has ceased to exist (pre-Flashpoint universe).

The older Booster is sent careening through the timeline, eventually meeting up with his sister, Michelle, who is in a version of Metropolis which has been sealed in a bubble by a godlike version of Brainiac. They are teleported to where the younger, New 52 Booster is held captive by Brainiac. Brainiac threatens to kill Michelle unless the younger Booster gives up the location of Vanishing Point, which he concedes.

The older Booster knows this could lead to the end of the Multiverse, and sets up the events of Convergence, Earth 2: Worlds’ End and The New 52: Futures End.

The aged pre-Flashpoint Booster begins to age rapidly from time travel radiation sickness. Rip intervenes and forces the New 52 Booster to take his father into the raw chronal field contained at Vanishing Point; pre-Flashpoint Booster’s body is destroyed, but he is reborn as Waverider, the all-knowing cosmic time traveler.

Waverider:

Waverider is a time traveler who was reduced to tachyons and merged with the time stream giving him the ability to time-travel as he wishes, and is always capable of accessing the time stream and monitoring it.

He can also access a person’s aura, and by touching them he can predict their most likely future at any time in their life. The original Waverider was killed during 52 by Mister Mind.

As mentioned above, when pre-Flashpoint Booster’s body is destroyed, but he is reborn as Waverider, the all-knowing cosmic time traveler. Waverider emerges on Telos in the final issue of Convergence along with the New 52 Booster and Goldstar to bring back Brainiac, and convince him to save the Multiverse from its imminent destruction.

Rip Hunter

Rip Hunter has had a number of revisions within the DC Universe. His origin changes are generally connected to larger events and story lines such as following the events of Infinite Crisis, Hunter is established as the son of Booster Gold. Rip I am sure would have plenty to say about changing the timeline.

I suspect that Mr. Oz also has Ray Palmer/ The Atom as a prisoner after he discovered there was something wrong with the time stream and shrunk down to the Microverse.

—

Watchmen / DCU Rebirth Theories:

Who is responsible for removing 10 years from the DC Universe?

So far, conventional wisdom says Doctor Manhattan is responsible for the changes to the DC Universe… but the question remains Why would Doctor Manhattan want to change the history of the DC Universe? I find it out of character for Manhatten to just remove 10 years of history on a whim….

Was it to prevent the Watchmen dystopian universe, by altering the effects metahumans may have had on society?

Was it to negate the events such as the various Crisis‘, or events such Identity Crisis (rape and death of Sue Dibney) that made the DC Universe so dark and gritty or the continual “death” and return of certain characters?

While some events like the Death of Superman or Batman having his back broken by Bane, Blackest Night, etc which were said to be part of the New52 characters, though DC Editorial wouldn’t give a specific time frame of when they happened in the missing years.

or is Doctor Manhatten trying to get back at the person who put this together:

I just feel that the closing sequence of the Rebirth Special is one where time is being fixed/ corrected.

Before we find out that it is Wally that is narrating the Rebirth Special we see the panels of his watch that is missing a cog, which causes him to lose time… his watch seems to be a metaphor for the DC Universe. We see his watch again at the end on Mars, as the watch disassembles in midair and the missing cog reappears (representing Wally’s return from the Speed Force back into the DCU).

Notice that the time on the watch goes backward. I take this as Doctor Manhattan repairing the time like he repaired watches before his transformation, so why would he change time only to repair and reset it?

I think the answer lies in whatever Mr. Oz has been doing behind the scenes and Doctor Manhattan is correcting the timeline not destroying it.

—

So what if this is the case:

Assuming Doctor Manhattan is behind this; what if he somehow managed intentionally or unintentionally to separate the DC Universe into 3 “box universes” at times when there was a major event allowed him to serve as the Hand of Creation for some reason, and if one is to believe Pandora, it was done to “weaken the DCU for invasion”

Those points in history: The Golden Age, Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths – Flashpoint, and the New52/Rebirth.

Then using the Schrodinger’s cat paradox, pushed in Before Watchmen: Doctor Manhatten, and applying it to the three hourglasses above, we know about the New52/Rebirth Universe since the hourglass is broken (the box is open). The Golden Age and Pre Crisis to Flashpoint timeline/universe hourglasses are still intact so maybe they do or don’t exist.

