DC Universe Master Chronology

The purpose of the DC Universe Master Chronology is to put all stories set in the regular DC Universe into proper chronological order starting at the dawn of time. This is still a very preliminary version of the Master Chronology, and we are still open to suggestions regarding the format. In order to make it work as a standard wiki page some "simplification" choices have been made in order to make the chronology structure less complicated.

Until further notice the Master Chronology is mainly meant as a tool for the indexers to figure out the proper placement of an appearance in the individual character's chronology.

Master Chronology Periods

Each page in the Master Chronology will cover around a year's worth of publication, with the exception of periods set in the past or in the future. The cut-off for each page will be the end of a major crossover or event.

HELP NEEDED!!! How should these be named? Each period should end with a major event as it is always easier to determine when the event ended than when it began. But a period named "Millennium to Invasion!" would indicate that both events are included even though the period doesn't actually start until after Millennium has ended. - Add your comments on the Talk/Discussion page Talk:DC Universe Master Chronology

On Chronology

A casual reading of a few DC Comics will make it abundantly clear that a whole month does not usually pass for the characters in between monthly issues of a comic. Many issues begin hours or even seconds after the previous month's story and/or have gaps in the story that last several days or weeks. Consequently, a character who has had his own title for ten years will not have aged ten years in the time it took those comics to be published.

As for trying to determine in what year a given adventure takes place, there is no conclusive answer. Specific dates that appear in stories, as well as mention of current events and popular culture, depictions of contemporary fashions, and usage of contemporary slang, are all knowns as topical references. These are details added by the writer or artist to make the story seem current at the date of publication. They are not necessarily indicators of when - what year or even what decade - a story took place.

The publication/cover date of an issue does not necessarily indicate when a story takes place in relation to other titles. Chronology is not necessarily the same as publication order. Some titles will have stories that go uninterrupted for several months that take place in between two issues of another title in which the character(s) appear in. Sometimes a comment is made within the stories that clarify the correct order and other times the correct order will have to be determined based on a combination of story elements and assumptions.

How to use the Master Chronology

On the main page you will find all the issues that have already been put in proper chronological order, whereas issues that have yet to be inserted into the Master Chronology will be listed on the Talk page of the period in question. To start with each Talk page will list issues published during the year with the most coverage in that part of the Master Chronology, so sometime issues belonging in a particular period might be listed in the Talk page for the preceding or following period.

The Master Chronology has four columns available for each entry, each separated by a || in the entry line. The individual columns are to be used as follows.

First Column = Cover date of the issue listed. Please note that the cover date does not always indicate when a story takes place in relation to other books. A story that takes a year to be told in one book might take place in between two issues of another title or one issue of a book can be a flashback to earlier times or take place in a completely different time. With no other indicators of when a story takes place in comparison to other books the cover date is our best indicator.

Second Column = Title and issue number of the listed book. Issue numbers with a slash and extra digit indicate later stories in the same issue (eg. 21/2 is the second story in issue 21). If there is a break in time in the story during which other stories take place, list each sequence individually by indicating pages and panels of the sequence (Flashbacks seen during a story sequence need not be removed as the flashback will be listed separately).

Third Column = Crossover / Story Arc. Use this field to indicate which chapter this story is in a crossover or story arc.

Fourth Column = Notes. Use this column for any notes that might be helpful in determining the proper placement of the book. Note that while a specific date such as New Years Eve is indicated in the story this date might later on be regarded as a topical reference (see the On Chronology section below) so even if a later story is listed as happening in March three months might not have passed in between the issues. A tilde ~ followed by a different title than the one listed in Second Column indicates that the sequence from the issue listed in the Second Column was also shown in the listed book.

Master Chronology Discussions

For discussions about the placement of a book in the Master Chronology use the Continuity Discussions section of the Talk page associated with the part of the chronology you want to discuss or comment upon. These discussions can be used to argue why a story fits or doesn't fit in its current place by presenting evidence from the books. This evidence might be moved to the Talk page of the issue in question once a decision has been made so that the information is always available for later review.