Crude Combined Marvel/DC timeline to use as backstory to a Supers campaign

[Shaft]

Earlier this evening, I had a post about including Marvel and DC heroes as backstory. It got the creative juices flowing, and I came up with a quick and dirty timeline that has the DC heroes (who were created back in the 1930s/40s) mostly as the "golden age", with the Invaders thrown in as well. As they aged, they were gradually replaced by the classic Marvel heroes and the DC Silver age counterparts, most of whom were created in the 60s/70s. Of course the heroes who age slowly could still be around, but this way, you have a history of heroes who are well known, and who's names are instantly recognised by the players the same way other historical figures have a certain amount of recognition. At the same time in the "modern day", the heroes aren't wondering where all of the Justice League or Avengers are when a world-affecting catastrophe is looming. They could even be the latest rendition of the JLA or Avengers, with a truly impressive legacy to live up to.

The other nice thing is that with most of the Marvel heroes being in NYC, and the DC heroes being spread out all over the place, it distributes the heroes a bit more evenly.

I've portrayed the Avengers as being a government team while the Justice League is far more independant. It might make sense for certain heroes to cross the lines of publishers- for example, Captain Atom makes a better Avenger while Falcon makes a better Justice League member. Feel free to use your discretion.

Obviously, this timeline isn't nearly complete, and some people may want to change it so that their preferred heroes are more (or less) prominent. It's really a trigger for GMs who like history. Feel free to add your own ideas for events, and I'll add them to the master timeline if I think they work.

I've tried to avoid listing deaths or retirements, except where passing a legacy is needed. For all I know, some heroes might have longevity and still be around. The reader is free to make the decision about when a specific hero gets to old for this $%!#. But if you decide to keep Spidey around in 2006, and he started in 1962, everyone is wondering why Peter Parker isn't preparing to retire.

