The Marvel Earth of the DC Multiverse

There were several contemporary masked metahumans on Earth-Twelve who debuted at the same time as the Inferior Five. A team of rivals to our quintet were the Kookie Quartet, granted superhuman abilities due to cosmic radiation. They were Mr. Manplastic, the Vanishing Queen, the Matchstick Kid, and Whatchamaycallit. This foursome were modeled off of the Fantastic Four of Earth-616, although not quite as noble, aligned with them were Prince Nabob the Sub-Moron and Cobwebkid, also parodies of Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner and Spider-Man... versions of the golden age Aquaman and Tarantula.

Another such team of whom the old adversaries of the golden age Freedom Brigade, the Vendetta led by the Iron Swastika and his Man-Mountain henchman. The Brigade’s children, the Inferior Five, defeated these villains as their parents has decades before. Later, the Five helped to "train" the Egg's Men consisting of The Ape, Basilisk, Icarus, Winter Wonderland, and Levitation Lass. These lads and lass were modeled after the X-Men in the same universe as the next superheroes below. 

Earth-Twelve somewhat also mirrored the so-called “Earth-Crossover”, which blended Earth-One characters... referenced in DC Comics... with those from Earth-616... reference in Marvel Comics. The distinct comical nature of Earth-Twelve set it apart from all other universes, a stark contrast to the more serious nature of other Earths.

This comical Earth seemed to follow a similar history to that of Earth-Two. There were the golden age teams of the 1940s in the Freedom Brigade and the Justice Society, followed by the heroes' descendants adopting their example into the 1980s with the Inferior Five and infinity Inc. One such remarkable parallel is the heroines of the older teams in the brunette Princess Power and Wonder Woman,  and their blonde daughters of the young teams in Dumb Bunny and Fury.

The blending of classic DC and Marvel archetypes only occurred on Earth-Twelve within the actual DC Multiverse. It’s adversarial nature of pitting “DC” protagonists such as the Inferior Five even against fellow heroes such as the Kookie Quartet highlights the diametrically different perspectives of each reality shown when merged together (as illustrated by the accompanying picture displaying a hypothetical battle between the Justice Society and Marvel’s Invaders). 

Crazy Costumed Crimefighting Counterparts

Earth-Twelve was a unique world among the infinite variations of this third planet from the star Sol. While superheroes of Earths One, Two, Four, S, and others had serious sides to them... this particular universe was predicated on a more jovial nature, as were its protectors.

Merryman (Myron Victor). was the son of golden age heroes Patriot and Lady Liberty. Just as his parents were their world's version of the Freedom Fighters Uncle Sam and Miss America of Earth-Two, so too was Myron the doppleganger of Jester (Chuck Tane) of that same alternate Earth.

Although not possessing the physical skills of Tane, Victor used his substantial intellect to compensate and lead his team, the Inferior Five, into many battles of which they came out victorious.

Dumb Bunny (Athena Tremor), like her cosmic twin of Earth-Two in Fury (Lyta Trevor), was a super-strong second generation Amazonian. The daughters of Princess Power and Wonder Woman, respectively, these blond bombshells were apt to solving conflict with their might. 

However, while Lyta coupled her powerful physique with mental acumen, Athena sadly lacked the mental abilities to think her way out of problems. It would be Dumb Bunny's step-sister Angel O'Day who had the intellect of the two which she inherited from her father. And, in fact, Angel would like Lyta's colleague Jonni Thunder have a propensity towards detective work that aided her clients.

Angel's business associate, Sam Simeon, helped her on her cases using his skills as a gorilla... drastically different from the menace that the Ultra-Humanite ape was towards Lyta and her young allies in Infinity Inc. more than once throughout he years.

Blimp (Herman Cramer) was the son of the Fastest Man of Earth-Twelve in Captain Swift. However, due to his girth, Herman only inherited his father's flight ability without manifesting the speed powers of his father. 

