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This is part of a pattern we've seen before with "Crisis," "Zero Hour," "Nu52" and "Rebirth," which gave birth to concepts like "Hypertime", the "Multi-Multiverse" and now "Earth 1985."  The recipe goes like this:

1.  Announce you are restarting DC continuity with a "bold new approach" and that only this new version of the timeline will "count"
2.  Make a hopeless muddle of the new timeline
3.  Declare that this was your intention from the beginning and the latest muddle is just one of many possible universes/timelines
4.  Repeat

Rather than build on what's gone before, DC chooses to keep "reinventing" its core characters with new origins and new continuities every few years until they run out of steam or paint themselves hopelessly into a corner, then they hit "reboot" and congratulate themselves for adding another layer to the "Multiverse of Infinite Misfires." 

Next up, now that the world knows Clark Kent is Superman: another reboot where it doesn't.

Sounds interesting, thanks for the update.

Found this on the web.



 

So as of Doomsday Clock #12, all the previous continuities exist again. Including the pre-Crisis Earth 1. Which is now designated Earth 1985. Yep, pre-Crisis Earth is officially back! It is unknown at this time if there are any plans in the works to do anything with this "new" universe but at least now we know that DC hasn't decided to just throw it away.

https://comicbook.com/dc/2019/12/18/watchmen-doomsday-clock-12-rewrites-the-dc-multiverse/

The rules, as I understand them, are this: Every time the DCU "reboots" itself, the previous continuity gets saved as it's own universe. And each universe gets it's own designation. I don't know about anyone else but I consider this a victory! 

Yeah, I guess some of the scanned comics are looking a bit tiny at this point, too.

Nice to see some evidence of activity here, again.  I nearly fell out of my chair here in the JLA satellite when the Fortress of Solitude's motion sensor set off a forgotten indicator light on my board.  I'm picturing you with a long white beard, your footsteps echoing through the halls while in your left hand a staff glows with Kirby Krackle.

And  a couple of other new items:

When I started Superman Through the Ages! in the 90s, standard computer screens were 640x480 pixels, and the larger 800x600 were just coming in.

So this:



was considered a large, full screen image.

It's now tiny and illegible.

I doubt I'll be rescanning everying, but I have been doing some minor updating to the site.




This is scanned from a 6-inch wide postcard, hence the fuzziness. (image lives here)

Check out Jim Korkis' new article about the The Lost Fleischer Superman Cartoon at http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-lost-fleischer-superman-cartoon/

It describes Joe Shuster's visit to the Fleischer studio where he drew a Superman character sheet for them to use.

The complete comic itself is still available to be read here at https://www.supermanthroughtheages.com/tales3/cartoonhero/

[In only 15 minutes a day, without the use of weights or any exercise equipment, you too can have a body like Charles Atlas!]

"The World of Charles Atlas!" has been converted from its ancient 1996 incarnation to a new Wordpress-based site, so it will now responsively work on phones and tablets. Also added some student videos and a section on the 1940 World's Fair.

http://atlasworld.nu

Check out the spiffy new banner.  The globe is the "Unisphere" from the New York City World's Fair:




In only 15 minutes a day, without the use of weights or any exercise equipment, you too can have a body like Charles Atlas!

Guess who is following Elliot Maggin on twitter:



Looks like the former president really is a Superman fan.

 

Today, white watching a video on Youtube, I chanced to scroll down a bit and read viewers' comments.

What did I find?

Hate.

Hatred for the subject matter of the video, hatred for other commentors, just general hate.

And in the column on the right - of suggested videos - more hate.

Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, reddit, all more of the same.

The left hates the right.

The right hates the left.

The athiests hate the believers.

The believers hate the atheists.

The men hate the women.

The women hate the men.

Various religions hate each others, sexual preferences hate each other, races hate each other.  Pro-choce/Pro-life advocates hate each other.

And I got to wondering - where is all this hatered coming from?  It wasn't always like this.  This new hatered is stronger and deeper and angrier than it has ever been - it is something new to the human race.

To me, this rise in hate appears to correspond to the rise of the internet.

Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube all make money off of hatred.  Hatred gets them more views, more ad revenue, and more posts.  Their AI algorithms encourage, nourish, and promote hatred and create a highly addictive environment.

These tech giants are making money by inciting hatred and are thus motivated to continue to do more of the same - an endless feedback loop.  They have insinuated themselves into every single aspect of our lives.

In the early days of Superman, the villains that made money off of hatred were the munitions dealers and the weapons manufacturers.

Now, they are doing the same, but in a more virtual and visceral realm and in a more insidious manner.  The casualties are our civilization and our souls.

Stopping this is a job for Superman.

We were told that in the hour of our greates need, Superman would one day return.

I hope he does.