• 1908 Logan is born in the Dominion of Canada.
• 1912 Brainiac realises that Galactus will destroy Krypton- he begins collecting the planet's accumulated knowledge to ensure its (his) survival.
• 1914 Galactus destroys Krypton. Kal-El is sent to Earth in a rocket ship. Brainiac escapes the exploding planet with the collected data.
• 1919 Fraternal twin Brothers Namor and Arthur are born out of wedlock to an Atlantean princess several months after her rescue by a lighthouse keeper, but their human heritage adds to scandal as the children are determined to be a source of shame.
• 1920 Kal-El found by Martha and Johnathan Kent
• 1922 Bruce Wayne's parents are killed in front of him as they are cutting through Crime Alley.
• 1929 Every once in a while, Superboy is spotted in Smallville, KS.
• 1931 Rumors about an invisible crimefighter calling himself The Shadow begin to circulate.
• 1938 Superman makes his first appearance in Metropolis.
• 1939 In Gotham City, rumors of a shadowy vigilante calling himself the Batman begin to float around.
• 1939 Billy Batson meets a Kree Wizard named Shazam who imbues him with great power.
• 1940 Jay Garrick, the first Flash, appears in Keystone city.
• 1940 The Red Hood falls into a vat of chemicals, becoming the Joker.
• 1940 Batman begins training the 11 yr old Dick Grayson as his sidekick, Robin.
• 1941 Steve Rogers is injected with the serum that makes him Captain America.
• 1941 Princess Diana of the Amazons tries to help teach mankind about peace as the World is ravaged by war. Sixty years later, the Amazons will determine that she has failed and exile her.
• 1942 The Invaders and the All-Star Squadron are formed by the numerous superheroes that join the war effort.
• 1943 Sgt Nick Fury unwittingly stumbles into a Lazarus Pit while on a commando mission in North Africa.
• 1945 The All-Star Squadron sticks together after the war, renaming themselves the Justice Society of America. The Invaders fare less well, after Captain America (who held them together) goes MIA. The Sub-Mariner returns to Atlantis. The Human Torch moves to the Pacific theatre. After the war, he is put into (no pun intended) cold storage until he is found by Ultron in 1968 and turned into the Vision. Union Jack returns to England where he fights crime for King & Country.
• 1946 Superman reveals his identidy to Lois Lane. They marry, but are unable to have children.
• 1947 J'onn J'onzz, a "SuperSkrull" experiment on the run from his government, crashes in Roswell, New Mexico and is taken into custody, where is mistaken for a Martian. Once his peaceful intentions are confirmed, he is assigned to Majestic-12 as "John Jones" for the next 8 years. In 1955, he reveals his existence as the "Martian Manhunter" to the public.
• 1949 Dick Grayson passes the mantle of Robin off to Jason Todd, and becomes the first NightWing. Later that year, a temporal accident transports Grayson fifteen years into the future.
• 1950 Green Arrow spends a summer teaching a young Clint Barton some archery tricks. Years later, the archers face off when Hawkeye is about to embark on a life of crime. Green Arrow beats his pupil, sets him straight and puts in a good word for him to be considered as an Avenger.
• 1953 Charles Xavier is crippled by Magneto as they have a falling out over the direction of their plans for mutantkind.
• 1953 The JSA's actions in the Korean War help bring about an armistice.
• 1954 Matthew Murdock is hit by a truck carrying radioactive isotopes and blinded, though his other senses are augmented.
• 1956 The Joker kills Jason Todd. Batman decides to work alone.
• 1956 Barry Allen takes up the Mantle of the Flash from Jay Garrick, who retires as his body and powers begin giving out on him.
• 1959 Alan Scott is killed but with his dying breath, he makes Hal Jordan, the test pilot who answers his last call for help, swear to protect sector 2814 in his place.
• 1960 The Silver Age heroes shy away from joining the JSA, which is perceived as an war veterans superclub. As the JSA members start retiring, Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl II and Aquaman team up to fend off an alien invasion and decide to stick together as the Justice League. Aquaman declines the invitation, and Batman opts to only work part time (though he provdies funding) but the rest of the team stick together. Some of the JSA'ers who are still fit for battle come aboard too.
• 1961 NASA astronauts Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm are exposed to radiation that forces them to abort the first trip to the moon. It is another 8 years before another team of astronauts (Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin) attempt another moon landing.
• 1962 Peter Parker is bit by a radioactive spider. Shortly after, a new hero, Spiderman appears in New York.
• 1962 Dr Robert Bruce Banner, the lead scientist on a gov't funded project to reproduce the super-soldier project, is injected with the serum he produced. It turns him into the Hulk, but initially, his transformations seem to be controllable.
• 1962 Donald Blake has been plagued by visions that he is the son of Odin since he was 12. He finally accepts his destiny and finds Mjonlir, unleashing the power of Thor through him.
• 1963 Age is catching up to the 48 year old Batman. His reflexes aren't fast enough to save him in a battle against Rha'as'Ghul. Fortunately for the Caped Crusader, he is knocked into a Lazarus Pit and emerges with the body of a 20 year old.