He would be a loyal friend to his costumed colleagues, much as his cosmic twin Tubby  Theodore Watts was for the Johnny Quick of Earth-Two. He and Quick were also coworkers which led to several adventures. Tubby himself had like Blimp gained the power of flight thanks to using the same speed formula that Johnny relied upon for years. However, Tubby also possessed super speed like his best pal, yet was unable to maneuver with it and so decided to retire and simply support Quick from behind the scenes.

White Feather (William King) was the actual son of his Earth's premier avenging archer in the Bowman, unlike Speedy (Roy Harper) who was adopted by Green Arrow.

Although displaying archery skills on part with his counterpart, William also displayed a weakness that his counterpart Roy didn't have... an overwhelming cowardice which at times immobilized the young hero.

Awkwardman (Leander Brent) was a self-proclaimed "beachcomber" and as such lived a life of partying. He was also the son of two success stories in Mister Might and the Mermaid, of which he gained his super-strength and amphibious attributes. As physically perfect as that of Batman (Bruce Wayne), he also shared a similar fashion sense and civilian lifestyle that Wayne adopted as a playboy. 

However, Brent did not have Wayne's physical coordination, hence his alter ego which belied his tendency to trip over his own two feet in and out of his costume.

The Interior Five were the Earth-Twelve version of Infinity, Inc., being second generation superheroes following the footsteps of their heroic forefathers in the Freedom Brigade and Justice Society. While not quite living up to their legends, they nevertheless made names for themselves and assisted not only their own world but other parallel planets during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Other heroes both past and present populated this alternate Earth, including their own versions of Superman and Robin. In addition, another quintet of teenage superhumans in training assisted the Inferior Five on occasion, these being the students at Dean Egghead's Academy of Super-Heroes. Their membership consisted of the Ape, Basilisk, Icarus, Levitation Lass and Winter Wonderlad.

The history of Earth-Twelve has several masked men and wonderful women who fought for justice, such as Merry Man's grandfather Yellowjacket who along with his sidekick Plato fought the fine fight, like his cosmic twin Crimson Avenger who alongside his personal age Wing were said to be the inspiration for a whole generation of costumed crusaders. Among them his own son the Patriot.

The premier powerhouse protectors who operated in the 1940's were the Freedom Brigade. The known membership for this team and their correlating counterparts were:

• Mister Might (Superman/Clark Kent) 
• Princess Power (Wonder Woman/Diana Prince) 
• Captain Swift (The Flash aka Jay Garrick)
• Bowman (Green Arrow/Oliver Queen) 
• Mermaid (Ptra Paralea)
• Patriot (Uncle Sam)
• Lady Liberty (Miss America)

Twice-Told-Tales: Majestic Multiverse Myths

The Multiverse holds various Twice-Told-Tales, some chronicled, many left to the imagination. And all tied in to the nature of the cosmos in the DC Universe. This is only natural considering that they all originated from the Earth-One cosmos, when the Malthusian known as Krona unleashed cosmic forces while attempting to view the dawn of creation. As a result, his universe was cloned an infinite number of times to become with countless positive matter and one Anti-Matter Universe of Qward. Undoubtedly the main universe that mirror Krona's own was Earth-Two which seemed to be twenty years ahead of Earth-One due to exhibiting a slower vibratory rate. This may be due to the fact that Earth-One existed for untold eons prior to the other universes, and as such this is a way for all universes to stay in sync.

From Earth-One's universe was spawned the imperfect clones that would become the Bizarro race migrated to a world that Superman remodeled into a square planet at its inhabitants' decree. Several years after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, when the Multiverse was transformed into a single matter and anti-matter universe, another Crisis reignited the Multiverse due to the machinations of Alex Luthor from Earth-Three. Not only was his world recreated, but so was Earth-Zero which mirror the Bizarro Earth of Htrae, alluding to the possibility that the planet which the Bizarros migrated to was actually not in their own universe but a parallel one, accessed by a wormhole Superman used when he first ventured there. This world had a twisted nature, wherein the Bizarro League mirrored the evil sensibilities of the Lawless League from Earth-A and that of Earth-Three with its Crime Syndicate, with sinister counterparts of superheroes.

