5G is on the horizon with the Generations series beginning in May. Given there is a lot of confusion still over 5G, @Tenzel provided me with a timeline of DC’s Generation one as leaked. Now before I go further, Bleeding Cool who leaked it in the first place has said this timeline has been changed since then and is being changed around. Given that we got this is early October, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more parts of this timeline and also some changed dates. For example it seems the name of the Generation has already changed. Originally, it was called: Dawn of the Heroic Age, now its the Age of Mystery.
Here is the Generation One Timeline from @Tenzel * What was the previously undocumented “big bang” of the Age of Mysteries?
Now there is a lot to break down but to START, Generation One: Age of Mystery posted the following questions that the comic will answer.
- What was the previously undocumented “big bang” of the Age of Mysteries?
- Which character truly ushers in the dawn of Super Heroes, inspiring all the rest?
- What was the real reason behind the Justice Society of America’s retirement?
- Which Golden Age hero will become history’s greatest villain?
- What contentious alliance kept the Wayne family dynasty alive after Thomas and Martha’s deaths?
- Who are the new, never-seen-before wildcards that will be instrumental in fashioning DC’s push to the future?
A Note
Before we get into the questions, I want to note that DC has broken the timeline up into families: “Events,” “Batman Family,” “Superman Family,“Wonder Woman” “Teen Titans,” The Flash,” “Green Lantern / Green Arrow / Black Canary,” “Aquaman,” “Justice League/Justice Society Characters,” “Fawcett/Charlatan/Quality,” “War/Humor.” Now I think this could be a huge deal, because they are viewing their comics and their characters as having their own timelines in a way. This harkens back to the 90s where DC had different main editors on different families, and each family told their own story while working together to tell a bigger story. I would be THRILLED if DC did something like that in 5G.
Also there are XXX’d sections which are sections that were too blurry to enhance and Redacted sections which DC didn’t want to share. The redacted sections are likely big interesting spoilers for Generations that are important to the DC history but 100% new.
So let’s break down the questions.
What was the previously undocumented “big bang” of the Age of Mysteries?
This one I’m at a loss on. My best guess is Wally West following Flash Forward rewrites the world continuity to finish the restoration of hope and return the lost years of hope that he first mentioned were missing in DC Rebirth #1. However, I would think this would have happened in Generation Zero: Gods Among Us (The Free Comic Book day title). Based on the timeline, my other guess is Krypton’s explosion, but I’m not buying that.
Which character truly ushers in the dawn of Super Heroes, inspiring all the rest?
I think this is the easiest one to answer. The very first entry point on the timeline is Wonder Woman meeting Steve Trevor and then debuting to the world. The latter part is shown in Wonder Woman #750 “A Brave New World.” Also Superman lands on Earth, but he wouldn’t be inspiring people yet.
What was the real reason behind the Justice Society of America’s retirement?
The easiest answer here is found in Year 18 where the event labeled is “Senate Bans Superheroes.” I think that answer seems straight forward. While I’m not fully knowledgeable about when that happens in the original golden age, I would love for someone to help me.
Which Golden Age hero will become history’s greatest villain?
I don’t think people are going to like this answer ONE bit, but my guess is that the JSA retirement leads to this year changing. So that begs the question, Who? Under the Senate Bans Superhero’s event, at The Flash Timeline, there is a redacted input into the timeline. What if that reads “Jay Garrick becomes [Insert evil name here]?” Now I don’t like this a lot, but that’s my prediction.
What contentious alliance kept the Wayne family dynasty alive after Thomas and Martha’s deaths?
Now there are two things to note, 1) In the leaked timeline nothing occurs in this Generation after their deaths. 2) Year 6 has an XXX and a redacted symbol. I have to imagine based on the distance from their deaths (11 years) that the XXX is the birth of Bruce. UNLESS the Redacted section says Bruce is adopted. Now that seems absurd that Bruce would be adopted, but why would a redacted sign occur the same year Bruce is born. What event occured surrounding Bruce’s birth that gave Gotham 12 years of peace. I have no idea. My only hunch is related to Batman Telltale where Bruce’s parents worked with the corrupt mayor and Carmine Falcone to keep Gotham “safe.” This would make a lot of sense. That same year, we have an XXX with Wonder Woman which I can’t figure out. Someone debuts. Maybe a villain? I don’t know.
Who are the new, never-seen-before wildcards that will be instrumental in fashioning DC’s push to the future?
Now this one I’m a little lost on. There are two redacted spaces left, one of them is Generation 1 Year 3 in the Wonder Woman Section. My prediction is that one is Wonder Woman joining the JSA especially since it lines up with the JSA event. The other redacted I have no guess on other than that it is the wildcard group. The redacted occurs in Year 24 under “War/Humor” Now below that redacted sign, the Challengers of the Unknown is formed. So my guess is the Senate ban leads to a couple teams being formed: Task Force X (Y18), Challengers of the Unknown, and this mystery group, maybe a legion of doom? My other theory is it is related to the name dropped “Death Valley Project” name dropped in Wonder Woman #750.
The Other XXX’s
Now there are a couple other XXX’s I want to point out
War and Humor Year 7- XXX debuts <-- I don’t know my DC history well enough to take a guess. Love to hear your predictions.
JL/JSA Year 19- J’onn J’onzz XXX <-- Probably “arrives on Earth” or “debuts”
Aquaman Year 20 - Arthur XXX the Others <-- Probably “meets”
Final Note
Now, next time I post something, I’m going to discuss possible/ likely Black Label Stories that could be told in this time period including Superboy, JSA, Wonder Woman, and others because there are some interesting deviations from the DC golden age like “Wonder Woman retreats to Themyscira following the Atom Bomb.”
So till next time! Thanks to @Tenzel for the help
-Nathan