The 10 missing years (because comic book time is subjective) is probably the period from Crisis on Infinite Earths to Flashpoint which would include Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis, and Identity Crisis. since Blackest Night / Brightest Day was so close to the Flashpoint event then perhaps that is why they are supposedly still part of the New52 character continuities which really only affected Batman (Court of Owls) and the Green Lantern (Blackest Night) continuities.

Consider this timeline using Comic book time:

July 1985: the bulk of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” to November 1985: “Crisis” #12 release

October-November 1985: the bulk of “Watchmen” takes place May 1986: “Watchmen” #1 and “Whatever Happened to the Man Of Tomorrow? (last Silver Age Story) released both by Alan Moore, Justice Society sent to “Limbo” following Crisis on Infinite Earths

While not perfect if DC wanted to mash together these two events in separate universes, with Doctor Manhattan leaving the “Watchmen” universe on Nov. 2, 1985, as the real-world DC Comics is putting out the final issue of “Crisis.” what better place to mess with the DCU timeline, at major times when history and continuity are being rewritten anyway?

Doctor Manhattan also mentions wanting to create some new human life. After all, he’s been through, he might find it refreshing to watch the world full of (relatively) uncomplicated super-people chasing each other around and trying their best to do the right thing. We don’t know if young Jon Osterman (born 1929) read Superman comics, but he would have been the right age when “Action” #1 came out in 1938. Again, if one were so inclined, one might imagine Doctor Manhattan casting around for inspiration in the spring of 1986, noticing that for one version of Superman, the story was about to end — and deciding to watch over the new one.

One could effectively get rid of 10 years of history by saying the events following Crisis on Infinite Earths through the Flashpoint never happened plus this is the time when the original Justice Society (Earth 2) entered limbo.

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These 2 distinct timelines (universes), when added to the post-Flashpoint New52/Rebirth would give a complete and gapless history of the entire universe.

As Wally mentions it was the war between Darkseid and Anti-Monitor that weakened the dimensional fabric of time and space and allowed him to try and escape the Speed Force. When he reconnects with Barry, the box (hourglass containing the New52/Rebirth Universe) is destroyed and the timelines will start to sync up once they are all freed.

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This makes me think about what would cause the other two timelines /universes to be released…

I am fairly sure the Golden Age heroes will be released once Johnny Thunder or someone (Jakeem) finds Thunderbolt and will include Barry and old Wally. This has already been alluded to in The Flash when Barry sees Jay’s helmet and gets a feeling of hope. They could also play on the DCU history by using Waverider, (the prisoner?), like was done at the end of Armageddon: Inferno event of 1991.

As for the Silver Age hourglass/universe, I think Pre-Flashpoint Superman would be the catalyst for freeing this trapped timeline as it is the one he is from.

Being from a separate timeline is the only logical explanation for why he is not recognized as being a Superman of the Multiverse (Superman: Multiplicity) and had to have Swamp Thing tune his vibrational frequency as his presence was causing a disruption through The Green.

This would also go with Mr. Oz’s warning to him in the Rebirth Special:.



Remember that this Superman was from the Convergence event when Brainiac plucked heroes from the different Earths and Post-Crisis Superman, Parallax (Hal Jordan), Pre-Crisis Barry Allen and Supergirl (both who died in the original Crisis) went back to Crisis on Infinite Earths, and defeated the Anti-Monitor and helped preserve the Multiverse. Superman, Lois, and Johnathan returned to the New52/DCYou Continuity, not the Pre-Flashpoint time where they were taken from, thus creating a Superman paradox.

So Pre-Flashpoint Superman is an anomaly, from a different timeline. It will be interesting to see if this is the case and how they tie things together.

What if they go the route of this variant cover for JLA, all they would have to do is replace the silver age Superman with The Atom and the New52 Superman with The Pre-Flashpoint Superman. It harkens back to the history of the DCU when they were introducing the Golden Age characters to the Silver Age characters and

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I have a sneaking feeling that the Watchman Universe is somehow part of the DC Multiverse and is tied in through the Multiversity series written by Grant Morrison.