Then there were the seemingly peripheral planets that didn't seem to resemble Earth-One's Justice League of America and Earth-Two's Justice Society of America, yet had heroes of equal measure. There was, for example, Earth-S that like Earth-Two debuted superheroes in the golden age of the 1940's, and Earth-Four that for the most part had their superhero explosion in the modern age like Earth-One. Then there was the initially hero-less worlds such as Earth-Prime and Earth-X, although they eventually would have their own versions of costumed crusaders. And, lest we forget, just as their was a heroic Justice Alliance of America on Earth-D there was also a Freedom Brigade on Earth-Twelve that were also erstwhile imitators of the League and Society that were more well known. This doesn't even include Earth-666 where Marvel's mightiest reign, nor Earth-MLJ that are published elsewhere....

Fawcett's Finest: Fastest Men Alive

The Fastest Man Alive. On at least three of the parallel planets in adjacent universes, three men were labeled by this term: Barry Allen, Jay Garrick and the man who would be Johnny Quick. However, as revealed upon reviewing data obtained from the Multiverse, the heroine Donna Troy aka Wonder Girl learned of the existence of a Flash on each Earth.

Some more famous than others, some noble while others infamous, each with different strengths and weaknesses both in ability as well as character. Nevertheless, every incarnation of the Flash was a necessary component in the fabric of his own distinct dimension's diorama.

On Earth-One, Barry Allen was charged with superspeed force when a bolt of lightning shattered chemicals that splashed upon him, becoming the Flash.

On Earth-Two, Jay Garrick had succumbed to the powerfully potent fumes of hard water which mutated his body to react as superspeed as the Flash.

On Earth-Three, a malcontent criminal obtained a powerful helmet that while wearing it provided him superfast powers as the evil Johnny Quick. 

On Earth-S, Kit Freeman as Kid Eternity accessed his world's speed force...Eternity... allowing him to call upon heroic Mercury and Thjalfi often. 

On Earth-D, Tanaka Rei gained superhuman speed through undisclosed means whereby he adopted an alias of that of his comicbook idol the Flash.

On Earth-X, an individual under the employee of Nazi Germany was provided abilities comparable to the speedsters then quickly disappeared. 

On Earth-Four, the Crisis on Infinite Earths prevented the appearance of its own potential fleet fighter who would've debuted at some point thereafter. 

On Earth-Six, on a world that had as its premier protectors as their Monarchy it was only natural that their scarlet speedster himself would be a knight. 

On Earth-Twelve, Mister Cramer attained the flying and superspeed abilities of the Freedom Brigade's Captain Swift, father of Inferior Five's Blimp.

During a Crisis on three worlds, Kid Etnerity called upon Mercury to assemble heroes from his Earth-S as well as Earths One and Two. Among these were Barry Allen and Jay Garrick, who as the Flash sped alongside Kid's swift alter ego. And it would be Mercury who founded the second incarnation of the Squadron of Justice, mirroring the Justice League and Justice Society.

The Joker Isn't Playing with a Full Deck of Cards!

Before the animated Joker founded a team of troubled teens to become his own gang under the same name, the Royal Flush Gang and the Crime Prince of Crime had a long if not storied history in comic books.

There were two official incarnations of the Gang, each comprised of one of two suits... first the Clubs and later the Spades... with three Aces, two Kings, two Queens, three Jacks and three Tens. Behind each was a mastermind who made his claim to fame as a solo supervillain before realizing that such pawns may prove advantageous against the Justice League.

Meanwhile, the members of the Justice Society had their own threats to face in the form of the Four Cards and the Black Sphere Gang, each with four felons, as well as the golden age Joker and fellow Gotham goon the Gambler, a pair of problematic players as well.

To start with, Professor Amos Fortune recruited four of his childhood friends into the initial Royal Flush Gang, using "Stellaration" energy to attempt to manipulate the outcome of their felonies. With Amos as the Ace of Clubs, he had the following occupy the remaining positions in his quintet: Kerry was the King of Clubs, Queenie the Queen of Clubs, an unnamed ally as the Jack of Clubs, and Thomas Dillon as the Ten of Clubs. Twice the Justice League defeated these Gangsters, after which Fortune abandoned them to seek out other schemes, whereby his former fiendish friends found leadership elsewhere later.

