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Earth-1956

Earth 1956 was the name the universe the Super Friends lived in. This universe had many striking parallels with Earth-One.

One of the most striking elements of this reality was that its heroes were pretty much absolute paragons of virtue, with no fault or flaws to speak of.

They were incorruptible and wholly committed to helping others while preserving the doctrines of “truth, justice and peace for all mankind.”

Aliases[]

This universe was known by a number of different names, depending on whose perspective it was. The interdimensional travelling group known as the League of Lanes referred to Earth 1956 as Earth-50,[1] whereas the people of Earth-F referred to Earth 1956 as Earth-One. It should also be noted, that the Justice League of Earth 1956 referred to their own universe as Earth-One, whereas they referred to Earth-F as Earth-Two.

Naming the universe[]

  • Note, this portion of the article is to be understood from the real world perspective.

The naming of the universe of the Super Friends franchise is a bit complicated. When the Super Friends comic first came out, E. Nelson Bridwell wanted the setting to be Earth-One. There were multiple references to other comics that were clearly set on that Earth, and there were even stories that firmly named it Earth-One. However later episodes of Super Friends and also DC books made it impossible for the Super Friends to exist in that Earth, which at the time was the mainstream world of the DC Multiverse. One thing is for sure though, that the Super Friends consider their Earth Earth-One, no matter what otherworlders call it.

Because of the obvious fact that the two Earths were in different universes, fans used the name Earth-1A while Bob Rozakis suggested the name Earth-B[2] for the universe that the Super Friends franchise took place in.

Some people included DC's humor comics (like the Inferior Five) as part of Earth-B[3] while others listed it as a separate reality called Earth-Twelve.[4] In any case E. Nelson Bridwell was the writer of the Super Friends comic series which clearly put it on "Earth-B" and since it tied into the Super Friends television show, that also took place on "Earth-B". More recently, Super Powers comics volumes 1-3 were formally assigned to Earth-Thirty-Two. The Super Powers comics have always been considered more or less part of the Super Friends Universe, or at least sort of...there were clear contradictions but still...it stood to reason because the Super Powers comics were part of Earth-Thirty-Two, the universe that the Super Friends were part of was indeed Earth-Thirty-Two.

Still, more clarification came out on December 14, 2022. In Dark Crisis: Big Bang # 1 (February 2023), it was established that The Adventures of Superboy and Superfriends took place on Earth 1956. This was established by an appearance by Superboy and Krypto. Although there's been no clarification as to whether or not The New Adventures of Superman, The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure or The Batman/Superman Hour are also a part of this universe, it would be silly to assume they aren't, because they were all essentially part of the same show. Besides, here on the Super Friends Wiki, we've always considered all of the DC Comics television series from Filmation as part of the Super Friends universe. But at least as of 2022, it's official.

Continuity With 'Other' Universes[]

Here are a few of the similarities between Earth-1A and Earth-One[]

  • Most of the Heroes and Villains resembled the Silver Age / Earth-One Characters exactly
(Earth-One characters link directly to the DC Database wiki):
Silver Age / Earth One Earth-1A

Earth-1A effectively merged the histories of Earth-One and Earth-Two[]

(Earth-Two characters link directly to the DC Database wiki):
Golden Age / Earth Two Earth-1A

Earth-1A effectively merged the histories of Earth-One and Earth-S[]

Characters Created for This Reality:[]

To date a few of these characters have been recreated for various TV shows (links below are external).
From the DCAU Universe, we have:

From the Young Justice Universe we have:


Earth-Thirty-Two[]

Earth-Thirty-Two is the official designation of the universe that Jack Kirby's Super Powers comic series (1984-1986) takes place in. It is in many ways a very similar Earth to Earth 1956, and there's very little to distinguish the two realities.

The Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Compendium assigned these stories to Earth-Thirty-Two which seems to be a hypertime reality. Furthermore, CoIEAE has an "Earth-B2" which refers back to a Earth-Forty-Six which has no listing in the index so how it figures in all this is unknown though the name suggests something similar to "Earth-B".

List of similarities[]

Wildstorm Universe[]

Whether or not the Wildstorm Productions such as Gen¹³ and Jim Lee's WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams take place in the same reality as the Superfriends or in a different one altogether was not made clear.

This is further complicated by the fact that the Superfriends were name dropped, when Gen¹³ were compared to the Superfriends. This indicates that they are part of the same reality.

On the other hand, it's not entirely clear if the Superfriends reference was about real or fictional characters. If the Superfriends were intended to be a reference to fictional characters, then more than likely their universes are separate.

Still, this is impossible to know for sure, and in 2011 in DC Comics, the "Wildstorm Universe" no longer existed, as its' reality was folded into the greater DC Universe, making it part of the same reality.

See Also[]


References[]

  1. As seen in the My Adventures With Superman episode Kiss Kiss Fall in Portal (August 11, 2023).
  2. Earth-B was eventually expanded to out of continuity "Earth-One" stories edited by Murray Boltinoff, written by Bob Hancy or E. Nelson Bridwell, and/or appeared in Brave and the Bold and World's Finest Comics. (Official Crisis on Infinite Earth Crossover Index)
  3. Crisis on Infinite Earths: Absolute Edition
  4. Official Crisis on Infinite Earth Crossover Index
  5. As seen in the SF Comic Book, issue #12 (June/July 1978).
  6. As seen in the SF Comic Book, issue #12 (June/July 1978). On Earth-Thirty-Two Daniel Dunbar's brain was replaced with that of Adolf Hitler and he died fighting the remains of the JSA.
  7. As seen in Legends of the Superheroes (1979).
  8. As seen in a commercial from Post Cereals in 1982
  9. Captain Marvel is shown in the live action Superfriends special 'Legends of the Superheroes'. This means that he is possibly a native of Earth-1A, or more likely, he was simply visiting from Earth-S.
  10. Go to the DC Database for more on Earth-S.

External Link[]

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