• 1963 Concerned about the threat that Soviet metahumans pose, and the lack of control over the Justice League during the Cuban missle crisis, the US government funds its own superteam, the Avengers, consisting of Wasp, Giant Man, Iron Man, Thor, and the recently defected Black Widow. A few criminals (Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch) are offered parole if they give up their ways and join the team. Captain America's frozen body is found in the North Atlantic. The Avenger's existance makes the headlines when the Hulk goes on a rampage and the Avengers stop him before the Justice League can react. The government favoritism towards superheroes that are Avengers versus the heroes that are associated with the Justice Legue creates a rivalry that stil lexists to this day. The Avengers are perceived as government bootlickers while the Justice League are portrayed, at their worst, as seeing themselves above any government. Over time, the JLA drop the "of America" from their name and are known as the Justice League.
• 1963 An assassination on President Kennedy by Doomsday is foiled by Superman, but the world is shocked as Doomsday beats the Man of Steel to death on live television after a battle that rages halfway across the US. Despite Superman's return a few months later, decades later people still remember where they were when they heard that Superman was dead.
• 1963 Magneto unleashes his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants upon the world, turning the tide of public opinion against mutants. Charles Xavier recruits Jean Grey to be his fifth X-Man. She joins Angel, Beast, Cyclops and Iceman in countering Magneto as well as other evil mutants.
• 1963 Stephen Strange takes over the role of Sorceror Supreme from Kent Nelson.
• 1964 After "returning from a year long trip to Central Asia", Clark Kent becomes editor of the Daily Planet.
• 1964 Kennedy is re-elected, and remains President until 1969, when he is succeeded by Nixon who defeats Johnson. Tecumseh's curse appears to be broken.
• 1964 New York becomes overun by crime. After Kitty Genovese is killed in an alley in front of dozens of witnesses that don't do anything to save her, Matthew Murdock realises the limitations of the legal system, and decides to become Daredevil, drawing inspiration from the Batman's efforts in Gotham city.
• 1964 Nightwing, trying to cope with 15 lost years and a Batman that refuses to work with him, recruits Kid Flash, Speedy, Wonder Girl and Aqualad to form the Teen Titans. Dick Grayson & Steve Rogers find that they have much in common, having both skipped over one and a half decades of their lives, and form a strong friendship.
• 1965 Atlantis and The USSR nearly go to war when Soviet subs start passing through Atlantean borders. Namor views all surface worlders with the same contempt, since the Russians were allies during WWII, and now they are enemies. His younger brother Arthur, who has a cooler head, acts as an ambassador to the surface world and regularly works with the Justice League. Eventually Namor's contempt for the surface world spreads to Arthur, who becomes more crotchety with age.
• 1965 Thor leaves the Avengers over the issue of the Vietnam war.
• 1966 Galactus defeats the Justice League, Fantastic Four, Teen Titans and Avengers before Reed Richards and the Flash devise a plan to defeat him. Flash dies in the battle, passing the mantle to Wally West.
• 1967 Despite his wishes to keep working alone, Batman is frequently aided by the mysterious new heroine, Batgirl. He eventually takes her under his wing.
• 1968 An aging Billy Batson (who'da thought?) passes on his power to Carol Danvers.
• 1968 Bill Foster aka Black Goliath saves Martin Luther King from an assasination attempt in Memphis. King continues his work over the next decade to inspire a new generation of black superheroes: Falcon, Black Lightning, and a new Green Lantern.
• 1968 The Titans *finally* drop the "Teen" from their name.
• 1968 Franklin Richards is born.
• 1969 Havok and Polaris join the X-Men.
• 1971 Speedy goes into rehab. Green Arrow retires from the field shortly after, opting to move his crusade to social work. Besides, after 30 years of this, he's getting to too old for stunts now. A year later, he and Black Canary have a daughter.
• 1972 Lois Lane dies. With his parents dead many years earlier, Superman retires his Clark Kent identidy and works as Superman full time- beginning the disconnect he will start to feel with mere mortals.
• 1974 Professor X, reacting to Nixon's support for the Sentinels, telepathically discover evidence of the Watergate scandal and leaks it to the press.
• 1974 Shortly after his return from Vietnam, the Punisher begins his war on crime after his family is killed by the mob.
• 1975 The X-Men recruit Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, Banshee, Nightcrawler, Thunderbird and Sunfire into their ranks.
• 1975 Batman deduces a link between the Lazarus Pit and the super soldier serum.
• 1976 Jean Grey becomes imbued with the Phoenix Force.
• 1978 Hank McCoy mutates further, becoming the Blue-furred Beast. Shortly after, he joins the Avengers.
• 1979 Tony Stark has a heart attack severe enough that Jim Rhodes takes over the Iron Man role.
• 1979 The Avengers storm the beseiged American Embassy in Iran. This worsens the metahuman arms race already in progress with the Soviet Union.
• 1980 The Joker takes over the Hellfire Club and inadvertantly transforms Jean Grey into Dark Phoenix when he forces Mastermind to mess with her head. She kills herself to save the galaxy.
• 1980 Slade Wilson is injected with a variant of the Super Soldier formula that turns him into Deathstroke the Terminator.
• 1980 Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire and Franklin Richards join the Titans.
• 1980 Alison Blair's album, Dazzler, makes the Top 40
• 1983 Avengers participate in Grenada Invasion. Resolutions against military uses for metahumans are introduced at the UN, but they are vetoed by the Security Council.
• 1984 The Avengers start a West Coast branch, followed by a Great Lakes Branch in 1989.
• 1984 Alex, Julie, Jack and Kate Power join the Titans.
• 1986 Steve Rogers gives up the Captain America identidy when the US government wants him to start running black ops. John Walker takes over the identidy and is assigned to Amanda Waller who has him oversee the "Suicide Squad" unit with Task Force X.