However, a card-classified cadre of crooks was first introduced on Earth-Two. In Batman #5, after his last encounter with his arch-foe, the Joker was found out of in the sea by three struggling criminals looking for a new angle. After saving the Earth-Two Joker's life, he christens Queenie as the Black Queen, Diamond Jack Deegan as the Jack of Diamonds, and Clubsy as the King of Clubs. The Four Cards of the Joker! Concurrent to these events, the adventurer know as Tex Thomson aka Mister America had twice encountered a Colonel Rushmore, the first time facing the colonel in his other identity as the Ace of Spades where he threatened the lives of others, and later when his own life was lost leading to Tex tracking down his killer. This Ace had a cosmic twin in a second Ace leading the Royal Flush Gang under a new clubs suit versus the Joker.

While the golden age Joker was at least initially amiable to rival "cards" cutting into his action, his Earth-One counterpart was not. The four remaining members struck off on their own under the leadership of the new Ace of Spades. Under this new boss, the Gang found their taste in stolen artwork was shared by the Chaplain of Chicanery in Joker #5 (same issue number as the Four Cards introduction... odd ain't it?). This Ace of Spades transformed this fearsome foursome into the King, Queen, Jack and Ten of Spades.

As for Ace aka Professor Fortune, he created a "Luck League" that had even less success then his Gang, while his Earth-Two counterpart Professor Zobar Zodiak had a different modus operandi with his own henchmen while adopting his Alchemist alias.

However, how would this newly reconstituted Gang fare against the Joker in this battle of gimmicks and greed?

In fact, they were beaten and left imprisoned by their clownish competition (it was HIS comic book after all). Sometime later, a new leader retrieved Ace, King, Queen and recruited a new Jack with a different mission. Their thefts led to battles with Wonder Woman at Lyndon B Johnson Space Centre in Houston. Once more, the Gang flopped.

Returning to the spring of 1941, the golden age Joker decided to setup shop on a casino ship three miles from the coastline of Gotham City. One of his Cards, the Black Queen, quickly fell under the charms of Bruce Wayne... who was investigating a strange series of crimes aboard the vessel over several weeks.

The Joker decided to setup shop on a casino ship three miles from the coastline of Gotham City. One of his Cards, the Black Queen, quickly fell under the charms of Bruce Wayne... who was investigating a strange series of crimes aboard the vessel over several weeks.

After being left for dead by a disguised Joker, and then finding his partner Robin captured by the quartet, a simple nick of the chin while shaving tipped of Queenie to Bruce's double identity. And saved his life... at the cost of her own! Or did she lose it?

Interestingly, Batman mused that the one suit that Joker overlooked for his gang was a heart, which was what Queenie ultimately became.

Actually, his three card criminals corresponding with members of a later Royal Flush Gang, with Clubsy the King of Clubs corresponding to Kerry the King of Clubs, Queenie the Black Queen corresponding to the Queenie Queen of Spades, and Diamond Jack Deegan corresponding to the later Jack of Spades. These three crooks never met either of their contemporaries, Deuces Wilde nor Ace Wolfe, as they operated in a different city than the pair.

The Ten of Spades who orchestrated this latest foray into felony was in actuality a coworker of Diana Prince, Mike Bailey. Bailey replaced Ten of Clubs aka Thomas Dillon, who was the muscle man of the original Gang, a role he didn't relish which led to his abandoning his teammates at this time.

Stephen Sharpe aka the Gambler of Earth-Two would correspond to the Jack of Clubs who would later become the more infamous  Hi-Jack (there would be a Jack Jackson and Jack Spade on each Earth who also used this alter ego once).

Both gamblers joined sinister Societies and worked alongside the Wizard. And both would face a Green Lantern during their initial solo missions as well as alongside their criminal confederates who opposed the Lantern's teammates on their respective Justice teams.

