I’ve been giving some thought to how Grant Morrison tells his stories. How he thinks about meta-narratives, the nature of time, and the fourth wall. Granted, some of it comes in to my own research, but there is something specifically interesting about Morrison even outside my research. I’ve found myself looking at his map of the multiverse and considering it as though it were real. That sounds kind of stupid, of course it’s real. You can Google it and print it off, or just pick up a copy of Multiversity and take a look at it there. But I started to consider it in the way that I imagine Morrison does.

The first thing to notice about the map is the presence of 52 Earths in the centre. The number 52 comes up often in DC lore and does frequently refer to there being 52 different realities. Earth 0 is New Earth, where the New 52, and now Rebirth universe takes place, Earth 1 is where the stories of Superman: Earth One by J. Michael Straczynski, Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns, and Wonder Woman: Earth One by Grant Morrison take place, as well as the other Earth One titles. Earth 5 is the home of Captain Marvel, the original name for the hero now known as Shazam and a send up to the Pre-Crisis Earth S. Earth 11 is gender-bent. Earth 22 is the world seen in Kingdom Come, Earth 43 is the world seen in Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, so on and so forth. But what is important to remember here is that while they are represented as planets within this space, they are actually the universes those stories take place in. Within each of those “worlds” on the map, there are other planets and galaxies. So, while they are represented as singular entities, they are actually far more grant and complex than you would imagine. Almost symbolic of the map as a whole.

During the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, and obviously Pre-Crisis, there were more than just 52 earths. As previously stated, Earth 5 previously existed as Earth S Pre-Crisis, before being rolled into the then New Earth. The point of Crisis on Infinite Earths was to roll all of their separate universes into one cohesive continuity. Though this was later broken again years later, see Infinite Crisis. What is interesting to note though is that this Map of the Multiverse could have existed even then. In the Tenth Issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths, the narrative at the bottom of the page states;

“On the planet Adon, five youths known as The Forever People used their powers to protect their adopted world from destruction. Across the dimensions, their pursuer, Darkseid the destroyer, cloaked only Apokolips from harm.”

On Morrison’s Multiverse Map, Apokolips and New Genesis both exist outside of the centre point. Separate from the “worlds”, which we will address shortly.

This collection of “worlds” is addressed here as the “Orrery of Worlds”. This is due to how the Monitors see the worlds, and given their collective status here, it is the most appropriate term.

Between each of these “worlds” is space known as “The Bleed”. If we were to think visualise each of the “worlds” as marbles in a bowl of jelly. Then the jelly would be The Bleed. The space in-between each of the “worlds” in order to keep them separate. But this Bleed doesn’t seem to be solid, comparing it to something like jelly might actually be appropriate. As there have been times when “worlds” have collided or partly phased into each other. Take Convergence. The main plot of the event is that different cities from across the multiverse were bottled, then made to battle each other to see who would survive. Clearly movement between these “worlds” is possible. Morrison even lists the different types of ships the Monitors use to cross the Multiverse. A more direct example of bleed travel would come from the abilities of The Flash.

The Flash’s ability to move between universes possibly comes from the fact that the very thing containing the worlds and the Bleed is the Speed Force Wall. The very force that the Flash taps into. The Flash’s abilities stem largely from vibration. Using his speed to change the molecular vibrations within him, he can perform some interesting moves such as Quantum Tunnelling, the ability to move through solid objects, as well as travel through time and other universes. The idea of molecular vibrations has a strong connection to the real-world principle of String Theory. To grossly oversimplify, String Theory states that the smallest molecules that make up matter are themselves made up of string. This string vibrates at different frequencies in order to determine what they are making up. Morrison makes note of this fact in the final act of Final Crisis. As Superman states before defeating Darkseid;

“The Worlds of the Multiverse vibrate together Darkseid and make this…. Sound, like an orchestra. Everything’s just frequencies, vibrations. And counter-vibrations that cancel them out.”.

How the Flash travels through The Bleed and to other Universes by manipulating his own vibrational frequencies to slip right through. A more advanced version of his quantum tunnelling. The speed force entrapping these “worlds” also explains how the Barry Allen Flash became trapped after the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Speaking of Crisis, it works to explain why Tuning Forks were needed to try to stabilise the worlds.