• 1987 Just before his 40th birthday, Peter Parker settles down and marries Mary Jane Watson.
• 1988 Batgirl is shot in the spine by the Joker. She redefines herself as Oracle.
• 1988 Captain America, Superman and Ronald Reagan ask Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Inspired by their speech, the Joker resolves to do it himself in an explosive manner, but is thwarted at the last minute by an odd alliance of Russian heroes and a SHIELD team assisted by Batman. The team-up opens the door to the reunification of Germany
• 1989 Steve Rogers' role as Captain America is revealed. Public uproar makes the US government reinstate him as Captain America on his terms. Waller makes Walker give up the identidy, prefering to keep her unit out of the spotlight.
• 1989 Tim Drake (Iceman's nephew) deduces Batman's identidy. Batman decides to bring him in as a new Robin.
• 1989 Dick Grayson turns 45 and fathers a child with Starfire. He goes partially into retirement, occasionally returning to the field as the Red Robin.
• 1991 Oracle mentors Black Canary II, Huntress and Mockingbird (the daughter of Hawkeye and the original Huntress, SHIELD agent Bobbie Morse) and forms the Birds of Prey.
• 1991 Gulf War- The Avengers and Justice League work side by side to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqi army and protect Israel from Iraqi rockets.
• 1994 Kyle Rayner takes over the role of Green Lantern from John Stewart.
• 1996 Magog kills the Joker after he wipes out the staff of the Daily Planet. Superman brings in Magog for murder, but Magog is acquited. Superman goes into seclusion.
• 1997 Task Force X is expanded to include a new unit called the Thunderbolts.
• 1999 Terry McGuiness becomes NightWing II
• 2000 Martian Manhunter, trying to understand humanity despite 45 years of living among them, opens his mind too much and suffers severe mental feedback.
• 2001 Magog leads a team of super powered vigilantes to bring in the Absorbing Man, who uses Parasite's powers to augment his own and mimick the traits of a nuclear reactor before setting his sights on Captain Atom. He loses control of his power and explodes in a nuclear blaze, destroying a large part of Kansas. Outrage results in the passing of a superhuman registration act. Steve Rogers is arrested when he refuses to bring in heroes that choose not to register. His imprisonment is viewed as unlawful and inspires a large number of heroes to stay underground. These underground heroes, the "Outsiders", are led by the Batman (who immerses himself into the role full time after his identidy becomes exposed) & Luke Cage. The Justice League struggles as many of their members side with Batman. The Avengers are less torn since they've always been government agents since day one. Wonder Woman pulls Superman out of retirement to rally the pro-registration side, which Superman leads, with a heavy heart.
• 2001 A Superhuman prison is built in Kansas to contain the villains and unregistered vigilantes. Batman gets a team into the facility where Steve Rogers is being held to rescue him, but Rogers chooses to stay in prison and fight the system from within.
• 2001 As the nation is distracted by the Superhuman Civil War, 15 jets are hijacked for use as weapons by suicide bombers working with supervillains, including three military planes carrying nuclear weapons. 12 of them are stopped (the nukes are stopped by Superman who ends up comatose after the ordeal), but 3 get through- 2 on the WTC, 1 on the Pentagon. The terrorists were based out of Afghanistan, and with the Avengers' help, the Taliban is quickly overthrown, though the mastermind of the attacks, Rha's Al Ghul, escapes into parts unknown and is still at large to this day.
• 2001 In the aftermath, the heroes realise that they still have to band together. Officially, registration remains, but failure to register is a misdemeanor until compounded with a violent crime, so the pursuit of unregistered heroes is low on the priority scale. Steve Rogers is released from prison, but quickly realises that he can be more effective on the political stage than as a costumed crimefighter.
• 2002 Wonder Woman gives birth to Superman's child.
• 2003 Questionable links are made between the WTC hijackings and Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq. Steve Rogers uses his influence to keep the Avengers out of Iraq, though some members choose to go on their own, attached to other military units.
• 2004 Red Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Changeling and NightWing II are the mentors to the third generation of Titans: SuperBoy II, Wondergirl II, Impulse, and NightStar (Dick Grayson & Starfire's daughter).
• 2004 President Luthor's unlawful actions are exposed, but it is revealed that he had been mind-controlled by the Red Skull, who they can't seem to kill, can they? Reasonable doubt and a pardon by his VP keep him out of prison, but he steps down from his role, "to ensure the continued integrity of the office of the President". LexCorp has been profiting form the wars started under his tenure as President and welcomes his return to the Exectuve Board of Directors.
• 2004: Unimpressed with the way the country has been run lately, and feeling age start to catch up to his body, Steve Rogers runs for president as an independent and wins. Tony Stark is appointed Secretary of Defense.
• 2006: Age is also catching up to Batman, who aging is still slower than normal, but the truth is he hasn't taken a dip in a Lazarus Pit for 45+ years. Despite that, he is as dedicated as ever to remaining the Batman and makes the startling discovery that Terry McGuiness is his clone...
• 2006: Wally West disappears, leaving Impulse with the mantle of Flash IV
• 2008: who knows? Time for your players to start making the history if they haven't already started to do so...