Sharpe attempted to hit the big time alongside other masterminds in the Injustice Society on two occasions, as had his counterpart Jack of Spaces/Hi-Jack, and each time this too was a bad bet for the bad guy. In each instance, these rogues bet the house that they could break the back of their heroic adversaries. Each time, they came up short and had to fold.

This caper led by Bailey, with his new recruits clad in outfits matching his suit,  would correspond to the caper wherein the Gambler recruited a gang on board the Pleasure Queen gambling boat, and were also quickly vanquished by the Emerald Crusader.

Back on Earth-Two, Deuces Wilde was a professional gambler who like Dillon kept being unwillingly drawn into criminal endeavors by crooks like Ace Wolfe, himself a master strategist and gadgeteer like Bailey.

Both Wilde and Dillon were frequent foils of their world's respective Flashs, although Wilde was in the end an ally of his scarlet speedster.

Besides being the first case to introduce the Batmobile, which thanks to the Joker's schemes was totaled as it collided over a cliff, this initial incident of Joker’s Four Cards which started this all was memorable for one other event. A femme fatale, prior to Catwoman, who was able to deduce the dual identity of the Dark Knight. Despite seeming to meet her tragic end, this moment perhaps humanized the then hardened Batman and conditioned him for accepting his future one true love. Meanwhile, Joker ended up again drifting in the surf.

The Black Queen had not perished but was saved by Clubsy aka Ivan, and instead returned shortly thereafter. Disguising herself as chess champion Olga Romanoff, Queenie was involved in a con job with Ivan "Clubsy" that ensnared assistant museum curator Justin Arthur, who'd alter ego of the Shining Knight discovered her ruse and avoided her deadly traps. The hero soon captured "Olga" and left her with the authorities, who imprisoned her for her crimes. Still, she ended up pining for two knights, first a dark one and then a shining one.

Her doppelgänger Queenie returned along with her allies in the Royal Flush Gang on a second occasion wherein she adopted the disguise of Queen Elizabeth and she worked alongside her teammates who appeared as a knight, a judge, a politician and a snake. The Justice League vanquished them for a second time.

And this would not be the last time that Earth-Two's Joker dealt with these particular card characters. In the later 1940's, he would base a series of capers revolving around a royal flush, targeting various prominent individuals along with his henchmen. These five persons were dime store owner Harley Cottonworth, baseball tycoon Diamond Jack Barnes, beauty queen Roxane Wilder, match king Rupert Dazel, and air force Eddie Hoyle. The Dynamic Duo once more defeated the Joker's scheme. While this innocent quintet were not counterparts to the original Gang of Earth-One, this tale corresponded to the introductory tale wherein Amos "Ace" first enlisted his childhood colleagues in their initial battle versus Batman and his Justice League allies.

As for the aforementioned last incarnation of Royal Flush Gang on Earth-One, this involved Green Lantern's foe Hector Hammond recruiting hobo Joe Carny, alcoholic Mona Taylor, a gigolo named Jack and test pilot Wanda Wayland to be his King, Queen, Jack and Ten respectively. This Gang was more successful than its predecessor, and outshined another felony flush of foes who were financial pawns of the Red Sage (aka Gadgeteer, cousin of Hammond’s Earth-Two counterpart Spirit King)..

This Eaerh-Two quintet like their mirror images in the newest Royal Flush Gang only had one appearance before disappearing. Whereas Hector's gang faced the Justice League as a team, Red Sage's diabolical deck only encountered the Justice Socialite known as Doctor Fate. Seeing his scheme fail, Red Sage escaped capture and resurfaced a couple years later to duel with Green Lantern. Like all the other card carrying criminals, he ended up folding.

Plentifully Prodigious Plastic Men

One of the iconic heroes in comic book history has to be the stretch sleuth known as Plastic Man, created by legendary writer Jack Cole. And from his initial 1941 appearance in Police Comics #1 through that series' conclusion and that of his own title published during that decade, the former Eel O'Brien became a legend. And a desired property for other publishers, particularly DC Comics which acquired the Quality Comics character.