Beyond the Speed Force Wall lies the Sphere of the Gods layer. This as aptly named, as it sees eight more “worlds” above the previous 52. These are labelled as:

Nightmare

Skyland

New Genesis

Heaven

Dream

Underworld

Apokolips

Hell

Each of these “worlds” are inhabited by Gods, New Gods, Demons and Angels alike. Fittingly, given how these beings would be seen as being above regular man, it’s appropriate that their plane of existence would be higher than the Orrery. Apokolips and New Genesis we did address earlier, as during Crisis on Infinite Earths they were both protected. The world “Dream” is home to beings such as the Endless, Dream, Destiny, Death etc. “Skyworld” is home to the mythical gods, Asgard, Olympus, etc. “Hell” housing beings such as Etrigan and Trigon, and the “Underworld” can lead to the Kryptonian Phantom Zone. The North side of the sphere known as Order, while the lower as Chaos. As I’ve said, it makes sense that these worlds would be above the Orrery. These beings are Gods when compared to man. Beyond these, we find the Monitor Sphere. Those that watch over the Multiverse and are used within Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Final Crisis.

Holding the entire thing together is the Source Wall. This has recently been played with by the writer Scott Snyder in both his Justice League run, Justice League: No Justice, and Dark Nights Metal. Granted, Snyder has also been playing with a dark version of this map through Dark Nights Metal, and the Dark Multiverse. The source wall is said to be too high to scale, too wide to go around, and too low to crawl under. Essentially, it’s impenetrable from the inside. Beyond the wall is nothingness. Empty white space known as “The Source”. Given how Morrison thinks, I believe that “The Source” is the inspirations from the creators, readers and writers that made this multiverse. You can trace the inspiration of characters like Superman to circus strongmen and real-world mythology, Batman can be traced to Sherlock Holmes and possibly Dracula imagery. Just as the Gods of their multiverse are in a plain higher than the heroes and worlds, I believe we are in a level beyond “The Source”. It could stretch beyond that. Maybe “The Source” also includes other fictional multiverses. What if the Marvel universe had a similar map? One that could be placed alongside this map. Morrison’s map, while possibly not intentional, does show elements of “The Source” bleeding in towards the maps centre. Elements of outside fiction slowly influencing their worlds due to pop culture and writers’ tastes.

If you think of this model in a real-world aspect, who’s to say this isn’t how our world works? That we are a single world in a massive Orrery? Morrison has often played with the idea of perception. In Multiversity, where this map is also published, Captain Atom flips through a comic book and makes this comment;

“This story’s linear, but I can flip through the pages in any order. Any direction. Forward in time to the conclusion. Back to the opening scene. The characters remain unaware of my scrutiny, but their thoughts are transparent. Weightless in little clouds. This is how a 2-Dimensional continuum looks to you. Imagine how your 3-D world appears to me.”

In a 2-dimensional universe, one in this case that almost purely exists on paper, we do see it this way. We have full control of time, pacing and what we chose to acknowledge. What if something in the 4th or even 5th dimension views our reality this way as well? Are we secretly being spied on by Mr. Mxyzptlk or Bat-Mite? God, I hope not. But it’s an interesting proposition to make. Going the other way, could the fiction of the DC universe also be broken down this way? Does their fiction get as much attention in universe as theirs does in ours? Perhaps in some higher plain of existence, we are all just entries in a fan Wikipedia page. I bet you mine is a single paragraph or a redirect entry.

Bibliography:

Wolfman, M. & Perez, G. (1986) Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC Comics: Burbank.

Gaiman, N. et. Al. (1989 – present) The Sandman. DC Comics: Burbank.

Moench, D. & Jones, K. (1991) Batman & Dracula: Red Rain. DC Comics: Burbank.

Waid, M. & Ross, A. (1996) Kingdom Come. DC Comics: Burbank.

Johns, G. & Jimenez, P. (2006) Infinite Crisis. DC Comics: Burbank.

Morrison, G & Jones, J.G. (2009) Final Crisis. DC Comics: Burbank.

Straczynski, J. M. & Davis, S. (2010) Superman: Earth One. DC Comics: Burbank

Johns, G. & Frank, G. (2012) Batman: Earth One. DC Comics: Burbank.

King, J. & Van Sciver, E. (2015) Convergence. DC Comics: Burbank.

Morrison, G. et al. (2015) Multiversity. DC Comics: Burbank

Morrison, G. & Paquette, Y. (2016) Wonder Woman: Earth One. DC Comics: Burbank.

Snyder, S. & Capullo, G. (2017 – 2018) Dark Nights Metal. DC Comics: Burbank.

Snyder, S. & Manapul, F. (2018) Justice League: No Justice. DC Comics: Burbank.

Snyder, S. & Jirmenez, J. (2018 – Present) Justice League. DC Comics: Burbank.