[Enforcer84]

Impulse would be Flash 4 other than that...cool

[Kali Magdalene]

I noticed you had Clark reveal his identity to Lois in 1946. Since there actually was a story written in 1940 that features such a revelation, I thought I'd suggest using that as the basis for the revelation.

The K-Metal From Krypton introduces kryptonite before it appeared anywhere else, features Clark revealing his identity to Lois, reveals his origins on a planet called Krypton, and the first use of the name "Perry White" in a Superman story.

Of course, it didn't get published. It's too bad, as it may have set the tone for superhero comics being more like what you're describing here.

An essay about the K-Metal story.

[wrestlinggeek]

Very awesome. Incredibly like an idea I had recently (Marvel Earth and MLJ Earth are combined with Earths 1, 2, 4, S, and X and the end of Crisis. Every character's origin is reset to the year they first appeared, so Superman appeared in 1938, Spider-Man in 1964 [is that right?], etc.) My history is different (my Avengers are not so much like the Ultimates, Batman's succession is closer to Generations, no Kingdom Come elements), but yours is no less cool. Kudos and Rep.

[Shaft]

I noticed you had Clark reveal his identity to Lois in 1946. Since there actually was a story written in 1940 that features such a revelation, I thought I'd suggest using that as the basis for the revelation.

My thinking was Superman and Lois getting swept up in the post war elation, but it makes sense to have Superman do it before the war too.

[Doug McCrae]

Good stuff - Seems extensive for crude notes.

I really liked Galactus destroying Krypton, brothers Namor and Aquaman as the Hawk & Dove of Atlantean politics, the connections between the Captain Marvels and Tony Stark having a heart attack.

For a roleplaying universe, a concern I might have is that there seem to be too many superheroes still around to step on the PCs toes. I'd have had Superman killed in the 60s for example in a manner similar to the 1961 Death of Superman imaginary story.

[Shaft]

Very awesome. Incredibly like an idea I had recently (Marvel Earth and MLJ Earth are combined with Earths 1, 2, 4, S, and X and the end of Crisis. Every character's origin is reset to the year they first appeared, so Superman appeared in 1938, Spider-Man in 1964 [is that right?], etc.) My history is different (my Avengers are not so much like the Ultimates, Batman's succession is closer to Generations, no Kingdom Come elements), but yours is no less cool. Kudos and Rep.

Thanks for the rep.

• Spidey was first published in '62 according to my sources. It's been suggested that he was 15 at the beginning of his career.
• The idea for Batman's dip in the Lazarus pit was, indeed, inspired by Generations.
• There are Kingdom Come elements, but with Billy Batson not being Captain Marvel, and Lois Lane being long dead, such a story would play out differently. The KC elements were used mainly as a way to potentially write out characters towards the end of their careers without resorting to killing them off.
• The Ultimates was a massive influence in the way I defined the Avengers. I like that series. I'd like it MORE if it came out on time, but I digress...

