Last time, I penned a broad review of the first year in DC Comics and it's flagship title of that time, New Fun Comics. I decided I wanted to delve a little deeper, and to do that I'd like to introduce you to the idea of the DC Multiverse.
For the uninitiated, the multiverse is a collection of parallel universes that are connected to each other. The current DC Multiverse consists of 52 separate universes each with a style of its own. But of course, back in 1935 there weren't 52, but in fact infinite. For now I'm only going to be talking about two of them, for those are the ones glimpsed in the pages of New Fun Comics.
First up is Earth-2. This is what was considered the "main earth" for DC throughout all of the Golden Age. Most of the stories from New Fun Comics take place on Earth-2. Let me break this down for you really quickly:
The history of Earth-2 seems to be pretty identical to our own, so because of that several stories are set into the backdrop of actual events. The sea-faring stories take place during the dangerous times of privateering while everyone was looking for "spanish gold". These stories are: Captain Spiniker, where Spiniker and his crew race to grab riches from the clutches of his rival Cpt. Sternpipe; Midshipman Dewey, the tale of a young stowaway on an English galleon and his scrapes with piracy and mutiny; and In the Wake of the Wander, a supernatural story involving Cpt. Grim exploring a mysterious island and a ghost ship.
A couple of stand-out titles include Henri Duval, a short-lived Siegel and Shuster story about a swashbuckling musketeer, and Wing Brady, the tale of an ace pilot of the French Foreign Legion and his adventures battling the Arabs.
Flash forward to the 1800's, and that's where you'll find most of the Western tales. Consisting of "Injun" battles and evil mexican cattle rustlers, there is one notable exception. Taking place near the end of the western era (early 1900's), Jack Woods was a story about a cowboy trying to save the old west from anything and everything. Pancho Villa even shows up for some reason! The other Western stories are Loco Luke, Buckskin Jim, Ramblin' Jim, and Slim Pickens, and all are pretty standard fare.
Then there are the present day stories, which are obviously the most numerous. The ones that most resemble "newspaper strip" comics are the funnies, usually involving children. In fact most of them are written by book editors Vincent Sullivan and Whitney Ellsworth. This is important because these tales in particular are the start of what would eventually become a cohesive, shared universe. Little Linda was a spin-off of another story called After School where she appeared, and the pages of Spike Spalding frequently included his black friend Pincus, who had a strip of his own. In fact, Charlie Fish, a comic about a bumbling but kind man, was the only one that didn't cross-over.
On the other spectrum of that are the afore-mentioned "spy" tales. I talked briefly about Sandra of the Secret Service, but there were others. Barry O'Neill was a popular story about an FBI agent and a french detective battling with the leader of a chinese cult known as Fang-Gow. Others were less popular, such as Jack Andrews, which featured a civilian every-man dragged into a life of espionage when he sees something he shouldn't, and Bob Merritt, the story of an aviator that has found a treasure map, with enemy spies hot on his tail.
Even though there were no super-heroes, that doesn't mean that every story was grounded in reality. This is Earth-2 after all, and magic has always been prevalent. An informative little feature called Magic Crystal of History involved two children finding a magic crystal that transported them to the time of ancient Egypt where they are caught up in danger and intrigue. In addition to that is Brad Hardy. This tale is the first time we are shown the underworld of Earth-2, a land where sentient animal men rule. Even though the main character would fade into obscurity, the DC underworld continues to be a part of canon to this day, most recently in the pages of Batman: Odyssey. And of course, we can't forget Dr. Occult, but I'll go into detail on him at a later date.
Of course, we can't forget a look into the future of Earth-2. Taking place in 2023, the Super Police is every bit what you would expect, crime stories with a futuristic twist. It's to be noted that there is no space travel in this tale, for that you would have to go to Don Drake on the Planet Saro. This was your normal Buck Rogers-esque tale of a Earth explorer on a distant planet. I find it to be one of the most enjoyable stories I've mentioned.
And there you have it! A little introduction into what the Earth-2 looked like during 1935. It's hard to believe that even now, things are brewing to a point that will explode with the introduction of Superman a mere three years later, and the dawn of the Golden Age of Comics. But we're not quite there yet.
Next time, I'll take a look at the OTHER Earth that was found in the pages of New Fun Comics. I'm talking about the wacky, the zany, the very cartoony Earth-C. And I'll also reveal the shocking connection that DC has to Walt Disney!
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