GOLDEN AGE (EARTH-2) BATMAN QUICK LIST YEAR 41
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YEAR FORTY-ONE (1979)
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–Early January. Bruce watches JSA vs Vulcan (r in All-Star Comics #69)
–Bruce writes journal entry about Selina (fb from The Brave and The Bold #197)
–Late January. All-Star Comics #66-68
–Late January. Justice League of America #147-148 (Crisis in the 30th century)
–Late January-Early February. All-Star Comics #69-70 / fb from America vs The Justice Society #1 & America vs The Justice Society #1
–Early February. Huntress joins JSA (fb from All-Star Comics #72)
–Dick quits Cranston firm; Helena replaces him (r in Batman Family #18 Part 5 & All-Star Comics #74)
–Late March. JSA vs Thorn, Sportsmaster, & Huntress; superheroes vs Master Summoner (r in All-Star Comics #72-74)
–Late March. Batman Family #17 (Huntress visits Earth-1)
–Early to late April. Helena settles-in at Cranston firm; Huntress vs Franklin Gresham (r in the 5th ft to Batman Family #18-20)
–May. fb from Justice League of America #166 (JSA vs Secret Society of Super-Villains)
–Huntress busts Charlie (r in Wonder Woman #282 Part 2)
–July 15. Justice League of America #159-160 (Crisis From Yesterday & Crisis From Tomorrow)
–Bruce begins anti-superhero campaign, learns he has terminal cancer (r in America vs The Justice Society #4)
–Bruce learns about Per Degaton’s future plot; initiates plan to stop him (fb from America vs The Justice Society #1 and America vs The Justice Society #4)
–Batman writes hoax diary as per plan to stop Degaton’s future plot, delivers diary to Carter Nichols (fb from America vs The Justice Society #1 & America vs The Justice Society #4)
ONLY LEGENDS LIVE FOREVER
———————-––Adventure Comics #461 Part 3
———————-––Adventure Comics #462 Part 1 / fb from AC #463 Pt 3, America vs
———————-–The Justice Society #1, & America vs The Justice Society #4, & Infinite
———————-–Crisis #3 / r in AC #463 Part 3
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YEAR FORTY-TWO to FORTY-SEVEN (1980-1985)
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—[1]
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- [1]COLLIN COLSHER: 1985 brings us Crisis on Infinite Earths, a multiverse-shattering cosmic event that serves to end the Golden Age timeline. But shortly after Crisis #1 and before the epic eleven issue finale, another cosmic event called Convergence unfolds in the blink of an eye. While Crisis is worth mentioning on this quick list for obvious reasons, Convergence is worth mentioning as well because it features Dick Grayson picking up the mantle of the Bat for the first time ever. Although, thanks to how things play out, we should regard it as something that occurs outside of space-time that is then erased from having ever happened at all. Here is what goes down:
–REFERENCE: In Convergence #0-1. Just as the skies have turned red and time beings to fluctuate during Crisis on Infinite Earths, Earth-1 Brainiac—operating from 2015 of an alternate New 52 timeline—lures a bunch of heroes, including Robin and Huntress, to Metropolis. (By 2015, Brainiac will not only have survived multiple reboots, but he will also somehow be able to travel to prior defunct timelines, an act that goes beyond mere time-traveling and into the realm of navigating through the “metaverse,” the actual fictional history of DC Comics. The less said about that here, the better.) Brainiac literally “collects” Metropolis by digging it up and putting an impenetrable energy dome around it. Gotham is placed, along with other stolen cities from alternate timelines, onto the sentient planet Telos, who exists outside of time and space. (Telos is a transformed Arak Red-Hand aka the pre-Flashpoint Son of Thunder.) No one under the Telos’ dome will have any idea how or why they have come to be prisoners. Nor will they even realize Metropolis has been removed from its timeline and taken to an interdimensional planet outside of time and space. After 365 days under the dome, Telos takes initiative and decides to start a fighting tournament that includes all of the captured domed cities. (Brainiac was defeated, as seen in The New 52: Futures End, while attempting to collect another city, thus giving the abandoned Telos free rein to carry on his master’s mission as he sees fit.) All of the domes on Telos are lifted and Telos himself declares that only being the last warrior standing will spare destruction for one’s respective city.
–Convergence: Detective Comics #2
Robin and Huntress enter Moscow of the pre-Flashpoint (Modern Age) Earth-30 where they fight Soviet Superman. The Russian Batman of Earth-30 arrives and rescues the clearly outmatched Robin and Huntress from Soviet Superman. After an emotional conversation with the Russian Batman (who looks just like Bruce), Robin and Huntress obtain a shard of Kryptonite from him. Russian Batman leads Soviet security helicopters away on a suicide mission, allowing Robin and Huntress to confront Soviet Superman one-on-one. Robin hits him with the Kryptonite, but throws the shard away rather then use it lethally. Having earned Soviet Superman’s respect, the combatants shake hands and call it a draw, much to the chagrin of Telos. Shortly thereafter, an earthquake rumbles through Moscow (a result of Pre-Flashpoint Deimos taking control of Telos in Convergence #5). Robin and Huntress are immediately teleported back to Metropolis by Deimos. With access to all the other cities on Telos, the duo drives to pre-Crisis Earth-2 Gotham where they discuss all that has happened. The Bat-Signal lights up the night sky and the heroes jump into action. Huntress is surprised as Dick puts on a Bat-costume. Having been inspired by both Huntress and the Russian Batman, Dick breaks a solemn vow he made at Batman’s funeral never to take up his mentor’s mantle. Dick becomes the new Batman.–REFERENCE: In Convergence #8. Brainiac regains control of Telos and sends all the time displaced captives from each domed city back to the moment right before each city was dug up and lifted out of its timeline. The thoughts, memories, and occurrences of the year under the dome do not remain intact. Convergence might technically count as Earth-2 Dick Grayson’s official debut as Batman, but for our Golden Age chronology, it merely appears as a blip on the timeline, something created by Brainiac and Telos only to be undone. Our next note will explain this in greater detail.
–NOTE: Superman: Lois & Clark #1 tells us that several heroes (although none from the Golden Age) travel from Convergence #8 to fight in the original Crisis, significantly altering events, causing the entire Golden Age timeline to get totally erased. This paradoxical physics-defying erasure held fast for two years of real time (2015 to 2017) until the publication of Dan Jurgens “Superman Reborn,” an arc that rebooted the New 52 to the Rebirth Era. “Superman Reborn” also served as a coda to Convergence—tying up its loose ends, fixing any narrative conundrums, and undoing any meddling in regard to the original Crisis, thus restoring the Golden Age timeline you see here.↩
