Time travel is a fundamental piece of comic book. From wild-eyed scientists who randomly choose to travel through the stream of time to superheroes who travel into the future for fun adventures, a million timelines were created and destroyed between the pages of countless comics. But no universe plays more with time travel than the DC Universe.
From Rip Hunter and his time bubble to the Android Hourman and his time ship, there’s always someone playing around with the DC timeline, and that doesn’t even include the endless time travel adventures of the Flash family. But not every time travel adventure is the same. Some are memorable while others revealed so much about the characters or celebrated special moments in DC history. And still others are just cool moments that can only happen when a hero – or hero – decides to play with the times.
10 Booster Gold decides to become famous
Most of the heroes travel through time to stop terrifying events or to partake in some amazing futuristic adventures, but Michael Jon Carter had another idea. Living in the 25th century, Michale once had a promising career as an athlete before his father persuaded him to throw a few games for betting purposes. After years working as a night watchman at the Metropolis Space Museum, Michael decided to steal some equipment and go back to the heroes’ time, where he would do it Make a name for yourself as Booster Gold, the greatest hero of all. He’s still working on it.
9 Wally West sees Barry Allen and Hearts Break
In the first few years after that Crisis on Infinite Earthswho have favourited writers Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis shot the Justice League to some of DC’s biggest salespeople by writing stories that were exciting, fun, and full of heart. There’s a moment in Justice League Quarterly # 3 that is heartbreaking.
In the output, a number of leaguers are sent back in time and accidentally shrunk. In the past they have attended a meeting of the original Justice League and Wally West – the third Flash – sees his chance to warn his mentor Barry Allen – the second flash – about the coming crisis and his death, but is stopped by his teammates for fear of what this would do to the timeline.
8th The legion of superheroes meets Superboy for the first time
Perhaps the most important time travel story in all DC Comics, Adventure Comics # 247, written by Otto Binder with artwork by Al Plastino, saw the young Superboy for the first time on the Legion of Super Heroes. The 30th-century Legion of Superheroes, represented by Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad, put Superboy through a series of tests to see if he had what it takes to join their team for a thousand years in the future.
That story spawned what would become one of the greatest teams in the comic book space. The Legion of Superheroes is now set in the 31st century and is represented by dozens of members, including the new superboy, Jon Kent.
7th Flash saves his mother, ruins everything
Shortly after learning that Reverse Flash was the man who murdered his mother, lightning decided to use his power to change the past. Though it wasn’t his plan, Flash’s decision to save his mother’s life had a drastic impact on the universe, resulting in the creation of the Flashpoint timeline.
Flashpoint revealed a reality where Superman was being held underground by the US government, the Amazons and the Atlantic at war, and a young Bruce Wayne was murdered, resulting in his father becoming Batman. Flash tried to change things again and gave Doctor Manhattan a chance to rewrite history in his own way. create the new 52 universe.
6th The legion of superheroes is coming to celebrate
Reintroducing the Legion of Superheroes to the DC Comics rebirth era came at the end of The Unity Saga by Brian Michael Bendis and Ivan Reis. In this story are Superman, and Superboy Super girl bring together a variety of races from across the DC Universe to form an alliance that Superboy calls the United Planets. With this plan, the Legion appears before the many races to celebrate the first day of Unity – the day everything changed.
The birth of the United Planets had long been a story readers had heard of but never seen. By finally revealing the moment, DC forever changed the course of comics in ways that can still be seen today.
5 Iris West saves impulses by bringing them into the present
Just before he died in the crisis, Barry Allen and Iris West left the present and moved into the future to raise a family. This family included twins Don and Dawn Allen, better known as the Tornado Twins. Unfortunately, both Don and Dawn died during the Dominator invasion of the 30th century, but their children lived on.
One child, Bart Allen, was born at super speed and lived in a virtual world that could keep up with his rapid aging. Bart would have lived his whole life in just a few years if his grandmother Iris hadn’t brought him back in time for her nephew and now Blitz Wally West to help him, and with that decision, Impulse has joined the Flash family.
4th Batman and Green Lantern play cowboy
There was a time when every kid in America played cowboys. The idea of living in the Old West and fighting bandits and other bad guys was the dream, especially for kids who would grow up to be Batman and Green Lantern. In Batman Universe, directed by Brian Michael Bendis and Nick Derrington, the two heroes got the chance to make that dream come true when Vandal Savage sent them back to the 19th century, when the two heroes joined forces with the famous Jonah Hex. Unfortunately, Batman and Green Lantern learned that the Old West wasn’t as fun as playing cowboy in the backyard.
3rd Wally West visits herself
Time travel and flashes go hand in hand, thanks in part to their ability to run so fast that they can go back or forward in the blink of an eye. But for Wally West, who hates time travel, going back in time proved to be pretty cathartic. Like that hour zero began, Wally found himself drawn into the time stream and appeared in his teenage room during a family get-together.
There Wally was able to see and speak to an eleven-year-old version of himself, knowing what amazing adventures awaited him in a few years. When Wally saw his young self, he remembered why he wanted to be a hero in the first place and was happy to set out to face the unknown.
2 The Legion of Doom is part of a day that will live in shame
In one of the wilder moments in Scott Snyder’s Justice League run, issue # 31, featuring artwork by Jorge Jimenez, the The Legion of the Damned Returned December 1941 to participate in the attack on Pearl Harbor – the moment the United States entered World War II.
This moment feels like something straight out of the animated series Super Freinds, but Snyder and Jimenez play it with all the drama and intensity you would expect from two masters of the craft. Fortunately for the world, today’s Flash, John Stewart, and the Justice Society of America are there to tackle the Legion of Doom.
1 The legion of superheroes say goodbye to Superman
Not every time travel adventure ends happily, as in Alan Moore’s and Curt Swan’s Superman: Whatever Happened to Tomorrow’s Man. In this story – the last Superman story before the crisis – the man of steel and his family find themselves trapped in the fortress of solitude as his greatest enemies band together to destroy him.
At that moment, the Legion of Superheroes comes to present Superman with a statue of themselves holding the Phantom Zone projector as a symbol of their love for him. At that moment, Superman realizes that he is destined to lose the upcoming fight. The Legion has come to say goodbye to their friend.
About the author
Derek Faraci
(424 published articles)
Born and raised in New York, Derek Faraci moved to Los Angeles in 2001 and joined Activision, where he worked on many successful franchises including Spider-Man, Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero. In October 2009, Derek left Activision to join Scientifically Proven Entertainment. Since joining SPE, Derek has worked on Man vs. Wild: The Game, Blood of the Werewolf and the film Sucker, directed by Michael Manasseri. Derek has written more than 500 articles for a number of websites and magazines including Blumhouse, CBR, Birth.Movies.Death, and Solis. If he had the chance, Derek would spend all of his time watching movies and reading comics. More work by Derek can be found at DerekFaraci.com and you can find him on Twitter at @wh_woolhat.