The Multiversity maxiseries contained nine issues: six one-shots a guidebook (containing a map of the multiverse and entries describing each earth), and a two-part bookended story which served as the main story. Each one-shot took place on an Earth of the DCU multiverse. The overarching Multiversity story arc centers around the DC Comics multiverse being invaded by a race of cosmic parasites known as the Gentry. The Gentry come from beyond the immediate DC “local” multiverse, and each member is a cultural fear or “bad idea” personified as a living, demonic entity. Intellectron is the immoral genius; Demogorgunn is the mindless, sprawling horde; Hellmachine is unchecked, uncontrollable technology; Dame Merciless is the ultimate extreme of the Femme Fatale; and Lord Broken is insanity and despair. The Gentry were drawn to the multiverse by the emanations of ruined dreams and negative ideas. They want to seize ownership of every single mind in existence, and in doing so, control all thoughts and stories. To this end, they use Ultra Comics #1 as a vector to infect the multiverse, and they simultaneously launch an attack on every earth in the Orrery of Worlds. Various heroes from across different universes are forced to band together to face this extra-dimensional threat, initiating the “Battle for All Creation.” The multiversal heroes are led by Calvin Ellis, President of the United States and Superman of Earth-23, Aquawoman, Thunderer, President Superman, Captain Carrot, Red Racer, and the Retaliators of Earth-8 who would form the Multiverse equivalent of the Justice League know as Justice Incarnate.

Theory 1: The Watchmen earth is one of the seven undocumented Earths from the Multiversity Guidebook, Earth-4 is the closest thing to the Watchmen Universe since that is the Earth with the Charlton characters from the Multiversity: Pax Americana one-shot





Theory 2: The Watchmen universe is part of The Overvoid (see map from Multiversity below), I mean the resemblance in the picture is eerie

Theory 3: Multiversity takes place outside of time alongside the New52 Universe.

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Other possible Watchmen / Multiversity / DCU Universe connections:

Many characters from the Multiverse series have shown up in ongoing titles for example, The Justice League Incarnate have made an appeared in The Rebirth Universe in the Multiplicity storyline in Superman and Lord Havok and the Extremists from Earth in Justice League of America, and all references of the different Earths matching up with the corresponding entry in the Multiversity Guidebook.

and Lord Havok and the Extremists from Earth in Justice League of America, and all references of the different Earths matching up with the corresponding entry in the Multiversity Guidebook. During the New52 run of Action Comics, Superman of Earth-23 President of the United States, Calvin Ellis,

At least 3 things from this panel in Multiversity #1



The Watchmen-esque Clock panel as the Justice League Incarnate travel between the universes Monsters, Monsters everywhere… in Multiversity they are referred to as The Gentry, Superman’s Rebirth experiences also include some “Watchmen”-esque elements. He fights giant tentacled monsters in both the “Justice League: Rebirth” special and in “Superman” #2, and in Watchmen, Veidt’s underlying plan is to save humanity from impending nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union by faking an alien invasion in New York City, which annihilates half the city’s population. Blue energy similar to that of Doctor Manhatten or the Intrinsic Field Subtractor used by Veidt

The Hand of Creation: Mentioned before in a previous post, The Hand of Creation is referenced in both Multiversity and Rebirth even using similar imagery when discussing the history of the DCU.

Both of these Hands of Creation also has the ability to “reset time.”

Both play off the meta idea of the comic book, In Watchmen, Oz hires comic book creators (writers and artists) to create his monster and the main story is mirrored in the Tales of the Black Freighter comic. In Multiversity, The Gentry use Ultra Comics #1 as a vector to infect the multiverse and seize ownership of every single mind in existence, and in doing so, control all thoughts and stories.

Is this sequence from the end of Multiversity really Doctor Manhattan that has somehow been corrupted?

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I can’t wait to see how things play out in the next few months, especially next month as Batman and Flash learn more about the Comedian’s button

My next foray into the Rebirth Era will be looking at the different titles that were part of the Rebirth launch and will also point out any Rebirth related mentions.