So in 1966 Plas was reintroduced, or rather it turned out to be his son. Then, the original turned up in a couple of early 1970's Brave and the Bold issues teaming up with Batman. But was this the original? And what became of his son? Well after his own revitalized mid-70's series had concluded, he had a string of Adventure/Super Friends/Worlds Finest Comics solo tales. Intermixed, he was affiliated with at least three teams of champions of three Earths!

Once the dust cleared and time helped place things in perceptive, a few facts were made somewhat clear. The initial incarnation of Plastic Man resided on Earth-Two, home to most golden age heroes. Joining the All-Star Squadron as their FBI liason, he would stick around. During this period he met Captain Marvel from Earth-S, and Uncle Sam who moved to Earth-X. Around this time, an inventive crook created synthetic Plastic Men to bedevil the original. Even Woozy Winks became a stretchy sidekick accidentally and helped his pal to defeat the fakes.

It was the latter that finally motivated Plastic Man to journey with fellow heroes from Earth-Two to this hero-less world to protect it from the Nazi hordes. Sadly, this journey was not kind to this incarnation of Plastic Man, as alluded to by Uncle Sam's cryptic comments decades later. And yet, according to his "Who's Who" entry, this golden age Plastic Man still survived into the present day even though he was thought deceased on Earth-X!

Prior to his departure from Earth-Two, however, a gangster allied with a criminal mastermind created synthetic Plastic Men, with the same abilities and appearance of the original, which he used to initiate a crime wave. During this caper, Woozy Winks had himself transformed through this process into a version of his partner Plastic Man. After the pair defeated the crooks behind the elastic clones, apparently all the Plastic Men were eliminated, although conceivably at least one may have remained behind to aid Woozy in crime fighting when the original journeyed to Earth-X.

During the Convergence event that pulled various cities and their heroes to a planet outside space and time, Plastic Man along with you fellow Freedom Fighter battled the Nazi villain Silver Ghost. During the conflict, Plas and the Ghost formed an uneasy alliance to track down the origin of deadly cyborgs threatening the citizens of their displaced New York City. After a final battle when the Ghost betrayed his foe turned ally, Plastic Man was left outside and separated from the Fighters. Where this version of the hero ended up in the multitude of cities on Telos wasn't initially revealed. He didn't return to Earth-Two, as the Senate hearing that tried the Justice Society for treason in the 1980's stated that Plastic Man disappeared in the 1940's. It appears that this Plas journeyed to the Gotham City of Earth-Twelve, which was also listed as having temporarily been located on Telos, and on this Earth he ultimately settled down and sired a son in his own image!

The Earth-One Plastic Man first appeared chronologically alongside the Justice League of America in their origin story and later team up with that world's Batman in Brave and the Bold, then would go on to have solo tales in the 1970's in his own title, Super Friends Adventure and World's Finest Comics! After a notable career, this Plastic Man assumed the guise of explorer Kyle Morgan, and was engaged to corrupt businesswoman Ruby Ryder. From this experience, he saw the futility of having a life separate from his superhero persona, and resumed his career as the pliable protector and as an agent of the National Bureau of Investigation with pal Woozy Winks.

This pliable protector found a foe in the young Robby Reed, the possessor of the H-Dial, enabling him to "Dial 'H' for Hero" which he did over a dozen times in his brief career. Twice Robby become a clone of Plastic Man, first as a hero and years later as a misguided villain for a brief period.

Robby's Dial-generated Plas was similar to Burp the Twerp aka the Super Son-of-a-Gun, who had various shape-changing powers and met Earth-Two's Plastic Man on at least two occasions during his chaotic crimefighting career. 

Then there was the wacky 1960's son of the original, Eel O'Brien Jr. and a Plastic Man who had teamed up with the Inferior Five in their issue #6. It was then revealed that the golden age Eel (who originated on Earth-Two) made a home for himself on this third world he traveled to, one that unlike his home-world and his initial adopted world gripped by World War was more comical in nature.