[Shaft]

Good stuff - Seems extensive for crude notes.

I really liked Galactus destroying Krypton, brothers Namor and Aquaman as the Hawk & Dove of Atlantean politics, the connections between the Captain Marvels and Tony Stark having a heart attack.

For a roleplaying universe, a concern I might have is that there seem to be too many superheroes still around to step on the PCs toes. I'd have had Superman killed in the 60s for example in a manner similar to the 1961 Death of Superman imaginary story.

Thanks. I'd like to thank wikipedia for making my notes seem less crude.

If I killed off Superman, this thread would have become the "I can't believe you killed Superman!" thread. Maybe having Doomsday make an appearance in 1961 is a good nod to the original death of Superman story?

(Please take this as a compliment, but that baseball cap kinda makes you look like Sylar).

[keithcurtis]

clap-clap-clap!

Excellent job. I hope your campaign is a blast.

Keith "" Curtis

[Guardian]

Its always tough to melt down all that history into a coherent timeline, and I have seen many people try as I was doing research for my own current campaign which combines the DC and Marvel universe.

One minor error I noted in your list:
1959 - Alan Scott was never a member of the Green Lantern Corp. There's a complex history as to how the Guardians of Oa actually created the Starheart from which Alan drew his power (the "Green Flame"), but the rings that the GLC used and which Alan created himself from a meteorite's green metal are really unrelated. They were fellow Green Lanterns in name only, not in origin, and Scott could not have passed on an Oan power ring.

You did a good job overall, and comic book continuity is always a fun discussion topic (like religion, there are many opinions and no right answers).

[Shaft]

One minor error I noted in your list:
1959 - Alan Scott was never a member of the Green Lantern Corp... You did a good job overall, and comic book continuity is always a fun discussion topic (like religion, there are many opinions and no right answers).

Yes, it wasn't an oversight- I changed it to simplify it. Despite my personal bias against aliens in a non-Galactic game, I felt kinda dirty writing out Abin Sur too. But I think Alan Scott stands out more than Abin Sur, hence my decision to use him.

[Warpcore Breach]

Beautiful! I would love to snag this timeline for use in my campaign. I had more fused the teams together and glossed over alot of the back story. Plus, I don't know my DC history nearly well enough to attempt to combine it with Marvel's. You did an awesome job setting up the world. I hope the players in my group enjoy the world-set you've created.

[Guardian]

Yes, it wasn't an oversight- I changed it to simplify it. Despite my personal bias against aliens in a non-Galactic game, I felt kinda dirty writing out Abin Sur too. But I think Alan Scott stands out more than Abin Sur, hence my decision to use him.

Depending on the personal comic knowledge of your players, you might have to be careful about attempting to simplify too much. For example, for someone like me who knows and likes the published background of both GL characters, this would be a great source of confusion if playing in your campaign. It is akin to saying "I decided to simplify Superman's background by making his power originate from gamma ray exposure" because a) you don't like aliens and b) its coherent with several of the Marvel characters' origins.

But obviously, this would cause confusion for the players who grew up knowing that Superman came from Krypton. I'm just trying to make a point that when creating a timeline from published resources, you should make adjustments where they HAVE to be made (like the retirement or rejuvenation of several heroes), but NOT make changes where they are not needed (like the origin stories of 2 different iconic characters).

Just my 2 cents. One could reasonably argue that the origins of many characters could be streamlined or connected/combined for an RPG campaign, but I would personally have difficulty keeping the revisionist history in mind while playing the game. But that's the whole point of posting to a discussion board like this, so you can gather opinions about your ideas.

[Doug McCrae]

I'm very much in favour of messing around with published history as much as you like. Partly because I don't know the continuity well enough (who does, this side of Kurt Busiek?) and partly because it makes the whole endeavour more creative and to me, thus a lot more worthwhile. Remaining beholden to Marvel and DC would make one a mere drudge, a cataloguer rather than a creator.

For example I thought having Krypton destroyed by Galactus was a brilliant idea, but it wouldn't be possible if you followed DC continuity - I believe Krypton was originally said to have died of 'old age'.

[Korvar]

Curses. Rep must be spread. Good job, very good job.