Rather, this was a more lighthearted Earth, and it appears it was there that he carried on his adventures in  his self-titled own magazine during the late 1940s and early 1950s. He eventually married and accidentally bequeathed similar powers to his son, who carried on his legacy. This son Eel Junior would be, in effect, the Earth-Twelve doppelgänger of his dear old, dad the original Plastic Man of Earth-Two.

Eventually, the rigors of stretching his body in various ways causes the original Plastic Man crippling pain, leading to his retirement until called upon to aid his son later on.

Eel Junior existed contemporaneous to the Inferior Five, who were said to reside on Earth-Twelve, on that parallel world prone towards comedic circumstances. However, despite being a second generation hero like the Five (who themselves were the offspring of the golden age Freedom Brigade) Junior did not deem it worthy of joining them. What became of him after his dozen chronicled tales is unknown, as his Earth also encountered the Crisis that had engulfed the Multiverse.

Another Plastic Man was one who appeared alongside Kid Eternity on Earth-S. While this may, on the surface, seem similar to when Earth-One's Robbie Reed used his Dial "H" for Hero device to transform into the malleable manhunter himself on two occasions, this was the Eel O'Brien from the Kid's Eternity dimension, which was attached to Earth-S. It was this Plastic Man's exploits in the middle to latter part of the 1940's that were being chronicled in Police Comics, as mentioned in this particular story... on the Kid's Earth-S. 

Additionally, Blackhawk had tales in his own series during this time and also aided Kid Eternity on occasion. As with Plastic Man, it seems Blackhawk... and by extension his six teammates...migrated from Eternity to Earth-S. Or perhaps remained in the Eternity dimension These heroes continued to operate into the mid 1950's as chronicled in their Quality Comics tales.

Indeed, this legend stretched himself quite thin, in a sense... as five versions of him helped to protect five worlds! So in the end, there was Plastic Man of Earth-Two who was a founding member of the All-Star Squadron and later moved to Earth-X thanks to Uncle Sam, then due to the Convergence moved to Earth-Twelve where he sired that universe's native version of Plastic Man, the Plastic Man from Eternity that Kid Eternity brought to Earth-S where he remained, the Earth-One Plastic Man and his Robby Reed clone. And we aren't even counting the dozens of synthetic Plastic Men that one of the original's foes created in the early 1940's on Earth-Two. Whew!

A Snapshot into Two Obscure Earths - Reminders of Another Era

We depart once more for our favorite subjects here at DC M, that being Earths One and Two, to briefly visit two more intriguing worlds in parallel dimensions that were quickly wiped out by the Crisis on Infinite Earths before they would've had the opportunity to merge into the remaining universes. Some of their occupants do survive into the New Earth.

Earth-Twelve was a unique world, blending some components of Earth-One with those of Earth-616 (otherwise known as the mainstream comics of Marvel Comics), sort of a precursor to the proposed "Earth-Crossover" where many of the DC-Marvel specials of the 1970 such as Superman-Spider-Man and Batman-Hulk appeared.

This variant world was initially a mere set-piece for the comical Inferior Five. However, their forebearers made up a golden age team known and Freedom Brigade. Included were the guy-girl duo, super-speedster, Amazonian, battling bowman, man of might, and fish out of water. Fairly typical fictional templates.

Decades after the effects of the Crisis had finally shimmered down to create today's DC products (which we prefer not to review here, in most instances), it was decided that they revisit the initial epic once more... inserting issue 4.5 into the series. And hence, we are introduced to Earth-D!

The Justice Alliance of America had the typical make-up of a Justice League imitator, including the guy-girl duo, super-speedster, Amazonian, battling bowman, man of might, and fish out of water. Of course each world had relatives to the legends, such Earth-D's Supergirl (wife of their Man of Steel), Robin, and the children of the Flash to name a few; and Earth-Twelve's Inferior Five of Dumb Bunny, Merryman, Ackwardman, Yellow Feather and the Blimp. Kinda strange how superstrong (and superclumsy) Ackwardman and Batman had the same fashion sense, ain't it?

While each were barely featured they capture the whimsy of the silver age comics missing from contemporary comics, both its humor and its innocent charm.